The latest in living life.

The Talk...

2012-02-12T01:04:00.000-08:00

Well Blog, we need to talk...

You've definitely been neglected... Video blog is younger and more vibrant. We've had some good times but....

I don't know... things have changed... I'VE changed, it's not you blog, it's me...

You are... What's that? You think we could give it another go? Should we dare?

Okay, you've convinced me. You're right, we've had too much history just to give up now! Here's what I propose... you get special spoiler status. News on the forefront, wayyy before Video Blog is even NEAR reporting it.

Sounds good?

Perfect.

(Spoilers if you want the Video Blog to have surprises!)

So we arrived a couple days ago in Poipet Cambodia. Getting across had it's hassles, on the Thai side a very fiesty little border guard screeched her way around everyone getting the massive line of foreigners to move back and them split up, so I was separated from the Hope for the Nations group for a while there (but then she was super nice to me inside, weird), and then on the Cambodian side I, like an idiot, had forgotten to print out a copy of my Cambodian Visa, I just had my reference number thinking that would be good enough for it to come up on the screen. No dice. So after waiting through the massive line to get to the border check, I needed to go back to no mans land, find a printer and print off my Visa to have it stamped, then stand in the massive line AGAIN to get back to the guard. All worked out though, and the guards were very friendly. The rest of my group had gone off ahead during my little delay, so I caught up to them at the hotel by taking a moto-taxi (sitting on the back of a moterbike) to the hotel. pretty sweet, I have my own private room for $12 American, which is pretty sweet for my own little zone.
The bathroom is shower and toilet space all in one, so when I have a shower the toilet seat is hit by the spray and the entire place is full of water... which doesn't go away. There is a dip by the door which is on the other side of the bathroom from the drain, so there is a perpetual puddle in the washroom, I forgot about it last night when I woke up in the night... wet foot.

Here in Poipet we went to see some of the projects that have been set up here including a school building/childrens home AND a really cool "School on a Mat"rural education program here. Video blog shows more footage of that, very cool program though, it's called "Build a Bridge" and can be found if you look into the Hope for the Nations website.

Yesterday I went to Battamburg with two other hope volunteers Sophie, Rebekah and Rachelle. Sophie is a Cambodian national who works for an NGO here in Poipet, Rebekah works on projects in Cambodia on a regular basis and comes out here once a year and Rachelle is an RA who has been working in Red Cross crisis centres in warzones for the past year, she is volunteering now with Hope for the Nations. After the two hour drive to Battamburg, we bought goofy glasses to make change for the American cash we took out of an ATM, and then went to get "traditional Cambodian photos" taken. This is apparently a modern pastime for Cambodians, to have photoshoots in very fancy gear, which are then greenscreened onto backgrounds. They are incredibly cheesy (but taken seriously here) and we had a lot of fun doing them. Didn't take any videos of the process... so blog might be the exclusive showcasing location of these photos when they are eventually delivered.

After the photoshoot we grabbed something to eat with two workers from another NGO here in Battamburg, which was really nice, cool to get to know more people who do awesome work. Then we went to the Bamboo Trains, which are these crazy, sketchy little bamboo platforms on railroad tracks that just rocket down the cambodian countryside with no railings or support. This is one thing that the video blog will do better justice for, but it was a very cool experience.

On the way home, our taxi ran out of gas. Hilarious. We had noticed subtle little things that our driver had been doing, turning off the A/C, slowly coasting whenever he got the chance, and finally we could hear the sound of him pumping away at the pedal as we coast at 10 km per hour. Seeing as this guy had been driving at about 180km/h earlier (honestly, it was scary, cannonball on the run) we figured this meant we were out of luck. He got out and after fiddling around with something in the engine, he finally waved down a truck that had a massive load of Nescafe boxes on it and big poles sticking out the back. No biggie, he just tied a rope to the back of this truck and let it pull us for about 10 min to a spot where he could put a little bit of gas into the taxi. We were laughing hysterically in the back, but I think he didn't mind, he smiled away and laughed with us. We finally got back later that night and hit the hay pretty quickly afterwards.

And that was my day yesterday in Poipett!
I'll be sticking around for another day or so to take pictures of the various projects that the NGO here runs. They wanted them so that they could put nice photos onto their sponsorship packages, e-mails, website, etc, so I am happy to help. After that I'll be heading to Siem Reap, and the temples scattered there... I have very high expectations.

This was refreshing to write on this page again,

You were right blog, we belong together.

-Jonathan

(P.S. To the people who have been coming to this blog and seeing nothing new... I'm sorry)

I'm sorry Blog

2012-01-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

I lied, I didn't write again soon.

I've been working on these...

http://vimeo.com/jonarkle/videos

Sorry Blog. I haven't forgotten about you.
I'll be back when I want to be all introspective... and stuff.

I've been preoccupied

My Stumble!!

2012-01-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

My trip has started!

I've spent so much time editing the video blogs that I've been neglecting this!

I will be back later to write a good post. I have been keeping a hard copy journal though, so that should count for something...

Left Adelaide, wedding was amazing
Road trip to Mt. Gambier yesterday
Continue on towards Melbourne today

I'll write again soon!

Role Models

2011-12-04T20:33:00.001-08:00

I was going to send a friend of mine (Mark) a silly picture over facebook, and thought I would send it via 'private message'. I quickly changed my mind when I realized that the last back and forth that the two of us had had on facebook was a surprisingly thought out discussion on role models. I re-read my answer that was quite old truth be told, and found it fascinating to read something that I had written that I had not only forgotten about, but told me something about myself that perhaps I have forgotten as of late.

I would love to chat with young (old?) Jon, just to see what he might have to say about where I am at today.

But this is what I found the Jon of May 2010 had to say on the topic of role models. I assume Mark wouldn't mind a reproduction of my answer, despite the fact that it was in a "private conversation" back then.

Mark

Hey Jon,
This is a little out of the blue but I wanted to ask you a personal question. I'm curious about who your role models are and how you decide who you want to be in life ...AWKWARD

I know it's very Anya-esque of me to ask something like that with no preamble, but I'm feeling a little preambled out in life lately and i have no idea how to segue into a question like that! Besides, you seem like someone who wouldn't mind getting to the point. So... share?

-Mark
December 4, 2010
Jonathan Arkle
hahah Awkkkwarddd.....

Not at all actually, but I don't know if I'll be able to supply the answer you might be looking for. Regardless I'm going to punish you with an essay for asking me such a question.

I give a long history, then my "current answer" below the line if you don't feel like reading

My role models change.. haha, depending on the season of life I guess. In an all round, and sort of cliche way, (also more on a career path/work ethic basis) my Grandfathers and my Dad are who I hope to someday be like... obviously growing up seeing them as my archetype for "successful life" because, cmon, it's "your grandpa" who doesn't look up to them, and then my Dad because obviously he's been able to supply me with the life that brought me up to be who I am now, so I hope to emulate his approach to life in that sense as well.

BUT, less cliche, and more to the "season of life", usually my role models are based on individuals who approach life with an attitude that I respect or agree with. Haha, in middle school/high school I really looked up to a rock star... not just any rock star, Andrew WK. and when I say "looked up to" I mean it, he was my hero. Not necessarily because of his musical style (which I did/do love regardless), but mostly because of his approach to life. He was endlessly positive, endlessly energetic, and when I watched interviews and things with him, past the PARTY PARTY PARTY exterior, he was really intelligent and philosophical. In the end, he "preached" an approach to life that was focused on being happy, looking on the bright side, and living life to the fullest just because.

That set the basis, and honestly I attribute a lot of my positive outlook on life to that influence during crucial "finding yourself" years. But, I don't look at AWK quite the same way anymore, as my own life began to change, soon I was admiring people who were able to live what I had decided was a praiseworthy lifestyle. This was primarily fuelled by listening to what others had to say about people (not in the gossipy way though). I would hope that in my life I would be seen as someone who people would "want to be around", someone who doesn't just have friends, but is admired by their friends (in a totally not conceited way, I hope I don't give that impression). So, role models for me became people who I observed others want to be around for the sole reason of how they treated others, how they treated themselves. So for a good part my role models were my peers, or perhaps peers of mine who were older, more established. This would still be in the high school/early post high school era. But mainly, I looked up to and hoped to emulate the positive aspects of those who treated others with respect and were respected for it.

------

So now... I thought about it, and (hopefully this answer doesn't disappoint...) But I don't really have any specific role models haha. I don't have someone who I look at all round and think, "Them... that's who I want to be like", but rather I pick and choose on traits that I admire from other people that I know, and use those in each specific interest. So for example, if it comes to work ethic, I'll look at my grandfather or my good friends at the university who genuinely work hard. Sense of humour? Well.. I have an unhealthy fanatical interest in Ricky Gervais, but he is far from someone to look up to in regards to human interaction haha, if it comes to general communication between people, I look at (brush your ego) people like you who time after time I hear people say "I love Mark Wells" just because of the way you interact with kindness first, judgment... never. But I don't have a clear cut answer for you... I used to in previous "seasons", but I guess for the "season" I'm in now, I am more of a pick and choose admirer, finding what I see to be the best, and what others identify as being the best, in those around me, and emulating those in hopes of being a horrible Frankenstein mash up of admirable qualities.

In the end, I feel life comes down to how are you treating others... so I observe that process. If we have any indicator of what's the right way to act, or the right way to live our lives in relation to those around us... It seems the clearest response is to listen to those around us and figure out what combination "works", and it generally comes down to a pretty basic combination of love and humility... (which of course I still struggle to keep up with every day).

Hopefully this made sense... I just woke up from my "post graveyard shift nap", so I hope that it was somewhat coherent... albeit scattered with run on sentences.

See you at White Christmas tonight!

-Jon

------------------------

I loved reading this for my own sake, and it made me realize that I haven't put much thought into such topics lately. Perhaps it's because I'm not in as social of a setting as I previously was, but regardless of the reason... It made me miss being able to give an answer like this.

Good old' Jon. Thanks for that.

Sincerely- Present (your future) Jon.

An unexpected party

2011-11-24T11:15:00.001-08:00

Rob visited!!

I feel like documenting it on the blog is appropriate seeing as this blog began when I was living in Australia, and you will likely see him mentioned a fair bit back in the earliest posts.
What a great surprise though, I was out at Doc's with some folk celebrating Ben's brother's birthday when suddenly a strange "Unknown" calls my phone with the number +01234567. Odd...

I answer it only to hear a fantastic Irish accent say "Jon Arkle! It's Rob Lewis here". Best surprise ever. He continues to say that he has a chance to come to BC and would love to meet up with me, which he did a few days later. Awesome.

The best part about having friends like Rob is that you can jump right back into where you were at despite a 5 year hiatus. Even though it felt like ages since we'd last seen each other, hanging out was like we had seen each other last week. Those are the friendships that count in my opinion. Lots of talk of Lord of the Rings, Movie soundtrack quizzes, Philosophy, Ethics, Faith, Guinness, and old friends. What a great week.

Unfortunately his trip back wasn't the best for him. He was trapped in the early morning on a broken down bus in a valley with no reception outside of Chilliwack. As a result he missed his flight and thus began phone tag with the airline trying to move his reservation, and he slept on the airport floor ("slept like a baby" he said).

None the less, for my part at least it was worth having him here.

Also, my nerdiness knows no bounds... I don't own a Nintendo system, but that didn't stop me from pre-ordering the new Zelda game. I just like owning it. So now I've got to figure out a way to borrow someones Wii so I can play it.
It came with a soundtrack CD, full Symphony, awesome.

AND! I bought a new Camera, which I'm still playing around with and having a great time. I probably could find things more productive to do with my time, BUT here I am writing a blog, so maybe not.

As you can see, I'm pretty much a professional photographer now. So, that's cool.

Karl Silckington

2011-11-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

As promised, update!

Fighting off a cold at the moment...

(Segue to main point)
As many of you will likely already know, I have an (unhealthy) obsession with good ol' Ricky Gervais haha. You name it, T.V, blog, stand-up, basically all of his scripted comedy work (which is genius), but even more so than all the others, I love eavesdropping on the banter between him and his friends, namely the old podcasts. For the years that he was bringing them out, I was hooked on the podcasts that he would record with Karl Pilkington and Stephen Merchant which was essentially just three best friends hanging out and having the same sort of conversations many of us have with our friends (except of course Ricky and Steve are consistently hilarious, and Karl is a genius in his own... special way). I would listen to them often while driving to University, (made the mistake of listening to them on the bus once... strange looks for the laughing man), but the real treat was when a podcast would come out on the Friday before my weekend Graveyard shift, 8 hours of lonely night-work goes by a lot faster when you feel like you're with friends.

Now, there was one podcast where Karl said something that, as usual, had a foundation of wisdom behind it, namely that "it's good to be sick, so that you know when your healthy" (I paraphrase).   Of course, that was funnier at the time with the addition of his friend's berating him for saying it afterwards, but almost annoyingly now every time I get sick I find myself thinking back to that statement.

So, in honour of good ol' Pilki, I am... er... happy that I'm feeling gross because it'll mean I'll appreciate it when soon I will feel better. I guess that's really true about everything, that classes "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" mentality, applies to everything, even the sniffles.

And then of course are the REAL ailments. I have friends who are battling cancer, family with chronic illnesses, friends with disabilities or injuries that render them incapable of doing the things that I love.

When put in perspective, I'm happy that I can say the worst of my worries is a sore throat and snot.

So... although this post isn't particularly interesting, it stirs the waters, and keeps the blog alive until it gets properly used in the new year with my travel plans.   But it is nice to think about what I should be, and hopefully always will remain thankful for... my health, my abilities to do things such as triathlons, or travel. Not everyone in the world has been dealt the same benefits that I have been... and it would be selfish and cruel of me not to recognize that I am incredibly fortunate.

It's nice to be inspired to remember that. Important too.
So for that reason, I guess Karl was right.   Today it's been a good thing for me to feel sick.

Def I ne

2011-10-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in an awesome mood today, so I don't want this blog post to make it seem like I'm having some sort of crisis, far from it.

Well, that's not entirely true... I'm three quarters through "A Storm of Swords"... and those of you who have read the book can probably guess what chapters I just read... and that ruined my day yesterday. Mini crisis in my own little mind there.
Actually, on the note of the book, I'm so pumped to be genuinely enjoying reading a book. Never before have I been so immersed in a book before that when something happens in it I end up dwelling and stewing on the happenings in between readings. In fact, I'll probably go back to reading it as soon as this post is written.

But, I figured I'd write something, get it picked up a bit again.

I was reading a book a few months ago, "The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller. I was really enjoying it, but put it down for some reason, I still have a couple chapters left that I haven't read, I don't know why. Maybe I'll zip through those sometime in the next week... but I digress.
One of the last chapters that I had read came back to me the other day.. or at least I think it was from that book... regardless, it was about "identity" and more specifically where we get it from. Now, as I'm sure you can assume, a book with a title like that is obviously theologically based, but it had a really good question that it posed regarding what defines you. The book was encouraging the reader that having your "faith" as something that defines you would be something unchanging, which I guess makes sense seeing as broad and abstract as faith can be sometimes, but this isn't a theological post, this was just the introduction...

It got me to thinking lately though about what "defines" me. Clearly, (as I've said time and time again on this blog), being a "student" used to define me. It was a nice, all encompassing term. "I'm a student at the University" = ah, this person is hard working, probably busy, going somewhere, has a plan, has a goal, has a social setting, etc. But of course, that ended, and now that all encompassing term doesn't apply to me or a few of my friends who are in the same boat now with the same question "wow, what do I do now?". I find this really interesting... do we "define" ourselves by our current jobs now? Perhaps... but we likely don't want to do that. "Lifeguard", "Gym employee", "Nanny" are all fine terms I guess... but none of them are quite as all encompassing as "student". Which is interesting to me.

Of course, these labels of definition aren't permanent either. I won't be a "lifeguard" forever, and when that's gone what will be my definition? It mine placed purely in what job I'm working in at the moment? Is what defines us based on our current "projects"? What happens when those end

"No, Jon, it's not! What defines you is your personality, it's how you treat others!"

Hmm... maybe. But then who is that definition for? Probably the people who know you already... I think I'm referring to a more "first impression" level of definition. "Hi, I'm Jon...." and where do we go from here?

"Alright, it's based on your hobbies, so you could say 'triathlons', or 'acting'"

"Well those are alright as well, but what if I was rendered incapable of triathlons? Does that change 'me'? or just rid me of a pasttime? What if I loved... cars? But couldn't dedicate as much time to cars as I used to... did what makes me "ME" just get lost somewhere?"

Pretty people will lose their looks, party animals will lose their youth, athletic people will get weak, energetic people will get old, rich people might lose their money, friendly people might lose their friends, experts might become outdated, specialists might become obsolete. Is anything that people place their self-worth in permanent?

I'm beginning to see why the book was pushing for "man of faith and discipline" to be the preferable defining characteristic. These things can't really be affected by outside change of scenery. But then again... what if I lose my discipline? Is something that was characteristically "me" gone in that moment?

This blog doesn't have answers, it doesn't even have properly formulated questions. But, as I'm sure my lack of writing style has exemplified, I literally type out what is in my internal dialogue with myself haha. I'm not having a crisis, I'm not searching for my identity (I don't think...), but I do think it's curious to observe both myself and my friends as what used to be such a great "defining characteristic", in fact THE defining characteristic

Truly the ramblings of a mad man.

I'm a mad man with a blog.

Definitely the ---> SONG OF THE WEEK!

A shocked otter

2011-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'm nominating my own blog for "Worst kept of 2011". I'd appreciate your support by continuing to become annoyed by checking it and not seeing any updates.

BUT THERE ARE SO MANY! (I'm sure!)

Jonathan Arkle BA. I know that I posted on that in the past, but it still holds true. It's a weird feeling... not sure I like it. I haven't jumped into full time work yet, still doing the life guarding thing at the moment pending near future travel plans, but with 5 courses per "semester" and Gorman Bros. all taken out of the equation, I've got wayyy to much free time. On the bright side, I'm reading more (which is ironic), but I'm anxious to figure out a way to keep myself constantly on the go.

