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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
dhk's LiveJournal:
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| Thursday, July 10th, 2008 | | 8:49 pm |
Today's headline Water found on Mars. Mugabe takes measures to keep it from his people. Current Mood:  silly | | Saturday, June 28th, 2008 | | 12:33 am |
Gimme an O! This is a rare post for me, a political-themed one. And a non-Canadian political-themed one to boot, definitely rare. I may have mentioned before that my wife has been watching a lot of CNN, especially during the Democratic presidential candidate race, so I've seen a fair bit of McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Obama to know what I like and what I don't. From the first time I saw Obama on TV, though, I've always had a good feeling about him. Clinton and McCain seemed like very typical politicians, but Obama definitely seemed to stick out as a non-typical politican for me. He definitely apeared genuinely honest and helpful. I like the fact that he is religious, but doesn't make a big deal about it, is honest with it, doesn't use it as the be-all-end-all of his decision making (unlike George "God told me to invade Iraq" Bush). He reminds me a bit of (what I know of) Abraham Lincoln with the oratorical skills of John F. Kennedy thrown in (and, being a long-time Toastmaster, I always watch politicians' oratorical skills and always award bonus points for good oratorical skills, partly because it's needed for the job.) I think the thing I like the best about him is that the smart money (meaning the smart peoples' choice) seem to be on him - I love reading all the myths about Obama that pop up that anybody with an ounce of smarts can debunk easily. I do hope that he wins the election (if for no other reason so that I either get a chance to be proved right that he'll make a good president, or be proved wrong. But, if he doesn't win, I can't prove either.) Since I'm forbidden to vote in the election, and I know a few Americans read my blog (assuming that people do actually read my blog), I do urge you to vote for him, you won't be disappointed. (Yes, I know that some of my friends are actively involved in other (third) parties and are actively trying to get their person elected, but I still don't think that America is quite ready yet for a serious third party candidate. However, I do plan on *closely* watching what the third party vote will be in this election, and using that to see if a third party might be a viable alternative in 2012, but I don't see it now.) This has been a paid political announcement to put a brain in the White House Current Mood:  pensive | | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | | 5:28 pm |
Old. Ancient. Decrepid. I was at 7-11 yesterday, taking care of some errands (and buying a Slurpee. Not overly fond of them, but, being Manitoban, I have a reputation to maintain.) At the checkout counter, there was a warning that "You must have been born on or before today's date in 1990 in order to purchase cigarettes." (Yes, in Manitoba, the legal age for smoking (and drinking) is 18.) When something occurred to me - you know what *I* was doing "today's date in 1990"?? Graduating from freakin' high school! (June 26 was the grad party, June 27 was the ceremony). People that were born when I graduated are now legally considered adults?? Good thing *I*'m old enough (apparently more than old enough) to buy alcohol, I suddenly need a drink. Current Mood:  old | | Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | | 10:15 pm |
| | Friday, June 20th, 2008 | | 9:48 pm |
