Monday, December 29, 2008

Photo of the Day: Polar Bear Attack

I was browsing around the web today, to look for material for my show, and I came across this. Now, this story falls into the category of just being awesome, but without pictures, it looses its luster. But, I could not let this story go to waste, and decided to share it to you online.

Basically, a guy who was out in the middle of Alaska, came back to his truck to see a new face hovering around his truck. Unluckily for him, his car was locked. So, after running for a couple of minutes of playing Hide N Seek, the man was able to take shelter in a truck, whose doors were not locked

You can read the Full Article Here

Junky

Friday, December 26, 2008

Late Christmas Gift from the Fold

So when I was down in Nashville in the spring, I got a chance to talk to Dan of The Fold, and he was an uber cool guy, and ever since then I have liked the Fold more (it's funny how that works). So, I am interested in hearing that the guys are going to be releasing a new album very shortly, and you can catch all the details in this video

Junky

News for '09 - Video Blog Update!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Merry Christmas

This is the final Wonderdog show for 2008! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I will be joining Woody on the Breakfast Club for the next 2 weeks. Gonna bring the funk to the early hours of the morning and enjoy having a normal life for a while. I'm super pumped to have nights off!

See ya in 2009!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Do You Journal?

I've been thinking about starting to journal in the new year. I never really liked the idea of a dude keeping a diary, but I hear it's a good practise. Any dudes out here journal? Would you recommend it?

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Man Of The Year

A couple weeks ago I reached into my mailbox and pulled out the Sports Illustrated "Sportsman Of The Year" edition. The good folks at SI happened to think Michael Phelps was worthy of the cover, and I can see why. I however had a different person in mind. Josh Hamilton. His story is like a fairy tale.
A golden boy, a can't miss prospect, gets involved with the wrong crowd and ends up blowing his fortune on a life of drugs, liquor and late night parties. But the story doesn't end there. He manages to get his life together and returns to baseball. In 2008 he leads the league in RBI's and puts on a show for the ages in the final All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. It's an incredible tale of a guy who got a second chance... and it's beautiful.

Who gets your nod as Man/Woman Of The Year?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

New Years Eve

New Years Eve is quickly approaching, and that means you need to figure out what you're doing to ring in 2009. Are you going to hang out at a friend's? Maybe go downtown to the city's celebration? Or maybe you're just going to lay low and ring it in with the fam? What are your plans?

Monday, December 15, 2008

2 Things

First off, congrats to Jamie Humby from Collingwood. She picked up a brand new Head snowboard for winning our Don't Forget The Christmas Lyrics contest.

Second, did you see this? An Iraqi journalist takes off his shoes and throws them at President Bush! The Prez dodged them like a pro, but this was intense! Could you picture what would have happened had it been Stephen Harper? Dude would have taken a wingtip to the melon. I'm impressed with Bush's quickness.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Questions

I had the pleasure of driving to Toronto today to pick up a bed so my brother in-law has something to sleep on when he comes out our way over Christmas, and on my journey to (and from) Toronto, Crystal and I had some time to talk. On the way home we began to talk about her grandparents, and their "status" when it comes to faith. (ie: which side of the fence they are on.) Which brought up some questions in my mind. What makes someone a Christian? Could it be that you just say a prayer and it's done? What if you say the prayer but don't mean it? What if you never say the prayer? How come Jesus never led anyone through the sinners prayer? If his disciples never prayed the prayer, does that mean they don't go to heaven? Your eternal destination cannot rest on one little prayer can it? What about if you pray the prayer and you go on to live a life that is in no way "Christian"? Can you lose your salvation?

If it's more about the condition of the heart, then does the fact you repeated after the pastor have any bearing on your salvation? Wouldn't that make it a works based salvation?

What makes someone a Christian anyway? You've got so many different "portraits" of what it means to be a Christian. You've got Creflo Dollar at one end of the spectrum. Prosperity gospel is his schtick. Name it and claim it! What about Mother Teresa? She went and lived in the slums of Calcutta. One says God wants you to own that mansion and drive that nice car. One says we need to be reaching the poor, because "in the poor we meet Jesus in the most distressing disguises." So which one of them has it nailed? What does it mean to be a fully devoted Christian?

Who's right? The person that is constantly seeking more of the Holy Spirit, (filling their cup), handing out tracts and sharing the good news with everyone they come across? Or the person that spends their weekends working with special needs kids and loving them in the name of Jesus?

I'm not sure I have the right answer.

I work for a Christian radio station...

I call myself a Christian...

Often I read my Bible out of obligation, not because I want to...

I go through periods where I don't crack open my Bible for weeks...

I know I have so much, yet I crave more...

I find ways to rationalize my sin...

I blame others for my short-comings...

I'm a crappy Christian with more questions than answers...

BUT I know there is a God who loves me more than I could ever imagine, and that even when I give up on myself, he still sees the best in me. One thing I know for sure: I Am Loved!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Advent Conspiracy

I heard about this thing called the Advent Conspiracy a couple weeks ago, but I never really looked into what it actually was. Well, today a friend of mine sent me this video that is about the campaign. As I watched it, something inside of me was awakened. What if we actually did this? Like, for real did this. What kind of change do you think we'd see?

Monday, December 8, 2008

Re-Gifting

I got an email today from a guy asking if re-gifting is wrong. I said "no." If it's still in mint, unused condition I don't see a problem with it. What do you think?

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Gift Card Christmas

For Group Therapy Thursday tonight we asked if it was ok to do a "gift card Christmas." Here's the scenario:
Luke has trouble buying gifts for his family. They are extremely hard to buy for. So Luke decided it would be easier to just get them all gift cards. That way he spends exactly what he budgets for, and it's a lot easier than searching for the elusive "perfect" gift. When Luke told his buddies they said gift cards are cop-outs, that they aren't real gifts. So Luke has a decision to make... Does he ditch the gift card idea?

What do you think?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Clearing The Air

Let me clear the air about my feelings towards winter. It's not that I dislike the snow... it's the context that the snow falls in. For example: If I'm spending a week at Mammoth or Big White, then I'm praying for a healthy dumping of white gold every night. Then I love snow. I love spending an epic day on the mountain with a couple feet of fresh pow, then coming in to the chalet and watching the sun set from the hot tub. Followed by a hearty supper feast. In that context I love snow. I watched some vids from Poorboyz and Matchstick today and I was ready to throw my gear in the car and go build some kickers in a field somewhere. (But I had to go to work) There are times that I love snow!

There are times when I'm not a fan of snow. Like when I have to drive around Barrie in it. Trying to get up the many hills the city offers becomes a challenge in my little car.

My point is, I love snow... as long as I can take advantage of it.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Holiday Shopping

There are a number of blogs I read on a semi-regular basis. Mental Floss just happens to be one of them. They recently posted a blog about the 5 pitfalls of Christmas shopping, and I think it's a solid read. I just want to give you a heads up.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Wonderdog.

Now go read it!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Christmas Time

So now that you've made public your Christmas Wish List... What are you doing to help make someone else's Christmas merrier? (Is that a word?)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Christmas Wish List

Christmas is just a couple weeks away. (Hopefully you've started shopping.) What's on your wish list this year?

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mythbusters loves the Paintballs

I really love these guys. In my house, this is the one show that we just stop to watch, and with everyone's tastes in media, that saying something. So when I saw that they used to over a 1000 paintball guns to make the Mona Lisa, I realized I had to show this to everyone. Apparently, my little viral marketing worked. The video gave them over 6,000,000 hits. So when YouTube Live was announced, they knew they had to book the boys. Here is their latest video featuring Leonardo 2.0



...and in case you missed the original



Junky

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Care For A Swim?

