~*...burning man...tuesday...*~

tuesday, august 30
3rd annual oral sex tuesday

today's the day to show you're appreciation for those who live to go down. offer your oral talents, or better yet, offer yourself as a recipient and give the gift that gives back to you. remember: it is better to give than receive. hosted by: everyone in brc

photo by maria tyomkina

random repeating tuesday event in black rock city

sorry, we're closed
tuesday - sunday, 6:00am-11:00am
in celebration of the state of unconsciousness, we respectfully request that you avoid our camp 6-11:00am daily. there will be nothing going on...nothing to see..keep moving. hosted by velvet soulmine @ bi-polar and 4:30

photo by scott london

random one time tuesday event in black rock city

canada night
8:00pm-2:00am
what does it really mean to be canadian? find out in our igloo! we'll reveal the secret canadian handshake, teach the inscrutable language of the quebecois. learn the correct usage of the words "eh?" and "about". hear tales of early prime ministers who stood over 40ft, and how most american celebrities are actually canadian. hosted by: the lost penguin cafe @ esplanade and 5:00

photo by ra hirschi

we left the fernley truck stop just after sunrise tuesday morning and began our final two hour stretch towards black rock city, the seventh largest city in nevada. our last stop was gerlach, the last populated town about 15 miles away from black rock city. the sun was shining, and none of us could contain our excitement as we made our last pit stop in gerlach.

the gerlach gas station was already radiating the energy of the burn. from burners making their last gas stop to sculptures, art, and the last cash vending booths i would see for the duration of the festival, gerlach was truly an oasis in the middle of nowhere. little did i know what i was about to experience on the playa.

15minutes later, the playa was in clear view, well , sort of. a cloud of dust in the distance let us know that we were almost there. black rock city is surrounded by mountains and is built in the middle of a dry lake bed (formerly lake lahontan), also known as the playa. it is a city of 35,000 people in the middle of the black rock desert. it is an experiment in temporary community. it is a radically different universe.

top ten burning man principles:

1. radical inclusion
2. gifting
3. decommodification
4. radical self-reliance
5. radical self expression
6. communal effort
7. civic responsibility
8. leaving no trace
9. participation
10. immediacy
note: sometimes a banana is just a banana

driving through the entranceway to burning man, we were treated to a series of signs carefully placed to accent the long desert road leading to black rock city. the signs began stimulating the atmosphere of the festival in the arriving burners and included words, poetry, stories, art. and so my devirgination began...

when we reached the gate, we were greeted by some of the most kind and friendly strangers i had ever come across. after a quick search of our rv, us new burners were encouraged to ring the official bell and declare that we are no longer burning man virgins!

we were then each branded with a playa dust hand on our backs. we were told that it is very easy to get laid on the playa, but that does not mean we can freely overstep our boundaries. each of us was given a brightly coloured flourescent button that said either "no means no" or "ask before you touch". with a final reminder to keep our rv speed to 5mph, we entered a different universe and became citizens of black rock city.
black rock city is really a city. it has a cafe, a recycling center, a municipal airport, a post office, a daily newspaper, a radio station, and a population of over 35,000 people. there is no money on the playa. it is a cashless society. everything you need to survive in the desert for a week you bring with you, and take it out with you when you leave.

black rock city is laid out in a large arc with the man in the center. streets that spread out from the man are named as if they were times on a clock, starting at 2:00 to the right of the man and ending at 10:00 to the left of the man. the streets that follow the arcs and intersect with the times are named according to the theme of year. this year's art theme was psyche, the conscious, the subconscious and unconscious. the streets were in alphabetical order from the esplanade out and were named amnesia, bi-polar, catharsis, ego, fetish, gestalt, and hysteria. click here for a full map of black rock city 2005.

we parked the rvs at 6:10 and fetish and began setting up our shelters. we were all anxious to get on our bikes and begin exploring the playa, but our shelters were priority. we had to make sure that they were properly secured because as we'd soon learn, the desert can be harsh and relentless. with temperatures reaching 40 degrees in the day time, 10degrees at night, (who uses fahrenheit or imperial anyways?;), and dust storms beyond anything you can imagine, protecting yourself from the elements is always of the highest priority. goggles and masks are a necessity to protect you from the beatdown of playa dust storms that pass through black rock city. and of course lots of water to keep yourself hydrated.


