RawMarshmallowDog

Good Riddance

2006-09-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've tried several times to post this via Google Video, but it hasn't worked thus far. Therefore, this is the next best option.

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-2940974580719893806&q=citrus+lemon+episodes

Hopefully it'll make you laugh. Silly good fun, I say!

I'm beginning life at Regent College tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous at starting yet another year of school. For those who don't know, this will mark my 8th consecutive year of postsecondary education, and overall, 21 consecutive years of school! What's kept me even willing to do scholastic studies over that many years are, first, the 4 month summers--can't beat that. I'm also a fan of the fairly flexible hours you get as a student--by the time you're a grad student, those hours are extremely flexible indeed. And, oh yeah, I suppose a general curiosity about the subjects I purport to study are important as well.

I begin this Master of Christian Studies degree without a very clear sense of what I'm gunning for. Well, i'll be feeding my mind, which isn't a bad thing, and I'll also be able to better think Christianly about many aspects of life; this is also a good thing. However, I realize that not having a 'goal,' however hazily defined it may be, can also be foolhardy and reflect a lack of planning about one's future. The words "Worship Pastor" get thrown around a lot by myself and my friends, but I haven't seriously sat down, reflected, and spent time with God about this. This, I realize, is important when wanting input about my future! I also feel a calling to live a simpler, less hectic lifestyle, which is not only reassuring for my parents, but will enable me to take school and my responsabilities at church and elsewhere seriously. This simpler mode of living is going to stretch me, I think. But I feel it's the right thing to do--and it'll also help me put into practice several of the many theological things I learned over the past year.

Well, I'm going to put these self-indulgent musings to rest for the time being. I won't promise to be better at keeping in touch via this blog, but I'll try.

6 Days in August

2006-08-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

This isn't the "big post" that I promised last week (as i've said before, I'm just a tease when it comes to this stuff). However, I just want to let the blog universe know that me and Jeremy are climbing the Grouse Grind three times on Monday, August 7th. We're hoping to raise money and awareness regarding the hell on earth that's going on in Darfur and Chad (where many refugee camps are located) at the moment.

The Darfur genocide is a dreary situation that has dragged on and on for almost 3 years now, yet it doesn't generate anywhere near the outrage and coverage that's afforded to countries such as "Israel," "Iraq," "Iran," or even "Lebanon." Heck, even North Korea has received more attention with regards to media attention. To borrow a phrase from Rodney Dangerfield, Darfurians just can't get any respect around here.

The so-called peace deal or ceasefire signed in early May has had the perverse effect of increasing the violence against citizens and instability in the region. It's almost enough to get you depressed and immobile in the face of overwhelming evil and, perhaps worse, general indifference exhibited by ordinary citizens and politicians. However, I think me and Jer both agree that this reaction isn't very justifiable, hence our triple trek up the Grouse Grind on Monday.

We've decided to give the donations to MSF (http://www.msf.ca). Alternately, you can give the money to me and I'll ensure that it goes to the Vancouver branch. Tax receipts will be provided.

To prep for this, why don't you peruse the following editorial:
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060730-093557-1537r.htm

You can also amuse yourself by playing this videogame, which does a good job of describing the fear and violence that many Darfurians face on a daily basis.
http://www.darfurisdying.com/

After you're done this, you can follow the action (or inaction, depending on how you view it) in Darfur by following these blogs: http://www.passionofthepresent.org and http://coalitionfordarfur.blogspot.com.

Sorry for the lack of links, but I'm super tired at the moment.

Dragonball Adventures

2006-07-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'll have something slightly more substantial in the coming days (I'm such a tease), but I was at Dragonball the other day, and one of the running jokes that me and Jeremy (and Eric and Nathan and Sarne) have is trying the most oddball combinations of flavors, such as Starfruit and Strawberry, or Black Plum and Red Bean. This experimentalism is partially due to our inquisitive and exploratory natures--the excitement of exploring relatively uncharted waters such as durian and green tea ice cream, as well as the satisfaction of finding an unconventional mix that works well, is immensely satisfying. The other (and likely more compelling) reason why we like to do this is because we're there so often, and plain strawberry gets boring after awhile. Our latest obsession centres on mixing flavors with the same beginning letter, such as Black Plum, Blueberry, and Black Sesame. You can also try this with Green Apple, Green Tea ice cream, and Green Lotus with green apple coconut jelly. But I think I might have come up with something that trumps them all. I saw "horlic" as a menu item, which is a conventional enough bbt flavor. I turned to Jer and I asked him if Garlic would be worth trying out in the future.

Any thoughts?

Last night

2006-07-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

IMG_2731
Originally uploaded by jonchristomlin.

Alright, I'm slowly posting pics on Flickr, as that's much easier than sending zipped folders of various photos to people. Look for photos under "jonchristomlin"

La fin du monde

2006-06-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

I'm in Toronto for one more week before taking off to the green pastures of Vancouver. I'd get all nostalgic looking back at my experiences in TO and blogging about them here, but I'm not doing that now. Right now I'm beyond tired and all this sentimental reflection will have to wait for a future post.

Hoops I did it again

2006-06-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

To follow up on that last post, i graduated today. Had to be there at 8:30 AM for gown rental, so as a result I had to wake up at 7 AM today for breakfast, which is a time I hardly ever volunteer to be awake, but I guess graduation's an important enough reason for this. As I type this, however, i feel like a sack of bricks that no cup of coffee could ever revive.

Some deja vus today-I slept over at Chestnut, home for me during the 2004-5 academic year. The breakfast buffet brought back a lot of memories, primarily of bacon, hash browns, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and bad coffee. But I also remember how i used to stuff myself silly back then--nowadays my breakfasts are more modest, and when i tried to load up today my stomach couldn't handle it.

In addition to gastronomic details, the girl sitting next to me at graduation also did her undergrad degree at UBC, lived in the same suburb (Richmond), and also went to the same incentive high school (Grades 8-10) as my younger sister! That's pretty amazing, and entirely appropriate considering how many Vancouverites I know that are living here (the vast majority of whom I didn't know when I actually did live in Vancouver).

So what have I been doing with my parents? 2 actions--walking and eating, the former partially redeeming the latter, if you ask me. In addition, mom and dad also helped me clean and partially pack up yesterday. I recycled 2 boxes worth of paper and newsprint yesterday, and I was flipping through them it seemed as if each paper, be it articles, essays, newspapers, readings, whatever, triggered memories from the past 22 months, memories which I've been very happy to experience and wouldn't trade for much in this world. Some of these recollections I've shared with you over this blog, but due to a combination of laziness, lack of time, beer, fellowship, and Hoops, most of them reside only with me.

We are Breathing the Breath

2006-05-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

That 35-book recap of my gatherings from the (to me, at least) legendary Yonge Street Mission book "sale" will have to wait. It's 2:53 AM (according to my computer) and sleep awaits, or at least is a bit more enticing than going through each book and writing a sentence or two about them. If you're a semi-regular reader of this blog (and I only post enough for you to be a semi-regular at any rate) you'll know that I often say stuff such as "I'll talk more about this or that in a future post" but never really deliver on it. One of these days, I just may come through on one of these, but don't really hold your breath. I'd promise to blog more about the awesome day I had exploring Chinatown East/Regent Park/Cabbagetown last Thursday, but those adventures (which included about 4 hours of walking) will likely only survive via oral tradition, so please ask me about them when you see me!

Today was a crazy packed day. Not only was there a wildcat strike from transit workers today, but temperatures spiked to stupid levels--not stupid in the "how did the goalie let the 35-foot wrist shot by him" scenario, but the "why is the coach pulling the goalie in the first minute of the third period when the score is tied and the team is shorthanded" stupid. Think unfathomable, as in 41 degrees Celsius (adjusted after humidex), temperatures which should only really be considered in countries such as the United Arab Emirates. Needless to say, walking around outside was rather unpleasant. Locals here tell me "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" to which I respond by checking my return ticket to Vancouver. Now don't get me wrong, I intensely and wholeheartedly enjoy Toronto's plethora of pleasures, but the combination of heat, blaring sun, and humidity is almost enough to cancel all of them outright. The 30 minute walk from Yonge Street Mission on Gerrard E and Parliament to Treasure House on Queen and Spadina almost took me out of commission. I think I'll be able to adjust my walking strategy appropriately (from speedwalk like hell to walk deliberately and periodically duck into buildings with air conditioning), but man, what a learning curve this is going to be.

I also discovered that I'm not graduating on the 20th, as was originally thought by many bright minds including my sister and ordinary minds such as myself. Being a recipient of an MA degree and not an M.Mus has not only left me ill-equipped to discern my actual date of graduation but also means that I've been jerked from all my other peers whom I know from undergrad and are graduating on the 20th. I don't even know if my other classmate graduating is even going to be at the ceremony. As my dad put it, "That means you don't need to hang around afterwards and take pictures." No, I don't think so.

The past day has been spent reworking plans and trying to make sure that I'm actually graduating on the correct date, which has been amended to the 9th of June. I'm still technically leaving for Vancouver on the 26th, but my parents are now going to be with me for the middle of June (7-19th).

Other than that, my day was uneventful. Anyone have anything exciting happening in their lives?

2006-05-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

The best kind of book sale is the one where you don't have to pay anything for what you pick up. Over at the Yonge Street Mission, where I've been volunteering for the past 2 weeks, they've had this ginormous book sale for the community where you can take up to 20 books for free. And they're not just steamy harlequin romances that make up the bulk of the selection...I've seen books such as Lovely Bones, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (which I picked up), and some Tom Wolfe (Bonfire of the Vanities...i picked that up as well). I also spied one of my favorite books I've read over the past year, Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, and took that as well. Lemme know if you want to take the Gourevitch off my hands, it's really quite a powerful (not to mention disturbing) read. Random observation: there's also a ton of Maeve Binchy books out there (I don't read Binchy, but who knows, maybe some of you do?)

Once I cart all my books back home I'll let you know what I picked up. I've also borrowed a ton of books from the library and from my friends, so who knows just how many of them I'll ever get around to reading. There are piles of books and CDs strewn across the floor surrounding Fred's coffee table, which is I suppose better than having piles of food wrappers and undergarments lying around. Always look on the bright side, I guess.

2006-05-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Got my laptop back a few days ago and it's huge! I'd gotten used to Fred's tiny little laptop, which barely covers my keyboard in terms of size, and is about as thick as my laptop after shrinking it after a wash (imagining first that it would act like an article of clothing and not like a piece of machinery). If you know me, you know that I'm not an enthusiastic subscriber to the "bigger is better" motto, it's so asinine and materialistic. I remember being an Imagine UBC MUG leader (think of it as first day of university for froshies, and you get to kinda tour them around the uni and try to transition them into university as much as possible, well, as much as you can in one day) for several years in my undergrad. I enjoyed touring the students around, as well as serving and helping them integrate as much as possible into university, but the absolute nadir of the day came at the pep rally in the gym, where respective faculties got to show their "spirit" by yelling chants and cheers at full volume. The Arts faculty chant of "Bigger is better! Arts kick ass!", which piped in intermittently, was so stupid, vapid, and utterly inane that I couldn't help but feel extremely cynical every time its presence was felt.

Sorry for the digression. There's tons of things I've been doing after I handed in my last essay, but I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment, so I'll just tell you that I'll be heading back to Vancouver in late June. I got accepted into Regent College, the seminary right on UBC campus, and I'll be attending beginning in September. I certainly don't mind going back to Vancouver, there are worse places in the world to be, and certainly not too many finer ones! However, it will stink having to leave Toronto...I've matured immensely in so many ways while living away from home, and past 15 months or so have been so enriching. I could blab more, but I really do have to get going now.

Wish You Were Here

2006-04-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

Where have you been?

Not a bad question. I've been busy ensuring I graduate on time (in June, in case you're wondering)

And you've been too busy to blog?

Unfortunately. I mean, it's not like I spent the entirety of my waking hours reading, researching, writing, and pulling my hair out, but blogging tends to occupy a rather low rank on my list of priorities when I have other things to do.

So will us, loyal readers, now be rewarded with semi-regular posts?

Um. Well, we'll see. My laptop's LCD monitor light went kaputt a few weeks ago, and it was only through the grace of God (and Fred's tiny laptop) that I was able to continue writing my essays and finish them on time. If the monitor price is too $$$, then I might forget about fixing the laptop, thus leaving my availability to the whims of Fred, who'll claim it whenever he wants (it is his possession, after all).

I'd say more, but at the moment I'm dozing off, which can only lead to bad things, such as sleeping on futons and waking up with a stiff neck and a splitting headache. Ciao for now....

Wolfgang Rihm/Haiti/Live Indie Rock in Toronto

2006-04-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

yum. Today I made some chinese-style beef brisket, following my mother's recipe. I didn't put any 'weird' ingredients into my first batch of brisket, since I gotta master the basics before branching out into improvisational cooking fancies.

I also have yet to make the long-awaited ramen with peanut butter sauce that Ed told me about a few weeks ago. I'm still waiting for the right time to make it (in other words, I need to buy more ramen first). As some of you may know, my roommate Fred has an aversion to peanut butter when it's not found on bread, and he's also the ripe age of 28, so he's getting rather curmudgeony and set in his ways. Hopefully my good influence will get him to change his previous modes of thought. Or maybe I'm just putting this on here as a way of procrastinating.

Speaking of procrastination/distractions, baseball season is upon us...and you know exactly how I feel about baseball. I'm pumped.

James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, Norman Kember.

2006-03-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

They're free. Phew. In an area of the world where the over/under daily death rate seems to be at 50, we need stories of hope like this, to illuminate the bleak and uncertain situation that exists in the swampy mess we know as Iraq. So I'm glad they were rescued--it's true that many more people die each day in Iraq, but like I said, it's important to have these stories which show us that all is not lost.

In order to increase the frequency of my posts, I may put here what stuff I've been cooking. Ever since I moved, and the kitchen's accessibility increasing more than ten-fold, it's been too tempting to not cook and develop those culinary skills. Of course, there are always going to be mishaps when I attempt procedures that are more complicated than "bring water to a boil," but you only learn from those mistakes--the challenge is to not repeat them again some month down the line.

I've also been making shakes a lot more often. I can tell you that avocado, milk, and honey is a winner. Pomelo and milk, however, don't mix. Being the king of experimental melange that I am, I welcome your suggestions. One of these days I'll do that pureed meat/durian double extreme mix. Yum.

I hate your hate

2006-03-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I had the chance to attend some stimulating talks concerning the use of music for the purpose of resistance, whether it be critiquing a dictatorship, commenting on an unjust and structually imbalanced society, or speaking out against your marginalized place in society. It all coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Racism, which I'm sad to say won't go away any time soon. Just look at the controversy surrounding Milosevic's death, or the Arabs vs. blacks conflict underlying the mess in Darfur. Whether we want to admit it or not, most of us automatically or subconciously prejudge or assume certain stereotypical behaviours for people based on the color of their skin. The Chinese people are definitely quite racist as well. After all, anyone who isn't Chinese is a barbarian, and the former emperor of China used to be known as the son of heaven. Where am I going with this? hmm....good question. I think I'm typing here because I have an essay to work on. :)

However, the reception following the talks (which is a major factor why some of us go to these things in the first place) had by far the most sprawling (in an appealing sort of way) fruit plate. What I remember on that plate included mangoes, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, green grapes, persimmons, dragonfruit (!), pineapples, oranges, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, and guava. I was seriously on some sugar high afterwards, and my body was screaming out for some protein. They also had these small little orange balls, with a thin outer skin layer, and some sour, juicy thing in the middle-anybody know what that's called?

The only thing that was missing from the Garden of Eden fruit plate was durian. Sure, it would have drastically overpowered everything else on that plate, but if you want to go all out and get a whole whack of not-the-most-typical fruit, then you gotta break open those spikes and get that custardy yellow flesh outta there!

TGIF?

2006-03-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

The highlight of my day? Shaving.

Well, maybe not, I made some sticky rice (aka Thai Purple rice) pudding with coconut milk. Yum.

It's a struggle to try not to fill up my schedule with so much stuff and try to live simply, following the spirit of Lent, and yet know that I need to work like a madman if I want to hand in my stuff on time before graduation deadline. Faced with 7 hours of time to work on my paper, I wrote....3 or 4 pages. That's a pretty sucky rate, in case you're wondering.

Fortunately, there's grace and I get to try this all over again tomorrow. I really do work much less productively when I have huge chunks of time to do one thing. I'm really much better at doing 3 or 4 different things in the day-it seems to keep me more alert.

College Park

2006-03-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

Note: The majority of this was written on Wednesday at one of Toronto’s many Second Cup locations.

I mean to write more in this space, honestly! I tried yesterday, getting up to “Things have been real busy” before random MSN conversations, aimless browsing, and the adventures associated with moving intervened to stop me from updating you, dear reader, on my adventures here in Toronto.

So, let’s begin again. Things have been real busy around here. I just moved into my new place yesterday at Yonge/College. I guess most of you on the other side of the country don’t know about this, but yeah, I made the decision to move about 2.5 weeks ago, to a better location (I used to live in the Annex, which is a student hub. However, I don’t really like it as much because it’s further away from my favorite pubs and my favorite areas of town, namely Chinatown/Kensington Market). It’s also slightly cheaper, bigger (I actually get a living room!), cleaner (no 93-year-olds leaving stuff lying around, for instance), and I’ll be able to cook whenever I want (likely around midnight if past practice is any indication). Oh yeah, the oven also works, so I’ll finally be able to make that durian chicken marinade (yum, durian) that I’ve been fantasizing about ever since, oh, just about now.

I’m moving in with my buddy Fred and we’re going to be housemates with his co-worker Annu, who’s already living here. I’ve only known Fred for about as long as my second sojourn in Toronto (that’s less than 6 months, for those of you who don’t like to count). He’s a good guy who sings real loud when we do P&W, is never home (meaning that I’ll be able to have the room to myself the majority of the time), and likes his good beer almost as much as I do. But lest you think that I’ll be turning my residence into the frat boy lifestyle that I always wish I had (ha!), I am giving up beer for Lent this year. Yes, beer. Those of you who have been reading this blog since its inception will recall my little obsession with pho last year, so much so that I ended up lenting it. Well, this year my pho intake hasn’t been quite as, shall we say, prodigious, and my concerns have now turned to drinking craft-brewed beers with lots of flavour (hops sandwich anybody?), a high alcohol content, preferably a second fermentation of yeast in the bottle, and it has to be so dark that you can’t see through it. In other words, I don’t drink Canadian or Blue, regardless of how proud I am of my country. I can show my patriotism in many other ways, such as by drinking a nice Trois Pistoles or a Scotch Irish IPA.

So um, yeah, no beer for me, except on Sundays (I’ll be extending my fast up till Easter Sunday because of this). I figure to save a lot of money through the next month and a half.

Combining the practice of Lent and my moving out, I just realized, yet again, that I have a fair amount of junk, from books to CDs to cooking supplies and food, to go along with the biggest bag of bags you’ll ever see. I even had a box of bags, but let’s not go there. All the stuff I had, and the tedium that results when you try to move it all reminded me of the virtues of simplicity, which combines so beautifully well with Lent and its reminder to me that my self-worth ought not to come from what possessions I have, nor from my feelings of usefulness in doing so many things, but rather in how Christ views me. At any rate, I do look forward to living the simpler life over the next month, and hope that this extends beyond Lent and becomes something formational and foundational in my life.
During Lent, I’ll be reading _Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective_, a collection of short articles by people like Wendell Berry, Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, and Cecile Andrews. It’s edited by Michael Schut, if you want to track this down. I hope to come away with not only practical advice on how to live a simpler life, but also to be taught solid biblical reasons for practicing this sort of lifestyle, which does run countercultural to much of the values, whether spoken or implicit, practiced by contemporary society, including, unfortunately, the Church (or at least the second-generation suburban Chinese Churches who have gobs of disposable income at their fingertips). I do hope to shake a dependency on money, as well as packing tons of things into my schedule. There will be times when I’ll simply “Be Still” and know that He is God.

Darfurwalk is done

2006-02-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Today, me and Jeremy woke up at 6:30 (okay, 7), and left at 8:05 to go walk 15 km in the freezing cold. We started off at Bayview and Sheppard, went south on Yonge for a really long time until we hit Bloor, then we trekked it westwards to my place at Brunswick and Dupont. All in all, it took slightly over 3 hours to complete the walk. I'll tell more, but for now, I need to shower and wash up.

Another Darfurocentric posting

2006-02-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to announce that I'm finally doing this walk. I've been thinking about it for awhile, so it's great to actually finalize the info. A few other things which I didn't mention in my e-mail following. I'm going to attempt this walk in the wee hours of the morning, say, 7 AM or so. Yeah, it's gruesome, especially for me, but the early start is valuable because then the walk doesn't take up my entire day (I still have to teach violin afterwards in the afternoon in North York. No, I don't think I'm going to walk back up there). Jeremy Janzen is also going to walk along with me, so I don't get bored or something.

Hey guys. I've talked to some of you about this beforehand, but I've finally
set a date down for it.

Next Monday, Feb 20, I'm going to be walking from Fred's place at
Bayview/Sheppard to my residence at Dupont/Brunswick. According to Google
Maps, the total distance of the walk is about 14km. The purpose of the walk
is to raise money and awareness over the situation in Darfur, which has been
ongoing for about 3 years now. The idea of walking a long distance to raise
awareness comes from Guluwalk (www.guluwalk.com), which arose due to the
evil perpetuating from Northern Uganda.

Regarding Darfur, the evil is no less than what's going on in Uganda, and
judging from conversations I've had with people, it's an evil that is sadly
underrecognized in its totalizing capacity, in the fear and destruction that
it's weaving throughout the northwestern part of the Sudan. Let me give you
some quick and dirty figures of what's transpired since February 2003:

350,000 dead.
2 million people displaced, out of a total population of 6 or 7 million.
Families uprooted, lots of rape (as a means of asserting power and injecting
fear), possessions stolen...I won't go on any further. You can read on about
it.

I'm pledging funds for my walk. You can donate either by the km, or in just
one lump sum. If you can't donate anything, then please please please
familiarize yourself more with the situation, and go to places such as
http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=darfur, darfurgenocide.org,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/africa/2004/sudan/default.stm, or
http://sleeplessinsudan.blogspot.com/ If you want something slightly more
academic, try www.sudanreeves.org. The Darfur page on wikipedia is also
pretty good, and leads to a lot of links.

The total $ of funds raised will be donated to either Medecins sans
Frontieres or Mennonite Central Committee.

So that's my spiel regarding darfur. If you want to donate, you can let me
know via e-mail, or if you see me on Friday/Sunday. I'll probably still
collect after my walk's done.

If you got this far, congrats. Now go and read up on Darfur!

Tomlin

(I'll fix the links/URL later)

Now, I've never done something like this, so if you have any suggestions or words of wisdom, please pass them on to me.

Jon

Brrr...it's cold in here

2006-02-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. For those of you wondering where I've been, let me state a simple explanation:

Laptop's hard drive broke
I bring laptop into computer shop
computer shop replace hard drive
I got laptop back today!

So hurrah, I can use the computer late at night again, and not have to stay until ridiculous hours at the Grad Lounge in the Music Building. Which I have been doing a fair bit lately. This also means that I can spend my ever-diminishing amounts of free time staring at a computer screen talking to people on a program called "Messenger," which I plan to do very very soon. Right now I'm busy reinstalling programs on this computer. If anyone has suggestions on what programs I need to be using, remind me here (I've already got Firefox/iTunes/MSN Messenger).

Moutarde, Moutarde, Baby

2006-01-26T01:17:00.000-08:00

I'm back to my old ways again, sleeping at 4-5 AM almost every day. Last term I usually hit the sack at around 3 AM or so, and I wondered what was wrong with me, especially since staying up late isn't really a problem with me, it's quite a natural function, just like going to the washroom is for most of us, I suppose.

Umm...questionable metaphors aside, I've been doing quite fine in TO. The weather's not so bad (with the exception of today), it's been pretty unseasonally warm lately..(cue major sarcasm)..yay global warming!

It's indicative of how early it is in the term that I can find myself at my favorite watering hole, Smokeless Joe, for over 9 hours over 2 consecutive nights and still not really pay for it. I spent about $60 for the 2 nights, which works out to about 6.66 an hour, which isn't too bad, I surmise. Sunday night was $6 mussels, which is quickly turning out to be a Delta tradition, if you can call something that's been going on for merely 2 months and seems to rely on my attendence a tradition. There was a total of 12 of us there, which normally isn't a problem if you're at some place like Steamworks, but i swear capacity at Smokeless Joe is something closer to 35, so we took up a major chunk of real estate. Add the fact that we were constantly switching seats and moving around, and that the place really was packed that night, and you can only imagine the perils that the one solitary bartender had to face that night! Umm...I think we tipped well.

Monday night at Joe's was spent watching election coverage. You'd be surprised at how quickly those 4.5 hours of CBC coverage flew by. It's a much easier task when it's spent with a few of your friends and you're constantly making semi-snide and humorous remarks. That, and the beer also helped as well.

Still, as much as I normally don't spend that much time or money at a bar, I have, as partial penance, stayed away from the hops/barley/malt/yeast/water combination over the past 2 days.

I miss Dragonball..

2006-01-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm back in Toronto now. Didn't want to go an entire month without posts, so this is why I'm saying this quick "hello" to you.

Funny enough, the weather's been so mild here, kinda like a Molson Canadian. I mean, just today the high was 10C and it was raining...just like being back in Vancouver. If your 9% alcohol Trappiste ale (or a 10% Koningshoeven Quadrupel...mmmmmm) is like a fearsome snowstorm accompanied by howling winds and sub-zero temperatures, than TO's weather is just crying out for a lager. Yuck, lagers.

Never mind that I just compared something desirable with something undesirable. It's just that it's a little bizarre wearing my fall jacket in the dead center of January.

46 Pages

2005-12-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/images/resources/posters/2004/where_did_I_say.jpg

I was going to be all fancy and try to post this image up, but I suck so I present you with this URL. Copy/paste and view the image to see my personal beliefs about shopping during Christmas. I abide by the "mutual no-gift" policy, which works out really well. Yeah, I'll buy the occasional gift for my family (more like my sisters), but instead of blowing like $20-35 on some dorky present for somebody, I'd much rather go out for a meal with said person, and try to be generous with them throughout the year, instead of just once at the end of the year....although, since you're getting a gift back, how generous are you really being? I hope my views are not too firmly in the minority, otherwise I'd just feel like some humourless jerk.

