June 29, 2004

rejoice

The best time to thank God and rejoice is when you're down and out. I'm trying to think of places in my life that I can still find some sort of joy.

First, has been Paragon City. Yeah, it's a video game. Yeah, it's a waste of time. In Paragon City I can walk around and beat people up (kills frustration), meet tons of very interesting people (beats loneliness), and build a lot of (albeit virtual) friendships. You meet some pretty different people online, all from various walks of life. Kids, teenagers, moms, dads, grampa, programmers, vp's, etc.. By the way, Americans hate Michael Moore, that is the general consensus I got from about 30 or so americans that I asked last night.

Second, has been at work. I know, it's weird people want to go home to get away from the stress of work, but I go to work to get away from the stress at home. Work has been going great, I had a long chat with my boss today and my future opportunities. God's really been paving the way for me there. Sure it could turn out to be a major disappointment once again, or as us Christian's like to say "life lessons" or "God's will". But at least there's progress. Also great about work is the friendship's I've made there. I feel like I can be pretty open to them because are the same with me.

Third, has been small group. This goes without saying really. Brothers and sisters in Christ who keep me accountable and me them. I am constantly learning from them and it is just awesome, learning from their mistakes, their joys and pains, and observing God's works in their lives. Prayer time is great, sharing, the honesty and great feeling that they really care about me. It's a great feeling to feel wanted and loved.

Fourth, I would say random people that just keep me company. Some of you, you know who you are, have been a real blessing. Just being there and chatting it up with me without having a purpose for it. Maybe you're bored, or you feel the need to chat with someone too. You're not there to ask me for something, or need me to do something, or wondering about something, or talking to me just to be nice. It's great to just sit down and chat with someone for even 15 minutes to catch up, and talk about nothing, or something. Doesn't matter. Thanks.

So those things I definitely have to be greatful for. This has been a great exercise.
I read Luke 1 this morning, and then had it dictated to me using the Bible Gateway's "Listen to this" feature. I didn't really get anything out of the reading.

Lately I have been feeling depressed; unhappy, restless, sad, tired, frustrated. I find that whenever I'm down, I use comedy to try to bring myself back up. Like telling jokes, making people laugh. Hoping that the laughter is contagious and spreads back to me. And if you really listen closely you can tell -- it's a lot of cynical, sarcastic humor. And I've been critical of things I seriously couldn't care less about, trying to provoke frustration from others, being disagreeable.

So on one hand I tried to bounce laughter off others, while on the other hand I tried to spread my downness onto others. If I can't be happy, then make everyone else unhappy. It's selfish.

Life's full of up and downs, and this is just one of the downs. I think all I can do is ride this one out, aside from the usual stuff of praying, reading His word, and going out as much as possible so that I don't sit at home and think too much. Karen's mom told me the other day that I shouldn't let my grandparents stay home too much because it will make them think, which will make them go crazy. I think I'm going crazy..

I have no place I can go to, that will make it all go away..


Edit: Btw, I've decided to go church hopping for the months of July and August. T3C is going through the Purpose Driven Life (btw, if you're interested feel free to attend) and since I've already done it, I find this is the perfect opportunity for me to go off and try something else. And there are a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time and this would be a great opportunity to see them again.

June 27, 2004

Ha-fay-el Ar-RU-joe

Check out this video. I'm starting to like this kid more and more :)

illuminate

Who is David Crowder? Take a look. He's the one on the right. Funny interview..

I bought David Crowder Band's "Illuminate" cd under the direction of Kevin, who said he was very "impressed" by it. I also go "Touch" by Delirious, it was cheap, just $8.99. Not bad for a double cd. But any, this is my first DCB cd.

After my first time through the cd, I've only got one word to describe it -- wow. This is a great CD. I haven't been through a cd from beginning to end and liked every single song for a very long time. Even MercyMe's Undone, I didn't like that "Caught Up In The Middle" song. But this cd, wow.

