Journey of Kong

Alas, the journey has come to an end. Kong has come and gone.

For me, it has been an insightful and instructional travel over the past several months since I discovered the production diaries.

Since the first day of filming, Peter Jackson, the director of King Kong and Lord of the Rings, has been publishing online video diaries detailing the creation of this cinematical marvel. Every 3-7 days, a free video would be posted, where Peter himself talked about each aspect of production, and answered questions that were posted on the Kong is King fansite.

Everything from the types of cameras and a day in the life of a film reel, to the filming of "bigatures" and the 3D modelling of Kong. The diaries have been a fantastic film study and essential in showing a true behind-the-scenes look on exactly how a movie is made. Sadly, they are not completely available for free anymore, so you'll have to buy the DVD set.

Viewing the original 1933 production of King Kong, in all it's colorized glory, brings you even farther into the mind of a director. Seeing how they've redone the scenes and various elements from the original film, as well as which are new, and which were left out.

And finally, the 2005 film itself. Awesome from beginning to end. Sure to be a winner of countless Oscars. Really, you have to see it for yourself, and on the big silver screen.

Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

It's fantastic. That's all you need to hear. Now go and see it. Even the people over at cinematical agree.

Seriously though, it's a beautiful tale, well told and true to the original books. Despite his original reluctance to his stories being adapted for film, I think C.S. Lewis would have been more than pleased with the results.

More than just pretty pictures and excellent acting, the story and message behind the premiere movie in the series is loved is by Focus on the Family to the point that they have released all sorts of additional material to share the message of the film.

Go and see this film... it's an epic adventure to rival that of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.

Aslan is on the move.

More Changes in Life

I'm sad to say that today, my pet, friend, and companion of over 8 years has passed away.

Duke was a fantastic dog. He was always well behaved, strong, loyal, cuddly, and a sucker for belly rubs or a spoonfull of peanut butter.

It's amazing how, when you have Jesus in your life, you find ways to praise Him even when life throws you a curveball. Even through the tears and crushed hopes, I am still reminded of the many fond memories and joyous times.

I am very thankful that Duke has lived well up to his final days, despite the disease that we knew would eventually spell his death. He had many fine days of laying in the yard under the sun, and playing with his sister. I am also thankful and awed at the countless lessons the Jesus has tought me through Duke's life. Loyalty, ownership, responsibility, duty, nurturing, training, discipline, and disciplining.

Changes and Confusion

Just last evening, my family got the news that the Merrickville house has just been sold to someone else.

It was the house that we've been trying to buy for a year and a half now. My parents have always wanted to live there, and felt called to go ahead and make the offer. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to sell our current house, and so have been stuck with the pressure of legal battles.

Near the end, the situation simplified itself into one simple (and difficult) matter of trusting God. If He wants us to move to Merrickville, then He will provide a way. And, well, our chance and dream has ended with the close of the estate.

We are still on the verge of losing our current house, but we are confident that God is now keeping us here for a reason. My family and I are still not entirely sure what that reason is, but we're excited to find out.

Christmas Light Rock

Looks like an eccentric guy down south has been spending huge numbers of hours each year putting together displays of synchronized christmas lights timed to music.

Carson Williams has 16,000 lights on his house, linked back to a computer and animated to music. Anyone outside of his house can tune in to a short-ranged FM radio transmitter set up to hear the songs as they're played. Check out this awesome video of his house performing Wizards of Winter from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

And if you're really daring, you can even build your own light display.

Another potentially great Christian reach out, if handled properly. Thnk about it... wild and crazy lights going on and off, and cars lining up for miles to see the show, and tune in to your selected christian music. (perhaps David Crowder, DC Talk, or Newsboys?)

Photoshop Tennis

It's a pretty simple idea, really: One player emails a Photoshop document to the other containing a single layer. Each player progressively adds a layer until the match is over, either by time, withdrawal, or mutual consent. A guest adds comments in real time and the people watching vote for a winner. - Read at G4

Started by Croudal Partners, this deceptively simple concept sounds like a sport I would definately be interested in! It's taking the design community by storm, and is a fantastic way to promote creativity, collaboration, competition, and plain old fun.

Begin with a randomly chosen image or set of images, and start the game. The artists take turns manipulating the previous layers, and adding one new layer to the mix. The only rules, are that you can only add one layer, and you can't completely cover the previous layers (so you have to use elements from the previous rounds).

Anyone have any ideas on how to use this as a ministry/evangelism/discipleship tool?

I'd love to give this a try if I can find anyone as crazy as me.

Coudal Partners - started Photoshop Tennis
LayerMatch - great examples of battles
G4 - video minidoc

Bye Bye Government

I've just witnessed the making of Canadian history.

Just a moment ago, I watched the non-confidence vote on television. The Liberals have been deemed no longer fit to run the government. The house of commons voted 171 to 131 to holding elections in January.

I am not surprised at this development, since the unveiling of the Gomery Report has already judicially proven that many of the leading members of the Liberal Party, including the former prime minister, Jean Crétien, have led a bout in organized crime that has literally stolen hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers money.