Welcome back, class of 'Old One event in my life that I'm somewhat looking forward to is an upcoming high school reunion. A group on Facebook decided to get a reunion together of alumni from my old high school, combining the classes of '88, '89 and '90 (the latter being mine) - at least I'm technically not going to my 20 year reunion, and I'll be one of the youngest fogies in the room as a result, so I'm not feeling *really* old. Ticket sales seem a little sparse now, and most of the people who bought so far I've never heard of at all. I was told that an invitation was specially sent to my ex (as an organizer knows her mom), since she isn't on Facebook, a bit trepedatious about that - on the one hand I wouldn't mind seeing her again, talking about old times, and introducing her to my wife (keep in mind that not only is she my ex, but since grade 2 we were also best friends too until a complicated breakup about 18 months before I met my wife, so I'd be seeing it as less introducing my wife to my ex (bad) and more introducing her to my best friend in high school (good), nobody, including us, really could pinpoint whether we were friends or dates in high school, or most of our post-adolescent friendship, anyways). On the other hand - well, you could see where this is going; it may *not* be a good idea to have her and my wife in the same room together, plus it was me who (somewhat stupidly) ended our relationship (and with it the friendship: lesson learned - if you start dating your pre-established friend, breaking up and going back to just friends is about as easy as making an omelet and deciding to turn it back to eggs in the shell), she may still be miffed at me for it over 10 years later (she has been known to hold grudges for past indignities suffered her). So, if she shows at the reunion, I'll be somewhat anxious, if she doesn't, I'll be somewhat anxious ("was it because she knew I'd be there and didn't show?" "Should I contact her and say that I missed seeing her at the reunion?") It mmust be a high school reunion, I'm having the same kind of angst about relationships as I did back them! This will be in early August, hopefully more people I know will buy! Current Mood: anxious | | Saturday, June 14th, 2008 | | 3:33 pm |
My music meme! Rules courtesy ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kinkyturtle: - Reply to this post, and I'll assign you a letter. - List (and upload, if you feel like it) 5-10 songs that start with that letter. - Post that to your journal with these instructions. Assigned letter courtesy kinkyturtle: K Picks from my mix CD listing (which I keep a handy Excel file of all my mix tapes of which makes it really handy to do this), plus comments on each entry because it's more fun that way: 1. Keep the Faith - Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi always reminds me of growing up, its like comfort food for the ears. My sister and I are Bon Jovi fans from way back, and we used to hang out listening to Bon Jovi tapes in each others' rooms during the 80s. 2. Knowing Me, Knowing You - ABBA: I said in a recent meme somewhere that my guilty pleasure is ABBA. This is, imho, one of their weaker ones, but it fills out my 70s CD. 3. Keep the Customer Satisfied - Paul Simon: Probably my favourite Paul Simon song, along with Kodachrome (hey, another "K" for bonus points!) 4. Kids! Adults! - The Simpsons: Not sure if this is the actual song title, but that's how I got it on my CD of "Toon Tunes" (songs from Simpsons, Family Guy, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Futurama, etc.) From Wild Barts Can't Be Broken, apparently a parody of "Kids" from "Bye, Bye, Birdie" (IDNKT!) 5. King of the Road - Roger Miller: On my "Road Songs" CD; you can guess the type of music on there, and the occasion it's primarily used for (long road trips). It immediately follows on the CD the Tennessee Ernie Ford classic "Sixteen Tons" on the CD, and the finger snapping on "Sixteen Tons" picks right up in exactly the same beat for "King of the Road", I'm pleased how I mixed them together (especially since I didn't do anything special to get the effect ... ) 6. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas: Oh oh-oh ohhhhh! Killer song. :) 7. King of Angels - Whitecross: Whitecross is a Christian metal band that I first got into in high school, I think they broke up in the mid-90s, but I still have their recordings in my collection. Whether you are a Christian or not, you really should check out some of their stuff (this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, so you can take this as an example, but there's many other kick-ass stuff of theirs too.) If nothing else but for the lead guitar stylings of Rex Carroll. The man is the greatest guitarist I've ever heard, Christian or secular, and the Wikipedia entry that I have linked to his name cites to the many uses of his skilled axe-slinging. While this track isn't one of them, you should check out one of his pure guitar solos (to the best of my knowledge every Whitecross album has one track that is nothing but a Rex solo) that exhibits his skill. 