free rides, moonpies and little girls in long shirts...

what a cute title...i'm such a fuckin' softie.
last night, after work, i drove over to joel's to cut his lawn. his daughter, indiana, loves me...why? i dunno. she calls me 'garden'...once she said to her mom, "i love garden"...so cute. she's like the lawn order poster girl.
today was the opening of the PNE and it was free from 9 am until noon...what a freakin' disaster. i was on my way to the shop and snapped a couple pics. traffic was insane..all that for a free ride on the coaster...i'll pay, if i go, and save myself a jammer in traffic..and then the huge crowds at the tilt-o-whirl.
oh..yes..and i was lucky enough to have to work today...me and tornack...and al...all very lucky fellas.

see ya.

g. xo

call to arms

i stole this pic. from kim's blog...



it was the end of an era tody. my pal kim who was one of the best baristas to ever work the bar at jj bean, left there today for good. not good for me and others, but good for her. she's off on a ten-day bike trip with her man lyle and then back to school. good for her. i'll miss hr as will many others, including corie who finally found someone who knew how to make a real dry cap. it's been a rough week for good people moving on. monica, another great barista at jj bean, has decided to hit the road and now camille has decided to move to the back and do administration type stuff...which really only leaves julia...we'll all survive but, we'll miss those kids...good luck campers.
i haven't hard from don bull but i assume he read yesterday post...his birthday actually wasn't yesterday but it was close...the garbs called and wished him a happy birthday anyways...
it's the end of another week here at the mighty BOC..but now it turns out we get to work tomorrow as well...good times. i had a big of a hard week here...a driver who was, at best, a hurricane wrecking most things in his path. other depts. called me and others here to complain about him. he ruined a 5000 dollar piece of equipment and managed to insult many different races in the process...paul's back monday and i'm gonna give him a big fat kiss....

have a great weekend...

g. xo

adrian was asking too many questions...



megan and i went to red burrito last night..the sun looked good...i took a photo...

happy birthday don bull....jackass!

this is for you baby...



don and garn...a brief history...

i didn't like don bull when i first met him. the year was 1979 and we were both attending shawnigan lake school and lovin' it. as it turned out we were both from tsawwassen and by virtue of this fact, became friends almost by default as i didn't really know anyone else there, as i had just moved there, and don needed friends...that's not really true but sounds good.
over the years we became like a crappy glue you can't get off your fingers. if you saw one of us somewhere, the other couldn't be far behind. whether it was driving around in my father's 1969 chevy biscayne or the 1962 (63?) ford falcon he inherited from his grandmother, we were together. we had little run-ins with the police, parents, girlfriends and ultimately each other but it always seemed to come back to the two of us and our friendship.
as we grew older and got away from school and tsawwassen things changed, at first, very little but some. he went off to art school, first in vancouver at cap. college and then emily carr on granville island. all the while i worked in restaurants and bars, printing houses and at certain lucrative illegal activities. don graduated with honors from the art college in pasadena and i graduated to hard drugs and trouble with the folks-which was maybe the best thing that ever happened and got me back on the straight and narrow.
don and i actually lived together on fourth ave. for a short while as well....but that's another story...for another time.
don came back from LA and we again were thick as theives and resummed our lives as misfits but this time a little older. not wiser but indeed older. don bounced around a few agencies, i continued to print away at benwell-atkins hating it most days but able to not have the grind of a real nine to five life. i lived on my bike then spending most offtime in the woods of the north shore or UBC or whistler, as did he. we didn't ride with the same people but both had a passion for riding and getting dirty and cutting our legs wide open...repeatedly.
our lives started to change around 1992 or '93. don had ventured out on his own and was starting to do some design work for the rich and fancy with these people/clients ultimately becoming his pals as well. i felt slightly abandoned at first as it was around now that we started hanging out less and less. then he bought a bmw sedan of some sort and i learned to make fun of it and what i felt it represented, to me anyways. i wasn't the nicest guy in making these jokes and i think i should, maybe, apologize for some of those jokes now and for some of the things i said about the car and his fancy, linen pants pals at the time. maybe i was jealous, maybe i just felt that i could fit in to that crowd as well as anyone, maybe whatever. it was a wierd time to be sure. then don got married to kim-she's awesome. they're not married anymore. no one's fault i don't think. they're just not.
we don't really hang out at all anymore. meetings are aften awkward but still, somehow, enjoyable. i love him. i really do. i've often said that i love him like a brother - one i want to take outside sometimes and beat the crap outta. i do love him. now it's mainly e.mails and the occassional phone call, the odd dinner once or twice a year and the mention of his name on the blog.
i guess sometimes i'm just not willing to accept that people move along, that friends come and go and that life is very liquid and never sits still for long. don and i are like that i suppose.

