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