I have a number of blogs I frequent on a daily basis. One of which is a blog called "Cool Things In Random Places". Today's post was about the world's largest pool. In Chile, over 1,000 yards long and over 100 feet deep it's quite the sight. They rent out boats and kayaks for you to get around. If you check out the pics, one thing might jump out at you... It's build on the beach. In fact, the water that is used to fill the pool is sucked out of the ocean, just a feet feet away. Why not just go swim in the ocean?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

God Knows If You're Lying To Me

I had an interesting experience on my way to hockey this morning. I stopped in at a Mac's on my way to shinny, (my lips were in need of some chapstick), and nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. The total came to $4.17 (or something like that) and I handed over a $20 bill. He handed me my change, which was one $5 bill, and some coins. I started to walk towards the door when I realized this dude had made a mistake. So I turn around and ask for the $10 he owes me. He proceeds to tell me I already got the right amount of change and I'm wrong. So I let him count the money he gave me. Yup, $10 short. He then (surprisingly) says "You're lying to me!"
"I'm not lying. I haven't even left the store yet. You saw me the whole time."
"I'll give you $10 but God knows if you're lying to me and he'll punish you."
I laughed and said: "God and I are cool no worries."

It was messed up.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Wall-E Wonder

I spent my Saturday at Pioneer Camp in Muskoka hanging out with the crew from Inside Out. Along with crazy games in the snow, delicious camp food and some services we also watched Disney's latest DVD offering... Wall-E. I had heard from various sources that the movie was pretty boring because there is no dialogue for most of the movie, but I was still looking forward to it.

Well I thoroughly enjoyed the flick, and I was actually pleasantly surprised by just how they were able to solicit so much emotion through a robot that doesn't use words. It was wild!

I was also suprised at the under-lying message in the film. Humans acquire so much stuff that they need to flee to space, leaving a robot to clean up their junk. PLUS, technology has advanced to the point that while in space the humans don't need to do any work to survive. I'm not talking vocation here, I mean it's like 24/7 room service. Meals come in milkshake form, recliners transport them from one location to another, and they have their own personal tvs on there floating recliners. As a result, they become quite obese and quite lazy. It's pretty scary actually... to think our lust for bigger and better "stuff" might actually result in this type of life.

My hats are off to the folks at Disney for this movie. Not only the story and the underlying message, but also the creative way they delivered it.

What movies have you seen that caught you by surprise (either good or bad)?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Winter Time Fun

I think it's pretty safe to say winter has arrived and is here to stay for the next 4-5 months.  So how do you make it through winter?  What do you do to take advantage of crazy amounts of snow and sub-zero temps?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Taking Stuff For Granted

We love our stuff don't we?  Often we take our stuff for granted.  Think of all the technological advances we've made in the last 50 years.  It's crazy!  Check out this video.  It's genius!


Monday, November 17, 2008

Why Tony Is The Man

Who's ready to party!?!?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

That was embarrassing...

Looking through YouTube, and I found some VERY embarrassing moments that I worth a life at

WRONG WAY



Sometimes You Just Have to go



... and sometimes you just get caught up in the moment



Any embarrassing stories that you want to share? Just leave them here (you can post anonymously)

Junky

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Who's On Your List?

Tomorrow night Crystal and I are making our way to Queen and Broadview in Toronto to enjoy an evening with Andrew McMahon. Yeah bro! I'm going to see Jack's Mannequin at The Opera House! Jack's Mannequin is my #1 fav band at the moment (Mat Kearney may move back on top once he finally releases a new disc) and I have never had the chance to see them live. Well tomorrow night that all changes.

So my question to you tonight is: "What band would you LOVE to see live but haven't had the chance to yet?"

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Winter Blues

It snowed today. Last Tuesday I was wearing my boardshorts. Last Wednesday I went to the beach. Today it snowed.

I got up this morning, opened the blinds and was greeted by a blizzard. I'll be honest... I wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep until May.

So how do you beat the winter blues? I watched some surf videos this afternoon and it lifted my spirits.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Ordinary Radicals

This Friday the Bloor Street Cinema will be hosting a motion picture movie event.  What am I talking about?  Ordinary Radicals.  The film features interviews with: Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, and many others.  If you want to check it out, you get can your tickets HERE.  If you're still unsure, you can get a synopsis HERE. And you can check out the trailer HERE.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Green Shift

It is no secret that the trendy thing to do right now is be "green." With the threat of global warming, oil prices on the rise, rapid urbanization of land and food costs soaring it's easy to see the environment is a hot topic. But I feel like this might be taking it too far. A "Green Bible"? Apparently the Bible talks more about the earth that it does about love. You know how Bibles used to have the words of Jesus in red? Well now verses dealing with the environment are in green. Now, I'm all for protecting the environment, and being good stewards of the earth, but this seems excessive. What do you think? Are you going to go out and buy a "Green Bible?"

Check out the "Green Bible" HERE.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

November Beach Action

With the beauty weather the last couple days I decided to take advantage of the abnormal November weather today. I packed up my car and made my way north to Tiny Township for some sweet November skimming. How have you taken advantage of the summer-like conditions this week?
Shaka!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Best Yet

Switchfoot released a new disc today, calling it their "Best Yet." 5 Slam listeners scored the new disc tonight, (Rosie, Kayla, Hillary, Susan & Jen).

Here's the track listing:
Dare You To Move
Meant To Live
Stars
Oh! Gravity.
This Is Home
Learning to Breathe
Awakening
This Is Your Life
On Fire
Only Hope
Dirty Second Hands
Love Is the Movement
Company Car
Lonely Nation
The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
Concrete Girl
Twenty-Four
Beautiful Letdown

My question to you is,: "What Switchfoot song would you make sure was on the album?"

Monday, November 3, 2008

Take Yer Pick

Tomorrow a HUGE election will take place. One that may have a greater impact on Canada than our own election less than one month ago. So, if you could, where would your "x" land? Voting for McCain or Obama?

Friday, October 31, 2008

Roundball or Puck?

The Raptors opened up the home portion of their NBA season with a big win in overtime tonight, and yet for some reason I could not get excited. Maybe it's because I grew up on hockey, and there was no basketball in Toronto when I was a kid. I played both sports in High School and College, but I can't get into NBA ball. Which do you prefer? Basketball or Hockey?

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Theology On Tap

I was flipping through today's Barrie Advance when I stumbled on an article that caught my eye. It's about how one youth worker in Barrie is trying to curb the trend of people in their late teens and 20's leaving church and their faith at home when they move out on their own.
It's an issue that I can identify with. When I moved to Barrie it was hard to find a church with people my age in attendance. I grew up going to youth group and bible studies with friends, only to see them abandon their relationship with God once they were out on their own at university. Since then, I've had a soft-spot for those students in their late teens and early twenties. The people that graduate from youth and are left to fend for themselves. The people that go away to college and are bombarded with all sorts of different worldviews that challenge what they've been brought up to believe.
Well, "Theology On Tap" is an idea that the Catholic church has adopted and run with, and it's coming to Barrie. I'm really impressed. It's an out-of-the-box idea that I think could have great success. Imagine if all of us Jesus people took this kind of step and started thinking of doing "ministry" in a new way. What would this city look like in 5 years? 10 years?

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

High School Musical Money-Maker

High School Musical 3 was tops at the box office this past weekend, (can't say I'm surprised). Have you seen it? Do you want to see it? What did you think of it? Post your review here.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Number One Song?

So it just hit me that, in couple of weeks, Christmas promotions/talk/busyness is going to start, and that comes with having to come with trying to figure out the top 50 songs of the year. The last couple of years have been pretty easy when it came to the number one song of the year, but this time, feels a lot more challenging. Miley Cyrus was VERY popular, but number one song??? In short: NO. No, that just does not work for me. My gut feeling it will be going to Hawk Nelson - Friend Like That, but does that really sound like the number one song of 2008? Not so sure, tell me what do you think was the number one song of the year?

