ny

artwork
Originally uploaded by xjermsx

24hrs in NYC so far. a few pictures are up on flickr. check them out.
this place is pretty crazy.
most of these ones are from the rooftop of a friends apartment.
more to come.

xmas 2007

xmas 2007 consisted of waking up early, and driving to banff.
kris and i had front row parking and got on the 3rd gondola up the hill.
after about 8 hrs, lots of crashes and some neck deep snow later, we were exhausted, wet and ready for a meal and a sleep.
we found a place in canmore that was open to serve us xmas dinner. muriettas.
its a sweet place. if you are in alberta, track it down, its worth it.
now its bed time. round two tomorrow. this old body is having a hard time taking that much punishment.
but i think i can handle it one more time.
pictures to come.
merry xmas from the bighorn motel.

DECEMBER 30TH!

on december 30th ill be in new york city watching the montreal canadiens play the new york rangers.
what a sweet deal.
this is one of those things that has been on my to-do list for as long as i can remember.
cross another one off.

finally done..

no, im not done school, and i havent decided what im going to do yet, but im finally done the website i started making a while back. the website is for our research group at the UofS. go check it out
HERE
it has pictures of the people i spend pretty much everday with and a little bit of info about what we do...

what to do?

polyethylene
Originally uploaded by xjermsx

time is winding down. im running out of time to decide. what should i do?
in about 3 weeks or so i need to let my boss know whether i am going to transfer into the PhD program, or just finish my masters degree. i could finish my masters one year from now, or transfer into the phd program and be done in 3 years from now.
seriously. any suggestions would be sweet. lets have 'em.

another season finished

With another tennis season coming to a close, Roger shows why he has been the #1 player in the world for 200 straight weeks.
he lost his first match at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, but came back to absolutely own Roddick, Nadal and the red hot Ferrer to win the title.
I believe he even served 80% first serves in a few of those matches. that is incredible. literally, that is like having a .800 batting average, or scoring a goal on 80% of the shots you get in a hockey game. insanely hard.
2 Grand slam titles short of Pete Sampras, Federer is in a good place to break the record in 2008. this man continues to write history everytime he steps on a court.
Speaking of Sampras, the two guys are doing a tour of Asia, playing three matches over there. This picture is from their match in Seoul. Harmony is going to their match in Macau. To be honest, i have never been more jealous in my entire life. make sure you enjoy it just that extra bit for me, harm.

road trip

road trip
Originally uploaded by xjermsx

i spent another weekend out at a beach camp with these sweet high school kids and a few more that wouldnt fit in this picture. yes a beach camp in november can still be a good time. games, food, hang outs, haunted houses and some serious time talking about faith, hope, and love were on the agenda.
we did it with a super-hero theme, hence some of the sweet costumes in the rest of my flickr pictures.
but we talked about what it might look like if we actually did the faith, hope and love thing. in real life. if we actually loved, and actually hoped and had a little faith. what do you think it would look like?
apparently there is some guy in the states who decided to live out the old testament for a year. he even convinced someone to let him "stone" them, throwing pebbles at them in central park or something.
anyway, as jason, dan and i were sitting in the hot tub, jason asked, why someone/everyone dont try living out the new testament. basically faith, hope and love.
why would it be an experiment, and not the norm? would God just kind of laugh and say "stinkin took you guys long enough to figure it out"
i dont know. any thoughts out there as to what it might look like if we used our 'super hero powers' of faith hope and love?
to those of you who were there, thanks for the sweet weekend. for those of you who werent, let me know what you think...

this is rich...

i took this little section from the top story on the yahoo.com homepage. if you are one of those women...nevermind.


"SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.


Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported."

one year ago..

mr. federer
see flickr for more from jerms

i sat in this stadium watching the top 8 players in the world with one of the best guys i know, jonny sly.
we watched federer dominate roddick, blake and nadal among others.
this tournament is starting again tomorrow back in shanghai and i wish that i was there. the city itself is an amazing place, but being able to watch 8 straight days of tennis was honestly the best week of my life. hands down.
if you get a chance try and take some of it in on t.v. its nothing like being there live, but its still amazing.

