AlwaysGame4Life Podcast
A podcast to bring people together to help bring light,reality and importance of mental health awareness by sharing each others stories, having a few laughs,connecting,living positive, bettering ourselves and each other.
AlwaysGame4Life Podcast
The Transformative Journey through Nature, Notes and Nostalgia
Ever been curious about the thrill of birdwatching or the rhythmic magic of music? This episode lets you peek into the euphoria of uncovering the simple beauty of a swamp sparrow or the excitement of spotting a great horned owl. You'll find yourself lost in the compelling stories from our hunt for a rare warbler on Gabriel Island and the amusing reactions from the locals who couldn’t understand our fascination with nature.
Together, we'll hop on the "wow wave" and explore the therapeutic effects of connecting with nature, and how it helps maintain a positive and balanced outlook on life. We'll also share insightful perspectives on navigating today’s job market, the importance of staying calm amidst chaos, and the sheer power of positive energy. We'll be taking a moment to remember a late friend, his humorous remarks, and how his spirit embodied the vitality of the "wow wave".
The episode also explores the creative process of songwriting, from the genesis of a beat to the final lyric, and the transformative power of music. We'll traverse through nostalgic tunes of the 70s and 80s, and the educational power of artists like Run DMC and Public Enemy. Get ready for a riveting journey that spans birdwatching, music, nature, and life, one that celebrates the joy, creativity, and resilience in all of us. Tune in and feel the rhythm of life reverberating in every story.
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"Be good to each other and love one another because life is always game for us, so let's be always game for life!"
Always game for life(original) written and performed by Jason Halderson
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Hey and welcome back to another one on the Always Game For Life podcast, where we come together, share stories, connect and maybe even have a few laughs. It is good to be back. As always, I hope you are doing an amazing little thing wherever you are listening to this podcast around the world so well. Oh man, I don't believe this, rick, I don't believe this.
Speaker 3:I know we're going to do three in a row, as the world gone upside down at Topsy Thurvey I mean, oh my God, I need some more orange juice.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 3:I'm not amped up enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just so you know we're juice boxing it. Oh yeah, tonight.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I need more juice box. Juice box, oh yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:Oh man, baby, that's good, oh my goodness man, baby, that's good stuff Now. Okay, what's on the brain tonight?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, we went for a walk today and that beautiful sunshine we ended up having and you know, I have to say I was a little down, kind of stressed out, called up Markey baby and then the man with the mission of making everyone happy with his energy did exactly what it should have. We went outside his energy, my energy, bird energy, life energy. Oh come on, man, you're too much. Oh, my God, man, I had the best afternoon. I mean, it was amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have a wife, so it was great and I'm just going to say it right now.
Speaker 3:Check out all the pictures he's already posted. Oh my God, he's already getting ahead of it. I'm telling you we're getting this together, people, and it was fabulous.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, oh wow.
Speaker 3:It was just great. And then, of course, I go home after we search every single tree for an owl. And you know, I took a shot for a friend and I wanted to show her what you know we were doing looking for owls and all this and I couldn't. I didn't see it and I'm looking in the picture and I'm like no way I see a face. I blow it up and like oh man, there's a great hornet. It's like right where I knew it was.
Speaker 2:So it is funny how you can search and you know right where we were standing right where we were standing right where.
Speaker 3:I thought it would be everything, but you know what you don't always see them. You don't always see them and that's the fun of it. Eh, that's the joy of when you do see stuff. Like we had a swamp spur today. You got great pictures, oh my God, check them out and that's kind of an unusual bird around here. That's more of an eastern thing. But yeah, it was good energy and the sun was nice. It was warm. It was crispy in the air. It was still that warm.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, oh my gosh and it just I don't know the whole thing For this time of year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was warm. It's what I needed we both kind of went back car and went. Ah, so yeah, yeah, man, it felt good, especially when we decided to just go for it and go adventuring and just go off the trail.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, well, you know that, the adventure parts where I really shine. I love that, even though my shoes are wet, my clothes- are wet. I tracked in a whole bunch of muck. I don't care, I like that, I love that. I just wish we could have scooped it out, because that's where I mean. I've seen them there. That's what we were looking for, but we did get all that other stuff. And that was great. You know, I didn't have to do a lot of calls and stuff just came in. It was so cool.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Everybody was just like Mark's here, mark's here, mark's here. Get out of my way you. I want to see Mark oh you're too much man. Then you had a song spiral, practically land on you and it was like, okay, mark's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was debating whether it comes to my arm Mark's in the zone.
Speaker 3:Mark's in the zone.
Speaker 1:He was just looking at it going. Should I jump to his arm as a perch or what?
Speaker 3:I mean, I would be really shocked if that happened. But given that you have so much of that positive energy to share. I wouldn't be surprised he's like I gotta try a little of that energy, you know yeah.
Speaker 1:Maybe, yeah although you know nature is natural. Oh, it's the best.
Speaker 3:Yeah, very positive. So I was thinking about this, having had a kind of up and down week, but some good things too, lots of good things. You know it's just a normal thing, but we're talking about this when we're walking. You know the wave, the wow wave. The wow wave is interesting for me and I know for you and probably everyone else. I think the best wow waves are small, intermittent, up down, up down, sort of normal waves. When they're too big it's too much of a up and down Too agility yeah.
Speaker 3:And then when it's sort of a mid-range, it's kind of like you're just kind of there and then you're already falling down. But if it's kind of like, oh, you go down, you go up, you go on you, go up you know, you're kind of always there and that's kind of what we had today when we were birding.
Speaker 3:It was kind of like this nice steady because it evens out, and it's just kind of positive if it's a small steady wave, I think if it's too big or you know, it's just kind of goes way too high, way too low, and then you're kind of feeling down after it, Whereas today it just felt fantastic. I'm still buzzed, I'm still happy. Oh yeah, I mean we could go all in right now. It's so clear out, I mean the stars. Oh, we'd go that way.
Speaker 1:Incredible. It's really cool now.
Speaker 3:So I'm good. But you know, the point is it would be great it would be. But yeah, I know I was thinking about that today when we were walking through there, but it was interesting was normally when you go in the grass, like we did today, you get soaked. One of the reasons I don't do it in nice dress shoes oh well, I forgot my gum boots. But you know, whatever, it's okay, they're going to dry out, it's going to be fine. It was worth it, though.
Speaker 1:Well, I had my hygiene boots on we ended up getting some nice sightings and like I said, we got some nice pictures, so that was really fun. I tried my best.
Speaker 3:I think what's really funny in a place like we're at today is, you know, the trails are not that far off.
Speaker 1:No, no, not at all yeah.
Speaker 3:And people are like I don't know what those guys are doing, I'm not going to have any part of that. Let's get out of here. That's too weird, you know like all you do is look at the trees where I was going. Oh, no, no that's too, too, that's out of place. Oh my goodness, you notice that I sure do. We walked out. They looked at us like where did they come from? Oh my God.
Speaker 1:They're bush people. They came out of the trees.
Speaker 3:They're tree people. Oh my God, that's pretty funny. You know, it marks just like yeah, how's it going?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't care man. I love what I do and I'm not ashamed.
Speaker 3:It's like I'm carrying all my equipment. Yeah, that just happened. I'm walking on oh yeah, it's hilarious. Yeah, man, no shame.
Speaker 1:No shame. No shame in my game no no, no no, no problem with that game.
Speaker 3:No, no, no no, no no, no, no, no, no, no. But yeah, no, when I was thinking about that. You know, the days are really short Now.
Speaker 3:I know it's everybody's getting depressed, ish, and totally understandable. It's a shock to the system. We went back an hour and then it gets dark at like four or 30. So it's an adjustment. So I always tell people get through the next six weeks, get to Christmas, and things start changing. You have Christmas, new Year's Okay, now we're flowing. The days are going to get incrementally longer, just by a little bit, and then by February you start noticing it and so that this is the hard part of the year. Folks, you can do it. I mean, we're going to do it with you. We're here for you. Oh yeah, we're here for you. We got that wave energy people.
Speaker 1:No, my thing is I just, you know, long as there's nice sunny blue sky days. I'm going to try to make the best of the short day. Yeah, totally Go for a walk or hike. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, if you go out on a cloudy day I guess it's okay too, but I found today just had that.
Speaker 3:Oh it's perfect, all the birds were showing you the energy man, they're just like oh yeah, I'm just going to snooze right here and you know I'm not going to be woken up by anything. And then the eagle flies over and all like freaking out. And then they're like okay, he's gone. Yeah, because I don't know, I don't know you, but I noticed a lot of ducks sleeping today. It was like they've been stressed out by the weather and then suddenly it's like ooh, snooze in the nice warm sun yeah so it was kind of funny.
Speaker 1:So for that one moment, they all woke up at the same time, and shes and I never did understand why that happened. No, I didn't quite see anything.
Speaker 3:I didn't see any poochies. I didn't see any eagles, and unless there was an animal that we missed around the corner or something.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 3:I don't really know. It was pretty wild though.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:It was fun seeing this flurry of activity, and then they all calmed down, went back to the ground so like, okay, it can't be that serious, they're already snoozing after three seconds of oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah.
Speaker 1:But yeah, no, I was perfect man, perfect like the feeling man. I felt really good.
Speaker 3:It was good.
Speaker 1:I still feel good, but, yeah, I needed that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, me too. Me too. The other day I was out at Harrison Mills and on the bridge there that goes over the river you would look sort of, I guess, at the Shehalis and the Harrison. They kind of merged there, I guess. Anyway, the whole estuary has got salmon that are spawned. Oh yeah, and holy cow. I mean you can't count all those eagles that are sitting there. It's insane. I mean there's hundreds upon hundreds of them. I think we ended up on just one side of the bridge when we counted.
Speaker 3:I think we got up to about a thousand sixty plus birds.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, if there's lots of salmon, there's lots of meal Sweet story.
