Unwilling Subjects...or are they?

I love to take pictures...and consequently I have alot of pictures of everyone else and very few of me....but that's okay... because I hate having my picture taken, and as you can see by the looks on Matt and Rebecka's faces...they are beginning to tire of it too....

but I'm not done yet!!!...

Because the more pictures you take....

the more real they become!!!...

and sometimes that can be scarey....

but mostly it's just fun!  Sorry Becka and Matt, but I had to do it!!and I know you forgive me already... don't you!?

Fleetwood Mac / Hypnotized...Awesome..Thanks Angela!

Chile Earthquake Sparks Pacific Tsunami Warnings | Sustainability Ninja

Chile Earthquake 2010 Sparks Pacific Tsunami Warnings | Sustainability Ninja

In the midst of all this bickering over the wins/disqualifications /and attire at the Olympic Games maybe we can all get back to the reality of life and death, rather than what, if anything, is hanging around our necks! Sorry, but the extraneous trappings of the games REALLY irritate me! While our attention has been hopefully only temporarily distracted from the disaster in Haiti, we are now brought back down to earth by an 8.8 quake in Chile. Although Chile is definitely in a much better position to deal with an earthquake than Haiti, the devastation is no less chilling. With all our technological advancements we are still at the mercy of the elements. We realize how very small we are when this kind of event happens. Maybe we should remember that humility and carry it with us always...we might approach things very differently if that were the case...but hey!...what do I know!?

Controversy: S. Korea DQ'd in short track relay, China gets gold - Fourth-Place Medal - 2010 Olympics Blog - Yahoo! Sports

I thought that speed skating was a pure and simple sport with skaters wearing their golden, long bladed skates, and their skin tight bodysuits, and a variety of fashionable eye wear... skating rapidly with skill and determination, around a rather small oval.

I have been shocked to learn that even speed skating can be filled with controversy! In fact, it can be life threatening, and for more than just the skaters! The article below gives you the scoop on the main event, however this unfortunate chief referee is now apparently under guard as his life has been threatened. Apolo Ohno says "Oh No" to his disqualification tonight, which gave Canada a bronze in addition to a gold. I'm sure there will be much more negative publicity and bad feeling which makes me wonder... Why do we have "Olympic Games"? Yes we're in 3rd place which is awesome, and we have tied our previous medal count from the L.A. Olympics in the 70's (but I don't remember them because I was just a baby!), and it has been hugely exciting to watch( even though the only station I could find playing the hockey game was OMNI 1, commentating it in "Slovakian" which I know you will be surprised, I'm not really fluent in Slovakian . But really when you think of all the money that has been spent, bad feelings aroused, and a life lost it makes me wonder whether or not this is where we should be investing our countries money ??? Read this article! There were lots of beautiful moments too, but I'm not sure if it's really a forever deal. Read the article and tell what you think? But my advice in the words of mothers everywhere is....
"If you can't play nice ...then GO HOME!!" 

Controversy: S. Korea DQ'd in short track relay, China gets gold - Fourth-Place Medal - 2010 Olympics Blog - Yahoo! Sports

The Night of the Jackal !: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier, and a whole lot of other people that won't fit in this title!