weekend away

team photo
Originally uploaded by intrepid trepidation

this crew made a trip out to arlington beach this weekend. we all stayed in this one huge, old school house. it ended up becoming lots of time to laugh, eat, think, and hang out. we talked about making quiet space. time when we can 'unplug' from everything that is happening around us. movies, tv, ipods, radios, cell phones, computers, pagers, pda's. the list could go on. none of this is really a new idea, but its just something i at least needed to be reminded of..that i dont always need to have all these things in the background making noise. that silence is ok. and even beneficial; spiritually and physically. i was also reminded that even though making this space is a good thing, there is also something to be said for seeing God in whatever things you are doing during your day. working, listening to lectures, interactions with other people, driving, jogging etc.

living in one house with 20 or so people equals some good pranks. opening a door resulted in a pitcher of water landing on my head, pouring powdered coffee whitener into sleeves and coat pockets, and a cup full of harmless maple bugs being dumped on a girl resulting in a scream equivalent to someone getting their foot caught in a bear trap were among the highlights.
click on the picture to see the rest of jessies pictures

taking it for a test drive

i just got the new Mac OS X today. Leopard is unbelievable. some reviewer, from pcmag.com had this to say:
"In his 4.5-star (out of 5) review of Leopard, Edward Mendelson (pcmag.com) maintains that Leopard is “by far the best operating system ever written for the vast majority of consumers, with dozens of new features that have real practical value.” Mendelson “found Leopard to be startlingly fast, brilliantly streamlined, and packed with conveniences and innovations. Leopard’s rich set of built-in software runs faster than I imagined possible."
there is some pretty sweet features and additions from the last version. if you have a mac, you should get it. ( i paid 69$ as a student) and if you dont have a mac, get one now, they all have leopard installed.

great quotes from don himself...

don cherry has been a longtime favorite of mine. some people dont like him but i think its mostly because they are the type of people that dont like being told how it is, straight up, without beating around any bushes.
the other day i was reading in the paper about how cassie campbell got inducted into the canadian sports hall of fame. and someone asked what don thought about cassie being the first female hockey player inducted, and his response was "yeah, but she wasnt the first person selected who played like a girl..."
always good for a humorous comment.

5 for 6 ain't bad

october brings the MLB playoffs. throughout the regular season i probably watching a totaly of 3 innings of baseball, but when playoffs comes, its a different game.
this is the 2nd annual betting on baseball playoffs with joel and so far things have been pretty sweet. last year we bet on four series. i won all four. this year, we have bet on six so far and im 5 for 6.
the red sox just completed a sweet comeback from down 3 games to 1 to cleveland to give me yet another series win. boston outscored them 31-5 in the last 3 games or something like that.
sweet deals.
so im already looking forward to next october when i can make a few more bucks. thanks joel.

the life and times of a grad student

the picture explains it all. this is a load of books from the library

bookies

so john proposed that we 'gridblog' about a book, or two, or three that we have read in the last little while. i think.
a few people have done that.. and because of that i have a longer list of books i want/need to read. thanks guys.
for me it has been a little slower year for reading for leisure since i entered the world of graduate studies. but i have managed to squeeze a few keepers in there. the one i am reading right now is called "a long way home. memoirs of a boy soldier" by ishmael beah.
8 chapters in and i am having trouble reading more than one chapter at a time. and often even one paragraph at a time. this is not because it is poorly written, or hard to get into, but this book is heavy. seriously. i dont really want to ruin it for the rest of you either, but i have never read something that is so hard hitting. not in a convicting way (yet).
he writes about his experiences in sierra leone during times of war and inner conflict in his country.
the words he uses and the pictures he paints are often more gruesome than any war movie i have ever seen. the things this guy has seen as a young child is unbelievable. seriously. i havent done it even a bit of justice, but check it out. it is good to know what kinds of things are happening on the other side of the globe. not only is awareness good, but also an honest and serious appreciation for the 'freedom' we have in our country. (yes i know that last line is cliche, but this is probably one of the first times, other than visiting india, that i have felt grateful for living in a safe place.)
anyway, check it out. let me know what you think.

watercolor on canvas

benj posted his new ink at http://strakers.wordpress.com/, so i thought id put mine up here too. the front of my right leg is mostly finished. might tie it into the back once i get more work done there. (for those of you not so quick out there, this picture is actually two pictures of the same leg from different angles so you can see the whole thing. )

starting my new career..

tuesday afternoon i begin my teaching career. i have two lab sections to teach for Chem 332. the university general calendar give this explanation for the course:
"An introduction to transition metal chemistry including coordination geometry and stereochemistry, ligand field theory, and spectroscopic, magnetic and thermodynamic properties of inorganic compounds. The laboratory work includes experiments on the preparation and characterization of transition metal compounds."
should be an experience anyway. most of the time will be tied up in re-learning and sometimes learning for the first time what we will be doing each week in the lab. i hope ill be able to answer at least some of the questions that come up. im definitely going to learn a lot anyway...

