in the blink of an eye

Today's thoughts

2012-02-03T13:18:00.002-05:00

Superbowl forty-six

I know I haven't really been commenting much on football ever since the wildcard round. I actually have a few posts drafted but by the time I remembered to publish it was already too late. Suffice to say I did not expect to see the Giants in the Superbowl, nor did I expect them to be facing the 49ers. Everything else has fallen into place as expected.

In this rematch of one of the most electrifying Superbowls I've ever seen, it's a less talented Pats team against a much more talented Giants team, and yet I can't help but think the Patriots will win this one. Throughout this years' playoffs I've taken note of the difference in coaching, and this is one where I think Pats have a significant advantage. Despite my continual mocking of his name and what he's done in the past, I have a lot of respect for Bill Belicheat. I think he's the best situational coach because of the preparation he puts his players through. He's certainly smarter and craftier than Tom Coughlin. So on the coaching side, it will come down to whether or not Belicheat can make use of his versatile players to outsmart the talented Giants.

Defense always wins championships, and on the outset it seems like the Giants should win because of this. The Pats defense was terrible during much of the regular season, but since about week 14 or 15, Belicheat has gotten his defense to play, I want to say -- better, or perhaps to their potential. They started out the year with a lot of young guys who have matured throughout the year and now understand the system. I think the Giants have a better defense overall, but I don't think the Pats are that far behind compared to what most people think. I think you give the same group of guys one more year and when you redo the odds in Vegas, the Pats will be favored by more than a touchdown.

Offensively, the Pats are just better, hands down.

For the Pats to win, all they need to do is protect Tom Brady, which they've usually been able to do for most of his career. Let's face it, giving an average quarterback 5-6 seconds of unhurried protection will allow you to execute your offense 65-75% of the time. Giving a laser-eye/laser-arm (Tom Brady) 5-6 seconds of that protection will allow him to execute almost all the time, especially when you factor in guys who always find ways to get open like Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Aaron Hernandez. Then you factor in Rob Gronkowski who isn't always open but might as well be because he's taller and stronger than everyone else around him.

For the Giants to win, they need to get to Tom Brady. I keep reading about how tough Tom Brady is, but anyone watching games where teams get to Brady know that he's not tough on the field, at all. He's got a laser arm, and one of the best on-the-spot vision in football. He is able to look at 5-6 options downfield very quickly, a skill very few have the ability to do. However, when someone is bearing down on him, he's not able to scramble away and for the most part usually ends up on the ground without anyone even hitting him. He's not a tough guy. If the Giants can reduce that normal 5-6 second window to 1-2, and actually hit him a few times, Tom Brady goes from top QB in the league to an average guy who makes all kinds of mistakes and lies down or takes a knee when he sees someone about to deck him. He's no Eli Manning, in that regard.

Peyton Manning's next team

By no means am I insisting Peyton will end up on a new team, but if I managed the Colts, I'd let him go.

I love Peyton Manning, likely more that a heterosexual man should care to admit. I plan to name at least one of my kids after him. But for the Colts to have any kind of future, they need to allow Peyton Manning to become a free agent. The Colts, despite a pretty solid record over the past 8-10 years are a team that is bereft of talented positional players. Yes there's a few standouts like Reggie Wayne, and we had Marshall Faulk for awhile, but everyone else is just average. The Colts have benefited from having the best quarterback, quite possibly in the history of the sport, and have pretended for a near decade to be a great team.

Bill Polian has squandered pick after pick on draft busts, that the average fan don't notice because you see Peyton turning these below average guys into superstars. On the defensive end, not being on the field for long helps. We all saw what happened to them this year when the Colts' time-of-possession was worst in the league.

The Colts, if possible should try to re-sign Peyton Manning to a more management contract, and then trade him away and acquire as many quality prospects and draft picks as they can possibly get. Here is a list of teams that will be looking to acquire him either as a free agent or via trade: Washington Redskins (no thanks), New York Jets (pass!), Miami Dolphins (okay), Tennessee Titans (yes please), Arizona Cardinal (umm..).

Houston Texans are not a possibility, but I'd love to see Manning playing in the same division as the Colts with a far superior team. Strong defense, great offensive line, several key talented positions.

Today's thoughts

2012-01-11T10:05:00.001-05:00

OWNit365 NT+
My wife and I started this bible reading program last night, which we'll attempt to follow so as to bring some regularity to our bible reading. It's got a neat app for both iPhone and Android.

NFL Playoff weekend
Let's take a look at the matchups coming up this weekend.

New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers. What impressed me a lot with the Saints last week was their ability to run the ball. Pierre Thomas ran through tackles and Darren Sproles ran like he was 24. It was impressive, but I've been to a Lions game before where I saw Michael Turner earn his nickname as the Burner. They just aren't very good at stopping the run. And the 49ers are, so that will change things for the Saints. I don't know a lot about the 49ers passing defense but I know for a fact that they have stopped the run for the most part all season long; which is why I've always felt like their defense would have been better suited in the AFC. All the powerhouse offenses in the NFC are aerial attacks: Detroit, Green Bay, New Orleans. While New England is the exception, Pittsburgh, Denver, Houston and Baltimore are all grind-it-out offenses that rely on the run. So anyway, what I am saying? I think the Saints take this one.

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots. The Broncos surprised everyone, including me last week. While I thought there was a potential for an upset, and though I actually predicted it, deep down I didn't really think it could happen. John Fox outcoached Mike Tomlin, but I think it seemed more like an underestimation on his part.. like Tomlin was looking ahead, to the Patriots instead of looking at the hear and now. Bill Belicheat won't do that. He won't underestimate Tim Tebow, and he'll study hard and he won't get outsmarted by John Fox. Plus he just hired the guy who drafted Tim Tebow. I'm not going to say much about that the hiring of Josh McDaniels, except that it feels like something Phil Jackson would do. Even if McDaniels provides no additional information they already have, already he's getting into the mind of John Fox. And that's all he really needs. My pick is the Patriots, in a blowout.

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens. Throughout his career, I've always felt like Joe Flacco has gotten by behind his superstar running back Ray Rice, and Baltimore's traditionally staunch defense. I think in this matchup, for the first time in many years, Joe Flacco will be called upon to win this game. If he performs, Baltimore moves on. If not, Houston moves on. Defensively both teams are strong in the same areas; stopping the run, getting to opposing QBs, capitalizing on turnovers, etc. Offensively, they're both great at protecting their QB, and running the ball. I think for the Texans to win, they need Arian Foster to hang onto the ball, and they need TJ Yates to outplay Joe Flacco. I think it'll be close but the Texans have a pretty good chance so I'm picking them to take this one.

New York Giants at Green Bay Packers. To me this is the marquee matchup of the weekend. We all know about the Packers. Their offense is nothing short of spectacular. Aaron Rodgers is fearless. They have almost no running game but they do have talented runners in Starks and Grant. Their pass rush is passable but has not played to the same standards as last year. The Giants have a good pass rush, good pass protection, their offense is hitting their stride and peaking at the right moment. The talent has always been there, but their runningbacks are both healthy. Defensively they are okay, not great.

This should be a great matchup. The Packers barely beat the Giants over a month ago, but it was a very close game and this is a very different Giants team who had lost 3 straight going into that game. Since then they've won 4 of 5. The Giants will be able to keep Rodgers off the field.. in that last matchup the Packers had the ball for 8 minutes more than the Giants, so it's going to be a lot closer this time around. I think the Packers take this one, but it'll be close and I would not be surprised to see the Giants keeping this one very close.

Cool Firefox trick for images
I discovered this by accident today. If you right-click and hold on an image in firefoxt, and then move the mouse wheel, you can resize any image. Pretty useful.

Today's thoughts

2012-01-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

Wildcard weekend
I got 3 out of 4 in my predictions and strangely enough it had nothing to do with Tebow. I picked the Broncos to win and win they did. What a finish! Congratulations to the the Bronco's for the playoffs first upset win.

The impression I had in the Broncos-Steelers game was that the Steelers' defense didn't prepare for any kind of passing offense for the Broncos. They pretty much went with the "I dare you to throw" defense and they got burned for it time and time again. As a co-worker pointed out, the safeties cheated throughout the game trying to cover the run so the Broncos dealt with one-on-one matchups, which were easily picked apart.

A lot of focus will go on Tebow's performance but the reality is this game was won by great coaching. Dare I say it -- Mike Tomlin was flat out out-coached by John Fox.. which is actually kind of sad.

The Saints are playing better than I could have imagined. They went for it on 4th down over and over and converted them. Their running game was dominant -- Detroit could not tackle their runners, I was particularly impressed with Pierre Thomas. Their matchup with the Lions ended up being more of a blowout than a shootout. The Lions played great in the beginning but the mistakes started to pile up and the Saints played perfect. I suspect the Lions would be entirely different if they had a decent running game -- i.e: a healthy Jahvid Best. It's remarkable that Matthew Stafford is only 23 -- Detroit has a bright future ahead of them.

The Falcons' coach Mike Smith watched the Saints game and mistakenly thought his team was just as good. Twice they tried to convert 4th downs and were stopped cold. There wasn't even any creativity in their 4th down tries.. one of them had Matt Ryan trying to back his way through the pile. That's not going to work! Look at the way Brees jumped the pile with his arms stretched forward -- that's how you do it! Meanwhile, as I mentioned in my previous post, the Giants' rushing offense is far better than what everyone thought. Bradshaw and Jacobs carved up the Falcons D and led the way, and Eli played solid mistake-less football.

The Bungles were the only team to disappoint me. I really thought they could take down the injured Texans, but they didn't. It was pretty boring game, I didn't really pay much attention to it.

My Review of Freestyle Netbook Messenger

2012-01-06T11:36:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Timbuk2

Classic Messenger Bag with netbook, Kindle and iPad with Smart Cover protection.

Useful and practical bag

By ebrian from Toronto, ON on 1/6/2012

Pros: Comfortable Strap, Stylish, Rugged, Good Protection, Lots Of Pockets And Features

Cons: Not Weatherproof, Uncomfortable Strap, Velcro is noisy, No Handle

Best Uses: Commuting, Light Protection, Heavy Duty Protection

Describe Yourself: Stylish, Bargain Hunter, High-End Shopper, Practical

Primary use: Personal

I'm big on slingpack types of bags, but when you walk into a board room you look like a kid. So this bag suits me well for work purposes. It'd be good to have a handle at the top so I can carry it like a mini-briefcase.

In terms of size, it was smaller than I thought it would be, but there's enough volume to fit my lunch, a small drink box, and some fruit, as well as my Kindle and a notebook. There's a ton of pockets as well for your various knick knacks, although I'm sad there's no narrow pocket for a pen.

I wish the connector for the strap-to-bag wasn't so bulky. There's this tightening mechanism and a click connector which seems kind of redundant and take a fair bit of space. The main bag flap is a bit narrow compared to the width of the actual bag (there's maybe 1/2 inch open on each side, which means if it's pouring rain your stuff is going to get wet). But I'm just getting nitpicky at this point.. it's a good bag.

(legalese)

Today's thoughts

2012-01-04T15:06:00.002-05:00

Revisiting my NFL Predictions
Pretty much the only scenario that can still happen is an NFC championship game between the Saints and Packers, as well as the AFC championship between the Patriots and Steelers. Several months ago I thought the Saints could win it all, and I still think this is quite possible.

Predictions to actual matchups
Steelers at Broncos. I'm going with the underdogs here, despite my early season projections. I've underestimated Ben Roethlisberger in my fantasy leagues on several occasions this season, but considering that he is actually limping, and the fact that Rashard Mendenhall is out, leads me to believe there is a small chance here for an upset. How great would it be if Tim Tebow can gut this one out in his first playoff game?

Bungles at Texans. I can't think of any reason why the Bengals don't win this one. They have a solid defense, and their offense is all healthy. Houston is just getting Andre Johnson back but they've got TJ Yates as their QB and (I think) Arian Foster is hobbled, even if he does still play. This one will come down to Houston's pass rush and pass protection. I think the Bungles win.

Falcons at Giants. I like the Giants in this matchup. I think all the talk about the Giants being unable to run this year will be erased by the end of this game. They still have healthy guys and a decent line to break holes, and Eli Manning has been playing well. I think the Falcons are fully capable of the upset though, it'll be a close game.

Lions at Saints. Since I have the Saints going to the Superbowl, they're obviously going to have to win this one. I think they're just too good, and the fact that the Lions couldn't stop Matt Flynn last week says to me that despite the crazy amount of adjustments they'll make to react from last week's blowout, they won't be able to stop Brees, at all. Although he's not as elusive as Rodgers, he's equally fearless and will get the job done. Btw, I'm happy for the Lions finally making the playoffs.

Today thoughts

2011-12-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

Skyrim - Quests
I've never played a game with so many quests. The minute you turn in a quest, 1-5 more pop up. It's crazy. Maybe I'm just being anal but I prefer maybe 8-10 open quests at any given time. Right now I've got about 25!

Tebow vs Brady
I watched some parts of this game before it got out of hand. Tebow's mechanics are not as bad as people say. Yes, he's not so great at throwing a perfect spiral. Another issue is when he throws on the run, he's often doing it off his back leg instead of stepping into the throw, which likely accounts for most of his too-short passes. He should work on that.

Championship game!
I've made it to the Championship game in my Flag Football fantasy league. That's the one run by some people at my old church. My season ended early in my other league, the one I actually care about, as usual. I finished the year 4-9 and it was pretty much a disaster from the get-go, so many injuries.

Today's thoughts

2011-12-16T16:20:00.001-05:00

Toronto Raptors 2011-2012
I think the Raptors will win between 13-15 games this year, which should be good enough for dead last in the NBA. Nothing has changed from the last game of the season to now, except a coaching change, while other teams equally as bad as we were last year have made some strides. The only team that could conceivably be worst than us are probably the Charlotte Bobcats, who traded away their two best players in Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson. They have the potential to be worse than us.

Churching the unchurched
What does it mean when someone says they want to church the unchurched? Well, essentially it means they want to do what we as Christians have been ~~called~~ mandated to do. It's not a choice; it's a lifestyle.

Recently a friend of mine quit his pastoral job at a big church to follow this mandate.. all I can say is: Right on, brother!

Best Buy
I do not appreciate the way they do business. I ordered something online and at the time, it said there were 2 left in stock. After I completed my order, I went back to the site and it said the product had 1 in stock. That was 3 weeks ago. I still haven't heard anything, and when I called in to ask, they said the manufacturer would get back to me on an ETA. Why would they need to call the manufacturer unless they lied about how many products they had in stock?

...and don't make the excuse that maybe someone else ordered at the same time as I did. It's not hard to update your database when someone has purchased something and show real-time values.

Terra Nova
One thing that I don't get about this show is why the kid Josh doesn't make a move on his female friend Skye. Apparently in the future, teenage boys don't care about teenage girls.

Granted he's got a girlfriend 'in the future', but she's far far away. Move on dude. Move on.

Today's thoughts

2011-11-30T11:57:00.001-05:00

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
I've been playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim for the past few days and I'd like to dedicate this post to my newest nemesis, the Hagraven. But before we get into that, I have a hard time whenever I play the types of games where you design your character right down to the little details like length of bridge of nose, and how angled I want his jaw to be.

I'm all for the customization, but I could literally spend a week designing my guy if I really cared that much about it. I selected a Wood Elf, because it just makes more sense in terms of what I usually like to do in most games, which is control animals, and frolic through the forest with a long range weapon. But the Wood Elf male is extremely ugly, so I spent a better part of Sunday afternoon and evening trying to make him look human -- no easy task.

Being sneaky
In all games such as these, I always feel like aside from trying to win the main objective, my secondary goal is to try to attain ALL of the money in the entire game. In order to do this, you have to level up your character to the point where I'm able to sneak around so well that I can steal anything I want, and then be able to barter well enough that I can sell items for more than I paid for them. The idea, is to be able to pay people for services and then, wait til it's dark, and steal all the money I paid them back, and then do it again until I've exhausted their use. Further, I need to be able to steal every item in a store, and sell it back to the store owner, then buy his good stuff that I can't steal, and then pickpocket him so I can get all my money back.

If for whatever reason I'm unable to beat the game, I'd at least be satisfied that I stole and plundered to my heart's content.

The Hagraven
Like pretty much any game I've ever played, my biggest weakness has always been forgetting to Save my game. Yesterday, I traveled pretty much across half the "world" to get to this Hagraven, from which I needed some ingredient that I could use to save a really big tree in White Run, one of the towns. Don't worry, this story gets better. So I'm riding up to this big hill and I notice this weird looking old lady at the top. Easy pickings for my "Jon", who is an expert archer.

So I got off my horse, and me and Lydia (my bodyguard aka mule) go to work. As I approach, I just see her head bobbing up and down so I just take a few shots with my trust bow and arrow, and then BLAMO! A huge fireball hits me and takes me down to a sliver of health. So I started running towards the hill, thinking I can cut off the angles so she can't hit me. Wrong. BLAMO! If it weren't for me scarfing down a bunch of tomatoes and apples, I'd have been dead. I quickly (without really thinking about it) I press F5 to save the game. Big mistake. BLAMO! I'm dead. So I press F9 to load, and when the game comes back up, BLAMO! F9, while pressing the run key.. BLAMO! F9, while pressing the strafe key.... BLAMO!

Then I look up to see if I can load an earlier game. The next most recent save game was from 5 hours ago. Damn it.

Today's thoughts

2011-11-17T16:00:00.001-05:00

The Toronto Star

These guys called my house and asked me if I'd be interested in a trial of free newspapers for about a month. I said no. A few days later, someone started delivering the Toronto Star to my house. It was annoying, because we don't get mail delivered to our door, so now suddenly I needed to go up to the front of my house (we park our car in the garage so I rarely go in through the front door) to pick it up.

Newspaper delivery doesn't make sense to me. For one thing, there's the internet and as far as I know, all or most Canadian publications offer their content free online. I know it's all recycled materials, but still seems like a waste to me. Second, I don't read the Toronto Star.

TV in Canada

We were in Chicago this past weekend, and during one night when I'd had some caffeine later than I should have, I sat in front of the TV in our hotel and flipped around. What I realized was that in Canada, we really get the raw end of the deal. There is not a single show exclusive to Canadian television networks that I desperately need to watch, which means that really we don't need CTV, CityTV, Global, etc. They're completely pointless other than to deliver Canadian advertising. Seriously, when basic cable offers NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX, what possible reason do viewers have to tune into Canadian networks, other than to watch the occasional Leafs game and a Leons commercial?

What's worse, here we have to pay extra for the good stuff, for networks like HBO, Showtime, FX, USA, AMC. That is just not fair at all. CRTC: You suck.

Chicago

I've already said this to a few people, but Chicago is basically Toronto in 75 years, if we get some decent city planners in charge. Someone with vision. David Miller kind of got us started before Transit City was abruptly ended by an overly conservative anti-visionist. Chicago has basically the same climate as we do, but their downtown core is massive and there's transit going everywhere. They cherish their arts and culture just as we do, only they put them on a pedestal whereas we kind of just appreciate it. We don't have a river to worry about building around. They have a hockey, basketball and baseball team just as we do. And football, if you consider the Argos a world class football team.

So yea, pretty much the only thing keeping us from becoming a great city is leadership.

Today's thoughts

2011-11-04T15:46:00.000-04:00

The halfway mark of the NFL season

Here's a few of my notes:

- The Bengals have already won 2 more games this year than I had predicted they'd win all year. This is due part to the emergence of rookie QB Andy Dalton, who has put together a solid first half. He's developed a pretty good on-field relationship with fellow rookie A.J. Green, who is leading all rookie receivers with 33 receptions, 516 yards and 5 touchdowns. That actually puts him amongst the top 15 receivers in the league.

- Barring a major setback, the Bills are going to far outweigh my expectations as well, though I can't see them doing much in the playoffs. They have a very opportunistic defense that capitalizes on mistakes, but good teams don't make a lot of mistakes in the playoffs.

- The Colts haven't had great D for as long as I can remember, but now with Peyton Manning not playing all year, they've been exposed for being even worse than most fans have feared all along. They're surrendering up a mind-blowing 31.5 points per game.

