Star Wars to go

Just found a whole wad of cool star wars stuff that I'm posting here.

There's lots of good stuff over at

www.starwars.com and check these things out: There's too many things to link, so go nuts!

Star wars geek guy!
This guy, Steve Sansweet, is kind of a star wars fan. Just check it out.

New Animated series!
The Clone Wars. Another one this time, is being released in 2008. This one is going to be CG. See the trailer here.

Opening ceremonies for Celebration IV
If I'm not there next time... I'm going to cry. We're so all going to this.

The Force Unleashed
The day this game comes out... I'm buying a PS3... guaranteed.

Sam Sullivan and Drugs

It's a beautiful day, and I'm about to go outside to lie on the grass, but before I do that, I have to post about this before I forget about it. I was just listening to the fox, and Jeff O'neil had the mayor, "His Worship", Sam Sullivan on the show. They were talking about Vancouver and all the things Sam's going to change about it. I was surprised at how personable and warm-hearted our mayor is. He was cracking jokes the whole time and cracking up Jeff, Charis, Scotty and me. I would love to meet the guy. He just seems like a real cool guy to kick back and hang out with at the patio of Earls for a Friday lunch.

They got talking about poverty and drug abuse, and how Sam wants to reduce poverty by 50% before 2010. That, in my opinion, is a great idea. I think all mayors should have this idea...except not for this reason. See, it's a very debatable topic, weather or not the ends justify the means. In this case, I think it would be a lot better, and would look more favourable for everyone, if Sam was doing this because he wants to help out the needy. I'm not saying he doesn't, but this makes it sound like he just wants to improve the image of his fair city, and not have people turned-off by our poverty problem. Still, a good thing to do, and I can't wait to see the results.

Another thing he talked about was drugs, and how he's trying to improve that problem, and this sounded heartfelt and like he really wants this. He talked about a new system he's trying out where a select few (800) individuals who are addicted to heroin... are given heroin. 1000mg, which is apparently enough to stay on a "low-dose" heroin diet. This just perplexed me, though. Why would the government be giving people an illegal, harmful substance? It was later explained that the people then didn't have to commit crimes to get money for it, and didn't ever take the full 1000mg. They never take more than 500. They take just enough to not get sick, and not to get high. I then thought, this might show them a different world, and they'd be more keen on going to get help. I think I like this idea, but I'm not sure. I just am glad stuff is being done.

Imrpov-okee after pasta. The best dessert.

Today was such a Star Wars day. In the morning, after I drove my sister to school, I played some star wars games, and watched The Empire Strikes back. It was probably because a few days ago I had found all that Star Wars stuff. I then continued to play some games, and got a few shirts in the mail! I'll be sure to post pictures of them as soon as I'm caught wearing clothing. Shouldn't be any time soon. Then Krista came by and we lay on the grass in the sun for a while before going to Pasta Polo. We had some amazing meals, and I actually packaged up what little I had left, because I didn't want Krista to sit there watching me eat forever! We left there to go to Improv, and had a blast there. I got there, and when graham asked the audience who signed up for improv-okee, and I didn't put up my hand, Russ looks over at me angrily. I told him I forgot we had to sign up, so he goes to the sheet, telling me he signed me up for every game that had a blank beside it. I did 99 blanks, which is my weakest game, and I actually didn't do too bad! I was actually glad with what I did, and the choices I made. Next time I want to play a more energetic game, though. Then Krista and I went to sit and watch the sun go down.

UMOTD:
Jumping the fence to the Westwood Plateau golf course to sit on the grass, and feeling like a fugitive.

Resonator

So my dad and I switched cars today, to fix a problem with Sheila's exhaust. My dad knows a guy, and thought that if he took Sheila in personally, he could get some magic worked out. We thought it was a hole in the exhaust, and it turned out to be in the resonator. Now, me, I'm one for a great sounding engine: the louder the better. So my dad was in there and the guy tells him that my car will be the same, sound nicer, it'll just be a little louder. My dad said that I'd probably like that. I do! I love it! Sheila sounds so sexy right now! Driving Sabrina (my dad's Suzuki Sidekick) again was a real challenge all of a sudden! She's so different than my baby! She's so much taller, the gears are stiffer, and she has power steering! It took so much getting used to. I drove me and Alex to get all you can eat sushi. We were there for a whole hour just eating! We got the menu and ticked practically everything off! Then we had seconds! I was real full after. I had nigiri for the first time, and I loved it.

