...so what are they? i'm buggered if i know

Its been an eventfull few days (understatement). A lot has gone on, some conversations a long time coming some totally out of the blue. I guess i deserved a lot more ass kicking in some of them. Some situations i dont think i've been ready for but i deserved the hassle and thoughts and hopes nevertheless. I fell out of the Loft but i think in the long run something better i'm going to fall into is on the cards.

I've found some new backup which is cool in a situation which is good to help in, but even better for the benefits. Monday nights on Ossington, nuff said.

Was in work by 7.20 which i think is a world record. Its been a busy day so far, conference calls with Vancouver, meeting with lawyer, meeting at the bank, calls with mortgage guy and grappling with permanent residency...i'm done in.

Went to Jacks after work with Sarah, Frankie, Katrina and Dave. Then up to Yorkville for Sushi. After, Dave and i played pool at the Artful Dodger, met some cool people and had some after pub drinks at one of thier flats, in Penny's old building of all places wierd coincidence.

Its been a crazy few weeks.
Met up with Rebecca and Magenta for a few beers with Denis last Thursday night for Paddys day, then on to the mod club later on with some of D's Russian buddies who were all really good fun, of course Vodka and Guiness made an interesting international mix.
Met a ferret, first time for everything!

Friday night Stit arrived we went to the Oyster boy for some food which as usual was bang on. Little did i know the implications that little visit would have.
Saturday
Whilst eating dinner i had seen a sign opposite advertising the Chocolate lofts. So we had a look around some and i started to get ideas.... We then went to the AGO and stit bought me a 39/39inch print for past bithdays which is well cool and currently being framed; Thomas Motherwell Mexican nights.

After we had Sushi then Million Dollar Baby then a Malaysian on Queen.
Sunday
So....after a lot of conversation with Stit and another look around, i bought the loft. Well thats if i get a morgage which i'm still waiting on. 10 days to sort it so i'm in a strange state of worry excitement and general wierdness i just need to know if HSBC love me or not, the suspense is killing me. So in the mean time i wait....
After food and wine i packed stit off to Ottawa then home for an early night. Cool weekend. http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2129127381

Friday was a lot of fun. Had a few drinks at Jacks then over to Queen street to the Queens head pub. Saturday i managed to get to work for the afternoon. I bought The Crystal Method Legion of Boom whilst walking along Queen street which kept me entertained for the afternoon, i'd forgotten how good these boys are.

Had dinner at the Oyster Boy which never fails to impress, definately my favourite place to eat in Toronto. Chilled out the rest of the night watching movies.
Thought for the weekend, big shout out to the wise words of the Marrow!

I have just realised that i've been here long enough to see the public transport prices go up. Does that make me a bit Canadian?? Well after nearly breaking my neck on the ice outside my house this morning i recon i need a lot more practice.

Today, i got hit with the old i know the truth chestnut, shit even now that makes me feel really sad. The only person that knows the truth is really just me i guess. Harped down on even now and whats the point in even trying to explain it. I'm sitting here in my house in Canada and i wonder if any of it was worth it, guess i'm the only one that has the answer to that as well.

Up early on Friday and a wander downtown looking for some breakfast. I was well amused by the street crossing lights which had a countdown timer when the light was on orange; gave me hours of amusement. Last time Lucy was in San Fran she had been to a funky diner which we managed to find on Powell Street. After having breakfast we got on a cog tram then walked up to the bendy bit of Lombard St, then down to the Fishermans Warf area. We had a wander round, saw the sea lions chilling and looked at some of the usual touristy shops then got on one of the Golden Gate bay cruises. The boat took you up the bay and under the bridge then back round Alcatraz. The weather was fair as well so you got a good view of the city. The coastline was really impressive and there seemed like loads of other places to visit so I will have to go back again at some point.
Dungeness crab is in season this time of year so we had a whole one each sitting outside one of the cafés down on the Warf. We then spent the rest of the afternoon checking out some of the other areas. North beach and had a coffee in Mario's Bohemian cigar store. A look round City Lights Bookstore open since 1953. A walk through Chinatown, picked up Laura on route and back to the hotel to get ready. After a few warm up drinks we got a cab to the marina area and had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant. This place was awesome (did I just say that) good job we had reservations otherwise we could have waited all night. Instead we sat smugly watching the people queuing outside and stuffed our faces. We even had a bottle of wine where the label faded out if it was cold enough. Lucy reckoned it was one of the best places she had been to and to be honest I don't think she was far wrong.
Afterwards we took a walk and started hitting a few bars. In my opinion the best one was the comet club. Although it seems that most places in that area played rather bad Hip Hop. We checked out a few though, Lucy got hit by the dreaded white wine syndrome but after a bit of propping up managed to hold it together, apparently she was ok in her head but her legs had left their special powers at home aka walking and standing up. We headed back to the comet club for more bad Hip Hop weird conversations and me pulling rabbit in the headlight faces. We were talking to a girl who had lived in Leeds of all places for a bit, she told us where an after hours place could be found so when the bar shut at 2 off me and Lucy went, unfortunately when we got there the place must have been rammed, as they guy wouldn't even let us in. The bastard wouldn't even fall for my silky smooth lines going something like "I know soanso and whatserface from whojoomacallit" go figure. Anyway we went back to the hotel finished the beer and talked crap for an hour or 2.