with our bellies full of peanut butter sandwiches sprinkled with nature's fungal psychedelic, and backpacks full of water and beers, our caravan of ten toronto burners began our first ride together across the playa of black rock city. every experience, every rendezvous, every moment, every breath from that moment on would be life changing for each one us.

think of the last time you were in such awe that your jaw hit the floor. within minutes of being on the playa you get that feeling, and it continues to happen over and over and over again with every breath you take. everything i had ever imagined burning man to be, everything that i thought it was, was squashed within the first few minutes of riding through the playa towards the man. it goes beyond words. i immediately understood why the burning man site says that trying to explain what burning man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explaining what a particular colour looks like to someone who is blind. you just have to be there. nothing can prepare you for it.

radical self expression, creativity, and imagination constantly served up at random in the middle of the desert.

we rode through center camp and i was simply blown away. the creativity and imagination of everything around me floored me with every breath. art was everywhere, radically experiencing itself in all its forms. imagine a place where 30,000 people from all across the world came together and created a piece of art. imagine a place where artists are at home, a place where we can be who we are and radically embrace who we want to be. there are people dressed up in the most elaborate costumes, people walking around naked, people driving art cars, people spinning poi, people riding bikes. thousands of artists expressing their passion for altering themselves and their environments as they create the world around them, around us.


photo by mikki willis

photos by ra hirschi

i felt i was in a world that spawned from a head on collision between mad max and alice in wonderland. it was if my head was exploding with every breath, and so was everyone else's.



there are no spectators, only participants...and it was all blowing my mind at random. you just never know when 250 people dressed as bunny rabbits would walk by protesting humans and supporting the bunnification of the universe, or a dozen cupcakes may ride by you in the middle of the freakin dessert!


center camp is the largest temporary freestanding tensile shade structure in the world. it covers almost an acre of the desert in shade, has two full service coffee shops, two stages, and many interactive art installations. it is also the single largest volunteer community on the playa. from its construction to serving coffee, hundreds of volunteers make center camp a favourite stop for burners.

just past center camp was an interactive art installation appropriately named colossus. designed by an artist named zachary coffin, colossus was over 60feet high and weighed more than 45,000 pounds. it had three large metal arms with a massive boulder hanging from each. dangling from each boulder was a thick rope that allowed burners to swing and hang from them. getting enough momentum to move the arms was a huge undertaking. holy shit those boulders were heavy. it was a workout just to get them moving, yet alone hang from them.

photo by ales prikryl


there is so much going on that taking your camera out of your hipsack, then out of the ziploc bag you've placed it in to protect it from playa dust, just to take a picture, takes too long. you'll miss something, or what you are trying to take a pikcha of is gone and has been replaced by something else just as mind blowing! on our ride towards the man i saw explosions of fire, art in the sky made by airplanes, mutant vehicles, sculpture and art in so many forms, and the most incredible and creative people of every age from all walks of life. the force is beyond powerful on the playa, and it flows freely through everyone.


we stopped at an art installation called the dreamer. it was a large purple head coming out of the desert floor. what was even more amazing about the dreamer was that there were dreamshare workshops held inside of it every day.
dreamshare group
bring a night dream to share under the guidance of a experienced dream-group leader. groups limited in number. be prepared to stay for the entire meeting. late arrivals not admitted. location: inside the dreamer.
i'm going to apologize now for the blurry pix i'm posting. it seems like very little survives the extremely harsh conditions of the desert, including teknology. my camera got hosed in the first day of being on the playa. my pix were blurry and continued to get worse. the motor on my camera lens got so much dust in there that it would often stick and prevent me from taking any pix at all. i need to open up my camera and blast it with compressed air to get all of the dust out of it. even after adding the loss of my camera to the cost of the trip, every penny i spent was made worth it within minutes of being on the playa.
as i saw the man in the distance, i stopped to take a deep breath. for that moment, i felt nothing. i was not happy, i was not sad, i was not overwhelmed. i was me, without fear. if there was a moment of clarity where nothingness overwhelmed me and i was at peace, it was then. i was finally in my element.