That night was spent mostly at the Romeins' with Chris where we filmed some stuff. It should be up pretty soon.

UMOTD:
Seeing Michelle at sushi, and meeting her beau who has a very tough handshake, and makes me feel like a wimp.

A day to remember

A year from now, I will post about an even that has changed my life. I may or may not post it, or I may or may not make it public. It has impacted me so that I do not know weather or not I want to post about it, And I doubt that I will forget it.

Rotation and the red light of death

Just came back from the garage, after rotating my tires and getting rid of the red light of death, pictured here. When I first got Sheila, The light would go off at random times, usually when I took a turn too hard. I didn't have my e-brake on, but it still would flicker on. I thought it was something to do with centrifugal force, and didn't think much of it. However, my dad saw it, and him, being a genius, told me that it was due to low brake fluid, or worn brake pads. The fluid was just on the minimum, so I took the chance to look at my pads and notice that they were fine, so I just added some fluid, and now everything works fine! Now, I'm just sitting down to play some Star Wars: Republic Commando with my sister before going to work.

UMOTD:
At the breakfast table, my dad and I were eating and Judy was between us. She was falling over to my dad's side, pretending, and my dad would catch her. Then she leaned over to my side and just didn't try to stop her. I actually made my dad laugh! :D

I just shaved

...and damn, does it feel weird! My chin is cold, no joke. It looks kinda weird, too, just because I made the goatee work for me for the time that I had it. I prefer this, 'cause the amount of hair that was on my face... whoa. Woke up today, put on boxers over top of my pants and went downstairs. My folks were talking about Poland, which I am TOTALLY stoked for. I cannot wait to see all my 16 first cousins, and the rest of the extended family. I was explaining to Krista this morning that it's going to be strange, because everyone knows us. We were the family to move out of the country and adventure into the great beyond that is Canada. They all know us. I, however, haven't met anyone since I was three years old. I think I'm an uncle. It's gonna rock, though, 'cause when my mom went there 3 years ago, she had a feast everywhere she went. So I expect none less. I'm gonna come back like this. We leave on July 10th, and get back on August 20th, and we don't have a plan other than: go to Poland.

I brought Krista lunch today. Took me forever to find her work, though, 'cause I couldn't remember exactly what it was called, so I thought I'd browse the storefronts until something looked familiar. Finally, I found it and found that she'd already gone for lunch! However, she was still in the building, so we went out to the park and I just had the sandwich instead. It was great, we just sat in the sun and talked. It was real good to see her.

UMOTD:
Wondering if eagles play the squish-your-head-from-a-distance game with Krista while lying on the grass, except that the eagles pretend to eat things. Krista said that it would pretend to eat a truck and joke that it wouldn't digest well.

Le Chief

So I'm typing this with my right hand slightly handicapped, being wrapped up in a bandage and all. Although I write after an absolutely awesome day! I've wrapped my hand up to be able to actually use it. Shifting gears takes a hand to do, if you didn't know. This morning I picked up Jason and Paul, and set off for the chief! I get there 15 minutes late, and Paul was still asleep! Probably resting up after our Whistler biking trip. Jason showed me Starcraft 2 gameplay footage, showcasing some amazing new protoss units and abilities, while we let Paul wake up. At 9:50 we were off. After stopping to buy lunch, we were off on the chief. It's always been my dream to hike up to the very top, just because it's such an iconic goliath as you pass through Squamish. I want to be able to say, "I was up there". I didn't expect any less from Paul in regards to hiking skills. Him and I are on a pretty even level, considering the amount of hiking we both do. I used to hike all the time with my family, every summer, and we would tackle great feats, such as angel's landing in Zion national park in Utah. However, I hadn't been in such a long time, so I wasn't surprised that Paul had a slight edge over me. The view was unbelievable! A full 360 degree view of beauty. We made some chipmunk friends, jumped in puddles, and made gay-looking jump pictures. After all that was done, we progressed back down, where i was a little over-ambitious with a certain descent and started to slide down, but stopped myself by slamming my big boots onto a rock wall. It looked so slick. Paul found a pickaxe, and I spent half a tank of gas to get us 260 km.