Oh well.

But my musings are boring, for the most part. People like stories. I don't have any particularly exciting ones off the top of my head, but I'll work on that. The lack of steady stream of strangers that UBC provided leaves me feeling alienated. I need an excuse to be in crowded places again. But no good "stories" doesn't mean no good news.
(You'd think most people would be happy not to have to deal with the strangest individuals that society has to offer... but when I'm not constantly able to provide stories of them, I start to worry that others are providing said stories about ME).

A picture tells a thousand words, these are the latest things whilst I've been living life!

Laura's Wedding!

Jill!

My friends Scott and Daniel passed away in a tragic hiking accident. I will always remember them. It's a funny feeling, losing someone you are that close with in such a tragic way... there is definitely that "gap" now that won't ever be filled. I love you and miss you bud.

As if I wasn't nerdy enough... Doctor Who has become one of my new favorite television shows. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend beginning with Season 5, it's a good starting off point.

I doubtlessly have the best group of friends I could ask for. A.. "best damn crew" of my own if you will (Hi Jordan, thanks for reading, missed you).

Best friends and my gorgeous girlfriend in red. (I say this so she'll hate the fact she checked my blog)

A shocked otter. No relevance.

Well how's that? Something.

As I mentioned above... I'm making travel plans at the moment, and this blog is going to be utilized in a very major way during said travels, so it is not dead.. it just took a hiatus. This won't be the first blog that I've loaded with pictures and promises to "keep updating", but at least it's something!

Also! Let's bring this back.
SONG OF THE WEE... er... POST!

The weather is getting colder which always brings the metal back into my playlist. I am definitely not complaining.

"Winter is coming".

Stirring the waters

2011-08-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

Summer finally started! Doing my best to take advantage of it. (He says as he is updating his blog in front of a computer screen)

GO OUTSIDE JONATHAN!

Google + what?

2011-07-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

Alright Google +... you think you can take on Facebook? I want to see this...

Invite only at the moment, so if you read the blog and want in to this exclusive club, let me know!

In other news, summer is going well. Today I had my first "open water rescue" of sorts at the beach, went out to get two girls who had foolishly swam about half a kilometer out into the open water as the wind was picking up. That was kind of cool for me, could have been very bad for them.

Overall life is good. Sports nights slowly creeping back, movie nights still going strong, working days are good and I'm slowly exploring all the little foodie places in Peachland. Fun.
Skipping it tonight, but Karaoke is also becoming regular for the "gang", which is pretty funny I think.

I think this was titled "Velociraptor fight"... I wouldn't have it any other way.

Stanley Cup

2011-06-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

How disappointing... Soo many emotions during this playoff season. We do love our Canucks, bandwagon or no, it brought the Province together...

Well... haha then sharply separated it again.

However, blah blah, all BC media has reiterated this to death, but "how embarrassing was the riot aftermath". Exciting... but still disappointing and embarassing. First world problems. But I won't fill the blog with the overstated "Small group of morons" "anarchists", etc... No... it was a large group of morons, who love the spectacle and the idea that somehow they have a reason to "hate the system". That being said, I come to wonder if I would have immediately left the riot scene? or whether I would have been a bit fascinated by the spectacle... Would I have encouraged the monkeys by bringing out MY camera phone? It's easy to distinguish the "other" and become high and mighty and judge... but crowds are crowds, and I know I am easily moved by the enthusiasm of the masses...

We'll see how I react next year when we win :)

Tony:
I don't know why they don't arrest that one guy in the picture you posted.

It has his name right on his shirt!

Kesler!

Man, criminals are stupid.

Jon:

I know eh? such easy identification

Almost every picture I saw had that moron too

him and his friend Burrows

Tony:

mhmmmm

The egos on some people.

But we can't blame Luongo

as much as I see him

I've heard he can't stop anything.

couldn't*

Jon:
Hahah

Next year Canucks. Next year.

One year

2011-05-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's been one year since LOST was on the air. I miss it.

Well, that's my little statement about that, not really blog worthy in my mind, but I figured I needed to write about SOMETHING and that was the first thing that came to mind. I could supply commentary about the "World ending" or any of that sort of thing, but I feel like the interweb is obsessed enough with this whole doomsday prophecy.

Summer is here! And I am looking forward to it immensely. Mostly, I'm looking forward to waterskiing again... This hot weather and flat lake is making me think about it all day, but I haven't quite had the opportunity to go yet. Soon though... soon. The fact that it is as hot as an August day, and there is still snow on the hills makes me happy too. Granted, the snow is way up there, but it's still visible. Awesome, I love where I live.
On that note, I've been giving it more thought into when I won't be living here anymore. I'm back in "LSAT studying mode" for a little while, and that keeps my days busy. So, pathetic me, still goes out to the University almost every day to do prep for that, but that's okay. Only for now.

Because my "summer" hasn't really kicked off with any shenanigans yet, I don't have much to write about. Routine is still un-blogworthy... BUT I figured I'd stir up the waters a bit. Stagnancy brings all sorts of insects...

I saw a mosquito the other day too.. they are coming.

Oh, and Baby Ducks. Awesome.

And so it came to an end

2011-04-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well, that's it!

On Tuesday, at approximately 2:33pm I handed in my last term paper (Epistemology) of my undergrad degree... pretty exciting.

I guess now I am "Jonathan Arkle... BA (pending)"...

The questions I've been asked

How does it feel: A little bit weird actually, hasn't quite hit me entirely yet, but still the knowledge that "that was it!" is in the back of my mind. Exciting I guess, but also... now I need to start figuring out the next step

What is the next step: Most of you who read the blog have likely already heard my spiel, law school is my plan, my hope at least, but I'm taking a year off to get my "ducks in a row" for that. Going to rewrite the LSAT after preparing for it properly, then spend the next year hopefully taking care of that and applying to schools!

You should travel: I would love to, school plans come first, but also I don't have any idea as to where I should go? What would I do? I'm open to suggestions.

What can you do with a Philosophy/Sociology degree: I can look at not only society and "the human experience" in a more critical and understanding way, but also approach arguments in a logical and thoughtful manner. I have knowledge, experience, discipline... and also, I can write a damn good paper and circle you in argument. That sounds worth it to me.

Now the "long summer" has begun for me, and so far it's been off to an eventful start.

Go Canucks anddddd

I'll post more often now that school discipline isn't distracting me as much

I think I'll miss the library though.. not necessarily the studying (although that was always an ol' faithful "thing I need to do today"... purpose is nice... but also because the "library crowd" sort of became a constant. That school library was my "Cheers")

Unproductive? Probably. Worth it? Definitely

2011-03-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today was likely the most unproductive day I've had at UBCO haha, however at the same time it was a very very good day.

Began with an 8:00am 'Police and Society' class in which we were going to watch a documentary. It didn't work, technical difficulties, so instead we got back our Finals, which I am happy to say I did very well on. We got out early after that.

Instead of moving on to the library with my "crew", we decided to sit in the sun on a bench in the courtyard... then a classmate reminded me that my only other class of the day (save for a speaker at 4:00pm) had been cancelled, and so commenced a day long socializing event in the sun with my friends and colleagues that I have grown to love over these 2 years at that particular campus. A day very well spent if you ask me.
It also got me thinking about how, despite the stress, and despite the "I AM SO OVER IT" attitude that seems to come to everyone in the last few weeks of their degree, I am going to miss the student lifestyle, the atmosphere of the university, the intellectual stimulation and discussion, but perhaps mostly haha, I'm going to miss the social aspect that is university. Here's hoping I continue to constantly meet new people and don't get caught up in a "small social circle" mindset once I'm not in the beehive of activity that is the campus.

Also, sun means summer. Nice.
(Guest speaker that I listened to at 4 spoke on deviance and youth subculture, with a particular interest in the straight edge movements of punk subcultures in the 1980's-1990's, really really interesting. Kim and I brought Katie along for her first sociology class ever, last week on "Terror and use of fear in popular culture" I brought Jill, Kelly, Dave and Dylan. Awesome, Sociology is the best... maybe I should have double majored... more school atmosphere!?!? Nah.. maybe today's leisure was a "grand farewell" to all of this... ack, no Jon, don't get all mellow dramatic, blogs are no place for that!)

NEW THURSDAY CD COMING OUT! ACKAKJ IT'S GOING TO BE SO GOOD!!! Listen to "Past and Future Ruin"... oh man. So great.

First bike ride of the year on Sunday too... wore me out, but it was really good. Good to get those muscles moving again, off season was too... off season I guess.

So that's awesome. Things are awesome. (SO PUMPED FOR NEW THURSDAY)

The end of the end of the end began

2011-03-22T19:20:00.001-07:00

These past few days have been great! Things have just been going very well, AND it's been sunny, which is awesome. Cmonnnn summer!

Wrote my first final today for "Police and Society". I know... the first final... terrifying, this is the end of the last semester of the BA... crazy, 3 weeks left.
It was killer, but I really, REALLY prepped for it, so I'm feeling very confident. Hopefully a week of nothing but 13 hour library shifts pays off. Here is an excerpt from the end of one of my essay answers...

“These circumlocutions worked” as Skoncik and Bayley state, however not in the sense of achieving the mandate. Rather, with the proper presentation community policing through its circumlocutions wrapped the police in “aspirations and values that are extremely powerful and unquestionably good” to further legitimize this “moral powerhouse” in its war against the deviant others in society, to uphold both the unwritten moral mandate and police mandate as a “justified” non-accountable and nonnegotiable coercive force. - Jonathan Arkle

I know right?

I'm feeling good about it. ALSO, New Rise Against is fantastic and definitely winning the playcount race at the moment, but new contender isssss
NEW THURSDAY SONG
Yayy.

Wolf pup

2011-03-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm ashamed that I consistently want to write about something, but as soon as I open blogger it all disappears from my mind. Such is life I guess, but I'll try to scrape together what I hoped to rant about...

The new Rise Against album has incredibly poignant lyrics, and I would recommend it to anybody who has a particular affinity for punk music.

As I worked through my graveyard shift last night I went through a complete flurry of emotions. The shift is an interesting one as it is 8 hours beginning at midnight, but the majority of it is working alone. As a result, this lonesome time with my own thoughts mixed with the increasing tiredness in those ensuing hours creates a cocktail of thoughts that is sometimes dangerous in that they will be right the way across the spectrum. I've never been so inspired, so happy, so angry, and so depressed as I have been during a graveyard shift.
Anyways, last night was focused a lot on faith (oh no.. another one of these posts? YOU BET), this is naturally an ever going battle seeing as I'm constantly immersed in the atheistic push that is a philosophy degree in the academic circles. Apologetics has always been not only a passion, but something that I feel to be almost necessary... but last night wasn't so broad of a thought. Instead, it was more shame towards the way that those under the banner of Christianity treat their fellow humans... close-minded, open-mouthed... I can't relate, I hope I never can. I'm a broken record on this blog, I recognize that, but I hope that I can be an example without being a hatemonger, I hope that I can demonstrate love without it appearing like I'm just seeking an "eternal reward", altruistic means for a selfish end, I hope that I can show, and continuously demonstrate, that my life has a genuine focus and compassion that is a bit different than the masses hopefully... hopefully, but God knows that I fall so far form this every single day.

Regardless, I caught myself in a place where amongst my internal stewing I was feeling apathetic about gathering at one of my two churches as I was struck with an (unjustified) feeling of disconnectedness with my immediate fellow Christian brethren, to a point where I was feeling aggressive towards nobody but everybody because I am so unwilling to neglect fellow humans of the respect and rights they deserve, as so many people walking under the banner I claim to so eagerly do... damning humans based on their own misunderstandings of the nature of our species (It was 4am...)
Thankfully I was able to catch myself, slap myself into a much calmer place, and then went on a little blast from memory past to Australia and particular events and important (and level headed) people there, which was good to sooth my stewing for the time being...
I was thinking about you Jordan and Vanessa. Thank you! I appreciate you.

I feel this blog comes across as preachy too often... Expect some fluffy filler posts for the next little while to stir stagnant waters.

On more interesting notes, this came into the pool the other day, it's a wolf! 98% said the owner. It is also my new favorite thing in the world... this week, until something else remotely distracts me.

Also, the tragedy of the Japanese earthquake is awful, naturally (no pun intended). The footage is dramatic, and obviously the devastation is remarkable... however, it is worth noting that had Japan not had such strict building regulations that it has, the devastation could be much worse. So lets be thankful for that. Praise the effectiveness of preparation.

And finally... (not making fun, bear with me...) CNN could have come up with a better description I feel... I can't help but think that a marquee writer with a wicked sense of humour is responsible. The tragedy is awful, but this headline is incredibly ironic.

Also on my graveyard shift were long conversations during breaks about UFO's and Wendigos. I'll write about that next time... I would have written about that now.. but it's nighttime and it scares me.

The Cancer of Society

2011-03-04T23:09:00.001-08:00

Negative Post! :D!!

I realise that I am definitely part of the problem, as I have been perpetuating it in the last couple of days with my fascination with this Charlie Sheen video....
However, the fascination that our society has with celebrities really does make me feel awful about what we have become.

The other day a friend of mine said, when finding out that I hadn't watched the Oscars he said "oh really? I thought you would have been all over that"

No... no, I really wouldn't be :(

I can't understand the self-worship that that culture has about itself... these people with influence should be using it change the world, and in a more harsh perspective, influence the lemmings that follow them to want to change the world as well. Some do this, and I recognize that, however I can't understand the fascination that the media, not just pop-culture media but even news media, has on these people.

As of this writing, the current playcount for Justyn Beebir's "Oh baby" video is 479,180,276... Four Hundred and Seventy Nine Million unique visits.

This video only has 264,124 views...

What makes news? What makes headlines? Not what people should be aware of... Charlie Sheen being off/on/off and on drugs/tigerblood is though.

Oh well... I was talking about it, so I'm part of the problem I guess.
I need to get ready for graveyard, but I wanted to rant. I'll likely speak on this subject again though... It's been on my mind a lot recently. Anger at the apathy held by the west to not only injustices in our own system, but even more significant around the world.

hmm...

Goodnight!

(Also, I'm currently 0/15)

Love keeps her in the air when she outta fall down

2011-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Another potential title for the post was almost
"Little Albatross"

So last night was the much anticipated Serenity night. It's likely because of all of the "bring Firefly back" hoopla that has resurfaced on the interweb recently, but watching it made me incredible nostalgic for the show, and sent me right back into a very passionate "It was/is the greatest ever".

Also, great company helps too. How do you tell the quality of a man? By the company he keeps. How can you tell the quality of the company you keep? Their willingness to "sing"/yell along with Dr. Horrible, and then intently watch Serenity, (and unanimously consider it a night well spent).

Aside from that, nothing particularly newsworthy, but I figured I'd stir up the stagnant waters again. Going to a UBC Volleyball game tonight, should be good, again, good company so I'm sure it will be.. and if it isn't... oh boy.. hell to pay I tell ya....

That's it. There is no more. Re-watching that clip makes me feel like I need to have something incredibly profound to say about Love, or perseverance, or maybe just spaceships... but no such luck. I'll try to be more deep for the next one...
(Someone asked me the other day "You have a blog? What do you write about??" to which my friend Katie quickly responded "nothing really, he just posts music he likes" haha... (she then followed up with "I never read it though" aw... adorable).

Sounds like I have a trend though, so clip, and then... lets go with some "study music" then.

The track behind the clip

And a beautiful appropriate picture titled "Coming Storm"

"Let's decide to be the Architects"

2011-02-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

My bad... I don't often check the links after posting my songs of the day... but this time I did, and realized that I had posted the Dr. Horrible song twice. oops. The original "soft" song was intended to be a Postal Service song... just in case some of you thought that I considered Dr. Horrible to be "one of the the most perfect CDs ever recorded"... It's good.. not THAT good though.

Today is my final exam for the lumber grading course, and of course instead of studying here I am updating my blog. With no real motivation either, just saw the procrastination window of opportunity and took it. ("Oh no! There was a misplaced link in my blog! This devastating mistake MUST be redeemed... the blogosphere will never forgive me for it otherwise!")
aaaannd studying lumber goes on the back-burner.

New Rise Against song released today , "The Architects"
So that's very exciting. (To me). I love it, it's passionate and even has chanting "heys", which I'm a sucker for.

Soundbites!
- New Spiderman costume for the reboot looks really badass, could be a good movie!
- Reading break has thus far involved no reading... oops
- Tired of the cold weather with no snow, and earlier sunrises are making me wish it was summer.
- I love the new Iron and Wine for what it is... but have come to the conclusion that I prefer it when it is him an his guitar. Not because I don't like change, but more so because in the musical interludes between verses, I'd rather listen to him plucking away at a guitar than hear his backup band playing a trumpet... or a recorder. That's just me though, the CD is still fantastic, but it doesn't knock "Shepard's Dog" from its pedestal.

That last one was definitely not a soundbite.. dang.

Also saw Torrey play a show the other night... I love that guy to bits.

Nostradamus

2011-02-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Saw this standing in line at the grocery store...
I think the irony of this front page speaks for itself

Now I'm torn about whether or not I should afraid of the fearful 2011.... or use the magic of numerology for a safe and happy year.... can I be safe and happy in a fearful year? Or is it fearful in the risk of me not using numerology? So much stress!! If only I had read beyond the title... then maybe I would have learned what it is I need to do.

Reading break!! Definitely looking forward to the break. Here's hoping it's memorable!

Happy Valentines day too I guess? haha Here are some Valentine's day "themed" songs.
1) Heavy song of the day (Favorite metal band throughout all of high school)

2) Softer song of the day (From one of the greatest/most perfectly complete CD's ever recorded)

3) And one that all we hopeless fools can relate to!

3! Fantastic.

Word math!

2011-02-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

"Oh Jon, that last blog was self serving and whiny"
Yea? Get this...

So this week is off to a fantastic start... I'll put it into an equation
Exam Season + Coffee + Laptop = ?

