driving around...

here are a few pics from today's action...including stevie's new ride. a 1959 american rambler. nice.

g. xo

i like cranes. i'm not sure why.



stevie's new ride.

whatda ya think barry?...

i had to do a little drop-by at dr. neil's this morning to have him have a look at my nutsack to make sure everything was healing the way it should be...today was doctor in the full hugo boss suit and student in white lab coat day. dr. neil asked me if i would mind if barry (i think his name was) was in on the examination of my boys. no problem, the more the merrier. so after dr. scrotum had a feel of my balls, old neil was encouraged to have himself a little feel. he was nervous - and who can blame him? not me. and in the end, i'm all good...healing up like a good little camper. thanks neil. thanks barry.
yesterday i also received in the mail the new novel by willy vlautin, singer and frontman for richmond fontaine, northline. i had to order it from england as it doesn't come out here until may sometime as well, the first edition comes with a cd of music by willy and paul brenard. nice. and speaking of willy's novel, i can't remember who i lent my copy of 'motel life' to...if anyone out there has my copy...let me know.

good times.

g. xo

up for air

day 101.
it's finally come and truth be told it should have ended a few days ago but they needed some more action packed footage. i guess. the days at the salt mine of this project are coming to a close. i have to admit it's always weird at the end of a show, everyone goes their separate ways, goes to new shows, on vacation, some to never be seen again - thankfully sometimes, and sometimes it's a drag when people leave and never come back. we spend a lot of time here with each other and while, for the most part, we like and love each other, by the end of a long show you're ready to part ways, at least for a while. i know for me this show was split into three very distinct parts. the beginning where it was all new and the set-up was casual and easy going, work nonetheless but familiar. then came the stress of the first days on set, certain people stressing much more than was required at such an early part of the show therefore sending others into a tizzy as well. this second part of the show was very hard for me. one driver - the best there is by a long shot but still too much work for one man. he and i tried to get it all done and most of the time made it happen but we did falter a few times and i took those failures quite hard. but we made it through. during this tough time we gained another driver, hardip, who proved to be a godsend. while no paul, he was and is a great driver. he made our lives that much better and we got more shit done every day because of him.
we lost hardip after xmas...and had to see life once again without him.
the last portion has been tough as well but with the light at the end of the tunnel starting to get bigger it was easier to take. more action taking place in one location and less scrambling to service two and three locations was easier on us as a team.
today is the last day of principle shooting and i welcome it. by the end of next week i'll be packing up my shit and heading home to sleep. and then sleep some more. i will be fixing my mowers, driving around, hanging out with shauna, eating burritos, hanging out at coffee shops and hanging out with shauna.
ok. good.


the other day shauna and i took stella over to west van, home of the stores that all close at 9 pm or earlier, and let her run around the park near whole foods. we had snacks at whole foods and also ran into krista and corbin while waking stella. it was a beautiful day and hopefully there will be more of those once i'm done here at the salt mine.
on a sad note, i found out last night that an old friend of mine, but really more of an acquaintence through the music scene years ago - scott harding, who lives in NYC, and works as a sound engineer and is a great musician himself was injured in a car accident when his cab was t-boned on his way home friday night. he was hurt quite badly and i just wanted to let people know who may know him here. he was a fixture in the music scene here when i was first working at citr and cutting my teeth in world of vancouver punk rock. two of his most memorable vancouver projects were rhythm mission and the jazzmanian devils. god bless you scott. i will get more details about this as i get them.

there's a little about it here.

g. xo

i broke my leg skateboarding ....

....in 1976.

check this out.

it's good.

g. xo

you're in good hands with dr. dick

sure...i've been calling him dr. neil but really, he's dr. dick. but i guess that's actually not right, because he's not really dealing with your dick at all, he's more like dr. ballsack or senor scrotum...he's good though (4500 procedures a month between vasectomy and circumcision), anyway ya look at it. he's like a machine. quick bedside manner, trying to distract you as he goes to work on your jingus, pulling ut the jamgus..that sort of thin..."what do you do for fun?" is the first question and it goes from there...my first answer was not, "i go and get a snip job on a friday morning, then head to urban fare for some bags of frozen peas.." so all done...seems fine and i'm back at work making more movie magic.

more details soon....or not.

g. xo

not a good start to the day...