After I rested up and showered, I went to Improv for the second time in a row! I loved it, it was absolutely hillarious, as usual! Russ was politically incorrect again, and Graham played a girl who wanted to have crab-sex with Russ the surfer. I met up with Krista at 8:30, and she had some of my bailey's cake. We got some kids to get us water by saving their seats. After, her and I went to her place, where I saw all her little kittens. Roxy, Chubby, Scuzzy and Mouse. We played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, and I was kicking her butt until she was "too tired" to go on. :D Sure, babe. Sure. I gave her a massage, and cashed my check later that night, realising I was poor. I later realised, during a late-night reflective walk, that I didn't care, because my life is amazing, and I am so fortunate to have the life I lead.

Pictures!







UMOTD:
Paul, Jay and I gawking at the view, saying that it couldn't get any better, and Jay pipes up, "Hey, is that a nudist colony?"

450 bones = WHISTLER BIKING!

Today, Paul and I went Biking. In whistler. For the first time this season. It was his first time. I'm going to stop using sentence fragments. But it was so wicked!!! Paul has been talking about wanting to go to whistler, to try out biking with me. I bike, and, although I'm not that good, I love to do it. So I was gonna go up today just by my lonesome, and Paul pipes up that he wants to come too! So he borrowed Mark's Bike, and we left for Whistler. We had some slow-ups, but for that I have to backtrack a day:

Yesterday, I went and got myself new brakes. Since I've had my bike, I've had 6 inch hayes mechanicals, and they have ALWAYS faded, giving no stopping power, and requiring me to ride with two fingers on the lever. And that doesn't do anything to help your handling. I spent 450 bones to buy a set of hydraulic disc brakes. I got back from work at 11:00PM to start installing them, and got the front one on just fine. The rear one was in so tight, i started stripping all the bolts. I decided to leave it until we got to whistler, and fix it in a shop there. Kinda frustrated, I went to bed. This morning, I told my dad, and brought my bike up to adjust the front brake, and my dad looks at the bike, says, "hold on" and comes back with some tools. He manages to get all them off easily by spraying with WD40, and banging the wrench in to basically make a new head for the bolt. Amazing. Seriously, sometimes I think my dad is not human. His fix-age skills are astounding! He's such a handiman, I wish I had that trait of his!

Anyways, back to the story. We get underway and are driving around, and Paul gets pulled over by a very angry-looking policeman-officer (ha HAH... hot fuzz), but he turns out to be a real nice guy and only charges Paul $135. I pee at the side of the road, and we arrive at the village. We get up and going and hit up 7 runs. Paul did amazing for his first run. EVER! he even hit a drop! We both just had fun on A-line, and I ate it 3 times today. When it came to the technical stuff, Paul slowed down, which was understandable. But he did Great! I won't be surprised if he surpasses me pretty soon, if he keeps up with it. I've now got a huge blister on my hand, and am preparing to go to bed because Paul, Jay and I are hiking the Chief tomorrow.

UMOTD:
Having Mark shoot a rubber band at me and completely miss during our great film meeting as Jay was talking.

Fraser Valley Zone Festival '07

I got an award! More on that in a minute!!! ...But I got an award!!

I am currently concluding an awesome day. I had an amazing time today. We arrived at our adjudication, and the judge, Stephen Drover, was an amazing person. All of his comments were really sincere and each one meant something. Behind each word he spoke was all his experience that he wanted to share with everyone, and I could tell he really loves theatre. It was great to work with someone who shares the same passion as you. He held a lot of the same values, and had the same mindset that my mentor and former teacher, Charles Harris, had. I could see them having many similarities, in that they're respectful, caring and sincere, while at the same time being insanely knowledgeable and approachable. So, now that I've done enough PR to last both those men a long time, back to my story.