need i say more?

seriously. 4 US opens in a row. two grand slam titles away from Mr. Sampras. rewriting the record books everytime he steps on the court. rafael who?

september long

saturday morning i headed out for a camping adventure with six super good friends from church. destination: some cabin north of lloydminster. to be honest, i was skeptical getting into the car. the drive was going to be long and what were we going to do for 3 days in a one room cabin with 7 people, no electricity, running water or tv to watch the US Open or Labour Day Classic?ouch!
we headed north of lloyd and turned east onto a grid road. 15 miles or so later, we turned south onto possibly one of the worst roads i have ever seen in my life. our poor little toyota echo bottomed out numerous times and the 3 of us in this vehicle just shook our heads. 10 minutes or so later on this road and we ended up at the cabin. this view greeted us and over the few days we were there i found myself staring, thinking, listening and shaking my head. the view was amazing. surrounded by nature all on all sides. such an amazing getaway. almost too quiet at first became something that i am missing now. needless to say it was a good way to 'end' the summer and get back into a new semester at school. i often take my surroundings for granted and wish i was somewhere else. i was reminded this weekend why i love saskatchewan, that God makes some pretty amazing stuff and all a guy needs is a few pounds of bacon and some good friends to make a long weekend pretty sweet.
check out my flickr for a whole lot more pictures.

curl this.

the weakerthans have been one of my favorite bands since 1998 when we snuck out of the dorms to go watch them in dauphin. their new record is coming out september 25th. here is a little video talking about one of their new songs. some of you might find it somewhat humorous.

walking the dog.

most of you know my small amount of dislike for canines. and i hope i dont offend any of you dog owners with these few lines...but im kind of confused.
michael vick is making headlines for raising dogs for dog fighting and it looks like he could end up in jail over it. i guess he raised these dogs to fight, and if they didnt do a good job, they were killed or something.
this blog is not to condone his behaviour in any way...
but now that the dogs are there and no one is claiming them...the state is going to kill them all anyway.
whats the point of putting mr. vick in jail if the government is just going to euthanize them? another case of people getting worked up over something thats not really a big deal...dont you think?

slaughter house tales

as some of you know, and some of you may not, kris (my brother) and a few of my really good friends, kori and lisa jones and tyler butel are in africa with a handful more canadians. they are bulding a school and hanging out with kids. kris also got to kill a goat. that is sweet. for 3 perspectives on goat killing, driving in africa, eating, and even pooping check out...

Kris
Kori & Lisa
Tyler

means interview and live footage.

Dylan does some interview and then some live footage from a festival in the states. check it out.

the moustache: a victory for mankind

The Globe and Mail, generally known for its news coverage and somewhat insightful articles has struck it rich with this last one they wrote. seriously.
THIS article is worth a read, as any article devoted only to the beauty of the moustache is. the American Moustache Institute, the judges of the competition, say it was developed for "protecting the rights of, and fighting discrimination against, mustached Americans by promoting the growth, care and culture of the mustache." the rest of the article is full of quotes just as rich. i promise.

Apparently you need to read this article now and then go vote on the Greatest Moustache in Sports History. quick. time is running out. the winner will supposedly be announced at the "2007 'Stache Bash in St. Louis". this is great.

Son of a Preacher Man

Jay Bakker wrote a really sweet book called 'Son of a Preacher Man' that you should read. definitely one of my favorites and of all the people i have talked to that have also read it, nothing but good things have been said. a short interview with Jay is
here
on the good old Globe and Mail website. check out that book. its definitely worth a read.

a good read

ive always liked James Blake as a tennis player. he absolutely crushes the ball and is all heart. he has been through some brutal yet amazing struggles personally and physically which he talks about. getting to see him in Shanghai in November of 2006 was definitely a highlight and getting to read about that tournament and the ones leading up to it was amazing too. His new book just made the NY Times bestseller list and is a good read for sure. i just finished it, so ill borrow it to you if you want..otherwise, find a bookstore and buy it.

what a show

this is great.

running with the bulls.

