Wed, 31 Dec 2003

Dec 31, 2003, 13:13 [home/journal]
Another Day Older

Well, midnight approaches, and with it a New Year for me and this earth.

It’s weird being born on New Years Day. I guess it’s a little better than Christmas though… it’s like a birthday isn’t so important when another holiday occurs at the same time. Most people are happy and busy with their own parties and forget about little ol’ me.

But the good way to look at it is, the whole WORLD celebrates my birthday!! haha, that’s pretty cool!

I’m looking forward to a quiet day actually. I think Joanne and I are going to see the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, so that’s awesome! We’re talking about watching film one and two tonight, so we’ll be all up-to-date and ready to intake.

Happy Birthday World! ~Jason

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Tue, 30 Dec 2003

Dec 30, 2003, 23:24 [home/hobbies/pipes]
Cigars Versus Pipes

I was visiting sites about pipes today for fun and came upon this interesting comparison.
The sad thing to me is that I QUIT smoking my pipe because of health reasons, and I really miss it. It’s not that I feel some sort of addictive pull, I just like the romance that goes with a pipe. I like collecting pipes— which I suppose I can still do. I like the smell of pipe tobacco, and I like it that there are so few pipe smokers. It’s just fun, and I miss it.

Oh well, when I see family, like Jake and Melanie or mom and dad, we inevitably yank out our pipes and share tobacco, so that’s once a year anyway….

I’m gonna cry.

~Jason

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Dec 30, 2003, 23:15 [home/webdesign]
Blog Getting Attention

It’s been a few months since I gave my blog the attention it’s getting in a few days!

Thanks to Frederique, I felt prompted to once again journal and blog my thoughts, suprises, projects etc.

I’ve been enhancing the blog implementation too, installing a new version of Blosxom, (I know weird name), and a search feature, as well as a bunch of other overdue plugins.

Thanks to all you loyal readers who send me notes every day. I love hearing from you. Don’t be afraid to post.

~Jason

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Dec 30, 2003, 16:55 [home/movies]
rotk

don’t believe that site, Jason, the movie is great. There are a few little deviations but i think that when Sam and Frodo make the flying machine to drop ring into Mount Doom it was an interesting twist. And finding out the elves are really extraterrestrials is pure genious. tj
HAHAHAHAHA ~Jason

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Dec 30, 2003, 11:58 [home/journal]
Pure Soul, Eh?

Apparently, my soul is worth £93606. I was told that for my peace of mind, 4% of people have a purer soul than I do.

Cool! haha. Thanks to Frederique who directed me to this important information!! (Read with lots of sarcasm).

~Jason

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Dec 30, 2003, 10:09 [home/movies]
Return of the King

Hmmm. I haven’t seen the final movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy but I happened along this blog today and am quite concerned: RoTK Sucks I hope it’s not as bad as he says, but he outlines some examples that really have me worried. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for movie producers and directors to stick to plots. It seems sort of bold and arrogant to think you can improve on a classic story millions have loved for generations. ~Jason

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Dec 30, 2003, 07:33 [home/journal]
House Full Of Kids

It’s pretty neat to have a house overrun with children. I’m at my parents house now with my sisters and their children. Stacy has three boys, Melanie has two girls and we have our two sons and Shin. It’s neat that from two can come thirteen! And more are on the way! I hope my house teems with children someday too!

It’s pretty overwhelming for my parents though, I think. I must admit it is kind of crazy. ~Jason


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Dec 30, 2003, 07:33 [home/journal]
Great Trip Today

Well, like always, there was great potential for disaster today on our drive from Hamilton through Toronto to Kingston. It’s not just that the trip is long, boring, with nary a turn or twist in the road for 400 kilometers. It’s not that we were crammed into the car like thirteen sardines in a twelve pack can. I nearly fell asleep twice on the way. Seth screamed for a good forty-five minutes either with frustration or glee— I’m not sure which. But it was screaming, so what does it matter?

It was a great trip because I was going home for the holidays. Home, to family and loved ones.

Getting there was no disappointment either. So far it’s been a great trip!


