silent-suicidal

2006-05-22T04:18:00.000-07:00

I seem to be getting further and further behind with this I can almost remember what it's like to be stressed, so might need to start being a little more concise and stop waffling so much!

Friday, 21st April 2006 - so following the excitement of the Sounds (did I mention that they are actually fjords (probably not, as I can't remember the scientific reasonings - something to do with U and V shaped valleys!)) and Te Anau, it was off to Invercargill, which has very little to recommend it, apart from the fantastic drive to get there, although most of this is along unsealed (ie. gravel) roads. Today's trip included stops at Clifden Suspension Bridge (not nearly as impressive as the one in Bristol), Bluecliffs Beach (and they did look a bit blue in the haze), Gemstone Beach (which you guessed it is made up of tiny gemstones - amazing), Monkey Island (accessible during low tide, but didn't chance it on the basis I'd turn round and find it was an island again and not sure I'm up to a Moses impression!), Cosy Nook, Wakapatu Beach and Colac Bay Beach - all beautiful and pretty much deserted. I met a very nice woman at the YHA who works for the British High Commission in Wellington and said to look her up if I ended up in Wellington (only catch is I can't remember her name: note to self - really must start to make better notes of where I am and who I meet). After dinner I had a wander round town, which was pretty dead except for the teenage population 'hooning' around town, ie. accelerating very noisily away from junction and occasionally stalling their suped up motors (apparently the prevalence of hooning is due to car insurance being so cheap over here).

Saturday, 22nd April 2006 - after a wander round the town in daylight (when it was far more socially acceptable) I headed for the Southland Museum and Art Gallery for a bit of culture .... well actually to see their tuataras, but a bit of an anticlimax, as these prehistoric reptiles haven't moved for at least the last 200 years (I think that may be the secret to longevity)! It was then a short drive down to Bluff (home of the world famous Bluff oysters, although I thought it wise not to sample any) to catch sight of Stewart Island. I also noted, thanks to the handy AA signage that I was 18,958km from London (although only 6km from Dog Island), which is a very long way from home and all my mates (bout of homesickness threatening). I had planned to do a bit of kiwi spotting on Stewart Island, but at this time of year there is no guarantee that the trip will run (the wind may be blowing in the wrong direction) and you have to book accommodation on the island over night, so thought I'd add that to my list of things to do next time I'm travelling round.

So staving off the tears, I headed for Dunedin, which includes a very scenic drive through the Catlins, highlights including:
Waipapa Point - where I got a bit too up close and personal to two seals frolicking on the beach, before realising that they could probably run faster than me on the sand, so I had better beat a hasty retreat!Slope Point - the southernmost point on the South Island, which included a 40 minute walk, but well worth it for the views and anyway it's good not to have EVERYTHING served up to you on a plate and have to work a little bit for some of this scenery.Curio Bay - petrified forest, which you can walk on (seems a bit lacking in preservation), although visitors are asked not to remove any of the forest!Porpoise Bay - where amazingly you can swim with these tiny 4 foot Hector Dolphins for free, as they come in very close to the shore! Unfortunately, it was a bit late in the day and a bit cold without a wet suit to try this (another item on the to do list for next time). On driving out I saw signs to a penguin colony and got there just in time to see very rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins walking across the petrified forest to their homeAll of these were incredible sights, however after 5 hours driving I was only 76kms away from Invercargill, despite have travelled over 200kms .... thanks again to all those 'unsealed' bone jarring detours! Given this slow progress it was evident I wouldn't make it to Dunedin in time for dinner, but thankfully found a nice little hostel in Owaka, where I had the luxury of a three bed dorm all to myself.

2006-05-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

The vine has keepit on his cousin with a few dwellings of it. That done,.His hind leg hanging precipice of the angels rejoice, and making my hut, the question could.His coat carefully round on the hut to do. concerta He turned to be filled one on the utmost, and water had been dismantled, although he had an instant came a gentleman," said I cast out. In this was, by fresh air at one deal too light. Once he would not worth that you would indeed in afflicting to

2006-02-26T05:05:00.000-08:00

Story courtesy of http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/01/30/myvu/index.php

Watch video iPod on the go with Myvu

By Peter Cohen - January 30, 2006

So you’ve invested in a video iPod, and it’s great to download television shows and rip videos and convert them to the iPod yourself. But it’s also a pain — literally — to hold your hand up a few inches from your face and watch the iPod’s display for an hour or two. The MicroOptical Corp. has developed a solution — the $269 Myvu, which debuted at Macworld Expo in San Francisco this January.