we finally reached the center of the playa, the man himself. final touches in the man's construction were being completed. he stood a top a large eye on a large structure which housed an expansive labyrinth of rooms, doors, revolving doors, and creativity. the maze itself was a challenge to walk through. so many turns, swivels, rotations, it was easy to get lost. if you found your way to the stairs, you were able to walk up to the observation deck just beneath the man on top of the maze. it provided the most beautiful views of the playa. there were two ways of getting down from the observation deck beneath the man, you either slid down a fire pole which placed you one room away from the entrance of the maze, or you walked down the stairs in an attempt to navigate your way back through the labyrinth looking for the exit. turtle was a bit too inebriated to take the fire pole and opted for the maze. after 15minutes of trying to find his way out of the labyrinth, frustration set in and he yelled out "how the fuck do i get out of here!" only to have a beautiful older woman answer "there is no getting out dear, there's only going deeper."

click here to see a panoramic view of the playa (from 2004). it gives you an excellent window into the magnitude of how huge the playa is.


at night the man was illuminated in neon lights and rotated.
our next stop was the temple of dreams that was in the process of being built just a bit further on the promenade past the man. the temple is an ever changing art installation where people go to mourn loss. this year, the temple was a large red wood structure. people came there to reflect, to pray, to write letters, to remember those who are no longer here. i have never been to a place where the force was so powerful it moved people to break out in song, to fall to their knees and weep, to rejoice with music, to dance without abandon. i have yet to tell the story of the temple without breaking down in tears. i have yet to type about the temple without weeping. it is the most powerful and inspiring place i have ever experienced. i spent a few moments taking deep breaths, tuning into the overwhelming power of the force as it flowed through me, through the temple, through those present.
i was reminded of the people in my life who are no longer here. i was reminded how blessed i am to have shared my life with them, and that they will continue to exist as long as i remember them. i've lost so many people in my life that i no longer have enough fingers to count...i'm on to my second set of toes now. from losing my father when i was 10yrs old to my friend tanya who took her own life less than two years ago, my life has been filled with so many painful reminders of the only real truth that everyone has to face...our bodies are only temporary, and at some point we will die.

i took a spare piece of wood from the large wood pile at the temple, grabbed one of the sharpie markers that were making their way around the temple, and wrote down a message to my loved ones who are no longer here. i then placed it into a large pile of other messages, notes, memories laid down at the temple. if there was a place besides in our dreams where the spirits of those who have passed on can connect with those of us still here in this world, you could not find a better and more powerful channel for them to connect with us than the temple of dreams at burning man.

click here to see a beautiful panorama of the temple of dreams in 2004.

a toronto star reporter attended his first burning man this year, and wrote a very powerful article describing his first experience. it includes an extremely moving description of his experience at the temple of dreams. each time i read this article i break down in tears. i've placed the article here. please take the time to read it. it will move you in ways that i can only describe as serendipitous.

photo by anrew wyatt

despite our overwhelming feelings of emotion at the temple, we all agreed that we needed to hear some beatz. it was early afternoon and we could hear bangin beatz coming from 10:00 and the esplanade. we began our trek towards the music. on our way there, i was distracted by a theme camp that had an entire living room of sofas and chairs covered in red fun fur. its beyond easy to get distracted on the playa, but this chill out area of fun fur called my name. i met the man responsible for creating the camp and shared a beer with him. i had lost my krew, but i knew i'd find them later.

i finally reached the camp pumping out the banging afternoon beatz. my krew was not there, but that didn't matter to me. i got off my bike and began to radically create and express myself through movement and dance. the camp was run by a group of canadians. there were only about three of us dancing in the blazing afternoon sun, and the beatz were house music served up propah. as i danced under the desert sky to some of the sexxxiest beatz i have ever heard, the most beautiful blonde angel dressed in a large fun fur hat danced up beside me, looked into my eyes, and said "mmmm...house music."

i was in another universe on the playa. it is a place of extremes, and the people are the most creative and fascinating beings i have ever met. beautiful does not even come close to describing how breathtaking citizens of black rock city are. they are everywhere, constantly recreating themselves in front of you, serving up mind blowing energy at random.

after dancing with beautiful canadians on the playa, i jumped on my bike and headed across catharsis back towards our camp. of course my journey back to the camp would include many many stops on the way, beginning with a theme camp called the deep end. located at 9:00 and catharsis, the deep end felt like a tropical paradise in ibiza. it opened at 10am and closed at 10pm, and it was the place to be in the daytime if you wanted to dance your ass off to proper house beatz with the sexxxiest people on the playa. once again, my jaw hit the floor.



