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Food, Life, Love, Random
Cobras make good coma companions
11.24.09 | Permalink | Comment?

This weekend, Holly and I were fairly productive – if you don’t consider Friday evening (when Holly slept for over 13 hours) part of the weekend. We got lots of her Xmas shopping done, cleaned the house, visited with my parents, put up Xmas lights, and even decorated the stupid tree (ok, those last two we did yesterday, but since Holly was home I consider it the weekend still).

I also managed to get a few drawings done while Holly was napping. I have 4 drawings that James wants corrected, and one he faxed yesterday he had forgotten about completely, then that should be it for that book. Now it’s up to James whether I attempt to learn how to layout a book, or move on to the second book’s illustrations. My preference would be to just work on layout for now, and wait to start the log drawings until I’m back at the ISBA with James. It is definitely easier to work through this stuff when we’re in the same place. I say that with absolutely no idea what is involved in laying out a book, or what program I will use to do so. I’m sure I can figure it out, and I’m hoping it will be somewhat interesting, or fun.

The sooner I can start making a regular paycheque the better. I hate not being able to contribute to the finances. I want to be able to spoil Holly and the boys, and give them things like Nerf guns and egg nog milkshakes. Look how happy egg nog milkshakes make her, can you blame me? She spoils me and I don’t even deserve it. I’m just incredibly lucky I guess.
Animals, Food, Fuck Microsoft, Gaming, Life, Random, TV
Intergalactic cobra cuisine
11.11.09 | Permalink | Comment?

Shortly after posting on here this morning my brother called to see if I was coming by or not. He apparently missed my calls and didn’t see my messages, so he offered to come pick me up. We played Halo until about 3pm. then he took me to the funeral home. Holly and I went and got Roan, then took some pee pads she got from the funeral home to the Humane Society.

There was tons of cute kittens there, and lots of older, lovable cats. Holly fell in love with one we saw on their website the other day, and almost adopted it. She was super friendly and cuddled right up to Roan – something he always wants Tabbouleh and the others to do, but doesn’t have much luck with. She asked a girl who worked there what the cats name was, and she said Scarlet. She also said she’s off to get spayed tomorrow, then is going home with her new Hu-mans. There was also another calico that looked a lot like Tabbouleh, except much smaller. I wish I could have a thousand kitties.

We came back to make dinner and Gage’s friend was inside destroying the bathroom. He plugged the toilet and stunk up the entire house. It was brutal. Holly decided she wasn’t up for cooking, so we embarked on a mission to the Flying Saucer. That’s it up top, and in my mind, it’s a Niagara Falls icon. Whenever I tell people I live near (or currently IN) the Falls, they ask if it’s cool. I usually mention the falls them self, the gorge, the casino, and the Saucer. It’s the ONLY place to go for shitty food at 3am in the city. My favourite thing to get there is cheddar cheese balls. I could eat a thousand of them. I had those, grilled cheese, and a milk shake. The milk shake and balls were great, the rest was sub par – which is actually incredible for the Saucer!

They finally got their own printed place mats after like 40 years of business. Up until now it was those generic mixed drink mats every dive has. The new ones featured pictures of the food (bad idea?) and the above attempt at humor. I personally think this over weight, hairy earthling would taste better than anything they currently have on the menu (except the cheese balls of course!).

After dinner we came back for Top Model and Ultimate Fighter. I totally picked the final two, and I guarantee you Nicole wins it all. On Wednesday nights, I am now one of those people I hate. It’s actually not so bad.
Food, Life, Movies, Random
DIY pub food
10.12.09 | Permalink | Comment?

Last night Holly and I decided to make our own bar food, instead of going out for bar food. We got a recipe for deep fried dill pickles off the Internet, and made them with a jar of my homemade pickles (the only jar I had).

They were homemade²!! Not only did I grow the cucumbers, I also grew the dill and garlic I used to pickle them. Then I made the batter, and breading.

Holly made us a huge tray of nachos to go with our pickles, and both were incredible.

The only thing our bar dinner was missing was beer. We neglected to stock up on that while gathering our groceries earlier in the day. Even still, it was better than any bar I’ve ever been to. We got to watch Deadwood while we ate, and then crawl into bed right after.

After what seemed like 10 episodes of Deadwood, we decided to check out Zombieland. My brother gave me a rip of it earlier in the day, which I’d forgotten all about. It was actually a decent movie. Although lame at times, the zombie killing was really graphic, and I give bonus points to the fact that they never tried to find a solution to the zombies. Instead, they just had a good time slaying them by the dozens. I’d like to think if zombies attacked, I’d handle it in much the same way.
Food, Life, Random, TV
Chrono-calcu-cobra
09.20.09 | Permalink | Comment?