happy birthday don.

g. xo

come see, come saw and corie's new exploding shirt.

corie has been working on a massive bullet hit thing that just gets bigger and bigger...there is another pack on the front that's as big...usually a bullet hit has one squib (hit) in it. this has approx. 30. good times. each one of those little bubbles is a blood pack and underneath are the bullet hits that drives the blood and blast it out from the shirt or jacket.



so today was...interesting. my usual teamster driver, paul, has taken a -well deserved- week off with his family and i have been given a sub-driver for the week. you never know who you're going to get, and let me tell you, there are some incredibly shitty teamster drivers out there...and i've had them all...anyhow..monday morning i saw my new driver and i know him well enough to know he's a good driver...no paul, but good. he's a little gruff, rough around the edges but good. i thought god had, maybe, smiled down on me and had given him to me for the week...well, maybe good is fuckin' with me.
today i sent roger down to pick-up a new vertical bandsaw..you don't need to know what that is...all you need to know is this...it's really big and really fuckin' heavy. and expensive. five grand expensive. well, old roger picked it up in richmond and on the way back, after not securing it well enough in the bed of the truck, it decided to make a run for it. so at the corner of marine drive and 'idunno' a really big cate went bye-bye...into traffic. luckily no on was killed by this 1000 plus pound crate...so al, not that al, went down there and helped get it back into the truck...which we actually couldn't do ubntil some city of burnaby dudes came by in their work truck and helped us out...
it was a good time overall. i'm hoping we get to do it all over again tomorrow.
tonight i'm having lobster direct from halifax courtesy of the network who just came back today. i hope i don't fall asleep eating it....

g. xo

free burritos for all my friends...

so after i dished off an e\mail to casa de amigos re: the crappy meal..i was nice but direct..i received this e/mail this morning...

Good Morning

First of all, thank you for the email and letting me know about your experience
at Casa de Amigos. I would like to appologize to you for the lack of care that
went into your food. I strive to ensure all customers get what they paid for
and it seems that your food wasn't up to par.

The waitress should have asked you if you needed forks and knives with your to
go order, but neglected to do so. As for the burrito, I have went over this
many times with the cook on how to prepare food to go, but I guess he just
doesn't get it. Which is why I have a "Line Cook Wanted" sign in front of my
window. I am sorry I wasn't there yesterday, as I was at Food Fair in Richmond
working my booth.

I have worked hard for over a year now getting Casa de Amigos a reputation,
winning the "Best of Vancouver, and two Golden Plate awards for Best Budget and
Best Take-out. All it takes is one employee to screw the whole thing up for
customers like you. I will deal with the situation with my employee and staff
on duty yesterday and will rectify this immediately. In the meantime, I want to
offer you a better experience with our food and I am inviting you and another
person for a free Meal at Casa de Amigos for either dine in or take out.

Please mention my name when redeeming your free meal, and I will make sure my
staff are aware of this.

Again, I thank you very much for your feedback, its people like you who make
businesses suceed.