(I'll reorganize that to get my point across a little bit better)

Coffee + Laptop +Exam Season = ?

For those of you who may not have caught on... I'll formalize the logic a little bit more

(Coffee + Laptop) + Exam Season = ?

Now granted, it was a mistake... not on my part, somebody else spilled said coffee on said computer (Coffee got spilled on the computer, I assumed you caught on, but just in case), so I can't be mad... what's done is done, and now I need to figure out how to arrange my next few weeks around getting papers done plus getting computer repaired (hopefully).
Furthermore, to add to this week being "awesome", in the Lumber Grading course today I was wrong on every answer I was called on... the worst part about that is it doesn't matter how right you may have been in other answers, you still appear to be a complete moron to the rest of the class when the few answers that you bunged up on are the ones that are announced to the class. Swell.
Also... sickness can go away, if it doesn't mind.
Nobody said that the blog was self serving and whiny, but I am quick to assume that my voicing might come across as such..

I hate the blog being a place to whine... be all preachy and wax philosophic yes, but whine? pfft. (wahhhh! I wish I could just chat with...

Changing subjects!
I wanted to riff about one of these two pictures, couldn't decide which one, so went with both!

I love this. It's the directors cut!! I mean, it must be a good movie now right? Not only have they re-released it, but now as a directors cut? I always find it funny when movies that were pretty much universally destroyed by critics get a "directors cut" release... as if going with the original version of the directors already awful vision will somehow result in something worthwhile. Furthermore, it wasn't just the director that made this movie bad... it bad bad everything. Adding more scenes with Bhen Aflack isn't going to make the movie magically better... "Ohhhh, we missed that one scene where he was GOOD!"

I can't wait for the "Catwoman: Directors Cut" to come out, and we all realize that Holy Berry was part of the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time... it just got cut a little short.

Now this one... I don't know if you can read it when opening the picture... but instead of ranting about it, I'd just like to say that I want to go with someone now. Who's in? We now have breakfast AND dinner plans!
(Weirdest marketing ever though...)
Especially because I feel like Shrimp is an appetizer food you know? Like... the kind of thing that is on a platter with tarter sauce or whatever, and you have about five and think "yeaa... I'm done"... but that?? Hilarious

Anyways, "play em off Jonny"...er.. "Andy?"

This still has a picture and songs.

2011-01-29T17:40:00.001-08:00

Ahhh hypocrisy.

I was speaking to a dear friend the other day who was discussing how they feel they have been betrayed by another friend of theirs hypocrisy. Specifically in regards to the demand for respect from others, but without supplying it on their own.

I think that's what upsets me the most about human interaction.. is the lack of respect. Now, on the note of hypocrisy, I want to clearly state the disclaimer that I definitely fall under this description as well. My own shortcomings in this regard (specifically in the name of "humour") will often leave me feeling guilty for the way I've treated another human being, and it's something that I cannot understand.

I've been called a "people-pleaser" (in a very loving way mind you, not as an insult) due to my sometimes ridiculous and self defeating measures taken to make sure that I don't upset or let anyone down... and while, yes, sometimes this results in my own plans not coming to fulfillment, I still can't bring myself to see it as a bad thing... or even a foolish thing.

It seems to me, as I've 'blogged' about in the past, that if there is any HUGE question worth worrying about in this world, that's worth dedicating all focus on, (philosophically or in any other discipline), it's not "how much can we know/how far can we push", it's not "is there a God/a purpose in life", and it's definitely not "What is my next step?" but rather "how ought I treat others... how ought I act?". To me this question transcends all disciplines, and schools of thought. All religions or lackthereof, all ethics and actions.

Now, don't get me wrong... I too often get caught up in my own endless pondering of all of the aforementioned questions, but in the end it seems to me that the only important one is the final point. How ought we treat each other?
It's all well and good to increase our human knowledge, and by no means do I intend to undervalue research in any field, but this rant comes from a purely relational perspective. In regards to how we interact with each other on a day to day basis.
Similarly, I don't mean to belittle more metaphysical questions, or those of faith either. In the end of all things, perhaps there is an afterlife, perhaps not. I know I have my stance on the matter, but in the end I believe that should really be seen as irrelevant. Life should not be seen as a "means-end" relationship, but rather lived based on what is applicable immediately... and on what we can control here and now. (I mean... isn't this what matters on the basis of even Christianity?)

That being said, what can we control here and now? Our relationships. Our interactions. That's what really matters, that's all that matters! So why oh why do people focus on their own immediate interests versus those of those around them.
Again, this blog is becoming a bit of a bore, I admit. If I'm not giving nonsensical, uneventful updates on "there is a cat in my house" or the like, I am ranting about idealistic selflessness, and how I see martyrdom as the highest possible virtue... but bear with me, at least it's something personal not just a photo and a song...

Anyways, I don't have some great lesson... some final thought or even conclusion, but rather this is just a way for me to voice some frustration when people (who I looked up to), let me down in this way when I hear about actions such as this... I don't have the answers, but I can only hope that "love" rings through whatever answers there are.

Stop putting yourself first... it's not becoming of you.
I'll try to do the same. (Surrre you will y'hipocrite)

This painting is by my favorite artist called "To a Better Life". Sometime I hope to have a piece of his in my home. Someday.

(oh also... "Anonymous" if you are a regular reader at all... or at least regular enough to have read the last post and this one, you didn't give me much to work with. Your hint could be anything from a genuine religious enthusiasm to an ironic jest from one of my many skeptic friends... or perhaps you are someone who overheard that soapbox evangelist who announced "Jesus' Love" to the entire UBCO Library last week... so I'm afraid I have no idea who you are... sorry... But hey, thanks for reading my blog! I'm pretty pumped about the viewership. My "user dashboard" gives me stats about visitors to my page, showing how many visit the blog gets per day, from what country, and either a couple people worldwide check over and over, or I have quite a few regular readers, Mostly Canadian or American, but even some from Germany. Pretty cool. Don't worry, I don't know WHO you are... I wish I did, but I don't have that information. I do know what country you are from though... oh also, whether you use internet explorer or firefox (or safari for some of you). Pretty cool... betcha didn't know I knew about you when you don't comment... well, I don't really know about you when you DO comment with all these "anonymous" folk popping up... oh well)

Hard Song.

Soft Song

Take your pick.

All the world is mad

2011-01-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

Although the last post had one of my favorite songs of all time, this one (by the same artist) has the greatest lyrics.

It's poetry, and I want to share.

Other than the lyrics of this song consistently ringing through my mind, nothing is particularily new. The semester is well under way, as the "reading break" is almost here... crazy.
I want more... time. More sleep. I want more focus too, too easily do I give in to procrastination these days (case and point, BLOGGGG!!!!!).

I also want to play more guitar...
ALSO, wouldn't it be great it it rained? Like... REALLY rained? Lightning and the booms and the wet and all that.

Meanwhile, a small bear is still living in my house.

Blog fuel

2011-01-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

So, last post I wrote about always losing inspiration to write blog before I get home.. today was one of those days.

While out today I was inspired to rant and question such topics as (but not limited to...)

a) Aliens and Ghosts
b) Whether or not food taste changes depending on texture
(NOT relying on molecular change, so eggs boiling doesn't count)
c) Alchemy
d) Sunshine
e) Loneliness, friendship and suffering.
d) Fate(?) and free will
e) Self betterment and focus
f) Virtues
g) Sea Monsters

Boy... wouldn't each of those have been great topics? That's not a particular order either... Alchemy was the most recent thought. I was just musing to myself about not only the literary value it gives to historical periods, (based on such ancient views of science), but also the immense symbolism behind the idea of turning simple metals into gold. Fantastic. You could tie that into a blog about self betterment and focus I guess, in regards to the symbolic nature. Interesting, you could also tie alchemy into my purely quizzical subject of whether or not taste relies on texture. Changing something into something else. Such topics would be fantastic blog posts.

But as I said... I got home, and lost the motivation.

Also, I noticed a hole starting to form in my jacket pocket. Tragic. And the symbolism behind that is... bleh, I'm hungry. End of post.

In honour of Alchemy, I present one of my favorite songs of all time (no lies!)

Song: Digital Sea -
Artist: Thrice
Album: The Alchemy Index - Water

Why I never update...

2011-01-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

I am well aware of these dry spells in the blogging habit... as noble as my intentions may be to update the blog more frequently... I never end up doing it? Why?
My theory... It just takes me too long to get home! haha at school or work I'm always thinking about things, or seeing things that make me think "Man, I could riff on this in the blog"... but then by the time I get home, inspiration is lost or at least diminished enough so that I forget.

Disappointing.

I'm pretty pumped on the sunshine that's been flirting with us these last couple days. Despite a few hiccups, 2011 is still turning out well (I think). I feel I can keep "praising" 2011 at least until the end of January, that's when I can decide whether to keep up the optimistic "better than 2010" attitude. Keeping in good company with good conversation is the key for the year thus far. That means YOU! (Maybe. Unless we don't speak... if that's the case, stop reading my blog and lets have a conversation!)

Watched How to Train Your Dragon again with some folk tonight, still awesome. Every. Time. Also watched Ricky Gervais being interviewed on CNN with Katie and Kelly, and it only acted to cement my opinion that the man is a genius.

But I'm scraping for topics... so this is an uninteresting post. Apologies, but at least it stirred up the stagnant waters. No mosquito nests here.
Flies maybe..

I'm in an oddly sentimental, somewhat subdued mood tonight. Probably just tired, full moon was last night so there's no blaming that one.

An "oldie" loaded with memories, but definitely tonight's song for me.

Text 2

2011-01-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Jon: "You sir, are drunk"
Jon: And you say...
Tony: You'll still be beautiful in the morning an' I'll never forgive you. However, still come. I'll be sober come morning"

This one wins first prize though for "Random text that made me laugh out loud"

Jill: You know, Jurassic Park wouldn't have been nearly as exciting if the park facilities just had round door knobs...

I associate with the best people ever.

Very exciting! (for me at least)

2011-01-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

AHH!
What a good day!
http://www.riseagainst.com/exclusive/Revealed.aspx

I was on quite the folk kick for the last... two months, which is and was bound to happen, and isn't quite over yet what with the new Iron & Wine coming out on the 25th... but it's funny because just this morning as I was switching back and forth between "I&W" and "Mumford and Sons" on the bus, I wondered to myself "what CD will it be to get me off this kick and back onto my usual wagon".
Found it.

Also, snowed like crazy last night, which was pretty sweet. Went from bare ground to this

Sweet.
I need to read now. First tea. Then read...
Priorities.

Walking far

2011-01-11T06:58:00.001-08:00

This will be a quick one, as I'm pushing for time before I have to leave for class... I told myself I'd leave in 2 min... so type quick (I'll be applying copy-paste for much of this body)

BUT, I just wanted to share the lyrics for one of my favorite songs right now, the newest "Iron and Wine" single. I'm torn about what I love the most about Sam Beam's music... not only is it beautiful to listen to, but his lyrics bring a sense of romanticism to parts of life that one might not otherwise pay attention to...

Fantastic music to listen to while just... watching life happen around you.

I was walking far from home
Where the names were not burned along the wall
Saw a building high as heaven
But the door was so small, door was so small

I saw rain clouds, little babies
And a bridge that had tumbled to the ground
I saw sinners making music
And I dreamt of that sound, dreamt of that sound

I was walking far from home
But I carried your letters all the while
I saw lovers in a window
Whisper "want me like time, want me like time"

I saw sickness bloom in fruit trees
I saw blood and a bit of it was mine
I saw children in a river
But their lips were still dry, lips were still dry

I was walking far from home
And I found your face mingled in the crowd
Saw a boat full of believers
Sail off talking too loud, talking too loud

I saw sunlight on the water
Saw a bird fall like a hammer from the sky
An old woman on the speed train
She was closing her eyes, closing her eyes

I saw flowers on a hillside
And a millionaire pissing on the lawn
Saw a prisoner take a pistol
And say "join me in song, join me song"

Saw a car crash in the country
Where the prayers run like weeds along the road
I saw strangers stealing kisses
Leaving only their clothes, only their clothes

Saw a white dog chase its tail
And a pair of hearts carved into a stone
I saw kindness and an angel
Crying take me back home, take me back home

Saw a highway, saw an ocean
I saw widows in the temple to the Lord
Naked dancers in the city
How they spoke for us all, spoke for us all

I saw loaded linen tables
And a motherless colt then it was gone
I saw hungry brothers waiting
With the radio on, radio on

I was walking far from home
Where the names were not burned along the wall
Saw a wet road form a circle
And it came like a call, came like a call from the Lord

Love it. Musically 2011 is off to a great start. Still very happy with how it is turning out.
Annnnddddd leaving NOW

So THIS is the New Year!

2011-01-02T16:25:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year Friend(s?)

So far the year is off to an awesome start. I feel like I'm on a constant high, and it makes me very happy, (as constant highs do).

It's a funny feeling really... usually the new year brings a traditional quoting of "Death Cab for Cutie" quotes, particularly "So this is the new year... I don't feel any different". This is ironic to me, becuase for whatever strange reason, I do feel different. Filled with anticipation, and also... a strange sense of freedom. My own personal revelation on New Years eve brought it on, and it's fantastic.

This is my "January 2011" song... I've already plagued facebook with it, so I'm sure any readers of my blog have seen that already. I've associated it with my new outlook, and therefore it makes me happy by association. The fact that it's an amazing song also helps.

BUT, in case you are tired of the Jonsí song, and you enjoy little song recommendations, this is my favorite song today, it's called "Stop Smoking Because It's Not Good For You".

Also, on the Music note, this is still very exciting to me

But yea. I am very happy. So I wish you a very happy new year as well, because this is a great feeling

I'll see YOU in 2011!

2010-12-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Hmm... Anonymous called me out on it... Last post didn't have any music suggestions.
SO, in honour of the death of 2010, I could either

a) do a reminiscent post of pivitol moments of the year..
b) OR, the much lazier effort of passing on some of my favorite songs/albums from the year.

I'd much rather not reminisce right now... too much effort.

This is by no means a "greatest hits" of 2010... just some of the new releases that are topping my iTunes play count.

(finding, and linking all the album covers to appropriate songs turned out to be wayy more work than just writing a list of key words like "Olympics (Bilodeau's Gold, etc), Sweeney Todd, 'Joseph', Triathlons, British Grandparents visit, 4rth Year, Edmonton, New Friends, Old Friends, Training Dragons, F. Shirt, Supernatural, LSAT, Making Waves, Monday Night Sports, Olympics (second mention because they were so awesome)... etc, etc)

Dang, there I went and did it anyways.

And then if I was just to pick my favorite song of the day... today it's this

Happy New Year!

Just made it!

2010-12-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

It was close, but it's still the same day, so it counts.

Merry Christmas everyone.

For me... the Christmas hype kind of ends on Christmas eve... I mean, I know Christmas is THE day, but I think it's the anticipation of it that I like the best. Hearing Christmas carols on Christmas day just feels like last ditch attempts to play them while it's still acceptable... Christmas lights don't look quite as good in the day, and on the evening of December 25th, everyone knows that's it... that's the end. Christmas eve is the one with the lights, it's the one with the anticipation.

However, I'm being a bit of a Grinch I guess (ALSO a Christmas eve event, by the by) and this Christmas eve praising should likely have been voiced before the day. So, like Christmas Day, this blog post is late...
Expect it appropriately earlier next year,

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, mine was fantastic, don't let the blog suggest otherwise.

and a Happy New Year too!
(New Year's Eve is better than the day... by the way)

"Everyone's thinking that these days"

2010-11-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

It's frustrating to me that I can't seem to get through a day without getting incredibly stressed out about my future...
Where am I going... what am I doing with my life... What are my plans? What should my plans be?

I'm left with this really empty feeling consistently in my gut that I'm falling behind where I "should be" in life... but I don't know where that "should be" is... or how to get there...

what a dowwwnnneerrrrrr

At least the weather has been nice.

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

Lest we forget.

Laid the wreath today on behalf of Gorman Bros. at the Remembrance day ceremony, which was pretty cool. I was really moved that I was asked to do it by my Grandpa, when he could have easily asked someone who was higher up in the company, more specifically his son, or HIS son who also has the last name Gorman. Instead I was asked... pretty awesome.

That being said, standing with the rest of the wreath layers put me with the likes of MLA's, Mayors, and other "big names" so far as Westbank goes... Although I definitely am not of any significance in the community haha, it was cool to feel like I was rubbing shoulders with them.

Lots of formal shaking of the hands between these bigwigs, that's what I noticed. Must perfect handshake.

-
On another topic? This is for all you Harry Potter fans. The best work he's done.

Two posts One day!

2010-11-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that people have been commenting on old posts, and I haven't figured out how to have e-mail notifications on comments...
Anyways, "Anonymous" asked me a question regarding an post from a few weeks ago regarding "humility", and I gave a rather long winded answer which could almost act like a blog post in itself...
It can be read here, should anyone be interested/looking for a blog post that waxes philosophic versus talking about dead animals...

Roadcoon

2010-11-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

Laura: When I die, I want to have a funeral that was like the one in "Darjeeling Limited"
Jon: I haven't seen it, whats the funeral like?
Laura: Oh, everyone wears white and they set the body out to sea and burn it
Jon: So you want everyone to wear white? Or you want your body set out in a boat
Laura: Everyone wearing white.. well I guess both
Jon: We don't really have a sea... we have the lake? It that okay? Set you off from the bridge?
Laura: I think that would freak a lot of people out...
Jon: Yea... but we wouldn't be able to get you to the ocean... oh wait! There isn't a toll booth anymore! Oh never mind, I'll totally get your body to the sea!

