Sunday, December 31, 2006

Maus



I hope that Art Spiegelman doesn't get mad at me about putting the cover to his book MAUS on this blog. I first read this book in 1999 in a high school in London, England. Funny that I should find a book written in the US while in the UK, but....

I found it again Friday while walking around Chapters.... (never a good idea for me to be loose in a bookstore with money, but...) had to buy it. Read it in one day.

I highly recomend it to anyone.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Visiting Lizards....

We have a visitor in the family this Christmas - It's Lizzie the Lizard from school.



During our visit at Grandma C's, she went skiing with us and seemed to enjoy it. For those who need a closeup, we took a photo of her in our son's pocket. Notice we wrapped her up well so that she wouldn't get too cold.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Musical Success?



A question...

Is a teacher a success when s/he has students who practice and who are able to perform in front of an audience to a high standard, or are they a success when they deliver a program that covers the musical basics and teaches students to value music?

Or is it when they do both?

I ask this because our school's musical was tonight. I came home after and crashed, waking just to read email and eat a bit. I am proud of what the kids did, and I had a lot of parents come up with great smiles on thier faces, thanking me for the great job.

Did I do the work? Or did I just see the result in my mind and encourage the kids to reach for the "brass ring"?

Or course, it is 1am right now - likely I will not be so pensive during the day.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Comics Continuted


Next comic I like - InkPen.


Imagine if comic characters lived as we do - their day job is their time in the comic book, and then they go to the employment agency to talk to their agent, have romances outside of the strip, change jobs....


It's wierd but fun!


I've been TAGGED!

Nathan tagged me yesterday...

So - 5 things you may not know about me (Chris):

1. I met my wife (Suzanne) at an Anglican(!) Church Retreat called Cursillo.








2. I sang in the Edmonton boy's choir when I was in grade school.

3. My first choice of Band instrument was Flute - which turns out to be my worst wind instrument!



4. My camp name is ED.



5. I am taking Spanish Dancing lessons.




Who's next? Well, I don't know if I know 5 people who will do it - but Suzanne is my first choice! Second? Liam Kinnon. the rest - soon to follow.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Comics - which strip is your fav?

I have a couple a favourite comic strips that I put into my palm every day. This one, 9 Chickweed Lane, is probably a very acquired taste. I really need to go and buy one of the books about this character who is a teacher - her opinions about teaching are quite similar to my own.



Also, the strips this guy does about cats are incredible. He has thier mannerisms down really well. I grew up with a cat, and I can see the tabby we had in the cats he puts in the strip.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Christian vs. Christ-Follower

Want a good laugh?

Check this out - a series of ads based on the Mac/PC ads that Apple put out earlier this year. Keep your mind open when you watch!

There's some good thoughts on this in Bill Kinnon's site.

Thanks Bill!

7 Days and 8 days and 13 days to go!

Seven days to the School Concert - and I am realizing how much work there is yet to do. Today I picked up chain (yes...) for Marley's Ghost. Can't wait to show the kids...

There are only 8 Teaching Days left until the break - and a couple of those days are taken up with special events in the school, so I really only have 6 days of planning to do.

And it's only 13 days left until Christmas.

Counting down is so much fun!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Concerts!

Last night was the Royal Winnipeg Rifle's Band Visitation. We played R.V. William's Tuba Concerto (with a guest soloist) to dedicate 3(!) tubas that are new to the band. We also did Variations on a Korean Folk Song (Chance), Sleighride (Anderson), Midnight Sleighride (arr. Wallace), Orange Coloured Sky (Rugolo), along with 4 carols and the regimentals of the Rifles - Old Solomon Levi and Keel Row. I think I may have missed a few pieces, but I don't have the program here, so I'll update it later.
UPDATE
Pieces I missed were Eternal Father Strong to Save (Smith), Swing Away (Sharpe), T'was the night before Christmas - with altered lyrics. There was also 2 pieces by a Tuba Quartet, and 2 pieces by a Clarinet Trio.

I think the concert went fairly well. Nathanael enjoyed listening to the band, and he got to stay up late to boot, so he was happy.