HERE is a short video from the Running of the Bulls in Spain. Kori, Kris and myself are going in July 2009. anyone else want to meet us there?

simple yet complex

if you are bored at work, or bored at home, or just interested, you should read
this NY Times article about water. its actually pretty interesting and
it seems that it is something that is coming up a lot more with regards to environment and sustainability. something we in north america take for granted for sure is clean water. we even pay ridiculous amounts for 'spring' water in bottles. what a rip. anyway, take a look. its pretty sweet.

gaining respect

today was a sweet day. i woke up at 7 a.m. to watch the Wimbledon final. and what a final. two guys playing amazing tennis. to be honest, i gained some respect for nadal. he played some pretty amazing tennis, even hitting winners from sitting on his butt on the baseline. snap. even his ridiculous antics and bum tugging were kept a little more under wraps. maybe he realized he was in a classy place and should act accordingly...
anyway, federer is amazing. i ll admit i had my doubts during the match, but he flipped a switch in the fifth set and showed the true champion he is. if you missed out on watching it, you missed a piece of history.

nadal, whining again...

after nadal luckily escaped his 3rd round match against robin soderling, he had to whine and complain like the true sportsman he is. watching him live and even on t.v. only serves to increase my dislike for the guy. see the article
here that talks about how he takes so bloody long between each point and other reasons he isnt half the man guys like federer are.

for a good read about facebook...

check out this link at http://johnandang.blogspot.com/2007/06/facebook.html
john, i couldnt agree with you more. i never signed up for it. and im glad i havent. facebook is lame.

my new toy

bike
Originally uploaded by xjermsx

so i bought my first vehicle. this is it. its fun to ride. especially when the sun is shining like that. seriously. so if you havent heard from me for a while, im probably out on this thing..

june 4th, 1989

melissa sent me a link today from work (she must be so busy). anyway, it talked about the 18th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre. something i dont know much about, but had the opportunity to experience the place when i visited there in december of last year. i cant really explain it, but i had an uneasy feeling being there. the day was kind of gloomy and cloudy, as you can kind of see from the picture, so that might have had something to do with setting the mood. and it might have had to do with the fact that i was kind of picturing what it must have been like to be there on that day when tanks rolled in and the government and military slaughtered a large number of student protesters. check out the link for some more pictures and a better story than i could write. thanks melissa.
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/04/212762.aspx

east coast swing

i didnt actually make it to the coast. but i went to winnipeg. most of you know how i feel about winnipeg, but i must admit i had a good time. i was attending the 90th annual Canadian Chemistry Conference and presenting my recent research work to a group of mostly chemists from all over the world. it was definitely a learning experience.
the highlight of the trip however was the sweet people i got to see. a shout out to the King's for a place to stay in winnipeg and erin in brandon. and thanks to tracy, charity, murray, scott, clay, mark, dean and hub for meeting me somewhere to hang out along the way. it was good to see all you guys. minus your dogs.

my university friends

jackson and tressia are the other two grad students that i am working with at the uni here in saskatoon. both of them are extremely smart and have helped me out a great deal over the past 5 months. so i thought id post a couple pictures so when i talk about them you know at least what they look like. jackson is from zambia and tressia is from south india. i just took the pictures on photobooth so the quality isnt excellent, but its all good.

footbag

in highschool a couple of buddies and i got into the sport of footbag quite a bit. we never got close to being as good as this guy, but after playing a bit this weekend, my interest has kind of been re-sparked. check this out. wow!

a month later...

inspired by brianne's late end of the semester update, i decided to do my own. although exams finished a month ago, things have not gotten any less busy. for a few weeks there i was quite worried that my average would not be high enough and i would be kicked out of school and looking for a job come the end of april. turns out that was not the case. however, i did learn more in these past four months that i had in my complete undergrad career. that is sweet.
-ive also still been rolling with the diving lessons. that game is so hard. so many technical aspects that i never even thought of before. but by the end i am going to be able to do some pretty looking stuff i hope. i might have to continue this in the fall too.
-melissa moved to yellowknife just in time to miss nic coming home from india. some sister she is.
-i got to see pete and chelsey and the kid. good times. pete only beat me by one stroke on the golf course so now we are even. i thought that was pretty good since he has been golfing since january and that was my first round of the summer.
-i wrote my learners exam for my motorcycle license. to pass, you have to write 3 parts, one about street signs, one about your motorcycle and the third is the same one that you would write to get your learners for a car. i failed part 3 after getting 100% on the first two sections. that was embarrasing. so i did some studying and only got 3 wrong the second time i wrote. if a decently priced HD came across my path, i would be hard pressed not to buy it.
also
-i have been reminded how much i do not like the following things/people: lindy ruff, daniel briere, the toronto maple leafs, shaving, dogs, prime minister harper, baseball, the nba, vince carter, winnipeg, the wedding part of weddings, and the vancouver canucks.

