The Long Road

Maybe you’ve had someone send this clip to you on email, like I did. If so, you can enjoy it again. If not, sit back, turn on your speakers and prepare for your jaw to drop.

Besides the obvious skill, balance and sheer stones required to do this stuff, I’m also astonished at his creativity. Awesome.

For some reason, I just can’t seem to get motivated to write a post. Maybe because its start up time at school, or that Mich’s dad is visiting right now, or that I’m thinking about the 2, no 3, no maybe 4 hockey pool drafts I’ll be in next week. Who knows? But I do have several ideas of things I’d like to write about - I just have to find a way to get my butt into the chair and do it.
We did get our season’s passes for skiing this year today. So now I’m happy to let go of summer warmth and embrace Old Man Winter! Bring it on!!!!

Oh, and maybe I’ll take the opportunity to mention the new look. I think this might be my favorite banner picture so far. Well today it is anyway.

This shot was taken this summer at the top of Puig Carlit, part of our hike in the French Pyrenees. I’ve always wanted a shot like this; with Mich on the top of a rock that we’ve just climbed, the valley through which we hiked to get there off in the distance. I love the colors, the panorama feel and actually, the clouds in the background, nestled into the “little” divots between peaks. Anyway, details about this hike will be in a future post, one that I’m hoping Mich will be a guest writer on.

Well, would you look at that! I almost wrote a new post! I might be back in the saddle after all…

France is part of the EU. Thus, they are certainly part of the EU’s act of legislation banning the import of Canadian seal products on the basis that commercial seal hunting, notably in Canada, is “inherently inhumane”.

You know, despite this bill’s potential hit to the Canadian economy (and perhaps identity), I have basically been on board with it. I mean, as a country, we can’t expect the French to get behind something that they deem to be “inhumane” right? None of us would. So good on ‘em…. right?

Well I thought so until recently, while in France,…

I saw THIS!

WTF? Seriously?

So clubbing seals is “inherently inhumane”, but clubbing orientals is openly advocated on the French streets? As a Chinese Canadian I have to say that I’m deeply troubled by the promotion of this kind of activity. I mean up until this moment, I felt pretty safe in France. Really, we saw none of the strife and violence that has plagued the country in recent memory. So I was literally walking the streets openly; sipping tasty french coffee at the cafés without a care in the world. Little did I know the peril I was putting myself into. Needless to say, I was WAY more cautious after viewing that poster. I even considered fleeing the country before things went from sweet to sour for me, and I wokked into some trouble.

In the end, I got outta there without incident. But not without being severely troubled by the whole situation. I can’t believe this has been allowed to go on unnoticed by activists ’round the world.

So I would like to use this forum to call for the immediate ban on certain French products, starting with French Fries. That should hit them where it hurts eh? Especially when you think about how many French Fries are consumed in Canada each day. Perhaps then they will start to think twice about this activity. Are you with me people? No more French Fries! And if that doesn’t work (though how could it not!?), I say we ban berets next. That should cripple their economy, leaving them little choice but to come to us begging for our mercy! Ha, they’d probably start asking us to ramp up the seal hunt and send extra seal pelts to them so they can create seal skin berets! I seriously don’t think they know who they are dealing with here.

** UPDATED**

Um… OK, perhaps I got this a little wrong. Thanks to all of you who have written me to let me know that this “Oriental Clubbing” thing is just some kinda craze or something at the Discotheques. Wow, um, who knew?

And yes, I also NOW know that French Fries are a bit of misnomer and that they were invented by the fine folks over at McCain Foods. Well, at least the beret is a French invention!

**UPDATED AGAIN**

Thanks to all of you who emailed me to let me know that in fact the beret really has Basque origins. I mean, come on, a good part of Basque territory is in modern day France! Give me a break here people!

Nary a day goes by that my life isn’t touched by the ever present hand of Les Paul. That’s because I listen to a lot of music that features solid body electric guitars. And he pretty much made the first one ever. Now if you stop and think about that for a minute, you can see why he is such an important guy in my life, albeit indirectly. His musical and sound recording innovations and thus, influence on modern music hardly stop there either.

Les Paul died today.

To say I’m quite interested in seeing this film would be quite the understatement. I’m rather excited about it. Drooling really. While I’m not really playing much guitar these days, and haven’t for a while, I remain fascinated by it and really, guitar players in general. This seems to be a fresh approach at the whole phenomenon. Sure hope it comes to a theater near me…

If you don’t know, “wanigan” is a first nations word for food box. When we first paddled with Patty and Richard, we marveled at the one Richard had made to fit his canoe.