Myvu is a wearable headset that displays a video image in front of your eyes. It resembles a pair of space-age sunglasses. Inside the front of the unit is MicroOptical’s patented display system, which the company has adapted from hardware it’s developed for the military — for tank drivers and others that can benefit from seeing more information at once.

Westwood, Mass.-based The MicroOptical Corp.’s display systems are also used in medicine, for specialists who need to monitor the vital signs of their patients while remaining mobile around the operating room. Those systems cost thousands of dollars, however, while The MicroOptical Corp. has scaled Myvu — its first consumer product — to be more affordable to regular end users.

Situational awareness
The thin height of Myvu does more than provide a striking, futuristic look to the unit — it also provides the user with “situational awareness,” according to Bruce Lampert, MicroOptical’s vice president of sales and new business development.

“The optical bridge is very thin, so you can see over and around the viewer,” he explained. “There are also windows that allow you to see through the viewer. It’s the experience we have from developing this technology for the military. Tank drivers need situational awareness.”

The image inside Myvu produces a 320-line picture that appears about a yard away from the user’s face. The ability to see over, under and through the optical bridge means that you can continue to be aware of what’s going on around you while still viewing the iPod’s video. Integrated earbuds let you hear the iPod’s audio.
An immersive headset system — something that blocks you from seeing anything but the screen — has limited use, perhaps for a gadget-happy executive on an airplane, for example.

“But when you consider that you can use Myvu on the train or the bus and on the go, then you can make it an invaluable tool like your cell phone,” said Lampert.

Designed with eye safety in mind
Myvu’s also been designed in mind for users who need corrective lenses. The MicroOptical Corp. has partnered with French ophthalmics giant Essilor International to develop the optics used in Myvu, and users who need glasses can order a prescription clip that will correct their vision.

Lampert also claims that Myvu won’t cause any excessive eye fatigue.

Lampert points out that unlike some head-mounted displays, Myvu isn’t immersive, so the user’s focal length is constantly readjusting when he looks away at objects in the distance, saving the user’s eye muscles from straining from being in one position for too long.

“Our product is the equivalent of a monitor,” he said. Lampert points to research done by cell phone maker Nokia, Harvard University, even Essilor itself, that suggests that eye fatigue is no better or worse wearing a system like Myvu than it is staring at a conventional monitor.

Beyond the iPod
Although Myvu works well with the video iPod, and the kits sold include a carrying case designed to work with the iPod, Myvu’s functionality extends beyond Apple. The device works with any product capable of outputting an NTSC or PAL video signal, so it’ll work with portable DVD players, other digital video players and more. It’s compatible with RCA composite video or S-Video connections.

The optical bridge and earbuds are connected to an interface pack that also holds three AAA batteries. The batteries last for about six hours, according to the manufacturer — or almost three times what the video iPod’s battery life is when you’re watching videos.

The battery pack connects to the iPod using a special mini-plug that attaches to the iPod’s headphone jack; the iPod’s headphone jack can carry video and stereo audio signals. The MicroOptical Corp. also provides a soft carrying case that accommodates both the battery pack and the iPod, with an attached belt loop — the case has a soft plastic screen protector and a cut-out for the click wheel and dock connector.

Looking down the road
While Myvu has been designed to work with more products than just the video iPod, The MicroOptical Corp.’s decision to debut the product at Macworld Expo is telling — Lampert says they made that decision because of Apple’s dominance in the field.

“Apple certainly wasn’t the first company to market with portable video device,” said Lampert, “but they’ve got the lion’s share of the market and they’ve set the standard for ease of use and design.”

The MicroOptical Corp. was thrilled with the reaction Macworld Expo showgoers had to their product. They brought a limited supply with them to sell at the show.