Not to mention the biblical and family issues and values that the Liberal party has destroyed over their previous terms:

• abortion and partial-birth abortion
• gay marriage
• prescription of marijuana
• law against reciting in public or printing certain verses from the Bible
• equal justice for all not like how Svend Robinson, who was then a premier, was only given a slap on the wrist even though he stole a $6400 ring
• complete failure to ensure the safety of Canada through military
• refusing to stand up for international safety and peace

... and so much more, like the newly uncovered scheme of illegal insider trading amongst Liberals.

Elections are coming January 23rd! Be sure to vote for your premiers who represent the one party who stands up for what's right, moral, legal, and biblical.

Passion Toronto

Yesterday, about 20 of us from Celebration! Church in Ottawa drove on down to Toronto to join in the first Passion conference in Canada!

It was a fantastic evening of prayer and worship... lead by Louie Giglio and his all-star team of worship musicians, Charlie Hall, Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Passion 05 conference in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this year with 7 others from my church, and it was amazing to see it finally come to Canada.

The new 268 Blog
Passion 05 photos

Passion Toronto photos coming soon here.

Panorama

Building Tech Teams

Found a great article over at anthonycoppedge.com about building strong tech teams. Great ideas, and great principles. Such as event-specific lanyards, or setting the standard that all new volunteers, no matter how much experience they have, must start with the basics (wrapping cables, cleaning, etc) to show that they are capable of committing to such an important ministry!

-|Read|-

Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving holiday!

There's always plenty of things to be thankful for. Like health, good friends, loving family, a special someone (or lack of?), etc.

And you know what we did to celebrate the weekend?

Celebration! Church put together a huge free thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening. They spent the previous week with a mission team from South Carolina walking around campus, and inviting university and college students. Many who were not able to spend thanksgiving with family, or even international students, some of which have never heard of thanksgiving before.

Turn out was pretty good, around 60-70 people to consume most of the food. 2 turkeys, hams, chilis, chicken, side dishes, 12 pies, cakes, brownies, cookies, and lots of softdrinks.

We even had about 5 homeless people come in, which we then invited to eat their fill.

A great evening of thankfullness, food, games, making friends, and reaching out to the community.

Teaching

This past weekend was an altogether new experience for me. I had my first chance at teaching to an audience.

I've already spoken, danced, or just had fun on stage in front of a few thousand people. I've also tought various outdoors skills to groups. But this was my first time teaching leadership skills and values, even if it was only to a hundred or so people.

Over the weekend, my family was brought down to Michigan to speak at a business conference being held there. We were given a chance to share our faith in God, our values, our experiences, and our love for family and ministry.

I covered two topics during my time there. The first, was about a youth leadership conference I attended some years ago (and consequently became a Christian). Then, I tought on the subject of integration. The fact that we need to openly combine all aspects of our lives. You can't only be a christian at church, you can't only be a parent when you're with your child, and you can't only be in business when you're at work!

A great example of integration, is driving down to a business conference a couple of days early, with your family, to see the sights and make a short vacation out of the business trip.

The whole weekend was a great experience for my family and I, and we are incredibly humbled that they would want us to go down there and share with them.

A Taste of the Dream

My house was a total zoo today. A mess of people, wires, bright lights, and expensive equipment filled every space.

A film crew was making use of my home to film an episode of the popular comedy home-reno show Me, My House & I. I won't spoil the surprise, but I can tell you that they didn't actually renovate anything, and in fact, brought in this amazing Lamborghini to park in my driveway.

It was awesome having a film crew working through my home. The only trouble was... the house may have been mine, but the crew wasn't! I can't wait for the day when my family and I will be heading up even larger crews to direct family-oriented TV programming, feature films, and new multimedia.

Just a little taste of the dream.

More Misguided Finger-Pointing

Last nights news here in Ottawa once again showed a misguided individual taking his frustration from an accident, and using it to fuel another rediculous campaign to destroy something good in this country.

And this time, it's sticken pretty close to home.

Sadly, a highschool girl died the other day in a whitewater rafting accident while on her school Outdoor Ed trip. Her death, while it occured during the rafting, was actually due to heart failure, and not at all at the fault of the rafting itself.

However, her grieving father has taken it upon himself to put an end to all outdoor education programs in Ottawa highschools.

The foolishness has to stop. People need to start accepting things as accidents, and stop pointing the blame at reasons that are completely unrelated. It's just like how there's piles of stupid people in the states blaming people and government for New Orleans and Katrina. It's a hurricane, fools! Nobody maliciously created a hurricane to destroy a city.

I am a full supporter of the Outdoor Education program in highschools. I graduated top in my class, and helped the teachers run the course for the following two years. Not to mention I had been in Scouts for over 16 years, with plenty experience in whitewater. I am an accomplished whitewater canoer, with professional training including whitewater rescue.

Canada is a vast land of beauty and the ideal terrain for camping and adventure sports. It is only natural that the schools should offer this program to take advantage of some of the blessings we have in this country.

Yes You Can

Yes You Can... this was the message that Team Hoyt carries to the world.

Consisting of Dick and Rick Hoyt, the father-son partnership has competed in over 920 athletic events... and has never been in last place. They've challenged the world through many challenges, including the Boston Marathon, cycling across North America, and the triathlons.

Team Hoyt are accomplished athletes, yet this is not what makes them special.