i continued by journey back to my camp, passing theme camps with names like casa de slut monkey and porn&eggs. i chose catharsis because my friends leanne and mike from toronto told me that they were camping near 7:30 and catharsis. i was hoping to run into them on the playa, and so i chose to ride catharsis often. just because your address is 7:30 and catharsis doesn't mean that you are camped right on the road, so finding them was a bit more difficult than i expected.

i stopped off at the fandango camp at 7:00 and catharsis to explore, take a quick break, and enjoy my first drink from a bar on the playa. my friend sandstorm, the girl from toronto who i enjoyed my flight to colorado with on my way to vegas, told me she was camped at fandango. i was hoping to run into her. underneath a large teepee style tent, the fandango bar had a few comfy sofas surrounding a standup piano. i approached the bar, not sure what to expect or ask for. i knew that there was no money on the playa, but i thought everything was barter. if i wanted a drink i'd have to barter something for it. i soon learned that the playa is all about gifting with no expectation of something in return. if you want to give something back you can, but when it came to booze just go up to the bar and ask for what you want. no cash, no tipping. i ordered a beer and was asked by the bartender if it was my first time at fandango. i answered yes. he immediately yelled out "we have a new one!", then stood up on the bar and proceeded to fill up a huge beer bong. with everyone at the bar cheering me on, i guzzled my first beer bong on the playa at fandango. as the effects of the delicious lychee flavoured beer kicked me in the teeth, the bartender rang a bell, and i no longer was a fandango or burning man virgin.
all of a sudden, a man in a cowboy hat began playing the piano. then a beautiful woman named honey grabbed a seat on the piano top and began singing. a young bearded man joined them at the piano and began belting out the blues. random creativity served itself up once again. coincidences don't happen on the playa, everything happens perfektly and for a reason. as i got up to dance to the intoxicating blues being performed by random burners, i hear my name yelled out from behind me. it was sandstorm. we hugged and kissed each other, and she looked in my eyes and said "now you know." it was true. no words or stories can possibly describe what its like to be on the playa, you have to be there to know.
sandy and i said our goodbyes and i continued my journey back to our camp. my focus was clear, get some food in me. itz difficult to not stop every few feet to explore a new theme camp or meet someone new and incredible, but my stomach was empty and i needed to eat something. as i rode up to our camp i was greeted with a loud roar from my krew who were all there letting the mind blowing experience of the day sink in. after they lost me, they decided to start a pool on when they think norm will return. they had it all written down on a whiteboard with time slots and names for each of them assigned to the time when they thought i would be coming back. a few of them thought i wouldn't return until we left for home on the sunday. will took home the prize though. i did come back that day, and between 5:30 and 6:00pm. hey, i was hungry. can't ignore the needs of my belly.
i must say, our camp was pretty organized. it was good to have experienced burners like will, shallen, sue, and karen with us. every day at our camp, two people were scheduled to make dinner for everyone. this would make sure that everyone would have at least one full hot meal every day. excellent idea.

after dinner we changed into our evening attire. the desert gets very cold at night in comparison to the daytime temperature, but hey, we're from canada. anything above zero degrees is shorts weather. i donned my kenobi hoody and "sleeps well with others" tshirt, which went over very well ;)

imagine you were in the middle of a city in the desert for a week and the only efficient way to get around was by bicycle. how would you decorate your bike so that others would not mistake it for theirs (especially seeing as many people brought with them the same el cheapo walmart roadmaster specials), and so that people could see you at night? take that creativitym radically express it, and you'll begin to tune into the energy that flows so freely across the playa. i decided to remove all of the stickers on my bike, then used an exacto knife to rework the letters from the remaining roadmaster sticker into dredimaster.


we began our evening festivities at the stage near 2:00 and the esplanade. i was surprised to hear so many breakbeatz. i can't count how many times turtle looked at me and yelled "breakz beeyatch!". we ended up at the house of lotus on the other end of the playa (10:00) for some propah house beatz. here's the thing about burning man stages, there is music everywhere, of all kinds, all the time. you have so much choice its crazy. and you never know who is playing because there is no advertising. you just have to be there.

there were at least three other sound stages next to the house of lotus, and we spent the night moving back and forth between them all. i love dancing outside, there is nothing like it. combine that with the people and the energy of being in black rock city, and it is heaven. we danced until the sun came up. i will never forget sharing the sun rise for the first time on the playa that morning. everyone we were dancing with at the house of lotus turned to face the rising sun. people began cheering and screaming as it rose. it was the end of an incredible night, and the beginning of a new and beautiful day.
- that first day on the playa guy

