Hiding his face, head drooped forward, he pauses. Waits. Does he strike happily or will he strike with anguish? Will he send the message of optimisim or pessimism?

You can't see Jack without his guitar. This morning, he swore 'cause he spilt milk from his breakfast on his guitar. Tonight, he will probably play himself to sleep. His best friends would tell you he was born with a guitar; it is so much a part of his everyday, normal life.

He stands now, infront of a crowd so large, so massive he can't name any face he sees. He stands in front of row upon row of Joe Blows and Mary Janes, for some rediculous reason--"You have skill," his band manager tells him.

But you see, his pause is not one lacking confidence. He has a choice. A choice he hadn't seen before; he can inflict emotions upon people, in the same manner that a painter can inflict colour on a wall. And so he stands now, asking himself, "What do I tell them?"

James Doohan.

The actor we know and love for his role in Star Trek as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, passed away earlier today. The death is said to be caused by pneumonia and alzheimer's.

Yet another Trekkie legend moves on. What will we say in 20 years to our children when they ask, "What's Star Trek?" Oh man, will we have a story to tell! We were there! Even as young as I am, having missed Star Trek in its original air, I am still a part of it.

In honour, we should have a Scott-a-thon. All the movies and Scotty specials in one sitting! It's a lot, but maybe it can work?

More details.

   Dave says:
uh huh...
   Dave says:
denial eh? sure sounds like something a cylon would say...
   Andrew says:
denial? where do you see denial
   Dave says:
your defensive posturing...
   Andrew says:
look at my face, it's angry face, and one arm raised... i'm poised to strike. OFFENSIVE STANCE
   Dave says:
you also have your back to the wall...
   Dave says:
clearly defensive...
   Andrew says:
that's my space ship i just jumped out of to invade your stupid battlestar galactica
   Andrew says:
you puny human, what do you think you know.
   Dave says:
i know that a pulse rifle will tear you apart...
   Andrew says:
you will do no such thing.
i'm holding Calee captive. touch the rifle cabinet and she gets it.
   Andrew says:
that's right.
   Andrew says:
so sit down and cram it
   Dave says:
shutup you frakking cylon abomination...
    Andrew says:
abomination? YOU created us! but look at us now. oh what a day it is when the creation overpowers it's creator. you've created something greater than yourself. the only abomination is that you do not surrender willingly, like you have some sort of pride or dignity about it.
   Dave says:
well... yeah... pride in our ability to create something so effecient...
   Dave says:
and UGLY...
   Dave says:
man...

Certain d'entre vous conaisses déjà que j'aime la francais. A mon avis, c'est plus qu'un langue de laquelle on doit s'éduquer. C'est un style à vivre. Un chance à faire quel que chose hors de l'ordinaire.

Now, I know, if any of you can read, and understand French, you probably weren't capable of either of the above... It's probably a grammatical abomination. That's what happens when you're out of touch.

But what is it that is so appealing about the language?

1) Flow. End of word influence the beginning of the next word. It's a language that rolls with the punches. Open your mouth, make sound, and hope that your tongue can keep up.

2) Vocabulary. Words have meaning. Ever hear, "Oh yes, that skirt is very nice"? Very "nice"?? That doesn't mean anything! Too often words don't mean anything in English. But in French, vocabulary is rich with connotation, making intelligent conversations more like a walk through winding path through a park with autumn orange leaves all over.

3) Predictability. Verbs repeat. There are only 10 or so variations. Sure, there are a sackful of exceptions, but they're easy peasy. I like knowing that even if I have never seen the verb before, chances are I can correctly inturpret it, conjugate it and generally get along with it.

4) Stands out. Nobody speaks it. Hear it, and it's special. It's different. Unique.

I could probably go on forever... But you're already complaining.

J'aimerais raconter avec ma langue francais... c'est ou qu'elle se cache que je doit chercher.

Ok folk, well, nothing new on the accident front, except that for all weekend long they put a hold on my claim. Why?! Well, I waited on hold for 30mins while the lady ran around like a headless chicken to find out why, but aparently for no reason! So they put my claim on high priority to get it sorted out UBER quick. Hopefully I will know as early as tomorrow what's going on.