Tonight, me and bunch of Deltoids (Fred, Jazmine, Debbie, Zi) went around Yonge street, giving out hot chocolate and encouraging people to go to a free shelter that night (specifically Out of the Cold programs), and to stay out of the cold. It didn't feel too cold at first, but after about 90 minutes of being out in -10C weather, you start to feel it, regardless of how bundled up you are. Not only that, but a lot of the time you're not moving if you're talking to someone, thus you generate no body heat and become even colder as the wind smacks across your face and you fidget uncontrollably.

Man, we were only out there for 90 minutes! What happens to people who don't get a chance to go inside public spaces because they're too dirty and don't match our ideas of what an "acceptable" person is?

Back in the Van later today. I return to TO on Jan 10, the same day the Canucks play the Maple Leafs. Somehow, it all makes a lot of sense.

Alan Parsons

2005-12-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Been spending so much time in front of the computer, I can't wait until it's all over, in about 18 hours from now.

Anyway, since I'm almost finished my final 2 essays, I thought I'd do some random surfing on the net that I haven't had the opportunity to do in a while (deadlines really do make me a better student).

If you want something really fun, go to this thread and download the first track on that list. Alan Parsons, if some of you remember, was memorably referenced in I believe the second Austin Powers movie (something about Dr. Evil calling his latest scheme the Alan Parsons Project). This track is pretty sweet and made me laugh within the first 20 seconds (in a good way, in a good way).

Alright, back to work. I'm back in Vancouver around 8 PM PST.

....................

2005-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

Let this portrait of Jim (James) Loney inspire, challenge, and spur you on to see how visibly and evidently Jesus Christ shone through his life. Ponder, and keep pondering, how Mr. Loney continually subordinated himself for the sake of others, to live simply so others could simply live, to see his sense of justice and to stand up for the oppressed against unjust political and spiritual authorities. Once again, examine how Jesus Christ shone so brightly in his life.

Take the time to read this letter, and to update yourself about the hostage situation if you didn't know anything about it beforehand. Think....keep thinking, as we find ourselves in the middle of Advent, wondering why Jesus would send himself from his kingly spot in heaven next to God to this bleak and desolate place we call earth, to suffer, be separated from his family, be misunderstood from his hometown, be under the threat of attack and persecution from the authorities, to be hungry, to be thirsty, and ultimately to die in the most excruciating and humiliating of circumstances. In the same way, why did James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, Tom Fox, and Norman Kember leave their first world countries to go to the most dangerous place on earth? Why would they continually risk their lives for the sake of 'getting in the way' of violence so that others would not have to bear its brunt? Amazing....maybe something about Christ's radical call to "stand up for righteousness" really resonated with them. Is it resonating with us?

A portrait of Jim Loney
Dec. 11, 2005. 01:00 AM
DWYER SULLIVAN
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Imagine this challenge: You're canoeing the Mississagi River between Elliot Lake and the Soo, and your friend Jim announces he urgently needs an "appropriate" photo to accompany some soon-to-be- published articles. That night, we brainstorm around our campfire, trying to envision what image might be best to show who Jim is and what his interests are.

We chose the photo at right. Jim is kneeling by the water, central but not domineering.

His pose is humble, open, welcoming and respectful. He brings this attitude to his interactions with people.

I have seen it on canoe trips — in deciding menus, organizing transportation, determining the route and choosing campsites. I have also worked with Jim for several Septembers as we helped prepare young adults to experience living cross-class and cross-culturally for six months as part of the One World Global Education Program.

That is why I have no doubt Jim's openness and respect for each person is occurring presently with his abductors.

In the photo, his face conveys sincerity, honesty and directness. There is no lie in Jim. He has the gift of stating very clearly what he sees the problem to be and what the possible solutions are. He is trained to help arrive at a solution through conflict-resolutions skills. I value his input and knowledge at meetings, along with his facilitation skills.

What the photo cannot show is Jim's heart and mind, which have been committed to living a life focused on justice.

I first met Jim when he was a high school counsellor at Columbus Boys Camp, near Orillia, which welcomes underprivileged boys from downtown Toronto.

During his university years in Windsor, I know he was volunteering at homes for delinquent youth. After university, he co-founded the Toronto Catholic Worker, which is committed to providing homes for homeless people and standing up against the causes of injustice (militarism, racism, discrimination, etc.). After several moves, the Catholic Worker community is solidly entrenched in Parkdale, living in a half-dozen houses in close proximity.

The river in the photo is constantly changing but always flowing in the same direction. This parallels my growing interaction with Jim — always evolving but always focused on working for peace and justice.

My wife, Sheila, and I have worked closely with Jim at the Boys Camp, through involvements with the Catholic Worker, One World and the Ontario Catholic Youth Leadership Camp. All of these have been meaningful for us, supportive of others, and led to a very deep appreciation of each other.

Jim cannot be separated from the outdoors. Sheila and I have arranged our last seven summers so we could join Jim and others climbing Mount Robson and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, canoeing the French River, hiking and canoeing in Algonquin Park and Georgian Bay.

We've planned another White Mountain trip for this coming Jan. 2.

Note Jim's clothing: always simple, only what is needed. The Catholic Workers are committed to voluntary poverty and live simply so others can simply live. The community also tried to manage a farm for several years, and Jim was a part of that project. It was an effort to harm the environment less by growing one's own food and making excess available for others.

Jim has also been associated with a small logging operation and bakery, in both cases to provide essentials to those who cannot afford the market price.

Showing Jim surrounded by nature allows us to recognize that he is concerned about and has stood up for the human rights of many peoples.

Sheila and I joined him for two weeks last year at Grassy Narrows Reserve to be in solidarity with the Anishinaabe who were blockading their Treaty 3 land from clear-cutting.

Jim had been to Iraq before, to document detainee abuse, and to Hebron in the occupied West Bank, to stand up for Palestinian human rights.

He also has protested against the security certificates that are holding four Muslim men in Canadian jails with no charges brought against them. These men have pleaded to their Iraqi brothers for the release of the four Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages on humanitarian grounds.

To know Jim is to appreciate his humanness, his passion for justice, his concern for others, his clarity of thought, his willingness to do physical work, his delightful sense of humour, his faith as a Christian in a compassionate revolutionary who stood up against unjust political and religious authorities, and his inclusiveness of all people regardless of economic or ethnic background which is truly small `c' catholic, meaning universal.

This is Jim, living what he believes. The Catholic Worker Movement, of which there are now more than 150 communities in North America, is committed to non-violence, living the acts of mercy that are the cornerstone of the Gospels, voluntary poverty, manual labour, an ecological green revolution and personalism — which means each person working to help every other person.

This brief photo-glimpse of Jim may help portray the depth from which his actions flow and why his present involvement with the Christian Peacemaker Teams trying to reduce violence by "getting in the way" is integrally linked to his life journey.

Dwyer Sullivan, D.Min, former Director of the Toronto Archdiocesan Youth Corps, and administrator of the One World Global Education Programs, teaches at St. Michael High School in Stratford.

Update

2005-12-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to no ill effects, which is what I'd expected. See, I do have an iron stomach!

Still no word on the fate of the Christian Peacemaker Teams....Lord, hear our prayers....

CPT

2005-12-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

What's a good brunch?

Start with salad, albeit leftover salad from last Friday (yes, this means browned lettuce leaves), and then add a 2-egg omelette with onions, bbq pork, mushrooms, and green onions...sprinkle cheese on afterwards as well. Then add 2 pretty fat Italian sausages (think Headhunters fat), and then 2 pieces of bread with avocado spread on top.

If that's not enough, then don't forget your banana/strawberry/blueberry yogurt/milk/orange juice/avocado/flax seed smoothie, as well as a beer. But oh, not just any beer. You should have a Belgian-style trappiste ale, a Chimay, to be exact.

It was good. I was very full.

To complete the gastronomic festivities for the night, our fellowship hosted a Pho Party at our beloved pho lady restaurant. Like I said before, the pho lady occupies a place in Delta's heart similar to the attraction of the neighbourhood pub. The food might not be the greatest, but you've been going there forever, you know the owners and they give you special service, such as an overall discount or free ice cream.
Well, Matt Mark gets more than special service, but that's another story for later.

Basically, we took over the restaurant at 9 PM, dimmed the lights, added sound by DJ Shui, and the place was packed by about 10:15 or so. There was pretty much only one server working (that being the pho lady) for about 40 people sitting at one time, so service was a bit slow, but that was somewhat more than understandable. There were some competitions and I just want to say that if you ever want to beat the all-time record for fastest time to eat a bowl of pho, then the gauntlet has been laid down. You have to shoot to beat the time of 1 minute 26 seconds by Kalam, which also includes drinking the soup, by the way--I mean, that's amazingly Pavel Bure-style fast..I can't even eat a piece of bread in 1:26!! In case you're wondering, I didn't participate in the "fastest bowl" competition because I believe pho is something that deserves to be savored, not devoured.

After finally eating my bowl of spicy pho, I had the pleasure myself of participating in pho shots, which contained 1 part hot sauce (Sriracha), and 1 part soup broth. It was good good stuff, way better than that prairie fire business--some friends bought me a few of those for my birthday, and let's put it this way:
Pho broth is way better than tequila
Sriracha is much tastier than tabasco sauce.
Yum....i think this might become a new ritual of mine whenever I go for pho in the future.

After 3 pho shots, I drank about a half of a durian shake (and entertained others with the sheer odor of durian breath, and then participated in the "pho chugging" contest, which is pretty much what the name states. Pho broth in a glass cup....at first it was quite hot, and I wanted my taste buds to survive the night intact, so we had to cheat a bit and dilute the broth with some ice cubes. I definitely drank my broth in like 1.5 seconds (anyone who's seen me drink liquids of any kind can probably attest to my prowess, hopefully), and destroyed Debbie, who was the only other contestant. Still, I give her mad props for being so willing to partake in gulping down some glorified MSG water.

Well, I also finished the remainder of that durian shake, and I'm anxious to see what sort of state my stomach's going to be in tomorrow. I'd certainly say it was worth it, and all I know right now is that I'm really thirsty.

See (some of) you in Vancouver in about a week's time....

Old Man, look at my life

2005-11-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

It's true that I enjoy drinking beer (and certainly seem to enjoy it a lot more this year than I did last year), however, I'm still getting my exercise in. For instance, last Sunday, I lugged 4 bags and about 15 pounds worth of groceries back home from Chinatown--about a 30 minute hike. My arms felt like falling off about halfway through the trek, but somehow I kept on going and really persevered to the very end, despite numb hands and sore shoulders--I'm sure I burned up enough calories to justify that large bowl of pho I had for lunch. Speaking of pho, I've had it 5 times over the past 9 days, which is a pretty good ratio, if you ask me.

I think I also got a compliment from one of my colleagues the other day. She told me "you dress pretty well for a straight guy....you're straight, aren't you?" I could have had a bit of fun with that, but I didn't feel like digging holes for myself.

And in other news, I'm 24 today. There are a few songs that talk about turning 24, such as "Old Man" by Neil Young and "Twenty-Four" by Switchfoot. You won't get anything nearly as weighty, mainly because I'm just too tired to think right now, after having gotten 4 hours of sleep and going to classes, researching, rehearsing, and attending a rock concert. What I want to say is that I pray every day is a meaningful and stimulating one. Even though we don't really single out individual days as milestones to be celebrated, it's important for me to remember that the cumulative events of each individual day is what shapes my life.

C'est What?

2005-11-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

It's still not too cold in Toronto! What's going on here?

Thanks to all those who commented on my last entry. You see, the reason why I thought my readership in Vancouver was in serious decline was because both Dawn and Vivian had left the country, thus leaving me down 2 Vancouverite readers. But it's good to know that I still have some faithful blog-readers out there.

My post is going to be a bit lazy, as I'm just going to reply to the comments from my previous blog entry.

To answer Alan's question about the type of groceries I bought, they definitely aren't of premium quality--I got them from Chinatown, of course, where everything's always on sale compared with grocery stores such as Dominion. So while the presentation and storage of produce in Chinatown may leave much to be desired (much of it's out in the open, and not necessarily handled very delicately either), and sometimes the produce is a bit old, the tradeoff is that your grocery bill for about a week and a half's worth of groceries comes to $32--which includes $5 of beef, $7 of barbecue pork, and $3 worth of chicken.

I'll try to do a better job of blogging at shorter intervals as the year progresses, but my free time as of now is a bit limited, what with papers and all the like currently going on. A fair amount of my free time has gone towards cooking. Blogging--eating...it's a tough choice sometimes, but getting nourished usually wins out in the end.

And as for "Barbarian Invasions," which was the title of my post on October 27, that came about because I watched the movie of the same name at or around that date. The film came out in 2003, directed by Denys Arcand, of "Jesus of Montreal" and "Decline of the American Empire" fame. _Barbarian Invasions_ is a tremendous movie, dealing with lots of weighty issues such as love, death, reconciliation, mortality, worth, the Catholic church, drug use, the health care system, and more. While watching the other Arcand movies would make BI an even richer experience, it still stands on its own (and Decline is filled with so much talk about the characters's sex lives that its relentlessness might make some people a bit uncomfortable).

Usually (sometimes?) my titles aren't really related to the content of the post--the titles often relate to something else in my life in quick soundbyte form. Now sometimes title and body will match up, but I'll let you figure that one out yourselves.

Hey Drema, can't wait to come back and disrupt more study parties :)

Ned's Chicken Curry

2005-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

My produce/fridge at home was feeling somewhat empty this past week, due to my failure to buy much groceries over the weekend. I live about 30 min away from Chinatown, and my refusal to pay the inflated prices at the much more convenient location of the Dominion situated only 10 min from my residence meant that for much of the week, I had to rely on things such as canned goods and pho. Nothing particularly offensive about that (especially with the latter), but I like eating fresh food, and I also like to limit somewhat the number of times I go out to eat during the week. On a related note, I've been spending a bit too much money recently and really need to conserve a little bit more--the grocery bill I racked up today may have had something to do with that, but I know the symptoms have manifested themselves at a much much earlier date.
c
Probably the best thing for me to do is reduce the amount of times I drink beer at pubs--the fresh beer is nice, often reaching heights bottled beer can't touch, but the liquor tax, GST, and tips that go along with the draught really has a way of hitting you much harder than a 10% Tripel Abbey beer or anything from Unibroue can.

Well, I can also eat out less, and to help facilitate that, I went on a major shopping spree after church today, and man, does my fridge ever look stocked and full now! I got strawberries, a heavy honeydew, oranges, avocados, bananas, spinach Shanghai choy, lettuce, limes, red and yellow peppers, a mango, mushrooms, beef (round cut), chicken legs, a pound of BBQ Pork (yum Hong Fatt), Korean noodles, a can of chicken broth, a loaf of bread, and some durian flavored Garden Wafers...I'm pretty excited about that last item, in case you had any doubts.

The bill for that surfeit of yummy pleasures was around $32, or 4 beers at C'est What. Hmmm....4 beers or food for a week and a half (at least)? Tough decision.

Believe it or not, the weather's still pretty decent in Toronto. I dunno how many Vancouverites still read this blog (lessee....Eric, my 2 sisters, and..???), but the last week and a half especially has been very mild, something not even Vancouver's rain-as-constant-as-an-IV can top, despite its many many charms.

Well, it's time to get to work for me. Keep those comments coming (I've been getting lots of anonymous spam lately).

Barbarian Invasions

2005-10-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, congrats to the White Sox. Alas, the end of MLB in 2005 came a few days too soon, since I was hoping for at least a 6-game series to track, follow and detract from my studies. Oh well, only hockey can distract me now.

I've got lots to do for Monday: a written and listening test for my Symphonies of Shostakovich course, a 4-6 page paper for my 20th Century Topics in Music course, and presenting for my theory prof--I'm subbing for him on Wednesday as he's away at some conference.

Now I haven't exactly expanded on those assignments very much, but take it from me that those 3 assignments in isolation aren't too bad, but taken together the combination spells a lack of sleep over the weekend. Of course, this is also why I'm going to (probably) 2 concerts, as well, as great essentials (no joke!) as fellowship tomorrow, church Sunday, and blogging at this very moment.

I will stop blogging now.

It's getting nice and biting frosty cold right now in TO, just the way I like it. Once the temperature drops another 10-15 degrees I'll have to readjust my stance, but for now I'm liking it.

All dressed fruit punch

2005-10-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

I had this long post written a couple days ago that detailed my Thanksgiving adventures, but it seems to have been wonderfully erased, courtesy blogger. I really don't feel like retyping the entire thing at this moment since my posts, as most of you know, tend to be lengthy, wordy, and long-winded. That and it's 3:21 AM right now....not that I'm feeling especially tired at this point in time, but I need to wake up earlier than is the norm to go to church tomorrow, with a half-hour walk preceding the service. The walking's not the difficult part, I love to walk--it's the getting up/groaning/stumbling out of bed procedure which I don't look forward to. I live in a loft-style room, meaning my bed's perched high on top of my desk, and I fear that one of these days I'm going to fall off the steps while attempting to climb down the side of the bed because of overall groggyness, leading to inevitable broken body parts.

In order to render waking up a chore less daunting in nature, I'm absolutely salivating at the prospect of using my blender to make a breakfast shake. Here's what I'm going to put in: Cranberries, banana, milk, peach yogurt, avocado, a squeeze of lime, flax seed, orange juice, honey, and maybe a carrot if space permits. This is gonna be a monster of a shake, and I'll share the taste results with you, but I'm sure it'll be a smashing success. Now I can't wait to wake up tomorrow, um, more like 5.5 hours from now.

What I have in my fridge

2005-09-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

I normally try to put some sort of opaque title for my blogs, instead of boring stuff like "What I did today" or "Jack Johnson rocks!" However, such inspiration fails me at this moment, and I need to do some homework stuff before heading out for some rockin' free jazz/creative music thing tonight.

(By the way, isn't 'creative music' the most snobbish and elitist musical category out there? For those of you who have no idea what 'creative music' sounds like, think completely improvised music where the musicians kinda throw around ideas and see where they go, often reaching climaxes featuring some very ecstatic playing).

Anyways, time to fulfill the title heading. I'm actually enjoying buying groceries and meat and trying to learn how to cook without poisoning myself. And just to reassure you all that I'm not stocking up my pantry with Kraft Dinner or Lipton Sidekicks, cup noodles and canned sardines, or cookies and chips, allow me to let you in on what exactly I've been storing in the fridge and in my room.

For vegetables, I have the following: carrots, romaine lettuce, spinach, 2 kinds of choy (bok and shanghai bok), red bell peppers, yellow and orange sweet peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, green onions, and onions.

For fruits, I have, thanks to the wonders of brutal price chopping from Chinatown: oranges, apples, red grapes, asian pears, peaches, white nectarines, an avocado, and 2 limes. Normally I'd have bananas, but I think I already possess a plentiful enough supply of fruit to ward off scurvy.

I'm beginning to think that I have some sort of buying groceries problem. It's kind of like how I like to buy CDs (and also books to a lesser extent). What I'm inferring is that I enjoy going to CD shops and comparing prices for the same disc in different shops, which of course carries over well to comparing prices of produce, waiting for the sales and specials and buying those when you see the deals. For those of you who are wondering, just about everything at Chinatown can be qualified as a 'deal,' especially when compared to grocery chains like Dominion over here. Sort of like how I got my awesome orange Acapulco T-shirt for only $4 US in a flea market in Acapulco, where the same thing in a North American store would set you back $15-20 easy...that is, unless you buy the shirt in Chinatown :)

Another comparison I've made is related to the buying local produce vs. something shipped in from California. The thing shipped in from California is often cheaper than local produce, which seems strange when you think about it. However, foods lose more nutritional value the greater the shipping distance, so if you want something more nutritious, then go ahead and buy something local, and hopefully without any pesticides, but that tends to raise the price even more (sort of like how the price of a Super Audio CD is much more expensive than your mass-produced Backstreet Boys comeback album). Hopefully I'm not stretching with this comparison, but buying something local over the cheaper alternative is like buying a Greatest Hits compilation on Rhino Records which features better remastered sound, a greater selection and amount of songs and more extensive liner notes for $18.99 when the 20th Century Master edition with the barest of any packaging and only 12 songs will cost you 11 or 12 bucks.

Those of you who don't really want the extra fluff and will just throw the songs onto your iPod shuffle or nano can feel comfortable buying the $11 version, but for the snobby creative musician type who deems such fluff as something like pork fluff, elevating the overall product (whether it be congee or a CD), that $18.99 thing is much more appealing.

In other words, since I'm not rich, some (most?) of the times I buy the dirt-cheap version, but occasionally, I'll splurge and go for that deluxe packaging and 5000 word essay in the liner notes. Aw yeah.

Right now I wish there were igloos up here.....

2005-09-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

So I promised that I'd post a bit more often upon returning to Toronto, and I'm not one to break my promises, so here we go.

So what's new in Toronto? Well, it's 25C outside as I type...and it's 1:32 AM, not PM. Let's just say that the past 2 days in smogtopia have been a real boon to the air conditioning industry. I don't want to sound blasphemous, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? I feel your pain....well, actually, those three never felt anything in the furnace since the angel of God was there with them. Oh well, let's ignore that Mulroney-like explanation for now...

Other interesting things:

TCPC (Toronto Chinese Presby Church) is doing the 40-day Purpose-Driven Life Campaign (PDL) in a few weeks, and events are rapidly coming into place. It's super encouraging to see the entire English congregation get behind this..there's already more than 50% of the congregation involved in the campaign in some way, and a lot of my young-adult, early career peers are helping out, which just shows you that you don't have to jettison church commitments and serving fellow people once you 'grow up, get a job and make babies.' David fellowship people back at home, do not fall into this trap! Avoid it as though you would a lion's den, or the Minnesota Wild's version of a trap.

I'm living in a tiny tiny (compared with last year's mansion on the hill) room in a house. Rent's about $640/month, utilities included, which is almost a 50% reduction from last year's rates at the Nut. Now mind you, I had food whenever I wanted to last year (well, not really, since the caf closed at 10 PM, or, 6-7 hours before I went to sleep), and I'm beginning to appreciate just how time-consuming cooking is. You gotta give props to people who cook every day, and by cook I do not mean "make Sidekicks and nuke TV dinner." Using fresh produce, real meat, cooking oil, garlic, ginger, and all that jazz, now that's cooking. Buying produce rocks, by the way. It's almost like buying CDs (I'll try to explain the analogy later when I'm not tired).

Ticking....

2005-08-25T03:26:00.000-07:00

Working at the PNE is really a fun experience that I'd like to tell all of you more about. However, I still have 3 (albeit short) assignments for my Regent College courses to finish up before I leave. That, and the fact that I still need to look for housing in Toronto and that I'm also working every day until Labour Day with the exception of one day off, means (you guessed it) less blogging time!

Well, I'll get back to reading the material for my book review. The book, in case you're wondering, is _The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith_, by Andrew F. Walls. It's really quite good, and it's in the format I like best: compilation of essays. I quite enjoy this format because it means you can pick and choose which chapters to read, and you don't necessarily need to read in a linear manner to understand what the author is going on about. Maybe I'll post a condensed version of my eventual report here. Then again, that would kind of be procrastinating.

Guluwalk (Google This!)

2005-08-14T00:34:00.000-07:00

Dad: When did you go to sleep?
Me: Oh, 4-5 AM.
Dad: What were you doing, reading people's blobs?
Me: Blogs..
Dad: You should just call them blobs.

Sounds appropriate enough for me, as a lot of blogwriting does consist of people writing their thoughts down into one big blob of an entry. However, I do take time to see if my writing is clear, grammatically correct, and free of spelling errors. In other words, it takes time for me to type up a full entry, which is probably why I've been so lax about updating this neglected blog over the past 2 months. Well, that's what summer's for.

Wow, I'm moving back to TO on September 7. Still have no housing accommodations yet, although I promise to look a lot more thoroughly this week. Please keep this in your prayers, ladies and gents.

Richard Park for the Art Ross!

2005-08-09T03:20:00.000-07:00

It's 3:21 AM, and I still feel wide awake at this hour, so I might as well say something quick. For those of you who are wondering "Jon, you ought to be used to being up that late and seeing the sun rise," keep in mind that those Regent courses rendered staying up that late an unattractive option. In fact, the week after my courses had finished saw me staying up to the early times of 1 AM, only to see my body totally collapse on my sofa in exhaustion. Man, that's weak.

I got a long overdue haircut last Tuesday, this time of the $15 variety, which was generously sponsored by my mother. Now while I like the cut, I don't see a whole ton of difference between this and the $4 cut I got in Toronto in early May. It's pretty amusing to consider that if I were to get 4 or 5 of those haircuts per year, my yearly expenses on my hair would manage to total less than the amount some average schmuck pays for his/her typical one-time cut. As if you couldn't tell, I'm not a hair expert by any means, so who knows, there may be some difference in the almost-black market $4 hack and the (admittedly still inexpensive) $15 version. Oh well, my vices lay elsewhere, I suppose.

In other news, which may come as a shock to some of you. I ate pho yesterday...which may not seem as newsworthy as rain in Israel during the reign of King Ahab. However, before imbibing that XL size bowl, I hadn't eaten pho for 38 long days, which was at Jeremy's place for that organic beef pho. I'm tempted to void that experience since I didn't have it at a restaurant and it was gourmet pho, a concept beyond the realms of my imagination and which ought to be an impossibility. After discounting Jeremy's (still delicious) offerings, the great 2005 Summer Pho fast extends to a nigh-unfathomable 42 days! There are many reasons why I didn't eat pho for that long, and to top it off, my fast wasn't exactly quite as intentioned as the one I pulled off during Lent...I became aware of it a few weeks ago, but didn't act until yesterday. However, I'll just let you ponder that fact now, as I need to go to sleep pretty soon, actually right now.

