fucked...

the blog shouldn't look like it does below...
it's just kinda fucked up...

go blogger..

g.

jen with one N, pie and garbs has a little nap

my pal jen goldberg, berg..? i'm pretty sure it's berg not burg...anyhow...my pal jen, who only recently told us that her name was spelled with one letter N, called me the other day and was wanting to hang out...i guess my post about people not having me very high on their list sparked some kinda interest...and this is not lost on me...and please don't misunderstand...i'm happy fot it..all sorts of people have now called and e.mailed i have been doing shit...there...anywho...jen and i hung out yesterday and i think we managed to drive around or in very 'hood in vancouver...and west van. snacks at savory island, car wash in kits, letter buying in east van, a vist to the kids at voltage, a short chat and tool/wine gum hand-off to marcy on main street, a stop at the pickle to see mishi and garbs-corie was there hanging out and the network came by as well to collect some bottled water i had for her, and more snacks, later on, at topanga with the voltage kids and mishi and garbs...
it's been a weird few times at the topanga cafe recently. all these people have been coming out of the woodwork and appearing at the topanga. one woman, marion bennett-who i have known since 1973 in prince rupert, my pal jerry and his wife-i used tio play hockey with him years ago but the last time i saw him was at the topanga many years ago, another friend, rhiannon charles was there last night with a pal of hers-who i have met but many years ago, i haven't seen rhiannon for a long, long time, a guy-joe, who used to be a waiter at a restaurant-wow-long story, anyhow, he was there last night..it seems, lately, when i go there i see people i haven't seen in years. it's weirding me out...
big day out in any case...good times....
today i may head to Boconcept to check out couches and then to emily carr to see the art sale/show...corie bought a canvas there yesterday and a t-shirt made by some artist dude...it'll all take some effort though...this rain sucks and i do have the box set of desperate housewives....

g. xo

marcy is happy to get her wine gums from england.



marcy and jen share a laugh at my expense.



the metal letters i bought on main street. just to remind me.



the garbs waits for mishi to get ready to go out.



jen eats pie at savory island.

water thieves and cameras back from the dead.

last night, while corie and i were enjoying some el presidente action at topanga, jessica told us that when judy, jessica's mom, was at safeway buying bottled water for the topanga, someone went into the back of her car and stole her water. she had loaded a couple large bottles of water into the back of her car and when she turned and put something in the front of the car, someone took the water from the back. nice. really nice. you'll get yours fuckface.
in better, and somewhat surprising news, i got a call yesterday from ritz cameras in portland. turns out that the camera i had taken in to see if it was covered by warranty, has been fixed. i was expecting a call before they fixed it asking me if i wanted to pay to have it fixed...guess not. this is the camera i had bought after i dropped mt other camera outside vig's on the network's birthday. i actually had that camera fixed as well so...i now have three digital cameras...so if you ever need to borrow one....
i told the guy at ritz cameras that i would pick it up on my way through portland in a week or so.
not bad really...ipod breaks and apple gets it done, so far anyways and my camera gets fixed. pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, good.
gonna see jen with one N later on today...she needs a snack.

it's a laundry kinda morning.

g. xo

ipod...ifucked!

yup..the little music engine that could has bitten the dust...i do, however, have 19 days left on my original warranty...good times. i think. i guess it'll all depend on if they find i broke it by misuse or sumptin'. a courrier is gonna come here, ordered by apple, take it away, they wil determine what the hel and if they find it's a probelm-all of its own, with the ipod..presto-chango, they send me a new one...actually a factory refurbished one...and i stil have another year warranty on it, due to the purchase of applecare...nice.
so, here's hoping it all goes smoothly. the woman on the phone, who was sitting in nova scotia somewhere, said if it goes out monday or tuesday, i'll have it back by the end of the month...fer sure.
here comes the test.

go apple go.

garn xo

days in, days out...

