20 years of Batmobiles

Me in front of the Bat Tumbler from Dark Knight Rises 2012

I love Batman. I have followed his silver screen adventures with feverish interest since my auntie Chrissy showed me Tim Burton's 1989 version when it came to VHS. I was even overly enthusiastic about the Joel Shumacher films, knowing the character deserved better but happy just to have him on the big screen.

Me and the Batmobile from
Batman Returns back in 1992

This polaroid cost me 10$ at the CNE back in 1992. I knew the Batmobile would be there thanks to a vague map. My grandma and I were the all over the fair grounds looking for it. My hand is recoiled because the photographer snapped "DON'T TOUCH THE CAR!" at me as he snapped the picture.

So twenty years later, when I found out the Tumbler from the upcoming Dark Knight Rises was going to be at Yonge/Eglington I had to put it on my to-do list.

Bat Tumbler in Toronto

Bat Tumbler rear-view

Here are some photos of the batpod (or is it a catpod now?).

I made breakfast for my brother. He looked surprised last night when I told him I would. I knew he was wondering what I would make since my recent absence means the fridge is bare. I got it at the grocery store when they opened at 7am.

Flying Home

I know. I'm missing posts. I was having so much fun I never really got a chance to complete post. I have to get better at this, especially with a live blogging device.

I am in the YVR bar, flying home to Toronto from Seattle. My vision is fucked cause my left eye is half swollen and its really all I've got.
I'm killing time drinking beer.

Gym tomorrow. I've got an American waistline only high fructose corn syrup can provide.

Having one more beer before boarding. I should have paid the 30$ for the lounge.

Roger Waters The Wall, Live in Seattle

This was the most incredible concert production I have ever seen.

The performance was incredible, Roger played with a genuine passion that was astounding considering the decades he's been with the material.

I've made fun of Mike for purchasing VIP tickets for concerts in the past. While I rock with the proletariat he eats veal side-stage. I will no longer mock such extravagance, having now experienced the luxury for myself.

With ten people in our gang it made sense to take a limo to the show. Once we entered the venue (free from being searched) we were given tote bags with a souvenir poster, t-shirt, program ect....

There was a buffet with some delicious wings. San's Dad bought me a Wild Turkey at the bar.

We had the most amazing seats, thanks to San. We sat in the 6th row. I know we were close cause even as a blind man I could make out Roger;s face on stage.


We blazed constantly. When Roger/Pink points into the crowd and yells "that ones smoking a joint" he pointed right at us.


I can't describe how amazing the whole show was. I tried to take some cool photos of the most memorable moments.

The Schoolteacher from The Wall

Hey Teacher, Leave us kids alone

Fallen Soldiers are bricks in the wall

Roger Waters in Seattle

Mother Puppet from The Wall

Holy Shit they built that fast

One more brick

The Wall

San and I drove to the airport to pick up Matt. At passenger pick up soe asshole started honking at us, then we realized it was Mike, who had driven to the airport with the same purpose.

I turned my phone on this morning to find a message from San. He dropped off some K-cups in Mike's mailbox so I could have my a.m. java. Then he swung by to pick me up for the day.

Stuck

We took San's new Jeep off-road. He was over at Mike's place early. They both took the day off at Google so we could go find some trails the Parks service set up.
We picked up coffee and drove about an hour to somewhere around mount rainier. We found the trails and figured the smart thing to do would be to stay off the hard ones.
We were surprised to see snow (in the mountains, of all places). We only got a little bit in on the 1st trail before we had to turn back.

