Rants, raves and straight up weird thoughts!

Back from the dead!

2006-07-17T14:27:00.000-04:00

Ok.. well I have been around! But been busy! Haven't updated this blog in a loooooooooong time! Since then I've gotten a digital SLR and have been snapping away. You can check pics out at: http://qstylez.fotki.com . Email me if you want to view any of the private albums.

This fall will be going to Algonquin and Killarney. And a mystery location in October. Still to be determined.

Sorry NY.. but man do the Knicks stink!

2006-02-15T18:10:00.000-05:00

hehehe.. I was just looking at the standings today. And believe me, I know the Raptors aren't a great team. They're ok at best. But MAN are the Knicks bad! hehehe Isaiah Thomas officially does NOT know how to manage a basketball team, and they brought the WRONG guy in Larry Brown to coach the team.

Brown doesn't work well w/ younger players. He's old fashioned. And just because he had to deal w/ Iverson, it doesn't mean he can manage multiple egos and head cases. Not to mention, the championship he won was with a team (Detroit) that was already stacked.

Sorry NY. But unless something crazy happens, your team is going to be bad... well... longer than the Raptors will be bad. hehehe

Harper in as PM

2006-02-09T20:55:00.000-05:00

So Stephen Harper is now officially our PM. And one week into his new position he's already under fire. hehe.. Welcome to minority politics! Here are the issues that have been raised

1) The appointment of David Emerson. Who won the election under the Liberal name.. then crossed the floor after the election was over. After Harper criticized Stronach for crossing the floor, he takes up someone to cross the floor AFTER the election! heheheh. I'm sure the people of Vancouver (Emerson's riding) must be ticked that they thought they voted Liberal and then it turned Conservative Blue. hehe... the "hypocrite" term is already being tossed at him... just like every other politician :P

2) The appointment of Fortier, even though he didn't win his riding? hehehe. After preaching that he wanted an elected senate.. he appoints Fortier to Senate.. just so he can include him in the cabinet. It's an interesting way to make it look as though Montreal and Vancouver are now being represented in the Cabinet.

3) Flaherty as Finance Minister. Oh man. I hope he's different than when he was w/ the Harris government in Ontario. He completely messed up before. Let's hope he doesn't mess up now.

4) Stockwell Day. Well.. the guy didn't succeed as leader of the Alliance party... we'll see how he does as a sidekick. hehehe

One week into the new party and they're already pointing fingers.. I suppose it's all part of being under the microscope of being a minority government. We'll se how it goes!

Worst music video ever

2006-01-28T02:12:00.000-05:00

No joke. You have to see this. hahahaha David Hasselhof's "Hooked on a feeling" has got to be one of the worst videos ever. Check it out here. Lemme know what you think!! hahahaha

Close but no cigar.

2006-01-25T22:52:00.000-05:00

Ok.. so I haven't managed to blog once per week. But I'm trying. So here's my 2nd blog of 2006.

So... things going on. Transition at work is going ok so far. Learning lots about how they do things.. hopefully will be asking fewer and fewer questions as time goes on.

Conservatives won the federal election in Canada. We'll see how they do under the microscope of being a minority government. I'm sure they'll do ok.. but there's something sneaky about Stephen Harper that just irks me.

I've been offered to take the reigns of the our basketball sports ministry. Which is a heavy load I think. I'll see about partnering up w/ a friend of mine to share the load. We'll see how it goes.

Raptors are a terrible terrible team. I'm so glad we drafted Hoffa..... not.
I AM excited to see how the Blue Jays do this year!!!!

In the past 1.5 weeks I've been going to the gym regularly... every other day or so. We'll see how long I can keep that up. I'm SO out of shape! hehehehehe

Where am i?

2006-01-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

Where have I gone?!? You know. That's a good question! I don't know if I'd be fooling or challenging myself by vowing to blog at least one time per week.

So far, 2006 has been a pretty busy year. I changed jobs on Jan. 5th to work for Capgemini . They're a consulting firm and my client is Hydro One. So far so good! The company is exceptional so far to its employees. Woo hoo!

What's in the plans for 2006?!? I hope to plan a road trip to the East Coast. Probably visit a lot of Nova Scotia. We'll see how it goes! Planning for August sometime!

I'm going to fall into the mix of people that are going to try and hit the gym more often this yr. Went yesterday, so Gym Attendance for 2006 = 1. OHHH YEAH!

Hope you have a great week!

Algonquin in Fall

2005-10-23T23:53:00.000-04:00

Scott and Brian enjoying the view. I swear this view was sooooo incredible.

2005-10-23T23:52:00.000-04:00

We waited so long for this picture.. and people STILL got in the way! hehe

2005-10-23T23:50:00.000-04:00

Ariane and I at this incredible lookout. You could see hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of fall colours. The picture can't capture it =)

2005-10-23T23:49:00.000-04:00

If your feet feel cold... warm them up by toasting them near the fire. hahaha

2005-10-23T23:47:00.000-04:00

Enjoying the view!

2005-10-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

Dorset, Ontario.... A nice shot of the town from high above.

2005-10-23T23:42:00.000-04:00

This two are so funny... and they're fun to hang w/ too... so bonus. Recently engaged.. this is a money shot on the lookout.

2005-10-23T23:41:00.000-04:00

The fall trees.... colours were pretty nice... got there maybe a week late from them being perfect... but it was still pretty awesome!

2005-10-23T23:39:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture while we were walkin along...

Modification

2005-10-11T09:31:00.000-04:00

I think I'm gonna add smores to the menu. It's easy to do and will be mmmmmmmmmmmmmm soooo good. hahahaha

HERE WE GO!