His concert is this afternoon, so what has he been doing all morning? Singing. Singing. And more Singing.

I think he's nervous.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Scrooge as the best keeper of the Spirit of Christmas?

I'm rediscovering an old Christmas Story.

Ebenezer Scrooge doesn't usually bring up visions of someone who knew how to keep Christmas well. We often think of him as being someone who hated Christmas so much that he woudl have packaged it up and mailed it to Mars if he could. Two things this year have gotten me thinking about the change that occurs in Scrooge.

First, the church I attend has cast me in a script (as Bob) where Bob tells about the transformation Scrooge undergoes - but from Bob's perspective. The last paragraph begins with "For years after his death, people still talked about how he exuded the spirit of Christmas". This line really caught my imagination.

Second, I have chosen this story as my Christmas Concert theme with my elementary students. I've been talking to them about the change that Scrooge undergoes - he wants to be a better person, and that means treating others better than he has. It's opened up some conversations with students and parents.

I took out a bunch of versions of the story for display in the school - I think I'm going to read one of them before the weekend is out. The final words about Scrooge keep ringing in my head - the ones about how well he kept Christmas.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Spam Spam Spam Spam

I had to put this in...

Ever had problems finding that special gift for someone who just can't get enough of SPAM? Try this site out!

I found it on a link in the John Cleese site - it's legit! I love the "silly walk" section!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

new blogger - we'll see...

I thought i'd try the new version of Blogger out - so I've migrated this blog to it. We'll see how it goes.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Remembrance Day



Remembrance Day. Went to two services over the last two days. Saturday was at the armouries near our house. Only the band ipc turned out - I moved the camera too much again when I took a picture of the soldiers in thier ranks.

Sunday was the "Regimental Church Parade" for the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. I joined the band for the day and played my saxophone for the Anglican service (very long Cathedral service). Afterwards, they did a graveside service at a memorial for the soldiers who died in the Riel Rebellion of 1874 (is my year right?)

Reminded me too much of Grandpa Budlong's graveside funeral.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Of what measure is a man?

Surfing the net today and found a former student's blog. Kind of neat to read his comments on life. Particularily this one.

Read the links that go to Bill (Dad) and others too!

It did get me thinking about how we define manhood and why. After going to today's Remembrance Day service, it really gets me thinking.

I'm still thinking, though. If you read this, I'd like to hear what your thoughts are too.

Thursday, November 02, 2006




I live in an awesome city. Realized that this past week when we were getting the keys to the new house. The lawyer's office was on the 24th floor of the Soctia Tower on the corner of Portage and Main. They had an amazing view of the south part of the city and the Forks - here's some shots of The Forks, the Provenchier Bridge, and one of the better hotels in the city. I also went to "Garbage hill" today. For those who don't know, it's an old dump that is covered over and has been turned into an off-leash area for dogs. I tried to take some pictures at dusk - but the photos turned out blurry. I guess next time I should take my tripod.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006


oops - it's sideways....

Can put up with that - this is Nathanael's costume this year - a Court Jester.

Too much Danny Kaye, I think.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Moved in....

Well, we're moved in.

It took 3 loads of the van, and 2 with the U-Haul (How did we get so much stuff? I have no idea..) and we are finally in the new place. Just in time, too. Guess what the forcast is for tomorrow?

SNOW!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Moving Soon!

I've been counting down the days since last Saturday. Only 3 days to go until moving day! Today we got everything finalized and sent to the lawyer's office. Now we wait to get the keys, and Friday we can get the house organized.

This will probably be the last post until after the move - the computer will be taken apart, and we won't be back online until Sunday.

Monday, October 23, 2006

My Baby's Growing Up!!!!