8. Kyrie - Mister Mister: ("I met Mister Mister once, but they were real snooty. I said 'Hey, are you Mister Mister?' They said 'That's Mister Mister Mister to you, mister!'" - Geechy Guy) I didn't know that there were two versions of the song, the traditional fade-out version and a "cold end" version, which ends (after the chorus is repeated a few times at the end like many rock songs) with an a capella singing of the first line of the chorus. I like that version better, so that's what's on my assorted mix tape that contains this song. 9. Kildare's Fancy - Unknown: I have 2 CDs that, between them, contain 149 TV themes (79 on one, 70 on the other), "Kildare's Fancy", a lively fiddle piece, is on there as the theme song of The Woodwright's Shop, a how-to show on PBS. 10. Kiss Him Goodbye - Nylons: The last song on one of my "assorted" mixed tapes (is it still called that if it's a CD?) and the last one on this list. Not uploading any as I really don't know where to put them but almost all of them I got off the 'net (except for 1 and 7, which I got off CDs I legally purchased, and 9 which I may have taped off the TV, but I may have got a better version off the 'net), so you probably can too. Current Music: Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer | | Thursday, June 5th, 2008 | | 9:01 pm |
Learning about thecanuckguy through the magic of icons kinkyturtle mentioned a meme in which the asker is to pick five of your icons and ask about them (what they mean, etc.) and the askee is to answer. I got caught in the web of it (simply because I had a question, although I think it's his revenge because I was also being nit-picky in my question) and now I have to wax poetically on: My default icon. For the longest time, the maple leaf (more below) was my default because of my name, but I was going through my stock clipart on my hard drive and this one so spoke to me as me. I see a combined nerd glasses (although no tape), Groucho glasses (not only have I performed standup and am interested in comedy, but Groucho Marx is my favourite comic actor, I even met my wife for the first time while dressed as Groucho!). I also wear glasses. Plus, the "Groucho glasses" are often used as a disguise, and I often hide behind a disguise. So, I guess if I were to be an icon, that would be it. (The icon is also used for "comedy" posts, but since it's also my default, and I resort to default a lot, it's not as obvious)  The aforementioned maple leaf. As I said, originally my default icon (because I'm "thecanuckguy"), but I still kept as an icon even after default changed, used for posts when I want to get all Canadian on somebody's ass.  Used for music and national anthems. It's the logo of my national anthems reference site, nationalanthems.info; from the site's FAQ section explaining the logo: "It is intended to be a graphical representation of what the site is all about; there is a representation of the world, combined with the white flag of peace to form the shape of a musical note, symbolizing music of the nations of the world (flag and globe), bringing understanding of other cultures and peace (white flag of peace)." Since it takes the shape of a note (look closely, especially at the outline, it should look something like an "eighth note" or "quaver") it also is suitable for any post on music. After having used it in LJ, I've noticed that I need to fix the transparency on it, the area of the Mediterranean on the globe is supposed to be white like the rest of the water, but I accidentally made it transparent like the background, I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet.  