What I'm most impressed with it is that they put a lot into each song. The band is very talented with different styles of playing their respective instruments. The songs all sound different but all good. This cd has TONS of bass. They mix tons of stuff into it. There's the usual instruments, but then there's other funky stuff, a lot of play with the electric and altering its tone and distorting it. They have strings too, and even an xylophone! The cd came with a trial of a project they use to mix songs. I haven't tried it yet.

Okay, the only beef I have with the CD is just the order of the compilation. They go from very uplifting songs to very soft, acoustic guitar stuff, but they never go back. I like CDs that are compiled well, and this one just fades out at the end. I guess in some sense depending on your mood this might be more convenient, less skipping around to the type of song you want?

June 23, 2004

trades galore!

I've never seen trading like this before. We are literally hours away from the draft folks, and even tonight I'm not sure who's going to be taken after the first 4.

For certain, the top 4 are:

1. Dwight Howard
2. Emeka Okafor
3. Luol Deng
4. Shaun Livingston

After that, things get cloudier. Dallas traded for the 5th overall pick. I have no idea what this means.. Dallas doesn't have any glaring needs, the team is stacked. Haha.. no pun intended (they traded for Jerry Stackhouse). Trading for Stackhouse doesn't make sense unless they plan on trading Finley away. Maybe the deal will be Walker, Howard, Finley for Shaq? This is unbelievable.. What is Mark Cuban up to?

I could see them taking a natural point in Devin Harris, and possibly trading him off in part of the deal for Shaq. Or maybe to replace Nash who might bolt? This is just unbelievable.. this Dallas trade totally messes up any of my projections. Here are my guesses:

5. Devin Harris
6. Andre Iguodala
7. Luke Jackson
8. Ben Gordon (haha.. still holding out hope for this)

There's no way Toronto is going to get Ben Gordon. Looks like Pavel Podkolzine to me. Or Andris Biedrins. Or Josh Smith. I can't think of anyone else we could take besides these guys. Raptors are going to trade down tomorrow night, not sure where. They could still get Jameer Nelson down at 12-15. Or trade further down and get Telfair.
blog

I haven't really done the "log" part of blogging lately.. all sports, nothing interesting for most of yous.

My current contract ends on June 30. It's got me kind of thinking about it, just in terms of what would happen if it weren't extended. There's like zero chance of that happening -- no, my faith isn't THAT strong -- but they've slotted me work for next month already. I'm training most of the users for the system.. like 500 people. Who's gonna do that if I'm not around? They need eBrian! The world needs eBrian!

Still, even if they want me back, it's still up to upper management and BUDGETING, that makes the final determination of whether or not I continue. My supervisor discussed with me about a possible job opening sometime in September that I will be able to apply for, Business Analyst (exactly what I've been dreaming about since before I even graduated). He said they'd even make the job descriptions and requirements exactly the same fitted for me and what I have been doing.

Otherwise, not much else going on. I deceived a bunch of people on COH, it's a long story but the gist of it is I lied to them so badly, and did something completely and totally UNTHINKABLE in the gaming world, and I feel so guilty about it that I may never play the game again.

Some good news: My bro is coming to visit me in August, which means we get to go to the MercyMe concert together! I am so excited about that (my bro visiting, not the concert!). I miss him so much.. Btw, he kicked ass on his SATs recently!

Our house is going to be sold officially on the 29th (closing date). It's sad to see it go, but also glad the headaches will be gone, finally.

Anyway.. how's that for a brief update. More to come, as I hear it!

June 22, 2004

draft

I'm going with Kenric to the draft party at Air Canada Centre on Thursday. We'll get free food and drinks, and possibly meet Chris Bosh. I also want to start a "FIRE PEDDIE" chant, if possible. After last night's Clippers-Bobcats trade I'm a bit disappointed. I don't think the Raptors will get Ben Gordon now. We'll probably end up with Devin Harris, or worse, Biedrins.

That really sucks. Last year Andris Biedrins played against Darko Milicic, "The Human Victory Cigar", and was MASHED. Darko scored like 40 points and 20 rebounds, while Biedrins managed like 4 points and 7 rebounds.

Devin Harris is okay, but.. Actually if Gordon is taken I hope the Raptors just trade down, screwing over the Trailblazers and take Sebastian Telfair, or just trade down for a vet and Jameer Nelson.