He gave us many good tips. "Drove", as he liked to be called, mentioned it would've been a little more believable to have the blocking less towards the audience, and be more natural. He also suggested that we start and end the play in a different way, which was MUCH better than what we did. He commented that my age was good, but it wasn't quite 33, which was the age my character, Joe, was supposed to be. He said I pulled off a 25 easily, but had to work on being more serious, and more subtle to gain a better performance. Smaller, more discreet gestures and facial expressions would have left the audience more to work with, rather than telling them, "This is what you should feel. This is when you cry, because we are crying." Now that he says it, it's completely true. We should "play the action, not the emotion." The emotion will come if we do the action with full commitment. And, as always, I look back at the performance I've just done, and immediately start thinking of things I could've done much better. His most profound piece of advice was telling us that he always has to ask the actor three questions at all times.

What are you doing?
Why are you doing it?
I don't believe you.

Okay, so the last one isn't a question, but it's an important statement that rings very true, and lends itself to provoke thought. I also got some tips on how to keep my hands more natural, as I've been on the quest for steady hands for a while now.

So, at the awards gala, Stephen gave out a number of awards, and even made up a few himself. Millennium players got "Best Backstage Co-Operation" thanks to all the "heart" that our group had, the stage manager said. Aisha got an honorable mention, as she should have. She did fantastically well and I am glad she got recognition for it. She really deserved it.
Myself, I got one of the awards that Drove made up himself. He believed that the awards needed to be given, but, until this point, hadn't existed. He starts saying that this award was for an actor who he believes will progress beyond what they are doing, and will one day be getting paid for it. And with that, he presented me with the award for "Most Promising Newcomer". We erupted! I couldn't believe it! I was so happy! I hugged a bunch of us, and ran up onto the stage to accept the award. After everyone had emptied the theatre, and there were a few stragglers conversing, I broke down in tears, sitting on the edge of the stage. I couldn't believe this. It was like people were seeing my talent, and actually believed in me, supporting my dream. I feel so lucky. I was also sad that our production run was over. No more drinking alone. We will have a final party to tie up loose ends. I will miss that group. It really was an honor to perform with them, and I really think we've grown as a family. I admire Chris Foster, my director, and I thank him for all his wisdom and for putting up with me. This was a great cast, and I feel so fortunate for being involved with them.
UMOTD:
Sitting around in the green room in the time between the adjudication and the gala, and singing along casually with everyone as Bev played the piano. A great way to spend a couple hours.

I can't wait to be on stage again.

Drinking Alone, and Being Judged for it

Tonight was our last (for now) show of Drinking alone. I say for now, because we got judged tonight, and if we win tomorrow, then that means we get to do another show in the mainstage festival in Kamloops. Sounds great, eh? Being judged? But it wasn't too bad. The judge was real positive, and I had a good time. Although our show went through with a few hitches. The audio, for one, sucked :P There was a pretty bad buzzing coming from the speaker a few seconds before each sound effect was played, and sometimes music played, which just made it come off as unprofessional. As well as a couple cues were late, like doors opening and doorbells, which we accomodated for as best as we could. HOWEVER, I thought there were a lot of things that I did better in this show than many other shows, I learnt a lot from them. I was a little tense, admittedly, and I slipped up a few times, trying to go back and correct myself. I NEVER do that, so it was just strange. The audience roared with laughter, though, so that was a great one, and also I impressed myself with my ability to not crack on stage today. I stayed in character in a lot of places where I thought I would've corpsed, so I guess I've grown in that department.

Before the show today, we set up real quickly in the theatre, and then went to Boston Pizza with our free time. There, I ordered my meal using Hank Azaria's accent from The Birdcage, and continued with that accent later on throughout the day. I talked a lot with Chris, my director, in mexican accents throughout the day. After Boston Pizza, we went to the mall, where they left me at Toy's R' Us, and I almost bought more Star Wars Lego. My trip there was educational, as well. I learnt that Star Wars is acknowledging their 30th anniversary, which means... more action figures!

