I took the kiddies to Acquire the Fire this past weekend. I forgot that I hated it.
Opps.
It wasn't all bad though, the kids had a good time and Skillet was amazing.
Today I got my oil changed at Mr. Lube- it was the single greatest oil changing experience of my life. All I had to do was sit in the car while the staff provided me with complimentary newspapers and beverages. I imagine this is the male version of a trip to the spa.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
The blog title was the name of a play I was in for Gr. 12 Drama back in the day. The line that was repeated constantly throughout the drama was "Good neighbors make good fences and good fences make good neighbors". I was reminded of this today when I read that the US is building a 1000 km fence to keep illegal immigrants out of their country. In the play the neighbors end up becoming suspicious of one another (what are they hiding over there?, why can't I see what's going on?) and the morale is that good neighbors don't have fences.
You can read about the fence here.
I wonder if we'll reach the point where the US needs to put up a fence to keep out Canadians? I also wonder if there's a better solution than a 1000km fence?- such as helping Mexico become a place where a person is able to make a living and actually wants to live there...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Red is the new White
About a year ago we saw the emergence of those white bracelets that were all about making poverty history. Now, apparently red is the new white.The new red campaign. hmmmmmmm....
Summary: With Bono and Oprah as the spokespeople, large corporations have agreed to give a portion of their sales to developing countries going to the Global Fund to eliminate AIDS in Africa. Example- 1 $200 ipod is worthy of a $10 donation from Apple to the fund.
I appreciate the thought, the percentage of money and the effort. However I think it is a fairly sad commentary on the western world that we need to be motivated by ipods and designer jeans in order to give money to the poorest of the poor.
IF I was going to buy an ipod, I probably would buy a red one. However, since I didn't plan on buying an ipod, I'm still not going to spend the $200 just because $10 goes towards life saving drugs. If I really cared I would donate straight to the cause without the thought of a reward or what I can get out of this deal.
There are probably going to be a lot of people (errr- middle-upper class white people) who do get involved and pat themselves on the back for splurging for that extra ipod all in the name of humanitarianism.
That is weird.
Really weird.
Humanitarianism.
Buying an ipod.
Humanitarianism.
$100 jeans.
Weird.
The really strange thing is that it probably will be a successful campaign- when simply telling someone that people are ACTUALLY DYEING wouldn't be much of a motivator.
That is weird.
Really weird.
Humanitarianism.
Buying an ipod.
Humanitarianism.
$100 jeans.
Weird.
The really strange thing is that it probably will be a successful campaign- when simply telling someone that people are ACTUALLY DYEING wouldn't be much of a motivator.
Ian has some thoughts on the matter here.
If you don't need that ipod, Mike Todd has something you could try--donating straight to foundation of the world's leading AIDS activist, the Stephen Lewis Foundation with nothing but a receipt to show for it.
Monday, October 23, 2006
The Trip
Oct. 13, 5:15am
I wake up when my dad comes into the room and says that I'm late. Jay and I were supposed to fly to Minneapolis but had a late start as we were supposed to leave the house about 30 minutes earlier-- not a good start to the day.
5:34am.
A quick stop at Tim Horton's (despite our being late, we've always got time..) for a medium dd and we're off again.
5:45am
Driving along the QEW, everything is fine.
5:46am
White out conditions.
5:51am
We see our first car stuck in the snow trying to depart the highway. A quick survey of the scene tells us that this guy is going to need some help, and with not a lot of people around... 1st car pushed out of the snow.
5:58am
Turn on the radio for this little tidbit "Buffalo is experiencing an unprecedented storm in the history of weather" - no jokes, that's a direct quote. (3 hours later we hear this little nugget "If you have an emergency you'd like to share on the air give us a call"-- ya, if I'm in an emergency, the first thing (or last thing) on my list of to-do's is to call talk-radio.)
After that it was pretty crazy- we decided to press on to the Buffalo airport, despite the fact that we knew our flight was delayed- this was an adventure! After an hour and half of waiting for the Peace Bridge to open we finally crossed the border into the war zone that was Buffalo-- massive trees down everywhere, deserted highways, no power- it was crazy. Anyway, we spent the morning pushing cars out on route to the airport, which we arrived at around 10:45am, to find out that our flight had been pushed back to 7:30am, the next morning.