This morning Holly and I took Roan to Value Village. I wanted a cool ashtray, and Holly wanted a sweater. I found a pretty sweet floral pattern ashtray (below), and Holly picked out a marble one for the back patio. She also spotted a sweet calculator watch (above) that was only $3.

We came back here and ate apple crisp for breakfast, and I showed Holly her first episode of Deadwood. I forgot how much I love that show. The Dude brought me all three seasons on dvd yesterday, so I’m going to watch the shit out of them until he makes me give them back. I want a big moustache and a gun to shoot cocksuckers with.

We went for dinner with Holly’s parents for her birthday at Fresco’s. I haven’t been there in over a year, and it was as good as I remember it. I still miss the pizzalada, but the goat’s cheese salad was amazing as always. Now I’m sitting with Holly, eating a mint chocolate bar, and watching more Deadwood. Tomorrow I get back to work on the bents section, and the last couple pain in the ass drawings that I have to finish before I never look at it again (I hope).

This is Roan playing with his Value Village Halloween sword. You should hear the sound effects it he makes.
Animals, Food, Life, Love, Movies, Random
Comfy Cobra
09.19.09 | Permalink | Comment?

I made it back safely. Jeff got me to the airport just in time, and my flight wasn’t too bad. I finally got to see a decent copy of Star Trek, although it was on a 7″ screen, then I rocked some Super Stardust and Space Invaders Extreme on the PSP. My flight also had the map feature I’m ever so fond of (as I’ve mentioned before). My brother left work early to pick me up, then drop me at Holly’s. We hung out with the boys for a bit, then went and got some Sahara! – I love those guys.

Friday was Holly’s birthday and in the morning she went to work, and I walked Roan to school. I found a little wood pipe on the ground on the way to his school. I brought it home and threw it out. I had a bit of a panic attack when I got up and tried to get my desktop machine running.

Holly had some dude put a wireless card in it while I was out west, and although it powered up and booted XP no problem, not one of the ports on the board was working, and only one input on the video card was working. I’ve come to the conclusion the machine does not like being moved. The board was never meant for the case it’s in, and I don’t really give a shit. I’ll leave it where it is, finish this book, then build a new machine. One that is able to dual boot XP and Ubuntu. Or maybe I’ll just build an Ubuntu machine and keep this one as an XP machine until it dies beyond what I feel like putting the effort into fixing. I got everything working (including the wireless card), and now just need some speakers from my parent’s house. I also need to install all my ruby scripts on my desktop, and make sure Sketchup is setup how I like it.

After I got it working I called Mary Beth. I haven’t heard from her in probably a year, and I wasn’t sure why she disappeared. Turns out she was pissed at me for turning into who I was. She said I changed for the worse, and I asked if there was anything I directly did to piss her off. She said no, which makes it harder on me, because I would rather know what I did so I can prevent it in the future if I choose. Either way, I’m just glad she’s still my friend and we’re not too far from each other so we can hang out.

Mary came by, and Holly got off work early. The Dude dropped in, and we hung out on the patio. Brandi came by to pick up Mary, and the Dude left at the same time. Holly and the boys made Lesley and I eat a unicorn, then we came back here for a bath and UFC.

Today the Dude came by again with Benz, and the boys went nuts when they saw him. Gage played with him for a couple hours I figure, and eventually Benz got comfortable enough with the trampoline to not only jump on and off it, but to also play with the boys on it. It was pretty cool seeing him play with the boys the way he was, considering the last time I saw him he was still a complete asshole. Perhaps getting hit by a car changes a dog for the better. If the same is true for humans, I can think of a few who could really use a city bus intervention (okay, maybe more than a few).

For dinner, Holly made some strange dish with mashed potatoes (gross) which was actually pretty good (don’t tell her), then she left without feeding me dessert. Even after I bought her a huge bag of her favourite candies today. She went to see some lame band in Hamilton, so I hung out here with Roan and watched UFC, while Gage played his DS. Now the boys are in bed, and I’m thinking about doing the same.

I’m glad to be here, and it’s nice to be comfortable in a lot of different ways finally. Now if I only had belly full of dessert…
Animals, Food, Gabriola, Life, Love, Random
Murdoch the Marvelous
09.14.09 | Permalink | Comment?

Zack and I went for a bike ride to the store then back to the water for one last ocean side session. We got some mushrooms for dinner and I got some much needed juice. I skipped rocks while we smoked a joint and discussed my million dollar idea I had today – downhill hammocking. I also found this little crab above, who was playing dead at first, then came to life and hammed it up for the camera.

We rode back to the school and I stashed my bike for whenever I come back. Zack said he wanted to attempt to walk the wire again, so I sat and filmed as he failed a few times. Then he pulled off a fairly perfect run. We thought about raising the wire so it was 6 feet off the ground, but then decided to make dinner.

