Musings of Jeff

Will the Madness Never End?!?

2006-04-18T15:50:00.000-04:00

Jeez-louise - will the madness never end.

Since my last post, things have been, as always, ridiculously busy. Only currently, even more so, my mind is getting frantic, as evidenced, by my excessive use of commas.

Trying to get stuff ready to fly out to Calgary tomorrow evening. Gonna emcee a wedding this weekend. Yikes.

Some highlights of the madness of these past few days:

1. Saw Cronenberg's "A History of Violence". Brilliant. Gory as hell and the sex scenes were emotionally graphic. In retrospect, that's far better than they typical sex scene in holiday: hollow and contrived.

2. Went to the Bruni's for Easter dinner. The Bruni clan rules.

3. I am burning out from working so much. Looked through my organizer. Of the 108 days that have passed in 2006, there have only been 4(!) days where I've not done something yoga related.

That's a lot of yoga teaching and training. It's gotten me razor sharp, but at this pace, if I keep on sharpening, I'm gonna round off the edge.

4. Heard a great quote on CBC from a graphic artist doing a comic book about Mark Twain and Nicola Tesla teaming up to fight crime:

"Thunder is impressive, but it is lighting that does the work" - Mark Twain

Look at the people around you. Do they tend to be thunderous?

I Have Seen the Future, and it is Final Fantasy

2006-04-11T17:05:00.000-04:00

Hello - just wanted to write a quick blurb about a show Hil and I saw (with LK and AZ) this last Sunday at the Music Gallery.

Right now, the Music Gallery is my hands-down favorite for best music venue in TO - it's a tiny church on John Street, just off of Queen! I don't know how the people that put this event on were able to develop such a solid rapport with the church folks, but you can imagine the delight of hearing incredible music in a smaller church setting. Stained glass, sitting in pews, or for those that want to get closer, on the floor itself. Everything has such a "music first! make money for the promoter last" sort of feel.

Opening acts were interesting, as the show was called "The Man Show". First band, Mattias was BORING. Whatever happened to showmanship? One trick pony, uber boring band - Angela astutely pointed out how we could do that - ie play one-note melodies of straight up quarter notes.

Second act, was Mantler. Mantler is a keyboard playing, singer guy. Dressed in a top hat and suit, scruffy Mantler sang songs of beautiful poetic images, and with so much sincerity, that you couldn't help but love him. Reputedly big in Germany, it'd be nice to see Mantler get some Canadian support. (That name is a hindrance though: M + Antler, and you get Mantler?)

But the penultimate moment of the evening was Final Fantasy - aka Owen Pallett. Classically trained, super young, and brimming with creativity, Owen is currently one of the "big things" on the Toronto music scene. And with good reason. Using a loop machine, he is able to make the most devestating and beautiful sounds on a violin. Stuff that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end . For the first time, it's all rather dismaying seeing tiny Owen screaming into the soundbox of the violin to distort his voice, or pounding the housing like a drum. His songs are futuristic - at times avante guard and strange and then soaring into beautiful crescendos with a classical flavour. Contrast and colour, power and precision. This guy is incredible - ultra innovative, supernatural.

He should be touring more, as he seems to be releasing a new album.

If he comes to your neck of the woods, do not miss him.

You will be missing the future.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/features/artistprofiles/f/final-fantasy/

Advanced Hip Flexor Opening Technique

2006-04-09T00:21:00.000-04:00

Why I Haven't Posted...

2006-04-09T00:13:00.000-04:00

Hi Guys,

Well, it's been a whole slew of days since I last posted - and it's because I've been super busy.

Taught 16(!) classes this week... which for myself, is unheard of. I know some folks can do more, but I'm not that strong. But, it seemed like everyone needed subs at the last moment, and then some regular committments came back up too.

On the outside of that, been trying to get ready for Stu's wedding, as well as somehow, continually half-assing my english correspondence course.

Ridiculous how I get myself so busy. Was talking to Hil the other night about how it feels like we live more in a day, than some folks do in a week.

Is that good?

Sometimes...

j

Matchpoint: Riveting Social Tennis

2006-04-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

Friday night, myself, Hil and the mighty Leslie K went to the Kingsway (great area!) to catch Woody Allen's Matchpoint.

While Woody's star has diminished of late (and deservedly so, for some lacklustre scripts and his perverse home life), I'd heard good things of this latest offering.

In a similar vein of seriousness to his other brilliant piece Crimes and Misdemeanours, Matchpoint is an incredible film. A tale of adultery, fame, riches, and more, Matchpoint plays much on the theme of how luck is something that is vitally important - even if it can't be accounted for. Luck can swing when one's life is in a balance.

While I could go to great pains and give a plot synopsis, it would really be missing the point at conveying how much I enjoyed this film. At times, the script is so tight, and the scenes so exact, that it "reads" like a Dicken's parable. This is Woody's finest film, and his craftsmanship is superb - note his masterful use of music to build tension, the shots that linger (Hil's point) and spot-on casting. Everyone in this film is perfect for the role - and the scene where an enviable Rhys Meyers tears apart Scarlet Johanson's shirt is worth admission alone. Caliente!

So, check it out. Matchpoint. Winner!

Sage Words from The Washing Machine Man

2006-03-31T00:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Sean, the Italian-Applicance guy stopped by the apartment.

Our washine machine, which he had proudly extolled a few months ago, "This, I'm not going to lie to you, this, THIS is a good machine. It will last you thirty years or more!"was dead at three months.

Wow. Neither Hil and I are even thirty, so, that seemed like a good pitch at the time. .

Sean's arrival lead to a prompt fix of the problem - the plug for the drum had vibrated loose.

Forty bucks for the repair call. And since it was our fault for not balancing the load properly, it wasn't under warranty.

Sheeee - it.

Oh well - Sean wanted the money in cash, so we hopped into his service van, looking for an ATM.

I like Sean. Sure, losing 40 bucks sucks hard, but the man has to make his living too. As he negotiated the traffic on Dundas Street, I learned that he has 4 kids. Three from his first wife who died of breast cancer, and one from his current Cubanisimo lady. His oldest daughter is a teacher now. His oldest son doesn't live with them anymore. He tried to become a police officer but got kicked out for hanging out with the wrong friends.

Sean hazarded a guess that I was twenty and still in school. When I told him I taught yoga, and was almost thirty, he was dismayed. "You're 29? You should be in construction. That's where all the good money is right now. Those guys in construction, they make lots of money - too much money if you ask me. That's what I would do if I were you."

Some other sage advice during our 10 minute drive:

1. "make sure you don't have any kids soon. you have kids, it's all over. The work starts."
2. "go back to school"
3. "work in construction"

Not only do I get my washing machine fixed, for $40, I get life lessons too - a bargain at any price :)

j

"It's Like a Symphony of Joints"

2006-03-28T23:29:00.000-05:00

Today - today, was a glorious day. Maybe the first capital letter on the upcoming sentence of summer!

Getting out of bed, the sun was shining through the back deck windows. I looked over - Hil had her shirt wrapped over her eyes, but after a while, it was no use. Time to get up.

Right now, I'm reading Dicken's "Great Expectations" for my english course, and while I find the manner of language from that era maddening (just say what you want to say!), it's beginning to engage me. Did an hour of that, then headed down to the Dog for morning mysore.

What a sweaty, sweaty practice! Room was busy, and although Ron Reid is still away in India, super David Robson was working the room brilliantly. Pools of sweat everywhere, and the windows were dripping - then again, maybe that's 'cause whenever someone opened a window, Dave would slam it shut. Did I mention how busy it was? - maybe it has something to do with the mysore time slot being more civilized: 10am - 12pm.

Tuesday practice is always a good one for me, and I focus on, (surprise!) lots of backbending. The opening second series backbends (which, if you're doing them right, are SUPER, SUPER hard), have been helping me open up my upper spine, as well as building some sorely needed strength in my wimpy lower back.

Right now, I'm in the process of reinvention, and doing things the "right" way, as opposed to the easy way. After 5 months of this, things are starting to make more sense, and the tight parts of my body are starting to catch up, as opposed to my old approach of making the flexy parts flexier, and the tight parts - well, tighter..

As I pushed up into another backbend, I remembered Diane's summary of the technical set up it takes to get a spine just right

"It's like a symphony of joints."

Hmmmm - "... like a symphony of joints." Pelvis, sacrum, ribs, vertebrae, scapula, humerus (and the other 10 players that I forgot here), all coming together on the same page.

After practice, and that feeling of deep work, I went home. Hil and I sat on the deck, basking in the sun doing school work. Actually, I was nodding off more than anything.

***

Oh yeah, been pulling my hair out, trying to figure out the perfect fit for my new bike. And with that, has been the search for just the right stem. Gone through a whole bunch now, and then I went back to the first one, and took a nice fast ride with Dave B today. And dangity, if that thing didn't feel better.

Maybe it's the sun.

Please - let summer start!

j

BTW - David Robson's the guy in the bottom of the pic.

Big Teaching Day / Potential Renters

2006-03-23T00:49:00.000-05:00

I taught 4 classes today. Woah... that's a lot of talking.

Went surpisingly easily - 2 in the morning, 2 in the evening. Of course, right now, as I sit on the futon, I'm absolutely drained.

Hmmm... this afternoon, as I rolled up to our apt, a guy ran across the street, asking, "Hey! How much is the rent?"

He was referring to the sign listing the apartment below mine and Hil's. I tried my best to answer his various questions, and looking at him, he seemed a bit quirky. As he ran across Bathurst St, back to a beat-up parked van, it all made sense. He was wearing platforms - 2 inch lifts. Combine that and the shoulder-length hair, and flared-in-the-hip pants...wow - he was either a drag queen or a transexual.

Moments after he left, 2 girls walked by, with garbage bags slung over their shoulders. Once again, they asked me about the apartment for rent.

When they found out it was the middle floor, with the balcony facing Bathurst, they got really excited and proceeded to kiss in front of me. I told them about the balcony out back as well, wondering what sort of reaction that would evoke... but things stopped there.

After they left, I shut the door.

I live in a crazy neighborhood.

j

Buffalo!!!

2006-03-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, Sunday night. Where did the time go?

Yesterday Hil and I made a visit south of the border, to the home of the Sabres and Bills, Buffalo NY. I'd ordered a bike from a shop down there (my treat to myself for a horrendously challenging 2005), and it'd arrived a few days earlier.

It's incredible how close TO is to the states. Only two hours drive on the ugly Queen Elizabeth W. highway and you're there. To shake things up a bit, we stopped at Niagara on the Lake... a tiny little touristy town, famous for its vineyards and Ontario wines, such as Inniskilling, and Jackson Briggs. Rather than taking in a wine tour, we poked about the main street and oddly enough, it reminded me a bit of the touristiness of Banff. (Some interesting colonial homes that must have been what houses looked like in 1812 when we learned the Yankees a lesson) The photo of Hil is her holding some styrofoam apples on a stick that she found on a bush. Weird.

With our legs stretched out, we hopped into the trusty Nissan and were in Buffalo a scant half hour later. Border crossing went smoothly and as we went over the Peace Bridge (which sure wasn't anything to write home about), we got promptly lost.

Lost is okay when you have gas in the tank, and a relative idea of where to go, so with that, we started see-sawing through the back streets, and lo and behold, saw a street name that we recognized.

Downtown Buffalo isn't all that big. Some taller multi story buildings, and some really neat looking old stuff - in that style of architecture reminiscent of the Empire States Building, or Gotham from the Batman comics. Interestingly, there's a lot of housing within their city center, small homes, that by and large, are pretty run down. Buffalo looks kinda repressed. The roads are beat, and the street lights dangle from cables, rather than proper cross bars.

Driving down their funky Elmwood Ave, we wound up at Campus Wheel Works - a fantastic bike shop run by some super nice guys. Walking into the store, the owner Seaghan spots me, "Are you Jeff Mah?"

"Yup!"

"Your bike's right here!"

And with that, down came my beauty of a bike - a Surly Cross Check... jet black, not very expensive, and perfect for ripping around Toronto. I took the bike out for a spin through the neighborhoods, and came back smiling. Perfect!

