Saturday, April 22, 2006

~*...the valhalla house...*~

randnorm friday event in black rock city 2005

3rd annual romp of the playa hookers
5:00pm-7:00pm
slap on your bigggest wigs and boobs and join emu on our annual chaos causing romp(age) through brc. all genders and sexual (dis)orientations celebrated. all pimps, gigolos, johns, janes, and madames warmly welcomed. hosted by: avalon synapse station @ 7:30 and catharsis

photo of tassy and halcyon by ken ketchum

randnorm mind grenade

the object of waging war is to always be in a better position to fight another war - 1984, george orwell

normdate 4.21.6

i spent most of today updating my blog. holy shit blogging my life takes as much time as living it. i've got to find a proper balance. if only there was a way to attach a micro camera to a pair of glasses so that i could broadcast my life in real time, eliminating my need to sit in front of a computer and remember what i did...instead you could just tune in and see what i'm doing. the best parts of my life aren't recorded in my scrapbooks or here on my blog. the people i meet and the interactions we share in that moment are even more fascinating than words or pikchaz could ever capture. but the truth is always distorted by the presence of a camera. i wonder how people would feel knowing that you are being broadcast live on a website. thanks for listening to my brain fart.


dena, myself, genny, rob and pete at shambalah 2000...i was almost 30lbs heavier in that pik than i am now.

i met up with anke and frederic at the rez avoir for a drink. it is frederic's last friday night in nelson. i ran into my friend jess at the rez, a cutie who was in my casi level 1 course in february. i keep some beautiful people around me.


it was free cover at fluid, so anke and i headed down there to do some dancing and frederic went home to get some rest. the beats at fluid were alright, it wasn't really that packed.

i came across a guy in the smoking room at fluid who said that he saw me at faeries and fools the week before. he commented on the flashing light sticks i had on my arms at the party. he said that they were too bright, and made it difficult for people (read him) to approach me. he then proceeded to ask me how many batteries the lights took, and that they were enough to give someone a seizure when they were flashing. he said he didn't like the lights, i told him i fuckin love them! i thanked him for judging me because i was too bright. i told him that if he was willing to judge me based on what i was wearing before he even knew my name, then he did me a favour, because i have no time for people like that in my life. actually, people like that are a waste of my time. then i thanked him for coming up to me and saying hi. sometimes, even hippies shun ideas that make them scared and uncomfortable.

the after party was being held at the valhalla house. i had never been there, but had heard lots about it. i was excited to go.

we got a ride with a guy named andrew to the valhalla house at 6mile, but not before we were pulled over by the cops for totally going through a stop sign. surprisingly enough we only got a wanring. funny, because on our drive back from whitewater on the last day of riding, jonas got pulled over doing 89 in a 50 zone and he only got a warning. the presence of a dredi can change things...yah, whatever ;)

the valhalla house is 6miles from the big orange bridge on the north shore of nelson. i'm not sure how many people live there, but it has always been known as the party house. they hold after parties there often, and charge $10 cover! thank you anke for taking care of my admission.

the place was huge and right on the north shore of the lake. there were tonnes of people shaking their asses off inside to some phat beatz provided by some dj that i don't know. beer was being sold from the kitchen for $3.

the back patio was full of smokers, and a hot tub! it had been so long since i was out so late dancing, and it felt good. i got to see the party side of this town, something that i haven't been tuning into since i got here mainly because i have no money and have been snowboarding instead. this town parties hard...really hard! i can see how easy it would be to get sucked into the partying and drug scene here, and have it consume you.

we left the party at 6am, tired and satisfied. we hitched a ride with someone who was heading back into town from the party. its so easy to hitch a ride in this town.

sorry, camera battery died :( i wish i had more batteries with me because the sunrise above the lake was beautiful from the valhalla house. so instead, here's a pik of b.o.b. (big orange bridge).

and another one...


thanks anke for exploring the party scene here in nelson, another reason why this place kicks ass!

p.s. my pikcha archive has finally been updated! click here to see the best winter of my life.

