Still Fighting The Good Fight

I've been playing lots of video games lately. MOH Warfighter, COD Modern Warfare 3, & BF 3. I miss the old days when I was on a squad playing co-op missions in Joint Ops. Nowadays it's just the single player campaign. 1 thing I found kinda' wierd & coincidental was a charecter in COD MW3 was named Yuri. That was my name in an indy film called Coil.

What else? I am still being stalked. My stalker is gay, lol. Whether or not he's a terrorist hugging, communist, retard is another story. I think he was a leftover from the days of Jean Chretien. Back then I spent a lot of nights wearing a tinfoil beanie. jk. lol.

I wish I could immigrate to another country start all over, but no matter where I go I always get some kook  or kooks who think they should be a part of my life. The only way I make friends is usually when we've been through something together. I set up little sneaky tests sometimes just to make sure the folks I am dealing with are on the same level. I've been called on that a couple of times. What's worse is I sometimes don't even realize what I am doing. Maybe it all has to do with the time I got a concussion & had amnesia & thought I was a prisoner in WW2. Yes, I woke up in a hospital in Okotoks after having creaked my head on ice while on a hike down Cataract Creek. Anyhow this is it for now. I will try to write more often. If you are bored read both this blog & my other blogs. Ciao for now.

The Lethbridge Beer Barons

Summertime is here & almost over. What have I been doing? Not a whole lot. One thing though that stands out is rafting down the Oldman River. We have a core group who go & then we have special appearance by other Lethbridgers. As the title of this post suggests we are the Lethbridge Beer Barons, lol. The name was adopted due to the fact there is a lot of beer drinking going on during & after rafting. We are not alone in this either. There are many groups of rafters who do the exact same thing. The Oldman is relatively shallow in most spots so the chances of drowning is not really thought about. Plus there is x amount of rafts & people that something like that happening is extremely unlikey. Anyhow it's a good float, we meet at one friend's place, load up the vehicles & are off. The float can take anywhere between 4 to 6 hours. We usually choose days that are very hot & not cloudy. If you really want to get to know someone float down a river with them. We've had a lot of good times & have done some pretty outrageous stuff but all in all when it gets right down to it, it's about enjoying the outdoors & people you are with.

How safe are your secrets in Canada?

If I were American or British & I had some Canadian companies manufacturing military products for them I would probably cease them ASAP because of the hidden communist forces within Canada.

Stalker in the backyard.

I've confirmed it I just went downstairs to go to the store down the road to get some munchies & he is literally sitting not even 20 ft from my apartment door eating dinner with his friends who may or may not be aware of the situation. Does anyone out there know how to get rid of stalkers? His name is Elliot he drives a burgundy Dodge, he's kinda' short has several tattoos, he's white, maybe in his mid 30's, has a buzz cut, I could go on further but revealing too much info might not be legal.

Speaking of legality I've discovered a society I am part of really isn't a society at all, it has been in default for several years. To top it off I am president of that society. No one ever informed me of such stuff. So being in default or a non-society means we have to dig ourselves out of the hole it has fallen into. From what I've learned from another source is we could be held liable for all the backmonies owed. Anyhow it is going to be one hell of a job to get the boat up & floating again. I never knew art could be so... um looking for the word...retarded... nah, but you get the idea. It's plain old stupid.

Gayness abounds

I am surrounded by gayness & retards. The folks who proposed making a gay bomb must have sold that technology to someone in Canada who is trying to modify it by making it transmittable (via radio waves perhaps). So that means that more than likely my gay stalker is connected to them & they are trying to create an army of homo-sexual, communist, terrorist hugging, retards. Anyhow I ran into my gay stalker 2 times today. Once while I was heading to Staples, & then when I was at Starbuck's. Currently it looks like his truck is parked in the back yard & he is visiting the neighbors whom I now suspect being in cahoots with him. Together with all their gay powers combined they still can not turn me. I was raised with good old fashioned US & UK ideas. I wonder what the average Canadian is raised with. Maybe there will come a day when they will tell their stories as for now one can only guess. A few years back there were some school teachers teaching that the people in the US & UK were evil & deserved to burn in hell & other absurd things. What they are teaching now who knows. Maybe someone should send their kids to school armed with various electronic nic nacs & discover what is going on now. Anyhow that is all for today. Anyone out there curious as to how retarded my life can be just follow me for a day or 2 & you will more than likely stumble across all the kooks who are trying to make me Ca-gay-dian. No I'm not a homophobe my favourite gay actor is George Takei. Ciao for now.