I chatted with the shop folks for a while longer, and presented them with a present from Canada - a six pack of Maudite, one of Quebec's finest beers! 8% proof! They were super happy, as was I.

Hil and I hung out a bit longer, and sat in a fantastic coffee shop across the street called Spot Coffee. It's joined with a pretty hip music shop too, and browsing through their T-shirts, you can tell that the university kids a) love Belle and Sebastian and b) hate George Bush. The coffee was being poured fast and furious and the shop had such a fantastic cross section of people. Sitting in a church pew, reading a local paper, we got a chance to hear the local accent. They really like to draw out their "ah" sounds. ie Spot coffee, would be pronounced Spaaaawwwt. Folks are bigger here too. Everyone has a belly and big thighs.

Eventually, we decided it was time to head back. As we headed to the border, I was wrestling with whether I should be honest and pay duty for the bike, or lie. A degree of honesty got the better of me, and while I'm a hundred bucks lighter in my wallet, my heart's lighter too. I remember my uncle telling me, "You can't go through life cheating the system all the time. Eventually, it catches up to you"

Hil supports me on this one, and besides, I guess my money goes to keeping Canada strong, and our roads in fine working condition. (Ironically, we had to pay a toll just 200 feet down the road - sigh.)

Along the way back, we stopped at Niagara Falls, hoping to get a peek at one of the natural wonders of the world. We were aghast. Niagara Falls is a cesspool of commercialism. Crappy, gaudy hotels much like those in Vegas abound, as well as schlockmonger stores dealing their silly schlocky souvenirs. See the ghastly photo below... Fifteen bucks to park to see the Falls? No thanks - we'll drive by.

With that, we went home. Wow - Niagara on the Lake, Buffalo, and the Falls, all in one day!

j

Freaking Windy! / Ernest Hemingway

2006-03-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

What an absolutey crazy day. Wednesday is my big bike riding / teaching day, and the winds were howling. Gusts of up to 80km. 80km! One point, on Bloor St, I nearly got blown off the bike. Expletives abound as I shift into the granny gear. Shameless.

Had a moment of great luck today. Was racing down a hill, pedals pumping, chin tucked into the stem for aerodynamics, trying to keep precious momentum for the rising grade ahead. Heard my keys jangling about in my jacket pocket, and then... no more jangles.

Was lucky I heard nothing, 'cause I stopped, went back up the hill, and found my keys lying on the road.

Whew,

j

Oh yeah, I'm also starting to crack into some great novels for my English correspondence course. Just reviewed the first chapter of Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". He's got a fab prose style - lean and punchy, stripped of pretense and frills. I can almost feel the sentences clicking in my brain.

From a brief bio that I read, it sounds like Ernest was a macho-man. He liked bullfighting, hunting, fishing, etc. (See above photo of Ernest with prized dead animal)

He probably wouldn't have used granny gears either.

Coming Off the Weekend

2006-03-14T00:34:00.000-05:00

What a glorious weekend!

This past weekend was the first weekend I had off for 2006. Crazy. 9 weeks of teacher training can take its toll on your pysche. Mother nature smiled on Hil and I, and Saturday we saw sunny skies and warm weather. The streets were packed with people, happy people (the sun always makes people happy), as we meandered through our epic 4 hour walk. Down Queen W, up the back streets with the packed townhomes, across the shops of College, then further north to Bloor, past the pit of Christie Pits, through Korea Town, Honest Ed's, and down through our Kensington Market to pick up some groceries.

Whew - just writing it makes my legs feel tired.

A good social weekend. Talked with Lane, and Stu, and Mike and we had lots of company over. By the end of it all, I was drained.

j

Above pic is inspired by all the folks who brought out their street bikes. I LOVE street bikes, but somehow Toronto doesn't seem like a fun place for one. Be lucky to get into fourth gear. Too much traffic, too many crappy drivers, and of course, the never-ending threat of street car tracks. I suppose there's always the 401 and the Gardiner...

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

2006-03-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

Hil and I saw an incredible film a few nights ago. Probably the best, the BEST western that I've ever seen - this thing is twisted.

I'm not sure how wide distribution will be for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada", (especially with it's poor release time, just after the Oscars), but this film deserves to be seen. Tommy Lee Jone's directorial debut is stellar, and although we both cringed at the thought of seeing Tommy Lee Jones, we were absolutely impressed. Equally brilliant is Barry Pepper, who if you'll recall, played the sniper in Saving Private Ryan.

As a brief plot synopsis, Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) seeks revenge for the killing of his Mexican immigrant friend Melquiades. After some investigation, he discovers the perpetrator: a local border guard Mike Norton (Barry Pepper). In a tale of epic revenge, Pete kidnaps Mike, forces him to dig up Melquiades rotting body, and smuggle it back for a proper burial in Mexico.

But not is all as it seems... sympathies change, perceptions skew, the past alters.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/threeburials/main.html

Brilliant plot, and incredible imagery - this film has some of the most anti-american visuals that I've seen in a long time! They make the States look like HELL!

"Three Burials" did fantastic at Cannes, winning awards for best actor and screenplay I do believe.

Highly recommended!

j & h

Tailor Made / Leonard Lee

2006-03-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

One of my good friends, the mighty Leonard Lee, is starting to swim in bigger circles within the Canadian film scene. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy - like any true artist, I can attest that Len's work is a labour of love.

Currently, funding has been secured from CBC, and Leonard's directing a documentary about 2 old-time Chinese tailors who are looking to close down their shop. I was privy to a brief trailer a few months ago, and it looks great!

Check out the following links to get the full gist of the story:

http://www.marsentertainment.ca/doc.html

http://modernizetailors.blogspot.com/

If you happen to live in rainy Vancouver, cruise down to Chinatown and look for Modernize Tailors. Support the old guard, Bill and Jack Wong - they won't be making suits forever!

And if you happen to see Len filming, tell him I said hi :)

j

I Love Smoothies

2006-03-06T15:45:00.000-05:00

Recently, I've come to terms with our blender and have been making copious amounts of smoothies. The blender was a gift from our dear friend Rick Scavetta (now in Germany) and it's been a hoot. Fruit is so cheap here in Kensington Market, as well as our latest fruit-store gem-of-a-find: "Green Thumb" in the ritzy Bloor West Village.

In the spirit of Haiku, Hil penned this poem to commemorate my twice a day smoothie addiction:

Jeff Mah: smoothie king
Fruit ripens with a soft touch
And then, liquefies.

Hil (and smoothies) rule.

j

George Bush: Lying Scum, But Then Again, That's Not News.

2006-03-02T15:46:00.000-05:00

On an interesting and sad, (albeit unsurprising) note, footage has leaked out that shows George Bush clearly informed about the impending issues with Hurricane Katrina.

The video, of a briefing one day before the hurricane struck, has an individual warning the administration about the potential of the New Orlean's levees being breached.

Lo and behold, the levees did breach, and a whole slew Louisiana folks died.

Afterwards, George had the gumption to say on TV, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees"

What about the folks who told you in the briefing you lying waste of skin?

Perhaps there's a definitional gap between what George considers "anybody". I suppose if you're right wing, ultra conservative with a ton of money invested in propping up the current White House cronies you might be considered an "anybody".

But if you're poor or black or hispanic or at least one in two Americans, consign yourself to the fact of being a "nobody".

New Orlean's mayor Ray Nagin, upon seeing the tapes was quoted as saying, "You know, from this tape, it looks like everybody was fully aware. I have kind of a sinking feeling in my gut right now."

To be further outraged, visit:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/03/01/katrina-bush-060301.html

"It's Okay to Feel Bad"

2006-03-01T23:17:00.000-05:00

Just a few tidbits from the second last weekend of Teacher Training at Downward Dog.

With Ron Reid off and away to India, we have Diane Bruni for our last 2 weeks. It's been fascinating to see how they approach the practice so differently, but at the same time, focus on the same things. It's brilliant - Ron comes from a place of technicality and logic - almost like a science. Diane is more organic and macroscopic in her view. We get the reward: not only is the material reinforced between the two of them, there's the beauty of seeing how anything can be approached from infinite angles.

Our Sunday afternoon training typically starts slow, as our bellies are still teeming from lunch. This week was no exception, so Diane veered away from the program to just "talk yoga". My ears always perk up when this happens, 'cause often this is where the real insight lies.

25 years of practice adds up to an opinion worth listening too.

The rest of us are lying on the floor, Diane's sitting in the middle of the room, perched on a block, and she just starts to talk...

"It's okay to feel bad when you're doing a lot of yoga. I believe any path of healing involves some suffering along the way. Yoga is a self-transformative process, and you have to realize that there's gonna be times when you don't feel good.

So much stuff gets buried in our bodies, and here you are, opening these places... and you'll find buried thoughts and emotions, they start to bubble up to the surface...

I think this is the number one reason people quit doing yoga. Sure, at the beginning, they're all gung ho - they have lots of energy, the practice makes them feel great, they're improving... but then, you start peeling back the layers, and these buried things start to come out - and that's when they get uncomfortable.

It's scary, these emotions coming up, and they don't want to go deeper. So instead, they stop. And that's when the excuses start to come out: I'm too busy at work, I've been feeling slightly sick, it's too expensive, I'll get back into it once blah blah blah... but for 95% of people, I think that it's because they're scared.

Now you guys (referring to us), will sooner or later experience one of these times, where you get emotional, or angry, or you just feel off - you know something's wrong. Can you stay and feel what you feel? Can you not back away? Don't hold it in - let it go. Cry. And then there, it's gone. And you feel better.

I'm a firm believer in that we're not given anything that we're not ready to deal with.

Otherwise it'd still be buried within you"

Wow.

j

Belle and Sebastian: Crystal Clear Beauty

2006-02-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

Last night, Hil and I got to see one of those bands that we'd always wanted to see, but never in a zillion years would have seen them in Calgary - Scotland's mighty, mighty Belle and Sebastian!

The venue was once again at the Docks (where we saw Iron and Wine and Calexico), so the sound was assuredly good. However, we didn't factor in the bastardiness of promoter Craig Laskey, who oversold the show by what seemed like five hundred people. It was absolutely ridiculous how jammed it was. Honestly, 70% of the people who went probably never got closer than 100 feet to the stage, let alone being able to see the lads from Glasgow tear it up.

Hil and I, ever diligent and vigilant, endured 20 minutes of insane crowd needling, and were able to get a pretty decent spot near the center, 1/3 of the way from the stage. Through it all, Vancouver's New Pornographers were playing. I think I would have appreciated their set more if we weren't so busy fighting for our lives in the crowd. So many people were cheesed off - and understandably so - 40 bucks each to not even seen the band?

When Belle and Sebastien came on - everything was okay again. Hmmmm - how to sum up the show? Well - they were super tight, and sounded crystal clear. You know all those concerts you go to where you don't have a clue what the singer's saying? Not here - frontman Stuart and sidekick Stevie's lyrics were beautiful and coherent. They did a whole gamut of material too - from old stuff dating back to the Tigermilk LP, all the way to the new stuff on Life Pursuit. It was awe inspiring - especially when they did, in my opinion, their finest track in recent memory: Your Cover's Blown.

They had some good banter in between tracks too, where Stuart proclaimed how one would never hear a B & S track on an advert - but at the same time, questioned the integrity of his bandmate Stevie:

Stevie: "I can't be bought"

Stuart: "But what about the mansion?"

Stevie: "I don't need a mansion."

Stuart: "But what about all the fine Oxford-bred women that you so desire?"

Stevie: "I'll get them with my charm."

Right on!

Their encore was "Get me away from here, I'm dying", and by that time, our backs were sore from standing, but our hearts were light, as the beauty of the melody wrung out smiles from everyone in the crowd.

j

Way to Go Team Gushue!

2006-02-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

Hope you guys saw the Canada - Finland curling match today. Did you see those stones that Nichols threw? After the debacle of Canadian Mens Hockey, it was so great to see the boys from Newfoundland bring home the Gold.

6 stones in one end! Yeesh!