it's been an interesting couple of days here in the big city. trees falling all around us, water too shitty to drink (the truth be told it's not gona kill ya...but why take the chance right...?) and i've been hanging ut on set making rain in the rain. it's the turth. "bring up the rain..." sometimes it's so fuckin' stupid....
i spent the better part of yesterday on the fx trailer polishing up on my paper reading and checking out the inside of my eyelids...periodically. the signal i was hijacking was faint at best and left me pissed off most of the time so i just gave up. the chicken curry at lunch was good - i don't usually eat off the lunch truck but when yer bored....that and a sandwich at crafty and i was all stocked up...
the end is near so i don't care...if this show was going on for an extended period of time and i had to hang out like i have been on set and standby...i'd be a bitter man...but it's fine..i can almost see arizona from here.
corie came by the ranch and picked up his dunny...he sent me a pick of it in its new home..nice work. speakers always need a little something on top of them...
i just saw that there are more Kaws Chums on ebay...i just may have to bid...i'll be the chum king of canada soon...

i'm an idiot.

g. xo

the mighty wings and things outside my window...

from my balcony.




i have no real report...
i was a super slacker today and finally made it out to run a few errands, pay a couple of bills, drop by storm and see k-win and buy some laundry soap at london drugs. all very exciting. i came home in time, i thought, to watch the wings/canucks game at 4 pm..because i thought it was in detroit....nope...here...7 pm...i'm an idiot...then marc called and asked me if i wanted to go to the game...sure....good times...
i met him at a seedy bar and then we walked over to the game...oh the mighty wings...the score could have been worse really...bingbongo played pretty well but in the end pulled a full on canuck and let in a shitty goal. i really like marc but hardly ever see him..thanks muc...
i took a couple of shots outside my window tonight before i went to the game...they are just lovely.

garn xo

the mighty detroit red wings.




the mighty marc belke.

riel kicks it with corie dean and me plus more thoughts on...

more to what i was on about earlier. sometimes i think this life is like a movie or a dress rehearsal. i always think about 'soon' or 'later', which is such bullshit.
i will go to ????? soon. i will do ???? soon. or do it later. i'm not sure where it came from but i do it. sure, i get stuff done. work, play some hockey, drive around aimlessly but the real important stuff never gets done. get in shape, work on a story i've been writing, get a job i may actually like, etc. the coffee and cereal shop. the next great canadian novel. (right) and other stuff.
anyhow. today, for some reason i have decided to try and finish a story i have been working on while i am on my little roadtrip. there are two actually. we'll see. i do feel like finishing them. if for no other reason than i'll stop thinking about them. and can out them to bed.

on to bigger and better things. i had just put a tomato pie in the oven when corie called and asked if i wanted to go to Shabosen, i really have no idea how to spell it, for dinner. an asian combo place on south granville. i say combo because they have japanese and korean food....maybe even some chinese...i had been playing e/mail tag with riel as well so called her and invited her along...i thought corie may enjoy her razor wit and charm...good times...




after dinner i went out to tony's shop to try and make the shelf thing for andrew at topanga. i really have to remind myself before i start such things. i am a really bad carpenter. really. terrible. i know how to do it but get all hurry-hurry and also don't have a dado blade etc, and it ends up looking like shit. so i tossed it away in the big dumpster outside his shop. awesome.
i need a vacation and i may be getting it sooner than later. turns out i'm not working tomorrow and i don't know when i am. i feel the axe coming...soon. i could be on the raod very soon...

here's hoping.

g. xo

careful what you wish for....

