A little Random

Here's the second batch of videos from the trip. Day #3 was based in Tiberias on The Sea of Galilee. Our itinerary saw us all over the place - way to the north, accidentally falling on the border of Lebanon, way to the east to the border of Syria in the disputed territories, and then around Galilee to Capernum, the Mt of the Beatitudes and the Jordan River. Having a rental car was the right decision.

3.01 - Starting off the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EunQSLRR0
3.02 - Hitchhikers and the border of Lebanon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWw1Xsnli D0
3.03 - Banias falls, Israel's largest waterfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c97dkgrdS 34
3.04 - Nimrod Fortress P1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWtHDU8nl 1o
3.05 - Nimrod Fortress P2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYR6te9rH 8E
3.06 - Israel on Guard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT2n6YqJo gU
3.07 - Capernum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-e1k2rVR Fk
3.08 - Mount of the Beatitudes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPhiOcwj8 d0
3.09 - Zippori, birthplace of Mary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMEpPDwNJ qw
3.10 - The Jordan River, where Christ was baptized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW62r92b7 mc

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Day 2 Video Updates - Akko, Carmel and More

2.01 - Knights Templar tunnel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zp_B7_JfDE
2.02 - Leaving Akko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNOsQApRsE
2.03 - Mt Carmel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlAhRG0jc94

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Day 1 Video Updates - Welcome to Israel

Hello friends,

Let me introduce Aaron and my video updates. Each day we'll be taking a series of short videos explaining where we are are and what we're doing. They will be coarse, unedited little numbers, and often taken in the car. Factual errors will be plentiful, as will be coarse language. Enjoy.

1.01 - Dinner with "Elmgot" (Almog)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZamLHFOj8_Q
1.02 - Late night arrivals and police escorts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frkyNrr2ZFg

Monday, May 31, 2010

So much stuff, such a tiny little bag

It's 9:30 am and I've been busy tying up a few loose ends before getting dropped off at the airport. I don't mind sharing that it's been a very productive morning, helped for certain by a slightly unwelcome early start. No alarms and awake by 6am.

I can't remember the last time a trip disrupted my sleep like this one has. While excitement is definitely part of it, I feel like my lists and plans have done little to ease the itch that I'll be unprepared. And while the Middle East is largely seen to be less, err, tame than Canada, most of Israel is safe, modern, and a generally wonderful place to be. So, if my shoes aren't good enough or I'm hungry, I won't need to fashion a glue out of camel saliva or subsist on locust and honey.

The plan is to rent a car for the first few days of the trip. We'll be heading north once we arrive and I'll be taking Big Uncle Gare's advice to drive through the desert. It's apparently a wonderful way to see the country. I'll admit that I'm a tad nervous about how the transportation will all come together, but at the same time trust my able travel companion who will be taking care of these details for us.

And so it begins. The next update you see will be from the other side of the world. We covet your prayers for safety, reflection and fun.

Brian

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Dusting things off in time to head into the desert

Well, the Facebook flood hit and this lowly blog was swept away in the torrent. But, with next week's trip to Israel almost upon us, is there a better place for the telling of our stories and sharing of our masterful photos? I think not.

Our itinerary is getting close to cemented and accommodations are being booked. Here's how things are looking:

Date Night Location

31-May Monday Airplane

1-Jun Tuesday Akko

2-Jun Wednesday Tiberius

3-Jun Thursday Tiberius

4-Jun Friday TLV

5-Jun Saturday Jerusalem/TLV

6-Jun Sunday Jerusalem

7-Jun Monday Jerusalem

8-Jun Tuesday Ein Gedi

9-Jun Wednesday Eilat

10-Jun Thursday Mt. Sinai

11-Jun Friday Petra

12-Jun Saturday Wadi Rum

13-Jun Sunday Jerusalem

14-Jun Monday TLV

15-Jun Tuesday TLV

16-Jun Wednesday Airplane

This list is basically where we'll be spending our nights. The days will be filled with with all manner of fun - Caesarea, Mt. Caramel, Tiberius, Capernum, Nimrud Fortress, Golan Heights, the Jordan river, Beth Shean, Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery, an evening with the Bedouins and more.

