Out of the Bitter Barn to Play in the Hay!

Alright, a few minutes to sit down and try to centre myself... things have been a bit all over the place. Well, actually, I've been all over the place... T-bay for the past few days catching up with friends... got to see Mr. B (aka Paul Bachmeier) who is going to be a teacher in Atikokan (if I remember correctly) and actually educated me on a cool new sight to see in T-bay. So, for all of you in Thunder Bay, you can go check this out yourselves and the rest of you, well, you'll just have to wait til I get back to Van City because I forgot my camera cable and won't be able to visually show you til then...

So, you head down to the Harbour to where that little walking island is but you don't go on it. Instead go to the road on your right until you get to a big ass fence with a 'Restricted Area' sign... if you go a liiiittle further, the gate's open (we just walked in... haha) and then you head towards the lake. There's a pile of rocks that remind me of quarry stone and I guess some students showed up there and painted... they're very cool. I guess a guy Paul works with who has a learning disability (correct me if I'm wrong...) showed him all this cool stuff around t-bay... pretty neat.

Next, was hanging with Seija... I went for a run with Mom at Centennial then got dropped off at Seija's place where we ran home then had a sweet movie night. Watched Vicky Christina Barcelona (good movie!).

Not going to lie (and sorry to the rest of you buuuuut...), my favourite visit was definitely with Ang and her bf Chris. They're the most hilarious couple of people ever, especially when together! Man... I think the whole time I was there, I was laughing. Mostly at nothing. Haha.

From there, sushi with the Education girls, then back to Amanda and Adam's new digs - they bought a new house this spring... very pretty. Ran into a surprise guest there - Ghislain DeLaplante dropped in for a visit. So, that was nice...

Checked out Jeff's new place, which was really cool but a bit beige for my liking... (haha, sorry Jeff)

Brought Mom's family of bikes (mountain, road, etc.) into Rolling Thunder to get tuned up and windowshopped their jerseys (God, I really need a real bike jersey...). Oh, and had tea with Christina and talked about how awesome she is at skiing. haha.

Sean came up from the Suds to visit with Mama Kersh then we rode back down Saturday evening/night. It was pretty good until we hit the Chapleau to Sultan. We're driving along, it's pretty dark, kinda rainy, and kinda misty. We pass a car - they're creeping along - and we're kind of making fun of them...

"They were going pretty slow, huh?"

"Yeah, geez. What a bunch of wankers. Ha."

Aaaand, that's when it happens. I'm driving, I see two sets of eyes throw back the light from the headlights. It's a Momma bear and her baby. Oh god. I swerve to the right. Momma starts running right towards me. "No momma no!" may or may not have been the words coming out of my mouth. Luckily, she listened (or maybe it was the skidding of the tires as I cranked the wheel back left to keep us on the road) and she and her cub bolted back into the bush on the other side of the road. Man, I felt so bad! Seriously, us stupid humans running around with our big stupid metal vessel and we scare the living daylights out of these animals! Arg. It sort of makes me angry. And I'm the idiot in the car. Actually, there was a thing on the National on the new wildlife overpasses being built around the country to accommodate animals migration...

http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup_nlp.html?http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/news/features/zalac-y2y-090825.wmv

When I was in Banff, we drove under one every time we went to work. They're these amazingly huge structures built over the highways so that animals can get across safely. There are ones that go under the roads as well but I remember someone telling me that the carnivores don't like being encroached like that. I dunno.

Anyway, jibber jabbering on... made it fine back here at about 1:30. Dad and Anne were here, which was a nice surprise. They were supposed to be up at Anne's camp. Slept for a few hours (I think I've finally gotten onto Ontario time...) then woke up to "Let's go hiking! Yay!" I love my Dad but y'know... Got to see the garden, which is FANTASTIC, by the way - rutabagas, sunflowers, massive zucchinis, pumpkins, tomatoes! Boo ya! Got some sweet shots of the Sashmeister... so good. Then we hiked and Sean and I bonked in the afternoon.

