And So It Begins...

2005-09-25T12:26:00.000-04:00

AccountablityIt's been a long time since I've even really thought about blogging, I haven't been much concerned with the "blogoverse" rarely checking blogs that I once frequented.This morning after church a friend of mine approached me saying that he had come across my blog and was concerned about the previous post (the one with Yoda) and the little quote attached to the picture. He told me he

2005-06-08T18:24:00.000-04:00

how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen

2005-03-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

Over the past few months I've rediscovered a favourite TV series from the mid-ninties called seaQuest DSV. It was about a massive deep diving submarine that kept the peace in the troublesome oceans of near future.Thanks to this rediscovery I've begun two little projects based on the series. The first project is a fan fiction series that picks up after the cancellation of seaQuest in 1996. The

2005-02-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

Today is my wife Kirsten's 24th birthday.We'll be heading off to Red Lobster tonight for her birthday dinner, and she has been very excited, and her mother has been visiting us from BC for the last few day.Rod.

2005-01-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

An Observation DEC 2004 Tsunami 150,000+ dead Last reported Abortion figures India alone - 723,000 Canada - 106,000 United States - 1,313,000 China - 6,340,000 Worldwide - 15,051,00 in 2004 - 992,200,000 estimated total abortions (1939 being the first reporting year and including estimated totals of illegal abortions) It is an amazing, terrifing and extremely troubling

2004-12-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

Now that I have a little free time I may actually Blog more then once every few months (as evidenced in the last few posts). As such I haven't updated my links menu in quite awhile this dispite the plethora of fun and interesting blogs that I try to keep up with. So I've added a number of those wonderful blogs in no particular order so I welcome Anj, Naomi, Joel, Brian, Bun... Uh I mean a more

2004-12-14T17:57:00.000-05:00

I am consistently amazed by the buy the volume of stories of quiet heroism that come out of the Second World War. This particular story comes from BBC News Europe. A retired Italian doctor has revealed for the first time how he invented a fictitious disease which fooled the Nazis during World War II.

2004-12-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

Beer is Proof the God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Ben Franklin

2004-10-03T18:09:00.000-04:00

I wonder if James Brink realised this before going of to Law School in Toronto.

2004-07-29T20:10:00.001-04:00

What if Bush if right? This article came to my attention as I was browesing Ex Isle. The author, Tom Junod, is a harsh critic of the Bush administration whic makes this an interesting read. The arcticle is quite long but here is an excerpt. He not only has led us into war, he seems to get off on war, and it's the greedy pleasure he so clearly gets from flexing his biceps or from squaring his

2004-07-29T20:10:00.000-04:00

2004-05-25T21:34:00.000-04:00

I've decided to add an Andromeda News weblinks bar to the site. Now you too can be kept up to date on all the news and rumours circulating around my personal favourite sci-fi series. I have also tweaked the layout to something I like a little better, I've moved the RUC link to the bottom of the site and Moved the rest of my links up to the blue square. Enjoy :)

2004-05-12T13:21:00.000-04:00

There is a possible new link in the Koyzis conspiracy and this was hidden in plan sight on Dr. Koyzis' blog I mean how many Byzantine Calvinists could there honestly be? Think about it.

2004-04-22T00:29:00.000-04:00

I just joined the coolest club in the entire universe, the Rob Joustra's Underpants Club (RUC).

2004-04-09T22:25:00.000-04:00

I always thought that Dr. David Koyzis looked a little familiar but I could never place the face. Then he posted a picture of himself in grad school on his blog and I had it: Dr. Koyzis as an undergrad. David Grohl of the Rock band Foo Fighters Does any one else see the resembalance? Is it possible that someone out there is cloning Dr. Koyzis for some insidious purpose? I don't know for

2004-04-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

With Dijkema's Redeemer Blogger Bash fast approaching (Tonight at 8:30) I though I should blog something. In my general wanderings about the web I came across this interesting little site, Atheists for Jesus. While this sort of thing probably shouldn't catch me off guard, it really did as I have never seperated the morality of Christ's teachings from his divinity. He doesn't say anything

2004-02-29T23:13:00.000-05:00

Introverted (I) 55.56% Extroverted (E) 44.44% Imaginative (N) 57.58% Realistic (S) 42.42% Intellectual (T) 58.82% Emotional (F) 41.18% Easygoing (P) 61.76% Organized (J) 38.24% Your type is: INTP > You are an Architect, possible professions include - strategic planning, writer, staff development, lawyer, architect, software designer,

2004-01-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

Two new links to the Parallel Galaxies section. The first is Brian Harskamp, one of my oldest friends from Redeemer, he also stood as a groomsman at my wedding. Brian calls his blog "A little Random" and you may notice a little bit of a business bias, as well as a bit of Pythonesque silliness. The other link is to Rob Joustra's Blog, a "refelction on history, mythology, politics... 'life, the

2003-12-18T20:31:00.000-05:00

According to scientific testing I am in fact Captain Dylan Hunt You are Captain Dylan Hunt! Brave, courageous, but somewhat foolhardy.You should look before crossing the road! Take the Test.Brought to you by Andromeda UK

2003-12-17T20:35:00.000-05:00

I've added a new link to Dan Postma's blog. Dan is a strange and wonderful man and his blog displays some of the tamer elememts of his sense of humour. There are also some links to some simple yet highly addictive games, try out Copter its a good time.