2005-10-06T16:13:00.000-04:00

So in one week I'll be heading off for the last camping trip of the year. It's gonna be pretty cold, but it should still be nice. At least the air will be nice and not polluted. It's crazy what some fresh air can do for ya! Meals for my trip will include: Burgers and sausage, Rotini w/ spicy sausage and sauce, grilled cheese and bacon, pancakes, mmmmmmmmmmmm... it shall be good. I hook up the goods when I go camping =P

Leafs lost in a shootout last night. Mats Sundin got injured because he's dumb and didn't wear a visor. Philly lost because they stunk it up on the power play. 1 for 10! Oh well.. long season ahead. Go Flyers!

Wedding MC

2005-09-26T14:02:00.000-04:00

Yee haw. So this past weekend was my 7th wedding of the year. Only one more to go in November! This one was special though because Ariane and I co-mc'ed the gig. It was for our good friends Sandra & Eyen! Woo hoo! It went well, or so they say. Not like they'd tell us "you weren't so good" hehehe. But it was fun, and an honour to celebrate such a special day w/them. Eyen's the youth pastor at T3C =P

Pictures to follow! Yuh Mey and Brian (getting married in May 2006) are soooooo in trouble. hehe. Each MC experience is making for improved entertainment every time. So they're in for it. hehehehe

Hurricane Season

2005-09-21T08:58:00.000-04:00

So another hurricane is brewing. = There's tons of ideas that the increase in hurricane activity has been affected by global warming. After all, warm waters fuel hurricanes and make them stronger. Here's an article about global warming and it's potential effect on hurricanes.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1099102,00.html

In 1997, the US (Clinton and Co.) signed onto the Kyoto treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emission. The Kyoto treaty was a worldwide agreement to help control global warming. hehe. However when Bush went into office he has pulled away from that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1248278.stm

You've got to think that with the increase in hurricane activity, he has to spend millions of dollars to investigate what the rest of the world is saying? Could global warming be fueling these hurricanes (that are costing billions to repair)?

One more round of Algonquin!!

2005-09-15T15:22:00.000-04:00

So in October I'm going to have one last camping trip. It'll be much easier than past trips, as we'll be camping right near the cars. This late in the year will be chilly at night, but will also have other advantages (zero bugs, fall colours on the trees, and potentially the Northern Lights). October 15th weekend.. here I come!

Algonquin Part II

2005-09-07T10:57:00.000-04:00

Went on my second portaging trip of the year. It was a great trip! Paddled about 10km each way. Took about 2-3hrs each way. Which sounds worse than it actually was.. it was a relaxing 2-3hrs =P. Check out the picture. We saw the Northern Lights! Well actually, I didn't see it because I was too tired and lazy to go outside, but everyone else that went w/ me saw it =P Some evenings were awesome outside so we took advantage of the sunsets. Since we were shooting digital SLR, I even had a chance to play the model. Lots of jokes. hehe! Check it out!!!

1 Gallon Milk Challenge

2005-09-01T14:22:00.000-04:00

Last week I challenged any of my co-workers to the 1 gallon Milk Challenge! One of my co-workers accepted the challenge, citing that he was born in Woodstock, Ontario, the "dairy capital of Canada". The challenge is to drink 1 gallon (or 4 litres) of milk within 1hr, without throwing up. Here are the before and after pictures. In the end, he quitted with about 1L left. Not due to sickness, but just that his stomach was full. He was doing so well up to that point though!!!

Flooding in New Orleans

2005-08-31T09:47:00.000-04:00

It really is brutal what happened in New Orleans this week. The flooding is terrible, devastating, but by no means do I think Americans are saying when they say "This is our tsunami". Eek. Of course, when things are in an emotional state, we speak w/ our hearts on our sleeve but I'm going to have to disagree. The tsunami wiped out hundreds of thousands of people, and ruined the main economic engine of several countries (tourism). By no means am I thinking this natural disaster was a softie, but I don't think it comes anywhere to comparing to a tsunami.

Thoughts and prayers go to all the families in New Orleans. There's no doubt that New Orleans will recover and be better than ever. It's too bad that it takes tragedy to spark unity in this world.

Portaging was fun but hard

2005-08-24T14:26:00.000-04:00

So I'm finally getting a chance to blog about my portaging trip. It was hard but fun... it rained the entire first day but we had perfect weather the next two days. There has to be some secret technique to carrying a canoe that I don't know about. Will let you know if I ever figure it out. Going out again Sept. 2nd for another portaging trip.

On the island

2005-08-24T14:25:00.000-04:00

Not sure when or where I took this

2005-08-24T14:24:00.000-04:00

Bri filtering water........... Mey being fobby

2005-08-24T14:23:00.002-04:00

Gary enjoying the awesome weather

2005-08-24T14:23:00.001-04:00

The frog. We tried taking so many pictures trying to capture the frog leaping..............but didn't

2005-08-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

Mey using her muscles while I relax

2005-08-24T14:22:00.001-04:00

Aloha!!

2005-08-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

Scenery on the paddle home

2005-08-24T14:21:00.003-04:00

Mey and Bri

2005-08-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

Group shot on the way home

2005-08-24T14:21:00.001-04:00

Gary and Amy coming back from a round of fishing

2005-08-24T14:21:00.000-04:00

These chipmnuks were brave.

2005-08-24T14:20:00.001-04:00

View from our campsite

2005-08-24T14:20:00.000-04:00

Group shot with smoke in the face!

2005-08-24T14:19:00.000-04:00

Self shot on reading rock

NASCAR

2005-08-11T12:46:00.000-04:00

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHY NASCAR IS SO POPULAR IN THE US?!?! IT'S A BUNCH OF CARS THAT DRIVE IN AN OVAL/TRIANGLE FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED LAPS. PLEASE. SOMEONE!

Todd Bertuzzi is BACK.

2005-08-11T12:41:00.000-04:00

This is part of the reason why the NHL struggles compared to other major sports leagues. Poor decision making by even the commissioners of the league. They recently scrapped an entire season, and now they're letting Todd Bertuzzi back into the NHL.

