~*...the expanded universe of the dredi knight...*~

the day after bobby and dana's not so traditional wedding was spent on cherry beach. i know i keep on singing the praises of this free outdoor weekly event, but i can't think of a better way to spend a sunday afternoon in toronto. big thanks to the promise boys dave and irving for keeping the cherry beach sunday afternoon soundsystem going for the past few years. its just a great place to chill out, toss a disc, sleep in a hammock, puff some roots, and listen to great beatz for free with incredible people.

i also ran into this beautiful soul named michelle at cherry beach. i had met her two years ago at element (gawd i miss that club). i don't forget people who are this breathtaking...

yes, if i had a nickel for every pikcha i have taken with a gorgeous female, i'd be able to retire. i ain't complainin one bit ;)

on tuesday night after my ultimate frisbee game, i made a quick stop at the wheat sheaf for my friend jay's going away party and then dashed up to kensington market for an urban game of capture the flag. nearly 100 people showed up to run around the streets of kensington with one goal in mind...capture the other team's flag. outwit, outlast, outplay, kensington style. there were people on bikes, rollerblades, and the rest on foot. with the help of cel phone technology, teams were able to communicate with each other as we turned the most multicultural neighbourhood in the world into our playground. thanks kevin and lori for organizing this refreshing take on an age old game.

friday night was an amazing reunion for me. to begin with, my very close friend katie was home visiting from australia. i went to university with katie (look, she's not an omie!) and worked at the saugeen snack bar with her. her nickname was katie katie snack bar lady, but that description often changed with the job she had. katie katie starbucks lady, katie katie ice cream lady...the possibilities are endless! ;) my friend pat drove her into town on his way in from london. my very good friend elsbeth was also with him. elsbeth's husband reegan showed up an hour before they arrived. our destination was the steamwhistle brewery by the skydome (now called the rogers center) for the return of the house music husband and wife duo sunshyne and moonbeam jones, also known as dubtribe. the last time i heard dubtribe play was back in university, the day of my last exam of my university career (or so i thought at the time). my friends danny and allison had achieved the incredible feat of booking dubtribe to play at the wave, the university pub on campus. what made booking dubtribe such an incredible feat was that they toured with a complete soundsystem and had many many requirements that needed to be met before they would play anywhere. they play live house music. they create it right there. they sing over top of the beats as they make them. it truly was one of the most incredible live shows i have ever seen.

before the wave, i had heard dubtribe play at destiny 20, a three day rave in 1996. they played for 12hours! after having a child, sunshyne and moonbeam decided they would do one last tour before devoting their time to raising a family. toronto was one of the few cities they chose to include on their final tour. i was so excited. and to share it with good friends from university, pat, elsbeth, and katie, it was going to be an amazing night. and it was. my boy nick, also from university, was back in town as well from cambridge university where he is doing his mba. this was his night out on the town.

this was the first time i've been to the steam whistle brewery, and the venue was amazing. such a big space. the sound was great in there, and the people were top notch. lots of omies (c'mon, did you think i could have a blog entry without including om?). dubtribe played all of my favourite tracks, including "you are beautiful. you are perfect just the way you are." such hippies they are, such a hippie i am. no one is just one thing.

1998

2005

the after party was held at cherry beach. i spend a lot of time there eh? watching the sun rise with free beatz barefoot on a beach *sigh*

what a great night celebrating with old friends and dancing. there just aren't enough people dancing in this world. the strongest communities are the ones that share music, and the scene in toronto is family to me.

the next day, or should i say later that day, i met up with my markham krew at the stadium formerly known as the skydome for a blue jays game. it was our friend dan's birthday (well, it was a week and half earlier but he lives in bolton with his wife and two kids). dan's wife mel got our markham krew together to surprise dan and celebrate with him. mel, dan, and his six year old daughter aria showed up at the rogers center (the new name for the dome) and were picking up their tickets at the ticket booth when we sneaked up behind dan and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!". oh man, the expression on dan's face made it all worth it. scaring the crap out of dan is a great feeling. sharing the afternoon with the dome open and watching the blue jays take on the rangers with the best of friends was only made better with...beer! ok, what's with baseball? i'm not a huge sports fan, but i sure know a slow game when i see one. thank god we had beer.