- The wildcard race in the AFC should be interesting. I assume they will both come out of either the East or North, and it'll be between the Jets, Bills, Ravens and Bengals.

- The biggest surprise in the NFC has been, for me, the 49ers. I had them pegged for a horrible season but they're defense has been shutting everyone down, particularly their run defense. They also have, as a result of several mediocre season recently, an incredibly easy schedule which could easily have them finishing the year 11-5. The West is terrible though, the 49ers are 6-1 and the next closest is Seattle at 2-5. The 49ers do not face the Packers in the regular season, but I could see this being an interesting matchup in the playoffs, because the Packers simply don't bother to run the football.

- I thought the Saints would be better than they have been. They're 5-3, but something seems off. They're not as good as I thought they'd be. Could be due to Mark Ingram not being nearly as good as I'd hoped.

- The Lions are a strong team, but it feels constantly like local fans are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Detroit, as a city and community, needs the Lions to succeed after falling into some pretty hard times. One thing that is encouraging though, is that they have a strong young nucleus of guys that could see them being competitive for the next 3-4 years.

- The biggest surprise from a player perspective has been Cam Newton. I thought he'd be a bum. He's actually quite good. Things will likely change for him next year as teams will have more tape on him, but he's shown to have a big arm and has great mobility. Younger QBs tend to excel with the help of huge receivers but Steve Smith is tiny and Cam hasn't missed a beat

Today's thoughts

2011-11-03T10:17:00.001-04:00

A note to Google:

It's one thing to change some stupid social network site that you might log into once or twice a day to check on some goofy pictures of your friends' drunken orgy. The makers of Facebook routinely change the interface of their website without a care in the world causing minor complaints and annoyances across the globe. But you get use to them, because at the end of the day, it's just some social fun site that doesn't matter.

Gmail on the other hand, is the center of the universe for me. For one thing, I have it open at home and at work ALL THE TIME. While I might check Facebook for about an hour every day, I have Gmail on 24/7. I also have GReader on 24/7.

Google+ -- not so much because as a social networking tool, it's unavailable to me throughout my work day. By the way, guess what happens when you're using GReader and Google+ is blocked? It becomes a generic reader like every other reader available online. And unfortunately, with all the GUI changes, this one looks like SHIT.

So the next time you decide to make significant, sweeping changes to the interface that we've all come to know and love, and stare at 24 hours per day (Yes, I dream in Gmail), think again. Think AGAIN.

Today's thoughts

2011-10-19T11:23:00.002-04:00

Ashton Kutcher is not winning

I don't know my motivation, but I am trying really hard to like the new Two and a Half Men, sans Charlie Sheen. This show just doesn't work without him. And it seems like either Ashton Kutcher or the writers, or both, are confused about who his character is. In the beginning he seemed like a very dark and sad character, but highly intelligent and successful. Later it became more apparent that he's quite immature and almost child-like. Now, it seems like he's a college frat boy.

I get that they're trying to feel things out but it's kind of getting out of hand. Top that off with Berta who they've kind of forced a larger role upon, but she's always only been good at snide remarks and one-liners. Thrusting her into a more prominent role seems really forced.. there's no reason for her to be any more involved than before. They should have started "Walden" as a dumb frat boy who inherited billions, rather than a self-made man.

Minka Kelly should return to Parenthood

Clearly, the relationship between Crosby and Jasmine is never going to be fully reconciled. Why not just bring back Gaby and give the guy a romantic interest? Minka Kelly is way too good looking to not be on television. Since Charlie's Angels directors/writers refused to take my advice, the show's been canceled and Minka needs a new job. Do the right thing.

Today's thoughts

2011-10-18T16:41:00.000-04:00

Don't just 'occupy' something

I think that the people who are occupying Wall Street have good reason to be doing it. However, the ones doing it in Toronto.. doesn't hold a lot of water with me. First of all, we have health care. Our financial institutions didn't receive a bailout. We have very good welfare services, community housing, etc. Unlike the Americans, the marginalized are pretty well taken care of here in Canada. So don't occupy Bay Street just because you want to be part of something cool and meaningful. Understand the issues and then act accordingly.

Razing the roof

Our roof started leaking last week. It's no fun, and on top of that, fairly stressful. In all honesty it's not like my 'things' are in danger of getting wet, it's just the idea that water is coming through the roof into my house that bothers me. And perhaps the potential danger of mold. Another thing that concerns me is despite what I've read on Wikipedia and other DIY sites, I really don't know a whole lot about roofing. Chances are, when I hire whomever to fix it, I'm going to get ripped off.

I don't like getting ripped off.

Today's thoughts

2011-10-07T15:28:00.000-04:00

Almond Butter

I've always wanted to try almond butter ever since I heard about it. Almonds are good for you and they taste great. Peanuts are good for you and they taste great. So it makes sense that almond butter is good right? Wrong. Almond butter sucks. We tried some at Costco the other day, and it was not good at all. It's like eating peanut butter without any taste.

Provincial Politics

Last night, Ontarians voted to get Dalton McGuinty back again as the provincial leader of Ontario. To put this into perspective, this is the guy who came up with the 13% Harmonized Services Tax. Thirteen frigging percent. Kind of gives you an understanding of how bad you have to be to lose to this guy. I don't know anyone who enjoys paying taxes, let alone 13% taxes. Why did he win? Because of Stephen Harper and Rob Ford. No one wants to see a three-level Conservative government.

I don't like Dalton McGuinty at all, but thank you Jesus.

Today's thoughts

2011-10-06T11:31:00.002-04:00

Steve Jobs

I've always hated Apple and I hated them a little less after Steve Jobs stepped down, but his death is still a significant loss to the world of technology and innovation. Steve Jobs was a visionary and a master at marketing, and along the way provided a lot of great ideas -- which I appreciate. BUT, I still think their products are overpriced, and anyone who believes in sharing, freedom and the good things of the world should be strongly against what Apple actually stands for.

Sarah Polley

My wife and I both went to high school with Polley. I distinctly remember sitting behind her in Mr. Axom's grade 10 English class. We thought it was neat when we read that she'd married Dave Sandomierski. He was my year's valedictorian, and an all-round nerd. (Well rounded actually, if I recall he was a great cross country runner). It's just funny to think of hat because I remember during a fire drill this guy was wearing one of those silly hats with helicopter blades spinning above his head. What a goofy kid. He's at UofT now getting his PhD in Law. Good for him!

Basketball-related income

Basketball-related income (BRI) is one of the major issues that players and owners are in disagreement about for the NBA. From there stems the salary cap, guaranteed/non-guaranteed contracts, etc etc. But it all starts at BRI.

I see the NBA as a very player-driven sport. I'm not a basketball purist where I can honestly say I was entertained after watching a very technically sound basketball game. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I enjoy watching bad basketball as long as there's a star playing, but the game itself is just not enough for me to watch.

Conversely, I can watch a football game between two teams that I have never cheered for in my life and still enjoy watching the game. Ever since Peyton Manning got injured I've pretty much been watching teams that I don't really like, play the game of football, and I've already watched 3-4 full games this year. So it goes to show that I'm as much a fan of the sport as I am with certain teams and players. I cannot say the same about the NBA. I have a very difficult time staying focused on an NBA game that has nothing to do with a team or player I care about.

So for that reason, I believe NBA players deserve a majority when it comes to the breakdown between player and owner of BRI. They deserve it.

Today's thoughts

2011-10-05T09:56:00.001-04:00

Whitney

I've been following Whitney at about a week behind's pace and I like it a lot. This is a funny show, about a fairly average girl who has tons of insecurities and a fairly hilarious boyfriend who tolerates her. It reminds me a bit of Friends but more relationship-focused than just 6 random single friends and their silly shenanigans.

Pan Am

The first 20 minutes of the pilot was boring. Could be because I wasn't paying attention, but then they started getting into the spy stuff which I thought was pretty cool. Adding intrigue instantly made it something I'd be interested in watching, though I'm still not sure if it's enough to keep going with it. We'll give it a few more episodes. Between this and Playboy Club it's no contest though, Pan Am wins.

(Plus, NBC just cancelled Playboy Club.)

Allison Miller looks like Jan from The Office

Allison plays "Skye" from Terra Nova. She reminds me of a younger and prettier version of Melora Hardin, who played "Jan" on The Office.

Andrew Luck

Stanford's quarterback Andrew Luck is so good that fan of mediocre NFL teams have started a phrase "Suck for Luck", in the effort to will their teams into losing so they have a shot at Andrew Luck. Count me in on this. I'd love to see the Colts lose (not that they need much help doing this) and then have the current best QB in pro football mentor the future one.

I've been pretty impressed with the Luck thus far.. he draws a lot of comparisons to Peyton Manning in his ability to call his own plays, and adjust to defenses on the fly. Physically I think he's actually far more imposing than Manning.. he can run and hits pretty hard, and recently even caught a pass.

Weekend thoughts

2011-10-03T16:06:00.001-04:00

Dallas Cowboys

Why do the Dallas Cowboys throw the ball so much? First of all let me just congratulate the Detroit Lions on being 4-0. That's awesome stuff. But in this game, Dallas had the lead 50 out of 60 minutes, and somehow Romo threw the ball 47 times. That does not make sense to me at all. Even if their offensive line is terrible, they have got to find better ways to control the clock.

Wedding weekend

I can't remember if it's our 3rd or 4th wedding of the year, but it was a good one. Ina was a bridesmaid and it was the last of her remaining "closest" friends to get married. The couple ran into a bit of a snafu which I thought (if it had been me) could have put a serious downer on the whole occasion. The restaurant they had selected for their banquet had a fire, and they found out about this on Friday, the day before the banquet. But they were able to pull some strings and figure things out.

Congrats to Janey and Norm!

Superbowl half time show

I can't help but think that there are better options than Madonna as the halftime entertainer for next year's Superbowl. Don't get me wrong, I think she's super talented and one of the top female artists of our time.. but for Superbowl? Does she still have the stage presence to entertain the millions watching? I have always found Madonna the most entertaining when she was doing some controversial. But given the NFL's goal to stay away from that, what can Madonna really bring to the stage? She hasn't put out an album since 2008. Is she still relevant?

I personally hated the Black Eyed Peas last year as the halftime show. They were easily tops in popularity at the time, but I thought their style of music did not work for the audience. They're a dance group that requires synthesizers and computerized vocals and sound.. the LIVE aspect of their performance sucked.

Some relevant (not to mention popular) bands that I think would make a more entertaining performance, in no particular order:

Green Day
Bon Jovi
AC/DC

Not coincidentally these are all rock/alternative bands, in my humble opinion the most ideal type of music in a live setting.

Initial Reactions, Part II

2011-09-27T14:34:00.001-04:00

Terra Nova

As far as initial reactions go, 5 minutes into this show I realized it would most likely be a big hit, and it's honestly the first time I've felt this way about a new show since LOST. I've yet to watch more than 20 minutes of it though but it's #1 on the PVR list for tonight.

Ringer

Sarah Michelle Gellar is back on TV and like the first time around, I'm just not that interested. Yes, I realize this takes away a lot of my credibility, but I did not watch Buffy.

Two and a Half Men

This show is no good anymore. The formula was a combination of the awesomeness of an immature adult (Charlie (Harper) Sheen's character), and a mature adult who's life totally sucks (Jon (Alan Harper) Cryer's character). And mixed in there with lots of sexual innuendo and a really stupid teenager.

What they've done in the attempt to replace Charlie Harper is added Ashton Kutcher, who plays this immature adult who is not awesome at all but very angsty. Basically he's a mixture of Charlie and Alan Harper, but all the non-fun parts combined. The stupid teenager Jake, meanwhile, has all but disappeared, largely in due part to the writers desperately trying to introduce a new character to an audience not new to the show.

Initial reactions

2011-09-26T12:12:00.000-04:00

The Buffalo Bills

The need to win just 2 more games over the next 13 to reach my pre-season prediction of 5 wins. I'm shocked by this. I have never, in my life, cheered for the Buffalo Bills, but I found myself doing so over the past two weeks. This season's Bills have a roster perfect for Buffalo, full of hardworking guys who were for the most part forgotten, a truly blue-collar team.

Unforgettable

The pilot for this new show did not live up to its name. There is something about the lead actress that bothers me, but regardless of that it doesn't seem like a show that will make it. I can imagine each episode she'll examine the crime scene, and then they'll have a difficult time solving the case, and then someone will say "Hey, maybe you should use your super memory and try to recall any important details we missed!" and she will, and then they will solve the case. It's a great formula for cartoons (Voltron, Thundercats, etc) but not so great for primetime drama.

Person Of Interest

This show has some potential because James Caviezel's character is a bit Jack Bauer-ish in his ability to totally kick ass.. the only difference is you don't see it coming. I've never really followed James Caviezel's career and he didn't really say much in "Passion of the Christ", so I have to ask: Does he really have a scratchy voice like the Dark Knight, or was this Jonathan Nolan's idea?

Playboy Club

Amber Heard is hot, but this show really sucks. It took me 3 tries to get through the pilot episode. Many critics have said they try too hard to be Mad Men. My thinking is they're not trying hard enough. It's more like a mockery of Mad Men.

Charlie's Angels

There are two things wrong with this show, that they can easily fix. The first thing is that during the action/fight scenes, it looks as if the girls fought in slow motion and then they showed the scenes in double time. There is just something wrong with the speed, no human being could move that fast, not even Jackie Chan. Perhaps none of the girls took any martial art training and they had no choice?

I'm sorry to say this but the only reason people will watch this show is for the action and skin. They need to use the same formula as last year's reboot hit Hawaii Five-O. They drew in viewers by showing a shirtless Alex O'Loughlin and Grace Park in a bikini while they developed an interesting overarching plot, and by the time you realized that neither one could act, it didn't matter because you were sucked in. As far as 'believability' goes, the only decent actor on the show is Annie Ilonzeh, but as the token minority she won't be able to carry the show. They need to take these 3 beautiful women and flaunt them for all they're worth. Again I'm sorry but there is no other reason to watch this show. Let's see some bikini's and gratuitous cleavage and butt shots. Sorry.

Revision on my early NFL predictions

2011-09-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

In the event that Peyton Manning misses half the season:

South

y-Houston Texans (10-6)

Indianapolis Colts (8-8)
Tennessee Titans (7-9)
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)

In the event that Peyton Manning misses the entire season:

South

y-Houston Texans (10-6)

Tennessee Titans (8-8)
Jacksonville Jaguars (6-10)

Indianapolis Colts (5-11)

I think the Colts minus Peyton Manning are a below average team, and as they've been built around one player, switching him out without planning for it will be detrimental for the season. I think a best case is maybe they win 7 games, but with injuries and all that, I think 5 is a safe and conservative number.

This changes the potential playoff matchups, but I don't think it'll make a difference in the overall picture. The Houston Texans have made some improvements this year but they have no chance against the AFC elite.

My Extremely Early NFL Predictions

2011-09-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

Here's my very early NFL Predictions:

AFC
East
z-New England Patriots (14-2)
x-New York Jets (12-4)
Buffalo Bills (5-11)
Miami Dolphins (5-11)

North
y-Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3)
x-Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
Cleveland Browns (6-10)
Cincinnati Bengals (4-12)

South
y-Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
Houston Texans (9-7)
Tennessee Titans (7-9)
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)

West
y-San Diego Chargers (12-4)
Kansas City Chiefs (9-7)
Oakland Raiders (7-9)
Denver Broncos (4-12)

NFC
East
z-Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)
Dallas Cowboys (10-6)
New York Giants (10-6)
Washington Redskins (2-14)

North
y-Green Bay Packers (12-4)
Chicago Bears (9-7)
Minnesota Vikings (9-7)
Detroit Lions (7-9)

South
y-New Orleans Saints (13-3)
x-Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
x-Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5)
Carolina Panthers (1-15)

West
y-St. Louis Rams (9-7)
Arizona Cardinals (3-13)
San Francisco 49ers (3-13)
Seattle Seahawks (1-15)

Playoffs:
First round
New England Patriots - bye
Pittsburgh Steelers - bye
San Diego Chargers over Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets over Indianapolis Colts

Philadelphia Eagles - bye
New Orleans Saints - bye
Green Bay Packers over St. Louis Rams
Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quarterfinals:
New England Patriots over New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers over San Diego Chargers
Philadelphia Eagles over Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints over Green Bay Packers

Semifinals:
Pittsburgh Steelers over New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints over Philadelphia Eagles

Superbowl:
New Orleans Saints over Pittsburgh Steelers

Overheard at a Burger King

2011-08-24T13:24:00.001-04:00

Lady: Hi, what's the King deal today?
Cashier: It's the Whopper deal.
Lady: Oh okay, I'll get that. Can I have it without bread?
Cashier: ...

Check out these amazing engagement photos

2011-08-23T10:14:00.002-04:00

http://www.weddingbee.com/2011/08/22/damn-these-kids-are-cool/

I wish I had thought of this..

Why this blog still exists

2011-08-08T15:08:00.001-04:00

I don't know.

Andrea Bargnani

2011-07-06T15:39:00.000-04:00

Bargnani is really good at something you don't normally need from someone at his position. He's like the girl you don't really like who knows how to perform an oil change. The only reason you keep her around is because you want to save $45 every 3-4 months.

Jonas Valanciunas

2011-06-24T16:16:00.002-04:00

I predict that the above player will not be as big of a bust as Darko Milicic. Because he was taken 5th, not 2nd.

Career wise, I expect nothing more than a Shawn Bradley.

Do not underestimate Kemba

2011-06-21T16:11:00.000-04:00

I know I don't post here too often anymore but I finally have something important to say. The Raptors have the 5th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and they should select Kemba Walker.

Here is Kemba showing off his breakdancing skills:

No offense to the rest of the Connecticut team, but Kemba pretty much single-handedly won the NCAA Championship this year.

When Kemba shoots, his opponents cower in fear:

He's been labeled as a shoot-first point guard, but in highschool people thought he couldn't do anything but pass. His hard work ethic paved the way for him to become his team's leading scorer, but that doesn't mean he can't do other things when asked to.

Do. Not. Underestimate. Kemba:

People think Kemba is too short, but he's the same height as Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo, two superior NBA point guards. They worry he can't defend, but Kemba has one of the best PPR (point-guard point rating) of all the draftees. He averages 1 steal per 18 minutes in college.

Kemba has heart:

Look at that face. He's determined.

Kemba is a team player:

Look, they're practically trying to tear his clothes off!

Bryan Colangelo, you never listen to me but just do it once. Kemba Walker will be the best player from this draft. It was a gift to have fallen to 5th overall. Do the right thing.

Mobilicity

2011-05-17T10:19:00.001-04:00

I switched over to Mobilicity thanks to their 1st anniversary deal. It was $40 per month + tax, for unlimited minutes, unlimited data, unlimited global text messages, unlimited long distance within North America, voice mail, 3 way calling, call waiting, caller ID. No contract.

I've never had data on a phone and I'm sure the novelty will wear out (foursquare is a total waste of time, but I like seeing myself "winning" amongst my friends), but that's the deal and it's a fine one.

Biggest problem with Mobilicity is their zones are a bit small.. the northern border is just 2 blocks north of me and I often find myself in "roaming" depending on where I am inside my own house. But I can't complain with that price, and I got myself my first smartphone.

A Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

Guy at work asked me if I got up early to watch the royal wedding. I said no, although it's partially a lie.

Truth is I did wake up early, but more so I could get to work on time. And I did turn on the television to find out what the weather was, only to find every channel covering the wedding. For the 3 minutes I watched, I was amused by the lack of effort put forth by attendees to pretend to look like they were actually singing along during the singing of what I assume were hymns. At least move your lips, you're on TV!

Mantracker

2011-04-19T15:28:00.003-04:00

I watch this show occasionally, and something someone told me dawned on me recently. How hard is it to hide from this guy, when you have a camera crew following you around?

A new bag

2011-03-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

I got a new bag last week, the Big Pod from MEC. I had been using the Sling Pod for many years, maybe 10 years now and making the switch has been pretty easy. Both bags work the same way where you just slide it upwards to get to the zipper pockets. The inside pockets are virtually the same as those in it's little brother, just a little bigger.

What's nice about this bag is that now I can put my umbrella in without stretching it, and I can still fit a bunch of other things in it. For example I can roll up a windbreaker and fit it inside, and still be able to reach other things in the bag, whereas before once the windbreaker was in there, there was no room to do anything else.