Matt is getting a little "burned out" with the Olympic Flame, and now groans whenever I mention that a particular event is about to start! When he gets like that, we usually haul out the Walton series (you know the ones in the Geico commercial who take "way too long to say goodnight") !
It gives us some nice restful entertainment... But somehow, last night, I had switched the tv channel just before Matt got home, to an action movie, as seen at left. Since it had great people in it I figured it might rate a watch. Well needless to say it was not the kind of movie you fall asleep to, and was pretty serious in it's content, which was a problem for me because I was not in a serious mood, and when that happens it's anyones bet on the consequences.
After a few comments about Bruce Willis's hair condition, following about 5 different dye jobs in 20 minutes (which made me want to check the date of the film to see if that's why he's bald in all the Die Hard movies) Matthew was already telling me to "shut up" (in a humorous way).  A few minutes later a very dramatic scene occurred...it was so dramatic that Matt wanted me to change the channel at first...and I was in the process of trying to do this (too many remote controls for me!) when he insisted that he wanted to continue to watch. Now if you haven't seen this film I'll set the stage for you...2 federal agents and one female Russian operative have just been blown away by The Jackal, and this female agent (Russian scarface) is bleeding to death on the floor, while the paramedics are leaning over her, doing nothing but shaking their heads. Richard Gear rushes in, pushes them to the side and  now he leans over the dying female agent telling her "everything will be alright!" LIAR! (note: This women has supposedly been shot in the stomach and is bleeding out but the paramedics have now ambled off and are no longer in the screenshot)  There are a few muffled exchanges bewteen Gere and the Russian until she gasps her last breath and the screenshot pulls back to see this dead woman, on the couch, no i.v., no packing over her wound...but they did put a pillow under her head!  The next sequence has Gere and Poitier outside, where there is crime tape everywhere, and lights flashing.  They are trying to figure out who the "Jackal's" next target is when in the background you see the paramedics coming out of the house with a body bag on the stretcher...and THEY'RE RUNNING? Well I'm sorry, but I lost it!  Why were they running?  Were they almost late for the last call at Timmies?  Was there a sale on at Best Buy?  Were they trying to beat their own record for most dead bodies brought to the morgue in a single night!
Matthew is now incensed with me, 'cause I can't stop thinking of reasons why these boys would run with a body bag, when they'd taken a coffee break during the medical crisis...and I can't keep these thoughts to myself!!!  So now I'm laughing, but trying not to open my mouth, which is extremely difficult and apparently causes my face to contort which then became overwhelmingly funny to Matthew who laughed til his stomach hurt!  God I love him! Watching movies can be dangerous!

Joannie Rochette - a courageous and moving tribute

I've been tinkering with this blog for the past few days, and watching the olympics, so my writing has been on hold!  I'm pretty much web illiterate, and don't speak html, xml, css or even bss.....so if things look kind of funny one day when you log on...don't worry...I'll fix it when I figure out what I did to mess it up!
The past 2 days have been pretty wild with our Canadian Women bringing home golds in snowboard cross and downhill cross.  How amazing it must feel to get up on that podium in front of the world, and get a cabbage....it must be wonderful.
There are so many amazing stories playing out before our eyes...like this young couple, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir who performed one of the most elegant ice dances I have ever seen, and have been skating together from the ages of 7 and 9 years old!  These games seem to have united us, and for a brief period of time, raised our nationalism to a height I have never seen.  Of course with all the good, comes some bad, and that has been found in the snide remarks of some prideful athletes who don't seem to be able to lose gracefully...somewhat like their dancing which also lacked grace! What do you think of these remarks?

Skeletons OUT of the closet!

Following all the previous discussion about fascination of disasters, I am now sitting and watching a group of presumably sane women, who are known as Olympic Skeleton Athletes, and I can hardly catch my breath!  Each run, they throw thier small framed bodies down, face first, onto a 2 1/2 foot long sled, pull their arms in to their sides, and proceed down a brutal ice covered course at lightening speeds of up to 130 km per hour, experiencing a force over 4 G's, which is 2 G's more than an astronaut experiences during a shuttle launch!
I don't understand! So I looked up it's definition...

skeleton sledding

Winter sport similar to lugeing in which a small sled is ridden downhill in a headfirst, prone position. The sport of skeleton sledding developed in the 1880s on the famed Cresta Run at Saint Moritz, Switz. The “bony” look of the early sleds gave the sport its name. Riders attain speeds of more than 80 miles (129 km) per hour. It was first contested at the Olympic games in 1928.

Say what?...The bony look of the sleds was the last thing I thought would have given this sport it's name!"...!!!? Not really sure what characteristics would make a good skeleton rider...but suicidal comes to mind!

