Thursday 21 February 2013

Bullying

It's so sad that bullying still happens today.  Kids will be kids, yes, but I'm glad there are more targeted efforts to try to stop it.  "Sticks and stones...", yeah, that saying is totally not true, as more and more research is showing.  But forget research, if you've been bullied or made fun of, you know how it feels.  And the effects are long-lasting, well into adulthood.

Check out this amazing video, made by Canadian poet Shane Koyczan.  It's quickly gaining worldwide attention.  Pass it on.





Friday 15 February 2013

Review of the "Life of Pi"

My wife and I went to see Life of Pi this week.  Such an interesting movie!  I was a religious studies major in university, so I love this stuff.  I read the book a few years ago and couldn't put it down.

If you do not want to read all this, do me a favour and at least the paragraph that has an asterisk at the beginning.

Spoiler alert....

It's cinematically well done with some incredible CGI shots.  It's nice to have some humour, and with the book written by a Canadian, some Canadian references too!

Thematically, there's a lot of symbolism in the movie that makes you think.  It's essentially the story of a man who spent his childhood trying to find God.  The boy finds God through Vishnu in Hinduism, Christ in Christianity, and Allah in Islam (Pi is a Catholic-Hindu).  When he is shipwrecked as a teenager and stuck on a raft with a tiger, he cries out to 'God' in both praise and anger.

I have seen reviews about Pi's struggle as being similar to Job's, where everything goes wrong and yet he still calls on God.  In that sense, very cool.

Lots of thought provoking parts.  My favourite two were when his family was having dinner, and his mother says faith is important to understand what's inside you...that made me think.  The other is at the end of the movie, when he tells the writer that the hardest part was that he never got to say goodbye to Richard Parker (the tiger).  And you realize he never got to say goodbye to his family either...

I enjoy thought-provoking stories, although  it can be hard to grasp the full interpretation.  However perhaps that's much of the allure - figuring out what it means, especially when everyone has a different interpretation of the movie and the symbolism.  It's fun to discuss afterward.

*I will say this one important point.  In both the book and the movie, I got the sense that 'we are all worshipping the same God, just through different means'.  I have heard that statement from so many people from other faiths that I've had discussions with.  It's part of our attempt in North America to be all-inclusive and politically correct, but the straight-out truth is we do not worship the same God.  We worship very different g/Gods, and even a brief understanding of each religion will tell you that.  Christ is not 330 million gods that Hinduism has.  Christ is not a God that calls for war with non-believers (Islam).  Christ was not looking to escape suffering by seeking enlightenment as Buddha was - Christ left the enlightenment that is heaven to come specifically to suffer for us (Buddhism).  Christ fulfilled 613 prophesies in the Old Testament (Judaism).  Just a few, short examples of how we definitely do not all worship the same God.

All that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and enjoyed the thought process it brought on.  I'd easily recommend it - knowing what you're getting into first though...

And if I was to really nail down one highlight, it might have been the lady sitting in front of me who would gasp - and sometimes scream - whenever anything dramatic happened.  It was distractingly amusing.

Friday 8 February 2013

I LOVE THE SNOW!!!!!

I know I'm one of the weird few, but I am so thrilled about today!  This snow is awesome!!!!!!  Snow is just fantastic, and it doesn't get much better than a day like today.  For those who aren't quite as fond of it, I hope this encourages you, my 'Top 10 Reasons For Loving the Snow':

1)  It's a snow day!  While I'm jealous of the kids, I remember how much I loved unexpected days off school.  And on a Friday?  Three day weekend baby!!  And it's not just kids, a lot of adults are enjoying that their workplace is closed today too.  No matter how miserable you feel, you can't complain about a three day weekend.

2)  It is absolutely beautiful!  Every season has it's beauty.  Summer - a perfect day with the blue sky, green trees, and clear lake.  Fall - a gorgeous afternoon where the colours are vividly brilliant.  Spring - the first morning you notice the sun shining and the birds chirping.  And for the winter?  There is nothing so pretty as everything covered in snow.  Trees, fields, houses, nothing escapes it - and it's breathtaking.

3)  You can play in it!  Easily one of my favourite points!  When I was a kid I loved tobogganing, snowball fights, wrestling in the snow, tackle football, hide and seek, building snow forts, etc.  So many fun things to do.  And you stay warm when you're active.  I still love being active in the snow, it's just harder to find people to be active with now that I'm older...snowball fight anyone?

4)  Shovelling!  That's right, I said shovelling.  I enjoy shovelling my driveway.  I live in a townhouse condo, and the condo hires a company to shovel our driveway as part of our condo fees.  That's nice when there are six straight days of snow, but overall, I miss shovelling my driveway.  You get to be outside in the cool, crisp air, and you get some exercise.  When you're done, you come back in to a warm cup of hot chocolate...three of my favourite things all in one!

5)  Donuts!  Find an nice, snow-covered, EMPTY parking lot and let'er rip.  (Notice that I highlighted 'empty' - be careful!  My disclaimer is that while donuts are fun, you still have to be extremely careful  at all times behind the wheel, especially in the snow)

6)  Winter walk!  There is nothing like going for a walk in the winter, especially when its dark.  Bundle up of course, but then enjoy.  Breathing the cool air into your lungs is refreshing.  And walking in the middle of a field all by yourself or with couple of friends, and then stopping to take in the beauty of everything being covered in white, and the perfect silence, and the amazing stars...yep, I think I have to take a walk tonight.  OH!  And the crunching of the snow under your boots, one of my favourite sounds!

7)  It reconnects me with God.  I'm a nature guy.  That's my biggest connection point with God - He speaks to me through nature.  The moment of being surrounded by the beauty of nature is the moment when I'm reminded of how amazing God is.

8)  It reminds me how small we are.  Flowing from the last point, when I see how much snow has fallen and how much 'chaos' it has caused, I am reminded of how tiny we really are.  As the human race, we have developed so much technology and infrastructure, and so many advanced systems; we have delved into science, global and social networking, advanced storm warning systems, etc...but then a big storm like this hits we are all brought to our knees.  Everything comes to a standstill, despite how 'advanced' we are.  We really are tiny.  And when we are all back at the same starting point, square one, it leads to the next point...

9)  It brings out the good in people.  People seem to help each other more in the snow.  Teenagers pick up shovels to help out an elderly neighbour.  A person with a snowblower walks it down the street and does people's driveways, just to help out.  Drivers jump out of their cars to help push a stranger's car that's stuck.  A neighbour checks in on another neighbour to make sure they're okay.  And we seem to take more notice of the homeless, making sure that man huddled on the steps is warm.  Just a few examples of what I love to see when this type of weather hits.

10)  Last but not least, you can pee in the snow!  Immature?  Perhaps, but I'm still a kid at heart.  No 'top 10' snow list would be complete without this all-important point.  And for those who think that's vulgar, come'on, what guy hasn't pee'd his name in the snow??

So if you're not a fan of winter or the snow, maybe pick one of those points and try to it out.  It might just change your perspective!