For those that don't know, Todd Bertuzzi sucker punched Steve Moore rendering him unconscious, and gave him a neck injury and concussion. Moore is still recovering. In total, Bertuzzi has been suspended a measly 20 games. To put this in comparison to other major sports leagues. The MLB suspended Kenny Rogers 20 games for throwing a video camera on the ground. Sure, the MLB season is twice as long but the punishment is still more severe for a camera throwing incident vs. potentially ruining a player's career?!?!?

Toronto Maple Leafs

2005-08-11T10:27:00.000-04:00

Ok. First of all, unfortunately I'm not a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Sorry about that. I'm a Philadelphia Flyers fan. So today I wanted to talk about how both teams were in similar salary cap situations, but going into the season, Philadelphia looks to be a MUCH BETTER team than Toronto. I think Toronto hockey fans are some of the greatest in the sport, so it's sad that they're not treated to better management of the team.

Toronto's GM, John Ferguson Jr. recently signed Alexander Khavanov. Who?!?! Well JFJ explains it as: "I think we've got a real solid group — a couple of top end guys for sure. Good experience and a very capable NHL defence,". You've got to be kidding me?!?! The reason they get eliminated every year is because their defense is so weak! And who are these top-end guys?!?! McCabe and Kaberle are NOT top-end guys. McCabe is solid (signed for over 3mil, but no superstar). But Kaberle is purely offensive (he doesn't have a defensive and/or physical bone in his body). The other defensemen are: Aki Berg (TERRIBLE), Karel Pilar (will potentially sign for 450k. how good do you think he'll be?), and a collection of others. They lost Brian Leetch who was one, if not their BEST defenseman during the playoffs. To put this into perspective, the St. Louis Blues (where Khavanov played previously) said "He said yesterday that he didn't want to let Khavanov go but with seven NHL calibre defenceman already under contract" . You know what that means?!? Is that there's a lot more depth on his team than Khavanov is worth!

So on a closing note. Sorry Leaf fans, but it's going to be a tough year. The Flyers should do well if the coach can have them gel and they stay healthy. It's too bad that despite poor management, the Leafs will sell-out every game this year!!

Portaging Trip!!

2005-08-09T23:54:00.000-04:00

So I'm headed to Algonquin Park to do my first portaging trip! I hope to come back w/ a ton of pictures as I plan on playing w/ my camera, canoe, sleep, read, and just relax!

If you don't know what portaging is, it's when you canoe most of the trip, but in areas where it's impassable by water, you pick up your canoe and carry it to the next water entry. That means you could be carrying your canoe anywhere between 30-3000m!! And it's not usually on flat ground! So I'm excited... I've done backpacking and canoe camping, but never portaging. So here we go!!

PSYCHOlogist Heuters

2005-08-09T23:53:00.000-04:00

PSYCHOlogist Heuters Another plug for my girlie that's going to school in London. Check her out! =P

The plug

2005-08-07T20:34:00.000-04:00

Here's a plug for my friend's blog. he's so excited about his new blogspot that he's posting 2-3 blogs per day. I'm sure it's gonna slow down, but till then enjoy Mr. Ng's Neighbourhood

Babcock as a GM

2005-07-26T12:35:00.000-04:00

So Rob Babcock is the GM for the Toronto Raptors. And I'm officially unable to continue supporting his decisions. I'm always one for giving a guy a chance but he's made a bunch of poor decisions now, and so I just can't do it!

1) He drafted Rafael Araujo, who had a terrible first year. The good news is he can't possibly be worse than this year, can he? We'll let this draft pick slide, as it was his first year and didn't have much prep time.

2) Pulled the Vince Carter trade. Babcock traded away a non-productive Vince for 3 players (one they would later buyout) and 2 draft picks. Not bad. We all knew that Vince's production was terrible, but he traded for 3 players that didn't end up logging regular playing time. So why choose those players?!? Couldn't he at least have gotten some better role players for the team?? We'll let this one slide too, as we don't know how the draft picks are going to pan out.

3) In February 2005, from the Canadian Press:
''Our doctors felt after doing complete research and covering all the records and consulting and all the New Jersey doctors and everything came to the conclusion that he doesn't meet the medical conditions necessary for our basketball team,'' said Raptors GM Rob Babcock."

So Babcock and his staff knew what his medical condition was ahead of time and continue to trade for him, then buyout his contract (for a speculated amount of just under $10M US). Mourning later returned to the NBA (after claiming Raptors buyout money of course) and played pretty inspiring basketball for the Miami Heat, helping lead them to the Conference Finals. Eeek. Now Toronto's starting to look silly for pulling the Vince Carter trade. They got 2 players on their bench, another player they paid $10M to buyout (who returned to a team within the division). Not looking good. BUT! They still have the two draft picks!

3) NBA Draft 2005:
"We've probably been more prepared for this draft six weeks ago than we were last year at this time, the day before. It's certainly a much more comforting feeling going into this draft."

At the draft, with the first pick they selected a PF in Villanueva and surprised everyone. Of all the positions that they do not need a player, it's at PF because of Bosh. Maybe if he bulks up he can spend some time at C and they can have a twin tower thing going? Their next pick was Graham who I think was a great pick. In the second round they pick Roko Ukic and based on everyone, it's a steal. So Villanueva's a maybe.. but let's give him a chance. Graham and Ukic look to be great picks based on their draft position. But sounds like he did a lot of research on who he drafted.

4) Ukic signs a 4yr contract with a Spanish team.
''We knew there was an offer out there, it wouldn't surprise me if he took it,'' Raptors general manager Rob Babcock told the Star Sunday. ''It's not a bad thing overall, I would have liked to see him here this year, but we were prepared for this.''

Ok.. all that research on players that were going to help seems to be gone now. Even if Ukic comes over after his contract in Spain, he'll be a 25yr old NBA rookie. GREAT. hehe. So we'll see how this upcoming season goes. I'm pretty excited to see Graham play this year. But other than that, we have a backup PF that hopefully plays well.

