Shit in Feb was planning to go to the Philippines, Laos, China, Tibet, Mongolia & maybe North Korea! Well all dependent on getting visas of course but already had the Chinese visa which unfortunately had to let lapse since didn't go but wtf could I do! Cuz realized it was a bit early to go to Tibet as it was still winter!! So kept putting it off to wait for Spring to start! So in the mean time decided to go to Jamaica with my Jamaican buddy Hugh/Huge!!
Then had to hang around for May as was scheduled to get eye surgery ! So yeah had arranged to get my eye lids done! In 2010 had trouble with my eyes as couldn’t see very well for some reason! My vision was kinda blurry similar to when I think back at my life! No didn't do some crazy wild drug in Africa (I wish) but thought it had something to do with being in the Sahara desert area of West Africa! Shit I had also gotten a bad rash & itch (think it's a heat rash as still get it ocasionally now when it gets hot) so had to get my ass out of Mali so headed to Lebanon & Syria in the Middle East!!! So that ended my journey south to Bakino Fasi, Ghana, Nigera, etc so guess another time insha'allah! Instead of course ended up going to a few other countries like the Balkan countries in Eastern Europe, Georgia, Armenia & Germany & Holland!!! But that’s all history now!!!
So anyway found out that my Eye Doctor had to only zap my eyes with some laser to clear up the haziness in my eyes!! But what he also told me was my eye lids drooped a lot more than should do! So he said that I could get surgery done for free to have them lifted! Shit here I thought that I was stuck with these friggin’ eye lids cuz I was Japanese descent! But shit man if it was free why the hell not get it done! But the down side was had to wait for an opening which didn’t happen until May 2011!!!
So there went any plans to go traveling in the Spring of 2011! The spring weather was the shits as it f*ckin rained a lot! But did get the surgery but hell did the surgery ever hurt as they had to cut the shit out of my eye lids! Man the skin of the eye lids are really sensitive as I found out! Shit if I had to do it again I would pass on it!! Hell looking back I got it done cuz it was free & to improve my field of vision & not for appearance cuz that ship has sailed lol! As the doctor told me my field of vision should open up about 20%!!!! It was like looking thru a peep hole in a door & then finding I was looking thru a window!!! Well maybe not that much but wtf u get the idea!! It was an improvement as f*ck I didn’t get it done for cosmetic reasons!! Shit I was way beyond worrying about appearance !
So anyway there went most of the Spring! But will say wish the f*ck I had gotten the hell out of Vancouver for the spring of 2011! Cuz the Vancouver Canuckleheads got to the Stanley Cup finals! I don’t dislike hockey cuz grew up playing and watching it! But it wasn’t the Canuckleheads!!!! When I moved to Vancouver years ago I was impartial as to my view of hockey! Cuz was a closet Canadiens & Oilers fan! But soon grew to fuckin hate the Canuckleheads cuz that’s all I heard about in Vancouver! The crazy thing is most people were going ape shit over the Canucks but knew fuck all about hockey!!!!!
Saw a funny thing at the Sasquatch Music Festival speaking of the F*ckin Canuckleheads! At the festival a bunch of these crazy Canuckleheads fans wearing their jerseys! Well they were running around yelling "Go Canucks Go". The equally crazy Festival goers were thinking they were yelling "Grow Coconuts Grow"! So a bunch of the festival goers started yelling that!!
Anyway as the series went along I felt sorry for all the fair weather fans who were so desperate for a Stanley Cup!!! So I hoped that the Canuckleheads would win a Cup for the Fans & not cuz I liked the f*ckin idiots!!! But of course they did what they’re famous for & always do (which is why I have no respect for them) and that was fuckin CHOKE!!!! Cuz they’ve done it over the years! So the Stanley Cup finals went down as another choke, so maybe they should rename the team Vancouver Chokers!! But this time the fans got all drunk and rioted!!!! They tore the shit out of downtown Vancouver & gave the city a bad rap!!!! There were pics of people protesting to get rid of Mubarak in Egypt, Gaddafi in Lybia, demonstrations in Syria & then hockey riots in Vancouver! What a f*ckin joke as it make Vancouver look ridiculous rioting over friggin hockey!!!!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/06/15/bc-stanley-cup-fans-post-game-7.html
So after the Stanley Cup playoffs and riots it was mid June & the start of Summer! But shit the weather was still the PITS!
But hey did make it to a few festivals & concerts!!! Also hosted a bunch of Couch Surfers from all over the world! Also met some new friends who I hung out with doing weed, drinks & going to various venues to dance a passion of mine!!! Also on Sundays went to the Hindu Temple close to my place in East Van to get some free Indian food!!