grid blog about moms

where to even start on this topic is beyond me. through the years (almost 26) my mom has dressed me, changed me, taken care of me, worried about me, fed me, fed my friends, put up with my bad attitude and poor choices, and loved me through it all. she listens to me whine, complain, and still gives me feedback and suggestions on things i could do to make the situation i am in better. she has definitely taught me a lesson or two in organization and being a true servant. a lot of the time without even saying a word. being able to see Jesus in people seems to be getting more rare all the time. mom, however, is an exception. of all the things she has done for me, the single greatest is showing me a glimpse of Jesus. thanks mom. happy mothers day!

more on climate change

i found THIS article on climate change and global warming on the good old cbc website (no, stephen harper has not cancelled the cbc...yet). its coming from a pretty different point of view than anything i have heard. some interesting points include: "climate change is not a global issue--that is the problem" along with other ideas about how we maybe need to look at the positive aspects of it as well. anyway, read it for a non-traditional view point on the debate. its interesting.

weekend away

throwing rocks
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

this weekend we headed up to emma lake to get away from the city and the busy-ness and a had good weekend of swimming, dirtbiking, working, tree chopping, sleeping, watching playoffs, eating, and laughing. this was my first time to bern & debs cabin and my first time riding dirtbikes. so preston showed me how and we ripped up the trails up there. i only crashed once. it was great to get away and not worry about school or anything for a few days. check out flick for a few more pictures.

earth day

so i dont really know what earth day even means. and ill likely become less popular for some of my ideas. but that doesnt matter. first of all. i dont really like hippies. they usually smell bad. as for earth day, i definitely think myself, as well as society in general (at least in the 'western world'), and especially old mr. harper need to change something about how we live and consume. we are not doing ourselves a favor and if i ever have kids, they are gonna be feeling it a lot more than we are today.
at the same time, i also think that a lot of it is a fear campaign. we are so good at falling for those. "oh no, a few people died of bird flu, watch out, or else", "y2k is coming soon, buy as much stuff as you can so you dont die when the computers all quit", "west nile is taking over the world, cover your body with our chemicals and you will be okay", and the list could go on. i think you all know what im talking about..we are constantly living in some sort of 'fear' because of the way we buy into mainstream media. now im starting to sound all political like blair, so i better wrap things up...all of these are problems and likely need to be dealt with on some level, and climate change and the overall condition of 'our' globe is somewhat troubling, but lets all use some common sense, lets try and be conscious of our decisions but lets also learn to think for ourselves. thats all.

i hate the canucks...

its true. i am not a vancouver fan. my good buddy pete, however, is for some reason. maybe just cause he moved close to vancouver, or maybe because he is weiner, i am not sure. but anyway, after trading a few trash talking text messages, pete decided to phone me. that was sweet. i miss that guy. i dont really have much to say other than it was a good phone call. usually i hate talking on the phone, but when its with a friend from far away, something seems to make it okay. so thanks for the call pete. i still think your canucks are gonna lose to the stars in 7 and you are gonna lose by 2 strokes on the golf course on may 5th. mark my words.

now to learn how to do it right.

one and a half
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

after looking through my yellowknife 2006 summer pictures, i was inspired by some of the diving ones cody took. so i busted out the speedo from winter hibernation and joined the saskatoon diving club. today was my first lesson. i learned how to jump. after an hour of jumping 'properly' i am exhausted. but its so fun. so if you are looking for a new pasttime. go learn how to dive. its sweet. then when we go visit yk we can rip the cliffs and bridges apart.

wrestling

a lot of this isnt new to most of the people i have been in conversation with over the years, but i kind of like some of the ideas and the way things are said. you can check out the full article at http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1495 the link there, but here is a few bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

"What if we approached God, more often than not, with an attitude of confrontation rather than submissiveness?...Before taking a look at our own story as Christians, listen to what the Buddha had to say regarding following the path of truth: "Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true."