Was up by 5am and made my way to the airport, the flight to Vancouver was fairly uneventful although it seemed longer than the 4 ½ hours even though I spent most of my time sleeping. I grabbed my connecting flight without too much hassle and managed to bag one of the seats by an emergency exit with loads of leg room, which is always a result. I got chatting to a girl; Jessica, who was on her way to a music conference in San Francisco. It turns out she sings for a hip-hop outfit going by the name of Secret Society http://www.secretsociety.ca/ She gave me one of their CDs to listen to and I've got to say I was well impressed. Apparently they will be playing in Toronto at some point so I will definitely have to go and check them out.

I picked up an airport shuttle and made my way downtown. My first impressions of San Fran was that how much difference a few hills can make to the look of a place, coupled with the trees and architecture it seemed to me a bit Mediterranean in a weird kind of way. I met Lucy at the front desk of the hotel, a Travelodge at just off Market Street. We checked in and sat and caught up with the news. It turns out Lucy had been having a fun time "working" but by the sounds of it I use that term loosely ;-)

As usual it probably took all of 10 seconds for us to start taking the piss out of each other and I was re-introduced to the "laugh".
The hotel was ok, we were a bit worried about being on the ground floor and general dodgy ness but compared to what I ended up in later in the stay it was a bit of a palace.
It was getting late so we got ready and ventured out into the city to meet up with Laura. The first thing we realised is that the San Fran hills are not to be messed with in fact my legs are still aching, shows how unfit I am.
We walked along Fell up to Divisadero St, where we found Laura.

I hadn't seen Laura since Woolwich so it was cool to see her, must be about 9 years or close to that. We had some food at an Ethiopian place nearby then spent a good few hours checking out the local bars (one of them being a place called Bar Fly). The bars were all really dark but had some cool people, atmospheres and decor, well at least I think they did, its amazing how much light you can get off a candle. In one of the bars I came across a strange phenomenon which Laura had mentioned before, basically they could not sell hard liquor which I thought was a bit bizarre, give out more licenses, thats what i recon.

As Laura had a presentation the next day and it was getting late we said our goodbyes and went on to check out a bar called Delirium. This was a really classic rock/punk setup, I've never seen so much graffiti in one toilet, people can be well keen with a felt tip pen and a lot of booze. We had a few more drinks then realized the place was sporting a few 2 many inbreds for our liking (caps at strange angles)and we got scared and legged it backed to the hotel getting some pizza on the way and passing out fairly sharpish.


The First SET of Pics CLICK HERE

It was worth it. What a wickid weekend i've just had! And homemade Chili and live tunes at a new local has topped it off nicely. Seeing as i've been going since 5am though, time for bed. Will be writing more soon, to give this adventure justice.

Wandered up Yonge after work to get some supplies for the weekend and pop into Chapters. Packed my stuff and been trying to figure out which cds to bring, it's a long trip, the track listing so far is: Steve Lawler: Lights Out
Dieselboy: Project Human
Grand Master Flash: Greastest Hits
Junkie JXL (Radio JXL)
Movement: The Brazilian job DJ Marky
Junior Jack: Trustit
The White Stripes: Elephant
The Hives: Your new favourite band
Skinny: The weekend
From Cheese to Sleaze
9 Lazy 9: Sweet Jones
2 Many DJs (goes without saying)
Bonobo: Dial M for Monkey:
Palm Beats: Volume One
Audio Bullys: Ego War
Gil Scott-Heron: Ghetto Style
Giles Peterson: Worldwide Exclusives
The Gotan Project
Libertines
One Original Step Beyond: The Story of SKA
The Verve: The Singles
Love Gods: Between Love and Hate
FabricLive: Andy C & DJ Hype
Stone Roses: Second Coming

As for stuff to read i'm axing anything to do with work, so:
Midnight Cab-James W Nichol
The Prison House-John King
Hopefully that should cover it.

Saturday I worked all day on Whistleblower. Afterwards a few drinks and a trip to System Soundbar for the loaded D&B night.
There was a good line up, Dieselboy, Fabio, Fresh and some really good residents of which I reckoned Lush kicked it the best. It was funny seeing Fabio again when I think of the nights I used to go and see him and his sidekick Grooverider at Dreamscape and Helter Skeltor nights. Well he didn't really disappoint although I did think he was a bit on the tame side, although maybe that was just the mood I was in. As for Dieselboy no comments needed, apart from the fact that I was well tired and didn't get all his set.

Sunday was a time for TV, Thinking and messing on the computer. Tonight I have lots to do, getting ready for my trip to San Fran in the morning which should be interesting.

Yeh just got some cool news

surprise surprise, had the baby yesterday, Sat. 5:45am. Everything went really well, labour was 5 1/2 hours. A baby girl, 9lbs named Ella Katherine. I was going to come into the office on Sun. to get my things before Monday but things didn't go to plan, anyways, I have a favour to askof Adrian; Dave is going to come by the office tomorrow and pick up my laptop etc. He will give you a call in the afternoon when he is coming.Thanks!! leslie II will send pics tomorrow.

Yes so I watched human traffic again last night, thus the title.

Last Wednesday I met up with Steve and girlfriend at the beer market, that place is well expensive. We had a swift half there then moved nextdoor to the Irish bar on the corner where the prices and atmosphere were much more along the right lines. They also had a deal with fish and chips which came in a bucket which was kind of cool. We sat and chatted for a while then ended up at the Communists daughter...again, as Steve was good enough to drop me off on the way home. After those guys left, I had a really good chat with one of the owners who gave me all sorts of usefull advice on everything from women and buying houses to how to make pickled eggs (apparantly its her recipe).