Ride for Refugee's

Well, October is the month of 'stealing stuff from Andrew'. Last year in October, some Salvadorians laid hold of my wallet, and took from it some US cash. I'm quite sure they needed it far more than I. Good thing they nabbed it before the US dollar succumbed to the awesome might of the omnipotent looney!

Anyway, this year my faith in the not-so-good people of Guelph wained just a bit as one of them decided that my bike was in fact theirs. Upon realizing it was missing, I got my things together, walked to the bike shop and bought myself a proper trail bike, as I usually hit the trails 2 or three times a week.

Enter random email from a teammate from my summer ultimate Frisbee team: she is participating in a 100KM Ride for some fantastic cause that I've never heard of, but am now wholeheartedly in support of. This Saturday is the first Saturday that I have NOTHING going on. This is like a breath of fresh air for a Wedding Photographer, especially after a particularly busy season. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job, but everybody needs a little break from time to time.

Anyway, I was going to spend the day riding regardless of whether anyone else was going to benefit from it, so I decided to join the fight for our refugee friends and ride a crazy long way for them. Now, I'm not going to be riding 100KM, only half that actually, which (for you english/drama majors) is 50KM. This is about the distance from Guelph to Orangeville, from Kitchener to Stratford, that's right, it's about the Distance from Downtown Denver, Colarodo, all the friggin way to Longmont, Colarodo.

So I need Sponsors. If you'd like to contribute towards my goal of $300.00, then throw me an email and we'll get you situated. Anything over $10.00 gets you a tax receipt, and I'm going to try to put some sort of video together afterwards for your viewing pleasure.

Take a look at www.rideforrefugees.ca

Unca Andrew and Aunt Zoolie

We are proud aunt and uncle to another little one! Hurray!!!

A Case for Faith: Morality....OR IS IT?

Fascinating article on research being done that theorizes why humans have morality.

Wii

One gadgets begets another. Cause and effect. A + B = C

A) A few years ago I bought an ipod. It got me into walking and biking as I could listen to music while exercising, carrying huge amounts of media with me at once. Not long after that, I discovered podcasts and went to town. Ever since then I've been seeking new ones. One that I have found is called Sidescrollers from screwattack.com. It's all about gaming. I found it after watching a few of their videos that were posted on digg.

B) These guys talk a lot about gaming, and I found their Video game vaults a source of great nostalgia, as my childhood consisted of an extraordinarily highly saturation of video games. I got thinking about gaming again, especially after my brother and sister in-law's (Julie's bro and his wife) got me a Nintendo DS for Christmas.

C) Yesterday I purchased a Nintendo Wii. I searched long and hard for one, annoying department store employee's with my incessant phone calls. I ended up getting one and it has been great fun.


Case in point.

Adventures of the Non-Flesh-Eater

Julie and I have decided to go entirely vegetarian for an entire month. So far it has been one of the most difficult and tiresome ventures I have ever undertaken, and it's only been two days! We had Tofu in a dish for dinner this evening. It was terrible, and I'm relatively open minded about this kind of thing (well, I'm increasingly open minded about it anyway). I didn't eat too much of it, neither of us were really into it. Later tonight, I had some baked beans with veggie weiners, which actually weren't too bad, so at least i'm not feeling super hungry for meat right now.

I'll keep you updated. But I'm increasingly wondering if this is the way to go, even if I don't end up being a strict vegetarian or vegan. I like meat but I also understand the toll it takes on the environment and the ethical issues of suffering sentient beings. I enjoy meat way too much to give it up for good. But this will be a good indicator if it's an avenue we will want to venture further down in the future.

We're Back

Julie and I had a fantastic time out West. We had a nice time with the folks in Edmonton for the Wedding, and then headed into the mountains, did some backcountry camping with our packs and toured around B.C. visiting nice areas and even some family in Kelowna!

The highlight was definitely our 4-day, 3-night backpacking trip to base of Mount Robson on the Berg Lake Trail.

The photo is of Julie, our first night on the trail, relaxing by the rushing, glacier fed river near our campsite. We hiked 16km uphill that day, but it was totally worth it, the scenery was magnificent.

Going Away

Well, we're headed off on another photo journey. I'm doing a Wedding in Edmonton, and we're then we're taking a couple of weeks to explore the mountains, visit some family in B.C., some friends in Calgary, then back home at the end of the month.