Went into town to have coffee with a dear old friend from that ice cold city of Toronto (haha) and was faced with the limitations of Sudbury. We tried to meet up at Old Rock but, of course, on Sunday all the little cafes and stuff close early or aren't even open at all! Ended up at Starbucks. Arg.

So, the rest of the week? Visiting Sudbury, hanging at the Farm, going down to Guelph to visit Kath, then flying back out to Vancouver...

Quote du Jour:

Angie yelling at her little yip dog, Oscar... (I think it's a Dachshund) after she's come in from the rain and was given a treat to munch on and was running around the living room and up on their new beige/white couches like a kid of crack...

"Oh gross! You're getting your gross all over everywhere! Get off the couch!"

Haha, oh Ang...

And finally, music to keep you going:

Kid Cudi - The Prayer (sample comes from Band of Horses' The Funeral). Also check out Neutral Milk Hotel (all recommended by my little fro bro...)

Pictures to come when I get back to Van! Sorry it's so wordy without any colourful distractions! Oh, and if I forgot anyone or anything, I'm sorry. I'm a bit tired. ha.

Live Your Life…

a.k.a...

Ride Through the City Like a Maniac on a Single Speed Soundtrack…

1. T.I. – Live Your Life (ft. Rihanna)2. Tokyo Police Club – Be Good
3. Evil Nine – Restless
4. Styles of Beyond – Second to None (ft. Mike Shinoda)
5. Shiny Toy Guns – Major Tom
6. The Submarines – You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie
7. Naked Lunch – Universalove (Brooklyn)
8. My First Earthquake – Outta the Band
9. Oasis – Fucking in the Bushes
10. White Lies – To Lose My Life
11. Franz Ferdinand – All My Friends
12. N.E.R.D. – Anti Matter13. Neyo ft. Joe Budden – Because of You (remix)
14. Flo Rida vs. Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl (Right Round Remix)
15. Whatever You Like (remix ft. Ludacris)
16. Hard-Fi – Suburban Knights
17. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
18. Ida Maria – I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked
19. Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
20. Placebo – Running Up That Hill

And for the slightly more chill, flip to Side B…

1. Chungking – Following
2. STARS – 14 Forever
3. Raine Maida – Yellow Brick Road
4. Ohbijou – New Years
5. Wolfmother – Vagabond
6. Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost
7. Handsome Furs – What We Had
8. Hellogoodbye – Here In Your Arms
9. Hotel Café – Winter Song
10. Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek 2
11. Ivy – Feel So Free
12. John Oszajca – Where’s Bob Dylan When You Need Him
13. Johnette Napolitano and Danny Lohner – The Scientist
14. Ben Harper and Relentless7 – Fly One Time
15. Black Eyed Peas – One Tribe
16. Ray LaMontagne – Trouble
17. Aimee Mann – Wise Up
18. Anjule – Boom
19. The Pixies – Waves of Mutilation
20. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow

G'night... :)

Gotta love those midnight rides...

Friday night was spent at Hot August Nights. Hot August Nights is a part of Bad Party which is an event that's run every Friday night (I think :s). it involves different comps involving predominantly track bikes. Polo, tricks, sprints, u-lock pick up, usually an alley cat (a courier-style race with checkpoints). They did one called Where's Waldo where one of the messengers dressed up as Waldo and cycled around downtown and everyone had to chase him down and find stuff he dropped or something. That would've been fun.

Anyway, Hot August Nights. Usually Bad Party happens at Crab Park down by the waterfront. This time it was down at Sunset Park under the Burrard Bridge and so many people showed up! It was awesome! All kinds of bikes, all kinds of people. It was pretty much a Show and Shine of people's bikes.

Unfortunately, there were skateboarders in the way so no polo took place but there was an alleycat, a foot down comp, and a tug of war... but I don't know if it was planned out properly...

It started as two people on either end of the 'rope' (which may have been inner tubes tied together :s) and you start in the middle and essentially just go at it. There may or may not have been cans of beer at either end. The first round I saw PFR Jeff and Kelly (Crazy Eyes) on one end but I didn't see the other end...