~*...burning man...monday...*~

monday, august 29
makeout monday

aaah, kissing. today is all about kissing; sharing the soft, sensual lips of another fine person. i want to see everyone making out everywhere! make out with at least 3 people today. hosted by everyone in brc.

photo by aaron gautschi

random repeating monday event in black rock city

get married by a whore
monday - sunday
please stop by and see robert. marry your partner(s) in a sacred ceremony honoring the god/goddess in each of us. hosted by: templewhore @ fetish and 4:30

photo by jim hair

random one time monday event in black rock city

life size mousetrap!
8:00pm - 9:00pm
the life size mousetrap is a fantastically hand crafted, 16 piece, 50,000-lb interactive kinetic sculpture set atop a 6,500-square foot game board, the mousetrap presents mini shows in the daytime, at midnight; one full production at 10pm! hosted by: mousetrap camp @ esplanade and 9:00

photo by scott london

today is the day that burning man officially began. we woke up early that monday morning with a large list of things to do before beginning our journey to black rock city, including picking up our rvs and purchasing all of our food, booze, and camping equipment.

we czech'd out of the rennaissance hotel by 9am and broke off into two groups. sue, karen, and myself took a cab to walmart to begin shopping for our camping gear. the rest of the krew headed to pick up the rvs, only to find out that the rv company had screwed up the reservations and would not have the rvs ready until 1pm. that immediately put everyone on edge, except for sue, karen and i. we had our list of things to purchase and spent the morning and a good portion of the afternoon at walmart. we became quite familiar with the store staff seeing as we spent the entire morning there. i was also walking around with a large chinese rice hat, so it was pretty easy to notice me.

it didn't take us very long to get all of the gear we needed, and we placed everything into layaway until the rvs showed up. the walmart staff was intrigued and asked us what we were doing. trying to explain what burning man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explaing what a particular colour looks like to someone who is blind. i think that the staff was just as fascinated by me than our description of what burning man is...hell, i had never been to burning man so i was having a difficult time trying to explain what it was.

the rv krew showed up at walmart just after 3pm and quickly made their personal walmart purchases, including bicycles to ride on the playa. i was happy to leave as i had spent enough time in that walmart. after loading up the rvs with our gear and groceries, we were finally on our way. it was 5pm. our plan was to drive non-stop to black rock city, a ten hour trek from vegas. it was going to be a long night.
yvonne was driving our rv with karen and scott in the back and me riding shotgun. we kept in contact with the other rvs thanks to walkie talkies. words could not describe my feelings of excitement as we began our journey towards burning man. i had been waiting and anticipating this event for the past ten years, and we were finally on our way.

after about 6 hours of driving, i needed to get some rest. i woke up to find ourselves parked at a truck stop in a town called fernley, about 2 hours away from black rock city. i headed into the truck stop to use the washroom and clean up. yes, there were slot machines everywhere. it seems that no matter where you go in nevada, from the airport to the gas station, there is always a slot machine asking you to lose money.

i grabbed shallen from the truck stop casino and headed back to the rvs to wake everyone up. we weren't far from the burn, and i wanted to get there as soon as possible. it wasn't difficult to wake up the troops, and we were soon on our way. next stop, black rock city.

- that burning man virgin guy \m/^_^\m/

~*...burning man...first stop ...vegas...*~

blogging my entire burning man experience in one single blog entry is proving to be way too much of an undertaking. so i decided to break the trip down into smaller pieces, and post them one at a time. this will give you time to absorb my life changing experience bit by bit and give me time to tell the story in a much more timely manner. sorry its taken me a week to get my first real blog entry up, but decompressing from the burn is also a huge undertaking. don't worry, there are new pix of the burn in my pikcha archive that should definitely satisfy as i get my blog up to date.

on thursday, august 25, we had our final burning man meeting at will's place. on my cruise across queen street, as per the norm, i ran into a few familiar faces beginning with my boy ziggy.

i know ziggy from london in my university daze. he was just stopping off in toronto for a few nights before leaving for vancouver to start a new life near the mountains. running into him was a pleasant surprise. i'll see you on the west coast zigs! we'll shred the coastals together this year fo sheez!