Sigh..

June 21, 2004

poetry

Kenric sent me this site a while ago, I downloaded the songs and they're actually pretty good. I like the song We Miss You.

This song goes out to the innocent men, women and children
Who've lost their lives in the homicide bombings in Israel
Just wanna let you know that who ever you are, where ever you are
Guess what, we miss you

[verse 1]
Days pass by, things won't change
The lives we've lost, memories remain
Locked in our hearts, the friends not here
Our parents, teachers, even school piers
Lives cut short in clubs, cafes
Buses, malls, on them Jewish holidays
Jewin their thing, mindin their own business
Hebrews are peaceful, can I get a witness?
Land of that milk and honey
Spirit valued more than money
Value God and we value love
Now we give our props to the ones above
Miss you daily and it's hard to move on
But you lift our spirit when we hear this song
To all the Heeb crew, let us not forget
They're talking to us now when we hear this set

[verse 2]
We'd like to turn back time
Prevent the loss, prevent the crime
But all we can do is to live the day
Lead tomorrow in our own Jew righteous way
Embrace the Torah, embrace our kin
Somehow we'll overcome and yes we'll win
Cause crimes like these don't go unturned
They'll either change their ways or about to get burned
Tzadikim that's you, the ones above
Died for us, now we're showin you the love
Remind us who we are and what we stand for
Jews rich at heart that's why we're never poor
You each had faith, you each had dreamed
Hoped for peace, even hard as it seemed
But now we praise you and kiss you back
Remember you always when we hear this track

June 20, 2004

Hillsong United - More To Life

I bought this cd awhile ago, but haven't commented on it.

It's a great CD. I sampled through it prior to the Hillsong United concert I went to, just to familiarize myself with some of the songs so that I could at least attempt to sing along at the concert.

I don't know what it is about Hillsong United that makes me feel so happy. They are the same as Hillsongs, in that the songs are often our offering to God, conveyances of love and appreciation between us and our Holy Savior. The difference being most other songs are "about God", not about our relationship with Him. That think that's what initially attracts anyone to Hillsongs.

I lay my life down at Your feet
You're the only one I need
I turn to You and You are always there
In trouble times, it's you I seek
I put You first that's all I'll need
I humble all I am, all to You
But with Hillsong United, songs are uplifting, and appeal to a younger crowd by lyrics and also by tune. Led by the new generation of the rock-style Christian genre, these group of guys (and 1 girl) are leaders in Christian Praise Rock. They recognize the need that young people have to be able to relate with something before truly believing in something. Hillsong United makes praising God cool -- and fun! Which I think is great..

I don't care what they say about me
It's alright, alright
I don't care what they think about me
It's alright
They'll get it one day

I love You, I'll follow You
You are my, my life
I will read my bible and pray
I will follow you all day
Anyway, I give this CD two thumbs up, a solid 9.5/10. My only (personal) beef with it is that you can easily lose your voice while singing along to it. Especially if you blast it as I do on my car. :)

June 17, 2004

June 16, 2004

ARRRGGGOOOOOOOOOOSSS

Yesterday I went to watch the CFL season opener with Kenric. It was my first experience watching live football, which is far and away my favorite sport to watch. To me, the CFL is a total joke, having players that couldn't make it anywhere else -- a league that made superstars out of NFL failures.

However, the game was actually pretty entertaining. It started out with a bang (literally, lots of fireworks) and the Sasketchewan Roughrider's starting quarterback broke his leg. And from there, it was all downhill for them. The backup guy threw interception after interception. And I called two touchdowns. Just after the injury I told Kenric I thought they would score, and they did, on the ensuing punt. Then later on I said it again, and Damon Allen throws a 50 yard TD.

Here are some pics from the game. I learned some new features with my camera, like what WB stands for (which I forgot by now, though I know the point of it at least).


SkyDome is still quite a sight. Hard to believe people think the Jays need a new stadium!


Pretty good turn out, for a lowly CFL game. Haha.. Actually the fans were really into it, there are a lot of hardcore Argo fans..