That was the first day of operation: visit Ian and Lauren (with a quick stop at a wedding in Minneapolis). It was a great 36 hour with the Mclarens-- full of poker, Arrested Development and my first ever trip to the Olive Garden.
I wake up when my dad comes into the room and says that I'm late. Jay and I were supposed to fly to Minneapolis but had a late start as we were supposed to leave the house about 30 minutes earlier-- not a good start to the day.
5:34am.
A quick stop at Tim Horton's (despite our being late, we've always got time..) for a medium dd and we're off again.
5:45am
Driving along the QEW, everything is fine.
5:46am
White out conditions.
5:51am
We see our first car stuck in the snow trying to depart the highway. A quick survey of the scene tells us that this guy is going to need some help, and with not a lot of people around... 1st car pushed out of the snow.
5:58am
Turn on the radio for this little tidbit "Buffalo is experiencing an unprecedented storm in the history of weather" - no jokes, that's a direct quote. (3 hours later we hear this little nugget "If you have an emergency you'd like to share on the air give us a call"-- ya, if I'm in an emergency, the first thing (or last thing) on my list of to-do's is to call talk-radio.)
After that it was pretty crazy- we decided to press on to the Buffalo airport, despite the fact that we knew our flight was delayed- this was an adventure! After an hour and half of waiting for the Peace Bridge to open we finally crossed the border into the war zone that was Buffalo-- massive trees down everywhere, deserted highways, no power- it was crazy. Anyway, we spent the morning pushing cars out on route to the airport, which we arrived at around 10:45am, to find out that our flight had been pushed back to 7:30am, the next morning.
That was the first day of operation: visit Ian and Lauren (with a quick stop at a wedding in Minneapolis). It was a great 36 hour with the Mclarens-- full of poker, Arrested Development and my first ever trip to the Olive Garden.
Monday, October 02, 2006
grocery list?
I haven't posted anything of real substance in quite a while, as Fulford would say, it's mostly been "the grocery list". I don't think I intended for this blog to become that (listing the events of the day...) it just sort of happened. However, someone did say something that struck me in church yesterday. We had a guest speaker in at Wesley Chapel named Raif. He's short, Egyptian and loves to laugh. He is also an evangelist, which made for a pretty good Sunday morning on Warden Ave. His sermon was essentially on the Good Samaritan and while I don't remember all of his points, I do recall one tidbit that jumped out at me.
I have always understood Jesus' story as one where we are called to emulate the Samaritan, who unlike the priests and the Levite, actually helped out the wounded man. I figured this involves things like taking care of people who are in need, loving the unloved, crossing the road and going to the hurting people. This I believe is still an important part of the passage. What Raif said that stuck out to me was that he, Raif, was the man on the side of the road, and that I was too, and that in our broken, beat up state- Jesus crossed over to my side of the road, brought me to a near by inn and paid for my recovery.
Anway, just thought that was an interesting twist to the story.
Going away to a pastor's retreat this week with the Free Methodist Church. Who would have thought that 3/4 of Epiphaneia would be going on a pastor's retreat together?.. that is strange, but I gotta say, I'm looking forward to some serious poker and interesting dialogue.
I have always understood Jesus' story as one where we are called to emulate the Samaritan, who unlike the priests and the Levite, actually helped out the wounded man. I figured this involves things like taking care of people who are in need, loving the unloved, crossing the road and going to the hurting people. This I believe is still an important part of the passage. What Raif said that stuck out to me was that he, Raif, was the man on the side of the road, and that I was too, and that in our broken, beat up state- Jesus crossed over to my side of the road, brought me to a near by inn and paid for my recovery.
Anway, just thought that was an interesting twist to the story.
Going away to a pastor's retreat this week with the Free Methodist Church. Who would have thought that 3/4 of Epiphaneia would be going on a pastor's retreat together?.. that is strange, but I gotta say, I'm looking forward to some serious poker and interesting dialogue.
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