Rest

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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"

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

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...

... 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

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"

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.

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

Chariots of Fire

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

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

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.

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

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

Triceratuffts of hair

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

"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

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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....

Belltower.

Perspective amazes me.

F