Other than size, the major difference is that the side pocket for a water bottle has been removed. Instead there's a zipper there and when unzipped, a pocket folds out, but this pocket is not deep enough to really put a bottle in there. I have no idea why they changed the design, because with a larger bag you would think they would make a pocket for a larger bottle of water at the very least.

Minor differences are the material does not seem as thick or sturdy, but I have a feeling the Sling Pod is the same way now.. I was spoiled with one of the original sturdier Sling Pods.

That's about it, not much else to say.

Chris Tomlin is back

2010-12-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

We picked up a copy of Chris Tomlin's new album "And If Our God Is For Us". What a deal by the way, it was Black Friday when we went to Family Christian Bookstore in Cincinatti, OH. I can't remember the exact price but I think we paid around $4 for it.

Over the past couple years I'd started losing interest in Tomlin due to some weak releases such as the Christmas album, rehash albums full of re-released songs, and I didn't really like Hello Love. Well, I'm glad to say that my favorite worship leader is baaaack!

This album is chock full of worship songs you'll be singing at church for the next few years. I'd rank it right up there between Arriving and See The Morning. Go and get it!

Emmanuel

2010-10-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

title: Emmanuel
subtitle: Josh Kauffman

I will seek You with my whole heart in the center of the storm
And remember, oh the promise of Your love.
You are near to heavy-hearted, and the broken You repair
Every moment, even sleeping, You are there, You are there.

You have laid Your hand upon me, let Your love surround me
You are Emmanuel
I was hiding in the darkest night, and then You found me
You are Emmanuel,
Emmanuel, Emmanuel

I have stumbled, I'm always falling and I am humbled by my sin
But the moment I confess them, You forgive, You forgive.

You have laid Your hand upon me, let Your love surround me
You are Emmanuel
I was hiding in the darkest night, and then You found me
You are Emmanuel,
Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Oh tell me, Where can I go, from Your Spirit, from Your presence?
Come and take me home, to Your Spirit, to Your presence, yeah
Never let me go

You have laid Your hand upon me, let Your love surround me
You are Emmanuel
I was hiding in the darkest night, and then You found me
You are Emmanuel

You have laid Your hand upon me, let Your love surround me
You are Emmanuel
I was hiding in the darkest night, and then You found me
You are Emmanuel,
Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Terrell Owens will be 37 this year

2010-08-27T09:39:00.000-04:00

Say what you will about Terrell Owens the person, but as a football player, he's really good. Owens signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after a lackluster season with the Buffalo Bills where he tried to clean up his image as a human being. I think he's done a good job of it, but the question is, how much does he have left as professional athlete?

The tandem of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens lining up at scrimmage is something that many football fans could only dream of. If it had happened 3 years ago when both players were in their prime, that would just absolutely crazy. But at this stage of his career, at 37 years of age, how effective will Terrell Owens (and Ochocinco) be?

The problem with T.O. is that at the age of 37, he's entering a territory that few other receivers in the NFL have been to. Not a lot of NFL wide receivers have played that effectively past the age of 35, let alone 37. Even looking at Randy Moss at age 33, he's already slowed considerably, although he's still a force to be reckoned with.

Looking at other NFL players who have played up to the age Owens is attempting, you can see a steady decline. I don't think I'm making a bold statement by saying that as you get older, you slow down, but take a look at these numbers and tell me what you think.

Here's Jerry Rice at ages 35-37:
At 35: 7 recs, 78 yards, 1 td (injured)
At 36: 82 recs, 1157 yards, 9 td
At 37: 67 recs, 830 yards, 5 td

Tim Brown at 35-37:
35: 91 recs, 1165 yards, 9 td
36: 81 recs, 930 yards, 2 td
37: 52 recs, 567 yards, 2 td

Cris Carter:
35: 96 recs, 1274 yards, 9 td
36: 73 recs, 871 yards, 6 td
37: 8 recs, 66 yards, 1 td (injured)

Keenan McCardell:
35: 70 recs, 917, yards, 9 td
36: 36 recs 437 yards, 0 td
37: 22 recs, 256 yards, 1 td

Joey Galloway:
35: 62 recs, 1057 yards, 7 td
36: 57 recs 1014 yards, 6 td
37: 13 recs, 138 yards, 0 td

Terrell Owens
At 35: 69 recs, 1052 yards, 10 td
At 36: 55 recs, 829 yards, 5 td
At 37: ?

(To be fair to Jerry Rice -the greatest receiver in the history of the NFL-, the guy put up two more 1000+ yard seasons at 39 and 40, so the possibility is certainly there for Terrell Owens.)

These were names off the top of my head that I plugged into p-f-r.com. I'm sure there are more but you get the idea. At 37, every one of these guys put up some pretty not-so-great seasons. So where does that put Terrell Owens?

There's some talk that Owens could supplant Ochocinco as the #1 WR for the Bengals. I can't see that happening. For one thing, Chad's been there for 7 years and over the past 5-6 years, he's developed a strong qb-wr relationship with Carson Palmer. That kind of chemistry is not just going to disappear overnight. If this had been a 31 year old Owens, then maybe, but at this point there's just no way.

I see Owens putting up solid #2 WR numbers. From a fantasy perspective, it puts him at your WR3, so if you start 3 WR, feel confident putting him in that 3rd receiver spot. I'm projecting around 60 receptions, 750 yards and 7 td. That would put him right there with Jerry Rice at 37. As for Chad Ochocinco, I figure he'll get around 75 receptions, 1150 yards and 8 td. That's good enough for a strong WR2 in your fantasy league.

Painful surgery joke

2010-08-12T11:38:00.000-04:00

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers. Suzie Smith stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn’t know if they could help him."

You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagine the pain that poor Tom must have experienced. "Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain." We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom’s scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again, the men in the congregation cringed and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom. "Now," she announced in a quivering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."

All the men sighed with unified relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium.

He said, "I'm Tom Smith." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell my wife the word is sternum."

All of Creation

2010-08-11T11:16:00.001-04:00

Verse 1:
Separated
Until the veil was torn
The moment that hope was born
And guilt was pardoned once and for all

Verse 2:
Captivated
But no longer bound by chains
Left at an empty grave
The sinner and the sacred resolved

Chorus:
And all of creation
Sing with me now
Lift up your voice
And lay your burden down

And all of creation
Sing with me now
Fill up the heavens
Let His glory resound

Verse 2:
Time is fading
And we see Him face to face
Every doubt erased
Forever we will worship the King

Chorus

Bridge 1:
The reason we breathe
Is to sing of His glory
And for all He has done
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
And the Spirit in one

Chorus x 2

Outro:
And every knee with bow
And every tongue
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
And the Spirit in one

Wins Produced

2010-07-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

I found this through reading a recent RR post, but here's a link to the Wins Produced site, which does a breakdown by player and team of how many wins each player produced. I can't really explain how this is calculated nor how accurate it is. The totals for Toronto is 36 wins (when you add all the players up), and we won 40 games so I have no idea were those other games went.

http://www.permanent-sketch.com/WinsPro ... ml#/Season

Chris Bosh produced 11.84 wins last year, so it's to be expected that there will be a significant drop-off in record this season. What's impressive though, is that Amir Johnson was #2 last year at 7.63.

If you want to look at the stats, look at the page. What I've done is taken a 3 year average for each player:

Jose Calderon: +11.14 (all 3 years in Toronto)
Chris Bosh: +9.88 (all 3 years in Toronto)
Amir Johnson: +5.75 (Toronto, 2 years in Detroit)
Jarret Jack: +5.31 (Toronto, Indiana, Portland)
Reggie Evans: +4.12 (Toronto, 2 years in Philly)
Hedo Turkoglu: +3.23 (Toronto, 2 years in Orlando)
Rasho Nesterovic: +0.9 (Toronto, Indiana, Toronto)
DeMar DeRozan: +0.8 (Toronto)
Sonny Weems: +0.79 (Toronto, Denver)
Marcus Banks: +0.27 (Toronto, Toronto/Miami, Miami)
Pops Mensa-Bonsu: +0.22 (Toronto/Houston, San Antonio)
Patrick O'Bryant: -0.14 (Toronto, Toronto, didn't register in Boston)
Marco Belinelli: -0.7 (Toronto, 2 years in Golden State)
Andrea Bargnani: -1.57 (all 3 years in Toronto)
Antoine Wright: -1.61 (Toronto, Dallas, New Jersey)

Here's a few of our recent acquisitions:

Leandro Barbosa: +2.14 (all 3 years in Phoenix)
Dwayne Jones - 0.00
Joey Dorsey - 0.10 (Miami)
David Andersen: -0.89 (Houston)
Linas Kleiza: +1.15 (Denver 2 years starting 3 years ago)

Some notes:
-Amir Johnson has always contributed wins towards his team. Not just as a Raptor but even as a Piston for two years. He's a positive contributor regardless of the minutes he's getting and I'm impressed by this stat.
-Same thing for Jarret Jack.
-Jose Calderon was a killer in wins produced for two years prior to last season. If he can even find middle ground between those two ground breaking years and last year, he will be a valuable player to us once again.
-DeRozan will be a big difference maker depending on his progress this season.
-Hedo's numbers in Orlando actually proves why he was overrated to begin with. Take a look at the site and see how little he contributed despite his reputation in Orlando.
-Barbosa has never been a big contributor to wins according to these stats. Even in the year he won 6th man of the year.
-Same for Kleiza, minus the 6th man award.
-I thought Antoine Wright was better than this.. I guess this proves that just being a solid defender with no offensive prowess is pretty much useless.
-Or perhaps pure defending isn't good enough, as opposed to rebounding and defense in Reggie Evans, where he's put up decent numbers throughout his career.
-Marco Belinelli is useless.
-As for Bargnani, this is not surprising when you consider what a starting C is expected to do in the NBA. Unfortunately despite being a decent but untraditional scoring big man, what he gives up at his position is likely what puts him at this horrible wins produced score. Rebound, block shots, clog the lane, score in the post. Andrea does none of these.

As our current roster stands, we have the following players:

Jose Calderon: +11.14
Amir Johnson: +5.75
Jarret Jack: +5.31
Reggie Evans: +4.12
Leandro Barbosa: +2.14
Linas Kleiza: +1.15
DeMar DeRozan: +0.8
Sonny Weems: +0.79
Marcus Banks: +0.27
Joey Dorsey: +0.10
Marco Belinelli: -0.7
David Andersen: -0.89
Andrea Bargnani: -1.57
Ed Davis
Solomon Alabi

Ultimate Frisbee: Other sports need to fight back!

2010-07-27T14:56:00.000-04:00

I'm sure there is a valid reason for naming sport where you throw a frisbee at your teammates and move along the field and try to score at the other end "Ultimate Frisbee". However, isn't it all a little too convenient?

What's worse is that now a lot of this sports' participants are simply using "Ultimate to describe the sport. Come on now -- ultimate? Really?

Imagine this scenario in the school yard:

Johnny: "Hey guys, let's play soccer!"
Tommy: "Huh? No way, we're playing ULTIMATE!"
Chris: "COOOOL! Yea, let's go play ULTIMATE!!"
Stevie: "Johnny, you're so lame. LET'S GO PLAY ULTIMATE!!"
Katie: "Sorry Johnny, I'm breaking up with you because you're so lame."

Poor Johnny is going to be left in the dust.

But what if instead of "soccer", it was instead called "AWESOMEST SPORT EVER"?

The school yard scene would change drastically.

Tommy: "Johnny, what are you doing here?"
Stevie: "I bet he's here to try to convince us to play that lame sport soccer!"
Chris: "LAME! Whaddya want, Lamer?"
Johnny: "Oh, well, I just wanted to know if you wanted to play the AWESOMEST SPORT EVER?"
Chris: "Whoaa.. why didn't you say so? That sounds like a great idea!"
Tommy: "Woot! I love AWESOMEST SPORT EVER!"
Stevie: "Sorry Johnny, I had no idea you were so cool. AWESOMEST SPORT EVER, here I come!"
Katie: "Oh Johnny, I should never have doubted you. Let's make out!"

See how everything changes with the name?

Here are a few other suggestions to level the playing field:

Basketball: THE BOMB-DIGGITY
Football: THE MOTHER OF ALL SPORTS
Hockey: SUPER DUPER SPORTS EXTRAVAGANZA
Baseball: THE SHIZZLE, YO!
Golf: WHAT ALL THE COOL PEOPLE DO

Inception (2010)

2010-07-18T02:34:00.001-04:00

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should go do it right away, as soon as possible.

Update

2010-06-10T14:21:00.003-04:00

I haven't blogged in a long time. And there's a perfectly logical explanation for this. Look above to see the answer.

(Hint: It's before the date and after the *poof*.)

Walk of shame

2010-03-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

The XBOX 360 Arcade went on sale last Friday, dropping from $200 to $130. I had permission to buy one so we picked it up on Friday night. I played it for a couple hours on Friday night, then a few more hours on Saturday night. On Sunday night when I tried to power it up, I got the 3 flashing red lights. The XBOX was dead.

So yesterday after work we took the console back to Future Shop to exchange it for another one. Unfortunately they didn't have any left. Bummed, I put it back in the car and we went to a store called "Frugo", which is found next to the Future Shop (Hwy 7 and Warden), and is owned by the husband of one of my wife's co-workers. The store has pretty much everything you can think of, it's like a Chinese Walmart.

As I wandered around the store, I noticed that my right foot was a little uncomfortable and kept hearing squeaking noises when I stepped down on the heel. So knelt over to examine my shoe.

To my surprise, I discovered that I was wearing different colored shoes! My left foot had my normal brown Bostonians, but my right foot had on my black Bostonians. I couldn't believe it. I leave an older pair of black shoes at work for winter use (so I can wear boots to work), I guess I must have switched them at some point during the day and put on the wrong shoes when I left work!

I was totally embarrassed, but it was pretty funny so I showed my wife she laughed at me. It also dawned on me that I'd have to go to work again wearing the same shoes, different colored shoes, on the GO Train and through the downtown core.

LOL!

Memories in a box

2010-03-03T13:49:00.001-05:00

My wife and I have been spending around 30-40 minutes each night in our basement, going through boxes, throwing things out, and especially, being reminded of old keepsakes.

There was one boxes full of my notes, from university. Most of them looked entirely foreign to me. Even the handwriting didn't look like mine, and you can forget about the math -- that stuff looked like it was written in a different language. There was another box full of old pictures, Christmas cards, Birthday cards, and several handbooks which I found quite amusing.

During my teenage years I never really understood why Teen's Conference was considered a "Meat Market". I even remember a young Kevin Lai in a skit standing at the edge of the stage waving a large cleaver. I didn't understand that. I guess in those days I was too innocent about what was going on around me.

As I looked through some of my old TC handbooks, I quickly realized that there may have been a lot more going on than I had ever realized at the time. For one thing, not a lot of comments from boys, but a ton from girls. I guess at that age girls were a lot more chatty.

Secondly I was surprised to see the number of girls who left their phone number, so that, um, we could discuss sermons?

Also, instead of comments you might expect like "gee, we sure had a lot of fun, huh?", I saw comments like "I hope you remember me" and "xxxoooxxx". How bizarre..

We still have tons of boxes so I'm sure I'll have more funny stories to share. I threw out all my notes but some of the handbooks/birthday cards I couldn't help but keep.

Good times.

The goal

2010-03-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

There haven't been a lot, but I can remember some pretty great moments in sports over my lifetime. Like the time when Joe Carter hit the game winning homerun to win the World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays 17 years ago. Or the spectacular catch by David Tyree off his helmet to make a crucial first down for the New York Giants, who then went on to win the Superbowl. Donovan Bailey's gold medal winning 9.84 second 100M run which was slowed by the fact that he raised his arm at the end.

Yesterday topped all of those.

My wife and I watched the Canada-USA hockey Olympic gold medal final together, just the two of us. We had invited others but they were either unable to make it or chose to go elsewhere for maybe a bigger party or whatever. I think it would have been more fun with more people, but what can you do.

I can't remember a more exciting game in my life. To me, I would have been happier to see Team Canada finish 4th by losing to the Slovakians than to lose to the Americans. It was so intense that both my wife and I were exhausted by the time we had finished watching the first two periods. Emotionally we were completely drained.

I was thinking about how destiny works, how God selects certain people in this world to do amazing things. Sidney Crosby had been somewhat ridiculed because he hadn't scored anything in several games, even though he was supposed to be the best player we had. Meanwhile Crosby was probably just playing like he always plays, creating opportunities, handling and battling for the puck, constantly being harrassed by 1-2 opponents, also not knowing himself when he'll be able to affect the game in some shape where everyone would notice.

And then there it was, he battled for the puck the corner, left it back for Jerome Iginla and then skated unobstructed for once, towards the net, and then called for it and slid the puck into the net. It seemed so innocent, not like the many other huge scoring chances.

Back home, my wife and I went absolutely nuts. We danced in front of the TV, shouted, we jumped up and down, we hugged, we hugged while jumping up and down (this is no easy task) and then we ran around the living room cheering.

Greatest hockey game ever.

I Believe

2010-02-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

Lately I can't seem to stop humming the "I Believe" Olympic song. I've seen newspaper articles, blog posts, and people in general complaining about this song but I don't get it. It's a great song and it's got such a catchy tune. I love it!

Yesterday afternoon my wife had an eye appointment with a specialist because she had a hole in her eye. We actually weren't sure if the procedure would be performed right away or if it was just a check-up to ensure the diagnosis was correct. They'd have to dilate her pupils prior to any examination, so we knew she'd need a ride home.

Since the appointment was at Sunnybrook I had originally planned to take the day off so I could take here there and drive her home, but in the end her mom volunteered since it was closer for her. So the plan was to have dinner at her parents' house after the appointment/procedure.

Anything dealing with eyes makes me extremely nervous. Eyes are so important, and you've only got 2 of them. It's not like kidneys where you can survive with one. You need both eyes. When I was little I had this nightmare where my dad's eyes were expanding and stretching and he was in a lot of pain, I remember waking up in a fright and running over to my parents' room and hugging my dad.

So there I was sitting in the living room at my in-laws' house talking about Team Canada's chances against Russia with my father-in-law, when he received a call on his cell. It was my wife on the phone and they talked for a few seconds and dad passed me the phone. She told me that they had done the procedure and that it was all finished, the hole had been lasered and she could feel where her brain had been fried. Even if she was joking I was scared by that. I asked if she was feeling okay and she was.

For the next 30 minutes or so I sat their anxiously awaiting my wife to come home, while trying my best to have various coherent conversations with my father in law. Finally when I heard the garage door opening, I sprung up from the couch and waited at the door for her to come in. When she finally appeared I flung my arms around her and held on for as long as I could while she tried to wiggle her way out.

Dinner was great, the food was excellent as usual. There was only a moment of panic when the food was set on the table and I didn't see any rice. It's strange but as I've gotten older I've discovered that I really, really, like plain rice. Eventually mom-in-law brought out the rice and I immediately reached out to get some.

My in-laws have this tiny 12" TV in their kitchen and while we ate we were huddled around it to watch the first 5-10 minutes of the Canada-Russia men's hockey game. Games like these are absolutely great because the whole family is there cheering for the same team.

I had a friend text me from Vancouver to tell me he was in the arena watching from section 114, which sound like pretty great seats. I'm sure my friend had a great time, but to me, you can't really beat watching the game with family, there's no way to compare that with anything else. Plus he probably paid about $300 for those seats. There's just no way I would trade sitting with family (with all of whom are cheering and whooping it up), even on a tiny TV, for great seats amongst a bunch of strangers. There's just no way.

Foody Mart

2010-02-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

I just noticed that I've been writing these blogs a day later and putting today's date instead of yesterdays, even though I've been blogging about yesterdays events.

Yesterday my wife and I sat on the train on the way home realizing we had no food left and the fridge was empty, save for maybe 1 portion of Indian leftovers. We were faced with either trying to scrounge around the house for whatever morsels we could find (usually junk food), go out to eat (she wanted to go to Shabu Shabu), or go grocery shopping for the first time in about a month.

As we often do when we're trying to make a decision, the conversation ended with my wife saying "you decide".

