Ill be honest, I havent watched a full hockey game in years but man was it ever an honor to be standing right beside and taking pictures of the legendary cup.

I basically spent every waking moment with him and that cup from Thursday evening until the early morning hours of Saturday. We went everywhere from the city councilors house to his old high school, a bakery in the neighbourhood to the Blue Goose (the local bar), his parents house to the hockey arena where he grew up playing in.  My hat goes off to Dave for sharing his success, glory and the cup with his entire hometown and community. I swear to you, every minute that that cup was in his hand, he was posing for pictures with it, or he was signing autographs. I dont know if I would ever have the patience for that but kudos to Dave.

The 24 hours that I spent with Dave reinforced the importance of one’s roots, origins and the people who have contributed to your life and where you are now. He reminded me of how important it is to give thanks.  No matter how high life takes you, never forget to kiss the ground.

The pictures I posted are only from the parade. I took 2990 pictures and Im not trying to post them all and make your computers crash. The funny story behind these pictures is that I sat on top of an old school firetruck while taking pictures in the rain while only wearing a t-shirt. It was also damn windy too. Im actually surprised Im not sick right now. As for the camera and keeping it dry, I grabbed a towel to cover it when I wasnt shooting. : )

I want to give a special shout outs to Drex for lining me up with the gig. That shit was crazy! Also a shout out to Dave Bolland for an experience Im sure to never forget.

You guys might know Future as a past participant and youth leader at the Remix Project. You may also know him as the DJ who’s always dropping the newest and heaviest tracks at the club. Or you may know him as Drake’s official DJ or maybe even Mr. YYZ because he’s constantly flying in and out of Toronto.

I on the hand have come to know Future as a mentor and as a brother. Although he’s rarely in town, and I mean rarely, he has always managed to teach me a thing or two about life to a career in this industry. And trust me, not very many people out here care about anyone or anything else besides themselves and their money. Word up.

So shouts to Future for always looking out for Fresh and I.

And of course, special shout outs to Fresh, Lo, Tien, Gavin and Drex.

If you have a genuine love for this city and you’re into art, photography and TIFF…

then Ill see you there.

Im proud to be displaying my work alongside such talented young people…although Im sure they’re going to put me to shame. lol.

Special shout outs to Ruthie, Johan and Andre of Concrete Willderness for reppin’ and going hard on this project! 

Shout outs to Gavin, Drex, Brock and T for the opportunity.

We’ve been away for awhile all doing our own thing.

Shez is still killing the DJ game around the world. Lance is been working on a couple things that I cant disclose yet. Addy’s been managing Rich Kidd, Fresh has been working on a bunch new things that I cant disclose yet either, and Ive been working on some new photography projects and taking care of the tattoo shop.

Beyond what Ive mentioned, each one of us have been working on a ton of side projects. We’re all doing well in our own respective fields, but when we come together, its like we’re Voltron in this shit…if you dont get the Voltron reference, then its like Power Rangers in this shit! We just morph and become the Megazord or whatever it was called. lol

Anyways, it feels good to be back. It feels good to be plotting, scheming and mastermindin’ again.

We have a project coming up right around the corner.

You’ll see us sooner than you’ll expect to.

: )

Buk Chang in Korea Town…or better known to her and her girls as Buk Cheese.

Man, that soup was so damn spicy it cleared up my sinus in seconds…Im thinking that shit was so hot it might have even cleared all my sins. lol

I was coughing, tearing and choking while eating…*pause* but damn was that ish ever so good. I got the number 8 spicy, and Julie got the number 4 extra spicy…

Last month, I had the honor of being on set with Matt Barnes as he shot a feature for a new magazine alongside the Bossy Girls and Fresh. 

Its actually quite amazing to see a master at work and make it look so easy.

I cant wait for the day where I can start doing big projects, with big teams, big budgets and big equipment. lol.

In the meantime, I guess we can just indulge our senses with the behind the scenes shots I took from the shoot.

Shout outs to Matt Barnes for allowing me to be on set. It was truly inspiring.

Shout outs to the Bossy Girls and Fresh too for inviting me and always looking out for me. I got nothing but love for you guys.