Half-time Show: No wardrobe malfunctions tonight! MASS PIPE BAND!


Damon Allen huddles together with the troops. Argos win, 21-10.

June 15, 2004

hurray for competition!

Today, I received 3 more Gmail invites. I got 3 more last week which I gave to my co-workers, who were drooling over my original invite and my first 2 invites. I felt after rubbing it in their faces it was time to cough them up :)

Anyway, 3 more today, and I sent myself one so I could have a real email address (finally), at brian.yao@gmailREMOVE.com (cut out REMOVE for the real address). <-- I learned my lesson this time, bp!

So yeah, 2 more invites if anyone needs.

And then, I logged into Yahoo mail today to discover they changed their mailbox size to 100 MB, plus their maximum email size is now 10mb! Went on over to Hotmail, and nothing. Uh-oh!

June 14, 2004

luke jackson

I read this interview between Luke Jackson and one of the writers at DraftCity.com, a week ago. He seemed very intelligent and as a player who stayed in college, seemed very poised and confident. Needless to say I was very impressed by the attitude he displayed, and his tactful answers.

Anyway, why I brought this up, it reminds me of many years ago when I read about the 3 big QBs -- the year of Couch, Culpepper, McNabb (also in that draft was Cade McNown and Akiki Smith). I think it's unfair to think Couch has failed as a QB. Playing for an expansion club has severe downsides because you are always dealing with personnel changes and it literally takes years to establish a good offensive line. Anyway, I remember reading this article about the big 3, and how despite Culpepper being the best athlete of the 3, it was McNabb who scored the highest marks in the aptitude/intelligence tests.

Although McNabb struggled earlier on in his career compared to the massive leaps and bounds Culpepper pulled earlier in his career, we now see McNabb as being the true winner. The guy who is leading his team into the playoffs, and really garnering a lot of MVP support.

Anyway, I just wanted to say this because it just says a lot about intelligence and poise, moreso than pure athletic ability (not that Donovan McNabb isn't an amazing physical specimen). Emeka Okafor finished his college degree in just 3 years, and is projected to go first or second. I'm slowly beginning to think 2nd, simply because Orlando needs to watch their "backs" -- literally, since McGrady also has a history of back problems. Haha.. bad pun. So yeah, Luke Jackson should hit top 12-15 I think.. he's should shoot up the draft boards of teams know what they're doing!

edit: Oh yeah, just wanted to add a blurb about Cade McNown, wherever he is. Cade: You saved me more than a few times in your rookie season. (It's a good thing my league didn't count INTs) I dunno what happened to you, but if you could've shored up your off-field problems you could have had a pretty solid NFL career. Just look at Jake Plummer, he sucks ass and he's still in the league, and you were better than he is.
storm

What a storm last night! There was thunder and lightning, and when it rains, because of the high winds up top, it always sounds like hail. I woke up several times in the middle of the night. It even woke up my gp's at 2 in the morning! I think my grandfather was scared or something.

I woke up this morning to find the Lakers had lost again, but for some reason I still feel like they can win the series. They still haven't played well as a team, yet, in these playoffs. Kenric posed a question to me about whether I thought they were playing poorly because they're distracted, or because I think it's Detroit's defense. I still don't think Detroit is as good as any teams in the West, and the Lakers beat everyone in the West. So do I think it's the defense? I guess part of it is, but still, Kobe has only shot well in one game, which they won. If it's defense, then you just don't get off as many shots. If Kobe is still being allowed to jack up 30 shots in a game, it's more him that the defense.

mercy me

Gladys bought me Word Of God Speak - The Worship Songs of MercyMe as a return favor of getting her tickets to the MercyMe concert. I must say this is a great book! It's got all the chords to a number of mercyme songs including sheet music and lyrics. It's just another reminder of the mistake I made quitting piano when I was younger..

Does anyone know how to play Bb2(no3)?

too much

I'm finding less and less time for myself. Of course it's partly my own fault for getting involved in too many activities, but I just feel like I'm being suffocated right now, never having any time to be alone. I kinda miss living at home with family, even though I hated it, I kinda miss mowing the lawn or vacuuming. Times like those I had all to myself, I would do the chore and think about so many different things while doing them.