Dick's son, Rick, was born with cerebral palsy.

At his birth, doctors diagnosed that Rick would be a vegetable all of his life. His parents refused to give up, and pledged that they would raise their son like any normal boy.

To this day, he is still confined to a wheelchair, and used a computer to talk for him. Despite his shortcomings, Rick has even gotten his highschool and university degrees.

Through every racing event, Dick carries, pulls, pushed, or tows his son. After an emotional first run, Rick confides to his father that while they're running, he can forget about his disabilities.

I had the priviledge of seeing Dick speak at a business conference this past weekend, where he talked about one of their greatest challenges: the Hawaii Ironman. The longest, by far, with a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run.

Team Hoyt are an amazing example to all, that you can accomplish great things if you believe that you CAN.

Katrina vs. Technology

Through the passing of hurricane Katrina, we are given a glimpse into the future of technology and culture. For the first time in human history, up-to-date and accurate news has been brought directly into households around the world, as well as to fellow Katrina victims. All without reporters.

How is this possible? Well let's go over a few of the many many scenarios that recently came to pass in the flooding of New Orleans.

First, picture a man sitting on the roof of his house. Turbulent waters swirl through the rooms below. As the events unfold, he writes down every detail into his wireless laptop, and uploads the information directly to his blog. Hourly. To receive updates from fellow bloggers across town, he has only to search for them.

Second, imagine a typical teenage youth wandering the streets looking for surviving friends, or simply the next meal. While he forages, he is constantly taking photos with his cellphone, and uploading them directly to his photoblog or Flickr account.

Next, a middle-aged tech industry worker is in his 5th-floor highrise apartment. Stranded there, he sets his webcam on his windowsill, and opens his account for anyone in the world may view real-time video of the flooding and rescue operations.

Here I am at home in Canada, listening to a podcast from Focus on the Family on my iPod. They are interviewing a US congressman over his cellphone in New Orleans, just as he is stepping from a helicopter to survey the damage to the city.

Sure, not all civilian news is trustworthy, but on average, it is far more reliable than television news stations. For example, stations here in Ottawa are weeping over an apparent lack of contribution to aid the crisis victims. They entirely failed to mention that the SBC and IMB have large teams present in New Orleans, handing out over 300,000 meals a day!

Why I Can't Get a Date

Ah yes, well according to a recent internet test I've taken, I cannot find a girlfriend, because I am known as the "Male Best Friend". This discovery is amusing, not unexpected, and quite telling.

A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, you're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way. This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired.

Cure for AIDS in Africa

The key to stop the spread of the AIDS virus in the world is prevention. When it comes to that, there is only one definate way.

AIDS is a blood borne virus, and therefore only communicable through the exchange of blood. Infected blood has to actually enter your own bloodstream for you to catch the disease.

How can you get AIDS? Not by sharing a cup, a toilet seat, or by kissing. You would literally have to either rub wounds together, share a needle, or have sex with an infected individual. We can probably rule out rubbing wounds together, and somehow I don't think that 26 million people in Africa are sharing cocaine needles. That only leaves one thing: sexual promiscuity. People are shacking up... in shacks. Seriously. Condoms aren't reliable, and you can forget the pill, it doesn't prevent any diseases.

You want 100% perfect prevention for AIDS?

Abstinence. Refrain from having sex until marriage. Stop screwing around. It works. Try it.

From a religious perspective: God is not a punishing god. His commandments and the bible shows us what sort of problems we'll run ourselves into if we don't listen to Him.

Hamas Confess

Well this pretty much proves it. So much for people arguing that the Palestinians are entirely innocent.

We already know that all of the major terrorist acts in the world were commited by muslims, but now they're actually bragging about it.

Hamas has started the competition by revealing their once-secretive military wing and claiming credit for a long string of terrorist activity, apparently believing that this will bolster their popularity among the Palestinian people

rest of the article

To take it further, the arrogant bastards have even posted photos, bios, and interviews of their key terrorist leaders on their website, with the hopes to gain further support from the muslim people.

I would not be surprised if those key leaders started mysteriously "disappearing" one by one...

ACLU Supports Child Rape

The so-called "American Civil Liberties Union", the ACLU, now supports raping children. Or, shall I say, the "right" to rape children.

The ACLU is officially backing the NAMBLA pedophiles (North American Man - Boy Love Association) in a large legal battle currently taking place. Two of NAMBLA's members recently kidnapped, and raped a young boy until he died. This isn't the first time, as over 200 child kidnappings, and 155 resulting deaths have been through members of this vile organization. The ACLU are arguing that it is an act of freedom of speech and expression.

ACLU are also responsible for: keeping parents from learning about their children's school studies, supporting gay marriage, supporting abortion, portraying the Columbine shootings as "expression of free speech", and for banning religion in schools and therefore removing freedom of speech and beliefs without persecution.

They are undermining the foundations our countries have been built upon. They are liberally screwing our rights, our families, our beliefs, our schools, and now our children.

Hear more about this from Focus on the Family

Government Cycle

Do a little history review, and you'll see that, if they're not careful, governments generally come full cycle in their thinking.