So as we left the train station parking lot I headed east to try out the Foody Mart which opened several months ago but we've never been to because the parking lot is always jammed packed. I'd heard some good things about the Foody Mart -- good prices, good produce, etc, lots of choice and people said it was as good as a T&T Supermarket.

As it turns out it's BETTER. The nearest T&T is *always* packed but this Foody Mart parking was decent on a Tuesday night. Plus it had just about everything, and it was significantly cheaper than the alternative Sobey's which we often shop at because it's so close to where we live. The produce section was huge, and the prices were unbelievably cheaper. For example Sobey's has broccoli crowns for $1.49/lb. Foody had it for $0.69.lb. That's one crazy discount. They had a lot of variety of vegetables that you don't always see at regular supermarkets.

There was an old white man asking around for kale, and looking really frustrated because from what I could tell none of the people working there knew what kale was. As he walked off angrily, I turned to another lady nearby who had overheard the commotion and told her kale isn't exactly a popular vegetable for asians. That being said it's a mental note for the next time I need to buy kale, which is more often than you might think.

Foody Mart had all kinds of goodies, including a whole section for noodles from all over the world. We were particularly happy to find those little bundles of noodles that Shabu Shabu usually provide for your hotpot. They also had the multi-colored "brick" of fish that you can cut into slices, also for hotpot. We bought some enoki and sliced lamb to complete everything we'd need for dinner.

We were able to re-create the Shabu Shabu meal at home, for much less money!

February 23, 2010

2010-02-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday on the drive home from work, I felt like I had something in my pocket that wasn't sitting the right way, making my "space" very uncomfortable. For those who kept up back in the day, I had been using the All-Ett Billfold wallet which is famous for a reduced thickness thereby keeping the wallet bulge to a minimum.

Ever since we got back from vacation 3 weeks ago, where I stopped carrying a wallet at all for fear of getting robbed, I had grown accustomed to not wearing a wallet. So I got this case that I've been using to carry limited amount of cards and a few folded up bills. Anyway, it's been pretty convenient but it does often get in the way of my keys, which are also in that same pocket. So sometimes the keys jab into my leg if the case is sitting the wrong way.

Usually I'll prop myself up and pull my pants down/outward to clear up the "wedge" area and give myself more breathing room. This time it just wasn't working. I thought maybe it was because I had to clear the snow off my car, and in my haste maybe my pants had been shifted one way and that was now making me uncomfortable.

Traffic was stop and go, (mostly stop) due to the 10-15cm of snow falling from the sky at the time.

People always drive so slow in the snow, I wonder if that's a good thing or not. I noticed the next day someone must have thought I was going slow without checking his speedometer. I was going 80 in a 60 zone and he zoomed right past me on the right lane. Maybe he had to go pee..

Anyway, so there I was stuck in traffic, trying to adjust my pants. I tried all the tricks that any guy would try, making sure any tucked in garments were out, shifting my underwear so that it wasn't within the sealed off belt tightened area. Twisted left and right, pulling outwards to leave crotch area aired out. Nothing was working.

Finally there was a red light so I put the car to brake. Fortunately with the snow and the heat, most of the windows were fogged up except for the front where I had my defrost thing going on. I took off my seatbelt, and then un-did my belt, expecting some relief. However there was none as it was still as tight as before.

I looked around to make sure no one could see me, and I undid the top bottom of the pants. That felt pretty good, but I needed more room. So slowly, I started zipping down. Each little tooth of the zipper felt great as they were released one by one, until finally, AAAHHHH.. that felt sooo good.

Then the light turned green so I quickly buckled up my seatbelt and put the car back into drive, and continued my drive home.

February 22, 2010

2010-02-22T15:07:00.001-05:00

I have not cooked in about 3 weeks.

Three weeks ago my wife and I went on a cruise to the southern areas of the Caribbean. It was an awesome cruise. I would post some pictures, but in all honesty we rarely take pictures anymore. I think it has something to do with the hassle of carrying around a camera, and then the added hassle of asking people to take our camera and take a picture for us. We take mental photos now :)

When we got back, we hosted a Superbowl party and there were so many leftovers, that the food lasted us an entire week. Pizza, chicken wings, chips and dips!

The following week was Chinese New Year. We went to my in-law's for dinner along with my parents, and my mother-in-law cooked up a 10 course meal. There were so many leftovers, so we took a good 2 days worth of food home. That was on Saturday. On Sunday my own parents came over to our house and we made dumplings from scratch. That was a lot of fun. Note to self for future reference -- don't use lean ground pork. Use the fattiest stuff you can find.. it makes juicier dumplings. Anyway, once again there were tons of leftovers, another 2-3 days worth of dumplings, both boiled and fried. Mmmmm..

Fast forward to this past Friday where we ended up ordering takeout Indian food from Ambiyan, a place we discovered a months ago. They have 2 person special that comes out to around $50 after delivery costs, but is usually enough for 2-3 meals. You can order 2 meat dishes, 1 veggie dish and they give you two naans and rice in that package.

So yea, I haven't cooked in about 3 weeks.

What makes a blog a blog

2010-02-22T10:07:00.008-05:00

When I first started this blog 9 or 10 years ago, it started as a journal. I wrote about my day-to-day activities, sharing about things I did, things I saw, things I was thinking about.

As the years went by the blog evolved. I had regular readers and I felt the need to enhance their experience by voicing opinions, making statements, talking about current events. It went away from events in my life to topical content. The frequency of posts began to rely on my mood. For example if I had a strong opinion on something, or maybe I was trying to get a rise out of my readers, or if I was trying to prove a point.

More and more I felt the need to appease my readers rather than just write the blog as a simple web log. Often I'd critique my own posts, pouring hours upon hours on a single post trying to perfect the grammar, and making sure each of my points were concrete, or making sure they were funny enough, or passed some kind of grade before I'd publish. I found more and more unfinished posts left in draft because I didn't think they were post-worthy. Soon, I was posting once a week, or less, once a month or less.

I was looking back today and also reflecting on whether or not other mediums have affected blog writing. Have applications like Twitter, Facebook and Buzz ultimately changed the blogging landscape?

The more I thought about it, the more I realize that blogs have their own niche on the information highway. Blogs tell the entire story. Not instances in time, not little updates or links to share, but the entire journey, from beginning to end.

It's this realization that I've decided it may be worth taking this up again. However infrequent my posts may be, I hope to once again tell a story.

Team Coocoo

2010-01-15T13:02:00.003-05:00

With the economy being the way it is, the jobless rate soaring and poverty at its peak, I can't understand why Conan O'Brien is being celebrated for, basically, crying like a baby.

Athletes who whine and ask to be traded are frowned upon. Dany Heatley in hockey, or Jay Cutler in football, or Allen Iverson in basketball are people who were unhappy with their job situation and asked to be traded or released. How is that any different from Conan O'Brien's situation? Whining because of a time slot? If the wave and support of "Team COCO" gives any indication, Conan could have his show air at 4am and people would still be watching.

I found his letter to NBC pretty embarrassing and revealing of his massive ego. Here is a guy making hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars with quite possibly one of the cushiest jobs in the world. He's not saving the world, people. He's not raising money for charity, or helping people. He's the host of a talk show that celebrates Hollywood, of all things, and who happens to be good at making fun of other people, including himself. That's all. His noted accomplishments are:

1. Making people laugh.
(list over)

It's time to move on from this.

Weekend summary

2010-01-11T08:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, so somehow I managed to pick every losing team.

I thought that Baltimore ended up doing exactly what they needed to beat the New England Patriots. They took it to Brady and Brady faltered because of the wuss that he is. They went right at him, I think Ray Lewis sacked him in the first quarter, and they never let up. The Ravens attacked and attacked, and then handed the ball to their running game. The Pats D couldn't stop the run, and so the Ravens were in control from start to finish. They completely dominated the game.

In the Jets Bengals game, the defense for the Jets made all the difference. Cincinnati's offense was exposed as a one trick pony on air (Palmer to Ocho couldn't click because of Revis), and well, Benson had a monster game but they couldn't keep using him because they were playing from behind. I don't expect the Jets to get very far in these playoffs, but they can upset teams because of their disrupting defense.

The Dallas-Philly game was a total disappointment. Two teams who have so much history faced eachother for the 3rd time this season and one simply did not show up. I thought this would be a shootout but it McNabb didn't show up to the game and as a result, Philly was absolutely destroyed in this game. Dallas has a pretty good team, next week against Minnesota should be exciting.

Finally, the best game of the weekend was Green Bay vs Arizona. Most experts picked Green Bay to take this one and as we've seen time and time again, when Arizona is the underdog somehow they scrape it out. The game went back and forth with the Cards taking the early lead but after neither defense could do anything the game was eventually 45-45. I have to say though, the final play of the game was pretty disappointing with Rodgers having the ball stripped from him and giving up a TD.

For once, a playoff game ending where the team who won the overtime coin toss didn't win the game.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2010-01-07T11:41:00.002-05:00

NFL Playoffs! This is it.. here are the matchups for Wildcard Weekend:

AFC:

Baltimore @ New England

Everyone is picking New England for this one and I will have to agree. They are just a better team and it's Tom Brady in January.. about as clutch as one can possibly get. That being said, if Ray Lewis can get his hands on Brady early in the game, that could change everything. Brady a tough guy he is not.

New York Jets @ Cincinnati

This game could go either way but I'm picking Cincinatti based on the fact that they are at home and they'll be motivated to win their first playoff game in about 2 decades.

NFC:

Philadelphia @ Dallas

I'm picking Philly. For some reason I just think Donovan McNabb will figure this out (they've lost to Dallas twice this season).

Green Bay @ Arizona

Green Bay will win this one.

Devin Hester's butt

2009-11-24T10:20:00.002-05:00

The highlight in an otherwise regrettable game by the Chicago Bears.

The Twitter edition #1

2009-09-23T08:43:00.003-04:00

I have several partially written posts dated all the way back to June, which I never could post because it wouldn't feel right to post unfinished work. And looking back in my list of drafts I've got unfinished posts dating back to 2004. I got this idea from another blogger who recently posted a bunch of his backdated thoughts.

So without further adieu, I'd like to do the same, while adding a little spin -- I present to you In The Blink Of An Eye's inaugural Twitter edition:

(06/29/2009) ebrian: I'm often asked about my thoughts on the garbage strike for the City of Toronto. I tell people that I support what they're doing, but I'd r

(07/24/2009) ebrian: It's come to my attention that the left lane is no longer the faster lane on Toronto roads. It has officially become the "I refuse to go fa

(08/10/2009) ebrian: Why is it always the fat people who take the elevator to go up (or down) 1 floor? Take the friggin' stairs, you need it! Over the past yea

(08/22/2009) ebrian: My wife and I have been having BBQs on almost available Saturday since we moved into our new home. We usually invite 6-8 people to keep the

(09/02/2009) ebrian: NFL Football is about to begin, and I'd like to make my annual predictions for the upcoming season. I think the Superbowl Champs will be th

Myths about preaching

2009-09-17T13:44:00.004-04:00

I found this article recently and found it pretty insightful. It talks about the 3 myths of preaching. I'm no preacher, but I still found it interesting to think about.

1) If You Preach a Good Sermon the Church Will Grow

I definitely agree with this one because our church has grown significantly over the past 2-3 years and I haven't noticed anything different in the sermons. If anything I've noticed the sermons have been getting worse; which was part of the reason why this past summer my wife and I decided to go and try some other church, although in the end we went back to the original one. Our beef was that some of our preachers don't necessarily use the bible it its correct context, but rather choosing to cherry pick verses in order to make point stand out. Which is bad, of course, but not bad enough to make us leave and start an entirely new community, etc.

2) Who You Preach To is Who You Will Reach

This one I wholeheartedly agree on. When I was younger I used to invite my friends to church because I knew they were talking about certain topics that might interest a non-believer, or maybe it was a message I thought my friend needed to hear. 9 times out of 10 they were offended and never came back. A great example of this is inviting your atheist friend when you know an apologist was going to speak. That's pretty much the LAST way you want your friend to learn about Christianity.

3) The Goal of Preaching is to Make the Bible Relevant

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about favorite movies, and he said he like Casablanca the best. I couldn't understand because I've seen it a couple of times and I've never enjoyed it. I asked him to explain himself, and he said it was because every line in the movie was still relevant today as much as it was 40 years ago. And the other thing was even though he'd seen the movie 20 times, every time he saw it, he would discover something new.

I think that's the perfect way to describe the bible. Every scripture and every verse is relevant even centuries after it was written. Everything that Jesus spoke about and taught still applies today. And every time you read the bible, there's something new to be learned.

So in that sense I understand what the guy is saying here. You don't need to make the bible relevant because it already is relevant.

Perhaps what I find most frustrating about preaching today is that the preacher is too afraid to step on anyone's toes. They're afraid to offer the extremes, even if it is the truth. When the bible says we should sell everything and follow Jesus, the preacher simply turns it aside as metaphor and a "worldly goods / materialism" sermon follows. But is that really what Jesus is saying?

The simple truth is difficult to preach because often you're afraid to offend, or you don't want to look like a hypocrite, or perhaps you're simply not ready to face that truth yourself so how can you ask your congregation to do the same.

The Grill Express

2009-09-04T11:10:00.005-04:00

My wife and I attended a wedding this past weekend in Ottawa. It was about the most fun I've ever had at a wedding, and certainly one of the best weddings out of many weddings we've been to this year. (Congrats Ben & Erin!) In part I think it was because I felt closer to (the groom) than any other of the wedding participants I've attended this year. And the other part was it being in Ottawa -- a chance to see the many friends I had gotten to know 10 years ago when I lived there -- many people who to this day I consider to be some of the best people I've ever known.

Being in Ottawa made me think about all the memories I had there, and had me reminiscing about "the good ol' days". During that time I met this guy, a very passionate person and all he ever talked about, at least when I first met him, was a device called "The Grill Express". His name was Lon Wong.

He would talk about this mythical Grill Express like it was some kind of super appliance to end all other appliances. If I recall it was a pre-George Foreman grill, better than all of its predecessors. It was supposed to be able to grill almost any fresh food in under 4 minutes, while sealing in all the flavors. It just happened that around that time Lon discovered someone selling their Grill Express on EBay, and of course he had to have it. As the shipping date neared, I could see in his eyes that he was about fulfill one of his many lifelong dreams.

After he finally received it, I heard very little about it. I was never invited over to try it out, and it seemed like I stopped hearing about it. We all did. It's as if it never existed. One day, and I believe this was Canada Day, 1999, another friend named Jason Chau and I drove over to this guy's house to hang out. It was this big yellow house that had at one point in time been used as a bordello. Lon was still in his room sleeping, so we wandered around the house to explore. We walked past into the kitchen and noticed something on the counter -- it was the Grill Express.

It really didn't look all that impressive. I remember thinking it was so small, how could you fit a meal in there other than for small children? Jason picked it up and tried to figure out how it worked, tried to open up the latch, and wouldn't you know it, a piece of it BROKE off. Jason and I looked at eachother and thought "OH NO!". Jason did the best he could to try to fix it while I watched to make sure Lon wasn't coming downstairs. We whispered as quietly as we could as we (two engineers) did our best to fix it. But it was to no avail. The part that had broken off was an integral piece that held the spring which then held the rest of it together, forming the "juice seal". We tried but it was no use. The Grill Express was done.

I have a picture somewhere of Jason giving Lon an apologetic hug, but somehow I think that Lon's Grill Express dream had died way before it had broken.

FAIL: Google makes GrandCentral useless

2009-08-20T10:55:00.005-04:00

I've been using GrandCentral for little over 2 years now, a nice little forwarding service which allowed my parents and other US friends to call me for free in Canada. I had signed up for a Nevada number since my parents lived there at the time.

I remember showing off to friends that I had GrandCentral, whose access was strictly by invitation only, and invitations were extremely rare.

Google bought out GrandCentral and told that we'd have to migrate over to Google Voice. At first, things were great, I added my in-law's phone number, and after I got married I moved into my wife's condo and I was able to add that number too. Now my parents would be able to call me, my brother, or my in-laws.

My wife and I moved a couple of months ago, so I wanted to set up the new home phone number on my account so that friends could still reach me from the US. So I logged into "Google Voice". I went into settings, and tried to add my new number.

I got an error: "International numbers are not supported as forwarding phones."

Well, that can't be right because my account still shows the 3 other international numbers that are still being forwarded properly. So I tried updating one of the existing numbers -- the one from the place we had just moved out of. Same error.

FAIL.

More Bell awfulness

2009-06-24T06:53:00.002-04:00

Just to follow up on Bell's awfulness:

The Rogers guy had just finished setting up our home phone so we called Bell to cancel the phone line at our old place (we moved into our new place this past weekend -- yay!).

So we call Bell.

We tell them we want to cancel the phone. We give them our phone number and tell them up front that we have moved and we have already signed up for a new service with Rogers so please don't try to sell us any deals because we have moved on. All we want to do is cancel the line.

BR has an accent, possibly Indian.

She asks us who we signed up with for our new phone. We say Rogers, and just to stick to her, we add that we got their internet, cable and wireless too. In your face!

BR tells us that she sees on our record that we've been Bell customers for a long time, and wants to know if we'd like to hear some deals. It's such a "shame" to lose our loyalty. My wife is adamant - we do not want to hear about your deals, we just want to cancel the phone.

BR understands, re-confirms that we signed up with Rogers, and just wants to know why we made the switch. We tell her it's because the last time we called them, it took 45 minutes to try to set up the phone line to begin with and it was so much trouble that we simply gave up because the Bell rep was so annoying.

BR laughs, and asks us where we moved. We tell her Markham, and she congratulates us on our new home, and then starts talking about how Bell serves a lot of people in Markham. My wife repeats that she has no interest in any offers, all we want to do is cancel the phone.

BR asks us if we were able to transfer our old phone number to the new one, because Bell can offer that service. Again, my wife reiterates -- all we want to do is cancel the phone. We don't care about the phone number. We already have a phone number.

BR asks for our new home "oddress". What's an oddress? We finally realize she's trying to say address. We tell BR there is no reason for Bell to know about our new address. BR says she needs to send us the final bill. We tell BR to send the bill to the original address.

My wife realizes what's happening because we're now 5-10 minutes into the call with no end in sight. So she clarifies things again, adamantly demanding that we want to cancel and we have no interest in your deals. None at all. Please, please stop -- we know you have a job to do but for goodness sake, just let us cancel our phone!

BR laughs annoyingly. Does she think this is funny? BR asks us for a contact number and my wife gives up her cell number. BR explains that it takes 2 days to cut off the line but you need to give a month's notice, so we will have to pay another month of service ($25). So.. the service gets cut off in two days, and we have to pay for another 28 days after. WTF? My wife and I look at eachother and shrug -- let's just get this over with.. what's another 25 bucks to rid ourselves of Bell?

BR goes over the final details. $25, with an additional $15 for forwarding service and asks if we have any other questions. Huh? Forwarding what? BR explains that once the phone is canceled, Bell will automatically forward our calls to the number we gave them. I'm looking at my wife and she looks pissed. No way, she says. We don't want the forwarding. BR asks what happens if someone tries to call? We don't care. We can't believe she just tried to sneak that in without even asking if we wanted it!

BR laughs again. Okay, okay. Just the $25. She confirms it and FINALLY, Bell phone is canceled.

Good riddance.

Night and Day

2009-06-17T10:49:00.003-04:00

Our new house required a landline because of the security system, so my wife and I decided to get Bell to give us the bare minimum landline that money could buy. We hadn't actually decided what to do about internet yet, whether to go DSL or cable, and we had already decided to stick with Rogers for television.

I got into the Bell website and they had this home phone lite, bare minimum telephone service, which is all we needed. I used their call back service and to my surprise the second I click on Submit, my phone was ringing. So far so good. Turns out that was the highlight of the call.

This female Bell Rep (BR) answers the call and I tell her I need to set up basic phone service for my new house.

For the next hour, I am treated with the most annoying experience I have ever faced with any phone sales rep. BR asks me a few questions, like how much internet do I use. What shows I like to watch. I answer a few questions, but reiterate that all I want is basic telephone service.

BR decides that I will be very satisfied with one of their phone packages. She proceeds to tell me all about their most expensive plan. It's got a long distance package, call display, voicemail, etc. I repeat again, all I want is basic telephone service.