I forgot what movie I watched as a kid, but I seen this one move where the dude was put in a headlock and he escaped by wrapping his leg around his opponents, like kind of hook it, kick hard forwards while hooked and quickly fling your body backwards to trip them. If all works well, they should have released you from your headlock and thats when you go all Blood Sport on their monkey ass! lol.

I was so confident in this move that I used to go around the school yard trying to pick fights…or at least making people put me into headlocks. lol. Trust me, I look like a really nice guy now, but I was a rascal growing up. lol.

Before I get into this story, let me just introduce the characters first.

So there was this kid named Minh, a small lil Vietnamese kid who lived in the building across from me. I think he was my best friend or something. He wrote me a Christmas card one year…apparently his parents made him give it to me. lol

Then there was this Yugoslavian kid that I didnt like. I dont remember his name, but lets just name him Spanky for now. I have no beef with Yugoslavian people, just to clear that up. Spanky on the other hand was the most annoying kid ever. Like you know the kids who would just be annoying and taunting you the whole time just to get your attention? Yea, that was him.

Anyways, so one day while I was walking home with Minh I seen Spanky across the street, and as expected, he started taunting me.

I dont remember what he said exactly, but Im sure I responded with something like…Ill kick your ass. lol

But today, Spanky felt extra gangster because today Spanky was walking home with a kid in grade 7. I might have been in grade 4 or 5, but I could have cared less. Im always down to throw down. lol.

Lets call Spanky’s home boy, Buddy Ralph. lol.

As we were shouting back to each other from across the street, Spanky says he’s going to get Buddy Ralph to beat me up. So I said cool. I mean, why would I be scared if knew how to escape a headlock? (As if headlocks were the only offensive move someone could make on you. lol. So I called Buddy Ralph over to do something to me if he was a G…or something along those lines. Buddy Ralph comes stomping over through the slush and makes his way over to me. Now, I dont know if it was because it was winter or if I was scared, but I sure remember shivering a little bit. Buddy ralph was at least a foot taller than me and maybe another 50lbs heavier, and when you’re in grade 4 or 5, thats a pretty big deal. lol

I dont remember what we said to eachother while we were standing face to face, but knowing myself, I must have said a nasty ass your mama joke!  lol. He pushes me. Unfortunately for him, I was one of those kids who never pushed back if I was pushed. Im the ‘Start’ button, so you push me, ouu baby, you know we about to play and I come out swinging. lol. I let the first hammer swing. It connects! I go for the next punch, I have no idea what happens next in this story, but I know I ended up in a headlock. lol

Woohoo!!! Exactly what I wanted…or so I thought anyways.

I quickly got into position and hooked onto his leg. In my head Im thinking, Buddy Ralph has no idea what hes about to get into.

So I kick his foot out and then jerk my body backwards to try to flip him so he would release me upon impact…but he didnt budge. I tried to jump backwards while in the headlock and legs hooked again didnt work. It was then I realized that this move doesnt work on people who are that much bigger than you.

Now Im like, holy fuckin shit balls, what the hell am I going to do? I only know one move! lol.

I have no idea what happens next, but I remember him having my head in a leg lock. lol. So sad.

I wasnt really choking, but it was hard to breathe and I was getting cold laying there in the snow. I had no idea how to escape because Van Damme’s never been stuck in a leglock…So I quickly looked around, trying to find anything, and I mean anything that could break me out of this hold right now. Fortunately for me, he had me in a headlock in a parkinglot and my head was right beside a car.

Behold! What do I see???

An icicle!!!

lol. Im my mind, Im thinking, if I stab this guy with it, he’s going to bleed so much, the ambulance is going to have to save him. And Ill probably go to jail for murder…in grade 4 or 5. lol

But right now, it was either death or jail…I said jail.

So I grabbed the icicle and then Spanky’s like “Oh no! Buddy Ralph! He’s got an icicle! Watch out!’

Minh’s like ‘Dont do it! You’ll kill him!’

But I didnt care…it was me or him…but I have no mercy, so we knew what the obvious choice was going to be.

Buddy Ralph tightens the leglock when he sees the icicle in my hand…but its not tight enough to stop me.

I raise my arm with the sharp ass icicle in my hand, and then with all my power, I stab his leg!!!

And he bled everywhere and died!!!

…

Ok, what really happened was when the icicle hit him, it shattered into pieces…and so did my heart. lmfao.