Just letting you know I'm alive

2005-07-17T23:00:00.001-07:00

Alive and well. Past few weeks have been pretty busy, especially for a non-working man such as myself. I won't go into details yet, but suffice it to say that I have to wake up at the excruciatingly early time of 6:30-45 AM for an 8 AM class at Regent College. The wake-up call is by far the most arduous requirement of the course, which is an eye-opening dig into the world history of Christianity over the past century (1900-2005). In fact, it's a bit foolish of me to be typing this to you when I should be sleeping, or at least preparing to do so. But hey, gotta keep my readership's ravenous appetite for my writing satisfied or else I'll be personally held responsible for their ensuing depression. Anyways, it's been great, if a bit bizarre, to be finished class/chapel at 10:45 before my usual wake-up time in the summer (it was a personal victory and minor miracle if I woke up before 11 AM).

Is there an international day of Pho anywhere?

2005-07-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

Because I just can't stop talking about Pho, here are a few more Pho-related stories to share for your coffee break pleasure.

Last Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to play viola in a small string ensemble--in other words, a ragtag collection of assorted violinists, violists, and cellist (the other cellist didn't show up). We were recording a backing track for a pop song whose name I don't even remember anymore--it does have a key change from the verse to the chorus and back to the verse again. Now, the good fortune I alluded to earlier in the paragraph didn't exactly come via the artistic enrichment I gained from the string arrangement, nor from critical appreciation and admiration from the singing and construction of the song. No, it didn't even come from the ensemble's (anything but) sterling playing, rather, it came from the quick-and-dirty $100 I earned for the 2-hour session, thus more than doubling my earnings for the summer to that point.

I took the $100 and proceeded to celebrate with my friend Adam (who got me the gig) in grand style with a bowl of Pho. I wanted to try out Pho Lan, a restaurant just by Richmond Centre, approximately 8 minutes from my house. Now, Pho Lan has stayed in business for at least 10 years now, which either means that their pho is really really tasty good, or that they proceed in shady dealings with the underworld, which I wouldn't necessarily rule out if you've driven by the Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsway. Thankfully, Pho Lan was pretty well attended at the end of the lunch rush, thus bestowing it with a tad more legitimacy.

The pho was good, in an MSG-overdriven, stimulatingly tingling kind of way. However, the proverbial black clouds rolled in when me and Adam, drunk from our plunder from the day, ordered an additional spring roll each, and Adam foolishly topped it off with a salty plum drink. Adam didn't find the salty plum much to his liking, and wasn't too convinced by my description of it as 'refreshing', thus requiring my intervention to ensure the drink wouldn't be purchased in vain. The combination of pho, extremely greasy-but-oh-so-tasty spring roll, salty plum and liberal use (I'm talking big-L, God's Grace liberal here) of MSG played games with my head and stomach immediately afterwards and pretty much took me out of commission for the remainder of the afternoon. I was afraid that I'd drift off in an MSG-induced coma, but thankfully I awoke for dinner much refreshed, if not exactly ravenous with hunger.

So would I ever come back to Pho Lan? Oh yeah, of course. I'll just be a bit wiser and only order the bowl of pho and nothing more.

The next day's pho story was a much different one, thankfully. I had recently stumbled across a foodblog about native Vietnamese food. It's a great blog--not only does it educate and inform me about Vietnamese food well beyond pho and bahn mi, it also places in me an insatiable desire to visit Vietnam, or basically Saigon and Hanoi one day despite its supposed 10,000 traffic-related deaths each year (according to NOW magazine, Toronto's equivalent to the Georgia Straight). On the 'Pho' section of that blog is a recipe to make your very own Pho, which I promptly forwarded to my Asiaphile-chef and good buddy Jeremy, who upon receiving it was tremendously excited about making it. Now commonly, pho recipes call for 5-7 pounds of oxtail, shank, etc., and produce enough stock for a small army of 8-20 bowls, which certainly adds up to a daunting undertaking for even the very strong of heart, so I sort of doubted Jeremy's commitment to his pledge. Imagine my surprise upon calling him on Thursday afternoon to discover that not only did he buy a mega-huge pot to house all that beef stock, but he also bought - get this - $140 in organic meat! Here's the damage:

Prime Rib Finger Bones: $34.08
Beef Bones-Shank: $18.00 (this sounds like a ripoff: $18 for bones?)
Fresh Oxtail (3): $15.17, $18.17, $17.41.
Open Beef: $ 37.47
Total bill for the purchases come to: $140.30.
(The uber-pot came to $60 at T&T, and additional bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, mint, what-have-you-not came to $30)

If there's any consolation, there was no tax on the beef, unless it was included in the original price. I'd certainly believe them if that was the case!
Now if he'd not bought organic, I'm sure the price would be substantially cheaper, but I think Jeremy was going all out on this endeavour. The bean sprouts weren't organic and the noodles were refined, however, so there's still room to get even more hardcore with this next time, if there is a next time.

Upon arriving at Jer's house at 10:50, I was greeted with the intense aroma of beef stock slowly simmering and visual double-take of the megapot to end all pots, as well as two massive bowls nearly replete with meat on the counter-1 of brisket and the other of either oxtail or shank (or both, who knows). There was also a pile of fresh bean sprouts and a small garden of herbs on a plate. Now, words can't do this description justice and one day I'll learn how to post pics on here to show you the full meal deal, but for now, just use your imagination-in this case, you won't be guilty of thinking in terms too large.

Now for the taste-the stock was wonderfully brown in color, greasy in appearance (there was literally a small layer of fat resting on the top of the stock in the big pot), and tasty due to its slow-cooked goodness. One can only imagine what the intensity of the taste would be like after a whole day of simmering and not 8-9 hours. The organic meats were great, and about as tender as the (yum!) pulled pork from Memphis Blues, a delightful Vancouver restaurant on the other far far far side of the spectrum of the health scale from Jeremy's organic pho. The bowls Jeremy had were a bit small, unfortunately, but it made for a very authentically messy eating experience. Of course the authenticity was lacking in the very use of pricey premium organic meats in the first place, as well as the conspicuous lack of any sort of sketchiness in preparation and MSG to 'enhance' the flavours. As a result, the pho stock lacked the bite and stimulus that I have come to expect from every Vietnamese (and come to think of it, Chinese) restaurant, however, I didn't have to worry about being deliriously thirsty afterwards, nor did I have to worry about what exactly was going on in my stomach afterwards.

Next time I go to Jeremy's I'll bring my large soup bowls, some strong dark beer and a hearty appetite. I'll resist the urge to bring a saltshaker of MSG though (I'm not saying I have one in my possession).

The lighthearted nature of these stories are tempered somewhat in the wake of the abrupt departure from this earth of the mother of my goodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodfriend Nathan To (I'm following Germanic practice in stockpiling prefixes and nouns on top of each other to form one lengty word). It seems somewhat silly and even obnoxious to dedicate these trifles in Mrs. To's memory--I'm almost certain she didn't know of my enjoyment and near-obsession over pho, she only knew that I enjoyed staying over at Nate's house quite often-often enough that her and Mr. To set up a guest bedroom last year so that I wouldn't have to sleep on the couch whenever I stayed over. That's the kind of person she was-thoughtful, considerate, generous, kind, personable, filled with energy, and hard-working, if to a fault. Come to think of it, those are the characteristics that imbue the entire To family-well, I dunno if hard-working really characterizes Nate (hahah, j/k). She raised her family well, was a pleasure to interact with (on a near-daily basis for me it seemed at times) and will be sorely missed. So anyways, I'll do something more appropriate for her sometime later, but in the meantime, I'll dedicate these stories to Nate, first because I know he also likes writing super-long documents, second because he knows of my love for pho and also because he would appreciate the humor and quirkyness in them. Nate, this is for you. Hope you managed to make it this far.

.............................................

Before I go to sleep

2005-06-30T02:30:00.000-07:00

Good Sermon

I have some interesting stories about the past week and about the jazz festival in particular, but at this juncture of the night I'd rather not wake up at 11 AM....there's a feeling of extreme disappointment I get every time I do that (unless we're talking 11 AM EST here)...needless to say, I've been disappointed a fair number of times this summer. Hope those 8 AM Regent classes don't kill me.

But do take the time to skim that link there at the top.

Free Dutch Jazz!

2005-06-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well, my computer's now back and functioning again. Thanks Eric! Not only were the wireless and ethernet cables not working, but my screen also went completely frozen with solid lines about 3 minutes after starting up. Needless to say, those repeated experiences didn't exactly send me rushing to the computer to blog, or search the net, or do anything computer related, for that matter.

My post a few weeks ago mentioned some Regent courses without providing any links for the curious you to follow. Silly me!
For those of you who are wondering what I'm "doing" this summer, this should answer your question somewhat.

*Update*
There were more movies I wanted to watch over the summer. Some Pedro Aldomovar films (Talk to Her, Bad Education, All About My Mother), some freaky scary David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Elephant Man, Eraserhead, Lost Highway), some Richard Linklater stuff (Slacker, After Sunset and After Sunrise) and the trilogy Red, White, and Blue, which, contrary to what you might think, is not some uber-patriotic 4th of July about aliens attacking Hollywood, but three films directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski (incidentally, I had a colleague at UBC who also had the name "Krzysztof," but keeping professional advancement in mind, thankfully changed it to Kristof). Other movies I'd like to watch are When Harry Met Sally, Royal Tenenbaums, Swingers, Crash, It's All Gone Pete Tong, Batman Begins, and the rest of the movies that are on the syllabus for the other Regent course that I decided not to take, mainly because I didn't want to be cataclysmically busy when August rolls around. I still have Decalogue I, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Fearless, Signs, About Schmidt, and, believe it or not, Moulin Rouge to finish off.

Alright, this post took a lot longer than I'd hoped, so I'm gonna bring it to an premature conclusion now. My next entry will hopefully be slightly more interesting, and hopefully will come soon.

Rent

2005-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone have any housing leads in Toronto for the fall? Specially for a sad pathetic person who hasn't looked for housing at all over the past 2 months, even though he should have?

A Peek into my Life for the Next Little While

2005-06-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

I'm not working at all right now in Vancouver, which is a marked contrast to most of my friends in Toronto and Vancouver. I've lacked any sort of impetus to do any job-hunting thanks mainly to my wonderful scholarship. In addition, my two Regent courses I'm taking in July will likely be the bane of my existance as I attempt to stumble into 8 AM classes again. Grrr, I thought I'd left that behind after my first year of undergrad, which was five years ago!

This upcoming list is partly to convince you that I'm not wasting my time being a couch potato on the West Coast, and that I'm, I dunno, productive, since our society seems to place such a high value on "productivity," however loosely that may be defined. Truth be told, this list is also made to convince me that I'm doing something here.

Things I've accomplished so far upon returning to Vancouver:

Read: On the Road by Jack Kerouac, War Trash by Ha Jin, and Premium Beer Drinker's Guide by Stephen Beaumont.
Watched Yojimbo (Kurosawa movie and inspiration for A Fistful of Dollars), Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Magnolia, 2046, Howl's Moving Castle, Finding Neverland,

Books I hope/wish to read by the end of summer:

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.
Knowing God by J.I. Packer.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
Something by Brian McLaren.
Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll.
Out of the Question, into the Mystery by Leonard Sweet.
Small Island by Andrea Levy.
No Logo by Naomi Klein.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and is continually being updated. For instance, every time I walk into a bookstore I usually add a title or two to my list.

Movies I hope to watch before taking off to Smog City Central:

Jesus of Montreal, directed by Denys Arcand.
Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, and In the Mood for Love, all of them directed by Wong Kar-Wai.
Raise the Red Lantern and The Long Road Home both dir. Zhang Yimou.
The Incredibles
Control Room (doc on Al-Jazeera)
The Take (Naomi Klein/Avi Lewis doc)
Shaolin Soccer
Kung-Fu Hustle
I probably won't be taking this sweet Ecclesiastes and the Movies course at Regent, but I've still been trying to watch the movies on the syllabus nonetheless.
I would put more links up and stuff, so you can look at my syllabi for my Regent courses, but I have to get out of the house soon to do the Grouse Grind.

Treading Water with this post

2005-06-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

I promise to do another, more substantial post soon, but with my laptop acting like the spastic miscreant all computers are and my mom's desktop not showing much more than a nice black screen, I haven't really been bit by the blogging bug lately. But it seems like my Toronto friends have been posting a fair bit more than me, probably because it's so swampin' hot outside that any activity that involves movement outdoors needs to be approved by a doctor firsthand, thus rendering staring at the computer screen a much more enticing activity.

In other news today, Steph's graduation was made official by her convocation ceremony. Congrats Steph.

Requiem for a bowl

2005-06-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Almost immediately after returning from the Amazin' Alaskan Adventure, several of my dear friends, with best intentions in their minds I'm sure, informed me that the Pho lady had closed down. The Pho lady, for those Vancouverites who must be slightly befuddled at its reference, operated a Pho restaurant located less than a 5-minute walk from TCPC, and was thus a favorite spot for Deltans (personally, I prefer "Deltoids" to Deltans, but unfortunately that'll probably confuse people who might think I'm referring to the muscle) to congregate after fellowship at approximately 10:15 on Friday nights. Personally, I feel the Pho Lady's success amongst Deltoids is a perfect example of how important location is for a business, as its pho was rather expensive for pho, and its servings weren't massive enough to justify its higher prices. For instance, Pho Lady (also known as Pho Le) charges $5.65 for a small bowl when the Train (aka Pho Xe Lua) on Spadina charges an economical $5 even for their medium size that's equivalent or even slightly larger than Pho Lady's large. I mean, you don't charge close to $6 for pho with a straight face unless you're giving me Prime Rib Pho with whole-wheat noodles and organic bean sprouts. The pho itself at the Lady was decent enough, but nothing approaching exaltation or transcendence, which I wholeheartedly bestow upon Pho 88's masterful #104. Now of course, both the Train and Pho 88 are located on Spadina, and most of my buddies at Delta are lazy butts and don't like walking the extra 5 minutes down to what I feel are superior restaurants in terms of price and taste....which perhaps can be attributed to their willingness to ratchet up their MSG use, but future scientific studies to prove this hypothesis are beyond the parameters of my specialization, until then, conjecture rules the day.

My friends who informed me of Pho Lady's closure (she actually sold the business to someone else) probably thought I'd be devastated by the news, similar to how one would react when a close friend passes away. Now, I was surprised at the suddenness of the events and also saddened, but that's only mainly because that almost certainly eliminates pho as an after-fellowship destination now, unless I become a maverick and go down to Spadina all by myself. I do look back fondly at the good rapport we had developped with the Pho Lady, as she gave us 10% off food and half price drinks, along with complimentary dessert whenever the muse hit her. She also lavished us with attention, and whenever we came in as a large group we were always able to sit together, mainly because her restaurant was almost always near-empty; it was always good to know that the Pho Lady had a permanent "Vacancy" sign that was invisible to the naked eye but could be taken advantage of by those in the know. In addition, her special relationship with Matt Mark was good for a few chuckles at his expense (although Matt might be the one who laughed last as he was on the receiving end of the amped-up, supersized #26 Vermicelli Bun at no extra cost). And yes, there is a not-to-be-underestimated sentimental value I affix to the Pho Lady, because Pho Le bookended the times I ate out with the Delta crew this year in October and May. But at any rate, life goes on and I'll create new history instead of continually looking back on it. Let me also remind you that I almost never went to Pho Le if I wanted some cheap high-quality Pho, I was always willing to embark on the extra-narrow path down to Dundas and Spadina, and dine like the king I only wish I was.

Whoa, I haven't blabbed this much on Blogger for a while now, I guess the passing of Pho Le touched more of a nerve with me than I'd initially thought. Well, much like the local watering hole, I'll always remember Pho Le for the good times I had with friends, and not necessarily for its outstanding products, although the two don't need to be mutually exclusive and can go together hand in hand.

Alaskan whales

2005-05-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Got back from the Alaskan cruise a mere 2 pounds extra, which feels like a personal victory. When you go on a cruise, the question lies not in whether you gain weight, but rather how much you gain...and no wonder, with a 24-hour buffet with half its menu either under layers of deep-fried batter or lavishly smothered in butter-no margarine here. The other main option available is the sit-down, fine-dining room where it's easy to eat 2 or 3 bread rolls, appetizer of some sort, soup, salad, 1 or 2 main courses, dessert, and coffee. Not speaking from personal experience or anything.

So yeah, 2 pounds isn't too bad..it's kind of like when China 'only' lost 4-0 to Brazil in the last World Cup in South Korea, instead of some grossly inflated score normally reserved for high-school basketball or the easy mode in FIFA '05. With that in mind, it's important that my extra girth evaporates soon and doesn't instead translate as a base for future pounds to build on. Speaking of 'grossly inflated,' I saw more pumped up human bellies over the week than I ever care to remember, I mean, I felt like Kate Moss or Karen Carpenter next to those Homer Simpson/Peter Griffin clones. If any of you saw "SuperSize Me," you'll probably remember all those random shots of fat people scattered around the doc. Well, those images certainly became reality when walking around the ship (which was just as monstrously massive as those people on board)...I wonder if any of those quarter-pounder chuggers 'starred' as body doubles for Morgan Spurlock.

Lychee,slushee,pearl,milk

2005-05-20T01:05:00.000-07:00

So I had my first order of bubble tea at Dragonball Wednesday night, mere hours after having set foot in Vancouver. As someone who enjoys his bubble tea made well, and was thus disappointed with the Torontonian specimen I encountered, Dragonball was a very necessary appointment to make. And it's nice to know things haven't changed much: Top-notch bubble tea with perfect slushee consistency, made with real fruit and served with immaculately boiled pearls for only $3.75, no tip required thank you very much. Dragonball can stand on its bubble tea alone, and can even serve it in a crowded, cramped, and overheated sweathole, which it rather conveniently does. Because of the constant flow of customers who have also recognized the bubble tea's premium Haagen-Dazs-like quality, you have the option to sit down and chat for 20 minutes before placing an order at the counter, providing you can actually find a seat, since Dragonball has a seating capacity only slightly larger in square centimeters than most public washrooms, thus making a seat there as rare and valuable as front-row tickets to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. It's still amazing to reminisce on old memories when a group of 14 or 15 people from Crusade managed to jam the place, swiftly consuming just-vacated spots with the intensity of ravenous vultures, and rearranging the furniture to create this large cluster where we would all sit and chat.

One goal for this summer: beer and pearls. I think I'll start with something mild like Guinness.

Dragonball in 5 days

2005-05-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Don't really feel like blogging. Been too busy going out (yes, poor me).

Going back to Van pretty soon. I have mixed emotions-I want to bond, reconnect with the Vancouver contingent, and also experience a smog-free summer. However, I am getting pretty comfortable with Delta and am enjoying hanging out with them, despite the fact that we still don't have those Delta tattoos that they're forcibly handing, er, giving out to people celebrating their birthdays.

Yeah, I'll post something more substantial before I leave :) I've also been meaning to update my "2004 Year in Review" series, but I guess I share something in common with Dave in that I start endeavours, but often don't follow them through.

Depressants

2005-05-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

Those chocolate-covered coffee beans are useless. Every time I pop a few of them I fail to feel even the slightest buzz, I think I'd feel more energized listening to a half-hour Kenny G and Yanni duet than eating an entire bag of them.

Case in point: after lunch today with Steph and Dave I felt a bit sleepy, sort of how you would feel halfway through a 3-hour lecture after having 5 hours of sleep the night before. I ate two choco-covered (must have been decaf) coffee beans, and proceeded to doze off in bed for the next half hour. Who knows, maybe those things are really sleeping pills deliberately mislabelled as some sort of a practical joke. And for those who actually get a jolt of energy after eating those things, I wonder about your body...or maybe I should worry about mine.

Go Here.

It's amazing how we're still dealing with the mess that is Darfur more than 2 years after the commencement of the atrocites. Imagine what would happen if the government of Canada attempted to systematically wipe out all of its Chinese population by using the Canadian army to indiscriminately kill and rape Chinese men and women, forcibly take over their possessions, desecrate their ancentral shrines or whatever religious artifacts they own, and cause the rest of the 'lucky survivors' to flee to an ill-equipped Alaska, where foreign aid (food, medicine) is having an extremely difficult time reaching refugees because of threats of violence to aid workers.

Please keep this matter on your minds and prayers. I hate to sound like a moralizer, especially since we have an adverse reaction towards people telling us what we ought to do, but I do think the worst action here is to become self-centred ("it doesn't affect me, why should I care?") and apathetic ("whatever").

Trois Pistoles!!!

2005-05-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

To those of you who were wondering why my blog seemingly shut down in the middle of last month, I really have no explanation for you. It's not like I haven't had the opportunity to stare in front of the computer screen and spend hours on end sitting on my derriere squinting and typing. I mean, I wrote 3 papers this month and actually studied for an exam (although I went to Blue Jays games on Wednesday and Thursday before that Friday exam-trying to study at the Rogers Cent...er....Skydome, is really a hard thing to do, even with an avowed multi-tasker such as I. It's a freaky feeling when the ball is hit into the crowd and you have no idea where the ball is, so you always have to glance up every 5 seconds or so to make sure nothing is going on---fortunately, most of the time that is the case).

So I'm done my time with academic obligations for the time being. I'd make a list of things that I want to do before I leave Toronto, but I'm too lazy to do that right now. Even the thought of cleaning my room before vacating on Saturday is too daunting for me to comprehend, and causes me to flee to the TV to watch the NBA playoffs or MLB, before reality sets in, which it should, say, tomorrow sometime.

Going, Going, Zaun!!

2005-04-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Last time I blogged, it was the start of the baseball season, I believe. Ah, baseball. The commencement of its season coincides oh so perfectly with the firstfruits of spring...sunny days, spring (read: light!) jackets, sun staying up for the majority of the day, the end of the school term. Of course, the above (with the exception of the end of school) happens quite a bit sooner in Vancouver than it does in Toronto, say around the beginning of March or even the middle of February. If any snow actually fell on Vancouver in April (and to which I've read occurs quite frequently in Toronto) a national emergency would be called and.....well, I can't think of anything, because that sort of stuff would never happen in Vancouver! (Well, I guess someone can research this and see if I'm right or completely MSG-poisoned) But to steer the discussion (okay, more like my ramblings) back to the original point, the timing of the start of opening day and the blooming of the buds, teeming with the chatter of birds (sorry, I'm no expert on fauna and flora, except for whatever lands on my plate, so I can't get any more detailed than that) is practically divine.

So yes, I've been spending a fair amount of time checking out scores and "live" action on MLB.com. I also really haven't felt like blogging much lately because I'd been spending too much time squinting in front of the lappy constructing a 15-page paper (replete with 28 bibliographic references and 7 or 8 discographic thingamajingies to remind myself I'm still studying music). Most of you know how bad my eyesight is (I'd be the worst umpire/referee ever, if a fan yelled that I was blind, I'd be inclined to agree) so after working and summarizing and revising away for a few days, the last thing I wanted to do write any more than I'd had. Thankfully, after finally finishing the beast, I've been going out a bit more to remind myself that I'm not a sedentary slob and that I actually enjoy doing things like moving.

I'm writing as though all my academic commitments are behind me like the NHL season, but that's not that true. I still 1 essay/1 exam to prep for. But for now, I'm exalting in the glow of baseball and the (temporary) license given me to explore the town again.

Unfortunately, with increasing temperatures comes with it the omnipresent unease of smog alerts. Well, as one famous baseball dude said (just guessing), you can't win 'em all.

2005-04-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

Rest In Peace, Pope John Paul. I pray that your passing away will cause many people to examine and learn from your character, your works and your devotion to God. May it inspire people to go beyond their preconceptions of what they think is the tedious and repetitive nature of much religious activity, and examine what a life lived for God really does look like.

Yao

2005-04-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Toronto's weather is messed up: Right now it's a balmy 10C outside, with the high today aimed around 13C. Now before you take this as a sign to put away your gloves, scarfs, and winter jackets, and say goodbye to the hangover effects of winter, tonight the temperature dips all the way down to freezing, accompanied with a snowfall warning: From Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon we expect : close to 15 cm of snow and close to 5 mm of rain.

Just when all the leftover snow had slowly but surely melted away from their piles on corners of the roads and I could safely shortcut through Queen's Park for a more scenic walk to school, we get snow! Argh...I hope this is an April Fool's joke, but I don't think The Weather Network is the type to play pranks on people, a la Jerky Boys.

The reason for my doubts about the veracity of the weather forecasting is because Saturday's high is 1C, and then Sunday's high shoots back up to 11C, and sunny. So the 3-day high is 13-1-11, which resembles a schizophrenic's efforts in drawing a straight line, that or a sine wave. Still, I'll be putting on my winter jacket in a Chinese-paranoid fashion.

Scholarship news: They're deducting my tuition from my funding, so in actuality my scholarship is really worth $12 000...which still works out to 2000 bowls of $6 Pho, or 1714 bowls of $7 Pho, so if I wanna play big spender, then i've certainly got the options. Yes, and I can still have Pho for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 AM snack if I so desire, although I think room and board should unfortunately take priority.

Been up since 6:30 AM

2005-03-28T04:12:00.000-08:00

I often do my best work at 3-4 AM in the morning--it's when I realize that I can't really put off doing work for much longer. Of course, sometimes I just get tired and go to sleep, but I get days where i can stay up really late, like today for instance. Actually, if you measured this semester by a 24 hour clock, it's currently 2 or 3 AM and I can't afford to slack off one night as assignments/essays/presentations are all coming up within the next 2 weeks. Wasting a night's worth of work is tantamount to sleeping at 2 AM with 5 pages left on your essay--and you still have to put in footnotes and bibliography (which they care an awful lot about in grad school humanities). Thankfully, this scenario is something I've yet to experience, and have no intention of fulfilling.

Today I shared my testimony at the TCPC sunrise service. It went fairly well, praise God, even though I forgot to bring the hard copy along and had to practice my powers of recall. So to partially redeem myself, and to have proof of something that I worked a fair amount on, I've decided to post it here. Happy reading guys, and Happy Easter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My upbringing was rather unremarkable—I grew up in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, in a Christian family whose weekends consisted of going to various church functions such as fellowship and choir, and I was the kid who diligently memorized his bible verses and made funny jokes in Sunday School class. Because my family was well connected in the church, I had a fair amount of friends, but the friendships there were fairly superficial.