ok...so today i go under the knife. sure, they say it's non-scalpel but don't believe it for a second. they have to get in there somehow so there'll be some cutting involved. i wouldn't say i'm nervous but i would say i'm not exactly crazy about having my junk hanging out and a nurse taking control of my jiblits. we'll see how it goes.
on the way to work this morning i got, what is, my third speeding ticket in the last eight months. i'm having bad luck in that dept. and yopu'd think i'd learn - slow down near the PNE...or maybe i'm that dog that just keep getting hit with the newspaper over and over but i still tear up the sneakers....i dunno. anyhow, happy vasectomy day to me.
a friend of mine's nad swelled up to the size of a orange so i'm kinda hoping and saying a prayer to the big guy, tom, that that doesn't happen to me.
10:40 a.m. - set your clocks now.
last night we had some of the kids over for a valentine's/garn's vasectomy party and it went very well...although i did decide that i needed to fix the garbage disposal near the end of the party...not the best time to do that...so i didn't fix it but i kinda reacted badly (not in a huge way) to not being able to perform my handiwork...so i'd like to give a big shoutout and apology to my wonderful girlfriend who really , with the help of ang, put together a great spread of food that barely fit on our living room table. good work...i love you. the food was great and it was nice to have a few friends over, the first time since shauna moved in that we've had people over in any sort of group. it was good.
the food was great and if that's my last meal - you know people do expire under the knife - then i'm satisfied.
see you on the other side...

more later after my date with dr. neil.

g. xo

nice hair...

mishi gets ready to hoss-down on some snacks.


shauna gets a drink after all her hard work.

snacks.



em and ang.


ang loves the snacks.


more good hair.

em and joey check out the globe.

my pal al...

sent me this.
good times.

g. xo

yesterday 1111, today 1112...moving along...

happy valentine's day kids....a hallmark holiday to be sure but still, happy valentine's day. i received a couple hearts, of sorts, my own self and have sent a couple as well...but, really, i only have one right now...as it should be, just having one...two would be just too much trouble....i sent don bull one as well...i love that guy...
tonight we're having a few friends over to help celebrate V-day...yes, we're celebrating my vasectomy tomorrow, and the other v-thing, valentine's day...we have meats and cheeses, cracker and breads, ice cream, dips and chips, salsa, veggies and more cheese. we went to whole paycheque last night and bought up all the good stuff...so if you were thinking of going there today, don't, there's nothing left to be had. just so you know...
last night i also gave the garbs his salt mine crew gift...he's worked hard on this show and really deserved much more than i could give him, but it's all i had to give. i'm not sure if he liked it but i do know that it will probably end-up on ebay before the year is out...whatever, it's outta my hands. i love that guy.
have fun today...

g. xo

good snacks from whole paycheque...

and in other news...

like i'm surprised at all...as in "not-at-all"....but there's still been no word from kelowna. i'm outta the salt mine in a few weeks so maybe a trip to kelowna is in order...just for fun of course.

g. xo

another good one ..

andy found this...

g.


check out more good stickman drawing and such here. especially this one.

this is good...really.

this was sent to shauna from one of our friends. (i'll only give credit if they want me to do so...)

have a great v-day tomorrow...even if it's bullshit.

g. xo

marcy heads north, more noodles and ice cream

marcy has become such a superstar in the flower world that a flower shop in whitehorse - that's in the yukon - has hired her to work in their shop for the rest of the week. flying her up there, putting her up and paying her...nice. so last night after work i gave her a ride to the airport and set her on her way. good luck...she told me it's not cold up there, it's only -4 or -5 or something....right. great.


after the airport i went downtown and grabbed shauna and we headed, for the second night in a row, to the noodle box on fourth ave...i like that place, sure you could make the same thing at home, but fuck it, i want them to make it...shauna likes it there and even more now since they have been able to fulfill her love of snap peas as a substitution into her dishes there...good job.


and after noodles you always need ice cream..and i should point out that i have been trying to avoid deserts of late but ever since the wrap party for the work at the salt mine, i have been back on - even be it ever so lightly - on the desert train. so after noodles we met-up with mishi and the garbs for some frozen treats at mondo gelato on robson street. good times...




just two days until i have my date with dr. neil pollock. he's quite a tailor i have been told...issy told me the other day that she's scubbed-up on many a tailoring job...i didn't ask for any 'funny' stories...because they're probably not that funny.

ok. have a great day.

g. xo

it just makes me want it more

a friend sent me this jpeg.


now i really wish it was lawn cutting season.

bring it on.

g. xo

stuff left behind

sometimes things get left behind.
here are a few pics from the last week or so that i forgot to post.

i love you.

g. xo

and more from the party last night.


grafitti near the shop.


