Pointless Post #77

Today, I went into a costume shop to find out how much a hotdog and/or a banana costume would cost.  You know, just for fun.  I was told that they could cost anywhere from $75-$100, tax included.

Batman Returns is kind of a sad movie.  Also the more I think about it, the more I think that my friend might be right in that he thinks that Tim Burton is some sort of genius.  He's really creative, in an imaginative, distorted, eccentric kind of way.

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Gas was about 147¢/litre yesterday.

Pointless Post #76

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to start a social networking site called "TimBook" or "FaceTim" (....maybe its a network exclusively for Tims around the world.....and no Tams), what are the odds that Facebook would try and sue me?

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Gas hit 150¢/litre today in Vancouver, while it was 128 in Abbotsford. O_O

Fixed my bike light, 'cause I'm cheap

My bike light broke. Or rather, the clip that holds the light to the bike frame attachment broke. So after rubbing the back of the clip on concrete to flatten out the broken edge, I used some plumber's glue to affix it to a piece of corrugated plastic. Then I added a bit of glue gun glue (whatever it's called) along the edges to help make it stick to the plastic as the plumber's glue cured overnight. And then that was that! It doesn't look as pretty as before, but it still works. At least until you see a future post of me whining about how my bike light fell off.

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Gas was 148.6¢/litre yesterday.  It's been in the low 140s for a few weeks now.  EVIL.

Pointless Post #75

Just completed my first ever wedding doubleheader*! I attended a wedding at 10am and then another at 1pm.  Both were beautiful.

I feel like I accomplished something great, mostly because I'm super tired right now, but all I really did was not get lost on the way to the churches, show up on time, pretend to be happy**, and eat all their food.

Oh and to top off an eventful day, I saw a skunk in front of the YWCA on Beatty Street in downtown Vancouver.  It made me reminisce of the time I saw a raccoon by the Vancouver Convention Centre near the downtown waterfront during the Olympics.

Freshpie out!

There's chocolate candy in there!

*Note to self: I wikipedia'd the word "doubleheader" and I already know I've used it incorrectly. 
**Note to readers: that was sarcasm; I really was happy.  Did I mention that both the weddings AND couples were beautiful?

Not All Chips Are Made Equal

I love potato chips.  I love the aroma, their crunchy look, the feel of the grease and salt on my fingers, and most importantly, the wonderfully crispy, delectable, savoury taste that delights my palate and causes it to crave for more and more.

You might assume that if you and I were together at the same dinner or party and there was a communal bowl of chips on the table, that you would soon spot me heaping mounds and mounds of the starchy goodness onto my own personal plate.  Or that maybe I would just park myself and stand there the entire night, feasting away from the bowl.  This is not so.  In this context, potato chips mean almost nothing to me because I have too much social decorum.  I also fear that not all my fellow guests have not washed their hands prior to plunging their grubby paws into that same communal bowl.  I've used public washrooms before.  I notice when people walk out of stalls and don't wash their hands.  It scares me.

I like eating chips alone.  All by myself.  If I could lock myself up in a closet, I would do that.  Except I probably wouldn't because it would be too dark and cramped inside.  Also, I prefer eating chips in front of a television.  For you visual people (which is actually everyone with eyes), here's a graph that explains it further:

As illustrated by my very scientific graph, the number of people that I have to share my snack with is inversely proportionate to the tastiness of the chips that I'm eating.  Don't act so shocked.  This isn't the "Experiencing God's Love" graph.  God's love is eternal.  Potato chips are not.  I need to eat and savour each chip because each one is precious in my eyes.  Even the broken bits and crumbs at the bottom of the bag.  I will not cast you aside.  People don't know how to appreciate chips like I do.  And by people, I mean the dirty ones who don't wash their hands after relieving themselves on the toilet.  

Unlike God's love, I pour out my favour more on certain chips because some are inherently more special and just plain better than others.  Examine these two kettle chips:

You can click on it for a high-res version.

Here's a close up of the one on the left, as I hold it up against the light.  It's a normal chip and predominantly opaque.  It tastes very good.


Here's a close up of the chip on the right.  It's a super greasy and glorious.  This picture doesn't do justice, but it's saturated with so much oil that compared to the other chip, it's translucent.  And it tastes DELICIOUS.

There are periods in my life when I won't be able to come across any of these super, oily chips for bags and bags at a time.  But sometimes, on those predestined and God-ordained days, I might come across one of these chips and I'm just like this guy who found his cheese doodles while trekking around the South Pole (PS- you should watch the video in full with the CC annotations turned on).