Elementary school, however, was a different matter, as my upbringing in the church kept me from fitting in fully with my peers. In addition, my lack of street smarts, awkward social group skills, unimposing physical stature, and rather lame wardrobe, which included Velcro shoes and sweatpants galore, didn’t make the greatest impressions with the “in” crowd. In Grade 7, I remember being on the receiving end of what for me was a fair share of name-calling, and those memories and words stayed with me for a long time. These sorts of experiences really instilled a desire for deep friendships and social acceptance that I wasn’t finding at school or at church.

In high school I became friends with a group of students from my music classes who respected and accepted me for my musical abilities. My new friends taught me essential skills such as the art of hanging out after school until 5 in the afternoon, playing ultimate, and drinking coffee loaded with sugar. However, most of them were not Christians and were not the greatest role models, although I still care for them, and as a result, they weren’t building me up spiritually. As high school drew to an end, my Christianity, in essence, was reduced to shallow and failed attempts to follow the moral codes of the Law. Sunday School answers were still in my vocabulary, but crucial Christian themes, including grace, the four spiritual laws, and evangelism were as foreign to me as an Iraqi falafel-I never engaged with them because I didn’t know they were out there.

I entered the University of British Columbia with some trepidation as most of my friends back in high school didn’t make the jump to university with me, which meant that I would need find a new set of friends. Fortunately, God was looking after me, and led me to a group called Campus Crusade for Christ. It was there where I first encountered such radical concepts as the importance of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life, the power of prayer, and sharing your faith on campus, which is a huge risk to take, but something I found very rewarding. Most importantly, I had my need for solid and powerful friendships with strong Christian role models and peers finally filled. These people led by example and were not afraid to spend their free time going to Bible Study or meeting up for discipleship for the sake of knowing God better and loving God more. It was through these formative experiences at school and also at my church’s college age fellowship where I experienced true friendship, which included honestly sharing our very real struggles with each other and supporting one another through them. These friends accepted me without strings attached despite all my faults, which was an example of God’s unconditional love, and made me much stronger in my faith and in my relationship with Christ.

Another significant event in my life was my attendance at the Urbana 2000 conference. Not only was it a thrill to worship with about 20000 other people inside the stadium that we affectionately dubbed “the Mothership,” but I was taught, stimulated, and challenged to really live out my life in an authentic Christian manner that went beyond my self-centred attempts to be a good person. As one of the students who shared his testimony asked “Is what you’re doing now worth Christ dying for?” The simplest-yet in so many ways the most vital-concept I learned over the conference was the fact that God loved me. I learned that when I disobey God and fail to live up to all His commands, God continues to love me and will never rescind His love. The power of this simple teaching, which had lay dormant in my heart for so long, became real and intelligible, and was the missing piece to my Christianity that began to help me fully understand the concept of grace, namely God’s grace.

This idea of God’s love leads rather seamlessly into the next part of my testimony, which covers the question of what exactly Easter means to me. I have come to see Easter as the most significant and important event that explains why I am a Christian. Beneath the betrayals, the mocking insults, the physical violence, the seeming injustice of all the events chronicled in the Passion accounts, laid God’s love, the motivation for the sinless Christ’s seemingly masochistic endurance of all that had transpired. Jesus says “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” and in dying for the sins of the world, including my own, he showed how real his love really was. Even though I had failed in my life to live up to God’s standards, Christ’s death tells me that the requirements for being justified don’t belong there. The Scottish theologian John Stott explains the essence of sin and redemption much better than I can: “The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.” (John Stott)

However, I don’t focus solely on Christ’s death, as powerful as it may be. Many great and revolutionary teachers have died, but only one of these prophets has so thoroughly backed up all of his claims and shown the power of God by rising again. As Paul says “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Because I know Christ died for me and selflessly substituted himself for my punishment, I can rejoice. Because Christ lives again, I can rejoice. Because I know that God’s grace and sacrifice ensures a great freedom I now have in my life, I can rejoice. I know now that following every detail of the Law is impossible, the standards are beyond my reach; therefore, the Law can’t reconcile me with God. Rather, it is what God has done that is crucial to me—his actions and his unconditional love have rendered me acceptable.

The Man in Black

2005-03-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

I'm tired, and lacking energy/motivation to do anything, even though I have work piling up.

Part of this lack of desire to do work is due to a) it's a Friday night, b) my essay topics are either dry (conductus rhythm) or forbidding (cultural appropriation/colonialism and John Zorn), and c) I just ate a big plate of rice and crispy pork, along with a few bowls of soup and cups of tea. Lest you call me a swine (for eating so much pig), it was my first meal in....7.5 hours, so yeah, I was hungry. And I think the carbs and protein just overwhelmed my stomach. You know that really sleepy "I need a nap" feeling you get after a weekend lunch at a Chinese restaurant? Well, this was quite similar.

And as I type this, my sleepyness and lack of motivation is starting to melt away. I think i can work for a few hours tonight. As long as I don't sleep at 6 AM I'll be fine.

Night

Me tired

2005-03-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

After my last post talked about my blogging regularity, I go right off the face of the earth and not enter anything here for a week and a half. Well, the last few days have been pretty busy, as the turn of the week typically is. I'm really starting to feel the pressure of essays and other assignments that are due real soon. Again, it's not that I fear the length of the essays (15 pages by now is not that much), it's that the expectations are so much higher as a grad student. What I write has to be good, well thought out, logical, contextualized, etc. That's the real pressure I'm starting to get weighed under.

A few itinerary bits, and something real cool:

Sunday:
Morning dim sum = lots of meat, some starch, no vegetables/fruit (well, unless you count a tiny bit of mango pudding), some tea, some coffee (I made at home)
After church lunch beef brisket noodles = fair amt of beef brisket, some noodles, some MSG (oh yeah, forgot that in the morning), no fruits or vegetables
After orchestra coffee. Again, no fruits or vegetables

You can guess where I headed straight towards at dinnertime. Fresh salad and fruit never tasted so good.

Tuesday: Work on homework until 2:30 AM. Crash on bed
Wake up at 7:15.
Wake up again at 7:30. Read textbook for Medieval Music class
Shower, breakfast, go to class from 10-12.
Work on Critical Summary (due Wednesday) from 12ish-1:30
Eat lunch, go to class from 2-4:30. Listen to Hank Williams (awesome old-time country!) in the music library.
Meet sis at 5 and dilly-dally until 5:45.
Eat dinner, work on critical summary some more until 7:30 PM
Watch a one-man performance/reading of the entire Gospel of John at 8PM. Impressive stuff. Us Christians whine about memorizing one passage of 10 verses. Well, obviously we don't place enough value on memorizing God's Word (and I'm putting myself in that category as well). Anyways, he memorized about 1000 verses (have to get back to you on the exact number), dramatically recited and acted. Really cool.

Tuesday-Wednesday
11:30PM-4:30AM. Work some more on critical summary. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fairly slow worker.
4:30-9:40: Collapse on bed and wake up, much to my horror, as class begins in a half hour and I still haven't finished my critical summary.
9:45-10:05. Frantically edit/print summary. No time to eat.
10:15-1:00: Talk about musicals/South Pacific/race/sex/gender/censorship in class. Also watch a bunch of movie clips of Frank Sinatra, a hilarious video of the opera singer Jose Carreras attempting to sing West Side Story (emphasis on attempt--his rhythm was clunkier than a 1987 Nissan Sentra) and also a sweet Bugs Bunny "What's Opera, Doc?" cartoon. Good stuff, but my head is swimming, I'm running on adrenaline and fumes.

After meeting with my professor about my essay on John Zorn, returning books to Trinity (library, not the University) and finally walking home, I decide to check my mail. 3 Good Things: I got paid for the month, I finally got my first issue of Maisonneuve magazine, and I found out that I got a scholarship (SSHRC grant) for next year, valued at $17,500. Now, I really don't feel that I deserve this scholarship, but I'll still graciously accept it.

The answer to what must be your first question: the award is worth approximately 2916.6666 bowls of Pho. So I can eat Pho for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day next year and not even come close to exhausting my funds, hehehe.

Anyways, the award certainly made my day. Thank God for it, as it's given me strength to write my testimony for Sunrise Service, prepare for presentations and clean my room (probably the hardest task of the 3).

Regularity

2005-03-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

I am so ridiculously awesome. 3 posts in 4 days. It ain't the Zoobombs, but still pretty special

At any rate, I'll probably be fasting from MSN this week to commemorate the last week of Lent. I've been fairly good with the Lenting Pho/going out equation (although I did go to a restaurant with the guys/girls from Delta Friday night). Apparently since I'm not going out to eat so much I should theoretically have more time on my hands, and I should be funneling this extra time towards my "spend time with God" box.

Well, that hasn't really happened according to plan. I'm continually fighting the trap of giving up something merely for the sake of giving up stuff, and not for the increased devotion to and dependence on God that Lent is supposed to encourage. This is partially why I'm not gonna be on MSN...I can probably save a half hour a day by doing that, time I can spend with God. One last chance to start, as Pastor Glen once put it, "wasting time" with God, and thankfully with the Lord, it's never too late to begin.

Out of the Cold

2005-03-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Before I begin today's post, let me take the time to give a shout-out to the ZOOBOMBS!!!!!! I was fortunate--fortunate indeed--to have seen them 2.75 times over the past week, and even though they played in sketchy venues (Silver Dollar/Comfort Zone) at a fairly sketchy part of town (Spadina/College isn't clubland, although you could argue that it isn't exactly safe there either), I had a blast. What I appreciated about them included their manic intensity, instrumental virtuosity, tight group ensemble dynamics, and effective song structures--lots of jamming and stuff, but also very intelligently planned, along with a real knowledge of the loud/soft spaced-out drone/rockin' out energy dynamic. They were also real polite (in a stereotypically Japanese way) and very very gracious. How do they sound? Think of a blues-rock sound augmented by a very funky rhythm section, filled out by very warm keyboard pads, some very jazzy band interactions interspersed with some Miles Davis fusion style group dynamics (including hand gestures to stop and cue the musicians) and some spacey droney middle sections that inevitably built in sound and momentum, which gave you another chance to especially admire the awesomeness of babyfaced-drummer Pocky (no, I'm not making that up) and Don Matsuo (group leader).

Anyways, my words can only inadequately describe what I'd seen. You had to be there. Too bad you weren't.

On Tuesday I had the chance to drop in on a talk given by Rosemary Gray-Snelgrove, housing director of the Yonge Street Mission, which a drop-in center located on, um, Yonge Street, conveniently (strategically?) placed in the midst of a series of strip clubs and XXX shops. The title of her talk, tied in with Jesus/Justice week at U of T, was "Seeing the Streets of Toronto Through Jesus' Eyes - Can We?" really did intrigue me, as both Toronto and Vancouver have very problematic homeless situations, and I'm interested in helping out with the homeless situation, not only because it can make a difference in other people's lives, but because it often changes your own as well. Anyways, her talk was more of a rambling collection of stories, but I found it fruitful and intriguing nonetheless. Here are a few points:

-Going from street culture to poverty is a very difficult transition. Street people gradually develop a very finely-tuned survival aesthetic. They know where to go for their next meal and next sleep at a shelter. Once they find housing they don't know what to do with their free time, and can often fall back onto old habits. For instance, one person began resuing drugs because he didn't need to keep his mind as sharp in the day. After all, he already had a place to stay for the night. In another instance, a couple (more like a threesome--all in their 60s) didn't know how to wash properly and stay clean. As a result their entire bodies and clothings were teeming with bedbugs. The lady in the group kept hundreds of bags (carried over from their lives on the street) and used one of their rooms as a storage space for all those bags! What I learned from these points was that just because you've provided housing for someone, it doesn't mean that they're out of the water yet--far from it. Gray-Snelgrove also mentioned how difficult is it to find rent if you have a job that makes $24000 a year. Most landlords won't rent to you if you have that kind of salary.

-You can't expect homeless people to always be gracious when you help them out. Gray-Snelgrove illustrated her point by recalling how during one Christmas the street people were really miserable and angry, complaining about the Christmas dinner and the gifts and toys they had received. They didn't seem grateful at all. While we might ask why they simply aren't just thankful to have food and some free swag over the holidays, their reactions are rooted in how Christmas simply reinforces loneliness for them. After all, most of these people have cut off contact with their families once they move on the street (it's probably the family that cuts off the contact), and some of our traditional assumptions about Christmas--being the most wonderful time of the year, and a chance to spend time with family--just don't jive with them.

-You need to keep supporting a person, even when they fall and have relapse suddenly. This is probably one of the toughest things to do, because it gives you the feeling that all your efforts were in vain. However, isn't that how God feels about us all the time? We can have things go real well for a time and we're right on track in that lifelong journey we're in, but sometimes it only takes a bit of difficulty or something before we backslide, worship our vices, or descend into apathy. In other words, if God can still be by our sides when we continually muck up, sin and dishonor and hurt Him, then shouldn't we do likewise for people on the street? I really need to be sleeping here, but I remember reading Evelyn Lau's "Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid" a while back and recalling the many relapses she had before she finally managed to kick drugs and prostitution for good. Taking Evelyn Lau as a model, if it took her multiple times before getting over drugs and selling her body, then we really shouldn't be expecting people to quit cold turkey once and for all--it's a process.

Mrs. Gray-Snelgrove closed by saying that the best society would be one where both government and individual take responsability and care for the homeless. The worst is a dog-eat-dog world where it's "every man for himself." While a completely individualistic society thankfully hasn't fully materialized yet, its partial manifestation is still shocking for people in different cultures, such as Buddhists, as their society is so much more collective and collaborative. What kind of society should Christians be struggling to live for?

Okay, gotta wake up at 7:30 tomorrow. Yikes (it's 4:02 AM now)

Round Here

2005-03-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've been kinda lazy, not wanting to blog, really, but here are a few tidbits.

I admit I have a pretty cushy job at university, marking assignments and occasionally teaching a class. Sometimes it detracts from my work (which is always continuously being detracted away from), but it's really not too big a commitment. Upon reading that the average Ethiopian--citizens of the poorest nation in the world--makes $100 USD (?) per year, and I make about $180 CDN a week (which translates to approx $150 USD) for being a TA, it gave me pause and made me wonder how fortunate I am to be doing the things I do here in Canada. Will I be complaining about my various jobs, whether it is teaching violin or correcting mistakes on theory assignments? Probably not.

The other night, I was at Jack Astor's and I ordered a Guinness. No big deal, you think, it should only cost around $5.75, at best $6.50...after all, I wasn't at a club, where you'd sort of expect those kinds of ludicrous markups. However, when the bill came, the Guinness was charged at $7.50, and including liquor tax and GST, works out to $8.73 before tip--which I was a bit reluctant to provide. Yikes--after tip, that's one tenth of an Ethiopian's yearly earnings?!?!?!

Moral of the story--don't go to Jack Astor's for a drink...go to Sneaky Dee's (where the pints are around 4.50 max) instead.

And Yo

2005-03-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

For the last 5 or 6 days, I've had the pleasure of having my good buddy Jeremy Janzen come over. Our shared likes for strange food, dark beer, wacky humor, weird music and Asian food meant that we became quite good friends over in Vancouver. If you're wondering where I've been bloggerwise over the last week or so, here's why.

Itinerary (Jeremy didn't follow me around for everything on this list. He was sleeping while I went to class, for instance). Lynn Hung, a buddy of Jeremy's (she basically took my spot in Vancouver while I was in Toronto during the first semester) was also around for a fair chunk of the proceedings and accompanied him while I was off teaching.

Friday 25 February

6:30 AM: Jeremy arrives in Toronto. Gets a rude shock when going outside to catch the airport bus, as temp is approx -15 C while Vancouver was +12 C the day before he left.
8:15 AM Jeremy calls after exiting St. Patrick station in downtown Toronto. Needs to get out of the cold pronto. Arrives at Chestnut around 8:30.
12:30 PM: leave Chestnut and look for a place to eat. SaladKing too busy, end up going to "Ginger," a cafeteria style Vietnamese restaurant somewhat south of College and Yonge.
2:30 PM: Arrive at North York center amidst blowing snow.
2:45 PM: Go to 168 Bubble Tea. Order Durian Coffee bubble tea (yum). Jeremy drinks Malt (which turns out to be oatmeal). Lynn has a very nicely concentrated Ginger tea drink.
4-7 PM: Teach violin.
7:45: Fellowship at Rosanna's place near Yonge and Finch
12 AM: Subway back downtown. Go to sleep around 3 AM

Saturday 26 February

8:30 AM: Wake up (academic conference starts at 9 AM). Lay around in bed until 9:30 or so while Jeremy wonders what I'm still doing in the room. Eat a quick breakfast and hike it to school
10:30-5:50PM: Attend conference. Papers range from African-American Hebrews to Renaissance paintings of nude women to Keb' Mo. Did not fall asleep, amazingly enough. During this time Jeremy has Dim Sum and explores the underground pathway.
6:05 PM: Eat dinner at Tokyo Grill. Ordered a small (!) beef ramen in soup along with a fairly diluted wasabi ice cream for dessert while Jeremy had sake, natto with raw egg and pork katsu curry.
8 PM: Attend a sweet new music concert at the Music Gallery.
10:30: Leave Music Gallery to go to Smokeless Joe. The doorperson thinks Jeremy is 81 because that's what it says on his driver's license, not knowing that 81 really refers to year of birth and not age of cardholder. Thankfully he gets it right with me. Eat some spicy spicy Thai Green Curry (not your typical bar food)
12:30 AM: Walk back to Chestnut after having some nice dark beer. Sleep at around 3 AM

Sunday 27 February
8:00 AM: Alarm rings
8:20 AM: Stumble out of bed
8:50 AM: Walk towards sen5es on Wellingdon and Blue Jays Way, where we are picked up by kind Auntie Ellen and driven to Lynn's church in Markham. Eat lunch at the church but MSG hits very quickly afterwards (lots of MSG + lack of sleep = bad bad)
2:15 PM: Go to Pac Mall and see lots of Asians. Walk around and have bubble tea.
4:30 PM: Sprint and barely catch bus to go back to Finch station.
6-6:50 PM: Rest
7:30-9:00 PM: Break fast (legal on Sundays!) and eat Pho with Jonathan Shui. The first Pho I have in 3 weeks goes down nice and easy.
9:05 PM: Feel a sudden urge (more than a gentle prodding) to go pee. Start running down Spadina.
9:15 PM: Enter New College, only to discover that washroom doors are locked. Frantically leave residence and run to Subway to use their washroom.
9:45 PM: Beer at the Victory Cafe along with other grad students.
10:20 PM: Go to Lee's Palace and watch the Shout Out Louds and Futureheads. Excellent bands, great time. Danced the night away.
1:20 AM: Drink beer at Sneaky Dee's while other grads eat nachos.
2:30 AM: Walk back towards Chestnut. Feel sudden urge to go pee again, thankfully this time the sensation hits only about 3 minutes away from Chestnut. Tinker around with laptop/internet and sleep around 4:35 or so.

Monday 28 February

10:15 AM: Stumble out of bed to eat breakfast
10:50 AM: Go back to sleep
12:50 PM: Stumble out of bed to eat lunch
2:15-3:55 PM: Hurriedly do laundry in effort to not be late for violin teaching. Still end up being 6 minutes late (according to my student).
4:36-7:33 PM: Teach violin at Yamaha
7:45-8:45 PM: Bum around Second Cup. Purchase 2 Leffe Bruns (great Belgian beer) at LCBO.
9:15 PM: Eat dinner at NanKok (or something like that) Korean restaurant at Yonge and Finch. Discover that Korean pancakes are awesome.
10:45 PM: Our stomachs defeated, take leftovers, subway back downtown.
11:25 PM: Try to read about foreign (to me) concepts about Music and Cognitive Psychology.
1 AM: Drink the Leffe Bruns. Ah Yeah.
3:45 AM: Go to sleep

Tuesday 1 March
9:00 AM: Alarm rings
9:05 AM: Get out of bed
10:15-11:15 AM: Go to class. The only other classmate is sick so I have a nice one-on-one chat with my professor.
11:15 AM-1:30 PM: Mark theory assignments
1:40-2:10: Quickly eat lunch and drink coffee.
2:13-4:40: Go to Medieval music class. During this time Jeremy goes to a Tobacco place and smokes a nice cigar.
5:30 PM: Back to Chestnut. Get shoes quite nicely soaked along the way
7:00 PM: Go to Eaton Centre and eat Shawherma at the food court
9:00-10:45 PM: Watch full version of "Shake Hands with the Devil" at Camera, which, contrary to my expectations, is not a seedy dive bar, but a nice lounge.
11:30-6 AM: Re-read articles, type away about my thoughts on Rwanda, take 15 minute nap, brush teeth and can't fall asleep, play power ballads (Bon Jovi) and U2...verbally wonder out loud why I'm having such trouble sleeping, which only leads to me and Jeremy talking and not falling asleep.

Wednesday 2 March
9:15 AM: Wake up
10:10-1 PM: Go to class and talk about how messy and complicated the world is instead of being a series of binary oppositions.
1:45 PM: Go to Chinatown and eat some good (albeit slightly pricey) Chinese food. No 3.75 BBQ Pork on Rice and 4.00 Vegetarian Pad Thai here.
2:50 PM: Drink coffee at MoonBean Cafe.
3:20 PM: Arrive at Chestnut and pack
3:45 PM: Jeremy goes to St. Patrick subway station and goes to airport.

I had a lot of good times, and thankfully my week wasn't really busy academic-wise, so I didn't really fall too far behind. But I guess you can say it's a fairly packed day when you go out all day and then try to study/read after coming back to your room. It was a great week, but all the same, I need to switch into serious school mode again.

Not the name of a beer company

2005-02-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

You would think that I'd have a lot to blog/post on here, especially since it's been a week since I last posted. However, my comments will need to be short, as I've been sleeping no earlier than 4 AM since Friday. Some days I slept even later---I slept on Sunday night (or more accurately Monday morning) at 6:30 AM...I figured that by staying up I'd be delaying the inevitable return of school and end of reading week. So it goes without saying that I'm pretty beat during the day, although right now I'm wide awake--curse of being a night person to the nth degree!

Speaking of reading week, it was good, Mom came over, went to Niagara Falls with her and my little sis, got a new wardrobe from Tommy Hilfiger and McGregor socks--thank you retail outlets! I also went out to eat quite often--I counted 14 meals I had at restaurants over reading week and only 5 at Chestnut. The good thing about this is that my wallet isn't all that much lighter--my mom paid for a lot of those meals. The bad thing is that I'm sure I gained 5 pounds, as I was eating richer (white) and greasier (asian) food while walking a lot less..in other words, I had returned to my quasi-sedentary lifestyle that I lived in Richmond. My out-of-shapeness manifested itself rather rudely on Monday, during my usual 20-minute trek to the Music Building. Normally I complete that length no problem but on Monday I felt a bit out of breath upon reaching Vic University to return some overdue library books. I mean, I didn't experience any heart palpitations on the level of Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me, but the feeling was still somewhat alarming. Sleeping only 5.5 hours and jumping over slush puddles may have exacerbated my condition slightly, but I think the real culprit was reading week in general. Now don't get me wrong, I was glad to have my mother over, but I'm also glad to be able to walk around again. I mean, I've walked about 4 hours over the past 2 days, so things are thankfully back on track.

Anyways, was at a Buddy Miller concert tonight. Really excellent stuff. I'd never heard his music before, but now I'm wishing I did-strong country-rockish tunes, great guitar playing, soulful vocals, and hilarious stage banter made up for the fact that I went by myself and was really hungry after 12:00 (show ended at 1:15). This is another instance of my Pho fast being relevant in my life, changing the way I live, as a quick bowl of Pho after the show would have been a no-brainer. After all, the Train and Pho 88 are open till 3 AM weeknights, and I know I can count on Pho to hit the spot and calm the cravings. However, since Pho was out of the question (man, even though I'm fasting it, I still manage to talk an awful lot about it, don't I?), I reluctantly walked home, thinking that eating at any other restaurant on the Spadina/Dundas community might not be worth my time, since I wanted to go home and sleep--however, I'm blogging now instead of washing up, which says a lot about me, unfortunately.

For those of you who are saying "Buddy what?" I'll give some more info later. Hopefully I can cover some of his songs in the future.

Sleeping Week

2005-02-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

It's been about a week and then some since I last posted--I want to lay to rest any fears that I was so drained from having to wake up at a time (7:45) that most of the free world accomplishes fairly easily that I didn't have the reserves in me to blog for a good week. The past week has been quite out and about for me--my mom's been in town since Sunday, I was out all day Saturday feeding snow to swans and ducks, and I just got back into the 'Nut this afternoon after having been to Niagara Falls for a couple days with my zany younger sister and my mother. I'll tell more about the past week (if I have the gall to rank blogging over non-essentials like doing my readings and walking off the 5 pounds I've gained since Sunday) in due time folks, due time. For sure I'll blog before the NHL and NHLPA come to an agreement about anything other than agreeing to disagree

This year, I have decided to take the unprecedented step to fast………[drum roll please]……….. Pho out of my diet for the next 40 days. Those of you who have read my blogs over the past half-year surely know about my seemingly unquenchable obsession over Pho, seeing how often I have written about it or have talked about it. You certainly can’t argue with this, seeing as Pho is so darn cheap (even with a ridiculous 15% food tax, a satisfying meal of Pho with tax and tip usually costs under $7), tastes so good, and is open late enough to satisfy your 1:30 AM cravings—what more could a student want? Well, I’ve had Pho so often this year (I’m estimating conservatively about 7 or 8 times since the beginning of 2005) and also during the past semester that I thought it would be a good time to take a break from the noodles before the nascent cravings of raw untreated beef and Chinese 5-spice beef stock overcomes me. This is eerily similar to what I went through last year before deciding to fast bubble tea, and Dragonball in particular—I had consumed vast amounts of bubble tea in the months prior to Lent 2004, and I realized that it was beginning to dominate my free time. So yes, what I’m doing is tantamount to detoxing Pho from my system. I expect to experience a decline in intense cravings for water at 1 AM.