5) Donyell Marshall to sign w/ Cleveland. Eek. Some of our scoring and size just left. Void hasn't been filled yet, but we'll see how that goes.

SO. Babcock's had a while to get his feet wet now. And I really hope the rookies (that will actually play this yr) have a good season. Otherwise it's going to be a LOOOOONG year for Raptor fans.

ps. If Cleveland signs Jaric, they're going to be an EXTREMELY exciting team to watch. Starting five would be: Ilgauskas, Hughes, Lebron, Jaric and anyone. hahahaha

Hot hot hot!

2005-07-14T12:08:00.000-04:00

Crazy heatwave going on! Today it's going to get near 43C when you include humidity! On top of that, we haven't had much rain in the past month. 3mm of rain in the past month! So everything is dry!

Wedding mania continues. Three weekends in a row of weddings coming up!! hehe

Went to the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 1st and saw a group called the Vanessa Rodrigues Soul Project (http://www.vanessarodrigues.com). Th(ey had a cool soul/funk sound to them so check them out if you have a chance. What made them really cool was they added a hiphop DJ to the mix. Check out DJ KillaJewel (http://www.killajewel.com)! She's got skills and seems to have a great attitude about things. Don't be shy in supporting both artists!

I love the hiphop culture. The core hiphop is like a modern version of the hippie. hehe where dance, peace, love and art all come together. This past weekend I went to the Harborfront centre for an electronic/hiphop music festival to watch a breakdancing competition! These guys were CRAZY! One guy took off two shirts while doing a windmill! And another guy was doing push-ups with his legs/feet parallel to the ground!!!!!! The competition was run by classic TO breakdancing crew Bag of Trix (http://www.bagoftrix.ca). Till next time...

Houston. We have a return date!

2005-07-12T11:10:00.000-04:00

Sooooooooooo! We have an official date that Ariane will be arriving back into Toronto! September 7th will the day! I'm sure she's going to have tons of awesome life changing stories about working w/ local Chinese youth and other Word spreaders in the region.

On a side note, as you may or may not know I'm a gadget guy. Amazingly enough I came back from China/HK without buying any gadgets. Believe me, that is incredible. hehe. But I recently got a new PDA (as the screen on my old one flickered). Maybe it was a legit scare, or maybe it was a poor excuse to buy a new one. Nonetheless.. I got one. hehe The Dell Axim x50 line at a very reasonable price (so no worries, I didn't go overboard). The problem is when I accessorize the PDA. I just recently got an accessory to convert this badboy into a GPS. I think it'll be useful upon talking w/ others.. but I'll write more on it in when I check it out.

Trip to China!

2005-06-17T23:30:00.000-04:00

So this isn't a rant, rave, or weird thought. This is a journal on my incredible trip to China. =)

So it's been a looong time since I blogged. Part of that's been due to busy-ness. The other part is laziness. But I'm giving it a shot again. In March I visited China for 3 weeks and had an incredible time. I DID want to write about my time and experiences there, but I really think I needed time after my trip to just process everything I experienced an explain it in a meaningful way.

I'm going to just list several thoughts and experiences that made this trip special. Please excuse how erratic my thoughts are!

Firstly, the reason of my trip. The reason of my trip was to be able to relate to some of the people and surroundings that Ariane was encountering. Her time over there was going to have an important impact on her life, and I wanted to be able to relate to that. =)
Moving on........the FC staff consists of five people, three foreigners (including Ariane) and two locals. All of them are like-minded.
The FC runs programs to teach english to young kids (starting from kindergarten to 8ish?). They have 3 groups of kids in on Friday, and an additional 3 groups on Saturday. From Tues - Thurs, the team spends time designing lesson plans, and training local staff. There are multiple rooms at the FC, each with a unique teaching style. For example, in Room A they use a lot of visual aids, Room B uses lots of drama and interactivity, Room C uses a lot of game-like activities. There is one foreigner in each room to lead the lesson. To assist each foreigner in communicating w/ these kids is 1-2 volunteer students from the local university. These students are learning to teach English at the local university, and it's an excellent opportunity to practice their teaching AND english by working with these kids!
The kids are sponges! They're learning ideas like "I am responsible". Not sure about you, but I don't remember learning that in kindergarten. Apparently the comprehension of the children is quite good, it's just the spoken english that is poor. And therefore parents enroll their kids in programs like this, to improve for the future!
In addition to the programs for the young children, the FC runs a weekly Junior Youth night for elementary/middle-school aged kids, and a bi-weekly Senior Youth night for high school kids.
Since the student volunteers are semi-billingual, the opportunities to build relationships w/ them are unbelievable. It's with these kids that I feel the greatest amount of sharing can occur. And thankfully, some hearts were moved by His spirit and sharing lead to the acceptance of His truth.
It was really neat to be able to interact w/ the students. Got to absorb so many different characters! Got to laugh! And was so encouraged by how genuinely humble they were.
As you can/can't imagine, most locals in China are satisfied with their lives in general. From their jobs, to what they do in recreation, they're not complainers. It was nice to see people being "content" with their lives compared to the ongoing complaining we have in North America. Life conditions over there are so much poorer than the abundance we have in North America. So it was exciting and scary to hear how locals thirsted for knowledge about Western culture. I almost didn't want to tell them anything, because they were already content w/ the little they had. I don't want to be the one to pollute their mind w/ Western culture's constant struggles. Struggles that are a result of abundant wealth, power, and success around us? We really need to take some time and reflect how overly content we are.
I had a chance to play basketball at the local university. Played some 3 on 3 with four students and a foreigner buddy of mine. My team (the three guys with girlfriends - Team Sweetheart) beat the other team (three single guys - Team Heartbreak). The team names were thought up by our student friends... so don't look at me like that. hehe. But really, during the time I was in China, I got a chance to connect w/ these guys and what great guys! When two of them found out I extended my trip, they walked 30mins from campus to where I was to give me a gift. Dried beef that was famous in his hometown. Incredible. If there's anyone that's supposed to be buying gifts... it should be me.. the wealthy Westerner... not the student! Something like this was a perfect example of how genuinely humble, and what a huge heart these people have.
I also had the chance to sit in on a local university class. Since one of the EM family members is a teacher at the university, I was invited to sit in on the class! Got a chance to talk and interact w/ more students, and got to see how subtle teachings can plant seeds for big discussion. The class I attended, the teacher was having students re-enacting a Western wedding (proposal, ceremony, reception, honeymoon, etc.), then comparing it to the traditional Chinese wedding. Students notice the differences, such as the presence of a minister... hehe. So funny and exciting to see things like that.
Yes. I saw dog ready to be cooked. And no, I couldn't have confused it w/ anything else, it was definitely dog.
Food over there was extremely cheap. I could eat out 3-4 full meals a day for approx. $5 Canadian. And yup, I ate at street vendors too. Had to do things China style!
Every student and local asked the same questions. 1) Am I Chinese? 2) Do I speak Chinese? 3) Do they have chinese food in Canada? 4) Where do I work? Now they seem like simple questions, but their reactions to my answers were unexpected. When I tell them we have chinese food and all types of international food in Canada, they're really blown away! It's almost as though their knowledge has been limited to surrounding areas. But how different is that to us, really? I don't think majority of Westerners have much of an idea what's going on in Africa. Do you?
I can see some of the struggles of being like-minded in China. In some farming families there is 4-6 children, and since family income is so low the family can only afford to send one child away to university. That child is expected to graduate, find a job, and provide for the rest of the family. Again.... they have no problem with what their role is. But that's a lot of pressure on the child to succeed at school AND work! The entire family is relying on him/her. And for a child that has accepted Him, can you imagine how tough it would be to explain the idea that the Father can provide in other ways? Not just financially? That is TOUGH.
One evening, six of us ( myself, my buddy I stayed with, EM father, and 4 locals (all like-minded)) got together and shared testimonies! How great was it to hear so many different paths and perspectives on how each person was led to Him, and why they've committed themselves to Him. Then we had some prayer time... and man.. how awesome it was to hear someone praying for me in Chinese. I couldn't understand a word he said, but there was no doubt you could feel His presence.
Coming home I was stranded indefinitely in HK. I was rattled that I was in limbo in HK. I ended up being stranded for 4 days of doing nothing (which I really believe CAN drive someone insane), knowing noone, and unable to speak the common language there. However, that stranded weekend was Easter weekend. And while reflecting on things, I felt stupid to complain when J went through the ultimate suffering had occurred over 2000 years ago.. so what do I really have to complain about. I spent the next days thankful for... life. For the life I was given.. for the circumstances I was in.. for everything around me. The next days were a piece of cake... as I was at peace. =)

