What Are They Thinking?

The NHL season opens in earnest this weekend. (Actually tomorrow) But here's what I don't understand. Anaheim and LA play 2 games in London, England this weekend before coming back to North America for the remainder of the season. But while those 2 teams are squaring off in the regular season, there are exhibition/preseason games being played at the same time. Tell me who's bright idea this was. The Americans already have trouble understanding hockey, now you throw in this confusing situation? Hog-Wash! Somebody please give Gary Bettman's head a shake.

Taking The Plunge

I finally took the plunge this morning... All summer I've been attending the gym of "real life," (golfing, skimboarding, baseball), but today I officially signed up for a real gym membership. It's crazy man, now I've got an appointment with a personal trainer who is going to set-up a meal plan for me, put me through the gears to see how my body reacts, where it needs work, and then come up with a tailor made workout plan for me. It's like I'm part of some high-performance sports team. It's pretty cool, but I feel like it might be overkill. I just want to get in shape, not take part in the next olympics. We'll see how it goes, my first session with the personal trainer is next week.

See You At The Pole

This morning I woke up nice and early, jumped in the shower (cause I stink in the morning), threw on some clothes and made my way to 421 Grove St to stand around the flag pole. I arrived promptly at 7 and there may have been 2 people at the pole. I had visions of being back in high school with 3 people standing around the flag pole... But it wasn't like that at all. Slowly people started to trickle in and by the end we had over 40 people surrounding the flag pole. It was a good time of prayer for students, teachers, the school and Barrie, but the hilite for me was something totally different.

3 or 4 times during the prayer time I had someone tap me on the shoulder and ask: "Who died?" It was the same question from each person! I smiled and told them that at this time each year, Christians across North America gather around their school's flag pole and pray for the school, the students and the teachers. Not a single person I talked to thought that was weird, rather most said "Cool." Now after our conversation finished they stuck around for a while watching us, and at one point I felt like I should ask them "Do you want us to pray for you?" But I didn't. I'm kicking myself for missing that opportunity, but the whole experience was a positive one for me.

Pre-Party

Tonight at EBC in Barrie over 100 youth came together to get pumped for See You At The Pole Tomorrow morning. It was a great night, lots of fun, and lots of sweat! It was SO hot inside their youth room. Pastor Dave had some serious sweat going on. Tomorrow morning isn't supposed to be as hot as today, so hopefully it'll be a more comfortable temperature for everyone to get around those flagpoles! I'll be hanging out with the young'uns at Eastview. Have a great morning!

HOORAY FOR PITSTAINS!

Observing

I watched an interesting scenario unfold in church Sunday morning... The dude on stage was praying, and a young man came walking down the aisle, saw someone he knew and began to move down the row towards them. Problem was that he had to go past a handful of people to get to his friend. As you know, there's not a lot of room to get by people in the pews, and consequently he bumped into a couple of the people on his journey. These people were not happy. I can just imagine the thoughts going through their minds: "Doesn't he know to wait until prayer is done?" "What is this guy doing disrupting my time with God?" You may agree with these people's thoughts, and support the daggers their eyes threw at this young man. I do not.
He didn't look like a regular church attender, who knows, maybe it was his first time coming in a while? He clearly didn't feel comfortable sitting on his own amongst strangers... I wonder why? Maybe because they look down on him because he doesn't know the "rules" for a Sunday morning? How about we scrap the "rules" and show some more love? Instead of giving the guy dirty looks, give him a warm smile and maybe even introduce yourself later? Maybe I'm wrong and need to be more reverent in church. It's a definite possibility. I just feel that church is missing the point when it comes to "the lost"... I'll leave it at that.

House Party

Tonight was the first ever Slammin' House Party, and it was a party! We had a studio packed full of guests, from listeners like Brookelyn to former DJ's like Jammin' Jeff, to current DJ's like Hollee Rock. It was a mad house tonight, with so much food! Seriously we had more cookies, donuts, pizza and snacks than we'd need in a week. It was awesome! I'm not sure when the next one will be, but I can assure you it will be CRAZY once again!

Have a great weekend everyone!

BBQ's and Such

Today I got to take part in the St Peter's Annual Back-To-School BBQ in Barrie. Let me just start off by saying we never had anything like this at my high school. I was pretty impressed. I wasn't actually expecting many students out (especially seniors, cause they are too cool) but there were A LOT! And it was a lot of fun. Eating some burgers, checking out the bake sale and buying raffle tickets. Then they had a buncha games planned. I was quite impressed with the evening on the whole. So to those who made it hapen, I send you a "Well Done!"

P.S. - I even got a pie in the face. My hair is rock hard and full of gunk!

A Sad Realization

My normal Thursday morning routine consists of a couple things. Hitting the snooze a couple times because 6:30 comes very early. Drag myself out of bed around 7, get dressed, grab my board and head downstairs. Jump in my buddy Kent's car and pick up some breakfast on our way to the beach. We'd session the beach for a couple hours and then head back into the city and get ready for work.

It appears as if that routine might be a thing of the past. Cold mornings mean cold bodies in the water, and the water isn't all that warm anymore either. As much as I don't want to admit it, the sun might be setting on my skimboard season.

The Flame

I premiered the new TFK album tonight; "The Flame In All Of Us" Response was as expected, CRAZY! TFK gets nothin but love from you guys. It was funny talking to one girl tonight who says she's afraid to say she dislikes TFK because everyone at her youth group LOVES them. I managed to rid myself of 10 copies tonight... Congrats are in order for Amanda from Barrie, Chris from Lisle, Hannah from Oro, Jason from Wasaga Beach, Sarah from Peterborough, Emma from Hastings, Dan from Moonstone, Jay from Port Perry, Sarah from Oakwood and Andrew from Chesley. Thanks for making it a great night!