What a loser I am.

I remember Spanky laughing at me and me being super annoyed that that happened even though Ive seen Steven Siegal stab someone with an icicle before…stupid Hollywood.

I have no idea how the fight ends, but Im pretty sure I won and beat him up. lol.

my maturatION

my educatION

my celebratION

my graduatION

my reincarnatION

my generatION

my most important emotION lies inside my appreciatION.

To the Remix Project…I would be lost without you.

Im ashamed to say this, but Im probably the only person in the world who still hasnt seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s…but Im sure damn excited to say I did have Breakfast at Tiffany’s!

I was scheduled to do a pretty big shoot this past Sunday, but the rain forced me to postpone it since it was an outdoor shoot.

So I decided to hit up Gavin and Tiff to see if they were down to grab some food. They suggested breakfast at theirs. Interestingly enough, Gavin and Tiff said they were getting up to get get ready now…and so did Julie and I…and two hours later, we were still both at home and not ready to leave yet.

Julie and I stopped off at No Frills to grab some fruit, yogurt, juice and breakfast sausages before we headed over.

As soon we got to theirs, I swear my nostrils had an orgasm. lol. Tiff, you’re omelets are god sent.

Tiff made the omelets, sausages and avocados, Gavin made the coffee and tea, Julie made the yogurt and fruit parfaits and I…umm…shit, I just realized I did nothing except take pics and talk pure nonsense. lol. My bad.

Anyways, although breakfast wasnt served until 3 something, it was one of the best breakfasts Ive had in awhile…in terms of the food being served, but also in terms of company and quality of conversation. Plus I miss the intellectual and philosophical conversations that I used to have with Gavin when I used to be at Remix.

You might have noticed an increase of food related posts on the blog. The reason for this is because Ive recently noticed the correlation between eating new foods in new settings with my happiness. lol. Sounds like a real fatty thing to say, but Im so happy when I eat. Also, there have been a lot of relationships I have been neglecting this past little while. Im doing my best to keep strong friendships and brotherhoods with the ones I love and care about most. Trust me, I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of relationships to rebuild.

I could have it all in this lifetime, but it means nothing  to me if I have no one to share my success and happiness with. Im tired of feeling empty, hollow and self absorbed.

Thats truth.

Gavin is one of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Believe me when I say, I am tremendously honored to say I know him and am a friend of his.

Im starting to notice that beside every great man, is a great woman. So shouts to Tiff. Im glad we’re getting to know each other better each day. And thank you kindly for the hospitality and the amazing food!

“Lets make this a quasi regular thing…”

All the other plans were organized by her girl friends.  I wanted to do something especially for just Julie and I. Something that showed Ive been planning and shows how much I loved and appreciated her. So during the Civic Holiday weekend aka Caribana weekend, I took Julie out to Niagara Falls for the day. Yea, she might have took me to the Bahamas for mine, but I aint a cake boss like she is. lol. 

It was a long ass drive because we woke up late.

We took a stroll around the tourist areas since she hadnt been to Niagara since she was a kid. The only real memories of Niagara I have are from when I used to live with my dad. He took me and my brothers and his wife out here every long weekend. lol. We didnt do haunted houses. We didnt do any wax museums. We just went to Niagara because my dad liked to take pics of himself and his family. lol. I aint mad at that. 

Anyhow, after we strolled up and down the falls viewing area and Clifton Hills, we headed back to the car to pick up the food that I packed for our picnic. lol. Sounds super corny but Ive never had a picnic with anyone so I thought it would be romantic. Shout outs to Fresh for the great idea! I see you homie! lol. I bought 2 bottles of red wine, packed sandwiches, fruits and a bag of chips. lol. It was great, I brought a sheet for us to sit/ lay on. It was hot out but the mist from the falls was perfect. We ate our sandwiches and whatever else I packed and downed 1 1/2 bottles pretty quickly. 

The funniest thing was that wine made us so giggly and sleepy. All I remember is we found everything funnier than usual and than passed out during our conversation and fell asleep on each other for like an hour. lol.

It was a simple day, but I loved it.

Shout outs to my fave!

ps. in case you’re wondering what the picture above is all about, Julie’s scared of clowns and she freaked out when she seen it in the arcade. lol. I thought it was a super funny pic to post! lol