Life's seems to be going too fast for me.

lamenting vs. complaining

complaining: Why me? Why are you putting me through this? I can't take this anymore, it's all your fault!

lamenting: Oh man, this really sucks.

June 12, 2004

onions

Every time I cook, I use onions, and every time I use onions, my hands smell funky afterwards. This smell will often last for days, no matter how much soaking and soaping I do with my hands. It's really annoying.. If anyone knows the remedy for this, please tell me!

rabbits

Some people think I'm just kidding around with the rabbits. I wasn't at the time, but now that I think more about it, it's a lot more work really than one might realize. It's not about a piece of land either, you need a barn most likely. Apparently it's best to have raised cages so that there is no urine build up, it gets collected under the cages. And you need a good ventilation system set up too.

It is however, legal in Canada and there are quite a few rabbit farms in the Northern parts of Canada. Few people know this, but early pioneers ate strictly rabbits, way before they started eating beef, pork or poultry. Rabbit meat is a lot more nutritious that any other of the meats, it's lean and very high in protein.

Anyway, I sure most of my regular readers are more grossed out than interested in this stuff, but if you do have any questions I can pass on some interesting sites and resources -- just email me and ask. In the meantime, I will not be persuing this any further because the initial start-up costs are actually quite a lot more than I had originally anticipated.

this sunday

I've been looking forward to this Sunday for about 3 days now, ever since I decided I was going to and buy some Fanta, something I haven't done since last fall. I love Fanta. There's something about the precious nectar of berry goodness. When you take a gulp, it's like nothing you've ever experienced.. It's just so yummy. Gosh I'm mouth is watering up right now while thinking about it.

potter

I watched Harry Potter 3 yesterday. Liked it a lot. Lots of funny (brilliant!) parts and also scary parts. I can't figure out how old he's supposed to be now though, they seem pretty mature but then you see the way that red-haired kid acts around his pet rat and you think they're like 5 again. Maybe the other two are older and he's much younger but tall? I dunno. It had some really cool storylines and neat effects.

June 10, 2004

phone

I'm really loving my new phone. Its color screen begs to be looked at, to be fiddled with. Mmm.. pretty colors.. I can't seem to go more than an hour without flipping it open to gaze and the wonderful tones and lights. And everytime I flip it open I can't help but think like I'm some kind of stock broker.. Haha.

more spends

The jedi-master insists that the Hoobastank cd is worth getting, so I'm considering it now. There's a number of CDs that I'm looking to get, secular ones. Creed is one that I should've bought a long time ago. I think I've listened to that one enough times that I should just send them money without even getting a cd.

major purchase

None of the above count as major purchases. I haven't made a major purchase since Christmas time, when I bought my Olympus Stylus 400. Could it be time for a new one? I had one recent mass spending, which was when I paid for the fixing of my basement, which fetched a hefty sum, but I hope to be paid back soon for that. And it doesn't count anyway, I'm talking about purchase for me. ME!

One thing I've thought a lot about was buying a piece of land. And maybe a few cows to breed. I think that'd be a lot of fun, I could go every day after work, make sure they were being well fed, and then go home. In a few years I'd have many cows. I could sell their milk, and eventually sell their flesh, and skin for clothing. It would be good fun.. Or maybe that might take too long.

Perhaps a small patch of land and rabbits. They breed pretty fast and I've read their meat is actually quite delicious. And I could sell their feet.. some crazies out there actually think they bring good luck.

It's definitely something to think about.

June 09, 2004

Bird: You know the one thing that always bothered me when I was playing in the NBA was, I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me. I still don't understand why.
(laughter)
Bird: A white guy would come out, I would always ask him, 'What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?' And he would say, 'No,' and I'd say, 'Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.' And for some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy."
...and he was dead serious, not so much as a grin or anything. Just straight up said it, as though he meant every word. Everyone else (Jim Gray, Magic Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James) was laughing, but he was deadpanned. Pretty funny stuff..