Oh who am I kidding.  That's what I do each time after I tear open the bag and inhale a big breath of potato chip bag air. Mmmmm....

La Fin.

October is a Long Time from Now

Watched the Canucks get knocked out of the playoffs tonight.
Drank a glass of red wine from my Spider-Man cup.
Watched the last two episodes of this season's The Walking Dead that I've been neglecting.
Binge-ate a whole box of vegetable crackers.

Tomorrow is a new day.
And until then, go Whitecaps!
...and Chelsea in EUFA 8^D

EDIT, April 24, 2012: Chelsea beat Barcelona to advance to the EUFA Champions League Final in Munich thanks to the first away goal by Ramires, but since I might not have many other chances in the future..... FERNANDO TORRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Gas was 138.8¢/litre today.  I still hate you, gas companies.

Pointless Post #74

I went for a bike ride on Easter Sunday and filmed these videos. I think they're self-explanatory. They're also a waste of time.

Pointless Post #73

What kind of person has cheetah print car seat covers?
The same kind of person that has a cheetah print license plate frame.

It exists. I saw it with my own eyes on a really ugly gold/beige Hyundai Accent.
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Gas was 144.8¢/litre a few days ago. Today it was at 142. Oil companies, you are dirty evil people.

Teaching English in Korea

Did you know online TOEFL courses are remarkably easy? In other Tim-news (insert drum roll here) I'm going to Korea to teach English to school children at the end of August! It's a 12-month contract, based on a referral from my cousin who used to work at that same school in Jinhae. It's a "sleepy" little town compared to Seoul, so I should be able to bike everywhere I go, because that's what she did when she was there. Just the thought of commuting by bike excites me, let alone living and working in another country. Hopefully I'll be able to do some travelling and perhaps visit some friends during my stay (and maybe relatives in nearby countries?).

The Canucks better win the Cup this year otherwise I'll be forced to order NHL Game Centre Live, but on the bright side, Korea has the best and fastest internet speeds in the world, right? RIGHT?!?!

Passion 2012 > Foo Fighters

I just came home from Passion 2012 in Vancouver not too long ago and I'm still too excited (I'm assuming its joy of the Lord overflow) so I thought I'd write this quick post.

Passion Vancouver took place in Rogers Arena and the last time I was in that building was when the Foo Fighters came to town October 25, 2011. I was super, super, super excited for the Foo Fighters concert. Back in May, I had seen Thor and while watching the end credits, I was introduced to their single "Walk" from their latest album Wasting Light. I didn't realize they had a new album out and after listening to it, I became all fanboy-ish and rocked out to a lot of their songs, old and new. I headbanged to "Bridge Burning" a lot. Or rather, I attempted to headbang because I got dizzy if I threw my head back and forth too hard.

Anyways, I don't regret seeing the Foo Fighters play live. They are gifted musicians and Dave Grohl is also a talented lyricist. There's a reason why their songs are popular and that they've been able to make a good living out of their music. Listening to "Bridge Burning" live (as well as "All My Life") and having it as their opening song was grrrrrreat! Huh, I have a hankering for sugary cereal now. But I don't believe I would go see them (or perhaps any other band in a venue like that) again because other than the music, I had a miserable time.

I paid $60 to sit in the upper bowl. I brought binoculars and I had to use them. Everyone around me sat in their seat the entire time. Many of them also smoked and that's what made my night miserable for the most part. I've never inhaled that much second-hand cigarette and marijuana smoke in my life. I suppose this was partly my fault for staying where I was; I could have moved around to another section where there were less smokers but I paid $60 for this particular seat and line of sight, damn it (yeah, I said "damn," my bad)! The opening acts were also really overbearing and thunderous (which can be blamed on the technical crew - my ears rang for 2 days afterwards). Actually, to be fair, Mariachi El Bronx was somewhat entertaining and creative, but Cage the Elephant was tormentuous. The lead singer's voice was so whiny and the songs they played should not be considered music. But apparently they have fans. Long story short, the night seemed really long. Time crawled.

Ok, so this isn't really a quick post anymore. Oh well.