One of my fave people to hang out with in the Winter & Spring of 2011 was my Serbian friend Sanja! We get along great as she is really cool as nothing fazes her!!! She wanted to go some place together but with a Serbian passport she was limited without getting a visa. So one country she could go to was Cuba but I wasn’t keen on it cuz had just gone to Jamaica in the Caribbean already in Feb. So she went to Cuba with her husband (marriage to get a visa) at the start of June! Then she went to Serbia & Turkey for 2 ½ months or guess the entire summer!
At the start of summer around June 25 weekend my Jamaican friend Hugh/Huge had a Beginning of Summer Reggae Dance hall party. Hugh/Huge is a personal trainer and has a small gym across the street from my place! He invited a bunch of people he knew from teaching personal training at UBC plus others! He also had me invite some of my friends which I did! I got a bit shit faced and don’t remember much as usual. But figure the party was a success cuz his neighbors got pissed & asked him to shut it down around 2 am! Here I thought he had invited all his neighbors except a Barbados neighbor who he doesn’t get along with. But shit he really had the music pumped up so the entire neighborhood could hear it!
I decided to go to the Sasquatch Music Festival http://sasquatchfestival.com/ at the Gorge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gorge_Amphitheatre an awesome venue in Central Washington east of Seattle when I saw the line up!!! Anyway got a good deal on a 3 day pass as it was the Memorial Day long weekend in the US! Then found a rideshare with a guy for $25 both ways so couldn’t lose!! All in all had a good time there tho the people I went & camped with weren’t the kind I’d hang out with!!! But hey for 3 days they were OK as could handle anything!
So camped for a couple nights, got shit faced & got to hear some awesome groups play! Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cute, etc. So guess the weekend was a success as also met a bunch of cool people who were camping next to us!! One thing that sucked at Sasquatch & will prevent me from going again is there is no In/Out! In other words once u go into the festival u can’t leave and come back for the day! They’re so fucking anal about bringing outside booze in. They want u to buy booze there then gouge u $12 a beer! Like fuck them cuz don't want a beer that bad plus u had to get a new wrist band every day if u want to buy booze! The f*ckin douche bags!! It’s basically a big drunk which is the opposite of what I enjoy doing at a music festival! Cuz to me music and chillin usually go together even if the genre is Punk! Tho have to say went to a Punk concert stoned once and it was strange to have all the pent up adrelaine jumping up and down on the dance floor. Shit got my toes bounced on a lot as I wore friggin flip flops duh!
Another thing that found strange (& disliked) is at Sasquatch u camp in one area & the festival is held in another area so u had to go thru a security check every day! The asshole security would tackle & be all over ppl at the festival if they thought u were smuggling liquor in to the festival! It's sucks to be stoned @ a festival & watch some poor schmuck get torn apart by the friggin Gestapo! But the camping was cool so can’t say it was a loss as enjoyed it but won’t go again unless they had 50 awesome groups!!
Then on the July 1 long weekend which is Canada Day went to Deadmonton in Alberta (the province next to BC) for a family gathering! Had an awesome time visiting and seeing family members from parts of Canada and the US!
The weekend following my weekend after Canada Day long weekend went to check out Ky-mani Marley http://www.kymani-marley.com/ one of Bob’s many kids! The concert was awesome as I went with J.M. a friend of mine who likes to dance, smoke, drink & enjoy herself! J.M doesn’t know many of my usual friends as she travels in a different circle than me!! But it’s all good fun hangin out with her as she's a hoot to be around as we laugh, dance, drink & smoke! In fact she got to be my fave person to hang out and party with tho she lacked the stamina to do it for more than 1 or 2 days like moi!
Hosted this American Nurse from the southern states as she worked in Seattle. She was a lot of fun and up to try a lot of new things! But she did like to do 420 & dance some reggae so we got along great! I get along great with Americans but dislike their countries foreign policies (doesn't seem to matter who's administration it is) & heavy handle tactics to protect their national security cuz not everyone is a potential terrorist or whatever!
AS usual I rode my bike a lot during the day & at night when ever I went somewhere! Would meet some people at Trout Lake a man made lake in East Van http://vancouver.about.com/od/beachesparks/p/troutlake.htm
which was a cool 2 hang out for things like Full Moon parties, etc. Also would head down to either Wreck Beach or 3rd Beach on the west side of Stanley Park! Hell would go hang out in the day time but would still be there until late at night! So of course had to ride my bike home in the dark without lights, wearing sun glasses (shit have no other place else to put them), listening to my mp3 player, usually wasted as take wine, music & 420 to the beach! So the ride is usually epic but it's all good fun as always made it home OK or at least wake up in my bed in the morning!