It's started to happen. Nathanael has had his first weekend away from us that wasn't at Grandma's. It was very strange having absolutely no contact at all.
As some of you know, Nathanael is a member of the Winnipeg Boys Choir this year. Every October the boys go away to camp for a weekend. They really get to know each other as a group. They know each others strengths and weaknesses both personally and vocally. They rehearsed every day for a couple of hours. Mostly Christmas music, including my favourite Chritmas Time is Here from Charlie Brown.They also had a scavenger hunt and a marshmallow roast on Saturday night. Nathanael was exhausted but very proud of himself for being big enough to go away.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

It's Bronchitis

Ah... Went to the doctor on Saturday. I thought the coughing might have developed further... and it has. Bronchitis. The first time I had it was in 2000, while I was teaching in rural Manitoba. This will be the fourth time.

The doctor told me that each time you get this, you become more succeptable. This one came on pretty quick, but I didn't act fast enough. I sound like a chronic smoker - funny thing is, I don't even smoke.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

More election stuff

Well, I tried to find out stuff about the candidates online....

First, the Counselor Candidates...

Trudy Turner's site, http://www.trudyturner.ca/ shows that she's definitely aware of what's going on in the ward. If you click on the issues link, you will see a list of issues. This isn't something she came up with on her own - most of these were in the Neighbourhoods Alive! document for St. Matthews and (darn, I've forgotten the other neighbourhood - sorry!). Of course Trudy was involved in the creation of that document, so it's not surprising to see similarities...

Don Salter has an interesting site - http://www.donsalter.com/ I found the chat area the most interesting - Don, you are much more articulate on a blog than in a debate (remember John A Steen?) Heed your wife, man - NO JOKES.

Harvey Smith (incumbant) has a site - http://www.harveysmith.com/index.htm - that had a lot of great links - except that there is no mention of the election at all. It's like it's business as usual and he expects to win. I emailed Harvey about this, as i wanted to compare his answers at the debate at John A Steen to what was in his platform. The answer came from his campaign manager:


Hi,
Sorry that we are not totally up to date in the technology department but
we have been more old school in the campaign and prefer the face to face kind of
canvass. Nevertheless, if there are any questions that you may have we would be
glad to answer them.
Harry Paine
Campaign Manager


Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. I don't want to email my questions to anybody - I want to compare platforms.

Now to school trustees...

The only website I can find for anyone is Cindy Gilroy-Price. http://www.cindygilroy-price.ca/ She impressed me at the debate I went to last week. Her site has only a few links though.

There are mentions of each of the other candidates - I can find them at work and in various other groups, but no mention of thier platforms. Unless you go and talk to them, you have NO idea what they stand for.

I toyed with posting my notes from the two forums I went to... maybe I will...


Sunday, October 15, 2006

Coughing.. And coughing... And coughing...

and coughing.

I caught something last week that has just ravaged my throat. Today I can't sing, so I listened to the words of the songs and sang them in my head at church today. I find that refreshing in church, actually. Makes me THINK about the words of the songs, instead of just singing the words out in harmony, which can sometimes happen. (that's another post entirely.)

No fever or sinus problems - just a really sore throat and a headache for the Advil to take care of. I'm not going to work tomorrow - can you imagine a worse thing for a music teacher to have than a sore throat? I wouldn't make it through the day.

TTYL

Chris.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Election forums

Went to two election forums this past week - one for Councilor of Daniel McKintyre, and the other for the School Division ward (WSD1 Ward 2 - my employer!)

The first was really well attended. The community centre was packed out, which gave the room a great buzz. The reason was that Red River College had made the forum a required assignment for thier journalism students, and the students were all there to listen to the candidates, but also to get interviews from the residents who attended the forum. I got interviewed three times, and I turned 2 people down because I really didn't want to do a lot of talking about something that I was there to listen to. How do you express an opinion about three people whom you have never heard talk before?

Actually, I shouldn't say that - I had heard Harvey and Trudy at the Neighbourhoods Alive! meeting the previous week. Didn't get much of the chance to talk to them about thier election platform, though. Don Salter was a new person to me, and I didn't know much about him.

The students actually seemed to outnumber the residents - which was really too bad, as it meant not a lot of people were interested. There were some really good questions - maybe once I get my notes organized, I can make some comments about what was said.