Sad

Welcome to my "crappy" day!  It was going great, and we have had lots of fun watching the Olympics and getting caught up in the revelry.  In fact we had reconnected with an old friend, sharing olympic stories and scores.  I think I've mentioned that Matt and I don't get out much..and really over the past several years I've stopped all my ministry activities and spend most everyday with just myself and the pets. It didn't use to be that way, and when I had the energy, I think I might have been fun to be around, and I still try to be fun for Mattthew.
So when we made plans to watch the Olympics together with our friend this weekend, we were both really excited....that was Wednesday.  Today I get a message saying that the plans are off, and she hopes we get a better offer?! This may sound totally ridiculous to you, but I cried!  There's other history there too that makes it doubly gut wrenching, but I don't know how Matt's going to take it either.  You see she used to be part of our family, but now ... I don't get it.

So I keep crying, and Dudley keeps washing my face for me, and I know I have to stop before Matt gets home so I had better take my Mother's advice as she wheeled Dad into heart surgery...."Think happy thoughts"!...and carry a box of kleenex!

R We Numb?

Over the past year there have been many, many, occaisions where our news coverage has been saturated with the gruesome images of dead, and wounded people...here on our own continent and in other countries.  It has become commonplace to turn on the television and hear the butcher's bill for the most recent accident/attack/natural disaster and disease. 

I don't think this is a new phenomenon, although our world is definitely going to hell in a handbasket, but our technology has allowed these events to be broadcast immediately, totally unfiltered, right into our homes, and hands.

Last year someone held a camera phone to document the last moments of  Neda's life, sprawled on the road where she had been shot down while watching the Iranian Protests.  The footage was raw, and disturbing, and ultimately she became the martyr of the Iranian protests. 

In Haiti, a cnn crew stands by and films the last breath of a haitian man who has been bludgeoned by police, for allegely stealing rice. There he lies...alone...reaching out a hand...there's no one there to hold it...they're too busy taking his picture...I want to vomit!...and told them so. Shame on you CNN.

Most recently at the Olmpics the Georgian luge athlete flies off the track going 140 km an hour, and slams into a girder.  Despite the fact that this is only a practice run, there's someone there with a camera and the images of his fatal accident are pretty much immediately loaded onto youtube and viewed by children and adults alike. You tube takes it down, but not before millions have viewed it.  Debates begin on the internet about the public's right to view this footage.  Some even have the audacity to argue that it is neccessary to view it in order to decipher the cause of this terrible tragedy!  Are you kidding?

For a fee on the internet, you can also view Daniel Pearl being decapitated!

I know that we have this weird thing as humans, to want to watch this stuff...and the more we watch the greater shock value we need.  My Dad got really upset with me one night when we were debating what movie to watch, and they were all pretty much murder/thriller stories.  I wasn't very happy being told off at the time, but it gave me pause to think about what I put into my head. The idea of self censorship, and it's benefits, are not a new concept...it's actually a Biblical truth.  God knew how good we could get at messing up our heads among other things!  This is what the Bible suggests....and following that there is a very interesting article on why we might find this stuff so fascinating!

Philippians 4:8 (The Message)



Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Why are we facinated by war?

Mike Robertson wins SILVER in Snowboard cross

Well this whole Olympic thing has got to be pretty exhausting for those athletes, and their families...but what about me?!...It's only day 4 and I am completely confused! For a start you need several television sets all going at once in order to see everything that's going on...and although day 1 was pretty simple to follow, I am finding myself getting all worked up over races that I then realize I already watched the day before! There's way too many athletes, and way too many countries....where did they all come from? It's as if all the countries in the world fell to little pieces and got renamed? What's with that? Even with our globe spinning there are some that just don't appear under the scrutiny of my Dollarama reading glasses. The men's snowboarding event was particularly exciting, so I watched that twice cause they go down so darn fast you can't see it all. So far I am rivetted, and I think I'll paint a maple leaf on my face tonight and scare Matthew to death!
If you're having the same troubles keeping up as I am here is a great link that will keep you sorted out....you just have to remember that BC is three hours behind!(duh!)
Mike Robertson and Olympic Schedule

Bilodeau wins Gold for Canada

Alex Bilodeau brings it home for Canada,,,
the first gold medal to be won on home soil...ever!
Congratulations to Alex and Frederick! Makes you feel all patriotic doesn't it? Makes me miss BC too...Check out this video...