you just may get it. i think i may have. although i never really wished for it really. i just had ideas of what was and is good for me and really, others around me. i can be a dick, not on purpose, and a bit of an asshole, again, not on purpose, and maybe i have made my own bed. i like being by myself, and don't mind it so much but i do like the people i have in my life. but i can only take so much at any given time. i have made it clear, i suppose, that i can not do certain things. i can not have dinner with more than 6 people, it drives me crazy. i can not shmooze anymore. it makes no sense. wrap parties are out, out, out. i don't wanna go to earls, cactus club, sammy j. peppers or alike. so in the end, i don't get invited to dinners. i don't get invited to parties. i don't get invited to people's homes for dinner. and i don't think it's because people hate me, they just figure i won't accept the invitation. don't take this the wrong way, it just is how it is. i have made it happen i think. my fault.
i have a great deal of friends i care about a great deal. most of whom i never see due to work schedules, people's love lives get in the way, kids and other such things. that and, when i get a little time off work, i hit the road by myself and drive aimlessly around in search of stuff...burritos, toys, books, and open nothingness. there are people i miss because of this and now have no idea how to rekindle that original friendship. maybe it doesn't matter or need to exist anymore.
so what am i saying? nothing. really. nothing.
i guess maybe i would mind being invited to things sometmes. maybe i'd come. go to a dinner thingy. maybe not. maybe disregard everything i've just written. i love you all. i just want to point out that i am not perfect. i am old, fat, grumpy, jaded, bitter and a whole host of other lovely things. i am also, giving, loving, caring, helpful, a good driver, handy, and in certain cases the best pal you could ever have. so be it.
have a great sunday. i may go make some shelves for the topanga cafe. they need them. and i know how to make them.
either that or i'll stay home and watch some dvd's and eat tomato pie.

good times.

g. xo

50,000 fuckin' idiots!

garbs gets down.



today i stayed close to home because kramer was coming over to help me put the dryer back together...or i helped him help me. all in all it's a done deal. i can once again dry my clothes. thanks kramer! you're a good man.
after kramer left i headed down to granville island to see the garbs...it was slow down there today due to the rain so it wasn't so bad...had a coffee and then had to get the hell off the island...i had had a call earlier in the day from my long lost pal aisha-who used to be my neighbour but split to go fall in love, get married and have a kid etc...well, it would seem a couple of those things have gone away...she was suppose to call me in the morning but was ut with the girls last night and called around 2 pm to say she had only just gotten up at 1 pm...i may hear from her later...but maybe not...i suspect we'll see each other soon...just not today.
marcy called yesterday as well and was to borrow a saw and drill but i haven't heard anything so....maybe not on that count as well....i have it all in a bag ready to go if she still needs it...(see just called and said she's been putting it off all day and will get the drill and saw sometime soon....)
reil and i played e.mail tag today but i think she's all booked-up for the next while so i won't be seeing her smilin' face either anytime soon...i'm at the bottom of everyone's list seemingly....
the garbs and mishi are off to lolita's tonight with pam and tobe...i like that place...i haven't see pam and tobe in what seems like months and months...we're all getting old and the older you get the less you see your pals...it's the truth. and then you wonder...whatever....anyhow...i'm sure the dinner will be awesome..i've only been there once with julia...it was good.
then on my way home i got caught in the traffic jam after the bc lions game. 50,000 fucking idiots! who watches that stupid fuckin' game? the CFL? the retarded brother of the NFL! i know, i know...it's a better game, more exciting...blah, blah, blah! they know they suck. games on saturdays instead of sundays because they know they can't compete with the NFL. no one would watch it if they had the choice betwen a CFL game on tv and a NFL game..better or not..people love the NFL...better coveragem better game, more exciting and the best players. blitering hayseeds watch both but more of them watch the NFL.
anyhow...they clogged up my 'hood with there fans heading back home to surrey and langley and beyond.
ok...i'm heating up a tomato pie and will eat it all alone like the loser i am...lol. actually, it's not that funny really.
i need to get the fuck out of this town. and it is a town.