"What has happened to this ancient tradition of fighting with God? It's not an avant-garde suggestion. All the prophets did it and the wisdom books of the Bible are filled with questions, not answers. Why have we become so laissez-faire when it comes to following God? Jacob wrestled with God, breaking his leg in the process, and threatened God with continued fighting if he did not receive a blessing. How much more rich our journeys would be if would just learn to be comfortable with "fighting" God! It'd probably make His life a lot more interesting too"

any thoughts on all this?

playoff hockey

now the so called 'march madness' just finished, and i will admit that i watched some of it. and it wasnt really that good. but the real sporting event of the year is beginning. actually it really already has begun for some teams. im talking about playoff hockey. the hardest trophy on the planet to win enters its second season in just a few days and the next two months are going to blow anything basketball could offer out of the water. it wont even be close. so for all you people that call yourself sports fans but still like watching basketball, put your seatbelts on and get ready for a real sport, where a little bump or slap on the wrist doesnt get you fouled out, where the last 30 seconds of the game do not take 15 minutes to play out and where guys leave their hearts and souls on the ice in pursuit of the greatest prize in sport.

the newest toy

the newest toy at uncle berns is a unicycle. this is preston tearing it up. he is seriously a quick learner. as for uncle bern, maybe not so much.
check out flickr for a few more pictures.

christmas in march

joel was coming to regina this weekend, so i headed down for a visit and some good laughs this weekend. these guys celebrate christmas march 25th so we had some sweet meals. those guys know how to cook. friday nite was facial hair nite. check out the rest of the pictures on my flickr page.

giving fashion the finger.

melissa showed me this video about the shoes that i know you all wear.

#1 site on the internet

THIS website has become the biggest trend on the internet. that i know of. and man its funny. most of you will think its funny anyway. some may be offended, (probably teachers, girls and animal lovers) but if thats the case, you are likely offended too easily. go check it out. for a first hand view point of what living in india means, this is the place to check out if you havent done it already.

march 11th?

spring
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

that is ridiculous that march is already pretty much half over. serious. its getting to that time of year again. spring yes, but also wedding season. i appreciate the former much more than the latter, let me tell you. but check out how beautiful saskatoon is this time of year? people are starting to move here from all over the place...join the trend while its still young.

feeling like im 15 again..

sunday nite i went to louis pub to watch one of my all time favorite bands, they have been around since the late 80s. now the nite started off pretty funny. the show was a 16+ show, and when i got there, and gave him my ticket, i was also asked for my i.d., apparently i look younger than 16. sweet. after that i watched 3 bands that were allright, but nothing special, and then got to see Propagandhi. most of you probably wouldnt like these guys, i know for a fact that my dad doesnt, but on the other side of some of the things you (and even me) might disagree with, they have some great lyrics. singing for social justice and change, and this is a group of guys that actually does something about it. its hard to find people that are as sincere and passionate about these things as these guys are. so if you have a few minutes and are bored, they have some lyrics posted and some suggested reading on a variety of topics at www.propagandhi.com. be careful, it might challenge your thinking/world view.
and in other news, go by the new MEANS cd. all i can say is hot damn!

Nadal loses...again

for those of you who dont follow the tennis season in between grand slams, i just thought id let you know that nadal lost in the quarterfinals in dubai. most of you are probably anti-nadal anyway, so you can celebrate with me...and just in case you see heather mcmillan, make sure you point out that nadal lost...again. he is on his way out. you heard it here first.

the facts of life (that was a sweet t.v. show)

today at school i got to thinking. i got to thinking about how chemistry is the basis of life.
think about it.
if it wasnt for chemistry, none of us would be here. no jokes. we are chemistry in the flesh. reducible to atoms and particles (or waves), smaller than even most microscopes can see. now that is cool.
but there has to be something more than that.
first of all, it blows my mind to think that we are made up of things that are so small that all work together to keep us alive. but more importantly, how is it that when something is missing, my whole body knows it?
when i miss food, i know it. when sleep gets left out, i definitely know it and even when i leave out things that arent physical, somehow my body knows. that is crazy to me. that these physical pieces of matter "know" when things in the spiritual aspect of life are missing. but how do those particles know? (the answer is they probably dont know anything, but hear me out)
all of this chemistry exists because someone greater created it. and it exists for one purpose--to be in a relationship with that someone greater.

reading

i just finished checking my handy 'bloglines' site that shows me when you guys all update your blogs. and it kind of hit me for the first time, or at least the first time in a long time, that i really like reading your blogs. seriously. if it wasnt for your blogs and updates i would have little to no clue what was happening in your lives. its a pretty sweet thing to be able to catch up on it all in a matter of a few minutes. its sweet reading about everything from the little stuff that comes and goes with everyday life, to some of the stuff that makes me think way too much. so keep those updates coming and remember that saskatoon is the new regina.