Junky

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Not just in baseball...

When the word "Steroids" comes up, you generally do not think about the NFL. There has always been those strong rumors there 90% of NFL players were doing the funky Flintstone vitamins, but now we have the first two major get themselves in trouble. Duece McAllister (HB) and Will Smith (DE) of the New Orleans Saints have been reportedly busted for taking water pills. Is this just the beginning for the NFL or do you think the NFL is going to to do their best and not allow these stories to come out?

Junky

Source

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ancient Remedies Anyone?

I should have known this was coming. Last week I started to feel a little bit of scratchiness in my throat at the end of my show. Yesterday it had progressed to a full on sore throat. Today it has advanced to the point of swallowing razor blades. It's not a comfortable feeling. So I'm looking for your time-tested remedies for curing a sore throat. What works for you?

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

New Specs

I ordered myself new glasses today, and I'm super stoked. I know it seems kinda lame to be pumped over glasses I wish I didn't have to wear, but I'm so excited. Does the fact I'm looking forward to new glasses make me a loser?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Deadly Viper

Earlier tonight I had Mike Foster on the show. He is a unique dude. I'm a regular readr of his blog, and I have a lot of respect for what he is doing. If you get a chance, check out what he has to say and what he's been up to lately.
Watch out for the Deadly Viper!

Monday, October 20, 2008

YouTube Winner!

We have a winner in the YouTube Challenge! It's Jeff Sharp from Waubaushine. Check out his video.



You can see the rest of the entries on the Slam website

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Shorts or Pants?

I was at the gym this week and noticed something peculiar.  Guys prefer shorts to pants.  Why?  The women all wore pants, and the men wore shorts.  Why is this?  Ideas?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What Are You Passionate About?

Can I start off by saying I love iTunes?  Seriously.  The podcast has changed my life.  Now I can follow some of the leaders I look up to, in a way I never thought possible.  Every week I download the latest from Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Mark Batterson and Craig Groeschel
 
Well today I was enjoying the first in Mark Batterson's "Wild Goose Chase" series, and (as per usual) he said something that hit me smack across the face.  You see this series is about living a life full of adventure.  Living a life led my the Holy Spirit (the wild goose).  In this podcast he asked a simple question: "What is your passion?"  The answer, I thought, was easy.  I'm passionate about the Dallas Stars, I'm passionate about warm weather, I'm passionate about my family, all those are my passions.  But that wasn't what he was asking.  He re-phrased the question this way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table?  What makes you smile?"  WHOA!  That's a totally different question.

Sure I see people suffering around the world, and it makes me mad.  I hear about the sex trade in Asia and it upsets me.  The fact we have so much, and yet we crave more, while there are people in Africa that don't have access to clean drinking water, makes me cringe.  But that's not what upsets me the most.

I think what makes me cry or pound my fist on the table the most is when Christians get in the way of others experiencing God.  When someone is turned off of God because we try to make them adhere to a set of rules as a pre-requisite to a God experience.  When they are so turned off by their experience with church, that they give up on God.  That makes me upset.  What makes me smile is when I hear of people like Pernell Goodyear (The Freeway) that are thinking outside the box to reach their communities.

So I toss this question your way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table?  What makes you smile?"

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Most Wonderful Time Of Year

The NHL season kicked off for real tonight. (I know they played some games in Eurpoe last week) My Dallas Stars don't get after it until tomorrow against Columbus, but I'm excited. The Leafs even scored a big win against the defending champs. Well, in downtown Toronto they did something very creative to kick off the new season. They played hockey on the side of the Toronto Life Square! My lovely wife managed to sneak out of her office at lunch time and document it. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

T-Minus One Week

In one week we'll be electing our next Prime Minister. Who it'll be is anyone's guess. It's kinda funny because I find myself more interested in the election south of the border than our own. In fact, I think I know more about John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama and Joe Biden than I do of any of our candidates. But no matter which side of the border you're on, you're going to have to make a choice. In the past Christians have been told to vote for a certain party based solely on 2 issues: Abortion and Same-Sex Marriage. But there seems to be a bit of a shift going on. No longer are people listening to the Falwells and Dobson's of the Christian sub-culture. People are starting to think for themselves and looking at the candidates stance on other issues as well. (Issues like the poor, war, etc) Last week George Stroumboulopoulos (I had to look up the spelling) had Tony Campolo on The Hour to talk politics. It was REALLY good. If you have 10 minutes to spare you need to watch it. He's got some really good things to say.
Watch it here.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Trip To The North Pole

This past weekend Crystal and I travelled Hwy 69 to it's northern-most tip to pay my sister a visit. She's attending Laurentian University, studying Forensic Sciences and is in her 1st year. Now I'd never been to Greater Sudbury before, but Crystal lived there for a year or two and had some fond memories. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I was kind of disappointed. Sudbury was a bit of a dive. Downtown was all boarded up, the roads had all sorts of potholes (I thought Barrie was bad) and the overall vibe was one of neglect. Lots of run down houses, closed businesses and the ones that were still open were pretty seedy. Now with all that said, the area around the university was pretty nice, and the east end had some big box stores and that area was nicer as well. Overall, I'd give it a pretty low grade. We did make it to the big nickel though! I could almost touch it if I jumped.

It was nice to my sister again though. See what life is like for her living 5 hours north of "home." She seems to be enjoying it, so I'm happy for her. Not sure if I'd want to make the move north though.



Friday, October 3, 2008

Way Up North

Tomorrow Crystal and I are headed WAY up north to visit my sister at Laurentian University. In SUDBURY! I have never been north of Huntsville. Sudbury is Nothern Ontario dude... They have permafrost! Now I'm told Sudbury is actually very nice, but they had snow today. We're 3 days into October and they had snow! Guess I'll have to dress warm. I'll take some pictures and document it for you.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Free Money!

I'm addicted to Twitter. There I said it. It's out in the open and I'm feeling much better. Well a friend of mine (Chris Vacher) posted a link that caught my eye. Squidoo is giving away $80,000 to charity. Serious! And you get to pick which charity gets your $2. Sweet huh? So what are you waiting for... GO VOTE!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Get Y'er Oil Ready

I was reading Matthew 25 today, and it hit me like I was reading it for the first time. Yeah it's about the second coming, but it took a different path today.

I always thought it was kind of unfair how the 5 bridesmaids who didn't have enough oil got shut out of the party. I mean, it's not like they broke any of the 10 commandments, they were just a little bit irresponsible. But maybe Jesus was driving home a point. (Ya think?) Maybe he was saying that there is stuff you need to take care of before the groom comes. Maybe God has you here for a reason, and you need to get down to business now. Maybe he's given you a dream, and instead of sitting around and talking about it you need to take steps to see it comes to fruition. Take action. Perhaps the 5 foolish bridesmaids were sitting around (like girls tend to do) gushing about how excited they were to see the groom, how great the party was going to be and they forgot to stock up on oil?

Maybe the parable hit me like this because of where I find myself in life. I want to see people who have given up on church and given up on Christianity have an experience with God. I talk about it a lot, I dream about it a lot, I pray about it a lot, but I haven't really done anything to try and make it happen. Maybe I don't know how. Maybe I'm scared. But I feel like God is pushing me to take some steps to make it happen.

I'm sure one of you scholarly folks will correct me on it if I'm wrong.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Regular Season Baseball in the Wraps

With the White Sox winning tonight, the 2008 regular season is now in the books. So looking back, here are some of the best hightlights... of the year... from the people in the stands... avoiding Baseball bats

Enjoy the link (CLICK HERE)

Junky

Monday, September 29, 2008

For Star Wars Fans

Hey,

So I am not a hardcore Star Wars fan, they are ok, but they just do not float my boat for me, but I have seen all six movies, and I fell on to this site, where the concept art for the three prequel movies had been "leaked" too. There is some interesting designs in there, so give the link a shot.

