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.

kiva.org

for christmas, my parents gave me a 100$ gift certificate for kiva.org.
it is a pretty cool organization where you can use the money in your account to lend to entrepeneurs in developing countries as they attempt to get their business off the ground. the money will be repaid once they make it back, and then you can find a new business to fund, or withdraw your money...so its a neat idea, gives people a chance to make some money on their own but also to get something off the ground that might not otherwise happen. check it out. every little bit helps as usual, and you can always get your money back and take it out at the end. so thats all i got. much better than some more things under the tree that i dont need.

new look. new year.

so its time for a new look. my time in yellowknife is done, and so are my travels to the far east. with things wrapping up in 2006, its time to change things up around here.
so i did. really, all that changed was the color, and the location i am blogging from, but its at least somewhat fresh. as 2006 wraps up, here is my top 10 list for the year...

10-getting a half decent job to start my post undergraduate career

9-winning the yellowknife open tennis tournament singles, and doubles with nic

8-life at the ashbys for a few months

7-supper at tim and taras once a week

6-learning to fish and wakeboard on the n.w.t. lakes

5-cabin trips with joel et. al.

4-coming to regina to visit a few times throughout the year

3-camping trip with cody and arlen

2-road trip to china with jonny sly

1-the tennis masters cup in shanghai. hands down.

there are likely more, but a year is a stinkin long time to remember. so thats all i got for now.

back in the q.c.

it is good to be home! regina feels empty. lacking buildings, and people and vehicles. but i kind of like that.
sorry to kamara for talking so much during the soccer game. i havent spoken to a native english speaker for over a week, so i think i was a little deprived.
anyway, here i am. ready to sleep in my own bed. watch for new pictures on the flickr account in the next day or two.
and maybe some more thoughts when my brain becomes less cloudy.

one last time from china

so its been a cold, but good week in beijing. saw a lot of really old stuff. pretty cool. ate some food i havent had before, and likely wont have again (like dog, sorry to all my pet loving friends. but its true. i ate some dog) and got to hangout with anson. what a good guy. so tomorrow i leave. i get home monday dec 18 at like 8pm. so if you are in the mood for looking at some 1500 or so pictures...ill be glad to share them with you. it will be sad to go, but im super excited to get back home. and into a routine in january.
for those of you i havent told, i am starting grad school in saskatoon january 3rd. the final official word came the other day, so its all set.
so if you are ever passing through the "city of bridges" look me up. serious. it will be nice to have some company. thanks china, its been grand.

"something from the pig's insides"

yep. thats what i ate for lunch. we had chinese dim sum and that was one of the dishes. it wasnt anything like bacon or ham. more like inards. anyway. i tried it, but tried to avoid it after that.
today has been a long day already, but a pretty sweet one. we visited the Ming Tombs. tombs from an emperor that lived and died sometime in the 1500s. and is now buried in the hillside outside of beijing. pretty neat to see.
then lunch, and then off to the great wall. man. pretty cool thing to see. i have seen pictures and heard people describe it but its something else. really. so if you are reading this, or looking at my pictures when i get home...you will probably blow it off like i did. so come see it yourself. my legs were shaking when we got back down. lots of stairs and i am sure that no two on the whole way up are identical in height, length, pitch or size. no jokes.
anson and his family have been very good to me. although i cant understand either of his parents, his dad makes me laugh. he pretty much talked the whole 2 hr drive back home. maybe to the vehicles beside us, maybe to me, or maybe to himself. anyway. things are great in beijing. it is colder than hong kong though. a few more days of seeing the sights and kicking it with anson. and then back to canada for me. see you guys in a couple.

just like that

with the close of harms front door, jon is gone. headed back to regina. just like that. after sharing close quarters with the guy for a month, its gonna be hard not having him around for the last week im in china. this guy is the ultimate traveller. no lies. there isnt a map that this guy cant read. after all, he was trained by a first class institution in how to read maps.
anyway. it was great. we laughed. we sat there in silence, we sat there in awe of the greatest tennis player(s) in the world, we shook our heads in disbelief, we ate some unbelievable food, and laughed at some of the things they offered us on the menu, and we generally just had a really good time. im thankful for friends like that who will drop what he is doing and come to the far east with me. so, jon this is a tribute to you. thanks man. and nice work on joining the european swimsuit club.

the beauty of a straight blade

today was shave day in hong kong.
jon brought his razor, but decided not to use it, and i left mine at home on purpose.
however, yesterday we were walking to the bus and passed a barber shop. i noticed the guy was busting out a shave on a client and was sure it looked like a straight blade razor. now, this is something i have always wanted to do. so i looked into. $40HKD later and we walked out looking like new men.
now if you havent had a straight blade shave...you are missing out. not only is it great that someone else is doing the work for you, its great that its with a blade that, in a single motion, could pretty much end your life. its a trust exercise. trusting someone who doesnt speak your language. so not only is it a great feeling, its also character building. so next time you are near a barber that offers this service...pay him what he asks and get it done. seriously.
check out flickr for the results (looks like something got lost in translation). the photos above are of the guy who did this for me and the tool he used.