We made risotto with tempeh, mushrooms, and garlic and put some cheddar on top. It was delicious. For dessert we had plum cake. One of the older dudes taking the log course went home to Abbotsford over the weekend and brought back a ton of fruit and baking his wife did. Plum cake is good.

After dinner I called Holly and said goodnight to her since she was already in bed. Zack and I played a game of pool, then came here to smoke a joint. James stopped by shortly after I kicked Zack out, and we had our last little “in person” chat for a while. I thanked him for everything he’s done for me, and letting me stay here, and letting me do the log course for free, and he told me he was more than happy to do it, and he’s glad I’m so dedicated to the book. He said it has been nice hanging out getting stuff done the last few months, then gave me one of those powerful “bro” handshakes. We also discussed the course he wants me to teach her a little more, which is good – it means he hasn’t changed his mind about it, and there is still a chance it will happen.

I just finished packing all my stuff, aside from a few things I will use in the morning, and of course my computer. I’m considering leaving a few articles of clothing behind which are a combination of torn, filthy, too big, or just ugly.

Less than 60 hours until I’m back in Ontario. I’m looking forward to it for sure.
Food, Gabriola, Life, Random
Cobra cuisine
08.26.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Today I got a couple drawings done in the morning, then I took a break and went with Ian (the guy who is basically James’ assistant) to the village. The grocery store had a sale on frozen pizzas (the kind i like even), so I bought 6 of them (they were 2 for $8, normally $6.99 each), some juice, and a small bag of mint chocolates from the bulk section. Then I picked blackberries at Silva Bay while Ian enjoyed a coffee and a chocolate bar. I’m glad there is free fruit here, otherwise I probably wouldn’t eat any at all (except what I stole from the ferry!).

When I came back I got another drawing done, then went to see about getting some good fucking pot finally. FAIL. On the bright side, I did get some hash (not sure if it’s good yet), and someone gave me a tiny nugget. And when I got back, James made me some fries! I hate fries (unless they’re curly), but I’ll take free food of any sort (meat excluded obviously) right now.

Here’s a picture of my new roommate.

I’m moving tomorrow morning (I haven’t told the roommate yet) then I’ll be spending all day working on drawings. Then I might spend a little time tomorrow night trying to get the Lego Factory software running on my machine. I found out about it the other day while Roan was showing me all the cool Lego sets he wants, and I thought it would be a cool thing to play around with. I’d love to recreate the Deathtruck using their software, then have them ship us a kit I could give him for Xmas. I know if I was a kid I’d think that was a cool gift, but who knows.

Time to go try this hash, and enjoy the fire Zack (my other roommate) built, then watch some dudes get hit in the face and go to bed.
Food, Gabriola, Life, Random
Cobras commit confectionary crimes
08.25.09 | Permalink | Comment?

While I was home I visited with a lot of people I haven’t had a chance to see in months/years/decades, and one of those people (SPK) gave me a great piece of advice for when I got back here. That advice was to pay the extra $10 on the ferries and get into the VIP area. He promised me reclining chairs, a quiet atmosphere, all you can eat snacks, coffee and tea, and a wireless internet connection. He was right on all counts but the Wi-Fi.

Normally when I take the ferry, I get a drink, and usually a slice of pizza (they have surprisingly good pizza for a boat bus) and it costs me close to $10, if not more. So today I figured I’d give it a shot, and hopefully I’d be able to chat with Holly the entire trip across. When I discovered there was no internet, I decided I’d better get my money’s worth out of the trip somehow.

Above is a picture of all the food I took back to my table, then wrapped in my napkins and put in my bag. Also pictured above is some pot this guy named Ray gave me.

I met Ray today on the Gabriola ferry. He asked if I was sleeping outside tonight (probably because I was carrying to big packs and a blanket with me) and I responded “Fuck no! I’m dreading just hitch hiking in this rain, I can’t imagine having to sleep in it.”. He then asked where I was headed, and said he’d gladly give me a ride if I didn’t mind waiting while he made a quick stop. After he made his stop, he handed me a joint and said “One for you, and one for me.”. I smoked the joint (first of the day) and we chatted about some stuff (mostly pot), and he told me he’s a mechanic in Nanaimo. He bought his land with cash years ago, and built his house without taking on any debt. We stopped at his house for a moment, and he came back with a handful of buds for me.

I love how nice everyone is here, and I hope that the fact that I’m pretty miserable about being here right now isn’t too obvious. I’m trying to stay positive, but I’m having a real hard time. At this point I’ve had enough of the lifestyle the island imposes on me currently. I’d much rather be back in Ontario working on a resume.
Food, Gaming, Life, Love, Sketchup
Remember, you’re Johny Cobra
08.21.09 | Permalink | Comment?