Star Wars Concept Art

Junky

Saturday, September 27, 2008

My New Baby

After over a year and a half of saving up my Gametrailers points, I have finally gotten enough hits on my little page and watched enough trailers, that I had enough to finally buy her, and tomorrow I am picking it up... YEAH... (Scroll down for pics)

Junky





Friday, September 26, 2008

I feel better about my place

A lot of times, when you are looking at your place, you think... "This place sucks". Suddenly, I have a new respect for mine. This is a place in Houston, Texas. Pretty nasty. I cannot believe this went up on the market

Junky







Thursday, September 25, 2008

Greatest YouTube Video EVER

So I ran across this today, and I still cannot believe what I saw. First off, yes, it's a video commercial, I know I am pretty addicted to games, but even for non-gamers you will be inspired by the idea behind this video. It starts off a little slow, but just let it build

Junky

CLICK HERE TO SEE IT

Monday, September 22, 2008

Only for People Who Like Feeling Stupid

A while back, I was kinda bored looking for something to do, and I have no IDEA how I fell into this, but it is something called Hexiom Connect. I tried it for the first few levels and I am feeling pretty smart. Next couple of levels, not so smart. After that, most of the time was just a struggle and some levels took (kid you not) over ten minutes. If you can get to level 25, you are genius and deserve win a Pulitzer Prize.

Hexiom Connect

Junky

Friday, September 19, 2008

Craigslist Love

I fell in love with craigslist today.  You see I've been wanted a longboard for the longest time, but never dug into the bank account to purchase one.  Just couldn't justify dropping the $400 to get one.  I mentioned this fact on one of the skimboard forums I'm a part of, and "bartman" tells me to check craigslist.  "Can't hurt" I say to myself and I check.  Nothing worthwhile.  They're still asking too much.  That was until Monday of this week.  I saw a posting for a ridiculous price!  So I contacted the seller in hopes that it hadn't sold already.  I got lucky.  So today I made my way down to Etobicoke and met up with Alex.  Turns out to be a girl who bought the longboard, rode it once and didn't like it.  So I got a nearly-new longboard for a fraction (a small fraction) of what a new one would cost.  Needless to say I'm a craigslist fan.

Have you scored on craigslist?  Let's share stories.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

18,000 emails

So last week, the office got a new computer, and I decided that I wanted to put my email on it. Now, I know this is weird, but I have this habit of collecting emails. For example, my home computer has emails from back in 2005, it's a little bit crazy. A while ago though, I was looking through my Life emails online and it asked, would I like to delete anything older then 30 days, and I VERY reluctantly said yes and I did this a couple of times.

Going back to my original point, I wanted to throw my email on the computer, so I got it all ready to go, and it starts pulling up emails... FROM A YEAR AGO. Big surprise to me. Over 18,500 emails. 1.95 Gigs. Around 10,000 Spam messages. Not good, but I decided I would let them download and then worry about it later. So now we are at email 18,100 (400 to go), Suddenly Norton pops up. Freaks out, and scares Outlook into some crazy panic, and then, it started to re-download all my old emails again. So I would get 18,500 replica emails... Yeah... I don't think so... I stopped it, and promised to just rant about it and get it out of my system, and I will feel better, and you know what. It did. Now I understand why the Wonderdog likes these so much

Later Days,

Junky

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Dude Is So Freakin' Smart!

Today was my day to run errands. In the car for much of the day, so I popped in a CD I had made of some North Point Podcasts. This particular podcast was Andy Stanley speaking on margin. (Margin is the extra you have. Extra time, extra energy, extra money, etc) It was the first of 6 messages, so it was kind of an introduction to the series. His point is that society today tries to diminish margin. People are packing their days so full of stuff they don't have time to enjoy life. People consume so much, that they are going into debt and going bankrupt. (When margin decreases, stress increases.)

Whenever I listen to Andy speak I am moved. The dude is so freakin' smart! He explains stuff in a way that is so simple, yet so profound. At one point he talked about how God laid out some guidelines for his people to establish margin. Taking one day a week and not doing any work. Didn't matter if their "to-do list" still had items on it, they took an entire day off. He also talked about money... how God told his people to live on 80%. 80%? Yeah 80 %! 10% went to the kingdom, and another 10% went to help the poor.

Now I've heard pastors preach on tithing, and how it's important, God will bless you, etc. (You've probably heard it all) But I had never heard anyone talk about that additional 10%. Wow! It blew me away. Another 10% for the poor. I like it! Why didn't I think of that?

As I listened to this message, I couldn't help but look at my life. Do I have margin? Am I squeezing margin out of my life? Yeah, I am. There are days when I don't have time to read my Bible. There are periods of time where I live at work. This past May when Crystal and I took a couple days off to go to the cottage was the first time in over a year and a half that we had spent 2 days in a row together. It's an on-going struggle in my life, and maybe in yours too.

So I encourage you to develop margin in your life. Enjoy life while you're young. You're only 20 once. Take a couple months and go to Europe. Find a way to live on 80% of your income. Give to the poor. Don't pack your schedule so full of stuff you run from one thing to another. Develop margin.

Check out the message series yourself... Buy it here or download it on iTunes.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sneaky Cats

This is a re-post, but I think it's a worthy one. Mike Foster is one of the guys I follow on Twitter, and tonight he posted a gem. He posted a link over to his website with the caption "Sneaky Cats." I had to check it out. What I found was one of the creepiest videos I have ever seen. Almost makes me want to get a cat. Check it out.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Talk About History

This weekend Crystal and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and part of the festivities included a ride on the Miss Midland. Now I grew up cottaging in the Midland/Penetanguishine area and had no idea of the history of the area. I found out on the boat cruise that Penetanguishine was a naval base during the war of 1812, Midland was home to Jesuit missionaries in the 1700's, The pope visited in 1984 and 2002 and there are thousands of shipwrecks in the waters of Georgian Bay. It was a really fun cruise, loaded with scenery and some really interesting history lessons. I don't want to spoil it, so if you have a free afternoon and $20, head up to the town of Midland and hop aboard the Miss Midland and enjoy!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ike

Hurricane Ike is headed for Texas and it's hurting us here 2,500km away in Central Ontario. I got a bunch of calls from concerned motorists, claiming gas has gone up as much as $0.20/litre because of the storm. Supposedly they've shut down 90% of the refineries in Texas and that means gasoline will be in short supply. With gas prices going through the roof, how do you plan on getting around for the next couple weeks? Driving? Riding your bike? Walking?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

God Particle?

Does this scare anyone else?
Scientists are afraid this could cause a black hole and swallow the entire earth! They compare it to Columbus sailing west in search of a new world, but if Columbus missed his mark the earth would not be swallowed whole.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Sleepless Nights

I'm going golfing with my Dad tomorrow morning. This means I probably won't sleep tonight cause I'm too excited. I actually happens to me a lot. If I play hockey the next day, if I'm going skimming, going to a church service I'm looking forward to or if I'm super excited about something coming up. Some people lose sleep when they are nervous, I lose sleep when I'm excited. Is there anything that makes you lose sleep?

Monday, September 8, 2008

Late Night Snack

It's hard for me to make it through a 5-hour show without grabbing some sort of snack. Sometimes it's trail mix, yogurt or even a donut (I try not to, but sometiems I give in and splurge). Tonight it was a butter-tart. So my question to you is this: "What is your go-to late night snack?"

Friday, September 5, 2008

Gratuitous Mullet Action

When we talk about the YouTube Challenge and say the video can be about anything... we mean anything! As long as you have the Life 100.3 logo somewhere in there. It could be a video tour of your house, you trying to give your dog a bath, or maybe some mullets?

