because i can
the timing wasn’t right
The movie Once has been in our queue for a while now, since it was reviewed so favorably by some of those know-it-alls a couple of years ago. Well, I would have to say that I agree with them, it’s a really charming love story involving two musicians in Ireland. The director John Carney is on to something when he calls it a “video album” as opposed to a musical, the songs are seamlessly integrated into the story, they don’t take you out of the movie, but instead make it more engrossing. For myself, the soundtrack really was the star of the film, the songs are beautiful and captivating, conveying the emotion of relationships that are broken, yet binding. If your tired of Jennifer Anniston and want something different from a romantic movie, try this one.
good reads
I’m an avid reader, or least I was until recently, and I hope to be again. My sister-in-law Barbara directed me to a fun site called goodreads, which lets you keep track of the books that you’ve read and the ones you want to read. For me it’s nice way to remember recommends from other people and to just be a bit of a geek and rank my favorites and most hated books. Like Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell, never, ever read it.
mh3
Last month I had a surgery that reduced my powers as a man, my wife says that I’m “just for show now.” Well things didn’t go quite according to plan, the surgical area became infected, I was black and blue and pretty much useless for several weeks. Not fun.
The upside was that I was forced to spend some time getting reacquainted with an old love of mine, video games. Specifically I became infatuated with a game called Monster Hunter Tri. To sum up the game play, I go around with a big sword and kill huge dragons and dinosaurs. There’s something really satisfying when you finally kill a sabertoothed flying albino tiger. Sounds like something Napolean Dynamite would say, true none the less.
bjorn turoque
Add another to the list of quality documentaries I’ve seen lately… Air Guitar Nation. AWESOME! It chronicles the inaugural U.S. Air Guitar Championship in 2003, the winner of which goes to the worlds in (where else?) Finland. I laughed consistently for the first half of the movie and then, I realized that one of the lines from the film was becoming real for me. Something to the effect that though they may start off as a gag to you, the more that you are around these competitions, the more serious you take them. Don’t get me wrong, there were still laughs to be had, but somehow I just took things a little more seriously.
Now I wouldn’t say that it was as engaging or personal as King of Kong or Anvil but still it was a tonne of fun. During one part of the U.S. championships the crowd begins to chant “USA, USA, USA!!!”, and I seriously had this ironically semi-serious thought, “I’m proud to be an American.” Strangest thing ever. Watch it, laugh and thank me later.
have a little faith
I like to read the occasional theological book, I’ve started a few lately but put them down quickly. I just don’t seem to be in the mood to read another expository book, they seem so dry and bland to me these days. What I was after was someones story, something more personal, enter Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom.
The book begins with Mitch being asked by his Rabbi to perform his eulogy, he sees this Rabbi but once a year and so, finds it more than a little odd being asked to perform such an important and meaningful task. Mitch begins to spend regular time with the Rabbi and as he gets reacquainted with him, also finds a new place for faith in his life. Simultaneously, he gets to know a pastor of a ultra poor church in Detroit, and sees another side to faith, that of a man from a totally different background than that of his Rabbi.
I had a good time with the book. I enjoyed hearing the wisdom of the Rabbi after a lifetime of loving his congregation, how humble he was and honest. He shares things that can seem so simple yet profound, inspiring. An easy read and a good way to get my mind working in important areas again.
helicopter parents
I watched a really interesting parenting documentary via the CBC last week called Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids. It documents the growing trend of “Helicopter Parents” who hover over there child’s every move, making sure Junior gets only the best and that everything goes right for them. It then explores the results of this style of parenting, how it effects kids all the way into university and their careers.
I found it very thought provoking. Often I feel myself sucked into thinking my kids are falling behind if I don’t have them involved in all these different things that will accelerate their learning curves and athletic success. So many families have each child involved in multiple activities, I think at the cost of spending just normal time together and putting a lot of pressure on the kids. I think growing up in a conservative small town has somewhat insulated me from some of these trends, but there is still a lot of pressure out there to get your kids started early, even when they are still toddlers.
Ideally, Liz and I want to find a balance between family time, academics, church, sports and just letting Gibson, Ellie and Cameron be themselves… kids.
You can watch Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids anytime you like at the CBC Doc Zone.
choke
I’ve been in a kind of creative rut lately, part of the equation is a lack of inspiration for blogging and reading. I couldn’t find anything that seemed worthwhile reading, I tried several different genres, none of it intrigued me. Even my old original love, fantasy, failed me.
I instead went with something different, way different, another Chuck Palahniuk novel, Choke. I just needed something to come out of left field. Well, Choke did that in spades, Palahniuk has a different way of looking at the world, he fills his books with outrageous situations, his twisted imagination has an incredible reach. It’s difficult to say if I would recommend the novel or to whom, but for me it served it’s purpose.
Here’s a quote that stopped me for a second,
“It’s pathetic how we can’t live with the things we can’t understand. How we need everything labeled and explained and deconstructed. Even if it’s for sure unexplainable. Even God.”
I’ve always had a lot of questions of God, wanting to know how things work and why. But I think I’ve been making strides the last few years in letting go a bit, not having to figure out all the answers. This is an ongoing process though for sure, and as always there needs to be a balance. In this case between being comfortable with gray areas and making inquiries into the mystery that is a higher power.
It isn’t much but her it is anyway, bring it on! And George, hurry up with the next book, please.
sneaky buggers
I’ve been wanting some extra bandwidth for a while now, HD files are pretty big you know? So as I did some research into the costs associated with upgrading or switching internet provider, I started doing speed tests at this website. For over a month now my download speed has consistently been a little below the minimum for my price bracket. So, before I asked to be upgraded, I thought I’d phone up Telus and poke around, find out why this is and fish for some kind of freebie.
SCORE. Telus actually upped me from 1.3 Mb/s to (most recently) 5.3 Mb/s, 4X the download speed at no extra charge to me. How can this be?
I came across a few forums with people discussing this very thing. It seems as though Telus did some price restructuring and the package which I signed up for doesn’t exist anymore. But, instead of automatically boosting my speed, they wait until the customer calls them on it, giving me the appropriate bandwidth for my dollar, sneaky buggers. It chaffs me a little, but I guess the reverse would be the grandfather clause, where Liz and I have held on to some sweet deals in the past.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right Liz?