I'll be posting a video when that happens.

Conformity

This is a very interesting video about 'groupthink.' This is typical of more doctrinally hardline groups like the Pentecostals, (from my experience). It sure made me think about it.



What do you think?

Bike Through Guelph

I have been getting into Bikeriding quite a bit in the last couple of years. I generally go three times a week or so on a 1-3 hour ride from our place here in Guelph. Two weeks ago, I mounted our new little nikon digicam on the handlebars and set off on one of my favourite treks through the city. You can check it out here, lame introduction and all! It will take a couple of minutes to load though. Let me know what you think!

Here's the Link.

Pale Blue Dot

Can 'wrong' and 'Bible' go together?

I'm intrigued by a particular episcopal priest named John Shelby Spong. He is a liberal believer. I read his article entitled "Resurrection - Myth or Reality." Here is a quote:

"[Church] leaders seem not to recognize that, as modern history has unfolded, the Bible has proven to be wrong many times. People sometimes gasp when they hear that said out loud and in public. The notion of wrongness and the Bible are not normally linked in print, because the church has lived with the illusion of biblical inerrancy for so long."

You can read it here. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Frizbizzle

Julie and I are having an awesome time playing Ultimate Frisbee this spring/summer! We play with some great folks on what is arguably the greatest Ultimate team in the history of the cosmos, FRIZBIZZLE!

Check out the Teams website, which features many photos taken by yours truly, and was designed by our team captain, coach, and token bearded professor, MJ.

I really like Biking

I've been hitting the trails quite a bit since the weather started looking up. Sometimes I see bikers and talk to people who admit they don't wear a helmet. Besides the knowledge that I have personally known people killed because they weren't wearing their bicycle helmets, I think you have to be intellectually stunted not to wear one. Honestly, anyone who doesn't wear a bicycle helment is just plain dumb. The picture above is the scene of a bicycle accident. The white lump on the ground is someone who felt the nuisance of a cool looking headpiece getting in the way of their hair flapping in the wind was more important then their life.

Here's an interesting story on the subject.

Now seatbelts, that's another story.

Hong Kong Photos....finally

I finally posted all our Hong Kong Photos online here.

We had an awesome time, and have been home for about a month now, but I've been super busy and prone to procrastination.

Nonetheless. Enjoy!

The Love of Jesus

I was perusing the website of a prominent Atheist and noticed just how lovely Christians can be, especially our 'brothers and sisters' to the south.

"From John Doe:

Dawkins, you and your atheist friends cannot win. America WILL become a Christian Republic even if we have to write a whole new constitution. Millions of us are dedicated to this righteous cause. We will suceed. And then we will invade godless countries like "Great" Britain and kill all of your heathens. First we need to take care of things at home and in the Middle East but we will get around to Europe. You Godless freaks will die but then you will roast in hell for infinite time. Goodbye you loser."

This makes me laugh...and cry.

Climate Change Agnosticism

Well, the jury still seems to be out for me, which puts me in an interesting position as far as climate change goes. Reasonable doubt has been exacted, so I'm not sure how to think about it.

This film offers some interesting counter-points worth considering. It's DEFINITELY worth a watch. (ht)

Let me know what you think.

Six Months, Six Singles

It's Story time, which means you will get a story and have to GIVE a story (please).

Here is the challenge, list six songs that have affected your life in the last six months that you have recieved through different avenues. I want to share with you some of the music that I have found in the last six months, and how I found them. Since I am always looking, please do share.

1. 'Wasted One' by Cary Brothers - I found it because I heard a song by Cary Brothers on the TV show 'Grey's Anatomy'. I went onto itunes, found some other songs by the same artist, and voila, discovered a great collection of songs, but this one especially resonated with me.

2. 'Break the Same' by MuteMath - I heard a song of their's on the radio, 102.1 the Edge, and immediately dug the music. I went onto Itunes, grabbed the album, and this is my favourite song on it. I'm going to see them live in Toronto one week from tonight!

3. 'Jesusland' by Ben Folds - I listen to the Relevant Podcast and they had an interview with this guy. The song is just kind of cool, in a Christianity-is-lame sort of way.

4. 'Find Me Here' by The Silent - I was photographing a concert of theirs for Heritage Bible College, and really liked the music. Again, hopped onto itunes, picked up the album and this is my favourite on there.