BR thinks I need Call Waiting. I tell her no. BR asks me what happens if someone calls me while I'm on the phone. I tell her they'll have to call me back, or call my cell phone. BR thinks it would be better if I had Call Waiting. I repeat again, all I want is basic telephone service.

BR thinks I need long distance. I tell her no. She points out that Oakville is considered long distance. I tell her I don't call long distance. She points out Brampton is long distance. Again, I do not use long distance. BR points out that for just $5.99/month, I can get 15 cents per minute long distance. I do a quick calculation, noting that this gives me 40 15-cent minutes of long distance. I tell her that I haven't even used 40 minutes for the whole entire year. BR thinks I might use long distance, and $5.99 is well worth it. I tell her I use Skype (not actually true), and Google Voice (true). She says we'll discuss internet later. I repeat again, all I want is basic telephone service. BR gives up on the long distance.

BR believes I need voice mail. She says that if I'm away from home, I'll need it. I tell her this is why I have a cell phone. BR still thinks I need voice mail. I tell her no. BR asks what if I'm busy and I can't answer the phone? I tell her my phone has an answering machine. BR says Bell's voicemail allows you to call remotely and check your messages. I tell her that I rarely give out my landline and most people call my cellphone, which already has voicemail. (Also, I'm pretty sure my answering machine has a code that I can enter to check my messages.. I've never used it though.) BR gives up on the voice mail.

BR thinks I need some kind of maintenance package. You pay $6 per month and if your line ever breaks, and they will come in for free to fix it. Even if your phone breaks, they will come fix it (I think this is a lie, but anyway..). I tell her that I've been with Bell home phone for as long as I've been alive and I've never had a problem with my phone. She says that's great, but points out that if something does break, it will cost me $99 to have it repaired. I say no. BR gives up on the maintenance package.

Now BR thinks I need call display. Sometimes you're busy and you don't have time to pick up the phone, you can at least see who's calling. This way you'll know whether or not the call is important. I think about lying and saying my phone doesn't have a display, but then I think maybe that will prompt her to try to sell me a Bell phone, so instead I just say no. Once again, I repeat that all I want is basic telephone service.

Btw, I should mention that this whole time and beyond, whenever I said no she would give me at least 2 to 3 "Are you sure?". At this point I'm beginning to feel like I'm talking to Regis on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, like I need to say "No, FINAL ANSWER".

Finally, 45 minutes later, BR dejectedly confirms that I am only getting Home Phone Lite package. It's a $55 installation fee and comes out to around $30/month with all the access fees and taxes.

Next, BR brings up television. BR claims Bell has the most HD channels, however on the website they list 6 extra channels that I have never watched in my life. And they don't have internet. BR says Bell is absolutely the best HD experience. I look at the website and notice there is no sports channel in the basic package. In otherwords.. NEXT! I tell her that I would have to ask my wife (I figure she will understand this) if she is okay with a gaudy satellite sticking off the house. She gives up.

Next BR brings up the internet. At this point, I feel like I've won so I decide to let her have something so I let her explain to me my internet options. She asks me how much I use internet, and I say 4-5 hours per day. BR believes that I will be very satisfied with the ever popular Performance package. BR claims Bell has the best internet and also the cheapest offers. Performance is cheaper than the comparable Express package offered by Rogers. I look online and sure enough, it's cheaper. It's also slower.

Finally the jig is up, and I decide to close it all out. I am not interested in anything but the home phone service. Lite. BR is not too happy about this. BR brings up the bundles. BR will waive the home phone installation fee of $55, and the internet installation fee of $79, if I get them both today. I ask BR if I can get the home phone today, and sign up the internet on another day, will Bell credit me with the installation costs since I have indeed ordered two Bell services and therefore, am then bundled. BR says this is impossible. BR claims you can only bundle at the time of the initial call. (I have no way to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure it's a flat out lie.. it would make no sense at all if you couldn't bundle later on). BR's lie backfires. Seeing that I cannot bundle later on, I decide not to sign up for home phone either, until I can discuss with my wife about the internet. BR, realizing her mistake, asks a truly stupid and desperate question: How could a discussion with my wife change my final decision? I am about to ask BR if she is married, but I decide not to and tell her that I will have to call back later. Goodbye.

Later in the evening, my wife and I get on the phone and call Rogers. My wife's got Rogers wireless mobile so we can bundle it with Home Phone and it ends up being cheaper than Bell's Home Phone Lite. The Rogers rep is a guy (I don't know if this makes a difference, but all I can say is I felt way more at ease with this guy than the BR). 15 minutes later, we have set up the basic Rogers Home Phone (no setup fee), transferred our existing Rogers cable internet (no setup fee), transferred our HD television (no setup fee), and bundled it all together for an overall 15% discount. As a bonus when we were setting up the home phone, the Rogers guy tells us about a phone plan that wasn't even listed online (an older promotion) and he lets us sign up with that. It saves us an additional $6 per month.

I'm by no means a huge supporter of Rogers, but their customer service compared to Bell's? Wow. It's like night and day.

Archie chooses Veronica

2009-05-28T15:39:00.004-04:00

I read in the news that the latest Archie comics had Archie proposing to Veronica. This is absolutely ludicrous in my opinion, why in the world would Archie pick Veronica over Betty?

This reminded me of grade 6 in Ms. Paul's class at Parkview Public School, when I was caught reading Archie comics, which I had hidden inside pretty much any textbook or novel that I could fit them into. Yes, that old cliche story of kids hiding comic books inside their books.. I actually tried it, and failed.

I remember getting into trouble for it, and then, I assume because Archie has a fairly "mature" theme, even if subtle, the teacher called my parents. I was fortunate; my mom picked up the phone and told me she wouldn't tell dad unless I got caught again. Saved me a few bruises for sure. Of course, the irony of all of it was that dad was the one who got me into Archie comics in the first place. He'd purchased one at an airport and given it to me when he got home. It was my first ever comic and I was hooked.

Anyway, on a *completely unrelated* note, I stumbled upon some Creed music today, and was listening to One Last Breath, and it kinda got me remembering about the *very* brief moments in my life when I was contemplating suicide. It's not so much that I was thinking about killing myself, but more about the idea of suicide. Because let's face it, I had a pretty good teenage life.

When you're a kid, or a teenager though, life just seems harder than it really is. Whether it be the peer pressure, or popularity (or lack their of), or just being unhappy with yourself hard not to have thought about suicide at some point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think every person at some point thinks about his or her own death, and maybe half of those people have thought about how or what it would be like to do it to themselves. I'm pretty sure I remember having a pretty vivid imagination too, having drawn many very morbid pictures of people hanging themselves or shooting themselves in the face.

Anyway, back to the Archie thing. It's a big mistake. Maybe the Archie world has changed a lot over the past 20 years and I've missed something.. but from what I remember Archie is going down the wrong path. Betty was always the one who liked him for who he was. Veronica was the (albeit hotter) girl (with more money) who was always trying to change Archie, she was rich and stuck up.. and what about Reggie? Where's he? Will she cheat on Archie when he can't find a job and tries to just leech off her? And what about Jughead? Will Veronica be willing to put up with Jug's shenanigans?

I think not.

And the Oscar goes to..

2009-05-14T15:21:00.006-04:00

After 5 seasons of LOST, I still don't know what the show is about.

I could not believe the drivel that was coming out of the mouths of the 4 judges on American Idol on Tuesday night. I truly believe their performance deserves an Oscar, in how they tried to say that everyone was good when in fact all 3 of them were only okay, if not bad. All in the name of boosting the ratings, I guess. They actually considered Adam Lambert's butchering of U2 and Aerosmith songs good, and thought he deserved to be in the final. Hearing Lambert shriek and scream as usual, and then have the judges applaud it has been mind boggling to say the least.

The only guy who can actually sing is Danny Gokey, but he was eliminated. You knew he was the next to go though, he was the last remnant of what was left of this so-called "singing competition" farce. It has been pretty obvious at this point that America (and the judges) had had enough of the actual singing part of this competition. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves -- if we were to rank the top 6 *singers* from this season, they would be:

1) Danny Gokey (eliminated)
2) Allison Iraheta (eliminated)
3) Anoop Desai (eliminated)
4) Lil Rounds (eliminated)
5) Adam Lambert
6) Kris Allen

But unfortunately this show isn't just about singing even though it pretends to be, which explains why Gokey lasted as long as he did. He had no chance once it was down to him, the Shrieker, and the pretty boy.

Speaking of which, there's Kris Allen. He's like the little engine that could, pretty much a complete longshot, the posterboy for this non-singing competition. Vocally he's in way over his head, but keeps plugging (strumming) away, selling his face and knowing (playing) his audience (young girls). He's like a poor man's Jason Mraz. But let's face it, in a year or so he'll be about as relevant as Justin Guarini.

This year's American Idol has been nothing but a disappointment.

I never thought I would say this, but if there is anything I have learned from this season of American Idol, it's that I've very likely lost touch with popular music and culture. I've reached that age in my life that I can no longer distinguish between what is "good" or "bad" in today's current music industry, and I put these terms in quotes because it's obviously extremely subjective. Perhaps it's also the same reason I think Twitter is a joke, and what's the deal with these kids connecting speakers to their cellphones and blasting music so the whole subway can hear? Am I wrong?

FAIL: SilverCity Fairview

2009-05-11T14:35:00.004-04:00

Years ago Fairview Mall was the choice theater for any movie that didn't have good special effects because it was pretty much a ghetto theater. They were run by Rainbow Theaters and basically you went in there and it felt no better than a highschool auditorium, if not worse. But the price was extremely cheap, like $7 for a movie or $4.25 on Tuesday, prices that are unheard of these days.

But over the past couple years they had done a major overhaul and moved in with a SilverCity theater, and remodeled the whole thing. So, for the first time in years, my wife and I along with JW went to watch Star Trek there.

Anyway, to get to the fail part -- they got it all right, the place looks great, the theaters are the nice stadium seating you would expect, no more worries about even a medium sized dude blocking your view -- everything was good except for the seats.

What has happened is they've installed seats that lean back, which is great, but the issue here is that the seat part also leans back when you lean on the back part. In order to lean back, your feet have to pretty much go into the air. And, the lean back option offers quite a bit of resistance. You can't just lean back into that position and just sit there.

For people with longer legs, we found the trick is to wedge your leg below the chair and basically prop yourself up. Those with shorter legs have to put their feet up to the chair in front of you and kick out to hold the chair back.

It's just a huge, huge mistake on their part.

Btw, Star Trek was great.. probably one of the best movies I've seen in the past couple years.

Where did people go?

2009-04-23T15:05:00.002-04:00

Sometime when I'm sitting in the subway, I wonder where everyone went. All the people that I've had the pleasure of knowing throughout my life. For example people who grew up with me at Parkview Public School. Are they all still in Unionville? How could it be that none of them live or work in the downtown areas? Surely at some point I should be able to bump into one of them on the subway.

The fact is I don't even see my old highschool friends on subway. How is that possible, what are the odds of this? I run into church friends all the time. Is it that Chinese Christians all work downtown and everyone else doesn't? What's up with that? I rarely even see my old university friends. You'd think with all the people I've known or met, I might run into *someone* at some point at random.

Then yesterday while looking at Facebook's "People You May Know" tool, it dawned on me. I probably have run into many of my old friends. They've all grown up and don't look the same as they did 20 years ago.

Which of the poor deserve the most help?

2009-04-20T15:52:00.007-04:00

Ina and I have gotten interested in the creation of sustainable solutions for impoverished people. We've become interested in micro-financing -- helping people get off their feet and help themselves with very tangible solutions that will help them to earn a living doing something that is requires skill but is not entirely foreign to them. Anyway, that's a topic for another day.

I recently had my eyes opened to something that may be controversial or maybe it's just the natural human thought process.

This entry could spawn several other interesting topics that I'll probably be too lazy to write, but I wanted to at least get this thought down. Just a note.. some of this is hypothetical and by no means do I mean this to offend anyone -- the purpose is purely for thought provocation.

The idea is that people are less willing to help poor people when they know there are even more poorer people out there. They might feel like a certain group of people don't deserve their help or support because there are poorer people out there who deserve it more. They tend to have less sympathy knowing there is much worse in the world.

Whether this means they will help those poorer people is not really an issue, for them it's just a matter of principle -- that this poor person doesn't need my help as much as that other much poorer person, so therefore I will not help this marginally poor person.

For example, someone who has witnessed poverty in India or Africa might have less compassion towards someone who lives in a garbage dump because hey, at least they have *some* form of food.

Or say a person has no sympathy towards people on welfare because at least they are getting free handouts from the government, whereas the people they saw in Nicaragua were eating garbage.

I could be wrong I think it says somewhere in the bible that everyone needs compassion.

Tony Campolo is 74

2009-04-07T09:05:00.008-04:00

Wow, time flies. The first time I heard Tony Campolo was at my old church M3C, during highschool fellowship on a Friday night. Pastor Ted brought a VHS tape of Tony speaking at a conference (possibly from an old Urbana back in the 1800s). All joking aside, I thought he was a great speaker, so dynamic and charismatic. A welcome change from what I'd grown up listening to in a Chinese church.

I remember him being animated, speaking loudly and waving his arms while he spat his words out. Honestly I don't remember a single thing he said but what I do remember is after the video was shown, Campolo was all we could talk about for the rest of the evening, and that includes some of the non-believers who were there.

Tony Campolo is speaking on Thursday April 16th in Toronto at the International Center, to kick off MissionFest 2009, and you must come up with a valid reason not to be there. Personally, I can't think of any besides you being in the hospital or out on missions yourself.

I'll leave you now with a couple of quotes:

"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

"Jesus transcends partisan politics. That's what's wrong with the religious right... they have made Jesus into a Republican, and he's not!"

Is Easter sacred?

2009-03-27T13:27:00.005-04:00

I'd like to pose a question to my readers, whether you are a believer in Christ or not.

Let me just start by saying that I'm desperate for a vacation. I need time off and so does my wife. We haven't been on vacation in months, not since Christmas time and even then it was family time; not "us" time.

We both work for the government so we get Good Friday and Easter Monday off. This means a 4 day weekend -- the first long weekend we've had since Christmas/Boxing Day weekend, last year. 4 months ago. In 2008.

Now as Christians, Good Friday and Easter signifies the time when Jesus was crucified, dying for and washing away all of the sins we (and you) ever commit.

So is Easter a sacred day then? Should it be? Should we be planning for a vacation or a getaway during this very rare 4-day weekend?

And for non-Christians, how do you view Christians if they're willing to spend the holiest of holy days shopping, or lying on a beach? Do you have friends who are always talking to you about the real meaning of Christmas and Easter, and yet they go on vacation during these times of the year and that puzzles you? Would you respect Christians and their religion any less if you knew this was happening, and you use this as ammunition towards proof that Christians are all hypocrites?

NCAA Bracket

2009-03-19T13:20:00.002-04:00

So here's the deal. I accidentally screwed up in my spreadsheet for calculating who will win this thing by taking the average of the wrong two columns, which adversely affected my bracket where it mattered the most. Unfortunately I discovered this about 15 minutes ago, too late to do anything about it. Since I'll likely lose because of this, I've decided to blog it here so I have a record of me being 100% right on the bracket this year.

So here are my picks!

MIDWEST

1st round winners:
Louisville
Ohio State
Arizona
Wake Forest
West Virginia
Kansas
USC
Michigan State

2nd round winners:
Louisville
Wake Forest
Kansas
USC

Reg. Semis winners:
Wake Forest
Kansas

WEST

1st round winners:
Connecticut
BYU
Purdue
Mississippi State
Marquette
Missouri
Maryland
Memphis

2nd round winners:
Connecticut
Mississippi State
Marquette
Memphis

Reg. Semis winners:
Connecticut
Memphis

EAST

1st round winners:
Pittsburgh
Tennessee
Florida State
Xavier
UCLA
Villanova
Texas
Duke

2nd round winners:
Pittsburgh
Xavier
UCLA
Duke

Reg. Semis winners:
Pittsburgh
Duke

SOUTH

1st round winners:
North Carolina
LSU
Illinois
Gonzaga
Arizona State
Syracuse
Michigan
Oklahoma

2nd round winners:
North Carolina
Gonzaga
Arizona State
Oklahoma

Reg. Semis winners:
North Carolina
Oklahoma

--

Reg. Finals winners:
Wake Forest
Connecticut
Duke
Oklahoma

Nat. Semis winners:
Wake Forest
Oklahoma

Champion:

Hard to say, these teams both have strengths and weaknesses, but I'd give it to Oklahoma though. I'd change my stance on this one as the tournament goes on, but I'm positive it's these two in the finals.

Books I've read in the past month

2009-03-18T12:51:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure that I've read more than 5 novels over the past 10 years up to this past month. I've always focused more on the non-fiction side, hoping more to learn rather than entertain myself through books. So I guess the fact that I've read nearly 4 books in the past month means I'm on a tear.

This all came about because I had just finished reading "Dune". It took me nearly 2 months to read, either because I found the english to be difficult and kept having to turn to the glossary to look up things like "Kwisatz Haderach" and "Bene Gesserit", or maybe it was because I just wasn't used to reading.

Anyway, I thought the book was amazing, so I borrowed the movie from a friend. Boy did it ever suck. It was unbearable to watch, I couldn't even get through the first 20 minutes, and that led me to post about it on a forum. Someone on the forum recommended I read the Ender series. Then later while talking about Dune with my brother and Ina, they also recommended that I give the Ender series a try.

So we went to Chapters and I bought the first book, "Ender's Game", along with book two of the Dune series, "Dune Messiah".

Ender's Game was amazing. Just amazing. I was blown away. It was just so cool and fast paced, I loved it. I decided then that I had to read them all. In the forums, one of the guys recommended that I read book five "Ender's Shadow" first because it kinda worked together with Ender's Game. So we went to the library and got it. Within a week I finished it and I was really impressed. After that I reserved "Speaker For The Dead" which I'm reading now, and in the meantime I read Dune Messiah.

Dune Messiah was okay. It followed the story of the original book but it wasn't nearly the rush that Dune was. I think I'd probably read the rest of the books eventually but I'm not in any big rush anymore.

In the news: Loblaws finding new ways to rip people off

2009-03-12T11:04:00.001-04:00

I recently noticed that Loblaws became a major player in the garbage bag industry. I used to live above a Loblaws and shopped there all the time but since I got married we've been going to Longo's because it's closer. Actually, that's inaccurate -- it's just better. The produce is better, the products are better, and everything is cheaper.

Anyway, I just thought that it was interesting that Loblaws decided to start charging for a previously free service -- they've started charging 5 cents for their garbage bags. I wonder which bonehead came up with that one. Isn't it bad enough that they are already one of the most expensive grocers in Canada?

Where are their loyal customers expected to get their garbage bags from now on? There really is no alternative besides going to another store to shop. Other than No Frill's (which essentially sells Loblaws food that are about to go bad), every other grocer is giving away free garbage bags. What reason could you possibly have to keep shopping at Loblaws?

And I get that they want to help the environment and encourage people not to use plastic bags. I get that. But how will people bag up their garbage? Where will they put it? In my condo, we're required to double-bag all our garbage. That's 10 cents in Loblaws' land.

I propose a solution to all this. Rather than alienate your own customers, you boycott Glad. Stop selling their products altogether. And you band together with other grocers to do the same. Demand that companies like Glad lower their prices for their products, especially their garbage bags. The only reason everyone insists on using plastic grocery bags is because companies like Glad are charging an arm and a leg for their garbage bags. Of course people will continue to choose plastic garbage bags if they have no other alternative.

In the news: Watchmen, Obama=BC,

2009-03-09T13:20:00.006-04:00

I saw this trailer for a movie that looks extremely cheesy, called The Watchmen. It was just one of those trailers than you watch and you turn to the guy beside you and say "Does that look stupid or what?".

I've heard since then that apparently it's based on the best comic book ever made. I don't know anything about comic books so I can't really comment on this. I do know that there are a ton of GREAT books out there that have been called the best book ever, but have not been made into movies because nothing on screen could ever do them any justice, and I've seen some movies based on some amazing books that really sucked bad. So just because it's a great comic book, doesn't mean it'll be a good movie.