Thursday, September 4, 2008

An Apology

You've probably heard of the worship leader from Australia that claimed he had cancer, and even penned a song called "Healer" about the whole scenario. Well it turns out the whole thing was a fake and he's been exposed. But wait! There's more. He did an interview with an Australian tv station to explain how it all came about. It's pretty interesting.

Can you accept his apology?

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Summer Comes Late

I got up this morning, looked up the weather forecast, and knew what I had to do. Sunny and 30+ degrees meant I had to head to the beach and throw down a skim session for the first time in over 5 weeks. It was a perfect day. Loads of sunshine, no clouds and an empty beach. Yeah brah, there may have been 10 people at the beach. Last weekend the beach was wall-to-wall people, but not today. Ya know, I wasn't a big fan of the chilly summer we had, but if it means we get a scorcher of a fall, with no crowds at my local break, then I'm all for it!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Busy Weekend!

It was an eventful Labour Day weekend, complete with cliff jumping, a scavenger hunt, cottage time and a proposal. Yeah that's right, love is in the air!

Here's the story...
Saturday Crystal put together a scavenger that sent us all over Barrie looking for clues. (How long does it take to drive around Georgian Mall driving 40 km/h or take a picture of a mullet, etc) After the hunt concluded (with the guys team winning) we made our way up to the cottage. We played Cranium well into the night and once we got tired of that headed down to the beach. Tim Maassarany brought his telescope, and it was a perfectly clear night with a TON of stars out. (It was spectacular) The 5 of us (Mark, Tim, Roz, Crystal and Me) lay on the beach gazing at the blanket of diamonds strewn across the black velvet sky and soaked in the moment. I brought out my camera and tripod and started taking pictures of the night sky. Crystal and I posed for a photo (trying to stay very still for the 30 second exposure time) and it turned out pretty nice. So Tim and his girlfriend Roz decided they wanted one too. The first time they weren't standing quite straight so they tried again and it was gold. Still Tim wanted one more shot. As they lined up, Tim kneeled and I hit the shutter. Roz may have said: "What are you doing, stand up" but then she caught on. Tim was popping the big question! She said yes, and wanted to hug Tim, but he stopped her saying: :"NO! You have to stay totally still for the picture to turn out right." She moved a little bit, but you can't really blame her. I still think the picture turned out pretty sweet.

CONGRATS TIM & ROZ!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Throwing Darts At Broken Hearts

Gnarls Barkley has the most messed up videos... Super creative, and super weird. I think this one might be the weirdest so far, but I really like it. It's so true. Watch and enjoy.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Revelation

I've realised something about myself over the past couple days. Call it a eureka moment. I love change.
The in-studio TV was on CNN, so when 10:00 rolled around Barack Obama consumed the tube. Now I'm not into politics, but (even in Canada) we've been force fed the American election, and as a result I know a little bit about what's going on. Well as I was watching the closed captioning roll across the screen I found myself cheering on The Rock... er... Barack when he talked about change. That's when I realized I'm big on change. When Barack threw out the line: "The greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result." I was like yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!
I like change. Even when things are going well, I crave change. Let's change it, make it better! It's part of the learning process. Is it great? No? Then let's change it! What's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work and we try something else.
It can be simple change. Rearrange the furniture in your room every couple of weeks. Take a different route home. Try something new at your favorite restaurant. Change is good. It adds variety to life. I'm not sure if it's a strength or weakness, but it's who I am. I like change.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Do You Dream?

If you know me, you know I'm a dreamer. I like to think big. I like to imagine what life could be like if everyone had a chance to experience God. I like to think I could play a part in God revealing himself to people in Central Ontario, and more specifically Barrie. I'm reading a book by Erwin McManus right now, called "Wide Awake." It talks a lot about dreaming, and how God has planted a dream inside each of us. (See the trailer below) It's been challenging me a lot. It seems every time I read one of Erwin's books it stirs up something deep within me. Maybe because he talks a lot about adventure, living an extraordinary life and taking risks. All things that resonate with me. If I could take 6 months a year, and set them aside for missions trips I would be so pumped! From building an orphanage in Africa, to working with former sex slaves in Thailand, to rebuilding homes in New Orleans, to working a camp for abuse victims in Trinidad... that would be sweet! Or closer to home, what if there was a place that nurtured dreams? That encouraged creativity? That was a gathering point for thinkers, artists, musicians and dreamers alike? What if that place was one of the tools God used to encounter his people? I believe that place can exist. Maybe it's the dreamer in me, but I want to be a part of it when it happens.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

What Life Will Be Like

Back to the Future 2 was set in 2015... Complete with flying skateboards. Seems ridiculous now, but I don't think they intended it to be a true reflection of what life would be like. This article however, (penned in 1968), was intended as a realistic estimate of what life would be like in 2008. Kinda funny looking back now ain't it?

Monday, August 25, 2008

A Case Of The Mondays

Mondays are usually bad days for me. Coming off a weekend, and having to go back to work. I laughed when I saw this commercial. I can identify with it.


Today was an especially bad Monday though. I woke up at 8:30, and it felt like something was trying to escape from my stomach. (I saw a lump moving around, pushing against my stomach from the inside, but it was probably just a hallucination) I then spent a good 30 minutes emptying my stomach of, well everything. To add to the sex appeal I was sweating so bad it looked like I had just gone swimming! For real, my shirt was soaked. It was a crappy way to start the week. The weird thing was that as I lay in bed watching this tennis ball sized lump move around my abdomen I wasn't scared. I watched it and said to myself: "this is some bad trip I'm on." I knew it wasn't really happening, but I could see and feel it. Messed up! After my episode this morning I went back to bed and I guess I slept it off. I woke up a little later and I was feeling better.

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Wonderdog and the Ferris Wheel

Hey guys,

This Saturday and Sunday, if you are looking for something to do, AJ The Wonderdog is trapped on the Ferris wheel at the Barrie Fair. So if you want to keep him company, make sure to say Hi to him. He also has a portable DVD player which was donated to him by one AWESOME anonymous donor *coughmecough*, so you guys can watch movies when you are up there.

He is there from 12 to 10 tomorrow, and then on Sunday 12 to 5, so do not miss him

Junky

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Hello I'm a Mac. I'm a PC. I'm Jerry Seinfeld.

I do not understand Microsoft. These commercials have been on for so long and yet it is only now that they are doing something to combat against them? A little too late guys. So who is the combatant they have selected? It's none other then Jerry Seinfield. If this was the 90's, sure this would be an amazing marketing strategy, but this is the 00's (or whatever you call this era). Jerry does not quite cut it anymore. I know I am putting the horse before the cart (that's an old fashion term for saying I am getting ahead of myself), but I think Microsoft needs to rethink this strategy.

You can read the full article HERE

Junky

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Road Trip Hilites

So you've checked out the pics from my trip, now for my recap of the hilites. The majority of our time was spent in Washington, and it was a blast. We toured the U.S. capital on segways, stopping at the White House, Capitol Building, Canadian Embassy and Washington Monument (basically all the tourist stops). The subway was super easy to use and super clean. That was a nice change compared to what we're used to. We also stopped in at Ebenezers Coffeehouse, which was another hilite. It's the kind of place I want to open up in Barrie, and visiting Ebenezers just stoked that fire.

The reason we took the trip was to see Yankee Stadium before it was turned into a parking lot, but Yankee Stadium wasn't the hilite I thought it would be. It was still sweet to visit the house that Ruth built, but not the surreal experience I was expecting. Maybe it was because it was pouring rain, or maybe because the fans and stadium employees were kinda cold. New Yorkers would consider it blasphamy, but the stadium 4 hours north won my vote more than Yankee Stadium. New York City was sweet though. We took a bus tour and visited Central Park, Ground Zero, Greenwich Village, SoHo and (of course) Times Square.