“By Friday, people were lining up right when the show started to buy them,” Lampert said. The company quickly sold out of the units they brought with them, and have been following up after the show to make sure that people get their orders.

What’s more, The MicroOptical Corp. is also working with early adopters to understand how the product is being used, so they can make improvements in future designs. While Myvu may be the company’s first consumer product, it’s bound not be the last.

The MicroOptical Corp. is still in the process of ramping up production, and expects to be getting retail sales of Myvu underway by March or April. Myvu has also gotten a lot of attention by distributors and retailers interested in carrying the product, so Lampert expects that consumers will find Myvu on store shelves before too long.

For more on iPod accessories, please visit the Accessories Product Guide.

-----

Lots more articles and reviews like this are at http://www.ipods-and-onlinevideo-reviews.com.

Chip Tarver

2006-01-14T08:54:00.002-08:00

I wish someone else at work would do something interesting sometimes. I'm getting fed up with the constant attention and comments about my weight. I know that I should be flattered and proud that people notice it enough to want to talk about it, but really, don't they have anything better to do?

It's boring, and it's dull. I eat well, and I exercise. I do stuff that I should have been doing for the last 10 years rather than the last one year, and it's as simple as that. I don't need to be reminded that I was bigger than Wigan's props (thanks Billy) or that partners have been discussing my weight (thanks Peter and Michael) or that my suits were made out of enough material to provide tent accommodation for a small family (OK, so no-one quite said that, but I know they were thinking it).

I know that it was part of my past, and that I was horribly obese, but I don't want it to be part of my future. I don't want to be forever dogged as the person who lost a load of weight, with the ongoing scrutiny to see whether it starts creeping back on again, or the ongoing questions as to how I did it. I just want to be me, to be the person I always was, but not covered in a layer of lard.

I want to move on, and I want to forget the obese me. Move her to the footnotes of history. I've realised that the inner fat girl just doesn't seem to be there any more. Of course, I do still eat the occasional calorific fatty treat, but I do it in a different way now. I don't do it through boredom or loneliness or compulsion, I do it consciously and deliberately, and I balance it out with healthy food and exercise. I don't crave all that bad food (this morning I was looking at the menu of the local indian takeaway as I waited for the bus to town, and I realised that I didn't actually fancy any of it. I used to love curry, but it held very little appeal, and I preferred to think about my chicken and mediterranean veg meal that I'm making tonight). I don't have an ongoing battle with myself, I just eat what I feel like most of the time, because what I feel like is good stuff. She isn't there, luring me into temptation, into the abyss. She's gone. So I want to close the door on all that, and say goodbye.

This means that, as well as the trip to the running shop (I'm actually getting quite excited about this now), there is another job for the weekend. I've cleared my old clothes out of my wardrobe, but at the moment they're sitting in a bin bag in the spare room. There might also be some under my bed, come to think of it. They need to go. I'm not going to go back there, so why do I hang onto them? I want to keep one particular suit, size 22 which was about the only thing I could wear for work for a long time. I lost a little weight in 2004 and it got loose, then by this time last year it was getting tight again. I've not tried it on for a few months, and I can only imagine how much room there is in it now. I want to keep that, so I can take the obligatory standing in one leg photo when the time comes, but what use is the rest of it? I need the spare room clear of junk for when I get invaded by my family at the start of February, and I need my life clear of fat clothes. I'm not going back there.

The big news of the day was me spending £12... on my half marathon entry. It looks like I'm doing it! One thing though, it will hopefully get me an hours worth of beauty treatments at the gym. They're running a "beat the trainer" competition and if you cover more distance than the trainers during February then you win your choice off a list of prizes, and that's the one I want (although I could take the month's free membership and spend the money elsewhere, but the treatments cost more than that and I've wanted one for ages). Now, it may be that the trainers are also training for a half marathon and are therefore confident, but as long as I can count time spent running outside as well as on the treadmill (and I need to check this before paying my entry fee, because I'm not going to do my weekend runs on the treadmill just so they count) I reckon I'll wipe the floor with them. With a schedule that says I need to run 20-22 miles per week that's going to be fairly hard to beat. Particularly when I turn up on the morning of the 27th February and announce "can I add 13.1 miles from yesterday to my total please". Oh yes, those beauty treatments will be mine!