What else are friends for. Always there for you (unless a toll is involved)

Also... on the morbid topic of death... I think Raccoons are the most tragic roadkill animal. Partly because when you see them lying there you forget how absolutely freaky they are when they are alive, weird little hunch, hissing away with it's creepy paws... messed up. Forget that they look like "bandits"... they don't really though do they, maybe if they looked like they were wearing a balaclava... but no bandit wears the "Robin" syle mask. (In case it wasn't assumed, I saw roadkill raccoon today... roadcoon?)
That being said, if they were the little "thief" animals, then should we be praising cars for taking them out? I guess not, that would be encouraging vigilantism. Leave crime fighting to the police.
You win this time raccoons.

(Well... that one didn't.)

SONG!

160

2010-10-31T20:19:00.001-07:00

Post 160!

It's Halloween, and I woke up this morning with "Don't fear the Reaper" stuck in my head. Appropriate, I thought.

New layout to the blog too, pretty cool I think. Freshened it up, motivated me to keep it up a bit more. I like how I could use my own pictures for the background too, it was taken
<-- Here. This blog was boring, read the one below, much more entertaining. For that matter... read ALL the ones below, I've got at least 159 of them

Also, Sir Elton John!

Texts

2010-10-26T22:06:00.001-07:00

Tony: You can't get your heart broke if you fall in love every 20 minutes...
Jon: Haha, broken hearts are overrated... romanticized by musicians and poets :(
Tony: The assholes... like I needed another reason to drink
Jon: We'll get back at them... someday, somehow
Tony: Write our own songs. Ballads of Brotherhood, poems of passionate victory
Jon: Limericks of Life!
Tony: Sonnets of strength!
Jon: Haikus of heraldry!
Tony: Verdent Frendship in Free Verse!
Jon: Iambic Pentameters of idyllic persons!
Tony: Odes to originality!
Jon: Quatrains of courage!
Tony: Epics of excitement!
Jon: Couplets of charisma!
Tony:I'm all out. Good show
Jon: Phew, that was the last of my artillary.. haha I didn't know what I would follow the next one with. You began though, so we'll call it a draw
Tony: War is tough... almost like a chorus of companionship
Jon: Haha bravo. That was sneaky... like stanza.

Tony: I swear this class just wants to kill me. It's sentient an' vicious
Jon: Those are the worst... those and gnomes
Tony: Ugh. Your telling me. Dylan is actually playing one in our current campaign. Un-fucking-believable
Jon: hahah fantastic placement of an explicative
Tony: Thank you, I can do but try... Gnomes have that effect on me
Jon: It's butterflies for me... they think they are so great..
Tony: Don't worry. Bottom of the food chain an' incredibly short life span. They're made to look pretty pretty for us on warm spring days. Then they die.
Jon: You say the most beautiful things
Tony: I have my suspicion we have the same purpose for trees. That's why I support clear cutting.

SONG! (Sort of...?)

Archived "Rapture"

2010-10-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

I felt the inspiration tonight to redirect you to an old post from earlier in the year.

That was good.

2010-10-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days.
Let me specify...

One of those amazing days. Nothing in particular happened, there was no great revelation, no big event, no long anticipated result, just... good.

The sun was out, work was satisfying, lunch was smaller than usual, (but that was my own fault), air was crisp, didn't get much studying done (disappointing), forgot my lock at work so I needed to go back and grab it (Inconvenient), had coffee, saw friends, went to church, also watched the end of "Sherlock" this morning (no specific order in this list, my bad)

It was a day in the life, it was just.... good. As I drove home in the dark from the University/Church I just... got high haha. A complete and utter happiness, fantastic. Perhaps it was the new Joshua Radin CD that inspired me and put me in this place, maybe it was good friends, good church, good God! But I'm just happy, and wanted to express that in textish form.

It's a hard to explain feeling, but it was a genuine acknowledgment that I wouldn't change anything about how life is going right now, at this very moment. With all the stress, all the school, all the friends, all the work. I've even started playing guitar daily, which centers me even more. I want to laugh. I am laughing.

Life is just.... good. And I don't mean that "things are going well for me at the moment", I mean life is good. It's good being alive. I am happy I am alive.

"You're not dead, and in my books? That's a damn good reason to be happy". I am. Both.

I could delve into a deeper, philosophical post, theological even, but no. I just wanted to proclaim how great it is to be alive, and to be able to experience the beauty that is this world, this life and all the people in it. That means you! (Which in the most likely case for you reader(s?), I can also throw in a heartfelt "I miss you" and I would love to laugh over a pint, someday).

As I mentioned, new Josh Radin, I can't figure out my favorite song, so here are 3!

The Ones With the Light

You're not as Young as you Once were

Finally, "Road to Ride on"

Which one should be my favorite? haha.

(I miss my long hair too I've just realized)

Something in the Water

2010-10-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

The last post was long, and there weren't any pictures of music. For this, I apologize, and hope that this peace offering will earn some forgiveness.

--> A Great song

And a picture I took a few years ago (look at that, archived oldie)

Interestingly, the picture is in colour. Cool.

As I hope to show

2010-10-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

This blog post is against my better judgment in light of week 1 of the "Midterm wave", however the risk of becoming the "worst blog poster ever" as Mike so elegantly puts it, motivates me to at least pour something fresh in here.

But what...

This past week was fantastic, quite eventful and at the moment the highlight of this fall. Specifically it was a trip down to Vancouver to see As I Lay Dying/Unearth with Mike, followed by a sitting in the LSAT exam a day later... too much driving. School is school, as mentioned earlier midterms are on the immediate horizon, but I can make up for this lost time tomorrow (what else are birthdays for than hard work?). Thanksgiving yesterday, twas good. Also, Nicole moved out today, so that's noteworthy as well, living in Fernie for the next few months at least.

So that's that on the "current events" side of things... Unfortunately, as eventful as my life truly is, I'm not very good at frequent updates in this chronicling effort... Twitter is over on the side there... I can update that with my phone, so it gets a bit more attention. (However, that's definitely not a chronicle of my life... or at least I hope not).
Wouldn't it be something to become accomplished enough to have a biography written after you? Autobiographies don't seem to have the same flair... more accurate yes, but someone else wasn't so intrigued by your life that they felt the need to put it on paper. Meh... My life is somewhat written in a series of 1's and 0's that if Blogger ceases to be will be lost forever.

On another note, as I mentioned, I went to As I Lay Dying the other day, and it was fantastic. I love the fact that I can have these musicians to admire not only for their music, but on another note for their personal convictions and message. Listening to some of their convicting lyrics is a fresh dose of "examine your own life" that I know I so desperately need... My biggest concern of late is that I keep forgetting to surrender my own sense of entitlement. Unfortunately it's too easy to get caught up in the day to day, comings and goings of a busy life, so much so that my own schedule, my own immediate desires come to the forefront too often. I act and speak before listening too often... This I recognize, and too often excuse with the idea that my own little kingdom that is "life" should be run this way. Thankfully, this recent kick of AILD's lyrics have been the little kick that I needed to remind me of efforts to humble myself.

Humility, that's the word I need to remember. I once (not recently unfortunately) had someone say that I was "too humble", which I took as being the greatest compliment. There is a C.S. Lewis quote I read the other day that went something along the lines of "Love is unselfishly choosing for another persons good", which to me is humility in action. The effort to put aside ones own sense of entitlement, perhaps in my case an overinflated sense of self-worth, and instead focus on this love. Servitude to the interests of those around me, those affected by my life both directly and indirectly. Too often am I focused on the serving myself, and then on a more faith based perspective, is that exemplifying the teachings of Christ? An exemplification that should be on the forefront of my day to day actions. It's an effort to set myself apart from the world that we live in... be against the grain from so many things that I know I should be. I would hope that humility towards my own convictions will keep me on the path I want to tread, without any compromise that I justify by this sense of ownership and entitlement to my own comfort and desires.
Sometimes this train of thought leads me to let myself be taken to an extreme where I entertain ideas of dropping it all to go care for those in need, inspired by those who laid it all down to care for orphans, for widows. I wonder if these ideas are fueled by a sense of "capitalist guilt", or whether the guilt that I feel for not fulfilling them is fueled by something more...
Perhaps guilt isn't the right response at all... appropriately I should be motivated, acting on ideas in an attempt to inspire others. Nevertheless, I feel like I need to do more.
Serve more.
Love more.

I am a walking contradiction that's found consistency
Consuming everything, all without producing sustenance.

In the parallels we struggle to upkeep, there is a better way for us to be set free.
From all it is we crave, there must be more to life than to simply stay alive

We are not the same as I hope to show. There is a better way if we just let go

Apple Triathlon 2010

2010-08-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well! There it was, "The Event" of the summer for me.

Two years ago I did my first "triathlon" event... on a relay with my Dad and Cousin, where I did the swim portion. I got infected with the Triathlon bug, and wanted to do them ever since.

I trained for the three sports, and did a local Sprint Tri event in Peachland, but in my mind it was all leading up to what is (in my opinion) the biggest sporting event in Kelowna. The Apple Triathlon (also known as the Canadian National Championships haha).

Anyways, last summer rolled around, and I was infected with a different type of bug... Although the Triathlon bug was there, I also became violently ill. I don't remember the last time I had been that sick... in the week before the race I couldn't hold down anything I had eaten, I was bedridden in a cold sweat, and weaker than I had ever felt.

Despite my best attempts to lie to myself... (up until 30 min before my wave start), I finally had to admit defeat and hand in my timing chip. I tried to do a warm up, but after 50m I realized I was in no place to race... I guess a week of debilitating sickness will do that to you...

Regardless!! Although I recovered from the physical ailment, the Tri bug was still in me, and more determined than ever, I prepared myself for the next year. (The fact that I became the unofficial poster boy of the triathlon helped keep me motivated... how embarrassing that I was/am on the front page of the website, yet had never done the full triathlon...) (http://www.appletriathlon.com/)

All summer was leading up to this event for me, there was even a point where I hurt my legs a week before opening of Joseph, and (although maybe not the most appropriate response, seeing as it was a week before opening) I was primarily concerned with "will I be okay for the Triathlon?".

Then last Sunday came round

Final time 2:25:52
16th overall in my Age Category (M 20-25), even had my name listed in the paper in the top times for local competitors!
Also, noticing the times of other competitors in different categories, my time was only 3 min behind the fastest female in the 20-25 age group... who had come from Toronto for the triathlon, so pretty much as "serious" as some of the Triathletes get. So I was pretty pumped, with a bit more focused training, next year will be even better!

NEXT YEAR!

(In keeping tradition, I really like this song lately)

Feeling the Revival!

2010-08-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Greg Sczebel "Causin' A Commotion"

Bet you know someone in this music video!

Tell YOUR friends, (I just told mine).

New toy

2010-07-31T09:53:00.000-07:00

I finally joined the cult yesterday.

I don't know if there's an app for that...

Those summer nights

2010-07-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

Yikes.... that last post had no proof reading, and I REALIZED that I have a bad habit of spelling realized with an "s". How embarrassing.

Watched a thunderstorm tonight, which is exciting. Although, (obviously), I'm hoping that no fires start... a little bit of me is missing the rush that last summer provided. I'm already a bit of an adrenaline junkie to a certain extent, so fighting fires and having an entire town evacuated watching as multiple fires burn? Exciting.

But, as I said earlier... here's hoping for the best.

Also, sitting with friends, watching the lightning approach, brought me back to some of my most cherished memories of sitting by train tracks in the early hours of the morning watching the light from the oncoming trains light up the dark. I love (oh) these summer nights (Tell me more)

Found an awesome new band! "The Black Pacific". New project by the old frontman of Pennywise. Awesome album, although it's not released until Sept. Thing is... I was able to download it in it's entirety on iTunes... weird, and surely some sort of glitch? Whatever it was, I got the new album a month early, and it's swell.

Here's a song from it

Daedalus

2010-07-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Somehow, somewhere when I was younger I became familiar with fables and legends. I am writing about those timeless tales such as Greek mythology, or morality tales which have withstood the ages. However, I realise now how little these stories make it into our modern consciousness... I can only assume that I became familiar with these stories due to cartoons introducing them to me, but I'm not reminded of them anymore. Perhaps I should start watching cartoons again...

Well, that being said, I was listening to one of my favorite CD's the other day, and was started thinking about one of my favorite old stories, the Greek legend of Icarus and Daedalus (where Icarus flies too close to the sun). Then, when listening to a particular song on the CD that tells the story through the perspective of Daedalus, I realize it is, yet again, a tragedy that I am drawn to.

But there is something to these "sad endings" persisting through time... I'll use that as my excuse to save people from thinking that I am a particularly dark person haha. But there is something beautiful in the tragedy of this story.

or maybe I just like the song

Life is good

2010-06-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

So...

As a post to keep this blog relatively fresh... I will just rave about life.

Yes, rave, not rant. Things are just... so good right now. So good. Awesome times, with even better friends. Summer now, so the weather is amazing, and despite the one inconvenience of summer courses (semesters of which I am in between at the moment) things are going well.

Haven't been out Waterskiing yet this year... one downside. BUT, I have been getting a bunch of training time for Triathlons lately, which has been awesome. Figured I'd make the best out of a slow work schedule, and it's been great!

The weekly "movie night" turned into "Firefly night" and thus gained more followers, but that season will come to an end soon, and we will have to expand to new horizons for our media distractions. Also, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour dreamcoat" is going really well, and is already over 3,000 tickets sold. Pretty cool indeed.

ONE, only ONE thing that I still wish could happen this summer... but here's hoping that everything from prayer, to schemes will come through? haha.... oh boy. No more elaboration, as I'm worried of jinxing. But oh boy to I constantly wish for it to occur...

But, I am more than content, I am happy. Genuinely, and utterly happy.

I will try to update the blog more often with fun more "current event" type posts, but at the moment I can't think of any, and figured I would just write cheerful things.

THIS IS THIS WEEKS SONG!!!!

(I tried uploading a picture, but no luck... tradition failed)

Shrapnel

2010-05-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

As you, the reader, potential reader, past reader, skimmer, stalker, etc might know, I have two jobs. Now, each of these jobs has their respective risks... lifeguarding isn't so much a risk towards myself but more the risk of other people dying... and Gorman's has the risk of being mauled by a machine if not locked out properly.

However, the most terrifying risk from both of them are the head-shots.

Let me explain, at Johnson Bentley, when leaving deck, the lifeguards do general cleaning around the changerooms as they leave deck, this usually involves mopping with a mop and bucket that has never been changed when you start the shift. That means that the mop water is filled with hair, dirt, for some reason grey foam, and all sorts of reminders that the public, in general, is disgusting. (yayyyy)

Gormans, particularily on my Graveyard shift, makes use of the "air hose" quite a bit, which is a high pressure... well... air hose. Now, this pressured air, when aimed at a location that has no "exit route" will shoot right back at you, carrying with it all the sawdust, dirt, hydraulic oil and grease with it in a typhoon of lame.

Although not the worst risks in some eyes, these are the things I fear the most when arriving at either job, primarily because of my bad luck with them. I am always getting splashed with the mop swamp water, or blasting myself in the face with the air hose by accident when I don't notice a slight change in the angle of the machine.

This got me to thinking, with my kind of luck with this assortment of smelly, greasy concoctions... survey would indicate that my luck in a warzone would be zip to none. I think I would be taken out by shrapnel in a second... it seems to be fate that I get blasted in the face unwillingly by hydraulic-oil-covered-bark on a nightly basis, so I can I can only assume that this indicates my luck in regards to unwanted projectiles.

That was what I thought about last night. Approx 3:45 am, as I am welcomed by sawdust shrapnel across the front of my body.

Today's song.

...or not to ink

2010-05-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yay

Powerless Rise came out today. Now I can listen to it in the car, on a boat, in the rain, on a train. It is my green eggs and ham without a doubt. (However the video is not from the new CD, it still makes me happy to see the band in action, they inspire me.)

On the note of this video, notice the amazing sleeves that Tim (lead singer) has.... so awesome. We were talking on graveyard the other day (Dan's last weekend too... sad) about tattoos, what folk would get, what ones are dumb, tattoo tradition and culture etc, etc. I love tattoo's personally... but not one-off ones, I love sleeves. I love tattoos that take up someones entire arm, plastered with colour/black and white. Even if it's the "lame" imitation tribal designs, which I don't like as much because they seem uninspired, they still look better than a bare arm.
So why don't you get a tattoo Jon?

Three reasons
1) My aspirations: I feel like, in light of the various things that I aspire towards in life, tattoos would act as a hindrance. For example, professionally; at the moment I aspire to be a lawyer. Obviously everything in life is subject to change, but should this follow through, that professional sphere might not look so kindly upon the type of tattoo that I would feel is worth getting (the aforementioned "sleeve" or even half sleeve). Even my hobbies, such as acting, or my part time jobs at the moment like life-guarding, having tattoos would be an issue. Actors on stage are constantly hiding and covering up their markings, and a lifeguard with a sleeve would just come across as unapproachable to seniors and children... sad but true.

2) The inevitable(?) regret: This is obviously going to be mentioned... for it's the most cliche reason why not to get inked. What if your interests change? Whatever, it's a reminder of the past, but still, what if the regret is based in....

3) Baddd art: This is a huge one for me. Some tattoos just look awful. It's not the design necessarily, but rather the execution. Faces, scenery, even straight lines sometimes seem impossible for some of these artists. I am a critic at heart, and easily unimpressed. To be permanently stained with some random person's poorly executed artwork would be my own personal circle of hell on earth. Maybe I'm being over dramatic, but I would hate it.

Maybe I could get a Chinese symbol? That means.... serenity? Hmm.... lame, (and secretly nerdy, but no one has to know that)

Still.... So freaking cool... If anything ever were to happen to me where my aspirations listed above were to become an impossibility? I am colouring myself in.

Other than that, I have been successfully filling up my days, and just today encountered my first "scheduling conflict" of my new "summer activities".

Awesome, things are back to normal.

The Powerless Rise

2010-05-07T17:34:00.000-07:00

Edit: This is one of my favorite lyrics on the CD, thought I'd share

Simplicity is not a curse where strength is humbled
and the powerless rise.
This is a kingdom born upside-down.
This is a kingdom where the broken are crowned.

Just a taste of the most perfect metal CD I have ever heard.