They started... they pulled... it was exciting... it snaps... they bailed. Ha. Kinda funny...

The second time around was one vs. one. Hooper vs. ?. 'Cept this time, Kelly jumped in on it and helped him out. Total ownage.

It was about that time that the cops rolled down Pacific all lit up... obviously they were totally lazy and didn't want to get out of the car otherwise they would've rolled up quiet. Everyone scattered and Kyle and I headed back to his place to hop the fence of the hotel next door for a drink on their reclining chairs by the shuffleboard area. :) It was a glorious evening...

Yesterday work was fine... busy as all heck but nice. I am going to miss working there full time but at the same time totally not at all. Ha.

Last night was good times too... went out for sushi with Andrea and her friend Kathy then to see the movie Adam. It's a festival rom com movie about a girl named Beth who meets a guy named Adam (duh) who has Asperger's Syndrome and dealing with all that goes with that. I'm obviously not explaining it well enough but whatevs. I really liked it - the guy who played Adam did a really good job.

After that I rolled downtown for a bit of fun in the city... on a bike that is. I forgot that it's Saturday night in Vancouver so totally ran into some fun traffic times - both vehicular and pedestrian. Man, people get confused when faced with a bike. Between trying not to get doored and trying to trackstand in a crowd with guys giving you the thumbs up I made it through and got down to Canada Place.

Now, whoever set up Canada Place was either a very low maintenance kind of person or a person who spent most of their time on wheels - skateboard, bike, whatever. It's essentially just a big concrete playground for people to hop on stuff, jump off stuff, practice tricks, etc. I showed up and was met with the sight of Mitchel (second place finisher at the Gastown Sprints) and his roommate Kevin trying to master track bike tricks. Mitchel was trying to trackstand no hands, two feet on the pedals BUT one foot through the inner triangle of his frame... It was likened to sitting side saddle on the bike but both feet on the pedals. Very cool. I then got some instructions as to how to fixiefy my bike - apparently the Green Machine has great potential to become a beautiful fixie. I don't think I'm ready for that though. I mean, I've just converted to single speed here people... baby steps. I would enjoy the momentum it would give me though.

James and his crew of friends showed up and we hung out a bit before jetting off to play follow the leader through the city. If you're out front, you get to choose where to go. Very fun. Went all over the city before crossing at the Burrard Bridge (ugh) and going down to Kits beach just past the pool to chill and watch for shooting stars. We saw one.

Next stop, Granville Island. Tried to dumpster dive for bread out back of the bakery (August would be proud :p) except there was no bread and ended up going in and asking for some. Ended up on the big grass pyramid on the east side of the island and somehow people ended up slip sliding down the hill on cardboard and plastic down the hill. It was awesome. I wish I'd brought my camera. Of course, people in the hotel complained (oh tourists on Granville... haha) and two separate security guards came out, although they weren't very firm in an 'I kinda want to try this myself' sort of way... haha.

So, we split. They all live on the East side so we rode back by the Science Centre and there's this beautiful almost time trialesque portion of the seawall that you can get going pretty quick on. I parted with them on Main and headed back home. So much fun. Tiring but fun. I wish I were better at this whole sleeping in thing...

Today was spent lounging, catching up on Prison Break and home improvement shopping with Becky. Maybe a run in Stanley Park later and perhaps chilling on a beach or something of the sort...

Quote du Jour: "Alright guys, we're going to have to ask you to- Holy f**k that's a steep hill!" - the professionalism of the Granville Island Security Team...

Lazy Madness...

Whew.

Okay, so two week madness... sorry about the haitus... there were multiple cats involved, multiple nights of fireworks competitions, people coming, people going... my my...

So, first of all... sadness. Both Claude and Chavez have left. Claude went back to Montreal for school in the fall, first heading down to Boston to do the NACCC (North American Cycle Courier Champs), in which she did awesomely awesome, of course. They even had a pro photog taking their pics in a studio...