So, before we decided to move to China, about 8 years ago I decided, with Richard and Stuart to take on the task of making a few more as our next “shop night” project. The design was much the same as Richard’s original, cedar strip and fiberglass. We got the basic woodworking done, as well as some of the glass work before winter ended, shop nights were used for other, warmer weather activities and thus the projects were shelved until the next fall. Or so we thought.

Instead, Mich and I moved to China, the four partially finished wanigans stayed stored in Richard’s shop (shop night continued I think, but with other projects) and we returned to live in Canada again after 3 years. I took two of them to Kamloops with me (one had originally be intended as a gift for Kev N, here in the Loops) and proceeded to store them in our garage for close to 4 more years. Wow.

Kev and I worked on them a bit during a few of our shop nights here last winter, but didn’t make too much progress (though we did the the drawers built). And then Mich and I agreed to do the paddling trip to the Broken Group Islands with Tod and Catherine. At that point I knew I wanted to finish at least one wanigan to take on the trip. Kev helped me with advice on further fiberglass work and I set to it.

Happily, eight years later, with the help of Richard, Stuart, and Kevin (possibly Chris too), the wanigan is complete and has made its maiden voyage with fantastic results. Acting as our kitchen box, and beautifully fitting the contour of our canoe, it also was quite the hit at the campsites. People often came over to investigate just what we had and how it was made. Some knew what it was, a few even knew what it was called. One fella gushed over it to Michelle and insisted on taking a pic! Pretty cool.

We’re looking forward to lots of use from this box for years to come! Thanks to all you guys for your help and shop space!

“They give us those nice bright colours.
They give us the greens of summers.
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day
So, mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.”

- Paul Simon -

Well Eastman Kodak has announced that after 74 years, production of Kodachrome, the film that made color photography what it is, is coming to an end. The end of an era? Certainly. But with the masses eschewing film for digital instant gratification (myself included) this hardly comes as a surprise.

I’m sure someone will come up with a “Kodachrome” plugin for Photoshop. Heck, maybe there already is one…

Anyway, take a few minutes to check out the slideshow that Kodak has posted to pay homage to the late, great Kodachrome. They are stunning images.

Food, Inc. opened in theaters a few days ago. I have my doubts that it will actually make it to my town (though the local film society might bring it in….), but if it does, you KNOW I’ll be there to check it out.

Got back last night after a few days away at the Sasquatch festival. I’m off to work now, but I’ll try to write more soon. All in all we had a great time - great bands, great weather and great friends (Glenn and Jacqui) adds up to great fun.

Here’s a track by Bon Iver that I just can’t get enough of. It’s a wonderfully haunting track with fascinating sonic qualities.

We’re gonna be lucky enough to see this band in a few weeks at the Sasquatch Festival. Great looking line-up this year. Very pumped.

Looks like JJ Abrams has put together the perfect amount of cool retro feel and modern sci-fi eye candy. Me Likey!

Well, with the forecast calling for highs of 20 and 21 degrees over the next two days here in Kamloops, it is time to try out the beautiful hammock we got over the winter in Nicaragua. Looks like it’s gonna work out just fine!

The Photo Geeks

The guys I’ve really enjoyed taking photographs with over the last few years, Blake, Hubert and Paul and I have started a new project together. As we are in locations rather distant from each other, (Dalian PRC, Vancouver, Kamloops) it has proven rather tough to get together regularly to shoot. So we’ve decided to give ourselves “assignments” and shoot together virtually. I’m happy to present the results of the first assignment. We had a couple of weeks to gather our shots for it and present them to the group.

The topic was “Hands”. Below are the results. I think the boys did rather well… Click on each photo to link to its album.

Blake

Hubert

Paul

Me

Please feel free to indicate your favorites via comments…

I’ll post the results of the next assignment when it happens.

That’s a question I’m sure we are all asking. Anyway, props go out to Dean for sending this my way.

I can’t think of the last time I bought a beer produced by a major label. In fact, it’s possible that I never will again. I think it’s pretty funny that in my younger years me and my friends routinely reached for Bud, or Kokanee, or MGD, or one of those stupid Ice Beers that I don’t think they even make anymore. Now by no means do I feel I’m a beer expert, but I know what I like and why, and yes, I feel my palate is enlightened. Not that I drink light beer. Sorry, that was a bad pun. Anyway, these days Mich and I stock the fridge with mostly micro brews, often the local swill. Of course we have our favorites, the current being Granville Island Brewery’s Lions Winter Ale. In fact I just picked up the last three boxes of it that we’ll see until next winter as it’s seasonal. It’s a wonderful little brew, dark and rich with this awesome vanilla finish that has earned it the moniker of “Pudding Beer” in our household. We will miss it when it’s gone for the year, but though sad, its passing means we are on the cusp of enjoying other tasty suds including a nice array of wheat beers and fruit wheat beers. Though before the snow is completely gone, I do have one bottle of Young’s Luxury Double Chocolate Stout waiting patiently for us!