Btw, and I pretty much stand by this: If Charlotte takes Iguodala, everything should fall into place and Raptors should get Gordon. I forgot that Washington really likes Childress.. but I also think they need a big man. Anyway, Ben Gordon, if he comes to the Raptors, will win rookie of the year.

June 07, 2004

Mock Draft

This is my favorite time of the year in the NBA, when the Finals are going on and less that 3 weeks away from the NBA Draft. I absolutely LOVE analysing and trying to predict who will go where, and learning about each of the players. No doubt that this thing will cause many of you to go "HUH?!", or think "gosh, you sure have a lot of time on your hands..."! I really wanted to put this in a table format, but this will have to do for now.

1. Orlando: Emeka Okafor - This is really a no-brainer. Back spasms and all he is hands down the best player in the draft.
2. Atlanta: Dwight Howard - Atlanta will trade up to take this hometown highschool phenom, who looks to be like a cross between a Tim Duncan and a Kevin Garnett (ie: a mean Duncan with ball-handling skills).
3. Chicago: Luol Deng - To me he's the consensus #3 pick. Chicago is basically set at PF/C with Chandler/Curry or will be, after trading one of them. Don't forget they also still have AD.
4. Charlotte: Andre Iguodala - Iguodala has been shooting up the charts after his latest workout. He is an extremely well-conditioned athlete with great skills and can literally do it all out on the court, and is the perfect type of player for the new franchise to build around.
5. Washington: Andris Biedrins - Kwame Brown is done.
6. Clippers: Shaun Livingston - Here's where it gets tricky. LAC trades down to take a point guard? I know it's wishful thinking that they'd pass on Gordon but it does make sense as they want a kid who will pass first, given that they already have established scorers on their team..
7. Phoenix: Pavel Podkolzine - Pavel should have declared last year, he wasted an entire season in the Italian league and basically did nothing in the past year. He could have been raking it in all this time. If he pans out, he and Amare Stoudamire will make a formidable frontcourt for the Suns.
8. Toronto: Ben Gordon - Ben Gordon is the next Baron Davis. Yes, you heard it here first. This guy has Baron Davis written all over him. They're both BIG guards, love to shoot first and are ridiculed for being somewhat of a ball hog. They both play great defense, and are lethal from 3-pt range. The game comes naturally for both of them.
9. Philadelphia: Josh Smith - Just makes sense to take this guy who for now will supplant Glenn Robinson, but in the future will we asked to score instead of Iverson.
10. Cleveland: Josh Childress - Cleveland is just looking for grounded players who have a solid game so as to not ruin the already great chemistry on this team. Childress was the leader of his Stanford squad and is a fairly mature player, despite what you might think when you see his hair.
11. Golden State: Kirk Snyder - Really at this point I could care less about who gets taken. I see that the Warriors need a SG/SF and to me it's down to Kirk, Luke Jackson, Sergei Monya.. so take your pick.
12. Seattle: Peter John Ramos - Ramos is another one of those tall kids who has shot up the rankings, really for no good reason other than he is an okay player who happens to be really tall. With Calvin Booth as their only legitimate C, Ramos just makes sense.
13. Portland: Devin Harris - It's hard to believe Harris falling this far but I am basing this edition of my mock draft on need, and none of the above teams after Toronto really needs a point guard. It would've been Telfair here but that dude is dropping like a brick after recent workouts.
14. Utah: Dorell Wright - This one comes out from left field. A highschooler, virtually unknown. He will be at the slam dunk competition, if he gets drafted and gets 10-15 minutes per game. If there's a human highlight reel in this draft class, it's him. Utah needs that kind of player, to attract the fans. I mean sure Kirilenko is no slouch, but wait til you see this kid dunk..!
15. Boston: Jameer Nelson - I think Boston would have wanted Wright, or they might take JR Smith here. It's really unfair that a player like Jameer Nelson gets overlooked in the draft. He's really a great leader and in terms of floor generals he is the best in this class -- but he's tiny. I think he'd mesh really well with Mr. "Heart on his sleeve" Paul Pierce.