But taking away Pho sounds too easy—I can just order a rice or vermicelli dish instead—so what I plan to do as the days of Lent go by is to gradually increase the level of fasting. So eventually I’ll start taking away MSG from my diet (in other words, not going to any Asian restaurants), and maybe during the last 2 weeks of Lent I won’t go out to eat at all, which I admit will be extremely difficult. It was Dilys who called me a socialite extraordinaire, which I certainly was amongst my hardworking, homework-centred friends at CRU in UBC. Well, if the word socialite brings to mind images of Paris Hilton, maybe not. Call me the Christian socialite—I don’t get drunk, I don’t wear fancy clothing, I don’t have a different boyfriend/girlfriend each time I make a bowel movement, I don’t make sex tapes, and I get home before 1 AM (most of the time). Yes, I know all this fasting will be meaningless if I just give up certain things merely for the sake of doing them. I’ll be donating all the $ I save (let’s say at least 100-150 dollars) to a charity such as Médécins sans Frontieres (MSF) for their relief efforts in Darfur. I’ve certainly talked the talk about doing something in Sudan, now it’s time to walk the walk. I’ll also be spending the extra time I save reflecting on the time of Lent and what it means to us Christians. It’s kinda like how important Barry Bonds is to the San Francisco Giants. Just as Barry Bonds is the only reason the Giants are even a Major-League-calibre baseball team, Lent (which commemorates the death and resurrection of Christ) is the central element of the Christian faith, and is the main reason why we are even Christians in the first place

10 February 2004
The only reason I remember this date amidst the tedium of mid-semester pre-spring blahs is because I got into yet another car accident. I was on my way to dinner on 4th and Vineish and was talking to my friend, which meant I didn’t notice the pickup truck stop in front me to let a bus pull out. I was fortunate in many ways—not only was nobody hurt, but there was not even a scratch of damage on the pickup truck (probably because his back bumper was raised so high). In fact, the driver of the pickup truck couldn’t have been any friendlier—he said the only thing he was going to do about the accident was to sweep the glass off his car. Of course, the car I drove (affectionately known as the classic), was toast, the hood bent at such an angle that you could have gotten great air if you skateboarded off of it.

So what have I learned? Well, driving is for suckas…..um, well, I did drive a fair amount while living in Vancouver, which must make me the king of all suckas. And yes, driving in the city is extremely convenient, but it also brings with it its fair share of stress and annoyances. In contrast, I’m currently living in the heart of downtown Toronto, which makes owning a vehicle an act for the certifiably insane or the absurdly rich. And since I’m too cheap to pay for transit fare, I’ve had to walk pretty much everywhere I decide to go downtown. This has turned out to be a huge blessing, as I’m in much better shape and have been able to explore a lot of the downtown core, all without the hassles of paying (or taking the chances of not paying) for parking and also avoiding the primal mutant beast that is the Toronto driver on the road.

postponed

2005-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I lied about telling you what I'm lenting this year. I've gotta shower and go to sleep before waking up at 7:45 (!!!) tomorrow to give a makeup exam. If you're wondering why I have do this, it's because the teacher is going to Jamaica, hhehehe (she looked ashamed when she said that). Anyways, the blogger time is a bit funky, so let me inform you that it's 1:33 AM as I'm typing this. Maybe I should go on more media fasts.

Yes, I'll be tired, but $40 can buy me the best coffee in the world.

Gung Hay Ash Wednesday

2005-02-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are wondering how I did on that midterm where I panicked like a pre-med wannabe and began studying a week before the test, let me assure you that the test was really very simple and definitely not worth the effort I spent into re-reading and taking notes from my textbook. I've never displayed such devotion and dedication before a test. Hopefully I won't get fooled again, but I do hope to display that kind of effort for my papers.

So it's Lent now. It kinda caught me unaware...I mean, I know Lent exists, because where there's Easter, Lent comes beforehand to help you plunge into the solemnity of the season, but Easter arrives so early this year, which naturally means Lent is also quite a bit earlier in 2005. Funny concept that.

Feb 23 2004-April 16 (???) 2004

Last year I gave up bubble tea for Lent. For those of you who think I was being a smart aleck with that decision, let me assure you that I really did have a tapioca problem last year (kinda like how some people might have a coke problem). Not only was I spending a fair amount of money on food that had no real redeeming nutritional value (unless you don't get enough sugar in your diet--even then, I'm not sure bbt is the best way to go for that), but I was also spending a lot of time sitting around and talking while drinking Campus Crusade's version of beer. Yeah, socializing and getting to know people aren't really bad things--in fact, us Christians in para-church groups like Crusade probably don't do it often enough. However, if the general tendency is to underprioritize the aspects of life, I was pointed so far in the other direction to overprioritize socializing that I was in danger of falling off a cliff. Not only that, but my schedule, which was as busy as Vancouver had precipitation in January, didn't exactly encourage that--it's not like i had massive 4 hour breaks or only went to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In other words, I was lenting bubble tea to save money, be healthier, and to free up some time for my studies. So while those things are good, and the motivation was also well-intentioned, I didn't really use the extra time I saved to draw closer to God, and this year I hope to actually go one step further and do that.

The dates I put above to represent my fasting from my opium--I mean, bubble tea, are really only approximate, as I don't know if I actually began my bubble tea fast on Ash Wednesday. Rest assured though, I really did undergo a bubble tea fast (which is much easier when you're living in downtown Toronto and not on, say, Oak and King Ed), and not only did I abstain from bubs for at least 40 days, I also took my fast beyond Holy Week, and even well beyond Easter--well, at least 4 or 5 days past Easter if I recall correctly. It didn't help that I was sick at the time and couldn't speak without sounding like Cher in the morning, but more on that in a future post.

Thanks for the responses to my query the other day--I've never had such overwhelming response to a post before--you would have thought that I was giving away indulgences or something. Yeah, I know 4 responses isn't quite as numerous as the population of China, let alone the population of Chiliwack, but everyone has to start somewhere. I'm beginning to think that there is a negative correlation between the length of a post and the amt of responses--after all, most of us surf the net to procrastinate and distract ourselves from work--what could me more counter-productive than having to concentrate on reading something that's multi-paragraphed, doesn't use profane language or employ pictures or captions? So while I'm resisting the impulse to go hardcore and write zen-inspired one-word entries in the future, I'll take to heart the maxim about brevity being the soul of wit, or at least good writing.

Since I've babbled long enough (and I don't feel like typing anymore), I'll let you guys in on what I intend to fast for Lent sometime tomorrow.

Kernal

2005-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try a really short xanga-style post, in contrast to the mega-long ramblings I normally write. So this post is kinda for people who check my blog semi-regularly and are disappointed by the lack of updates. It's also one of my many methods of procrastination that I employ. So i just wanna toss out a question for you all: Is giving up MSG for Lent realistic? Possible? Look forward to hearing your comments.

A Brief History of Time

2005-02-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

2004 Year in Review (yes, I know it's late, but at least by now you're not sick of reading so many year-in-review essays and top 10 lists, which are really there to compel you to spend more money anyways). What I plan to do is to reflect on my experiences in 2004 and identify any moments that are particularly striking or life-changing, even months removed from the event. I'll be doing these sporadically, in non-chronological order (as my brain randomly happens to recall them).

1 January 2004

Campus Crusade for Christ Western Canada winter retreat at the Delta Airport Hotel. We sang, worshipped, and prayed in the new year, played some card games, randomly jumped around (okay, that was just me), imitated the dance party going on next door, threw snowballs (yes, there was snow on the ground in Vancouver), and went to IHOP for some gloriously greasy breakfast. The best part of the early early morning was gathering around a piano and singing praise and worship songs for at least 3 hours non-stop. I didn't play piano for the entire duration, but when I did play, I had such a blast learning new songs and elaborating on their chord progressions, as well as singing the high chorus part to "Here I Am to Worship" multiple times (ask myself, Jeremy, or Ty to demonstrate. I think Sarah Begbie knows it as well). Being able to gather with a bunch of believers and just sing worship songs for an extended amount of time is such a rare opportunity nowadays that I just treasure every opportunity I get to do it (such as at winter retreat).

On a related note....

Jan 9 or 16

Me and Ty (and eventually others) standing outside the SUB on a Friday late morning with our guitars, promoting the "We Agree" campaign by singing lots of praise and worship songs. Once again we totally abused the high harmony chorus part for "Here I Am to Worship"--it's on the Passion Our Love is Loud CD. A funny thing was that some science booth was directly across from us--meaning that they were forced to hear us sing, yell, and strum our praises to God. When i began university I would never have done such a thing in public--I was a timid, shy, geeky, and untrendy Chinese guy. It's nice to know that I gained a bit of boldness and confidence over the next few years, to the point where I was not ashamed of singing and playing--loudly and passionately--these worship songs. Hopefully we inspired someone to do the same in the future.

(We ended up playing 2 more times in the SUB, with different people and in different locations, but always with the same amount of zeal).

Thoughts before I sleep

2005-02-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

Toronto is changing me. I've already mentioned how much I walk around the downtown core, how much I enjoy the 20 minute walk from the Nut to the music building. Since I've arrived in Toronto I've also been much more aware of what's going on in the world, due to myself reading beyond the sports/entertainment sections in the newspaper, building upon my knowledge of world affairs that I've gained by watching the Daily Show! Well, maybe not as a foundation, but more as a supplement.....anyways, what's in the world for me (as some of you may know) is Sudan. What's going on in Sudan is scary....it's too late for me to develop any deep thoughts about Darfur right now, but I'm praying that something will be done to alleviate the suffering of the dispossessed that are living in refugee camps, the women who are raped by the janjaweed and have to live with the psychological consequences of physical violation, the families of those who have been deliberately murdered, upsetting relationships of kin and creating unpatchable holes in the family garment, and those that have been forcibly displaced from home, thus losing everything in the process.

Toronto is also changing me academically. I told some people how proud/surprised/disgusted I felt having handed all my assignments in on time in the first term. Well, there's another area which is currently undergoing reform. I began studying for a midterm tonight (yes, it's weird writing a test in grad school, but this is really an undergrad course cross-listed with graduate availability). And no, the test isn't tomorrow, or Thursday. It's not even at the end of the week, if you can believe it. It's actually next Tuesday (the 8th). Yes, I began studying for a test a full week before having to write it!
No, the reason why I'm studying so blasted early isn't because I'm taking organic chem, or because it's worth 70% of my mark, it's because I really feel like I'm in over my head. The course is "topics in medieval music" and my last acquaintance with medieval music was a whopping 5 years ago (as in, when the Canucks weren't making the playoffs and the world was worrying about Y2K). Therefore, my knowledge of really really old music is um, shall we say, rather limited. And those aforementioned undergrads seem to know a lot more than I do (as in, they answer questions correctly in class). Yikes! I wonder how much they prep for class....probably not tons. Now I know how people felt about me back in the days when I studied 2 or 3 nights before a midterm and dominate it so thoroughly that I could casually read the newspaper in the middle of the test. Oh well, time to work hard.

Survey Says

2005-01-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

Due to an utter lack of anything creative/original/thought-provoking to share, i've decided to post my responses to a questionnaire of sorts that I filled out for my fellowship in Toronto. This being a survey to be filled out and distributed to a bunch of Christians, there aren't any questions such as "Have you ever broken the law" (the correct answer should be "yes," if you think about it), "Have you ever tried ecstasy," or "have you ever had a crush on one of your teachers?" Au contraire mon frere, the questions are a little more generic, which suits me fine since I don't think anyone at Delta knows me super-well yet. Even you loyal long-suffering readers back in Amazon Vancouver should find some sort of illuminating tidbit about me that you didn't know before.

Enjoy:

Delta Directory 2005

Please fill out as many questions as you can.
Name: Jonathan Ng Age: 23
Nickname: Tomlin, Raw Dog, Nger, Space Lord, Animal (the last two are antiquated) Birthday: 25 November 1981
Address: 1223-89 Chestnut St Phone Number: 416-977-0707, ext. 71223
Toronto, ON, M5G 1R1 Other Numbers (fax, pager, cell, etc.): 905-781-3838 (cell)
E-mail Address:jon_wwf@hotmail.com ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Numbers: MSN: jon_wwf@hotmail.com (MSN)
Online Journal Address: jonchristomlin.blogspot.com
Morning/Night Person: Night, or early in the AM. Think 3 AM as normal sleeping time
College/University Attending(ed): UBC (5 yrs), UT downtown (current)
Favourite Method For Communication: Phone/e-mail/IM (in that order)
M.M.M. in Delta: Make More Money? I dunno what this means
Favourite Bible Verse: How bout Ephesians 2:8-10. Amos 5:21-24 and James 2:17 are also quite cool.
Favourite Worship Song: Currently “When the Tears Fall” (Tim Hughes). Of course, there’s gotta be some Tomlin in there, such as “Famous One.” I think all-time favourite is “Jesus, All For Jesus.”
Favourite Sayings: “Raw Dog.” I say it more often in Vancouver
Goals for the Year: Survive winter. Be a salty witness and present Christianity as a viable alternative to the world’s values and beliefs.
Favourite Restaurant: Pho Xe Lua (“The Train,” you can get a fairly large bowl for $5). Heck, any Pho restaurant qualifies for this list. I don’t know if I have a favourite non-Asian restaurant in Toronto. Actually, I like the Victory Café (1 block west and south from Honest Ed’s).
Favourite Cartoon Character: Garfield, Carolyn Parrish
Favourite Brand Name: Whichever one doesn’t engage in stinky business practices, unfair labor practices or exploitation, rampant environmental destruction (being too idealistic?)
Favourite Sport: Ultimate (to play..it’s the only sport I’m good at)
Favourite Sport to Watch: Baseball
Favourite Sports Team: Oakland A’s
Favourite Board/Video Game: Balderdash
Favourite Season: Summer
Dream Car: Hybrid?
Favourite Food/Drink: Food: Pho (Cheap), Steak (expensive…suffice to say I’ll choose cheap over expensive 99/100). Does Hot and Sour Soup count as a drink? If not, then dark, dark stout is good.
Favourite Music: Noisy stuff. Noisy guitar rock, noisy jazz, noisy indie. Praise and Worship
Favourite Singer/Album: Whoa, that’s really hard. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, just about anything by Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth. I really like the last Jars of Clay record
Oriental Name: Ng Chi-Fung
Hobbies: Eating foods with MSG, reading (politics, current events, music and sociology, Christian authors, cultural theory, post-colonial theory, fiction….this thing called the internet is preventing me from reading more), playing ultimate, eating, socializing, jamming on multiple instruments playing worship music, bubble tea, Pho.
If You Were Going To Be On Survivor What One Luxury Item Would You Take With You: MSG. Even unappealing food items such as leaves and bark taste great after a few shakes of the most essential cooking ingredient around.
If You Could Appear On Any Game Show Which One Would You Choose: Rock ‘N’ Roll Jeopardy (but not against Mark McGrath)
Favourite Way To Relax: vegetating in front of TV (but that actually makes me nervous, because I know I’m wasting time)
Favourite Subway Station: Union Station
Favourite Movie Star: Ai….let’s say Zhang Ziyi, although I really don’t have one movie star whose entire oeuvre I just have to watch
Best/Worst Movie Ever: Hmm…..best movie for me this year was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Favourite Channel: 53. Alright sports highlights at 2 AM!
Favourite Movie: This is Spinal Tap.
Qualities You Look for in Boy/Girl friend: sense of humour, easy-going nature,
Best Thing about being Christian: How about assurance, knowing God loves you no matter how badly you slip up?
Favourite Place to Shop: CD stores (A&B Sound back in Vancouver, Rotate This/Soundscapes in TO)
Favourite Subject: Socializing 100 (I’ve taken it every year)
Favourite Thing about School: Brain stimulation and social opportunities. I also like the fact that you can stay up super late and get away with it.
Favourite Superhero: Bret Hart (wrestlers are larger than life, right?)
Favourite TV Show: Family Guy/Daily Show (but don’t watch them consistently)
Worst Fear: Death by slow and methodical torture. That or being forced to listen to Ashlee Simpson and Britney Spears “sing” (or caterwaul) a duet
Favourite Book: 1984. Shake Hands with the Devil, Soul Survivor (Philip Yancey)
Favourite Place in TO: TCPC, of course. Pages and Chinatown come in at a distant second
Favourite Place to Visit in the World: Hmm…I’d like to go to the Motherland, or the great cathedrals in Europe.
Places You’ve Visited in the World: Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Disneyland, Scotland, Ireland, Moscow, Acapulco, Amsterdam, Montreal, Eastern Canada, Toronto.
Something Unusual About Yourself: I like to jump around a lot and eat random food combinations. I also like hanging out and eating Pho.
Additional Info: 3 AM is an early bedtime for me. I like to drink coffee, strong tea, or anything sweet. I play multiple instruments (though not necessarily simultaneously). I also find it hard to say “no” and am an expert at fitting in socializing in my schedule.
Other Comments: I put in multiple answers mainly because I have a hard time making up my mind, so it’s better to put in a wider array of answers to answer such absolutist questions.

Lacks a thesis

2005-01-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well, been a long time hasn't it? I suppose the temporary hiatus I took from blogging during Christmas vacations really carried over to the new year. It's not like I've been swamped with work - I have work to do, but I'm not overwhelmed by it - but the desire to spend a half hour in front of a computer screen typing about my various misadventures in Toronto hasn't really manifested itself yet. Strangely enough, it's not a high priority for me. I think this blogging "vacation" (so to speak) has ended up being the replacement for my desire to extend the Christmas break. You see, the Christmas holidays are far too short (IMO, anything under 2 months is too short) to do all you wanted to do (especially if you get sick and have to go to the hospital on Christmas), and you always usher in January thinking "I wish school didn't start so soon." Well, since I couldn't extend my winter vacation by not going to school, I projected my desire for lack of activity towards my blogging exploits. I guess what this really means is that I wish school started NOW instead of 2 weeks ago.

Just a few tidbits of info to amuse you. Today I walked to school in -23C/-33 wind chill temperatures. Despite a dreaded premonition of forced leg amputation about halfway through the 20 minute walk (or ordeal), I got through the day okay--no fleeting fantasy about booking a plane ticket to Vancouver pronto, in other words. In fact, I walked about 90 minutes in the cold today, and if this is as bad as Toronto winter gets, I think February should be a piece of (Dairy Queen frozen decadent durian ice cream) cake.

In other Weekly World News-like stories, I went almost 2 weeks without eating any Pho (!!??!?!). The last time I had it was New Year's Day (to inaugurate 2005 and start it off on the right foot), but held out eating any more until Friday the 14th. I was quite surprised at this...me going without Pho for more than a week is like sitting through a Pentecostal church service without seeing anyone raise their hand. I quickly made up for my lapse and savoured the Chinese 5-spice brothy goodness that is Pho 3 days in a row. I'll have to wait a little while before my stomach recovers from the overstimulation of MSG. But it looks like my world is all right and things are back on track.

Hmm....I think I have an early candidate for something to give up for Lent.

Fav Ed the Dirty Sock quote from Fromage 2004. "Mischa Barton is an actress for the TV show The O.C. which I bet neither of them [Enrique Iglesias and Barton] can spell!"

Back at the 'Nut

2005-01-04T01:56:00.000-08:00

I'm back. It's currently 4:01 AM as I type, but my body is still in Vancouver time, which enabled me to poke around a bit deeper on the mess some call genocide that's going on in the western region of Sudan (Darfur).

Something from Human Rights Watch. Go ahead and read through the rest of the section on Darfur and try not to be outraged at what's going on there.

Human Rights Day Statement

A message from Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth
(New York, December 10, 2004) — As we commemorate Human Rights Day, we are challenged by how little the world has done to save the people of Darfur, in western Sudan, from the year’s greatest human rights disaster. With the Sudanese government and its ethnic militia well along in their campaign of murder, rape, pillage, and forced displacement, and after several Security Council resolutions on the Darfur crisis, the governments of the world can no longer claim not to know. Now that tens of thousands of civilians have died and some 1.6 million have been forced from their homes, Darfur is clearly on the international agenda. But that has provided little solace for the victims in Darfur. There has been much international hand-wringing, many expressions of outrage, but far too little meaningful response. The international community has moved from ignorance to concern to feigned action – but not more. Coming a decade after the Rwandan genocide, this meager response mocks our vows of “never again.”

The vitality of the global defense of human rights is at stake. In the face of Khartoum’s crimes against humanity – atrocities that some have described as genocide – it is not enough to condemn the atrocities, feed the victims, and send a handful of poorly equipped African Union forces merely to observe the slaughter and consolidation of ethnic cleansing. No serious pressure has been put on the Sudanese government to halt its murderous campaign. No meaningful international force has been deployed to protect civilians. None of those directing the slaughter have been prosecuted. No government has lived up to its responsibility to protect the people of Darfur from large-scale slaughter.

We know what must be done to end the atrocities in Darfur and create conditions so the displaced can return home safely. The 3,500 African Union forces authorized for Darfur – a pittance for an area the size of France with few roads or infrastructure – must be bolstered significantly. Their mandate must be expanded to encompass civilian protection. Despite their preoccupations elsewhere, major governmental powers outside of Africa have a duty to protect and assist as well.

We also must ensure that those directing the atrocities in Darfur are brought to justice. The commission of inquiry established by the U.N. Security Council is likely to recommend in January that the council refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court. Will China see past its oil contracts to allow the referral to go forward? Will Russia let its arms sales to Khartoum get in the way? Will the United States overcome its antipathy for the court to allow prosecution of crimes it calls genocide? Or, as the people of Darfur suffer and die, will Washington insist on wasting time setting up a separate tribunal? The Security Council’s many professions of concern will ring hollow if its answer to the desperate pleas from Darfur is, through delay or inaction, to let impunity reign.

Today, December 10, also marks the resumption of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria between the Sudanese government and two Darfurian rebel groups. An end to the fighting would undoubtedly help the people of Darfur, but the atrocities are not simply the product of war. Rather, they result from Khartoum’s decision to fight an insurgency by deliberately attacking hundreds of thousands of civilians who happen to share ethnicity with some of the rebels.

As we hope for peace and a political solution to the crisis, we must not lose sight of the atrocities that are the paramount cause of today’s suffering in Darfur. The peace process addressing the twenty-one year war in another part of Sudan, the south, made the grievous error of ignoring similar atrocities committed there. That impunity emboldened Khartoum to resume its atrocities in Darfur when this new insurgency arose. That error must not be repeated. On Human Rights Day, we must remember that the tragedy of Darfur is foremost a human rights crisis. It will not end until the international community commits the military and prosecutorial resources to protect the people of Darfur from Khartoum’s depredations

[END OF ARTICLE]

I know most people's idea of "international news" is the tsunami roll, er, waves that devastated South/Southeast Asia and even hit a few countries in Africa as well. And while it's our duty to be concerned with what's going on in those affected areas and to be responsible human citizens in donating funds to credible charities, praying for victims and relief workers, etc., I feel that it's also vitally necessary to be informed about the worst humanitarian crisis currently in the world. Can any of you even positively identify Sudan on a world map? (hint: it's not in Europe). I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't do that until sometime in the fall semester after having read a fair number of articles about Sudan (which happens to be directly north of Uganda, where there's also some pretty nasty battles going on in there. Uganda is north of Rwanda, and we all know what happened there in 1994).

I'll post something more cheery in the next few days.

Hasta la Vista Mi Amor

2004-12-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

What do you do after finishing an essay where the bibliography itself is 500 words long?

Well, you write in your blog, silly. I’ve written a combined 11700 words (before bibliographies J) over the past two days…well, no, I didn’t start and finish them on the same day, that would be a feat of superhuman proportions, and my powers are limited. My eyes are sore and my fingers are tired……and to top it off, I get to mark 77 exams before I leave! If you think you’re excited, you can just imagine my joy. I don’t think I can find the time to mark 50 of these exams, let alone 77, so we’ll see if I’ve learned anything over the past term. I’m really gonna hatchet these exams…I wonder if undergraduates realized just how much we throw marking aside and plow through them like cows through manure. Sorry for the weak metaphor, I just can’t think of anything better than that right now.

Interesting insights I’ve received from marking students’s exams….there’s a map question on the exams I’m marking. They have to answer a question, and ID the appropriate country on a world map. Thus far, I’ve seen New York City put into Atlantic Canada (more specifically, Nova Scotia), and I have just seen someone put India in Russia……hmmm.

Someone has described Miriam Makeba, who sang “Mbube,” a South African tune that eventually became “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” as having a lounge singer voice. Keep in mind this was recorded in 1963, and if she does possess a lounge singer’s voice, it’s a very rough and aggressive kind of lounge singing (it’s still an amazing vocal)

Instead of writing his name as “MC Solaar”, someone wrote “McSolaar,” making him sound like a new item on the McDonald’s menu. For some reason I found that quite amusing, and a bit of a diss as well…instead of being this hip MC, you’re now a giveaway toy for a Happy Meal.

I just saw something described as having a “hard” texture….okay…that’s like saying a text is “hard” with information (this person really means “dense,” which is also a fairly apt description for this person’s intelligence)

See you in Vancouver

Bert to Nazzy

2004-12-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I sure picked the right time of the year to get sick. Like a true intrepid (or a true idiot), I slept at 4:30 on Thursday morning and woke up abruptly at 9:15. I didn’t feel too bad throughout the day, but as I was eating my dinner (having skipped lunch while enthusiastically researching), I started getting the “mucus in the back of throat” syndrome. Rather than celebrate the lubrication, I panicked, knowing full well that this was as sure a sign of impending illness as Todd Bertuzzi taking a penalty during a power play, or getting top-quality bubble tea for $3.75 at Dragonball. In other words, you can pretty much bank on it happening. After having slept at the ridiculously early time of 1:15 (remember what time I slept at on Thursday), I woke up Friday hardly wanting to move. I suffered through teaching on Friday, and barely had enough strength to chow down on some Pho before heading back to my shack for the night. I tried going to sleep at 3:30, eventually did so an eternity later, and woke up at 1:30….well, more like, finally hauled my burly frame out of my bed at 1:30..PM. Fortunately, I felt much better, and immediately attributed my sudden upsurge in health to the wondrous powers of the beef stock that I had at Pho 88 about 17 hours ago. Forget the Zinc lozenges, or the Echinacea pills, or the Gatorade, water, and Tylenol or even the combined 21 hours of sleep i had from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon; I know for certain that it was the Pho that was the secret weapon to combat my illness.