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Dec 30, 2003, 07:33 [home/journal]
Family Reunion

We got together tonight with many from the Silver Clan. My uncle Bill, his wife Ida, and their two girls, his oldest son, Miron, with his wife Marlita, and their kids, his oldest daughter Sue, with her husband Pete and their two girls, my uncle Walter and aunt Cheryl, (and her mom), with their son Kirk, and his wife Victoria, my dad and mum, with Melanie & Jake, and their Lydia & Sophia, Stacy & Mike with their Jadon, Keagan, and Harley, and the four of us. Uncle Earl with two of his daughters were there: Christie (who’s expecting) & Jason, and Korrie.

The food was very greasy, but not too much for me to eat a lot! (which, of course, I did!) ~Jason


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Dec 30, 2003, 07:33 [home/journal]
Blessing on Sunday

Today we attended an old stone church in Kingston; I believe it was called St. Paul’s Anglican.

From the outside it was grave and beautiful with a brightly painted door, ancient tomb stones all around.

Stepping inside the chilly foyer, we could hear carols seeping through the cracks. Another arched door revealed a ruddy warmth as happy faces greeted and directed us to our seats.

I was reminded how effective liturgy can be as a worship tool. Many times I was moved in worship. We participated in the responsive reading and hymn-singing and enjoyed the opportunity to receive communion.

The pastor there blessed our children and spoke over them. He said Lucas would have a gift of healing and should start as soon as he is allowed. He said Seth would be “foundational” somehow.

These sorts of prophetic announcements are new to me, and I’m reserving judgment on it, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. ~Jason


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Fri, 26 Dec 2003

Dec 26, 2003, 12:06 [home/webdesign]
Tombo Blogging

Ok, it’s working! the last two blogs were created on the pocket pc using Tombo. In fact, this blog, HTML and all is too! After a day of blogging, the freeware file syncing software uploads my posts.

Now if there was only an easy way to preserve Windows file stamps when uploading to UNIX.

~Jason


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Dec 26, 2003, 00:44 [home/journal]
Wonderful Christmas Morning

I thank God for a wonderful Christmas morning. It was so fun to see Lucas & Seth Excited about their presents. To see Seth looking into that barn. Then I told him to look at the spring horse… when he saw that, he just jumped up and started to rock back and forth on it. It was so CUTE!

Lucas bought me tiny little sheep, shepherd, and German Shepherd dog in perfect N-scale. I’ve already set them up on my train set and they look awesome!

I’m really excited about what Joanne got me: a book about my future model railway. It’s called, “The History of the K&P Railway.” The Kingston & Pembrooke Railway joined the territory north of Kingston toward Ottawa, with the Kingston harbour. It’s twisted route made way over the rocky shield and rolling hills of Eastern Ontario. It was fondly known as the Kick and Push. I’ve wanted to model it since hearing my grandpa reminisce its travel.

She also got me a new sound card, so I can finally resume recording on my PC.


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Dec 26, 2003, 00:44 [home/webdesign]
Pocket Posting

Posting from Tombo would be a cool way to blog. Syncronizing places a copy of the blog on the pc, then an application or Perl script could FTP data to a web server.

I think there must be a non-pocket PC program out the which syncronizes folders with web directories. That’s what I’ll look for.


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Dec 26, 2003, 00:05 [home/journal]
A Very Merry Christmas

Man, sometimes I can get myself in a lot of trouble.

I had the bright idea to find a web-syncronization program, and located a freebee, called vuBrief. It sounded like a great idea at the time: I could write blogs in my pocket pc, sync with my pc, then the pc would sync the blog with my Internet site via FTP. This program is capable of handling it, but the loser programmer, yours truly, wasn’t thinking when he configured it.

TO make a long story slightly shorter, about 10 of my blogs from the past suddenly get new dates, and appear at the top of my blog list! Ugh! I wrote a program tonight which changed the file’s date stamp so they appear in my blog software correctly.

Lesson learned? Again? Probably not. I’m always making dumb mistakes like this. But at least a new script was created to solve the problem, and I’m on the right track with blogging remotely. I should probably get off my lazy b*m and write that mail-to-blog script I’ve been promising my customers for months.