g. xo

will ferrell, john law and my pal andre

interesting night out with corie. we decided to go see the new will ferrell movie 'stranger than fiction' so i trucked over to tinseltown and bought tickets beforehand and met corie at wild rice for a drink and a snack before we went to the show. while in the pop corn line i/we realized we were stading right next to andre 3000 from Outkast...now normally i don;t care really about celebs but...when you're standing next to a guy who wrote and performed probably the biggest selling single in the last ten years...pretty cool.
afterwards we came back here and i gave corie the mexican beaded dunny he had bought off me ages ago and then he decided we should go to topanga for margaritas...um..ok. i called the garbs and he came along for cake..of shich there was none so he had an empinada...there were only a few people still there when we got there, one of which was don bull...we chatted with him, made fun of him and then he left...there were some gilrs having a birthday party of sorts over in the corner and by us was a woman sitting by herself...were laughung and carrying on and then she got up and started getting her stuff together to leave. i told her i was sorry that we were driving her way,..she said no.. and i said i was sorry and said she should join us for a margarita..she declined and said she had to go and mentioned that it was her first time there...i tried to convince her to stay but she fled the scene...
then, a few minutes later, she came back in the topanaga and joined us for a beverage...turns out she actually works on granville island right near the pickle...as a painter for the arts club..we had a few laughs and sent her on her way...it was funny...penelope from winnipeg. i think she may be a bit of a hippy.



we drove corie home and then the garbs and i headed across the granville street bridge towards his place...then...the roadblock...a real, cops toting booze breath machines road block...uh-oh...i was fine and told the woman copper that i had had a drink at the topanga...she asked me, very nicely, to oull over and that i would be giving a breathe sample...good times...i blew 000...nothing...nada...good times indeed....i have never done that test before ever...and i passed forst time out...where's my gold star?

now i'm sleepy...night night..

g. xo

chum army

my latest toy purchase...i had four of these already..so why not four more? part of my retirement plan...i think.

i'm an idiot.

g. xo

the last cuts, garbs gets wack and the more el presidente...

today was the end of the lawn order season...a last cut at keith, bruna, laurie and al's....al has decided that a large trampoline in his backyard is the way to go...but it makes the cutting of the grass a little hard...i wish we had pictures of the garbs holding the trampoline up while i ducked under to cut..and then i did the same for him...it was a good time...



the garbs and i also hit the new bosa foods for a sandwich and a san pellegrino...nice. i love that place...79 cents for a drink and a big sandwich for $2.95...these are the good times...
took the garbs through the easy wash and talked corie into doing the same..then something happened to the garbs...his face became all twisted up...something that could only be fixed by a el presidente tamale...we had to stop by the network's place first thiough to make sure the door we had made for her upstairs fit the opening at the top of her stairs..i think it'll be fine...her cat will be pissed off when it can't get up there anymore...
the tamale seemed to fix him up...mishi was the only one not to go el presidente...she'll learn.

good times...

garn xo


garbs is facinated by the easy wash...



corie and garbs inspect the job...



garbs face loses all function...




the good times continue with the el presidente...

cold out? nope, let's eat ice cream...

last night i came home and made myself some butter chicken and then called up the garbs and mishi and asked them if they wanted ice cream...asking the garbs if he wants ice cream is a bit of a rhetorical question but...i ask anyways...as i was about to leave i decided to call julia and see if she was up for some ice cream...she was so i grabbed her first and we headed over and got the kids...

no report here really...just don't let the weather make you not eat ice cream...

g. xo

done deal, leaf raking and family photos...

all in a day's work i tell ya.
brent phoned me the other day and asked if Lawn Order could do a drive-by and take care of his lawn..he had raked it low and behold it was long underneath all the leaves...surprise..!!! no problemo. i couldn't get over there until today and, of course, more leaves had fallen so i was raking guy and lawn cutting guy....as i was raking richrad finch-he of richard finch tiles, and good pal of mine, came over from across the street. he was/is doing an instalation across the street so we had a chat and then mina came home and it was a big love-in and she asked if brent had been out because they needed some tile work down...blah, blah, blah...anyhow...i raked and cut the shum-belke lawn and it looks great..or at least better than it did before i showed up.



good times...
had lunch today with fawn. she works nearby now at the world famous VANOC...i took her to a sandwich joint and she was nice enough to buy me lunch...tuna fish and a soup...nice work. afterwards i drove over to the new Bosa foods that just opened very close by...it's awesome...pics to come...pastas, deli, olives, cheeses, etc...good stuff...
i may have pulled the trigger on a reasonably biggish deal in the toy world today...we'll see...part one of, hopefully, a few with this one guy...fingers are crossed...details later.