Chris, Marcela, and Dan came to see my show tonight, and I was really glad they did. Being my theatre family, I really needed them to come see my show. I was a little disappointed that it was this show they had to see, as, in a lot of ways, it wasn't our best show. However, I really was happy that they came to see it. It's always great to have people to support you, and I really value all my friends for that. Thanks to Chris, Dan, Marcela, Paul, Christina, Jessy Mike, Angela, Stephanie, Larry, Amy and of course Stephanie for coming to see my show this time around! :D you guys rule! :D To all you others, I love you all the same, and I'm really grateful that you guys are there for me, don't worry. I just have crossed you off my will.

Another thing, is that Aisha made perogie finger-puppets for everyone! They each have a little touch that's unique to the characteristic of the character in the play. It was real sweet of her. To elaborate on the perogie finger-puppet, I will now quote Aisha's character, Renee, from the play.

It's a perogie cookbook. Oh you should see what Lorraine can do with a perogie! She made a hand - puppet once. A little Perogie hand-puppet! Of course, you couldn't eat it after that, she had her finger stuck right in there.

It was a great run, and tomorrow we have our "adjuticator" judge us and give us pointers, after which we go to the gala later that night, and find out who wins! :D At this point I cannot say if I want to still do the play or not, I really don't know. There's upsides to each. I don't mind either, and I'll be happy either way.

UMOTD:
Ryan seeing me, going "Hey Greg", then glancing back quickly, coming up real close, examining my face, and proclaiming, "Greg's got a beard."

Settlers of Katan and Lots of Funnies

I caved today. I finally gave in and decided to try and play settlers of catan. Up until now, I'd been avoiding it, just because I didn't want to get sucked into another craze. Kinda like Pokemon :P. ...Although that was a long time ago. ANYways, I am consumed by Settlers. Although the name sounds completely uncool. So passive. "Oh, don't mind us, we're just settling on this land." It would be cool if it was like... PWNERS of catan... or at least Conqerors of Katan. Then I'd be scared, and might've been more interested in the beginning. It was really great, anticipating my next move, strategizing, and pwning most of the folks there. I got 9 victory points, Biatches! :D I also got longest road and longest army! It was wicked! Chris won in the end, and I'll admit I would've had to go a couple more times to actually win. But I had a "blasty-blast" (-Dane Cook).

I attended Improv for the first time in a LONG time today! :D SO much fun! The guys were all there for once, and it seems every time they get funnier than ever! My favourite part of the day was when lazy Brad was cleaning up the counter in subway, and Graham and Jeff walk in, drunk, and try to order a sandwich. Jonothan was the hillarious over-eager boss who kept trying to give them lettuce. I will never go to subway the same way again.

UMOTD:
When I was sitting on an office chair and Chris pressed the lever with his foot without me noticing, and the chair suddenly dropped half a foot. I squealed. Much laughing ensued.

Cog

This. Is. Dope.

Gaming Again!

Heh heh... Time to game.

I finally have a free day where I can sit down, and play an uber amount of video games. It's not too nice out, so I also don't feel guilty about not going outside to ride. I just feel like sitting down and playing a LOT. I currently have a number of video games in progress, and I want to work through them all. I really like finishing games, if they're not insanely difficult to finish, like Gran Turismo 4 is. To finish that, I'd probably have to live twice. And a half. Here's to cloning!

I plan to finish these games... in kind of this order:

1. God of War - PS2
2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - N64
3. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter - N64
4. Super Mario 64 DS - DS
5. Elite Beat Agents - DS
6. Mech Assault: Phantom War - DS
   
7. Colin McRae Rally 3 - PS2
8. I-Ninja - PS2
9. Burnout Revenge - PS2
10. Need For Speed Carbon - PS2

In other news, I filled my car up with plus gas at the Mohawk. 90 octane for the first time. I wanted to treat my car, and see if it changed the pinging coming from using gas from Petro Canada. So far, Sheila is running very smooth, and I'm hoping that Mohawk gas isn't sludge. I trust Chevron and Petro Canada, mostly because Chevron has Techron, but Mohawk is so much cheaper, so I'm wondering if they just get cheap prices due to no marketing, or because it's sludge. Time and research will tell.

