show my some skin

As I made my way downtown this morning to pick up my developed negatives (something which is worth writing about in its own right), I could hear some pleasant ruckus heading south down Spadina Ave. at the corner of College St.

Not to my surprise, it was about 150 people all cycling, naked.

I've said it before, but I love this city. I have not once looked out onto the landscape and felt tiresome about living here. No matter how long I've lived here there's still mystery around every corner, in every neighborhood, within every bar. Just when you think you've come to grips with your area, a friend takes you down a back alley and it's a whole new ray of light. I'm not phased whatsoever by the fact that I have to live here for probably four more years.

As for todays marathon, that stuff happens all the time.

Here's a clip from a ride from the past.

I drove the Tut

I was thinking just now about the upcoming King Tut exhibit coming to the AGO in late November, and a lot of questions arose.

For starters, the coffin of King Tut has to actually arrive at the AGO. How does this happen? More interestingly, who gets to ride shotgun with King Tut? Do you think they stop to pee at McDonalds when King Tut himself is in the backseat? What kind of vehicle do they use? You'd hope it was one of those armored bank trucks, but maybe it isn't? Maybe they leave him exposed in the backseat of a Ford Windstar.

This next part came from an interest I had with famous rock stars entering concert halls and arenas. At some point, they're exposed to the air outside, which is funny to think because at one point they had to walk into the building from their bus - which is something people don't really consider because they view them as objects of entertainment, not living, breathing people who take sharp shits and get foot cramps like the rest of us. In the case of King Tut, could you look over at the AGO at one point and see him being carted from the truck? Because, at a certain time, King Tut has to go from the truck to the museum. Now, I know they wouldn't push the Tut out open on the streets, but you get the picture.

How do they know when King Tut arrives? Do they call the museum like it was a pizza delivery? Like they were ordering from Pizza Tut?

"Hey, uhhh, yeah. I'm the King Tut driver, and we're almost here. We can't find Spadina. What? I'm circling around man, and I can't find Spadina. Dundas? Where's Dundas? Dude, King Tut is in the back, where the hell am I going??"

It's not like they're toting around town with lumber in the back. It's the fucking TUT: one of the most incredible and sought-after artifacts known to man. So who's driving the car? Is that something the driver puts on his resume? "I drove The Tut."

To be totally honest, I have another two dozen questions lined up.

p.s. I couldn't resist that Pizza Tut pun. I'm far too Schmidt to pass that little gem up.

DEL

As previously mentioned, I had a show in Scarborough, last week? I'm not sure exactly. My days are becoming so full that I can't tell what day it is anymore, but that's good.

The show went exactly how I thought it would go. I'd show up, hang my single piece (which I'm almost certain was the largest there), walk around for a while kissing babies, then bugger off for a while to enjoy the sun. That day, now looking back, was actually a lot of fun. Dan and I don't really get to just hang out much anymore, so it was fun to kick it together just like old times. The only thing we did all day was crack jokes, and I wish I was exaggerating about that. Later that night we met with some friends and didn't feel like laughing anymore.

I had my wall space good and ready to go. As usual, I was a horrible self-promoter. So bad in fact that I wrote my contact information on what I thought were business cards they provided, which in fact were raffle tickets. hahahah, holy shit. This funny gay couple (who were all over East and DP) were saddened by the fact that I couldn't hang the piece higher on the display. They had a point, but I wasn't too shook by it.

After seeing the light cast by the bulb in the top left corner of this piece I became really attached to that sun spot. I've considered roughing one in.

The free coffee, tea and cookies didn't quite get rid of my hangover, but definitely helped the conversations flow a bit faster.

This character, seen above in the tight red sweats, gold bling, and a child's Raptors jersey, absolutely needs to be mentioned.
The man's name was Ian Moo Young, and I'm pretty sure he was absolutely off his rocker. He showed up to the show with a cart full of shit, including a mop, bottles of liquor, and a big red rug. These would all be included in his wacky display later in the day.
At the beginning of the day I became jealous when seeing him speak to other exhibitors. I just wanted him to, you know, flirt with me a little.