Used for talk about business, web design, computers, or my company, Home Pages Plus! That's the logo I designed for the company back when I started the business in early 2000. The "Home Pages" part of the logo is supposed to represent a boring, old-style web page, so I made it in the standard font face of webpages at the time (and still somewhat prevalent), Times New Roman. The "Plus!" represents the new dynamic pages that Home Pages Plus! creates, boldly covering the old font (the two words are justaposed in a specific way, though, not randomly placed) and in a bold, exciting font (Brush Script), and in a bold colour as well. The exclamation point, by the way, is technically an official part of the company name (you'll rarely see me write it without it), part of the "bold and exciting" feel of the company, but since the government left it off the registration (despite my having written it on the form) and the bank left it off the bank record (again despite my putting it on the registration) it is acceptable without the exclamation point as well. It's just not bold and exciting enough that way though. ;) The icon itself should probably be made into the 100x100 square, the rectangle it is now looks weird. Current Mood:  geeky | | Saturday, May 24th, 2008 | | 9:08 am |
Ow. (I never realized how useful the cute and clever icon kinkyturtle made for me (displayed on this post) would be until today.) Got into a bike accident on the way home from work yesterday. (No, I didn't crash into a flagpole, it felt worse). One of the streets I ride on is Mission Street, a street that is kind of a combination industrial road and rural residential road in the middle of the city. The road surface is thusly appropriate, the north side of the road (where there are some isolated residences and industrial businesses) is like a normal road with a sidewalk and everything, but the south side at that particular part of Mission only has whatr the map labels as "Shell Refined Products Terminal" (blocked off by high fence, etc., to deter trespassers). Thusly, the south side doesn't have a sidewalk or anything, it just has a three foot-high drop from the pavement to the ditch. (In the link to Google Maps above at the accident scene I tried to zoom in as close as I could so the foot-high drop is visible). Some of you have already gotten ahead of me by now - yes I rode too close to the edge and the bike went down into the ditch, taking me for a tumble. I could feel my jaw landing roughly on the pavement, knocking my glasses off (thank God they weren't broken, they're pretty fragile) and cutting my chin up good, there was blood everywhere. A motorist who was a bit behind me stopped and helped out, he had napkins and gauze ready in his car (who has that? I know I don't!) and a cell phone (again something I lack) for me to call my wife with. He (and a female motorist behind him who also pulled over and asked if I was ok) noticed that not only did I land on my jaw (which I did painfully notice) but that I landed hard on my ribs (which I didn't notice at the time), and figured I should go to the hospital and get checked out. After phoning Cheryl and letting her know what went on, she went to go pick up the kids from school by herself, while the Good Samaritan (knowing the Bible as well as I do, I know that "Good Samaritan" was definitely not associated with "kind passers-by" in first century Palestine, and what the real meaning of it is, which is why I don't like the modern usage of "Samaritan = kind helper" but I digress) drove me home. Once Cheryl got home with the kids, she drove me to the hospital on the way to dropping Chantal off at her swim class. I was in pretty good condition (talking and joking with the receptionist). After a few hours wait, I did get to see a doctor. I got stitches in my chin (four) and an x-ray that didn't seem to show any cracked ribs (but they are sore and tender). Interestingly, the doctor recognized my name and face when he got to me, turns out we were both in the same IVCF group at university. Small world. With this accident, and my body not being as strong on the bike as it once was (I used to be able to bike all the way to Selkirk once no problem, and even once took a 6 hour bike ride to the US and back by myself) I'm thinking I might just give up cycling as a hobby. (I'm not as into it as I am my other hobbies anyways). Once my current bike becomes unusable (stolen, damaged, etc.) I might just call it quits then. More incentive to get driver's license, though. (Saddest part is that today, the day after the accident, is Cheryl's birthday, can't really do everything I wanted to do today but, despite it being her birthday, she cleaned up the house for the birthday party that I was going to do last night. What a woman!) Current Mood:  sore | | Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 | | 5:35 pm |