~*...normaste...*~

Thursday, April 20, 2006

~*...happy 4/20...*~

randnorm thursday event in black rock city 2005

make your own fucking podcast

thursday & friday, 12:00pm-1:30pm
a class on making your own podcast. we'll cover all the bases - what gear to buy, what software to use, what hosts are appropriate and also answer any of your questions. hosted by: radio free valhalla @ bi-polar and 4:30


randnorm mind grenade

i object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. ~ mahatma gandhi

normdate 4.20.6

i've said it already, light and dark flows through all things. the high concentration of healing energy in the kutenais is balanced out by an ugly and dark vortex of energy that is also cradled here amongst the valleys of the selkirk mountain range. last night i came face to face with the darkness of nelson, and one of the ways it manifests itself.

last night, two radiant goddesses that i know got physical with each other. there is never a valid excuse to raise your fist against another sister, and yet there i was witnessing how anger and frustration manifests itself in violent acts.

we are better than that. we can choose not to be violent. we can choose to rise up and address issues without throwing punches. if you are reading this girls, i love you. let us heal each other instead of hurt each other.

i woke up beside two goddesses this morning (sorry, no randy story to back it up). after an intense evening of drama and dark energy, it was refreshing to meet a new and sunny day, especially when there are two beautiful women lying next to me.

after breakfast at the cornerhouse cafe, i made it to the nelson food cupboard for my volunteer shift. surprisingly it wasn't really that busy today. that was alright with me. i headed over to jonas and frederic's place so we could chill and celebrate 4/20 together.



today is stoner's new year. it is 4/20 all day!

what is 4:20? high times gives you the skinny here.

the holy smoke was opening up their cafe today, so we decided to head there to ring in the new year. in celebration of 4/20, coffee was free! schweet. they were also selling fatter grams of weed today at the smoke. for $12 i got a kootenay gram.


where else can you drink free coffee, buy weed over the counter, and buy the seeds that grew that weed as well? lets just say that the amount of joints that were smoked at 4:20 were not only huge, but in plentiful supply.

nelson has always been known for the best weed in north america. people have been flocking to the kutenais for decades in search of the best marijuana. the town has agreed that its better to have a place where people can buy the best weed over the counter than it is to have hippies on the street corner peddling weed to tourists. makes sense to me.


i was happy to see that my crane made it through the winter and is still hanging from the tree in front of the smoke.

annihilated from smokin the best weed, we headed down to lakeside park where we watched the sun set, tossed a frisbee, and spun some poi...and smoked some more weed ;)


last year i celebrated 4/20 at the hot box cafe in kensington market. unlike the holy smoke, you can't really buy weed at the hot box cafe, but finding herb in kensington isn't too difficult.


i miss the market. i'm looking forward to being back amongst friends, chillin in the market. hi cat! hi roland! hi steve! hi angela! i miss you guys.



after watching the extras on the domino dvd at jonas and frederic's, i decided to take my stoner ass home. i stopped by mckayla and henna's place to see if they were up for smoking a 4/20 joint, but alas no goddesses were home.

that's alright, i passed the fuck out when i finally made it home. this place has the best weed that you can buy over the counter and smoke anywhere. don't tell anyone.

if only we had some four twenty beer to drink today *sigh*

happy 4/20...click here for the conspiracy!