Week’s list of accomplishments before I head back to the Rainforest:

5000 word paper: on German Rock groups of the 1970s. Due Wednesday. Have finished about 4400 words

6000-8000 word paper: speaking of drugs, I’m writing about Charlie Parker, who had a heroin/alcohol problem the magnitude of the MSG levels in a normal bowl of Pho. Just as Parker was addicted to the stuff, I’m addicted to the finer cooking ingredients around. I’m also writing about Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and Bud Powell; think of the musical version of the New York Rangers….no, they didn’t suck, but they were all superstars in the jazz realm. Ask any jazz aficionado about these 5 and you ought to receive some gushing about how influential they were. Really you should be ashamed of yourself for not knowing who they are!

Mark ???# of undergrad final exams (held Tuesday). Last time it took me a good 14-15 hours to evaluate desperate students’s frantic attempts at getting part marks. I’ve learned from that experience, and am giving everyone a C+ now.

I had this somewhat amusing story of me going solo for late-night Pho last Saturday written up, but the way I wrote it up is far from amusing...it's just kinda boring. Even though my words can't convey it right now, let's just say it was one of the more eventful excursions I've had in Toronto, perhaps the most surreal (in hindsight).

You can always round the figures up

2004-12-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

As I was taking an earlier essay (okay, procrastination) break, I figured I might as well try to keep some sort of track of my expenses and income. So, for your viewing pleasure below, my (not very detailed) expense account (all figures taken from my online banking, and not from my imagination).

Paychecks received from Yamaha, and other income
Date: Amount:
22-Sep $78.76
05-Oct $123.76
19-Oct $157.51
01-Nov $135.01
15-Nov $157.51
29-Nov $157.51

26-Nov $1,861.15
28-Oct $930.57
$2,500 (scholarship $)
$3,000 (cash infusion from my dad)

Expenses:
80 60
60 3.5
236.97 80
60 60
3.5 40
374.5 51.36
60 80
40 60
40 30.86
60 60
80 80
51 3.5
21.83 80
60
5725

Total Income: 9101.78
Total Expenses: 7642.02

As you can see, I'm not very detailed about my expense account (it's also a bit hard to read, but they're supposed to be 2 columns). Lessee now, my total expense account is a bit frightening...but $7642.02 (aka 6 months salary of someone working full time at minimum wage in BC...the same figure for Ontario's minimum wage would be like $3000, just kidding) minus 6099.50 (res fees) = $1542.52.

So what did i spend my (almost) 2 grand on? Here's an approximate expense account

Books: $350 (it's called book sales)
Concerts: $125 (not to see the Rolling Stones once, but actually 7 or 8 concerts)
CDs: $225 (CDs are more expensive here...hello A&B Sound!)
Movies:$ 50
Clothes: $0 (I'm being conservative here)
Laundry: $0....just kidding, $25 (my socks are black for a reason, you know)
Beer: $1000, no, I don't binge drink. I have a small enough brain as it is...closer to $100 or so.
Transit: $114 (The system here is either $87.50 per month...yikes U PASS PLEASE!!!!!, or $19 for 10 tokens)
Coffee: $125 (can't wait for Viva Java coffee back in Richmond)
Chinese Food:$80
White Food:$ 60
Pho: $150 (I've seriously gone like 20 or 25 times, I can't get enough of Pho! I really might have this MSG addiction I predicted a while back).

Well, that about adds up to 1400 or so. There's also some offering in there and various miscellaneous things like stamps and other small things. I might be overshooting it on my book expenses, but I seriously bought at least 30 books through various book sales over the semester and through Amazon and Chapters. There's something really satisfying about buying a classic such as Brave New World for $2, because you know that instead of spending $20 on some new print edition to not read it, you're only spending a tenth of the price for it to collect dust on your shelf (or on the ground if you're like me).

Hmm......i was going to write more about my interesting jaunt down to Chinatown at 1:30 AM, but this number business got the best of me. Time to call it a night.

B-

2004-11-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

Hey all.

No, I didn’t make 23rd year resolutions to never blog again, I just haven’t been struck with the muse, so to speak. Well, I’m not exactly struck with the muse this time either; it’s just that I’ve been busy typing away on an essay and a scholarship application, so this form of brainless typing is more therapeutic than anything.

I’ve finally finished correcting those essays. There were 50 of them. I put a lot of markings on the paper itself. And I also put down many different comments on a comment sheet. I also, put their marks up on an Excel spreadsheet. I hadnt used an excel file in years before last week? Me neither. I gave mainly B-s, no A+s.

Okay, I could write more in that style, but I can’t. The paragraph above is an example of some of the atrocious writing that I had the pleasure of marking up (with enthusiasm). You know, short sentences that could be easily be combined together to ensure better flow, grammar mistakes, punctuation errors galore, wishy-washy general content. I mean, I could have added a few spelling mistakes, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Some people even handed in some really really funny essays by virtue of their lack of knowledge of the English language. I wish I could quote from some of them but I might get in trouble for doing that (and I’ve handed back all of them to my prof). Unfortunately, those brief chortles of laughter were few and far between.

So over the past week I celebrated birthday dinner 3 times, once with my sis and some of her church friends (which are by extension my friends as well), once with cheap-dawg Dave, and once with my Vancouver orchestra buddies who are either studying or working here. I’m quite thankful for the opportunity to even celebrate my birthday. I remember quite vividly the end of the term last year, particularly on Thursday when I went to school, campus Crusade, more school, went to a Burnaby Symphony Orchestra rehearsal, went home and finished (as best as I could) 2 essays of 14 and 15 pages, respectively. I got about 2 hours of sleep, went to school in the midst of a super crazy rainstorm, presented one of my papers (of which I had brought the wrong musical example), performed in a Collegium Early Music performance, left UBC to drive to Camp Luther….er, Port Coquitlam, once again, in torrential downpour (some of you might remember this day, SkyTrain was shut down for a bit) for an orchestra rehearsal at Terry Fox. After the rehearsal, I grabbed a Tim Horton’s Bread Soup-Bowl thingy, got the largest drip coffee at Starbucks (hurray for caffeine!), played a concert (I believe of the Messiah, which is not the easiest thing to be playing on the viola, as you play 90% of the time). The concert ended just before my left arm fell off, and I drove over to the Cactus Club at Metrotown (after having first gone over to the Cactus Club), where some Daniel Fellowshippers were ostensibly celebrating my birthday. I ate with them and drove home, after dropping Adela off first.

If you check out that coffee link, there's a section dealing with cutting back on coffee....it mentions "If you are drinking more than 10 cups of coffee a day, you should seriously consider cutting down." Hahahah, I may like my coffee, but if I ever want to simulate Montezumo's revenge, there are better and cleaner ways of doing that than drinking more coffee than the recommended daily water intake.

As I sit here and reflect on those 36 hours or so, I’m more and more astounded that I didn’t crash while driving, and that I was able to perform such seemingly superhuman feats of mental strength. Needless to say, however, I don’t want this to happen again. I have a 5000 and a 6000-8000 word paper to finish of before I head over back to Vancouver. I’ll be fine, because I’ve actually begun my research and gathered most of my sources, and the essays are due about 2 weeks from now. Those of you who know me know that this process normally begins a week and a half before deadlines, let alone have any research done, and of course, deadlines are made to be broken. Not so in grad school, as I haven’t broken any deadlines yet, and I don’t intend to revert to classic Jon mode any time soon.

I’m coming home pretty soon, and I hope to do things that I haven’t been able to do over here yet. You know, drink bubble tea with milk, slushee, pearl, from Dragonball, eating durian, randomly yelling “Here I Am to Worship” in random places, going to Bon’s. Well, Bon’s can wait. My first 3 months outside the big city, and what have I learned about myself, what discoveries have I made about the city? I lack discipline, I like walking around the city past midnight, and I love pho.

Wow, it's December already.

yawn

2004-11-24T01:28:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I had the misfortune of sleeping 11 hours….no, not for the entire weekend, but from Friday to Saturday. I slept at the ridiculously early time of 2 AM, and woke up at 9…and 10...and 12…and 1...until finally the realization hit that it was the PM and not AM. Unfortunately, oversleeping tends to give me a monster headache (eh, who needs hangovers anyways?) and it took the better part of 6 hours for it to go away, thus limiting my productivity greatly, of which I was frustrated by to no end. After going to the Music Grad’s Pub Night (which consisted of me furiously eating carbolicious breads and dipping them into spinachy dip, and eating some vegetables as well), I prepped myself to work until at least 3 AM, whereupon I’d at least think about going to sleep. However, my body had other plans, and I found myself laying helplessly on my bed at around 1 AM, not victim of an MSG attack, but of a bout of sudden lethargy. I should mention to you that going to sleep at that time happens about as frequently as going to bed before midnight on your prom night. Upset as I was at actually sleeping this weekend, upon further reflection I determined that God must have wanted me to sleep well, not get sick, pay attention to the sermon (which I tried my hardest to do), and rely more on Him. All things have some sort of purpose, so I’m fine with that. Besides, I’m making up for that by sleeping at 3 AM since Sunday (3:20 and ticking as I type this now).

Later on Sunday, the Argos beat the Lions in the Grey Cup !)(@)*#)*)@!*#). Yes, I can’t believe I’m typing this, but contrary to my gut instinct, and to my disbelief, the team with an offence as punchless as the Minnesota Wild and as overhyped as the New York Rangers defeated the two-pronged attack of Casey Dickenson. I guess there wasn’t any way Wally Buono could have played both quarterbacks at the same time? I mean, sub Casey Printers in as a running back (the Argos’s run defence is so Paris Hilton-thin, an arthritic cow could have had a 100-yard rushing day), and have him either rush with the football, or do a trick play where fakes the run and then heaves a long bomb downfield, preferably to Geroy Simon for a touchdown, so he can do that awesome pose he does in the end zone. I think it goes to show the popularity of football in Chestnut that when the World Cup final was played, the lounge area was packed, but during the first half of the Grey Cup a grand total of 3 people sat riveted to the action. Hmm…..

At about 11 PM I went to Sneaky Dee’s to watch a band called the Republic of Safety perform (if you claim that you’ve heard of them, you’re lying), this small local band. I just wanted to let you know that their encore went by the name of “Slow Jamz” but it had absolutely nothing to do with Kanye West. Walking on Spadina (to get some Pho) was a bit scary at 1 AM, but I figure as long as the people aren’t yelling at me, I’m safe. I think I’ve wandered around the mean streets of Toronto past midnight by myself at least a dozen times, so either I’m really tempting fate, or walking around late at night isn’t that dangerous. If I get attacked, though, I’ll let you know about it.

In other exciting news, I turn 23 this Thursday, which is somewhat underwhelming. I used to make a big deal about my birthday, organizing a birthday dinner, making reservations at some Caucasian food place a la Sammy J’s (what was I thinking? I’d go to Pho in a heartbeat!), inviting enough people to fill GM Place (well, at least the Coliseum), and having a good time. However, last year I was under tremendous self-applied pressure (it was self-applied because I was an idiot and procrastinated) to finish my essays, start grad school applications, go to orchestra rehearsals, and breathe. Therefore, there was no huge birthday bash, but rather lunch at the swank enterprise known as Tojo’s, er, the village, along with the freshly graduated Tim and a host of other people. This year, the circumstances aren’t quite so dire, but there is a mountain of essay marking (and really bad writing) for me to tear apart, I mean evaluate, which isn’t promising, plus a few big fat essays to write before mid-December. Since I’m in grad school now, I feel the pressure to hand in something good, which frightens me, because I haven’t had to deal with that before. Happy-go-lucky Jon was a constant theme of my undergrad years (you can ask virtually any of my friends about this), and I still am as easy going as ever, but I know that handing in an essay that’s rushed does not leave the good impressions on my professors.

I’ll think about that as I go to sleep..

Plugs

2004-11-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

My new nickname around Toronto? None other than Tomlin. I know Ty’s super insanely jealous of me because of this, what with his adoration of Chris Tomlin a few years ago, he couldn’t really get enough of his songs. Man, I still remember Christmas Conference about 2 years ago when Ty was like the Chris Tomlin “enough” jukebox. Actually, it wasn’t really a jukebox, because you didn’t have to ask him to play “Enough,” he’d gladly play it for you, even if you warned him that doing so would have his guitar go the same way as in that Juicy Fruit song. In case you’re wondering (yeah right), the reason for my name change is because the church I’ve been going to for fellowship has 3 or 4 Jonathans in it-quite a freaky thing, especially when the size of the fellowship is only around 20 people per week (and it’s not a guys-only fellowship). Since there are too many Jonathans and not enough Davids to go around, the redistributing of names is crucial. “Tomlin” came about not because I wanted to spite Ty, but because my yahoogroups name was Jonchristomlin. I didn’t really want to let my Toronto friends know about my previous nicknames from Vancouver like “raw dog” or “animal” or “space lord,” because that would likely make me a greater candidate for excommunication than membership.

On Tuesday I went and saw my umpteenth concert in Toronto. It seems that I’ve gone to Toronto to go to concerts more than learn anything in school thus far, doesn’t it? I think this is what happens once you move out of home and your parents can’t really put a halt to your activities. The guy performing, Sufjan Stevens, was pretty awesome. The dude’s a Christian but he’s fairly well known in the indie community, which is normally quite suspicious and often overtly antagonistic to mainstream CCM artists. I think he’s managed to impress people because of his folksy and cleverly arranged songs that have a strong sense of melody and often have a quiet, whispered and intimate feel. I know most of my friends know that I often like to listen to bands that are the very opposite of “nice” and “melodic,” so this must come as a bit of a 180. Well, this is just to let you know that I have a heart for this melodic stuff as well, as I can’t always be listening to noisy irritating artists such as Merzbow, Boredoms, Black Dice, Wolf Eyes, or Josh Groban forever (noisy is a subjective term). Anyways, I know that most of you would like Sufjan Stevens; his songs are intelligently crafted and are quite memorable, and he doesn’t shy away from Christian topics either, with songs like “The Transfiguration,” “Abraham,” and “He Woke Me Up Again.” (all off of Seven Swans, his latest album). It’s not very often that a bunch of non-Christians will go and hear someone sing those kinds of songs (although not every song he writes is like that) without throwing all sorts of ironic comments putting down “religion.” I think people were willingly listening to Sufjan, hopefully more people get to know who he is in the future.
Find me on messenger some time (good luck with that) and I’ll benevolently “transfer” you some of his songs.

PS: I can also send you some Wolf Eyes as well, because face it, you need some adventure in your lives.

I’m typing up and finishing this blog at 3:53 AM. The reason for my somnambulance (is this a word? I think it is….at any rate, I’m trying to convey an avoidance of sleep) is because I saw the Rheostatics perform tonight. Well, technically, they began early this morning just after midnight EST, but they more than made up for the late starting time by playing for about 2 and a half hours, playing loosely at times (especially with Martin Tielli’s quasi-deranged stage antics and persona), but always with a sense of esprit and joy. Being the quintessential Rheostatics fan, I recognized none of their songs from their 12-strong discography, which made concentrating during the long set a bit more difficult, but their live performance certainly makes up for that. Another band I’d strongly recommend seeing if they ever come to Vancouver, not only because they’re so compelling on stage, but also because that would boost your Canadian content sky-high—this is a group which made a 40 minute album inspired by the Group of Seven, of all things. You can’t get any more Canadian than that (or at least more Ontarian).

Off to sleep now, because it’s kinda sad when you go to sleep later than your friends 3 time zones away.

How not to write, part 1

2004-11-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hey all

The last week has been one of those “busy” weeks that perfectly encapsulated my life back in Vancouver. I was out each night going to musical events, listening to Naomi Klein rant about the war in Iraq (I’ll give you 10 cents if you can tell me which side she’s on--still, a great talk), at worship team practice, or going to fellowship. To make things worse, the ubiquitous wind in Toronto dropped the already cold temperatures by another 5 or 6 degrees Celsius (The wind makes trying to read a newspaper while walking to school really really difficult; trying to control a newspaper doing contortions with the wind as its conductor is a futile though slightly comedic exercise—I often feel like an exasperated parent telling my newspaper to behave itself while I try to turn a page). Thankfully, the week ahead forecasts double digits, not negative double digits (which would seriously tempt me to stay indoors the entire time), but positive ones. It certainly would feel good to not have to break out my scarf, homemade toque (no, I didn’t make it, otherwise it’d double as a Halloween costume) and double-layered mittens (yes, that’s right, I put on 2 pairs sometimes. You know my fingers are an important part of my identity as a musician, and they should be insured like J. Lo’s gluteus maximus….well, there’s no way I’m insuring my fingers for 3 million…maybe 3 million pesos, or 3 million bubble teas).

If you managed to make your way through that last confusing digressionary paragraph with all those parentheses, congrats. I think this is cathartic for me because academic writing doesn’t permit superfluous parentheses (nor contractions like the one on the line above). Right now I’m not too busy: I have a joke assignment to hand in tomorrow, then a whole load of marking to do in the near future, with theory assignments and Undergrad Essays!! I expect to read my fair share of unfocused, muddy prose with “organized chaos” as its underlying philosophy of structure…you know, kind of how I wrote when I was in second year. I really hope I don’t have to correct grammatical mistakes or write detailed comments at the end of the essay-such procedures take much time and effort, and a quick and concise “your writing sucks” is much more tactful, if less diplomatic, but would preserve my mood much better. I remember specifically my first year English TA and my Asian Studies 100 TA writing next to nil for comments. I appreciate their minimalist commentary, and who knows, they may have been making some insightful artistic statement about the oppressiveness of being a TA (sure beats working at Starbucks though) that I only appreciate now 5 years down the road. However, a simple “B+” or “I don’t really like to write many comments” (yes, both comments have appeared on my essays before) don’t give me much information on how I could improve as a writer. At any rate, what I’m trying to say is that I hope I get to show similar thrift in writing comment sheets for undergrad suckers, er, students, in the future.

If you’re wondering how my classroom teaching went, well, suffice to say, undergrads are no fools, and with the teacher being out of town, along with the TA whom they really haven’t seen before teaching them musicianship exercises (they do know I mark their assignments, well, more like correct and deface their assignments), along with the fact that they could be doing something more worthwhile with their time, like sleep, or drink coffee, or go to the dentist, meant attendance normally reserved for civic elections or the UBC Thunderbird games (wow, crazy long sentence there…I feel like an academic writer now!). The first class, from 9-10, had a grand total of two people show up. Yes, two people. And I told the first arrival to just go and warm up for her lesson at 10 (re: “doing something more worthwhile with their time” above), so I was actually really disappointed when the second student showed up, because I could get a free hour to relax and unwind.
The second class had much better turnout, with seven people plunking themselves in their seats--not exactly 55,000+ at BC Place earlier today (Go Lions!), but still, a 700% increase. The Magnificent Seven are either keeners or too conscientious as students to skip class, even one sans world-changing ramifications such as the one I was teaching (I was kinda like that in first year, attending every class, but gradually started to change in second year). Well, they’re not getting any brownie points from me. If I see a mistake on their assignment, I’m gonna point it out to them in bold blue ink.

Folks, this ain't academic writing here.

La-la-la

2004-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

You'll be pleased to know that I did not sleep in on Tuesday's 9 AM tutorial session. Despite sleeping at around 2 (I got carried away marking assignments; something about pointing out people's errors and mutilating their sophisticated musical compositions with blue pen gets quite addictive after a while), I managed to stumble out of bed at 8:10 and commence my day. The real test comes on Thursday, where I actually have to lead a class in sight-singing and other mundane theory elements. In other words, I have to be coherent and sharp, and I'm a lot better at that at 9 PM than 9 AM.

Yesterday was amazingly cold by Vancouver standards (and thus, relatively normal for everyone else in the rest of Canada). Looks like I'll have to get acquainted with my gloves and scarf--such items were non-essential back in Vancouver, but the thought of enduring a winter here without these now relevant materials strikes fear into my heart--about as much fear as the thought of being forced to listen to Hilary Duff all day. Trust me, Chinese prison officials, if you want your torture subjects to really go insane, put her music on 24/7 on constant loop and you'll draw much better results than the bamboo-underneath-the-fingernails method.

"......do you lack discipline?"

2004-11-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

I feel like such a doofus half the time I'm here. This week illustrates my point perfectly:

I'm supposed to fill in for my theory prof next Thursday (on Remembrance Day, no less, silly Ontarians don't know to make that day a public holiday. Maybe their lives are too hectic and they can't afford to take the day off), and I told my professor I'd drop in on his class on Tuesday. This should be quite simple and do-able, except for the fact that I'd need to drop in at 9 AM, which is the equivalent of telling me I need to wash and clean the public toilets using a small sponge and elbow grease. In addition, the other class I mark for (World Popular Music) also meets at 9 AM on Tuesdays, and I haven't been to class once (i don't really need to go, but I'd like to have at least a faint clue of what the class is doing). Well, Tuesday came, and nothing new under the sun, meaning not only did I miss the theory class, but I missed the World Music course as well. So I told my theory prof "Thursday, for sure."

Now on Thursday I had a presentation (only 10 min, but you'd be amazed how many so-called bright graduate students think that means 15-20 minutes. Sheesh, why do more work than you have to? That betrays a crucial lack of intelligence right there) for my 10 AM class, and by virtue of procrastination/stupidity I stayed up till 2:30-2:45 prepping, and went to sleep at around 3:30. I set the alarm to 8:05, silently hoped that my body wouldn't be too comatose to wake up on time, and conked out...and woke up to the melodious sounds of Stevie Wonder at 8:35. I groaned, and realized that I didn't set the alarm properly, leaving it on "radio" function instead of "alarm," which makes a really loud obnoxious noise that is more likely to wake you up then soft wafts of synths and crooning voices. It was a minor miracle that i didn't oversleep for my presentation (I woke up at 9:10), which went rather well.

So I sheepishly had to e-mail my professor the reason for my absence (I'm sure he was about as impressed with my excuse as he was with George W. Bush winning the election), and all but pledged to the death my attendence on Tuesday.

So here's the plan:

On Monday, GO TO SLEEP no later than 1:30. This means to start prepping to go sleep at around 12:45.
Carefully set alarm PROPERLY so that I don't have to worry about CBC being loud enough to wake me up (although if I set the radio frequency to static, I think I'd enjoy that)
Wake up.

Should be simple, but they don't pay me to do the early shift here. Pray for my sleeping discipline, because sleeping at 3:30 is normally fine, except for those occasions when I need to get up like the rest of the world would. And i don't have my ever-reliable parents (okay, my dad) to barge into my room and forcibly wake me up (which he's done more than once....a week).

Cheers

Supersize Me

2004-11-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

Some of you loyal friends have expressed amusement over my hotmail account. Namely, how I keep my inbox teetering at about 98.7% capacity, meaning that a large e-mail (well, 30K of them) can lead to my inbox reaching its 2M limit, thus bouncing all future e-mails before I get around to deleting them. This tends to frustrate people who might want to update me on things, or heaven forbid, respond to one of my e-mails. I'm guessing this is probably why people don't e-mail me over here in Toronto. Anyways, in the old days, I'd have to comb through my archives, deleting old e-mails that aren't relevant anymore (such as "Summer BBQ" or "Buy your Canucks tickets") in order to make space for new "content" to come. It was, at best, a tedious chore.

That puny 2M size is a thing of the past, however. A few weeks ago, I opened my hotmail inbox, anxiously thinking about which old e-mail from either people I don't talk to anymore or info that's not too pertinent to me (Golden Key events) to delete next. I was shocked, shocked to discover that my inbox reached 250 MB in size. My eyes did a doubletake, thinking Microsoft must have messed up, seeing as they're not exactly known for their generosity or for offering things without a catch. I wouldn't have been too surprised if Microsoft did mess up, as Internet Explorer and Windoze aren't exactly flawless devices. I was worrying that I'd find a bill a few weeks later charging me for using an increased inbox size.

Part of me wondered if it was because I had a GMail account (which is raw.dog@gmail.com....no really, it is raw.dog@gmail.com ), which I haven't told most of you about because you'd probably all think it was a joke. Gmail has 1 GB of storage space, which would effectively mean "goodbye" to deleting e-mails forever. It wouldn't surprise me that Microsoft, wanting to keep people from doing the gmail thing (or wanting to crush other web servers such as graffiti.net) would benevolently give me a X125 boost. How they'd find out I had a gmail account, i'm not sure either. But this is Microsoft, not exactly the shining example of fair business practices, and I wouldn't put it past them to find out that I've been cheating on them. I did get an e-mail from them yesterday saying that "as a valued Hotmail customer, I've been specially selecting to receive a special storage upgrade." So I guess what this means is that I can come running back like the prodigal son and use Hotmail to the max. Except Bill Gates ain't Jesus. So thank you, Microsoft, for saving me time and worry. Now I don't have to delete old e-mails from Summer 2001, at least not for a while. If only you could pay my tuition.

Feel free to e-mail me now, dear friends. I can guarantee you that no matter how large the attachment, it won't bounce back, plus you have 3 different e-mail options and plenty of news to tell me about life in Vancouver, right?

Does this entry count as 2?

2004-11-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing they don't pay me by the word count or by individual entry (I know I write more often than other people's blogs, such as *ahem,* TyronTim, or *cough,* Jeremy, but as it is, I'm not really telling you guys a whole lot about Toronto) otherwise I'd be as poor as the backup punter in the CFL (The CFL, in case you're out to lunch, or American, has much much lower salaries than the NFL). Now the latest reason for my lack of bloggage (is that a neologism I just coined there? Given the prolific amount of blogs on the net, I'm not sure) has been "Week of Craziness, Oct.22-29." That Friday (22nd) didn't really start off on the right foot when I overslept for my marking appointment with my professor. We were supposed to meet at 9:30, a time of the day that I have previously described as "ungodly." Well, times earlier than 10 AM once again proved to be my undoing as I was awoken by the sound of the telephone at 9:47, which, not coincidentally, was my professor calling to wake me up, or check to see if I was alive, or secretly wishing she had a more dependable marker.