In the end, I know it sounds cliche but this trip was priceless. On most vacations, you visit tourist-ey spots in busy cities. I got to hang out w/ locals, do local-ey things, eat local food and still relax. I was able to interact with kids, students, and towns people. Made tons of new friendships (foreigners and locals). And most importantly, I now have faces, places, praises and struggles to relate to, when Ariane speaks of them. Another humbling adventure in my life that I'll be able to grin, smile, and reflect on forever. Sorry for the long blog. Hope you enjoyed reading it. =)

You know, there's even more. But I think I'm going to stop here. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email. =)

Bush vs. Kerry

2004-10-11T23:37:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I'm so facinated by US politics. I think it's how entertaining and dramatic they make everything that gets me upset.. and makes me laugh. hehe. So I'm not a fan of Bush... he doesn't seem to be doing a good job. His decisions don't make sense. I don't know Kerry super well, but I think it's obvious that there's a need for CHANGE. Give the guy a shot. I think in Debate #2, GWB demonstrated how reactive he is in making decisions. In response to every Kerry comment he jumped up and was ready to shoot back, whereas Kerry composed himself, then responded w/ a thoughtful comment. Two different styles. We'll see who wins the popularity contest in November.

China Option!

2004-10-08T13:54:00.000-04:00

Ok.. new possible wrinkle into things between Ariane (in China) and I! So I found out her term ends in June, then there's a summer program that runs for the month of July. So it's just an idea, but I may go there to help out for the summer program!?! Whadya think about that?!?!

As well... I just found out that I may be eligible for support through my church.. so the financial hit wouldn't be as big a concern as initially expected. =)

Hmmmmmmm

2004-10-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

Holy crap did it get cold in a hurry! So last week was nice.. now we have potential for FROST?!?! What's up w/ that?!?!

My car is just over 6mths old.. and I almost have 21000 km's on it.. What's up w/ that?!?!

I pay for a gym membership but I never go! What's up w/ that?!?!

So ya.. Ariane's still gone =|

2004-10-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

BUT! I'm surviving! And calling her via phone card is pretty affordable. A $5 phone card will let me talk for 6+ hrs!! Is that impresive or what?!?! Ok.. ready for how much she pays for hi-speed Internet? $3/mth!!! What's up w/ that?!!? All her equipment i'm guessing was Made in China. hehehe. 3 weeks down.. only 10.5mths to go!!

Woo hoo! Go Kerry

2004-10-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

Debate #1 was done in the US and 3 polls indicate Kerry came out on top. As everyone knows, I'm not a fan of Bush. Not sure what to expect of Kerry but change is good and let's give him a chance.

NHL Lockout

2004-09-23T13:40:00.000-04:00

Ok... So the NHL Owners and the NHL players are butting heads over how the league should be run. And it's strictly my opinion that the NHLPA (players) are the ones that are being stubborn! The major issue here is the salary cap, which would standardize how much EVERY team could spend. Every league that has a salary cap in place (NBA and NFL) is doing GREAT. And the leagues that don't have a salary cap are stinking it up (NHL and MLB). And as everyone knows, the rich teams continue to buy talent (like the Yankees and Rangers) which leaves small market teams in the dust.

