~*...style in progress...*~

my weekend consisted of chillin out and playing republic commando. its kind of a fusion between a first person shooter and a tactical shooter. i'm a huge fan of tom clancy's ghost recon, an excellent tactical shooter. i love being in control of more than just one player, and being able to command your squadron. its a different pace than the run in and shoot em up formula of most first person shooters. i've got so many games to complete, and no time to play them all. i have yet to finish half life 2 and gta:san andreas...two of the best games ever made imho.

well, my whole weekend wasn't spent playing video games. i made it out to trinity bellwoods park on saturday for some afternoon disc tossing. there were about 6 of us there, not enough for a full game of pick up, but enough to play box. i had never played box before, so it was a new experience for me. instead of having an endzone, the scoring zone is a four pointed box about 7'x7'. the playing area is a larger diamond surrounding the box. you score points by catching the disc within the box. you have to clear the disc on a turnover by throwing it outside the diamond. the game is very fast and its great for practicing short passes. a lot of give an gos. i also got my flashflight discs in the mail that day. i have yet to play with them at night, but i'm so glad that they arrived before i leave for burning man. playing frisbee at night in the desert...oh man i can't wait!

yesterday i stopped by the style in progress graffiti expo on queen street. the parking lot at queen and portland was converted into a music, dance, fashion, and of course graffiti art playground. the alleyway from portland all the way to spadina was the canvas for some of toronto's most talented graf artists. here are some shots from the expo. i've also updated my pikcha archive with more pix of style in progress.

its good to get my lowride out for some afternoon cruisin. a little history about my super blingnin ride...i've had it for four years. originally, it was built by my friend adam c. he spent three years building it. his gf also had a 20inch cruiser. they looked so hawt cruising down the street together. then they decided that they wanted bikes that could go over curbs without bottoming out. she traded her bike in, but adam didn't want his bike going to just some random person. he knew i had always wanted a lowrider, so he came by my house one day and said "dude, i've got a present for you." then, he rolled this pimp ass chrome lowrider into my place. i asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said he wanted nothing. it was "we love norm" day (adam does not believe in holidaze). he said that the bike would be a reminder to me to never be selfish with it, cause the person who gave it to me was the farthest from selfish. i've had so many people ride my bike, from my little chinese mother to a priest from poland. i've spent the last few years adding pieces to it, including the seat, new pedals, grips, and pegs on the front so i can rest my feet on them and cruise. the bike is heavy, uncomfortable, hard to control, and it doesn't go very fast at all...but it looks hawt and therefore serves its purpose. you cannot be humble while riding this bike. if i wanted to go fast, i'd ride my mountain bike. i have the best friends in the universe.

after the graf expo, i headed over to isa and darryl's place for dinner. but not before i stopped off at the fetish festival in the gaybourhood. church street was shut down from bloor to carlton. there were some interesting outfits and lots of booths set up selling everything from leather to pvc. most of the bars had their patios extended out on to the street. god i love the diversity of this city. a FETISH FESTIVAL for god's sake.

excuse me, can you tell me where i can park my carriage?;)





now i know where dorothy's shoes disappeared to.

i ended up at isa and darryl's place for dinner. it was the first time that they were able to entertain in their newly renovated space. i was glad to hang out with just them. its been so long since i was able to just hang out with them as they were living with isa's parents for the past few months while their place was being renovated. i love those two, and their daughter too. they are family to me.

after an excellent dinner, and a bottle of red, my friend karen drove my drunk ass home.

four more sleeps until burning man. i can't wait!

- normurai (=D)----