Yours truly

Larry Gorrill
Owner/operator
Casa de Amigos
604-267-9991

good on him. i will ot redem by free food...i just thought he should know what the hell was coming out of his kitchen...

good times...

g. xo

bogus back gate burritos

today i had nothing really pressing today but did want to drop by opus on granville island to get a frame for the new print the kids at voltage bought me...jennifer had asked what i was doing so i told her i was running errands so...if she wanted to come along...then i had a brief meltdown on the island (actually not a meltdown but...anyhow), sorry mishi, and then we grabbed a coffee and got the fuck off the island...
i had remembered daisley telling me about a new mexican place in marpole...and that one of us should check it out...so today was the day. the queen and i both had burritos, to go. one chicken, one beef...and a couple of mexican soft drinks. they put our burritos in a couple syrofoam containers and away we went...i decided that we should go to the airport and sit on the back gate of the comet and eat our food...the planes fly right over top and it's kinda (geeky) cool...i like it...the food was shit! loosely rolled tortillas, open at both ends, lacking any real substance or taste...falling apart as you, tried, to eat them..they didn't put any plastic knives or forks in the bag...all that for $21.00...nope. shit. quite possibly one of the worst burrito experiences ever.
then we just crusied around...i showed her the art i had looked at yesterday at anti-social, looked at new stereo stuff-that i don't need, looked at shoes-some powder blue leather slip-on vans i may have to go back and buy...ran into my pals louisa and dave...
i may go see the new will farrell movie tonight because i just need something dumb...or i'll stay home and watch tv and do laundry...my life is so full...

here are some pics..enjoy...

garn xo

do not eat here...ever.



jenn at the airport eating our shitty lunch...

yvonne this is val, val meet yvonne...and tornack's dinner goes south...

so after my already busy saturday yesterday, i headed out for dinner with corie and fawn..actually, i thought we were heading to rob's for a bbq but apparently we were going to have dinner first and then go to rob's....corie made the call for tan tan noodles at don king so away we went...my pal the gregarious waiter was there and after a long hug it was time for some noodles...tastey as usual..then, full, away we went to rob's....the boys were there from work (al, dan, eric...) as well as the other usual suspects...craig, dave and his wife, anne and raine, etc...it was nice...until corie's dinner began to ruin his life...his stomach wasn't having a good time with dinner, we suspect, and he had to go for a walk...then he decided it was best he be taken home...so away we went...i hope he feeling better...
here are a few pics from the evening that was...

g. xo

corie having a little downtime in the back of fawn's new car..before things went bad...



raine lemay..eric and anne's son...i like that guy..



val and yvonne... i mean al and fawn...



art shot of al...or val...



corie just before things went bad...



eric saying hello...



getting bad..right about.......now.

it was a great day for pie...

last week, or was it two weeks back, amanda had here big day out with me and larry...pie at savory island and a little driving around...well, today it was the turn of others for pie...camille, monica and camille's pal from montreal, david...i had gotten up early and cut keith's lawn, taken the mower back to the shop, dropped off 20 litres of strawberry jam to the union gospel mission (long story) and then headed home for a quick shower before i picked up the kids at 11.00 am...
it was fun...even if they were all kinda hungover from the jj bean staff party the night before...
the it was off to get my hair cut by k-win...love that girl...best haircut ever...up at voltage i paid off my most current debt to them and they presented me with a print they had pick-up at 'anti-social' on main street...very, very nice of them...thanks!
http://www.antisocialshop.com/home.html
they is a show there right now that's pretty cool... 'A Fine Line - Andrew Pommier and Derrick Hodgson'. i went by there today to have a look at the work there...there are a lot of great pieces..one i loved enough that i was considering buying it...big money...but then i saw the canvas had a big dent/squish mark on it...hard to explain...and i thought 'that would bug me forever...' so i had to let the thought of buying it go away...still a great piece..you should go have a look...
tonight i'm going with the fawnz and corie to a bbq over at our friend rob's place in north vancouver...i'm super tired but will do my best...and i have had a super duper headache for many hours now....good times..

oh..and i bought a couple lotto tickets...maybe after tonight i'll be able to buy all the art i want....

g. xo

david and monica outside savory island...



camille eating her omlete but thinking about pie...



monica met an older woman who told her she'd be able to finish her big sandwich because she was a big fella...huh?

early morning freakin' and good times on set...