Fast forward to just a few hours ago, where I got to sit in the lower bowl (paying only $10 general admission for the early bird ticket price) and join perhaps more than 10,000 youth and young adults all give their focus to one person alone, Jesus Christ (the event was geared to university students and anyone aged 18-25, but I wouldn't be surprised if half of the attendees were still in high school, which isn't necessarily a bad thing). The arena was way more packed than the Foo Fighters concert (which can easily be attributed to the ticket price) but the fact that so many young people were willing to forego their regular Friday night foray and instead attend a super-sized church service on steroids says something. And that something is that Vancouver loves and needs Jesus, despite what naysayers or "popular" opinion says. The evening started just after 7:30pm and ended close to 11pm. And that time went by waaaaay too fast! It really was a glimpse of what heaven will be like. Thousands of voices, singing in unison about how great and beautiful God is. Hands clapping in awe and thanks for what God has done, and hands extended above heads, raised in adoration and surrender up to the heavens (or rafters in this case) in honour to the God that blessed them. The extra cool part of it was also being able to sing as loud as I wanted to without having to worry if my crackly voice bothered my neighbours since it was wonderfully loud and the music drowned me out.

I had goosebumps when the opening video of powerful and prophetic Bible verses were being splashed and read across the big screens. Chris Tomlin is a gifted song writer and worship leader (even if all his songs sound repetitive, yes I've heard the criticism) and I felt rather blessed to hear "Jesus Paid it All" when Kristian Stanfill took a turn at leading because I especially love listening to that song when I'm biking. It's an understatement to say David Crowder is a gifted musician because if you've listened to the David Crowder Band's albums over the years, you just know that they are meticulous when it comes to making music for Jesus. And I wasn't alone in my delight when I saw that giant beard walk out on stage and pick up that 12-string(?) guitar.

Corporate worship is uplifting. Corporate worship with old hymns is encouraging. Corporate worship with big beats is super fun. And corporate worship a capella is just heavenly. "Come Thou Fount" is a beautiful song and singing some Gaither ("Because He Lives") made me wish that there were older folks there to worship alongside with us. I think senior citizens who have worked so hard in their lives overseas or in their home country all their life for God's kingdom would have gotten a kick out of seeing so many young people worshipping Jesus (kind of makes me look forward to growing old so that I too can see that some day). The crowd cheered when "How He Loves" started. The first time I heard that song (maybe 5-6 years ago) I thought it was kind of dumb, but now I love it. It's also on my bike playlist. And I wasn't expecting to hear it but I think singing "O Praise Him" made my night. Can you believe that song is nine years old?

Whew, I wrote a lot.

I have a tendency to close my eyes in a group setting when I sing praise songs to help me focus on God, but tonight I forced myself to open them and take in the sight of everyone else doing the exact same thing I was doing. Maybe this is why rallies, marches, gatherings, demonstrations, and armies are all so compelling. One focus, one goal. And in our case, one Saviour. The time really flew by. And there was no second-hand smoke! And as I'm writing this, my ears don't ring anymore!

I wasn't looking forward to Passion Vancouver as much as the Foo Fighters concert I attended, but in economic terms I experienced far greater utility worshipping God with thousands of brothers and sisters over listening to some really catchy guitar riffs with some potheads. For much of the night, I was reminded of Psalm 22:3 which was mentioned in Pastor Kayy Gordon's sermon last Sunday:

But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of [your people].

God is good! Hallelujah!

Remembering to pray for Passion Africa and how I can do my part to help end human trafficking and slavery today.

I didn't bring my camera so here's a picture I stole from jo-loves-food's Flickr page from the 2008 Vancouver Passion:


Oh yeah, Louis Giglio showed us Daniel Sedin's helmet and we prayed for him. 8^)

Pointless Post #72

Tall cedar trees are like high rise condos for birds.



I came up with that all by myself!

My Run in with the Law

That's me in an RCMP jail cell.

I got pulled over for speeding a few weeks ago. I was on my way home from work. I wanted to eat dinner and watch the Canucks game that had already started and so for no good reason, I was driving really fast. It was dark and rainy. As I took my exit off of the highway, I saw the blue and red lights flashing in my rear view mirror and heard a brief siren so I pulled over immediately (in retrospect, I should have pulled over on a street with a prominent shoulder but oh well). I was speeding and I knew I was speeding. I presumed I was being pulled over because of that.

This was my very first encounter with the police for doing something wrong and illegal. That picture above is from September 2009 when I went on an RCMP ride-a-long and we briefly toured the police station at the end of it all. I used that experience for a CRIM 251 tutorial presentation at SFU. I really liked that class and I highly recommend it.

As I sat there with the engine off, everything was so still and quiet around me. The sound of traffic whizzing by and large, heavy rain drops bouncing off the car roof were not as quiet. I wasn't nervous, or in shock. I was slightly upset at myself for being impatient and careless, but at the same time, I was very calm and expectant of my impending, and well deserving punishment.