Marking 52 exams sounds easy, but let me also point out that loving your neighbour sounds easy as well. All these little judgment calls you need to make, knowing that undergrads, especially lower-year ones, squeal and squirm for every little mark they can get. I'm just really happy that World Popular Music wasn't a pre-med course, otherwise the prof would get bombarded by so many "future-doctors" trying to leverage for that extra 1 percentage point that she'd be declared legally insane after explaining for the thousandth time that they don't get part marks for identifying Germany as Turkey, or for putting Jamaica in the Arctic.

Well, there MIGHT have been some pre-meds taking the course to boost their average, but when you're a tough marker like me, you don't give out anything higher than a 90, and hand out your fair share of 50s, 60s, and low 70s. Now i know some people rejoice and convert again when they get such marks (as in "I didn't fail! Praise God!), but this exam was easy, IMO.

....I just realized that I'd already blogged about that, which just goes to show you my level of memory and concentration at work in my noodle right now. It could be that I just realized that a scholarship application deadline is Friday Nov. 5, and not Mon. the 15th like i had thought (wishful thinking). Now I'm trying to find a way to get my letters of reference in on time before Friday. I know my referees won't be talking about my reliability in giving precise dates....anyways, the above paragraph is a nice way of getting 2 different points of view on the same subject. I don't think I really repeated myself, which goes to show the different levels of complexity that something even as mundane as marking exams contains. Now think of subjects infinitely more complicated (such as the US election, NHL lockout, ingredients in a bowl of Pho, % of grease in Chinese takeout), and it's enough to make your head spin.

After all that marking had finished (approximately the same number of hours as games 3-6 cumulatively of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees), it dawned on me that I had a presentation and paper due on Friday. Now, I've made last-minute papers not just my specialty, but also my way of life over the past 2 years at UBC. I'll go into the gory details later. But a presentation on top of that just kicked things up a notch (as presentations ought to be much different than what you put on a paper). Oh yeah, and the 2 combined were 40% of my mark. I'd like to clarify that I'd done some research a few weeks ago, but I'd essentially forgotten it all when I was posing those existentialist marking questions just a day or two prior to that. This is just to let you know that I WOULD have spent more time than Tues-Friday morning preparing for this thing, if not for TA slave duties (well, slaves don't really get paid $30 an hour. Heck, not even employment counsellors or furniture workers make that much!). Now if you rebut with something involving time management and planning ahead, well, I really have no answer for that.

To make a long story short (because I don't want to regale you with details of how i typed up Varese's experiments with musical timbre and spectral sound), the 2000 word paper was commenced and finished in 3 days, and the presentation was somewhat hastily thrown together. My body was so tired that it forgot to feel tired. And even though I had some homework due today, I had a lot of trouble motivating myself to do it...I think this is so because I had exhumed such a tremendous amount of energy and concentration over the past 7 days that my body must have thought it was the end of the term already....fat chance of that, I still have a 5000 word paper, 18-24 page paper (yikes! Don't ask if I've chosen the topic yet), 8-10 page paper/presentation, more essays and tests to mark, and a whole lotta reading to do. Not to mention essential things such as going to church, eating Pho and chinese food, playing ultimate, watching movies, going to concerts, playing in orchestra, teaching, going to fellowship, and blogging. Can't forget blogging.

If brevity is the soul of wit, does this entry then qualify as the most lacking thing in humor ever since Gigli, even more consuming and death-bringing than the bubonic plague?

I sure hope not.

"Jon, your room smells like durian"

2004-10-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

As the term has progressed, the pile of mess (ranging from clothes, papers, articles, books, bills, CDs, and returned mail) has gradually built up in my room and on my desk, not to mention on my bed. Those of you who know me understand my that I live my life under the "organized chaos" theory, which would be fine and dandy if I can find my readings for tomorrow's Music in Canada class that I printed from the grad lounge a week ago, but misplaced somewhere in my room and haven't had the inclination or time to really look for it.

I wish I could take a few pictures of my room and post them up for you, just so you can see the evidence of hurricane messy in here, but I know Dave would have a heart attack for sure if he ever sees this (let alone my parents). Dave's the kind of guy who likes to make his bed every day. I'm the kind of guy who makes sure I wash my hands every day, different priorites--I don't mean to say that Dave doesn't wash his hands, I just want to make clear that there are different things we focus on. I don't think I've even made my bed once, and if I did, I'd need to spend 15 minutes just clearing all the stuff of the bed that isn't a bedsheet or pillow. For all of my concerned friends who think I'm doing nothing but hosting toga parties every day while trying to recreate Animal House on an undergrad party floor, keep in mind my description of nerdy things cluttering my room: books, articles, bills, and papers. Not exactly beer cans and used underwear of the wrong gender here.

So how did my room fall into such a state so as to induce gestures of sympathy, cries of derision and waves of fury? Over the weekend I was in charge of marking 52 undergraduate midterms for a 2nd year World Popular Music course. If you think that task was easy (such as "Shakira comes from which country?" or "Pho Bich Nga is a) a Vietnamese rap song, b)Vancouver's shadiest restaurant, c)the name of a well-known Vietnamese gang, d)Kim Thanh Ngoc's #1 power balled in 1998, or e) all of the above), I don't think looking at the social development of tango or looking out for students's sometimes creative attempts to desribe musical texture ("up and down, up and down" is NOT a valid description) is as simple as you would think. It can be an agonizing procedure, trying to figure out if a student's definition warranted a 1.5 or 2 out of 3. I remember how important each percentage point was back in undergrad, and didn't want to be responsable for some kid's sudden homicidal or suicidal tendencies. Thankfully, to alleviate the atmosphere were some funny moments, such as when a student put down "No Woman No Cry"s date of composition at 1930, a blunder tantamount to saying the Beatles came about in the Great Depression, or that you love Mozart and you're wondering when you can see him in town on his next tour, discounting the fact that he died in 1791. (In case you're wondering, that Bob Marley song was written in 1975).

So I had to finish marking over the weekend (a chore which took 14 hours in total), write a 5-page proposal, edit 2 of my colleagues's proposals (to be fair, they took a look at mine as well. Poor souls), edit my proposal to at least make it more logical than 5 pages of raw dog, hand all that in on Monday, finish 6 MORE hours of marking for a theory class, and hand that in today. Not to mention that I went to a concert Saturday night, church on Sunday morning, and playing ultimate in the afternoon. So I guess you could say I had more important things to do than make my bed and get rid of the growing piles of everything cluttering my room.

It may seem that I'm complaining about being a lackey for the professor, doing his or her dirty work. Trust me, I'm grateful for the chance to do such things. Just looking at some student's radical interpretation of a 4-part harmony is enough to bring me back to my days at UBC when I had to assist my fellow students in their futile attempts at music harmony. I'm even more grateful for the fact that I get paid tomorrow. You do the math, because I'm tired of counting: (78 + 60) x 30ish/4 equals how much I get per month. Factor in September's payments (of which I'm still owed) and can you say "Cha-Ching?" I guess I can afford to take Dave out for some classy fine-dining Pho in the future.

*Waiter! can we have the Prime Rib Pho along with the lemongrass geoduck, curried lamb, and clean cutlery? Thank you*

8 degrees, winds 13km/hr

2004-10-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Apologies if you were confused by the abruptness (and conciseness!...well, if the entry still rambles, regardless of its length, it's not concise) of my last post. I was trying to mark theory exams, MSN, websurf, listen to music, and blog at the same time. So I've decided to multitask less, in order to concentrate more fully on the quality of posts. So right now I'm only reading an article, listening to music, and following the Astros-Cards baseball game while blogging. This is called a gradual paring down of distractions.

It was still uber-cold and windy last night as I left Chestnut to go to yet another rock concert. The concert itself was alright, I was mainly there to check out a friend's band, who was opening up for the night. However, since I had woken up at the ungodly hour of 7:45 after having gone to sleep at 3, I was, shall we say, a bit tired and couldn't fully concentrate on the band.

The concert finished at about 12:45, and after chatting with some people for a bit about Derrida and beer (the two go together like hamburgers and hot dogs, or bubble tea and Corona, perhaps), I began walking home at 1 AM or so. Remember that it was still cold and windy (not in a Vancouver way, but in a "What the? IT'S COLD sort of way), and it had also begun to rain slightly, thus seriously tempting me to take the subway back. And it was also 1 AM (I might have said that already), therefore it was "dangerous" and "I could get mugged, or hurt." I find that attitude to be typically Asian in its positing worst-case scenarios as events that would typically happen in situations that might not be "safe." For instance, going clubbing definitely means you'll get shot and you better be careful (well, it has happened a few times, but I don't have any connections to gangs that I know of, and me and Dave's gang of cheapness doesn't really count. Why would cheapos like us want to pay cover to listen to songs cranked ridiculously loud, look at people dressed like prostitues, and drink obscenely priced beverages?). Going to a Guns and Roses concert means there'll be a riot and you might get beat down by the police (well, I guess that has happened before). Therefore, walking home from a concert at 1 AM, especially in an urban centre like Toronto, is very dangerous and you could get mugged. If that actually ever happened, I'd have a tough time telling my mom that I was really being Asian, not in being super paranoid about things, but in refusing to pay the $2.25 to take the subway. Way I see it, why bother paying money when I could get exercise and walk home? Who cares if it's freezing outside and it'll take about 35 minutes to trek what felt like the Great North Route back to my res? So I'm actually very thankful that I stuck to my guns and walked/ran home, and got back safely. This is like the 3rd or 4th time I've walked home at that hour, and 1) I've never been mugged, and 2) please don't tell any of this to my mom. She already worrries enough about me when I come home at 5 AM in the morning or if I have to do a zillion things while on 4 hours sleep...hmmm, I suppose those ARE valid concerns.

When I was about 3 minutes away from my res, I walked by a man begging for change. I brushed him off and continued walking. Immediately after doing so I felt horrible for doing so. I know that street people are often conniving and want only money for drugs, but again, it was cold, wet, and windy, and I know that something like greasy Chinese food (he was right outside a Chinese restaurant) could have warmed him up. Am i being a sucker for being such a bleeding heart? Or does my commitment to being a follower of Christ compel me to live my life that is so much more than going to Church and praying before every meal? Shouldn't I be doing something to help others out less fortunate than myself? Should I be doing something to impact people on a local, personal level? Can I really show compassion to others instead of merely talking about it and saying, "oh yeah, I really should be kind and compassionate to others." In other words, should I be putting Christ's words and actions into my own practice? These thoughts are spurred somewhat from the conversation I had with someone who watched Motorcycle Diaries with me on Monday (it's a good movie that's like a documentary...no explosions, murders, or any such devices to make you think you're getting your money's worth). My friend said "the way Che lived...makes me wonder if being a Christian is more than just going to church. Isn't there something more?" I've heard numerous times where you could be "doing something more" and I hope I don't tune that out as I continue to live and get satisfied with the suffocating attitude of materialism. Keep me accountable guys.

And the exam flew away in the wind....

2004-10-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today it was Bitterly (with a capital B) cold in Toronto. No sun + temperatures hovering around 6-10 Celsius + wind gusts of up to 37km/hr or so = Jon clamoring for the rain-soaked paradise that is Vancouver. It was the day the weather bit back, after being relatively charming for the month and a half i've been here. Of course, "relatively" meaning "no match when compared with Vancouver."
It didn't help matters much that I was walking at around 8:30 in the morning. Normally my lax school hours allow me to go to school at around 11 or so, when the temperature has warmed up a bit. However, I was on my way to invigilate an exam, something that's part of my "job description" as a grader for Mus211, World Popular Music. So hey, getting paid $30 an hour just to pass out exams, collect signatures (as proof that they'd taken the exam), and glare at students in case they were cheating (wouldn't surprise me) made the morning jaunt (and inevitable bowls of Pho in the future) worth it.
I remember being a freshman in first year and looking at all my TAs in my English 110 class, looking all mature as they paced up and down the lecture hall during an exam. I admired their intelligence and their status as a slave of the professor...i mean TA, and never did I think I'd actually be like one of them one day.

Being a TA now, believe me, they aren't as intelligent or hard-working as you would think. Take me for example.

How I spent my Thanksgiving

2004-10-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

In typical Jon fashion, I'm submitting this late.

So I woke up and well, I don't remember anymore. I do remember watching the BC Lions lose to the Argos in the afternoon, which disappointed me greatly. I was expecting Casey Printers and co. to blitz the Argo Secondary and win 76-2. Well, not really, but 4 touchdown passes to Geroy Simon and 500 yards total offence would have been an appropriate substitute gift for spending Thanksgiving away from home. The Lions did get close to 500 yards of total offence, but something like 7 QB sacks do wonders to stall drives and kill momentum. It was incredibly annoying to have to listen to the CBC commentators-they were more partisan than Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken put together. The color commentator kept extolling the virtues of the Boatmen, fawning over Michael Bishop as though he was his best man. After the 3 hours of football that I'll never get back, I worked (I forget on what exactly) and had Thanksgiving dinner. I've never seen so many people line up for apple pie before in my life. You woulda thought they were using hyper-organic apples, the finest-quality non-refined flour, and vegan everything else, when in reality the pie must have been pre-made from some factory and heated up. Me and Dave stuffed ourselves, eating ham, turkey, cranberry sauce, vegetables, and stuffing. It's nice to share the Thanksgiving experience with 200 other people in the intimacy of the dining room and its bright interrogation lights.

I do remember what happened in the nighttime. Me and Dave went over to the Horseshoe Tavern to watch Explosions in the Sky. The Horseshoe Tavern is a legendary Toronto live music venue, host of many an up-and-coming (or down-and falling) band for the past 50 years or so (well, the Rolling Stones didn't really fit this profile when they played there a few years ago). Now, ticket prices for these venues in Toronto are nice and dirt-cheap, ranging from $8-18. Prices like that for indie bands in indie venues are great for the pocketbook, meaning much more money for Pho and bubble tea. However, I'm not going to be drinking bubble tea all that often in Toronto. But Pho, I think I can go everyday (unless I die of an MSG overdose-you know you're having Pho when you have unbelievable cravings for water 2 hours later, even if it comes from the tap and every instinct you have from your Chinese upbringing is to Brita that water 3 times over and then boil it). Seriously, the Pho in Toronto is a step above the selection in Kingsway/Vancouver. Most Pho shops are open late enough to support my nocturnal lifestyle, and most of them offer the best in impersonal service, because they have this order form that you have to fill out for yourself. This is probably a good thing because there's no chance for the waiter to misunderstand what you're trying to order. It'd be bad to be ordering a spring roll and getting Pork's Blood cubes, or wanting a Dragonfruit shake and getting a durian one instead.

Getting off topic here, I had a genuinely good time at the Tavern. The opener Adem was completely different than Explosions in the Sky, and just as compelling. While Explosions was loud (soft) loud (soft) loud, epic, supremely mellow at times and aggro-intense and earache-inducing the next, Adem was softer, acoustic, varied in instrumentation, and more conventional in song structure. Adem had a great organic feel in his set, despite wearing a yellow shirt with a blood-stained motif in the upper part of the shirt that suggested bludgeoning death metal more than sensitive acoustic singer-songwriter. Check him out at www.adem.tv.

As for Explosions, Dave has already said enough about it in his blog, but that really hasn't been the loudest concert I've ever been to in my life. I remember watching Default a few years ago at UBC, and the sound guy musta accidentally wore his super-strong earplugs that day, because he just cranked the volume higher than the MSG content at the food court in Yaohan. Default was consistently pain-threshold approaching, whilst Explosions at least kept it soft half the time for my ears to recover. And as for the punk who managed to antagonize everyone in the front few rows, I hope he wasn't dumb and wasted enough to think that he was watching Slayer instead of Explosions. Btw, if you're wondering how they sound, go check out "Friday Night Lights" because they contribute a fair amount of music for the film. Go check them out live too (but bring your earplugs, or sit at the back).

It's raining in Toronto!?!?!

2004-10-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a long 8 days since my last post (which talked about me being too busy), which has raised eyebrows and has been a source of tension for the dedicated fanbase that actually bothers to read what I type. Now, normally I fail to heed my own advice, so the fact that I concentrated on more important things than blogging should actually make you readers happy for me, that I showed some dedication for once.

Well, that'd be true if everything I did was productive over the past week. But I wasn't doing that. If anything, I found other things to distract me, such as reformatting my ITunes collection (I have almost 13 Gigs of music or 2468 songs on my computer.....yes, this is the equivalent of owning 50 pairs of shoes). I've also been using the library catalog, not necessarily to conduct research, but getting call numbers of CDs in the Music Library that I can take home and rip on to my laptop (for those of you who don't know, I can take one CD out of the library at a time for a day). Now I haven't come close to listening to all of the CDs that I've ripped yet, which leads me to fear that by the end of the year I'll have 5000 songs on ITunes, half of which I've never even listened to. I mean, it already takes 7.7 days to listen to the aforementioned 2468 songs, which include the 46:51 of "Godwana" by Miles Davis and the :05 of "Long March Rocket or Doomed Airliner" by A Silver Mt. Zion. Have I listened to any of them? Not yet. Well, I just listened to "Long March Rocket..." There ain't much happening in those 5 seconds.

I do have some other things to blog about, such as "How I Spent my Thanksgiving" to "A Survey of Asian Foods in Toronto," but like any good grad student, those projects are on hold until inspiration of some sort will get the ball rolling. Actually, it's more likely that workload has more to do with it than inspiration. If I want inspiration I'll drink some coffee.

At the TSO

2004-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

I just spent the afternoon watching the Toronto Symphony Orchestra play a concert in the Roy Thomson Hall. Now those of you in Vancouver who actually go to the Symphony in Vancouver (a scant 1% of you, I think) know that the shows are usually on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, and occasionally on a Friday. However, unless it's Christmas season when the VSO plays the suburbs like it's going out of style the VSO never plays on Thursday and Wednesday, which is when the TSO normally plays their concerts.

I was going to do the TSO soundcheck thingie (anyone age 15-29 can watch selected concerts for $10), but as I was standing in the line waiting to purchase one ticket, a Chinese guy came and wondered if a student wanted a ticket. This immediately caught me off guard, as I wasn't expecting scalpers at a classical music concert, of all things. Then again, I shouldn't discount anything, as there were a fair number of scalpers around when I watched the Blue Jays last month. Even when the Jays were stuck in the basement of their division, and you couldn't have sold Skydome out even if William Hung , Ozzy Osbourne and Rosie O'Donnell were to do a trio performance of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and there wasn't any distractions like hockey, there were still scalpers. Mind you, they were saying things like "Half price! Half price dugout seats!" and "Who wants to rip me off?"...not exactly typical scalper talk.

Going back to the guy whom I thought was a scalper, it turned out he had an extra ticket and he wanted to give it away. Again, I thought that it was some sort of fake ticket scam, but then I realized that
1)he wasn't asking for any money from the ticket
2)the tickets to the symphony don't have that elaborate barcode scanning thing that most ticketmaster tickets employ, thus this ticket was very most likely valid
3) I was being an idiot for thinking that.
So I graciously took this philanthropist's offer of a comp and sauntered up the stairs, all the way up to the very top of Roy Thomson. I usually don't mind being at the very top of a performance venue (unless it's at a rock concert). The people sitting beside me were nice enough. Well, the guy on my right hand side reeked like cigarette smoke, and let out a megaphone-volume cough in the middle of the slow movement of Beethoven's violin concerto. For those of you who don't know the piece (no, it's not played on Z or anything), this slow movement maintains a very muted (ie soft) and sustained delicateness all the way throughout the movement until the very end, so while the orchestra and soloist were working very hard to produce this sustained and sublime atmosphere for myself the listener, out in the middle of nowhere some foghorn blares out and and brutally violates the atmosphere. Well, I know I'm being a bit graphic, but that's how it felt to me, especially since it felt like he coughed right in my ear. I doubt he made much of a conscious effort to mufffle his cough, because if he did, he sure better try harder next time. I can still hear the cough now as I type. Gross.

As for the people sitting on my left, they weren't quite as intrusive on the concert-going experience. In fact, most of time they were in deep communion with God. I mean, they musta had a real special quiet time because they were praying for a super long time, eyes shut, deep in concentration, not really caring what other people would think to see them in that state. Well, I may be off in my interpretation slightly, but as soon as the piece ended, they woke up (or stopped praying) and clapped enthusiastically along.

Now for those of you who are wondering if I'm busy at all, a valid concern given that I could take 3 hours out of my schedule in the middle of the day to go to a concert, let me reassure you that I am. I mean, I didn't feel busy before I left to go, but as I was sitting in the concert, having no other distractions in front of me (other than the music and foghorns, I guess), and allowing my thoughts to wander a bit, I realized that I actually do have a lot of things that are important that I need to accomplish. This is why i'm typing this blog to you now, because the moment can't wait. Well, in all seriousness, I do realize that I'm living a semi-charmed life at the moment. I'm going to a lot of concerts, going out and exploring the city quite frequently, watching a lot of baseball whenever I can, and squeezing in academic responsabilities after all that. After having talked to some grad students I do realize that my schedule could be a lot busier. I mean, after they've finished talking about their labs and 7 courses and conferences and thesis and having to squeeze bodily functions on top of that, i feel almost sheepish saying that I have 3 courses and 6 hours of classtime a week. Mind you, I'm marking for at least 6 hours a week here, but I think that's a bit like saying "Well I know you have 15-hour days but I have a 9 to 5 job, you know" or "I know it's a long ways out from West Van to Richmond but don't you think going from one Starbucks on Robson and Thurlow and crossing the street to go to the other Starbucks is a bit far as well?"

Point (hopefully) made clear, I'm going to start working now. After I have dinner. And go to orchestra rehearsal. And maybe go out to the pub afterwards. And then catch up on baseball news. THEN I'll start working.

You mean Pho Bich Nga isn't a Jay-Z tune?

2004-10-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've always had very positive memories about the fall (no, not the fall of mankind, but fall as in the season). There's something about the fall weather that really appeals to me. The crisp, cool air smacking against your face, inspiring you to walk faster, the pleasure you get crunching leaves underneath your feet as though they were Vietnamese spring rolls, or shrimp crackers, the way you can see your breath in the air, so you can derive the same thrill that smokers get, except you won't be dying of lung cancer, and the way your glasses fog up when you enter a building. I've always possessed a romanticized memory associated with those images, which bring to mind Vancouver in November. Unfortunately these cold weather conditions were display last night in Toronto. This can only mean that as October progresses and blends into November, the weather is going to get colder and all those positive images I had about pre-winter will morph into utter contempt and malevolent thoughts as the crisp cool becomes something more akin to Jet Li repeatedly kicking you in the face (as though you were Moron from Romeo Must Die and Jet just found out that you kidnapped Aaliyah) and the sensation of crunching leaves becomes more like the act of continually falling because the leaves are so icy.

The only positive I can glean from this hypothesis is that I'll be going out for Pho more often. There's a whole bevy of seedy-looking Pho shops around Chinatown gathered about 10 minutes or so from my residence. They're all open fairly late, all exhibit somewhat questionable standards of hygiene, all have pretty good-tasting MSG, er..Pho broth, and most importantly, they're all cheap. Of course, the 15% tax on food in Eastern Canada kind of dampens said cheapness of food, but that's a small price to pay when you can score an accurately advertised large for 5.50 before tax (or 5 bucks at Xue Lua). The only problem with Xue Lua is that every time I eat at that place it reeks like sweat or some other unpleasant bodily excretion. Now, it doesn't reek like Durian, because 1) it wouldn't be reeking, it'd be more of a heavenly waft and 2) the smell is more associated with a toilet, as opposed to the trashier smell of a ripe (hopefully not rotting) durian. Trust me, I can tell the difference. It can be subtle, but it's worth it to know the difference, that's for sure (I'm not saying actually that i've actually tasted the two substances back-to-back before). To be honest, I really wouldn't trust a Vietnamese (or Chinese, for that matter) restaurant to handle fresh durian anyways. Just keep it frozen for the durian shakes, boys.

I spoke earlier about how I was keeping healthy over here in smogsville. Keep assured that I'm still eating my vegetables and fruits, and walking more often than Barry Bonds, however, I have a feeling that I'll quickly discover my body's MSG-limit. As a pseudo-scientific experiment, I'd like to see what happens to my body if I go for Vietnamese (or chinese, or japanese, or anything asian) 1-2 times a week in comparison to something more realistic like 4-6x/week. Maybe I'll develop an MSG addiction and be like Morgan Spurlock (SuperSize Me guy) and CRAVE the food that'll kill you in the end. This is exciting stuff, guys. I'll keep you all updated.

circuit!

2004-10-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

RIP Expos

I know most of my immediate circle of friends couldn't care any less about the finest sport played in North America, which of course is baseball. Philistines, you all.

When the announcement was made that les Expos are at last leaving Montreal and La Belle province and relocating in Washington DC, I was tempted to say "Finallement!" After all, news about the Expos's demise have been going on even longer than Nostradamus's predictions of the end times (if you read the Weekly World News from time to time, you'll know what I mean.....umm...yeah). After 1994, it felt like each oncoming year would be the final one for baseball in Montreal. But MLB's incompetent handling of the situation forced the Expos to continue their residency in Montreal, playing in a city that had long ago lost interest in the team once it had figured out that they were just a lame-duck franchise. The Expos were continually on Death Row (no, not the record label....can you imagine Tony Batista teaming up with Snoop Dogg for some jams about the ghetto in Montreal? "Man, we had it tough, pimping for poutine") and asking those fans to continue caring about baseball would make about as much sense as dieting at Memphis Blues or cooking your sashimi.

Still, despite all the turmoil the Expos will always be my favourite baseball team from Canada. I know, it's slim pickings when there are only 2 of them to choose from, but my attachment to the franchise had deep roots (well, as deep as 10 years or so can get). Something about the beastly cavern that is the Big O, something about the French I learnt throughout my pre-university years (those French baseball announcers were awesome), Even this year I followed their every game, even though they had an offence more anemic than Kate Moss's body and pitching less imposing than Tiny Tim (NOT Tim Chan), and subsequently had a record every bit as putrid as the late-90s Canucks. Well, i'll still follow baseball, much to the scorn and derision of my peers--hey, it's not like hockey's going to be on anytime soon.

No, I'm not on Fatkins

2004-09-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Before I left Vancouver, there were many whispered hypotheses that when I came back to Shangri-La for Christmas I'd be really huge, sort of like a cross between Homer Simpson and Yokozuna the Sumo Wrestler. The reason for these speculations were due to Chestnut's unlimited access all-you-can-eat meal plan. I would even speculate that here were bets being taken as to who would gain more weight, myself or Dave.