Boston was our last stop, and although we didn't spend time in the city, I won't forget the experience. We didn't have tickets to the game when we arrived, so we had to lineup outside and hope we could scoop up some game day sales (they hold 200 tix for the day of). Well there was over 1000 people in line before us. Uh oh. Long story short, we waited for 3 hours (other left the line in favor of scalped tickets) and scored seats right behind the plate! And it just got better! The fans were crazy! They were so loud and (shockingly) nice. It was probably the best experience I've had at a baseball game. I'd love to go back.

So the recap, Washington was sooooo much fun. New York was totally cool, but I'd never want to live there. And Boston was the best baseball experience of my life.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Road Trip Of Dreams

I just got back from a vacation that I will never forget. This is the last year for the Yankees to play in Yankee Stadium, and I wanted to experience "the house the Ruth built" before they tore it down. So (way back) in March Crystal and I planned a road trip down the east coast of the U.S. which included 4 stops at various baseball shrines. Baltimore, Washington, New York and Boston. What an amazing week! Check out the pics by clicking on the city name, and I'll give ya the recap tomorrow night.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Email Paranoia

I have no idea where this came from or why I do this, but I have a constant need to check my email. I almost think it is an addiction. This mostly happens when I am on the air, where I have to check it every time I do something. I stutter on the air, check the email. I say something (that I think) is funny and creative, check the email. Bad mouth the Toronto Maple Leafs, you guessed it, check the email.

I am not sure if I really do have a paranoia or I am just self conscious, but if I go more then 30 minutes without looking at the thing, I will shake, quite literally

BTW... if you do ever want to email me. It's junky@lifeonline.fm

Junky

Miley Cyrus Talk Back Show (Really)

Hello all...

Ignore the post from Tuesday... Tonight is the night we let you weigh in your opinion on Miley Cyrus. Do you think she is a good role model? If you had kids would you let them look up to her?

Let us know at 1-866-737-Life or send me an email at junky@lifeonline.fm

Monday, August 11, 2008

My Face is Fine, Stop Staring

Hello...

I am Junky Rhodes. I am 21 years old... and I am still going through puberty. Well, at least my face is. I had this feeling of a zit coming above my eyebrow, so I did the responsible thing. Rather then spending hours in front of the mirror trying to fix the problem with my bare hands, I took some cleansing pads, and used them on my "blemish", thinking that would do the trick and life would go back to normal.

That would be a negative. Instead, it made the thing twice as big. That was nice. So all day long people have been doing that thing where they start talking to you... and then they start slowing down... and they slow down and just stop themselves and ask "Did you get hit in the head?" I am rather annoyed at it... so I am asking you... Which paper mask do you like better. I have narrowed it down to these three

-------------








Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Got $50,000-$70,000 I Could Borrow?

What kind of car can you get for $50,000?
A Chevy Tahoe, a Lincoln Navigator, a BMW X5 or the Batmobile!
Take your pick.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

AJ Is A Bad Man.

That was Snax yesterday, nice and wooly. We were up at the cottage, enjoying the long weekend.

Over the past couple weeks we were noticing our dog was overheating on a regular basis. With minimal exercise she'd be super thirsty. She'd crave a swim just to cool off. When she'd be out in the sun, I'd go pet her back and the wool would be so hot. Crystal and I figured it wouldn't be fair to keep her wooly in 30+ degree heat. (Even if she was super cute) So today I took her to the groomers to get trimmed. She was kind of excited to be there, but once we got inside and I had to leave she had second thoughts. I dropped her off just after 12:00 and left for work. At 4:30 I got a call saying she was ready to be picked up. So I drove over and they brought out a dog they claimed was mine... except this one looked nothing like the ball of wool I dropped off 4 hours earlier. This dog was skinny and had HUGE eyes. Could this be my little Snax? I guess so. So we made our way out to the car, except she didn't want to come. I picked her up and carried her out to the car, "maybe it's cause it's raining" I thought to myself. We drove home and parked inside the garage so she wouldn't get wet. But again she didn't want to walk. So I carried her inside and as soon as we got through the door, she bolted for the couch and buried herself under the blanket so just her head was sticking out. Uh oh... She's embarrased. She doesn't like her haircut (but really who does like their hair after it's cut). Well she gave me the cold shoulder for the rest of the dinner hour. The dog who loved to play ball, wouldn't even look when I threw the ball. The dog who loved to run around was now lying/hiding under the blanket on the couch. I traumatized my dog. I was just trying to be a good owner... Now she hates me. Good thing she'll forget by the weekend and we'll be best friends again!





Snax after the groomer.

Friday, August 1, 2008

What Doesn't Kill You...

X-Games 14 are taking place this weekend in LA, and (as usual) you will see stuff that will blow your mind.  Watch the skateboard big air comp below.  Danny Way (silver medal) slammed hard TWICE and still managed to throw down a silver medal performance.  CRAZY!  I wish we got it live here in Canada.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wide Awake

If you know me, you know I'm a big fan of Erwin McManus. Everytime I read some of his material or hear him speak it moves me deep inside. Maybe it's because he's a big booster of dreaming/creativity/imagination, and I'm guy who loves to let my imagination run free. Well, I picked up his new book Wide Awake and I can't put it down. The book is divided into segments: Dream, Discover, Adapt, Expect, Focus, Create, Enjoy & Invest. I'm halfway through so far and have 8 pages of notes. The book begins describing the scene from M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable where Bruce Willis talks about how he wakes up every morning with this cloud of sadness around him. The reason for the sadness is because he's not doing what he should be with his life. The book is about the heroic life God has called us to... A life that will change the world you live in for the better.

The book gives you a lot to chew on, and a lot to digest. At times I have to put it down and try to download what Erwin has just said. Check out this line: "I think a lot of our prayers make God wonder why we think so little of him." Did you catch that? BAM! It's heavy. God works with the impossible and makes it probable. Remember that Sunday School song? He gave sight to a blind man. When Jesus asked "What is it you want?" What if the blind dude had said: "I left my coat back at my aunt's. Think you could hook em up with a new one?" or if he had said: "Could you give me better hearing so I can compensate for my lack of sight?" Maybe we do that. Maybe we don't want to trouble God or seem greedy. Maybe God wants us to dream big.

I'm not talking about prosperity gospel, I'm talking about the dream God has placed in you. I like this line: "Is it possible that when we begin to find the dream for our lives, it always involves helping others live their dreams." It hard for me to read a book like this because it challenges me to move out of what is comfortable and familiar and step into a different life, one that is filled with uncertainty, failures and roadblocks. But a life that is also ripe with excitement, adventure and victories. I'll keep you posted.

"Spread hope like fire!" - my new motto.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Camera Work

I was watching the baseball game today and I noticed a disturbing trend. Every time they went to the crowd for a shot, it was always an attractive person who got face time. Seriously! Great play, they go to the crowd and they show an Abercrombie model reacting to the play. The inning ends and they go to a quick shot of the crowd before heading to commercials and it's a blonde bombshell that fills the screen. Are you telling me the only people who go to baseball games are models? Do they screen people at the entrance send the less than beautiful fans to the seats that no tv camera dares to access? Where's this guy (below) at the ball game? He's there! Just not on tv.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Gettin' Ink Done

I'm a frequent reader of Carlos Whittaker's Blog "Ragamuffin Soul" and I love this guy. It's refreshing to read his blog. He's real, funny and manages to move me on a regular basis. Well he's also a tv star. Dude was on LA Ink. Check it out!

I'm hoping to get ink done at some point as well. Not sure if I'm ready for the entire arm though.

