Tumbleweed Invasion

So fun! Looks like somewhere near El Mirage. I could watch this all day!

Good Morning Toronto XXXIII

Good Morning Toronto XXXII

The sun is finally back, moving northerly as the days become longer, and peeking back around our neighbours' building again.

Four Years Old!

His birthday was a couple of days ago, but I wanted to show off this picture of Amado in his new hat Grams Coop and Bean gave him. He's getting to be a real little boy so quickly! (He's also very hard to take a good picture of these days!!!)

Somebody's been into the numbers....

By Jove, I think Amado's solved the Unified Field Theory!

20 Years Ago, I was in Japan

The Known Universe

YUSUF - Roadsinger

"Cat Stevens" is back.

Gram Toni's 100th Birthday

Today would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday! She died a few years ago, but I'm still happy I was able to share a link into the past with her. When you're a kid you think people live forever, but when you're older you see our time on earth is really too short. Make the most of it! (Above, Antonia Gallegos, aka "Gram Toni", with my dad.)

The United Church of Canada in Copenhagen

Mardi Tindal, the Moderator of The United Church of Canada, is blogging from COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (http://en.cop15.dk/) in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 7-18, 2009.

We invite you to check out her dispatches on the work to fight global warming. Copenhagen is a great opportunity for the church to work, pray, and reflect together on what Mardi calls "God’s abundant healing of soul, community, and creation." Also, please help bring more visibility to the Moderator's reflections from Copenhagen by linking to her blog from your own church websites!

Moderator Mardi Tindal's Mod Blog
http://www.wondercafe.ca/blogs/moderator-mardi

COP15 Day 1: Connecting Dots
http://www.wondercafe.ca/blogs/moderator-mardi/cop15-day-1-connecting-dots

The World Gathers
http://www.wondercafe.ca/blogs/moderator-mardi/moderator-mardi-tindals-blog-world-gathers

So What to Do?
http://www.wondercafe.ca/blogs/moderator-mardi/so-what-do

Wow! Boy sees lobster for the first time.

Notice how fast the kid goes from "Wow!" to "We're going to eat 'em. Yum!" Humans are so strange.

Jeff Beck - Eternity's Breath/Stratus (Live)

Wendy got me this DVD for my birthday and I can't stop listening to it. Best guitar album I've heard in years! Nobody compares to Jeff Beck! (Yes, I said nobody!)

In this clip he covers "Eternity's Breath" by Mahavishnu Orchestra and Billy Cobham's super funky "Stratus".

I love the cool vibe of Beck's new (22-year-old) bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld too.

Calle 54 Tito and Giovanni Solo

Yeah.... Tito Puente (timbales) and Giovanni Hildalgo (congas)....

Our Ladies

Lupe1 - dimitridf - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dimitridf/3623271859/
Lupe2 - eebrierley - http://www.flickr.com/photos/eebrierley/3956746703/
Lupe3 - Mez Love - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mezdeathhead/2495923976/
Lupe4 - Kit Z - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kit_z/281922924/
Lupe5 - Gwen - http://www.flickr.com/photos/gwen/2973166335/
Lupe6 - giveawayboy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/giveawayboy/13443959/
Lupe7 - catwommn - http://www.flickr.com/photos/catwommn/343193519/
Lupe8 - Industry_is_virture - http://www.flickr.com/photos/industry_is_virtue/2342742436/

Good Morning Toronto XXXI

(Compare to picture from same date, three years ago.)

We love the desert!

Good-Bye Ozzy

This mural featuring Ozzy Osbourne in his Black Sabbath days (and a host of other anachronistic rock stars) loomed over the neighbourhood of Amado's daycare for years from the wall of the long-defunct Time Zone Bar & Grill. Today the last of the mural was covered over, as the building is renovated for a new dentist office. It was weird and bit seedy, but I think I'm still going to miss it.

Joan Baez - Farewell Angelina (Live 1966)

Old Joan Baez music like this reminds me of my mom and my childhood so much....

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Canadian Thanksgiving, that is. Here in Ontario, Thanksgiving is traditionally the time when cottage docks are brought in so they aren't destroyed by the ice pack of winter. And traditionally (so the jokes go), this is regarded as the raison d'être for son-in-laws.

Above, my father-in-law Paul and I enjoy Thanksgiving by tinkering with the family dock, sometime last fall.

Ozomatli - Cut Chemist Suite

One of my favorite bands!