***

With the end of this week I am absolutely beat. Right now, I'm sitting here on the couch, (Hil's asleep), and I'm tapping away on the blog. Random thoughts through my mind, as the TV flashes away.

***

What a busy month: a ton of classes + teacher training + the responsibilites of daily living all added up to negative free time. But the classes were SO great, and the students awesome. I was talking to someone the other day about how the beginning of a year drags by, but once March kicks in, the time will start to fly, and before you know it, we'll be sitting in July.

Ah, summer! I can feel it.

***

Many thanks to the mighty TTC driver late Thursday night. I was sprinting desperately down Queen Street after teaching 3 classes, heart in my throat, legs burning, trying to catch the streetcar at a red light. Just as the light turned green, he opened the doors and I was able to fall inside. Thanks!

j

Ron Reid Rules

2006-02-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

Came from Yoga Lab today, under the tutelage of Ron Reid - the best damn technical ashtanga instructor in Canada. Today's topic was arm balances, and my forearms are still burning from the intensity of the work.

Ron has a way of looking at the body and breaking it down to various fundamental actions. Not a ton of actions - but all key ones. Actions that can be carried all the way from the simplest asanas to the most hair-raising. Actions that have been lost in our day to day life that take blood, sweat and tears to find again.

If you get a chance to study with Ron, do it. There are things Ron's told me that completely flew over my head. But then, 2 months later, in the middle of it all, when my asana clicks and things feel so right, I have this moment where I go, "Oh! So THAT's what Ron meant!"

He retold a great quote in teacher training the other day. It was by BKS Iyengar:

"Before I started yoga, my body was whole and my mind was in pieces.

Now that I do yoga, my mind is whole and my body is in pieces."

Classic Ron Reid, storytelling.

j

BTW, like all the luminaries of the world, BKS insists on using Macs:

Womans Boardercross

2006-02-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

Hil and I have been camped in front of a TV the last few days. Our dear friend Leslie, lent us her telly, so now we've become Olympic junkies.

The short track speed skating sure looks like fun, but the best thing we've seen (by a longshot) was the woman's boardercross final.

I nearly fell out of our futon when I saw American rider Lindsey Jacobellis (leading by a mile), try to style a method on the last jump, and fall - ergo taking silver. Switzerland's Tanya Frieden, who must believe in miracles, was gifted her gold. In some ways, you gotta shake your head, but at the same time, I'm pretty impressed that Jacobellis was trying to throw out some old-school snowboard style out there.

j

PS - Good work Dominique getting Bronze for Canada. And Maelle Ricker, had this been a perfect world, would've surely won. She was consistently first out of the gate. Did you see how hard she augered herself into the ground at that first jump? yowch.

PPS - for Vancouver 2010, they should change the format and give style points on the last jump in the boardercross. That way, even if you're in second, you could pull something awesome, and still take the gold. Now that would be incredible!

A Lovely Quote from Mark Twain / Olympics

2006-02-17T00:57:00.000-05:00

Teaching was great today. The Yoga Studio on Yonge and Eglington was interesting as always - hello Vanessa!

As for the students, they want to LEARN - and if that can't motivate a teacher, I don't know what can. It's so great to be able to teach people who are motivated :)

***

Saw this quote the other day from Mark Twain - jeez, I haven't thought about him, since I read Huck Finn decades ago:

"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. "

There's a power of perspective there...

j

PS - did anyone see that speedskating team event where the Canadians won a silver medal? Hil made a good point how if were watching in person at the rink it would be mildly entertaining, but it sure doesn't televise well. Almost the equivalent of watching 2 different shades of paint drying. Will it be the beige? Or the off white?

On another note, the boardercross was awesome! Not only has snowboarding saved skiing, it can say it's saved the olympics now too :)

Danny Kass

2006-02-16T00:46:00.000-05:00

Things have been crazy on our end out here.

As such, I haven't had a chance to post. Will do more soon, 'til then, I'm posting an image of Danny Kass who won Silver in Torino. Kass rules. Those of us who have been snowboarding for more than a decade should recognize the base graphic on his deck - classic Gnu!

Tolstoy

2006-02-09T00:32:00.000-05:00

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

Leo Tolstoy

Forget Gold Stocks, buy Guitars!

2006-02-07T00:43:00.000-05:00

Wow - has everyone recovered from the Superbowl shenanigans of the day before?

Watching the half-time show at my dear friend Dave's house, it was a rather impressive sight to see the Stones rocking out, for two reasons:

1. Mick and Co are still in pretty good shape.

2. Culturally, mainstream society needs to GET A LIFE! Wake up people, it's 2006 - and we're still listening to "classic rock"!?! It's sad. I'm only 29 years old, and I've probably had "Satisfaction" drilled into my ears 5000 times; yet for some reason (perhaps the mediocrity of current pop drivel), we still need these guys?

Anyhoo, way to go Steelers - that was a fine play for their last touchdown.

While on the note of rock music, check out the following link

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P142831.asp

which talks about how old guitars are selling for 50k!

Hope everyone's week is shaping up nicely,

j

PS - as a further example of the ultra-right-wing-conservative atmosphere of the US, 2 of the Stone's lyrics were censored in the half-time show, being deemed too sexual. Laugh or cry, the decision is yours :)

A Softer World

2006-02-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

With the demise of decent comic strips, comes the following website:

www.asofterworld.com

Run by Emily and Joey, they have come up with a fine daily.

Rather than draw pictures, Emily takes beautiful photographs, and Joey writes little blurbies under them. Some are poignant, some are quite funny, and some are slightly offensive, but none are lame.

Perfect for lunch break,

jeff

Courier Vs Motorist - Must See Link

2006-02-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

The Toronto Star a few days ago ran a cover story of how a motorist attacked a courier in my neighborhood of Kensington Market. A local website, www.citynoise.org posted some amazing pictures of the whole incident.

Check out the link:

http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770

Essentially, this guy in his SUV felt that he didn't want any garbage in his vehicle and decided to toss it onto the street. The courier, Leah, picked up his burger and threw it back into his SUV. The guy then threw his coffee on Leah, so she keyed his penis-extension...which led to the altercation in the above photos.

To add to the lunacy, the photographer went to take a photo of the SUV's license plate, and the driver grabbed a baseball bat from the trunk and charged him.

Unreal.

I don't condone violence, but if push came to shove and your life's in danger, I'd hope all my cyclist friends would swing their u-locks for protection!

j

The Lunacy of Printer Cartridges

2006-01-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

I've never been to an "Island Ink Jet" kiosk before, but Hil's been printing off scads of papers, and we've been going through ink cartridges fast.

As all of you who own printers can attest, it's the cost of ink that kills you. Right now, our snazzy Epson 5400CX (believe me, you have to know the name of your printer when you go looking for ink) takes a hundred bucks to fill up with completely fresh black, cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges.

It's ludicrous. A black ink cartridge from Epson alon costs 60 bucks! They're sneaky about it too - they put a microchip on the cartridge that tells the printer not to read it if it's been refilled.

We've tried using generic cartridges as well. Our last Staples cartridge cost 43 bucks, but much to my dismay, the Island Ink Jet guy goes, "Sorry. These Staples ones can't be refilled."

"What do you mean?"

"See this...", he points to the back of our cartridge, "there's only one hole. Normally, there should be another one for refilling."

"Why isn't there a hole?!"

"So you have to keep going back and buying more Staples ones"

Unbelieveable. Fortunately, Mr Island Ink Jet had generic cartridges available for the CX5400 for 38 bucks - cartridges that can be refilled for a lot less.

I continue my line of investigation in the shady world of print cartridges, "I hear that you can't even refill the Epson cartridges."

"Actually," Mr Island Ink Jet interupts, "You can get around their microchip, you just need a special machine that resets the chip. " (He pulls out some weird doo-hickey with lights on it)

"Oh - But it's getting to the point where it's probably cheaper to throw out your printer, and buy a new one with fresh cartridges."

Mr Island Ink Jet shakes his head, "The printer companies have thought of that too - lots of companies ship their new printers with half-empty ink cartridges"

***
It's pretty pathetic to see - with our issues of the environment, stuff like this happening. Planned obsolence, and a blatant grab towards monopoly. In the end, the only morals of the story are:

1. don't buy Epson cartridges
2. take them to a place to get refilled
3. don't bother buying "Staples" brand

j

Captain America!

2006-01-28T00:33:00.000-05:00

The world is truly strange a place.

Such as the above image of Captain America.

I was cruising the web looking for images (I design posters for Downward Dog), searching for "superheroes" - and this is what came up. I nearly fell out of my chair in tears. Visit these 2 links:

http://www.bodypainting.co.uk/portfolio/collaborative/captain-america.html

http://www.bodypainting.co.uk/portfolio/collaborative/daredevil.html

The body painting's done by an IT consultant in the UK - it's his hobby. And oh yeah, there's an image of Captain America doing a handstand which is fully disturbing.

j

We Need Representative Voting!

2006-01-28T00:05:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Sorry for the span of time between writing - but this week has been the proverbial gong show. Have been teaching lots - fantastic.

Anyhoo, the riding Hilary and I live in - Trinity-Spadina was one of the closest races in the election. NDP candidate, Olivia Chow (Jack Layton's wife, and the stoker on the tandem bike in the photo) was running against the 3-time incumbent Tony Ianno. In the last election, Chow lost to liberal Iannon by just 500 votes. Practically nothing.

Like the last time, this race was a close one. I remember clicking on the CBC website, and seeing them within 50 votes of each other. Eventually though - Chow pulled away, and won by a definitive 5% margin. Ianno lost for several reasons:

1. The Liberal Govt's response to the Chinese Head Tax reimbursal. (Not smart, seeing how Chinatown is within his riding.)
2. Ianno's countless empty promises, and the dubious question of where 500 million (yup - that's right, $500000000!) that was slated to develop the Toronto waterfront, and never appeared
3. General ineptitude
4. Chow's history as a Toronto councillor, and a popular one at that.

But enough of the riding. Just wanted to point out some other facts:

1. The NDP garnered 16% of the popular vote, and won 29 seats
2. The "other" party (I think it was someone from the Green Party) got 5% of the popular
vote, and in the end, 1 seat in the House of Commons.

And to top it all off, the Bloc Quebecois got 10% of the popular vote, yet won - get this, 51 SEATS!

There is something seriously wrong here. When the NDP get 1.5 times the number of support and has less than 2/3 the seats of the BQ. Or even more glaringly - the Bloc garners double the votes of the Green Party, yet gets 50 MORE SEATS !

No wonder this country is divided.

Get your Vote On!

2006-01-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, voting day.

There's a group called www.getyourvoteon.ca that was handing out stickers and info at the Broken Social Scene concert. If you're remotely interested in voting (and I think we all should be, seeing how we live in this country), I'd recommend checking out the site. Lots of handy info, as well as some of the following disturbing facts:

Each generation of Canadians votes less than the last.
Fewer than 50% of us born after 1975 vote in local, provincial or federal elections.
In the 2000 federal election, only 25% of us between 18 and 24 bothered to cast a ballot.
Politicians make decisions in the interests of those who vote. We need to get on it

In light of the above facts, no wonder we keep getting the same peons running for office over and over. It's not like one day we'll have all these magical candidates that are perfect for us show up at an election, these things take time to evolve. Start now!

Happy Voting!

j

Broken Social Scene: Full on Social, Slightly Broken

2006-01-21T00:55:00.000-05:00

Hil and I saw Toronto's other home town heroes - Broken Social Scene tonight.

In our ongoing quest to check out all of TO's venues, we found ourselves at Kool Haus, a massive warehouse converted to concert venue. The place was packed - the first of 2 shows, I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least 2500 folks in attendance - from the very young, to a an army of twenty and thirty somethings, and after that, some older folks too. The place was so crammed, that this was one of the few times Hil and I weren't able to shimmy ourselves up to the very front.