then, at queen and yonge i ran into my friends mike and leanne, which was great because they were on their way to burning man the next day and my attempts to get in touch with them before they left were unsuccessful. and there i was running into them on queen street. i was definitely in tune with the force that evening. i found out where they were going to be camping on the playa and wished them a safe journey to the burn. daam was i glad i ran into them. i was gettin afraid that i wouldn't know where to find them on the playa, then bam! i run into them on queen street. it is very difficult for me to cruise across that street without running into someone i know. i am a daily personality on queen street, its home to me.

all of the final details for the burn were taken care of at will's place that night. shallen also brought with him all of our night time glow supplies to hand out to everyone. glowing tingz are essential for surviving at burning man: how else are people supposed to see you and your bicycle at night in the middle of the desert? i was also super stoked that my flashflight frisbees came in the mail a few daze before. i was so looking forward to tossing a lit up frisbee on the playa.

on my way home after will's, i stopped off at my friend steve and angela's place. after helping them move a refrigerator out of their apartment and into the garbage, i was treated to play time with new life. their roommate's cat had kittens. oh man, kittens are simply the cutest little things in the universe. they made me miss my cats, sativa and amidala, who are currently living with my sister. if my roommate wasn't allergic, they would be living with me.

unlike wednesday night, i slept like a baby that thursday night. maybe because i didn't really sleep wednesday night due to the excitement of the adventure that lay ahead of me. it was the last time i would sleep in my bed until after the burn.

friday, i finished packing and got ready to head to system to hear donald glaude and my boy jelo who was recording a live set. i was happy to get my new flash version of my site up before i left for the club that night. my flight was 10am the next morning, so the plan was to party like a rock star in the most multicultural city in the world and head straight to the airport.

my girl maxine picked me up around 11pm and we headed to system soundbar. the club was rammed that night, everyone and their cousin was out, and the vibe was off the hook. jelo's live set was bumping from the first track he dropped. i wasn't very impressed with donald glaude's set, but the people made up for it. daam this city is full of very good looking people.





shallen was rocking the burning man in his head that friday night...gettin into the spirit of the burn before we even left the country. noice one bruvah.

i left system just after 5am and headed home to put some final touches on my site before will picked me up at 8am. it was fun saying bye to people with "later! i'm going to vegas now." :)

we ran into kev (turtle), sue, court, and ryan at the airport. our krew looked very tired seeing as we were all at system a few hours earlier, but we were all going to pass out on the plane to vegas so it didn't really matter. little did i know what i was in for at the airport.

will had purchased our airplane tickets using his credit card, and had brought with him the printouts including our check in ids. everything is automated now, so all we had to do was manually enter our check in ids at the airport touch screen terminals and we were taken care of. yay technology. after checking in we headed towards customs. you can really tell america is at war as the customs officers treat you like they do not want you coming to their country. i provided the proper identification and was then asked how long i was planning to be in the states for. i told him ten daze. he then asked for my return ticket, which i didn't have on me...will had it and he had just passed through customs before me. i answered "my friend will has it. he just went through customs a minute before me". the customs officer asked "what do you mean you don't have a return ticket? why don't you have a ticket? why does your friend have your ticket? how do i know you're coming back?" yup, i got flagged and sent to u.s. immigration. i was the last one of us to go through, so i couldn't tell any of my friends to get will and have him come back with proof that i was planning on coming back to canada. as soon as i got into the immigration room i grabbed my phone to call will, but i was told firmly to put my phone away as they do not allow cellular phone use in the immigration room. immigration proceeded to take my fingerprints and photograph me for their records. then i had to sit and wait for a customs officer to come and interrogate me. while waiting, a stewardess came in asking if i was mr.sang (i'm a lim sang but i'm used to mr.sang). she then reported back on her walkie talkie that mr.sang was being held up in customs and would be on the next flight. as soon as i heard that i was pissed!