the fans are what make the game, but there was something missing with the crowd at that game. spirit was lacking. our friend graeme was with us, and he is a pure heckler. "benoit! benoit! you got nothing buddy! you suck!" was not an unusual thing to hear coming from graeme's mouth. after a couple beers, i was yelling with him. mostly from boredom, cause holy shit baseball is a slow game. and some fans were even telling us to shut up. of course we didn't listen. graeme would yell back "no! see this ticket? i paid to be here." yes, we were a bit belligerent by the end of the game, which we lost by the way.

that saturday was also caribana, the largest caribbean festival in north america. nearly 1million tourists from all around the world (read america) flock to toronto and turn it into one big hip hop video. being of jamaican descent, i love getting out in the streets for the parade and dancing to some good soca and reggae music. but some people share a different view on what caribana brings to the city. i could go on and on about the good things that caribana does for toronto, and the negative things, but you can visit tribe and read the discussion there to see what people think of stabbabana. i almost never miss the parade, but dan's birthday baseball game took priority this year. friends are more important to me than any parade.

after the game, i dashed home to change for my friend bobby and dana's wedding. yes, the same bobby and dana who got married the week before. dana is a wiccan, so this ceremony was the pagan wedding ritual of handfasting, and was held at trinity bellwoods park.

i arrived at the park a bit tipsy from an afternoon of drinking in the sunshine while watching the jays get spanked (and not in the good way). there were about 40 of bobby and dana [our] friends in the park gathered around a labyrinth made of flower posts and string. the labyrinth is a symbol in pagan religions that represents a journey. giselle, the priestess of the ceremony, thought the labyrinth would be a great image to demonstrate the journey that bobby and dana were taking with their lives. bobby and dana would enter separately at different ends of the labyrinth, and once handfasted would continue on together.

the ceremony began with fire (dana's wiccan name) casting the circle. as pagans do not worship within a building, they have to create a sacred space at the beginning of each ritual. dana walked around the labyrinth stopping in each of the four directions, north, east, south, west. she created the circle by saying "by the earth that is her body. and by the air that is her breath. and by the fire that is her bright spirit. and by the living waters of her womb. the circle is cast" each direction was also associated with an element, air, fire, water, earth and represented by very close friends of bobby and dana, krista, joy, becky, and neil. in wicca, a circle is created by joining the four directions. bobby and dana then invited the goddesses associated with those directions to come into their circle by asking each element for a blessing and guidance for their marriage.

Krista at East: What do you seek from the Powers of Air?

Fire and Bobby: We seek your blessing and guidance for our marriage.

Krista: (Blowing Air at Them with the Fan)
Blessed be your marriage with these gifts from the East:
Clear understanding of each other, and of yourselves.
Knowledge that each day is a fresh start of your life as a family.
Joy in teaching each other, in the spontaneity and changeability of life.

Joy at South: What do you seek from the Powers of Fire?

Fire and Bobby: We seek your blessing and guidance for our marriage.

Joy: (handing them a lantern with a lit candle)
Blessed be your marriage with these gifts from the South:
Shared discoveries as a family, experiencing new things together.
Inspiration to find new ways to surprise one another.
Passion and delight in one another.

Becky at West: What do you seek from the Powers of Water?

Fire and Bobby: We seek your blessing and guidance for our marriage.

Becky: (sprinkling water over their hands)
Blessed be your marriage with these gifts from the West:
Clear understanding of each other's desire.
Resolve to stand by each other, no matter what may come to pass.
Patience and the ability to listen to one another.

Neil at North: What do you seek from the Powers of Earth?

Fire and Bobby: We seek your blessing and guidance for our marriage.

Neil: (sprinkling earth over their hands)
Blessed be your marriage with these gifts from the North:
Strength to do what you must do, when you must do it, and together as one.
Fertility, in all its many forms and manifestations.
Stability, such that you can always meet your family's needs.

thank you dana for sharing with me the vows you created for your handfasting and allowing me to share them here in my blog.

fire and bobby returned to the middle of the labyrinth where their hands were tied together with a ribbon by the priestess giselle. the term "tying the knot" originates from this practice of handfasting.

moving together as one, fire and bobby left the labyrinth, but not before jumping over a broom at the exit. the broom, or besom, in pagan religions is associated with male and female fertility. it also represents domesticity. in the past, "jumping the broom" created a common-law relationship between a couple. dana is planning on placing a besom at the entrance of their house where it will act as protection. she also uses it in a ritual to cleanse the space of negative energy before casting the circle.