Wreck Beach http://www.wreckbeachcanada.com/wreckbeach.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNZB_VkJ4Q
was always fun as meet some of my Thur night Astoria friends! A couple latinos and a mix of others who were always up for drumming, guitar playing or whatever! One of my Latino friends had a food booth ?? there! It was always a riot going down there to hang out! But the friggin ride back was painful as it was like 10 km back in the dark while usually half in the bag! So the same routine as returning from 3rd Beach but further to ride!!!
Then some time in July there was the Vancouver Folk festival at the Jericho Beach Park! http://thefestival.bc.ca/ Of course went to listen to the music but a lot of us went to the beach & never paid cuz why pay when u could hear the music on the beach! Many of the people came with drums and had a Drum Circle there on the beach!
About the last weekend in July there was the Caribbean Music festival at Waterfront Park in North Vancouver! http://www.caribbeandays.ca/ I always volunteer there cuz love the vibes & people working there! My Jamaican buddy Hugh/Huge always has a booth there! So this year I helped at the Beer Garden – mistake!!! Well enjoyed working at the Beer Garden as all my co-volunteers were cool and easy to get along with! However my trouble started when I started testing some of the Vodka coolers, etc as I never drink that shit! Hell I hardly drink that much at the best of times! But it was a hot day and so after drinking an assortment of stuff I was getting pretty shit faced! Don’t tell anyone but there was a long line to buy tickets and get drinks! So whenever someone said "oh shit do I have to get back in that long line again?" Well I’d give them a couple extra drinks so they wouldn’t have to get back in line! Shit made a lot of friends but that wasn’t my intention in giving freebies as just shit happens! My theory is always believe in having a good time & if a person(s) is cool & fun well I’d like to help them out! Made a couple of new friends from Caribbeans there so sure will meet them there again next year! Insha’allah!!
It wss an odd coincidence that a cool nice friendly American chick that I met in 2010 in Zagreb Croatia was in Vancouver that weekend for a wedding! So when she called me well I invited her to the festival! She found her way to the festival so left the Beer Garden to hang around the stage to get into the awesome music! Then when the music ended we packed up and went to the Rusty Gull pub about 3 blks away!
http://www.rustygull.com/
There was a Reggae band Mostly Marley playing there on Sunday evenings! So we checked that out and enjoyed our selves! http://www.clubzone.com/events/18891/vancouver/rusty-gull-neighborhood-pub/live-mike-henry-the-mostly-marle
The first Monday in Aug is always a holiday in BC which made for a long weekend! So of course there were a lot of things going on! There were music groups playing at my favorite haunts! The Anza Club which is about 10 blks away as they usually out the place for groups to have Reggae parties on Fri & African parties on the last Sat of every month!
http://www.clubvibes.com/vancouver/nightclub/anza-club.html
Then there’s the Astoria Pub which features the Thur evening Reggae Dance hall night with Ting who's DJ’ing! She lives in my 'hood so often see her around da hood with her young son! She's plays a lot of Reggae as her Guy lives in Jamaica!
http://www.clubvibes.com/events/vancouver/thursday-ting!.html?e=147662
Also go down to the Biltmore Club which is about 4 blks from my place.
http://www.biltmorecabaret.com/
It has a lot of Indie groups playing there so can always find cool music going on! But a lot of times if I don’t know the group it’s like Hit or Miss on whether I may be into it! One Wed night was walking home by the Club & heard some cool music going on! It was like “Toonie Tues” yeah OK so it was Wed but wtf! So paid my $2 and got to listen to 2 awesome groups & drink some cheap $4 beer for a couple hrs! Good value!!!!
Yeah so anyway had to be in Salmo in the mountains for the Shambhala Music Festival by Tues noon (to re-train but that was a waste of time plus shit got to find an awesome campsite & party for a couple days before the crowds invaded the festival) in far eastern BC about a 8 hr drive east of Vancouver. At first I had planned to volunteer there as I do most years so can free admission for the 4 day festival! But this year I figured shit why not get paid even if I had to do longer gigs! Cuz shit was going there anyways so why not get paid as could use the $$$ since I was hoping to go traveling in Oct! So I worked as a Stage Keeper (which I've done in past yrs) which is a person that hangs around the stage ensuring no one gets hurt or goes into the wrong part of the stage area! So worked 4 X 12 hrs shifts (yeah more work than done in a long long time)! But in reality it wasn’t really like work except getting up early was the shits! Cuz was usually half or totally wasted my entire shift as just danced around all day! I had 6 am to 6 pm gigs so getting up for 6 am was a drag! But have to be proud as always made it to work within 15 mins of starting! Plus we got our meals provided which helped so didn’t have to cook or buy food! There are no Beer Gardens or many ppl (that I know of) who get shit faced on booze! Cuz this festival is mostly for Stoners or on some other shit as u can buy anything anywhere any time there! So it’s like a smorgasboard of dope to be had!