--
I had this dream about Obama and how he could do no wrong. No matter what he did, people cheered him for it. In my dream, he had decided to make George Bush Sr his top advisor and people were still cheering like he was the greatest leader ever. Later in the dream he was making a speech, and Laura Bush came up and was yelling at Barbara Bush. And outside the plane (the speeches were made inside Air Force One), there were bombs going off and terrorists were attacking the US. Luckily we took off and flew away from all that.

Obama detractors are interested in seeing him fail at fixing the economy, while supporters say he'll be successful and then when he isn't, they'll say he inherited this horrible Republican economy and it's not his fault if he's unable to save it.

I just find this interesting because it's very similar to Bryan Colangelo and his ascent as the GM of the Toronto Raptors this time last year. He inherited a flawed team with a bad coach and he made some moves and everyone (including me) thought he was taking the right steps towards turning the team around. Instead, it just kept going downhill. Now it's hit rock bottom, and I have no idea what he's doing, he's assembled a horrible team, and not only that, the players he's acquired over the years don't even fit into his philosophy. He wants a running team but Bosh, Calderon, Bargnani, even O'Neal -- none of these players will (ever) thrive in a run-and-gun offense.

A year from now, we will see how popular Obama really is.

Superbowl, Dune, Cake

2009-02-06T14:48:00.003-05:00

The Superbowl was great. It was the second best Superbowl I've ever seen, with last year's game being number one. The Cardinals didn't win, but I can't deny that the game wasn't great, and honestly, I might have called it the best game ever if I'd been cheering for Pittsburgh.

But if you had to compare the two, it really comes down to which team made a huge comeback and which one won the game. This year's game couldn't be #1 because the team who made the huge comeback didn't win the game. The best football game I've ever seen was last year's Superbowl, where comeback was made by the winning team.

Our party turned out pretty good, because in addition to the excitement of the game itself, my wife and I lost out in a bidding war for a house we were trying to buy. I thought it was quite thrilling, the whole process of making offers, then trying to beat your own offer and trying to guess if it would be enough to throw off the other bidder. In fact come to think of it, it was not unlike the Superbowl itself. Like the Cardinals, we came in as an underdog because we were a late entry to the bids. But we very nearly tied it up with our offer, and then took the lead, but in the end, we lost.

Yesterday I called in sick due to the previous day I had been coughing quite a bit at work, and then followed by that I got almost no sleep and thought it was definitely going to catch up with me. So I stayed home and between my Nutella lunch and one of my naps, I decided to watch the movie "Dune". I had read the book a few months ago and I really enjoyed it.

After watching the 30-40 minutes, I really must say -- this book.. this movie, it needs to be re-done. It needs it. For one thing, the characters, the costumes, the machines.. they were nothing.. NOTHING like what I had imagined. I certainly didn't think an ornithopter was going to be this triangular disc-like ship! Where was it's wings?! Further, it being a fairly old movie, one thing that totally threw me off was the special effects. I really truly, TRULY believe this movie has to be re-done. It just has to.

How to have a Superbowl party

2009-01-30T09:37:00.002-05:00

I've been hosting Superbowl parties for the last 4-5 years and they've always been a blast. This year Ina and I are going much smaller because our place isn't nearly as large as my old place, so we've reduced our party size significantly.

I read this blog entry about how to have the perfect Superbowl party. Just a warning, it's a little vulgar, but hilarious nonetheless. They've got a pretty good looking chili recipe somewhere near the middle too. I've included some of my favorites below, and tried to clean it up a little.

If there are people at your party who don’t know (crap) about football, they better (effing) be all be women.
People who come to watch the game are here to watch the game, not explain what's going on for every play!

You must have a high definition television.
Check. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't watch the game from home if we didn't have high definition!

You must have enough seating for all guests, and clear sightlines to the screen.
Ina and I debated for awhile because she wanted to invite more people and I just didn't think there would be enough space. We estimated the seating and in the end we both agreed that 6 people (plus us 2) was the absolute max that our place and setup could handle.

Do not mix partisan guests and nonpartisan guests.
Last year we had the perfect setup with an entire room full of people cheering for the Giants and quite a few of us who hated those cheating Patriots. When David Tyree made that catch off his helmet, my living room absolutely exploded. This year, I'm not sure who will be cheering for whom. I personally don't mind seeing the Steelers win (it's not like it would be unexpected) but I think most people who don't know who to cheer tend to cheer for the (heavy) underdogs. Go Cardinals!

Make the volume of the TV loud enough to shut down any potential conversation.
This one is huge for me. I hate it when people talk during anything I'm watching, even if it's about the show we're watching. Wait until a commercial break or something. I need to here *everything*. Plus I just love listening to John Madden's cliche commentary.

Mandatory food items: Wings, Nacho Cheese Doritos, Nachos, chips and salsa, guacamole, pizza, popcorn, jar of Nutella with spoon in it (for me only).

Have weed handy in case the game goes to (crap).
No weed, but we do have Wii, PS3, XBOX360 and board games just in case.

In the news: Batman, Blow outs, and TAs

2009-01-26T12:57:00.005-05:00

Apparently people are upset that The Dark Knight didn't get nominated for Best Picture. I don't know about that one... I saw Dark Knight and I enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie. But did I think it deserved to be nominated for Best Picture? Did I think it was a special film? I think getting a nomination for Heath Ledger, that was deserved. Dark Knight was a very good action film, easily the best Batman film to date, and thoroughly entertaining. But Best Picture? C'mon.

About the only argument I can give for Dark Knight, is that since getting hitched I haven't really been too active in trying to catch all the nominated films like in previous years (sorry KL). So maybe it's been a weak year for films and therefore, maybe it DID deserve to be nominated. But if I were to put it up with previous years where I did watch most of the nominated films, there is no way Dark Knight gets nominated.

I have however, found time to watch Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I enjoyed both movies. In terms of the Button film, I wonder if I could have had a little more respect for the film if I hadn't already seen Forrest Gump (and considered it to be one of my all-time favorite movies). It's hard not to compare movies like that. I would imagine that being an Academy Award judge could be very difficult after you've seen as many movies as they have, and being that so many films are similar, how do you make an objective opinion? As much as I enjoy watching movies, that doesn't sound like a very easy job to me. Btw, I loved Slumdog Millionaire.

I read this article last week about a girl's highschool basketball game, where one team absolutely destroyed another team 100-0. Even if you ignore the fact that the losing team was comprised of students from a school of students with learning disabilities, you can't not wonder how it came to that score. I mean, if you're up 30-0, wouldn't you let up at that point? Scoring 100 points in no easy task, even most college basketball games end up with teams scoring somewhere between 60-80 points. What made this story worse was that the winning school was a Christian academy. Apparently the coach refused to apologize for allowing the game to get out of hand the way it did, and he was fired as a result. The school said this in a statement: "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition."

I'm guessing that statement would fall on deaf ears in the CCSA.

Another bit of news I found interesting was the York TA Strike. And by interesting, what I really mean is "stupid". Keep in mind that I have very little understanding of this situation so take whatever I say here with a grain of salt. I read this article about how this guy was making just $14,000 per year and the author made it a point that this is well below the poverty line. As well, the person talks about how he is supported by his parents, and that they own a store and are struggling too, so that makes it difficult for the family.

Don't get me wrong.. I get that this is a tough economy. But aren't we talking about a part-time job here? Can you really be complaining about being under the poverty line when you're not making a full effort to make money? I mean I can totally feel for a person working 60-70 hours per week doing various jobs to feed their family. But aren't we talking about a bunch of grad students who are basically working part time to pay for their tuition? At the end of the day, staying in school is a choice. If you can't afford it, why not quit your job and join the workforce like the rest of us?

And how is it that we're always hearing about strikes at York University and not at other schools? Are they being paid significantly less than TAs from other schools? What is the average salary of a unionized TA? Google says approximately $20-24 per hour. What is that, like 15 hours per week? Below the poverty line my ass. No one is forcing you to get another degree.

Second post about broccoli

2009-01-19T11:59:00.004-05:00

I posted about broccoli a couple of years ago and here I am doing it again. Broccoli is one of my all time favorite vegetables. I like them raw or cooked, however, I do not like them mushy.

I could never figure out why grocery stores would sell broccoli for the same price as broccoli crowns. Now I know why. Found this on the web.

Question:

Does the stem of broccoli have the same nutritient content as the florets for those people who prefer to eat only the stems?

Answer:

Thanks for your question. The stems of broccoli are a good source of insoluble fiber, but do not have the same beta-carotene, potassium or vitamin C content of the florets.

So basically the stems are junk and worthless to farmers, otherwise why charge the same price?

Another weekend of football

2009-01-12T11:55:00.006-05:00

I just noticed in the news that Tony Dungy retired from coaching the Indianapolis Colts. That's sad news coming from a Colts fan. The NFL needs more guys like him -- great role models, guys with integrity and strong character. It's unfortunate but probably for the better. He's young enough that he can still work on the many ministries he's involved with, and of course spend more time with his family.

Ina and I watched approximately 14-16 hours of football over the past two days and to be honest, as much I enjoyed watching these games, my eyes were getting pretty tired from staring at the television last night.. especially since there was an additional 2 hours of 24 tacked on after the Steelers/Chargers game.

In the first game, I thought Tennessee would be able to hold off the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup of two of the most unforgiving defenses in the league. These two teams had played before and I guess the matchup had ended in not-so-friendly terms. The two teams appeared to hate eachother.

I told my brother before the game that I thought the Titans would win it because the Titans possessed the only play-maker on the field -- Chris Johnson. There was never any doubt that both teams had strengths and weaknesses, but overall they were pretty evenly matched. What it came down, at least for me, was the presence of one Chris Johnson, the rookie runningback for the Tennessee Titans.

So for the first half, I was proven right. Chris Johnson led the way, moving the chains and pretty much making the Ravens defense look human. But then he hurts his ankle and he's out for the second half, and the Ravens claw back and win it. Titans were completely useless on offense without Chris, which is not surprising since he was pretty much all they had going for them in the first half.

The second game I expected to be a blowout. I was telling my friend from the States (who was cheering for Kurt Warner) that Carolina had Arizona dominated in pretty much every statistical category there was. I told him that the only chance Arizona had was if they were to run the ball effectively; and their run offense was the worst in the league. The chances of Arizona winning this game was close to nothing.

Arizona did everything that I thought they couldn't pull off. The stars aligned and Warner used Edgerrin James like during his glory days with Marshall Faulk and got the offense running on all cylinders. Further, they took an early lead preventing Carolina from using their dominant running game.

Throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters I felt that Carolina should have just run the ball down Arizona's throats. Forget the conventional wisdom of airing it out when you're down and just run like hell. If they had started doing this earlier in the game, there would be no reason to force the ball to Steve Smith or worry about running the clock down. Instead, Jake Delhomme throws 5 interceptions on his way to quite easily one of the worst performances of his life.

The Saturday games were more exciting than the Sunday games, even though I thought Sunday's games were more important.

Next up were the Giants against the surging Eagles. I told my brother that this game was going to go either way, McNabb had been playing well and the Eagles' defense had been very, very good over their last few games. But the game was being played in the Meadowlands and I just didn't think Philly would be able to stop all 3 of Bradshaw, Jacobs and Ward -- the Giant's 3-headed running force.

I was proven wrong though as the Eagles were able to stop them from running and then it came down to Eli trying to beat Eagles' secondary. Eli just was not on his game, at all, throwing inaccurate passes on his way to an unimpressive day. I thought the Giants did a good job of limiting Brian Westbrook and had a fair shot to win this game if it weren't for Eli's uninspiring performance. Any time your defense plays great and you still can't win the game, it's easy to point fingers. They lost this game because of Eli and that hurts, especially after his back-to-the-wall performances in the playoffs last year.

In the final game was Chargers vs Pittsburgh, and I have to admit at this point I was pretty football'ed out. Ina was cheering for Pittsburgh and I cheered for the Chargers which in all honesty came down to me just wanting to see an offense-heavy team win over a superb defense. I saw no reason they could win except through some freakish luck or tragedy from the Steelers' side. I thought even if they had to go with their backup Byron Leftwich, the Steelers should still win this game handily.

Vincent Jackson has had a great year, which surprises me because I never expected that he would be. In previous years, the #1 WR in SD was always the 3rd option on offense after Tomlinson and Gates, and even so I thought Chris Chambers was their best WR. Philip Rivers has had a fantastic year, and has really grown into a good leader of the team even if he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Looking back I'm not even sure Vincent Jackson was even drafted in either of my leagues. I guess the minute we heard Tomlinson was iffy I should have went out and grabbed him.

Somehow I can never get fantasy football out of my head. Okay, back to the game. The Steelers dominated this game because the Chargers had no running game. I hope that all the talk about Darren Sproles being good enough to be a starter, or that he is anywhere nearly as good as Michael Turner can finally stop. The guy is fast and quick, but he's too small and outside of a couple of big meaningless saving-face plays towards the end of the game, when Pittsburgh was just going through the motions and looking towards next week, he was a non-factor in the game.

Next week is Pittsburgh against Baltimore, which I think Pittsburgh should take because they have an offense, and then the more interesting matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the upstart Arizona Cardinals.

I'm going to be cheering for the Cards next week, but looking at the way the Eagles contained the Giant's runners, I don't really see how the Cards can run. I would be just as happy to see the Eagles make it.

Wildcard Weekend

2009-01-08T10:56:00.003-05:00

A friend showed me this site, AdvancedNFLStats.com, which I've spent quite a bit of time reading over the past few days. The author takes a lot of misconceptions in football and clarifies them with statistical analysis. Being a numbers guy I'm fascinated with the stuff he's got here, everything from debunking things like "establishing the run", to whether or not defenses truly win championships, or his take on Spygate.

A lot went on last weekend and I just wanted to weigh in on the weekend of exciting football.

The first game we watched was Atlanta in Arizona. Right off the bat Matt Ryan threw an interception and I thought oh boy, this rookie needs to settle down, which he did. What shocked me early on about the Cards was how much they were running the football in the first quarter, and then why they abandoned the run thereafter. It's a wonder to me how such a potent aerial assault remained successful with no running game whatsoever, unless you count goal-line plunges/dives by Tim Hightower.

Even though Atlanta lost, you'd have to be pretty satisfied and if anything, vindicated, if you're a Falcons fan after the Michael Vick fiasco. This team is headed back in the right direction. Matt Ryan easily had one of the best rookie seasons for a QB since, well, this season's MVP Peyton Manning. And his team certainly had a far better record to show for.

Arizona faces Carolina next week in Carolina, where they face very steep odds of upsetting a team that pretty much dominates them in every facet of the sport. My advice for the Cards is to run, run, and then run some more. Edgerrin James is a fresh after having done almost nothing this year! USE HIM! If there is one thing Carolina isn't so great at, it's stopping the run.

The second game we watched was a heartbreaker. My brother says he hates being a Colts fan in January, and I can see exactly what he means. They break your heart.

I'm not going to say much about this game because it was too close to my heart. Neither of these teams were headed to the Superbowl anyway. Anyone who watched it knows why the Colts lost. Bad defense, terrible tackling and an ineffective running game. Why the Chargers won? Darren Sproles. Their offense sputtered and their backup runningback stepped up against one of the worst run defenses in the playoffs to win it. The Chargers are gonna get demolished by the Steelers.

What I do want to talk about is two things. How in world does an 8-8 team have home field advantage over a 12-4 team? Where is Mark Cuban when you need him most? Mr. Goodell, I propose that you change the rules: Divisional Champs can still make the playoffs, but the seeding needs to change. Home field goes to teams with better records.

Second thing is the overtime. The coin toss that has decided 60% of all overtime games in the past 8 years. Did you know that 99% of all team who won the coin toss in overtime have elected to receive? And 60% of those teams who got the ball first won the game? 30% of all overtime games ended in the coin-toss loser having never touched the ball on offense.

My proposal is this: Have a 5th period that is not sudden death, teams just play another 15 minutes to decide the game. If the game is still tied by the end of the 5th quarter, then play college style where one team tries to equal or better the other as they take turns on offense. Loser of a coin toss tries first. It's a shoot-out of sorts, football style.

I missed the Baltimore Ravens against the Miami Dolphins because I was watching the Raptors beat the Magic at the ACC. Joe Flacco won that game Trent Dilfer style, by doing nothing and relying on blistering defense. The NFL's Most Improved Player Chad Pennington decided to kick it "old school" and reminded the league of why the Jets gave up on him in the first place, throwing 4 interceptions in a 35-9 drubbing.

The Ravens will have to show a lot more on offense against the Titans in Tennessee. I believe in Joe Flacco more than Kerry Collins, but I think the Titans can take this simply by shoving the ball down the Ravens' throats with Chris Johnson and Lendale White. I am hoping Jeff Fisher has dissected every second of the Giants' win over the Ravens back in November. In that game, the Giants attacked Ravens' formidable run defense and found a way to get through. Lendale White is built like a tank, similar to Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward. And between you and me, there is no comparison between Chris Johnson and Ahmad Bradshaw. The Titans have what it takes to win this one.

The final matchup was between the Eagles and the Vikings. I've never been a huge fan of the Eagles, or Donovan McNabb but I thought this game was the Eagles to lose. Even though they squeaked into the playoffs having had pretty much every impossible scenario fall into place, I honestly thought they were the better team even coming into it. Tavaris Jackson was replaced for a reason. He's young and raw and given that he didn't have the entire season to develop confidence, the minute he started to thwart, it was all downhill and you could feel it happening right before your eyes. There was no way this team was going to go deep into the playoffs with an inexperienced quarterback. McNabb is the QB that Tavaris Jackson hopes to become in 5-6 years.

The Eagles at the Giants game this week is the one to look out for. I think it is the most evenly matched.

Yes We Can!

2008-12-18T16:27:00.003-05:00

If you think about how bad the Raptors have been this past week, then multiply by 20.. that is how bad the Detroit Lions have been this season. Actually, it's really more like multiplying by 500, considering that they've been bad for over a decade. Still, let's just stick to the 2008-2009 season. They are currently 0-14, having lost all of their games up to this point with 2 games remaining.

To me, the only way to salvage their season is by losing all their games. Yes, I said salvage.

They'll make it into the history books, get their names bronzed and be remembered for something significant, the only team ever to lose all their games in the NFL, to go winless for an entire season. Famous for mediocrity is better than not being famous at all. 1-15 is for losers.. 0-16 is an artform.

Yes We Can!

Heart Like Yours

2008-12-15T11:48:00.002-05:00

I haven't done this in a long time, but I felt like my readers would be missing out if I didn't.. and given the fact that it was released 4 months ago and I didn't even know it existed says this album needs some free advertising. I'm not much into reviews these days, but I'd like to say that this is a great album and encourage anyone to buy it. So here's my "Heart Like Yours" (SonicFLood) mini-review/plug.

I picked up this album at a Family Christian Bookstore down in the states during our trip down to Lebanon, Ohio. I honestly didn't know SonicFlood was still around and upon checking, found they aren't.. at least not the original Grammy-winning group. Rick Heil does deserve some credit though, as I felt the sound was similar to the original group. You can read up on it at Wikipedia if you're interested. I think of this album as old SonicFlood meets Chris Tomlin (but with a little more originality).

Lyrically the album is not particular strong, but the music itself seems catchy and original. I think it's fair to say this is the second best SonicFlood album ever made.

Best speech

2008-12-12T08:09:00.001-05:00

Can I go 5 rounds without drafting RB?

2008-12-09T17:11:00.003-05:00

I'm just gonna put this here on record so I can look back someday.

In my keeper league, my top 3 keepers are going to be:
RB Brian Westbrook
RB Frank Gore
RB Steven Jackson

3 studs. Don't ask me how I got them.. suffice to say there is no one else of any kind of value left on my team. But 3 studs may mean nothing if I go into the draft next year and go crazy and draft more RBs that I don't need.

I predict I need to draft at least 3 receivers and a quarterback in the next 5 rounds, possibly 2 QBs if I waited until the 7th round to draft the first.
Can I go 5 rounds without draft a runningback?

Time will tell..