tea at the po lin monastery

more pictures are up.
hong kong is still great. it was hot and muggy today. almost too hot. but i shouldn't complain.
it started off with some more tennis and then to an east indian buffet with probably the best food we have had on this trip so far. the buffet included lamb curry, madras chicken, and likely 10 other dishes. so good. we ate and then had a hard time moving after that.
i found a place that will do straight blade shaves. so that is on the menu for tomorrow. they dont do them in canada anymore, so i have to take advantage of it. wish me luck.

starry starry nite

well. that may be a bit of an exaggeration. we were able to see one star tonite. thats all. one star was bright enough to shine through the smog and the light pollution and let its light hit our retinas. so, those of you in darker cities than hong kong, go look at the stars and appreciate them. cause even though they are above this city too, the 8 million people here don't get to see them often. and i think id have to say they are missing out.
today was wednesday in hong kong. jon and i went to the zoological and botanical gardens to hang out with some monkeys, a jaguar, some lemurs, a giant python and some crazy birds. pretty cool to see some of the diversity in the animal kingdom.
lots of walking today, finally led us to meet up with harm after she got off work and go to an egyptian restaurant. another good meal.
somehow we got on the topic of alberta and how none of us really liked it. and jon started talking about ft. mcmurray and how the city wasn't his favorite. we went on with this discussion for probably a good half hour. after we were done, jon got up to go to the washroom, and the guy sitting beside us says "sorry to be nosy, but i lived in fort mcmurray until about 25 years ago.." and proceeded to tell us that he was an alberta boy, now living in china.
pretty weird to be in hong kong, in an egyptian restaurant and have some white guy sit down beside us and listen in on our almost alberta bashing conversation. anyway. it was a good day. we are tired. im gonna go to bed.
jon and i have a date with the tennis court tomorrow morning...

a taste of hong kong

its true. well, not the part about my mom being a belly dancer. that was on the back of a bus that was in front of us here in hong kong. but it is true that i put some new pictures up. some of what we have seen so far, and some of what we have been doing. so go check them out by clicking on the flickr link to the right. more to come.

december 3rd.

we woke up to go to church. i wore shorts to church probably for the first time in december in my life. hopefully not the last. but with the way they are talking about global warming, maybe ill get to do that even in regina someday.
anyway. church was in a ballroom. giant chandeliers, gold everywhere, white satin looking chairs. it was ritzy. but ok.
the day went on. we ate at the "white spot" a supposed 'canadian legend since 1928'. a canadian legend that i have never heard of.
then we went to stanley market. i needed to do some shopping for my good friend hub. a request he sent me asked for an england rugby jersey. so i did it. so hub if you are reading this. your jersey is on its way home.
after shopping we made our way home. got off the subway in the most densely populated area on the planet. thats not a lie. unless harm is full of something. but , there were literally thousands of people crossing the one street at one time. likely the entire population of yellowknife. at one street corner. lining up to run at each other when the walk sign turned to a green walking man. wow.
we made it home and then changed into the closest things we brought to tennis clothes. after 8 days of watching the top 8, and even more of dreaming about it since, we finally got our chance to step out on the court. on december 3rd. in shorts. needless to say our dreaming paid off. man were we good. after i got over the pain from the gash on my hand everytime i hit the ball we even had some decent rallies. it was fun. no. it was the sweetest hour we have had in a long time. and that is saying a lot.
now its december 4th. at least in hong kong it is. time to hit the concrete jungle and see how lost we can get.

the walk of shame

the walk of shame. not to pick on harm. but its something you will have to ask her about again.
today was the day at the beach. and what a day. it all started with a "christmas breakfast" at bob & marilyns. friends of harms. it was fun. even though jon and i were in a room full of 8 or so teachers, who all talked about teacher things. later, i asked jon if this had deterred him from the possibility of becoming a teacher. he said it hadnt.
a short taxi ride, a medium length bus ride and a hike later, the south china sea (or maybe it was the pacific ocean) was in view. anyway, after some swimming and riding the waves into shore we packed up our gear and headed up a stream to a deep pool with some shear cliffs on the one side.
now for those of you havent read my blog during my summer in yellowknife, jumping off things into water is one of my favorite things to do. so i was pretty excited. we jumped, well, jon and i jumped. neither of us needed the walk of shame. ok, fine ill tell you about the walk of shame. harm ventured up the cliff intending to jump. she got there, looked down, and sat down. which is fine. the problem came when she sat down and didnt move for 30+ minutes. (that is not an exaggeration). jon and i continued to jump, took some pictures, swam, and gently persauded harm to jump. no dice. harm had to take the walk of shame.
after the swim and some jumping, we headed back to town for some fresh seafood. jon and i each ate a fish eyeball. a delicacy i am told. my aunt daphne will be proud of me. the eyeball was ok. hard. like chewing on a popcorn kernel, id say. try one someday. (especially you tim).
sunday will bring church, and then some shopping for my good friend hub in stanley market. thanks for reading this barb! im glad someone shares a bit of the same humor as me. sorry harms television appearance was dissapointing. thats all for tonite.