the final part of the handfasting was the spiral dance. spiral dances are often used in large pagan rituals to raise energy as the concept of dancing in a spiral creates a cone of energy that spirals out from the group. all of us held hands and created a large circle (i was holding on to one of dana's hands). then dana let go of my hand and began walking, or spiraling, in towards the middle of the circle. because i was now the last person in the spiral, it took me a bit longer to get into the middle of the circle. once dana had reached the middle of the circle and everyone was spiraled up tight, she did a quick twist which allowed for the spiral to move outwards. it was the most fascinating thing being a part of this spiral and not run into anyone. the spiral never stopped, it flowed.

the after party for the handfasting was held at our friend neil and carol's place on queen street. they live above a store called XOXO at queen and peter street a block away from much music. their place is one of those apartments that you always wanted to party at because of their rooftop patio. its right across the street from the black bull, home to one of toronto's best patios. i used to always look up at the rooftop patio and watch people hang out looking down on queen street and wonder what it must be like to party there.

lookin down on the black bull patio.

this rooftap patio is huge! how huge you ask? czech out the piece of graffiti on wall of their patio. yah, its too wide to post it here in my blog. we had our friends spinning records all night, had the best view of the street below, and an incredible view of the cn tower.

blasting beatz until the sun came up, i was surprised it took so long for the cops to show up. at around 7am we got our first warning to turn it down. then a half hour later, we got our final warning. no problems, we had an incredible night of partying with friends. i walked home accompanied by my friend maer who was visiting from san francisco with his wife joni. i grabbed sky captain and the world of tomorrow and hotel rwanda to keep me company as i spent the rest of my sunday in bed recovering from an incredible weekend. good thing it was caribanalong weekend and i had the monday off.

i woke up bright and early monday and headed over to my friend darryl and isa's place to help them move into their newly renovated condo. they had a two level one bedroom penthouse condo. then they bought their next door neighbour's two level one bedroom condo and knocked the wall out between the two, creating a gorgeous three bedroom two level condo. their place is almost as beautiful as they are as a couple, and no where near as gorgeous as their 6 month old daughter valentina. isa and darryl are family to me, and i was glad i was able to help them move into their newly renovated home.

after a long day of moving, i jumped on the go train and headed towards whitby in the east to grab my mother's van. her and my sister were returning from a month long jaunt through new zealand and i was to pick them up from the airport. after grabbing my mom's van, i stopped off in oshawa quickly to have a quick drink with my friend jessie. when someone asks me if i've ever been in love, i think of jessie. her and i dated in university for two years. ever since her, i've been finding that i am attracted to what many people call jessalikes. i seem to be attracted to blonde haired blue eyed hippie girls with glasses. maybe its because jessie was the first woman to stimulate the parts of my personality that made me love myself, so every time i meet someone who looks similar to her, they automatically start stimulating the parts of me that make me love myself. i could go on and on about jessie, but that would take many many blog entries. she taught me many things, the most important being this: you can love someone with all of your heart, but that doesn't mean that you two should be together. i learned from her that in order to entertain the possibility of being friends with an ex, you have to love your life completely without that person in it. i love jessie to bits and pieces, but i know that we are not meant to be together.

wanna see some of the other jessalikes? of course you do...

the one that started it all...jess and i at university.

and now a few of the jessalikes...

can you see the differece? look harder, not all white people look the same, for real!

after picking up my mother and sister from the airport, i was happy to see that they didn't end up killing each other. that's a good thing. they dropped me off at my place on their way back to whitby and i passed out from a busy and memorable weekend.

- norm \m/^_^\m/

~*...return of the dredi...*~

god i love summer, especially summer in toronto. i know i sound like a broken record, but this city goes off in the summer. and the quality of beautiful people in this city is mind blowing! my neck hurts from all of the head turners that demand my attention with their hawtness.

my brother neil was passing through toronto on wednesday, july 20. he lives in santa maria, california, and was in town touring with his friends from the swedish metal band in flames. i ran into him and his friend anders, the lead singer, for lunch at my fav sushi restaurant on queen street, ho su bistro. the food there is quality, the prices are affordable, and the staff are very friendly and know me by name. it was great to chill out with neil as i don't see him very often. i also got to show anders a bit of toronto. he gave me a window into what its like to be in a rock band and spend most of your life touring. its hard for them to explore a city because they don't spend much time in each place. its a constant flow from one city to the next: play a gig, get on the bus, drive to the next city, play another gig. unless they know someone in the city to take them around, there isn't much time for them to cruise around and explore. many times, they don't even know where they are. they just know they are in a city or the surrounding area, with no clue as to what places would be cool to explore. so we cruised across queen street (the most diverse street in the world, imho), past nathan phillips square and our city hall (as seen in the movie resident evil apocalypse), and through the eaton center.