Alive and kicking

2008-11-10T14:16:00.007-05:00

A little bird told me that I should make a post so that everyone knew I was still alive and kicking. So, here is what's been on my mind lately:

On life in general:

Life has been good. Ina and I are a week away from 6 months of married life it's felt like a lot longer. Not to say that it's boring, we've just gotten so used to eachother and our daily routines that the time has just literally flown by. No house yet, still looking. Might wait til next spring as the market continues to bottom out. A couple of houses we really liked ended up selling $100k less than they originally listed for, so we'll continue to play the waiting game.

On serving:

Ina and I have been looking for areas for us to serve together. After weighing several options, including joining a couples' small group, continuing on with where we are currently, or helping out with youth fellowships, we've decided to start our own small group together, focusing on new Christians and seekers.

As for worship team, I took the summer and fall off, and now I'm considering giving it up altogether. I've completely lost interest in it.

On missions:

It's possible that I'm being led astray, but lately I've felt no urgency or excitement towards going to Longlac. In fact, I've had a weary attitude towards it. I think it has something to do with the church deciding to start ministering to #77 entirely, even though we invested the last 5 years ministering and building relationships with #58 (3 years for me). It just seems to me like not finishing something you started. I still chat with some of these kids on MSN. What am I supposed to say to them when they ask me if I'm coming to visit this summer? No. Actually, I'm not. I'm visiting your neighbors but not you?

Anyway, I'm currently exploring an opportunity to go to China for a short term mission trip. I contacted the pastor about it but after 2 weeks he still hasn't gotten back to me about it.

On politics:

Obama won, the first black president so it's big deal -- for those who see color.

He promises "Change" but what is he planning to change? The political climate? Bush is gone so that would have changed regardless. Racial prejudice change? Economical change? Change in attitude towards warmongering Americans?

I think he's a great speaker and a great leader. He's a great motivator and speaks with conviction. He says what everyone wants to hear, and sometimes, what everyone needs to hear.

It's a great time for the young people, because they voted and it finally made a difference. It's a great time for the soldiers who've spent the last half decade risking their lives in Iraq searching for the weapons of mass destruction that never existed. It's even a great time for Christian Americans. No more sitting on your hands, people. Time to get a move on. Your leader (of ambiguous religion) will make sure of this. However, it's not so great a time for unborn babies with reluctant mothers. Better hope your mom changes her mind before she murders you... because Obama supports that.

On basketball:

I'm beginning to notice why all the doubters believe the Raptors are going in the wrong direction. Same problems as last year, only now we have a $22M contract staring us in the face. He will go away in 2 years, but wouldn't it have been better to trade for guys who actually address our problems?

We're 4-2 right now, and we will probably make the playoffs, and we might even win a series. But I honestly don't think we're any closer to being contenders than we were last year. We added a former all-star, but we also still have 2 starters who are better suited as role players. And our bench, don't get me started on our bench. Half these guys shouldn't be playing in the NBA.

Priority swing

2008-10-03T09:20:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I missed an entire month of posting on my blog. It seems like a lot of things have become a lower priority for me since getting married.

As a single guy I immediately noticed how guys would change once they got into a serious relationship, and then even moreso when they got married. Things they once appeared to hold dear to them fell away from them. Priorities change and I understood that, but what I couldn't understand is how they so quickly lost interest in things that I thought they were interested in.

I always thought that when I got married, things would be different. That could never happened to me.. I am set in my ways and I'm stubborn. It's a scary thought from a single guys' point of view, seeing someone change. But once you're in those shoes you realize there's nothing scary about it.

For those of you who haven't tried it yet, married life is fantastic. Nothing compares to it -- it's just the greatest thing in the world. I'm often puzzled when married people ask me, "So, how's married life?", as if they didn't already know how awesome it is.

One thing I noticed immediately pretty much since Ina and I started dating was my lack of interest in music. If you've been following this blog for along time, you'll know I used to buy a lot of music CDs, and I'd even review them here. I don't think I've bought a CD in since we got married. I just stopped caring and realized I had better uses for my money, and better things to do. All of a sudden, radio is good enough for me.

Another thing I've noticed is my interest in movies has drastically diminished. I go less overboard about movies, I'm no longer excited about a movie coming out, or go out of my way to watch one. I no longer feel the need to be the first guy to see a movie when it comes out. To me it's become just another form of entertainment. I can be entertained at home just as well as in a theatre and at home I can go pee when I need to, and leave my cellphone on.

I've also lost interest in what is happening in Hollywood. I used to know all the ins and outs, who was cheating, the feuds and the embarassing photos online. I used to know who deserved an Oscar, not because they were nominated for one but because I'd seen every worthwhile film that year and could make a fair assessment. What I've come to realize is that it was pointless to fill up my head with all that useless nonsense.

I've also seemed to lose interest in the Toronto Raptors. Usually I would be super excited for the season to start, especially at this time of year. This year -- I feel nothing. I know it's coming, and I just picked up my Raptor tickets. But for some reason I feel nothing. I'm not excited or anxious for the season to start. I tried reading up on the team to whet my appetite, but I get nothing. I just don't care that much any more.

Once you're married, all those "fun" things you did as single person no longer seem fun. Everything you used to do appears boring and mundane. I've found that you truly begin to realize what's important in life and your priorities change for the better.

My popo

2008-08-23T14:45:00.012-04:00

About a year ago Ina and I went down to San Francisco, but before that we stopped in Hayward to visit my grandparents, who were being looked after by my aunt. At the time my parents thought it'd be a great chance for us to see them because they were likely too old to travel up to Toronto to attend our wedding the following May.

My Popo and I have had some epic battles back in the day. She would come up to Toronto to visit during the summers from Taiwan and look after me during my summer holidays, and stay until it got cold. We had a lot of fights because Popo was super stubborn and refused to ever let me win at anything, and I hated that because I hate losing. She never let me win, and on top of that often would gloat after beating me, relishing in my defeats. I remember vividly once we were playing Chinese Chess, and once again she creamed me and so I picked up a playing piece and threw it at her in frustration. She threw one back at me and the next thing I knew were we throwing them at eachother. Come to think of it, those things were pretty heavy, I'm surprised we didn't break anything. She got me on the shoulder and I started to cry. She just laughed.

Popo was also way too smart for her own good. I had heard that various pastors and ministers had come to try to share the gospel with her and she refused to believe. She was too clever, Christianity was too "easy" for her, it was silly to her. Even when my mom shared her personal testimony and invited her to church to hear it, she came but she was too stubborn to acknowledge whether or not she was touched by my mom's story.

My Popo never really worked, she painted beautiful paintings using the Chinese watercolor method. I remember back in our old house in Unionville, my dad picked up an old drafting table and set it up in the dinning room, and Popo set up her painting scrolls and paints and brushes and would sit there and practice. She taught me to how to paint too, how to hold the brush (mao bi) properly and how to write. She had these special practice papers which you could paint on over and over with water and the water would just evaporate quickly. She taught me how to paint the flowers, leaves and branches. Our house was filled with many of her painting scrolls. I used to spend about 30 minutes after getting home from school, and practice my writing skills and painting skills while I ate those pineapple filled biscuits (fong li su).

When I was little I loved to eat (and still do) these little banana cakes, (shiang giao gao), and my Popo figured out how to make it. I mean this was before the internet when you could just look it up and find a recipe. She made it by tasting it and feeling its texture. She'd never made it before and she just figured it out, somehow.

When I was 11, my mom, my brother and I went to Taiwan and stayed there for 6 weeks. This was during the school year so I missed all that time from school, though I took lots of homework and textbooks to keep up. I remember going shopping with my grandma, just the two of us. We'd go into the grocery store and they had this conveyor belt just for your shopping cart to take it upstairs because there was no other way to take it up there. I guess it was to save space. Then when you bought stuff you stick it back on there and it brings it back down for you. She used to buy me all kinds of yummy goodies and little toys with wound up rubber bands as engines. At the apartment she always made me this pork that I loved.. I still remember it. It had just enough meat and fat on it.. I think we ate it almost every other day. It was so good.

I have so many fond memories of Popo.

Anyway, while we were visiting in Hayward, my aunt told me that Popo hadn't really spoken in some time. She did most of her communication by pointing to things. But while I was there I got to talking to her and she spoke to me. It was a touching moment for me, one that I will remember for the rest of my life. I introduced her to my future wife, and we talked a bit about the old times, memories and silly things I used to do to make her laugh. I found out that she had accepted Christ, which was really great news.

Popo passed away on August 21, 2008. She will be missed.

Liukin vs Kexin

2008-08-19T08:28:00.005-04:00

Before I get into the matchup, just wanted to give a shout out the Jamaican girl who won the 100m. That had to be one of the funniest and silliest celebrations we've seen in the Olympics, she looked so happy running around with the flag, and confusing the cameramen by changing directions and falling over herself with pure joy.

Yesterday we watched and listened to the entire sequence for both CBC and NBC's coverage of the women's individual gymnastics on the uneven bars. There was some hoopla over the scoring for the event, mostly coming from the US, which ended in a tiebreaker that awarded the gold to Chinese He Kexin over American Nastia Liukin. Since none of the American commentators new the rules for tiebreakers, they ended making a huge fuss over it.

I actually thought Liukin's routine should have scored higher. Having watched both the US and Canadian coverage of it (each channel has a camera from opposite sides of the apparatus) it seemed to me Liukin made 1 or 2 less mistakes. "He" had a pretty awesome double release move, but at the end of the day they both had the same start value and difficulty, so you would assume the person who made less mistakes gets a higher score. But then again what do I know -- my experience as a spectator of gymnastics spans approximately 8 days.

I found it interesting that the CBC coverage simply explained the tiebreak, whereas the US coverage went on and on first about not understanding the logistics of the tiebreak, (at which point they were blaming the computer, which I take exception to). Then upon being enlightened of the rules, they thought the rules were stupid. Which is pretty much what anyone would say if they lost on a technicality, which Liukin did. But it still seemed pretty comical coming from the commentators point of view.. reminded me a little of a Pro-Line commercial and the US being on the losing side of one.

This post is brought to you by:

Eczema and other annoyances

2008-08-18T11:11:00.015-04:00

Over the past few years I've noticed that I get a rash in the summer time on my elbows and knees, but this year in particular it's been pretty crazy. I used to just wash it thinking it was just sweat, but recently I found out it was eczema. I remember a few years ago scolding AT over and over again for scratching her scars, and now I understand why she wouldn't stop. Boy is it ever itchy!

Now I'm the one with scabs all over my arms, elbows and knees. I'm the one rubbing steroids into my skin and trying not to scratch. What a pain in the butt this is. Maybe I shouldn't be using the word "butt". I'd hate for this thing to spread over there..

Ina and I have discovered while watching Olympics that we need to pick and choose the station based on the sport, which can have varying degrees of annoyances amongst the commentators. Either you choose the American commentators of NBC who are extremely biased towards the USA, or the Canadian commentators of CBC, many of whom have no experience commenting on the sport they've been assigned to so they often sound like complete morons.

So it comes down to US Patriots versus Canadian Idiots. I am one of those Canadians that absolutely *loathe* American pride. And yet in this case, I choose the bias because outside of swimming the US hasn't really been doing all that great. China seems to be winning everything else except for track and field where the Jamaicans are cleaning up. Besides, other than media types and journalists the NBC commentators have been pretty gracious.

CBC commentators are the absolute worst, particularly because they hired a bunch of former athletes who have no business doing commentary. This becomes apparent particularly in diving, where Anne Montminy seems to be reading from a script which contains these two lines:

1) That was a miss for him/her/them!
2) That was terrific!

She's got a 50% chance of being right, and it seems like she gets it right half the time so my guess is she's using a random number generator to decide which line to read. My favorite comment in diving so far came from her partner, who we heard say "Looks like the judges don't agree with you" after she had commented that one of the pairs of synchronized divers had missed badly.

Anne also believes these two women look exactly the same:
The second annoying commentator is Paul Romanuk, commentating for Olympic basketball. I can't think of too many guys who could screw this up more. Perhaps Rod Black, who thankfully works for CTV. There is nothing worse than a hockey play-by-play guy doing basketball.

Finally, if you have spent any time in the subways, or watching CBC, or driven by the billboards you should have seen Bell's latest ad-campaign. The annoying little beavers are finally gone, ill-advised if you ask me, and they've got this new "er" thing. Which makes very little sense, I have no idea where they are going with it, but I'm having a lot of fun.

Narrow eyes

2008-08-14T09:02:00.005-04:00

Ina and I had a pretty good laugh after I showed her this picture, which has sparked a lot of controversy over the past few days. I've had some interesting conversations about this with various people. Since Jose Calderon is in the photo, there's been a bit of hoopla coming out of the Raptors community. Apparently some people feel Jose Calderon must be a racist based on this photo where he is spreading his eyes apart and supposedly offending all Chinese people as a result.

For me, it seems harmless enough. I happen to have narrow eyes, I was born this way and it is part of my identity. That got me thinking about what they could have done that REALLY would have offended me. I came up with a few ideas:

How about trying to make a mockery out of what was easily the most spectacular Olympic opening ceremonies in history of the world? How about if they blamed a bunch of accidents on Chinese people, who obviously purposely used toxic materials to make toys so that they could harm children? Oh, maybe they could make fun of our culture and diet, how we eat things that are absolutely disgusting that makes you want to puke. The Chinese won double gold in team gymnastics? There could be no other explanation other than that the Chinese were under-age, after all they've been lying about their age for years. Chinese people are all a bunch of liars. How about a picture of the Spanish basketball team all wearing gas masks because apparently the Beijing air is toxic and if you breathe it you will die, and 16 million people living there must be mutated because otherwise how else could they possibly breathe?

You want to offend Chinese people, see the above for ideas. Oh wait, they've all been done before.

Jubilation

2008-08-12T14:40:00.005-04:00

... is the word I would use to describe the 4x200 men's relay in finals swimming. Watching the US overcome a significant lead by France to win the gold, with the help of an older man on the team. That was awesome, and helps Michael Phelps continue his quest for 8 gold medals! To see him celebrate in joy was great too, I think that picture will be one of those images we will see again and again for the next couple weeks. Simply awesome!

Before I begin the following rant, let me just say that the opening ceremonies were spectacular. They were by far the best ever without any doubt. I can't help but shudder at the thought of what Toronto could have come up with. Granted, China likely operated on a limitless budget, but still. What is Canada famous for? What legacies do we have, what are things we can be proud of? I wonder if Steven Harper would even bother showing up.

Ina and I have watched a lot of Olympics because of our ability to record everything. We've been recording the CBC feed, but have noticed that they re-run a lot of footage, and skip a lot of the things we want to see, while showing a lot of stuff online instead (which we can't view due to a slower internet connection). Furthermore, why would we watch on a little screen after we paid for HD content? That's been pretty disappointing to say the least, when you consider that in the past CBC has been a treat compared to the available US feeds.

We're at the brink of switching all our recordings to the US feed, who have more emphasis on things we actually want to watch, such as team gymnastics, swimming, rowing. It seems that CBC has "sold out" a little bit, putting more emphasis on Canadians, even though they all suck. Rarely do we get to see an event that Canada is not involved in, except for maybe beach volleyball. I don't know about the average Canadian viewer, but personally when I'm watching the Olympics I would rather see the best compete -- excellence, regardless of who is competing -- than watch yet another Canadian fail.

For example, why show the entire match of the Canadian boxer who got pummeled mercilessly by the Kazakh, 20-1? How necessary was it show that entire fight, not to mention twice more in various re-runs. You didn't make us watch Sue Nattress miss 25 shots in shooting, so why force us to watch a Canadian getting the snot punched out of him?

Also, say it with me -- "LAST PLACE". There is no such thing as 4th place out of 4 teams, 12th place out of 12 competitors. Nobody needs to be patronized. It's last, so just say it.

Madden Curse

2008-08-07T12:10:00.004-04:00

The question is, was the trade and all of the bad publicity a result of the Madden curse, or has the curse not taken into effect yet?

And since Favre is wearing a Packers jersey in the cover (which EA has no intention of changing), does this mean that both Green Bay and Favre will be cursed this season?

Consider this: Green Bay has likely ZERO chance of making the playoffs now, after botching the handling of this entire situation. They've estranged their own fans and insulted an NFL legend. I don't know about you but if I'm GB why would I side with a relative unknown and unproven Aaron Rodgers? Just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

As for Brett Favre, he's joining a really bad team that will all of a sudden become a team that has a chance at the playoffs. I think they can do it because Brett makes them that much better. But is Favre is cursed?

Melon diet: FAIL

2008-08-05T16:18:00.004-04:00

Ina and I planned to go on an all-melon diet on Monday. I declared it on Saturday, saying that on Monday, we would be going for the All-Melon diet. An All-Melon Monday.

We bought a bunch of melons: 1 watermelon, 2 cantaloupes (they were on sale, 2 for $5), 1 honeydew, and 1 canary melon.

Monday, late morning I chopped them up into bite size pieces and we started to eat them, because we were pretty hungry.

We'd bought some kind of chinese soup mix with watercress and meat and all kinds of goodies. Ina decided to make this while we were on this diet. It seemed innocent enough, but I think it may have led to our ultimate failure.

So around 12pm, we were still munching away on cantaloupe and honeydew, and I was getting really, really hungry. My stomach was full, and yet the hunger lingered.

At about 2pm, the soup was just about ready and Ina had a taste despite our diet. It smelled soooo good. I just had to have some. I only had the liquid.

At 2:30, I couldn't take it anymore. I declared it to be a No-Meat Monday instead, and as we were both famished we each cooked up some instant noodles and ate them up ravenously. My noodles tasted like (bleep!), but I was so hungry I gobbled it all up.

(Ina and I bought 5 packets of instant noodles each, a few weeks ago, in a fun attempt to find the best instant noodle that had a great mix of low price and good taste. I found a few that were 33 cents each. What a deal!)

Oh, might as well add the Push Up thing to the subject header too. 100 push ups? I haven't done any since Ina got back. FAIL.

Consequences

2008-07-24T10:55:00.001-04:00

Pastor Ian preached about Consequences this past Sunday. It made me think about a lot of the choices I've made in the past. One of things that's been on my mind, obviously, is blogging. But moreover I've been thinking a lot about how much the world has changed, how close we are together and how easily we can reach eachother.

Whether that's a good thing or not can be left up to you to decide.

But about blogging. Of course I've always known that this blog is readily available to anyone with internet access, except perhaps those with restricted access in various countries. But it never really became so apparent to me as it did a couple weeks ago. It's just the realization that ANYONE could be reading this.

I never really thought twice that what I said here could affect other people. The consequences of sharing my experiences a year ago could have huge repercussions. It's one big web of dissension.

Perhaps the word itself "blog" is somewhat deceiving. Originating from "web log", it is a log that is found on the web. It's accessible to the general public. But when you think of logs, or journals, or perhaps diaries, the word "public" does not enter your mind. To view a log usually takes some work. You might need to retrieve a log, say from a storage device. A journal might require you to search under someone's mattress or pillow. Finding a diary might not be good enough, a lot of them have locks and require a key to open --- and heaven forbid if you did open it up --- reading someone's diary is widely considered an invasion of privacy. But a blog.. a blog is read by everyone.

(In fact, the moment you press "Publish" it is pretty much etched in stone. Even if you retract it, it's already too late because people have those pesky RSS feeders that retrieve it the instant you publish.)

Pretty crazy. Kinda makes you want to think twice the next time you post, eh?

Perfect pitch

2008-07-22T14:59:00.002-04:00

I only know a few people with perfect pitch. Many people say they have perfect pitch but then they prove otherwise by their singing. I don't know if that means they don't have perfect pitch, but I do know they didn't sing in perfect pitch. Or could it be that I'm so way off myself, that perfection sounds off? I'm not so sure.

For whatever reason, I've been listening to a lot of Carpenters lately. Two weeks ago I was listening to a whole lot of rap music at work, then I saw Hellboy II, and found myself listening to Barry Manilow. Then for some reason I started looking up Carpenters, and now I can't get enough of it. Karen Carpenter had such a great voice, it's soft and gentle, yet assertive. And she's got perfect pitch for sure, there's no doubt about it. She sounded pretty damn good in her day, makes me sad that she died so young.