Original post:

WOAHHHHHHH
AHHHHHHH
EEEEEE!

As I Lay Dying's new CD is streaming on their myspace now.... it comes out on tuesday. I was pumped enough due to the single's that they had released (as discussed in "Parallels" post) but now I've listened to the whole thing.

I think I've just found my favorite CD ever. Words cannot describe how excited I am about this music. Perfect doesn't even do it justice. Maybe it does. But none the less. Convicting lyrics, amazing guitar, and a performance from a band that I respect more and more every time I see anything about them.
Inspiring.

We are not the same, as I hope to show.

Anti-Stagnancy

2010-05-05T11:30:00.001-07:00

I don't feel like I have anything to say, but nothing is worse than a stagnant blog. It is a rare enough treat for someone to even read a blog these days, so when someone checks for the second time, maybe even third, and there isn't anything different? The reader almost feels bitter towards the blog for wasting their time;

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT PARALLELS YOU STUPID BLOG!" They screamed*
*(I assume)

Moving on.

So, Summer is here, and my schedule has lightened up not only immensely, but almost completely. Particularly in the first week after finals and Sweeney ended... I had no idea what to do with my time. It's a weird transition going from days being on a time limit (okay, I have 30 min to get from here to here before I have to begin this), to all of a sudden saying "I have nothing planned today...) Granted, I've been able to find ways to fill my days since, but it began as a strange experience.
That being said... despite finding little things to fill my days, I wish I had some "big plans" for the season. I keep getting asked (albeit small talk, I do recognize that) "any big plans for the summer?".
Now, the fact that I answer "no" to everyone that asks me that question makes me feel like I should have some sort of big plan. I do plan to see The Lion King in Vancouver in July, but that's hardly "big" plan. Joseph I guess.... but even so.

So, this is an open letter to anyone who might read this blog, I want to have a better answer for the "big plans" question.

And a song

Parallels

2010-04-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's amazing when things coincide like this,

If anyone has been following the blog and my general uneasiness or thoughts in the past few posts, particularly the Australia focused one, then this makes sense.

"As I Lay Dying" posted a new sample of their new CD, coming out in a few weeks, the other day... and not only is it an amazingly catchy song, but the lyrics speak to exactly where I felt like I was at.

The song is "Parallels"
Fantastic.

We are all comatose. We are overfed and under...undernourished, yearning for something more.
Never starving yet never quite satisfied. Carnal but without useful flesh or mind.

I am a walking contradiction that’s found consistency
consuming everything, all without producing sustenance.

In the parallels we struggle... struggle to upkeep, there is a better way for us to be set free.
From all it is we crave, there must be more to life than to simply stay alive... to simply stay alive.

We are not the same as I hope to show. There is a better way if we just let go.
We are not... we are not the same. We are not... we are not the same. Let go...

In the tension between devouring want or simple need
it’s clear the only lines between the ones we preserve.

We are not the same as I hope to show. There is a better way if we just let go.
We are not... we are not the same. We are not... we are not the same.
Let go.... We are not the same.

And in the parallels we struggle to upkeep,
there’s a better way for us to be... for us to be set free.
And in the parallels we struggle to upkeep ,
there’s a better way for us to be... for us to be set free.

On another note, I've seen "How I met your dragon" three times now... I think I need to hold off a bit haha, but I do genuinely enjoy that movie.

Feeling this

2010-04-25T09:46:00.001-07:00

I don't have anything necessarily poignant to write about... but I thought I would still put something down, for continuities sake. Stagnant blogs get depressing after a while... disappointing? Infuriating?

Closing night for Sweeney tonight! One final show. It was (is?) fantastic, amazing show and I feel honoured that I got to consistently witness performers in this cast captivate me night after night.

Summer time is here, Okanagan summer, so obviously there is still snow up on the hills despite sweltering hot weather in the valley. This really is a cool place to live. Of course, with summer comes Blink 182 for me. Unfortunately Mike hasn't been around to blast it in the car with me, (on that note, if you catch this blog post, my condolences for your truck), but nonetheless, I have been cycling the Blink catalogue pretty consistently.

Well, that's not entirely true, I cycled the catalogue for a few days, then remembered how much I love this one in particular, and then listened to it almost on repeat for a couple days. Exam stress can make you do strange things apparently.

That being said, I realized after my Blink kick had started that in light of my computer being busted for a while, no CD player in my car, and all other factors, that I hadn't given the new Coheed and Cambria CD enough ear time. So I began that... and soon had another song that is quickly working it's way up my "25 most played" playlist.

Not necessarily as "listener friendly" as previous songs I've posted, but it is without a doubt my favorite song right now.

And a picture, just to keep up with the goals I've set for myself, and make the post flashier.
No relevance, it just makes me happy.

"That time of year"

2010-04-15T23:45:00.001-07:00

Exams....

I have a funny feeling about exams this year... less panicked, which I'm sure is foolish. I should probably be a little bit more stressed, seeing as they are all next week, plus a final paper to be done.... but instead I'm writing a blog. I think with Sweeney, School, Work and more I've been putting too much on the mind to worry about just one thing, rather, it's a wonderful blend of all worries.

On the note of having too much things on the mind, I've made the long overdue decision to step back, and stop feeling like I need to have a control over my life. This is, of course, coming from a Christian standpoint, and it will take some work, catching myself when I want to hold the reigns, but overall I think it was a good decision. Now I need to read more.

I've felt like over the last few weeks my faith has been popping up at the forefront of my mind a lot... more so than average. Perhaps it's speaking with old YWAM friends... perhaps the fact that there are cast members in Sweeney to whome I pale in comparison in regards to strength of convictions, or maybe it's because I've started to catch my own hypocrisy in some of my day to day conversations... (I don't want to be a jerk). Regardless of what the source, I'm looking forward to being able to go back to Powers Creek on Saturday nights once Sweeney is done.
(However, Sweeney is pretty freaking awesome)

On the note of faith being at the forefront, had a good talk with a friend today at school about faith, in what started as a question about the "nature of the term infinity", turned into recapping some stories from outreach. I often tell people that my "Australia experience changed my life", which is absolutely true, however I constantly worry about the term "backslide" that we would hear so much about... Also, it unsettles me that the whole time in YWAM sometimes feels like a dream.

Well dang blog, if only you could respond. After all, you've keep record of all of this for a couple years now, what's your take?

Until blog responds, I'll have to listen to musicians who know how I'm feeling.
Hello old friend, ease my worried mind.

Girl Magazines and Evil

2010-04-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

On hindsight, my "beard" didn't look nearly as good as I thought it did at the time... or at least, pictures would indicate as such.

I think the pride that many guys have in regards to their facial hair is similar to that of a mother's pride... "I made this... this grew because of me". Now, that probably isn't what goes through mother's minds when they look at their children, but humour me for the sake of the analogy.

Westside weekly published a Sweeney review. I loved it, my favorite quote was
"The production is superb, the play is bad. It may be brilliant, as often claimed, but it's evil" haha, awesome.

She continues,
"they weave the themes of obsession, demonism, violence, injustice, murder and cannibalism ever tighter and it's only resolved in vigilante justice at the cost of my favorite character's sanity".

Well, if that's not a bang on review, I don't know what is. On that note, come see the show!!

During intermission I've been reading Glamour magazines aloud to the cast... With every article, I'm slowly losing faith in humanity...

The year ended.
Last day of classes was Friday. Bittersweet though, as this past semester was one of the best I've ever had, mostly because of the company I was able to keep in between classes. Dan, Katie and Laura, I thank you.

And so passes another school year, what is the plan??
Oh, life...

"This song will change your life"- Garden State

Rest

2010-04-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, after an intense week and first ring of shows, I have my first morning off in what seems like a long, long time.

Mythical Charge ended up in 78th place or something like that. Not bad at all, top 100, and we get a monetary prize ($25 or something along those lines)

Did go to a Good Friday service though, which was really good. The pastor (Troy) from my church (Powers Creek) spoke, which made the whole thing totally worth it. I love being able to listen to someone speak who I have so much respect for. His speaking is 98% of the reason I chose to attend powers creek in the first place after coming back from Perth, and I wouldn't have it any other way. He spoke about what Paul would have seen after denying in the courtyard. Refreshing not to have another "symbolism of the cross" sermon as per Good Friday usual, (not that those aren't important).

There is a marmot that has taken up residence in our yard, likely in the absence of Champ. I found myself, (alone, of course), yelling at it through the window going "Alan! Alan! Alan!..." as per the BBC commercial. It ran away when I got to the Steves. I don't know if that means it's name is Alan or Steve.

Also, saw Clash of the Titans matinee between work and Sweeney yesterday. Naturally I thought it was Oscar worthy.... *cough*
I'm starting to wonder if I'm becoming too cynical about movies. Granted, Titans deserved every rib that it gets, but it was still fun to watch I guess. I need to just enjoy these things rather than get all worked up over corny lines, bad special effects, and directors who get too caught up in "making a scene look super cooooool" vs. actually making a scene look good.

oh well

SONG! (Double win because I love this music video)

Hell Week

2010-03-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Halfway through "Hell Week".

Show is amazing, definitely the best one I've ever been in. Everything about it, just fantastic.

Otherwise life has been cruising along. Although every day is, naturally, newsworthy, I don't know if it necessarily passes as blogworthy.

Regardless, here is a picture

And a song.

Wilson, we have a problem...

2010-03-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Just watched Apollo 13 again, amazing movie.

It made me realise what a big Tom Hanks fan I am, I don't think I have ever not enjoyed one of his movies. Cast Away still makes me sad, which is somewhat embarrassing seeing as you get choked up about a volleyball... but I hold that "Cast Away" is held up entirely by "the song" in it. Beautiful. (However, I am also a "Movie score" nerd, so the music behind movies is a huge deal to me)

Back to Apollo 13, aside from my Tom Hanks admiration, the movie also made me wish that I was more "mathematically prone". Those folk at NASA are geniuses. I can't stand math... I wish I could, I wish it made sense, but it doesn't. I always struggled, and as a result, engineering or similar prospects were never a reality. Sure, sure I am prone to very abstract Philosophical thoughts... but could that get you to the moon? Mechanical Engineers, Physicists, they know where it's at. Brightest people on the planet. They are the ones who are boldly going where... only a select few have gone before.

What is Philosophy good for then? Well... a new favorite quote of mine comes from Plato's writing where Socrates says

"I am afraid that other people do not realize that the one aim of those who practice Philosophy in the proper manner is to practice for dying and death" Phaedo 64 a

Fair enough... he continues

Therefore, as I said at the beginning, it would be ridiculous for a man to train himself in life to live in a state as close to death as possible, and then to resent it when it comes?... Those who practice Philosophy in the right way are training for dying and they fear death least of all men" - Phaedo 67 e

I guess the moon will have to wait.

"I'm sorry Wilson..."

Dead Spiders

2010-03-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

When I see dusty logging trucks that have no loads and are thus folded up, I like to think it looks like a giant dead spider being carried.

For those of you, (nobody), who reads my blog and hasn't yet been spammed on facebook, please watch this

The sun is out, Sweeney Todd is going well, and the semester is almost over. Despite the looming threat of deadlines and opening night, life is good.

On another note, I've been listening to Sirius Radio a lot lately, and now have a bit of a desire to be a radio DJ.... showing people music and then get paid to just talk? Amazing. However, it seems that most are already "figures" in culture before getting their shows... so first things first I guess....

On that note, here's a song, welcome to The Jon Arkle Show

Goofy

2010-03-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

Rest assured, I do study for my exams...
However, it seems whenever I blog it is an admission of guilt for the lazy crime of procrastination.

However, tonight was a procrastination that, as the credits roll, I feel like it was a nostalgic evening well spend, albeit a complete waste of time when I could have been reading my massive Bible of a book "The Complete Works of Plato".

Instead I re-watched "A Goofy Movie". I had seen a reference to it earlier last week, and it had been bugging me ever since "was it a good movie from my childhood? or just kind of 'there'". Well, I re-watched it, remembered it was a musical, and therefore loved it. Good ol' Goofy, Disney used to make such heartwarming films at a much more frequent pace... what happened?

On the note of musicals, saw the posters/billboard designs for "Sweeney Todd" yesterday, they look awesome! There is pie, with one of Sweeneys Razors in it, and a little sign that says "a little priest?". Blood too. Awesome.

Anyways, maybe time to read up on some Socratic Dialogues....? A-hyuck

Sad Wild Things

2010-03-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

I forced myself to take a night for myself and watch a movie haha, to try to relieve the stress, there was no rehearsal, work, or homework to be done, so I took advantage of the occasion.

In lieu of that, I finally saw "Where the Wild Things are".... I can't tell if I liked it or not.. which is an unusual thing for me... usually I know that I don't like things.

The movie is visually beautiful, every shot I loved, the monsters, the sunsets, the forests and oceans. Awesome, particularly the scenes shot during "magic hour" when the sun is setting and it sets this nice warm gold glow, yea.. I was impressed with the filming.
HOWEVER, the movie didn't really have a storyline... the characters were good, you could see each one's insecurities, and it played out well how each one was a part of the main kid's own insecurities and fears... but that was kind of it, there was no development. It was just like taking a weird trip in this kids mind.
*Speaking of the kid, did anyone else notice the opening scene is of him killing a dog...? WILD

Overall, I think the movie should have been a horror... I knew it wasn't ever going to happen, but I kept wishing for some genuine tension when we thought that maybe the monsters would actually eat the kid. I think Where the Wild Things Are would have been better had it been mixed with... I don't know Lord of the Flies? Lets get those monsters pissed off eating children. Put some tension into the movie... I guess I'm just pining for a good ol' monster movie. Too many "there's a ghost, you just never see it" ones these days, I want creatures.

Final verdict? Still don't know. I had heard criticism about how "emotional" the movie was, but I really liked it for that... the goat thing character was breaking my heart the whole time, despite having no real development.
Good job for a 5 sentence book transferred into a movie though.

In other news,

Listen to that song in the previous post again.
(Good detective work Sherlock Crone)

Rapture

2010-03-03T18:52:00.001-08:00

I can only hope that the rapture would feel even half as amazing as this song makes me feel....

"New Classical" is a genre I guess... and I am sold. After hearing this song, I bought the entire CD, and I'm sure I will find my way into more...

Beautiful

Just close your eyes and listen to this...
I wanted to find a picture that I could say "Listen and look at this picture... But nothing I own can do it justice... Jordan, I might need your help here.

This song... completes me?

Yes, that's the term I wanted.

Golden Finish

2010-02-28T15:00:00.001-08:00

I don't remember the last time I yelled and cheered and gasped and my TV.... ever...

Amazing hockey game..... Amazing! What a perfect finish to some amazing Olympic games

Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

YES!

I could never be anything but Canadian.... so proud. So so so so proud.

Watching the Olympics

2010-02-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

I have the sneaking suspicion that the person in charge of setting camera angles at the crowd intentionally holds the shot on spectators until they notice that they are on the "big screen", for the sole reason that they get a little kick out of quickly cutting away then the people get excited that they were on TV.

I know I would. The cameraman giveth, and the cameraman taketh away.

Olympics this month have been amazing, quite the experience having them happen in your "backyard". It's disappointing that Kelowna didn't quite pick up on the same degree of Olympic spirit as Vancouver, but I guess that was to be expected. But I am happy that I was able to get down and experience the atmosphere in the "heart" of it all.

Go Canada Go! 10 Golds at this moment, awesome

I also realise that I could post more often if I don't feel like I need to write an essay every single time. Bring on more short posts!

"Look at her stupid face"

2010-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

I'm a big, big fan of this TV show called "Supernatural", and just wanted to express how pumped I am about last night episode. Best of the new year by far, pushing the story along as we met the next horseman "Famine". Just when you thought the show couldn't introduce a more evil, creepy character... you meet Famine.

(On the note of TV, House was also a really good episode this week, I actually felt tense while watching it, and LOST is just... well it's LOST... perfect.) And those are my opinions on "my shows".

In other news, heading down to the Olympics today with Nicole. Going with some of our cousins to Ski Jumping in Whistler and Moguls on Cyprus. Apparently forecast calls for rain all weekend, which is a bummer, not for us so much as for the whole Olympic opening.

Westbank and Kelowna are covered in fog, which is perfect. It's nice to have weather you enjoy, good start to reading break.

Also, I really really want a cat... a Siamese cat to be precise. I've been advertising this for some while now, but started to forget about it as other endeavors in life overtook frivilous "cat" thoughts.

Now, as some people know, I'm a staunch follower of Ricky Gervais. I think the man is the funniest person on the planet, and as a result I am addicted to his audiobooks, tv shows, movies, and naturally his blog.
Now, I bring this up because over the last few weeks I've been thinking about getting this cat again, because I want to name it "Socrates" (despite the fact that my sister says "people will call it 'socks'". I will forbid this. "Socks" is an awful name for a cat, Socrates is wise and a reminder to pursue wisdom above all else. "Socks", yech.)
Anyways, this has been going through my head quite a bit over the last month ever since I started reading "Dialouge Socrates" in my Plato class, and then the other day Ricky Gervais (see, there was a point to bringing him up) posts a picture of his cat on his blog, turns out he has a siamese...

Blog:
http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php
Picture: (by itself in case this blog is being read in the future... oooh)
http://www.rickygervais.com/images/tsott_100210.jpg

Adorable. I was sold in a second. (Also, I think Ricky's lead up was hilarious: "Look at her stupid face" haha). Anyhow, this is my statement that frivolous "Cat thoughts" are back on the table, and I will begin my quest again to try to find a Siamese kitten somewhere in BC interior or lower mainland perhaps...

People are avatarded

2010-02-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

Saw Avatar the other night, meh. It was good, but I definitely don't think it deserves to be breaking all these records... Good summer blockbuster, but most successful movie of all time? What kind of deals at the crossroads has James Cameron been making...?

BUT,
I thought this article on it was great, it's a bit long, but suffer through it... makes some awesome pointed near the end.