As there was no opening act, shenanigans started early: 9:30pm, and went on for a solid two and a half hours. Me and Hil were a bit taken aback with the performance - which was a contrast from BSS's "cleaner" recordings, You Forgot It in People, and Feel Good Lost. Although there's a revolving line-up in the band, tonight saw the stage swell with upwards of over twenty people! Some serious sonic blasting was going on - not so much sheets of sound, but big thick walls of audio power. There was also some pyschedlic light show stuff going on - pretty gaudy, choreographed lighting that screamed not so much "indie show", but "full on stadium rock".

The band is no doubt talented, and I was very impressed by their addition of a fiddle player, Julie Penner (or was it Fenner) as well as the mighty vocalist from Calgary's Reverie Sound Review (I thought she looked familiar!). However at times, there was so much sound and bass that everyone's vocals would be drowned out.

Interesting points of note were all the other folks that joined BSS on stage, a virtual who's who of Canada's 'indie scene: a vivacious attention grabbing Leslie Fiest (in spray-on-tight-white jeans - yowza), Amy from Stars, and members from the Most Serene Republic, Do Make Say Think, Apostles of Hustle and even hip-hop hero K-OS.

The guys were soaking up being at home, and we were privvy to some serious musical masturbation - with crazy jams going on for way tooo long. Cases in point would be their last song which went on 5 minutes longer than it should have, and as I looked around the crowd, people were shuffling their feet, waiting to go.

They botched their encore as well, where somehow, one of them decided to stay on stage and proceed to wank himself hoarse with some weird guitar chops for a good 4 - 5 minutes. I think BSS was expecting the crowd to be cheering their heads off in anticipation of an encore, and after that didn't happen, they walked back on sheepishly, and played 3 more songs. Whoops.

There were certainly some good moments though - in particular a few of the tracks off of "You Forgot It In People", and some of the in-between song dialogue. Much was made about the importance of voting on the 23rd, and to top it all off (perhaps in reference to the crowd missing their cue for the encore), the lead singer went something like, "Watch out Toronto... for all those viruses and colds out there, make sure you take care of yourselves. This city is in a big funk right now, there's a huge shadow hanging over it, and it's up to you guys to make things change."

Hil's not the biggest fan of glam rock - she gives the show 6 out of 10.

Meese - I'd give it a 7

j

PS - if you saw BSS play in Vancouver or Calgary earlier this year - fire me an email about how you thought the show was. I'm curious if they're a little less self-indulgent playing in other cities :)

The Neighbours Downstairs

2006-01-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

The neighbours that live below us are crazy. They fight all the time. Over the past few months, it used to be just the woman yelling at the man. Recently, after some soul-searching, he's discovered some of the vertebrae in his spine and has started yelling back. At times, it's hair-raising, the things they say to each other. I couldn't imagine anyone saying things like this to their partner. For example, this morning:

Woman (with a wailing contemptous voice), "WHY do we have to argue all the time?!?? Do you know why?!?

No reponse.

Wailing continues, "It's because you're an ASSHOLE! YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!!!!"

***

I ponder whether the poor guy downstairs prefers being branded an "asshole", versus the reigning violent insult: "sub-human."

No kidding - she called him "sub-human" a few months ago.

Ridiculous

j

Pulling the Rug Out from Blind Traditionalists

2006-01-17T13:56:00.000-05:00

It's raining here in Toronto.

As I sit on the 'ol futon, laptop in hand, I remember an article that I sent Hil a few nights back. It talks about how Krishnamacharya (THE mastervul yogi who taught Iyengar and Jois) developed yoga.

If you're into your yoga, I would highly recommend you check out the following link:

http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/466_1.cfm

None other than Calgary's own Norman Sjoman is referenced in the above article. And in it, he talks about how (most likely), the Ashtanga system is a product of Krishnamacharya's brilliant synthesis of everything that he saw around him, and taking it further by putting it directly into yoga. For instance, Sjoman takes note how much of the heart of Ashtanga, such as the vinyasa, came from Krishnmacharya's exposure to indian wrestling techniques and british gymnastics.

So - all you blind hardcore ashtangi's who think that this entire series of asanas that we do came from palm leaves eaten by ants, and has been practiced for 5000 years should come to your senses.

Perhaps Krishnamacharya did see these mythical palm leaves. (I'd like to think he probably did - it makes the world a more fantastical place.) But I'd also like to think that they inspired him and his teaching, as opposed to giving him a word for word, instructional account that say, (insert accent here) "the revolved triangle asana was meant to be done with the hips squared to the front edge of your mat".

Puh-leeeez.

As opposed to getting hung up with all the semantics, wouldn't it be better to just practice for the sake of practicing? There's nothing wrong with being "traditional" and keeping an eye on where you came from (Krishnamacharya was an undeniable visionary and scholar).

However, realize that the yoga we practice today, comes from a respect from tradition, but is also being constantly evolved to stand the ultimate test of time - change.

Yoga is meant to set you free as opposing to tying you down within a crush of ideology and dogma. Learn to look inside yourself.

Happily skipping marichiyasana D and doing what's right for me,

jeff

PS, for even more interesting info on the whole, "where does our system come from?!" debate,
check out Alan Little's excellent blog posting at:

http://alanlittle.org/weblog/yogateaching.html

PPS - the above photo is from a sequence where later on, Krishnamacharya is actually warming up and using a skipping rope before practice, doing some "double-dutch" to augment the cardio-vascular part of his practice.

jk. (however, I wouldn't be surprisesd if "K" looked at skipping ropes, and wondered how they could be useful for yoga)

Martin Luther King Jr Day

2006-01-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today was Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. I'm not too sure if folks in the US got today off - last time I heard, they got maybe 2 weeks of vacation, and heck, if Xmas fell midweek - well, you'd better hope you had a sick day left.

But I digress.

MLK was certainly a "great man", and a visionary within his accomplishments. But the "Great Man" (or "Great Woman") theory just doesn't seem to fly anymore these days. Honestly, when did you hear about the last "Great Man" or leader - someone with the charisma, vision, and guts to get the job done?

Case in point: Canadian political history. Hmmmm... maybe Diefenbaker and Trudeau could be considered "great men", but jeez, that was decades ago. Since then, we've suffered through our share of great bastards though - like Mulroney who taxed us to death, and Klein who still makes me embarassed to say I'm from Alberta at times.

I wonder if it's because our journalism is so skewed these days. So microscopic. Any little foible seems to be pounced out, magnified, doubts are cast, careers ruined. I remember hearing how MLK was quite the womanizer and had a soft spot for the ladies - but he still made his mark. But if he was in today's world - would it still be the same?

How many folks have been on the track towards becoming "great" but stumbled along the way, under our intense sensationalistic journalism? Or more likely, the smart folks realized that it it ain't worth it and didn't bother in the first place?

Look at the political guys running today: Martin, Harper, Layton. Nary a speck of greatness amongst them. Propped up by an army of advisors and spin doctors - so heavy, that any message is so, well, sexless, boring and weak.

Keep an eye out for the voter turn-out this Jan 23. I think that number will speak volumes.

j

PS - where's the next Louis Riel?

PPS - why doesn't Leonard Cohen run for office?

PPPS - the above image is of MLK getting arrested during a protest in Montgomery, 1958. I could have used one of those "classic" pictures where he's speaking to throngs of folks, but this photo shows another side - to what it takes to get things done.

On a Ligher Note: Chuck Norris Facts!

2006-01-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

Saw this the other day, as I was purveiwing Surly Bike's excellent bike blog:

www.chucknorrisfacts.com

I'd forgotten all about Chuck, aside from those assinine Delta Force movies and the old-school kung-fu film "Way of the Dragon" where Bruce Lee handed Chuck his ass on a platter.

Regardless, check out the link. (My favorite is Chuck Norris fact number 5)

j

John Keith Reynolds

2006-01-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, we found out how Hilary's grandfather: John Keith Reynolds passed away at Sunnybrook hospital. I'd seen him a few weeks ago for the first time ever, and while he was in his mid eighties, with alzheimers, there was a certain resiliency to him that could not be denied.

As such, everyone has flown back to TO. Hil's parents made the epic trip from Cairo, her uncle John came in from Vancouver, and Hil's sister Carolyn, and her boyfriend Steve drove in from Montreal.

We went to the church today, and despite Keith Reynold's long life, there was an impressive showing from his remaining friends: many of them octogenarians. Some of them were still in fine shape; maybe it had to do with the fact that they survived the second world war, and are a hardier breed.

Many of us today haven't had any sort of challenges like WWII (I suppose there's the threat of terrorism, but even that is a grand stretch - think of it more of as Pro-American-Paronia in order to futher the United States' crooked interests for world domination) and we have gotten complacent as a society for the whole.

I wonder how many of the people I know who will live to see their eighties.

j

Flat Tire Blues

2006-01-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the tardiness of writing, but I've still been reeling over the events of Saturday night.

Saturday was a busy day, as my teacher training for Downward Dog started up. Yes I know, Jee you're in another teacher training, but the quality of instruction here is so damn high - and it's a great learning opportunity!

After slugging through 5 hours of yoga, going back to the first principles of sun salutation A's (everything in Ashtanga yoga is right there in the sun salutes - you just have to really look), I was more than ready to pick Hilary up at the airport. Hooray! She's coming home!

Hustling down the stairs, I realized that I was on the verge of being late. I hurriedly brushed the snow off the truck, but our parking stall is so freaking tight (see previous blogs) that I couldn't clean the windows on the right hand side. In the best of times, getting the truck out is a stunning display of timing, steering and spatial relations. When the back alley is covered in snow, and you can't see out of half the windows, it's damn near impossible. My sixth sense was screaming at me that I was going to tear the side mirror off, so I stopped and try to see-saw the other way.

I hear a loud chunk emanate from the back of the truck, but I pass it off as the bumper scraping.

With much cursing, and evil thoughts directed towards our cheapskate landlord, I eventually get the Nissan onto the main roads. Hang a right down Bathurst, and just as I was crossing Queen St, the truck's back end started to move funny. Huh? I pull over by the Pizza Pizza on the corner, and get out. My first thought was that snow had filled the wheel wells, but when I got a good look at my back right tire, my eyes bulged and my heart sank.

There was my rear tire slashed in 2 places. The truck had been driving on its rim for 100 feet.

That "thunk" in the alley, I slowly realise, was a piece of metal on the fence post cutting my tire to pieces.

HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO GET HIL FROM THE AIRPORT?!?

***

There's a common design flaw in vehicles these days, where the spare tire is placed underneath the vehicle. To get at that spare, you usually have to collect a whole bunch of under-designed parts, and then stick a rod through a tiny hole, which will hopefully line up with an even tinier nut, which you then pray to sweet Jesus will catch as you spin.

It was hopeless. There I was, with a dead truck at night, in one of the main intersections in downtown Toronto. Snow is falling, the streets are covered in brown slime, and everywhere people are looking at me. I feel a scream welling up in my throat. My visions of picking up my girlfriend and having a nice relaxing evening are dashed - instead, now I have to figure out how to move this truck, before it gets impounded. A weird guy tries to help me, and throws some cardboard down, but after a while he gives up.

***

After twenty minutes, I realize that the truck will never move. I run home and call my dear friend Rob Frede, out in Etobicoke. Fortunately Rob was free for the evening, and was able to pick Hil up at the airport. In the meantime, I started making phone calls. CAA had a blistering fast response time of 48 hours for new members (thanks guys!), so I then started flipping through the yellow pages. Abrams towing promised to be there in an 20 minutes.

I'm beginning to learn that in Toronto, promises are cheap.

While Rob soon brought Hil home safe and sound, there wasn't much of a happy reunion. I was so down - how the hell am I going to pay $50 for a tire change, or $75 for the tow, and however much it'll cost for a new tire? I have harsh, irrational thoughts race through my head - about how much I hate this fucking place - how it can be so mean and fucking impossible to get ahead.

***

After waiting 2 plus hours for Abrams "20 minute quick pick-up", I decide to take matters into my own hands. I grab my toolbox, some WD40, a hammer, and hustle down to Queen St. There's the Nissan, hood flipped up, hazard lights flashing, still sitting on it's lowly rim.

The bouncer at the closest club, Healeys (owned by blind-bluesman Jeff Healey), lets me borrow his valet's orange pylons. At least now, I won't get run over by a cabbie making a quick right hand turn onto Queen.