--

Day 3

Level 1: 5
Level 2: 4
Level 3: 4
Level 4: 3
Level 5: max (at least 5)

So I went ahead with the program last night, just after dinner. Everything went fine, this morning I'm not sore at all, I'm not sure what to think of that. Anyhow, I managed 12 on level 5, just barely bettering my previous record of 11 in a row.

Although the program suggests 3 days per week, I kind of want just keep going on this every other day thing that I've been doing so far.

The best movie ever made?

2008-07-21T11:25:00.005-04:00

On Saturday I went down to Mel Lastman Square to check out the CCSA mid-season mixer. There were a few bands playing, a couple of them comprised of kids from our church so I just wanted to see how good they were. I called my brother and we met up there, listened to the bands play and then we got bored and decided to go home.

As I headed back into Empress Walk I wondered aloud if the theater was showing The Dark Knight, because sometimes it doesn't show the big blockbuster films.

We went up the escalator and lo and behold there it was, and it was starting 15 minutes! So in we went.

Amazingly the theatres were all full, they had been showing the film all day and even ours was full. Rule of thumb: If Empress Walk theaters are full, then it MUST be a good movie.

I don't know if I would call it the best movie of all time, although some people believe it to be truth. It was pretty damn good, though flawed in that I felt like it could have ended a whole lot sooner, but I understand they wanted to do Dent some justice.

But easily the best Batman film ever. By a mile.

Anyway, go watch it. 15 million others already have.

--

Day 2 of the push up plan was as follows (I did this on Saturday):

Level 1: 4 push ups
Level 2: 3 push ups
Level 3: 2 push ups
Level 4: 2 push ups
Level 5: max (at least 4)

90 seconds break between each level. I managed to get 11 at level 5, once again smashing my old record of 9 in a row. I guess I was overly optimistic to expect a linear improvement, going from 4 to 9 to 11. Am I peaking? I hope not. I was feeling pretty sore after Day 1, whereas today (for Day 3) I'm not feeling any soreness at all. Could I hit 15 today, or 12?

Week 1, Day 1

2008-07-17T22:14:00.002-04:00

In the hundred push ups plan, day 1 of week 1 has 5 levels:

Level 1: 2 push ups
Level 2: 2 push ups
Level 3: 2 push ups
Level 4: 2 push ups
Level 5: max (at least 5)

You're supposed to give yourself 1 minute between each level of break time. I seemed to do relatively well, on Level 5 I managed 9 push ups in a row, smashing my old record of 4 in a row. The instructions say to give at least 1 day between workout days, I guess it gives your muscles a chance to tear and heal. Anyhow, I plan to do the next day on Saturday. I hope you will keep my accountable.
--
There's the kid who performs at Market Square (that's the "square" in front of Metro Hall) once in awhile on Thursdays for "Indulge". They have food for sale and a farmer's market and live music. Anyway this kid is named Jordan John. He's a drummer but he can sing and I saw him play the electric guitar once. He's amazing..

He's living proof of how hard it must be to break into the music industry. The fact that he's not considered one of the more talented Canadian kids out there is amazing to me, unless he's simply just not interested in fame. Seeing him today playing drums and singing at the same time was really cool. I think what impresses me is that he plays the drums so effortlessly.

He'll be back next week and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

onehundredpushups

2008-07-17T09:39:00.000-04:00

I found this site, http://www.hundredpushups.com yesterday through my newsfeed on Lifehacker yesterday. It's a 6-week training program that promises that by investing 3 days a week for a total of 30 minutes per week, you will be able to (or be well on your way to) do 100 push ups in one go.

The beauty of course with push ups is there's no equipment required, and you don't have to go anywhere to do it. That pretty much fits well with my lifestyle.

The site should was down for most of yesterday (they call this phenomenon lifehacker'd, but when it came back on I downloaded and printed out the PDF complete plan.

There is an initial test before you get started. This helps to determine the level of difficulty that you are about to embark on. The training itself has 3 levels, based on where you ranked on the initial test.

Rank 1: 0-5 push ups
Rank 2: 6-14 push ups
Rank 3: 15-29 push ups
Rank 4: 30-49 push ups
Rank 5: 50-99 push ups
Rank 6: 100-150 push ups
Rank 7: 150 & above

It's also broken down by age. Less than 40, between 40 and 55, and above 55. The above scale is for anyone under 40. I guess if you're at rank 5 or higher, you don't really need this training thing at all. I fell into Rank 1, managing just 4 push ups in one go. I haven't worked out seriously since 2000 back in Ottawa, so although getting 4 seemed low, I think it sounds just about right. My arms are much smaller than those days, and I'm also about 15 pounds heavier.

They said that most people fall between Ranks 2 and 3 and not to be discouraged by your rank, because the training will put everyone on an even playing field. They also say it's important you don't cheat or cut corners because it'll just mean you will fail when you go through the training. Push ups are all about the right form, if you don't have the right form you could just be wasting your time, not to mention endangering yourself to injuries.

I plan to start the program tonight.

Response

2008-07-08T16:18:00.004-04:00

My hands have been literally shaking and my heart has been pounding as I typed this up. I really do feel awful about this. It's not the first time I've gotten in trouble for blogging, but for something that's so close to my heart, it's pretty devastating in my opinion.

I'd like to apologize and respond to a recent comment made to a post I wrote about a year ago, regarding one of the journey entries about my trip to Longlac in 2007.

What had happened was I had posted my thoughts and feelings about something that had happened on one of the evenings and those comments offended some people. Well .... given that it's readily and available on the internet, I likely offended more than just a few people.

I'd like to apologize. What was said was not only insensitive, but it gave the perception that I was "better" than the people I was describing, and that could not be further from the truth.

First of all I just wanted to say that these things that I post here are solely of my opinion only -- I don't represent other people and therefore if anyone is still angry, that anger should only be directed at me. I say a lot of dumb things.. it happens.

My post regarding my experiences in Longlac -- particularly the one about the incident at the church. In that post I described some kids as "demon-possessed". I didn't mean to imply that the children were actually demon-possessed, it was more that I was scared, and my post was a reactionary "in the heat of the moment" description of the events that took place.

I want to apologize for hurting anyone's feelings and for conveying a negative message.

I also wanted everyone to know that I've taken down all of my Longlac sharing blogs to ensure that no one else will read them and get the wrong idea about the people of Longlac, and both reserves.

One of the #1 questions I get about Longlac is why I keep going back every year. If I like kids, why not just work the inner-city Toronto kids? If I like missions, why not travel overseas? Why go back to Longlac each year?

The thing about Longlac, the honest truth.. is that I love the kids there. Maybe it sounds a little selfish but I love spending time with the kids, playing games and just talking to them. It's such a joy to be amongst them and I feel blessed for being part of their lives, and I hope that some day they feel the same way about me. The best thing of all is going back each year and recognizing faces.. and I get such a thrill when some of them remember me.

With these recent events coming into light, it pains me even more that I'm not going this year. It was a difficult enough decision to begin with, and now it pains me that I miss out on the opportunity to apologize in person and to show how much these people mean to me.

Again just to reiterate, I'm truly sorry for the things I said. I know that this response probably isn't enough to heal hurt feelings, I only hope that in time, you will forgive me.

White bred

2008-07-04T14:33:00.004-04:00

Here is a self-portrait.

Let me tell you a story, it's not something I'm particularly proud of, call it a moment of weakness.. but it is what it is.

This never would have happened if my co-worker hadn't ditched me. We were supposed to go to Burger King for the fish burger deal, but at lunch time I poked my head out of my cubicle to find that he had already left. So I went down to BK myself, but halfway there I had a craving for Bourbon St Grill.

Bourbon St Grill is a food court restaurant that has huge portions, relatively cheap and huge portions. Did I mention huge portions? I ordered the same thing I always get, the blackened fish with green beans on steamed rice. The fish is to die for, and the beans.. I've tried to make them but I can't figure it out. Somehow it's soggy the way I like them, but also crunchy the way I like them. And juicy. They're perfect. Their rice leaves much to be desired though, it's sort of this hard, non-sticky kind.

I stood in line and ordered, and then to my delight I found I had perfect amount of change to pay $21.54 so I could get $15 back in bills. Love it when that happens.. anyway I grabbed a handful of sauce packets, plastic cutlery and headed back to the office.

So anyway I was sitting there eating my lunch when I noticed I'd picked up some a packet of soy sauce amongst the packets I usually get (plum sauce, hot sauce). And that is when it happened.

With all the hard chewy rice, I wondered how this would taste with some soy sauce.. Right away my conscience spoke up ---

"Thinking about putting soy sauce in your rice?! What are you, a WHITE boy?"

I shook my head at the thought and continued eating. But the rice was really hard.

"Don't you DARE! BRIAN -- Stop this at once! Don't even think about it!!"

But I couldn't help it. In my mind I was already reaching towards the little packet. I was finding the rice hard to swallow, nearly choking on it. If I put some soy sauce, it might be easier to eat, I thought. Plus it would add some flavor.. The thought crept back into my head while I tried to resist the temptation to commit the unfathomable.

Finally, I stopped eating. I put down my chopsticks and looked around to make sure no one was looking. When the coast was clear, I tore into the soy sauce. I splashed it around in the rice, cackling with an evil but sinister super villainous laugh. It was like one of those homicidal pyromaniacs who splash gasoline all over their victims in the movies, before they light them on fire. All the while being extremely cautious as to not attract any attention, of course. Then I stirred furiously and, in a matter of seconds, my white rice was now brownish. I had done it.

I had mixed soy sauce into my rice, and somewhere, in the great beyond or perhaps underground, an old chinese man rolled over in his grave.

The lap of luxury

2008-07-03T16:13:00.000-04:00

I saw this Dinner in the Sky thing on Breakfast Television this morning. It looks fun and all, but COME ON people.. is this really necessary? Do we have so much money that we need to blow it on something like this? I mean really??

Can you think of a better way to say F*** YOU to all the starving kids in the world, than this? Not only do we have more food than you, we are EATING it up in the SKY. Are we so bored that we need to be entertained this way? Yup, we're so well-off and spoiled that we're paying the big bucks, so we can be lifted into the sky and eat up there, hang out feet off the ledge -- cuz hey, we're rich and you're not!

Mangosteen: Gross

2008-06-27T11:49:00.002-04:00

Finally got my hands on a pair of mangosteen. According to wikipedia, it's supposed to be one of those "super fruits", with tons of anti-oxidants and other kinds of goodness.

One thing they forgot to leave out was how gross they taste. For $6.49/lb, I would recommend sticking with blueberries.

RB with a new QB

2008-06-20T10:47:00.003-04:00

Someone asked me whether or not I thought Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant could repeat his amazing rookie breakout performances this season without Brett Favre. That's big question because without Favre they're going with Aaron Rodgers, who has never started in his career. Being thrusted in this type of role will be a huge responsibility. I don't know about Rodgers but personally I'm not too worried about Grant. I have him in one of my keeper leagues as my #3 RB behind Steven Jackson and Maurice Jones-Drew although I'd argue Grant could be my 2nd best guy.

I'm sure many other fantasy owners are wondering whether opponents will just stack the line and stop Grant, forcing Rodgers to win games with his arm and hope he makes tons of rookie mistakes. I won't disagree that Rodgers has to be half-decent for Grant to have a great year, but I don't think it's reason to downgrade Grant.

Grant became the main ball carrier for Green Bay starting week 8, and amassed 1048 yards (929 rushing) and 8 touchdowns in that span. He did that in 10 games. This means he averaged 104.8 yards (93 rushing) and 0.8 touchdowns per game as a starter.

Over a 16 game span, Grant would have had 1677 total yards and 13 touchdowns. That's pretty good for a rookie.

In the past there have been several RBs who not only performed well despite a rookie quarterback taking over, they did exceptionally well -- some of them turned in career bests. Marshall Faulk was huge in Peyton Manning's first year. (I'm not comparing Aaron Rodgers to Peyton Manning, so take a chill pill.). Hold your breath, there's more -- Antowain Smith had his best season playing for the Pats in Tom Brady's first season. In Phillip Rivers' first season as starting quarterback, LaDainian Tomlinson had his best career as a professional football player. Frank Gore had his best season in Alex Smith's first full season as a starter -- in fact if you count Smith's starts in 2005, Gore career pretty much took off the same time as Smith's did. I don't know if you remember this far back but Duce Staley had a pretty nice year til he got hurt, and Jerome Bettis was so good in relief he made it to the Pro Bowl, his first time in 3 years. That was in Ben Roethlisberger's first season. In Tony Romo's first season 2006, that was the year Marion Barber broke out for 14 TDs. Heck, even when Kyle Boller took over as starter in Baltimore in 2003, Jamal Lewis had his best year ever as pro.

I've included average QBs such as Kyle Boller, Alex Smith, Tom Brady (just kidding!) to prove that Aaron Rodgers doesn't need to be a superstar quarterback for Grant to succeed.

The only guys I can think of where a young quarterback took over for a team and the RB sucked was Jay Cutler (no notable breakout for any RB in Denver), Matt Schaub (TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn, neither had a huge breakout season).

As long as Aaron Rodgers doesn't turn out as bad as Cutler or Schaub (two guys who aren't necessarily bad QBs as they just didn't have good runningbacks), I think Grant is going to be just fine. And you can only assume that Rodgers will get better or they'll get a better QB. Packers fans simply won't stand for years of mediocrity at QB (see Baltimore, Miami for details,).

Demanding excellence

2008-06-10T09:25:00.004-04:00

We are now a couple of years removed from the Raptors initial "break-out" season when we won 47 games. Sam Mitchell won coach of the year, Bryan Colangelo won Executive of the Year. We had a 20 win turnaround. A couple of years ago, if you had told me we would win 41 games, I would have been stoked but now I think it's only fair to say that I have higher expectations of this team. No longer is "making the playoffs" a hope, but rather an expectation. I want to see this team win a series or two. I want the team to be built to win championships.

After watching a handful of high-caliber playoff games between teams that were built to win championships, it's clear to me that our team is severely lacking in several areas. This isn't just about adding an athletic wing, or bringing in a good defensive rebounding big man.

Our team can shoot but we can't defend, and maybe it worked for the Phoenix Suns, but I think it's more of a case that they are the anomaly. Many teams have tried to build their teams like the Suns, and all have failed. In fact, the Suns themselves abandoned their approach because it was clearly not working.

Starting from the shortest and working our way up, here's a realistic look at the Toronto Raptors and just how we match up with other playoff teams and championship teams:

PG

It is looking more and more like the Raptors are planning to commit to Jose Calderon as their future starting point guard. At times Jose has looked like one of the most efficient point guards in the league. He rarely turns over the ball, and makes great passes to open teammates. He has great court vision, and is becoming and expert in pick-and-roll situations. He can hit open shots, although he still need to work on hitting those do-or-die big shots.

The question is, where does Jose stand amongst some of his perennially successful peers? Where does he stand amongst his fellow point guards, those who are playoff contenders? Would Jose Calderon start ahead of: Chauncey Billups, Derek Fisher, Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo? Probably not. Fisher is far more composed and takes big shots when his team needs them. Rondo is a far better defender than Calderon, and is quicker and longer. He's also almost as good at taking care of the ball as Jose.

What about those eliminated earlier: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson, Rafer Alston, Allen Iverson, Damon Jones. Okay, you can make a case for Calderon over a few of these guys -- Jones, Kidd (at his spry 523 years of age), Nelson (although he outplayed Calderon in this years' playoffs). But the point is, as a defensive liability, Jose is not amongst the top guys, and would be lucky to crack even the top 10.

SG

Couple years ago I thought Anthony Parker was a great addition to the team. I still do, but do I think he's the answer? Having watched Mo Pete all these years, he was a big upgrade due to his consistent shooting, and solid defense. He's easily our best one-on-one defender. Fast forward to present day, yes, he's still a solid player, but if you compare him to other shooting guards, how good is he? He's reached his peak and is on his way down. He's a bit of a glue guy, like a poor man's Shane Battier but older (turning 33 in a week), smaller, weaker, and slower. How does he compare to the guards in contending teams?

Would he start ahead of Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Manu Ginobili? What about Tracy McGrady, Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans, Joe Johnson, Raja Bell, Jason Terry, DeShawn Stevenson, Willie Green, Delonte West, J.R. Smith, Morris Peterson? I would put him somewhere in the middle of the latter group, which puts him in similar territory as Calderon. If you include non-playoff SGs, he falls out of the top 10.

So far our starting backcourt ranks around 10th in the league.

SF

Our starting small forward is long, athletic and but raw. He can defend at times, but is better as a help than the first guy one-on-one defender. Great leaping ability gives him the ability to block shots, but most of the time he fails in this because he doesn't have the smarts to be in the right position at the right time. Settles for jump shots despite athleticism that enables him to drive and hit higher percentage shots. We often find him missing his man, and has been criticizing for not taking the game seriously enough. Sounds familiar, huh?

Jamario Moon is a rookie, but he's also 27 years old so that eliminates the upside. He's our starting small forward and I'd venture to say that he likely doesn't start on 95% of the teams in the league.

Comparing him to the top small forwards in the league, you see right away where Toronto needs the most help in. Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, Bruce Bowen. No comparison. What about Rashard Lewis, Josh Childress, Caron Butler, Andre Iguodala, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Josh Howard, Peja Stojakovic, Kyle Korver, Boris Diaw, Shane Battier. Where does Moon rank? #16 and only because we made the playoffs. I can think of a few other guys better than him who didn't make the playoffs -- Gerald Wallace, Rudy Gay, Ron Artest, Vince Carter, Luol Deng just to name a few. The reality is that he is one of the worst starting SFs in the entire league.

PF

Chris Bosh is our only feature player. Some teams have 2-3 star players. We have 1. The power forward position is likely the only position where I can honestly say we have one of the top guys available. While every other position is questionable, at PF I am happy.

Amongst the best teams - Vladimir Radmanovic (Pau Gasol if Bynum were healthy), Rasheed Wallace, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett. Some argument can be made that Bosh deserves to be mentioned amongst these guys. David West, Dirk Nowitzki, Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans, Joe Smith, Amare Stoudamire, Carlos Boozer, Luis Scola, Josh Smith, Antawn Jamison, Hedo Turkoglu. Bosh is definitely amongst these guys. Some of them are better rebounders but they can't score like Bosh can. He has an uncanny ability to take it to the rack and draw the foul, something I believe he needs to do a whole lot more rather than settle for jump shots. There aren't many big men with his free throw shooting ability.

At PF we're right around 7th or 8th overall.

C

Despite approximately $20M invested in big men to play the center position, we do not have a single guy who is the #1 clear-cut starter and this very unfortunate. Bargnani has gotten considerable time here because he needs the time to learn to play the position. Rasho performed great for us down the stretch in the regular season, but as he's done throughout his career, he completely disappeared in the playoffs.

However, all is not lost. If history has proven anything, you don't need a big time center to win championships unless his name is Shaquille O'Neal (and he's not 150 years old).

Looking at the top teams' big man position, Antonio McDyess, Kendrick Perkins, Pau Gasol (or Andrew Bynum), Fabricio Oberto all shed some light on just how badly a great C is needed. Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Samuel Dalembert, Brendan Haywood, Shaquille O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tyson Chandler, Dikembe Mutombo (Yao Ming), Erick Dampier, Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur. All these guys are hands down better than any of ours. But if there's something we can take from this listing is that none of these guys are required to be the highest scoring player on their respective teams, and that the worst rebounder was Erick Dampier at 4.2 rebounds per game.

Our highest rebounding C in the playoffs was Rasho Nesterovic at 2.6.

Amongst the centers in the league, the Raptors are amongst the worst, and dead last amongst their playoff counterparts.

You can forget about bench. Starters play approximately 80% of the minutes, so even with a great bench, you're only winning 20% of the time. Certainly a bench helps, but this should not be a concern until after you've establish your championship calibre starting squad.

The Raptors have a long, long way to go.

New blog

2008-06-06T14:38:00.002-04:00

Ina and I have started a new blog to document our life together. We're co-authors of it, so from time to time we'll post there. As we feel that God united us to be a couple to live out the rest of our lives, we've aptly named it "United to Live".

I will likely continue this blog, but if history and experience has anything to say about this, the likelihood of maintaining two blogs is not high.

To join us on our new journey:

http://united2live.blogspot.com