~*...another good friday...*~

randnorm friday event in black rock city 2005

critical tits 10th annual bike ride
women and girls are invited to join the coolest event - the critical tits bicycle ride. meet at the man with bikes and painted chests. for women and girls only please. hosted by: the women of roar shack blotter, inc.

photo by the witness

randnorm mind grenade

"all great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning." - albert camus

normdate 4.14.6

after a brief four hour rest, i awoke to enjoy coffee and breakfast with brett and laura before they headed off to work. it is so good to be around close friends again. the relationships i've created and nurtured over the past four months have been amazing, but there is nothing like looking at your own history in the faces of your friends that you have loved for years.

brett only worked a half day, and returned early afternoon to enjoy some good friday herbalisms and the company of the wise. we packed up a bag lunch and headed to jehrico beach to be closer to the ocean and throw a frisbee. spring is in full force here in vansterdam.

the ocean brings out such majik and wonder, especially with the coastal mountains creating the backdrop.

gawd i love throwing a frisbee. the season is finally upon us. actually, in vancouver the season lasts all winter, and outdoors too! a little rain ain't ever stopped a frisbee enthusiast from tossing a disc.


owen and i chilled out by the ocean as i shared some calligraphy techniques with him. our next stop was the home of my friend dawn who lives on commercial drive. public transit was going to be a bit more of a shock to my system than i thought.

as i looked out the windows of the bus as we cruised down commercial drive, i noticed a bunch of hippies outside of joe's cafe banging on drums. but they weren't just any hippies, they were kutenai hippies! owen and i jumped off the bus immediately and enjoyed the company of our friends joel, skye, luke, and brett (same brett who came with us). it was the kutenai korner on kommercial doing things that are against the law in nelson: banging on drums and playing hacky sack in downtown nelson is a no-no according to the po-po.



the sun was setting in the distance, the rhythm of life was being played by the kutenai kollektiv, and i danced freely on the korner. faeries and fools has brought many people to this place, and many of us were hanging out on this particular corner together, celebrating.



lori and jada showed up soon after with oscar and mackaya. kutenai mommies are the most beautiful goddesses.


dawn showed up on her unicycle, and took owen and i back to her place a few blocks away. i love the reaction dawn gets when she rides past people on her unicycle. it brings out such a fun and lighthearted joy in strangers.


i love how dawn and her roomie ariel have set up their place. each chakra colour is represented by hanging material draped across their living room. there is no sofa, no television, just open space that allows them to spin hula hoops in their living room, and contact juggle.

dawn is an obsessive compulsive contact juggler, and she's very good at what she does. its almost as if the sphere never moves, she just flows around it. her addiction has gotten so out of control that the vancouver police have had to get involved and crack down on this outbreak of contact juggling disorder. click here to see the stolen secutiry tapes from within the riverview correctional facility.

owen has been learning the joys of contact juggling over the past few months. being around a master contact juggler like dawn is an honour, especially when she is such a wealth of knowledge who enjoys sharing.


we left dawn's place to meet up with our hippie bus as they were heading to the coast tonight. i am staying at brett and laura's place and would join up with them tomorrow. once again, it was perfekt to spend time with a good friend that i have loved for years. i love you dawn.



randnorm snippet from right meow...or right then...8:29pm pst:

right meow, i am sitting on the 99b-line ubc bus on my way to brett and laura's. i arrived in vancouver this morning @ 4:20am.

i just left dawn, and the crew of the hippie bus that i drove into town with. they're heading to the sunshine coast now, or at least on the 9pm ferry.

i can't believe i'm in vancouver. even weirder, i can't believe that being in a city feels so wierd and foregin to me...i've only been away for 4 months.

there are so many people, so many lights, so much traffic, just more! more! its such a contrast to the way things are in the kutenais. i lived this city life for so many years, and i never thought i'd see the city life as something foreign to me.

and yet amongst all the people, the pollution, the business, the rat race, there are angels. i just came across two kind souls at the bus stop on commercial drive who had a cart full of food that they were giving away: bags of raost beef sandwiches, pop, oranges, bananas, chocolate, macaroni salad. this is what they do on friday nights, perform random acts of kindness by feeding anoyone who needs it.

this whole trip to the coast has been sponsored by others who wanted me here. i had no money at the beginning of this week to get me here, and yet here i am. the universe has conspired to get me here. thank you owen. thank you jonas. your sponsorship has brougt me here. looks like my stop is next... /random snippet

i gave my friend will a call to let him know i was in town. he showed up at brett and laura's around 10pm and we went out for drinks. aaah, to be in the company of good friends again. will married his japanese school girl yukiko last july here in vancouver. i was so glad to be out here for their wedding. and now yukiko is pregnant! congratulations will and yukiko. i'm so excited and happy for you.

will and i enjoyed each other's company over a few beers at milestones. there's always something to talk about with will...we both like to talk ;) i love you brother.

its good to be back in the 604. tomorrow i make it to the sunshine coast for faeries and fools. i can't wait!