Good Morning Toronto XXX

Roy Rogers "DON'T FENCE ME IN"

"...let me ride those wide open spaces I love..."

For my Mom and Irene who love the open road!

Good Morning Toronto XXIX

A Collision of Spirit, Art, and Community

WonderCafe (www.wondercafe.ca), the website I work with, brought four of the top aerosol artists in the world together to collaborate on a huge mural on a wall donated by Metropolitan United Church in Toronto. Today we held the public unveiling of the work, along with a big street party including legendary hip-hop DJ crew, The MixTape Massacre, breakdancers, BBQ, public art space and a whole lot more. It was a truly inspiring day which created a deep reminder that we are all connected with a creative force that is so much bigger than ourselves...

Finally: Night Garden / Benny Hill Mash Up

Amado's current fave on YouTube!

Natural Mystic

Bob Marley....ahhhhh

Paint Your Faith tarp installation

WonderCafe (www.wondercafe.ca), the websites I work with, is presenting a huge street art event called Paint Your Faith. Four of the top aerosol artists in North America have been brought together to create a work of art on a 30' x 60' wall donated by Metropolitan United Church in Toronto. This tarp will cover the artwork until its unveiling (with a big block party) on Sept. 19. This is a great project and really inspiring to be a part of! More info here:

http://www.wondercafe.ca/paint_your_faith

P*Lander for Life

Tony Elfering's P*Land tattoo. Tony was a true P*Lander for life and we will really miss him. It's hard to believe we have lost one of our gang. (For those who don't know, P*Land was our skate crew growing up in Phelan, Calif. Click the "label" below to see more P*Land pics.)

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Someone I did shake hands with...

Chief Arvol Looking Horse (S'unkawakan Wicas'a), 19th generation keeper of the original Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nation of the Sioux.

[Picture from an interesting article on a ceremony held to release the spirit of the bison which had died in Yellowstone.]

3 People I Could Have Shaken Hands With...

Either I was too shy, or I didn't want to intrude, but I have been within arm's length of these three people and yet didn't extend my arm to shake their hand. I wish I would have now.

1. Sen. Ted Kennedy
2. Cesar Chavez
3. The Dalai Lama

For Tony: Duane Peters Black out

I'm thinking a lot about Tony Elfering (R.I.P.) and our P*Land skating adventures back in the day. This Duane Peters video shows the radical P*Land style of skating in my opinion, which totally argo and quite different from the "gymnastics on wheels" style of pro skaters today. Glad to see Duane Peters has still got it, even at 40+ years of age, though he looks a lot worse for the wear-and-tear. He spits into the camera at the end (1:35), which is probably unnecessary, in case you want to skip that part :-) Still, great stuff!

Big Dipper -Santa Cruz, CA

I love this ride, but I'm also afraid of it.

Tony Elfering

{early '80s}

Rest in peace my brother. Shred on. We will miss you so much.

{More P*Land skate pics and videos here.}

I'll be here if anybody is looking for me.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D

Beautiful. This should help put our earthly concerns in perspective!

What the hell is happening to America?

Those who know me know I don't cuss too much, but I have to say it...What the hell is happening to America? Facists? Obama as Hitler? Have these "Republican activists" lost their minds? And where are the "mainstream Republicans" who should realize the damage this kind of activism is doing to their own party?

There is something very dangerous about the direction and tone of this activism. And--as Andrew Sullivan points out--it's been heard before in America.


[Flyer distributed in Dallas in November 1963.]

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Great to hear one of my Mom's favourite artists, folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, is making a comeback at age 68. I got to interview her once for Aboriginal Voices magazine about the great work she was doing for native youth. Click here to see the article and a collection of videos of her.

Yes We Cannabis

Apparently there's "furor" going on because Normal used this old picture of Obama without permission or something. Actually, I'm not sure what all this puff is about. I think the art is really groovy though.

Toronto City Strike Almost Over!

...we hope! It's been 36 days. The garbage piling up around the city gets all the attention, but it's the lack of other social services (public health, welfare, daycares, kid's programmes, etc.) that are actually more than just an inconvenience, especially those people who are poor and have no other options. Perhaps by the end of today there may be a settlement between the city and the unions and everybody (including you know who) can get back to work! The sooner the better!

[Picture from NowToronto]

Pink Floyd's Moon-Landing Jam Session 1969

Trippy space sounds recorded live at the BBC during coverage of the first moon landing (though images in the video is from one of the following moon missions).