I just got back from Jade Sushi (or Sushi Jade, I’m not sure), and I’m full, and I’m never going back there. The food was good, but the servers were crap, and there was a difficult time figuring out what was vegetarian and what wasn’t. I did try deep fried milk for the first time, and I really enjoyed it.

Yesterday Holly dropped me at my mum’s early in the morning (6:30am) before her regular Thursday morning breakfast meeting. I wanted to spend the day with her since it was her birthday, but my social life (which I have sort of missed on the island recently) sort of got in the way. My mum left to take my dad to work, and I went online to write some blog stuff. Shannen messaged me and asked if I’d like to come meet her new tortie kitten. That’s pretty much a question no one ever needs to ask me – I will always answer yes with a giddy smile. She came and got me and we hung out for a bit while her kitty (Ginger) made a meal out of my fingers.

Shannen dropped me back at my mum’s and we decided to play some video games. I attempted to play some Pixeljunk Eden with her, but I think the controls in that game, although simple, are tricky to master when playing two player (especially for the first time). We didn’t get too far into it before my friend Natasha stopped by, and her and I went for a coffee.

When I got back my mum and I decided to play some more games. I busted out my 360 and we played some Puzzle Fighter. I tried to let my mum win a couple, but I’m not good at it. Even when I tried to kill myself, I ended up making huge combos and winning. After winning 6 games in a row, we moved on to 3D Ultra Mini-golf. I finished with a +3 I think, and my mum a +13. At that point my mum went to get my dad, and I played the Turtles in Time demo I downloaded. That was one of my all time favourite SNES games, and when I heard they were making an HD version I knew I’d love it. I bought it when my brother got home and we played for a bit. I can’t wait to have enough time to finish that game. The Technodrome should look amazing. And Super Shredder, ZOMG!

We had pizza and cheesecake when Holly got there, then an insane storm started. There were tornadoes in Vaughn and warnings of more for all around the area. We drove home through crazy rain, and constant lightning, then when we got back here Holly felt like shit.

Above is a tank I made for Roan. We have to do more work on it, but I’m having severe issues with my computer here at Holly’s. It’s too hot and too moist or something. It freezes every 5 minutes. It was doing that before when I was here, but didn’t do it once while I was on the island. The first time I used it when I got back here, it froze. Now every time, it freezes. I’ve decided not to use it, so I’m doing this update with Gage’s laptop. Thanks Gage.
Food, Gabriola, Log building, Love, Random
Cobras complete courses
06.22.09 | Permalink | Comment?

Friday night, after we finished erecting our log house, we all went home and got cleaned up, then went back to James’ house for dinner and a tour. Naomi made focaccia bread, lasagna, caesar salad, and a couple apple rhubarb pies. It was the first home cooked meal I’d had in a while, and I ate more than I ever thought I could. I also surprised myself and drank 3 glasses of wine. It wasn’t very good, but it was free.

James’ house was amazing. We got the full tour, and it gave me a million ideas for a home I’d like to build. I asked James if he’d mind me bringing Holly to show her the house, so she can see what I like about it, and I can see what her reaction is to it. Hopefully she loves it, and then tells me to build her one.

After the tour, we all sat and listened while James said some nice words about us as a group, and then he said a little something about each person individually as he handed out the course completion certificates. Out of all 9 of us who were there, I was the only guy who didn’t get any sort of ovation. Everyone else got clapping, and nice comments (even the Croatian who made everyone’s life a little harder the whole month, and who wasn’t even there because he left earlier in the day). I got nothing, but that’s ok. I get to be James’ personal draftsman while I’m here, and that makes me proud, even if it doesn’t earn me any cheers from the others.

After dinner, we all gathered around the new pool table James bought for the student residence, and watched as he cleaned house. After winning a half dozen games in a row, he passed his cue to Alex, and then just disappeared. I attempted to play my first game of pool in years (we had a table for years when I was a kid, and I was actually fairly decent at pool once) against Ryan, and lost by scratching on the 8-ball. Shortly after that I took everyone out to smoke a joint and then we all headed home.

My plan for Saturday was to get to Nanaimo to meet Dave, then come hang out in Victoria with him for a few days. After a whole lot of confusion and a couple missed ferries by each of us, we finally got to Victoria late Saturday night. We went to see the latest person Dave’s sister is living with, that he wants to kill (seems like there’s always at least one), and pick up Honey. Then I got some Sarpino’s!!! I love their pizza, and I love the old Italian people who run that place.

So now the plan is to move Dave back to the mainland on Wednesday or Thursday. Until then, he and I both have a shit load of work to get done. I need to finish these first two sections of James’ book, and then the patent application drawings for the jig I’m helping them design, and Dave has a ton of aerial photographs he has to interpret before he goes out in the field next month.

It should be a good time, but all I’m really looking forward to right now, is getting to hang out with Holly all next week. Come on Saturday!