this morning the network was heading off to halifax to visit her parents. due to all the recent bomb action and the usual airport crap, she had to be there 2 hours before her flight..then she got a message that her flight was leaving an hour earlier...so at six thirty a.m. the network was having a mini-meltdown...i don't blame her but i did my best to try and calm her down...but i was in the shower and she had called a cab and then she was gone...she made it...i knew she would...
then i headed to work to meet a teamster brother at 6:45 am...he showed up at 7:45 am...close...then..the good times just got better..i had to head up to set for the day...and i had none of my set gear with me..so i went home, got my shit and let the good times roll...
i just got home...anyhow..it was good...i'm not a huge fan of set but every once in a while i like to go and play...below are pics from the day there up in the seymour demonstration forest...on the set of Shitter.. sorry...Shooter...

have fun...

g. xo

'the shriner' came out to play today....



making movie history in the woods...



neil, an ex of my best pal fawn and good pal to my ex mishi...i like neil...i tell him stories and he seems to listen and laugh...



i made a few bombs today....



stewart bradley...old school spfx dude...i love him but he's a nutbar...

you won't be the first...

tonight after work i went to mishi's to drop off some dish washing soap...sure, so what? well, i had to buy, for the show i'm on, many, many bottles of palmolive dishwashing soap...um....30 - 5 litre bottles and 15 - 1 litre bottles...and then we didn't end up needing it...so..i have lots here..now mishi has lots...good times...
then after i did that deed i headed over to commercial drive..i know, shocker, garn on commercial drive..i went to lend my support to my pal kim sister's band, vonnegut dollhouse. check 'em out, they're on myspace...it was at a restaurant on the drive so it was very civilized and her parents were there..it was their first gig ever so i thought i should have a look..they were great...all the songs had this slightly epic edge to them with circa 60's keyboard action and many structural changes within the same song...if i had been smokin' pot, i would have been freakin' out...alas, i am a drug nerd so no pot for old garn...i'm glad i went...
and then, for reasons i won't get into because it's all so complicated..i have ended up back at the shop and now will head home...night night...

g. xo

ps..
sometimes it all comes together...as i drove back to the shop tonight my ipod gave me freedy johnston's 'lucky one' from 'can you fly' - an album that really was a watershed moment for him and then sebadoh's 'brand new love' off 'bang your head on a punk rock'...both songs perfect...both so completely different from one another...i couldn't have asked for anyhting more...

mishi gets down with the palmolive...




kim's sister rocks out...without soap...

bunnies, butterflies and a delicious shit sandwich.

hey kids...
so no report as of yet but i did have wonderful dreams last night....actually, i don't remember anything except getting up three times to go to the bathroom because i had a little too much water before bed last night...too much info? ok...

the sky was kinda cool last night so i took a few pics as i was driving home.

also the car magazine that came and took photos of larry came in the mail yesterday. only one photo of larry but i guess it's still cool that he's in there...

enjoy the pics... i love you

g. xo

bring on the green...

the rain does that..i think. and we need it. even though, this year, i am only cutting a handfull of lawns, the ones i am cutting are all brown and shitty with little glimpses of green..hopefully today and last night's rain will help a little....
it seems i have a thing lately for letting people know that they can't be dicks anymore...last night a guy, for (honestly) no reason, gave me the finger while i was coming onto the granville street bridge...to make this into a short story..i made it quite clear, once we crossed over the bridge and were stopped at a light, that that was acceptable. i think he got the point. i will not elaborate. i then went and got some groceries at choices...which was a test as well...
a woman, dressed in the yaletown uniform of yoga gear and cell phone, who was about to pop because she was bigger than a house due to her soon to be arriving kid, was talking on her cell phone to one of her pals...and let me say this..i have the mouth of a trucker to be sure but it's all about time and situation..anyhow...she was chatting at a high level using 'fuck' and 'fucking' over and over..in the middle of choices market...idiot...
anyhow..i got groceries, made some nice curry once i got home and then went to bed...and dreamt a little dream about running through the clover with the bees making honey.

have a great day.

i love you.

g. xo

all that....

...and the chest pains have returned.

good times.

g. xo

life is shit.

it's the truth.

don't let anyone tell you any differently.

g. xo

corie's new toy action...

so after months of test rides and consultations, corie finally took the plunge and bought a new mountain bike for his good times on the north shore and urban assault...he settles on the Cove Hustler...and why not? seems great...we could have only dreamt of a bike like this when we were riding the shore...five days a week on hardtails...i feel so old today...but that's one hell of a bike..

g.