Check out my Flickr Page
Ok folks, so I just got hook up with a really cool semi-free website. I know a lot of you have been wanting to see the photos on the blog a bit bigger. So until I can figure out how to work my photo email this website should suffice. It’s call FLICKR and it allows me to post photo for anyone to see. Please let me know what you think and if it works. I just set it up, so if there is anything you think could make it better, or is weird, just say the word.. The blogs are categorized in the sets to the right of the page as Blog 1 and so forth. For now you’ll have to type in the http:// manually hopefully I can get a link soon. Hope you enjoy, sorry for the delay..
http://www.flickr.com/photo/tomcanada44/
So I hope you don’t mind but I really don’t feel like dissecting or analyzing anymore football problems. We all know where we are at, and where we need to be. 
So since I was on the west coast in Vancouver I thought I share some photos from last winter. While I was in Whistler the guys from Road Hockey Rumble contacted me. If you don’t know it’s a show that was aired on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). 
The gist of the show was two friends toured around Canada challenging each other and other folks in different city to road hockey games. Before the start of each game there was a bet. The loser of the game was the loser of the bet and would end up having horrible things done to them. The loser when the show was shot in Winnipeg had to catch a pass and get smacked with full football gear by me. 
Unfortunately when they were in the Peg shooting the show,
I was out of town. So they heard I was in Whistler in the winter and wanted to shoot the scene in Vancouver. 
It just so happened I was heading down to Van to pick up and friend so it worked out perfect. Anyway I met the guys from the show at an indoor arena for the shoot. 
I don’t know if you saw it but it was one of the better hits I’ve had in my life.
The guy was a great sport and took the hit like a champ. I’m working on getting a clip for the blog as I didn’t get any photos of it cause I was in it.
Im sitting here in the Hotel just got back from a fabulous walk down by the water in English Bay. It feels like home here and it’s great to see the ocean again.
The day of travel was pretty mellow. 
Got to sleep in a bit this morning as we didn’t leave till noon. 
The flight was smooth but the air condition wasn’t working so it was freaking hot. We touched down loaded up the bus and headed to BC place for the walk through.
On the field, it didn’t feel like it did all week back in the Peg.
The guys seem loose but focused. 
Maybe we feel a sense of relief to get out of the line of fire from back home.
Maybe it’s just the ocean air.
I had a great afternoon starting at Tojo’s sushi restaurant. Nothing against the “prarie sushi” we get in the Peg, but the fish out here is top notch. Tojo’s might have had some of the best cuts of fish I’ve ever had. So if you are in the area and like raw fish check them out. The price is high and the portions are Ok but the food is unbelievable… 
After food I headed down to the water to watch the sunset.
Got some great shots hope you enjoy…
In a matter of a couple weeks the perception around town has shifted. It seems as if some people feel we don’t have a chance and are doomed. 
The fact of the matter is, yea… we haven’t played to the best of our ability. 
Yea we’ve lost our first two games.. But the season is FAR from over and it’s not like we are going to unravel and quit because of a slow start.
We need a win and need it bad…. thats not rocket science. Please hang in there for us. We feel the pressure we are trying our best.. We will hit our stride…. believe in that.
The flow is against us at the moment, but each day as we get further away from the loss and closer to BC things improved. 
We’ve had our performance analyzed with a fine-tooth comb and worked hard to correct our mistakes. The locker room has been a little tense. A little less joking around and a more serious attitude has blanketed the guys.
We’re still having fun, but we know it’s a hell of a lot more fun to win then lose. We’re gearing up to meet a BC team in a similar situation to our own. It’s gonna be a dog fight and one of us is coming out 0-3. There is not much more to be said.
It’s time to stop talking about it and be about. I hope through all the controversy, in time this slow start is just a precursor to great things…
Make sure you head out to the game and show your support.
We need you more now than ever…
I haven’t felt too comfortable having the camera out as of late. I need to be focusing more on winning than photos.
So I thought I’d share some photos I never put up of the Grey Cup last year. 
Hopefully it can trigger some good memories in your mind when things were a little sweeter…
So things in Hondo kind of balanced out but it was still not super Zen… 
The s*#t really hit the fan when a friend of mine came down to visit. To keep it short…. ,with out continuing my negative venting about my time there, you should rent the movie Half Baked.
In the movie when scarface quit his job at the burger joint was pretty close to them way I left Omega Tours. My time there was done and it was definitely the right time to move on. So my friend and I left the mainland of Honduras for the Island of Roaton. 
The most bizarre thing happened at the airport like nothing you’d see North America.
As we were checking in a passenger in front of us pulled out a small handgun. This was not to rob the clerk but to check in his gun.