I worked at the Fractal Forest stage which is built right in the trees & is the favorite stage for most ppl! I really enjoy it there but it can get very claustrophobic there at nights cuz the stages go all night & are f*ckin crowded! I also like to go to the Living Room as it’s on the beach (by the creek) so can chill in the water or lie under a tree! Also liked the Rock Pit cuz usually had groups playing as heard some awesome groups there from all over the world! Heard an amazing group from Russia, an Aborginial group from Aussie, etc. But in reality liked all 6 stages as each presented a bit of a different genre! http://www.shambhalamusicfestival.com/
Had to leave Monday for Salmo the ranch in the Kootenays mtns where the festival is held as it's about a 8 hr drive. Cuz wanted to get there before dark to set up camp!
So a German chick Sophia contacted me if she could score a ride there too as she was volunteering there! Also got a request from this Canadian chick who was traveling but would be back for Shambhala!! We left at 11 am Vancouver on Monday & didn't get to Salmo till around 1 am Tue due to a fuck up along the way! I let this Canadian chick (can’t remember her name) drive for a while – mistake cuz she was a real dildo! We got to Osoyoos and this idiot chick took the wrong hwy cuz she couldn’t friggin read the signs I guess! So we ended up driving to the US border crossing – duh!! Then she says what do we do now? Huh I woke up and thought shit where are we? We couldn't go back out cuz there were tons of cars lined up behind us! So we thought shit we’ll just explain to the US border guards what happened & sure they'd let us go back into Canada! This chick driving couldn’t drive & think at the same time! Fuck now that I think about it she couldn’t THINK period!! So we drove into the US and explained our situation! So they asked for our ID’s and of course no one brought their passports cuz who the frigg wanted to go to the US anyways!!! Well long story short it took us over a hr cuz Sophia was from Germany & she didn’t have a passport or proper ID. Well she got fingerprinted, photo taken and stamped an Rejected Foreign Alien to the US! So whenever she goes to the Excited States of America from now on she’ll have trouble! But she has no real desire to go there – smart chick! So we were happy when we got escorted back to the Canadian border crossing cuz thought Canadian Immigration officers were more human – wrong! Our mistake was telling them we were going to Shambhala! Cuz immediately they thought we had illegal shit on us!! So I was told since I owned the truck if I owed up to any illegal shit well it would be easier on us! So what the fuck was I going to confess to anyway cuz other than weed which I always carry on me! I thought we had no dope cuz knew can buy anything at the festival! So wtf was suppose to do even if we had some? Should I confess cuz wtf could they do throw us in the slammer, deport us or castrate us - well at least me duh didn't want that! Take oue dope away or give us a fine for any small amount we had, etc. Hell we were Canadians except Sophia but didn’t think we had any dope so I confidently said go ahead give it your best shot to find any dope in the truck! Well it took an hr and they didn’t find any thing! I have to say that Canadian border guards can be as big assholes too like Americans or any other place! But little did I know that the 2 girls had some ‘shrooms in their bags and were sweating! So anyway we got delayed and didn’t get to Salmo until real late! In fact couldn’t find the road into the ranch cuz they had no signs up that early as the festival didn’t start until Thur pm or Fri & it was only Tues early am! Well that Canadian bimbo left to find her friends to camp with & never saw her again which was no lost the friggin idiot! So Sophia and I camped together tho hardly ever saw her cuz we worked different shifts & jobs! But I kinda like doing festivals alone cuz then I don’t have to worry about staying with someone while at a crowded stage! Shit I like to dance or move around so don’t have to tell anyone if I go to a different stage or remain at the same one all day! I worked 6 am to 6 pm then went back to my truck to have a short siesta in the back of my truck as didn’t bother putting up my tent! Then partied from 9 pm to 3 am, headed back for 3 hrs sleep & woke up to do my 12 hrs work gig! When we drove back there were 3 of us again! As a chick Sophia was working with needed a ride back so thought hell why not help someone and get some gas $$ too! Had a good time and made $500 & my entrance fee paid plus meals (if I ever go again which I won't I may try to negotiate getting free dope too ha ha) which is a lot more than made in a while! But decided won’t do Shambhala anymore not cuz don’t enjoy it but have done it enuf so time to move on!