Happy Valentine's Day!

My love life has been a bit faulty, so I'm not going to impart any of my own wisdom lest I get sued,,,however God's wisdom says to "guard your heart"...and I would say that caution isn't a bad thing when you're investing so much. Once invested...listen to this song!!!!
This is my gift to you....Happy Valentines Day, especially to Paul and Jacquie, as this is their 1st "married: Valentines Day.....

2010 Olympic Fatality

The Vancouver Olympics has begun with a fatality on its hands. Mr. Nodar Kumaritashvili , the 21 year old athlete who lost his life yesterday in a practice run of the luge event, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Whistler hospital that he was flown to.  Such a sad, sad, waste of life. Who knows where this story will end, as there is speculation about the design of the track, and talk of several "crashed" runs prior to this fatal run.  The Georgian team bravely walked out to a standing ovation at the opening ceremonies last night, but it may take more than consolations to end the pain.
Here is a video...NOT THE CRASH VIDEO...of another olympian luger discussing the Whistler track just shy of a month ago.  Things that make you go Hmmmmmm....What do you think?

What is wrong with these pictures?

Another hit from HBO

Temple Grandin  Movie Trailer


I love HBO...in fact I could live on just HBO and CNN (I'm a news junkie but it does get ridiculous...balloon boyish).  Anyway, on Feb. 6th HBO premiered "Temple Grandin", starring Claire Danes, and it was spectacular...funny...sad...amazing..and many more emotions that I can't remember having just now...but you get my point!  You HAVE to see this story...if you don't get HBO I reccomend camping on the couch of someone who does, and refuse to leave until they've let you watch it! Bring chips and kleenex!
I don't want to give away the story so just watch the preview above and then let me know what you think.

Go to HBO website for dates and times.

Getting and loving Oliver

When you think of Chihuahuas….

You think “Paris Hilton”; prissy starlet toys; yapping; and shaking..lots of shaking! It’s silly…right? I mean, it’s not really a dog now is it? A real dog is a Labrador retriever, or a Shepherd…or at least that’s what I thought until I got a phone call from a friend of mine who was looking for a home for a recently troubled Chihuahua. It seemed that “Mommy” had a baby, and Mr. Chihuahua had become disgruntled with his demotion, and was displaying his displeasure by leaving little brown presents everywhere!! My friend, Darlene, knows that I am a sucker for animals (we share this aspect of personality), but she is married and requires full household cooperation for these kind of acquisitions…whereas I am not, and as a result share my house with my son Matt, 4 cockatiels, a budgie, a terrier mix, and, at the time, a beautiful Golden Retriever.

I said I didn’t know anyone that was interested in a Chihuahua, but I would ask around!

The next time I talked to Darlene about the chi, I asked if he was neutered, and she said “No he was not” so…I said I couldn’t take him because my dogs were fixed and he wasn’t.

The next time I talked to Darlene it was to confirm what day she would be bringing mr.chi home…immediately following his surgery (ouch…but thanks Dar!). Before I knew it, Darlene and Cierra (her beautiful young daughter), were at my door looking very concerned, and explained that the chi was hunckered down behind the accelerator, growling fiercely!!!! This I had to see, and followed them out to the car, blanket in hand, and finally met the newest member of our family. He looked at me…smiled with all of his teeth!...and mid growl, I dropped the blanket over him and scooped him out of the car!