day one in hong kong

quite a good day.
after jon and i slept in, we met some of harms colleagues at a vietnamese restaurant. 2 of them were albertans, and one from saskatoon. weird to eat with people from home in a city like this.
did some walking around, partied with some bridesmaids and then headed to the peak. an amazing view.
we ate supper up there. i ate ostrich. jon had canard. i think that is a french duck.
a good nite for sure. lots of laughs with old friends. jon and harm are great.
next time you see jon, get him to explain his passion for roger federer. its great listening to him.
ok. tomorrow is the beach, some fresh seafood and cliff jumping.
bedtime for now.
email harm and ask her about her experience with a t.v. camera tonite.

king kong

yep. we are in hong kong. this city is ridiculous already. people, buildings and vehicles everywhere. the weather is nice. it is plus 20. at least. sounds like saturday we are going to the beach. life is good on this side of the world. any reports from canada?
miss you guys.

yangshuo snaps

i added a few more shanghai pictures, but also some pictures of yangshuo. we leave yangshuo tomorrow for hong kong. so that catches you up with the pictures, and least gives you some idea the crazy stuff we have been seeing. thanks for checking them out.
if you are interested, i will show you the rest when i get back home

shanghai via the D70s

i added a few raw images to flickr from our 10 days in shanghai. you can check them out by clicking on the flickr badge to the right, or go to www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyolson.
ill try to add more in hong kong.

my run in with a motorcycle.

so let me set the stage. jon and i rented pedal bikes today. and rode out into the country. we saw some real neat rural life, and rode through lots of mud puddles. it seemed like all our riding was up hill, and we were tired, and not sure where we were. we still dont really know. when we were pretty much at the top of the mountain and it didnt look like we were headed in the right direction, we decided to turn back and started to make our way down. and down. it was a long way down. we were going pretty quick. we stopped in a flat spot for a drink and some oreos and then kept on going. i pretty much felt like i was a downhill mountain biker. we pretty much were. and then around a sharp curve, a motorcycle came out of nowhere, so i hammered on the brakes. the thing is, the brakes on the bikes in china are reversed. that is, the front brakes are on the right side where the back brakes should be. so when my body reacted, it squeezed the right side good and i went up and over the handle bars, and into a superman slide on the rocky gravel road.
my camera made it though. thanks to my nifty lowepro bag. my body wasnt so lucky. just joking, mom. its fine. but i got some sweet scrapes. and lost a few layers of skin on my right palm.
we made it back to the hotel and annie kindly helped me out (and acted as my translator, and price bargainer). she took me to a side of the road retired doctor that cleaned me up and bandaged me up. all for 20RMB. so like 3 bucks. im a little sore, but have some scrapes and some neat stories to tell.

yangshuo me the money

so we made it. stop 2 on our journey. we are in yangshuo. we flew into guilin yesterday afternoon. by the time we got in the car and on the road to yangshuo it was getting dark. so we didnt get to see much. annie showed us to our room and we got settled and went out for supper.
so this morning i was pretty excited to see the view from our balcony. it is pretty outstanding. me and jon were talking, and it is too hard to describe this place, you just have to come here. maybe ask jason, his mastery of the english language may put it into words better than i could.
so this morning we woke up, ate some breakfast and headed out for a 2 hour cruise on the yulong river on a bamboo raft. got to see lots of country and had a peaceful trip. we got on bikes from there and headed up to moon hill. a hill with a whole in the middle of it. quite a climb up and down. two ladies followed us the whole way trying to sell us water or beer or mango juice. jon finally got suckered in at the bottom.
then we hit the bikes. we rented these from our hotel earlier in the morning. we rode and rode. my butt is telling me that we may have rode for too long. anyway, we got lost, in the country. this was kind of our first real run-in with the language barrier. a man on a motorcycle stopped to help us, but we couldnt understand him and he couldnt understand us.
we figured out that we missed our turn and headed back to where we came from. anyway. i took my 500th picture today, so there will be lots to see when i get back. this is long, i know. but my mom always complained that i wasnt descriptive enough. and i could write more...so, mom, this ones for you. tomorrow we might go rock climbing, or explore a cave, or white water raft, or hot air balloon ride. who knows. this place is full of crazy things to do. thanks jay and shannon and harm for the hot tip. thats all for today.

i would walk 500 miles...

me and jon have been walking machines the last few days. no lies. lots of miles of shanghai have passed under our feet and we have seen everything from dead rats, to roasted ducks to an 88 story building from the top and bottom. we have been to a massage parlor that employs blind people and have been asked to buy "watch, bags, dvd" likely over 1000 times. we haven't been shanghai'd yet. thats probably a good thing. doug explained what it was to me, but i forget. so maybe we have been and i just dont know it. but our days in shanghai are over. off to the country. guilin and yangshuo will be home for the next week. it will be a nice break from metropolitan living before we head back to more of it in hong kong. if you want something from china, send me an email. i can likely find it for pretty cheap, and if it fits in my bag, its yours. so, signing off from shanghai. thanks for all the notes and comments. it is good to hear from home when you are surrounded by millions of people that probably dont even know what a wheat field or big sky horizon look like.