Speaker 3:And then you know it was crazy. And then and you look to the other side of the bridge, it's like, oh, I think there's as many, if not more, on that side. So you know, you think there's at least a couple thousand birds. I was crazy, my goodness. I mean I was in a Brackendale in the old days, in the 80s, 90s or whatever, and you would see that there, and that's of course, not the case anymore. That's up like on the coast or past Squamish whatever, but they're all here and it was crazy. And you know you got all these other things there too gulls and ducks and whatever, but it was just wild. So I put that out there. If anybody's hearing this local, go check that out. You can't miss it. They just stop look. And oh yeah, those logs have white heads and tails and they fly.
Speaker 2:Okay, those are eagles.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God, because you know people are driving by and you can see them going. What are they looking at? Oh, they're looking at. Oh, you can sort of tell, right, I mean, I've made this. It's kind of funny. So I thought that was pretty wild and that's something we'll have to go do, check that out before it's over, because it'll be in November and then by the end of December it's kind of done.
Speaker 1:That's one thing I love is the human nature of curiosity. Get over sitting there looking. Oh, some people come like what are you guys looking at?
Speaker 3:Well, I call that the thumber question what you looking at, and you know, and when they see a telescope, first they think it's a camera. Second, they've never seen in a piece of equipment like that before, so they got to think something is going on. And then there's the people that just go, oh and walk away.
Speaker 3:They don't even want to look, they don't want to learn, they want nothing. It's like wait a minute, you're taking my time out of my enjoyment and you want me to tell you what I'm looking at, and then it's kind of like you could at least stand there and let me explain or have a look for yourself. I mean, come on Right. I always find that bizarre, you know, so I came up with that expression.
Speaker 3:The thumber question what you looking at, because it's so true man and you know, like if we were to do that in a place like downtown Vancouver, on the waterfront, where a lot of people are walking, I'm going to tell you, matt's can be person after person, after person after person, and I believe it and less their hearts. They just kind of curious, they just want to know what you're looking at.
Speaker 3:But I mean after a while you're kind of like I need a sign put up going shh, I'm birding. I remember one time we were over on Gabriel Island off Denoyamo there this was oh years ago we were looking for this very rare warbler that had shown up at first time in the province called Yellow Throne Warbler. The place you see them is Texas and Florida, so it's kind of lost. It was the winter, time was coming to a suet feeder, and so there's all these people close together in a group, very slowly walking down the street and looking at every tree. So this lady comes out of her house and she made the mistake of asking my old man, you know what she looking at? And without a bat of an eye he just goes, baby Cougar, and she goes.
Speaker 3:Ah, she runs in her house. You hear the door go click and all the windows click, click, click and then she phone the neighbors. You can hear the click, click, click, click and I said I said do you have any idea what you just said? You know, like my God man, you're going to have like the people in a mob scene here with torches and guns, and that's not what you say over here, that's a real thing.
Speaker 1:Like people can freak out.
Speaker 3:When you say that man, that's a big no-no. Oh my God, I couldn't believe that. I mean it was just kind of funny the reaction. But actually having lived in some communities on the island, I'm not surprised. There's usually a Cougar attack every year of some kid right, so it kind of wasn't funny yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:Kind of funny in the way he did it, but still it's like what are you doing, man? But that's one of the best answers I've ever heard, though, to the Thumper question what you looking at? Baby Cougar Literally screamed and ran her house and there's like 30 people standing there going, looking at my dad going what did you do? Where's my dad being? My dad is like hey man not my problem, like are you sure it's not going to be our problem Worked out.
Speaker 2:we saw the bird and nobody bugged us, but it was kind of like man, what are you doing?
Speaker 3:I have a lot of those type of stories where people are like what are you looking at? And I remember a friend of mine goes we're studying clouds, okay. The shapes in clouds yes, and this one poor person thought he was serious. Oh my God. I kind of just picked up the tripod Very slowly, methodically moved away Because it's like what are you doing? What's another one? Oh, sasquatch, and then aliens, and oh, so many different, really funny answers actually.
Speaker 3:My late friend David. He passed away sadly. He was one of the funniest people I ever knew. He always had those one liners like that.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, he goes well.
Speaker 3:If I have to tell you this, you're going to have to be sworn to secrecy. I'm going to have to get out like blood ink pen you're going to have to sign a deposition, because if I tell you then you're going to, you know we may have to kill you. I'm sorry but you know we can't, we really can't divulge this top secret stuff that we're looking at.
Speaker 1:You shall enter the story.
Speaker 3:The people are looking at you like oh my God, what have I stumbled upon? Is this real? Am I going to get?
Speaker 2:hurt.
Speaker 3:And I'm just sitting there going, oh man, I can't keep a straight face Like I don't. I got to look away. Now you get people that are like that. Usually I would. After this happened a few times I'm thinking, oh great, you know, something bad's going to happen. I just go birds, it's okay, birds, and you know, and oh okay. But then you get the other person that really wants to check it out.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I never minded that, but I did want to have a sign or a shirt that said if you're going to ask me what I'm looking at, take an interest in what I'm doing or don't ask it all, cause it gets to be a little monotonous after a while.
Speaker 1:I suppose yeah.
Speaker 3:You're kicking in my time, you're taking my energy and you're going to bug me.
Speaker 1:But I thought about it and I am going to get you your sign made by Acme.
Speaker 2:I want the coyote.
Speaker 3:I want Wiley Coyote on there, and then okay, you have the road runner, eat meat and I'll be okay, nevermind.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 3:God, oh, my God.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 3:It's been that kind of day, everybody. Yeah, lots of fun. I'm in a much happier mindset. Yeah, yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 1:Another day, another venture of the bird drive.
Speaker 3:I wasn't a great mindset, but there was some weird energy yesterday. I'm not going into the gory details. But, now I'm feeling that Good, I'm glad. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like I said, the magic four.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:That too, Joe Bass.
Speaker 3:And my marriage has finally passed. I am officially divorced. I got the paperwork. Woo hoo, yeah, team, oh yeah, oh yeah, still friends. But it just feels so liberating not to have that anymore of being a problem in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's a different kind of energy, sure.
Speaker 2:That's a totally different program.
Speaker 3:We'll do that another day. But, yeah yeah, no, it's you know. I just would love it if someone would call me back and actually give me a second call back for an interview. People out there I'm talking to you Because I don't know what it is Everyone's telling me how hard it is to find a job right now. It really sucks. I just really want to keep the energy going, get something I like doing and just go with it. Yeah, so.
Speaker 1:Well, sure yeah.
Speaker 2:Come on, people, Give me a job man.
Speaker 3:No, anyway, my goodness. No, the wave energy is interesting.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 3:It comes from something the positive energy around you, the positive energy and the life around you, the force. I mean, it really is kind of like the Star Wars, you know, the force.
Speaker 1:Okay. I think that maybe I like this analogy. Maybe that's where that came from. I like this analogy.
Speaker 3:I don't know, but this person who wrote the book was on Star Wars fan.
Speaker 1:I like this analogy.
Speaker 3:The Star Wars thing is on to something Now.
Speaker 1:Maybe you know.
Speaker 3:I'm hey, wait a minute, Darth Vader's not coming into the podcast, you know? No, that's not happening. I'm not talking about that. So Darth will talk to you another time. No, what I'm talking about is that energy they're talking about. It's a real thing, it's a real thing. And it's not a, you're not using it.
Speaker 3:You are just becoming one with it and you're embracing it, and you're bringing it in yourself and you're putting it back out so someone else like you can use it and the next person can use it. It's kind of one of these things you can't destroy it, you can't change it, it's just there. I noticed that when we go up burning, it's just like double your pleasure, double your fun, we double the energy and wow, literally, is the right word. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:I mean. I wouldn't say so much that it can't be destroyed or anything. I mean it can definitely have a disturbance in the force.
Speaker 3:I mean, if someone or something negative oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm going to pause the energy.
Speaker 1:But it can disturb it, can you know? Yeah, you can lose it, but you can also get it back If you know how to do it that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3:If you can't gain it for some reason, because you're not in the right frame of mind, it's still there, that's what I'm getting at?
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, it's always there.
Speaker 3:I find that really fascinating, Because until I'd sort of embrace this, the wow factor that we've come to love, I would have said, yeah, maybe you know, maybe I mean, sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm sad and I didn't really understand that it's a philosophy, it's almost a spiritual thing. You have to open yourself to it, you have to think about it like bring it in, let it out. Bring it in, let it out, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Almost a meditational thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, kind of.
Speaker 3:When you declutter your brain of all the negativity, it makes it a whole lot easier.
Speaker 2:So that's what I've been trying to do I've?
Speaker 3:been trying to keep my brain stress-free, clutter-free, trauma-free. That is not easy, because life comes up things happen, right, but the best way to do it is to like I swear to God I hate these words, but it's true.
Speaker 2:Let it go let it go, let it go.
Speaker 3:You know you got to let it go, whatever way you have to. You don't have to forgive anything. Just let it be put it in the past, live in the now, live in the wow, now wow.
Speaker 1:Now, near now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, near now, and bow, wow, and holy cow, and holy holy mao, wow, anyway, but it's true, it's true, it's certainly like, if I think about where I was last year and where I am now, night and day.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Night and day. It was a very rough year last year and similar issues don't bother me the same way. So something elevates you out of that and the trick is to just stay in that elevated space. You're gonna go up and down. I guess that's the wave.
Speaker 1:That's, yeah, that's nice but you know, that's the trick.
Speaker 3:I think I'm doing my best. I get tested all the time, you know, and I know it works. That's the thing. That's the thing I've noticed about it is you get tested, things come up, how do you react to it, how do you get back to it? Oh, I like that. I like that.
Speaker 1:It's just how you remain balanced on the wave. As long as you're balanced on the wave, you have full balance, you can take the bad with the good. So, as you're riding it down, so it could be, you know, shitty day, or whatever, as long as you have balance, you're gonna go back up. It's the balance.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like you're on this weirdly shaped surfboard and as long as you stay centered and you are in that nice straight zone of balance, you're not gonna get knocked off that easily. It would have to be something pretty dramatic for your. You know, once you learn how to play with this properly, it would take something pretty dramatic to knock you off that when you couldn't just get back up and go okay, I can get back all this, I can do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've now got myself to a spot where, yeah, it takes a lot.