Anyway, the point? I guess it’s that there are too many awesome beers out there for us to ever pour the “beer” from major producers - you know the ones: Labatt, Molson, Anheiser-Bucsh etc. I find them worthless. And I know there are those of you out there who have Coors Light in your fridge. And I have heard you say things about the Silver Bullet like, “Hey, it really tastes good”. Except, actually, no it doesn’t. Bite your tongue. Go ahead. You might as well as you haven’t been using it to taste anything anyways. Folks, that kinda stuff really isn’t beer. I don’t really know what it is! Go out to the import section at the liquor store and pick yourself up some Belgian stuff brewed up for you by Trappist Monks like a Chimay. Mmmmm. Thanks to Blake D. for introducing it to us. The only reason I don’t quaff more of that stuff is that it has to travel a long way to get to me. So I focus on the local brew(s).

So off you go - find yourself a nice beer that is NEW to you - there is so much great stuff out there! Now crack it open, pour it into a glass and enjoy it while your watch this:

And if you are still reading, perhaps take this opportunity to suggest a great brew to us in the comments! What’s your favorite?

Maybe I’m throwing too many pics at you all at once but…

This one was the result of fooling around one day with Photoshop filters and contrast. I guess the only knock I have on this one is that people who see it tend to think Mich looks stressed in it - like she has a headache or something. That wasn’t the idea. Oh well.

Had a wonderful night last night with Bev and Gerry who are in town for a visit. The Kamloops Francophone Society has an annual show that always features a great Francophone band that you’ve never heard of. Last night it was Suroît from Iles-de-la-Madelein, Québec with their wonderful blend of traditional Acadian and modern sounds. These guys can sure sing and play (30+ instruments). A great time was had by all. If you’d like to hear some of their stuff, check out their MySpace page here.

**Udated Feb.21 ** Thanks for the comments people and your critical eyes! I’m enjoying hearing what people’s thoughts are - they are diverse.

It’s pretty easy to find a good picture at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. That said, this one is one of my favorite shots that I’ve ever taken. Now for fun, I also gave it the B&W treatment (cause I wanted to learn the technique). Anyway, I’d love it if you’d tell me via comments which you prefer.

Back in ‘96 I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I had five weeks that I didn’t have to spend at work or school. What to do with such time on my hands? Well I had long figured and stated that though many Canadians frequently traveled to exotic locales such as LA, Palm Springs, Mexico and Hawaii, not nearly as many had seen their own country. I was certainly guilty of that crime! So I packed my tent, fly rod, camera, discman and sundries, kissed my mom and sister goodbye, and pointed the tires east. I didn’t make it all the way across (I ran low on time), but after 118 hours, 48 minutes behind the wheel and 13,016.0 km of pavement behind me, I felt I’d begun to connect with my country. Previously, I’d never been east of Edmonton. Shame on me.

After driving east across the prairies, I had decided to shake things up on the way back and return through the States. Something struck me on that return leg that I had to capture in words; the difference between us and them (you know who I mean).

Border

I drive across the mighty Canadian prairie
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
abandoned barn
cows
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
turnoff to distant town with no services
telephone pole
_______________

I return via the Interstates
telephone pole
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
EXXON MEGASTATION WITH FASTFOOD TOO!
telephone pole

OK, it’s crappy poetry, but it’s how I felt at the time.

Anyway, it was on this trip, in Montreal as I recall, that I purchased “Last of The Ghetto Astronauts” by the Matthew Good Band. I’ve been a fan of Matt Good’s work ever since. As a result I tend to read his blog a fair amount. It includes a diverse range of topics from human rights issues to world events to mental health issues to the music and personal sides of his life as well. Recently he made an interesting post. I read it and something about it struck me. I got distracted and didn’t give it my full attention. Later, after a colleague at work (also a Matt Good fan) mentioned the same post to me, I took another look.

“The Only Juno Worth Receiving”, and its subsequent comments triggered the memories of my trip across the country, and though expressed far more eloquently than I could, inspired this post of mine.