2003-12-04T20:27:00.000-05:00

Ok this is rather funny and something you must do. Go to google and type [i]miserable failure[/i] into the subject box and then click "I'm feeling lucky." trust me this is funny.

2003-11-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

I found this link as Ex Isle. http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,61091,00.html Do'h

2003-11-08T00:31:00.000-05:00

For those not in the know, I am an long time writter of fan fiction. These are stories that are written by fans of a particular book, movie or TV series that can be considered alteranate univeres to those official licenced and released works. Every fan fic i write I post to a great website called Fanfiction.net. It is the largest archive of fan fiction on the Net. I've recently discovered

2003-11-06T22:40:00.000-05:00

I've updated the link to Dr. Gideon Strauss' blog so that you no longer have to redirect through his old blog site. I've also removed the Link in the Distant Reaches from the Orpheus Guide To Andromeda Technology as that site no longer exists.

2003-11-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

It is amazing what passes for news today. Recently the ABC television network aired a special on a contreversy surrounding the life of Jesus Christ. I managed to miss this no doubt hard hitting and thought provoking peice of journalism but in recent days have discovered something very interesting - it was all based on a work of fiction. You see the issue of discussion for this ABC special was

2003-11-02T23:03:00.000-05:00

The new season of Andromeda (season 4) has begun, and for the first time in a long time I find myself genuinely excited for each new episode. The five episodes so far have been quite good, while not as good as the beginning of season two they have been much stronger then the beginning of season three. It seems the writters and producers of Andromeda have finally heard the cry of the series

2003-08-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

I just recently finished reading "Frank Herbert's Dune" and there is little I can say that will add to the praise this work of Sci-fi literature has already recieved. What I will say is this, if you liked Star Wars and loved Lord of the Rings you must read Dune.

2003-05-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

New quote from Andromeda, "Twilight of the Idols" "Gentlebeings, I bid you welcome. Welcome to the blood, to the sweat, to the tears. Welcome to your places on the wall." Admiral Constanza Stark "Address to the War College Graduates CY 9764 This quote is excerpted from "Watchers on the Walls of Paradise at the "All Systems University" . This is what the site has to say about the speach and

2003-04-28T00:03:00.000-04:00

I've updated the Parallel Galaxies to include the new blog from Dr. David Koyzis called "Notes from above Ground." Dr. Koyzis teaches Political Science at Redeemer University College. InterVarsity Press will be publishing Dr. Koyzis' new book "Political Visions and Illusions" very soon. Hopefully Dr. Koyzis will have a comment system operating soon.

2003-04-27T01:58:00.000-04:00

Here is the new quote from the latest Andromeda Episode, Illusion of Majesty, "We all wear the Twin Masks of Emotion, Happy or sad, haunted or hunted, You chose the mask, you chose the risk. You chose your own poison." Last words of Plethe the Pirate CY 3902

2003-04-25T13:17:00.000-04:00

Andromeda being almost finished its third season has a lot of episode quotes. These quotes are displayed at the beginning of each episode and are a often a clue to the theme of the episode. I've decide to post a few of my favourites for you pleasure and my own. "Under the Night" (Season 0ne; Episode 0ne [101]) If the Commonwealth's High Guard had a weakness, it was this: Its officers were

2003-04-25T12:58:00.000-04:00

From now on I going to try to post the openning quotes from each episode of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda starting with last weeks episode, "Deep Midnight's Voice" (Season 3 episode 20) "The Universe is perfect. You can not improve it. If you try to change it, You will ruin it. If you try to hold it, You will lose it." Notes to Odo Chan CY 9101

2003-04-25T12:49:00.000-04:00

"Glorious son, go up from the nightside and look down on us. Where the lights shine brightest, there! There are we. Where darkness alone resides, yet there are peoples whose one resource is wishing. Go up because you can. It will remind you of who you are. And of who you shall not ever be again." excerpt from "the Relativity of Ethics" at The Ancestor's Breath