~*...normaste...*~

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

~*...crystal creek part trois...*~

randnorm tuesday event in black rock city 2005

dreams as a therapeutic tool

2:00-4:00pm
see how valuable a tool dreams are to discover something subconscious. bring your best nightmares, and we will go thru a couple. repeaters are also valuable, as the hidden meanings are not yet recognized by the dreamer. hosted by: snuggletown @ fetish and 7:30


randnorm mind grenade

self love is important...if you don't love yourself how can you love someone else? learning to love yourself increases your capacity to love others. of course, then you run the risk of being called a cocky bastard. - halcyon

normdate 4.18.6

i picked up anke at the dancing bear this afternoon and headed over to jonas and frederic's place. our destination for the day was crystal creek. yes, this is the third time i've been to the creek in the past month, and i was still excited for the journey.

all of the snow and ice had melted, making the hike up the creek much easier than the last two times i made this trek. the sun was shining, it was warm, and the crystals were plentiful...they were everywhere!

all of the yellow you see in that pik is quartz. it was like a free for all help yourself store of quartz!

we made it to the top of the creek and descended into the caves.


this time i was prepared, and brought with me some tea light candles so that we had light in the cave.

there's enough space inside the cave to stand upright. its about 100ft deep, and perfekt to chill in...and smoke a bowl in...and drink a beer in ;)


on our walk down, i grabbed a few pieces of quartz to add to my collection. i've got one large piece of quartz from each of my journeys up the creek. they are sitting on top of my computer monitors, channelling energy.


at the bottom of the creek we took a bit to chill and look out over nelson. the view from the bottom of the creek is breathtaking. its incredible that our eyes, being so small, can see so much beauty.


as we looked out over the west arm of lake kutenai, a grey haired braided pigtail hippie walked by from the forest. i introduced myself, and he revealed to me how the hopeh indian shamans greet each other. when i see you next, i will share this greeting with you too. it is powerful. the hippie's name was hot white feather. he lives on the mountain in a tent. i've heard that nelson has a large population of people (read hippies) living here on the mountain and on the beach in the summer time.

we stopped off at jonas and frederic's place to grab some beers, and then headed down to lakeside park to toss a frisbee and spin some poi. i was glad to share what little knowledge of spinning poi i have with anke and jonas. its such a great way to breathe and tune into the prana of the universe. it flows. and at night time, you can add flashing light sticks to the end of your poi giving them trails when you spin them...without setting yourself on fire!

*trippy* ;)

i was also pretty fukkin smashed thanks to all of the beers we'd been consuming since the creek. i was definitely in no condition to drive a car, or even walk straight. neither was jonas. back at their place, he spent the rest of the evening worshipping the porcelain god. goddam booze! i hung out beside him to give him support, and was there for him as he rode it out.

i passed out on their sofa only to have one of the most memorable and intense dreams of my life. i was at my home in markham, the place i grew up. there was a party going on. inside, i ran into my father. he was wearing a yellow silk kung fu outfit. my father died from lou gherig's disease when i was 10yrs old. seeing him in my dream was the trigger that i needed to be aware that i was in a dreamstate, and allowed me the power to begin shaping my dream (normally flying is my trigger). i asked him how he got there. i do not remember his answer, but i do remember running up to him, losing myself in his arms, telling him how much i loved him, and then i wept.

~*...normaste...*~

Monday, April 17, 2006

~*...the last day of riding...*~

randnorm monday event in black rock city 2005

negotiating sex 101: how to get laid in black rock city
5:30pm-7:00pm monday/wednesday
7:00-8:00pm thursday
an informational, interactive practice group emphasizing the values of mutuality and respect needed for ethically negotiating sexual intimacy. other topics include sexual assault and rape prevention. a non-threatening and fun environment. hosted by: heebeegeebee healers @ 7:30 and ego

photo by scott london

randnorm mind grenade

i have no time in my life for shitty people. i have all the time in the world for amazing people. - erin black

more mind grenades here

normdate 4.17.6

it was still dark out when i was awoken from my slumber in the back of jonny's volvo this morning. somehow we had taken a wrong turn, and ended up in kelowna. not only that, but lori's van had died and we were about to squish 7 of us into jonny's volvo! we strapped our gear to the roof of the volvo and in the trunk leaving enough room for me to sit. it wasn't necessarily the most comfortable space, but i still managed to fall asleep even with bags piled on top of me ;)

goodbye little canada van! hello volvo v70!