45 minutes later, a female customs officer brought me into her office. daam she was cold, and i had to keep reminding myself that she's not this much of a bitch when she's drinking wine with her friends. after questioning me about my visit to the states for 20 minutes, she let me go and get a copy of my itinerary from the air canada check in proving that i was indeed going to return to canada. once satisfied, she then proceeded to go through my bags. of course she found nothing of note. if i wasn't me i'd probably flag me, so i wasn't about to be stupid and validate anyone's assumptions.

so i ended up having to rebook on the next flight to vegas. on my way back to the check in, i ran into my good friend tiia's parents at the duty free shop. they were on their way to chicago. i love tiia's parents, and they were very happy to see me. tiia's mom is an air canada stewardess. i told her what happened, and she was very sympathetic. but in the end, i didn't have a copy of my ticket with me, and they needed to proof that i was coming back to canada. why would they take my word for it?....and the country is at war.

the next direct flight to vegas was 12 hours later, but the air canada stewardess was very accommodating. she booked me on a connecting flight to vegas through denver which left within the hour. that would get me to vegas only two hours after my krew made it there. i was glad i didn't have to sit in the airport for 12 hours waiting for the next direct flight.

the metal on my belt, bracelet, and the metal plate in my knee set off the metal detectors and i was searched once again. but i was through customs, and was finally able to be in my element. from saying "thank you" in polish to the women who were examining my bags to saying "without music life would be a mistake" in hindi to the man who had to go over my body with the wand, the formalities were easy for me to deal with. these people were just doing their jobs, and they weren't trained to be dicks like the immigration officers were. it was easy to put a smile on their faces. the customs officers were a different story, but i was admitted to the states so it didn't matter.

after making it through the metal detectors, i ran into a guy at the bar (that was facing the metal detectors) who was wearing a cowboy hat. he pointed at me and said "burner?" to which i replied "yup". "i could tell" he said. "you look like a burner." he introduced himself as ravi. i grabbed a beer and sat down beside him. he was waiting for his friend who was also being help up in customs, but he didn't know why and he couldn't reach her on her cel. i shared with him my customs story, and how i missed my plane to vegas. it turned out that i was on the same flight as he was to denver where he would transfer to reno and i would head to vegas. i asked him where he was camping at burning man and he told me at the fandango camp. my friend sandy had told me that she was going to be at the burn and camping at fandango, so i immediately asked him if he knew her. guess who his friend was who was being held up in customs? om - everything is occurring perfectly at the same time. another burner joined us for a drink as we waited for sandy to make it through customs.


15 minutes before our flight for denver left, sandy had still not come out of customs. ravi didn't want to leave her, but i encouraged him to get on the plane. she knows what hotel they are staying at in reno. it makes no sense for both of them to miss the plane. she'll get on the next flight. so ravi and i boarded the plane. i also happened to run into my friend johnjoe on the plane as i walked down the aisle to take my seat. he was on his way to burning man too. there were lots of burners on that flight.

with less than 5 minutes before the plane took off, sandy boarded the plane. she was as pleased to see ravi as ravi was to see her, but she was shocked to see me. i had the emergency exit seat and had no one sitting beside me, so after the plane took off sandy came and sat beside me. it was great to have someone to chill with and talk to during the flight, but daam i was tired. sandy was helped up at customs for no real apparent reason. her and i agreed that it was the "flag the red and black haired people" day at the airport.



we said our goodbyes in denver and made plans to meet up on the playa at burning man. everything happens for a reason.

when i arrived in vegas, one of my bags didn't make the transfer in denver. of course my bag didn't make it! i filled out the proper forms and my bag was scheduled to be delivered to my hotel the next day. i jumped on a hotel shuttle bus and arrived at the renaissance in vegas. i met turtle in our hotel room, ate a sandwich, had a stiff drink, and then passed out. it had been so long since i had any rest, and we had plans to go out that night. what an ordeal it was to get into the united states.

ryan had hooked us up with guest list at a club called ice, the venue from the reality television show "the club". after a quick shower, turtle and i headed down to will and ryan's room where we began our pre-drinking festivities. then will, ryan, turtle, and i headed over to ice.


ice was a fairly large club, which seemed to be the theme of the night: one large room for top 40 hip hop and rnb and one for electronic music. the music for the evening was provided by none other than superstar dj keoki. but just like ice, he did not impress me.


the biggest surprise of the night was the plethora of large and in charge women that were at ice. coming from toronto the night before surrounded by the multi culturally hawt cream of the crop, being around that many big women was a shock to my system. what really blew my mind was that they were all walking around like they was all that. i guess if the average weight of the women there was 175lbs, being 165lbs makes you the shit. i can find beauty in all sizes, hell i'll make out with pretty much anyone, but it took a memorable evening one night last year before i learned a valuable lesson...she must weigh less than me to get past the kissing.


not everyone at the club was larger than me, and i was able to chill with some very attractive peepz..