Merry Christmas!! (haha)
~Jason

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Mon, 01 Dec 2003

Dec 01, 2003, 13:20 [home/journal]
Moved My Office
I moved my office out of the dining room into my basement ‘studio’ today. This is an exciting first step in getting my basement to be everything I always wanted in a basement:
1. A recording studio
2. A vast model-railroad Empire
3. A get-away from noise and business, a place to get some privacy.

The network is all set up, and some furnishings. All that remains is to clear out the junk! haha
~Jason

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Sat, 15 Nov 2003

Nov 15, 2003, 23:33 [home/movies]
Neo coat

HI Jason-if you are serious about wanting a “coat like Neo” and you want to have the pattern….I know that Simplicity makes a Pattern that not only has the whole Neo outfit ( coat included) but also has the outfit that Trinity wore ( so Joanne can have a “cool” outfit as well )…..it’s only fair…right? Love Eve

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Fri, 14 Nov 2003

Nov 14, 2003, 21:59 [home/journal]
Crisis Averted
Today Seth had a seizure! His eyes rolled back in his head, his arms and legs flailed madly and he shook all over. He stopped breathing, his face turned white, his lips blue. He was foaming at the mouth. After a minute of this he fell limp and hazy— blankly staring out of unseeing eyes. This telephone news jerked me out of a work-daze into a life-craze. I zoomed home, only to race back behind an ambulance. Thank our dear God he is fine now— in fact bouncing around like nothing ever happened. I was very scared I would lose my little buddy today. I sadly consider those whose story does not end well.
~Jason

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Nov 14, 2003, 07:58 [home/movies]
Matrix - Revolutions

Well I liked the movie. I thought it was way better than the 2nd one, and not nearly as good as the first one— but then— isn’t that to be expected? Star Wars Episode 4 was the best of that initial trilogy, with the 2nd ‘Empire’ movie being the worst in my opinion. The same with ‘Back to the Future.’ This is another triology where the first idea was novel, and the follow up movies were after thoughts to the plot. It seems the only way for film trilogies to really work is to have them all written and produced at once, by the same crew, with the same story. One story spread over three movies is much better than three movies independantly thought out.

Now I know the last two movies of the Matrix were filmed together, but it’s not the same thing. When the author thinks up the idea for his first story, all of the metaphors, the symbols, the ideas are NEW. The audience spends most of the first Matrix movie saying, “HUH!?” with a sort of smile on their face. That can’t happen to the same extent when we watch the next one— what made the story unique and appealed to our sense of creativity is no longer unique and creative. The director and producers must keep pushing the envelope for us to be satisfied, or go off in an entirely new direction. Sometimes neither option is possible.

So here I am defending a movie that many are calling a disappointment… and I concede that overall I’m disappointed too. But disappointment has a lot to do with expectations and my expectations were normal for any film that comes out. As far as I am concerned, Matrix 3 stands on it’s own. We’d all love it if we hadn’t seen the first one.

I know, I know, pretty lame.
~Jason

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Thu, 13 Nov 2003

Nov 13, 2003, 20:17 [home/pocket_pc]
Quicken for Pocket PC

All I can say is “it’s availble” which isn’t what you want to hear. I used to enter all my money info using Pocket Microsoft Money, and then sync it with the bigger version, but I got tired of doing it. I’m not sure how the interface is for Quicken. I’m also not certain how many pocket pc users actually view my site…
~Jason

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Sat, 08 Nov 2003

Nov 08, 2003, 23:20 [home/webdesign]
HOC Site

I spent a few hours to put together a site for our HOC Clan.
~Jason

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Wed, 05 Nov 2003

Nov 05, 2003, 23:02 [home/webdesign]
New Site Again

Working on another site right now, JakesOn21st.com
~Jason
Good Luck to a very ambitious guy! ~a visitor

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Thu, 30 Oct 2003

Oct 30, 2003, 15:56 [home/webdesign/perl_scripts]
Two New Scripts

I’ve been going crazy programming the last week!

Last week ik made a script (DIP) for updating Dynamic IP addresses on a web server.
Today I wrote a Perl script that reads Microsoft ‘Free/Busy’ files on a web server and displays the information in a calendar format just like it does within Outlook!
Cool!
~Jason


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Tue, 28 Oct 2003

Oct 28, 2003, 04:45 [home]
Features?