Just another night

H-m-m-m what's going on? I'm not sure. Anyhow it's the usual or maybe coincidence people following me where ever I go & wondering what I do. Well basically it's not really too exciting. I work at a gas station, I'm the President (yay my new title for Most Vocal Poets society) of a poetry group, & I have gotten back into art (actually I was never in it  [as in actually having people by it] but now am). What else I have a website, I write poetry, I might start playing guitar again & other stuff.

It's amazing how age creeps up on you. One day you're young & invincible several years down the line, not the case. My left hip is acting up, I am not regular on the weekends (as in having to take a dump), my neck is stiff I have discs that are fusing together, & the list could go on. Anyhow next week is election week here in Alberta. I will be voting for the first time in my 40 years. Even though my friends might not like my choice I have to side with the Conservatives. I more or less have been one most my life. There was a time or 2 when I was Liberal. Then as time passed I seen that they were not my cup of tea. As for the Wild Rose they seem just a little too wild for me. I haven't studied their platform but from the bits & pieces I have heard I don't think I could support them.

There are 2 shows (art) coming up here in Lethbridge one's theme is "Classic cars" (Batmobile, the Starsky & Hutch car, Genral Lee, Mustangs, Corvettes, VW Beetles, etc..) & the other is "The End Is Near" The first one is being put on by "Think Tank Events" & the other is "The Potemkin Collective" which I was recently added too, which by the way is really cool. As for the medium I'll use I'm not sure. I have done drawing in the past, some water colours, some oil, some pastel, some photography, some video & some multi-media. I have been stewing over several ideas but haven't come across anything concrete yet. I have a couple of months to do them in. This time I'm taking more time to prepare. For "Shuffle Up & Deal 1" (another Think Tank Event) I did the 5 of Diamonds in an afternoon. For "Shuffle Up & Deal 2" where I was the 2 of clubs it took me about a week. For the Star Wars Art Show it took me a week & 1/2. Lighting is everything when it comes to photography. I spent hours & hours tweaking the exposure, the saturation, etc..

Anyhow I guess I should get rolling Steve Earle tickets go on sale tommorow. I hope I can snag some. Steve Earle has been one of my most influential muscians. From Guitar Town right up until today & beyond he's done so much awesome stuff.

The Swartz Is Still With Me

For those of you who read my other blog this is the other picture I was talking about. Once again I used my semi-ok camera, tinkered with settings, & then ran it through Microsoft Digital Pro 10. I wish Microsoft still made their photo editing program for folks like me cuz I think it's awesome.

Anyhow after 40 years of believing & not believing in Canada I must say it's quite the place to live & I am a proud Albertan. What else? I recently saved CSIS from something that could've been very embarrassing for them but nipped it in the bud. Let's just say some of their employees did some things that weren't too intelligent. Oh & my former gay, stalker neighbor is no longer my neighbor, but we still run across each others' paths more times than I'd like too. As for my attempt at writing my auto-biography it has been at a standstill. I have many folks who want to read it once it's done. Mainly females in the 30+ category. Anyhow that is all for now.

Tomorrow I might attempt to fire up my ancient tower & update my official website. My hard drive is very noisy & on the verge of death. I think I can use it a few more times before it expires. I wish there was a place around here where I could buy a kit & just make my own. Back in 2005 I did that. There was this place in Calgary called Techtronics & they sold them. I bought one & slapped it together & held my breath when I hit the power button & miraculously it booted up. Since then I've been fascinating by all aspects of computing. Right now I am reading the CompTIA A+ Certification book. Wow what a book. I will eventually have to dive into HTML, MySQL, & PHP so I can add a PHPbb to my website.

Speaking of books the last one I read was "Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook" It was very enlightening when I lived in Penticton, B.C. I was part of a para-military group called the Rangers which I was eventually kicked out of due to a very outlandish spectacle I made of myself & the group. We were taught some stuff I was the drill instructor. My half brother was the Sergeant. Our group was lead by a Canadian (Ranger?) & a US Marine (LRRP). Anyhow all I remember was kinda' how to shoot bearings.

On one exercise we were supposed to sneak into an enemy camp which was at the end of a lake. At first I was gonna' walk up the road as close as I could get to it without being seen then go into the water & use a reed to breathe to go the rest of the way. I ended up running into my brother & the 2IC & he thought it best we climb the ridge & follow it until we were on the other side then sneak in from behind once we were in the right position. Upon entering the camp we got our asses chewed out for taking to long & going out of bounds. I didn't hear anything about boundaries. Anyhow I think they were training us to be Christian Holy Warriors (yes you heard that right). The pastor of the church who dreamed up this idea said to me "In the next 20 years there is going to be a war going on, there is trouble brewing in Africa & other parts. The world as we know it will change!" Fast forward & we had 9/11 & everything else.