boxing, ballet and chess

thats what its like watching roger on court. powerful, yet graceful, intelligent, and can deliver the knock out punch when he has the opportunity.
the 8 days of tennis are over. and to tell you the truth, it brought a tear to my eye to see it end, and to hear roger and james offer their final words. james blake has been through an amazing amount of tragedy and near tragedy. look him up on google and read about it. its pretty insane what he has gone through.
anyway. its over. and it was magical. definitely the best 300 dollars i have spent in a long time. hands down.
we even got to bust out the canadian flag and cheer for daniel nestor as he was in the doubles final. unfortunately they lost, but he did acknowledge jon and i. so we are pretty much best friends now. serious.
a few more days in shanghai, a city i am growing to love more and more, and then off to yangshuo and guilin. then off to whip harms butt at squash, or badminton, or whatever she feels like losing at. hope all is well at home.

13.4 million...

people live in shanghai. plus me and jon. that makes 13,400,002 or something like that.
this place is great. federer is even more of a genius than i first thought. and james blake is one stand up, classy man.
the tennis is seriously unbelievable. i cant even describe it. seriously.
as for china. im actually really liking it a lot. its fun. friendly. busy, loud, and funny at times.
hard to describe for sure. especially after coming from yellowknife and regina. where with all the tall buildings stacked on top of each other, it still probably won't equal the height of the building across the street from me.

anyway. about 4 more weeks in china. ill try and write again a few more times. until then, keep watching tennis highlights for two pale white guys who havent shaved for a while. it might just be us.

twenty-four...

hours till jon and i hop on the plane and head to shanghai. roger awaits us. it is highly likely that i wont be on here often while in china. but will do my best to keep the few of you who check this out updated. if not, ill do it when i get home. when you watch tsn highlights watch for two white guys with a canadian flag at the tennis masters cup. it will be me and jon. see you all in december!

mother russia

so ive been home for about 24 hours. and ive seen a lot of old friends and had some good breakfast already. kris met me at the airport and brought me out to white city. it was good to see him, melissa and nic. they are surviving with out mom and dad so far. had a sweet visit with jon and then went to the soccer centre to watch some of the guys play. definitely miss that. got to see arlo and brianne, kamara, blair, vince, bryn, lucas, eder, and a whole lot more. all that to say its sweet to be home. breakfast with blair this morning was grade A. i think we have found a new 3.99 breakfast spot. pretty sweet. today i ran around and picked up some bills with emperor mao on them. some travellers cheques and some immodium. lots of immodium. tonite looks like a young adults hang out before it all starts again tomorrow with breakfast with brianne. good to be home. good to be going to china in 3 days. if you in regina and reading this...phone me before friday. lets do lunch.

the final countdown..

today was my last day of work. i am going to miss that place more than i thought i might. not actually the building. but the people. i worked with a really good crew who were more than good to me. so, part one of farewells began today. the next few days will be full of more. im thankful for my time in yellowknife. the experience i got at my job, the friends i made there and the friends who took care of me during my life away from the lab. i am going to miss my yellowknife family. if you guys are ever in saskatoon, look me up. we will do breakfast. or lunch. or dinner. its your call.

i found..

twelve hundred dollars today. no lies.

don't mess with my cousin...

Good Clean Fun

a good old school hardcore band from washington, dc i think. i saw these guys with nic in late 1999. found this bit of lyric today. check it out. its actually really good.


Don't settle for second best, don't follow all the rest
You say you want the same things well let's put it to the test
Because talk is so cheap when you are screaming at a wall
And it is really hard to hear when you're the loudest of them all
If you want to change the world, quit all your yapping
If we don't start it here, well then it's never going to happen
There is evil in this world but it begins right at home
So let's clean house, then let's cast the first stone

from a newspaper printed in toronto...

kurtis got home today. he brought the new edition of 'The Hockey News' with him. the cover story says "40 Years, 0 Cups". can you guess who they are talking about? yep. you are right. the leafs. a toronto paper wrote an article about the toronto maple leafs and their (lack of) success. here is some of what they said...

"9 GMs, 18 coaches, 497 players, 27 million ticket sales, A kazillion dollars in revenue, ZERO STANLEY CUPS"

"No team in the history of sports has done so little to earn so much unconditional love from its legion of fans"

so..my question for the day is...how can people love the maple leafs? it is nonsensical. ridiculous. and any of them, that would call themselves fans are delusional. just ask francis or tori a question about the leafs lack of success. you will see what im talking about.


it is almost as fun to watch the leafs lose as it is to watch the montreal canadiens win. (did i mention this article also said that the canadiens have won ten (yes, 10), stanley cups in this same 40 years??