have fun...

g. xo

shit...wrong exit...

today, after getting to work, corie and i got the call that we had to go and help eugene on set...so we headed out there, after stopping by my place and grabing my set bag, but took the wrong exit and were late getting there..and joel was not happy with me...he actually grabbed my hoodie, not hard but enough, and let me know i was late...and to not be late again....i was late, it was my fault but i had some bad directions too...oh well... it's fine.
i wish i had something to report but i don't really..its been a wierd couple of weeks and i need not say too much about any of it but suffice to say...we are without two people who are or were only a couple of degrees away from me, and they were loved by the ones closest to them and i will do my best to make the ones they've left behind as happy as i can...god bless them.

here are some pics from set today...

g xo

we're shooting in west van at a cabin...a fake movie made cabin...



the view from set....

all the comforts of home.

done..



i may not leave the house today. maybe. that's the truth. it doesn't happen often but today, shitty drainy sunday, i may stay here. i went shopping, finally, yesterday and picked-up most of what i need to survive the week. so why leave here? doesn't make any sense really.
i have coffee, 'curb' dvd's, willy's book-which i actually just finished and will pass along to anyone who would like to read it. think loveable losers who've grown up in reno, nevada and have really little to live for but deep down have hope of something better. when i read it i had visions of juliette lewis playing the main woman in it, and every bar patron in every bar in gerlach, nevada playing extras. and the main dudes played by 'my name is earl' lead jason lee and his chubby co-star...except earl is a drunk and living in a hotel in reno with little heat in the dead of winter. good times...anyhow..i need not leave the house today-except i'd really like to see 'the departed'...i have been thinking that same thought for weeks now. and now as hayden sings 'bad as it seems' on my stereo i'm rethinking this staying home thing...i'm so confused.
played hockey last night and after felt as though my hockey career was over-again. i am so affected by what others say. i know i am not the player i was, hell, i'm 42 and fat and old...i just try and play smart now...but a player on my team, someone i thought was my pal-maybe not, was insulting my play...and i feel maybe i should pack it in and head to the gym and maybe come back when i'm more ready or not at all..we'll see. at least at the gym no one's on you. getting old sucks.
i am looking forward to leaving here in a few weeks and heading south, again. portland, s.f., santa cruz, etc..all the usual places. i will, hopefully, end up in tucson, AZ visiting my good friend renee. she has a job at the university of arizona and i can camp out on her couch for a while and just hang out...day trip here and there...i may head to NYC as well to visit monica and diana...we'll have to see...i have no real agenda except to see renee...there have also been thoughts of totonto to visit bill baker.
ok,..shit..now smog is playing...i need to get out of here or actually get up and pick some different music on the ipod...

have fun...

garn xo

kramer came by the other day to look at my dryer...what a good guy. love him like a brother.



now my dryer looks like this...




ps..i'm calling in all the cd's and dvd's i have out there... i just need to account for them. some are to passed on to others, some i want to sell or trade..marc, corie, garbs, brent, jo....others i've forgotten about....

willy's novel comes across the ocean...

my, sometime, pal and musician willy vlautin - he of richmond fontaine fame, had his first novel published recently in england...a year before its release in the US...weird since he's american. faber and faber, the largest publishing house in england is the imprint and he's gotta be pretty happy with that...anyhow. mishi managed to pick me up a copy in london and bring it to me so i didn't have to wait a year to read it.
the tale of two brothers in reno nevada and their shitty low brow life...i'll let ya know more as i read it...
the rain is falling hard today and it seems like the best time to get a start on this book...what the hell else am i gonna do?
kramer came by and we determined that the motor in my dryer is fucked so i'll have to buy a new one on monday...good times. i have some pics of kramer and the mess we made today later on...i love that guy.

have fun. i'll be here. reading. doing nothing. wishing i was in arizona.