Moo indeed was off his rocker. After nearly being thrown out for calling a photographer a "shit" and "an asshole", he fled to East and DP to hide from the women running the event. At this point, Moo went on and on for almost two hours about all kinds of things. I can only really skim the surface when talking about what he said, so I'll try. These are some of his accomplishments:

a) He trained several of the top tennis players in the world, and wants to one day, win the Wimbledon. He said he still schools world-ranking youngsters.

b) At one point, he was one of the top filmmakers in Britain, and directed more than one hundred commercials for many corporations throughout the UK.

c) Was good friends with Princess Diana, and that the only reason they never hooked up was because they were both in relationships at the wrong times. And since this was the case, somebody he called The Duke of Devonshire wanted him dead, which leads to the next point.

d) He's killed people. After being chased into a cave by assassins at night, somewhere in the Southern Pacific, he proceeded to kill one man by throwing his machete at him. He killed the other two assassins by spreading a bad of pigs blood (which he seemed to have on him at the time) on the ground the attract the local tigers. Every time he mentioned someone dying, he let out the creepiest laugh I've ever heard.

e) He's dated supermodels and is the eye of any woman he meets. He planned on asking a girl he met at the show if she wanted to be in his next film. I'm just going to assume she said no.

Needless to say, Moo was nuts, and I'm sure only 1% of everything he said was true. Although, his work was interesting and some of the motifs presented were intriguing. Just stuff about how we're all mermaids, and then something about foot fetishes. Whatever.

Either way, the day was an over all success, and it's always fun to drive on the Don Valley Parkway.

my buzz is alive

So! Here it goes again. Just a few jots on things, nothing elaborate. 

. Bike and I were out for dinner the other night with my 

mom and aunt. They were in town to see the Sound of Music play at the Princess of Whales theatre. The funny thing was, there was a mix-up in their ticket arrangements and were on their way to seeing it for the second time. At this point, they offered us the tickets and we readily accepted. 

The interesting thing about the story is that we were both half in the bag from dinner. This was mostly due to the Milestones gigantic pints and from not eating nearly all day. So before we went to the show we came back to our place and drank a couple more and made our way. During intermission, we grabbed a couple more beers, to which we found out that your can actually take them into the theatre and enjoy it during the show. During the second half of the show, I found it so hilarious just sitting next to this nice old couple, enjoying a beer as if it were a football game. I then jokingly turned to Bike during Edelweiss and mouthed "FUCK YEAAAH!!!" and shook my beer as if a touchdown had just happened. You kinda had to be there. 

. I sold a painting yesterday to a gentleman named Don and his wife Susan. They were incredibly nice and I am happy to see the piece go to them. Again, super thanks goes to Mickey for being such a huge help in the process. Also, if you're in town you should go see John Chau's work at Vdara for the month of February. The opening last night was awesome and his work is literally in another realm, and it was good to see Eugene. 

The image below was taken from the National Post a couple weeks ago when they reviewed Vdara. That's one of my paintings on the wall, behind Mani. They mentioned "paintings of the tundra" in the article, which was rad. 

. Before the final sale of yesterdays piece, I experienced a pretty wonderful bout of anxiety while walking the streets. To be honest, those situations make me quite frantic and nervous. Some buyers can be so scatter-headed that any specific comments or details can sway a decision greatly in any direction. I nearly vomited on Spadina Ave. and could feel my body wanting to pass out at any moment. This was either caused by too much anxiety, walking for almost 4 hours, too much sun (it's been beautiful here), or too little food. Probably all of that together. 

. Today I'm going to paint, make a Guinness beef stew, and listen to The Wooden Sky. Life is good. 

. There's a new Talkin' Schmidt coming out soon about the Crazy Horse National Monument.

. The days are getting longer. Isn't that great? Yeah, it's great. 

. I'm considering doing podcasts instead of lengthy, wordy posts. I know personally that I'd rather listen to somebody's rants than read them. Plus, I like to crack jokes a lot and it comes across easier when in vocal form. For instance, Jenna's sweet blog www.lovelyandlazy.blogspot.com currently has a clip up of us talking about the Mint. I think it's funny shit. 

. I'll think of something cool to say later.