I can't wait.

Friday, September 18, 2009

U2 and the Dirty Beard

On Wednesday Steven and I saw U2. It was fantastic. While the folks in front of us provided almost as much entertainment as the show at points, one cannot deny that Bono and the boys know how to get it done.

You'll notice I have a bit of a dirty beard in this pic. Well, after four days of camping followed by some inattentive days with the razor, I sculpted my scruff into a make-shift goatee. Epic. I've since shaved the beast (itchy neck, meetings in public) but enjoyed the experiment. We'll see if I do it again.

Back to U2. Sitting in the "nose bleeds of the nose bleeds" (as Steven called our seats) doesn't give you the upfront-concert experience - I think Bono was there ... - but it does allow for some semi-aerial shots which I present to you below. Note the screen that extended like an accordion and the giant spaceship (their description, not mine - I think it's more of an aquatic spider).

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tonight: The Weakerthans!

After missing the Weakerthans a few months ago thanks to an ill-fated trip to Vancouver and having to toss the tickets, tonight I win. Not only will I get sweet, sweet John K. Sampson loving, but will be walking to the venue from my house and will be one of probably only 100 people in the show.

Even though they consistently sell out larger venues, the Weakerthans always come to Hamilton and always play an intimate venue. It's pretty sweet.

I know I haven't blogged much, mostly because there's been a whole pile to blog about and I've been living in utter chaos. I'll try and give you a bit of an update when I can. Oh, and tomorrow? U2!!!

THAT IS ALL.

Monday, August 24, 2009

James and Ree are married!

Congrats to James and Ree on tying the knot this weekend. Wow, it was an amazing day. For the first time ever, I have a sister!

After a week of intensive time with the fam, wedding miscellanea and all of the usual fun that comes with an event of this scale, I'm happy to have a few days off to catch up around the house. On Thursday I'll be in Vancouver for a short visit and another wedding - this time my cousin, Jon.

There are so many things to update you on but they'll need to wait for now. Cheers.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Massasauga

After a bit of delay, here's a taste of the past weekend's canoe trip in Massasauga Park.

Nick and I met up with Jack, Jordie, and Hibby around 8pm (after my GPS took us into Parry Sound and cost us an hour). We bombed the goods out of the car and dropped two of the three cars in lots outside of the park.

Our first evening's paddle was tiny - only a couple of km - so Jack decided to swim rather than paddle. Given that we had five people and two boats, no one was "princess" on day one.

Jack and Jordie took care of the food, packing everything by day into small, waterproof containers. One of the perks of having doctors for parents is there is no shortage of pill containers.

Friday breakie - french toast. Cards and canteens were trip staples.

On the right is the faithful MEC Tarn 3 - the same tent my brother Josh and I shared on our trip through Europe.

Nick scoping things out. We had hoped to use this tree for a rope swing before the weather soured.

Whether it was throwing rope into trees to string up our food to keep the bears away or to get the rope swing set up, this was not at all an unfamiliar sight.

Despite a forecast of non-stop rain we managed to get a decent amount of sun and even a couple lovely sunsets.

Hibby getting it done.

Sausage - camp style. We ate really well the entire trip. So tasty.

Pirate Jack

Camp stove chili. After a swim in the lake this tasted incredible.

Post-rain dancing Brian.

Setting up the extra tarps when we were hit by the only real rain of the trip. But oye vey did it come down when it finally arrived.

To celebrate the downpour we broke out the hymnals and sang #269 - As Raindrops Wake the Sleeping Desert.

I'm still waiting on a few more pics which include more paddling shots, our bear sighting (with three cubs), and typical male camping antics. Stay tuned.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Quickly...