And magically, things start to turn around.

The bouncer shows up with a shovel and offers to scrape the snow away. He was worried that the jack would slip out on me. I thank him as he shovels the sludge away, "I'm still miles away from getting at the spare tire, but thanks for your help!", I tell him.

"No problem" says the bouncer, "Just bring the pylon back when you're done".

He shakes his head when I tell him that the spare is buried underneath the truck. "Those things are impossible to get at."

I pull out the floor mats, and get on the old soggy cardboard. It's official now, I'm on my back in the black mud of Queen Street. I try spraying WD40 and bashing the spare tire loose with the hammer. It doesn't budge. I hit it some more.

Then I hear a voice and see an upside down face, "Hey - do you need a hand? I used to be a tire tech!"

Tire tech?!? More like an angel! I slide out from under the truck and meet my saviour, "Man, I could use whatever help you could give me."

"Sure!"

"I can't get the tire out from underneath..."

"I've worked on these things before, they're an absolute bitch." In the haze of the street lights, I get a better look at the guy helping me out. He's an older scruffy dude, with a beat up jacket, a scarf and a hoody, and like a lot of folks in this area, he's poor.

Together, the two of us being to work seamlessly. He throws his jacket into the back and slides under the truck. I run to get more floor mats to slide under him, so he doesn't get too dirty. With divine skill, he's able to guide the jack rod through 30 inches of blind metal, into the nut. I start spinning like crazy, and he starts hacking away at the tire. Back and forth we work, until eventually, the tire saint frees the wheel from the bowels of the truck. I pull it from his hands and let it fall on the sidewalk with a clunk.

"Holy shit! I can't believe we got it out!" I'm grinning from ear to ear as I pull the tire saint to his feet. We're now 2 guys officially bonded through working with our hands

"That goddamn mechanism is so corroded, you should soak that thing in oil!" he suggests,

"I was thinking more like leaving the spare in the back of the truck. I ain't dealing with that ever again"

"The mechanism wasn't even working, " he exclaims, "the only thing holding the tire in place was rust."

Knowing that momentum was on our side, we throw ourselves back at the truck. Next step, guide the jack under the truck. The tire saint goes under again to place the stupid thing, and I start spinning the handle madly. At the same time, he goes back and starts unscrewing the lug nuts.

We keep a running litany of the evils of modern truck design, as well as telling small details of our lives. I admit to the tire saint about how I've just moved to the city. He tells me how he's out of work right now, but used to be a dry-waller.

Ten minutes later we've got the thing licked.

I marvel at how much we've done, without even knowing each other's names. I take off my soaked gloves and shake the tire saint's hand, "My name's Jeff".

"My name's Dave" He introduces me to his girlfriend, this older woman huddled in a sports jacket, who'd been watching our efforts.

"Can I buy you a beer?" I offer

"Nope, I don't drink."

"Then how 'bout I score you some flow..."

"Man, whatever you could help me with, would be just great" he smiles,

"Kay, give me a sec!"

I run into Healeys, down the stairs to the closest ATM. I pull out forty bucks - the best forty bucks I've spent all week - forty bucks for restoring my faith in people - a bargain.

I snag Dave outside, and give him the bills. He's classy, and just puts it in his pocket without looking at it.

"Thanks so much!"

"No, thanks for your help Dave! You saved my ass!" I give him a big smile,

"I'll catch you around..."

We nod. With that, we part ways.

Subbing for the Big Guns / Thoughts on Teaching

2006-01-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

Wow - I am absolutely spent.

I know that's certainly been the flavour of this blog as of late - but that's how I feel.

It comes part and parcel with teaching yoga. I've always laughed when people have asked how much I teach, and when I say something like "10 classes", they retort, "wow - you only work 15 hours a week! That's soooo slack".

That's pure bullshit.

Teaching, when it's done right, is one of the most challenging things you can do - and if you find it super easy, then chances are, you're half-assing it somewhere. Real teaching forces me to be 100% present, with my mind and body working in seamless unison. I'm juggling the constraints of the class, reading the room, looking out for people, adjusting students, etc, etc, and on top of it all, I want to be engaging and eloquent. I want to get my point across.

Not to just one or two people - but to everyone. It's communication to the nth degree.

I'm not whining, I'm just stating an expression of my passion for teaching, and the high standards I hold for it. I love to teach. Teaching kicks ass.

So all those desk jockeys can ask themselves when was the last time they had to truly concentrate for 90 minutes on something - anything - where they were under watchful eyes the whole time. Where their boss is looking at them every second. Then try doing that 10 times a week. Puh-leeeeez.

***

Regardless, where I'm coming from is that I'm teaching my most challenging classes right now.
Absolute nail-biting situations.

With the tail-end of the holidays, I've been very fortunate to get lots of classes to sub - but these classes are for the best teachers in Toronto. Like JP Tamblyn or David Robson (see picture). These are guys who have been teaching for a long, long time, and have properly distinguished themselves as being the best - no small feat when you consider there are a zillion yoga teachers out here.

They are talented yogis and great teachers - and as such, they have popular classes. Not just lots of students, but lots of students who know their stuff - who know their yoga.

At times, I feel like that unknown guy who had the thankless job of having to shadow Wayne Gretzky, or guard Michael Jordan. These last few weeks, I've been walking into rooms where everyone looks at you and right away, their guard goes up. You can almost hear the gears grinding in their head, going "Who the hell is that? Where's Dave?" Looks of disappointment, even before you've opened your mouth.

It's been nervewracking, but in the end, it's been exciting too. I've been teaching the best yoga of my life thus far, and winning people over. Teaching the best classes that I can. Classes where I leave everything out there, and try and reach everyone out there.

The studio owners have been impressed, the students have been happily surprised, it's been all good thus far. I had two ladies clap this morning. When people come up and ask when they can see you again, or how they had a fine yoga practice, it makes it all worthwhile.

But at the end of the day, I sure get tired.

j

Exponential

2006-01-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, Jan 4, 2006. Four days in!

I think I'm beginning to show signs of SAD (Seasonal Affliction Disorder), or something to that effect - where the body starts to miss the light. Honestly, I cannot remember the last day I saw sun here. It must be weeks ago. Perhaps there was a glimpse of sunshine one morning in yoga practice, but I didn't get out in time to feel it's rays on my face.

Maddening.

Started to come down with a cold yesterday. No real surprise with the stress of the holidays wearing my system down. Seems like all the folks at the studio are carrying a sniffle here or a sniffle there.

Did not feel strong for practice, but I decided to go anyway.

My backbends have been a work in progress and like Tiger Woods re-inventing his golf swing, I've gone about the painstaking labours of revisiting first principles. Understanding the years-old habits of my body, the muscular patterns, all the subtleties that I ignored before. Rather than satisfying my ego and keep doing things the "easy way", I've gone back to learn how to do it the right way. That's how it's done here at Downward Dog - it's always the hard way, but in the end, it's the best way.

Perhaps nothing's been more difficult than trying to get my right arm to work properly. It's been at least a year and a half where I've noticed how one side of my spine bends more than the other - and for the sake of depth within the postures, I've just ignored it. But sooner or later, these shortcuts lead to brick walls.

Ron (the mysore extraordinaire) of Downward Dog zeroed in on this shoulder three months ago and really started to make me work on it. "Jeff - you can't straighten this arm. The other one's straight, but this one, the arm points over here, and the elbow's always bent. That's putting this big twist in your spine as you backbend."

So - back to work. For the first few weeks, Ron would always come by as I put my spine through it's paces, and he would adjust me, trying to shape the shoulder into place. A few times, it felt like I would snap. But he was patient - he'd stop me and explain things ten different ways on ten different days. Forget just doing something over and over like a stupid bull and hoping for a new result - (the traditional mysore way) - Ron keep looking for a solution from different vantages.

These last 6 weeks, Ron hasn't helped me with the backbends at all. I would struggle and push, and relax and soften... and I think I was getting it. Glimmers of the fringes of a shiny epiphany. Then yesterday, as I came up in the inverted bow posture, Ron came by. He started poking his fingers into all the spots of my right side, where the wrong muscles were engaged. But today it was soft there. He checked the straightness of that stubborn right arm, which was quivvering - old forgetten tissue learning to become sinewy again.

I couldn't see him, but I heard his voice, "All right! Now we're seeing some progress!"

I laughed, upside down, "Yeah... it's only taken months for a change"

Ron replied, "Exponential."

As I came out of that backbend, I was happy.

"Exponential" I whispered to myself - the finest compliment of 2006 thus far!

j

Honesty

2006-01-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

There come times when we are tested. Actually, every day we're tested - we just don't know it. Usually it's small stuff, but every now and then, something a little bigger comes along - and it's these situations, where the true notion of your character and values comes into play.

Case in point - on New Year's Eve, in my haste to pick up my dear friend Leslie I didn't take enough care backing my truck out. Halfway through, I had that thought, "Woah - I'm backing up pretty fast - I should make sure the hood of my truck clears the neighbor's car" By the time I looked up, it was too late. My eyes saw the bottom corner of the neighbor's VW's jetta's mirror start to bend - and since it was a cold night - CRACK. SHIT!

Ugh. This was bound to happen sooner or later. As Hilary can attest, (and pretty much everyone else who has seen the back alley), the neighbors and I share a microscopic parking space. Somehow, we cram a Jetta and a Nissan Pickup in a spot meant for barely one and a half cars. As I got out and surveyed the damage - my mind was already foreseeing the nightmare ahead. Our neighbors who live below us are nuts. They yell at each other all the time and say stuff that makes the hair on the back of Hil and I's necks stand up. How can you call your partner a "fucking moron" over and over day after day?

I seriously debated taking the easy route, which was to take the piece of plastic on the ground, toss it into the truck and pretend nothing happened. Maybe they wouldn't find out. Heck - they were slated to move out at the end of January - out of sight out of mind. And besides - this was a Volkswagen - this stupid side mirror could cost three hundred bucks.

I had visions of dollars signs with wings fluttering away from me. My heart was aching about the number of classes that I would have to teach just to pay for this stupid mirror. Money that would be better spent on stuff like food, or going out for dinner with Hilary. Nothing grandiose, but it's those small luxuries every now and then, like sushi once a month, that make that daily grind in a strange city a little easier.

But something nagged within me - and I realized that this was not the way I wanted to start the new year - by being deceitful. It wasn't the right thing to do.

After partying that night, I left a note on their door, fessing up to what I did.

***

The next day, I could hear them screaming at each other about the car mirror and what they were gonna do - about who's fault it was. I had flashbacks to growing up - sitting on the stairs hearing my parents yelling at each other. Of course, these folks weren't my parents - but man, they were certainly as viscious with one another. I braced myself for shopping for a new car mirror this week.

***

Today, as I came home from teaching, there was a note on my door. It was the neighbours. Basically they said not to worry about the mirror and that it was no one's fault. They even wrote a joke about how hopefully the new tenants owned a Smart Car. I was amazed.

People have a way of surprising you.

Trying my best to do the right thing,

j

Happy New Year! (a summary of 2005)

2006-01-02T00:03:00.001-05:00

Hi Guys! Happy New Year to everyone :)

Jesus - where has the time gone? But at the same time, 2005 felt like the year that lasted forever.

My god, looking back, it's been such a crazy time. Came back from a surf trip and Peru, and right off the get go, started making things happen as a full time yoga instructor. Taught everywhere, and anywhere it seemed just to make ends meet... and along the way, met so many beautiful and kind souls. And just 6 months later - was established!

Enjoyed a fantastic year with my girlfriend Hilary, and honestly, I'm so fortunate! Wow!

In between hanging out Hil and the greatest circle of friends that I could possibly ask for (you all know who you are), I got it into my head to start studying again, and somehow, pulled off, amidst the business of working, a writing of the MCAT. And right after that epic, found myself moving to Toronto to be with Hil. A leap of faith, moving to a big place, and scratching out a life over again. Back home, I was lion, but here - I'm a cub... but I'll be roaring soon enough.