g. xo

mishi returns, king ken comes home and the el presidente becomes law...

mishi shows off the new frog pin the network gave her for her birthday...



today, after finally prying myself out of my house..(when the rain and darkness comes and i don't really have to be anywhere it's tough to get outta the house....) i headed out to tsawwassen to pick-up a couple of things in point roberts and go by issy's...i thought issy was out of town but when i got there he was home so we had a little visit. she handed over a couple of tomato pies and away i went to point bob...



after stashing away the vitamins the network had ordered i paid the full pull on the taxes i had to pay for the new grey king ken i got off of ebay...and what a beauty...no scratches, dents, perfect box, all the toenails...nice.



at topanga tonight three of us had our dinners 'el presidente' style...when corie and i were at topanga the other nght with don we decided that any dish now topped with five prawns was now called having it 'el presidente' style...after the burrito in los gatos that has the prawns on top...the tamale el presidente was given the name 'the fidel' but for those who hate the commies, 'the nixon' can be subbed in instead...the garbs was a champ tonight and had the fidel and two flautas as well...good work.



my good pal jane, who used to work at the topanga, wanted me to meet her pal riel...she's a comedian and we've been playing phone/e.mail tag and finally met up today for a coffee....if she's half as funny on stage as she is in person i'd say she's a killer...i think she's a smarty pants as welll...not too much is getting by her...

i think kramer's coming over tomorrow to fix my dryer and then it's hockey night in canada for corie and me. i also need to get some groceries..i have nothing here...nothing.

have fun...

g. xo

sure, i like the killers single but....

..i love the new 'the hold steady' album.
so shit i do.
last year i bought the hold steady's "separation sunday" and thought it was a turn down the right road for once...spoken vocals coupled with classic style guitar rock and just enough east coast ausbury park...stories told in song of the shit that makes a city a city...or something. girls, drugs, broken arms and broken dreams...anyways..
when i was collecting my booty for doing the zulu records recycling i was happy to know i'd be taking home the new 'the hold steady' album...man...imagine bruce springsteen made an album today that had the feel of 'greeting from ausbury park' and the fire of 'born to run' and just a little billy joel..i kid you not, and you'd have this album..an album with the feel of that era but mad now...and i mean, for god's sake springsteen hasn't done shit in 20 years bit you can't deny the greatness or importance of 'born to run' or 'darkness on the edge of town'... even if the saxaphone sounds dated now. poor clarence.
i love this album. i've probbly described it poorly because i hate billy joel but...or at least what he became...
you should buy this album. the hold steady. boys and girls in america.



another great day on set...i was helper dude again...mopped up some blood, make some rain, ate some crafty, had a pumpkin desert...one of the P.A.'S emily was helping out...i've been trying to convince her to get the hell out of film...run emily run...




i think i'm off tomorrow...maybe joel will call me and ask why i'm not there...we'll see...if she doesn't call i'll be off to the topanga to fix the outdoor heater...and whatever else they needed fixed...i need to cut some lawns too...

have fun...

g. xo

fog, blood and treats i should never eat...

eric does his best peewee herman.



just another day on set eating craft service goodness...i am so fuckin' weak. i used to be great at avoiding the crap food at the craft service table...today i was so weak...pop tarts, chocolate, little mini quiche things, etc... shitty....i'll be paying tomorrow...oh well.
it was exciting today in the world of film...i got to deal with stuff from the last film, shitter, the show that won't go away..and then blow smoke and fog and deal with blood on this new action, feature...addicted...corie was the blood king today on set...and we'll be abck at it tomorrow...i'm giddy with anticipation.

off to bed now...at least the topanga has heat...

g. xo

famous dave kershaw handling the dolly cart duties. we determined today that we've known each other for at least 23 years....and look where we both ended up...yikes. that's joel pouring blood in under the camera...



'cause mr. baldnutz says so..that's why!



al kicks ass in his respirator on set...



eric looks on as corie surveys the action...eric just wants a hooley...