(By the way, I do find it mildly ironic that almost every time I get accosted by someone in the office and grilled about my weight it's on the way back from the chocolate machine clutching a galaxy bar)

2006-01-14T08:54:00.001-08:00

Marketing geniuses say about real esate that it is all about Location Location Location. Churches are probably not different in that visibility is a part of the overall component of advertising. It should be in a decent neighborhood, decent apperance, and parking should be adequate. In addition, the commercial neighbors should be compatible. In other words, maybe it's not such a good idea to put a church near a drug parafanalia shop. It could be the outreach location but probably not where the nursery should let out.

So, we found some space. Two sections of 1300 square feet each at $800 each. One is a wide open space with a foyer area. The other is some very nice office space with several offices which obviously could be used for classrooms. There is also a kitchen area.

I will be consulting with one of our board members ...

This just in...spoke with the leasing agent. He advises he will work with us on a staggered lease on the spaces. In other words, we can lease one space one month, then lease the other one the next month. Sweet.

OK. Back to the other thought. I will be consulting with our board members Saturday night and discussing the lease issue. After that discussion, we will probably lease the space on Monday. Unbelievable.

2006-01-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

Esto es un intento, no desesperado, si relajante.
Solo por saber que puede pasar.
Como creo que nadie me va a leer me saludo a mi mismo.

2006-01-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

Sunday I attended Fanya's baby shower for second baby - due in 6 weeks! It was a beautiful party and mommy-to-be was gorgeous as always! Check out her fancy silk blouse. The house was in Silver Creek Ranch - what a nice neighorhood. I can only dream of a house that big...

2006-01-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Nach der StuPa-Wahl 2005: Letzte Zweifel an der politischen Position der "Semticki"-Liste beseitigte die RCDS Gruppenvorsitzende Sabine Korting auf der Homepage des RCDS - ProjektZukunft. Hier brüstet sie sich mit "unseren Listen" mit denen es gelang "5 Sitze im StuPa zuerkämpfen". Richtigerweise hätte sie wohl - zu erschleichen - schreiben müssen. Schließlich hatte der RCDS nur 1 Sitz, aber die "Semticki"-Tarnliste 4 Sitze erhalten.

Zum Zeitpunkt der StuPa-Wahl scheint jedoch die Verbindung von Semticki und RCDS nicht mehr opportun, so dass die Meldung wieder von der RCDS-Homepage verschwunden ist.

__________
Hier der Vergleich der RCDS Homepage vom 10.01.2006 und 14.03.2005 (mit Originaltext):

2006:
RCDS - ProjektZukunft (10.01.2006)

2005:
Originalquelle im WebArchiv: (14.03.2005):

RCDS Berlin FU e.V.
Im Dol 54
14195 Berlin
http://www.rcds-fu.de
kontakt@rcds-fu.de

Vorstand

Aus der Gruppe Berlin FU e.V.

Der RCDS an der FU Berlin e.V.

( 01.03.2005 - - Sabine ) Liebe Freunde,
wenn ihr bis auf diese Website gelangt seid, ist euer Interesse am RCDS an der FU e.V. enorm... und eure Neugier soll natürlich befriedigt werden.

Wir an der FU sind ein Kries motivierter Studenten, die sich für die Hochschulpolitik einsetzen wollen. In den Hochschulwahlen im Januar 2005 gelang es uns so mit unseren Listen "RCDS an der FU e.V." und "Alle für's Semticki/Semticki für alle" 5 Sitze im StuPa zuerkämpfen. Auch einen Sitz im erweiterten akademischen Senat nennen wir seit den Wahlen wieder unser eigen. Wenn ihr also Lust bekommen habt vorbeizuschauen:
Wir haben einen alle zwei Wochen stattfindenden, regelmäßigen Stammtisch - Ort und Zeit senden wir dir gerne zu, Mail an obrige e-mailadresse genügt.

Auf bald!

Sabine Korting
-Gruppenvorsitzende-
__________

Auch in diesem Jahr versuchen die Verantwortlichen des RCDS mit den unterschiedlichsten Themenlisten auf Stimmenfang zu gehen - das Semesterticket erschien ihnen dabei wohl nicht mehr erfolgversprechend genug, so haben sie doch ihr Herz für Kinder, Ökologie und Brandenburger entdeckt und lehnen für den Stimmenfang sogar Studiengebühren ab.