Here's an interesting insight I once heard from Bob McEwen:

Government Cycle

• Bondage -government control
• Spiritual Truth - breaking free
• Great Courage - fight for cause
• Liberty - free
• Abundance - growth in freedom
• Selfishness - taking for granted
• Complacency - not getting involved
• Apathy - not caring
• Dependency - allowing government to take care of needs
• Bondage - back to full government control

Pretty revealing isn't it?

Where do you suppose we are today? I'd place the USA at the Selfishness stage, and Canada down in Apathy. Sadly, Canada seems to be moving down that list pretty quickly...

Marketing Is Not Numbers

Here's a great article that describes why I strive for greater excellence in church and life. It isn't about numbers, it's about having a greater and more effective impact.

Marketing seeks to maximize a message's impact; it serves the message, it definitely doesn't serve the numbers. Numbers might suggest a change in method, showing what's working and what isn't, but it doesn't change the message.

Justice is a message. Boycotts are a method.
Grace is a message. Events are a method.
Love is a message. Postcards are a method.

The methods can change, the message doesn't.

from Church Marketing Sucks

Christian Theater

Theater is potentially one of the greatest grounds for outreach, and one of the most difficult to enter. Sadly, Christian theater has been limited to amateur productions and additional fluff to sunday morning church services. The theater community itself is also a particularily difficult one for Christians to enter. I have close ties with the community, and can tell you that a significant number of them are either gay, and or hostile to christianity.

Let's do some math for a moment. A Broadway sized production will typically play for about 2 weeks, at maybe 8 shows. In a building that seats about 1500. We're already ranking up amongst the top 100 churches. Now take it on tour. The biggest cities in North America. While you're at it, don't foget to add CD's, videos, and sheet music.

Now is that impact or what?

The only thing that's even come close to it is !Hero: the Rock Opera

Let's pray that more Christians take an interest in using their God-given talents for God. Like this small group of theater writers.

Weekend Retreat

The men at Celebration! had a great retreat this past weekend up at Muskrat Lake. Sure it rained constantly through the entire weekend, and we had to cancel most of our activities due to various circumstances, but they weren't the purpose of the retreat anyways.

Our goal is to step up. Step up to the plate in our goals, our jobs, our ministries, our relationships, and our families.

Coincidentally, I was just reading through the Genesis and the story of Noah's Ark in my leadership bible. He was a simple ordinary man, called by God. He had no special leadership qualities, other than the fact that he was willing to give up whatever it took to follow God.

And in light of the flood, sometimes you need to step up, to give up, to go up!

Stepping it Up

We had a great meeting last night with the other Sequoia media leaders. Now we're taking action to step up the excellence of the church.

There's lots of great things happening with each of the worship, sunday production, sound tech, and multimedia teams. Short term, and long term.

One of the great ideas we're pursuing, is to create a Press Kit for the church. With the increase in readily-available technology, and small-production in the church (homemade ministry videos, music, print material, etc.) we see the need to ensure that Sequoia is properly represented.

While we're very open to having members create their own media for the church, the press kit will ensure that our name, logos, style, and beliefs will be effectively reproduced in the created media. Also, this will keep media that misrepresents our church from being acknowledged or distributed.

The Sequoia Press Kit will contain, in various file formats:

• logos for the church and various ministries
• colour swatch and schemes ready for print
• font sets
• what we believe in
• official slogans, mottos, etc.
  

Bible on my iPod

I've been trying to put a text version of the Bible onto my iPod, since thearetically it should work with the notes feature.

Unfortunately it won't work. The notes feature limits it to reading 4kb per text file, to a limit of about 1000 notes. (A txt bible will need about 1600).

Maybe we can hope for on upgrade from Apple in the future?

Meanwhile, check out this handy app. BiblePod. You can choose to have it automatically upload your favourite parts of the Bible, and it will keep track of which parts you already have on there.

Have You Dreamt?

Have you ever dreamt of a girl so real and so perfect, that you are driven to take up drawing, just so you could capture a small glimpse of her?

I have, and it was just that. A dream. Literally.

Remembering a dream is rare enough, but to remember every little detail? Never. Yet that is exactly where I am left, with details of this bizarre and wondrous dream sequence.

I'm too realistic to go on chasing my imagination, but I tell you this: If by some means this dream woman materializes today, then I will not hesitate to introduce myself.

Great T-Shirt Designs

Here's some hilarious T-Shirt designs. I gotta get me some of these!

Thanks to Cafepress

Call to be a Gentleman

Being a gentleman is just as revelant today as it was in the medieval ages.

The medieval ideal taught humility and forbearance to the great warrior because everyone knew by experience how much he usually needed that lesson. It demanded valour of the urbane and modest man because everyone knew that he was as likely as not to be a milksop. - C.S. Lewis, The Necessity of Chivalry

Look at the rise of books such as Wild at Heart, and The Barbarian Way. They call on us to recapture our hearts, to raise our courage, and to be the gentlemen we were created to be. Great movies like Braveheart and The Patriot stir hidden longings inside of us men.

Stand up for life and what's right. Fight for your loved ones.

Or even just open the door for girls. Walk them to their door when you drop them off at home. Not just the women you like, but all of them. Small examples of gentlemanly strength are hard to find today.

Take this example from Sir Thomas Malory's, Le Morte Darthur:

"Thou wert the meekest man", says Sir Ector to the dead Launcelot. "Thou were the meekest man that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest."