Once uncovered, it took approximately 1 minute for the transformation to take place. Mine…not his!
HE IS SO DARN CUTE, RIGHT?! It is now perfectly clear to me what has happened to all those other silly chi owners…we have all been struck by the “Chi Factor”. Although I do not have the budget to acquire all those fine chi accessories…he does have 4 sweaters, one raincoat, a life jacket for kayaking, and a Harley Davidson collar, just to keep his male perspective balanced!
He snuggles with me under blankets, and gazes at me with those sweet orby eyes...and I don't care that he occaisionally relieves himself inside when it's really cold out there.  I don't want to go out either!!! I am besotted, and so is Matt, and basically every other member of our family and friends.....Oh...someone just called me abvout a daschound puppy....gotta go!!

The mysteries and magic of skating

Here I sit, back in the arena, fingers freezing, and watching my breath as it floats up towards the heaters which are not turned on! I think I would have loved skating. Out there Flying on the ice, as if driven by some unforeseen force. It truly amazes and inspires me to watch the ice skating competitions, where the acrobatics they perform sometimes defy common sense! They are truly brave.

I think that being, or not being, a skater, is a gift you come into this world with ...

(that statement has conjured up all sorts of painful giving birth images!)

and are driven to perfect.

Sadly, I was not born with skates on! This didn’t seem to be too much of a social problem (although at 8 how many social problems can one have – Oh, okay, that’s a whole other topic to be covered at a later time) ...

Once in Canada, skating became of much more importance than anything my sister or I had yet covered… such as ballet (depicted above) and elocution! Neither of these particular skills appeared to assist us in building bonds with Canadian culture.

Anyway, it was decided that we should definitely learn to skate, and learn we did. We had lessons…you know, where all the little kids skate in a circle wobbling and falling down…the only discrepancy being that we were very tall grade 3-6 ers, and the remainder of the cute troop were in kindergarten! All humiliation aside, I was just beginning to “get it”….the flying feeling…the wind in my hair…the passion of it all…..when suddenly I fell down backwards, and the little kindergartner behind me, skated firmly into the back of my skull, the little pointy things on her skates embedding in my head...the joy left me!

I have only skated a half dozen times since….always with great anxiety, and only under duress.The absolute last time I was encouraged to skate, my friend later told me that she was afraid that I was going to "lift off" i was flapping my arms so fiercely! I thought I had done really well, but what do I know...Now I spectate!

I watch my 12 year old speed around the rink with his goodwill skates that are 2 sizes too large, and an absolute talent for staying standing up against all odds, and gravity both! I swear I have seen him accomplish a “triple sow cow” (don’t know how to spell it less do it!) triple toe loop, and multiple spins all with fearless determination and without the knowledge of the accomplishment...it's all in the art of staying vertical!

Haitian man survives in rubble 27 days after quake

CNN has just reported that a man has been pulled from the Haitian rubble 27 days after the mega quake hit!! He appears very thin, and apparently stated that someone in a white coat brought him water several times and then went away! This is a truly miraculous story, which will undoubtedly produce skeptics, and lots of spin ie. maybe he hid in the rubble for 27 days in order to get his own reality tv show! It will be interesting to see what is made of this. I just say...."Thank God...again!

Dr. Murray skips his appointment

The infamous "dr. murray", who accidentally killed Michael Jackson with an anesthetic, is "negotiating" his arrest...I didn't know that we all had that right!!! Do we? Because if that is the case, I would assume there would be a whole lotta people who would "opt out" just as this man seems to be doing!!!

Image is everything I guess, and there appears to be some dispute about how the thing will go down...the staging!! We want handcuffs....well we don't want handcuffs....we want a profile shot...well we would prefer not! I can't get over this!! Talk about ridiculous. In fact, he is going to hold a press conference to advise the media as to his intentions!!!

ARREST THE MAN AND GET IT OVER WITH.