Speaker 3:Takes a lot of practice. I'm getting there, though it takes a lot for me to lose balance. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because I got this. I don't know how to express it, but this calmness where it's like you know, I learned to yeah, sensei, yeah, I learned to just breathe.
Speaker 3:I am only a small grasshopper. Teach me Obi-Wan. Teach me Obi-Wan.
Speaker 1:I just learned to breathe and let things go and, just like I said, the magic four man, like this too, shall pass. So is it shitty right now, or am I having a hard time? Or yeah, you are, or whatever, but it'll go, it passes. You'll look back on it.
Speaker 3:These words of wisdom are brought to you by Sensei Marcus.
Speaker 1:He is too much man, too much he is the man Too much, but it's true.
Speaker 3:It's true, I'm learning that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And the thing is you know, when you grow up and you have a lot of dysfunction in your life, like I did, you're not taught that.
Speaker 1:No, no, I mean, I had You're looking for that, but you don't necessarily understand how to find it.
Speaker 3:It's not like someone's gonna show you.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But if you can talk to like-minded people, you can make it a lot easier to find it too right, so it's a really interesting thing. I find this whole process has been very good and I just want to continue on.
Speaker 1:I do get tested and it takes all sorts of things to get here, Like with me. It took a lot of traumatic events.
Speaker 3:Sometimes you have to hit the bottom to hit the go back up.
Speaker 1:Like trying to control. Delete myself a few times, got saved, turned my life around, you know. And then he means literally save. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, from the brink yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely man.
Speaker 3:I guess that's similar. I kind of went there and popped back so wow, you know, maybe that's how you find the wow energy.
Speaker 1:You got to tap into the real energy, I think when it really tapped in was you know, after all that, and I tried to turn my life around and I created this podcast and so on, and I was still living where I was living and things were all right. And then I moved out this way and then the first place I had, I got that I had that fire.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was sad man.
Speaker 1:So that was like-.
Speaker 3:That's a good test.
Speaker 1:That was where I think it truly became. Is that that point? Because that's true, I've never in my life, looking back at that time now, stayed so calm.
Speaker 1:You know, I walked outside I talked to everybody, emergency, all that stuff. I went to the motel. I stayed at the motel, I got right on because I had my laptop in me. I got right on just looking for places. I even had to visit with my daughter when I stayed there for pizza. My daughter, you know, and I just I made it work and I found a place. I never lost my mind once, you know like sure. I got upset, or sure I was kind of stressed or worried, but yeah, never in my life.
Speaker 1:I look back now and I'm just like wow, I never thought I'd never handle something like that.
Speaker 3:No, I remember that and yeah, you're quite right, you were very calm. I mean, I was more stressed about it, and then I lived here in this empty house and we connected.
Speaker 1:And you really helped me by taking me out, and I got out and away from it at the time being.
Speaker 3:But when he says empty, I mean none of his furniture was in here, None.
Speaker 1:Everything was in storage. Yeah, it was, and it all smelled so good and I wasn't sure, if I was, you know, getting everything back or any, you know, I have no idea at the time Then you got the couches and you started getting stuff in here, yeah, rebuilt.
Speaker 3:Rebuilt and you know, yeah, we got out and I sort of showed you a different way of looking at the world with the hawk thing. And of course we started doing the early podcast things and yeah, it kind of just went from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I went through after that. This is, you know, last year. It's hard to believe that's a year I know right, seems like 10. I went through like this spiral down and I could not get up. It was just a like a death spiral and I just couldn't pull the stick and get out of it and finally I guess I crashed last.
Speaker 1:Well, around this time maybe, or a little bit after this, because we just connected there for a while.
Speaker 3:Well, I did that around now. I did that to protect our friendship. I decided I didn't want to wreck friendships over my problems. Let me work it out and I'll come back. And you understood that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely man. And then I realized at Christmas is.
Speaker 3:you know, I had to change something. Things just weren't working out and I had to find a new path and I said that at Christmas we're going to go a new path now.
Speaker 3:So then started working out to be pretty good. And then I had that unfortunate fall, really messed me up, but I had that horrendous heart attack and started to cross to the other side. And then a friend of mine who had passed away tells me nope, not yet Not your time. And now I get why. Because what he was saying was you've got a lot of good stuff that's going to happen. It's not yet time. But I did like his humor, and if you knew Paul you'd know when he literally said this and I don't remember everything, but I remember this we'll see you soon, but not just yet.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, like that's, paul here.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 3:God bless him. I love that man, he was wonderful. But yeah, so you know, I think that there's this, that that's a wave, that's a really strong, heavy, massive wave. And that's where I'm thinking when I think about the wow factor. You don't want that. That's too much. That's really up and down. That's not what we're talking about.
Speaker 3:It's just a normal up and down of life in a normal sense of it's just this shallow thing, and when it evens out it's actually pretty normal. It's like when you drive over gravel. You know, as long as there's not huge potholes in it, you can just kind of fly across it and you know your car is going to be fine. But you put big holes in it and suddenly bam bam, bam and that's. That's the up and down I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so bottom out.
Speaker 3:I think it. The small waves are okay If they get too severe. That's where it can hard to maintain. So anytime I get sort of in that state of I just want to pull my hair out because I'm having one of those days, I literally do the thing where I go stop whoa, hold on what's going on and then it's just okay. Bad energy out, bad energy out.
Speaker 2:And I take my hands.
Speaker 3:You can't see me doing this, but I'm taking the hands from my chest going out. Bad energy out, good energy in, bad energy out. And then it's like good energy out, good energy in good energy in. You can really feel it after a while. If you really believe it, you'll feel the bad go and then the good go out, but the good come back in. There's something to that.
Speaker 1:Oh, brother, I felt the other day when you texted me I was like, oh yeah, you're having a hard time.
Speaker 2:I'm glad.
Speaker 1:And I'm so glad that you did text me, Because before you wouldn't until later. So, I was just, I was very glad, because I was like oh, my goodness, let's flip that around again.
Speaker 3:It also helps.
Speaker 3:I've got a new friend and she's really cool and she's really into energy and maybe we'll get her on the show one of these days and that's been really nice. Yeah, nothing like a new female friend to really help you feel great. I don't know, and again, I wasn't really looking for that, it just kind of evolved that one. So I don't know, things are looking up. Just got to get back on track with work and everything will be good. But it is nice to have the flexibility on a beautiful day, on a Thursday, to just go Come on man, it's a good day, let's go.
Speaker 2:There's no one there.
Speaker 3:And you get there and it's parking lots fairly empty, there's not many people, and it's like oh yeah, this is nice too. I do like that Because the weekends, hey, that's when everybody's there, right.
Speaker 1:So, and yeah, that's okay.
Speaker 3:But it's just, I like a little less people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And the birds can pick up on that energy better, I think, when there's less people around. You know like things were showy today.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I noticed that from me, like if I was there on a weekend and they come out but they're a lot more hesitant because there's a lot more going on and then less going on, more calm, more peaceful energy. They pick up on our energy and they're like Okay, we'll check them out. You know, there's something to that, because swamp sparrows are super skulky birds and that thing he came out today and just well, the photos on your oh yeah, say it all.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's gonna say it all folks, this bird, I can show you all the photos I take of them, the head sticking out a little bit covered over it, kind of peering through vegetation. Mark has a photo opportunity. I'm out in the open, look at me. Come on, mark, take my photo. I'm beautiful and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's kind of like no, I'm just enjoying looking at him. You take the photo. It's just funny how that works, you know.
Speaker 1:Well, like I said before, I absolutely love the photography part about it.
Speaker 3:So I actually like it too, and one of these days, when I get a better camera where the focus isn't messed up, you guys out there will see my photos, because I'm like you, I actually do like taking really pretty shots, and it just frustrates me every time I try something with this particular camera. It was given to me, it's by your uncle, who dropped it 23 times.
Speaker 3:And it shows, because it's like one day the focus works. Next time I've got a great shot and it doesn't work. And then you know it'll go a whole week where it doesn't work and then suddenly it magically works for a week.
Speaker 1:And here I thought it just had the new technology, you know, part time focus.
Speaker 3:Yes, Well, you know I want full time all the time, every time. Or at least, if you're going to have a couple of focus, give me a couple in focus.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, well, a lot of my swamp sparrows it's like blur, blur, blur and then beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 3:So that and we, you know, okay, we'll do this right now. The trick is and I learned this from my friends who take photos, and that's what they do you get an opportunity, you just bam bam, bam, bam, bam bam. Now, if you have a setting, that's burst.
Speaker 1:I have it on burst yeah then you get the burst. Now.
Speaker 3:I don't have that, so I just keep going, bang, bang bang bang with my finger. And eventually the camera will adjust and it'll take the really nice shot. One of these days I'm going to have a great camera to share my pictures. Oh my God, it'll be glorious. Until then, that's fine. Mark will be the leader. We'll be our photography leader, and that's fine. I dub the cameraman extraordinaire. Yep, you just go for it, marky baby, and take as many pictures as you can. I love it.
Speaker 1:I can enjoy it, so do I. I like watching them anyway.
Speaker 3:I grew up watching them. I'm not really. It isn't my thing to just go. Oh, I need a picture. I want to see it. You know I want to enjoy it, I want to feel the energy, I want to study it. If I can get pictures and videos, sure. But, it honestly. It isn't. You know, if you burn up with me, you notice it's not the go to thing I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, For me it's kind of the opposite, Like I love scene but basically I just love taking pictures. I love finding the shot.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and that is fun too, but most of all.
Speaker 1:I mean, I just give you the pictures so we can put them on your website.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, as long as I've got something.
Speaker 1:And share them. Of course, you know I like to share them. Hey, I say share them If they'd like to see them.
Speaker 3:Share them, put them out there. That's great. You know, the experience is what I'm after.
Speaker 1:Yeah exactly.