I fumbled around to find my license. Is my wallet in my pocket? Oh wait I'll check my bag first. No wait, I put my wallet in my jacket. There it is. Now the car registration should be in the glove compartment. More fumbling around. I can't see anything. Turning on the light. Aha here's the registration. No wait that's last year's insurance renewal. Ok, now I have everything ready in my hand. How long does it take for the police to run and check the license plates?

Minutes passed by as I stared at the raindrops rolling down the windshield.

The officer finally came over to my open window. Rain splashed onto the inside of the car door. He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I told him yes, I was speeding. He said I was doing 110 in an 80km/h zone (I wanted to say I was definitely going over 100 but not more than 110, but decided not to argue). He asked me if I saw his car when I blew right past him on the highway. I told him that I did not see him.

He asked for my license and registration, promptly turned away, and returned to his car while I sat and waited. I knew I was going to receive a speeding ticket. I deserved it. The only question was how much? And crap, I'm going to receive penalty points on my license now aren't I.

Sigh.

In those minutes that passed by however, I started to think that maybe I could just go and dispute this ticket later so that I won't have to pay the fine. If the officer doesn't show up to court, I would be free of the monetary penalty, but if he does show up, what am I supposed to argue? I was completely in the wrong, because I was speeding! There was nothing accidental about it. At most I'd plead for a lesser fine I guess.

The officer came back to the car to return me my license. He was rather young looking, perhaps in his mid to late twenties. He was very firm and professional, but stern. He told me that the ticket was going to cost me $196. My mouth dropped open, and he acknowledged my horror by nodding and saying that he was going to let me off with a warning.

He didn't explain why he was letting me off and he didn't wait for me to thank him or apologize or try to rationalize my speeding.

I rolled up my window. I think I said "Thank You Jesus!" in a weak and high pitched voice because now I was in shock. I drove the rest of the way home, very carefully. If I was the officer, I would have given me a ticket. He caught me speeding and I admitted I was speeding. Does it get simpler than that?!

In other Tim-news, one week after that incident, I was carelessly walking backwards on an open field of grass when I slipped down a very steep and muddy hill (about 10 ft or so) and the only thing that happened was that I got mud all over my clothes. No twisted ankle, sprained wrist, bruised torso or even mud on the face.

Why is God so merciful to me?

I need to learn to have patience. And I have no clue what real suffering is.
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Gas was 134¢/litre on Feb 18th, and has been about 129 before then, but recently jumped up to 140-141. Now its at 134 again.

Pointless Post #71

My mom received a text message from an unknown number which read:

sri hot sauce is the sh_t!!!

I censored that. We were both amused and then I deleted it for her.

How to piss off your dog

...with vegetables!

Actually, I think I just confused him more than anything.






He's so cute!

Terrible New Layout

Poop

That word still makes me laugh, or at least break out into a smile. Also, I had (took?) one today.

AND in some exciting Tim-news, I changed the template of my blog so that it looks like I exist in the 21st century. If you're reading this in Google Reader or some other feeds aggregate, I strongly encourage you to check out the new look of the Terriblelands in the interest of being visually amazed!

You may ooooh and aaaah to your heart's content, but use your inside-your-head indoor voice only. Unless you are reading my blog out loud to a blind person. And if you are, I would like to meet this "reader." Hardy har har.

Crap, I'm rambling again.


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Saw gas for 131¢/litre a few days ago and today I saw it for 123.9.

My apologies in advance for weird layouts, broken links and other errors as I make more site changes.

Pointless Post #70

Eating a sandwich, listening to jazz music, and watching the 1990 Whirlpool Washing Machine: Permanent Press Cycle.

I take pleasure in little things.

Also, that video needs more colour, but what a cool cycle!

2 Cor. 13 and Ice Cube, foo'

While reading 2 Corinthians 13:5 in a Bible study, the chorus from Ice Cube's song "Check Yo Self" came to mind.

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. (NKJV)

or

Test yourselves and find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn't living in you, you have failed. (CEV)

Come on foo! You better check yo self before you wreck yo self!
I mean, do you actually follow the Word of God and treasure it in your heart? foo?!

Ok, I'll stop saying that.

Here's the song for your amusement. WARNING: salty language alert.



.....and my above thoughts leads us into this really great sermon by Paul Washer that I first heard in 2007 (2008?) and that I listened to again last month. The summary of the sermon is 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Happy 2012!