india 2002

when tim asked those of us who have been to india to reflect on our time there, i was pretty excited. reflecting means that i get to relive some of the crazy experiences i had, the amazing people i met and the amazing people i travelled with.
as a team we spent almost a whole year preparing ourselves to go. as we left, i felt pretty comfortable seeing pictures, watching videos and hearing stories of those who had been there before, but i still remember arriving in Mumbai and stepping out of the airport to a wall of air that was thicker than stink. that was the first thing that was going to take
some getting used too. the sights and smells would also require some adjusting and reorganizing of my comfort zones, but was well worth it.
a lot of things have stuck with me from that trip, and i would love to go back to visit again...but here a few things that i still think of often...
it was amazing to see Ray in his element. out for a visit with somefriends or people who needed a visit and back before 7 a.m. to make sure the rest of us were up. and out again for tea and visits after the rest of our head had hit the pillow. truly at home in that place, and i learned more about service and humility from him those 6 weeks than i likely ever will again.
the generosity of the people in that country was amazing. to feed 8 canadians is a big task for most families in canada, nevermind a struggling family from rural india. but the houses we went to, and the people we shared food with were amazing. giving us more food than likely even 16 of us could eat, while only eating rice and maybe dahl themselves. how can i be greedy with all that i have, while they are extraordinarily generous with so little? wow!
the friendships i made with some of the people there were life changing as well. many of us who have been have had the chance to meet and hang out with Joshua Salam. i could go back to india and be satisfied if all i got to see was this guy. he made me feel more at home in his country and his home than anyone else i met. took me on tours of the city, tried
to teach us the rules to cricket, laughed with us, laughed at us and became a friend that i will remember forever and miss until i get to see him again.
ok. this is long enough. i could write more. thats just how awesome that country is. seriously. if you get the chance, you need to go. you will be blown away. and if you do go, make sure to tell me when you get back, i want to see pictures and hear stories. thanks tim, for the
chance to reflect...

jon-rae fletcher

honestly, i havent heard of this guy either. he is a musician born in saskatoon, raised in alberta and has lived mostly in vancouver, i believe. but i found a neat article about him, his upbringing and his take on faith, in the globeandmail. you can check it out here or just read this quick quote:
"If I did experience anything spiritual in the church -- and I believe that I did -- it was not in the discourse of the church, but in the community of it. . . . That's been a part of my experience in the church that has stayed with me and that I've tried to bring to the spirit of my music."

something that i can identify with. maybe excluding the part about 'my music'.

kris rockin the blog

kris is now blogging. check it out for blunt updates on things happening in the south end of the queen city...

winter is coming...

ice on frame lake
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

and the lakes are freezing. not super thick yet. so im still up for one more swim if anyone else will come. serious. but its neat how the landscapes change as the sun begins to shine less and less on this part of the world, north of 60.

my name is slim shady..

ok. its not. i lied.
but seriously now, there is this show. it is hilarious. even better than that "arrested development", that so many of you find humorous. this is leaps and bounds ahead. check it out. My Name Is Earl. thursdays on NBC or global. i think.

more on forgivenes

wow. check out this article on forgiveness. pretty crazy stuff.

old school nintendo

i was checking out cbc radio 3 and found a link to a sweet website with 300 or so old school nintendo games. so if you are bored at work, or need to procrastinate for a bit...
THIS. is the place to do it.

thank this

yep. i have a lot to be thankful for too. kamara said it all really well on her blog. go read it. nic also said it well on his blog, however, i would have enjoyed his post more if he had not censored it. just say what you want, you chump.
anyway, lately ive been thinking about how im thankful for the last 8 months of life. the ashbys have made yellowknife a home away from home, and tim and tara have made their place feel like a home away from my home away from home. so i am quite thankful for both of those families, and will be sad to leave them in 4 weeks.
im thankful for my family, mom and dad, kris, melissa and nic have made me laugh (and curse) so much over the years, and i wouldnt trade it for anything. and then my grandparents. dang. i owe them bigtime. for so much. so im thankful that i could know them for my whole life so far. not everyone gets that chance.
and im thankful for the chance to go see roger federer play tennis in 6 weeks (i have to put that into all my blogs from now on, just to make nic jealous)
and im thankful for my friends. so many. too many people to list. and that isnt because i think im so cool and have so many friends, but because so many people have thought that it would be a good idea to be nice to me, in spite of me.
i could write more. but ill stop here. you are probably bored, and other people who write much more eloquently than i, have better things to say. happy thanksgiving.
mom, im sorry ill miss your butter chicken. next time.

Roger Federer

in about a month and 9 days, jon, nicole and myself will be watching this guy play tennis. thats right, THE Roger Federer. live. for now, you can check out his blog for this week on that ATP website here. hes currently playing at a tournament in japan. in about a month and 9 days, you can check out my blog to hear what i have to say about watching one of the greatest tennis players ever.

gridblog number 3. living forgiven.

i have no idea what to write about to be honest. i forgot that there was a gridblog topic for today until i got home and checked everyone elses blogs. so i have read everyone else's thoughts before i sat down to write my own. i hope they all forgive me for plagiarism.
but seriously.
not only have i experienced forgiveness from the creator of the universe, i have experienced it from so many people too. and dont get me wrong...God's forgiveness is huge. so huge. but i think it is sometimes harder for people to forgive each other. so i am in awe of the way God shows himself to me through the forgiveness that my parents have shown me for my highschool years, as well as my stubornness since. without their loving, caring, forgiving attitude i wouldnt even be close to where i am at in the journey right now. (which honestly isnt even that good of a place). so many people have not only put up with my pride, arrogance, and selfishness (among a whole lot more) but have forgot about them. forgiven me. wow. i am so thankful that God has put these people in my life to model His forgiveness to me. if you are reading this, you are likely one of those people. so thank you. no seriously. i mean it. thanks!

here we go.