that night, i met up with neil and the band at the docks entertainment complex. this place is huge! from a huge concert theater to a go cart track and drive in movie theater, this place has been a staple for entertainment in toronto for years. after gettin my pass, i hooked up with the band on the tour bus for some pre concert pints. the tour bus was really nice inside, but according to my brother and the band not very comfortable. it looked comfy, but i guess while in motion its not a very smooth ride. there was a lounge area in the back with a television and dvd player, then the bunk area, a washroom (no shitting allowed) and a kitchen seating area in the front of the bus with another tv and dvd player. this is where the band spends most of their time while on the road. its home to them.

in flames was opening for a band called mudvayne. a lot of fans were surprised that it wasn't mudvayne opening for in flames. they were even more surprised to hear in flames play for a whopping 25 minutes. in flames were pissed at having such a short set. i would be too. 25 minutes is not enough time. but the energy of the show was off the hook. i love how the most powerful communities are the ones that share music, and metal stimulates such a unique energy in the crowd \m/^_^\m/ lots of head banging, hand waving, and moshing goin on. its been said that one of the best examples of culture is to observe how people spend their leisure time, more specifically the kind of music they listen to. it gets people out dancing, and nothing brings people closer together than sweat.

it was a fascinating experience to hang out with band that was on tour. you could feel the energy of the crowd, of the fans, as we hung out on the patio eating and drinking after in flames had finished their set. i had a guest pass on and i could feel the envy of some of the hardcore fans as they looked me up and down. i had people come up to me and ask in awe "guest pass? how'd you score that man?". hell, i had never heard of in flames before so elevating the guys i was hanging out with to celebrity status wasn't really an issue for me. they are just some dudes who play music. and i'm just some dude who's along for the ride. i guess its how i view fame. being interested in the lives and decisions of people you don't know makes them famous. the real question is how do you treat people differently when you believe they are famous? for me, i don't care who you are. if you bring out the parts of my personality that i like, awesome. if you don't, i'm outta here. cause in the end, you're just some guy and i'm just some guy, fame or no fame.

that being said, i got to see how fans treat the bands they love. so many people came up to us while we ate asking for autographs, pictures with the band, and anything else that would keep them in the presence of their favourite band. there were fans with full on in flames tattoos, hawt girlz always hanging around, and a constant supply of complimentary alcohol. i must say, rollin with rock stars was a fun and exciting experience.

we ended up on the tour bus where there was more free booze. by 2am i was annihilated and had to find my bed. it was awesome to hang out with my brother and experience the world he chooses to live in, to celebrate in, to dance in. rollin with a rock band for a night was an experience i will never forget. anders, björn, daniel, jesper, peter, it was great to hang with you guys. thanks for giving me a window into what its like to do what you love as a career. music, of all forms, is truly the universal language that brings all people together. t hanks for the hook up neil. i was surprised that in flames lets a joker like you hang around them, but after hangin with you and the band i realized you are all a bunch of goofs.

björn taught me how to say fredrik neitzsche's quote "without music life would be a mistake" in swedish. ultang myusik err lilvet est mistag. my repetoire of languages i can say that quote in is now 14.

that saturday, july 23, i attended the wedding of my very close friends bobby and dana. the ceremony was held in beamsville, ontario, in the heart of wine country near niagara-on-the-lake. i met bobby in 2000 in british columbia when our crew of omies met up and drove into the interior of b.c. for shambalah. you didn't think i'd have a blog entry without including om in it did ya? i also met dana through the om community just a little over four years ago. its been such an amazing experience knowing these two people and being a part of the family that they have chosen for themselves. i was honored to be a part of their wedding celebrations. its even more fun when you know both the bride and groom, especially when their friends are also your friends. its one big celebration of love with close friends.