I'm leaving the office in 20 minutes to head off on a canoe trip (amidst the worst weather of the "summer") so I'll keep this short. Here we go with another edition of "quickly":

The conference in Cleveland was far better than expected. The calibre of people being far beyond what one would normally expect to find, the event proved far less a conference than an intimate conversation between a group where I was the lone person not considered an elite.
While in Cleveland, I hit up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Highlight? Beatles memorabilia and seeing the giant heads from Pink Floyd.
Side observation: Detroit's airport is far nicer than Cleveland's and makes announcements in English, Spanish and Japanese. Now that the auto sector's tanked, we'll see if the Japanese announcements survive the cut.
Canoeing. I bought a head lamp and am otherwise ready (physically, maybe not emotionally) to survive the next few days. Hopefully my T-Rex esque cycler's arms can handle the madness.
Peas are in season. About damn time.
I've added two new stores to the list of places where I need a chaperon. Adding to Home Depot, The Dutch Store, and pretty much any bike shop are Costco and MEC. Mercy.
My monitor at work failed and I picked up a new one. The problem? It has a pink hue. I'm not sure it's bad enough to make it worth returning.

That's all for now. One of these days I'll get around to posting all of these pics I promised.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

They're not Detroit...

On Thursday I'll be heading off to the lovely home of the Drew Carey Show, Cleveland. While I hear the city has much to offer, including a river that's prone to catching on fire, the timing kind of sucks as I miss both an epic camping trip as well as my brother's Stag and Doe party (a bit of an Ontario creation for my west coast readers).

The reason for the trip is to attend a conference put on by the Liberty Fund on moral business. The readings in preparation have been fascinating. Although I have two business degrees I've never really spent the time walking through some of the foundational original sources. Through my readings I've now dabbled in Kant, Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, Carnegie, Adams, and a few others and have appreciated how it has already tweaked my thinking on business. Some of the more philosophical discussions around the role of currency and how it changed our views on acquisition make me wonder what the next advancement will be.

Even though Cleveland's not the most glorious city in the world, I'm finding myself looking more and more forward to attending. All expenses are covered, we're staying in a great hotel, and the list of attendees is far more skewed towards practitioners and less towards academics, meaning a much better fit for me. Plus, I'm sure there will be sweet housecoats for my lounging delights.

I'll take my camera along and will try to sneak off and snap a few pics. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

First fruits

This morning, as I watered, the first produce from my yard snuck out from behind leafy hide-away to say "friend: it is time to eat". You have no idea how exciting this is. Starting with the sweetest snow peas I've ever had, I then moved on to my raspberry bushes and plucked a few ripe berries. Giant zucchini flowers have appeared and my tomatoes have begun to take shape. In a few short weeks dinner will be almost entirely yard-based.

If it doesn't rain this afternoon, I'll do a little garden montage for all interested. Mmm.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Good news for beach bodies everywhere

Ladies and gentlemen:

As declared by the Globe and Mail, we have seen the dawn of the "belly renaissance".

With regards to our own visual appearance, men apparently focus more on function and overall health:

“With regards to the body, men often tend to be more focused on the function and the health of it,” she says. “So they think, ‘Yeah, I've got a beer belly, but you know what, I don't have diabetes or heart disease, and I'm a construction worker and I can lift stuff.'”

And even more compelling:

“If we all had to look like that lean muscular ideal, none of us would ever have partners. And that's clearly not the case,” Dr. Hildebrandt says to reassure me that women can't maintain those standards outside the lab. “There'd be like six guys who were dating half the planet. And they'd be too busy modelling and would be dehydrated all the time from all the diuretics.”
So it seems to me that men should continue to stand up – or rather, sit down – for their exceedingly wise valuation of attributes other than appearance. Exercise enough in order to not have a heart attack and then let your inner beauty, which is dying to emerge from beneath the pudge, draw in the ladies.

I write this, beer in hand, thinking of fixing the newly acquired flat (ugh) on my roadie while dinner smells dance up the stairs to let me know a meal is on its way. Life is good and is on course to improve.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

The Beach BBQ - Summer Begins

You know that summer has arrived (or at least, is very, very near) when the evening beach BBQ hits the calendar. These pictures are from the first of the season. I didn't swim because I arrived too late and the water was cold. However, I did grill up a storm.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Wingfest 2009

Likely the trashiest event I've been to in a long time, this past weekend saw Rob, Jon, Steve, Paul, Joel, Kat and me on the Hamilton Waterfront to celebrate "Wingfest". Grouped in with Hamilton's indigenous mullet and beer belly population, we rocked out to bad 80s hair bands and dodged the locals posing with the girls from the Hooters booth. Stay classy, San Diego.