Does it support multi users? Is it template based? I like its simple interface. But I’d like to know more.
Which program are you talking about?
~Jason

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Mon, 20 Oct 2003

Oct 20, 2003, 00:39 [home/journal]
Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking along the Niagra escarpment at a farm that was over 200 years old and had been in the same family for eight generations! We rode a little train around tracks— Seth sure liked that! We sampled wine and spoke with the woman who made it. It was a lot of fun.

We chased the wine down with a couple of Big Macs— kind of a strange combination!

~Jason

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Wed, 15 Oct 2003

Oct 15, 2003, 00:31 [home/journal]
shop til you drop

We had a great time in Saint Jacobs on Saturday. We decided to take a drive out to Mennonite country by way of back roads. The leaves were vibrant orange, yellow, and red. Julie Garden and her two girls, as well as our boarder Shin, our family, and Joanne’s parents all piled into the ‘church van.’

We visited a mennonite museum which was quite entertaining, and spent a lot of time in a giant antique store (more like a flea market). All said, a great time; though we did get separated from each other a few times which caused some consternation.

~Jason

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Fri, 10 Oct 2003

Oct 10, 2003, 00:30 [home/journal]
Eagles Farewell Tour

Well, I just got back from the Eagles Farewell Tour here in Toronto. It was amazing. To be so close to someone like Don Henley, or Glenn Frey was really cool. We were on the floor, about twenty-five rows back! We actually couldn’t see as well as some of the people in the cheap seats, but it wasn’t too bad. What an experience!

I was suprised at how bad Joe Walsh was. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of raised eyebrows, but he ruined the evening as far as I was concerned. They did a lot of his cover songs, and they were all too loud, and— except for maybe his trademark song, “Life’s Been Good” I could have done without him.

The touring band was INCREDIBLE. Folks, the lead guitar player especially, Steuart Smith, was phenomenal! What a player! I wish Joe just turned down and let this guy play. He had a creative yet stable approach to his solos and leads. Where Joe was just loud, Steuart was subtle. A musician’s musician who still manages to keep a foot in reality. I’m so impressed with this guy.

It was humorous watching all the guys swap places. A guy would be on the keyboard one song, then the kit the next. Especially Henley and Frey were bouncing from keys to guitar to drums. These are multi-talented guys. (Except for Joe Walsh!

All-in-all a great time. I’m glad I had the opportunity to go!
~Jason

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Sun, 05 Oct 2003

Oct 05, 2003, 00:43 [home/hobbies/games]
Vietcong

I started playing a new game recently, called Vietcong. It’s kinda fun; my friend Jay Forderer turned me onto it. We play with people all over the world via the Internet. Though it’s a little harsh blowing people away— I’m not quite used to that (and not sure I want to be), there is something challenging and intrigueing about it.

We started a group called [HOC-Vietcong]. If you’ve got the game, maybe you want to join us?

~Jason

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Mon, 29 Sep 2003

Sep 29, 2003, 00:42 [home/journal]
Drilling Nowhere

Yesterday afternoon we decided to put coaxial cable throughout the church building so that we can have PowerPoint announcement presentations in every room.

On the surface, it seemed like a simple job. We had to make a few holes through walls here and there, and planned to run the cable along the flat roof of the church. Once on the roof, we found ourselves standing in two inches of water! The roof’s drain was plugged.

When we started drilling through the block walls, something discouraging happened! The constructors had filled the hollow spaces in the blocks with fine gravel! When we removed the drilling bit, the hole would fill up again and we couldn’t get the cable through. We tried fishing it through with a coat-hanger taped to it, but the friction of the pebbles rolling against the cable made it impossible. Not only could we not push the cable through, but once we wiggled it halfway in, we couldn’t pull the cable out! We tried re-drilling at a place where we thought there would be less gravel but that didn’t work either.

It took two hours to get a cable through one hole!