Monday, July 28, 2008

David vs Goliath

A new search engine hit the scene today. Cuil, (pronounced "cool"), is the product of some former Google employees who have looked to improve on the search engine, and cash in on some of Google's market-share. Could this be a coup of electronic proportions? Cuil claims that while the interweb has grown, search engines have not. So that's where they come in... 3x the results of Google and 10x that of Microsoft. If you're looking for a Native-American owned business, selling fake rolexes from Zimbabwe, Cuil will find it. Google? Not so much. It is kinda cool how your search is broken down into tabs. Type in "Charger" and it breaks it down into battery charger, Dodge charger & turbo charger. I don't think it's enough to take me away from Google though. Whether they become the big guy on campus, or just another dude walkin' the school grounds, the buffet of searching continues to grow. Eat up!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Six Stages of Cheese Whiz

It was a beautiful sunny day on the 16th hour of the day, when our young and mighty hero Junky Rhodes was hungry for an afternoon snack. He looked and looked and spotted celery in a big in the fridge. "That's perfect" exclaimed Junky "Now, if only I could find something to go with it..." He looked around the fridge and saw a few condiments "Jam....no...to sweet.... Honey....to stick... That green stuff we always get from KFC and never eat and then turns into it's own personality...Maybe...OHH...THERE IT IS!!!" he screams as sees the Cheese Whiz. "This will be the perfect afternoon delight" As he grabs the jar, he finds that he can't open the lid

# FIRST STAGE: Shock


"WHAT?!?!?" said a confused Junky Rhodes "It's impossible, they make these things for fat people whose eye sockets are so plugged with cholesterol that they can't even see color" So our hero tried and tried and couldn't open it which leads us to...

# SECOND STAGE: Denial


"YOU ARE NOT STRONGER THEN ME" screamed a provoked Junky Rhodes "I am tough and strong. I should be able to open such a small jar. Why I have the strength of many men, and that is just in my finger tips." Again he tried with all of his might. "WHY WON'T YOU OPEN" screeched Junky who then fell into the...

# THIRD STAGE: Anger


"You....are...a...no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, hopeless, heartless, jerk face, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed creation from the ugliest and scariest part of the world, so scary it makes New Jersey look like paradise" roared an enraged Junky Rhodes who got most of that quote from Family vacation but took out the parts that you can't say on TV...that was a good movie...over played during Christmas too...where was I....Oh yes...on too...

# FOURTH STAGE: Bargaining


"Please...Oh please jar open"... groaned a distressed Junky Rhodes "If I open you...I will only eat a portion...I won't go cheese happy and eat half of you like I did with your cousin" Now, at this point Junky was getting desperate and irrational. "If you open...I will make sure that I will recycle you...and you can be with all of your jar friends....Maybe you could meet a nice wine bottle and settle down and have kids of your own" At this point, our conqueror was in a sad state which sparked the next event...


# FIFTH STAGE: Depression



"I AM A FAILURE...." wept a cheerless Junky Rhodes "I can't even open the...jar...of cheese whiz...It's not worth living...I should end it all...I know...I could take the toaster to the bathtub...no...that wouldn't work...that is the first toaster that ever worked for us, I would get screwed if I broke it...I know...I will get the rat poison" So Junky went under the sink and found a Master Craft boa constrictor and now that leads us too...

# SIXTH STAGE: Testing



"You have met your match my friend" declared an enthusiastic Junky Rhodes "Cheese Whiz Jar....meet...Boa Constrictor....Boa meet Cheese Whiz..." And he took that Boa and wrapped it around the lid of the jar. The battle was on, he pulled and tugged and even heaved a little, but the jar was tenacious and unfaltering and did not barge...so then he thought...what else can I do...maybe...I can get help, but alas no one was home. He thought maybe the neighbor girl could do it...but having her open it is is much worse then having to put the jar back. Dazed and confused our star went into...

# FINAL STAGE: More anger


"RAHHHH!!!" bellowed an agonized Junky Rhodes who has forgotten the real reason he wanted Cheese Whiz in the first place. He is now more concerned on the battle between man and bottle made from Kraft. "OPEN!!!....OPEN!!!...OPEN!!!" but the jar was not listening, until "Pop" The sound could be heard from all of spring street and surrounding areas and with much awe and excitement, Junky put the bottle on the table, and low and behold a light a shown from the sky and pointed onto the jar. Some say it was a coincidence, but for this narrator it was truly the light of God and "Yeah, the peasants rejoiced" and that moved us into...

# BONUS STAGE: Acceptance


"Yeah...Get your happy dance on...WooWho..." trumpeted an animated Junky Rhodes who was more excited then the Nintendo 64 kid. "The Jar is OPENED" and yeah, it was a happy day. For now our leader Junky Rhodes can then enjoy his little snack and move on with his life, for the jar is opened.

Hallelujah.
Ahmen
Usta

Friday, July 18, 2008

Boredom = Genius

Often times when we are bored out of our trees we come up with the best ideas. Seriously. Why didn't I think of that?

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Dark Knight

As I sit here and countdown the minutes until I get to enjoy the latest film in the Batman series I find myself getting excited. Why? I'm not really sure. I'm not a fan of Christian Bale as Batman, and I seldom enjoy action/superhero flicks. But I'm excited for this one. Maybe it's because I'm excited to see the new interpretations of the Joker or Two-Face. Either way, I'm going to see it tonight, and on Monday night (I'll give you the weekend to check it out) we'll let you give your reviews. Cool?

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

He's Just Being Miley

Gotta love YouTube. I found this video of David Crowder covering Miley Cyrus. Check it!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

If You Only Had 6 Words

I'm not going to pretend this is an original post. I actually borrowed it from Mike Foster and his Deadly Viper Character Assassins Blog. But he stole it from someone else so I don't feel so bad.

What if you only had 6 words to describe your life? What would they be? It's not an easy exercise. Here are a couple examples to get your brain going in the right direction.
“Revenge is living well without you.”
“Met young. Got married. Still infatuated.”
“Raised by lunatics. Still in recovery.”
“Work in progress. Come back later.”

What would your 6 words be?

Monday, July 14, 2008

Comeback Story Of The Year

Major League Baseball is taking a bit of a breather this week as the All-Star Game goes tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium in New York. Tonight was the Homerun Derby, and what a show it was. Some background info before we get into the derby.

Way back in 1999 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted a "can't miss" prospect by the name of Joshua Holt Hamilton first overall. Joshua was named the Amateur Baseball Player of the year by USA Baseball and many professional scouts said he was the best player they had ever seen. (Think Sydney Crosby) Well he signed for about $4 million (as an 18 year-old) and he began what many assumed would become a hall of fame career.

In 2001 Josh Hamilton was involved in a bad car accident, and during the recovery process began to experiment with drugs and alcohol. In 2002 he was injured again and began to delve further into drug culture. He was then suspended after failing a drug test and was out of baseball from 2002 to 2006 when he came back with the Cincinnati Reds. He was then traded in to off-season to the Texas Rangers where he is currently playing.

That brings us to Homerun Derby tonight. Josh put on a clinic slugging 28 homeruns in the first round (the next closest was 8) a Homerun Derby record for one round. Many of them moonshots, well into the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. Josh just came up short in his bid to win the Homerun Derby. (Congrats to Canadian Justin Morneau) Adding to the fairy tale was the fact that his pitcher was Clay Counsil (71 years old) who was his high school mentor.

The overall story is such an amazing one. The tattooed, once drug addicted, suicidal, alcoholic Hamilton has turned his life around and give all the glory to God. It really is an amazing story of how no one is too far for God to reach. A couple weeks ago Josh Hamilton was the feature story in Sports Illustrated and it was one of the best I've read in that magazine. Take a couple minutes and read the story. It will move you.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

New Hockey Night Song

Hockey Night In Canada is apparently looking for a new song for it's broadcasts, and (in true CBC fashion) has invited Johnny Q Public to write it for them. Well there is one entry that I think should win. Not because it's the best (it's the only one I've heard), but rather because the guy who wrote it is a friend of mine. You know Manic Drive? Well Shawn from Manic Drive has put in an entry and I think we need to show him some love. Vote early, and vote often!

