Friday, December 29, 2006

`*...merry christmahannukwanza week...*~

randnorm friday event in black rock city 2006

have a panty!
monday - sunday
find yourself on the playa with boring skivvies? forget to pack your favourite pair? or mayve you're sick of all those itchy, lacy thongs you brought, and just need a nice comfy cotton pair! stop by the panty campe for a free panty! no need to bring us your panties (we don't want 'em), and please don't lose your panty on the playa. we are easy to find: our dome is covered in panties! lov, panty camp. hosted by: panty camp @ 3:00 plaze and 11:30


ppanty camp pikcha by meredith given

randnorm mind grenade


randnorm pikcha

lake louise photo taken yesterday. i'm riding that tomorrow.

randnorm video


lindsay lights in thornhill ontario. the most nutz christmas lights display i have ever seen.

normdate 29.12.6

what an incredible holiday week. i'm sittin here rockin my new wireless microsoft keyboard and mouse that i got on boxing day at best buy for $20. yes, i'm a geek that is excited about new tek toyz.

the da vinci code is playin in the background. i've tried three times to watch this movie straight through, and each time i've fallen asleep. now its background noize and visuals as i remember my last week in this blog entry.

another good friday in the cspot


it was a good night at c.o.p. last friday with liam. its awesome to see him get so excited about riding, and he can sideslip on his heel edge all the way down the hill.




now the challenge is to get him comfortable on his toe edge.

my stick...oh how i love you.


the view of calgary from the top of c.o.p.


liam gettin down the slopes


linda gettin down the slopes


i met up with my boy brett and his krew friday night at hifi for some funk goodness.





i kinda like this club. there is a lot of fun to be had there.




and its full of some good lookin people




good to meet you jedi tait!


after hifi, i ended up at a conscious gathering of calgarians in the southwest. the party reminded me of sumkidz/om/bla gatherings in toronto, and shambhala in nelson. i guess if you want to find the conscious edm lovin hippies in any town, just seek out the psy trance parties.



i ran into my friend norris from nelson at the party too. it was good to see some familiar kutenai faces in the cspot.


big up yourself norris!


i was also not surprised to run into a few other familiar faces at the party, mostly burners including jaycloud and tarzie.

everything should glow!


including some awesome jewlery made by a radiant goddess named raven.






the beats were psy, the peeps were grassroots, the environment was conscious. thank you for inviting me to this incredible winter soulstice celebration jessie q! its good to know that there is a conscious and realized community here in calgary too...it flows everywhere, you just have to know how to tune into it.



i spent saturday afternoon hanging out with brett. it was so awesome hanging out with you brother, and sharing the vibes of your hometown. happy holidaze dude. we'll shred together next time.

kerstmis eve 2k6

i worked at the source on christmas eve, and surprisingly enough it wasn't really that busy. i guess the fear of the christmas eve rush encouraged people to get their shoppin done early. that's alright, it gave me some time to try on some jackets and play dress up.

the shawn white jacket of the gods by burton


the cappel wellington jacket and the ride society board


steve in a super pimp one piece


kristin picked me up after work and we joined her family at her father's house for some christmas eve celebrations. her uncle ray was visiting from japan with his wife mika, daughter hana, and their two month old daught emma. new life is so beautiful.


its holiday tradition at the gossen home to visit the christmas lights on 14th street. the lights there are serious business.









okay, maybe not as intense as the lindsay lights , but beautiful none the less.

i really enjoyed seeing merry christmas in so many different languages. its hard to see them all in this pik, so make sure you click on it to see the full size version.


buon natale! feliz navidad! maligyang pasco!





kristin and mikhail


we returned to rob and linda's place to open christmas presents, or at least a few of them. some families open presents on christmas eve, some on christmas day, the gossens open presents on both ;)





this was the first christmas that i did not spend with members of my immediate family. though a tough challenge, the gossens made sure to include me as part of their family. i have so much to be thankful for. i am thankful for celebrating christmas with people i love, even if we do not share the same last name.

mika and emma


tree lights next door to the gossens.


with some last minute gift wrappin to do, kristin and i called it a day and headed home for a good night's rest before santa arrived.

its the most wonderful time of the year

a christmas ambigram


merry clitoris at shambhala


i awoke christmas morning to kristin jumpin on my bed screaming "wake up, wake up, its christmas!" groggy, we jumped in her car and made out way to her father's place to open stockings and christmas presents.







i was blessed to receive gifts from the gossen family, including some slippers, a coffee mug, movie passes, a gift card at c.o.p., and a gift card from my work, the source, to go towards the purchase of a new snowboard jacket. thank you gossen family.



kristin gave me a shirt that said "kiss me. i'm good at it." on the front and on the back it says "really good." tee hee. looking forward to wearing it on new year's eve. thank you kristin!

teehee!