While the food was overpriced and the crowd under-dressed, we still had a good time. Unlike the original mental picture we had of quaint booths selling wings on the grassy hills of Bayfront Park, somehow the city managed to hold an event on the waterfront that completely eclipsed one of the great lakes. No, our glorious vista was of spray-painted signage declaring the home of 2009's best wings. Real nice.

In the end, the food was tasty (corn-on-the-cob and the mango chili wings topped things for me) and the company was good. The art tent on the edge of the Midway had some quality work and a few of the street performers were well worth watching. At the end of the day, I'd likely go again (next time sporting torn cut-offs, a monster truck rally t-shirt, and a week's worth of stale sweat).

Friday, June 12, 2009

Backyard Theology on Tap

This Sunday at 7pm Rob, Graham, Emma and I are pleased to present the first installment of "Backyard Theology on Tap". From the promo:

Looking for a place where thoughtful discussions, tasty bbq, and faith intersect? On Sunday, June 14 “Backyard Theology on Tap” kicks off its summer season, starting at 7pm. Featuring succinct interactions on a variety of things that matter to you, 20 and 30-somethings are invited to gather for fellowship and interaction at Brian's house. Food will be provided. Please care for your own drinks and lawn chairs.
This week’s topic: Urban gardening with special guest Jack Van Dorp, M.Pl. For more information contact Brian at 905.730.7201.

Do feel free to pop over.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

New issue of Comment

Dan, Gideon, Alissa and the rest of the wonderful Comment team at Cardus have put out another stellar issue of the magazine, entitled Responding.

In addition to a recipe I submitted for a kickin' pepper cheese bread (p. 45), you'll find a great symposium on psychology and correspondence between the delightful David Naugle (who I'll get to meet in Dallas come September) and Calvin College philosopher James K.A. Smith.

Do subscribe if you haven't already. Students are only $10 a year.

Baaaaaa Mmmmmbaaaaaa Harskamp

After starting my Masters more than three years ago, my degree was finally conferred as of yesterday. Along with a single PhD, 148 other MBAs, and more BComm students than I'd care to count, we hopped up on the stage, shook hands with the Chancellor, and dropped off the opposing edge.

As I was a masters grad and not an undergrad, I did not have to be kneeling while hooded. However, as I was not a PhD, the Chancellor remained seated when he shook my hand. Good times, nonetheless.

It was, of course, a highly prestigious ticketed event.

Even better than graduating is being able to walk to your grad from your house. I love living downtown. The last time I was in the Great Hall at Hamilton Place was to see Feist.

It looks like I'm balding, but it's just the light. Really. I'm three in from the right with the lovely full head of lighter-brown hair.

My tremendous parents flew in from Vancouver and spent Sunday through Wednesday with James and me. Here I am in my Harry Potteresque finery. You can't see my cap in this picture, which was another privilege of being a masters grad. I did have a cap. Undergrads had to go without one. But I didn't.

And here's the hardware. While I doubt I'll throw my letters on my business card, I think this will go on the wall when I move into my new office space in September. The frame even matches my degree from Redeemer, which is nice.

Thus ends, for now, the formal chapter of my education. While years of practical experience still float ahead and the thought of doing a coursework doctorate has crossed my mind, I have no concrete ambitions to this end. From here on in it will be one-off courses and maybe the odd certificate. To the future!

For those wondering on the title of this post, it is a proud tradition among my group of peers that a person, rather than adding their letters to the end of their name as a sort of academic entourage, treats them as a phonetically-pronounced prefix followed by their last name. I hope you enjoy this practice as much as we do.

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A little Random

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Friday, June 18, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Monday, June 14, 2010

Friday, June 11, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Friday, June 04, 2010

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Friday, September 18, 2009

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Friday, July 03, 2009

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Monday, June 15, 2009

Friday, June 12, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009

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