My Ride

Would you be caught dead in this? Actually, it's not that bad. I currently drive this 2000 Saturn SL1 (shown exactly how it looks in the picture). It hasn't given me any problems and it's comfortable. The 1.9 L engine is weak at a meager 100 horsepower. Climbing hills are a chore and having more power does make a difference. I will have to upgrade the Saturn to the one below.

My Dream Ride

This is a beautiful car. When I'm rich and famous I will buy this car. It's the 2007 Saturn Sky and it boasts plenty of looks and power. It has a 2.4 L DOHC I-4 engine that produces a healthy 170 horsepower. It goes on sale in early 2006 and the price tag is below $25,000 US. I could actually afford it one day! I just need a better job.

Wow! All I need is a hot girl to ride with.

Church-Hop

Lately, I've been church-hopping and sometimes I don't bother going to church at all. I do want to be connected with a community, but I have trouble finding one. I'm quick to point out the flaws when I visit a church. I know this isn't very good. I find one church with a good sermon, but can't seem to get fellowship. I find another church with some sort of fellowship, but a sermon that makes me fall asleep. I realize no church is perfect. It's in our human nature to find perfection. We want the perfect church, spouse, job, etc. However, the search is definitely futile.

I think the most satisfaction I get from worshiping God is being involved in a movement. When I was involved with Campus Crusade, I felt I was making a difference and so talks, prayers, fellowship, praise and worship, and evangelism made sense. They became more meaningful. Now that I'm working, I am disconnected and discontent. Although, I've had some great discussions with my co-workers about Jesus and what it means to be a Christian. I keep thinking about the future and how I want to make a difference in the world for God's glory. Church just doesn't seem helpful right now.

I went to a Pentecostal church this morning with my buddy, Brian and his wife, Vanessa. We saw some of the girls Vanessa teachs from the Dance Barn Studio, a dance ministry, perform on stage. They were great. I knew there would be some sort of dancing going on at a Pentecostal church. When the pastor spoke about how the harvest is here and the time is now, it made me think how every Sunday it seems the time is now. The next Sunday, I would imagine the same message and the time is now. How long has it been? I guess it's to motivate the congregation to take an active role in their faith, but is it really pushing them forward? They raise their hands and want to see their friends saved, but is it really what they want? It just seems like a Sunday thing to me. Then again, I could be wrong and friends are getting saved.

My lifestyle is quite different than what it used to be a few years ago. I'm a bit more liberal in thinking, yet hold conservative values. Christian Hip Hop, Alicia Keys, and Coldplay have influenced my life in how I view the world. I'm a bit more chill and have left my worries up to the Lord. I've hit a plateau in my faith. I only hope that it grows somehow. I must make the first move.

Peace.

Battlestar Galactica

Calling all geeks,

Tonight, I rented a movie called "Battlestar Galactica." It was a low budget film made in the 1970s. It became a TV series soon after, although short-lived. Some say it was a rip off of Star Wars, and should have never been made. But then one would have to say that Star Wars was a rip off of Star Trek. Regardless, I enjoyed them all. Battlestar Galactica was a decent movie and I couldn't help but laugh at the flowing robes, disco-era hairstyles, Christmas lit up helmets, and shiny "chrome toaster" Cylon robots. It's amazing how much technology in movie making has changed in just two decades.

Battlestar Galactica is the story of how twelve colonies of man are destroyed after a 1000 year war with the evil Cylon empire. Through deceit, the Cylons were able to destroy the colonies' entire fleet, except for Battlestar Galactica, captained by Commander Adama. Adama orders that all remaining humans from the twelve worlds be gathered up and embark on a journey to find the mythical planet called Earth. It is thought that a thirteenth colony of mankind exists who were lost a millenia ago when humans first left the motherworld, Kobol.

My co-worker told me that Battlestar Galactica had been redone as a new TV series. He was so surprised at how good it was. They made a miniseries as a pilot to test audience reaction to it. It received rave reviews. After making the miniseries, they began making episodes this month.

I went to Futureshop to pick up the miniseries on DVD, and my jaw dropped at how good it was as a TV series. The CGI looks amazing and the story was well written. It airs on Saturday's at 5 pm on the Space channel. They filmed a lot of it in Vancouver. There are even some scenes that take place at SFU.

Sci-fi is great. I enjoyed the original Star Wars triology and the second episode, Attack of the Clones, of the new triology. The first one I didn't like much. Jar-Jar Binks and the kid annoyed me. I'm looking forward to the final installment this May when Luke and Leia are born. Out of all the Star Trek series, I enjoyed Voyager the most. Star Trek: The Next Generation comes close, but is second for me. Now, I have to add the new Battlestar Galactica series to my list of favourites.

To all you geeks out there, go see the new Battlestar Galactica series. You won't be disappointed.

Peace.

You can see for miles from the top. Big White was awesome and I'd love to come back for more. Riding through the powder was the highlight of my trip. I never get that experience on the coast mountains.

Me navigating through the trees.

My buddy, Dean, strapping into his board. He taught me how to snowboard for the first time back in February 1999. I didn't learn much..ha ha. I was so sore the next day. But since then, I have vastly improved my skills. In the 9 years I've known Dean, I have never beat him at a game of pool. One day, Dean, one day.

Here's a view of my Nitro Spectrum 159 snowboard and new Burton Mission bindings. I tried out my bindings for the first time and they were great. My other bindings were a piece of crap.

A self-portait of me. I was well covered for the elements. Some skiers were starting to get frostbite which can cause permanent tissue damage. You wouldn't want to lose a finger or some other part while skiing. That would suck.

Trees were somewhat fun to ride through. I hit one tree with my board and almost sunk into the base of a tree. I had to dig myself out which was not an easy task to do. I preferred more open areas with some trees.

One of the 15 chairlifts. On Friday, Dean, Jason, and I took one up to the summit on the Gem Lake Express. As we approached the top, we wanted to get off so bad because the windchill was just unbearable. It felt like -40 degrees celsius on Mount Everest. We took the fastest route down to the village.

Here's a better shot of the sunlight coming down from the heavens I was talking about before.

Big White valley. Big White has an annual snowfall of about 24.5 feet which is one of a few ski resorts to have fresh powder to ride in. The mountain has 15 lifts, 118 designated runs, and an elevation of 7606 feet at the summit.

This is one of the many slopes we rode on. You may notice in the background white light coming down from the clouds. It looked very cool.

Ryan, Jason, and Marty. They were ready to take on the slopes despite the bitter cold. I think it was about -12 degrees celsius, maybe more.

After looking at the map, we didn't know which way to go. It don't matter to Jason (left), he just wanted to ride.

January 6, 2005. Last night, I met up with my buddy, Dean, and the boyz at Big White in Kelowna, BC. It's about 10:30 am and we definitely had to take a look at the map. The mountain is huge and there was so much to explore.