My story with survival later manifested with me be placed at Stampede Boys Ranch after a stint at CC (Compulsory Care they thought I was suicidal but that's another story). It is located 15 miles west of Longview in the Foothills. One of the teachers there, Dan Fox liked to push students to their full potential. Everyday at school we had PhysEd. Our gym was basically the hi-way, the river, the foothills, & on Thursday the mountains. Spring, summer, fall, & winter added different flavours to it. Some days it was a 5 mile run on the road, the next a run along the river & up Ruby's (a little 900 foot tall foothill), then other things on other days.

Come Thursday it was eat a good breakfast, get your lunch bag & head out. We tackled riverbeds, forests, swamps, ridges, & mountains (The tallest being Mt Head you can find my name in the book on the summit if you want somewhere in the mid 80's) Anyhow I lost my train of thought I just stepped outside for a cigarette. We eventually started into Hunter Ed. & learned how to make lean twos, fires, etc.. It was very cool & we even got to shoot some guns now & again. Along with that we learned how to ride horses & how to operate & repair snowmobiles. Often we'd travel somewhere on the ranch in & on the old army jeeps. Sometimes we'd play games like who can hang on when going under trees or over bumpy terrain Needless to say it could've been dangerous but you develop a firm grip after awhile & no one got hurt (too badly there were more bruised egos than knees) There were times we'd tie a rope to the jeep & have someone on an old hood trailing behind trying to hang on. We never went to fast though, but just enough make it exciting. Sometimes when cross country skiing Fox would be on a snowmobile & he'd tie a rope to the end of it & the goal was to grab it & be the last man standing.

In winter we'd have survival nights occasionally. Basically we'd go out on our normal hike & suddenly discover we had to stay the night with the temperature dipping from -15 -20. When in that kinda' situation you made damn sure you had a good shelter & lots of firewood. On 2 occasions we've had people get into avalanches. Scary stuff but no one died. One time Pat was sliding on his bum down into a valley & then suddenly some snow took him away & there wasn't much he could do. We sat watching Pat go down kinda' horrified but joking. You could here him screaming his lungs out then suddenly he went off a little cliff & we couldn't see him for a second or 2. The he appeared again & was finally at the bottom. He then started to yell at us telling us we were pussies & were taking to long, lol.

Another time we were on Raspberry Ridge where the park ranger fire look out station was. We had started heading back towards the road somewhere to the north & east of us & Fox decided he wanted to go down rather than remain on top. He & some other students went one way. That way had hard packed snow & I thought "No I am not going down there I'll jump off the little cornice land on my ass & then end up sliding down the hill out of control." Me, Rick( maybe, maybe not) & Eli thought it was better to go though the powder & descend slowly & leisurely. One guy went then Eli & myself were next. We hopped off the top & dug our heels into the powder I do not know what possessed me to jump back up but I did. Then it happened there was a little cracking or popping sound & then this huge chunk of snow maybe 150 ft wide broke off & took Eli with it. Fox & the other students saw this & ran to the side of the gulch? to get out of the way. We all then noticed Rick pondering what way he was going to go further down with his back turned to the avalanche. Everyone was screaming at him but he didn't hear us. The next thing I saw was Rick flying 10 feet up into the air, & his red coat occasionally appearing it was like he was in a big washing machine. Meanwhile Eli is riding the avalanche to the place where the trees were & the avalanche slowed down & stopped. I quickly & quite frightendly went the way Fox & the other went & we all raced downhill to find Rick & Eli. Eli shouted he was alright & then Rick popped up out of the snow behind us. He was thrown to the side. He then shook out all the snow from his clothes, nose, & other places & then remarked how he had lost a package of cigarettes in the whole ordeal.

Anyways this post has gone on a lot longer than I had intended it too, but after reading Mykel Hawke's book I'd love to go to the mountains again & see if I could use some of the stuff I had learned added to what I already know. We never got to setting traps & all that sort stuff, but I did once catch a mouse & skinned it & added it to some pine needle tee I had cooked up. Mice are small. Mice are way smaller when you skin them, lol. Oh & of course we learned how to fish. Avery was the best at it. His favourite animal was the Moose. I have a Moose toque & if I knew where he was now I'd send it to him. I'm not sure but I think he later went on to become a tracker & guide. He was one crazy but cool dude.