The Unemployed Jet-Setter Flies Again

It's time for a vacation. An undeserved but necessary vacation.
Sure I may not have a job, but I do have good friends. Friends who are incredibly cool. San and Linsey got us all tickets to Roger Waters next week so I'm heading to Seattle.
I'm up early, I start Mondays episode of Howard Stern and make coffee for my brother. We say goodbye.
I'm late getting out the door and now I'm waiting for the bus at Kipling. It's 3 minutes late. Its supposed to take twenty one minutes. It arrives, I get a seat. It's not crowded. My flight takes off in less than two hours. Good thing I don't have to check any bags. Hopefully I can breeze through security.
I go to the wrong counter to check-in. Sure my final destination is Seattle but I have to connect in Vancouver.
I get swabbed by security for explosives, you can never be too careful.
Pearson airport has a Tim Hortons. This is a big deal cause its so much cheaper than standard airport fare. I got a coffee, everything bagel w/herb & garlic cream cheese, an apple juice and a S'mores donut.
I have now boarded and ready to depart for Vancouver. I must now cease transmissions.

The flight is loaded with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra The flight crew announced there's 83 of them. No doubt if this plane went down the loss of these youths would far overshadow my own tragedy. They hop around the flight chatting with friends and stand around in the isle. I purchase an expensive chicken wrap, cashews and two rye. The cost of which is 23 dollars. My symphonic seat mates remark on my costly lunch. I wax poetic about the Maple Leaf Lounge and how I miss it's services on this trip. The only reason I didn't throw down the 30 bucks was they wouldn't have started serving before my flight time, so not worth the expense.
I chat up the youths beside me.
I find myself giving life advice to young people, something I have no business doing so I stop.
I check the flight map on the headrest display, we are over Manitoba with just under 3hrs left in flight. A nap takes up 2 of those hours. I wake and decide to listen to Pink Floyd's the Wall, however it seems I've forgotten to put them on my listening device. Almost in Vancouver. I close out Mondays Stern Show.

In Vancouver I must go through security again, My bag and laptop are swabbed for explosives(clean). I clear US customs without issue and now I'm waiting for the puddle jump from YVR to SeaTac. I have pictures of San's son AJ, and dog Kosmo and Kitty Pixel. I can't wait to see them.

drunken dictation

Drinks with my brother Paul and a coworker.  They brought me a cheeseburger. Appreciated.
Paul hits the decks. I attempt some conversation, it goes unrequited. We resolve to listen to Paul spin while I write this blog. To be honest he is dealing out a sweet house set.
My brother Paul is a DJ. Sure he works in computers bus he gets his rocks off on turntables. As I typed that he fucked up a mix, punctuated with his trademark shout of "FUCK".
I go to take a piss Q tips in the toilet. This has to be our guest. I use call girlfriend razor to fish them out of the toilet.
Sure it's 1 am but the blue jays there in minnesota and it's the seventh inning and the twins are up 7-5. You don't count out the Blue Jays that's not what you do, not to the greatest fucking baseball team that ever played the game. Of course my internet connection is fucked up and only showing me flashes of baseball players.
Jose Bautista hits home runs.  We watch an episode of the Simpsons remembering how Mike Socia's tragic illness made us smile

How blogging got it's grove back

It's the first day of May. The Second Cup coffee shop across the street from my place closed unexpectedly. It was the same Second Cup that was featured in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World. I guess I was a semi regular there, I would go there when my internet was out, or when I needed to get out of the house to get some writing done if the temptation to play nintendo wii was too strong.

Speaking of which, I came to the realization that within my next few play sessions I will beat the Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, a game I have played off and on since my brother Paul gave it to me on my birthday in January.

I'm another Second Cup on King West. I frequent here when my former coffee shop had no available electrical outlets.

I had a great conversation with my brother Paul the other day. We were packed like sardines at Wide Open, an ironically named storage-space sized mini-bar. I've seen downtown condos bigger than this bar. Pau told me that I had a responsibility as a content creator to... create content consistently. The only way to have readers return daily is to have daily posts, something other bloggers find the time for, but my jobless ass seems to have trouble with.

I guess the next step is going to the fucking gym I pay for. If I'm going to be in any kind of shape for Burning Man in August I have to start hitting that stationary bike.