this is a sign near the shop. the fence has no door or way through. and it's completely overgrown with blackberry bushes etc. hard to even get near the hard hat area.


the new washer and dryer.


the peanut butter machine at whole foods is pretty cool.


shauna at the salt mine party.

the watchmen throws down

last night was the wrap party for all those who've been working away at the salt mine for the last portion of our lives. so we all gathered-up our loved ones and headed down to bridges restaurant where they - the wheels - had turned bridges into a disco dance party, casino, games room free-for-all....and it was all free...free drinks (not always a good idea...), free food, free video games and free flowing conversation - not always so free as you still have to go to work for a few more weeks with most of these people, but free enough. i'm not much for parties, let alone wrap parties, but it was good. for a while. and then, for reasons unknow really, i reach a saturation point and have to get outta dodge. i lasted longer than usual. shauna and devon were having a great time playing air hockey and foodball and they loved the photo booth...so i left them there and went and had a little garn time in my car until they were ready to hit the road...all in all it was ok...i had a few good conversations, ate some food and left. here are a few pics from last night...
the countdown really has begun now.

g. xo

steve janz with his latest addiction.

shauna loves the photo booth


my man al.


foosball action.



riz.



more foosball.



what the room looked like to alot of people near the end of the night.


brad's good lookin'


steve loves the action.


shauna loves the air hockey.



andrew and sonia.


brad's cute.

maybe byron's not such a nice guy after all....

byron, who is selling my old hockey gloves on ebay - and who has made them sound (in the description of them) that they were once worn by an NHL player...has dissed me when answering questions from people who may be interested in them...

check out his answers to some of the questions...

i'm not sure i wanna be a bomber anymore....

g. xo

in case you've ever wondered...

about hockey gloves being made for left or right handed players...my pal rick thought he's find out more about my gloves being sold on ebay so he posed a question to the man who is selling my gloves.

he asked.

"are these gloves for a right or left handed person"

the seller replied,

"well, hockey gloves aren't sold either way, they are made for either hand. however they were worn by a right-handed shot, which accounts for the left palm being more worn through."

yes indeed, i am a right handed. good work.

g. xo

northline

my pal, i think, willy's at it again. not one to sit still he's completed his second novel and it's being published, once again, by faber and faber in the UK. i'm not sure if there's anything on their site yet regarding it but you can check it out here, just scroll down past all the richmond fontaine stuff. there's also some good stuff on willy's web site.
the first edition of the book comes with a cd of music by willy and paul brainard.
like the last novel, it won't be released in the states until may so i went on the interweb and ordered a copy for myself and then saw today as i looked more closely, that it will be released here feb. 07. oh well, i like the idea of my book getting a plane ride.

good times.

g. xo

one man's trash...

..may end-up being another man's treasure.

i tossed these gloves out because they were done like dinner...now they're on ebay. not a pair like mine, they are mine....

check out my gloves on ebay


funny....

g. xo

pencil me in.

mark this one on your calendar. feb. 15th....10:40 am...

i'm penciled in

more details later.

g. xo

i called it, but it doesn't matter now...

all last week i drove around listening to the radio while i went on my appointed rounds getting crap for use at the salt mine. and all week i heard about how the new england patriots were gonna win the superbowl. and at the very least they would cover the point spread for all the bookies taking bets from hopeful betters. i not only thought that the giants would beat the point spread, i also thought the giants would win the game - outright. i even went as far as to try and make a wager on the game with the giants winning the game.
so yesterday while we waited in line at the vancouver public library for our push festival show, i looked over and saw that one of the stores in the square, had a lotto terminal. i went in, grabbed a sports action ticket, and proceeded to the counter and asked the gentleman behind the counter, who runs the place and the lotto machine, if he could help me make my bet. he couldn't. he didn't know how to fill out the form for the sports action thingy. and neither did i. i told him i was a little surprised at this, that he ran the shop but had no idea how to play any of the games on his terminal. so i left. then i remembered that they, usually, had a menu of games listed so that people could pick the games they wanted to bet on, and fill out the appropriate box, much like lotto 6/49, and away you go. so back in i went. i asked if he had the menu of games, again he tolfd me he had no idea about any menu of games but said that there were a whole lot of options on his machine/terminal and he didn't know how to see what games were available to be bet on. he did tel me that there wasanother shop a few blocks away that could probably help me.
i gave up at that point. it just wasn't meant to be. and that's ok....but it would have been nice to have made a little money to spend on a fancy dinner or something....

g. xo

washers, dryers and headphones.