i hitched a ride to beamsville with my friends isa, darryl, and their 5 month old daughter valentina. most of our friends, including the bride and groom, had booked out rooms at the comfort inn in beamsville. darryl and i dropped off isa and valentina at the hotel and went for a quick pit stop in nearby vineland to pick up some beer. its always fascinating for me to be outside of toronto. i feel more like a minority when i'm not in the big smoke. i am reminded that most of these small towns are populated by caucasians. there aren't too many chinese jamaicans kickin around those parts, especially ones with pigtailed dreadlocks wearing a red dress shirt and tie ;) personally, i love challenging people to think differently and watching them live out the answer. its fun watching the wave of my presence flow through the people around me. i am just as fascinated by them as they are by me.

wow, valentina is such a cutie!

the wedding ceremony was held outdoors at bled hall in beamsville. so many aspects of this wedding deviated from your traditional wedding ceremony. then again, bobby and dana aren't what society might call normal, and neither are our friends.

the bridesmaids, martha, kim (with son skye), erica, and lindsay, wore black dresses and walked down the aisle arm in arm as couples. the maid of honour was dana's best friend matthew. he looked so cute in his tuxedo as he carried the bouquet. the flower girl was bobby's niece.

dana wore a bright blue wedding dress with rainbow coloured shoes. she looked so radiant as her father walked her down the aisle. and i had never seen bobby so happy before in my life.

i am such a suck at weddings, and was crying like a baby when i saw dana walk down the aisle. the tears did not stop as the ceremony continued. as i looked around me, i was comforted to know that i was not the only one crying. and of course there was absolutely no reference to god or religion in the ceremony.

celebrating love with people i love is an overwhelming feeling of nirvana for me. the number of friends at bobby and dana's wedding outnumbered the number of actual blood relatives. bobby and dana don't have time in their lives for shitty people, and they definitely did not invite shitty people to their wedding. they celebrated their wedding day with the tip of the spear when it comes to incredible people (and yes, almost all of us were omies).

my friend chris brought his partner carol with him. she was wearing a beautiful east indian dress that looked so comfortable and beautiful on her. as i introduced myself, she asked if i remember her from almost ten years ago. it wasn't until she told me where we met for the first time that it all clicked. i had met carol in 1996 at the destiny 15 three day rave. her and i shared a powerful connection back then, and it was great to reconnect with her again at bobby and dana's wedding.

the reception was held in bled hall banquet hall. there was a framed picture of bobby and dana on each table as the center piece. the was also a disposable camera with each centerpiece so each table could capture their wedding experience on film for bobby and dana to develop and look through after.

dancing after was held outside, and wasn't your usual uber chezz wedding beatz. there are quite a few talented djs within our group of friends. beatz were provided by christian sunflower and rollin cash and included lots of dub, reggae, and house. our friend smoky davy boon provided the visuals by spinning fire poi. davy is very skilled at spinning fire, which was a good thing seeing as he was wearing a very flammable dress shirt. man, fire is so sexxxy. i just bought my first set of poi and am learning new techniques from davy and other friends skilled in maori art.

bobby failed to mention that he had some caribbean culture in his family, maybe for a reason ;) don't worry, i gave him a good punch in the arm later for keeping this secret from me. his aunt married a guyanese man and had three beautiful daughters name shatez, shantaine, taveena. its always good to see that it is possible for different races to love one another...it creates beautiful souls like bobby's cousins, and me.

the celebrations continued back at the hotel. the moon was almost full and was as bright as a street light. the hotel was right beside an old abandoned waterpark once known as wet and wild prudhomme's landing. a number of us decided to go exploring in the ghost town that was prudhomme's landing. with the moon lighting our way, there was no need for flashlights. we walked across the old go cart track to find an old rusted tilt-a-whirl ride to play in. yes, they even left the rides there to rot and rust. but the best part was the waterslides. yup, they left the waterslides intact. we ran up the tube ride to the top of the waterslides and enjoyed one of the most beautiful views of lake ontario. this water park was built right on the shores of the lake. after the demise of this amusement park (i think splashworks at wonderland sealed prudhomme's landing's doom), someone must have bought the land and is waiting to build houses on it in a few years. until that happens, the slides and the rides were left there to decay.

running down the waterslides with plant overgrowth surrounding the slides was so much fun, especially the covered mine shaft section of the slide. it was pitch black inside there as we ran through it blind, and drunk ;) what an incredible day of celebrating love with bobby and dana, of exploring the remains of an amusement park, and sharing my life with the most incredible people. as i jumped into my friend karen's car to head back to toronto (a drive that we made in a record 40 minutes), i was reminded that i am blessed with the best people to share my life with.

more to come...

- norm (:D)---