are you serious?

as much as i was hoping for this to happen, i never thought it would. nadal lost to unseeded tsonga last nite in australia. in straight sets! i havent got to see this kid play, but after this run in this tournament, im gonna be keeping an eye on him anyway. sounds like he plays some pretty inspired tennis. and anyone that knocks out 'rafa' is already in my goodbooks. for all you nadal lovers, youll just have to wait for the clay court season for this one dimensional athlete to have a chance...

the final 8

for those of you who dont know, the Australian Open is happening in melbourne as we speak. the first week is over and the last 8 players on the mens and womens draws are set. there has been some brilliant tennis and some surprising upsets so far, and one almost monumental loss by federer in the third round. but he hung on and pulled it out in the 5th set. in the womens draw sharapova is playing henin in the quarterfinals, which is crazy and should be a good one.
djokovic is going to be tough to beat. federers quarter is way harder than nadals, but we will see what happens. any predictions?
p.s. on an unrelated note, i cannot stand the patriots.

top 10 of '07

 ten of my favorites from 2007...

kenya

last year at christmas, my parents gave me a gift certificate for KIVA.ORG so i could lend it to some businesses in developing countries. one of the ladies i lent some of my money too is from Kenya and i just received an email from one of the directors of the organization from Kenya. We dont hear much about this on our news over here, and who knows if what we do hear is accurate. anyway, here is a glimpse, first hand into what some of the people are experiencing...


*********************************************************************************************************
Dear Kiva Lenders,

I wish to thank you for your continued concern and support during this
very difficult moment in Kenya’s history. We have been a peaceful
Country in a generally troubled region and people sort of took the
peace for granted.


The country is now battered almost to a pulp and blood spilt with
vengeance, senseless killings and wanton destruction. Markets, food
stores and shops have been looted. Hospitals are dysfunctional and
health centers incapacitated by riots and barricades. The violence,
death and destruction witnessed in the Country for the last couple
weeks has jolted the Nation into conscience and every body is now
craving normalcy.


While peace is slowly returning to all affected parts of the Country,
the impact of the riots has been devastating. Hundreds of people have
been killed turning thousands of innocent children into helpless
orphans and over one million people have been displaced, becoming
internal refugees over night.

The impact of the riots is most felt in the micro and small business
sector. Over 1 million small businesses were looted and or burnt down
destroying the only source of income to millions of Kenyans. Most of
the fighting and destruction occurred in slum areas in Nairobi,
Mombasa, Nakuru and Kericho in Rift Valley. These regions are home to
over 70% of Ebony Foundation’s clients and as you can imagine almost
all of our clients in these regions have been affected by the riots.
Only one region- (Mount Kenya) which is home to about 20% of EbF’s
clients was spared the violence. The economy in this safe region is now
getting stretched as the residents have to now house the displaced
population.

what?

check this out.
Canadian winter golf

no one likes cauliflower, so whats the point?

a few weeks ago i was put on vegetable cutting duty at a friends place to help her get ready for having some people over. i have been thinking about this ever since...
why bother with cauliflower? i never liked it before i had to cut it, but after cutting it, i like it even less. its taste-less, not attractive to look at and makes a big mess when you try to cut it.
seriously. why do people eat that stuff? if they tell you they like it, they are lying.

first time for everything...

oh canada
Originally uploaded by xjermsx

our holiday is coming to a close. we get on the plane tomorrow and should be back in saskatoon sometime wednesday nite. then back to the real world. back to work and back to the cold. it will be good to be home.
sunday nite was one of the funnest nites ive had in a long time. we headed down to the "most famous arena in the world" to watch an orginal six match up. i would have been stoked to watch any teams play in MSG, but to see the Canadiens take on the Rangers was awesome. i felt six years old again. the game went into overtime and shanahan got in alone and sniped one top shelf. so the outcome wasnt what i was hoping for, but not a bad show for my first NHL game...

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.

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.