Use More Electricity

Another week of blistering heat and humidity. Remember what happened last year at this time? A massive blackout. All because people were using up more electricity then the government was making, and it overloaded the circuits.

Their solution? This year they're warning us not to consume too much. Already this summer there has been minor brownouts througout Ontario.

If only they were smart enough to actually produce more power. Build more dams, windmills, power plants, and nuclear plants. Then our country would at least be free to use electronics when we want them. After all, we're paying for electricity anyways.

Everyone should use more electricity. Turn on your lights, your TVs and radios, your fridges and stoves, your airconditioners and fans, and turn on your computers and your laptops. Maybe if we caused a couple more blackouts, they'd wise up and provide us with an essential service that's actually reliable.

Bridging Tech from Then to Now

This has been an entirely new experience to me. I spent the better part of a day converting vinyls to digital.

Some of the old music that we require for a small musical dance production is only available on vinyl. So we need to capture music from old classic artists like Louis Prima, Four Barons, Richard Alden, and Margaret Whiting. Not to forget some famous old songs, such as In The Mood, and Blue Danube.

So here I am, conducting a major bridge across the technological generation gap; a turntable wired up to my computer.

Clean Clubbing

What do you get when you take a hit nightclub, remove the alcohol, remove the drugs, remove the grinding and groping, and remove the negative music?

Club 3 Degrees is your answer, and it's bigger and better than any other club in town.

It's Saturday night in Minneapolis's warehouse district, and the revelers are on the loose. They're staggering from one bar to another, shouting and belching and gallivanting in a booze-fueled bacchanal. But at the biggest venue of all, Club 3 Degrees, a different scene is unfolding. There's no cigarette smoke, and the only spirits around are the ones you can't sip. Up onstage, gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard is glorifying God with rich vocals and personal testimony. "Give Jesus an ovation," she tells the audience. "I don't know what you come to do, but I come to get my praise on."

Read the rest of the MSNBC article.

Desensitized Dancing

I was out to celebrate a friends birthday party tonight over at the local pub, and was plunged into a shocking reminder of what now passes for "dancing".

No more is their any creative form or beat amongst the revelling 20-somethings. Dancing at clubs as been reduced to dry humping. Sex with clothes on. Grinding, rubbing, gropping, and kissing were all present at the scene.

I came to the party so I could spend time with the girl I was interested in, but was unable to, as the drunken frat boys were too busy groping and kissing her. The worst part? She was encouraging them.

Desensitized Nation

Ever sit down and watch an old episode of the Lone Ranger, or Happy Days? Seems like it was made for little children doesn't it? When they were originally on the air, they were the height of prime time programming.

Today, we're stuck with filth. Take a look at an episode of Tripping the Rift, Desperate Housewives, or some of the other top shows out there now. They're riddled with sex, drugs, and morals you're grandmother would be horrified by.

Video games are just as bad. We started with the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario, and now they're selling Grand Theft Auto in the malls. I don't remember Sonic or Mario ever screwing hookers, which is exactly what you can do in GTA.

To uphold the values of this nation, we must return to the original set of morals that were set in place by our christian forefathers who founded this country. We need a revival in family-oriented media. Support family-oriented media!

Outreach Magazine

Two copies of the latest issue of Outreach Magazine came in today!

A writer contracted by the California-based evangelism magazine called me for an interview a couple of months ago about a church event I organize and host.

The Xbox Night!

Every couple of months, we round up 4 digital projectors, 4 Xbox's, for some awesome 16-player Halo 2 games. Generally we get about 30-60 guys and gals to show up for some serious gaming fun. It's a great way for people to meet Christians who share their interests. Especially in this part of Canada, where being a christian is considered uncool.

Celebration! Church is definately the greatest thing around, so don't miss out on it.

Back from the Ranch

I'm back from being up at the Circle Square Ranch for a week. An amazing week interacting with the children there.

Many of the children at camp are brought from broken families, orphanages, and foster families. It was heartbreaking to hear some of their stories.

The camp provided a place for these children to safely have tons of fun with horse riding, BMX biking, skate park, rock climbing, archery, swimming, canoeing, etc. All while telling them about Jesus... We saw many lives changed through this camp... even some that are very dear to our family.

This a fantastic ministry that Crossroads runs, and definately one that should be supported and encouraged.

Long Distance Surprise

Got a surprise phonecall from Velta! She's over in Australia for several months of schooling.

Her friends were all gone for a few days, then her wallet and ID were all stolen. Alone and nearly broke in a foreign country, and lost in translation from cultural differences, her cheapest form of entertainment for the day was... a phone card.

So of course we talked for a couple of hours... about countries, sharks, shells, our faith, bubbles, and the last of relationships. I know you're worried, Velta, but there's not much you can do at the moment. Keep Praying. Matthew 6:25-34.

While she's there, I hope she goes to visit Hillsong!! It's an incredible church, that's growing fast, and making a huge difference in Australia. For example, providing free use of instruments and professional recording studios for amateur artists. An awesome ministry.

It was great to catch up with an old friends. And with technology nowadays, what with email, messaging, blogging, webcams, and satellites... there wasn't even a noticeable timelag on the phone around the world.

