Musings from Patmos: Discourse on Display: Blogging from Japan

Greetings and salutations!

I realize it has been an awfully long time (nearly a month or more) between posts - and I apologize. I have resolved to publish every week from now on (fingers crossed)! So thanks for staying with me. I see the poll has finally caught up. Bush and Kerry tied but at least the story decision was clear - more on that later.

On a technical note, if you take a look at this page on IE6+ and FireFox you will notice a distinct difference. Can anyone help me figure out how to fix the problem? Anyway, as is to be expected, there is a lot to go over, so let's get right into it!

MY LIFE

There is, surprisingly enough, a great deal of different things going on lately! For those of you whom are unaware, I moved recently. My new address is:

28 Chatham Dr NW
Calgary, AB T2L 0Z5

You can reach me by phone during the day at 403.410.3803 (Work) and by night at 403.289.9540. Believe it or not, I should also be getting a cell phone in short order, and I will keep you posted with the number.

So that's the news on the move. I'm busy like a madman at work these days, seeing as Rob and I pretty much run the day to day operations now. Thankfully, we also come up with time to develop what can only be reffered to as tomes of corporate culture - behold! (Disclaimer: this is a complex social experiment *S*)

In other news, I do have my car back at long last! It spent pretty much an entire month in the shop but finally I have it back! I just want to send a shout out to Wally @ Mr. Transmission in Vernon and Russ @ Transmission Specialists here in Calgary for their great service! Chris from Mr. Transmission here in the city, and Bad Boyz Auto, are officially blacklisted for their lack of service.

The car is in great shape now and was, in fact, used as part of a wedding proposal this very week! Congratulations to Dayton and Jessica! Also a big congrats out to Chris and Jenn whom were married last week - man - it must be that time of year! Despite all the good cheer though, I am looking to sell the car to clear up some of the old debts. You can see an ad for it here.

Anyway, not too much else to report personally atm. If all goes well I am planning to travel to Italy in September for the Venice Film Festival so I will be sure to keep you posted on that!

THE WORLD

Of course, there is a great many things presently going on in the world at large and there is simply no way to keep track of everything through this blog. I did want to touch on a few things though:

Israel: The planned withdrawl from Gaza and parts of the West Bank comes closer with each day. Thankfully, things have remained *relatively* peaceful, but never has the area been so close to the brink of both hope and disaster, and never have I wished I could be there more.

Egypt: Another shocking attack on tourists and civilians in this country have plunged the area into fear and is a striking picture of a building inter-Arab conflict in the Middle East.

Northern Ireland: In what might be called a purely symbolic move, the IRA officially pledged to disarm last week. They plan to pursue their nationalistic goals by "peaceful, democratic means."

London: Having recently won the 2012 Olympic Games, cause for celebration has been dashed with the horrific transit bombings of July 7th, followed by an failed copycat attack short days later. Thankfully, the bombs did not go off this time, and no one was hurt. Even more impressive has been the rapid progress made by British investigators, resulting in the arrest of all four suspected bombers. Nonetheless, the country remains on edge and our hearts go out to those mourning the Londoners lost in the initial attack.

In Other News: The Calgary Stampede came and went. It seems they're finding a gene for everything these days. The NHL is back - but will people care? And NASA's back too - sending the shuttle Discovery out into space, but not without incident.

MOVIES

Taken from a recent chat....

Joe: "SW Ep. 3 was a depressingly pathetic film. It was, by far, the worst SW film imo. I boo'd it in the theatre and cursed it long afterwards. Lucas has no talent and I can only claim to be a SW fan as long as only the original trilogy is being discussed. The script was a total waste of time, the acting horrific. It was a pretty picture show that shat on all the sacred elements that the original trilogy had errected. If Lucas destroys Indiana Jones the way he has SW, I will be very upset. Thank God for Spielberg to keep things in check."

Joe: "Constantine is my fav movie so far this year, followed closely by the surprising Batman Begins. I still need to see Charlie & the Choc. Factory as well as The Island. Keanu is not someone with range, but in that one style of character - he reigns. Constantine was awesome because it was a good mix of action and plot - and it was moderately well researched - one of the better comic book adaptations. The Catholicism reflection also made for comedy, and the effects were well done - a somewhat original view of hell also made it interesting."

Finally, I saw Stealth last night (after I learned how to play Texas Hold'em - that's poker to anyone wondering). It was visual fantastic, heinously boring, and far too long. There's really nothing more to say in that regard.

LINKS OF INTEREST

“Around the globe, we currently face three extraordinary threats: the threat of annihilation as a result of nuclear accident or war, the threat of a worldwide plague or ecological catastrophe, and a deepening leadership crisis in organizations.” - Warren Bennis
The incredible Sky City Development Project

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