Very pro looking. haha.

Secondly, Chavez left on his crazy bike trip down south...

He's somewhere between here and L.A. He left last Sunday solo with a bike he souped up himself into a beautiful touring piece of machinery... Biking all the way down to L.A. where he's going to catch a flight back to Mexico. Very exciting. Before he left though, we had a lovely send-off for him. A shindig at Casa de Chavez/James. John was nice enough to sponsor some money towards a 'give Chavez a good night' fund and the rest of us pitched in and ended up with a nice bottle of tequila. Eep. Pretty funny. I ended up on a bike zooming through the suburb streets around their place, James in tow (for the record... totally lost him... haha) and then we went on an epic bike adventure to go get pizza at Fatih's then over to Kits then back to their place in East Van to check on Sheena, who had fallen asleep on the couch. Also, to make sure

there were no sketchy people left skulking around the house.

Man, there is nothing better than midnight bike rides - boo ya. My favourites are running around downtown late at night because there are enough cars to dodge around but there's no franticness to it. Buses have stopped running so they're not out to schmush you, most jerks are off the roads, pedestrians are at a minimum. It's great. The best part about the west, or at least in the city - trucks are at a minimum. I guess the hicks stay out of the downtown. Haha.

So, what do these two events mean for me? My two west best friends - gone. Sigh. haha. Also, am now senior staff at work? Somehow? Turnover at a bike shop. Go figure. But, doesn't really matter. In two weeks I'm off too. Back to Ontario for some visiting, some packing, repacking and then back out here for school.

What else? Oh, the last two weeks there's been a fireworks competition between four countries - China, the U.K., Canada, and South Africa. They each got a night (Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday) and shot off fireworks over English Bay and used one of the radio stations to play music as accompaniment. It was pretty cool.

Lots of pretty colours! haha

I don't know who ended up winning but really, is that the point? Someone made a comment about it and I thought it was pretty funny - something about the tourists that show up during this competition - the Celebration of Lights - must thing this the greatest city ever... I mean fireworks for no real good reason?! Yeah! haha.

I was catsitting two different sets of cats - first I got Mike from work's Ming. I forget what kind of cat she is but Michelle described her as stubby. She has a short tail and short legs and a squat body - she's quite rolly-polly. And cute. Aaaand chatty. I learned after the first couple nights to keep my door shut as she will come in at 5 am and meow and meow and meow until you do something about it. What? I don't know. I fed her, I gave her water, gave her attention, pets... geez. There was no sating the beast! The second set were Andrew (from work) and Kia's cats - Grace and Cooper. They were outdoor cats that came and went. For that one, I stayed at their place - a nice little downstairs bachelor over in Kits near Balaclava and 12th. Cooper reminded me of a panther - lithe and lanky - and Grace was a queen cat. She was one of those smokey grey sort of long haired cats who gives you lots of looks full of demands and questions and

judgement. Haha.

Last but not least... the Gastown Sprints.

Ah, the sprints. Once again I was totally nervous... I thought there would a lot more competition because the purse this time was entry into the Warrior's Race - a courier race running at the beginning of September. Unfortunately there were only 12 girls this time... Kinda sucked. And, I'm sorry to say, no one really came out of the woodwork to challenge...

Just kidding... well, sort of...

I won all my heats up until the final. Which was against Louise again. And I lost. Again. I felt very Roddick-esque again. I mean, you step on that bike, look over at her - someone who pretty much does this for a living - and you think, 'Shit. How am I going to beat Goliath/Federer/Tiger Woods/whoever...?' Which I know is an awful mentality to have. I tried. I really did. But it's that first 10 seconds that makes or breaks your race. After that, you're at your top speed and can't go any faster. You can only lose time. So, I'm ashamed to say, at the halfway mark, I gave up... yeah, I know! Just calling it in... sigh. Next time? But, shout out to Moses, who did a killer time of putting it on.

Anyway, gotta go... work time... I really need to get some weekends off... arg.