Speaker 3:I was so excited you got the pig nail up for people because that was one, so that's being whistling to them which sounds tone perfect. I couldn't believe that. I was like really, that's me. Oh, I've never heard myself recorded before like that.
Speaker 3:But what I loved about the owl was he did something that he really doesn't do that often in the fall he trilled. That's more something to do in the spring, when their hormones are really excited, but we're at a time in the year when the light is just like spring. So they get this opposite thing where their hormones kind of go briefly like that. So he did the to trill and you got it on video.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I mean we're talking about one of the cutest little owls you've ever seen. I mean they're not that big. No, if everybody knows what a Robin looks like. They're smaller than that. Yeah, they're not bigger I mean Jesus like the size of a spotted toy. They're not big, so they're pretty cute. But yeah, I don't know if it comes across in the photos, but I've said it before, I'm gonna say it one more time. They don't look at you, they look through you 100%.
Speaker 3:I mean he's got these eyebrows, so it's like it's pissed off. Like you woke me up. What do you want?
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah it comes loud and clear when you look at the pictures, Like who disturbs my boil? Snooze? I was having a lovely nap. What do you want? Talk to me now? All right, now leave me alone. And I'm going back to my well, because that happened the other day. I was down there and I saw him in the tree and he, he didn't move the whole time. So I just happened to see him and he kind of looked there and went Boop, boop, like yeah, yeah, whatever, dude, Back to sleep. It never moved once and then you could tell him he went to sleep. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep and I kind of went no, I'm not doing anymore of the alcohol, Don't need to disturb you at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Your majesty, Sorry your grace, sorry your grace.
Speaker 3:And I went down the road and I thought, ah, you know what, I'm just going to go. I don't want to bug this guy, he doesn't need me harassing him, I'm just. You know, he can terrorize the village later at sunset when he goes out hunting.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh man, I remember years ago oh geez, that's got to be 20 plus years now Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver, there's a green area. It's a conservation area they set aside and there was a pig mail hanging out there. So we went and checked it out and this pig mail he was really tame. He'd be sitting where you are on the bramble, four feet away, like you should see. If I can find the photos, I'll put them up on the site because I couldn't miss on that one. And he's just sitting there right and I didn't have to do a whistle or anything.
Speaker 3:And suddenly he looks over at the corner and he goes in the grass. He grabs this huge black rat that is bigger than he is. Whoa, whoa. And there's no way. This thing this is like this weighs five times as much. They have hollow bones, for God's sake, I mean. He flies up with it. He just lifts up and lands on the bramble and starts chopping away. And it's like that thing just lifted literally five to 10 times its body weight. Like what is this the All-Star wrestler Like, is he in the Olympics? Like, how did he do that? I have no idea this day how he did that. Some weird physics law was broken that moment, man, it was wild, it was wild. And of course everyone shows up and we're all just tripping out on this owl and he's just like, yeah, I'm cool, I know, I'm having my breakfast now.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:But they really, yeah, they do have that regal quality about them and they're like yes, love me. Yes, my little subjects love me, right. So you know, we got to go back tomorrow and find that great horned owl, right, like the one in the fall of that magic cave yeah, another year and I knew it was there.
Speaker 3:I could see the whitewash. Oh man. Yeah, we definitely seen that, that's where it was Right in that area and I'm like it's here, when is it? It's above me. But of course we're looking in the sun too, right, and it's like, oh man, yeah, the lighting was kind of top-level, I think that was the factor Plus. Then we had all the sparrows. We got distracted and I, yeah, it's OK. It's OK, all in good time, all in good time. Everything happens for a reason.
Speaker 1:All in good time.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:But I love finding owls in the daytime, sleeping where you don't disturb them, you just sort of see them. They're like oh OK, and they sneak up and you're watching and they're just relaxed and all that. That's my favorite, because you're just seeing them as is, they're not all stressed out or they're not all freaked out or they're not all pissed off, which is usually what the case is. If you're in a territory and they come at you, it's kind of like I'm here, what do you want? No, no, no, out of my territory. That's actually what they're doing. So you don't want to do that too often. I try not to no. So yeah, but yeah, but yeah. Hey, you know what was interesting Last week? There was dragonfly still flying around, which is crazy late, holy shit. And think about it. Today we didn't see any.
Speaker 1:No, actually I didn't see any, I guess we finally hit the cold factor, that's now.
Speaker 3:It's too cold for them to be around. Yeah, I think we just so officially got to be winter in mid November. Now I mean that's too bad, but it's probably a good thing. I don't really want to see those guys at this date. Date, there's not a lot to eat, oh yeah. So, but yeah, it was literally a week ago. I was seeing dragonflies flying around still. And again, we're not in California or some southern latitude over up here in.
Speaker 3:Canada. It's kind of cold and so, yeah, I was a little surprised about it, but doesn't mean we can't find another one. It's just we didn't see any today and, given it was only a couple of weeks ago, we were there and we had them flying around. I think maybe we finally hit the threshold. So stay tuned. We will let you know, oh for sure. Details at 11.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't know what else can we discuss here. What else is going on, Mark?
Speaker 1:Oh man, a lot of things, a lot of things. I mean I'm still trying to finish up that screenplay and oh yeah, you know lots.
Speaker 3:I think we should start one with my crazy Wackdod adventure and I'm really glad folks love the stories. They're all true. I didn't embellish a thing. I have lived a crazy, crazy life when I was younger, so I think it's great we should do yours, then we'll do mine, and then we'll have a feature presentation, a four hour movie. We'll start with Markey Baby and then we'll transition into me. And it starts with me in a tent at night fighting out. Uh-oh, it's like Mitch, we're not in Kansas anymore. We better swim for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That'll be what we do, man, ok. So yeah, I mean I've been working on the website, keeping it up to date. Hopefully people are going to check it out and enjoy the pictures and the description below. All the crazy stuff. And so where are you at on your screenplays? It's sort of your youth years, are you?
Speaker 1:past that. Yeah, oh yeah. No, I'm still in youth, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a lot to write about.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 3:I mean, what do you leave in, what do you leave out, what do you sort of elaborate on?
Speaker 1:I mean there's a lot of great childhood. I mean I do not, oh you're lucky. I do not say it was all dark, lots of dark, but like I had a great childhood, I mean I guess I had those good moments too sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's so easy to focus on the negative though that's the go-to place, but actually, if you think about it, yeah, there was some fun shit.
Speaker 1:We all do it, though.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's programming.
Speaker 1:And I think yeah, I think that comes from the years of media and stuff. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Anything that's negative, it's like boom, gravitate to it, like, oh, what's going on? What's going on.
Speaker 3:News media in the new year, and this year has been phenomenal, and it's sort of like look, I'm over 50. I have money. I'm going to think that ain't going to change my mind. I just don't need to be depressed about shit. I already know things or have problems, sure, and that helps a lot actually. But you always remember filter with anything and don't be fooled by things that sound too good to be true or et cetera, et cetera. Right, yeah, but your screenplay, I think you just keep working on it, it'll come together you know you get bursts of energy when you want to write.
Speaker 3:Like when I wrote the online book, which is what that website is that was not done in one day. I mean, that took years, and I would have times where I just did not want to sit in front of here and write anything. I could not think of anything to write, I didn't feel like it, and then I'd sit down and I'd start writing and the next thing you know it's just flowing. So it is funny how that works.
Speaker 1:Oh, for sure.
Speaker 3:You get these. It's a wave. It's like everything else is a wave.
Speaker 1:Oh, and more news too. There's a lot of music coming up too. Jason shall be back in the studio, I believe Saturday he's going to come out.
Speaker 3:Oh cool.
Speaker 1:So yeah, lots of music coming up, oh wow.
Speaker 3:I'm only hearing about this for the first time. This is exciting news.
Speaker 1:I wrote that song I don't know, we'll see what you can do. Instrumental.
Speaker 3:The drumbeat song. Is that the one?
Speaker 1:No, no, no, the one I wrote the lyrics.
Speaker 3:Oh, that one, oh no, that could be fun. That could be fun to hear what you do with that that could be.
Speaker 1:I find I'm very proud of it. I think it's a beautiful song.
Speaker 3:Have these guys heard your drum song with all the different types of drum?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's out now.
Speaker 3:That's all oh yeah, that's a crazy, that is one crazy.
Speaker 1:It's kind of cool. Huh, it's almost you can definitely drive to that.
Speaker 3:You could probably dance to it. I have no idea, I just know it's got that real nice vibe to it.
Speaker 1:The vibe I got to get from it is like it's almost anthem or like movie, a scene where there's huge action going on.
Speaker 3:I feel like I'm at a drum circle and you've got some sort of ceremony going on.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know. I just feel like there's a huge action scene going on.
Speaker 3:I don't mean like First Nations here. I mean like Samoan people. They're doing the island dance the traditional stuff. It's got that kind of I don't know. I just I feel like I want to go to the beach somewhere and be doing See me being a movie tarred Me too.
Speaker 1:Right away it just to me. The vibes I got was like a big action sequence.
Speaker 3:That's. I guess you could have that too.
Speaker 1:So when you're watching a movie, that particular sequence or scene, that music. And I think it would probably work with a lot of them.
Speaker 3:Actually, that's true. I could see a lot of different scenarios with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I really do see like a ceremony.
Speaker 1:Oh sure, yeah, I know it has that vibe here.
Speaker 3:Like there's a you know, you think of those movies you've seen. Where you're in the South Pacific, you've got the leader, the king, and there's some sort of ceremony thing and they're doing the drum beats and stuff that. It reminds me of that. I don't know why I go there, it just reminds me of that.
Speaker 1:But there could be battle scenes.
Speaker 3:I mean they could be fighting.
Speaker 1:That's what I mean Big action, sequences, I don't know.
Speaker 3:We should ask them if they love that. Maybe they can use that in the documentary or something. I don't know, it's just a great. It's a really neat piece of music. But yeah, I look forward to what you guys do with this new one. That's going to be really interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I mean, he's absolutely amazing musician, so you know he can take the lyrics and just write the music right to it.