As to the school Division forum - it was a lot less people, had NO media coverage of any type (CBC was at the counselor forum), and was, in my mind, more interesting than the counselor forum. The smaller number of people was disappointing, but also meant that a lot of our questions got answered. The format was better - the questions were vetted by the moderator, and read out by him.

Personally, I feel that the School Division race is going to be an interesting one, although a difficult one to follow. Since the forum, I've been watching the news for articles about the trustees positions - nothing. Another disappointment was that many candidates for trustee don't have an online presence - not even a blog to just chat into.

Maybe I just expect everyone to be online now. I know that's not the case, but it's easy to forget.

later.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Neighbourhoods Alive!

Well, I've had time to reflect on the meeting I went to last week Thursday about this initiative from the provincial government. The program has been extended to the area that I currently (and will in the future) live in. Nice to know that the province is considering putting some $$ into areas of the province that need some improvements. Makes you wonder where the city and feds are .....

The meeting was really informative - a powerpoint presentation that supported the talk (instead of distracting from it) and a chance to talk with and network with area residents and business owners. Of course, the biggest thing was Crime... Being in the West End has been an eyeopener for me as far as what people are like. The other items we talked about were physical environment, Parks and Recreation, Housing and Community Involvement.

The best part was watching different resident getting together, figuring out what we can do to make our neighbourhood a better place for everyone. With this being an election year for city and school trustees, it was even more important - two of the candidates for our city ward were at the meeting, and it was a chance to pick their brains too.

Well, gotta go - there's a forum tonight on the city election that I want to go to. More later.... maybe.

http://www.gov.mb.ca/ia/programs/neighbourhoods/

Link to the program site.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Bikers in Winnipeg

no not the motorized ones - at least not gas powered.

I cycle to work. Have for 3 years now, ever since I purchased a bike from a friend of mine. Over the past year, though, I have noticed a larger number of bikes on the road. More and more people, it seems, are choosing to cycle. Unfortunately, many of these new cyclists are not realizing that to cycle in the city for commuting purposes is NOT the same as riding in the park on a Sunday afternoon.

Some points to remember:
1. You are sharing the road with cars - ie. death traps. I've been hit by a car, and trust me, YOU WILL LOSE IF YOU TAKE ON A CAR! It doesn't matter if you have the right of way, or if you are crossing at a corner legally. ASSUME THEY DON'T SEE YOU!
2. You are a motorized vehicle, as far as the laws of the road are concerned. YES you have to stop at red lights and stop signs. YES, you have to signal! YES, you have to stay in your lane.
3. Helmets may clash with your fashion, but wear it anyways. I was wearing a helmet when I was hit by the car, and it was the only thing that saved my head. I wear one now all the time.
4. STAY OFF THE SIDEWALK! That's meant for pedestrians and cyclists who are on bikes of a certain size. If you are an adult, use the road!
5. YOU MUST RIDE ON THE RIGHT! Riding on the left hand side only puts you in danger of being hit by a car - see #1 above - YOU WILL LOSE!
6. If you decide to ignore these 5 simple points, don't get mad at the car that hit you because you decided to go on the sidewalk and go through a red light. Even pedestrians know better than to go in front of a car when they have a red hand facing them. What makes you think you can ignore the rules of the road?

Finally - If you decide to ride your bike, don't daydream, don't use you phone, and for God's sake don't listen to the radio. You need every sense you have to pay attention out there. You are counting on the cars making way for you - and you will be wrong.

Why am I writing this? Well, I saw a cyclist today go through a red light while on the sidewalk, and get bumped by a van. Who did he blame? the van's driver. Who was in the wrong?

In my books, the cyclist. Unfortunately, he didn't agree with me. I got a tongue lashing.

It got me thinking, though.

It's cyclists like that, who blatantly disregard the rules of the road, who put themselves at risk and then blame others, who are to blame for the drivers who give me the finger, who cut me off, and who bad-mouth cyclists when they see them.

If cyclists like him become the norm in Winnipeg, I'm not surprized at the bad press we will get.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

prayer update

For those of you who do so....