Vote Here

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Cheap Christianity

In the past some people have taken issue with some of my blog posts, they don't like my views on certain issues. Understandable. I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I write on here. But let me say this: what is posted on the Wonderblog is simply my opinion, and that opinion does not always reflect the opinion of Trust Communications, Life 100.3 or its supporters. Now that we got that out of the way, on with my post.

If you're a frequent (or maybe even infrequent) reader of the Wonderblog you know I'm bothered by how the church is viewed in culture today. I wish it wasn't so. Do I have the solution? Probably not. I've got some ideas, but haven't tried them out in reality so I don't know if they would actually work. I read the Bible and Jesus repeatedly engaged culture instead of withdrawing from it. That's what the religious leaders of the day didn't like. He didn't play by their rules, he hung out with the wrong people, said the wrong things and extended love and grace to some of society's least deserving... at least in the religious leaders eyes. Sometimes I think the church today behaves like that. We've created our own culture, with our own rules and our own standards. Sure we meant well at the start, but maybe it's gone too far.

Check out this article from Relevant Magazine.
http://relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7507


Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Got My Camera Back

Over 10 weeks ago I took my camera in to Henry's because it wasn't working properly. After a quick inspection we discovered one of the shutter blades had gotten jammed and it was affecting the light meter and resulting in crappy pictures. Good news was the lens was still under warranty and it wasn't going to cost me anything. So we sent the lens back to the manufacturer and they said it'll be 4-6 weeks before I get it back. OK, no worries. The wakeboard weekend was 6 weeks after that date, so I figured I'd have it back in time for Base Camp. Not so. They had to send it back to Japan to get it fixed, and it took over 10 weeks. I got a call today saying it had arrived back in store and I could come pick it up at my earliest convenience. I went as soon as I could over my dinner break. I missed taking pictures. As soon as I got home I started taking random shots around my condo, and Snax was my model for the majority of them. I took about 50 pictures and I think the dog was tired of me following her around snapping pictures every 5 seconds. Here's some of my handywork. I'm happy to have a functioning camera again!






Friday, July 4, 2008

Summer Lovin'

On my way to work this morning I experienced a little bit of heaven. Seriously. I was driving with the windows down, Angels & Airwaves pumpin through the stereo, sun shining down on my face, not a cloud in the sky and a Starbucks Vanilla Bean Chai Frappuccino in my hand. That's what I think heaven will be like. Always 27 degrees and sunny, with free Starbucks and loud music. SWEET!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Finger Fun

The Leafs made a big splash in the free agent pool this week, signing Jeff Finger. I don't know who this guy is, so I looked for hilites on YouTube. This is about all I could find.



Plan the Stanley Cup parade route now... Jeff Finger was the missing piece!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Happy Belated Canada Day

I know it's a day late, but I found this online today and I thought it was worth sharing. It's an online article, that is basically a video tribute to this country we call home. Happy 141st Canada!

http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=1200dbe6-29f0-4404-9e29-7379d420df22&p=1

Monday, June 30, 2008

Amazing Race

So I watched some of the Amazing Race today, and I thought to myself, "I'd love to be on that show." Then I thought about who I'd bring as my team mate. The first person that came to mind was, of course, Crystal. She's super smart, super competitive and if I was going to see the world, I'd want her at my side. Then as the show went on I thought maybe my wife would be a bad choice. The couples on the show always fight. And since we're both super competitive we'd probably get in our fair share of arguments. I never actually decided on my hypothetical team mate, rather my mind decided to wander in a different direction. How many relationships have been destroyed because of this tv show? It seems like everyone fights and only the winners (and sometimes not even them) end up staying as friends. Check out this vid.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

birchTV

I had coffee this morning with Rich Birch. Super cool guy, with a super cool life story. He also owns/operates/produces/writes/stars in his own reality tv show. http://birchtv.blogspot.com/ Yeah it's pretty sweet. One of the reasons I wish I had a Mac. Then I to could make mini videos of my life. Maybe get picked up by MTV and be the next Rob & Big. Except it'd be AJ & Doc. Sweeeeeeeet. Whoop whoop!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

This Is For The Dreamers

I am a dreamer. (Maybe that's why I like Field Of Dreams so much.) It's part of who I am, and I don't think it'll ever go away. Sure people have tried to extinguish that fire that burns within me. Heck, at times I've tried to extinguish that fire in favour of "responsibility" and "growing up," but the fire never fully goes out. Well the dreamer in me has been extra active lately, and I think that's how it should be. I think God has given each of us dreams. We've been made by an incredibly creative God, and since we are made in his image, we are also creative beings. One of my dreams is to create an environment where people are free to dream. A venue where creativity is nurtured and dreams encouraged. A place where people discover what dreams God has placed in their hearts. A place where people can break out of the mundane and routine that has infiltrated their life. A place that awakens the dreamer in each of us. Sure you may say it's "pie in the sky" (whatever that means), but I believe it can happen.
Dreams come in all shapes and sizes. Almost 30 years ago one man had a crazy dream to start an all sports tv channel. Now it's ESPN. In 1976 one man had a dream to have computers available to the public. That dream turned into the company that is now Apple. Whether the dream is something small (like teaching developmentally challenged people life skills) or something big (saving the world's endangered species), I think we all have dreams inside of us. Dreams that God has put inside of us. Dreams that are bigger than we are. Dreams that could change the course of human history forever. Nurture those dreams, let them take root and grow inside of you. And don't let anyone try to tell you it can't be done.


That's all for now. Thanks for listening/reading.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Skim Withdrawl

I haven't had a good session since Saturday. I miss it. And watchin vids like this just increase my stoke. I'll see if I can head out tomorrow morning.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Sharkwater

There have been multiple times I have gone to the video store, with no idea what I wanted to rent. Usually it's with someone else and we walk around the store, trying to find a movie that will appeal to all the parties involved. There's a problem though. I'm usually the difficult one. I like documentaries and indie films. Try finding someone else who gets excited to see a movie no one's ever heard of before. Or someone who goes to the film festival section first. Well Sharkwater is one of those movies I want to see, but haven't found the right audience yet. Watch the trailer below, and maybe we can have a Sharkwater party if you're into it!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Nature = God

I was perusing the magazine rack at Chapters the other day, and one magazine caught my eye. There on the left-hand side of the page, in big black type the words "Nature = God*" "Hmmm... interesting" I thought to myself, and I bought it. I probably would have picked up the July issue of Surfing Magazine anyway, but now this really had me curious. I grabbed the magazine and quickly turned to page 126 to check out the feature article. It begins with the author reminiscing about how whenever he encounters crisis he surfs. When his grandfather passed away he hit the beach. When he found out his Dad had cancer, he went straight to his local break. The ocean was his "church." I find that very interesting. I'm very similar in that some of my best times with God (lately) have been when I'm at the beach, getting in an early morning session. There's something about being in the water, and experiencing the beauty of the sky and sea that stirs something up inside of me.
The author actually writes about going to a real church, Church of The Outer Banks, and how it really impressed him. The pastor began with a simple prayer in which he said: "we just want to feel your presence God." That line stuck with the writer and he claims that what surfing does. When's he's out riding a wave, big or small, he feels God's presence. It's actually a very interesting read, and almost an advertisement for Christianity.
In the pages following the feature story, they interview seven surfers about what they believe and one surfer, CJ Hobgood, goes all evangelist on the guys. He gives the whole salvation message and talks about how he is just as messed up as everyone else, but he has a relationship with Jesus Christ and has been redeemed through the cross. CRAZY! In a surf magazine! It was pretty sweet. Way to go CJ!
If you have some time to kill, go to Chapters, pick up the magazine, and just read that one story.