Regarding the Recent Non-Action on this Blog...

Term papers. Enuff said.

PS. I get my life

back this weekend :)

The Case of the Re-Appearing Handprints

Or “The Ongoing Saga of Renovative Disasters”

You might remember my earlier mention of the chaotic state of my room. I’ve been working hard to remove all traces of it; first came the scraping and scrubbing, then puttying up the –teethmarks??— and sanding. Finally, though, I had it all prepped and ready to prime. Well, those ghastly handprints keep reappearing!
Next step: super heavy-duty toxin-loaded oil-based primer :DA "friend" getting caught up in the spirit of the room... (no fears, this is not primer/fume induced)

Zwolle, Pennies and Dutchness

Here's a little bit of history and a good shot of Dutch character... My mother was born in Zwolle, Netherlands. As such, she would be known as a "Blauwvinger", or Bluefinger, a legend that stretches back to time immemorable...

Once upon a time, Zwolle found itself in the mortifyingly awkward and thoroughly un-Dutch position of being cash-strapped. Their only recourse was to sell their beautiful church bells to the nearby (and rival) town of Kampen... and then the haggling began. Many days, words and curses later, a deal was arrived at: Kampen would purchase the bells at a steep price, but would be able to decide what the method of payment would be.

The payment arrived soon after, in wagonfulls of pennies! Zwolle was thoroughly humiliated, disgusted and (predictably) suspicious. They counted every last penny. The copper oxide from the pennies made their hands blue, hence the name "Blauwvinger."

Truly an honourable heritage ;)

The Catch-22 of Democracy

“In politics, the question seldom arises to do the ideal right. The best that is generally to be expected is to attain a certain object, and for the accomplishment of this object, many things have been done which are questionable, and… could not be approved of.” –Wilfrid Laurier

Poor Laurier; he was a puppet, longing to go one place but maneuvered elsewhere by a determined people. He’s known as a compulsive compromiser, and compromise he did; usually at the expense of his principles. But how different is he from every other Canadian prime minister? In fact, how different is he than any democratically-elected politician?
Imagine, if you will, that the rare specimen, the principled politician, comes to power. He will soon be forced into a horrible dilemma; should he act according to his principles or according to the symbolic contract he signed onto? For “pure” democracy, that is, rule of the people by the people, demands that he follow popular opinion. Now, either road he chooses will be unprincipled.
Now, throw media and politics into the mix, and democracy quickly degenerates into a boiling cauldron of licentiousness, repression and tyranny (by majority or lobbyists, depending upon the degree of liberalism.) You see, democracy is doomed from its very start because it rests upon a flawed foundation; the supremacy of human reason. Hence, the need for a limited democracy, one that rests upon a biblically-based constitution.
--And now maybe I should get back to what this term paper is really about :)--

The Rest of the Story...

Lest you all think of me as a great philanthropist, let me give you the ulterior motive for going down to SC; to see Curt, Jen and Phillip :) Phillip could be a trip in himself; he's such a character! He's in the mimic stage right now; if you're brushing your teethe, he's sure to be too; if you're shaving, doing pushups... driving (yes, driving! this little boy drives both toy and real cars!) Now I was going to do a post entirely devoted to Phillip, but Chrissy has done an admirable job of that. And I was going to post some pictures, but my capable sister-in-law has done that :) The blogging world is getting delightfully crowded with friends :)


This is Jen, me and a charming Southern gentleman we met in downtown Greenville. He was a bit chilly and had a steely manner, but they tell me he is a monumental figure down there ;) Actually, SC is known for its wonderful warmth and friendliness, and the reputation is well-merited. It may (hopefully!) be a result of the Christian tradition there; churches there are as common as our Tim Hortons! They even have minor traffic jams on Sundays and Wednesday nights.
What does this picture remind you of? Naturally, I thought of Tolkein's Old Man Willow. Way too predictable though; Curt knew I was going to say that before I did :)

And a memorable evening at the park --unfortunately the camera card was quickly filled :S
Many thanks for your hospitality, Curt and Jen! The delicious meals, wonderful company, and evenings of fun won't be forgotten :)

Down in Soowwth Carolahhhhna

--2:30 am, Saturday the 18th: a fifteen-seater maroonish van quietly rolls out of a farm lane and heads south. The morning is dark, but one can just make out a balding gentlemen behind the wheel, and nine figures buckled into various seats. All is quiet; no one speaks, and the only sound is made by wheels sloshing through snow.
--4:00 pm, Saturday the 24th: a maroon van lurches down the freeway, rocking back and forth and bouncing on its axles. It pulls into Lona Station, careens down a farm lane and skids to a stop. Ten kids burst from the van, and a fire immediately erupts.
What caused this massive transformation? The answer lies across a week and 1500 miles...