There must be some valuable lesson to be learned from this— “patience is a virtue,” I suppose. I thought I was being patient waiting for someone else to do this job for the last eight months. I had no idea just how patient I would need to be. It was also a good excerise in self-control. How many times I wanted to throw the drill, or kick the wall, or swear. I should be thankful for the lesson.
~Jason

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Fri, 19 Sep 2003

Sep 19, 2003, 18:36 [home/journal]
Autumn Blues

I love autumn. I love the colours, the wind— endless wind. I feel cozy when I think about pumpkin pie, Hallowe’en, scented candles, crackling fireplaces, sleepy-turkey-dinner-afternoons, big warm sweaters, extra layers, raking up leaves, all that stuff.

But it’s a sad time too. It reminds me of my childhood. I remember tire swings, and first days of school; new faces, new rules. Then there’s jumping in rake-work; my daddy’s despair. And life-naïveté. Now I remember something forever lost: childhood.

But I have my own children now, and they have their childhood before them. I watch. And then someday they will have children who will build their own fond memories. I want the house to be full of these ghosts when I’m old. No, I want the house to be full of children forever.

I want to believe it’s never over. I can’t imagine how some people let it all slip away— like I do. Dreams and hopes for the future are fleeting enough— and then we become the catalysts for our own destruction. It shouldn’t surprise me: original sin is no new concept. We are, each of us, destroyers.

I won’t be going home this autumn.
~Jason


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Thu, 18 Sep 2003

Sep 18, 2003, 10:09 [home/hobbies/cycling]
Fatigue Starting To Catch Up with My Mountain Bike

I’m getting tired! It’s a good tired though. I’ve been riding my bike everywhere for the last week!

A friend came over last night and tuned it up, so I think this is a good time to take a break! No, really I’m just exhausted and I’ve heard that excersising every day isn’t as good as every other day. Maybe I should drive the car in today.

I love the rush of biking— the wind flying through my hair— almost keeping up with automobiles. It usually takes me 15 minutes in a car, and I’ve been able to get downtown on the bike in 25! That’s fairly fast. Yesterday I did it in 22 minutes, 16 seconds! I’ll be happy when I can bike as fast as I can drive. I’m not sure that’s even possible.
~Jason

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Sep 18, 2003, 10:04 [home/webdesign]
New Site Underway

Metaphor has always been king in my life, and the idea of living in a giant metaphor is intriguing! It reminds me a little bit of watching Matrix— watching a giant metaphor for something, nobody is sure what.

Anyway, a new site is being developed at work to describe the Christian ‘walk’ through life. The URL is thePathway.ca. It’s pretty interesting to see how it’s all coming together.
~Jason

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Sep 18, 2003, 10:02 [home/webdesign]
New Site Complete

I just completed work on my latest site: NewLifeTrimRepair.com.

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Wed, 10 Sep 2003

Sep 10, 2003, 21:25 [home/journal]
I Still Don’t Know Why I’m Tired

Wow, I’ve been busy! Spending too much too! We bought baseboard for the kitchen, living room, and hall — painted and installed most of it. We bought a bunch of furniture for Shin’s room at Ikea (and assembled it). And ceramic tile was on sale at Home Depot for 99 cents, so we bought enough to ‘someday’ do our kitchen/hallway/downstairs bath. And we bought paint to do the eavestrough (gutters to you Americans). We also bought a nice dark red colour for the front door— if you’ve ever painted, you know that red takes a LOT of coats to cover well.

And since we’ve spent too much on all this stuff for our house, I couldn’t fill up with gas this week, so I’ve been biking to work! Boy am I exhausted! It’s a 15 minute car ride, 25-30 minutes on bike. It’s not too bad, but I’m tired! I guess all this stuff going on is the main reason I haven’t really contributed much to my blogs lately. I’ve had a few people comment on that— sorry!

Oh, and not to mention about three new web sites on the go for people, designing business cards for someone, fixing a few bugs in scripts, full-ime job getting ready for our BIG fall season with lots of new ideas and direction. And dealing with Seth can be tiring too. Wow, I’m crazy.
Help?
~Jason

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Sep 10, 2003, 21:17 [home/journal]
New Friend

OK, not sure if this fits in ‘projects’, but we have a new friend in our house: a boarder from Japan. It’s pretty neat, and our kids are really enjoying having a big brother! Shin is seventeen, and he’s going to high school here in Canada so he can improve his English, and perhaps find a way to be connected to any music experiences he can find. He’s a phenomenal drummer— which is a plus for me— too bad he didn’t play bass!