And here I've been, these past three months - enjoying the adventure of Canada's biggest city. Navigating the ins and outs, learning to live on less (and less and less), yet somehow, with Hil, our lives are rich and full. The magic of simplicity.

Well - there it is, 2005 in a nutshell. A year of living!

j

When Will I Get Rest?!? / Mike Harris is Scum

2005-12-30T23:45:00.000-05:00

Wow - will the madness never end? Being the proverbial dirt under the totem pole has kept me bearing the load these last few weeks of 2005. With many teachers away, I find myself fortunate to sub lots of classes. It's a ton of work, but at the same time, I understand these are the dues one pays go get their foot in the door. Good fun, just takes so much energy out of me - when combined with the ludicrosity of the holidays, and now, New Years.

Didn't have a chance to practice for 2 days (from teaching soooo much), so the chance to practice today was sorely looked forward too. I love being hungry for practice, and I had a good one :)

Other than that, found myself working on posters for Downward Dog. My eyes were getting blurry from staring at a computer screen all day, and I was starting to have flashbacks of my horrendous past engineering life. Shudder. Give me people to help - any day.

The image above is what I used for my studio poster. It was originally claimed to be from an ad in a 1954 Popular Mechanics, stating how this projected "home computer" would be beyond the reach of the typical family in 2004. After some digging around, I was bemused to discover that the pic is a hoax! The main wall unit is actually from a submarine, and the printer / tv / stylish old guy were all cunningingly inserted. Regardless - the image makes me smile.

***

Ah yes - there's an uproar in Toronto about the tragic shooting of the teenaged girl shopping on boxing day - in the middle of downtown for pete's sake! Saw a fantastic quote from Sheila Ward, the chair of the Toronto Disctrict school board, and it places much of the blame of this tragedy on the rightful shoulders - the politicians who craft the social polices that shape our society:

""According to Ward, tougher sentences are not alone the answer to the growing problem of violence in Canada's biggest city.

She said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty should cancel welfare reform legislation passed by the former Conservative government of Mike Harris.

"We have lost a whole generation of young people because of the mindless slashing and cutting of social programs, which was more concerned about a piddling tax cut than it was about the damage done to the whole social fabric of our province.

"If one of Premier McGuinty's sons got a job tomorrow he would keep every penny he earns. But a child of poverty who gets a job to help his or her family, loses 40 per cent of that paycheck if the Mom resides in social housing. It was a brutally stupid idea when it was introduced and it is shameful that this piece of legislation remains on the books two years after a new government has taken office." ""

***

Reread that last paragraph if you will... I was shocked that they do this in Ontario! This is the sort of policy you would expect to see in Alberta. I cannot believe the audacity of garnishing 40% of someone's wage, just because they live in social housing. Chances are, if you're in social housing, you're probably making minimum wage: $7.45... so, after the government steps in, you're taking home a whopping $4.47.

$4.47 to flip burgers?!?! No wonder the kids are hanging out in the streets and getting into trouble.

Mike Harris is a scumbag and moron.

Soaked!

2005-12-29T13:47:00.000-05:00

Taught my first class ever at "The Yoga Studio" today. I'm scheduled to start with them in January, but in the meantime, I'm filling in some classes for the mighty David Robson.

I've tried driving around downtown TO before, and it's maddening. Light, after light, after light. The streetcars add their own extra element of frustration, as their tracks are set in the center lane. So when the streetcar stops, cars in the right lane have to stop as well for the passengers to cross onto the sidewalk. Long and short of it all - driving 10 kilometers in TO takes 45 minutes in traffic - often more with construction - and don't forget the cut-throat antics of parking.

So - onto the bike! The forecast was true to its predictions, and as I opened the door, I was greeted by gray skies and rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Riding in the rain is worse than riding in the snow. Snow by nature is dry, rain gets you soaked.

I'd peeked at the map last night, and it looked like 10 km to the studio. I live on Bathurst and Queen, and I had to get to Yonge and Eglington. A lot of map lay in between those 2 points. Time for some pedal-pushin'.

What a slog! Toronto, as I'm beginning to find, is a hilly place. Yoga makes you strong, but my cardio could be better. I was sucking wind up a steady barrage of hills, and now that I'm older, have no qualms of dropping down to the tiny gears. One day, I'm sure (probably when the snow flies in a few weeks), I'll be utterly shameless and push my bike up some of the hills. By the time I got to the studio, it had taken 35 minutes. Yikes. I had better start getting fitter, or consign myself to leaving earlier.

I was a bit nervous teaching this class. David R is a yoga star here in TO. A super nice guy with the most incredible practice ever, he also has a very strong following of students. So, when all they get is little 'ol me, I get apprehensive. But despite all that, people turned out to be really receptive. After a few minutes, the waver in my voice disappeared, and I had my momentum. In the end, things went great and the students left happy. Probably the best thing I did was to teach my style of class, taught what I knew, as opposed to trying to be someone else.

Hung around the studio for a little while longer, and talked to Steph the manager, and Scott, another instructor. He's one of the junior guys at the studio and he's been there 4 years! So, I count myself lucky to have broken into the yoga community here. (Many thanks to David R's recommendation). It's eye-opening to see how many folks are making a go as professional teachers here.

With that, I hopped on the bike for another very rainy and wet ride home.

I've got to teach again later on tonight, but in the meantime, it's time to dry off and have a nap:)

cheers,

j

Introducing: CAFE KOI :)

2005-12-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

Whew - a long day. Woke up groggy from too little sleep, and by the time I stumbled on my bike, I was still bleary. Riding bikes in the wet - not fun, but it beats driving in Toronto any day. Got up to the Yorkville Club (this posh place that I teach - see link in sidebar) and happily enough, I had a large group. This week between Xmas and New Years has been purgatory in the yoga world. Everyone's either away, too full of tryptophan, or busy shopping.

Taught a strong class, and afterwards, went and did some deskwork for Downward Dog. After that, taught at Tula yoga. I'm hemming and hawwing if I want to teach for Tula anymore. These first few weeks in the new year will decide - I'm paid by the student, and damnit, these classes need more people!

Came home, and now that I've been freed from the clutches of Xmas leftovers, it's time to start cooking again. Made a great curry, which I've been munching with stale bread (okay, I lied, there's still a loaf of bread from the 25th to go thru), and had a Fin de Monde. A 9% beers + dehydration + hot curry = I'm feeling it.

For those of you that drink beer, it's time to get efficient. Quit bulging those bellies with 4 coronas, or worse yet, a box of Alberta Genuine Draft - start drinking the good stuff: anything from Quebec's Unibroue label will do : Fin du Monde, Maudite, etc, etc.

On a final note of utmost importance, I've been corresponding with my dear friend Natasha Peace (the lovely in today's picture). Together with business partner Phil Wong (formerly of the Coup), Ms Peace has opened her own incredible restaurant to augment Calgary's dining cuisine - and it's affordable too! Quit going to the Living Room and putting on airs! While I haven't had a chance to eat there (I'm 3 provinces away), I do know that Natasha is a fantastic person, and pours her heart into everything she does. Plus - she's a yogini so you know you'll be treated with respect! Give her a chance when you get the chance!

The restaurant's called "Cafe Koi", and from the website, this place looks fab. The culinary delights look downright delightful, and in the spirit of community, they feature the work of local up and coming artists. Someone, please drop me a line and tell me how it is.

Check it at: www.cafekoi.com

A slightly tipsy cheerio,

j

St Exupery, and A Busy Day

2005-12-27T23:37:00.000-05:00

Despite my beautiful Hilary being away, the days still find me busy. Hung out with Rob, worked on some stuff, wound up teaching at Downward Dog (craziness), and now a friend from back in the day is coming over. It's almost midnight! Oh well - this is the perfect time of the year for visits out of the ordinary.

As food for thought, I'm submitting a quote that I saw just recently. It's nice - you can apply to everything - whether it's your mindset, your yoga practice, or even the things you appreciate in life:

"Have you ever thought...about but whatever man builds,
 that all of man's industrial efforts, all his computations
 and calculations, all the nights spent over working draughts
 and blueprints, invariably culminate in the production of a
 thing whose soul and guiding principle is the ultimate
 principle of simplicity?

 It is as if there were a natural law which ordained that to
 achieve this end, to refine the curve of a piece of furniture
 or a ship's keep, or the fuselage of an airplane, until
 gradually it partakes of the elemental purity of the curve
 of a human breast or shoulder, there must be the
 experimentation of several generations of craftsmen.
 In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when
 there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no
 longer anything to take away, when a body has been
 stripped down to its nakedness."
          -Antoine de Saint Exupery, WIND, SAND, STARS


Yes, that's right, the same Antoine de Saint Exupery
who wrote the Little Prince :)

Brokeback Mountain: Gay Cowboys Rule!!!

2005-12-26T21:07:00.000-05:00

After the festivieness of Festivus, Hil and I embarked on the notion of seeing a movie on xmas day.

Rob dropped us off at the Paramount (an epic giga-theatre in downtown TO), where we happily got tickets for Brokeback Mountain. We'd been looking for a chance to see this one, as it was reviewed very highly in the NOW magazine. (As a sidebar, there was a degree of controversy over the fact that despite being so highly lauded, a film about gay-cowboy-love only opened in one theatre in the entire GTA. Regardless - that was all moot, as it's playing in every theatre now).

We've been on a Jake Gyllenhal (sp!?!?) kick as of late, and after seeing Jarhead a few weeks ago, this was an entirely different film.

Based on a short story by Annie Proulx (wrote the shipping news) - Brokeback Mountain starts in the sixties and plays out over over the next 2 decades. Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake G) are young cowboys from broken homes with the busted wallets to match. Hurting for work, they take on a job herding sheep up on, yup, you guessed it - Brokeback Mountain. It's a tough, isolated job, where they have to rely on each other to keep the sheep alive.

With all the cowboy posturing and toughness, amidst the travails of their dubious job - it's fascinating to see Ennis and Jack fall in love - in a tough, manly kinda way. The first part of this film is one of the greatest love stories I've ever seen - it is so human, so flawed and real.

The rest of the film follows the hardships the cowpokes endure as they try to carve out their own lives in a homophobic world. Yet whenever they can, they try to meet up at Brokeback Mountain - the only place where they can be alone and share their love.

The rest of the cast is brilliant too - Anne Hathaway (the immensely doe-eyed brunette from all the G-rated disney "princess films") is excellent as Jack's wife. Her haircuts alone could justify half the price of your ticket. Eniss's tortured young bride (by some girl from Dawson Creek, Michelle William?) carries her role with bite and aplomb.

With this being my third month in Toronto, it was rather heartbreaking to see that the film was shot in Alberta. I miss my mountains. Damnit, the scenery in this film, with it's high ranges, craggy peaks, and mountains that yawn into eternal skies had me missing home terribly.

I could go on to cite how great this particular scene is, or that one, etc, etc but really, that would do this film a disservice. Jake G's performance is astoundingly good, and drives another nail into the thinly crafted coffin of talent that Jude Law rode in on his 5 films last year. But Heath Ledger completely floored me. While I thought he was mainly a prettyboy actor (such as the Grisham film that he was in) - the quality of his work in this movie is courageous and has earned my respect. This guy can act!

So, go see Brokeback Mountain. The best drama I've seen all year. Easily.

j

Festivus (for the Rest of Us!)

2005-12-25T17:44:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

Happy Holidays!

A fine day... thus far. Hil and I slept in, ate a big breakfast of apple cottage cheese pancakes, and exchanged presents. Looking back on it, it's these subtle gift exchanges that are so much better - there's less put into the worth of the gift, and more on the quality of day to day living instead.

After some morning glories (and nearly losing an eye trying to open that infernal bottle of champagne), we went for a long walk through downtown TO. While the streets were certainly less busy, there were still going-ons. The Hot Dog vendors on the corner were open for business, transit was running, and Chinatown was packed. Restaurants of people going for dim sum, folks buying groceries, etc, etc.