I booked another flight, this time to Seattle. My friend San and his wife Linsey are treating a bunch of us to a Roger Waters concert, he will be performing The Wall in it's entirety. I leave in 17 days.

I just about cried at the end of Sunday nights episode of the Simpsons titled "A totally fun thing Bart will never do again". The totally fun thing in the title was a family cruise that Bart wanted to continue on forever through chicanery. After the family discovers Bart's ruse, Homer tells him that life is about enjoying the precious moments while you can. The episode ended with Bart as an old man looking at photos of himself sliding through his life's happiest times, Bart lays back in his bed and says to himself "What a ride". I just teared up and gasped, unable to breath enough to full-on cry. Maybe it's cause the series is closing on it's end, or that the feeling echoed so closely to my own ethos, it struck a strong emotional chord with me.

 

Claude Hooper Bukowski

I booked my flight to the UK for my sister Chloe's wedding. I booked through A Canadian Affair. I normally fly Air Canada but it was way more expensive. I will be flying on Air Transat, it was 200$ cheaper booking on A Canadian Affair than the Air Transat website. My direct/return flight to Manchester, taxes in, was 818$.



I get in on June 21st, a Thursday. Pear Jam will be playing, I've never seen them play but I did see them in person at the Tiff11 screening of their eponymous Cameron Crowe directed doc. It would be cool to go with Marc and Chloe and Wayne if they are interested.

I was very apprehensive about making the booking because without a job I can't really afford the trip, but I can't miss my sisters wedding and the aeroplan points on my credit card will bring me one step closer to another trip to Japan (which I also can't yet afford).

Granny Mo's B Day

My grandma turned 78 today and my mom held a very nice dinner party for her. Paul and I took the GO bus to Mississauga andI decided to stay over to watch the new episodes of Mad Men (Mom has cable).

Gmo blows out her cake

Mom tells an animated tale, while Auntie Chrissy listens

The very least I could do

I'm in the domestic Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR with four hours to kill till my flight home to Toronto. This lounge is a lot larger and much classier looking than the lounge in the international terminal.

I'm going to use this time to drink complementary Guinness and add pictures to the few posts I managed to start but never publish.

I feel somewhat revitalized, I will try and make relevant daily posts all this week.

Last Day in the Mission

The famed Sweet Chinito Breakfast Croissant 

I'm chilling in thr Bernal Heights area of the Mission district of San Francisco, eating my Sweet Chinito breakfast croissant for the third day in a row. I could never get tired of this thing. I will miss it. Mike is on a bus returning from Tahoe NV, we will be flying to his home in Seattle tonight.

I had a great time with Matt and ran into enough old friends to make it a really fun short trip. I love San Francisco and I'm lucky to have so many cool friends here.

I want to go to Amoeba Records and find some cool vinyl.

A spin around Delores Park

It's a big Sunday for us in San Francisco. I'm staying at Matt's place in the Mission. It feels like home I've been here so often. I'm not here for long so we have to make today count.

Sandwich from Sweet Chinito

We went to gamestop to trade in a bunch of Matt's used xbox games. Matt (on impulse) decided to buy  3ds on a whim, something I didn't have the stones for 2 days previous and now regret.

We went to the "pimp suit" store on Mission, between 20th & 19th (I'm such a "local", I knew where we were going with no need for Google). Matt wanted a Leap Day William suit, but after getting fitted they told us it couldn't be ready for Wednesday (Leap Day). It's an expensive joke that will now have to be shelved for another four years.

We picked up sandwiches at Sweet Chinito. It's been over a year since I've had one, and I missed it so much. I got my classic, Turkey, Bacon, and Provolone Cheese on Dutch Crunch Bread.


I love spending time in Delores Park on a Sunday. We ran into Jim and Ashlie, Burner friends from Shadyvil. We sat down and chatted with them for a bit. Matt took this time-lapse video using a GoPro affixed to a Ikea egg-timer on a tripod.