It’s so funny watching Seth with him… Seth comes up behind him and BITES HIS BUM! Seth loves to beat on him (which isn’t funny for Shin). Seth is just always in the mood for a good tussle, but Shin is so gentle and retiring in his polite Japanese way. It makes me laugh.

Luke likes it too, because Shin is an expert on all the video games. When Luke sticks a cartridge in his Nintento, Shin shows him how to find the secret keys, how to get unlimited lives, stuff like that! Shin says he played them all when he was Luke’s age.

So we’ve got a new friend. I just hope Shin is enjoying his visit as much as we are!
~Jason

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Wed, 03 Sep 2003

Sep 03, 2003, 21:11 [home/webdesign]
Something Useful

Here’s an interesting script I’ve written and am developing:
CGI Script Submission Database!
~Jason


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Sun, 31 Aug 2003

Aug 31, 2003, 09:18 [home/journal]
Great Vacation

Well, I’ve had a great holiday! We spent the first week relaxing around home, and I got some chores done too. I fixed leaky taps in the bathroom, re-calked the tub, bought, painted, and installed baseboard for the living room and kitchen, and bought ceramic tiles to do the front hall, little bath, and kitchen. I’ve been busy!

The second week, last week, we went to John and Mary’s cottage in Muskoka and relaxed by the lake. I finally added flippers to my snorkelling gear— Lucas and I spent hours underwater. We took all of our bikes along and biked around Bracebridge and Gravenhurst as a family. Today we’re going to Wild Water Works to swim and slide the tubes. A great way to finish vacation.

This afternoon our boarder from Japan, Shin, will be arriving. We’ve prepared the guest room for him. He is a drummer, so hopefully he’ll be able to play at the church on Sundays when we need him.

What a wonderful holiday. I am relaxed.
~Jason


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Thu, 21 Aug 2003

Aug 21, 2003, 03:13 [home/webdesign]
Two New Web Projects

I’m working on two new web projects right now. Wow, I’m getting quite a list!

The first is a medical database program which connects patients with doctors, and their medical history via the web. It’s called oscarCitizen, and it’s the next phase of the open source OSCAR project. I’m just responsible for the front end and design/branding of the site. You can see my sample page and progress from here: oscarCitizen.

I’m also developing a site for a recording studio in Hamtilon called the Fonic Factory.
~Jason

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Tue, 12 Aug 2003

Aug 12, 2003, 15:06 [home/journal]
Wandering Memory

Everything was covered with a sort of orange pale. It was the way in the seventies. Orange and brown. I remember Holly Hobby dolls, and chair rails; wood panelling; beards in fashion, and Volkswagen bugs. Long hair that would blow in the wind, big brown sandles, Coke teaching us all to sing. This was the style when I was a child.

I remember family coming to the house at Christmas. It would be birthday celebration time because my uncle Clair, my dad, and myself all had birthdays around the twenty-fifth. Mom would spend days before baking mincemeat and raisin and butter tarts. Christmas evening would be such a celebration and feast. I loved to eat the butter tarts especially.

We pushed toy cars around the orange designs on the kitchen floor. We built towers of plastic blocks on the brown shag in the family room. We brought out the instruments and sang loud and bad. After the harmony died down, we kids would be banging on the piano in one room; playing some new game in another.

My grandpa, Earl Abrams, looked around with a crooked smile that I knew. He could only hear half of what was being said. Every room was full of laughter and noise. These were his children and grandchildren, and his blue eyes welled often. He was proud and happy. I loved to crawl up on his lap and smell the dark mystery of him. His giant hands with creases like canyons would cover me gently. Little children would come up to him and speak in some obscure dialect. He would smile up questioningly at the child’s parent and shake his head quickly: higher voices were even harder to hear.

I remember the evening tiring. Adults would recline around the fireplace, talking about mysterious adult subjects. We were never really interested, and never really listened.