Cold Opening

by admin on July 13, 2010

A Vancouver Island town’s unique culture and frigid swell unlock the mysterious draw of the Canadian surf scene. A brief excerpt from a recently completed  article on Tofino, British Columbia.

“Anyone that finds the idea of getting into the water during a Canadian winter out of the question will have an equally hard time with the following phrase, written without a hint of sarcasm: you get used to it. If you don’t love being in the water in the first place, you certainly won’t enjoy it here. But as you might imagine, the climate breeds a surfer of a particular resilience, and the gum boot wearing locals take pride in the fact that though hooded wetsuits, sleet and snow may not be ideal, when you combine a passion for surfing and an appreciation for this unique environment, ideal is irrelevant.”

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Interview with a Loser: Mike Berard’s Love and Loss with Icon Gone

April 23, 2010

A piece originally produced as online content for the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
While the Whistler Conference Centre ballroom boomed and flashed during the Follow Me Film Premier and the village stroll writhed with movement and color, a focused and carefully formulated grassroots debate was taking place underground. Oversized cue cards were tossed. [...]

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The Seed.

March 29, 2010

It happens on a day that starts off like any other, most likely one at the end of a week that has dragged on from monotonous tasks and endless to-dos. You may be getting over the flu, or you may have finally finished a project that’s been hanging over your head for months. It may [...]

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This or something else entirely

February 12, 2010

I wake in the morning and roll onto my back, gently rubbing my eyes and grasping at the tails of hazy dreams racing from recollection. I try to come to terms with what today means based on what yesterday had been. What is there to do and how urgent is it? Are my obligations many, [...]

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Pieces of Allison

October 22, 2009

Heading into the water, we tossed towels onto the largest rock to be picked up on the wet way back, past tall grasses sometimes stinging salty, sticky legs on a pathway lined with dried seaweed. Each step in the grass produced grasshoppers, sparking off in all directions. Wrapped and dripping, we’d take turns rinsing our [...]

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Permanent

October 9, 2009

When leaving my hometown, I most often head west. And since any distance west of Calgary is driving distance, I have come to know the highway well. The gentle sways that lead to Banff, the sharp turns before Golden that scrap the thought you had around Lake Louise about making good time. The tourist buses [...]

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All Time Hereafter

October 7, 2009

A short piece recently published in the 2010 Edition of the Snowboard Canada Women’s Annual.
Leveled by a compulsive carpenter and as yellow as the liquid surrounding his infallible bubble, the prairies are submissive. The mountain peaks are visible in the distance, revealing more of themselves with each section of the asphalt’s broken line. Though [...]

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5 Lovers, P. 2

July 27, 2009

The second installment of the fiction piece 5 Lovers.

Our friends informed us that we were visiting the same city at the same time, a remarkable coincidence, considering. You managed to get the name of my hotel and showed up unannounced, a blessing since self-doubt would have accompanied anticipation. Our nights were a blur of cocktails, [...]

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5 Lovers, P. 1

June 10, 2009

The first installment of the fiction piece 5 Lovers.
We met in the living room of a mutual friend whose parents were off somewhere, and spent the rest of the night sitting on the back patio drinking from bottles and swinging our feet. Our conversation was occasionally interrupted by bursts of laughter from inside or [...]

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June 5, 2009

Inspired by a discussion about classic novels initially being published as serials, I’ve decided to post a piece of fiction I have been working on in increments for the sake of nudging its development. (Is anyone else feeling unmotivated and hyper-philosophical as the result of the low wind chill high humidex heatwave warm temperatures?) Stay tuned for the first [...]

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