we arrived in nelson at 10:30am. the sun was warm and shining brightly. i was stoked to be back in town so early on a monday morning, because today is the last day that the lifts are open at whitewater.

ali and jonny dropped me off at my place where i quickly changed into my snowboarding gear (showers are for sissies), and headed down to the hitching spot. it was just past 11am when i got to the highway, and i thought that i might have to wait a bit longer to find a ride. i was picked up within 5minutes. i love this place.

whitewater was closed during the week, which meant that a full week's worth of snow accumulated for us addikts to ride this weekend. on friday, there was 56cm of new snow! then it snowed 14cm friday night, and an additional 10cm saturday night for a total of 80cm of fresh snow to ride on the last day of the season.


normally you can sit down on this bench at the top of the hill...


i ran into my boy nature on the hill, rockin his new libtech winterstick. the edges in the middle of the board are curved like a sword, which is supposed to make it better on ice. their slogan is "turns ice into powder". interesting concept. read more about it here.

yes, that's a mercedes benz snowboard on the right. rockin da benzo on da hill....rekognize!

the other two guys i was riding with was sam from england and scott from nova scotia. this was their first time at whitewater. what an incredible day for their first experience: 6degrees, sunny, and 80cm of new snow in the past week.



seeing as it was their first time here, i decided to take sam and scott for a little hike to the top of catch basin. sam was a bit reserved about going, but it was nothing a little convincing couldn't fix. i had never made the trek up blaster's ridge all season, so it was a new experience for me too.

there is so much snow here it is ridonculous! there is a 400cm base of snow here...4 fukkin meters! where else in the world gets that much snow in a season? and there are always fresh tracks to make if you're willing to walk to it. pure, simple, real...deep!



i took a look at this chute and decided to keep on walking to the top of the catch basin instead...


the view from the top of catch basin was awesome, especially on such a beautiful warm and sunny easter monday.

it was pretty tracked out, but i'm not so much of a purist that i get upset if other people have made tracks before me...there is powder to ride in the middle of april, who can complain about that?


it was so much fun introducing sam and scott to some real kutenai powder. hearing the screams of joy as they rode down and seeing the expressions on their faces was priceless. powder is life, everything else is just details.


at the lodge, i ran into jonas, frederic, and anke. they had just hiked up ymir peak for the last run of the season. the hike took them 4 hours. the rush of excitement and accomplishment radiated from them, especially when you looked up and saw their tracks...they were the only ones. there is nothing like that rush you get from looking back and saying "see those tracks, that was me!"...the only thing better than looking back up at your tracks is making them.




ymir peak is the highest peak at whitewater.


the view from up there is epic


and it looks even better when the only tracks on it were made by you



fresh tracks are so sexxy. its better than sex...but only by a little bit. just ask anyone who's made them, they'll agree. look at how happy jonas is...


what an excellent way to end off the best season of my life. we headed into the lodge for some apres ski pitchers of nelson faceplant beer. it was well earned. this place has the best snow in the world. the lifts are closed and there is still a 400cm base. but as the saying goes, there is always fresh tracks to be made if you're willing to walk to it. the season isn't over, the lifts are just closed. its going to take a long time for 4meters of snow to melt.


big ups to the whitewater krew 2k6! thank you jonas and frederic for shredding powder with me all season, and driving my ass to the hill more times than not. big ups to the casi crew! maad props to the whitewater staff. who'd a thunk that two dinky chair lifts service the best snow in the world.

those who know are here. those who don't are somewhere else...and that's just fine with the people who are here.

i'm also not supposed to tell people how awesome it is here. keep it local. where else can you ride 400cm of snow and then 20minutes later be barefoot on a beach beside the lake? this place is holy...but don't tell anyone ;)

time to wash off my weekend hippie smell, and snowboard funk...
~*...normaste...*~