Never fear, thecanuckguy's here! Today at work, because I asked to be on the Health & Safety committee, they had me take 4 hours of CPR training (well, combination training and talk about recognizing signs of heart attack, etc.) Quite enjoyed the training, and came away by feeling a sense of power that I can actually help in an emergency now (but I pray I never get a chance to use it). They'll be mailing my certificate in the mail soon. If you haven't become trained in CPR (or if it's been a long while like my last training in high school 20 years ago - the protocols *have* changed over time!) I strongly urge you to contact whatever agency (Canadian/American Red Cross, St. John's Ambulance, etc.) and *get* certified. Not only will it be a good thing to do, but you *will* feel a sense of satisfaction after having done it. Current Mood:  proud | | Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 | | 6:44 pm |
Eat up! OK, so I haven't posted in a while, but nothing really earth-shaking going on. (A few minor events that have come and gone, but never feel like updating my blog with them. I hope my loyal reader is ok with that ... ) However, came across a questionnaire on kinkyturtle 's page that made me go mmm. I kind of like these things so that my friends can gain some insight into me: ( Find out more on my eating habits! ) Current Mood: hungry | | Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 | | 5:29 pm |
快乐的一天的阿斗！ 是的，我还有一个传统，要坚持！ ： ） 今年是岁次丙子（我是老鼠！ ） ，它是一年，也是北京举办奥运会和中国夺得银牌，在冰壶（他们是如何做到这一点？ ！ ？ ）也有一些市民抗議中國在西藏的統治，目前在新聞報導中。这使得中国的必然选择语言为 我的博客进入今年。我也一直著迷於如何有兩種書寫系統 - 簡化字 及 繁体字。（可能是一个这些日子形式的英语口语，在美国将被称为"简化" ，因为它承担着相似的，没有真正的英语在所有！ ; ） ） 更多信息，就這兩項就可以發現 維基百科。 沒有這樣做，很多愚人節的一天。意思是看到一個喜劇演員的同事礦（ 下稱"大爸爸" tazz）世衛組織正在試圖訂出一個世界紀錄做喜劇，不中停8小時，作為一個熱身賽， 為溫尼伯喜劇節) ，即將在幾天之內，但當時的工作和孩子們去了"傻瓜的節日"鬧市區，因此，我並沒有獲 得機會。我覺得不好，但我真的很希望它運作良好，對他而言，他是一個高能量的漫畫，我 懇請你們看到他（如果你能破解這個博客入門，即是。 ; ） ） 和你们这些人所要求的是什么新的在我的生活中， "为什么你不更新这个博客" ？我刚到真的忙于作为家庭男人（不会贸易，这事） 。和世俗的东西，顺从它，就像内务清洁，并做好税收。也整裝待發， 為溫尼伯美術館郵票銷售 ，大概是惟一的時候了，今年我做任何事情，作為集郵。 说的，它为今年的愚人节入境！让您的翻译矩阵准备明年的！刚刚365天了！ Current Mood: 餓了（這是真的，他們的言行對中國食物，你知道！ ）Current Music: 起来！起来！起来！ | | Sunday, March 16th, 2008 | | 10:09 pm |
Nemo Found
The kids have been asking for a couple of days now for a pet. I relented and we picked up two small fish at the local pet store today (fish was about the only thing all four of us could agree on, and probably requires the least amount of maintenance (at least compared to a dog, cat, lizard, rabbit, or anything like that, it's more easy to handle for a five-year-old, but I do realize, all you fish owners out there, that they still do require a lot of work.)) Each of them picked out one fish, Chantal picked out an x-ray fish (ugliest fish I've ever seen!) and named "her" (according to Chantal) Diamond. Christopher preferred a penguin fish and named "him" Nemo. We've never owned fish before, so we picked up a cheapie fishbowl from the nearby Sally Ann to take them home in and house them in (I figured any sized aquarium would be a useless purchase for two small fish, you need at least a half dozen fish for an aquarium), and that's about it. Despite the fact that Nemo is ostensibly Christopher's, we figure he's too young to properly care for him, so Chantal is in charge of the feeding of the fish (with our supervision of course), and making sure the water is changed every few days (again, under our supervision).
The pet store owner said that when she was Chantal's age she owned some fish who lived to the ripe old age of three hours, so we're not getting our hopes up too much on Nemo and Diamond's longevity; the kids are OK with it too, they are enjoying them now though, and we'll see how responsible she(/we) can be. Although this afternoon, shortly after we brought them home, Chantal went downstairs to watch TV and play for a few hours. Then she came bounding up the stairs (the fish are upstairs) and excitedly asked "Are they dead yet? Are they dead yet?" (Daddy's little girl for sure!)