Plan in future years to spend my energy to go to Burning Man http://www.burningman.com/ at the end of Aug! I had a ticket already for this year but decided couldn’t afford to go to BM! As was hoping to travel in Oct for 3 months plus a trip to Eastern Canada so thought shit can’t afford to spend $350 on a tkt & another 1200 on getting to BM & other shit! So sold my BM ticket to someone a CSer I knew but don’t believe in gouging ppl so sold it for the same price I paid $350 which is still kind of steep!!
So to make up for not making it to BM decided to check out Alive at Squamish (had been there last year too) about the 3rd week of Aug. http://liveatsquamish.com/ So picked up a cheap tkt on CL and headed up to the 2day festival with J.M. my crazy fun lovin hangin out friend! She had never been to a musical festival so this was a new experience for her! Actually whenever we hung out it was a new or crazy experience for her (she usually drives her fancy car but went to a concert downtown once & took a bus which was a hoot for her & moi!!)! She was always up to smoking, drinking and having a good time! But she generally hung out with a different crowd than moi! She had some friends tat the festival that we met up with but unfortunately they weren’t too impressed with moi for some reason! Duh think they figured I was too weird , a Stoner or some shit! So didn’t hang out with them which I kinda felt bad about for her but met other random chill fun ppl! We slept in the back of my truck in the parking lot as didn’t have or want to pay the $$ for a camp site! But we met a few others camping there too so drank and partied most of the night with them! J.M. was a real trooper as think she enjoyed herself so I’d go to a festival with her again any time cuz as long as they like music it's cool! The funny thing is we had to leave before the last group Weezer came on which we really wanted to hear play on Sun night! But J.M. got a bad case of diahera (the runs) or whatever so we had to go! But u know wtf it’s all good as can catch the group another time! Insha’alllah! Cuz we realize that it’s about having a good time & not seeing all the groups! So we had an awesome crazy time!
Then on the Labor Weekend went to Seattle for a day to catch some groups at Bumbershoot! http://bumbershoot.org/lineup/ Went down with C a cool crazy African American chick that hang out with from time to time in Vancouver! C really knows her music and groups! She wanted to see this one group on Sat so we tried to make the 1 pm show! But we didn’t make it for various reasons! One being we got stopped at the border again for some reason! C thought it was cuz she’s American & I’m Canadian! So she thought the Asshole border guards (hate all border guards with a passion tho am polite to them I think) were thinking that she was bringing me into the US to get married so I could illegally get in the US! Didn’t want to burst ur balloon C but why the fuck would I want to become an American! I did at one time when I was younger and stupid but now I’m older and stupid but not that fuckin stupid! Shit I worked for Alaska Airlines in Seattle for 6 years when was married as I got free flts to commute as flew down to Seattle every Mon am and back to Vancouver every Tues PM! Loved the company, ppl and enjoyed my time there but become a citizen hell no!! I love Americans, Obama but hate their gov’t policies and foreign policies with a passion! But back to the festival! Yeah we had a great time as C introduced me to a group Little Dragon that loved! Also heard the Presidents of the United States of America & Starfuckers! Also heard this awesome marching band! So yeah had a great time as usual as think there are always a better line up at festivals in the US than in Canada! I notice that at both the Sasquatch music festival & Bumbershoot! Hope to make it to Cochella Music festival in LA area one day Insha’allah!
Then about a week after going to Bumbershoot on Labor Day went to Tofino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofino,_British_Columbia with J.M. my fun loving, weed smoking, liquor drinkin friend! Who I went with to Live at Squmish & have hung out to do other fun things! J.M. liked to surf so went there to do some! But shit we hardly got outside cuz guess we partied too much! Cuz had our share of beer, wine, liquor, weed, ‘shrooms, etc! We stayed at a cool cabin and made it to the beach for a run! Also made it to the bar in town one evening to drink at a local establishment! So yeah had a fun time hangin with J.M. as usual but unfortunately felt bad that she didn’t get to go surfing tho I encouraged her to go! So anyway fun was had as always!
Had to hurry home from Tofino cuz a day after had a flt to Toronto & onward to Montreal! But shit man that will be another Posting not this one!
Anyway don’t have any pics posted at this time but keep tuned!