movies that make you think

i like watching movies as much as the next guy, but the last week or so since spending some time in calgary, i have a sort of renewed interest in movies that make you think. i mentioned "Ugananda Rising" in my last blog, and im sure most of you still havent checked it out, but you should. last nite i watched "Jesus Camp". i hadnt actually heard about it until last nite, so maybe im way out of the loop or something and behind the times, but i got to see it. man. that movie is crazy. (for those of you who are out of the loop like me check out www.jesuscampthemovie.com) id be interested to hear what some of you guys thought about it. other movies that are on the 'to see' list right now include: invisible children, killing fields, the boys of baraka, sometimes in april. does any one have any other documentary/make you think type movies that are worth a watch?

calgary sucks

now that i have got your attention...at least those of you that are calgarians...calgary doesnt suck, its definitely not as cool as saskatoon, but its pretty fun. im here for the weekend, watching davis cup and catching up with some old friends. kori and lisa have been kind enough to let me sleep at their house, use their shower and eat some of their food. it has been a pretty fun weekend and usually anytime kori is around the weekend is almost full of laughing. . today i even got to see dan hill. one of the estevan boys that i grew up with. ive known him for 25 years. weird. one of the topics of conversation of the weekend has been about kori and lisa's trip to uganda in the summer with a team. so they have been exposing me to some of the things they have been learning including some pretty hard to watch movies. if you get the chance check out "uganda rising". its one of those ones that is good to watch, but hard to watch at the same time. a clip from it is at www.ugandarising.com. on weekends like this, im thankful for friends, for being able to watch each other learn and grow and for sharing some laughs.

what i do all day.

lots of people have been asking me what i do all day at school for 40hrs a week. so ill try and explain it without making things sound easier or harder than they are.
i only have two courses, which have a lecture once a week for 3 hrs at a time. so when im not in lectures, i have about 34 hrs of time to kill. so far i have been working on catching up and refreshing the old brain on 1st and 2nd and 3rd year chemistry that i forgot while i was working last year. my courses have assignments, so i spend a good chunk of time on those as well.
the rest of the time im in the lab synthesizing, characterizing and polymerizing. usually i synthesize a ligand, complex it to a metal centre and then characterize it to make sure that i got what i was aiming for. then this metal centred complex is usually a catalyst and i test to see how effective it is at polymerizing alkenes. (you are likely using polymers right now, so it is extremely relevant).
a lot of the chemicals i use are air sensitive so i have to use them under a nitrogen atmosphere either on a $4000 piece of glassware or in a sealed glove box that has a nitrogen atmosphere. so its pretty fun.
the other day i was getting rid of one of my chemicals that is flammable on contact with water. so i got a huge bucket of ice water and scraped this white powder into the ice water which let out good sized fire balls. now if that isnt sweet...
anyway, the compound i made today was called
(mu-chloro)-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl-3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylaldiminato)copper(II). check it out at your local drugstore.

keeping up with the joneses

yeah. thats right. one of the guys that i look up to the most has started a blog. kori has been a solid friend since highschool and has always impressed me with the way he thinks, so im excited to read some of that on his blog. check it out here. and you wont be dissapointed.

generosity..

well. i honestly dont have a lot to say about this topic. my life in general hasnt been that generous. but generosity has been poured out to me so many times. india is one time that still sticks out. and i know i blogged about this same generosity when tim asked us to write some thoughts on our visit to that country. but i still cant shake the way the people poured out their generosity on us. seriously. i have also been a benefactor of this generosity from my parents, for about 25 solid years, from doug and cindy last year, as well as tim and tara who fed me on a weekly basis, if not more often, and now to bern and deb. those are just the ones that have been recent and so are still on my mind. but serious, if you want to learn about all out, no holds barred generosity, go visit some of the friends we have made in india.

for my arts friends

i thought this one was funny. it was in the saskatoon paper last week. its one of those things thats kind of too bad, but since its true, we might as well have a laugh about it, right?