Duck vs Cougar

Who would win in a fight; a duck or a cougar?

I think they may be one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. The Duck opens up a can on the cougar after it imitates the Duck's trademark "Pushup Dance" I love the Duck's swagger at the end... Check it out!

My First One

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros, the video game that changed the world. Think about it. This video game involving 2 Italian Plumbers (from Japan) set the bar for all games to come. Before SMB games were played on a stationary screen. (Think; Pong and Donkey Kong) But SMB had a moving screen, with unseen enemies and challenges off-screen. It was ground-breaking at the time.

I remember my first videogame system. I got a Nintendo when I was in grade 4 and I was so stoked! Playing RBI Baseball and Excitebike all day. Not doing my homework, not getting the exercise I should have, I was a videogame zombie. But I eventually grew out of it (sort of) and got back to playing outside. I'm glad I did, otherwise with all the junk food I ate, I'd be in terrible shape right now.

Video games have changed though haven't they. Now the Ninetendo Wii makes you move around, and actually work up a sweat depending on the game you play. Not to mention the physical activity you get from Guitar Hero. Despite all this, I still think it's more fun to "play" outside.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I talked to Matt Thiessen tonight, and one thing he said caught me by surprise... They aren't playing clubs on their tour with Switchfoot because some of their fans might have an issue with the whole alcohol in a club thing. It shocked me because I didn't think they'd cave in to the pressure from conservative Christians. But I mean, good for them. They know where the majority of their record sales come from, and playing in amphitheatres will still draw the non-Christian crowd too. So cudos to Relient K and Switchfoot for making the stand and here's to a very successful tour with many sold-out shows. [AJ raises a non-alcoholic glass]

Played To Order

Tonight we kicked off "Played To Order"... Now if you don't know what that is I'll explain it to you. You email in your 5 favorite Slam songs, and then if I pick your playlist, you get to introduce them and show everyone that YOU have the best taste in music. You only pick the songs you love.

For example; Jon from Barrie's Playlist

The Fold - New Skeptic

Anberlin - Time & Confusuion

Mat Kearney - Girl America

Classic Crime - The Fight

Relient K - Be My Escape

It's so easy, and it's your chance to prove to everyone that you have the best taste in music. We basically hand over the keys to the Slam to you! Send me your playlist aj@lifeonline.fm

Here's a song that would be in my 5... Group One Crew - Forgive Me. Check it out!

Saturday Skimming

So Saturday was pretty stinkin' sweet! K-Love and I went out to the beach nice and early and discovered the conditions were prime! The waves were nice and big, the wash was nice and big, and the creek had changed it's course so it ran out directly into the water. It was the best session we've had so far (by far!). We hit the beach hard for a couple hours and then made our way back into the city. (My parents came by and videotaped part of it, but I can't figure out how to get it on here.) I went back later in the day and sessioned the beach some more. I never realized just how much fun I would have when I asked for a skimboard. It's the most fun I've ever had working out. Seriously it's a blast... Go get a board now!

Timing Is Everything

My birthday isn't for another week, but Crystal gave me my birthday present a couple weeks ago, and I'm glad she did. I got a skimboard! Now I'm totally addicted. I get up super early and drive for 45 minutes on some mornings just to session the beach for an hour or two before I have to come in to work. It's so much fun! Now had Crystal waited to give me my board, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much, but she decided to give it to me early, and I'm so thankful. I think I might head out to the beach tomorrow morning too!

If you don't know what skiming is... check the vid below.

Autumn Is Here

You know how I know Fall is (almost) here? Not because the weather is cooler. Not because the leaves are changing color. Not because football teams are practicing after school. Because the NFL kicked off tonight. I thought it was going to be a good game... New Orleans, (an impressive team from last year) taking on the defending champs in Indianapolis. It was closefor the first half of the game, and then Indy ran away with it. Saints fans need not worry, I predict New Orleans will face New England in the Superbowl. They'll be fine.

Ottawa

This past weekend Crystal and I went to Ottawa to see Phantom Of The Opera, and spend some time in our nation's capital. Now I don't remember spending any prolonged period of timein Ottawa when the weather was nice. (I remember going for Winterlude) But it was nice. I mean it feels very different than I imagine Washington would. Washington seems to be really clean, really white, and really modern. Ottawa feels old, dirty and slow. I was surprised at how many people were out being active, whether riding a bike, rollerblading or just out for a walk, it seemed like an active city. So my overall feelings on the city? Well I wouldn't want to live there, but it's a really nice place to visit. Ottawa has a ton of cool restaurants, the market and an overall cool feel to it. It's worth the trip.

First Day Of Skool

Well the first day of the 07/08 school year is in the books. Sometimes I miss school. I miss hanging out, going on road trips, playing on sports teams, and some of my classes. Yeah I liked going to Law, Entrepreneurial Studies, Leadership and of course Phys Ed. When you're in school you tend to take stuff for granted. The fact each day is different, the fact you have a lot more free time, and the fact you don't have much to worry about. High School was a good time. Now granted it was a lot of work at times, but I have nothing but fond memories from my time going to youth, playing ball, and skipping class. (Not that I endorse skipping class) GO TO SCHOOL KIDS!