Trickery Abounds

Check out this CRAZY play from the NCAA. The team in white needs to score a touchdown with only a couple seconds on the clock. It looks like they are toast, but what happens next is almost unreal. 15 lateral passes and they win! Check it out.

What a Weekend!

This past weekend was an interesting one that's for sure. It started Friday with Crystal calling during the House Party to tell me she's feeling sick and doesn't know if she'll make it to the end of her shift at work. Well she made it and agreed to go to the walk-in clinic Saturday to get some drugs.

Saturday I was at the "Say My Name" finals at the Bayfield Mall and after we gave away the trip to Mexico I checked my phone to see how Crystal was. She had left me a message that they rushed her to emerge once the doctor saw her at the walk-in. So off I went to the emergency room at RVH only to see Crystal sitting in the pink chairs in the waiting room. (Pink meaning she hadn't even gone through the preliminary screening) We were in the emergency department for quite some time... We played trivia, sudoku and crosswords to pass the time. People must have thought we were some kind of freaks. We were laughing and playing games, while people around us are crying, moaning and doing their best to look their worst hoping it would get them in faster. We finally made it in after 10pm (7 hours). By 3am they had given Crystal some antibiotics and told her the technician for a CAT scan wasn't in so she'd have to come back tomorrow. We were both hungry so I made us nachos at 4 in the morning.

Sunday, (8am) we were back at the hospital getting ready for a CAT scan. Crystal drank this nasty "dirty dishwater" as she called it and got ready for the tests. Once the tests were done they said it would be 2 or 3 hours before the had results... Great, more waiting around. About 30 minutes after the tests the surgeon appeared in our room saying they were going to remove Crystal's appendix, and the booked to O.R. for 2 o'clock. She went in at 3:00 and was up in her room at 4:30. (Her room was in the newborn section because they are short on space.) I stayed with her until about 10:00 last night then headed home.

Crystal called me this morning at about 9:30 saying they are kicking her out and needs me to come pick her up. We went home, settled in and then I went grocery shopping because she can't eat solid food yet. Lots of Jello and yogurt for the next couple days.

So after spending over 26 hours in the hospital over 2 days am I upset? No. I would be if nothing was wrong with Crystal, but they found what was wrong and they fixed it. It wasn't that bad, because of our work schedules we haven't had that much time together in a long time!



Here's what's weird about the whole ordeal. I wasn't worried at any point of the weekend. I kinda feel guilty for that. My wife was going in for surgery and had her appendix burst, she could have died. Still I wasn't worried. I knew she was in the hands of very capable doctors, and God was lookin out for her, why worry? I couldn't do anything to change the circumstances. Am I wrong to feel that way?

She made me promise not to post pictures from my phone on Facebook or MySpace, so here's what it would have looked like had I been the one with an infected appendix. Believe me, if I could have, I would have gladly taken her place.

Slammin House Party

Another solid House Party in the books... It seems to me they keep being more and more fun. (Granted this is only the second one) Thanks to Joel Dugard, O.D.K., Dandex and Hollee Rock for the good times. Now I understand some of you want to know what Dandex looks like, and I agreed to post a pic for you, so here goes.
Thanks to everyone who called in, who tuned in, and who contributed to the night. Have a solid weekend!

Party Goers

For Group Therapy Thursday tonight I took some heat over the question. Derek is going to a party next Wednesday night and he wants to know how he can refuse drinks without sounding like a knob. Apparently the popular opinion is that he shouldn't go to the party because there will be booze. I happen to disagree... I think he should go exactly for that reason. Yes it's important to have close friends that have the same beliefs as you (ie: youth group), but it is also important to connect with those who don't. Just because he's there doesn't mean he gets hammed, he can decline and be a positive example. Not going would result in him further distancing himself from reality and promoting the "Christian bubble", which is not a good thing.
So we have differing opinions, but that's why there's chocolate and vanilla.

Grocery Store Timing

I went home for dinner last night and when I went to the fridge to see what I could grab before heading back into work I was greeted by an empty fridge. Yes the cupboard was bare. So this morning I decided to remedy that and take a trip to the grocery store. Usually my experiences at the grocery are less than enjoyable. A senior citizen will annoy me, or they won't have what I'm looking for, but today was good. They had everything we needed and it was pretty speedy. It was so dead that we had 2 people bagging our groceries at the checkout. Yeah, so if you (or the rents) need to hit up the grocery store, Wednesday morning at 9:30-10:00 is the time to go.