New Era for Art

I was in Niagara Falls over the weekend, where I saw an inspiring display of art, design, and multimedia.

At the main entrance to the Niagara Fallsview Casino, is the Teslatron.

This amazing fountain is dedicated to Nikola Tesla,
the inventor of the tesla coil, and the alternating-current.

Every evening, the fountain turns into a multimedia spectacle. The actors' dialogue, sound effects, and environment lighting are integrated into the entire room to support the fountain's display. The inner core and fringing around the fountain is built of large-pixel LCD screens, which change colour and display animated bubbles and wild electric current running along the entire fountain, as well as the skylight supports.

In short, the Teslatron appears to be overloading as desperate scientists attempt to keep it under control. Animated electricity runs wildly throughout the structure and building supports, as the fountain slowly fills. At it's climax, seen on the right, lights are shining wildly, and water splashes and spills from the fountain into the pool below.

The era of art is changing. Statues and fountains are no longer static. They kinetically portray their story in a broad mix of multimedia!

Any other good examples of this change in culture and arts? Let me know.

Terrorists Bomb London

Thursday brought us yet another reason why we must crush terrorism at its roots. It is apparent that terrorists will not rest with 9-11.

The latest: bombing various metro rail and bus systems in London, England.

The culture that the terrorists come from teaches fear and hate from their earliest childhood. Believing that they can push us back and terrorize us through their methods will be their undoing. From what we've seen in the US after 9-11, and now in England after yesterdays bombings, it is easy to see that we will not be intimidated!

Evil will triumph when good men do nothing. Come together! Our nations need to unite to defeat the evil in terrorist countries. Stand up for what is right and biblical. Letting terrorists and evil men get away with these acts only promotes more.



On a side note, when looking at the location of the blasts, and the times inbetween them, it is possible that they were placed by one man, or group of men, travelling along a single route.

Stop Helping Africa

Here's an interesting article on why you should stop sending aid to Africa:

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

read the rest of the interview with Kenyan economist, James Shikwati

Prequel, Sequel, Remake

2005 is the year of the Prequels, Sequels, and Remakes!

Seems like film producers have started to run out of deals. Or perhaps it's just a phase they're going through.
Here's just a few off the top of my head:

• Anmityville Horror
• Assault on Precinct 13
• Batman Begins
• Be Cool
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Deuce Bigalo
• Dukes of Hazard
• Flight of the Phoenix
• Green Hornet
• Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire
• Herby: Fully Loaded
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• Honeymooners
• King Kong
• Oliver Twist
• Phantom of the Opera
• Pink Panther
• Ring 2
• Son of the Mask
• Star Wars: Episode 3
• War of the Worlds
• XXX: State of Union

(if you can think of any more, let me know)

Going down in Church history

Sunday was definately a record to go down in the annals of church history...

It began with the end of the evening, as I was ready to leave for home. Someone, (who we think is in the church that rents the building at the same time as us), had parked their sideways directly behind mine. Blocking my car entirely from leaving the parking spot.

Sure I could have had the car towed easily, but first I wanted to be the good church neighbour, and see if they would move it for me. But after talking to their church elders, they decided that they couldn't interupt the sermon to make an announcement. Instead, one of their elders came out, carrying a coathanger!

After a few minutes of wiggling the coathanger around and Ashley going to get me a tea, I solved the problem after a short lesson in applied physics.

After verifying the owner of the vehicle, the church's elders returned with the key, and moved the car for me. Finally!

(thanks to Merlin and Anco for waiting around with me, and a special thanks to Ashley for the tea)

Swimming, BBQ, and all the Xbox you can handle

Yesterday I hosted the big Celebration! Pool, BBQ, and Xbox Night. There was about 50 people there. Here's some of the highlights:

• Pool Games: Jump off the diving board, and someone shouts "feet" or "head", and the diver tries to hit the water first with the named part.
• Excellent Henna: Body art done by Ashley.
• Tasty Meat: Anco brought huge numbers of buffalo burgers, and deer burgers.
  
• Good Company: Lots of great friends came. Some surprises too, such as: Tom, who's back visiting from Montreal. Shannon, who's visiting from Windsor. Sarah and Jenny, who I was in Scouts with, and haven't seen in years!
• Insane Xbox: 4 digital projectors and 4 Xbox's networked together add up to one awesome gaming experience.
  

Definately need to do this more often.

Canada Day

Happy 138th birthday Canada!

First we met up with Robyn, Sarah, and Alaura (and later Anco). Went downtown and ran into the Celebration! gang who were handing out postcards and free freezies on Elgin. Dinner in the market, and over to catch the big evening show on parliament hill. The only noteworthy acts were Kalan Porter, and Sam Roberts.

It's amazing how small Ottawa is. All day long, I kept running into old highschool friends. Samir, Karen, Porter, and Courtney at the bank, and then I literally bumped into Suzy on the hill. But at the same time, Tom and I kept just barely missing each other all evening. Some crazy timewarp going on!

On Location

We spent yesterday on location, doing some preliminary shooting for a TV pilot.

Shown here: Trevor holding the boom, and myself on the camera.

We'll be back there in July for a week to film the entire pilot. If all goes as planned, we'll be in full production next summer.