Other notables: Utah takes Swift, LAC takes Araujo, NOH takes Jackson, Miami gambles on Telfair, Nuggets take JR Smith.

I've revised this thing about 40 times in the last 3 days and I think it might stand. Of course workouts are still going on, teams cut deals with kids and rumors fly, and so this is a "mock" draft in every sense of the word.

IF Toronto gets Ben Gordon, we will be contenders in the East once again. Babcock has seen first hand what a different a scoring point guard can make with Cassell in Minnesota. I mean basically you're getting Cassell and Hudson in one player. I can't see how Babcock could pass on him if he's there.
flames, lightning

I haven't really commented much about the Stanley Cup Finals, with good reason -- I haven't watched a single game yet. But tonight I plan on watching Game 7. I know that a lot of you are cheering for the Calgary Flames, and rightfully so as they are "Canada's" team this year, and we finally have a shot at bringing the Cup home.

Although I guess I'll be cheering for Calgary since Jarome Iginla is one of my favorite non-Leaf players, I'll be equally happy for either team winning it.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are full of Canadian players, including their best player Martin St.Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and a player who is quite dear to my heart -- former Toronto Maple Leaf, Dave Andreychuk.

Dave Andreychuk was a part of what I consider the glory years, the days of Doug Gilmour. Those years we had the closest shot at reaching the Stanley Cup finals out of any of the past few Sundin-led years. If you really think about it, the only real highlight in the last 5 years has been eliminating Ottawa -- outside of that we have had little or no chance of making it to the Finals.

Andreychuk was awesome for us.. He's 40 years old now, and looking for his first Cup. He holds a dubious record for playing the most NHL games without winning a Stanley Cup. He's the Karl Malone of hockey.

So anyway, like I said, between seeing Jarome Iginla hoist the cup and Dave Andreychuk, either is good for me -- although Jarome probably has a shot for many years to come, while Andreychuk is probably done after this season.

June 06, 2004

idiot

like the idiot that i am, i forgot to pay my credit card bill for like the umpteenth time, and this time i have to really pay for it.

my free month's subscription ended this weekend for City of Heroes, and I was supposed to start paying today in order to pay ($20/month). But, as I mentioned this idiot forgot to pay his credit card overdue bills -- which was like a paltry $14 -- and now I won't get to play for at least another 3-5 days!

CRIPES!!

of course this means my guitar practicing will benefit greatly..

btw, thanks to jasy: i stole your code and altered it so that i could show 3 at once.. hehe. finally made use of my degree :)

June 04, 2004

more heroes

A few days ago I stopped working on Lion-Oh and made a guy who looks like a tiny monkey. I wanted to called him Curious George, but the game wouldn't let me use the word "Curious". (At level 15 you get a new title, like "The Amazing" or "The Extraordinary", etc. And I think "Curious" might be one of the choices.) So anyway, I went with Kyrios George, giving somewhat of a double meaning as our church's teen fellowship is called Kyrios.

Kyrios George is an illusion controller / healer. I run around and get into trouble, and try to bail out other people in need. It's pretty fun, very different game dynamic than going in and arresting (killing) everything in sight as I was with Lion-Oh, who was a spines scrapper. Now I manipulate the enemy into attacking themselves, or healing and revive fellow heroes in the city. It's actually quite fun being an 'assister' rather than the offense.

Here's a few more funny pics I took along my travels:


I played with Annie for only around 15 minutes while I tried to level up. She was funny though, kept yelling "Tomorrow!" after every arrest.


This guy was great, didn't play with him but saw him hanging around City Hall. He was doing jumping jacks at one point, and yelling out "YMCA!" over and over. LOL!!

June 03, 2004

hoobastank

The first time I heard this song "The Reason" was months ago during a highlight reel on Roger's Sportsnet. They played the song while showing hockey highlights and then I found myself humming it hours later. Had no idea who sang it, or what the song was about.

Then recently while flipping through the stations I saw the music video, realized what it was about (weird how the lyrics are so different from the video). I really like this song, it's got a great tune, guitar solo part sounds easy enough that I might be able to play. Lyrics are nice.