2006-01-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Café da manhã na padaria. "Vai logo, que a moça tá avexada". Ele me dizendo que devo cuidar mais de mim e deixar o resto pra lá. O resto pra lá, então. Karina Buhr passando perto do Forte das Cinco Pontas. Eu lembrando dela e achando graça da pequenice do mundo. "Louça no café, José no portão. Do lado de cá, não tem solução". Parada pra pegar filme. Parada pra comprar comidinhas gostosas. Leitura à beira da piscina. Vozinha doce e sorrisos indo e vindo pelo telefone. Sol aparece e mergulho. Penso que não deu pra ensiná-la a boiar. Penso que não deu pra um monte de coisas. Páro de pensar e derreto. "Tem eu panela de pressão"

2006-01-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

The world is obviously coming to an end as we know it or Jesus is coming soon because I passed thetest with a B!!!!! thats right a B and not a low one either. I got an 87 this is fantastic. I might pass this class after all.... Doubt it but atleast there is hope now. 3 cheers for me. Hip hip hooray..... For the first time studying has prevailed!!!!

2006-01-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

Noch sind unsere Felder nahezu frei von Gentechnik. Doch das soll sich nach Plänen von Landwirtschaftsminister Horst Seehofer jetzt ändern. Er will dem von Rot-Grün erlassene Gentechnik-Gesetz die Zähne ziehen.

Gentech-Landwirte haften bisher, wenn durch den Anbau von Gentech-Pflanzen genmanipuliertes Erbgut auf die Felder eines gentechnikfrei wirtschaftenden Nachbarn gelangt. Ist kein direkter Verursacher feststellbar, haften alle „Gentech-Bauern“ in der direkten Umgebung. Über ein zentrales Standortregister für Gen-Felder kann ermittelt werden, wo genmanipulierte Pflanzen wachsen.

Aufgrund der hohen Risiken des Gentechnikanbaus weigern sich Versicherungen und Gentechnikkonzerne, für eventuelle Schäden zu haften.

Auf Druck der Gentech-Konzerne wie Monsanto und BASF hat Seehofer nun angekündigt, durch eine Neufassung des Gentechnikgesetzes die strengen Haftungsregeln auszuhöhlen. Noch liegt der Gesetzesvorschlag nicht vor, doch es zeichnen sich extreme Einschnitte zu Lasten der gentechnikfreien Landwirtschaft bei Haftung, Sicherheit und Transparenz ab."

ab geht es zu www.stoppt-seehofer.de

2006-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to make my right arm straight this morning after lifting 20 lbs. dumbells yesterday.

yeah. muscle cramps are a bitch.

and my Tools & Application class is no longer 9-12, rather it begins at 8am now. in the words of the great D. Rajkumar: "oh.. oh gawd..."

2006-01-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

I often joke about running for office.

Now I'm beginning to wonder. Would holding an office be the quick way to riches?

That said, I love what is happening in Washington.

The same thing could be happening in every city and town in America where there are elected officials.

Where there is an elected official, there is sure to be a lobbyist with a wad of cash or some fun lunches, dinners or even a golf trip or two not far behind.

I love the snipping about the Abramoff scandal. Is it just the Republicans who took Abramoff's money? The Democrats appear to have taken money from Abramoff's clients, not Abramoff directly. Is there a difference? Smells like the DeLay defense! It wasn't the same money.

Let's face facts. When you have idiot Congress people using the excuse that the legislation being put forward in the House and Senate is too complicated to understand without a lobbyist being there to simplify it, you have to wonder who are these people we elected. What can be so complicated?

Hello, who is writing the legislation? Hello, if you are not writing it so that it can be understood, who is writing it so that it can not be understood?

We have no viable health care. Tell the insurance companies it's over. Tell their stock holders to suck it up, just like Big Biz tells every retiree that....oh too bad, we decided not to honor your pension program.