~*...normaste...*~

~*...from the koots to the koast...and a dark roast...*~

randnorm thursday event in black rock city 2005


3rd annual billion bunny march
6:00pm-9:00pm
gather from 4-6 at angoraphobia to bunnify and prepare. at 6pm. march up to the cafe to read our manifesto. then march out to the man to celebrate the bunnification of the universe!!! afterparty at angoraphobia with libations and music. hosted by angoraphobia @ feedback loop and 9:30

photo by the manatee love society

randnorm mind grenade

human ingenuity may make various inventions...but it will never devise any inventions more beautiful, nor more simple, nor more the purpose than nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous. ~ leonardo da vinci

more mind grenades here

normdate 4.13.6

last night, after feasting on mutton ribs, owen and i finished creating our content for the kissing space we are setting up at faeries and fools this weekend...brought to you by the kutenai kissing kollektiv.

MMmmm Kissing...The Kootenay Kissing Kollective is dedicated to the Creation of a safe environment to explore the endless joys of Kissing. This is a mischievous mission to promote puckering, lip locking, tongue tickling and sharing the soft sensual lips of a fine Faerie and/or Fool. Become Galaktik kissing Banditz and assist us in the Bunnification of the Universe!...one Kiss at a time.

hooray for reklaiming the akronym KKK!!! we even created our own galaktik kissing banditz glyph by combining both of our mayan glyphs resulting in the ahau glyph, and then we bunnified it with kisses.

+
(world bridger) + (white wizard)

=

+
ahau + bunnified kissing

=

my kissing banditry has taken on new fnorms ;) teehee! bunnify the universe!!!!

after my volunteer shift at the food cupboard, i headed down to oso negro to meet up with my faeries and fools krew. as i waited for them to arrive, i enjoyed a dark roast (mmmm) and an incredible conversation with a man named travis. he was 22yrs old and was born and raised in nelson. he has never lived anywhere else. he was nelson.

not having any other place to compare nelson to makes it difficult for those living here to rekognize how blessed they are to live here. i was honoured to share with travis my perspektive on the kutenais, having come from the largest city in canada to live here. there is a powerful healing energy that is captured amongst the valleys of the kutenai mountains. and as sir isaac newton said, for every action action there is an equal but opposite reaction. there is a deep and powerful vortex of dark energy that is also captured here in the kutenais, and it is just as easy to get caught up in it as it is to be healed by it. there are those who have learned this lesson after living here their entire lives. there are those of us who rekognize it right away, those of us who rekognize that all things contain light and dark. yin and yang.

thank you travis for sharing with me your perspektive on life in the kutenais. i know i expanded what you believe is possible by shattering your definintion of the norm. you've done the same for me.

owen and brett showed up a few minutes before ali and scotty arrived. our sunshine coast caravan crew was present and ready to go...or so i thought.


we headed uphill to rendezvous with lori. turns out we were all going to squish into her van and head to the coast together. our faeries and fools krew had just increased to 9 people, including lori, her 3yr old son oscar, jada and her 3yr old son mackaya.

lori's little canada van was about to get very full and packed full of hippies. pure hippie bus.

despite our attempts to convince him that this trip was worth it, scotty decided to stay behind making our krew of hippies eight strong. it was a tight fit, but we managed. it was 4:20pm when we left nelson.

the drive through the kutenai mountains is one of the most beautiful journeys i have ever experienced. endless mountains covered in snow and trees, capturing clouds and energy in their valleys.





did i mention how much energy two three year old boys have? they are directly connected to the source, that is for sure. and yet despite their extreme embracement of the root source, i was able to fall asleep.

we stopped in osoyoos (home of canada's only desert) where i enjoyed my first cup of tim horton's coffee since...holy shit, i can't remember the last time i had a cup of tim's. i've been enjoying the fresh locally roasted beans of oso negro for the past few months i had forgotten what tim horton's crack cocaine coffee tasted like. man was it good.

no, there isn't a tim hortons in nelson. there are no mcdonald's here either, and the 7-11 actually opens at 7 and closes at 11.


this is what i looked like the last time i was in osoyoos, august 2000, on my way to shambalah. there was 25 more pounds of norm to love back then *g* large and in charge ;)

i passed out in the van again and awoke in kitsilano, vancouver, at 4:20am. thank you lori, ali, and jada for driving and getting us here safely.

owen and i were staying at my friend brett's place in kits, the place where i laid my head the first few weeks of my journey at the beginning of this year. thank you brett for opening up your home to owen and i. its good to be back here in vancouver.