saturday saw us, or at least me, stumble through our spanish class at VCC. i'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it but know that it's more about studying than we're doing...i'm doing. work gets in the way of studying and as much as all good plans have been made, the follow-through has been weak...maybe i should be happy i know anything at this point since i've only cracked the book once and studied at the noodle box once. hola! ok, i'll study this week...i promise.
shauna's forst and my second trip to trail appliances also happened saturday. nd i'll tell you this, even after making the decision to buy the whirlpool set, it's like buying a car for all the paperwork you have to do...and the nickel and dime action...and i don't hold anything against our man coy, he was just doing his job and trail really seems like a decent place...but after the extended warranty, the delivery, the set-up charge, etc...all you can think is, "this fuckin' thing better get my god damn clothes clean...and how..." so, that's that...thursday morning, i think, we'll be graced with a washer and dryer...good times..come on over ans give it a test run.
saturday night was push festival action as well and after buying the new appliances, we had to boogies to make the first performance at the scotia dance centre...it was called glow and was a dance performance by a group from australia. it was very interesting for about the first 20 minutes and then the woman performing all of a sudden was possessed by something and started speaking in tongues. she was a very good performer but it was a little alarming and went from bright and fun(ish) to dark and scary...i'm sure she's fine now.
our second show of the evening was 'instructions for modern living' by a couple guys from new zealand...a musical, spoken word journey that included slides and moving images...the guy doing the music was excellent, although he really didn't out the theromin through it's paces, but he was great, the talking dude was, well, a talking dude that had ideas that were a little dated and overdone...anyhow...nice to get out and see some new things...and hang out with my ladyfriend...oh, and we had some burger action at vera's with fries and gravy...nice...
today with shauna's cold getting the better of her, i headed out to issy's to get some toy boxes to ship out some toys i had just sold on the interweb and when i got back we headed of to a performance at the vancouver library by more down under folks called 'small metal objects'. an odd performance that i liked on one level a lot but wasn't totally convinced....but one that i like more now after the fact....
the rest of our day had been slack with shauna catching up on her six feet under, me napping and bomber hockey coming up at 10:30....nice.

more later....i love you.

g. xo

don't let the door hit you on the way out...

well, i got my walkin' papers today - sort of. my time at the salt mine ends the 29th of feb...others are outta here before that but i'm usually here until the bitter end. i'm cool with this ending, i had thought i'd be salt mining until the middle of march but it's ok - just in time to start getting ready to cut. i've been thinking about cutting a lot lately, i can't wait to get back at. shauna's gonna help me make a lawn order card i can put through people's mailboxes when i see a lawn that needs a little lawn ordering.
i'd like to get in the area of 20 lawns this year with a few off the grid lawns as well and chippers...i love that term....nevermind.
our washer and dryer at home may be giving up the ghost so yesterday i went and looked at a few new models and i'm not one to get overly excited about or by washing equipment but, the whirlpool stacker i looked at yesterday is amazing....we'll how it all shakes down but i could be the proud new owner soon of a new stacker unit.
no sign of money yet from kelowna even though we had a deal in place that should have seen money make its way to me by now...let this be a lesson to you kids - drugs are bad.
more spanish tomorrow but, as usual, i have left it until tonight before cracking open my textbook to study a little before the next class...hhhmmm.
this weekend sees me heading also to some Push festival shows - live theatre by artistic type folks doncha know...we have tickets, i think, to a few shows this weekend and one monday night.
also this weekend is the return to the ice and the bombers. too long between games really, hard on us old guys, i need more action than this to try and keep up...them young guys is fast.
the sickness has hung around much longer than i would have liked and now shauna is feeling it as well...we've been hitting the neo citran hard and it does help and getting a decent amount of sleep but this fucker just seems to hang around.
loaded a few toys up on ebay this week as well. step right up, step right up. i think by next week there will be seven or eight less toys around the yard. and some money to help pay for the new fancy pants laundry stacker.
funny too, the stacker unit. the place i am thinking of buying it from, they say they pay the gst...ok, cool. but he, the sales guy, explained it this way. "what we do is take the price you see, subtract 5% and then multiply it by 12% to get the price you pay..." so why not just take the price i see and multiply it by 7% instead and not to the reduction and then the multiplication?..he said that worked too. it's math, and it can be a tough nut to crack. so i actually did the math, on paper, and it works out better that way, 5 bucks or so but in my favor so i'll take it...who knew?...i guess they did...i feel like a bit of a tard...
ok..more details as they develop....

g. xo