Well, I hate to disappoint you guys, but thus far I haven't gained any weight. Don't get me wrong, the food at Chestnut is pretty good for a cafeteria, the food is fresh, the fries are plentiful, and you can really gain weight here (lest any of you think that I've entered a Weight Watchers consortium). There's no Pho here, unfortunately, but I think that if they did make Pho i'd still stay clear away from it (they tried making Hot and Sour Soup the other day and it tasted more like Vinegar Soup). At Chestnut, you can drink all the fountain pop that you dare, and can eat a burger with fries for lunch and dinner everyday. There's also ice cream, pizza, sugar drink mixes, salad dressing. I mean, all the unhealthy goop you could ever want is found here at Chestnut. Alas, no raw dog, but I'll keep my hopes up (today's Mid-Autumn Festival and I'm hoping they carve a canine to commemorate the occasion).

However, I've stayed away from all that stuff. When I was an undergrad, I probably would have leaked my pants if I had the opportunity to drink as much pop as I care to. I'm not saying that I would have peed my pants just to be able to squeeze a few more mL of Coke into my system (taking a cue from the Romans here), but I used to really enjoy drinking the sugar water. However, this summer I learned that drinking pop ain't the greatest way to go (thanks Ty)--loaded in sugar, some caffeine (meh), some food colouring (that better NOT be natural), supporting the Mormons, I mean, it's all there. Watching Supersize Me and reading Fast Food Nation also sobered me to the reality of a diet based on pop and eating fries. The fries may taste good, but there ain't much nutritional content in them, unless you're on a grease gain eating plan that requires you to eat so much grease that it oozes from your pores (it's for that shiny look). I've replaced those fries and stuff with salad, which I eat just about everyday. Seriously, I've eaten so much more vegetables than I ever did in Vancouver....i know most of you are in disbelief when I say that, but I don't feel so bad about eating vegetables anymore.

I've also been exercising an awful lot. Being too cheap to pay $2.25 to subway to school, I've embraced the 20 minute walk time to get to my building on campus. The round trip, along with my usual meanderings here and there, add up to at least an hour of brisk walking per day. Now if i was driving a car to school the thought of walking for more than 10 minutes would strike fear into my heart and raise my blood pressure, but now I scoff at such miniscule concerns. Doing the exploring-Toronto tour on foot has also been beneficial to the exercise regime. I didn't realize how far Bloor and Bathurst was from Dundas and University at first, but walking home from a concert at 1:30 AM sure awakens you to the length (takes about 30 minutes). For those Vancouver readers out there (um, just about everyone), that's the equivalent of walking from Granville to Cambie, or from the Grind to Dragonball.

Just this past Sunday I walked to church and walked back to Chestnut (approx 20 minutes), then walked to an ultimate game at Bloor and Spadina (about 30 minutes), walked back to res (30 minutes), walked to an orchestra audition at Hart House and walked back to res (30 minutes round trip). Oh yeah, I also played at the ultimate game as well. So, plenty of walking. On the upside, the benefit of walking 15 minutes to get tickets to that Black Dice show sure makes it a lot easier to swallow the fact that you've spent about $100 in concert tickets thus far, and I haven't even been here for a month.

Still, despite all those other explanations for my surprising bill of health, I think the real reason why I haven't ballooned into Chris Farley is the lack of decent bubble tea here. I'll go into more detail in a later post, but there's nothing here remotely close to quality and value as a Dragonball slushee pearl milk combination. If you dissect the ingredients of bubble tea, there's lots of sugar, lots of carbs (in the pearls), some caffeine (if you insist that they use tea, which I guess was the original idea of bubble tea). At least Dragonball uses real fruit, so I can say that I'm getting one food group here. If you drank Bubble tea 3-4 times a week, as i was doing back home, not only would you be a whole lot heavier along the waistline, you'd also be a bit thinner in the wallet. Not a good combination, I say. When I come back to Vancouver, I'll be craving the good stuff. You know, comfort food, such as green tea and sweetened soy milk.

Bring on the Durian Green Tea ice cream combination, Jeremy.

mostly non-edited reflections

2004-09-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

I am settling rather nicely, I think. My room is in a perpetual state of messiness, which must mean that I'm getting more and more comfortable with things over here.

I'm staying in a floor comprised of mainly first years. I remember who I was back in first year, a bit clueless, no fashion sense whatsoever (although some of you might argue that that hasn't changed), having no idea what I would do with this music degree, I didn't know about bands like Wilco or Pedro the Lion or Low or John Zorn. Most of all, I didn't really know much about my faith....i couldn't tell you, in 20 seconds or less, the basic essence of being a Christian.

Man, I've come a long way since then. I am now such an indie music snob that only 1% of my friends can keep up with me (or care to keep up with me) about the latest awesome group that's from Montreal and just released their debut album on Merge Records to critical acclaim (you get a prize if you know which band I'm talking about). I now know that t-shirts and sweatpants are not the way to dress up if you want to "look nice." I know what makes Christianity so redically different than other belief-systems. I've been to places as far-flung as Mexico, Scotland, Ireland, and almost equally far away in distance, Citrus's house in Port Coquitlam. I've been a Bible Study leader, a worship team leader, a de-facto social coordinator (as in, I can get 10 people to come out for bubble tea in 2 hours or less), a guy people actually don't mind hanging around with. I didn't imagine that I'd be a leader in any way, but throughout the 5 years of my undergrad experience at UBC, God has shaped me, revealed more of Himself to me, and I've been given more opportunities to serve and be a role model.

I'm still equally clueless though, just ask any member of my family.

So now here I am in Toronto, living by myself (along with 900 others in this building), disconnected from all my friends in Vancouver, starting anew. In much the same way as my previous 5-year experience, I am looking forward to what I'll learn, to which shape God will mold me, who I get to meet, opportunities to serve and lead, and the winters in Toronto.

Of course I'm lying about that last part.

*Smog advisory warning in Toronto*

Ahhhhhhhhhh Toronto....

"hey Jon, why don't you update your blogs?"

2004-09-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Good question.

When I first began this blog, I brought with it grand notions of updating it almost every day, telling of how I was doing in Toronto. That way I wouldn't have to send those infuriating mass e-mails, you know, the multi-paragraphed ones where you're too busy to do more than skim through them, but you know you'll get back to it when you have more time, which invariably never comes. Getting back to the subject, this blog began to morph into more of a humor post, in the vein of He-Man's sublimely sarcastic and irreverent ruminations (www.reformedjerk.blogspot.com ....I'll get the html hyperlink thingy figured out soon). Let me tell you folks, writing things intended to be funny takes a real long time, lots of editing, lots of thinking about how to phrase the next sentence and shape the paragraph/post as a whole. So being the lazy-butt spur-of-a-whim person that I am, I began to resist the notion of sitting down for a good 30min-1 hour blogging session.

However, knowing that there are some people who anxiously view my blog every day, eagerly checking to see what I'm up to in smog-land, made me re-examine my blogging habits. Well okay, it's just Alan that humors me by telling me this, but it's made me want to blog a bit more.

*DISCLAIMER*

Future posts may not be all that funny anymore, since comedy writing takes time to do well. I might just present an objective list of all the things I did in the day, such as: 8:30 woke up
8:35 woke up again
8:40 David He called me and woke me up to go to breakfast
8:45: ate some breakfast
9:15: wasted time in room
9:45: began walking to class
10:10-12:00 Went to "Music in Canada" class. Listened to other people talk about readings which I had not the faintest clue of what the jist was.
12:00: meandered in Music Library
12:45: ate lunch

Yawn.....I'm getting sleepy writing this myself. So brace yourselves for future posts that read suspiciously more like academic psychology jounrals than somebody who needs to be sent to a psych ward.

Before I leave to fulfill the duties of a tremendously busy grad student, let me proudly boast of having seen no fewer than three Blue Jays baseball games in the past four days. For those of you who have no idea who the Blue Jays are (Do they play in the AHL?), they're Toronto's Major League baseball franchise. And for those of you who strongly suggest that I could be doing something better with my time than to see the AL East celler dwellers, let me rebut by saying that I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the final days of the sun's appearence in Toronto before its 6-month hiatus known as winter. Not only that, but I spent a grand total of $0 on 3 tickets, saving myself the aggregate total of $97 in the process.

SO THERE.

"Woof! rolls"

2004-09-13T01:47:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like doing a megapost today, as I wish to observe the Sabbath on working too hard (I know that's faulty application right there, just humor me).

Some of you may be curious as to why my blog name is "RawMarshmallowDog." Surely there were much more suitable and classier blog names to use, such as "WWEAustin316SuckIt" or "Fashizzlemahnizzle." Well, I feel that in the first case, wrestling is something that no longer consumes my spare time (I have far more sophisticated ways of spending my time now, like looking up baseball sabermetrics sites). And much as I love emulating the man known as Snoop (and dressing like him, and re-enacting the movies he's starred in, and cruising just like he does, and partaking in the same recreational activities that he....errr, um....let's not go any further), I don't think I should really fully endorse a man who's done his fair share to portray pimps and "ho's" as a normal being in society. I actually read in the Toronto Star yesterday that a costume company makes pimp and ho costumes in kids sizes for Halloween, and that they're selling fast.

I'll let that last sentence speak for itself.

As I fall off my high horse, my personal blogtitle was chosen as a tribute to my unique and often offputting eating habits. Those who've had the privilege of dining with me know that I often like to mix different foods together. I could say that it's the way I like to break the ice, but I usually do my mixology at the end of the meal. I'll keep the reasons as to why I mix like a mad scientist to myself, but I would also like to say that I have yet to find anyone who 1) is impressed with what I do and 2) mixes foods as unorthodox as Pepsi and salad together themselves....well, except for babies. There was one especially memorable barbeque a few years back at my orchestra buddy Sherwin's house where I was in fine form and mixed ice cream and wieners together. However my piece de resistance was a jumbo marshmallow, delicately melted across an otherwise boring chicken breast. Just typing that made me really hungry....yum, who needs fusion restaurants when you can do all the fusing by yourself? You'd save a lot of pretense and money along the way.

Now, the expression "Raw Dog!" is something that will either strike you as yet another reason not to hang out with me, or a hilarious inside joke that kinda sums up who I am. So read on at your own risk (albeit some of you have heard the retelling of this tale as often as the story of Adam and Eve). At any rate, this saying was coined last summer at the unofficial CRU party house (aka Drema's place). I had the pleasure of delivering some Samurai to a bunch of CRU people. Gwai lo (or Tyron), despite his buff exterior appearence fortfied by protein shakes, pit burgers, and falafels, refuses to this day to eat any raw fish, which just confirms the truth of 1 samuel 16:7. I challenged him, saying "you've had dog before, haven't you? Then why can't you eat raw fish? Hey, how about RAW DOG?" Sufficient amounts of people were revulsed and a legend was born.

Yeah, I know the story and explantions may sound a tad convoluted, but you can't mess with the legacy of the Raw Dogness now. Like any good all-purpose ingredient, I use it as a form of address, when I'm a bit frustrated, when I'm excited, whenever I see dogs, and whenever I eat sushi (raw dog rolls. With parasites. That's another story to tell later). One of these days I'm gonna have dog that's safe to eat (in Korea perhaps?) and just go nuts. I'll have dog-chee, bul-dog-ki, bim-bam-dog, and dog with hand-made noodie. I might even eat it with a roasted marshmallow.

Anyone up for dinner?

"He wants........more intensity!!!

2004-09-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I had the pleasure of going to Niagara Falls with my family. This being my first time at the tourist trap, I didn't really know what to expect. A lot of water, perhaps, but that's a given.

It was a relief going to a place around the Greater Toronto area that doesn't have vast amounts of smog. You really can't appreciate clear blue skies (pretty much a given in Vancouver, unless it's raining, in which case it looks like clear grey skies) until you go to Toronto and see what looks like static or fuzz around the downtown skyline. While I love static and fuzz in the music I listen to, what goes on in the air is a far different story. It is true that viewing the smog from a distance does give downtown a grungier, artsier, and hipper look, however, such aesthetic considerations are moot as soon as you realize that breathing in said hipness gives you a far greater chance of falling ill. Ah smog--it's like mandatory secondhand smoke.

Back to Niagara, Horseshoe Falls really does resemble a giant toilet bowl. A giant toilet bowl containing lots of clean (?) water, I might add. In the age of obesity and supersize portions, perhaps there will come a time when North Americans will balloon to such sizes that the largest Texan would need to do his #2 whilst sitting down on the natural toilet seat.

On to less scatalogical observations, me and my sister took a walkway down closer to the falls. The elevator dropped us down 39 meters, thus enabling us to see the Falls from a more intimate level, albeit at the cost of $21+. I could have gotten at least 3000 sheets of printer paper at that price!

Upon leaving the underground tunnels and hitting the Observation Deck outside, I was immediately deluged with water from the waterfall. The lens on my glasses were covered with rain, thus fouling my sense of vision. Being the good tourist that I am, I frantically snapped pictures left right and center in an attempt to "preserve the moment" and portray some of the sheer majesty of the Falls. However, I couldn't really aim or zoom the camera (to fit in more water...ooooh!) due to my 1)lack of photography skills and 2)lack of eyesight (without my glasses, I have less sense of vision than a chicken with its head cut off). I'd like to believe that it was the latter instead of the former that caused the resultant pictures to turn out as though I had just taken pictures of static. Clear static, mind you.

This entire scene reminded me of some random cheesy boy-band video where the members prance around in the rain declaring their unconditional love for so-and-so (think "Quit Playing Games with My Heart"), all the while emoting so severely you'd think they were having a grand mal seizure (or the Holy Spirit REALLY got a hold of them). And even as that thought ran through my head as I was being assaulted by the equivalent of waterfall spit, I am happy to report that I was not tempted in the slightest to re-enact those scenes. I doubt my younger sister would have been able to hold back that desire. My sister also loves Celine Dion (much like 40% of the free world, thus ensuring that at least 40% of the free world has bad taste) and she likes to imitate the bullhorn's patented chest slap (apparently on the "My Heart Will Go On" music video. Dunno, I've never heard the song before). This gesture does such an effective job of displaying emotion that we might as well ban all other signifying forms of emotion in favor of this chest thump. Oh yeah, we gotta make sure we do the aforemented thump with our eyes closed, all the while keeping an image of your true love in your head (either a man twice your age or some dude that drowned due to a shipwreck).

Sorry if you didn't understand that last reference. At any rate, it's getting late and I need to make sure I don't flunk out of grad school (although it hasn't even begun yet). Ciao.

Extra coffee and the big bad wolf

2004-09-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, a few follow-up remarks on the last post (as a student, you're always pressed for time due to procrastination, and can never fit absolutely everything you wanted to on your term paper--unless your name is Heesun Nam. I'm carrying on that proud tradition now with this blog):

The title of the last post (if only your job was as good as the coffee) was discovered on a poster at a Tim Horton's in Fredericton by my sister and yours truly. Given the quality (or lack thereof) of the sludge at Tim Horton's, my family wondered if the poster was trying to be subversive in proudly proclaiming that working at Tim Horton's is a horrible experience only matched by the dangerous toxicity of its coffee (apologies to my friends who like Tim Horton's' coffee).

The best coffee I've had comes from a nice coffee shop, unfortunately saddled with a horrible location, by the name of Viva Java. It's located at Shell and Cambie in Richmond. If you're scratching your head wondering where that is, or what major landmarks are around, you're not alone. It ain't exactly around Parker Place or Daiso. It's close to a Holiday Inn, which is like saying my home church is close to Broadway church--it still doesn't reveal the location very well. It's also closed ridiculously early on Saturdays (at 1 PM) and observes its own Sabbath on Sunday. Regardless, Viva Java, like the finer things in life, is well worth searching out. Give it a try.

My dad, by the way, rates Tim Horton's coffee with a C- (Starbucks gets a B). A rather emphatic C-, I may add (think loud pronouncements on the same volume level and intensity as "You're grounded!" or "Leafs suck!") . I don't believe in giving grades out, but I wouldn't even entertain the notion of budging it much past the Mendoza line, even if they gave me 3 creams and 16 sugars. And let me do it myself.

Yesterday I had the fortune of going to Wal-Mart, Ikea, and Square One (largest mall in Ontario, woohoo!) to do some shopping. Normally, I avoid doing the verb "shop" as much as I can, and try providing excuses such as "I feel a sneeze coming on" or "Aren't the SARS-advisory warnings still in effect for Toronto?" However, since my parents are leaving on Wednesday, and were in essence buying stuff for me, I trudged along with the same enthusiasm of somebody going off to the dentist.

The entire experience was so weird. Shopping, let alone contemplating going to 3 huge, corporate-box behemoths (large department store, large furniture store, and large mall) is super-ironic for me, especially if you know how I feel about the evils of big bad corporations and their cut-throat business tactics. My parents, on the other hand, don't really see things the same way I do, and being the good Asians that they are, focus on the Lowest Common Denominator, I mean, Price.

Going to a store that doesn't really specialize in anything, yet offers everything (from paint to clock radios to undergarments to $3.99 delete-bin Jon Secada CDs), doesn't really have much customer service, and at times takes on the veneer of a no-holds-barred take-whatever-you-can-find-off-the-shelves competition, adds up to a soul-sucking experience that leaves you thoroughly dazed.

On the other hand, I got 500 sheets of printer paper for $2.83. I totally saved big time over Shoppers's price of $2.99! Yeah baby!

If Only Your Job Was as Good as the Coffee....

2004-09-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm now back safe and sound from my Maritimes trip experience with my family. In sum, I managed to read quite a few newspapers, read through 1.5 books (Will and Ian Ferguson's "How to be Canadian" and Roger Angell's "Game Time"), consume WAY too much junk food, and get re-acquainted a bit with my French (which has made me want to take a French course to more thoroughly brush up my French skills, which used to be serviceable--funny how 5 years of not speaking the language can erode one's skills in that language. Imagine what would happen if you didn't pray for 5 years. How would our relationship with God be? Or if we didn't go to fellowship for 5 years....or go to church service for 5 years. Scary thought...)

My buddy David He, who goes to the same church as I in Vancouver, is also going to UT for a grad degree this September, and he also went on a bus tour (to NYC). Check out his musings at www.reformedjerk.blogspot.com, as his recent post I think summed up what I felt about the bus trip (well, the opening paragraph at least, i didn't read the rest of the entry). He's far more sarcastic than I am, which means his posts are superior, at least for now....

Where was I again? Oh yeah, the trip. It was good, but there's only so much sitting around on a bus that you can do before ennui sets in. In other words, I'm glad to be back in the so-called "Centre of the Universe. " Toronto's fairly big, their stores seem to be open a whole lot later than in Vancouver, it has a good diverse racial mix (certain areas of the Maritimes made me feel like I was back in Chiliwack again. Seriously, there was not a single bubble tea place around! How CAN you live without the tapioca?) and I can finally go and watch a Jays game! Yay Jays! Too bad they're 20-something games under .500 now.

If there's one thing that Vancouver has over Toronto (I know you're thinking ONE thing? Only One thing? I can think of hundreds!), it's the big edge it has in coffee, both in quality and quantity. Well, "big edge" is probably understating it. More like colossial mega-huge-from Washington Capitals-to-Detroit Red Wings difference in coffee (I'm using hockey terms as baseball comparisons will likely go over the head of most of the 5 people reading this post). The reason I choose to harp over coffee (over other things such as lack of greenery, lack of mountains, super-congested highways, smog, the Leafs, 14% tax on food, sports games on the west coast beginning at 10 PM local time, etc. etc. etc.) is that coffee played an integral role in me actually being able to finish my undergrad degree. Without it, I would not have been able to fill up my schedule to such a capacity, and those of you who know me know that I filled my schedule to the max. I certainly wouldn't have had as much fun at UBC.

The first difference concerning Toronto and Vancouver is that Toronto is superpopulated with Tim Horton's. I know that there's a fair amount of them over in Vancouver, but it's ubiquitous over here, and my sister says that it's really part of the culture, and that Timmy Ho's has managed to brainwash a legion of Torontonians that their coffee is actually good. Well, I'm sorry to say this folks, but in Vancouver I'd never in my wildest dreams even think of going to Tim Horton's for "good coffee," even if it is 3 AM. I'd rather go to Calhoun's and get a double-espresso (and fall asleep by 5 AM).

Another beef I have with Toronto coffee (and this holds true for anything east of Toronto) is that they seem to like to put in your cream and sugar for you. Now for most of you neophyte coffee drinkers, that may not seem like such a big deal, but for those who are coffee connoisseurs (or snobs, depending on how you look at it), this is a grave offense that insults the intelligence and personal taste of coffee addicts....er, drinkers! There are some times where I like to have the coffee a little more bitter (if I'm really tired, or if I have an exam to write), and there are times when I like my coffee with more cream. I tried over the past week to be specific with my cream and sugar requests (such as 1 cream and 1 sugar, or 1 cream and 2 sugars), but it all ended up tasting the same, like they put a large splotch of cream and a fair amount of sugar in it. In the end I just gave up and defeatedly said "cream and sugar," I'm sure much like the other 90% of the population. Yesterday my family went to Second Cup (decent coffee if you're in Vancouver, but it's like premium stuff over here), went through the drive through (yes, the apocalypse is nearing) and got our coffees. We were all looking around for the cream and sugars, but there was none. To our horror, we realized that they'd already put in the cream and sugar for us, which caused great concern amongst my family, as my dad likes to have 2 creams and no sugar in his coffee, and my mom likes to have 2 creams and 1/2 pack of sugar in hers. When we asked the attendent where the cream and sugar was, he gave us a really confused look (as though we asked him where Pho Bich Nga was), and said "uh....it's in the coffee already!"
Thanks bud, but we don't mind doing it ourselves.

I can think of a few other reasons, but time is running out. It's 11:45 PM and my sis wants to sleep (and I'm in her room, using her laptop). Rest assured, loyal reader(s), once I move in I'll be able to stay up later, like say, 11:45 AM.

Ciao

Timbit Nation

2004-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Saint John, New Brunswick. Judging from the amount of responses received to my previous 2 posts, this greeting might fall under the "if you say a greeting and no one is there to receive it, does that mean a greeting has been given?" category.

I'll keep this short, mainly because my sister is waiting to use this comp as well. The bus tour has been pretty good, and we're doing the typical drive-by bus tour, not really stopping too long in one place, spending just enough time in an area to actually claim to have visited it.

In five days we've been to: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Fredericton, Dartmouth, Halifax, Charlottetown, Summerside, Amherst, Saint John and some other cities I forget at the moment. I've really appreciated what good coffee can do for you (as I haven't really had any good coffee since hitting Toronto), and i'm thankful for vacationing with my parents (otherwise I'd never be able to wake up in time to leave the hotels at the ridiculously early times of 7:30, or in today's case, 6 AM (That's 2 AM PST). Now, those of you who know me know that I'm much more likely to sleep at 6 am than get my day started at that time. Being a night owl, I feel quite tired and dazed for most of the day, but when nighttime hits, sure enough I have tons of energy and stay up until 1-2 AM quite frequently. I guess this bodes well for my time management skills at UT this year?

Final thought of the day. I was in Halifax 2 days ago (Friday). It's a nice city, with some good looking pub/bars around the harbour. There was one restaurant that caught my eye: it was selling Fresh Fish on Fridays, which is nothing spectacular until you consider that its name is "Mercury." Now I don't know about you, but I'd be awful skeptical about a restaurant called Mercury that sells fish. Are they trying to say that mercury is part of their fish sauce? That all their fish contains mercury? I dunno, it just doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, that's all.

Cheers, and I'll say hello sometime early next week.

Off to PEI

2004-08-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the flight to TO went off without a hitch, other than the fact that I got stuck in my stall in the washroom in the airport. I guess something was wrong with the latch because it just didn't open, despite my earnest efforts to move the blasted thing. I eventually had to push myself out from underneath the stall. I'm just glad that 1) I'm not 256 pounds and 2) the floor of the stall wasn't as dirty as some other airports I've seen, such as Heathrow (London), which is the dingiest, stinkiest, scummiest airport washroom I've experienced. If I had to do that getting out manoever at Heathrow,I'd have changed immediately and junked my pants. I wouldn't even have given them to Salvation Army, I wouldn't want to be liable for someone getting some sort of infectious disease from those pants.

More pleasant things aside, I watched Mean Girls and Shrek 2 on the flight, and I have to say, I really liked Mean Girls, even more than Shrek. Mean Girls has pretty intelligent dialogue, humourous characters, funny scenes and some cool lines.

So today our family went to downtown TO, checked out the campus and moseyed around Chinatown. It was as though I had never left Vancouver. Lunch was at a cheap noodle house which had good food, good chinese service (we were in and out within a half an hour--at lunch at Yaletown on Sunday, we had just placed our order after a half an hour), and best of all, it had passed the Toronto food inspection. There was a sign on the front door saying it had passed inspection (the other options were "conditional pass," "closed" and "enforcement action taken), meaning I could eat there in peace without worrying about getting rat feces in my $2.95 beef tripe noodles or that my chinese doughnuts were made in a mop bucket in the washroom. All I had to worry about was the MSG, which definitely hit like the atom bomb.

This'll probably be the last post I do for awhile, as I'm going on a legendary Chinese bus tour from TO to PEI. I'll be back in a week or so. Until then, feel free to e-mail me.

Ripping CD's

2004-08-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

This post isn't going to be all that imaginative. I'm in the process of packing stuff as I type (don't ask me why I'm setting up a blog when finishing my packing is infintely more important--don't worry, I've got some ginseng tea waiting for me). I just wanted to set this up before I leave VanCity and go to TO. I'll explain oddities such as my Blog name and such later on (although the name may be more obvious to some than others).

As the title indicates, I'm ripping selected CD's from my vast collection (approx. 300+ in number) and saving them on my hard drive and then transferring them to my laptop. That way I don't have to bring so many discs along. It's kinda like the process you use for an IPod, only my laptop is like 8x larger and a lot heavier.

Next post will be in Toronto (or Mississauga). I'll probably be complaining about how this city sucks compared to Vancouver, but I'm sure I'll get over it.