Eventually we found what we were looking for in Kensington Market - a coffee shop for Hil! After being educated by the owner of the shop that our 5 dollar bills were counterfeit, we took a table, got respective copies of the NOW magazine (kinda like FFWD for Calgary only 100x bigger) and just chilled out. As I was falling asleep in the arm chair, Hil rustled me awake.

Home through the rain.

We're slowly making dinner, phoning friends, enjoying our time (and each other), and waiting for company for our "orphan's dinner".

Hope everything is well with all of you!

jeff and hilary

Eve of Christmas

2005-12-24T18:55:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh!!! Just one more day 'til Xmas!

(thank god!)

Last night and today have been fun and busy days. I picked up Hil's younger sister, Joanna at the Via Rail station. What a mess! 3 rows deep of cabs fighting for fares, and families picking up loved ones amidst the scourge of bumper-to-bumper. I guess everyone was taking the 8:37 train in from the outskirts of the GTA. I resorted to the skilled tactic of jumping out of the truck every few moments, and screaming "JOANNA!?!?".

Evenutally I found my red-haired friend, and all was good. The wall of taxis parted just as a big tour bus lumbered toward us, and we were able to make a quick getaway home.

We had one of those big slow dinners of asian frittata, samosas and pita that night. My new found love for cooking is beginning to match my always constant love for food. Because we live in a hole in the wall on the third floor of a narrow townhouse, our kitchen table is our coffee table, and our kitchen chairs are our couch, which is actually a futon. Regardless, it all works in a cute homey way, and when we have guests over, it's like eating in a boat, with a tiny galley and all. Conversation just seems to flow nicely when things are a little more close, and the table is low to the floor.

***

This morning, I worked the desk at Downward Dog and dealt with the last of the last-minute shoppers. Most folks are pretty calm, surprisingly calm, so by the time the shift ended in the early afternoon, I was feeling nice and Christmasey. Had ample to time to fire xmas emails to all my dearest friends, and it's surprising how freely the words can flow when you're in the mood.

Adding to that the fact of my Xmas Cheers was that I was able to cash out correctly on my first try! (A far cry from my near tears of rage with the debit machine and cash register a few nights ago)

My dear friend and studio manager Leslie also gave Hil and I some brilliant tiny gifts, and with that we parted out holiday ways. Ms Kriekle rules.

I picked up Hil and Joanna and we drove out to the Sunnybrook hospital so they could visit their grandfather again. Jo hadn't seen him in over a year, so despite the looming deadline to catch a plane, we got her out.

And in the end - things went smashingly. They had a great visit with their grandfather, and we made good time on the 401, getting Joanna off to the airport with time to spare. The poor girl has a 7 hour flight to London, then a ten hour stopover on Xmas day, before the last epic leg to Cairo. I take Hil to the airport on Boxing Day, and after that, it will just be me, myself and I.

I was remarking to Hil how I bet all the kids out there are excited. And to all you, my dearest friends, I hope you're excited too! Sleep well tonight, languish around, eat lots, and do know that I'm wishing you all the happiest of holidays! I may be far, but that doesn't mean I don't think of you all the time :)

I'm SQUISHING your HEAD!

2005-12-23T16:02:00.000-05:00

Wow - have things ever been busy. Thursday night, we had Hil's friends Sarah and Rob over. They spent the night, and we had good chats. Looking back, that was a full, full day - of teaching, buying groceries, prepping dinner, working at the studio, and trying to figure out how to do cash out at the end of the night (I couldn't possibly imagine the hellish life of being an accountant). I was spent by the time bed was calling my name.

And up again too early - for practice at the studio. It's funny how I can be tired, yet still want to practice. Probably because I practice in such a way it's fun, and also because Ron Reid is the most technical and experienced Ashtanga instructor in Canada. This guy is the best.

Practice was good - as the cobwebs started to roll away from the edges of my fuzzy head. After that, headed home, hung out with Sarah and Rob some more, and then wished them the best.

Stopped back at Downward Dog (It's like I live there), and did some help around the front desk. Also, made a trip down to the bank, to take care of some of their payments. I hate going to the bank - and silly me, at this time, it was absolutely packed. Waited twenty-five minutes in a "business customers" line that barely moved. Maddening.

On an interesting note though, Mark McKinney of "Kids in the Hall" fame stepped into the bank. My second famous person sighting on Queen W (The other being troubador Ron Sexsmith). Mark looked like everyone else at this time of the year - frazzled by the holiday, trying to catch up with the zillion and one things to do. He had Christmas wrapping and a package with him, I think. I heard him talk with the security guard about how he could get a $50 bill. Not 2 twenties and a ten, but specifically a $50 bill.

What's Mark need with a fifty? Who knows - eventually he left. I debated saying something to him, but was afraid he'd pull out his pointer finger and thumb and "squish my head" :)

j

Rantings Against Second Cup

2005-12-23T01:22:00.000-05:00

Had an interesting conversation at the corner in front of my yoga studio, Downward Dog. This light, at Queen and Tecumseth takes forever to change - usually you wind up standing in front of the Second Cup, waiting for the cars to stop, being forced to listen to the muzak that they pump out their front speakers.

I was standing next to this quirky-looking guy - it looked like he was a candy raver from back in the day, resplendent in his tiger fur shoulder bag, huge earrings and wild braids.

He turns to me and goes, "Don't you just wish you had a gun to shoot out the fucking crap that comes out of Second Cup's speakers?!?"

I smiled and said something about how I've entertained such violent thoughts, but try to internalize them.

This gets a laugh, and as we wind up crossing the street together, the Old Raver tells me another story of how he went to his Fido phone dealer, and after being charged another hundred bucks for service, he took a hammer and smashed the phone to pieces in front of the shocked salespeople.

I believed him.

We talked a bit more about the evils of cell phones ("I'm SOOO Analog", proclaimed the Raver) and we wished each other Merry Xmas.

There are some quirky people in this city - it's great :)

I Weigh 137 Pounds! + Pic of the Day

2005-12-21T23:29:00.000-05:00

I rode my bike up to the Yorkville Club this morning, where I teach a few classes. They have a scale in the mens locker room, so I thought I'd check my weight.

Wow - 137 pounds! Between riding a bike around TO, and practicing yoga more intensely than ever, and eating well, I've shed 8 pounds since summer's end. Yikes - no wonder I get cold easily.

I feel strong though, like a wire. Eating more tempeh helps :)

***

The pic of the day is a blast from the past. Remember the Keatons? I'm the new "Poster Designer" at Downward Dog, so I spend a fair bit of time surfing the web looking for interesting images. Michael J Fox still could play Alex Keaton couldn't he?

This Season is Stupid / The Door in the Floor

2005-12-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

Xmas is good, but god, it's out of control. Just a mini-rant on the ludicrosity of having to go out and buy presents. What the heck for? Just to get our money into the pockets of the retailers I suppose. And the worst part is, deep down inside, you really would like to find the perfect gift for your special someone...

So, off I go. Too busy, too rushed, but still, off I go.

Madness.

PS - me and my lovely saw "The Door in the Floor" last night. Probably one of the better rents we've had recently. It's based loosely on John Irving's "Widow for One Year", and Jeff Daniels does a fine job. Kim Basinger still looks great, and as an interesting point, the film focuses only on the first 100 pages of Irving's book.

This is a testament to not only the richness of "Widow for One Year", but also Irving's knack at crafting epic stories. So, in summary, a good solid movie, but for a more enriching entertainment experience, check out the book.

j

Where in the World is AJ?

2005-12-19T00:09:00.000-05:00

Where in the World is AJ?
Some friends are simply more challenging than others. We love them to pieces, but, well, sigh - they're just tricky.

My dear friend AJ was supposed to come over for dinner tonight, but she never showed up. She moved to TO a few months before me, and now she's on her way to Vancouver where she'll meet up with her fab boyfriend and start a life out there. Settling down! Growing up!

AJ is a cook, through and through, and proof positive of the power of doing what you love. She rules - she's real, and she's chasing her dream. This year alone, she'll have lived in 3 major cities, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver - cutting a swath through great restaurants, learning as much as she can.

As anyone aspiring towards a career in the culinary arts will tell you, it's a rough go. Those first few years, you're the proverbial dirt under the totem pole. The kitchen's work is hard, the hours long, the people challenging, and the wages low.

There's this sick paradox where the people who craft the amazing meals could never afford to the same said restuarants.

AJ's so poor that she had to cancel her cell phone a month ago, just to save up money for the flight back to Vancouver. Just last Friday I helped her move her stuff to the Grayhound station - it's the running joke we have in our friendship, how I'm always moving her boxes.

I stopped by tonight at her house, around 10:30pm to see if she was there. But no one was home.

Granted, AJ can be a bit scatter-brained - after all, it was a week ago we made plans for dinner. Maybe she forgot. Or maybe she got busy with some other stuff. Maybe she got impulsive and got her flight bumped up.

Regardless, keep an eye out for AJ everyone!

And AJ, if you're reading this blog in an internet cafe - you'd better write me an email. I'm worried.

j

The Grizzly Man

2005-12-18T14:49:00.001-05:00

Hil and I saw a great film at the second-run theatre. (We're dirt poor, so "second" anything is a good thing.)

Just up on College street, is an old moviehouse, the Royal. This is what theatres are meant to be like - one screen. One theatre. None of these ridiculous football-sized abominations which either look like exploding volcanoes or spaceships sprouting off the side of a superhighway. The Royal is old, slightly run down, and above all knows its place in the movie experience. It's a charming, subtle environment for the movie to be shown in, not a competing spectacle of lights and gaudy colors.

The film we saw was a real treat too - Werner Herzog's documentary: "Grizzly Man".

Grizzly Man follows the adventures of the real-life grizzly man - Timothy Treadwell. A university drop-out, who moved to California to make it big, didn't, and instead, spiraled downwards in alcoholism.

But something clicked for Timothy and saved his life: one summer, he went to Alaska and lived with the bears. Not tiny black and brown bears, but full-on grizzlies. The biggest and most powerful animals on our continent. Not only did he survive, he thrived, and within his connection to these massive creatures, he carved out a purpose for himself - to save the grizzly and live with the bears.

The next 13 years of Tim's life, as outlined in the film, show his rise to stardom (he was even on Letterman), as well as conservation efforts, and most incredibly - his ability to spend entire summers up close with kodiaks without becoming bear food. During his last 5 years, he had a video camera to film his so-titled "expeditions". His footage inspires a mix of admiration, awe, and disbelief that someone would actually get so close to wild bears. Probably some of the most hair-raising, move to the edge of your seat, wide-eyed footage you'll ever see.

Some particularly notable scenes have him within 2 feet of bears, poking them on the nose with his finger, or standing up and yelling at them. Or cajoling them. Or phraising them.

Hil, (our biology expert), describes his behavior as anthropomorphisizing, which is where you give animals human traits.

Timothy gives the bears names like Mr Chocolate, Daisy, and Rowdy, and talks about their personalities. For instance, "Me and Mr Chocolate (the massive bear 10 feet behind him, foraging for berries)," says a happy bleach blond Tim to his camera, "have known each other for 10 years. Isn't that right Mr Chocolate? Yes, that's right 10 years. I knew Mr Chocolate when he was just a little cubbie, and now he's all big. We're good friends! Good good friends! I LOVE YOU Mr Chocolate!"

It's hard to tell if Timothy is crazy, or really does have some sort of connection with these bears. I guess that's a testament to his belief in his actions.

You may be wondering why this posting seems to have a slightly "past-tense" or "ominous" tone. Well, Timothy and his girlfriend were eaten by a bear 2 years ago. This too is covered in the film, and it lends the whole thing an air of surrealness.

I don't want this posting to get too big, or worse yet, deny you of all the delightful or riveting moments in this film - so, just rent it. This is real. That's the crazy thing - this IS real.

www.grizzlyman.com

Christmas Shopping / Kozyndan

2005-12-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

Just writing early this Saturday morning. I've got a big day ahead of me, so I figure'd I'd post sooner in the day.

Yesterday was a fine day in TO. The weather had taken a turn for the warmer, which made walking the streets easier. Headed out with Hil to some shops to look for gifts. She's shopping for her family and some friends, me - I'm still mulling over what to do. Probably some sort of online gifts or such would be smart, as I'm well past the chance to get things in time via mail.