Speaker 3:That's cool, that's very cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, he's kind of opposite of what most people do. He does it the reverse way how he writes music. I.
Speaker 3:Used to write a song. It was just come to me like on a, literally on a wave, I don't know. You just kind of go into a trance and then this sound would come into my head and it gets so loud I can't hear anything else until I start playing it, and it still happens to this day. I have to hum it or sing it out, and then after that, if you know, I didn't ever really had any way other than a tape deck to maybe do something with it. Oh, it never sounded right. But if there was a way to Capture that, then I would probably put lyrics to it after I'd done the music, unless, of course, the words came first for some reason and then you could build around it. I mean, I guess there's different ways you could do that, but yeah, yeah but that happened to me.
Speaker 3:I was leading a boat trip and and I couldn't sleep. I was way too excited. Yeah, I don't know, I just couldn't sleep. So I was at my friend's place and His, his son, had left his guitar there. It was an electric, but it was. I didn't plug it in. I was like two in the morning.
Speaker 3:I just yeah so I started messing around and actually, you know, I had a song and it was. It was not too bad, you know, and I really wish I'd been able to Write it down and record it, because I can't remember how I did it now it's too long ago. I should have kept going with it and then stored it. You know, because I was younger I could do things like that. Yeah, it's like anything. You don't practice it, kind of faith.
Speaker 3:Oh, fair enough yeah but that's how I always used to do music was I would sort of come up with some sort of melody and and then I'd sort of think about words. If I was gonna use words, I'd do that afterward, but but I'm not really a songwriter per se. I was more of a poetry writer, but I wasn't really a songwriter.
Speaker 1:So but then again, I guess that's just depends kind of how I Look at myself to a more of a poet.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I used to love writing poetry.
Speaker 1:I think it's Jason. Long ago, when I was young teenager you know, he's the one that kind of They'll be up like looked at my poetry and said you mean had the song, because it's there what you call pose. I do believe which is like song you can transition them in the song real easy, that's right. Yeah, so the yeah. So it's kind of weird poetry I have the right to song on some like that myself.
Speaker 3:Actually, I could put to music. It was it. Just it happens that way. Yeah, it's just the way it comes out of you If you're in that zone right. Other times not so much, but then there's times it does. That's true, that's very true.
Speaker 1:I know what you mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's cool. Especially, did bush work, I would have crazy stuff, cuz I think it was all the energy around me, all the trees and the nature, and I mean you, just if you tapped into it or you're sensitive to it, you just Elevate you and I come up with just wonderful, wonderful poetry, lyrics, music, it would all come. I Wish I had Found a way to capture some of that so I could share it, because it was really. If you could see where I was standing, you would understand maybe why I was saying what I was saying, cuz sometimes it was capturing beauty, sometimes it's a clear cut, capturing horror and disgusting destruction, but it didn't really matter. You know, I would sort of write about what was around me, yeah oh yeah.
Speaker 3:And it was always interesting. I have that still, by the way. I should dig that stuff out, maybe we can write oh, I got a baby, we could do a song.
Speaker 1:I got locks. My man, most of my stuff, though you know from early days, will call it. It's pretty dark.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's all at that time. Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:But I keep it because it just reminds me how far I've come.
Speaker 3:You know, I have a little stuff from that year in my life to not, and you can see the difference in writing.
Speaker 1:Which is kind of. It's kind of neat and satisfying because I just looked at and go, wow, I started like that. And then look at this one I wrote, read just recently oh, you know well, you'll find pearls you also find evolution and you'll find changes and you'll find the way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know where it goes upward or downward. Oh yeah, yeah, that's so cool yeah, man.
Speaker 3:That's so cool. Music is again. That's another form of energy that if you have that ability to convey that, people catch that and they Grab on to that because it it gets your ear and it gets your soul, gets your body. You can't taste it and you can't actually Touch it, but in my case I really feel it, I feel music, I feel the note.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I know, you know some people are like that something, yeah but I'm one of those people do remember, music is Pro, you know, one of, if not the most powerful thing, planet. It makes people cry and makes people angry.
Speaker 3:I mean it's a real strong form of energy.
Speaker 1:It's a reminiscent, feel things they've gone through, or relate. Yeah, yeah, it just does.
Speaker 3:It crosses all boundaries.
Speaker 1:Incredible things.
Speaker 3:Religion, race or whatever.
Speaker 1:It doesn't make any difference.
Speaker 3:It's a human thing and and you can, you can touch and Connect with anyone through music.
Speaker 1:That's what I love about it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. Now, it doesn't mean I love all kinds of music. Maybe some kinds are my kind. That's fine, it's a, it's a choice thing, personal taste, but it is amazing how that energy You're taking that energy that's out there and you're you're making it something audible and people can hear it and it's fun.
Speaker 1:I'm one of these quite Open mind, open-minded listeners, I mean I. I enjoy almost all genres, some genres more so than others, of course but it's a mood thing but I got a mood for some things. And no, no, no hip hop to a classic rock to it. You know folk to pop, to R&B gotta have R&B.
Speaker 3:I mean, I used to grow up and you know we go to the symphony and listen to symphony music and stuff and I played so many bloody instruments to kid I just got. I don't know something about it, I got out of it it was. I had a lot of negative experiences with, you know, teachers and like band teachers and things that just turned me off.
Speaker 1:You know this might sound strange, but one of my, I think, top or most favorite sounds or instruments Is that, like the flute, the pan flute.
Speaker 3:French horn. I love French horn.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. It's just something about yeah.
Speaker 1:Music. I can just sit there and try to. Yeah, float with it. I don't know.
Speaker 3:You know hard to Explain hopefully people know the band I'm talking about because it is like 60 years old but like the moody blues music all moody blues, these fluke yeah and it does take you somewhere.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, man, I love, I love mind music and journey music.
Speaker 3:They don't really make that type of music like that very much anymore. I mean, this is sort of like you listen to it and you, you just go into a story and you create it and then you go with it hmm, and when you're a kid and you're living in a shitty kind of household, it's an escape.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Lord knows, I did that escape. You know, I like floaty stuff.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I mean, stuff was super like the verb. That's very floaty.
Speaker 3:Yes, the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a scene Sound burden.
Speaker 3:Yep Very floaty progress is so good rest them. Yeah one of my favorite people. Oh, incredible talent yeah oh damn, it pisses me off. He passed away. Anyway, that's a different car, see, well, we were okay, so we were talking about that earlier you know, like all like it, my favorite musicians. I think there's only one left of that Seattle crew Eddie.
Speaker 1:Oh, the Seattle crew, the rest are all gone.
Speaker 3:It's terrible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he better. Yeah, the rest of them are gone.
Speaker 3:man Lane's gone, Kurt gone yeah. Chris is gone, yeah. I mean I know there were other ones, but they're kind of like the big four famous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they were like the four head top I, yeah, yeah, all favorites of mine.
Speaker 3:That's just awful.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:At least Eddie's around. Stay, stay healthy, eddie, we love you. But yeah, you know. But music is such a like I'll hear certain songs and I'm right back in a place. Yeah, oh yeah you know, just bomb back there it's like it's like smells. Mm-hmm from you. Its music can take me back to when I was five, can take me back to when I was 21. It can take me back Wherever it's insane, like if I hear Elton John music Like early mid 70s. I can see my living room in that era, the furniture.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'm like my sister, look like and Mm-hmm the hairstyle, everything.
Speaker 3:It's like I'm suddenly transformed back there.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Now, I don't know why, but that's what it does for me. Yeah it's crazy, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like what 80s music does for me, man. I love the 80s.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Airbands even like even one of my favorite genres.
Speaker 3:Man like even 80s movies, mike, god there's a lot of good music in the 80s, 90s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, especially for movies. Oh, john Hughes, hello yeah. Yeah yeah, just something about that era.
Speaker 3:I love the love 70s stuff too. I grew up in that area, oh yeah, so, yeah, you know, like the pill, the high shoes, you know, like, when I saw your uncle the other day, he rolled up and he was playing in a life wall and it's like Alan, I Love, I love that great music. It really is, it's top-notch. But I heard it so much as a child that I'm afraid that's permanently going to have to be one of those things I'm in the mood for. So he's turn it off.
Speaker 3:It's just because it when you're a kid and you have older people in the house and you're the youngest.
Speaker 1:They listen to it, whether you want to go right or not.
Speaker 3:No one ever thought to get headphones. Oh no, no, let's crank those speakers.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Stay. I mean great music, great music, oh my god, I think of it now. It's like classic. But I have to be in the right mode. Do listen to it, and then I like it.
Speaker 1:you know, I just heard too much see with me, some of my first bands were like deaf leopard.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I was like.
Speaker 1:Man, super young, spring scene. I for some reason, I think it was my first album my dad got me I.
Speaker 3:Like deaf leopard I. I liked high and dry and then 81. That was when I first heard them, and then they went big after that and then thanks to my older brother, my big brother, kevin.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's when the hip-hop came in. So it was when you call run DMC tougher, mother, salt and pepper fat boys public enemy. And then all of a sudden it got into like and the view easy, and it just went a little bit harder, you know and, like I say, I like some of that. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:I like, I like. That era particularly because they had some really serious stuff to talk about and educate. Yeah when I listen to it. Now, being a white guy, what would I know about what they're going through? I don't live that no. But they educated me. And that's the beauty of music. You can do all kinds of stuff with it.
Speaker 1:You can educate people, you can transform their understanding and I think some of the ones that you, some of those, oh, some of the ones that educate, me the most were like Keras one to park. He was so ahead of his time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you, yes that. That, no, that's a tragedy. That guy was so incredible yeah. I like them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, you know, music transforms, but you know, my first album I bought I was about God. I must have been eight. I bought Sergeant Pepper. Oh, no, talk about a mystical album. Wow, listening to when you're that age.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, man war the vinyl. Oh, that must have been just like life changing at that moment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is good. What are other albums by these the Beatles? Yeah let's try the white album. I end up buying them all actually, but I yeah, so I had the white album next. It was wild.