Beautiful Guilin
Originally uploaded by shengangxi.

on november 10th jon slywka and i are heading to china, and will meet up with nicole laliberte there. a week in shanghai to watch the TENNIS MASTERS CUP! which will showcase the top 8 mens tennis players in the world! wow. and if that isnt enough, we are heading to Guilin, in Guangxi province to take in some sights like the one posted here, thanks to recommendations from jay, shannon and harmony. speaking of harmony, we will also be stopping in hong kong, for about 10 days to visit her and check out her new place. thats it, thats all.

this is for dave mostly

one of the funniest guys i know has a photoblog that i just found out about. he lives in oklahoma city, his name is adam avery cole, and you can check out his pictures adam

one more reason to not live in vancouver...

if, for some reason, you thought vancouver might be a cool place to live, read this article. not only do they break in and steal your stuff, they leave a great surprise in your porch. its funny, so go read it here

farming

on sunday nite we played the farming game at tim and tara's house. always a great time because it is such a great game. if you are ever at tim's house, make sure you ask him to play with you. especially since he isn't any good at it. cody won this time. but next time, its all me. i think you can buy it here

inspiration

breakfast inspires me...seriously. not so much the food, however, the food can be pretty stinkin good depending on where you go. but usually at breakfast a good group of people, or just a few get to hang out, talk, listen, share, and learn with each other. ive had a lot of good breakfasts over the years and they have been the times when i have felt closest and most at peace with things in life. ive shared countless tables and coffees with kris, blair, dave, tim, dad, ed, jonny, john close, pete, grandparents, harm, colby, joel, nic, vince...and a whole other list of people that i am forgetting. there is just something special about that time and a sweet cheap breakfast.

"shot to the nuts"

nic, my smarter, funnier, better looking, younger brother is blogging. check it out. nic

back in the knife

a trip to regina/dauphin in back in less than a week. that means 60+ hrs of driving. on the way down i didnt think it was going to be worth it. but here are some highlights....
-visits with jay and matt
-visit with grandpa in regina, so good to see him smile, hear his laugh, and hear some of his stories. definitely the number one highlight
-seeing the family
-quick visits with kris, and other regina people.
-hanging out with people in dauphin for the wedding.
-jumping off bridges at the lake of the prairies and wascana lake

lots more. check out the pictures for a better idea of what went on.
its funny how pretty much all the highlights involve people. in fact, they all do. kind of what jay and i talked a little bit about.
how important it is to be in relationship, sharing, encouraging, building with each other. so even though i spent a lot of time in a vehicle, the time i got to spend with people was well worth the trip.

the bible: inspired or expired? (good one, john)

well, that is a hard question, and something that i have been wrestling with since i have taken a few religious studies courses at university (all three were from pastors of a church, so they weren't atheists trying to change my mind, just presenting the facts, so here is what i've been thinking about for the last few years, a lot of it will be things that i learned in those courses, or read elsewhere)

the bible is a collection of stories, letters and other forms of prose that were obviously written thousands of years ago, so how do we make it fit into our lives in the present?
- in my opinion, maybe it should be treated as a love story (not a self help book). a love story about God loving us so intensely that he often goes to ridiculous lengths to show that to us. (i.e. Jesus death)
- i dont think it is a biography of Jesus life, or direct, exact recorded history as we have come to know in our textbooks in
the 21st century, it is more like a collecion of stories from communities that had been passed on through the generations.

in my church background i was taught (whether intentionally or not) that the Bible was infallible, and i still find peers that i kind of clash with on this opinion, but no matter how hard i try, i cannot convince myself that this book is without errors. countless times in my university courses, i was pointed to places that would have required us to bend over backwards to prove the infallibility of this book. men wrote it. of course it is full of mistakes. "well", you say, "God inspired it, so thats why it is infallible". and yes, i do believe that God was likely with these people as they wrote, but i dont think he controlled their hands, or their minds as they wrote. it was likely these guys writing down things that they had been told or they observed while with Jesus, or people that were with him. it was oral tradition finally being recorded some 30+ years after Jesus left.

how much of the bible should we take literally? (all of it, if you go by what i learned in sunday school)
-this is probably the question that i have struggled with the most. maybe the Job story is just that, a story, not literal historical facts; a metaphor if you will. but does that take any of the meaning or power away from it? i, personally, dont think so.
- or even the words Jesus was "quoted" as saying. if nothing was written down directly from his mouth, im sure a lot of the things he said were somewhat different when the authors of the gospels (whoever they were) finally penned them.

