Jocelyn and I flew to Singapore for several days to get new Visas, to visit our friend Johari, and to make use of high-speed internet and telephones that work. Singapore is fun if you have a friend to show you around.

Synopsis: I have flown the lovely and talented Jocelyn to Bali to help me produce new poi DVDs and a whole lot of videos for the website. We'll be here until mid-August, brainstorming, writing, plotting, researching, filming, etc. Did you know that I wish to slowly become a cult-celebrity filmmaker? Well now you do. I tend to learn by doing, so here we go...

Synopsis: Bali is one of the world's best kept secrets. Don't tell anyone.

I love it here, except for the bad driving and bad internet, both of which are great for my emotional-control practices, so I love them too.

To make a long story short: Around 1500 years ago Hindu people from India decided that Bali, of all places, was a nice spot...

About two weeks ago, the Amazing MK (Marykristn) invited me to join her on a trip to Nai Soi, a refugee village near the border of Burma, inhabited by Long Neck Karen Hill Tribe members, who have left Burma in fear of their lives.

As some of you might know, I don't always have the best border experiences. Two years ago I was banned from the USA for teaching poi workshops without a proper work-visa (and for misrepresenting my reasons for entering). I didn't post the details at first, on advice from a lawyer, but now they're posted again, along with a video of me telling a funny story about the whole thing. I posted a link on homeofpoi.com and it started a very interesting thread, which led to lots of information and opinions related to artists crossing borders.

Guess what? I've been playing with YouTube, and this is my first blog with embedded videos, of fire spinners and fire balloons (see below). Oh, and I've been spinning fire, as you can see to the right :)

(New: For those coming, we've just added a THINGS NEEDED PAGE. Also, we may be heading south for a while, so make sure you get in touch before coming to where you think we are.)

So why am I here, you ask? Good question. The answer is a long story.

2.5 years ago I came back from Thailand to land in debt and homelessness, partly because the popularity of Dervishly Yers cost me over $1000 in unexpected hosting fees (a lot of money for a struggling artist). I managed to keep my life complicated, expensive, and stressful right up until I arrived back in Pai on October 9th. In that time I've put myself thousands of dollars in debt to the bank, and bailed myself out via heavy manual labour and teaching poi workshops, a total of three times. I've also been on five big poi tours, three of which I was simultaneously trying to deal with DVD production/distribution and website development... and all the while trying very hard to keep up poi practice.

Wait. Where am I? Wasn't I going back to Canada after Europe? Judging from the heat, the good food, the friendly people, the biting ants, and the bamboo hut I'm living in, I'd say this was Thailand. How did I end up here?

...click for more...

To sum up the last of my European tour:

After Sweden, I flew back to London, hung out with Drew for couple days, then to the much-talked-about Bristol Juggling Convention. All the rumors are true. It is a very laid back festival and attracts very talented jugglers and performers... although it's also a very social convention and most of the time it's more of a juggler's bristoling convention....

Oh, so much is happening...

Going back a month: I was in Ireland for the video shoot with the BBC. This was a pretty wild experience. The director and the crew were lovely people, very supportive and creative. It was great to see such a team in action. It took many days of rehearsal, preparing costumes, etc. On the final night they dressed us up as forest pixies, as they're using the footage to cut into their fall-lineup-promo commercials. It was the longest and most difficult makeup session I've experienced (two hours of having somebody poke you in the face!) but once I started taking pictures it was all worth it. If you want to see some short video clips, here are some sneak previews:
Nick with fire poi
Andy with green fire poi
Clare with fire fans

After the shoot Clare took Andy and I on a tour of Northern Ireland, and told us a lot about the history...

Life is an adventure, I tell you, but it doesn't necessarily leave you a lot of time to blog. Here's an update of the past month:

European Juggling Convention:

I have three little letters: w-o-w. So much talent and creativity. It was small by EJC standards, but still over 2,000 people. All day there were workshops in anything and everything remotely related to juggling, and every night there were a variety of performances and stages. Many of my favorite poi spinners were there, and I added several people to that list. Between taking workshops...

After a very long plane trip, and a couple days of Jet Lag, I am sorting things out in Vancouver. There are even more cherry blossoms here than Tokyo, I'm happy to say.

There is also a lot to sort out. I have months of work to get done in two months of time, and I don't even have a home (eep). I'm hoping to launch the new site within a week, and then I can start rolling out all the new videos and photos :)...

On Sunday night I went to "En," a poi event organized by Yuta, Nao, and other members of the Tokyo spinning community.

When I first heard about the "poi event," I didn't know what to think. A fire festival, sure. A pagan dance party in the desert, of course! But an indoor, no-fire-allowed, cover-charge-to-get-in, "poi event?"...

....ok, fine, it's Japan! I landed here March 21st. Tokyo is amazing, although I would never, ever, choose to live here. The city is a maze. Just looking at the subway map is like trying to read your fortune in a bowl of spaghetti. Fortunately I have my Canadian friend Liz and some wonderful Japanese poi spinners to show me around.

So, Wellington is a cool city. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco with the hills and the way people drive and park. It's also very windy, and I went on some great runs up until I caught a cold.

Things are going well here. We've made some great friends with local fire spinners, who let us camp in their back yard. Big thanks to Todd, Grif, and Jess! Grif took us on a great tour of Wellington hilltops, including a stop at their (one and only) windmill turbine. Hopefully they'll build many more...