Speaker 1:Oh, and then?
Speaker 3:I got into that ears music big time and you know, and I'm just a little kid, but I, yeah, I got into a lot of that type of music. I loved cream, oh good, oh, you know, hendricks, all that stuff it was. It was stuff I got into as a little kid, mm-hmm, but yeah, sorry to pepper. Man you know, and I bought it with money I had earned, because records were only two bucks or something in that era.
Speaker 3:All right, I bought it breaking bottles at the recycling depot. Talk about the best job for an eight-year-old. Okay, so I'm gonna leave you here all day. This is my old man, john, your, your friend. John, here is in charge. He was an old hippie. There's a really nice guy. This is long before what it is today. This was a totally different operation and you know, you just break the bottles the way he wants to. Just don't, don't mix the colors now.
Speaker 3:So black, you know, brown goes in, brown, white goes in, white, green goes in color Right you leave me there for the day and I'd make I would make, like you know, 75, Maybe a buck if it was lucky. You know that's a lot of money. You know that your allowance, you know, was about 15 cents and you had to earn it right. So so that was on top of my allowance, so I would do that and I would break bottles. It was a best job ever had I mean, that was a good thrower to you know until you'd have, because you're throwing them in bins. Okay, so they had the bins.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I should show like I wish I could show people that. But you there were these big bins and you're throwing the bottles that people just drop off and then get any money in those days that I think that came a little later because I never saw any money change hands. But we're you know you get like a nickel or whatever. You would chuck them into the various bins.
Speaker 3:Yeah so I'd love this job. Now, the problem was every so often you get a stray and I remember one time, if all things the dark brown beer bottle, you know the stubby's they used to have that one went into the bin.
Speaker 3:They had the white glass, like the clear glass, and I remember I remember going over the hippie John who ran the thing and I went I'm so sorry, but I threw one at the wrong goes no problem. No, you have to visualize this guy, man, like classic zeezy top the beard, the hair, everything. Nice guy, really nice guy. Goes, no problem. I know we're gonna do now. It was a big kid, but he was a big guy. I'm gonna lift you up, I'm gonna hang you over the glass. You're gonna pull it out one by one with your fingers. Now Don't cut your fingers, I don't want have to tell your dad way you got bandages all over your fingers. I'm like, yes, sir, and so I remember he's hanging me over in this huge bin man.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna go on a ladder and he's holding by my ankles and I'm having to go down into this thing and I'm picking out all this glass because they reject it, that's it. They would just turf it type play. So I got every single piece I could find and he goes did you get them all? I went, I'm pretty sure I did, I mean.
Speaker 3:I look hard. Do I have to hold you get no, no, no, I got a ball and he goes. Well, lesson learned, right, mm-hmm. What's the lesson? Don't miss throw very good. That kind of guy is a real sweeter. So I remember my dad would come and pick me up and and he would always bring some hooch for John, like they like to drink hoot.
Speaker 3:You know the booze right and I'd be there, break it ball and fire. That's the end of the day. And my dad's like, well Geez, you know, you still got about 10 minutes left. What do you think John? Well, john, I think it's okay. They're both named John. So, okay, john, I think you think it's okay, you can. You can go now, I think. Thank you, sir, and you know, give me these coins, right mm-hmm and and what a way to start your first job.
Speaker 3:I mean when I went to school and told people I was breaking bottles and getting oh they were just like when do I sign, where do I come? How do I get there? It's like Don't know if you can and I never. I never did really give them the details, but I bought records that way of all my record collection up when it from I was about 8 through 12. No, not 12, 11 was with that money.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:That's why, when they got wrecked in that flood I had, I was so devastated Because I really earned those. I mean, I had to go on the the bus, around my bike up to the record store and you know, I remember all the guys. For you they're 20s, it'd be Al's age or older, right, and they're like oh, you like this music, excellent. Well, here, and then they start giving me like try this one. Oh, yeah, try this band and try this bad. Oh, if you like that, you'll like this. And this is before the internet, obviously like right talking.
Speaker 3:Yeah late 70s, early age and it was great Ended up ended up really finding a lot of neat music that way. But my favorite I have to share this my dad was a teacher and you know kids would bring things to class and he would confiscate stuff, right. So I was. I was in the basement in the storage room one day and I had he had a cassette player and he said, oh you, okay, you could have that, you can play music or, you know, you can make recordings or whatever. I wanted to be a radio DJ, right.
Speaker 3:So I'm making because I was in. You know, it's in the music now, right. So I was doing these funny things and I see this tape. It's black, there's no name on it, nothing right. And you can't record on it. So I pushed play and this amazing music comes out and I'm like, wow, what is this? This is awesome, man. This is like the best music I've ever heard. So I've been listening to this tape for about Good couple weeks.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah and I used to love camp on outside and Stargazing and stuff, so I would be yeah, I was about nine or ten somewhere in there and and I'm listening to this and my brother, who's seven years older than me, you know he comes here, goes.
Speaker 2:How the hell did you get Pink Floyd? Dark Side of the Moon.
Speaker 3:Where'd you get that? How did you when who I went? It was in the basement. I found it. He goes, what?
Speaker 2:I went.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was a dad's tape. She said take whatever you need for your radio show things you're doing. And I just grabbed it and it didn't. I couldn't record on it. And then I realized, oh, it's got music on it, I love it. And he asked me he goes well, yeah, man, that's like the best album ever. So now I knew the name of the band, so I went to the record store. I'll never forget this. I went to the record store, so they're all. These guys are way older than me, obviously, and they're probably all stoneers when I think about it now, but I wouldn't have known that that age. And I said do you have like? So picture this nine, 10 year old kid, innocent kid, right, different ear. Do you have pink Floyd around? Oh, yeah, man, we got pink Floyd. Which one do you want? I'm like, well, sorry, oh yeah, that's a good one and you should try this one here called animals and this one here. They're going through the mall and of course, the wall was just about to come out.
Speaker 3:And they say there's another one coming up called the wall. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, it's a double album. Oh, off, to save up for that, I had this crazy record collection and none of the kids at my age would be listening to this stuff. It was just something I was into. And then I met the odd person who you know, like Led Zeppelin and this type of stuff and you know that kind of thing, but in high school everyone was into the music of the moment right which was great, great music.
Speaker 3:I was also into that music, almost more so than the music at the time, but I would buy the albums and listen to them because I liked it, you know. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, pink Floyd.
Speaker 1:Dark Side of the.
Speaker 3:Moon. I just happened to find the tape. Like you know, starts out with a boom, boom. You know heartbeat right. And then it just goes into this weird cacophony and you're just like oh my God, what have I stumbled on? This is awesome. But took me a while to find out what the name was. I couldn't just go to Google and look up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what is this? Yeah, so yeah yeah, it's really to make money. I went and picked blueberries. You know me and Paul who's been on the show, oh yeah yeah, we picked blueberries and we'd also go door to door man. We'd be like do you have any pop bottles, beer bottles, pop cans, beer cans. I even remember how we said it. And we just flat and flat and we'd make a shit ton of money man.
Speaker 1:So what I did after and we were nerds, yeah, we would get like we would spend all our money on video games like Nintendo games original and things.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And Conan comics.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 1:Always Conan and Coke and M&M's. Oh wow, yeah, man.
Speaker 3:Like after I did I broke bottles, I got paper root with province.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we have one. Oh man, did I make a lot of money on that?
Speaker 3:And what did I buy? Well, I went from having to scrounge and trade my way into getting sets of hockey cards and just showing up in the store and going. I'll take all the boxes on the shelf and I remember the guy looking at me and went all of them, all of them. I can't remember how much it was.
Speaker 3:But you know, I think about it today it was probably a lot of money but for me I had like this roll of money. I ended up getting two paper roots and I would do that for school Boy. That was tiring Actually I'd start like 3.3 in the morning and. I wouldn't get a lot of sleep, but you know, I made a commitment. The tips were phenomenal and I always had really good people and I'd always have money, so I was able to do all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 3:I made more money than I do now. I was crazy, but yeah, I know what you mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we did crazy things and I had like crazy luck too, so many times and I mean, as a seven year old, this is insane. But we'd be walking and I'd be like, oh, no, $10 bill.
Speaker 3:I used to find money like that all the time. Oh yeah, man, especially after snowstorms.
Speaker 1:I was never broke.
Speaker 3:Especially after it would snow, you go up when it melts and there'd be like quarters or dollar bills of some. I remember finding a $50 bill once, 20s all the time.
Speaker 1:For some reason I mean, I found all sorts, but for some reason 10 was the magic number, 20 was mine and just found 10s.
Speaker 3:I found lots of 20s. Found, like I say, the odd 50 over the years $5 bills. It was just weird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now, of course, everything's done with your debit card, so I don't know if there's a lot of that around anymore. Probably not but it was always nice to bump into some cash.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, it was because I remember a time when oh god, this is a story it used to be a store right down the block from my house, like literally down the sidewalk houses, down across the street, and we would go there. And this is before we started making all this money and trying to you know, finding ways of seven-pound, so we'd go to the store and back then, especially with Coke, our favorite pop, under the lids, you can get free pops.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this is so. We'd go in there and I would literally check every pop. No, I'd take the lid off, take the pop open and then back on. No, Out of all these free pops, tons.
Speaker 3:You never got caught through that. Oh wow, man, that's amazing, I can't believe it.
Speaker 1:Tons of free pops.
Speaker 3:It was insane, Holy cow man, you got lucky, you got lucky, you got lucky.
Speaker 1:You got lucky. There were all the letters because you tried to spell right. Yeah, in those days you spelled things.
Speaker 3:I didn't drink a lot of pop growing up, but I remember.
Speaker 1:So I had all these letters, all these free pops. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3:Holy cow, that's hilarious.
Speaker 1:Although we did get a lot too. Like we went bottle collecting, I mean, obviously it popped a little bang, oh there's free pop, oh, there's free pop. So we always had our Coke and M&Ms. Oh, that's funny, my trip to Coca-Cola and M&Ms, good God.