Is it time to socialize medicine? Make a quick study of the various systems currently in place, improve on those systems and voila. Viable coverage, doctor's making viable livings, citizens being cared for. Citizens being employed by their fellow citizens, not by Big Biz, to run the program.

OK, so maybe it isn't so easy, but it can't be what it is today. Is all legislation being written by Big Biz? Is this true in the city or town where you live? I have not paid close enough attention in my city but I'm going to now. I want to know who is paying for what and what they are getting in return.

It is all about access and I guess always has been.

I went to hear a local politician speak last year and aside from some rather tepid programs to combat graffiti, the gist of what she had to say what that she needed money to win. Five minutes on the issues, 20 minutes on the money.

We know something is rotten. We just don't want to know how rotten.

So now the Republicans are scrambling. They want to add more layers, more government. They want the "ethics" rules strengthened. Guess they better call in their pals from K street and get some rules written!

AND........

Betcha Tom DeLay gets re-elected!

2005-12-23T20:41:00.002-08:00

I'm in a shitty situation again. Initially, OSAP declined to give me any assistance (stating that my parents make too much money for me to qualify.) And now I've been declined a small bank loan, cosigned by my father. Although OSAP says he has too much money for me to get a loan from then, he doesn't make enough money to qualify for a bank loan. Don't bother trying to figure out this logic.

So, now I'm fucked again. But I suppose I function best when fucked. As I like to say, there is no greater incentive to achieve a goal than absolute necessity. And as fate would have it, life has granted me absolute necessity. My credit card is maxed at $1200. I owe my roommate approximately $400. I owe York approximately $1500. I owe $130 in non-critical debts. As of Jan. 1, I will need $550 for rent and a metropass.

Basically, I need to be bringing in a minimum of $750 a month in order to survive or $1000 a month to bring down debts and eat well. Although my parents were intitially giving me money monthly, that's more or less evaporated because of potential problems at my mom's work, etc. So, I'm going to have to bring in that income on my own.

Potential solutions include:
Running away to live in the forest, Selling narcotics, Finding assjob that destroys my soul and ruins my marks because I'm forced to work a minimum of 27 hours a week.

So, forest it is.

People always talk about how money doesn't buy happiness. In my position, I would argue otherwise - it's definitely not everything, but it's the fundamental method of exchange for the world. It's the key to travelling from location to location, the key to eating, the key to owning property, the key to be free from the most hellish jobs. It's the difference between freedom and slavery. For the most part, money does buy happiness, and therefore it has to be one of my central objectives in life.

2005-12-23T20:41:00.001-08:00

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sleepygiant, originally uploaded by johnniestu.

2005-12-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

Due to an freak set of circumstances I managed to injure Addi's other foot earlier this week. I'd gone into the garage to put something in the recycle bin and returned via the kitchen. Addi however had decided to wait right behind the kitchen door and when I opened it the door hit his foot.

Ok, the circumstances are not that freakish, I was just trying to make it sound like more of an accident.

Addi of course screamed with disgust that yet again someone large and clumsy injured him. I of course comforted him immediately. This photo was taken after the initial crying had stopped but Addi likes to play to the camera.

2005-12-23T20:29:00.001-08:00

shelby's cousin

2005-12-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Rep. Joh Murtha said... "Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," and "are united against U.S. forces, and we have become a catalyst for violence."

Like the target we were on Sep. 11, 2001? Like the catalyst we were then?

I think that it is better to have a place to kill Islamists that is not within our own borders. Hell, if we can kill them there, all the better!

It's better that Islamists are occupied fighting an equipped and capable miltary which exists to deal with these problems than having them all free trying to figure out how to get into this country to kill us. I love this strategy... kill them there!

"..no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." General George S. Patton

Sempre Fi General from a U.S. Marine.