Matt's back was really sore. He scheduled us for Massage in Japantown. I've never been to San Francisco's Japantown before, but I've been to Japan and this is the next best thing. The mall was really cool, I wanted to eat at every restaurant in the place. The massage was my first, it was awesome. It was almost painful but well worth it. She got all the knots out of my shoulder blade.

We met Bobby at Trader Joes and then met up with Mike back in the Mission. We ate some sushi and played Mario Superstar Sluggers.

In flight blogging

I'm gonna write this with my thumbs on my cellphone. Usually I am lucky enough to grab the isle seat but on these 5 hours i will be sandwichced between two ladies (ideal). I can hit post when I land or when I get to Matt's wifi in the mission.

My last US roaming data adventure cost me an extra 30$ on my rogers bill.

I sure got my moneys worth in the lounge considering it was free.

Air Canada has one of the best PVRs in the entire airline industry. I'm going to watch Tin Tin, even though I should see it on Imax instead of the 7" screen before me.

I almost impulse bought a Nintendo 3ds yesterday. I know now that it would have been a good purchase.

When the food goes by I think im gonna buy an in flight beer and chicken wrap w/cashews. Somehow they comped my beer.

I dozed off and woke about 20 minutes before landing. I spent that time trying not to void my bowels.
I'm back in San Francisco, a quick BART ride and I'm home in the Mission.

Fly Sunny J Class

With only the slightest bit of shmoozing I find myself with complementary Maple Leaf lounge access.
I had my sob story ready but Elizabeth barley heard any of it before giving me the keys to shangrila.
This is my happy place. I love the lounge.
People bitch about Air Canada but i have no complaints.
The hot beef & barley soup warms my belly. A soothing familliar feeling befofe the sudden shock of chilly rye & cokes.
I would have gladly paid for the lounge(normally 35$) but my flight was in the morning. Now that my flight is at 630 it makes sense(booze-wise), but its too late to add the option to the flight.
Earlier I said no complaints, but it does apear they are out of cookies.

Never mind, they have been restocked (as has my beverage).

Looks like its time to fly.

Flight Cancelled, re-booked

I was staying up all night for an early transit ride to Pearson for a 9 am flight to San Francisco. I got a text message from Air Canada at 2:45 am about my flight being cancelled. I quickly hopped on the website to find out if I was screwed. Thankfully it has nothing to do with labour strife and everything to do with inclement  weather. I moved fast to re-book on a later flight. The first flight I selected jammed up but the second time I tried I was successful. I will be getting in at 9pm instead of noon. I was really looking forward to spending a Saturday afternoon in my city by the bay but better that my whole trip wasn't shot to shit.

Since my flight now doesn't leave till 4pm, I wish I had added Maple Leaf Lounge access. I guess I can try and get some rest now that I dont have to be on the first subway out, 

sleepy

I volunteered at the lightbox for "Family Day" today. It wasn't busy at all.

Afterwards I went to see The Secret World of Arrietty(Kari-gurashi no Arietti). I watched it when I was in Japan, but this was the english dub.

I was so tired I passed out at 4:30 and just woke up before midnight to watch some tv.

I don't think the antibiotics are working.

one was one too many at rex

Con Air at the Tiff Bell Lightbox was brilliantly stupid. Sure, I saw it back in the day, but back then I wore the rose-coloured glasses of a 15 year old desperate for 2 hours of escapism. To see it with a theatre full of shlock connoisseurs was truly an experience to be had. It's was absolutely ridiculous. At first it almost seems tongue-in-cheek, but in reality it's taking itself completely serious. I had such a good time. I hope the lightbox programs more of this type of fare in the future.

After the movie I went to the REX to meet Shawna and some pals for a pint.

The pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart had advised me not to consume alcohol while taking my prescribed antibiotics. Next time I will heed his advice. I threw up 5 minutes after getting home.

It was worth it to see Shawna and everyone and hear some good jazz.