sangria sunrise 2006
5:30am-7:00am
enjoy spanish sangria on the playa as the sun rises! feel the deep warm embrace of love as we prepare ourselves for another amazing year filled with human creativity and potential. on the other hand, this could be hell in a hand basket and the sun that rises if really a burning ball of fire heading straight for earth...either way, let's drink together and reflect on how lucky we are to share this moment! hosted by: snow cone @ east side of the man on the playa at 5:30
flagellation photo by michael stewart
randnorm mind grenade
confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can have. it's much sexier than any body part. - aimee mullins
randnorm pikcha
photo of bianca beauchamp by ben bischop
randnorm video
the world is going to the dogs!
normdate 13.11.6
what an awesome weekend its been. on friday, my good friend graham came to town. i've been friends with graham since high school. funny thing is that my older brother neil was and still is good friends with graham's older brother brian. two generations of lim sangs, two generations of cairns' ;)
graham left toronto and moved to edmonton in july to pursue his plumber's apprenticeship. i've been missing my toronto family somethin fierce lately, so seeing graham was a breath of fresh air for me.
graham arrived with zack, a guy we both went to high school with that also lives in edmonton. seems like there is some opportunity in this here province, especially for professional tradesmen.
it had been so long since i shook my ass with graham, so we decided to hit up a club called hifi in downtown calgary. my boy pete emes is one of the owners of the club, and part of a dj krew called the small town djs. i went to university with pete.
pete and i at the shot nightclub, london, ontario.
i ran into pete at the shout out out out out concert last month. i hadn't seen him since university. i also didn't have a camera :(
pete was out of town touring with the small town djs...he was actualy in toronto.
flashlight fridays at hifi is deep funk and groove, and the beatz were soulful and drrrty. graham can really cut a rug, and it was awesome to be shakin my ass with him. the club was packed and smoky...man, i can't believe people are still allowed to smoke inside clubs here.
the vibe was a unique mix of ravers, club kids, and snooty city folk.
"are you from toronto? oh, well you sure act like you are."
i ran into a cutie that i had met here in calgary when i was passing through in june. she was working a jewelery booth in downtown calgary. i purchased a kewl bracelet that attached to a ring from her. the ring didn't last too long, but at least the impression i made on her did. she said she'd seen me around town, but felt kinda weird saying "hey, do you remember me, i was the girl at the jewlery booth..." good thing i said hi to her. yay calgary cuties!
when we left the club, graham was literally steaming in the calgary cold. dude had not only worked up a sweat, but was radiating maad heat! it was awesome to dance with you again graham. i've missed you, brother. being around a good friend was exactly what i needed.
on saturday, graham and i drove zack to his uncle's ranch in the turner valley, about 90mins south of calgary. and home of the first oilfield in alberta. it made sense that zack's uncle owns an oil and energy company, west energy...he also owns 3000 acres of land!
we made a quick stop in the town of okotoks to grab a coffee from the biggest drug dealer in canada...tim hortons! people are so addikted to timmy's that there was a lineup of cars that went beyond the parking lot, down the street, and to the stop light. all this for a cup of tim hortons coffee. even worse is that the lineup of cars wwere just sitting there, idling. our example of turning off our engine while we waited wasn't really catchin' on.
you know the stereotypes of redneck cowboys that alberta has? well, okotoks is one of the reasons why that stereotype exists: real genuine cowboys, good 'ol ford pickup trucks, and tim hortons coffee! yeehaw! did i mention i was the only coloured guy in tim hortons, and perhaps all of okotoks? ;)
its hard to describe to white people what it feels like to be a minority. even though no one is saying anything, i can feel stares, thoughts, and judgements. the challenge is to not let those outside influences affect how i act, but is that really possible? if we are products of our environment, then the thoughts, prejudices, and the judgement of others contribute to who we choose to be at that moment. it more challenging to be comfortable in your own skin when ignorance and fear is being channeled towards you.
i've never eaten chester fried chicken before, but i'm sure its moist! *lol*
we arrived at the high noon ranch, a breathtaking expanse of rolling rockie foothills, trees, cows, horses, and divine creation as far as you can see.
with the rockies towering in the distance, how can anyone say that god does not exist when you are surrounded by such incredible natural beauty?
needless to say, the ranch was huge! lots of small wood cabins were sprinkled across the rolling hills of the high noon ranch.
i met zack's aunt liz at the ranch. she married zack's uncle. the vibe i got from her when i was introduced was difficult for me to describe. she made me understand the reason why they have a policy at ski resorts of no long hair or dreadlocks...its so that rich white people don't get their worlds shaken up. graham on the other hand thought something different when observing her reaction to probably the first jamasian dredi she's ever met...he thought that she was enamoured by me. i kinda liked that perspektive over the rich snooty white lady image that i thought...more like the image i projected onto her. products of our environment? product of other people's thoughts and prejudgements? it seems i'm just as guilty.