Whoops!

I don't know if you watch "Dancing With The Stars," (I don't) but you will likely enjoy this clip either way. Marie Osmond is a popular singer from the 70's (Donny & Marie) and she has just finished dancing her routine. Marie and her partner are waiting for the judges to announce their scores and it appears she's breathing pretty heavily.

The good news is she's ok, the bad news is she didn't win. I kinda feel bad for her and the clip makes me squirm a little in sympathy. It is still pretty funny that it happened on LIVE tv last night. She said it has happened many times before when she forgets to breathe properly. I didn't think the whole was that tough. Hats off to Marie Osmond for giving me something to put in today's blog.

Get In On The Action

Yesterday was a super day! It was sunny, hot and the perfect day to shoot a video. A video? A video. Station manager Scott Jackson is obsessed with cycling, and he wanted to shoot a video of him biking to Orillia, and so Sunday was the wrap-up day for filming. At one point during our shoot he asked if I would write about it on the Wonderblog, to which I replied "I don't know." He then talked about how if I wanted something exciting on the page, then I should post the video, and talk about it. Now granted, I did enjoy myself, I don't think I could get into cycling. I liked riding downhill because you went fast, went off some jumps, narrowly avoided serious injury a number of times per run and I got to wear body armour. None of that is present in road cycling. I still respect road cyclists, they are in pretty good shape, but I just don't think it's for me. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind, and when I hit 50 maybe I'll get some enjoyment out of it... But for now, I'll stick to my sports.

Rekindling The Flame

I screwed up today. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I did. I opted to go against the little voice inside that said "You shouldn't do this." And well, I'm paying the price for it now. On my dinner break I popped "Thicker Than Water" into my DVD player. Thicker Than Water is a surf film, and I love it. It makes me want to go on a surfing road trip everytime I watch it. Problem is I have to work, and it's not exactly warm enough to spend time at the beach. So here I am, longing for warm weather, sandy beaches and big waves... None of which I am going to see in the next 8 months. Bummer! Next time I'm going to listen to that still, small voice.

Wear Something Gaudy Day

Today is "Wear Something Gaudy Day" a day to dress up and look as un-fashionable as possible. It got me thinking... Who makes up these days? Seriously this has got to be one of the dumbest "days" going... No wait, tomorrow is "No Beard Day" that might make it a tie. I guess it's fun to have something different for each day of the year, but no one ever follows these. If you would have showed up at school wearing something gaudy, would anyone have known is was a special day? Probably not. My thinking is if you're going to make a "day," at least market it so people know.

Played To Order

Another played to order in the books for this week. It's interesting to see what songs people pick. Tonight we had Katie from Aurora calling the shots, and she picked a Sanctus Real song that I love. I think "The Show" is the best song on Fight The Tide, but it never made it on to the radio. So far almost every one of the played to order playlists have included a song that was never played on Life 100.3. I think this is so cool, cause often I'll buy a cd and the song I like most never makes it onto the radio, and I think to myself, "Am I weird?" I may be weird, but I'm not alone!

You Don't Know What It's Like

I now know what visitors feel like in our churches.

My sister got baptised at her church last night and I was in attendance. This is the church I grew up in, spent my teenage years in and attended every Sunday morning, and yet as I sat in the pew it felt foreign to me. I knew a grand total of 1 song in their worship celebration, (a hymn). The rest of the songs were from Tommy Walker and I had never heard of them before. If you've bnever sang a Tommy Walker song, it's not a simple song. It is complex, and hard to sing along to if you don't know the song. (Plus the Pentecostal versions are over 8 minutes long)

The experience opened my eyes to how visitors must feel in our churches. Sure WE know the songs, and we put the words on the screen for those who don't know them, but it's not enough. Last night the words were on the screen and I still didn't get it, and by the 3rd time through the song I was ready to quit trying to get it. I don't know what the solution is for this, but I can tell you as an outsider it was an uncomfortable experience.

Weekend

What a difference a week can make! Last Monday I was at the beach, skimboarding for the entire day. Now it looks like we'll be lucky if we stay above the freezing mark this weekend! October is one CRAZY month! Last year I was at the Cranberry Festival (which is this weekend) and had snow on that day too. Crazy! I miss summer already.