So Bob Goodenow (NHLPA) has stated that:
1) Players want to play, they're not greedy. Owners locked them out.
2) Players deserve fair value.
3) More emphasis should be placed on better quality mgmt for each team to manage their unique situation/environment.

Now how can they disagree that players are not being greedy if they apparently "don't care" about the money, yet won't play under a salary cap!?!? Sure there should be an emphasis on management. But that would come into play under a salary cap too (look at the Lakers). A salary cap would create an equal playing field for each market. Ticket prices would be able to be adjusted accordingly, rather than get out of control to pay an overpriced budget. Fans are the ones paying the salary of these players. SALARY CAP is the way to go. The NFL and NBA have made it work and fans love the competition. Kudos to the owners on this issue.

Camping Trip Adventure

2004-09-20T01:13:00.000-04:00

So I survived! Phew! So the waterfall height was a typo. The waterfall was actually 85ft (not meters), or 25m which is still a good height. The trek there was treacherous! They weren't kidding when they said it was VERY DEMANDING. So the trail was 12km to get to the falls, and 12km back. And there are 6-7 campsites available along the route. I can't stress how difficult this trail was. I wouldn't wish this punishment on my worst enemy. hehe. At certain spots the incline/hill was easily 60-70 degrees uphill/downhill for like 140-160m (or like 460-525ft for my little american friends =P). That's FAR. We had to break pretty often just to catch our breath, especially since we were carrying 40lb bags on our backs.

So on the first day we got there we were all happy and excited and stuff and managed to do the like 11.5km (in like 5hrs). We were so exhausted that first day, we were asleep by 7pm, and slept for 12hrs straight. The next day (Tuesday) we began brainstorming any options on how to get back to the car through another route (we were that exhausted). While thinking up ideas, we trekked to the falls and back (another 1km) for like 1hr on even steeper ground. Since we're kind of on a cliff at all times, there were spots we had to cross small mini rivers/waterfalls running DOWN the side of the mountain. So if we slipped (at any time), someone was really gonna hurt themself (very possibly fatal, as it's all rock below). So we had to be really careful. So we get back from the falls and trek back halfway (about 4km) and camp again. Finally, Wednesday we do the remainder of the trip back to the car (7km), and what do we find? My front passenger window is smashed! Dang!! That really sucks!! So instead of continuing camping (as we had planned), drove back into the nearest city (Sault Ste. Marie, 1.5hrs away), stayed in a motel (Wednesday night) and began making arrangements to fix the window.

From then on we figure we might as well make the most of our trip and visit these cities up north. So we checked out Sault on Thursday, then drove to Sudbury in the middle of the day and checked out that Big Nickel. Stayed overnight (Thursday) in Sudbury. Friday, passed through Parry Sound and had lunch and took some pics and headed home.

In the end, we had a great time checking out Northern Ontario. Lake Superior park was magnificent to see! Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, it had it all. The window issue threw an annoying monkeywrench into our plans, but it's all good. Thankfully we were safe the whole time. Coulda been tons worth if one of us twisted an ankle or something while hiking.

If you're interested in checking out Northern Ontario, let me know! I recommend the Soo! The people are great! And the Agawa Canyon train ride looks amazing. I'm definitely gonna go back and check it out! Thx for reading!! Lemme know what you think of the pics!!

2004-09-20T00:12:00.001-04:00

Morning fog by the mountains. Super cool to see.

2004-09-20T00:12:00.000-04:00

A cool reflection-ey picture I took while en-route to our campsite.

2004-09-20T00:11:00.000-04:00

There ARE mountains in Ontario. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. hehe

2004-09-20T00:10:00.000-04:00

Here's a scan I took from my new SLR camera. Still figuring out the functions on this badboy but got some good pics out of it. This is a pic of the falls from a distance (from our first campsite).

2004-09-19T23:57:00.000-04:00

So since our camping ended quicker than expected (due to broken window issue). We stopped at different towns in Northern Ontario. Here we are in Sudbury at the biggest-est nickel in the universe (ok... maybe not.. but it was huge).

2004-09-19T23:55:00.000-04:00

As I said, we drove about 8-9hrs outside of Toronto. But when you're driving and seeing the sky like this, time flies by like nothing. Easiest 9hr drive I've ever done. =P

2004-09-19T23:53:00.000-04:00

Ok.. Can you believe this? After 2.5 days of camping, we get back to our car and someone broke into my car! DANGIT! This happens way too often to me! Even up north!! Nonetheless, no one was hurt and we still had a great time. Just an annoyance but we still had fun. =)

2004-09-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo! Waterfall!! And a mother-sized one! Wicked to sleep and hear the sound of the water!!

2004-09-19T23:50:00.000-04:00

Ok... this is me coming down a hill. Yes. It really was that steep. And yes, that bag on my back is probably about 40lbs. I seriously don't know how we survived. The trek was TOUGH!

2004-09-19T23:48:00.000-04:00

On the road! Welcome to Sault Ste. Marie!! 8hrs from Toronto baby. But great town! I highly recommend it (especially compared to other towns in Northern Ontario)

Ariane is Gone!!.... to China =|

2004-09-12T01:07:00.000-04:00

Ok.. so Ariane is leaving for China! She's gone for ONE year!! She's off to do mission work which is really exciting!! She'll be teaching English, and witnessing to others through those relationships. In the end I know we'll both be better, as God's gonna stretch us and really help each of us grow on our own. =)

I'm going camping tomorrow! Crazy camping.. hopefully should have wicked pictures to show. =) Be back in a week!!!

2004-09-07T23:38:00.000-04:00

Ok... so this is what my friend's (Ian) younger brother (his name is CJ) painted on his bedroom wall. Isn't that crazy!?!? The guy's got SKILLS!!

Classic Bush!

2004-09-01T23:22:00.000-04:00

Quotes from Bush on if he can win the war on terrorism.