another succesful trip

another weekend has come and gone, and with it a trip to the queen city. i got to visit an old friend from white city school. grade 6-grade 10 and then some university classes with this guy. now he is a physiotherapist in regina and rolling in the dough. that was a highlight for sure. breakfast on saturday and sunday mornings were priceless...thanks blair for sunday morning. that was what i needed. the weekend also consisted of playing and watching tennis. i must say, jon and i were hitting the ball pretty well this weekend but nothing like, guess who...you guessed it. roger. did any of you watch any of that australian open? there are no words to describe the brilliance of mr. federer. and not only did he win, he didnt drop a set. in 7 matches! the first time that has happened since 1980. and not only did he win 7 matches in a row in straight sets, the fact that nadal wasnt in the final was great too. i like watching him lose. and the final was closer than it would have been if nadal was there. anyway, my prediction is that 'rafa' will disappear. pull a gustavo kuerten and get swallowed up his ugly long shorts. you heard it here first.
arlen made me laugh a lot this weekend. next time you see him, ask him about his appointments at 'sugar-it-off'. apparently thats where he goes to wax his back. nasty hey?

saskatoon update

while all my friends are writing blogs about things that matter like having new babies, ideas about heaven and hell, baptism etc. i have been kind of in a dry spell. a long dry spell. i just havent felt inspired even a little bit to write anything worth reading. to be honest, things have felt really dry for a really long time. to put it bluntly, i just dont care right now. i know that some things with my attitude, my choices and my mindset need to change, but why bother, right? i could blame it on a lot of things, and make excuses till the leafs win the stanley cup (which isnt going to happen in my lifetime) but it all boils down to the fact that deep down, i dont want things to change. kind of a weird place to be in, and for such a long time. so thats where things are right now.
any one have any suggestions?

things that make me smile...

right now, at this very moment, i am watching roger federer's third round match at the australian open against mikael youzhny. watching federer play tennis makes me smile. and i know i blogged about this while me and jon were watching him live in november, but watching him on tv is different now. and although, not quite as good as live, it is still pretty incredible. i can die a happy man knowing that i saw the best tennis player ever, live, 5 times in 8 days. it doesnt get much better than that.

means

matty
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

one of my favorited bands was in saskatoon on sunday nite. and man. even though i saw them friday nite in regina and was blown away, i was impressed again on sunday. seriously. it was a good way to start a week hanging out with 4 sweet guys and listening to them play some of the best music out there. they are on tour right now so if they are near you, you need to go see them. you will not be dissapointed. other people have posted the link to their new song, but you should go check it out again, and check their tour dates at www.myspace.com/means_music

come and go tea...be there.

today is monday. as i sit in saskatoon, watching the college championship football game, i cant help but think about wednesday. nothing really exciting is happening to me on wednesday, but my little brother is headed to india, and im gonna miss that guy.
yeah, its true, me and kris use to tape his arms, legs and mouth shut with sock tape and beat on him and make fun of him till he cried, but really, he has grown up to be one of the coolest guys i know. i'd like to take credit and say that i taught him everything he knows, but i cant even do that. he is much more intelligent than i, one of the best goalies i have ever seen play soccer, hilarious, and he likes the best hockey team on the planet.
i am super excited for him to hit up india, and get to spend more time there than i did. i am excited to hear his stories, and hear about the things he learns, and the people he gets to hang out with, and im pumped to see what he brings back for me. ok. thats not really that high on the list.
but im gonna miss him. so, nic if you read this, bring me a picture of you with para and mowia. miss ya bro.
and if you are reading this in regina, go to my parents house tuesday nite, january 9th, for his "come and go tea", as he calls it, and give him a hug for me.

what have i gotten myself into...

oh man. this is crazy. school seems like it is going to be harder than i thought. i only have to take 2 classes, but need to maintain more than a 75% average, as well as conducting novel research, or i get the boot. so, that means lots of hard work, and long hours. so here goes. i guess i signed up because i wanted the challenge. looks like i got what i was asking for and more.
by the way, did you guys watch the canada vs usa game this morning? wow. that was fun to watch. toews was solid in that shootout. 3 for 3.
thats all i got.

the year the world was going to end.

we made it through another year. it seems like only a few years ago that everyone thought the world was going to end when we hit 2000. sure made those people look foolish.
now its 2007. crazy. tomorrow morning i head to saskatoon, register for classes and settle in. classes start wednesday. yeah. thats early. i know. doesnt take long for them to get you rolling.
regina has been great the last 2 weeks. lots of relaxing, good meals with good friends. some sweet family time and some hockey.
as of tomorrow, if you are ever in saskatoon...you need to look me up. besides, saskatoon is the new regina. tell all your friends.