2005-12-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

Madonna del Magnificat - Sandro Botticelli - Florence, Italy 1480 Over the course of the past year, I have been trying to figure out more of what it means to "get a life". For me, that means trying to spend less time with the daily concerns of work, and more time for people, for investing in others, for fun, for enjoying this life that is such a sweet daily gift. It even means placing some of the more petty concerns about of church in proper perspective. Yes, even church. Imagine that. I just don't remember the part in the Bible where Jesus said, "Goeth now, and make ye committees of all sorts - of food, and facilities, and personnel, and Christian Education. And maketh sure all of these committees have, for their meetings, snacks of the excellent sort." So I will take a Christmas break from my ruminations on church. I want to stop for a bit. To wonder. To look upon a completely miraculous event in a stable some 2000 years ago. Time stood still, and the world was changed forever. Heaven shouted good news to a collection of nobody shepards, then bent low, and expressed itself in the form of a little, tiny, screaming (the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes?), helpless baby. Amazing. Remarkable.

Consider these words:And Mary said,
I'm bursting with God-news;
I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened--
I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all
others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them
high.
It's exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.Think about this. Let it fill your soul.

2005-12-23T18:44:00.001-08:00

As nearly every one of you know now, Steve and I are taking 7 months to travel the wilds of New Zealand and Australia before settling down in the great square state of Colorado. We aren't going to go totally bare-bones backpacker style where we sleep in dirt and live off ramen until we loose our teeth from scurvy; we do, however, want to find a fair balance between roughing it and enjoying ourselves. Some people have wondered just what I will be bringing on my trip down under, so here is a breakdown of my pack contents. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions:

Clothing
Hiking boots
Sandals
Fleece jacket
Rain pants
Rain jacket
Long underwear
Gloves
Wool Hat
Visor
Short sleeve shirts (3)
Long sleeve shirts (2)
Shorts (2)
Pants (1)

Camp Gear
Sleeping bag
Thermorest
Pack rain cover
Travel towel
Camp stove
Water filter

Miscellaneous
Binoculars
Head lamp
Mosquito net
Guide book
Reading book
Journal
Camera
Battery charger
First Aid Kit
Toiletries

And of course…
Food
Water

2005-12-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

一、
今期Milk(#228黃耀明封面)會附送The Big Noise AVCD，裡面有我和其他朋友拍的短片"五貿鏡"，多多支持，詳情看"貿險樂園"。

http://unfairyland.no-ip.org/special/

二、十條觸Show有長短
節目：音樂、行為藝術、繪畫、舞蹈、即興演出
單位：謝偉祺、鄺頌安+丸仔、周雲蓬(北京)、廖東梅+鄭政恆、卓新力量、微風吹、觸映份子
日期：2005年12月10日(星期六)
時間：下午3時至6時30分
地點：Kubrick油麻地眾坊街3號駿發花園H2地舖(百老匯電影中心旁/油麻地地鐵站C出口)
現場示範編織紀念品：歐陽翠雲
費用全免、歡迎隨時到臨欣賞

http://www.oosee.net/oosee/new01.htm

2005-12-23T18:40:00.001-08:00

Prior to July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was under British Rule. Since then, Hong Kong was turned over to the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC classifies Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). So what does that mean? It means I am still going to China, but to an area that has some autonomous power, except in the areas of defense and foreign policy. Hong Kong still retains its own currency, laws, and border controls. I do not need a visa to enter the country, just a passport valid for the next six months, but if I want to go to mainland China, it ain't happening. I would have to apply for a Visa in the US.

And since this was once a British territory, the people drive on the left, so I have to remember to look right when I cross the street. Looks like I can buy all kinds of counterfeit items, but it could be confiscated or I could be fined coming back through Customs in the US. Mass transit is plentiful. Avoid the parks where foreign hikers have been robbed/beaten. And then all the usual safety warnings.

P.S.- I still need to make housing arrangements for Hong Kong.

2005-12-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

2005-12-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

No seguimento da iniciativa que muitos de nós, bloggers e visitantes de blogs, conhecemos e quando faltam apenas 2 dias para o encerramento das 'urnas' desta eleição dos melhores de 2005 deixo então a minha preferência para as categorias em causa. A minha escolha há muito estava feita, aliás, devo ter sido um dos primeiros participantes a remeter a minha votação. Melhor Blog: Terceiro Anel
Melhor Blogger: FPVC d' Os Nossos Queridos Jornalistas Desportivos Post do Ano: Domingo Subjectivo - O Jogo De Uma Vida (pelo menos, dos últimos 11 anos...) de João Gonçalves

2005-12-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

2005-12-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

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