Anyway.. it took me like 2 weeks to figure out the name of the group. Hoobastank.. what the heck is that?


Oh yeah, today I picked up a new cell phone, trading in my beloved T206 for an LG 6070. The T206 is, in my mind, still the best phone ever offered by Telus. It's large and bulky, looks like a women's phone, but the reception is better than any phone I have ever used, often comparable to my cordless phone at home. You will be missed, T206.

June 02, 2004

eBrian's brush with stardom, PART II

Well, it all started after work.. No seriously, today as I was putting on my jacket to get ready to go home I looked out the window and noticed they were filming something out in front of Metro Hall. So I made a point to walk outside to the subway station in order to see what was going on.

Outside, they were filming something, there was a Lincoln parked there, with a camera, and a whole bunch of white screens. There were two of those cool 'actors' chairs. There was this woman dressed in a red blazer/skirt thing with tall lace boots. She was pretty. I stared for awhile before I realized it was Heather Graham. I was kinda surprised actually how pretty she was, before I remembered she was probably all done up for the movie and hence, seeing some movie star "in person" was still the same as seeing them on the big screen -- if they were working.

Anyway, we were all standing around, us Torontonians until the director told us to move out of the way because he didn't want us in the film. So a group of them (comprised mostly of young teenage girls), moved out of the way and I started walking towards the subway.

Then I remembered akt works right there too so I called her to tell her what was going on. And then I called a co-worker who was still upstairs.

Later I heard that they were filling a movie called "Cake", and apparently Sandra Oh was in it too (although I may have heard that incorrectly).

Exciting stuff!

June 01, 2004

Misadventures of eBrian

Misadventures of eBrian

So there I was, lying on the side of the road when I woke up from my daily nap on the subway after work. Many thoughts sprang into my mind. Is this a dream? Where am I? How did I get here? I stood up and realized that everything had been taken from me. I'd been robbed, (everything was gone except my keys), probably while I was lying there, or maybe they robbed me and then just left me on the side of the road to die. I don't know. I had nothing left..

I'm not exactly sure what happened next but I sort of just started stumbling along the side of the road. Cars whizzed by and didn't seem to even notice me, I just sorta walked along the side, unsure of whether to stick my thumb out or just keep walking. Tripped on something and fell, and then when I woke up again I was lying in some sort of a puddle or something, no longer near the street. It wasn't blood or anything like that.. nor sewage. But it stunk pretty bad.

Some funny looking old guy was standing over me asking if I need help. I think mumbled to him that I was fine (he looked kinda freaky), and he kind of stood there looking at me funny, shrugged, and walked away.

When I got up it must've been really late, it was all dark outside but I could sort of make out the CN Tower off in the distance so I started walking in that direction. I guess you could say I started walking towards the light (lol).

At that point I started to vaguely remembered what had happened to me between the time I fell and the time the old man was over me. I had noticed that I was fairly unscathed and started running, climbed over a fence, and generally felt pretty good about myself that I'd survived getting robbed and abandoned. But then I tripped on some mangled pieces of a muffler or something, and I slid off into a ravine area. I also remembered being carried some place, by a couple or group of people, all dressed in white. It could've been a dream but I doubt it.. you don't just come up with stuff like that out of the blue!

Anyway.. I wandered for what felt like an eternity but eventually found my way into some neighborhood, found a taxi driver who took pity on me and drove me home. When I got home, I snuck in to make sure I didn't wake my grandparents, went straight to the washroom and showered. I thought about calling the police but I figured what was the point? So i called Visa instead, cancelled my credit card, and called my bank to freeze my accounts. And here I am blogging again, after all that craziness.

I guess thinking back on the whole thing, it was pretty crazy.. I mean sure my story is entirely fiction. Well, metaphorically it sort of describes my ride from the past week. But the bottom line is I'm back. Maybe not at full strength, but I'm back nonetheless. Please continue to check both blogs though, as I do intend on continuing on with both, more likely the other one, and leaving silly things and venting on this one.

As someone very wise once told me, you can't always be serious and you can't always be humorous, otherise you lose your audience.