Baby Sasha is undergoing various operations over the next while. Can't give details (don't know them all - but God does). Please add your prayers to our for her safety and for her parents.

Thanks.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Baby's here!

no, not for us.... my sister gave birth around 10:45pm Sept 24 - 4 pounds, 6 ounces, baby girl. Great job, sis.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Video about adoption.

Found this on another blogger's website - very interesting. Credit to "Brad the Dad". Thanks.




Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Reading Recovery

Well, I just finished my third official class in Reading Recovery today. What a lot of work! I'm really enjoying the class and the content - it's interesting to read the conclusions that Marie Clay has come to about how children acquire language. Being a music teacher, I am seeing a lot of parallels between her studies and studies I have read about how children acquire musical knowledge and skills.

Unfortunately, that's about all I can write about it - as there is quite a bit of copyright involved, and I might cross a "copyright line" if I put any of the connections or any of my thoughts, impressions or reactions to the content of the course in this blog. I was disappointed to find out today that I have to handwrite all of my Reading Recovery data - typing the forms into a word processor also crosses the "copyright line". I feel sorry for my instructor who has to try to read my chicken scratch!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Currently Reading



Currently in the middle of this book by Nasrin Alavi - It's a collection of blog entries from Iranians of the under 35 year olds - my generation and younger. It's wild to read how disillusioned they are with the revolution and what their attitudes are about the dress codes, as well as love, and life in general. The book also talks about the history of Iran. For example, did you know that Iran had the first democratic government in the Arab world in the 1950's? Too bad the CIA and the US government at the time took it down and put the Shah in power instead. The more I read this, the more I watch the current president of Iran, as he continues to say that Iran will develop nuclear energy, and think that he can't be speaking for the people who are quoted in this book.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

House update

Well, we bought a house.
After looking at a bunch of houses prior to our holiday, returning back and looking at a few more, we made an offer on a house on Lipton street. It's a 3 bedroom house with a little office on the main floor. Kitchen and bathroom are remodeled, main floor is tile and hardwood floor (don't want carpets with our pooches), and there is a front porch and a back deck. Electricity and plumbing have both been updated. Need to complete the fencing next summer, and do a couple of minor repairs, but the big things are already done.
We don't take possession for a couple of months (Oct 28), so you won't see any pics of the house until then.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Swimming Lessons

Nathanael completed his summer swimming lessons this week. Didn't pass level one, but he did swim in the deep end without screamnig his head off. As long as he's wearing the life jacket, he's willing to do it. We'll have to sign him up for lessons over the winter and keep working at swimming in the shallow end without the jacket.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Catch up.... kind of

Been playing with flickr since we returned from Alberta. Wanted to find a way to put pictures on the Internet so that my parents and sister could see them easily. Now I find out that Mom can't view them at work. Oh well. Maybe after she retires...:-( Dad's not a techie at all... but we are working on him.

For anyone interested, the link to the tags page is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/budlong/tags/

Some neat tags to check out would be:

GrandmaGrandpas - Nathan - there are pics of the boys here. More to come.
Orfflevelone2006 - pictures from orff course.
Liptonstreethouse - saw this house last week and are considering buying it. It's a nice house West of Arlington in the West End. Still close to downtown and closer to Nathanael's school than where we are now.

I will still put pictures on here, but if I have a whole bunch, like these ones, I'll post the link or the tag.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Can't sleep

woke up in a coughing fit - and can't get back to sleep. I hate summer colds.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Wading pools


We're hitting the wading pool again - this time it's the one close to Nathanael's school. The one in Vimy Ridge park is being redone - may be sometime I'll take some pics and put them up here as well. It's pretty depressing, though - it's taking the whole summer for them to be done - August will be done before they are finished working on it.
It's getting us into the heart of Wolesley, though, which we do like.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Orff Level One - done tomrrow!

Been away from the blog these past two weeks because I've been working on my Orff Level one. It's a 10 day intensive course at U of Manitoba, and I have one day left - Day nine, today, was the last of the testing days - I had 5 tests - recorder improv, dance presentation of the anulelul, movement test, Orff lesson, and my Basic Orff instrument skills test. I'm very tired now.