Group Therapy Thursday

As you know, on Thursday we ask you (the listener) to help us solve someones dilemma as part of Group Therapy Thursday. Tonight it was Dan, trying to figure out what to get his girlfriend for her birthday. We had lots of good suggestions, but the most unique came via email. Check out this link: http://www.tailoredmusic.com/ It's a website that offers you the opportunity to have a song written for your sweetheart. You get to pick the style of music (from jazz, to rock, to R&B) and then fill in the template to personalize the song. Then they have professional musicians record the song and send it to you. Pretty sweet huh? If you're looking for a unique gift, I think it'd be pretty hard to beat that.

Good Luck Dan!

Election!

Today was election day. I got out and voted nice and early, and sat back to watch the action unfold. OK, so maybe I had the tv on the hockey game instead of election coverage, but it's more interesting! Apparently the Liberals are back in power for another term, lots of high-fives in the McGuinty camp. Some people might feel sorry for the PC party or the NDP, but I feel sorry for another party. The newscaster. Tim Maassarany was in here after midnight getting clips of politicians and putting together a wrap-up of the election. The same guy who has to be back in studio for 5:30 tomorrow morning! I think I overheard him mumbling something about how he's glad it only happens once every 4 years. So as I head off for home, I tip my hat to the Liberals and wish them all the best for their term in office.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I can't remember a thanksgiving where the weather was as good as it was yesterday. I was out at the beach for about 6 hours skimboarding! Yeah that's right, without a wetsuit and all! The temps were around the 28-30 degree mark, and the surf was epic. What a great way to put the wraps on a long weekend. Although, last night as I'm brushing my teeth I noticed that I look kind of red. Yeah I got a SUNBURN IN OCTOBER! Who needs to move south to enjoy the warm weather. If only it stuck around through December and January.

All Request Run

Life 100.3 did something very brave today... they allowed you (the listener) to pick the music all day! Yeah we called it the "All Request Run To Midnight" and I'd say it was fairly successful ;-) I had a buncha calls from the older generation asking when we'd do it again. Well, station manager Scott Jackson says we need to do this more often, so if you like being able to request what you want, whenever you want... send him an email!

Have a great Thanksgiving, play nice in the sandbox and I'll catch you on Tuesday!

AJ - Excited About A Book?

I want you to watch the video below... Tell me what you think. It's a video that co-incides with a book that is being released in the next 10 days called "unchristian." Now as a guy who's frustrated with what Christianity has become, and is frustrated with the "Christian Bubble" this book has peaked my interest. What adds to the appeal of this book is the fact it's got contributions from some of my favorite teachers, (Andy Stanley, Brian McLaren and Rick Warren) I'm going to go pick it up the day it comes out, and will likely be writing some blogs about what I draw from the book, but over the next couple days ask yourself how you are viewed by those you are supposed to be reaching with the gospel message. The answer might surprise you.

NHL Season Is Here!

It has finally arrived! The NHL season is here. Every team excited about their chances to make an impact, foolish dreams still living in technicolor. I don't expect the Stars to win the cup, but I think they'll be a competitive team, (unlike Ben Davy's St Louis Blues.) But the Dallas Stars are so much more than a good product on the ice. They are pioneers off the ice as well. Check out their billboard campaign this year. It's creative, funny and a little mean. I LOVE IT! I'm going to refrain from making predictions, I'm just going to wish everyone luck in the coming hockey season. Enjoy it!

Technicolor Yawns

I have been waiting for today to arrive for a couple weeks now. You see today was the first "open shinny" at East Bayfield in Barrie. (For those of you not familiar with "shinny" it's basically pickup hockey.) Last year, for the first couple weeks, I would skate and then start to feel sick halfway into the game. Let's just say I left a few deposits in the garbage cans on the bench. I was hoping the same fate would not befall me this year. So far it hasn't. I did feel sick at some points this morning, but I managed to keep my frosted flakes within my digestive system. Let's hope I can continue to keep my composure.

NHL starts tomorrow... GO STARS GO!

Guitar Hero

Central Ontario has a new Guitar Hero! Out of all the qualifiers, Lisa Shaver's name was picked as the winner of the Peavey HP Special Guitar and Peavey Rage Amp from Music Pro in Barrie. I tried to call her after I made the draw, but she was at Karate, but heard the announcement on the radio as she was driving home. She called me to tell me she almost drove off the road when she heard. So congratulations to Lisa, and next Monday we start a new contest, with the prize being an iPod! Stay tuned for more!