My first thought was that he was cop but he didn’t have a badge. So he hands the gun across the counter, the clerk takes out the clip and empties the chamber. She puts the clip and the gun into a paper bag, the begins to staple around the gun inside of the bag.
After the gun was full “stapled”, she hands the gun in the bag back to the guy, and he walked towards the gates. It was a very different security method then what we are use to but it seemed effective.
The island of Roaton is a Carribien gem which is the biggest of three smaller islands.
It had a Jamaican feel and was know for it’s amazing snorkeling and diving and laid back lifestyle.. The food was amazing the oceans where bright blue and the weather was perfect. 
The highlight of the adventure was a sailing trip around the island with Captain Alex. 
He was a local legend and a very interesting man. He sailed us around to different reefs, and we’d jump out of the boat and check out the sea life. We saw sea turtles and millions of vibrant fish surrounded by colorful coral reef.
Captain Alex did his best to find fresh lobster to cook right on the boat, but after several dives there where none to be found. There rest of the time on Roaton was spent on the beach unwinding from the troubles on the mainland. 
It was a beautiful part of the world and much needed breath of fresh air..
A good friend of mind flew out from the praire and he and I drove the Trans-Canada back to the Peg.
It was a liberating drive across the North. We stopped in Revelstoke then Banff, made our way to Regina the finally ended up back in Winnipeg… I traded in my winter coat for some flip flops and boardshorts and caught the first flight South to La Cieba Honduras… On the plane I meet two ladies from the states that were headed to Hondo for missionary work.
They were going the same way I was so I offered my services as a semi-translator/bodyguard for a free ride. Together we ventured across most of the country to the Caribbean coastal town of La Cieba..
We got to Cieba and oddly enough the first place they took me to do was go to the mall where there was an Applebee’s.
Which is an American chain restaurant with really bad food. Since beggars can’t be choosers I rolled with the bible thumbers, bought them dinner then conned them into to driving me about 40 kliks up the river to Omega tours, my final destination. 
We had a little Honda civic with two wheel drive not super equipped for off-roading.. 
So we headed up the trail into what seemed like hurricane type rain like no other rain I had seen before. 
The two ladies, despite their unconditional kindness, began to get extremely upset with the weather, the road conditions and me..
I thought it was pretty hilarious, and after an hour of Christian music and terrible Honduran roads we arrived at Omega tours.
I was dropped off to a bar full of tourists, a half in the bag boss and fellow co-workers.
I said a final farewell to my missionary counterparts and headed into my new dwelling.
My boss was a former German kayak team member who fell in love with the Honduran rivers and started Omega Tours from scratch. My co-workers were a New Zealander and Englishman and an American/Kiwi. It was an interesting work environment with a difficult dynamic.
I had stumbled into a challenging situation, which was fully unexpected.
I was the replacement for the best friend of two of the guys who had been working there for some time.
He had been fired for whatever reason and his two best friends were my new partners on the river. Needless to say there was a bit of hostility upon my arrival.
So my first day on the Rio was quite the learning experience. I had to learn it mostly on my own without much help. 
Mind you these are class 4 plus rapids which don’t allow much room for error.
So after a challenging day on the Rio I came back to a camp that didn’t much want me there.
The tension could be cut with a knife. It was freaking crazy man. My first instinct was to pack up and leave before something really bad happened. But I stuck it out and eventually things got a little better as time went on. 
Despite the fact that I almost killed two people on my second day.
Despite the fact I got the cold shoulder treatment on the daily.
Despite the fact that I was the bastard replacement boy, things eventually evened out. 
I worked my charm and found my niche despite all the odds.
It ultimately worked out with me spending a lot less time on the river and more time doing other things around camp..
I ran shuttle a lot and did the lagoon tours..
Did some bartending, mountain biking, jungle tours and a bunch of photos for the tourist. 
I worked my way into the heart of the management over time and eventually found a place at the table.
So, I reported to work with Coast Mountain Photography bright-eyed and bushy tailed excited to start my career as a ski and snowboard photo guy.
photography. I always relied on my eye and natural light to capture photos.
So after a bit of a delay I finally got my act together to post my first blog for the ‘08 season.. As usual, I’d like to share a bit of my experiences around the world over the past six months. I’m gonna try something new for this first blog.. Because so much happened I won’t be able to fit it all into one, so I’m gonna do a ‘to be continued’ series…
I learned so much about so many things. 
It could be described as an inward trek into my own core……
a bit of renovation.
I’m not sure how realistic it was to plan the trip so close but that’s my style… 
After the first 20 hours on the road I realized that getting home, unpacking and repacking to head down to the jungle just wasn’t going to happen… I had just played in the Grey Cup less than 48 hours before… I needed some time to wind down.