I've definitely learned a lot - and really am looking forward to taking the things I have learned here and applying them to the Music program at the school I teach at. Perhaps I'll have some pictures to post after tomorrow - we are doing an Open House as our final presentation.

TTYL
Chris.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

I'm an uncle!


Check out this photo - my sister's baby at mid June - already sucking his/her thumb! Cool!

summer is here

July 1 has become a milestone for me since I began teaching. It signals the beginning of the summer and two months of recuperation and recharge time for me. I will be spending some of the summer relaxing, but I do have some things that I will be doing that people wouldn't call relaxing.

In preparation for the next school year, I am taking a two week course for music. It's Orff Level One, and the course runs from 8:30am to 5:00pm for ten days (July 5-18), with homework on each day. Needless to say, I expect to be very busy with this. The advantage is that it is a 6 credit hour course, and I am taking it for credit.

I have been confirmed with Winnipeg One again for next year - 1/2 time music, and 1/2 time Reading Recovery. I knew nothing about this program until this year, and it seems that everyone I meet knows a bit about it, or knows a student that goes through it. I hear nothing but good things. The training for that begins in September, but I have 4 books to read over the summer (total thickness 4 inches), so I'll start that after the Orff course.

Other than that, we are both involved in a drama for church in August - that means a number of rehearsals throughout the month of August.

So, my summer is not being spent lazing around - although I am sure to fit that in somewhere. Maybe I'll do that at my parent's place in July (we're going after the course is done).

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Goldeyes Baseball!!

Took Nathanael to his first Goldeyes Baseball game today. It was pretty good - he lasted until the 7th inning, and then started to loose concentration - too tired. The "fish" won 6-1 over Edmonton.






The best part was the autograph session prior to the game. Nathanael's favourite signature was from Goldie, although Matt Mann was a close second.

UPDATE: - Goldeyes swept the Cracker Cats. Good job, guys.

Friday, June 23, 2006

I hope this works..


I saw this video from another blogger - there's piles of videos on exploding pop. Enjoy!



Friday, June 16, 2006

Grandma's Birthday - 90 YEARS!

We all got together - the entire Budlong clan - to celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday. The kids got to play, even the big ones, and we enjoyed catching up with each other. It's kind of neat to see the number of lives that have been affected by one person.


This is a picture of the direct descendants.















nathanael brought a few toys to share. Rush Hour was a hit.













The boys played soccer the most.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

It's Dance Recital Time!

Nathanael's Dance recital was Sunday, and he did a great job. This year his two dances were in the same show AND act, which made Daddy's job of volunteering much easier. doing two shows is very draining, even if they are a week away. This year he only had to do one show!

The costume was not his favourite, but he was a trooper about it and did a great job of the dance. The entire class was gingerbread people, and he was the only gingerbread MAN (or boy!). The red stuff on his cheeks is lipstick, which was a real pain to take off. During rehearsal, I think I took off a layer of skin with the soap and water on the paper towel I tried to use. Gentlemen, this does not work well.

After rehearsal, the two of us raided Mom's makeup case and made off with the real stuff - makeup remover. Two swipes of the cotton pads, and voila! the lipstick applied with a trowel came off with ease!

The second number was tap, and was number 13 on the program. When you are 7, the time between the 2nd and 13th numbers is just enough time to remove the makeup, strip off the gingerbread man/boy costume, don the tap costume, tie up the tap shoes - all while the other four boys in the group are yelling - "It's time to go! Hurry up!". Basically a quick change, really.