Went to see The Invisible with Brian. Good movie. I thought it had a great moral and story to it. Still not as good as Hot Fuzz, though.

LP, Awesometown and Cookies

This morning, Paul and I got up extra early (me extra earlier than Paul) and went to Best Buy to get the new Linkin Park CD. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I didn't mind waiting the 45 minutes until Paul got there late. We listened to the whole CD, from beginning to end. I am disappointed, I must say. I really was expecting the old Linkin Park. The crazy, upbeat rap/rock mix. It just "makes me want to punch something" - Christine Yablonka. I loved the hard rock, with the screaming that wasn't screamo. It was just enough to make you want to rock out. hard. This album is much more slow. It has a much more deeper meaning. Although I am disappointed, I must say one thing. I really respect them for doing this. I am impressed that, even though they might lose some of their fanbase, they went ahead and did what they felt like they really needed to do. They went against convention, and expanded their horizons. I'm proud of them, but I hope their next album returns to their roots.

After that, Paul and I went shopping. He started out by buying some jeans, and I planned on getting nothing. I came away with shorts, swim trunks, and flip flops. I made quite a bit of purchases. I then went to pick up Steph from school. We had slurpees, went shopping for some spray paint she needed (random!) and went to my house where we watched some Dane Cook. She also showed me Awesometown, which is, in a word, awesome. Enjoy this :D.

...come along with us, come with us to... ahem.. yeah :D

I love having a girlfriend who bakes. Steph made me cookies. I ate them all :D.

I went to rehearsal, where I had one of the best rehearsals I can remember, and since we've got about 4 days until the final show, that's a good thing.

UMOTD:
Driving with Steph, and having a Lamborghini Mucielago roadster pull up beside us.

Orgasm.

Of Mothers

I've just finished watching "The Nativity Story" with my family. It was all part of our mother's day. Ever since this morning, we've been doing things as a family. We had pizza and rented a movie of my mom's choice. At first, I thought it was going to be terrible, because it was probably someone just trying to monopolize on another story out of the Bible, following in good 'ol Mel's footsteps. It was very well made, but, more importantly, it got me thinking. The movie itself didn't really get me on this train of thought, I wasn't looking forward to watching the movie very much. I thought, "Hey, I'll do it 'cause it makes mom happy, and that's what I want to see." The whole experience was really what got me thinking... We really are lucky to have our mothers. (Dad, don't worry, you'll have your turn come June). A mother is an amazing human being, and I feel very fortunate to have the one I do. I mean, not only did she carry me for a whole 9 months, but she loves me no matter what I do. I can't even do that. I guess I don't know where I'd be without my mom. It's just that I'm amazed at how much a mother can love. That seems to be the only thing they can do, is love. I wish I could take on that characteristic of my mom. You know that poem, "Love endures all things, bears all things..." or something or other? Well I think the word Love in that poem should be replaced with "Mothers".

I love you, Mom.

Ja Kocham Ciebie.

COOL THINGS TO ROCK YOUR WORLD!!

Commence Awesome-ness.

Millennium Falcon Stop motion

It's up on youTube, kids. Go enjoy it for what it is. Pure awesome. Insert Link of uber kick-ass-ness here.

Whistler Video Blog
"For Whistler!" is what Leonitus wanted to say. Honest.



WHISTLER PICTURES!
Most taken from Paul's blog.

CHRISTINE! You stole my shirt!...We really did.PAUL!CHRISTINE!ME!Our BoardsYou should see the view behind us....wait.. you canWhat a great pic....Told you we went down there. :DPaul and I on the "8th" day of our Detox Diet.I got super bad brain-freeze from my iced cap.Dropping off our cameras

Okay... so they're exactly the same as Paul's. I was lazy. not.

CAR PICTURES!
Great pictures that Paul sent me, Courtesy of Mark.