The Forum Revival

I had some talks with a few folks about how nice it was to be all connected through this blog, even if it was brought on by tragedy.  We thought it would be a sort of tribute to Graham's memory to revive that connection and (re)establish a local online forum for all of us to (re)connect.  Friends and family of Graham are a sort of starting point for who is defined as being part of this community so anyone reading this is encouraged to go to http://bridgecitychamps.createmybb3.com/ and sign up.  If you have troubles, either post a reply here or on this thread (which is open to guest posting):
http://bridgecitychamps.createmybb3.com/thread-1.html
From that starting point, I would say that all are welcome but try to invite only good personal friends or family.  The whole point of this forum is to make an online community for us that is bigger than email or a blog, but smaller than facebook, twitter, or any of that nonsense.  Any and all feedback is encouraged, and I look forward to seeing you there.

Gareth

Omega Man

I was thinking randomly about listening to The Police with Graham a ways back.  I remember him specifically liking this song.  Then, I was having a conversation last week with someone about the book I Am Legend.  It was then that I found out that the this song was about the Charlton Heston film adaptation of the book.  I had no ideal until now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVZllX1qNFs

Gareth

potluck at the olsons'

hey guys! we wanted to host another shindig to honour our friend graham and we want to do it before our friend kevin goes back to horrible horrible ontario.

this saturday (march 3) at our place we will have open doors. bring along some food and booze and let the magic happen.

text me (241-5162) or mike (241-8635) if you need directions.

much love

olson-young christmas party 07

one of many graham was a part of. sitting back chillin.

Wish he could have seen...

Hey all, as some of you may know that, after Chinese New Year, a Lantern Festival is celebrated in China, Taiwan, and other eastern countries.  This year, the festival was held in Chang Hua county, that in which I live.  All the kids at my school were buzzing about a transformers lantern.  I didn't go myself to see, as the 1million plus crowds were a sufficient discouragement.  But, seeing this picture, especially after reading Doug's last post, made me wish that I could have seen this with Graham.  He'd have loved it, to be sure.

Gareth

A Poem for Pappy

Wassup my peoples. Much love to Graham. Want to give y'all a head's up, that I plan to do a poem for Graham at Lydia's this Sunday (Feb. 26th). It's a poetry slam, there are two rounds, and I've had two kindred spirits go on to new realities this month. So, with their spirits willing, I will pay tribute to them in each round. Blessed rest to Graham and Matthew Weckworth, whom some of you might know. I will post a text version of the poem after I have performed it. Sorry for the short notice, but come on out if you can.

 Thinking of Graham always brings back memories of the music that we used to listen to.  When I was first hanging out with him, we used to listen to bucket loads of hip hop - usually at Mike Olson's place playing vids.  In fact, I seem to remember one weekend where we watched CB4 about 5 times in a row!  I think the bands I remember the most from that time were A Tribe Called Quest, 2-Pac, Outkast, and Snoop Dogg. 

 Both this image and the previous image come from a website I used to maintain back in ought-four or five.  Or was it earlier?  Memory fails.  I remember it being in use at the time Graham was away, because I made this.  Graham and I would stay in contact via email and, of course, Mao came up fairly often.  I used to drink very recklessly with Graham, though we didn't often turn to the dirty forty.  We tended to drink straight shots of Wizer's rye or Gibson's.  I remember very well one of the last times I had a drink with Graham, when I was in Canada, at my dads.  We were drinking Wizers, but it was the premium aged stuff.  We weren't racing to the bottom of the bottle.  We were sitting outside enjoying a warm summer's evening.  It formed a pleasant and lasting memory of Graham which often comes up on me unawares. 

 Art was something else I shared with Graham.  Not in the sense of formal critiques or gallery visits, but in the basic joy of creation.  He was often a bit shy or hesitant, which is why I kept everything he sent me, I liked to encourage him.  I remember that he was very exited about making puppets but was never satisfied with his results enough to bring them out and show them around.

 We shared a fixation with the moon, and destruction by, or of, it.  I think this stemmed mostly from the cartoon Dragon-Ball Z in which someone offhandedly blows up the moon.  But, it became a central part of our shared creative universe.  The above picture was an electronic birthday card that I received from him.

 More moon stuff - I remember sending pictures back and forth via email around this stage.  We started out using ms paint because we were bored stiff at school and had little else to do during lunch.  It turned into a creative outlet that we continued to use well past high school.

 Graham had an interesting and unique way of approaching things.  He may not have had perfect technique - but his creations always interested and surprised me.  I wish I could have saved some of the custom Worms levels he created at the Dean and Kevin's house over the summer after high school.  He worked for hours on those things and some of them were simply amazing!

 I love this picture.  I don't want to break it down too much.  This is probably my favorite of Graham's MS Paint pictures.

 This picture is just so Graham.  I can hear him saying "wha?" clearly in my head.  I can see the expression on his face as he says it.

This picture is a great example of Graham's unique approach, also.  I would never have thought to use MS paint in the same ways that he did, and it was always a treat to see what he did, and trace back through the creation of the piece.  You would always find a genuine slice of Graham at the end of such a tracing.  His honesty was reflected in everything he created.  

Miss you lots, lil G,
Gareth.

My favourite memory of Graham will always be The Transformers. Graham and I both love Transformers. The fun and imagination and pure action of titanic robots locked in an epic civil war; and what could be better than five transformers who combined to create the ultimate destructive force, Devastator (possibly Graham's favourite). And the best thing about Graham was when he loved something, you knew about it...actually every one in a 12 block radius would know about it...I always admired his ability to completely and totally commit his passion to whatever thing was currently rocking his experience. And Graham never once felt ashamed or immature for loving a children's cartoon. He really understood how transcendent passion can be. Graham taught me about true passion, how to really love something and not care if other people felt differently, and I'll always love him for it. Time to transform and roll out buddy! Doug

Just a few images I had. I want to write more, but I still haven't really gathered all my thoughts. I am really glad I had a chance to spend some good time with Pappy this last fall. Many a night was spent killing zombies. The last few days have been a constant stream of memories. When I was sitting on a boat far away from here I was looking at the picture of Graham shooting hoops. I thought that no matter what was going on in his life I was going to find him and play some vids, or do anything with him. I arrived home with this thought only to learn of his passing. At first I felt calm, but the realization soon hit after talking Dean. I was overwhelmed with emotion, which still comes in waves. When I am alone and in a quite space I can hear is voice and laugh, and remember what it was like to be around him when he was full of energy. I miss him.

Cinco De Mayo '06

Shotgun Manshake And A Little Lady '09