Stop pining for life on Pandora and come back to planet Earth ...
Boris Johnson - The Telegraph

Dear oh dear – as if there weren't enough reasons for feeling low. Here we are in the middle of January with the Labour Party still in power, taxes about to go through the roof, the weather still miserable – and across the world people have apparently discovered a new and bizarre reason for being down in the dumps. It's this film called Avatar, which I went to see at the weekend and which I would say delivers virtually everything a film-goer could possibly desire.

Just as the 3D, sci-fi epic teeters on the brink of becoming the biggest-grossing film of all time, some people are complaining of a terrible side-effect. It's making them depressed, they say. It's turning them as blue as the funny, helmet-nosed aliens that have enchanted us all.

It's not that they get depressed while watching it – far from it. They are in transports of delight. The trouble begins when the credits roll and the lights go on. They take off their 3D specs and they look at themselves and their pallid lives, and it hits them in a terrible black wave that they will never get to the idyllic planet Pandora and its 1,000ft trees and beautiful illuminated spaghetti leaves. They will never have the acute physical sensation that they are really riding on the back of a giant orange pterodactyl or amorously entwined with a lissom, blue, 12ft alien, complete with prehensile tail. They walk out of the cinema and they see the vomit-splashed pavements and the hamburger wrappers and all the detritus of the consumer society, and they think, get me back to James Cameron's world of the floating green mountains and the cuddlesome, hammerhead rhinos!

The film has only been out for about a month, and already there are internet discussion groups on how to cope with post-Avatar gloom, and as the British election campaign gets underway, one can imagine that the hunger for escape will intensify. Across the world, it seems, audiences are looking at the pristine planet of the blue-nosed tribe and something is touching them deep in the human core. They hear the tribal chanting, they see the semi-naked Na'vi, and they yearn for the simplicity and goodness of a lost Eden.

What is the lesson of Avatar? they ask themselves when they are back on the dank and be-merded streets of Earth. It is all about the folly of mankind, the greed that impels us to try to gratify our wants with a system of capitalist exploitation. They think of the Na'vi – the happy, chanting tribes of woad-daubing natives, and how their misfortune was to locate their sacred glade atop a colossal deposit of a mineral called unobtanium. They remember how the brutal American mercenaries decided to clear them out "with shock and awe", and how their missiles slammed into the sacred tree and brought it crashing down with much loss of blue-skinned life. And then they think of Iraq, and the way the brutal and mercenary Americans blundered in to a place they didn't understand, with similar consequences.

The Na'vi had unobtanium; the Iraqis had oil – and the tragedy of both peoples was that they found themselves standing between the Americans and their lust to consume. In their agony, and in their frustration with the world as it really is, some of the post-Avatar gloom merchants are starting to come up with some radical solutions. There is already a group of Na'vi sympathisers in Florida who are proposing quite seriously to set up a Pandora-style community, complete with Eywa. You haven't heard of Eywa? You will. It is the blue-nose religion, a version of James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis that postulates a kind of electro-spiritual link between every organism, so that we are hooked up to the trees and the trees are hooked up to each other in a huge dendrological internet.

I prophesy that in 10 years' time the UK census will show more adherents of Eywa than there are of Jedi, and that is saying something. With James Cameron poised to do at least two sequels to Avatar, and with the frenzy likely to grow, it is time, surely, to put the whole thing into perspective.

I want to reassure all those who yearn for the life of Pandora: before they start sharpening their arrows and girding their loin-cloths and preparing their vats of blue paint, they should remember that there is nothing remotely new about the plot or politics of Avatar. Never mind Iraq: this is the founding and programmatic story of America – of the man with a gun coming up against the noble and athletic savage armed with stone-age weapons. This is not just the story of Pocahontas or Dances With Wolves.

Avatar is rooted in just about every film Hollywood made about cowboys and Indians. And that is why all those who think this is an anti-American film are also laughably mistaken. Why is Avatar being cheered by audiences of rednecks in Kentucky? Because it is the all-American movie – and not just because the white, American hero is given a messiah role among the blue-noses.

It is a feature of powerful military empires that they like to romanticise their victims and luxuriate guiltily in the pathos of their suffering. Think of the Roman crowds pleading for the lives of captured barbarians in the amphitheatre. Think of the statue of The Dying Gaul. The eco-conscience of Avatar is an example of how a dominant consumerist society is able to exhibit its better nature, to parade its guilt, to feel good about feeling bad.

And I can't believe that many of these gloomy post-Avatar Westerners, when they really think about it, would want to up sticks to Pandora and take part in Na'vi society, with its obstinate illiteracy, undemocratic adherence to a monarchy based on male primogeniture and complete absence of restaurants. The final irony, of course, is that this entrancing vision of prelapsarian innocence is the product of the most ruthless and sophisticated money-machine the world has ever seen. With a budget of $237 million and with takings already at £1 billion, this exquisite capitalist guilt trip represents one of the great triumphs of capitalism.

-- Eh? eh? Not bad.

As I sit here, drinking coffee and putting off essays...

2009-12-06T20:25:00.001-08:00

... I am brought to thinking about various points in movies that have emotional impact towards me, be it chills, smiles or choked up feelings.
Yes... this is an awful distraction, and in part I blame my old friend Jordan Kologe (http://akropolisnow.blogspot.com/) for inspiring me. However, his post was much deeper, and had to do with deep emotional takeover and the individuality vs universality of emotions...

...and I am just going to give a brief list of some favorite movie moments that are in my immediate memory (seeing as deeper thought would require more focus that I am obviously willing to shell out tonight.... yikes work ethic).

None the less, here are some moments in movies that make Mr. Jonathan Arkle happy that such an art form (yes art form) exists.

When Andy watches his fellow inmates enjoy cold beers on the roof after a long day of work - The Shawshank Redemption

The opening title card and subsequent introduction to the 'boat' "Serenity, specifically it's correlation with the soundtrack - Serenity

Frodo confides his fears to Gandalf in Moria, Gandalf speaks of "the time that is given to you" - The Fellowship of the Ring

"I'd buy the quick-stop and re open it myself!" Randals "moment". - Clerks II

"There is no one watching out for us, we are all alone" Miracles and signs speech - Signs

"My Gift is my song" introduction - Moulin Rouge (shut it...)

Maximus enters Elysium, now we are free - Gladiator

When Mel Gibson rides down a line of people, with a flag or with face paint and rallies a war cry - Every Gibson movie.. ever

and I am writing this on my "blogger dashboard widget", so unfortunately, I have a limited amount of space before I must finish off, and that limit ends roughly he

Talk to me Goose

2009-11-29T21:39:00.001-08:00

So I watched Top Gun tonight for the first time in my life, and realise that I've been in the dark for years.
Amazing movie.

In other news, caught a pack rat in the barn the other night, it was epic.

Also, the new Star Trek makes me feel like I should have been a trekkie rather than liking star wars.... the way I see it, Star Wars now seems like "sci-fi for dummies" as those fans are the ones who cheer at sasquatches being handed crossbows (let the wookie win).
Whereas Star Trek is all quasi-science, with physics (sounding) statements and filled with "logic". Anyhow, I can understand why those people look down on star wars fans... at least at the moment, and especially in light of all the new Star wars movies.

But enough nerdery... 2 weeks left of school, 2 final papers left, and a few final exams. Bring it on. I'm ready for a break.

"Blog Entry Title"

2009-10-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

I slacked.

So, I don't know if I mentioned this in the last blog, but recently I've become addicted to this new TV show "Supernatural". It's not exactly new, but it's new to me. It's like the xfiles meets buffy. Awesome, dark AND filmed in Vancouver! So win win win.

In other news, midterms have begun and those are going well. I've had two of my philosophies now, which I hope went well, I feel confident about them, but obviously I'll have to wait a few weeks for the results.

This blog is a bit of a cop-out as I don't have anything particularly newsworthy to write about, but I figured I might as well write something.
And to keep up with my "recent" revelations, blogs need pictures. Hold on, let me find something worthy...

This is appropriate for my "midterm" season I guess. I'm also teaching a lifeguarding course at the moment (Bronze star specifically). So, that, plus Gorman Bros., plus school equals coffee coffee coffee. On that note! Starbucks brought out this new instant coffee which is good, but not really worth the price. I think I'll still prefer a bulk Nescafe.

Haven't seen Ricky Gervais' "Invention of Lying" yet... hopefully sometime this weekend. Oh! And on the note of theatre/movies etc. We are one step closer to getting this 'home theatre" system. Yay

Have a good Thanksgiving to folk as well

Pictures make blogs more appealing.

2009-09-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Pictures make blogs more appealing. This is the conclusion I have come to.
Not because of any particular feedback, or even personal opinion, but just becuase I know that I find bright colours distracting and easily grab my attention. This I have in common with young children, and crows.
(Poisonous Crows).

My dear friend Jordan, who moseys his way onto this blog every once and a while, wrote an entry in his own a few days ago mentioning that he was sitting on his porch, smoking his pipe. Now I wouldn't expect any less from him, and then the very next day (becuase it was still fresh in my mind) I saw a man smoking from a wooden pipe while driving through town. My grandfather used to smoke a pipe... gave it up for the sole reason that he kept misplacing the pipe itself, which irritated him. He is British and fantastic, so again, the pipe has a strong case going for it. (They also smell great).
I think this is just great... what doesn't seem to suit the "deep thinker" more than smoking tobacco in a pipe? Now... I think at my age it would look peculiar, so I will have to wait, but I look forward to the day when I seem wise enough to the layman to be able to pull off this fantastic pastime. I will appear to be a great philosopher, or a wise knowledgeable man.

Or a Hobbit... But lets assume not.

Arkham Asylum

2009-09-09T15:31:00.001-07:00

Ahh!!

I've fallen out of the video game world, in such a sense that the last "console" that I owned was a Nintendo Gamecube back in 2003... in regards to video games, I would play the Nintendo legacy games such as Mario, and of course my favorite, Zelda.

As previously mentioned, I bought a PS3. Now granted, I bought it for the Bluray player, but I figured might as well get a game for it as well, so obviously I got the new Batman Game.

It is a freaking love letter to obsessive Batman fans like me, with so many little throw outs to the comics and obscure characters. But what really makes it complete for me, is that my favorite villain since I was little, Dr. Jonathan Crane, A.K.A. "Scarecrow' is done amazingly. A review on the internet said something along the lines of "The Scarecrow sequences don't scare you... they terrify you". An accurate statement, and as my dear friend Torrey said in a voice mail he left me earlier today "I got to the scarecrow part... scared the crap out of me".
Best part is.... there are more than just one nightmarish encounters with the dear doctor.

I am so happy about this reintroduction to video games, that I felt obliged to write a blog on it.

First day of school was officially today. I showed up yesterday to classes like a fool, and there were none. Oh well, both classes today were with the same prof, which hopefully will be good. He has a thick Italian accent and a sense of humour, so here's hoping for the best.
Also, 9 comes out today, AND "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria (a favorite of mine) is indeed on the soundtrack (this is the song featured in the trailer).
So hopefully it has an iconic and key location in the movie.

Labour Day weekend

2009-09-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

I got a ps3, it had a blu ray player, and it dropped $100 in the last 2 weeks, and I had a $100 gift certificate for the mall... $200 off what it was last month? not bad. That's my justification for those of you who may have been torturing yourself by wondering.

So, on Monday (Labour day) I'm hoping to wake up early and head back up to Whatshan Lake to do some more waterskiing. Long drive for a day of skiing but it will be worth it... I know it.
Unless this -4 weather comes... I don't believe it personally, but crazy to hear it predicted.

A good old friend of mine (a good friend who is not necessarily old, but he is an old friend who happens to be good as well, good in both senses, as a good friend and a good person, not to be confused with an old good friend, anyways)
This friend is a fantastic musician, and happens to be in a swell band! Which I just learned has brought out an EP available on iTunes, even in Canada.
The City Walls
I think they are just fantastic, so you should check them out as well. At least click the link so their Myspace page looks a bit busier?

School starts Tuesday, Philosophy again finally! Please be engaging professors.... please?

Hokay!

2009-09-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

So! This is entirely going to music related

I'm lying!

Okay! So I bought the new Imogen Heap, and I really like it! If anyone reading this is an Imogen Heap fan, then get the cd so we can talk about it! I like the song "Aha!" alotttt. (so much in fact, that it deserves three t's).
Also, I bought the delux version off iTunes, so I got every track doubled with Instrumental only tracks!! Cool. Especially since I'm big on the whole "Songs minus lyrics" thing when I study. So double win ($12.99 too! 26 songs)

Also! I really like the new Weezer single! It's catchy, happy, and dancy. Double win!
http://www.weezer.com/
Stream it free HERE! For real.

Also, since I joined the Twitter cult... *Shudder*, I've been recieving the odd "tweet" *shudder* from Andrew W.K.
Of course, I think this guy is a legend, SO you can imagine my excitement when he wrote that this had surfaced...

http://www.coveringthemouse.com/2007/12/mickey-mouse-club-march-andrew-wk.html#links

ha!

And in final un music related news.....
Wait... I think that's it...

hmm... oh! My struggle and debate about whether or not to get a ps3/360/wii goes on... should I get one? if so which one? I really want to play that new Batman: Arkham Asylum game.... if you havn't seen trailers for it, go watch now, and I guarantee you will agree it's the best batman thing since dark knight. Which isn't hard, granted... BUT, still amazing.

There, I took it off music topic, so I am certified liar.

...to rule them all

2009-08-24T19:03:00.001-07:00

http://theradiocitylotrconcert.com/

Does this make me very nerdy? A little nerdy? or 110% sane for really wanting to go to this??

I've never been to New York, but I really want to go someday. Everyone I know who has ever been says it is just an amazing city. It really is the center of the world, and I would love to go see it in person. Also to see a Broadway show! Broadway, Lord of the Rings orchestra... yikes, I think my new york "tastes" are likely a bit expensive...

Sick at the moment, it's pretty lame. Stomach bug, hit me hard over the weekend and stopped me from being able to do the Apple Triathlon.... grr!!! BUT, nothing I can do about it now, I'll just train harder and do better next year than I could have this year! Yes. Thats the plan.

Also New York City... that's a "plan" as well.

"Precious..."

The Shocking Alternative

2009-08-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Spent last week up at a my uncles cabin on the perfect waterskiing lake, up near nakusp. It was fantastic, Waterskiied everyday, read, had amazing alone time. It was so relaxing and refreshing... the first real "break" I've had in... I don't know how long. Despite it raining at least once every day, pouring on some, it was the an amazing week.
Check out this water...

Started re-reading Mere-Christianity the other day, and when I got to this passage I remembered it immediately, and decided I needed to post it. Then, surprise surprise, I procrastinated. But at long last, here it is. I know it's long, but I think it's hilarious, poignant, and relevant. C.S. Lewis' style and Philosophical wit makes this book one of my favorites, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Philisophical or Christian based reading.

"Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sings. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Panthiests, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: There would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.
One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You treat on my toes and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announces that he forgave you for treating on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people who their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.
Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ sahys that He is 'humble and meek' and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we would attribute to some of His sayings.
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

C.S. Lewis
Mere-Christianity, pg 51-52

Good eh?

Current Events

2009-07-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

So this has been my neighborhood in this past week

Those who read the blog are more than likely aware of the timeline of events, but as for description, a picture speaks a thousand words.

Saturday July 18th, 2009

Gorman's home going up in flames.... Don't get me started about the engine parked at the bottom of the straight driveway.....
Press photo of me Sat. afternoon at Gorman Bros. - Morning. Across the lake swim, Afternoon "The Producers", later that afternoon fire fighting?, later that evening "The Producers", even later that evening, back at Gorman's fighting fire.
Loads burning in the upper log yard on Saturday night

Monday afternoon, spot fires and fire mopping up. Also, really cool helicopters flying everywhere, including this one! Kmax Helicopter. Exciting

Goodbye Champ

2009-07-13T14:41:00.001-07:00

Champ "Chewbacca" Arkle
March 29th 1997- July 13th 2009

Chariots of Fire

2009-07-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

While I sit here listening to miscellaneous movie theme songs, I feel as if I should be writing something of worth... unfortunately I cannot think of anything especially poignant to write about. This is unfortunate to me.

Shows have now started for The Producers, and they are off to an amazing start, big standing ovations (as opposed to the awkward one person stands, then others follow hesitantly), howls of laughter, dancing geriatrics in the audience and of course complaints and people walking out! Fantastic. I am quite happy to be able to say that I was in a show that some people found so offensive that they actually walked out! Ecstatic!

Another show tonight, and unlike last year I am not fresh on my Philosophical banter SO the backstage talk has been lacking the same luster. However, at the request of my fellow cast, I will be thinking of philosophical brain teasers and new thoughts to keep people entertained. Just need to pull out my old text books...

But until then, I leave you, dear reader, with this which made us laugh and laugh backstage last night.

I Hate Nature from Olde English Comedy on Vimeo.

Woah

2009-07-02T09:53:00.001-07:00

Holy lack of updating batman...

This is short and sweet, but in yet another (likely ill fated) attempt to update the blog more frequently, I will write a few sentences.

For those who may not have known, I am in "The Producers" in the role of Carmen Ghia. This play is my dream play, my favorite musical of all time and I was lucky enough to be cast as one of my favorite characters. Definitely one of those "dream come true" situations that came alot quicker than I ever expected it to. Huzzah!

Rehearsals for that are going really well, heading into "Hell Week" as it's called which is the last week of rehearsals before opening (July 9th). Busy Busy Busy.

Also, Transformers 2 met my expectations, but at least the actions sequences were entertaining. Biggest let down? Scorpion Robot exists for 5 seconds before being taken out... dissapointing.

(Oh, also! New Alexisonfire CD is the most pleasant suprise of the year for me so far, I am impressed, I really like it... Also, new August Burns Red CD comes out in a week so that's exciting as well, something to look forward to besides the play)

WHICH IF YOU CAN READ THIS AND LIVE WITHIN A 1-3 HOUR DRIVE FROM KELOWNA YOU SHOULD COME SEE THE SHOW!!