Here's a picture of my "Tap Boys":
They look like something out of a 20's or 30's set movie or show. The sparkle on the bowties is really what did it, and the five of them LOVED the hats - there were actually extra hats for the costume, so the other boys who shared the changeroom with them were wearing them as well. The girls in the dance had shawls made from the same sparkly material - I joked with all of them that we would be blinded by the reflection of the light!
Here's a cast photo:



Monday, May 15, 2006

video

http://www.kinnon.tv/2006/05/king_of_the_hil.html#comments

A couple of blogs I've checked out have got video on them. Here's a link to one. When I figure out how to put the video in mine, well.... maybe

Sunday, April 30, 2006


Nathanael's party today went great - the rain held off for just long enough so that we could enjoy the park, and even play a bit of ball. (My gift to him was a T-ball, T-Ball bat and a mitt. I got myself a mitt too!) Everyone enjoyed hot dogs and hot chocolate, and then we opened the gifts up. Here's some pics of the meal.



Thursday, April 27, 2006

Comments back on - but now moderated!

OK. now that I've had time to think about this....

I've turned the comments back on - but this blog is now moderated.

More later.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Until later

As a precaution, I've disabled comments for right now. For the amount of comments I get, it may not be worth having.

Taking Responsibility for your words.

It's bound to happen - you get attacked for who you associate with. I don't mind if someone wants to spout off at me, heck, I don't mind if you flame me. But whoever this is - at least have the guts, honour, and courage to make yourself known. Calling yourself anonymous and spamming my personal email is nothing short of reprehensible and - dare I say it? - un Christian! Here's the message that was sent to me:

Springs Church teaches the timeless messege of Materialism and trying to serve 2 Gods . " Get rich and have it all ! " Leon and his band of rich real-estate developers are leadind the blind to the river, like mice and the pied-piper ! Why buy a Chevette, when you can own a SUV ! Help destroy the ozone layer with his message. On Earth as it is in heaven ! So I guess heaven would be destroyed also ! Sick puppies !!! --Posted by Anonymous to For lack of a better title - it's all mine.... at 4/22/2006 04:50:25 PM


There, done. Netticutt lessons are needed my friend. Be willing to teach you if you are willing to be taught. You might want to scroll down the screen and read the post from Thomas A Kempis' Imitation of Christ - regarding gossip. As Stan Lee would say - N'uff said!

Chris.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

The Rocket!

Went and saw The Rocket Friday night - Excellent movie. highly reccomend it to everyone!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

just finished reading a series of books - somewhat older ones, but with an interesting premise. If the Confederate States had WON - what would happen?
The author's name is Harry Turtledove. He takes this premise right up to the first world war, with the US allied with Germany - and they win. Interesting writing, and it puts into place how one little event affects a multitude of events that occur after it....

Tuesday, March 14, 2006


 Posted by Picasa

Here's photos of Nathanael skiing a couple of weeks ago. We went to the Windsor Park Golf Course in Winnipeg - they turn it into a complete ski trail system each winter. You have to know how to handle the hills, though! Posted by Picasa

More along the lines of sound programs....

Found another one - I wanted to do short sound clips of instruments for students to listen to, and found Audacity - freeware that allows you to do clips of WAV and MP3 files. Doesn't handle Windows Media without more plug-ins, though.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Pandora and Songbird

Listened with interest earlier this week to CBC as I heard the local afternoon program. They were discussing online music services:

Pandora is an online service that currently (sadly) is only available in the US - it asks you what kind of music you would like to do a search for, and then creates a radio channel with just that style of music in it. Tried it out, it works great. Hopefully they get this setup for Canada very soon.
Apparently, there is also a way to hook this up to your stereo! It's called Squeezebox. Check out both of these links!

Songbird is a Media Player with a significant difference - it's Open Source. Anyone who has used Open Office, Mozilla or Thunderbird will find this interesting. Give it a bit more time, and this will give Real Player a Challenge!

Thursday, January 19, 2006


Of course - the pose..... Posted by Picasa

Nathanael's concert - he's sitting on the far left with a sled on his lap. Posted by Picasa

The hit of Christmas - MORE KNIGHTS!! Posted by Picasa

Visiting with Granny - we went for lunch at her place. Nathanael had a chance to show her his dancing steps and songs that he had learned during the first part of the year. Posted by Picasa

Currently reading....

"Shun the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensared and capivated by vanity.

Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated withmen, Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seekcomfort from one another's conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or og things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.
...
Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God."

From The Imitation of Christ - Thomas A Kempis