Liberals Rear-End Canada

Well it's official, Canadian Liberals have completed their first major campaign to destroy the foundation of marriage in Canada.

But it won't stop there. The next step is to destroy the minds of our children. The gay coalitions have already made preparations and have rewritten the basic curriculums for all public schools. They will now begin teaching sexual education to even younger ages, and openly encouraging homosexual behaviour, as well portraying the act of sodomy as regular natural intercourse.

In a few years, we will be welcoming entire generations of youth who have grown up while being encouraged to pursue degenerative behaviour. Personally, I would be sure to home-school children, as the Canadian government can no longer be trusted.

The light in this all, is that the Conservative party has just commited that they will bring up same-sex marriage in the next ellection, and make it a major issue to consider.

Global Warming: The Real Reason

Of course we already knew that the Kyoto Protocol was one massive $10 billion waste of Canadian taxpayer's money, but now comes even more proof... and this time, from the scientific community itself!

Over the last while, a petition by the Science and Environmental Policy Project has reached over 15,000 signatures from known and respected scientists from around the U.S.

The scientific community has finally agree. They have finally discovered, decided, and agreed upon the real reason for the Global Warming (of 1 degree in 100 years) is not created at all by greenhouse gasses, but instead, the change in global climate is entirely due to... (drum roll please)... the SUN!

(fancy that?)

Defend Marriage

We are steadily approaching another fall in the values of this country.

Defend Marriage as it was designed to be!

We talked to a PM today, and were told that Paul Martin plans to settle the gay marriage vote by Monday Night.

We cannot let a mere 300-plus people decide the future of civilization in Canada. Especially since the Gomery Inquiry has broken loose, we know that about half of those PM's are untrustworthy and immoral to begin with.

Now, more than ever, we urgently need to talk to our PM's, and explain to them the foundations of marriage that this country has been built on.

Real friend? Real worried.

I stumbled across the blog of a friend of mine, and it worries me.

It seems that she's been having some difficulties and misgivings about life commitments I know she's made over the last year or two concerning her faith and habits. Especially now that she's back in her hometown, away from positive influence.

Finding her blog is a bit of a wakeup call, and I'm a little disturbed it's the first time I'm hearing about these things. Maybe she is too shy to mention her thoughts to me. Hopefully she knows that I will not hold them against her, nor will I think less of her for struggling with these issues.

I should call her. At least to give her some positive words of encouragement.

Gotham City: Ottawa

Saw the new Batman Begins movie last night. It was fantastic. Way beyond any Batman film to date, and it even beats most of the latest slew of cinema based on comics. A definate must-see.

During the film, a strange coincidence dawned on me. Our Nation's Capital, Ottawa, can be likened to the dark metropolis of Batman's Gotham City.

The cities share these in common:

• corrupt liberal political leaders
• political leaders who have ties with the mob
• government promotes mass drug use
• liberal leaders conducting shady deals at midnight
  
• the evil city leaders lie, cheat, and steal from the people

What we need, is a real-life Batman! Someone who is willing to fight the injustice in the Canadian society. Fight for what's right and good. Take the capturing of criminals into his own hands, and aid in delivering justice to the Canadian people!

Maybe call him CanadianGooseMan, or MooseMan, or maybe even MosquitoMan!

Whatever his costume or sign may be, turn on the searchlights, and shine his sign high into the skies over our fair city!

Equipment Arrival

Picking up the pace! Equipment is starting to arrive for the shooting next week. For this one, we're going totally digital.

It's still a bit early to give away any details on the project... I'll just say we're doing the pilot for a reality-TV series.

Doggie Hunter

Well that one was certainly a surprise! We have two american foxhounds... big hunting dogs, that have turned into complete babies. They have their little kennel outside, and the yard is fenced in for them to run freely during the day.

My family was in the middle of a meeting, when Maggie, my sisters dog, goes trotting by the kitchen window with most of a rabbit hanging out of her mouth! My sister rushes outside to try and take it away from her, but Maggie escaped, and manages to chew, pulverize, and finally swallow it whole.

A little disturbing, since our dogs are not used to eating anything but kibble.

Good to see they still have the instincts though.

When you think about it, many humans have a different source of instincts. We have no animal instincts, but instead those ingrained into us by God that are heightened by adrenaline, hormones, and conditioning.

For example, I hold myself to loyalty and duty to my loved ones. If something were to happen that would endanger them, I would most likely act instinctively to protect them.

(after all, the name William means "Protector")

Wild Heart

The past weekend I had an incredible opportunity to lead 32 of my fellow band of brothers from Sequoia out into the wilderness. The journey was designed as a spiritual one, where men can be true men, and recover their heart and passion for life that has been squashed by everyday mundane life.

My job, was to get them through the weekend alive. Many of these men had never been camping or in a canoe before, and over the course of 3 days, I had to train them, and lead them safely through the rapids of the Petawawa in Algonquin Park.

The other adventure aspect of the trip was led by Dan, who took us rapelling over a 300ft cliff.


Overall, all of the men really grew a lot over the trip, including myself. I am more recommited than ever to strive. To achieve my dreams and my goals. To build the purpose that God has created me for, and to rescue the beauty who is trapped in her tower.