i could write more, but this is long enough...and
to some this may all sound like im totally rejecting my faith, like i have given up, maybe even heretical. i assure you that is not the case. i still believe the Bible is alive. that it holds stories of God's intense love for us that i have missed. i do believe it is an important book, but i wouldn't say that it alone can change my life. sure, God could use it as avenue to work in my heart, but i dont think the Bible alone is capable of that, without God still flowing through it.
please go check out some of the other, more intelligent, people that have written on the same thing, there is a list of them at
tim's blog. and please join in the discussion.

the end of an era

well, in about 56 minutes, one of tennis' greatest stars ever will begin his last fortnight at the U.S. Open. Andre Agassi has been one of my favorite players since i picked up a racket for the first time. so it will be a sad few days, likely bringing tears to my eyes, as he trys to pull out one more grand slam. such a classy guy who plays beautiful tennis, and carries himself in a way that just commands respect. a true champion. he has definitely inspired me and made the last 20 years of watching tennis memorable. we will miss you Andre!

.confused.

so here is the deal, i am confused. well, maybe more just wondering. tim, and francis have posted some great ideas about blogging and putting this discussion into action. and i know i have talked with other friends before about how great sitting around discussing world issues, faith and spirituality can be, but if it just stops at the table, was it really all that good?
so here is where the confused/wondering part comes in. hopefully i can put this into logical, straight forward questions to ponder, and hopefully get some help with.

is discussion wasted if it is just heard and not acted upon? what if that discussion is part of something that, possibly subconciously, enters our minds and changes us from the inside out?
or is that even possible; does this "movement" have to be a conscious decision?
and
how do we challenge those that we are discussing with to put that discussion into action (as well as move ourselves)?

new in yellowknife

dayna, my cousin from weyburn just moved to yellowknife on the weekend. its already been fun having her around, getting the chance to get to know her better and making fun of her for her gypsy outings with melissa as they did the old orpah and morpah. (long story, but dayna and melissa are gypsies). anyway. i was reading her goodbye saskatchewan blog at daynamarie3.blogspot.com and it made me miss home. mostly my grandparents. my grandpa fleming recently had a stroke and is now recovering and working on the motor skills he lost. this guy is so tough. i miss him. definitely a role model in my life, in a quiet, unassuming, joking around, teaching me more than i thought he has, fun, loving way.
its crazy how people like that can love me. i guess it is just one more way that God shows us how much he loves us. and tonite, i am thankful for that. miss you grandpa, hope you are doing well!

jumping off things

yellowknife is great for jumping off things into the water.
there is water everywhere and usually some kind of cliff, bridge or wall to jump off. so ive taken a real liking for diving off things. it is probably one of my favorite things to do...and cody or nic or dad has often been there to snap some of those...so here are a few...if you ever come to yellowknife i know some sweet spots...so lets go. you can find more on my flickr site over there ---->

just move

almost a month ago already(...wow...)harm left yellowknife. before she left we had a good visit. kind of talking about where each other was at on our journey, shared with each other how apathy and laziness were such an easy rut to fall into. one that i have been in for far too long. harm is now in China (check her out at www.harmonymc.blogspot.com) but sent me an email before i left for the weekend that had me thinking any time i got a few minutes of quiet.
i spent the weekend out at a camp and then at a cabin. lots of time in the water, jumping off cliffs, swimming, boating, fishing, etc. beautiful scenery and great friends.
for about 5 minutes this morning i had time sitting outside, sun shinning, blue sky, fire crackling, coffee in my hand, bacon waiting to be cooked. what more could a guy ask for. anyway. i took that time to talk to God. harm had encouraged me to just move. to take even that first step. so in those moments of conversation with Him, i told Him i was ready to move. to climb out of the rut that had too quickly been becoming more than a rut. so here i am, nothing spectacular happened, however i feel like im in more of a place that i want to be. headed in the right direction. not trying things my own way, i have help. neat. help that has been waiting for a long time to be asked. help that has all the answers, the right answers and an amazing love for me that i cant understand. it wasnt a big step, but im moving...

tennis weekend

this weekend was the YK Open tennis tournament up here. so it was super fun. there were 24 entered in the mens singles draw. for some reason they decided to give me the second seed. weird. anyway, i ended up winning the tournament in singles after a 3 setter and nic and i won the doubles about an hour later.
so it was a sweet weekend. i walked away with 150$. cant complain.
the next few days will be for resting sore and tired muscles.
thanks to everyone who came and watch and yelled with me.
see pictures here...http://yktennis.sharepointsite.com/default.aspx

i quit reading daves blog

to be honest, i dont like ready daves blog. not even a little bit. not because it is poor writing--it is actually quite good. and not because i am jealous that he is better than me at soccer--i have come to realize there is nothing i can do about this...
to be honest, i have stopped (not entirely, i only read it when i get enough courage) because he challenges me too much. makes me look at the way im living and makes me realize that im far from where i need to be. thanks dave for your honesty, encouragement, wisdom and 'genuineness'...(is that a word?) i appreciate you and wish i could go out for breakfast with you...
if you are not dave, check out his blog at http://dgainest.blogspot.com/