Speaker 3:I used if I was going to drink pop. I'd always get um like a root beer.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Like NW root beer type thing or Dr Pepper. Those are my. If I could ever get pop, it was going to be those two. I don't know, I just love those two and I was going to get something like like you're saying M&Ms, I would get O'Henry or, um, what was the other one? Um, Krispy Krench, I think that was the one.
Speaker 2:Those are what.
Speaker 3:I was into yeah. Yeah, so everyone has their own you know, I didn't try M&Ms for many, many years, and then I tried them and went where have you been?
Speaker 2:all my life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was just like wow, who's your good, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that was kind of like the discovery into like oh you know, we can make our own money without even our parents and you know, like get our games in our comics. Um, and and part of my journey was and I only did it once I stole money out of M&Ms first, and we went down to the store and we played the arcade games until we beat them. Nice Him and I stood there.
Speaker 3:I remember our kids.
Speaker 1:I got caught.
Speaker 3:That was a big deal Arcade. I got caught.
Speaker 1:My mom came down to the store, but that was the only once in a lifetime. I'm like you know, that's how you learn and uh, so that was part of that journey of going.
Speaker 3:Hey, you know what I'm going to make my own. I'm going to make my own money. I honestly never needed to do anything like that.
Speaker 1:I always made so much of my own money Well we did not eventually Like it was part of the journey to discover that yeah, yeah once we discovered, like baller, collecting paper routes, let's go pick blueberry money. We made blueberry.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:We had to fill those five gallon buckets, and as kids, but I would get a little because I would want to exchange my dimes and nickels for quarters.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah, if you went to the arcade or whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'd always get shit.
Speaker 2:You took all my quarters.
Speaker 3:You got to ask me I'm like sorry, but your money's there. No, that's not the point. Yeah, yeah, it's like okay, okay. So then I learned, you know, mom, do you have a lot of quarters? Yes, uh, I've got these dollar bills and she'd always go okay, let's see what you got. Okay, I'll give you this many quarters, I'll get thanks. Yeah, okay, cause I learned you know, ask, right, that was my thing, don't just assume it's okay. Maybe she's got a purpose for those quarters. Maybe she needs them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, but I always made sure I put what I you know exchanged back, but I learned no, no, you better ask, right. So it's kind of the same idea, you know, don't?
Speaker 1:do this. Yeah, no, Paul we, we did some crazy things. You know like I don't even know if my mom did or were approved or even knows, but back when we were like seven, we literally like once we were making money. We literally took the bus, just him and I at that age, all the way down to Vancouver just to this comic stop in Vancouver, downtown, just for a Conan comic.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 1:Wow, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I honestly thought I don't even know if she knows or would even approve, like back then.
Speaker 3:In my era because I was doing paper routes and stuff and I had lots of money. Um, I also like to experiment with lots of nasty things that I shouldn't have, oops. So you know it was always easier to get weed and things in alcohol. So as long as you knew the right person that you could buy it from, it wasn't any big deal, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oopsie, doopsies, yeah. And then you know, if we could, if we could find someone and I I'm not going to say who, but if we could find someone and give them the extra cash, they'd get his beard and shit when we shouldn't have right and we would just get wrecked. Because we're kids, we want to get really wasted right, and so we were kind of a little bit out of control.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a little bit out of control. Yeah, I must admit there was a. There was about three years, two to three years there where it was like ooh.
Speaker 1:I, uh, I don't know, I got there too, you know.
Speaker 3:I tried then, I started smoking. Teenagers teenagers and years, you know.
Speaker 1:I think it was grade five, six I started, I was smoking.
Speaker 3:I smoked my first cigarettes when I was 10.
Speaker 1:I mean, I remember.
Speaker 3:Yeah, nine or 10. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember an elementary school.
Speaker 3:I was an elementary school for sure there was.
Speaker 1:it was Christmas time and we were having that Christmas time, so and you know we'd get up there and sing and stuff. I was in the choir and, um, I got caught outside. You know, before we went up there I was smoking green around the corner smoking the green around the corner before I went up on stage. And that's an elementary school.
Speaker 3:So you know I got into, you know so, yeah, I was early with pot too, yeah, and um.
Speaker 1:you know, the crazy part is is Not quite that early, but early enough, you know the crazy part is is you know I, my father, is the one that you know would get the stuff for me, which, in a way, I kind of see right.
Speaker 3:If someone's going to get you. You didn't get in trouble, so that's good If someone's going to get you bottle of booze smokes whatever you know, or smoke a joint or whatever.
Speaker 1:Um that's, I can kind of see you on my back saying, okay, a lot of drugs was younger, get it. You do it here, right.
Speaker 3:You know, I was with older people.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You're not getting in trouble.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, but I can see that point of like I'll get it and you do it here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that way you're not doing out with people.
Speaker 3:You know You're not outside. Yeah, you can get in shit. Oh, big time You're in a controlled environment, yeah.
Speaker 1:But at the same time I mean, I wouldn't condone it Like I'm not doing it with my kids?
Speaker 3:No, not with mine either. Not with mine. I told mine no, please don't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not a good idea.
Speaker 3:I went through needless pain and suffering because of it. I could have avoided it if I'd just been educated to it or smart enough to get. Oh, maybe that's not a good idea.
Speaker 1:Your times were different, man.
Speaker 3:But it was a different time and you know, I was medicating myself for the problems I was suffering at the time and I didn't realize it. Yeah, oh, I was just Self-sacrification.
Speaker 1:Oh, I was just being.
Speaker 3:That's in my case.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just being trained. I was just trying to fit in.
Speaker 3:You know, the thing that was funny was I was always the hippie long hair freaky person in high school when everyone had short, preppy hair cells. Always was different. Then I found there were a few people that were actually like me who liked classic rock, even though it may have only come out 10 years or five years before. But you know, when you're that age it's classic rock. You know, like the smoke go, the back hang out, be a little bit rebellious.
Speaker 2:You know there's a few of us.
Speaker 3:I was like, OK, this is fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know. But yeah, it's funny Like I discovered POT on my own and I mean shit, I was pretty young and then my brother was older than me and he was in a fraternity and, like the party, it's a different era in the 80s. So they all pulled out their POT and I pulled out mine, yep.
Speaker 2:What the hell you do with that. I just can't write it.
Speaker 3:Well, I've got my own stash back there, let me try some of that really. Well, that's not bad, I tried it Is it like mom and dad know about this? Of course not, Boy you be careful You'll get shit man, I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time.
Speaker 1:It was a little shocking. You know good time man.
Speaker 3:But that's just a different era. I guess maybe nowadays you could Different parents that are my age from that era would see it like well, yeah, let's just give the kid what he if he's into that, we'll control it. It won't be safer. In my era you had to go out and hide.
Speaker 3:If you didn't do it other adults were, it was acceptable, so they kind of accepted. My brother was doing lots of drugs so as long as I hung out with his crowd I could just blend in and do it and no big deal. So if I was doing it on my own I couldn't do it at home. I had to go elsewhere and find a place that was fairly safe.
Speaker 3:I never, got in trouble, but you run that risk, but luckily we're into birdwatching, so you know like you think about it. Okay, we'll go out somewhere where there's no one around, smoke one go, look at birds. You're not going to have a problem with that. Now, the person driving might have a problem with that, but usually that person was a veteran or just didn't walk off too hard and they could handle it or didn't do it at all.
Speaker 3:You know that kind of thing. But a lot of road trips baked out of my skull when I used to go chase birds, when I was a bird chaser in like 16, 17, 18, 19 years old and we did those road trips. Man, I would be stuffed into the back of a Honda Tercel and I'm a fairly tall guy and I'm crunched in there stoned out of my mind, looking at the yellow line out the back window going, it moves, you know, really baked out of my skull.
Speaker 1:Good God man.
Speaker 3:But we'd end up getting there seeing the birdies having a good time, and that was my introduction to birdies, the party people.
Speaker 3:And then you'd meet these nerdy people and you're like, whoa, I don't ever want to be like that. Oh my God, man, like what the fuck? Maybe go have a puff buddy and mellow out, you know. But that's how I got introduced to it, like I was always interested in it. I was exposed with my dad and you know he liked to drink and have a good time. So even as a kid that's kind of how it was, but that's how we used to do it. Different time different times, very different times in the 80s.
Speaker 3:You could get away with shit like that. Back then we used to go to the fucking border. We'd get right towards the border. Okay, let's get stoned. All right, we're all lit up, let's go. And then the border guard just looks and goes. Okay, I already go.
Speaker 1:Can you do that today? I don't think so. Well, now that parts legalized no they look for it now.
Speaker 3:Back then if you didn't look like a long hair you were okay. Now I was always tucked in the back seat Harder to see. They didn't really see all my hair and I'd have it all tucked up in a hat and stuff. So the guys in front were. They didn't have that look, so everything was okay. I was with also older people, but I'm just saying, man, you know lots of crazy.
Speaker 1:Speaking of speaking of Mary Jane and the border, here's a story for you Now. I grew up with a fisherman family and Paul and I we obviously got into it through family we loved the fish and we went fishing one night because it's night fishing, especially for rock cod, and we went on the small boat.
Speaker 2:We have Tuas Like an aluminum boat.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Tuas and Hemp. So near Point Roberts Got you. And borders right there.
Speaker 1:So we're a rock cod fishing and there's this nice rocky, rocky area.
Speaker 3:That's actually the border. It's a rock jiddy.
Speaker 1:Well, not exactly where we were, but yeah, but anyway, so we're going we're fishing and actually know the wind picks up and we're like, okay, so we went around to the other side of the rocks. Well then it picked up. So then we go to try to move. Well then we realize, oh, the oar lock broke. So we're like, oh shit, we can't go nowhere, it's going nowhere, we're going nowhere. So we just looked at each other and remember, paul likes a joint and he says, well, when he puts the oars back in the boat, and he just likes the joint, and we're like, I guess, wherever we end up, we end up. I mean, there's nothing we can do. So we just sat in a boat, and I don't know how long it was. I honestly got no idea that.