Poor Political Polling

Polling has never been a specific science, and the Liberals are definately controlling it to their advantage. Unfortunately, this means twisting results and handing out misconceptions for the Canadian public to believe.

Isn't it funny that all the polls predicting Liberal success, are run primarily by major Liberal Party supporters?

To take you back to highschool statistics courses, you can see how easy it is to manipulate answers, and ask pointed questions, in the interest of a favourable poll.

To draw an example of this, let's examine how polls are taken for various "leading brand" toothpaste commercials. Yes, toothpaste, but bear with me for a moment. These commercials claim that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend said toothpaste brand. So how do they find this number? Simple. They send a case of their product to many different dentists in the region. If the dentists decides to keep the case, then it is one vote for the "recommended" side. If the dentist returns the case of toothpaste tubes to the manufacturer, then chalk one up for the other side. As you can see, this is not accurate polling, as many dentists wouldn't bother to make the effort to send back the case of toothpaste.

As for the connection to politics, you can see how easy it is to ask pointed questions, like:

• "Which party did you vote for last election?"
  
• "Do you agree with the Conservatives in trying to disrupt Canadian unity?"
  
• "Do you think that liberals have accomplished their goals in the past term?"

It is easy to see how any answer to these (and many other) types of questions can easily be distorted to bring a favourable poll.

Internet Evangelism Day

Sunday April 24th was officially Internet Evangelism Day.

What is it you ask? An awareness day to promote the use of internet and it's technologies to churches.

Why? With over 220 million people on the internet in North America alone, it is a great opportunity for Christians to get online, make some friends, and show people the amazing joy that God has brought into our lives.

The internet isn't just for techies. Everyone has opportunities to write, counsel, or chat about your faith.

Here's some great examples of ways that Christians can help people and make a difference in their communities and cyberspace:

• chat rooms
• bulletin boards
• gaming
• teaching IT & computer use
• blogging
• podcasts
• internet communities
• forums

Of Liberals and Taliban

This was dug up and posted by Girl on the Right a couple of days ago. Sadly, it sounds all too true.

The Liberal Party leader and the Taliban leader are both hiding. They both communicate through video tapes. Neither want to be investigated or put on trial. The Liberal Party and the Taliban have a deep hate for the US and democracy in general. They both seem to acquire funding through nefarious sources.

Martin Delays the Inevitable

Today Paul Martin announces that he will be indeed calling an election, after the Gomery Inquiry is finished near the end of December.

It's clear now that he is only delaying the inevitable. But do not be mistaken! It is a cunning and sleazy plan. In pushing off the election by another year, he will be accomplishing three goals.

First, he is keeping his job. Which by now, we all know he should be rid of.

Secondly, Martin is trying to improve his image to the nation by appearing to be the brave one by calling the election himself. Due to his complete lack in moral judgement over the past couple of years worth of issues, he is not doing a good job at making himself look good.

Lastly, Martin is yet again using some of his favourite tactics. By prolonging the election date, he is hoping for enough time for another issue to arise (or be created) that will draw away the attention of the voters. It is simple misdirection. Watch over the next few months, and do not forget.

Giving Crack to Children

Attempting to slow the spread of HIV through the crack-cocaine crowd seems to be a good idea at first, but the Canadian Healthcare's method is far from conscionable. They are making the decision to give out free hermetically sealed crack pipes.

Sure this may keep crack addicts from sharing needles amongst themselves, but it certainly isn't going to discourage them from the drug! Far from it, giving out free crack pipes will only encourage them to continue to pursue their addiction, and at the same time, give other members of society the false image that crack-cocaine is safe and is recommended by the government. Once again, the children of this nation will be given the wrong idea, and will be encouraged to ruin their lives.

A few years ago, a similar idea was promoted by the liberal government healthcare: condoms. The idea was to give out free condoms in schools in the attempt to lower the growing number of STD's. Their decision was terribly wrong. Over the last few years, giving out free condoms has served to encourage younger ages to acts of promiscuity. The more likely they are to perform sexual intercourse, the greater the chances of transmitting STD's, even with the use of a condom. Due to this new wave of immorality sweeping through to younger generations, the STD rate has risen over the last few years up to nearly 1 in every 4 Canadians.

Canadian Inquisition

After following the Gomery Inquiry being reported through CQ or your local newspaper and TV stations, it is easy to see that Canada is steadily in decline. As the Inquiry unfolds, more and more proof arises to give serious doubt to the Liberal leadership. Over the last weeks, countless cases of money laundering, pocket padding, and downright theft has been uncovered throughout the Liberal government. Sadly, the Prime Ministers Office is also directly tied to millions of dollars in theft. With many conflicting moral issues burning through Canada over the last year, it is no wonder that one more is added to the list.

They then had the gall to cancel the House of Commons sanctioned Opposition Days for the next couple of months in a sleazy attempt to deadlock themselves into government, removing any real chance to question their leadership. Luckily enough, the Tories managed to fight through the blockade and schedule a single Opposition Day on May 19th. You may find yourself asking, "what are Opposition Days?", and I will answer that now. An Opposition Day is normally a regularly scheduled session, mandatory in the legislature, and generally weekly, where any opposing party may ask whatever questions they like to the current governing party.