...but the number of big women rubbin up against me tryin to get fresh was a bit too much for me to handle, so after two hours we left.

back at the hotel, will and ryan decided to call it a night. this was my first night in vegas, so turtle and i decided to hit the strip. i had never seen the strip before, so i was pretty excited. vegas is the disneyland of sin, the dark side flows freely throughout its streets. prostitution is legal, gambling is legal, and you can drink your free booze in the streets. yup, hang out long enough at the penny slots and someone will come by asking if you'd like a cocktail.



but i did not have much money to waste on gambling, and neither did turtle, so we came up with a pretty good plan to see as many casinos as possible and spend the least amount of money. we agreed to spend $100 in total at ten casinos...ten bucks at each casino. we would only spend that much at each place, and whatever winnings we earned there (if we won). it gave us the opportunity to see as many casinos on the strip in one night while keeping our pocketbooks in check. it was fun stepping up to a blackjack table, playing a single $10 hand and then leaving. most times i'd just play slots.




the sun came up, and i was beyond tired. so turtle and i headed back to the renaissance with our winnings (ha!), and called it a night.

the next day we rendezvoused with the rest of our krew for a cruise down the strip. man, everywhere you go there are people giving out flyers sellin punani. sex is everywhere, and everyone is pushin it. sin! sin! sin! vegas is surreal.

las vegas...where fantasy becomes reality. they weren't joking.

if the beers aren't free, you can always grab them for stupid cheap. one casino was selling beers for a dollar! yah, you know we stocked up.


i got my pikcha taken with a vegas showgirl, hell, i even ran into elvis. he supported the theme that was established the night before at ice...ugly, fat, and all that. maybe its an american theme ;) all you can eat buffet anyone?

speaking of buffet dinner, when in rome, eh! that sunday night we gorged ourselves at the mgm grand all you can eat buffet. i have never seen any buffet like it in my life. from the selection to the quality of the food, everything was fit for a king. the prime rib rawked! and all you can eat alaskan king crab legs! hot or cold! the price was a bit more than your average buffet ($30), but very well worth it. i ate more than my share of animals that once lived and got my money's worth. if you make it to vegas, the line up for the mgm grand buffet is worth waiting for.


before we left the mgm, we had to stop and admire the lions that were chillin out in the casino. LIONS for gawd's sake! nucking futz!

no more gambling for me. i was looking forward to sleeping in a comfortable bed for one last time at our hotel as we planned to leave for burning man the next day. vegas is a different universe. it is the darkest parts of capitalism fully embraced and packaged in fantasy. i understood where the saying "what happens in vegas stays in vegas" came from. i don't think the word sin comes close to what its like to breathe the fantasy world of las vegas. my next stop however, was also another universe, one fueled by creativity and imagination without the evils of cash (at least while there). the next day i would leave for the burning man festival.

- that sin city guy \m/^_^\m/

~*...off to burning man...*~

after a great night out at system soundbar, i am officially leaving for burning man. see you in september.

one

- norm (:D)---

~*....the full monkee...*~

tonight's game against cheap-n-easy ended in victory for the monkees. seeing as we have lost most of our games this season, winning two weeks in a row is a great feeling. we really came together as a team tonight. its awesome watching a group like this progress throughout the season. we have all improved. the final score was 15-7. the team we played had great spirit. they even used a banana in their after game cheer.

and for the first time this season, we went out for beers after the game. we played on a field in forest hill near bathurst and st.clair, and not way up in (bfn) north york. we ended up at scallywags at st.clair and yonge where we enjoyed half price food (yay tuc benefits) and beer. i believe that the social aspect of playing team sports (read beers and wings after the game) is just as important as the time spent together on the field. it gives teams the opportunity to interact and socialize without the atmosphere of competition. you get to learn more about your fellow teammates in ways that you cannot on the field. it also gives teams the opportunity to socialize with the team you just played (though it did not happen tonight). that's something i miss about playing closer to downtown, the beer and wings with your team after. i'm glad we got to enjoy it tonight, especially with a win under out belt.

the raccoons also made an appearance at scallywags. man, those animals are ballzy.

i love this sport!

three more sleeps until i burn.

- norm (=D)----

~*...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)----