10 days later

10 days since my parents left. not much is new here. amy tells me i need to update my blog, but the last few weeks im finding i have very little to say. one of those seasons i life i guess.
i am reading a pretty sweet book. it is called "napoleon's buttons: 17 molecules that changed history". its interesting. so far ive learned about pepper, cellulose, nitro compounds, and glucose...read it if you get the chance. i would...
and
for those of you who dont know, my grandpa fleming is in the hospital. he had a stroke on friday and has been in the hospital since then. sounds like he is doing better today so that is good news. keept it steady grandpa. we are praying for you.

back to regina...

not me. my parents.
but it sure was good to have them here. hang out, eat some meals, see the sights, play some tennis. good times.
even though im taken care of extremely well up here in yellowknife, i miss them quite a bit. and melissa and kris too. so thanks mom and dad for coming and hanging out and checking out my new home...
will be home again soon.

1 out of 3 ain't bad..?

well, italy beat france. not good. (italian soccer is boring)
mauresmo beat henin-hardenne, not good. (henin plays more attractive tennis)
but federer beat nadal. that is sweet.
a magician on grass. even compared to barishnakov by some. elegant and graceful on the tennis court. 4 wimbledon championships in a row. and he beat his arch rival, his nemesis on a day when so many thought he might fall again.
heather thinks nadal is cute. gross hey? at least he lost. sorry heather.

cliff jumping at the falls

3
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

i love jumping off of things. so when i saw this cliff at cameron falls i was pretty stoked. it made the trip out there even better. check out my flickr page for the sequence...dad took these for me. if anyone is up for a trip to cameron falls and a cliff jump...look me up.

italia

well, to say that i was cheering for Italy at the start of the tournament would be an understatement. but i also was not cheering for Germany at all either. so todays semifinal was kind of like the leafs playing the canucks. i hate both the teams, but i will never cheer for the leafs...ever...and so with the analogy, i will also never cheer for Germany. after watching their match against Ireland last world cup, i concluded that i would never cheer for the Germans again.
anyway...italy won. a sweet game. and im hoping they meet france in the finals.
in other news, im back in yellowknife. regina was great. amazing even. thanks to those of you who woke up early to eat breakfast, or watch soccer, or hang out. it was the highlight of the summer so far.
2 more matches in the world cup. it is bittersweet really.

the homeland

back in regina for a few days. 24 hours in a van later and im back in the queen city. so far ive seen lots of good friends, the family and had some good laughs.
i gotta say i miss this place. not so much the city, but the people. grade A goodness.
not that yellowknife isnt full of the same, but there is something about home that feels good.
so far the week will be full of breakfasts, lunches, tennis, soccer, swimming, and watching some sweet bands play.
i heard a vicious rumour though...tim, simply delicious has closed.
now, dont get too upset yet, i havent confirmed it myself. but i will let you know the final word when i see it for myself.
it could be a sad day in the QC.
well, the hotdogs are ready. time to eat, and then off to the tennis courts.

some wisdom i stole from gene..

tonite at church, gene talked about fathers, mostly our Father. one thing he said stuck with me, mostly because it met me where i am at these days. he said something along the lines of "we need to come to God just as we are, not how we are supposed to be".
kind of neat.
kind of made me think about how i need to quit making excuses about how i am not good enough, or how i have been apathetic, lazy, etc. and just come. it doesnt matter where i have been, where i am at now, i need to quit making excuses.
so thats what i will be thinking about for a few days here.
5 more work days till regina.
looking forward to seeing the regina folk.

world cup prediction: you heard it hear...second

so, the world cup is into its second day, im currently watching england vs. paraguay and cheering for paraguay (sorry jon and evan). but anyway, the greatest sporting event in the world is underway. four years ago, jon slywka and i watched this tournament from many different venues (including 6 different countries), including an electronic store in Shillong, India. we sat on the floor behind some refrigerators so as not to be seen by the owner. eventually, the owner came by, saw us watching, asked us where we were from, and after he found out we were canadians, gave us some stools to sit on, turned on the rest of the tv's on the wall of televisions and cranked the volume. not much is as unifying globally as soccer. not only is it a beautiful game, but its a chance for everyone to put down their guns, grab some boots and a ball and play a bit of football.
anyway, jon, one of the greatest soccer aficionado's i know has predicted the czech republic to win it all. so you heard it hear second. this man could look like a genius if his prediction comes true. (i pick holland or argentina)
here is a picture of my soccer team. probably the closest i will ever come. but we were pretty good. i miss these guys.

first fish ever

first fish ever
Originally uploaded by xjermsx.

so i went to the cabin this weekend with joel, arlen, cory, dwight, brendan, darla, amanda and brianne. it was a good time. it was my first fishing experience ever. i enjoyed it i must say. 6 hours of casting and reeling, i finally caught this fish. i know its not very big, but after 6 hours of nothing, this was about as good as it got. holding it was disgusting though. anyway, it was a great weekend full of fishing, laughing, swimming in the freezing cold lake and enjoying some amazing parts of nature. i posted lots of new pictures from the weekend, so check them out. good times had by all...except arlen, cause he didnt catch any fish.