As with all things Toronto - it's amazing how much choice you have. No matter how obscure your interest or taste it seems, not only does TO have a shop that caters to it, there are probably several.

We went to some nifty shops on College Street and Queen West, which reminded us truly how fortunate we are to live where we do. Sure, our apartment has mice, and there was a heinous odor of dog urine that took 4 weeks to get rid of , and sure, the back window in the bathroom never closed so that eventually it got so cold I head to seal it shut with cauling and plastic...

But, it's location, location, location. Why live in a big city if you're stuck one hour out in the desolate suburbs? That seems like the worst of everything. Sure, for the same amount of rent, you get a bigger place that's insulated, pest free, and bigger than a submarine - but there's no culture. Big-box-retail is NOT culture.

We were inside this one store called Magic Pony that carries the most sublimbe asian dolls - not the syrupy cute Hello Kitty stuff, but the real quirky dolls and figurines that are made purposefully ugly. It's amazing seeing grown men and women paying over a hundred dolls for a plastic figurine!

The highlight is seeing prints available by Kozyndan. This is a couple based in LA, where she does incredible pencil work and he colors them in digitally. Their work is sublime, and often full and bursting with color, detail and life. They're responsible for the great image on today's post. But to see their truly good stuff, go to www.kozyndan.com and check out their "panoramics". Incredible!

Well, gots to go,

cheers,

jeff

Proof Postive that Karma Exists

2005-12-16T01:30:00.000-05:00

Conrad Black, that swarmy media mogul with a reputation for censorship of the truth (all in the good name of the almighty corporate dollar) has seen a downfall of epic proportions. First losing his empire, then a slew of lawsuits, and most recently, serious charges from the US govt of racketeering and obstruction.

While the buddhist classes that I attend make definite note of the actions of our past lives dictating what we experience in this current life - one can certainly extrapolate a trend here.

Black was a bastard in his previous incarnations, and from what we've seen so far, he's gonna be suffering in the next few "incarnations" too.

j

Bottom of the Totem Pole

2005-12-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

Had a funny thing happen to me in a yoga class the other night. Someone actually walked out.

I havent' had someone walk out of a class of mine in ages - especially right at the beginning. I remember sitting down in front of class and saying, "The gentleman who usually teaches the 7:30 class in the other studio is sick. So, Christina, who usually teaches this class is going to cover that one, and I'm gonna cover this one." One guy in the back, promptly rolled up his mat, gathered his blocks and left for the other studio.

Oh well. I guess people get attached to their teachers.

Just a bit of background info: I'm a short asian guy. Christina's a stunning, tall spanish woman with an accent.

Great Lake Swimmers - crystal clear falsetto!

2005-12-15T17:09:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note on the gig me and Hil went to late Wednesday night. Over the span of these past few months, we've been getting to more and more shows, and slowly learning the ins and outs of the various venues.

Last night's gig was at the Rivoli, which reminded me of the mighty (now gone, snif-sniff) Night Gallery from back home. Long narrow room, wood floor, seats on the side walls, and most importantly, incredible sound.

For a paltry $10, we were able to see three acts.

First up was the Mendoza Line, which is a baseball reference to a mediocre player called Mendoza. He had the uncanny ability to play just barely well enough to stay in the pro's. His batting average, .215 (I believe), is known today as the "Mendoza Line" and is the hallmark of underachieving millionaire baseball players. In terms of the band, Mendoza Line was pretty darn mediocre too. Zero energy, and one of those weird duo acts that show up every now and then - this time with a guy on a guitar and the lead singer doing some half-hearted tambourine work in between listless vocals. The guy had the gumption to sing every now and then like Bob Dylan - which just ain't cool. Only Bob Dylan is allowed to sing like Bob Dylan. Anyone else sounds like they need dristan. Respect please!

The second act was Picastro (Probably the greatest band name I've heard all year!), and they are dark and evil. 4 piece band, female vocalist on an acoustic guitar and a haunting voice akin to Chan Marshall of Cat Power. But what really gave them distinction was their cello player. At times dissonant, consistently brooding, and very, very intense in that slow, doom is coming way. I think they'll be huge soon (probably get picked up on a soundtrack for a Lynch film). Hilary thinks I'm crazy. Regardless, keep an eye out for Picastro.

And finally, The Great Lake Swimmers. Think Troubador Toronto boy done good, singingly achingly beautiful melodies with a pristine falsetto. Don't laugh - that falsetto is good, and the boy can SING.

Hmmmm - do consider either of the past 2 Great Lake Swimmer CD's for a pleasant, thoughtful xmas gift for that person out there who needs that sweet slow CD to sit down with - that person in your life who takes the time to listen to the lyrics while they're holding their head in their hands, gazing at the wall.

(But only if they already own some Iron and Wine! Sam Beam still rules the acoustic universe!)

www.greatlakeswimmers.com

Tookie Williams Executed

2005-12-14T00:21:00.000-05:00

Tookie Williams was executed this Tuesday.

Tookie was one of the founders of the infamous Crips gang in LA, and accused of murdering 4 people. While he certainly couldn't be considered a nice guy at the time, he was heavily drugged by the police throughout his trial. To add fuel to the controversial fire, the prosecutor craftily removed 3 potential african-americans from the jury.

I'm not a fan of capital punishment. It's hypocritical to denounce murder, yet commit another - particularly in this case where the person seems to have reformed.

Tookie, during his tenure in prison wrote books warning youths of the danger of gangs, came up with a functional street protocol to end gang violence, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize multiple times. Man, if there was EVER someone who spent their time in the can well, Tookie would be it. Despite a whole wack of big names rallying around the cause, such as Joan Baez, Jesse Jackson, and Jamie Foxx (who played Tookie in a biographical film, "Redemption" last year), it was all for naught.

For more insightful reporting on the situation, (and current photo of Tookie) check out npr (national public radio).

I wonder how Old Arnie (Governor Schwarzengger) is sleeping tonight...

j

Everyone should know who Russ Bannock is.

2005-12-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

A strange day of sorts.

Hil and I visited her grandfather at the Sunnybrook Veterans home. He has very advanced alzheimers and I was impressed by how kind and brave Hil was with him. She brought some magazines, a card, and some shortbread cookies that she made. (my girl rules)

While we were there, another man stopped in to visit. Despite his condition, Hil's grandfather's immediately recognized him, and they shared the type of handshake that only good friends could have.

The gentleman's name is Russ Bannock - 86 years old, healthy, lucid, and sharply dressed. As it turns out, Russ and Hil's grandfather flew Mosquito fighter planes together in the war. Russ was the pilot, and he was saying hello to his old navigator.

Tonight, searching on the web, I found out who Russ Bannock really is.

Check out: http://www.constable.ca/bannock.htm

If you have some time, (and I think we all do), take a brief look at Canada's second highest scoring ace from WWII.

j

Pic of the day:

2005-12-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

We hates him too.

(That lady must be eating one dry cookie.)

Time Flies

2005-12-11T23:57:00.000-05:00

Got an email from a dear old travelling friend tonight.

Which got me digging into my old photos. Meloncholy and nostalgia. Sun and sand.

It's hard to believe that a year ago I was sitting on an island looking at a volcano. (Ometepe, Nicaragua)

Where does the time go?

Falling Through the Tracks

2005-12-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

Sunday is a busy day for me. I wake up early, assist at Downward Dog 'til 11am, and then I have to teach at another studio by noon.

Beause of the time crunch and my chronic habit of dallying just a bit too long, I've been riding Hil's shiny new bike to get from place to place. Her bike's a lean, mean commuting machine with skinny tires that spin nice and fast.

The trouble with skinny tires though is that they don't have much grip. Especially on metal. As you can see from the above photo, bike commuting in TO is exciting . Lots of cars, mean cabbies, and as an added bonus, the treacherous tracks for the streetcars.

Tracks that are just wide enough to swallow a skinny tire.

I was bombing down Bathurst trying to beat the light onto Queen St. In retrospect, that wasn't very smart. Bathurst and Queen is chock-a-block laced with street car tracks and to my horror, I saw my front wheel migrate into one of said tracks.

It was all over by then.

Sliding on my side into the intersection. The collective gasp of pedestrians on the corner, "Are you okay?!?" I pick myself up, ego wounded and covered in a brown slime of dirty snow and pollution.

A guy comes up and goes, "Dude. Rain and snow man. Rain and snow." (I'm assuming he's referring to the tracks as opposed to telling me about the last few days weather.

I slowly pedal the last few blocks to work. Dirty.

j

Jarhead: An Engaging Look at Bored Soldiers

2005-12-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

Saw Jarhead tonight. And while it seems like Jake Gwylenhall is flooding the theatres right now (look for his risque gay-cowboy flick Bareback Mountain coming over the next few weeks), it's certainly not a bad thing.

Jarhead, is based on a book by Anthony Swoffer who actually served in the Iraq war, in the laughable Desert Shield / Storm operation. What was a facade by the first Bush administration to secure oil under the guise of "Freedom for All" (sound familiar anyone?), the film takes a close look at the poor dumb bastards who are stuck on the front lines.

Like American Beauty, this film is quite subversive and does a fine job at exposing an oft-overlooked aspect of war: waiting around doing nothing.

While there is little actual combat, the film instead draws tension heavily through the theme of a frustrated soldier trained to kill - with nothing to kill.

So, where does all that pent up frustration go? Well, we get to see lots of scenes of masochism, cruelty and plain old perverted/demented behavior. While I've never been in the military, what is in Jarhead seems realistic if only for the fact that it's so bent, only real life could be that way.

Aside from some incredible imagery, the performances by Jake G, his sniper cohort Peter Saarsgard, and Jamie Foxx are all excellent. If Peter Saarsgard doesnt get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, then it's because the 'academy' got squeamish over the political undertones - and that would be a shame.

8 stars outta 10.

Good for the theatres, a definite renter if you get the chance.

Cheerio,

j

The Pearly Gates have Eloquent Graffitti...

2005-12-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

And other such lines of evocative imagery filled our ears.

It was the incredible Iron and Wine with Calexico concert last night.

Those familiar with the incredible Sam Beam (front man of Iron and Wine) would have been enthralled by his talent. Yes folks, he sounds better than his CD's, if such a thing is possible. He did a rendition of his epic song of remembrance, "The Trapeze Swinger", and I would be hard-pressed to think of hearing anything more beautiful this year.

Calexico was in fine form as well, and their horns blared the proud flavor of mariachi throughout, warming the room.

While on paper putting Iron and Wine on stage together with alt-group Calexio seems a bit of a stretch, in reality, there was a magic there. Up to 14 people on stage in swells of the clearest and most heartwarming sound. You could almost envision tumbleweeds drifting across the stage.

Want to hear more? Know someone abusing their stereo with Kelly Clarkson?

Then do your soul (and mind) a favor, and check out:

www.ironandwine.com

Lyrics that will make you weep, and melodies that will seep into your bones.

His 2 albums, "The Creek Drank the Cradle", and 2004's masterful "Endless Numbered Days" are essential. The "subpop" website will have more as well.

www.subpop.com

Cheers,

jeff

First Mate Hilary

2005-12-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

Those with an observant eye will be able to discern from the way Hil is sitting, that she is in the stern (ie back?) of the boat... So, essentially she's steering the ship. Er canoe.

Note also the casual and deft one-hand-on-the-paddle technique.

Away we go...

2005-12-09T02:12:00.000-05:00

The proverbial bottle of champagne swings...

And smashes against the hull of the mahblog!

Confetti fills the air and the band begins to play. There's a modicum of fanfare, while overhead, newly released doves spin circles in the sun.

It's official - I'm the captain of my own blog now.

As I set sail with my new vessel of communication, I hope that this experience will be a good one. I haven't had much chance to fill everyone in on my musings, and at the same time, my bent for creatively writing has been woefully amiss.

So fingers crossed here we go.

I hope you'll check in every now and then. I promise the utmost hospitality.

Cheers,

El Capitan,

Jeff

PS - first mate Hilary says hi!