Intrepid Mr. Westy was the brave chaperone/leader/chief hooligan of the group; the already scanty hairs may have dwindled a bit across those seven days.
The group was heavy on the Westy factor; Dave, Tim and Lydia came too. Then there were the Luit.s; Sarah, Kara and Derek. Mike VM, Scott K. and myself completed the party.
Here's a picture of the newly-purchased seminary building. It was built in the 40s, I think.
The guys' job was to surface-grind the mortar for re-mortaring.

The girls were to clean and rescue as many bricks as possible for re-use.
Things got interesting when we discovered that many of the bricks were set, not in mortar (as any sane builder would do), but in cement... eighty year old cement :)
A definite selling factor for working were the great JIG lifts... and whereas in Canada you might need special training to go up 10 feet, in SC the sky is the limit (figuratively speaking.)

More toys...
Our most valued worker there in the centre :)

All in all a great trip! Thanks to the Westys for their planning, driving and these pictures (some day I will buy a camera!) Sarah L. has many more pictures on her blog. And I haven't mentioned the other, huge motivation for my going down there: to see Curt, Jen and Phillip. More on that in the next post :)

Quaint Little Hometown

As beautiful as Stefanie is :), I am definitely getting tired of the "no trespassing" discourse, so here's something to vary the scene; shots of my new little town...
It has quite the history, of which I haven't had the opportunity to delve into yet. For any historical info or local legends, you can get a wealth of information from my neighbor/ old classmate Jordan. He'll even add a few of his own, which are always more interesting than the bare facts :)

Mom and I took a look around "downtown" yesterday; it's got a great selection of snippety wine shops, high-falutent antique stores and even some useful shops... A little jazz-themed cafe called "Zooma Zooma"

And finally, the scene today: snow and LOTS of it :)

A Short Dissertation on Property Rights

with Ms. Stefanie F. B.


Hmm, is that a no trespassing sign I see up ahead?

Never mind, someone has taken care of it.

And her parents have called me a bad influence?

Sit back, children, and listen to the story of three intrepid explorers. Our story begins on, just after the first ice age, but not quite before the extinction of the great animal branta canadensis, the second day of the month December to be exact.

‘Twas bitterly cold, and the wind whipped the frozen waters into a roiling cauldron of foam, but that wouldn’t daunt these brave heralds of the west.

The first was Sir Ferdinand Magellan; the Jordanian Harbour was a mere stop from his trip around the world.

Under the commission of His majesty King Manuel of Portugal, Fearless Vasco DeGama was quick to follow.

Snorri Sturluson, native to these wild lands, was the historian and poet of three. [S]he wandered along, muttering strange words like “Gylfaginning” and “Skaldskaparmal”; perhaps it was the momentous creation of yet another myth.

Entering enemy territory

The three were besought with dangers:

Hostile natives

The great beast lay stretched across the shore; valiantly conquered, no doubt in some fierce battle. Our brave explorers tiptoed by with pinched noses...

'Twas desolate land they'd found; rocky and lifeless. The very wind carried whispers of death, and the waves echoed a ceaseless refrain of peril. The intrepids christened the place "Jordanian Harbour", and having pitched the flag for Spain, Italy and Portugal, happily continued their travels to brighter vistas...

The Changing Scenery

Here's the two minute update on the last four months in the VD home: we've moved! The fair town of Dundas is left behind, and the vine-filled, watery expanse of Vineland remains largely unexplored.


















A few pictures of the "Twenty Mile Creek" will give you an idea of the scenery. (Out here, every stupid store, street and creek is named after a number!)





























































I haven't included pictures of the nearby LAKE :) :) That will definately be nice in the summer, when we can swim to our heart's content.















The house is nice (a wee bit too nice in Dad's opinion :) The only downside is my room, which has been systematicly vandalized by a small child and a crazy adult. LOL, maybe there really was a disturbed person... There will be again, if we don't do something about it :S













This is a familiar scene for anyone who's ever moved...















As is this :)
Matt has a few pictures up on his blog too.

Same-Sex "Marriage": A Second Chance

For those of you who aren’t aware, on this coming Wednesday, (Dec. 6) Parliament is holding a vote considering re-opening the same-sex marriage debate. RestoreMarriage.ca encourages you to phone or email your MP –you can find specifics here. As well, they have a petition that is filled out very quickly. Please pray for our nation’s leaders, that they may again be a terror to evil works and not good!

“Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
“Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.” Psalm 2:10-11

The Unthinkable

Here's a quiz; which of the next four headlines is actually true?

• Al qaeda Allies with the World Zionist Organization
  
• Havana, Cuba Hit with Heavy Snow and Ice; Tourists Complain of Ice in Hot-tubs
  
• Hilary Clinton Appointed Campaign Manager for Cheney '08
  
• Long-time Anti-blogger Matthew V. Joins the Blogging World

It's a tough call, so I'll just give you the answer; my brother has a blog!!! Check it out here, and be sure to comment; I'm hoping popular demand (and a little blackmail) will keep him with us :) Oh, and ignore the URL --Matt's a bit dislexic :P And this just came in --Stefanie now has a blogspot blog.