Haiti death toll tops 200,000 as aid anger mounts

Haiti death toll tops 200,000 as aid anger mounts

a lot can happen in 2 weeks, and it feels as if the world is starting to turn it's attention away from the desperate situation in Haiti, with the exception of the 10 Americans arrested for trying to smuggle 33 children across the Haitian border into the Dominican Republic.

The economy continues to struggle, Toyota is in a battle for it's reputation, Virgin Mobile has a flight ready space shuttle just waiting to fly anyone with enough money on a tour of the galaxy...and the Haitian people continue to be hungry; homeless; and dying from the post surgical complications of gangrene in amputated limbs!

The rains will be coming soon. The Haitians will not only get wet....but their makeshift shelters of bed linens on posts will quickly breakdown; The rubble entombing what remains of the "unfound" will wash the fetid remains down the streets, along with the human waste that has been accumulating over the paste several weeks as a result of no "infrastructure" meaning bathrooms. This water will pool in areas that will be used to drink and wash...and we have entered the second phase.

There's no use crying over spilled milk !

You know the old saying "There's no use crying over spilt milk" right? Well after this story you might change your mind....I know I did!

When I first came to live in the "country" I was working as a nurse and got a part time job at a very large, old, hospital, that had been built in the early dinosauric period! It had these tunnels underneath it, that connected all the old buildings together, and also housed the cafeteria, and other things that weren't allowed to function above ground!

The first thing you do when you start a position anywhere is orientation, and I was in the process of this orientation when I came to be working a night shift with one other nurse. Things had been going fairly well that evening, when my nurse counterpart asked me to go down to the cafeteria and bring up some jugs of milk, while she poured the evening meds.

(This sounds so mundane that you're probably about to sign off...but hang in there....you will be rewarded.....)

I was a bit nervous about finding my way there and back, but with some encouragement I set off on my adventure. Through the winding tunnels I went, with the wheels of my little beverage cart rattling loudly and echoing into all the darkest places. It seemed to take years to find the darn cafeteria, but once found, all my anxiety ebbed away, and I felt the thrill of accomplishment...it had not been so bad after all!

There before me stood two huge stainless steel vats of milk (as had been described). So I lifted the valve on the first vat, and out came a cup of milk, followed by 5 or 6 small droplets....a little stream...and then ...nothing. I then move to the second vat of shiny stainless steel, and closely examined it. I lifted the valve, but nothing came out, although I could see the milk teasing me through the clear tube that hung below the valve. Hmmm....what could be different? I was not going back empty handed, only to be sent into "the trenches" again.

After close inspection it seemed that the only difference between vat empty and vat full, was that the transparent tube in vat full has not yet been cut open!...( I am observant if nothing else!!) Anyhoo....I quickly located a large sharp pair of scissors and severed the end of the tube identically to the twin vat tube...and just as I had anticipated the milk began to flow...and flow...and flow!!!I had NOT anticipated this! I had already filled 3 jugs full of milk, and was reaching for other vessels to fill, but they were getting further away from my grasp...you've heard of the land flowing with milk and honey!?...well I was there...minus the honey!Tears rolled down my face and joined with the rivulets of milk that rolled down my neck.

Desperation set in, and I started to shout "help"..."help"...but as I was in fact in a basement room, at the very end of a long tunnel...the result was as expected, there was no help, and I thanked God that it was only milk that I was fighting.

Then it came to me...I must tie the tube off ( had that realization occurred just a few moments prior, I might have cut it differently)...the tying began. If you have ever attempted to tie a hose while it is running then you can begin to imagine the next few minutes of my life. There was milk squirting everywhere...on the ceiling...on the floor...on my face...on my body....I mean EVERYWHERE...at one point I had decided that I would abandon the whole thing and flee, claiming to have no knowledge of the melee that had occurred in the kitchen. But alas I could not do that. Instead I staved the flow of milk, and returned to my unit, much to the surprise of my counterpart nurse, who, as I stepped off the elevator completely SATURATED and dripping milk, asked....."what took you so l..."!!And there the story begins again!