Speaker 3:There's no way of telling the beauty of reaching time becomes a non entity.
Speaker 1:We finally hit land.
Speaker 3:Yeah, probably point Roberts, it's right there.
Speaker 1:And I'll tell you, I jumped out of that boat and kissed that land and spat, sand out and just. Oh, my goodness man. So yeah, we ended up. I guess how you'd enter and state's illegally, accidentally, but it entered. So yeah, we ended up. You know getting pulled in and and check in the whole nine, and oh, geez man, she's all time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I said, I've gone crabbing out there during season.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we've done permit.
Speaker 3:So yeah, and it was great. I mean, you cook them on the beach.
Speaker 1:It was a lot of fun and that was great. Hey man, that was purely accidental. We had no idea.
Speaker 3:I know. No, we used to do lots of road trips and don't chase these really interesting birds that would show up. And that's an era when not like today with the Internet you know someone saw a couple of days before you just took a gamble, it was still there. And if you went right away, chances are you get it. If you waited anything more than three days, forget it. So we did, we went everywhere. I mean, we went out through Washington, we went to Oregon, we went to Crossbridge, columbia. All the time, I mean every weekend, I was doing something. I'm still in high school and I'm still doing that, I'm doing that. And then I got out of high school and we did it even more and I'd work. And then we'd like oh, there's a bird, okay, I'm going for that and I'll be gone. And that's how I started just traveling around looking at birdies.
Speaker 3:And I'm a kid doing that, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, it was wild, but yeah, I learned very early on that some people have a tolerance for smoking pot and can really focus on the birds and do stuff really well. I'm not one of those people. If I'm going to get blasted, binoculars are put away and we just have a fun time because, I can't do that. I know people who can't. That ain't me, I'm just like whoa, wow man pretty colors.
Speaker 3:Yeah, going to hurt the focus, man, forget it. Man. I mean, what is it? I don't know, it's yellow, forget it Kind of the focus. So I've never done that stoned.
Speaker 3:I don't birdwatch, stoned or drunk. I can drink a few beer. I'm okay in the past. I don't drink anymore. But when I could get away with a beer man, I just preferred it sober. Now I will admit that when I used to go to QE Park all the time and get the warblers there in the spring this would have been the early 90s, late 80s and stuff I remember one time I used to smoke a lot of hash. That was a thing that people had back then. It was really nice black hash and blonde hash. And I found a pipe and a container just packed full of hash. So what did I do? I didn't even wipe it off, man, it was just blasted. And there's these tannagers that are flying around and I don't know if, I don't know why. We're tired with this, but okay, we're tired with it. So, anyway, it enhances color. So you get a bright yellow bird that has black on it and red on it and it's like whoa man, it's just bro.
Speaker 3:So I bumped into some people who were like-minded travelers, who liked to puff, and so I said, well, I just found this pipe and this nice big container and they're like oh wow, you want to share it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's go to the lookout, look down on the trees and we can look at the bird. So we spoke this up and I remember we're all like oh yeah man, I didn't see the colors on that bird. Man, that's like, wow man, I didn't see no colors on there. That's wow man, whoa man, wow man, and no wonder.
Speaker 3:I say wow, it's like comes from the time when I was still. But, yeah, yeah, and I used to find drugs all the time.
Speaker 2:I used to find bags of pot.
Speaker 3:I used to find bags of hash. I mean it was just like get me out there and Ricky Baby will find anything you need. You don't have to pay for it, you just walk it along. It was crazy.
Speaker 3:You're a drug, it was crazy, and a lot of times I'd find it because I'm talking like when I'm a teenager. Ok, so I'd be on my paper route and I'd find that shit. I'd find it in the gutter. So someone's getting out of their car in a stone, it would drop out and I'd find the bag. And I knew what to look for because I like the puff. So I'd be just that was a bag rolled up. Oh, that looks like the right kind, going on my bike, by the way, not a car, I'm talking like you know that. Or oh, yep, mary Jane, all right, I'm set, my God man. And I was just like you know, like the Johnny Apple seed, but Johnny pot seed. I just find the shit all the time. So we used to love.
Speaker 3:One of the favorite walks we used to do was we go to Iona back in the year when nobody was out there. It's the 80s man, no one. This was the backhead. The city had not expanded yet. It was just a little farmland, if you can believe it. We we would been birding there since we were kids and we never see anybody. So we get on the jetty and we get to the base, the jetty, and Okay, we're going for a four kilometer walk out to the end. We oh, my god, you get stowed and you're walking. You don't feel the walk, man, you know. Oh, the walk's great. I'm not really seeing birds at this point I'm just like, oh, look at the lovely guy, look at the lovely colors. Yeah, you get at the end and then you know, you get sobered up a bit. You know the air, and now you're having it just a light buzz, and then that I can function on that. I just can't function when you're like, do yeah, I can't function that way. So I, we used to do a lot.
Speaker 3:Oh and I used to love that and and, um, you know we'd be road trips and things. So yeah, I was totally immersed in that.
Speaker 1:Oh, speaking of drug culture, birding culture, you know I'm speaking of subculture. There's one last story. Um, god rest his soul a friend of mine of 23 years, uh, anyway I I came to the house and uh, I was looking for paul, and uh there's, you know, my friend french, sitting on the couch. Come sit door, that's me in. Oh yeah, paul's just at the store, man.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's like Wait, man, I just made some oil, you know, let's smoke, wait for paul. And of course then it was like, yeah, let's go. So I sat down. So I sat down and I started doing these bottle hoops. Oh yeah, just wanted to know. And then all of a sudden, like I'm done, I'm Feeling good, I'm not like super high and he goes oh, work by the way pulls in his bedroom and I'm like, oh, you ass, yeah, that's you. So I get up and by the time I walked to paul and we come out to the living room, I Sat down, yep, and all I remember is I didn't move for eight and a half hours. Paul said this, he said he tried lifting me up.
Speaker 1:Yup and asking me if I wanted water. Yeah, and I just. Yeah, my friend had a connection, and then my dad, came people that had and he said oh no, march is hungry, I'm just making something to eat for him.
Speaker 3:My, my brother had connections with the people who had the stuff we used to call wheelchair park.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh you wouldn't move.
Speaker 3:It would be like you were paralyzed, or we used to call it other names and, um, I remember you would. You'd only have to have a small spliff, not even a full joint, and you better have water and food beside you because you're not moving for the next nine hours. I mean you really like.
Speaker 1:Do oh man.
Speaker 3:You know station identification. No, we're off the air.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean like literally, man, and then finally you would get this mouth that was so dry that you had to like water, water, water, anything water, and then you start just cuddling water and that would kind of bring you out of it.
Speaker 3:You can start moving a little bit, but you better have your munchies nearby, because you still couldn't really move per se, and we used to always do that around the time when nature came on on pbs. That was a that's a tv show that I think still going on today, um, but in those days it was george page who was the announcer, and I remember this one To this day. It was about, uh, atlantic Birds and stuff.
Speaker 3:So you have to understand. We've just done that right and it's very trippy. Music would come on like doo and there's this puffin hanging on the cluffs, cluffs that too, it hanging on the cliff. It's above the cliff in the wind. It's just hanging, not flapping, and we're all just like wow.
Speaker 1:Wow, I know that's. That's all I'm gonna say on that.
Speaker 3:I mean it was a different time.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I haven't touched any of that stuff for 23 years.
Speaker 3:I haven't been here, I've been clean and sober off alcohol for 10, and I don't think I ever would have found the wow energy or the positive energy or any of that had I been on that stuff. It just clouds for me I'm not saying everyone, but for me. It clouds my judgment. It impairs me in ways that, um, I don't need, I'm not someone who can handle it. I, I found that out. I can't handle any of that shit. I have to do it a different way.
Speaker 3:That doesn't mean it doesn't work for other people. Bless them, let it, let it work for them. It just doesn't work for me and uh you know, that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 3:Wow, we talked a long time, man. We should probably wrap this baby up, eh.
Speaker 1:You know, it has been just that much five hours.
Speaker 3:What the hell man.
Speaker 1:It's just been that much fun, man, it's been so good on this wow energy Woo.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no drugs were involved in this, maybe.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just good times and memories. And you know, I think there's muscle memory of being stoned and if you talk about enough, you're like oh wow, there it is, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, no. All right well yeah, man, it's just been that fun it's. It's been really good, it's been a really good day.
Speaker 3:It's been so awesome. I want to do this again tomorrow and the next, and the next and the next. I want every day to be this awesome.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. All right and uh, once again, as always, I want to thank Everyone for the love and support. Oh yeah, definitely yeah you bet everybody who uh stuck around since the beginning.
Speaker 2:We love you people.
Speaker 1:I do Thank you. I appreciate your patience.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah we love you.
Speaker 1:And uh, yeah, don't forget to Follow, share, subscribe all those fun, wonderful things. Rate, review the show Um it helps bird catchers.
Speaker 3:Oh my god, there's gonna be more.
Speaker 1:It really helps the podcast grow. So yeah, that's good stuff don't forget all those wonderful things. And uh, uh, don't forget to check out the always game for life shop At always game for life shopcom. It's all in the description in the link.
Speaker 3:Check out the merch people and um.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we shall return. There's some more crazy stories and some laughs.
Speaker 3:I will try to keep remembering all the crazy shit. I've got Lots to talk about, man.
Speaker 1:So, uh, please do try, you know, keep up that energy man, that positive waves.
Speaker 3:Ride that. Wow, wave you, let's go. It's gonna be okay, we're all gonna. We're in it together, guys. We're all in it together.
Speaker 2:Yes we can do it.
Speaker 1:And, as I always say, I won't be good to each other. Love one another. Yeah, life is always game for us, so let's be always game for life. You know it All right. Peace and love everyone.
Speaker 3:Stay safe, stay blessed. Yep, you got it.
Speaker 2:Let's always get for us. We're always game for life. Let's always get for us. We're always game for life. Life's always game for us. We're always game for life.
Speaker 3:That's the wow. Now, holy cow wow.