Current Mood: swimmingly | | Saturday, March 8th, 2008 | | 1:37 pm |
Hither, thither, and yon Been way too extremely busy to keep up with this, and have been meaning to post for the past week or so but, busy, y'know. (Frankly, I'm too busy for even posting this, but, I feel guilty everytime I go to LJ ... ) As I may have mentioned before (no time to check) I'm in my church's drama production again this year. A medieval number about the Knights of the Round Table, etc. As far as my research gives me, almost all the characters in the play existed in the legends. Mine is Sir Kay, a difficult character to play for sure, but I've been enjoying it, and my castmastes have complimented my performance. Opening night was Thursday and have been enjoying it since and it's gone well. Looking forward to next year! Current Mood:  creative | | Thursday, January 31st, 2008 | | 10:24 pm |
"I'll take "Crash and Burn" for $200 please, Alex" "Answer: 'On January 31, 2008, this Canadian took the Online Jeopardy! test in hopes of becoming a contestant on the show. Figuring himself a "jack-of-all trades" in the knowledge department, he assumed the test would be easy, or at least moderate in difficulty. However, he was unprepared for how fast answers go by, with only 15 seconds to answer the questions, some of which left him completely flummoxed, and had time run out on him before he answered several of them. He realized, a little late, that he'd have to be even quicker than that if he were ever to make it on the show, but valiantly answered at least half of them, hoping they were correct, and was pleasantly surprised at some of the questions that he had no problems with answering. He reported "I did have fun playing the game, at least, and am not ruling out being contacted in the future entirely."'" "Who is thecanuckguy? "Correct." "I'll take "Famous Quotations" for $1200 please" Answer: 'This LiveJournal user said: "'Tis better to have tried at the online test than never to have tried at all.'" "Who is thecanuckguy? "Correct." Current Mood: satisfied | | Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 | | 4:58 pm |
More irrefutable proof I'm old I was watching TV (one of my shows) with the kids (ages 5 and 3, for those who don't know) in the room, and an ad came on for "5 Gum" (a new brand of gum, apparently), saying "How it feels to chew 5 Gum ... " and then they show this. My thoughts were "well, this doesn't tell me what it's like to chew gum! It doesn't make any sense! It sure doesn't make me want to buy gum! What's it supposed to mean?" Just after I finished having those thoughts, both kids chimed in with "Coooooool!" Gar, I'm old. Current Mood: old | | Monday, January 7th, 2008 | | 9:05 pm |
Media, I weep for thee, again
It's sad, there have been two stories in the news that is garnering some kind of attention (both at varying levels). Both focus around the main subject of the story being unstable and getting worse.
The difference: Story A is about Pakistan and its increasing instability in the wake of the Bhutto assassination.
Story B is about Britney Spears and her increasing instability in the wake of whatever dumb primadonna stunt she's pulling now (dunno the details, I just see the words "Britney" and "increasing instability" in the same headline, prompting this post)
Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Britney, no matter how bad a singer you think she is, does not.
Who is the greater threat to the state of the world as we know it now? (Hint, it's A)
And who is the media focussing more on? (Hint, it's B)
Gah! | | Thursday, December 27th, 2007 | | 10:14 pm |
Vrolij Kirstfees! Well, another Christmas come and gone. I've really progressed beyond the point of wanting presents, the getting together with family (which going to Souris to see brother-in-law's family was great! They got a Wii for Christmas!) and the holiday food (yummy!) does it for me! In fact I've been of the age for a few years in a row where I usually ask for clothes for Christmas! A switch from 20 years ago, I'm sure. The kids, however, made out like Brian Mulroney in a room full of German businessmen. Which, I suppose what Christmas is all about - no, not the amassing of goods on an almost criminal scale, but the kids itself. (And the mere mention of all that Santa can do sets them into paroxysms of wonder.) | | Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 | | 5:55 pm |
My middle name is Danger
A thought occurred to me, middle names are really only used at two times in our lives (not counting official documentation like things)
As children: "David Herbert Kendall, don't do that ever again!"
And as adults: "Police have charged David Herbert Kendall, of Winnipeg, with ... " | | Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 | | 7:07 pm |
Evil twin As can be expected, our church is putting on yet another drama this spring, and I'll be in it. (Medieval themed this year). We had our first cast meeting a few weeks ago, and looking at the character spec sheet for my character, says that he has a cheesy mustache and goatee. Now, keep in mind I had a mustache (and no other facial hair) for the longest time, 14 years in fact (It was one of the first things to come in after puberty, and shaved it off, with the exception of one play I was in in university, only at the behest of my new bride shortly after we were married). Never really missed it, as I kind of liked the new hairless me, and quickly liked my new look. However, after that cast meeting I immediately set to work growing a mustache anew (as well as a goatee), promising my wife it will leave my face closing night after the last production. And, it makes me feel like an evil villian! Even though I've only had them for about a week and a half now, I've found myself smiling evilly while stroking my goatee. Muhahahaha! Current Mood: silly | | Saturday, December 15th, 2007 | | 7:44 pm |
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