I’ve got so many shots that are sitting on the hard drive and haven’t been shared. So I thought I’d start a new category called “Pic of the Day”. Now, this won’t mean everyday of course, but when I’m going through shots and see something that catches my eye for some reason, I’m going to post it here. It’ll be pretty random, but hopefully enjoyable for you to see.

Today’s shot is a new one. I took it with the Rollei (yes, that camera uses film! Remember film?) on our recent Nicaragua trip. Paul was awesome enough to get my film processed for me in the big city and mail it up to me. This is one of the few from this roll that I’m happy with. It is of some lovely Nicaraguan street vendors hawking their bananas. We bought a bunch from them before I took this shot. They were so tasty that I had to get another bunch before we moved on.

Well, it seemed there were no wardrobe malfunctions this year at the halftime show. Just good old rock ‘n roll! He did a nice medley of old classic crowd pleasers with a quick new one thrown in. Here it is…

Part 1

Part 2

Though I think this would be better to a Run DMC track…

The National Film Board has recently launched a new website that offers a big part of their catalog up for free home viewing in their new “screening room” (basically an embedded player much like YouTube). This includes shorts, trailers and full length features. Of course, in Canada, we all grew up watching many of these films in school and TV. It’s kinda cool now to go in and search for these old gems from our childhood. Of course I began with “The Sweater”…

Click for the NFB Screening Room.

…to the snow. Nice! But before I get to ski, I’m gonna share some Nicaragua stories. Until then, here is a pic of Mich contemplating the waves.

From Nicaragua '08

And here’s me in front of our surf headquarters.

From Nicaragua '08

Ullr Fest is a yearly tradition that we are going to join this year. Basically it is a paganish night of ski sacrifice to the (probably Icelandic) snow god Ullr. There might be drinking at it too. Anyway, it was clear today that Ullr is hip to the whole thing because in preparation… HE MADE IT SNOW ALL DAY TODAY IN KAMLOOPS!

This is what my dreams are made of these nights…

From The Gorge

**Updated Oct 26** The show last night was fantastic. We had great seats and enjoyed the show with a bunch of good friends. I’ve heard rather lukewarm reviews from people who have seen Dylan perform, so while my hopes were high, my expectations weren’t. Dylan and “His Band” did not disappoint. In front of a very enthusiastic crown, they rocked out and crooned out retooled old radio favs as well as lots of newer, less known, but more modern and relevant songs from recent albums. The band was very tight. This is certainly Bob’s deal though - some of the players have been with him for decades, but are still clearly hired hands, looking to him for all musical cues. In fact most of the band actually faces Dylan from across the stage. He is in this way, kind of alone and isolated on stage, but able to interact and direct the band and the songs. It was an interesting set up. The ONLY disappointment for me was that Bob did not pick up a guitar all night, choosing to remain behind his keyboard for most songs, venturing with his harp out to a lone mic for a few others. Is there some health issue keeping him from playing guitar? I aim to find out. Anyway, we all enjoyed the show fully. I never really expected I’d get to see Dylan perform live, and likely wouldn’t have traveled to a major center to see him play a larger venue. But to see this legend play within walking distance of my house?… awesome.

I was watching the Grammy Awards back in 1998. That night, Bob Dylan performed his excellent “Love Sick”. A little into the song a semi-naked dude came outta nowhere and started a spastic dance beside Bob, the words Soy Bomb on his bare chest. Bob and the band played on, Soy Bomb boy was removed after a while (off camera), and the song was finished. It was unclear at the time what the story was - was Soy Bomb boy part of the show or some crackpot that has somehow made it on stage? Bob was pretty cool about whole thing, but at about the 23 second mark of the video below his brief “WTF?” look gives it away.

In fact, I found out today, a decade later that indeed Soy Bomb boy did sneak on. He was hired as a background dancer. He also considered himself a deconstructive, “moron” artist. Somehow he figured because Dylan was a bit of a rebel himself he likely wouldn’t mind a little performance art during his song.

Apparently Soy Bomb was mistaken as the DVD cut that was later produced of the same performance makes a point of cutting the whole thing out.

Anyway, the reason I thought to look this whole thing us is that in about 4 hours Bob Dylan hits the stage here in Kamloops. Yeah, that’s what I said too! But it’s true and we’ll be there.

He calls himself Louis C.K. and he’s a standup. I like what he’s on about.

Not long ago I posted about a mind blowing Tom Waits concert available to stream online. If you didn’t check it out, well, shame on you.

For those with a short attention span, for those who need visuals to suit their needs - I’m happy to provide a similar, but much shorter performance here. All I can say is, megaphone, glitter and dance baby.

See genius: