Thursday, January 18, 2007

~*...no one else exists except us...*~



embarrassment is the reaction of those who have too much invested in what other people think.

i've always been of the mentality that i don't really care what other people think of me. some people don't like the clothing i wear, some people may not like my potty mouth, some people just don't like themselves when they're around me. meh, that's alright, everyone is entitled to their own opinion...they're also entitled to my opinion too ;)

but teaching snowboarding to kristin's brother, liam, has taken me beyond not caring about what other people think about me. to not care about other people's opinions first begins with rekognizing that other people exist and have an opinion.

teaching liam, an autistic child, has helped shape my perspektive on investment in other people's opinions. he has taught me to focus my time and energy on the matter at hand, and shut out everything else that is happenning around us. what's in front of me requires my complete attention.

some people might feel embarrassed or self conscious if their child threw themselves on the ground in the cafeteria screaming and yelling while banging his head on the ground. a year ago, hell, a few months ago i might also have felt that way. but not any more. all that matters is the situation at hand. nothing else exists except what is happening in front of me. no one else's opinion matters, no one else exists except us...and all liam really needs is to let it out.

"ok. you done liam? great, now do you want apple juice or orange juice to drink? awesome buddy. thanks for using your words."



three nights in a row at c.o.p. i fukkin live to ride!

what's the worst part about being a skiier?


















having to tell your parents that you're gay ;)





~*...normaste...*~

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

~*...i <3 snow...*~

“Sex is like snow, you never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it will last”





word is that winter is cancelled in ontario, so most of my krew back there aren't very happy with gaia right meow. intrawest, the mega resort giant that owns whistler blackcomb, panorama, tremblant, and blue mountain in collingwood, had to lay off 1300 employees at blue because of the shitty lack of winter weather in ontario.



posting on tribe last night in the snowboarding thread got me hyped to ride, so i made my way to c.o.p. to make some late night turns and blast a few airs. oh man it was good to catch some air before the night was over. its awesome that c.o.p. is only 20 minutes away, open at night, and i can ride it any time i want for free. i am blessed.



snowboarding is life, everything else is just details.



i woke up this morning to see ping pong ball sized snowflakes falling form the sky, and a beautiful layer of accumulated snow covering the ground.



seeing snow falling from the sky brings out such joy in me. you know how some people cringe at the sight of snow and hate it with a passion? think of the complete opposite of that, and you'll only begin to start understanding how much i love snow.



in high school i had a 2.5' launch ramp that i brought to the toboggan hill across the street from our high school and covered it in snow. we would bring our boards to school and spend our lunch doing jumps.





skateboarding is not a crime!


a memorable winter storm in ontario, 2004.


mo tee dot snow


i spent tonight at c.o.p. teaching kristin's other younger brother, john, how to snowboard. private paid lessons are the shiznitt...and the snow was awesome tonight too. ride, ride, ride.



i miss whitewater. i can only imagine how siiick of a season they must be having right now.



riding powder is better than sex, but only by a little bit.



i'm addikted to powder, but its a healthy addiktion.

pray for snow!



~*...normaste...*~

Sunday, January 14, 2007

~*...give thanks and praises to the most high...*~

randnorm sunday event in black rock city 2006

alpha tranquility zone-ing
monday - sunday
a quiet area for older burners that have certain needs requiring serenity, extra rest, respite, shorter travel, and closeness to medical, etc. facilities, located between/vicinity kids area and alternate energy area along chance street first come, first serve - band together and mark your boundaries - invite others to join. hosted by: boise ranger's doorstop


photo by ryan madison

randnorm mind grenade

a celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized. - fred allen

randnorm pikcha


make your own celebrity lookalikes here

randnorm video

the most embarassing nhl moment in the history of ever

normdate 14.1.7

there are so many things in my life that i am thankful for. focussing on the blessings in my life most definitely affects the kind of energy that i attract to me.

i've been offered a full time position at the source helping them manage their online shop. awesome! another step up the ladder towards doing what i want to do...be a product rep. i'm going to give my notice tomorrow at kiya and start full time at the source in february.



ha! and so it begins...

i got to see two wikkid flicks last weekend with kristin. first we saw leonardo dicaprio in blood diamond, then we saw daniel craig as the new bond in casino royale.

blood diamond was a powerful film about the conflict diamond industry in sierra leone. leo's africanes accent was more than convincing, and the story was gripping and well told. not to mention that jennifer connoly delivered an awesome performance alongside leo and djimon hounsou. if violence makes you feel uneasy, don't see this movie. its pretty intense. here's da trailer.








the new 007 is hands down my favourite bond of all time. daniel craig did such an awesome job as james bond. there were no toys, no fancy gadgets, just raw bond in the early part of his career...and he was a thug! you got to see sides of bond that you never saw in any other bond movie. so awesome! i can't wait to see more of daniel craig as bond in the future...and he sure looked fukkin hawt!





eva green did an incredible job playing bond girl vesper lynd


the rotten tomatoes review is glowing...94% fresh!


on thursday, my friend steve was visiting again from toronto. he was staying at the blackfoot inn not too far from the source warehouse where i now work. i picked him up afer my day was over and we headed downtown to pick up kristin from ork. on our way there noticed perhaps one of the most ridiculous things i it was about -25degrees before the windchill, and almost -40 after the windchill. this extreme cold forces people to warm up their cars before driving them, but what we saw went beyond that.

in front of us on the road was a flatbed trailer with a nissan pathfinder on the trailer...but the pathfinder was idling with no one in it! fuck, it wasn't even on the road, it was on a trailer! if there is anything that makes absolutely no sense, its an idling suv on a flatbed trailer. is there really that much oil and gas in this town?

steve and i walked across downton using the +15s and had dinner at an all you can eat sushi restaurant in china town.



The "Plus 15" walkway system is a series of 57 enclosed bridges at approximately 15 feet above street level that connect a majority of the buildings in the Calgary downtown core. This 16-km system provides protection from the elements and allows pedestrians to travel from building to building, block to block often without having to walk outside.



with the weather as nutz cold as it was, using the +15 walkway system was a saviour from the elements. it kinda reminded me of the underground path in toronto. no one wants to be cold.

there was a movie made in 2000 caled way downtown where a group of young employees bet a month's salary, winner takes all, on who can last the longest without going outside. it was filmed in calgary, and the characters used the +15z to get around town.

i have yet to see this movie, but any movie with fabrizio fillipo in it is definitely going to be easy on the eyes.



i've been a fan of fab since he starred in the third season of queer as folk as justin's violin plaing boyfriend ethan. i miss that show *sigh*

posters for the calgary stampede decorate the walls of the +15z. the stampede started in 1886 and still bills itself as the greatest outdoor show on earth. i'd argue that the burn is the greatest outdoor show on earth, but perhaps i'm comparing apples and oranges.





















i confess!


after dinner, steve and i braved the cold and stopped at the garage bar for a pitcher and a game of pool. i suck at pool, but i sure enjoy playing it.

we then took the +15z to as far south as we could and walked two blocks to our friend pete emes' club, hifi. pete has been doing his thursday night gig, hai karate, for the past seven years. we were the fourth people in the club a 9pm, but by 11 the place was packed.

steve and i were happy that this time we were able to run into pete. UWO massif!


the people in this town sure know how to party, and hifi is a solid place to get down.





pete and mike aka small town djs took the decks and dropped some funky grooves that made the dance floor explode! noice work guys. most impressive.







not wanting to take a $30 cab ride home, i decided to crash out in the spare bed at the hotel steve was staying at. thanks pete for the drinks *ouch my head* it was awesome seeing you and even more wikkid to hear you play. always a pleasure to chill with you steve...next time stay for the weekend and we'll shred the rockies together.

it was opening weekend for justin timberlake's acting debut in alpha dog. of course kristin and i aren't going to miss the opportunity to see justin half naked and covered in ink *drool*



Inspired by true events, Alpha Dog follows three fateful days when the lives of a group of Southern California teens suddenly dead-ended. The film features a powerful ensemble cast including Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Willis and is written and directed by Nick Cassavetes.



Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) controls the drugs on the well-manicured streets of his neighborhood. Where Johnny goes, the party, the girls, and his loyal gang follow. When he's double-crossed over missing deal money by raging hothead Jake (Ben Foster), Johnny and his gang impulsively kidnap Jake's little brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), holding him as a marker and heading to Palm Springs. With no parents in sight, they grow used to having the kid around, and Zack enjoys an illicit summer fantasy of drinking, girls and new experiences.



Out in the desert, Johnny and his boys lose sight that the kid is a hostage who can't just be neatly returned. As the days tick by, the options of how to get themselves out of their situation start to disappear. Good times turn bad and bad turns worse as Johnny finds himself out of his league with no idea how to fix it...leading all these players toward a shocking conclusion they never saw coming


the movie was alright, of course made better by sexxxy ass justin timberlake looking fuck pretty. if i had actually paid money to see this movie, i might not have thought that i got my money's worth...but seeing as it was a gift pass kind of flick for me, i most definitely left the theater with a smile on my face.

if you're a justin fan, go see this movie. if you want to see a good movie, go see blood diamond or casino royale.

for some strange reason, c.o.p. was not only closed tonight but the lights were not on. that was most unusual, and a disappointment. i really wanted to make some turns tonight. oh well, i guess its time to catch up on my blogging.



love and blessings

~*...normaste...*~