It's a musical about Nazi's...... does it get much better than that??

Still Cool

2009-04-21T13:45:00.001-07:00

For those of you who didn't see it on facebook... I couldn't resist showing this off, I'm pretty excited about it.

http://www.appletriathlon.com/

haha I was suprised, noone got ahold of me to ask or anything, but I don't mind,

pretty cool though eh??

I dreamed a dream.

2009-04-13T16:23:00.001-07:00

I think these are some of my favorite things. The fact that there are people out there, like this, with dreams coming true. I don't know, just makes me feel good. I'm glad Paul Potts isn't a lone example from this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Amazing choice of song as well, couldn't have chosen a more perfect selection for her. Amazing. Powerful.

The way she delivers the final lines of the song gives me chills.

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

As I Lay Dying

2009-04-10T12:29:00.001-07:00

So last night was the second time I got the honour to see As I Lay Dying live.

That band is absolutely amazing, I bought this DVD of them at the end, new 3 disk set with live shows, documentary etc. I promised Danny I'd wait to watch the documentary with him, but I couldn't resist the live shows. That was a mistake, now I want nothing more than to see them again! Oh well, hopefully I'll see them again.

Other than that, classes are done now, which is pretty sweet, except I still have some essays and term paper to be done, and the exam period is now, so it's not quite relaxation time. Problem is, the setting of having "no classes" doesn't make for very productive working attitudes. At least not for me. I'll have to get that bad habit under control.

Work today, 1-6, Good friday which means stat pay! Not bad for working on a day that you would have worked anyways except now it has a "holiday" pasted onto it. Not to say that this holiday isn't anything especially important.

(pun intended... but not meaning to make light of it...)
Have a good friday everyone.

Oh, quick PS. I got accepted into UBC-O, which is pretty sweet. Scholarship too! Lets just hope it leads somewhere.

The Bear and the Scorpion

2009-03-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I think this is just great.
(From the Ricky Gervais Podcast)

Absolutely hilarious. I know this shouldn't count as "keeping up with the blog", but I felt I needed to do something... I got tired of homework for the moment.
However, there are only a few weeks left, which is nice, then it will be holiday from school and things can slow down.

Triceratuffts of hair

2009-03-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

Today the BBC had an article saying that it has been recent evidence to indicate that Dinosaurs may have, in fact, been fuzzy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7950871.stm

If this is indeed the case... I'm trying to figure out whether this makes them more intimidating or kind of lame... Giant lizards was one thing.. but then a massive bear with a beak and horns? Not bad.

This imagery intrigued me, and a quick google search led me to this, for your enjoyment.

http://www.postersforhumans.com/images/products/large_96_JTIU01full.jpg

But I do wonder what would be the case if scientists were to find that Dinosaurs were not in fact scaley, but rather colourful and furry, we've already had the "Feathers" discovery ruin the Velociraptors of my childhood, whats next? I can't wait for new findings to show that T-rex had a tuft of hair on it's tail, like a lion... or poodle.

Ridiculous, they are ruining dinosaurs haha, Jurrasic Park 4 will just end up looking like Grizzly Man.
(ooh... not cool)

The Essence of Being Human

2009-03-16T22:30:00.001-07:00

"Part of the reason why so many come out in this particular kind of way that we have found so astonishing is that in our African worldview, there is a thing called ubuntu. A person is called ubuntu, and ubuntu is the essence of being human. Ubuntu is compassion, ubuntu is hospitality, ubuntu is warmth, ubuntu is sharing, ubuntu is caring.
And because of our sense that I am because you are, because we say a person is a person through other persons, my humanity is caught up in your humanity. If I want to enhance my humanity, it is by the process of enhancing yours. If I de-humanize you, whether I like it or not, inexorably my humanity is diminished.
And so, in part, it is a form of self-interest, this thing of not wanting to revenge, because revenge, anger, bitterness - all of these are corrosive of ubuntu, of the harmony that is for the summum bonum, the great good. And so, in a sense, I am not paying back to you, I do not settle scores with you, because the anger is dissipated, and you become a better person, and in that process, I become a better person too."
-Desmond Tutu.

Ubuntu.

Playing Operation

2009-02-19T23:53:00.001-08:00

I think it's funny observing this particular phenomenon. Lets say there are three, (or more) people in a room, and one asks another a question. This second person does not know the answer the question, or at least they don't know specifically, so they will ask the third person. The third person will know the answer, and will, quite audibly, answer to person number two. Number two will then continue on to give number three's answer to the original person asking. Thus, in a sense, receiving the credit for the original answer. But what I find funny is that the original person would have heard number three's answer, thus making number two's repeating, comical to me.

I find the floor of the change-room at the pool to be disgusting. Even if it's been mopped... there is still some OCD reasoning or SOMETHING to me that makes it seem gross. So, what makes matters worse, is when I have to get changed in bare feet. I feel like putting on my pants is like a game of "Operation" where I can't touch the sides or else the insides of my pants will be gross with whatever collection was on the wet change-room floor.
(Of course, when my foot does inevitably touch the back of my jeans or something, I subsequently feel like my whole leg is now dirty, and will be dirty even going to bed. Obviously I think the wet hairy change-room floor is gross.)

My Ipod went through the washing machine yesterday, which was a bummer for sure. I'm currently waiting a few days while it is in a ziplock bag with dry rice, and some silicone packets from my new work boots box. Hoping that this might dry it out enough to perhaps give it a shot of electricity later, maybe bringing it back to life...
we'll see...

Reading break just finished today, and it was much too short unfortunately... and I am pining for summertime becuase this winter has has an inadequate amount of snow to gain my love. Also in current events, the Oscars are today, and I'm sure Heath will win the award for best supporting, not becuase of his performance so much as the fact that the other nominees are jokes. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder? Really? For anyone who saw Tropic Thunder... although funny, a movie with a fat suit Tom Cruise dirty dancing is not "Oscar Worthy" and it feels like pity nominations to fill in the other nomination spaces.

I havn't blogged in a while, I'm rusty. It will get better.

Urinal

2008-11-27T16:56:00.001-08:00

Who was this person? The guy who thought...

"Man... I really need to go pee, but woah woah woah, not on that thing"
"Why not? it's a toilet?"
"No, too low down, I refuse to sit, I must stand when I pee"
"okay... well why don't you stand in front of the bowl here and pee then?"
"Absolutely not! What am I, an Animal? No, I must invent a way so that I may pee into a specially designed contraption that I may hang on a wall"
"Brilliant Idea! But, what will you call it? Twoilet?"
"A 'Urinal', I will encompass it's nature of both collecting Urine, and 'all' of it."
"Inspired, but I still don't understand whats wrong with using the toilet..."
"Thats becuase you are not as great a thinker as I"

And that, I am sure, is how it must have happened.

Cynical? Perhaps.

2008-11-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

Wow! I'm still a failure at keeping up on the blog. I need to stop wasting my pondering on "Real Conversation" and start translating it into zeros and ones for the enjoyment of those wishing to read a blog! Well, it wouldn't so much be me who is translating it into zeros and ones, but rather the computer. I'm just translating it from mind-waves to movements of my fingers. Whereas then YOU, the reader, will translate these marks on the computer screen into mindwaves, and perhaps even sounds (if you read it out loud) and then! Furthermore! Anybody in the vicinity would translate those sounds into meaningful words which they could in turn use. The chain will go on forever, and you are a pivitol point in it's succession. Makes you feel important no?

However, speaking of importance, that is the subject that is on my mind at the moment. It's in regards to importance in the world, importance in the eyes of others and importance in you own mind. In another blog, maybe the next one, I'll explain in greater detail what I'm referring to, but my sister did this little test on me the other day called the "Cube in the desert" test. Now, i won't give away what it is, but it started to raise the question of importance to me, more specifically how important am I to myself, and where to other people stand on the same topic. Which then in turn (much like the chain of events above, see how I brought it full circle), made me think about peoples view of what makes them important in the world, like in regards to success or impact.

Now, there are so many questions in my mind that arise from that, and I realise that I want to keep this particular blog fairly short as I am (yet again) applying for citizenship in the procrasti-nation, (Lab exams). But in short, my somewhat sobering thought today is the question of is my generation (or maybe more specifically me) on the right track? I mean... maybe it's just the circles I run in... but.. hmm, how to I word it.
I have many dear friends who are like me. They have aspirations of success in particular fields, they have dreams, they have interests. These interests, dreams, aspirations I'm referring to are more specifically in the area of entertainment. (And this is where the doubts begin). I wonder if my generation, and myself entirely included, are deluded by success stories? I mean, Recently I bought "Cannibal! The Musical" which immidiatly became a favorite. This is an indipenantly made student film that began the careers of two men who rose to great "success". These men are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. Now in many regards, they are a perfect success story, they did something they loved, they worked hard at it and it payed off. This is an inspiration! "Just do it", do what you love, thats how those people succeeded! Then a little bit closer to home, well... quite a bit closer to home, we have "Secret and Whisper", a very successful band that has a very similar story, a bunch of guys doing something they love, doing it well, and their hard work paid off (as they just got back from playing in front of thousands in Japan). But... are stories such as this raising false hopes of success in my mind? In the minds of my friends? I have friends who are aspiring film makers... I also have friends who are aspiring musicians, all examples who are remarkably talented in my mind. But... there are thousands out there like them... are we deluded into thinking that we might somehow achieve our dreams? And if thats the case... (heres the kicker, controversial statement alert!) is it worth it even to have them?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not grounded into ANY of these opinions. I write my blog in a free flowing train of thought manner... there was no outline beforehand haha, so those final few sentences were written as they came to my mind in the "logical progression" of what i'm thinking at this moment, but I just thought I'd write something that was on my mind. As I said, the "Cube" test brought MANY thoughts into my head, and they could never be fit into one blog (I would overload the blogger memory banks, the site would crash likely).
I will finish with one thought though... Whether or not I have motivation towards following my own dreams, or even have any sort of hope (depending on the day) of breaking past doubt and cynicism, I guess it comes down to enjoying life for what it is. Not worrying about the future, because that's not here yet, I'll worry about it when it's the present. I will of course, look forward to the future, but in my mind that is much different from worrying.

I'll leave you all with something that always makes my day

Flies

2008-10-21T21:30:00.001-07:00

Flies piss me off, and I think I know why... What it is, is the fact that they don't just fly around and buzz everywhere, but they never fly in a specific direction. I watched a fly go around in circles, figure eights, up, down and around an area of 1/2 a foot before landing. Why?? Whats so hard to figure out Fly? Why do you have to buzz around everywhere in this maniac frenzy, and be so uncertain about something so simple as "Where you are going"

I don't know... I'm just in a ruined mood to be honest, and I'm taking it out on you fly... I apologise. On a positive note, I do wish I could see through your eyes.. just for a second though, I wonder if it would just be the "TV screens" type view that cartoons will depict... or maybe it's this entirely new perception of the world on an entirely new metaphysical level that we couldn't even begin to understand.

A friend and I once heard a man say that flies were pure evil and a result of a fallen world becuase they fed off death which wouldn't have existed in Eden. I disagree sir. Flies also eat poop.

On another note, they are everywhere, and can also be sort of pretty. I've seen flies with a really nice green and purple shine on their surface that could put a peacock to shame. Diamonds in the rough?

I think I'm just jealous of you fly. You can slip away from it all... as a matter of fact, there is no "all" about it. A Fly on the wall has no worries I guess.

Hakuna Matata Fly,
Hakuna Matata.

Overdue

2008-10-19T22:19:00.001-07:00

Well I suck. Obviously this blog has been neglected, and thats no good... I'm not quite sure the reasoning, it's not lack of inspiration thats for sure, as a matter of fact I'm constantly thinking "oh man, this (or that) would is totally what I'm going to write about in my next blog"... But it doesn't seem to happen that way unfortunatly. Believe me, i've had some awesome ideas, but unfortunatly they havn't taken shape yet in my mind well enough to pass for a decent blog post (not that this one is above par either...).
So, this one won't be thoughtful, or funny, or based on any specific topic, I just figured I'd give a quick update on my comings and goings. For one, the biggest news in the past little while I guess is that I got a second Job, lifeguarding, and thats going well.... the only downside is my most regular shift is lessons on saturday mornings, after my graveyard shift (which is sometimes after my guarding shift). This go go go schedule is sort of taking it's toll on me... I can feel it wearing me thin, BUT maybe thats just from these past 2 weeks of it, midterms and stuff too, just alot of stress in a short period of time. Load aside, the job is good, the people are great and I'm sure most can agree... thats what makses a job worthwhile.
In other news...
Well, I dont' know if there is any other news. For anyone who might glance at this blog who knows me from Perth, a friend of mine has gone down for oct dts which is kind of cool, worth mentioning for sure. I don't know... maybe I'll just throw some "headlines" down to give this a bit more of a varied feeling... but overall I just wanted to write a new blog tonight, but didn't know what to write.
-Iron Man is the best Marvel superhero movie, followed quickly by the newest Hulk
- I'm becoming increasingly paranoid, probably as a result of worn-out'ness
- Heroes Season 3 has been tragically dissapointing so far
- I wish Mike was in town
- I really want to see "Role-Models", and I think it has potential to be funnier than "Superbad" thanks to the amazing Paul Rudd.

Oh! last night on my way home some idiot came just ripping around a relatively blind corner (just before Gates rd) in the oncoming (my) lane. If I had been going a bit faster? Yikes... I might not have been sitting here writing this post.

Anyways, time for sleep.

Not for them to decide

2008-08-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

The other day I had this scene pop into my head, and just the memory of it really moved me. I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to this speech as the deciding factor that makes "The Fellowship of the Ring" my favorite of the 'Rings' movies.
But that aside, Isn't it a really poignant speech? Touching on the the issue of mercy and pity, it really hits me in regards to when Gandalf says "Do not be be eager to deal out death and judgment, even the very wise cannot see all ends". How many times can we all testify to catching ourselves being exactly that... too eager to deal out judgment on others... the moral check in this speech is a powerful one I think... even when it comes from a wizard.

But the really hard hitting line is the one that defined the first film... and quickly became one of my favorite quotes of all time

"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"

Gandalf then goes on to say that there are other forces in this world besides the will of evil... and continues on about destiny to a certain extent.
"And that is an encouraging thought"

I don't know, I'm not going to dissect the whole dialogue because I'm sure it means different things to different people.... But I just wanted to share that movie moment with everyone again, because the theme and message behind it hits me pretty hard.

Cony Genocide?

2008-08-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

For those of you who live in Kelowna, I'm sure you are well aware of this (apparently) life altering situation, in which threats are being made to authorities over the resolution.... It is a situation that so dearly struck chords and pulled the hearts of the public that any sort of related news continues to make the front page, and every development of the story keeps the people of Kelowna riveted to the news, constantly raising controversy due to, what some people see as, the sickest most brutal event that could ever be conceived...

I'm talking, of course, about rabbits.

Now for any readers unaware of the situation, it's quite simple. Kelowna's downtown area is full of Rabbits, and they run around everywhere, they eat plans, burrow in city lawns, and run around on the street. Cute, no? Nonetheless, they are considered a pest, and the City of Kelowna has decided to pay a particular business to cull the rabbits. This raised such an uproar from the public that more money was then spent to try to find particular humane ways to deal with them, such as relocations and such (with some people ridiculously suggested neutering the population so that they couldn't expand anymore... obviously not realizing the ridiculous cost and absurd difficulty of such an operation...) etc etc.

So thats the situation.... "why write about this Jon? What's struck a chord and/or irritated you enough you enough to bring this current event to our attention?". Well, dear reader, todays front page of the Daily Courier is why. Headline "Alert Security Guard halts attack on Rabbits". Now, the subject matter isn't what irritates me, stopping punk teens beating on animals is a good thing, no doubt about that. It's what is said by those interviewed.... and I believe it's the biggest problem with the whole culling controversy as well.

People keep referring to those things as "Bunnies". Thats it, and thats what gets me... you see, since this whole thing has come to attention, even facebook groups have started up "Save the Bunnies", not "save the rabbits" but "save the Bunnies". It's this immediate "cutesifying" (My word, feel free to use it) of these animals that all of a sudden makes it seem like a state sanctioned genocide to deal with their overpopulation problem. Whats worse, is that people have even begun to personify each "Bunny", giving everyone the impression that we are killing Peter Rabbit.... In the (entirely justifiable, don't get me wrong) article in todays paper, this was said...

"One of them threw [a spear like stick] and hit one of the bunnies. The Bunnies were all running - they didn't know which way to go"

... Now again, I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm criticizing the article's subject matter.... But
"...they didn't know which way to go".... well of course..... I mean, someone was chasing them, so they ran, I'm sure we've all chased a wild animal before, be it a quail or a chipmunk.... and they run, out of instinct.... this quote shows the personification of these animals in the same sense as if we could interview the rabbit "Yes chuck.... I was so scared... I looked left and right, but they were all around me! My life flashed before my eyes, but boy am I glad that I'm safe"..

Now, I know this post makes it sound like I'm saying "Why do people care about the 'bunnies'" But I'm not, hurting animals malicously is obviously wrong, but what I notice in regards to these events is the term "bunny" makes them sympathetic creatures! I mean, we'll hire exterminators in a second to get rid of a rat infestation.... heck, we'll set mouse traps ourselves to kill off some mice... but when it comes to bunnies! oh no! not the Bunnies! Save the Bunnies... the Bunnies will be scared! The Bunnies deserve their homes....
Notice the sympathy you feel reading that? Bet you think I'm a jerk...

"Farmer Smith has finally saved his crops from this years infestation of Mice, Crows, Rabbits and Weasels"

"Farmer Jack has finally saved his crops from this years infestation of Mousies, Birds, Bunnies and other furry friends"

Wow....Farmer Jack is a cold hearted meanie... So does anyone see where I'm coming from?? This post wasn't very well structured, so I don't know if my point got across.... or if I have a bunch of angry readers thinking I condone rabbit beating.... bunny beating? But I just wanted to vent a little about my irritation with the personification and "Cutesifying" of the "scared bunnies"... just because of the term Bunny....
If there was a rat problem in Kelowna, and an exterminator came with poison gas to paralyze and kill all of them.... there still wouldn't be nearly as much commotion over it as there is now with the quick shooting (by high powered air rifles) of some of the "bunnies".
What's in a name?