~*...normaste...*~

~*...meeting the future...*~

randnorm monday event in black rock city 2005

god's bitches
monday - sunday @ dusk
each night at dusk roving whores will ferry the faithful toward the temple seeking the redemption that only a templewhore can offer. hosted by: templewhore @ fetish and 4:30

photo by jon ross

randnorm mind grenade

a wise man once said nothing - anonymous

normdate 4.10.6

owen came by early this morning to begin our last monday nelson adventure together. owen's time here in nelson is coming to an end. this weekend he is heading to the sunshine coast for faeries and fools, the most incredible costume carnival and dance party on the magical land of crystal creek at the foot of the most diverse mushroom forest in north america, mount elphinstone. i would love to go to the coast, but i don't have enough cash to make the journey. that's alright though, whitewater is opening up for four final daze of riding next weekend, so i'll just shred hard for one last time.

we headed over to andrea's place to pay her a visit, and meet her new baby boy. it was great to return to the place where owen and i called home for half of this winter. it was even more exciting to meet abilash, andrea and akkal's new baby boy. abilash is nepalese for "blessing".


contrary to andrea claiming that abilash was being the most grumpy he has ever been since he was born, this baby boy was quiet and well behaved. he was born into a home full of love. the mobile above his head is adorned with ornaments made by those of us that love andrea and akkal.


holding abilash was an incredible feeling. he is so small, so precious, such a treasure that needs protection, nurturing, and love. i couldn't help but remember what my friend lindsay said about her baby: there is no more beautiful a physical expression of love than a child.



this is the family pikcha that andrea, akkal, and abilash sent out to everyone. i think the expression on akkal's face says it all...


after the lunch, owen and i headed over to cottonwood falls.

owen was enjoying his newly gifted flute.


the sign outside the ford dealership screamed to be photochopped...


apres photochop...


almost all the snow and ice had melted at the falls, and the water was rushing down with incredible power.



i love chillin by the falls. hearing the water rush by me is therapeutic, it is zen. it is a reminder to me that the universe is always in motion.

i'm going to miss hanging with owen. his company made my winter here so memorable.

owen really wanted me to experience faeries and fools, and recognizing that i can't afford to go, he offered to sponsor my trip to the coast. so now it looks like i'm heading to the coast next weekend. thank you owen for making it possible.


time to start planning my outfit, and making our idea of creating a safe place to enjoy the endless joys of kissing at the party a reality. teehee!


what do you mean you've never heard of this tea? its super well known! *lol*

~*...normaste...*~

~*...powder to the people...*~

randnorm sunday event in black rock city 2005

sunday gospel music service
10:00am
bring your tambourine, your hallelujah's, your voice, and your dancing shoes. an ecumenical/spiritual sermon will follow. glide ensemble, oakland interfaith gospel choir and singers from brc! hosted by: brc performance center

photo by anthony peterson

randnorm mind grenade

if you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits - anonymous

more mind grenades here

normdate 4.9.6

to our surprise there was 10cm of beautiful new snow covering all of whitewater this morning. powder day in april! and no lineups...another reminder why this place is the best in the world.



i didn't think i'd be making fresh tracks in april, especially seeing as it was raining yesterday afternoon, shattering my season saying of "if its raining in town, its snowing at whitewater."

before norm...


after norm...


it was still warm enough to ride without a jacket on...and it was beach weekend, so shorts were in order too ;)


the slush from yesterday was now covered in a beautifully soft layer of snow, making it less sticky and very forgiving.


with frederic's camera, i decided to do a little action filming. this is me riding down motherload at whitewater. extreme!

the costumes for beach weekend were still out in full force, despite the overcast weather (and powder). two jamaicans...one of the jewish variety, the other of the chinese variety.


and our prayers from the day before were answered...girls riding in bikins *drool*


thanks to my friend kiera, i was also able to join in on the bikini fun.

i know, i know...a red kung fu top with a pink bikini top is a fashion faux pas, but sometimes i shatter the norm ;)

at 2pm, everyone gathered at the bottom of motherload for the annual whitewater slush cup: attempt to ski/ride across a pool of freezing cold water. the crowd was dressed and ready to watch 30 brave souls attempt to cross the frozen whitewater pool.



did i mention how many kids there are in nelson and at whitewater? lots of babies, and mothers taking turns watching each other's children while they go make some runs. community.


given the amount of space to ride up to the pool, no one was able to get enough speed to cross it...good thing there was someone to pull you out in the (guaranteed) event that you fall.



there were a few brave souls who had the brilliant idea to hike up the run and get more speed. they were rewarded with a successful crossing.


a snowboarder earns his bragging rights here.


a skier makes failure look fun.

the jump at the start of the pool, though not necessary, was so much fun...at least it was fun watching people fly off of it. i watched people pull backflips, or attempt to, and a badass 540 rodeo. the caliber of riders here is siiiick!

i watched a guy pull a front flip crossing a cat track! nucking futz!

the band playing in the lodge today was a woman singing with a guitarist, drummer, and bassist. they were pretty good, but not as fun as the 5 piece marimba band they had here yesterday. today's band didn't really make me want to stay and dance, so after a quick rest in the lodge we ended our beach weekend extravaganze at whitewater.

today might very well have been the last time i ride this season. whitewater is open next weekend from friday to monday (yay easter), but i'm going to see if i can make enough money to go to the sunshine coast for the fairies and fools festival. if i can't afford to go, i'll just ride for four daze...either way, i win!

this is the difference 1000m in elevation can do for snow conditions:

whitewater this morning


rosemont hill, nelson, after an epic day of spring riding


if today was my last day of riding, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the best place in the world to ride, and i rode it hard!

EXTREME is my default setting.

~*...normaste...*~