So here, at the corner of Burbidge and United Blvd, I wait to turn left. When my light turns green, I advance into the intersection and buddy runs the red light doing between 40km/h and 60km/h. He hits me on driver side, but mostly on the rear door. If I had been going any slower or had hit the brakes when I saw him coming, he probably would have hit me in my door, and as we speak I would have a car in my side. Even as you see it, when the car rested, my door was pressed against my shoulder, and the door would not open. You can't really see from any of these, but the dent is about 20-25cm deep, in its deepest spot. The damage is on both doors, but also the centre post (between doors) and the frame on the bottom, and the driver's window is busted into pieces (I had glass in my shoe). I'm thinking the car is a write off. Thankfully I am not hurt. I am a bit tired, and my knee has been sore, but nothing broken, nothing hurting. Today, my neck is stiff, but it's from sleeping weird. I had the night off of work, which sucks, cuz I slept last night, and will now be permatired all week long. Aiya!

I'm hurting.

This morning at 8:00am as I was leaving work to go home, a driver ran red light and T-boned me in the driver's side rear door. My car is going to be written off (I can post pictures later!), but I am alright. Only a small cut on my right knee (I don't know how it got there either).

The guy has already phoned in and accepted full responsibility for it, so that's freakin' awesome. Until my car is *fixed* (I think replaced) I will have a rental car. Yippee!

Where his Mazda B2200 hit my '84 Toyota Corolla, the dent is about 30cm deep, and strikes primarily just to the right of the centre post dividing driver's door and passenger's door. If I were travelling say a few clicks slower, I'd have a car in my side right now.

God's watchin' out for me! :D

Two mechwarriors, man-like looking machines, built for war, standing a hundred feet tall like mobile skyscrapers, stand facing each other, each backed by a roaring, screaming crowd. This is enetertainment, but to the pilots in each machine, it is life or death. The machines are silent, still, waiting for the horn to commence.

Each of the two comepeting today have fought long and hard, and have even competed with each other before, to get to this place, the fight that matters.

From where I am sitting, I can see that the first mech has spent most of his machine's capability to carry weight on carrying armour: he's got tripple thick defenses and shield generators, and only a few, small weapons. On the flip side, his opponent is armed with a huge array of guns, lazers, and rocket launchers; it seems that this one is not intent on taking any hits tonight because the machine has almost no armour at all.

And they're off! As predicted, mech #2 is launching all he's got, but it doesn't seem to be having any effect on the first; he's done a good job at armouring up. At the same time though he just stands there and takes it all. Number two is just running circles around, firing, firing, and getting no where!

What's happening now? The second mech is powering down? Can it be, they've exhausted their batteries?! Is this match going to become as easy as walking up to and pulling a small lazer trigger from point blank range?

---

You know you're listening too hard when you hear a rhythmical error professionally recorded and performed by Coldplay on their new "X & Y" cd.

I am not a guy who is easily afraid. Sure, you can creep up behind me and spook me, but that doesn't make me afraid, just spooked. I like to jump into messy situations head first, where most people may stand and hesitate.

God has called me into a life of servitude for Him. This means I need to educate, equip and prepare myself for a life of loving, a life of serving, a life of praying. I've seen in the last two years at Summit that this future is specific to ministry, so I know I haven't wasted my time, nor will I in the future.

But in being prepared for ministry, it is sad to see that in a profession that makes little (or no) money that the eduaction prerequiring is so expensive, especially if you are to make yourself mobile, it's incredibly inconvenient, or even shackling to have debt. A missionary with debt plants his feet in cement.

With this in mind, I believe it to be responsible, of time and money, to take a year off of school at Summit.

But I'm scared like hell... I'm afraid to lose friends, lose years, fall behind. I hold on to this false sense of belonging, one that is dependant on scholastic status, because that is what is common to us all; remove it and what have we? Truth is, I need to get over this inhibition that tells me I'm going to fail at life if I do anything different than what I've chosen to do so far.

Something I need from you, my friends: support. I need your continued friendship, your prayers, your accountability. In the past, I've made the mistake of ignoring my friends, and it's part of the reason I stand where I am today, making this decision.

Now I need to find a job that will provide the pay and the hours to support this one-year mission.