2003-04-25T12:42:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago both Gideon Strauss and Brian Dijkema blogged on pop music and debated the merits of pop music and what Gideon described as High Pop. Gideon's High Pop included band's like U2 and several others that are "popular" but aren't the same as the Britney, N'sync pop. Personally I don't make this type of distinction, I generally divide music in to three rather simple catagories; good,

2003-04-11T13:27:00.000-04:00

I've done a little work on the old blog today as you can see. I've added a few links to the to both the Parallel Galaxies and the Distant reaches. Mr. Dijkema's blog explores the political realm in more depth than I have been able to do in my few little postings. I've lived with Dijkema for just about eight months now and I can tell you that he is indeed a good Shelia, Bruce. Gideon Strauss

2003-04-11T12:14:00.000-04:00

Canada. This is the very fine country that I have been blessed to have lived all my twenty-two years in. A country that, I am told, is treated very respectfully by many average people around the world. Some say we a "nation" of nice people, polite and respectful. Now I have begun to hear stories of Canadians, living or staying in the United States, who are being mistreated because of our

2003-04-11T11:31:00.000-04:00

As some of you may have guessed, I am something of a Science Fiction fan. Over the course of the last eight months I have spent a great deal of money purchasing on DVD the first season of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. In the past few weeks some of the guys I live with (there are ten of us) started to watch Andromeda of their own free will. I must admit this has given me no end of pleasure as I

2003-02-26T01:01:00.000-05:00

My quick review of Dare Devil Not a bad movie in most respects, the characters were suitably complex and even flawed in a way that the uniformed might not expect from a comic book world. I found that this movie was enjoyable not just for the action and special effects, or even the often obligatory T&A but also because the story was treated seriously. This has been an enjoyable trend in the

2003-02-25T09:46:00.000-05:00

As can be seen, I've added a number of links to my blog. The Parallel Galaxies section will be for other blogs, currently I have the Musing Madcap, Mr. James Brink, and a silly old bear, Rich Greydanus ( a House at Pooh Corner). The Distant Reaches will be sites that I have some intrest in, including the Slipstream Underground and Ex Isle, two sites I dealt with in my blogs on Internet

2003-02-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

Before people start taking me for some random Internet geek, I'm going to briefly add one more passion to my list, Love. Thats right Love, on Saturday my girlfriend of three years, Kirsten Crosthwaite agreed to be my wife. We hope to be married on Sept 27, 2003.

2003-02-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I commented on the nature of community on the internet, its implications and obligations. I find myself now feeling quite pleased with the strength of a community that was created entirely over the Internet. As I recorded in my earlier messege, the former SlipstreamBBS community had reasserted itself on two message boards, the Slipstream Underground (SU) and Ex Isle, both of

2003-01-31T01:02:00.000-05:00

I find myself walking a fine line when it comes to the possiblity of war with Iraq. As a Canadian I understand that my country's role in any war would likely be small but yet I still find myself wondering weather we (and by "we" I mean the West in general) should bother in Iraq at all. I really don't think anyone in the international community who really believes that Saddam is being entirely

2003-01-24T01:56:00.000-05:00

I have been asking myself a difficult question lately concerning community. What is it and what does it mean? We are all a part of some kind of community, we are part of a nation, a neighbourhood, a church congregation, a book club, and these are just a few examples. Since the development of the Internet a new kind of community has arisen, that of the Internet chat rooms and discussion boards.

2003-01-24T01:09:00.000-05:00

I suppose that if I'm going to pass judgement on what qualifies as "good" science fiction I should at least place some of my own scifi stories up for consideration. My skills at writing in story form are somewhat fledgeling, but I have been working to meet my own criteria as best as possible. While I have not yet ventured out into the frightening world of original work, I have devoted

2003-01-17T00:09:00.000-05:00

In my experiance the very best stories, in any genre, have complex characters as a key element. Scifi should not be an exception to this general principle. Television series like Babylon 5, Farscape, and the first season and a half of Andromeda were very much driven by complex characters. B5's Mr. Garibaldi was a recovering alcholic and it was a real enduring (ie. not single episode, single

2003-01-10T14:11:00.000-05:00

I want to deal with the question of good Science Fiction, I wrote a rather lengthy bit on what I thought good Scifi was, but do some strange error I lost all of it and am in no mood to recreate it. I supoose a summary will have to do. Good Scifi begins with a rich universe, one where culture, science, religion are both believable and add to the overall telling of a story. I used the example of

2003-01-10T12:52:00.000-05:00

It seems I am a joiner. I never intended to be but here I am blogging. Several of my friends, whom I live with began to blog recently and now it seems have joined their ranks. This blog will deal primarily with my intrests, science fiction primarily but also religion, politics and whatever else I would like to comment on. And so it begins...