and of course what christmas is complete without some house music?...dick-in-a-box remixed!




once all the christmas presents had been opened, we feasted on what is perhaps the largest breakfast spread i had ever seen in my life. everything you could think of, from homemade waffles to hasbhrowns, bacon, eggs, sausage, fruit. linda, you sure know your way around a kitchen. your cooking almost made me forget how much i miss my mom's cooking...almost ;)

merry christmas emma




with a full belly, kristin and i headed back to our place for christmas with grandma, her brother john, her unlce bruce, kristin's mom and her husband patrick. more kerstmis cheer! more presents. more cash towards my jacket. thank you lori.







a book of dragonology.


lunch followed our second session of opening christmas presents. i was still quite full from breakfast, but somehow found a way to enjoy a delicious turkey meal. so much food, not enough norm.

a christmas present from my friends mark and greg. thank you so much guys. it is my favourite movie, and i can't wait to read the book.


i'll never forget what my friend brett shared with me last year about christmas. he said that there is absolutely no good reason to over eat. yet christmas gives everyone an excuse to be gluttons. 'tis the season i guess.

with extremely full bellies, kristin and i joined lori and patrick for a walk through nose hill park...with kuma, of course. the park was packed with people and dogs. the weather was sunny and not very cold. perfekt conditions to walk off two huge meals and feast on the views of the rockie mountains.









c.o.p. on the backdrop of the rockies


and as if we hadn't already consumed enough food, kristin and i returned to her father's place for christmas dinner. i don't think i've eaten this much food in a singel day in my entire life. linda is betty crocker, for real! a huge spread of turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cabbage rolls, salad, rolls. it was a feast made for a king.



rob and his brother ray from japan


somehow i found enough space in my belly to enjoy linda's delicious christmas feast. of course i needed a nap after putting my body through so much work eating all day ;) i passed out on the sofa only to be woken up by kristin telling me that we had to leave. yup, our day wasn't over yet. we were off to meet her mom and patrick at the movie theater to see the new matt damon and angelina jolie movie, the good shepherd.



the move was a waste of fukking time. it was boring, slow, and far from interesting. its been a while since i've been in a movie where people actually walked out of the theater. yah, it was that bad. you'd think with an all star cast also including robert deniro and joe pesci combined with the genius of francis ford coppola that this movie would be a masterpiece. as one review on rotten tomatoes read: the good shepherd is a cinematic still birth.

the movie was the only less than favourable part of my christmas, besides not being with my family. i was glad to have at least spoken to them. merry christmas mom, neil, thalia, and erin too! i was there with you in spirit.

tired from an exhausting day, i was happy to crawl into my bed and pass out. a big day was ahead of me, and i was going to need all the rest i could get.

boxing day madness

yup, kristin and i got up super early and joined the huge lineup of people seeking out the boxing day blowout specials at best buy. we were there by 6am, and the lineup went halfway through the mall. it was a mad house in there. thalia and i normally hit up future shop together on boxing day, but seeing as we didn't spend christmas together this year, i opted for best buy with kristin.

the deals were good though. kristin grabbed an olympus 8megapixel digicam for $260. i grabbed the wireless microsoft keyboard and mouse i'm using right now for $20. i also bought star wars: empire at war and the forces of corruption expansion set, each for $9.99. deals deals deals!



i can't wait to play this game. i'm such a star wars geek.

i dropped kristin off at her dad's place as she was going to lethbridge with her family to see her grandpa. then i went to work. yup, 8am at kiya. surprisingly enough, it wasn't really that busy. perhaps eeryone was still in best buy and future shop.



yay balloons!


the source on the other hand was crazy busy by the time i arrived for my shift. with gear costing as much as it does, i'd be out shopping for deals on boxing day too. good thing my staff discount applies to any day, not just boxing day.

burton vapour with burton c60 bindings. boxing day special at $1500 no tax!


ryan and sherah nerd boxing


eric rockin the source gear. love the brand!


by the end of the day, anticipation was at its peak for the source christmas party at the well on 17th. the kensington shop arrived first and began drinking, as well as ordering some food from the japanese menu the well shared with their sister restaurant, kyoto 17. open bar and open menu. the evening was about to get messy.







the 17th store krew


our dj using serato scratch live, a brilliant piece of vinyl emulation software.




ain't nothin like partying with a bunch of skateboarders and snowboarders with open bar.









then the karaoke began. hearing skaters sing justin timberlake is really quite funny.







by 11:30pm i was completely shmammered and decided to remove myself from the open bar and kerstmis party shenanigans before someone had to put me in a cab for me. the train ride home was a combination of passing out and holding back the barf. fukkin boozeahol.

i was happy to get home and fall over in my bed. what an intense boxing day. what an intense holiday week.

merry christmas to all of you. you are in my thoughts.

lively up yours'elf!

~*...normaste...*~