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.