graham and i left zack at the ranch and began our journey back to calgary. i've got a little collektion of custom license plate pikhcaz and was super stoked to see this one...
ha! what kind of holy man drives a freakin hummer? love it!
we grabbed some take out chinese food and enjoyed an awesome meal with kristin at home. our after dinner cocktail included some johnnie walker red and forty creek whiskey, a very smooth canadian whiskey from grimsby, ontario. i love graham and his knowledge of boozeahol. he opens my eyes to new flavours. i'm not a picky drinker, so i give thanks and praises for anything i am blessed with. some people are a bit more particular about what they put in their mouth ;)
we decided to stay in and watch the movie thank you for smoking. this genius films follows the life of a big tobacco lobbyist.
this movie was so awesome! highly recommended by this dredi.
kelsey joined graham, kristin and i yesterday for brunch at the lido cafe in kensington. its good to have another torontonian with me so we can be snooty and claim that there really is only one kensington ;)
after brunch, we left the girls to their sunday afternoon shopping extravaganza and headed to a town called millarville, just outside of the turner valley, to pick up zack. it gave graham and i some more quality time together, and it was good for my soul. i'm happy to know that a good friend lives only a few hours away...even better to know that he was sitting beside me.
it was my friend kate's birthday on saturday, so a good krew of our friends had gathered saturday night in toronto to celebrate. happy birthday sk8! here is a birthday ambigram for you.
its funny that both graham and zack know me as leighton as well as norm. old skewl baby! i also happen to have an art center, gallery, and museum in the foothills ;)
graham dropped me off back in calgary on his way home to edmonton. thank you so much graham for making the journey to calgary to see me. it was so good to see you, to spend time with you, be silly with you, dance with you, and be reminded that i am blessed to call you my friend. next time i'll come up to edmonton to party with you.
kristin and kelsey arrived home shortly after i did, and they had a little wine buzz goin on. they also had a magnum of white wine with them to keep the buzz goin ;) these girls are a lot of fun when they're drunk, and they're quite loud too. punk music was blaring as they polished off their sauvignon blanc.
with kelsey drunk, it made it a bit easier to convince her to join kristin and i at the calgary kinky party. yes, calgary has a kink kommunity and i was excited to see how albertans embrace their kink. thanks to captain q and kane for lettin us know about the event...yay calgary burners!
yay dress up!
george stromboulopolous's the hour is on right meow, and he has just listed the top 5 movies you should not watch when you're high
5. fear and loathing in las vegas
4. march of the penguins
3. natural born killers
2. meet the feebles
1. memento
that list is better enjoyed while high. i wish i had a joint ;)
it was fun getting kristin and kelsey dressed up for their first kink event. they looked fukkin hawt!
i tried rawkin the double dreadhawk, but it didn't really stick straight up and out like i had imagined. oh well, now i know.
its so fun to embrace different parts of your personality and have fun with it. i was glad to see kelsey and kristin embrace something new.
hooray cosplay!
shmammered, loud, and rowdy, i took the keys to the car and let kristin and kelsey enjoy their drunken altered state. our first stop was the home of captain q, a colourful burner and kinky cutie. her place was so cute, and decorated so wonderfully. she had a wall covered in butterflies that were made out of her old bank and credit cards. she would cut the cards in half, corner to corner, and use a pipe cleaner in the middle and a tack to attach it to the wall. very creative. her bathroom was red and black (hooray) with a fire flame shower curtain and a full devil pitchfork toilet bowl cleaner. this girl is all kinds of awesome.
the kinky party was held at the amsterdam rhino in downtown calgary. there was a rack and a stand up cross rack downstairs for play, but that was pretty much it. as with most fetish parties, most people just dress up and dance, while a select few actually play. i was just happy to be back into a familiar environment that i had missed since leaving toronto. a diverse group of people embracing their kink without fear. this town continues to impress me. there are new and different kinds of communities expanding in every direction here in this town....i'm glad to be a part of it.
one thing that was different about this party was the use of cameras. there were more than a few people snapping pikchaz all night, including photography of scenes. i guess the people involved didn't mind, but the truth is always distorted byt he presence of a camera. it creates a wall that often prevents people from feeling comfortable exploring, for fear of being caught on camera. i'm not used to being at kink events that allow cameras, despite me being a pikcha whore.
there were a couple stage shows, i watched a hawt boy get surface piercing on his chest and then have ribbon wrapped through them to create a surface corset *hawt* i spent most of my time watching, observing, getting the lay of the land here. i am new to this town, so its good to understand how this community operates before diving straight in. kristin and kelsey had a great time, though i do not think kelsey will come to another one of these events. who knows.
either way, it was good to see that this town is not as conservative as i thought, and i was glad to spend a weekend in familiar environments.
love and blessings
~*...normaste...*~