On Monday:
Asked "Can we win?" in an NBC television interview Monday, Bush said "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool — are less acceptable in parts of the world."

On Tuesday:
And on Tuesday, the president sought to quell the controversy, saying in a campaign speech: "In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table. But make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win."

This guy is hilarious!! Ok.. I know no-one's perfect but this guy can't make up his mind. Just viewing part of the Republican convention and some of the things being said by his boys (Arnie especially) are sooooooo cheezy! But the people are there chanting and stuff. It makes me laugh! hehehe Can't wait to see how this election goes =P

Camping @ Algonquin Park

2004-08-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

Ok... so this is the first time I camped at Algoninquin park.. apparently the big booya park of Ontario. It's 765,345 ha in size which is.. BIG. So since we were canoe-ing into the site I was excited (something new, right?) cuz this was adventurous!! But you don't reserve a specific campsite.. you reserve a general area. Our trip was going to be from Friday - Sunday. So there we are paddling away... in WINDY conditions.. After about 1hr of paddling we reached the one we wanted... and it was already taken. BOOOOOO! So we kept paddling to another good site and eventually got there in 2.5hrs (ONLY cuz it was windy i tell ya). We setup camp and stuff and all was good. Saturday went swimming for like 10mins cuz the water was cold. hehehe.. but just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. Sunday we packed up and paddled back in an HOUR baby!! But it rained the whole paddle back (no problem for me since i was wearing a poncho and waterproof pants) which made everyone ELSE cold and uncomfortable. hehehehe FUN TRIP for sure though! On Sunday Sept. 12th I'm leaving for the longest camping trip I've ever been on... gonna do the Towab Trail w/ a co-worker of mine. We should see this wicked 85m waterfall (Niagara Falls is only 55m!) AND the Northern Lights! Till then, here are some pictures of the Algonquin trip!

2004-08-30T21:11:00.000-04:00

OH YEEEEEEEEAH. We set up a hammock!!

2004-08-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

Oh ya! My friend tried to make an OVEN out of a campfire.. so he could bake peach cobbler. Here he's bringing back rocks to construct the oven. For a first try the peach cobbler came out alright!! Not cooked solidly in the middle but the sides were just fine!

2004-08-30T21:09:00.000-04:00

These are some other people that came on the trip. But I fell asleep on this chair on Saturday for like 1-1.5hrs as I was basking in the sun and taking in a cool breeze.

2004-08-30T20:55:00.000-04:00

Same day as Taste of the Danforth, I went to the Maroon 5/John Mayer concert. I didn't really know much about John Mayer and was surprised... this guy can tear up a guitar!! Impressive!!

2004-08-30T20:54:00.000-04:00

So this is the picture of me at Taste of the Danforth. As i said before.. ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

Welcome to the Taste of the Danforth

2004-08-20T00:11:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Taste of the Danforth ok.. so in a couple weeks ago I went to this Taste of the Danforth. Never been before... but man.. it's ALL FOOD! It's great!! Will post pics but I'm too lazy. Will start blogging more regularly. again hehe.. For the cousin that commented on one of the posts.. i have no idea which cousin you are.. hehe so just write your first name so at least I can have some type of idea of who you are!

I'm baaaaaaack!

2004-08-04T14:31:00.000-04:00

Ok.. so I'm back in town. And for those that have talked to me in person.. I haven't shut up about the potential of this Upward basketball league. They've done an GREAT job in designing this ministry/program for youth. And really really feel that this can impact youth in a huge way. The cool thing about it is basketball is just a minor minor vehicle in getting the message across to kids that "winning isn't everything".. it teaches what true salvation is all about. I really can't summarize in a couple words how impactful this league can be... but PLEASE ask me and I'd love to explain everything about it to ya!!!

2004-08-04T14:30:00.000-04:00

This place was huge. Check it out

2004-08-04T14:29:00.001-04:00

The actual goods of what happened in Memphis

2004-08-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

They don't even know I posted this. hehehe

2004-08-04T14:26:00.000-04:00

Graceland! Thas right!

Here we come Memphis!

2004-07-28T20:55:00.000-04:00

Ok.. so here's the timeline:
07/29 6:45 - Leave Toronto
07/30 1:00 - Hopefully arrive in Memphis.. hehe
07/30 16:00 - Conference starts
07/31 16:00 - Conference ends
07/31 20:00 - Leave Memphis?
08/01 15:00 - Hopefully arrive in TO. Because one of the guys is going to a wedding banquet at 17:00. We're going to make him drive the last leg to finish him off.

Hopefully we'll go to Graceland.. and pretend we're Japanese tourists. Heck.. if there's a sale at Wal-Mart we'll buy Elvis jumpsuits. hehe Nonetheless... I KNOW this is going to be a great trip.. =)

Pics to come!

2 more workdays! Google!

2004-07-27T01:00:00.000-04:00

Ok.. so only 2 more work days till I'm off to Memphis! woo hoo! Met up w/ the guys (that I'm going with) again today and am completely reminded how important fellowship w/ other Christians is.. man.. it's refreshing and grounding at the same time. Exciting stuff!

In other news, Google announced approx. how much their IPO will be... and holy cow man! They're guesstimating between $105 - 135!!! US dollars!! That's crazy! It's the 8th highest IPO in recent history... and they're just a SEARCH ENGINE!! What's up w/ that? Very impressive. But if you look at the quality of their products... it's a very polished product... everything from their search to Picasa, Blogger, and even Gmail (1GB of email space? that's sick).

Knee's feeling better! that's it!! I wanna play bball IN memphis! hehehe

2004-07-25T22:56:00.000-04:00

I found the waterfall!!

2004-07-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

After about 2hrs of hiking on a gimpy knee.

City of Heroes

2004-07-24T19:46:00.000-04:00

City of Heroes, this game is bad for my health. hehehe.. went hiking.. was real nice! didn't take all that many pictures, but i'll post the couple i have soon!