5. 'You can Have it All' by Yo La Tengo - My sister Missy gave me the CD, and this is my favourite on the disc.

6. 'Edge of the Ocean [Duotone Mix]' by Ivy - A friend introduced me to Pandora, a free internet Radio service that lets you make custom stations based on the music you like. This song came up in the radio station I made that played songs similar to 'In the Waiting Line' by Zero 7.

A Mind is a terrible thing to misunderstand.

Lately, I've found myself considering the fragility of the human mind. It started about a month ago when an acquaintance from our teenage years killed himself. We are great friends with some of his great friends, and they were (and are) understandably devastated. This was a happy guy, who loved life, but who was apparently tormented by depression, but just managed to hide it.

A few days after Julie and I got married, we made a foolish decision. It was about 11:30 at night on Christmas Eve, and we had just opened all our Wedding Gifts (we got married on the 21^st). Thus, we had a considerable amount of cash in our wallets that we wanted to put away into the bank. We went downtown to the bank machine and a fellow came in behind us, presumably to use the bank machine once we were finished. He started talking in an unusual voice, and it was clear he was either really drunk, messed up on drugs, or quite out of it due to some sort of mental malaise. I can't remember exactly what he said except for one thing, which he said in a very gollum'esque voice: "Me Kill Everybody???"

Here we were, newly married, with a few thousand IN CASH in our hands, trying to deal with this bizarre situation. We quickly counted and deposited our money, I told him that 'it wouldn't be very nice to kill everyone', because of course, 'it's Christmas Eve'. We quickly walked home wondering what had just happened.

It seems like it is quite a miracle for a person to come out of the first 25 years or so of his or her life without any life-affecting mental trauma. I know of many people who take drugs (legal or otherwise) because of mood, or who suffer from a diagnosed mental illness, and I've been trying to understand it more. It seems the human brain is suited to a very precise mix chemical soup. When the conditions are not ideal, things go awry. I cannot even hope to understand the darkness that is depression, and want to understand it more. Some do not.

Last January, I was taking a class at another Bible College in the area to finish my degree. We were on break at a coffee shop and one of the other guys there, who was going through to be a pastor, was talking about mental illness. He said that every problem a human can have can be answered through scripture. If someone is depressed, or suffering from bi-polar disorder, or has an eating disorder, they should look no further than the pages of the Bible to find relief, because their problem was caused by sin in their life. I told him about how some brain disorders are caused by chemical imbalances and other, entirely physical maladies, or can be caused my childhood trauma, like abuse of one kind or another, and have nothing to do with whether or not they lied to their parents when they were seven. He did not agree.

I feel sorry for those who will be attending his church.

This Valentines Day, Why not stop to smell the chemical ridden, slave manufactured flowers?

I was chatting with some friends about fair trade on Monday, and the subject of flowers came up. I admitted I was entirely ignorant to the ethics behind the flower market. Today, while casually skimming through some news reports, I found this one on CTV which deals with the ethics behind the chocolate and roses we give each other on February 14th. I am beginning to see that just about everything we purchase (with only the best intent) actually helps make poverty the greatest monster in the world. But flowers?!? Yet again, something that is so beautiful becomes sour to me.

Here's the Article

"I HAVE A [podcasting] DREAM!"

Well, as many of you already know. I am completely addicted to podcasts. As part of an ongoing series on what I listen to, I am going to introduce you to a brand new podcast that I subscribe to. It is called 'Everything is Spiritual'.

You can go to everythingisspiritual.podhoster.com (note, there is now www at the beginning of this).

The best part of this podcast? I'm going to be on it!!!!
I'm looking forward to this, so subscribe to it, download it, listen to it and enjoy it.

Let me know what you think as well.....

New Year = procrastination

I've actually been pretty busy. I took a class the first week of January called 'Documenting Justice' and It was hugely mega-good. We basically just watched documentary films and discussed them (I didn't take the course for credit). Julie and I have really been trying to figure out how to become better consumers and members of the global market. We are making a conscious effort not to support major corporations, unfair trade systems (like coffee, chocolate, clothing). It's difficult, as it requires a pretty major shift in thinking and acting (which is, of course, the tough part). So far, we have successfully switched to fair-trade coffee. Clothing will be a bit more of an issue (not so much for me, because Julie can't get me out to purchase clothes anyway).

Regardless, it's been an interesting few weeks.