A Milestone

2008-08-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a while,
it's been too long

But finally I feel like I'm in the right mindset to write a blog. You see, I was waiting until I felt it was a right time.... this is a milestone after all. So I waited... and thats not to say that I didn't feel like I had some things to write about... I'm always filled with little things I could rant about... for example I could go on about something ridiculous like a movie on Pirates or Transforming robots... or I could write praise over particular movies about Jokers and Bats... but number 100 being entirely dedicated to that seemed.... well empty still.

However, I feel now I've reached the right point. Perhaps it's because my mind is in a place where I'm torn between happy and sad, or perhaps it's because there have been a few events in this past little while that to me are huge... or perhaps it's the music I'm listening to making me feel nostalgic or just ponderous... who knows... none the less, here's an update!

Well in the past few months I've been involved with Kelowna Actors Studio in their production of "Singin' in the Rain" which has been a blast, the shows ran all last month with closing night being just last night. Standing ovations almost every night, and the cast was amazing. It was a really funny experience... I don't know what it is but I wish I could watch myself and my own transformation when meeting new people. I remember when I first went to the rehearsals I was sheepish and shy for the most part, I didn't know who these people were, and I didn't know how to act. Now with the show done, I've realized that these people became some of my core friends for the most part as I spent most of my time this summer with them working towards this show. Now it's over, and I realize I probably won't see many of these people again for a year or more... and I'll miss that, I'll miss the familiarity that comes with memorized lines... haha, really I think I've ust become unfamiliar with living through a full week without my actions scripted out... yikes!
That being said, the bittersweet ending of the show does have the advantage of giving my some time back.... what I'll do with this time well who knows.... likely I'll do my best to spend time with those who I haven't been able to spend much time with this summer. (That being said, I'd like to publically thank Michelle for her patience and encouragement during the duration of the show, rehearsals through to "Hell week", through to closing night, thank you!).
But back to how I'll spend the free time? Well.... I'll no doubt be seeing The Dark Knight a few more times.... heh.

This past year.... what with school, plays, work, and all sorts of comings and goings.... boy, I must say I didn't expect the way it's all turned out. I feel while writing this blog, that 50 ago I would not have been able to predict the mindset, experience and emotions that this current incarnation of myself encompasses. That being said, would I consider myself a new person? haha the last few weeks have been filled with these sorts of questions for me... I mean, my physical make up is entirely different down to the molecular level, my experiences and memories have expanded and are different, what remains constant about "me"? My hair is even short now! haha Who could have predicted that. Boy, even my reflection through me off for a while there.

Enough Philosophy for this blog though, wasn't Heath Ledger remarkable in the Dark Knight? Wow, Iconic, and chilling. It really hits me with how much of a loss it is to lose such a talented actor. My favorite scene with the Joker is a tough one to pinpoint... I kind of wander back and forth between the entire collection of one liners which are just fantastically delivered... to moments that truly frightened me such as that execution video...

"he shows us we don't have to be afraid of scum like you"
"oh yes you do Bryan... yes you do. Look at me.... LOOK AT ME!"

Creepy.

In other news... The future is still uncertain, and boy oh boy do I let myself stress about it still. The shows were amazing to take my mind off of them, with those, plus WSI courses, plus work (oh glorious graveyard), plus volunteering hours and then my odd leisure pastimes haha such as swimming across the lake... well, my body reached an exhaustion point. I am well aware that there are many of you out there that are even busier than I was, and I do not envy you... I reached a point where waking up in the morning I wasn't sure my legs wouldn't buckle underneath me haha pfft, I'm a wimp.

I feel I should make a reference to my time in Australia in this blog... seeing as the majority of this milestone achievement was compiled during my time there. Well.... to speak to that "Jon" back then.... haha I don't know what to say... I think one of these days I'm going to read back through my blogs, and then perhaps my hard journal (which I haven't picked up in months... a year perhaps? woah) and try to put myself back in that place... what a trip will that be! To clearly remember the things that were current events for me back then, and then try to look forward towards todays current events. It'd be interesting I think, and so, I shall do it.

What do I look forward to from now though? Who knows... maybe if I get busy I can be writing my 200th come this time next year.... what will I be "looking back on"? hmm... well, I know I can look forward to this upcoming semester of required courses I want nothing more than to NOT take, bio, stats, geo? Fantastic... Also, I can look forward to my upcoming roles with the Studio... That will be fun, and hopefully a nice reunion with many of my Singin' in the Rain friends. I'm also looking forward to the fall at the moment.... not because I want summer to end, but earlier today (and at the moment for that matter) I was listening to a CD that I fell in love with last fall, and drinking tea, again, a fall thing for the most part. It took me back, and just filled me with an.... anticipation that this fall could be similar to that of this past one... all my hopes are that thats a good thing! (for those who may wonder, the CD is "The Shepard's Dog" by 'Iron and Wine').

So far this summer has been amazing.
So far this Year has been amazing.

But to end this Milestone blog, although the update itself wasn't anything too amazing, I would like to thank you. The reader. Many of you, or both of you, or just you singular haha have been following it for a while, some even since it's "debut" and for that I thank you so much. You've been a part of my life in that sense, as I narrate you through my comings and goings, and you deserve a pat on the back for having the patience to keep coming back. (Especially those with the patience to wait for, come back and read this 100 post haha). Although they won't read it, I'd also like to thank those who came to my blog during my time in Perth, some just once, some leaving comments, and some passing it on to my family that they had been following it. Hahah I hope someday I can once again lead a life that is exciting enough to draw such readers, but until that day I thank you for sticking with me.
Thank you.

Now I need to do something worthy of post 101.

- Jonathan Arkle

There could be something wrong with me

2008-06-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

Why is it that if I ever buy Super Mario I can't for the life of me resist hitting every single little question mark block....
It's not that I want to.... and I can miss any coin my little mario runs by... but those blocks... what sort of hidden wonders could be inside? I'm not very good at the game so I'm almost always "little mario"... so naturally my hopes are constantly something like "Maybe it's a mushroom....or better a flower!! oh cruel fates! a coin! ONE coin" Sometimes I end up losing the flower or mushroom I DID have in my efforts to get to the block... why?
None the less... whether it's obsession, some sort of OCD, or just plain nerdiness.... I cannot resist the yellow question marked blocks.... I'll leave no block unchecked.

In other related news for things that If I were to do differently, people would view me as being normal.... Mike perhaps is the only person reading the blog aware that I've been doing this since I was much younger. I'm still strongly dedicated to always leaving Johnson Bentley pool by walking out the "in" door. This includes the process of me using my strong little fingers to obtain a "pressure grip" on the 1cm wide ridge of the doors window, then pull the "push one way only" foor towards me so that I can leave the same way I came in. This was a horrible little habit of mine when I was younger... it would torture me (when I was conscious of it) if I could not leave a building through the same doorway or window or whatever that I entered. It was a sense of completeness that I obtained from it. Perhaps not too dissimilar from the Mario Blocks.

No, scratch that, its' different, definitely weirder.

Last night Mike, Danny and I went to Kelly O's for some drinks and pacho's, and we got onto a conversation about riddles. Some were good, some were bad... some weren't even riddles (And almost all could be answered with "It was the smoke monster from Lost" so THAT'S the Dharma initiative....)... Now, as I started to write this I had intentions of asking YOU READER on of the riddles we couldn't figure out... But I can't remember the wording.. so I'm afraid I've led you to disappointment I'm sure... Then we moved onto Disney movies where it was agreed upon unanimously that any Disney cartoon pre-Tarzan was "classic", and Tarzan's saving grace was the Phil Collins soundtrack... anything after that? Pixar animation.... how disappointing.

This is my 99th Blog post.... Not my best... But my next one HAS to be good.... yikes Pressure

Snakes, I hate snakes

2008-05-22T22:45:00.001-07:00

So, Indiana Jones you are back for another adventure.... and what do you have in store for us this time? We've seen you fight those Raiding Nazi's for the Lost Ark of the Covenant and it's unknowable majesty and power, we've seen you travel to Temples of doom, and even drink from the Holy Grail, wielding the power of immortality. What Henry Jones Jr. will you face in your new great adventure?

-- If you have not seen the movie, then for your sake I have written the following in black, just so you may be spared the spoilers.

So reader has been warned

ALIENS???? ARE YOU JOKING???

I mean... I understand, I'm a critique on movies, and lately it's been a rare occurrence for me to give a blockbuster a chance, (or any movie for that matter) But really.... Aliens????? At least it wasn't the ending itself... the "Alien" secret was pretty obvious right from the get-go despite a few of the characters saying at the end "Wait... space men!?". None the less.... not 10 minutes into the movie... the key factor is introduced.

The beginning seemed promising, the groundhog hill bit was a funny little homage to the old Indy flicks, and the soviets immediately storming the scene was true to the Indiana Jones movies we know and love. Then we saw "The Warehouse".

'YES! an homage to Raiders, thats awesome, I wonder if we'll see the Ark.. i hope so, that would be cool, wait maybe not, maybe it would be corny... Jon, Pay attention to the movie...'

Then I see it...
'Whats that? A giant 51 on the door? hmm... Area-51 I guess... thats appropriate, take away from that absurd alien reputation for Area-51 and give it a good solid "Government secret storage" thing.
Appropriate, good call...anyways, I wonder what they are looking for....

Magnetic... interesting.....in a crate... interesting... wait... whats that.... R...osw...ell... oh no... please no.... please don't do this Lucas.... Spielberg! STOP HIM!'

And that was it.... when that crate was opened, the movie had ventured into a new place that Indy writing had never dared to touch on before. No more religious relics, no more power of God, no more bull whip and Nazi's. Now we have Cate Blanchette as "Comrade Scully", looking for the crystal skully of space aliens as the movie continues to take Indy to locations and legends with SO MUCH POTENTIAL.... but such little satisfaction. But I guess what can we expect from this modern age of scientology... makes sense that Xenu is behind it all naturally.
You see.... Indiana Jones is an archaeologist, and now he's running after supernatural skulls that hold alien powers... He is no longer in the same sort of field that he was in previously, instead he is now playing the type of people that were "Predator Fodder" in the AVP movies as they looked for ancient Alien temples under ice and stuff. Except now it's in South America. Surely there could have been some other sort of legends they could have gone off of... especially when dealing with topics such as El Dorado, and Mayans.... but no... instead it's Indiana Jones and the psychic trans-dimensional crystal aliens. (Oh, I almost forgot the multitudes of scenes of cute furry animals... that didn't really add anything to the plot.... whats with the groundhogs and the soviet hating monkeys? anyways)

Even me... who has become infamous to some for being critical over the movies they love, making fun of little writing errors and silly concepts, am in awe of this movie. I mean, as a movie, I loved it. Indiana Jones himself is a legend no matter how old he is. As I said before, the homages to the old movies are great, you even get a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant which was pretty cool. However my exasperation towards this movie can literally be summed up in the one word below

Aliens?

Pink Flowers

2008-04-26T18:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday during my long sit at the college studying... studying... studying... I took a short moment to peer out the window.

Where my study carole was situated right next to a window overlooking a row of flowers below me. It was then when I saw the most precious thing... I think it genuinely was the high point of my entire day. A little girl, skipping alongside her mom, with excited about the whole world around her, actually stopped to stick her nose deep inside this larger pink flower to take a good long smell. She then continued on.

Now, although I understand that there is a natural sense of cynicism and boring demeanor does seem to take on us as we grow up, I wish that I could see people my age doing that sort of thing. I think it's a loss of wonder over the world that we start to pick up... I know I have, for example I used to find a pile of logs in our yard fascinating as I grew up... my sister and I affectionately referred to it as "Grasshopper" because we conceived it to look like a massive grasshopper in our vibrant imaginations. I used to spend hours playing outside, and one of my favorite spots was a rock that I appropriately dubbed "Big Rock". One of my favorite sites to set up camp in my romps through the world. Nowadays, I know I've definitely become more consumed with matters of entertainment that other people have prepared for me, or worrying myself with the current events of friends or with preoccupying myself in front of a screen. I wish I could tap back into a sense of wonder, a sense of appreciation for the simple things. I used to, I do sometimes... but not as often as I need to.

Yesterday I walked past those flowers without thinking about smelling them... even in those few hours I had forgotten.

Today, someone had smashed them to bits.

Listening to: Joshua Radin

Proud citizen of the Procrasti Nation

2008-04-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yikes.... Although this is the worst possible thing I could decide to do right now... I've been meaning to sign on and write a blog for weeks now and kept... well, not.

SO! Procrastination commencing, I'm currently "studying" for one of my upcoming exams, Philosophy fun fun, however the topics aren't particularly fascinating to write one, fun to discuss... but essays are never the top of my list for pastimes.

Thats boring... onto more exciting topics, yesterday after work I stopped the car at the top of my driveway to watch the neighbor dog hunt gophers.

Not very exciting either... I feel as if I am running out of things to talk about...that hardly seems possible though, maybe just exciting things to talk about, instead I'm wasting YOUR time talking about gopher hunting jack sparriers.

Actually... on the note of gophers however, my house has recently been surrounded by all sorts of animals, deer on the lawn, gophers in the ground, pheasants cruising about, robins hitting windows. Spring is here, despite the crazy weather we've been having in the last few days, it snowed on Saturday, and hailed on friday! Something isn't right there...
In other musings....
I don't think it's fair to clump finals into this big slot of time AFTER classes are finished. I mean.... there was this horrible false sense of cheer the other day when I walked out of my final class for the semester.... only to realize that I now have two weeks of "false" break time, where I can't ask prof's for clarification, and I have entire days to study left wholly to my own discipline (very weak discipline at times as you can see...). Then there is this looming sense of dread for each approaching exam... sure I can be calmed by some sort of procrastination or distraction, but that hardly helps. Oh well, I'm not the only one in this situation I know that.

What will be nice, is the reward following my final exam on the 29th, FOR on the 30th is a concert that I have been anticipating for the longest time. For the past.... maybe 4 years now I've been wanting to see this one band live, As I Lay Dying. Even before the days of facebook and even before Myspace, (in the age when everyones "personalized internet outreach to the world" was their MSN messenger profile), my profile showed my "personal website" to be a music video of this very band playing live. (The song "Forever" to be exact, much to some friends dismay who hated that style of music and were horrified to find that I somehow found it appealing).
Anyways, I have been waiting for that long to see this band play live, sure they had come to BC before, but I hadn't been able to make it to those shows, work or school or whatever the reason had been. Anyways... finally, the one BC tour that I would be able to make it to, they are not only coming at a VERY convenient time, BUT they are also coming to Kelowna. Huz. Zah.

Now granted... we jumped the gun a bit on this one and bought tickets for the Vancouver show before realizing they were coming to a venue 15 min drive away.... BUT that's all been solved now, and on the 30th I will indulge myself with a very late night, not worrying about any school the next day.. and definitely not worrying about any final exams....

On that note... back to worrying about final exams.

**PS. Oh! Vanessa... Apparently I need to ask permission to view your blog now... this is me, asking.

Leaping Years

2008-04-01T23:09:00.001-07:00

I can't tell if a year is in fact a long time....

I mean, I feel so tempted to say "only a year" becuase it seems like that doesn't it? It was only a year ago that _________, insert whatever you were up to this time last year.

Now when talking about it, it doesn't feel like that long, however when I try to remember it, it seems like so much longer than that. Tricky.

I mean, a year is only really a few months, and we count down months like no tommorow, this many till birthday, this many till christmas, this many till summer or this many until that new CD comes out, nothing right? only 4 weeks in a month, only 12 months in a year... 56 weeks really isn't that much...

And then at the same time... I mean... a whole year!! one year. I only have about 20 of them in my entire life experience... less!! So really... one year is a large chunk of my life! One year can't be a trivial thing like "12 months" seems, 365 days? we breeze through those 7 at a time!! But it is... it's a whole year, and we only have had so many.... remember how they used to seem so much longer?

And to think.... For example, I'm looking forward to 'The Dark Knight' coming out... that is 107 days away from now, thats a few months... 4ish to be exact... thats about 1/3rd of a year.... a year, which I've only ever had 19.5 of... WHY am I counting down the days for this!??! Why am I not stressing out about every second lost.... every day passing until yet another year has passed.... What was I doing that time last year? What will I be doing one year this time! How much happens in a year? We'd like to think alot.. but in the grand scheme of things not as much.

I don't know, a year? Really? wow.

Most terrifying moment ever

2008-03-10T15:55:00.001-07:00

So, driving home from school today there was this one straight stretch of road...

And coming towards me in the opposite lane was a silver van. Now, this van was going a moderate speed, as was I, when all of a sudden a little squirrel runs out onto the road! He runs across my lane into the oncoming lane, and then freezes, on no! there is a big silver something coming towards him! So with his horrified legs spread, tail up, stance, he freezes, then decides to run back across my lane to the ditch he had been in.
However, this was right when I was beside him, this little guy runs right in front of me... and dissapears due to the hood of my car...

I listen for the bump and look in my rear view window for the little guy, distraught.
No body, he lived. That was no doubt one of the most terrifying moments for that squirrel. I was fine personally, but poor squirrel!

Anyways, to answer the mysterious anonymous, after about 30 min past my position in the blog, two friends from college came into the store, and after making small talk I asked them if they could watch my stuff,

all was well. but it was still an excruciating extra 30 min on top of my original panic.

Written at 12:45, Friday Afternoon

2008-03-07T23:20:00.001-08:00

I just told mike this dilemma...

I'm sitting in blenz writing an essay.

Now, I can't leave my laptop for obvious reasons, i'm in a public place
If i close my laptop i'll lose the internet which i need for my essay (Or worse yet, i'll lose my chair!)

I am DYING to go the washroom

Help... me....