Softball Injury #7861

2004-07-22T23:49:00.000-04:00

Ok... I think it's soon time that I admit that I'm old and that the body isn't as durable as it once was. SO! I've now incurred my annual softball injury. A couple years ago I busted up my ankle pretty good. Last year I had an infected knee. And just this past sunday I think I sprained/bruised my knee. I'm kind of glad it occurred now, so that we could just get it out of the way.

No worries though, I've been giving it a bunch of rest and it seems to be healing well. I walk w/ a slight limp but walk at a pretty good speed! I'm easily going to be able to go hiking this Saturday, but don't know about running and banging it around for Sunday (next game). Plus, I want it to be somewhat healthy for the basketball conference next week. So that's all... the knee is about 80% healthy and gettin better every day!!

Night Shift. They best not be bluffin'!!

2004-07-22T23:37:00.000-04:00

Ok... so for the past 2.5mths I've been working this night shift from 5pm - 1:30am ... so they best not be bluffin that in two weeks i'm back to days. Because this night shift is terrible! At first I was an optimist thinking "Great! Now I can do all types of productive things during the daytime!". Instead, I spend a great deal of time playing City of Heroes, sleep late, and don't do much of anything. Mind you, my character in this game is now pretty wicked.. but still.. hehe....As well, I don't get to see my family, gf, or friends except maybe on weekends. Heck, I just found out the other day my brother bought a car (through my mom somehow)?

So they best not be bluffin!! The sleep-ins were nice for a while, but I think it's time to become a normal person again.

Thoughts and prayers go out to a co-worker of mine, who's Mom passed away yesterday. He's flying back to Haiti on Saturday for a week to be w/ the rest of the family, so I hope all goes well.

I'm going hiking w/ other co-workers and friends at Hilton Falls on Saturday. The weather looks like it's gonna be AMAZING! Woo hoo!

Blogger vs. Xanga

2004-07-21T21:02:00.000-04:00

Oooooh!! So a couple of you guys (who are already on Xanga) wrote me in regards to Blogger vs. Xanga. I've been aware of Xanga for while and I don't know.. just don't like it. hehe.. So here are some reasons I chose Blogger. Correct me if I'm wrong!

1) The Xanga website doesn't let you find out ANY information about it unless you register. That's shady man!! You can't even find out what a blog is! As well, you can't search through Xanga unless you register. And I don't think you can comment on a post unless you register.

2) The Blogger site is clean and simple. Not many ads and very clean layout. Easy to read. Easy to navigate. =P

3) Blogger is owned by Google. Yes... you know.. the best search engine in the universe. So you know it's going to be a decent quality product. And since it's asociated w/ Google, you have access to lots of free cool add-ons for your blog. You can blog things directly off your Google toolbar (on your browser), easily manage pics on your blog, and the coolest one of all is Audioblogger (cool if you live in US). Where you can create audio blogs by calling a local phone # and record any type of moment (ie. party, club, intoxicated persons) as an mp3 on your blog site... and the cost? FREE. C'mon.. admit it! That's pretty cool!

Ok... are you sold on the idea yet? And no.. I don't own Google stock.. i only wish! ps. their IPO is yet to be announced but is guesstimated to START at approx. $88US a share.. that's crazy.

I don't understand Stephen Harper's thinking.

2004-07-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

Ok... so the Federal election occurred recently, and there's something about Stephen Harper that I just don't like. Yesterday, Paul Martin announced his cabinet of ministers (who's going to be Federal Minister of Finance, Health, etc).

Stephen Harper's critique of Martin's cabinet was: "The Prime Minister has put together a combination of weak and inexperienced ministers dominated mainly by his loyalists. Unfortunately, the cabinet reflects an old team of Liberals with very few new ideas."

Ok.. to me.. this guy makes no sense.. and that's why I don't like him. hehe. "dominated mainly by his loyalists"? What's wrong w/ that?!?! If you're choosing a select group of individuals that will affect your reputation and career, wouldn't you want loyal, trustworthy people around you?!? What does Harper want? For Martin to choose people that don't like him? hehehehe that's all.. if anyone understands his thinking.. let me know..

Bush and WMD

2004-07-20T21:06:00.000-04:00

Ok.. so John Kerry raised a pretty good point the other day. As we all know, upon further investigation, the US intelligence has now acknowledged that 1) There are no credible ties between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein and 2) That there is no credible evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). So it's funny that Bush is saying "I have no regrets, because the US is a safer place. Iraq was still a threat to other countries". hehe.. and recently John Kerry asked if Bush was going to lead them into North Korea next.

Now this is funny part, because EVERYONE knows that North Korea has nuclear weapons. Heck... North Korea has TOLD everyone they have nuclear weapons and where they are. It just wouldn't make sense for the US to go there.. ya know? hehe. To make things even more obvious, North Korea withdrew from an international treaty back in 2003. hehe. Maybe part of the fear is that NK has developed a long range missile that strike a target 6000km (can hit US from Korea) away. Or maybe there's no $$$ in Korea vs. the Middle East? I'm not a big fan of Bush jumping into war.. when he doesn't have any valid facts backing him... that's all. What do you think?

Countdown to Memphis!

2004-07-19T23:23:00.000-04:00

So I'm going July 29th - Aug. 1 to Memphis for a Christian Basketball league Leadership Conference. Today I hung out w/ the 3 other guys from my church, and very hyped up about this wicked opportunity! Here's the craziness. We're driving 16-18hrs each way (four drivers rotating non-stop!). Nonetheless, travel is good.. Sights and sounds anywhere is something we can all absorb...............well except in the Prairies. hehe

First post!!

2004-07-19T21:46:00.000-04:00

Ok.. this is trouble. Shaun has officially begun blogging. This could be a complete venthouse.. a complete poetic masterpiece... or a puzzling piece of literature that has everyone wondering "Is he crazy!?!?". You can guess which one I'm aiming for. heeeeeere we go!