// Stoked for What?

Well, I’m not super depressed anymore! Yay! Bah, still out of a job though... anywho, the weekend was nice but short, as usual.

Obviously I didn't go to Revelstoke, because I'm here! I found out Friday I wasn't going and by that time I was super stoked about going so I was completely bummed out. With no Playstation, I played with my trains for 2 hours straight. Think that's bad? Thursday I played with them for 3 hours straight because I had such a bad day! Anywho Friday night at youth wasn't really the greatest; was incredibly out of it and Missions Fest didn't impact me at all, not even a free hug this year! But on the way home Steph played with my hair! Even though she was pulling on it pretty tightly sometimes, it seemed as if she pulled out all the stress and problems I had. Not to mention IT FELT SO GOOD TO HAVE SOMEONE PLAY WITH MY HAIR!!!! I love it when people play with my hair! Gets me soooooo relaxed! Props to Steph for the hair message!

McDonalds sucked! We got dropped off at McDonalds and I was trying to get people to go to TimyHo's. That failed and Garry and I were left at McDonalds with are cars at the church parking lot! Bo-urns! We got a ride for Andy though. On the way home, I was crazy jamming to the tunes and Dyllan, Matt, Nick, and Steve saw me bobbing my head! A little embarrassing, but I jam when I’m in the car! Can't do it anywhere else, but I am learning how to loosen up in worship!

Saturday I woke up at one, and did a little video editing and thank goodness Dyllan called me! He called at three and we decided to go to the golfing range! Brendon came too! So I picked up food that was fast and cheap (can you guess what it is?) and then left for Dyllan's. After picking him up we went straight over to Brendon's and got him. Immediately when he got in the car, Dyllan and I both said "Today you become a man Brendon!" We told him we were going hunting and for a minute I think he believed us. Anywho, underdog Brendon ended up beating both Dyllan and I in the Fourth Annual D&M Driving Range Competition. That was a surprise because the entire time he used a pitching wedge and sucked! Stupid Brendon!

After that I dropped Brendon off and Dyllan and I went by the Bread Garden to scope out some hotties. Well, not really, we went to go see Steph. We couldn't find her after driving by, and I swear she said she was working (Brendon had no clue if she was or not, some brother!). Just as we pulled out we saw Steph but it was too late... oh yeah! Steph has a new hair cut, it looks really good! Maybe that's why we couldn't tell it was her; because she looked more beautiful then often (That was a compliment!).

Next stop after dropping off Dyllan was to the church, for band practice! I though it was going to be hardcore with Annick and everything, but nope, Dominique replaced her! Hehehe... so I was singing by myself, which isn't too bad. I'm not the best singer, and I like having Annick because she covers for me when I like to go crazy and jump around! So was a good band practice, we learned King of Majesty! In a different tune! I didn't know I could do that! Sounded pretty good! I wanted to learn History Maker but we ran out of time.

During practice Dyllan called like 3 times and Andrew called like 7 so I asked if they wanted to come to my house to watch a movie, and we all agreed! Finding a movie was a lot harder! It took us half an hour to find a movie and Dyllan had ordered a P'zone at 9:16 and it was 10 when we got to pizza hut, I swear it was going to be black! It looked fine though, but Dyllan still complained. I went to Dairy Queen but it was closed!!! It closed at 10 and it was 10:04!!!!! So I bought brownies at Pizza Hut and found chips and salsa. We watched Shaun of the Dead, which was pretty good, definitely a different movie but good. I drove Dyllan home, not without of course attempting to find Stephanie again! We failed, again. I was convinced that she had gone home, but them we saw her mom pull into the parking lot. This one time Steph's dad saw Dyllan at midnight or something and was questioning it or something, anywho, we were like "Crap! Steph's mom is going to be like 'what are those boys doing at midnight at bread garden!?" We were convinced we had ruined are good reputation for Steph's parents, but no word on it yet...

Sunday was busy. I had KFC for the first time since May for lunch! (I remember after a youth fundraiser we went to the mall for food, and I had KFC!) So I drove my Grandma in my car and we went by McRoberts.

"Hey! Remember Anne granny? She goes to that school!"
"The pregnant one!?!"
"What? No! My friend! Anne! You met her once!"
"No that was Nelly!"
"No it was Anne"
"Oh..."
"Yeah, my other friend also goes to this school, her name is Stephanie"
"Oh...which one do you like the most?"
"Granny! I like both of them the same!"
"Sure you do..."

So I have officially thrown Steph into my Granny's life, so I wonder if she'll remember her... Amrit joined Sarah and my Grandma for lunch and brought his digital camera for me to take pictures of my trains! Yay! So that took up the entire afternoon. I gave myself time to clean the house a little bit and it was off to church to sing in the big service! There were so many people singing I was like whoa! Do you really need me? But I stayed and sang, and twas fun. All Day is officially my song now! Sweet! I love that song! And now it's mine! Worship went really well and nobody goes out after except for the older people, who never invite me! So Nellie and I went out for White Spot. OH! James gave me the Hillsong and Delirious CD so I've been rocking with that all morning and all last night. I want to get the band to learn how to play rain down! Such a good worship song. Same with Free and Everyday. Then we can have One Way All Day Everyday!

I'm super stoked about HM tour! But I'm finding it hard because I don't see you my Richmond folk all that often and I can't get people to stoke me up. I can't continue to self stokage so I'm hoping for a fun week!

RAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN DOWN!

// How We Are Doing...

Here are the up-to-date stats of everything up to round 3

Songs in The Finals (17 Songs)
1) “Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional, 15 Votes
2) "Superman" by Five For Fighting, 13 Votes
3) “With or Without You" by U2, 9 Votes
4) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" by Elton John, 8 Votes
5) "Celebrity" by The Barenaked Ladies, 7 Votes
“100 Years” by Five For Fighting, 7 Votes
“Last Train Home" by the Lost Prophets, 7 Votes
“Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2, 7 Votes
“Wonderboy” by Tenacious D, 7 Votes
“Times Like These” (Acoustic Version) by The Foo Fighters, 7 Votes
6) “El Scorcho” by Weezer, 5 Votes
7) "History Maker" by Delirious, 4 Votes
8) “My Glorious” by Delirious, 3 Votes
“Innocent” by Our Lady Peace, 3 Votes
“Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, 3 Votes
“Testing 1,2,3..." by The Barenaked Ladies, 3 Votes
“Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters, 3 Votes

// Quest for The Best; Round 3 Ends Finally!

Sorry everyone, had a hard week so it took me a while to finally update ‘Quest for the Best’. But round 3 is now over, so lets check it out.

Group A
First Place: “Vindicated” by Dashboard ConfessionalSecond Place: “Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, “Testing 1,2,3..." by The Barenaked Ladies, “Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters
Hey! Look at all the second place people! So many ties! I’ll fix this don’t worry! Round 4 we will not allow ties. Vindicated destroyed everyone with 15 votes, more then 50% of the vote! I think it so far is by far the most popular song! Anywho, all the second place contenders were tied with 3 votes, so it’s no wonder there were three of them. The others couldn’t help but be close because the voting was so close. So there you go, a big round full of ties.

Group B
First Place: “With or Without You" by U2Second Place: “Last Train Home" by the Lost Prophets
A nice round without ties! Awesome! U2 had 9 votes, only 2 votes above Last Train Home, which had 7. Third place was Switchfoot’s Meant to Live, fourth was Call and Answer by the barenaked ladies with 3 votes, and Life by Our Lady Peace had 2 votes. The others only had one or less.

Final Voting Results

Group A
1) “Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional, 15 Votes
2) “Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, 3 Votes
“Testing 1,2,3..." by The Barenaked Ladies, 3 Votes
“Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters, 3 Votes
3) "Numb" by Linkin Park, 2 Votes
“Hero" by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott, 2 Votes
4) “Wonderwall" by Oasis, 1 Vote
5) “Can't Stop" by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 0 Votes
“Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles, 0 Votes
“By The Way" by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 0 Votes

Group B
1) “With or Without You" by U2, 9 Votes
2) “Last Train Home" by the Lost Prophets, 7 Votes
3) “Meant To Live" by Switchfoot, 5 Votes
4) "Call and Answer" by the Barenaked Ladies, 3 Votes
5) “Life" by Our Lady Peace, 2 Votes
6) “Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen, 1 Vote
“Californication" by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 1 Vote
“Accidentally In Love " By Counting Crows, 1 Vote
7) “Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2, 0 Votes
"War" by Edwin Starr, 0 Votes

// Raise The White Flag

Whoever said you can’t run from your problems was right, you can’t. In fact, if you do, you come home with more problems then you had to start with. In a way, yes I did run. There have been so many mixed emotions going on in my life these past couple weeks and what life had in store for me this week has been too much to bare.

Yesterday was an awesome day. I woke up the same time you guys woke up, but when you guys just stepped into your first class, I just stepped into the ferry terminal. I left my life behind, to escape the emotions of friends, the life at home; in Vancouver. I caught the ferry to Victoria, where I spent a day with Matt and a little bit of the day with Becky. She was working so I only got to see her at lunch but we all went out for dinner. I miss them so much, and it’s sad to see how much happier they are in Victoria. Well, not sad, but sometimes you just wish they would move back out, but Richmond is just a bad taste in their mouth now. That’s kind of sad because they were my best friends and they were there for me 24/7. They dropped me off at the ferry terminal and I was on the 7 o’clock ferry home.

The mixed emotions I’ve been having lately have been a variety of different things. Mostly friends out in Richmond and a little bit of not finding a job, and maybe there has just been too much change. But it has been affecting me and I must say I have covered it up well, because no one has noticed. This was life before Monday, now let’s throw them all in a blender and see what we get.

Monday I get a call from the railway. I applied for a job as a seasonal laborer and they finally called me back. They talked to my step mom and when I came home from school I found out I was going to Revelstoke on Monday, January 31st. A little hard to swallow; an 8 hour drive away from home, going to a town I don’t know, how would you feel?
Sure I was excited but freaked out. The next day I call them back to see when the start date would be because I’m in high school; don’t want to go to Revelstoke if they say “oh, you can’t work for us, your in high school!” So I call them up leave a message pleading my case, and I though for sure they would leave me a detailed message! Nope, I come home and all the message says is “call me”. By the way, there is no possible way I can get a hold of her by me calling, I always get a voicemail, and I have to wait for her to call me back. So she says call me. Great, could have given me more details since I can’t FRICKEN TALK TO YOU WHEN I CALL!!!!! I couldn’t do anything Wednesday because I was going to Vancouver Island so I gave up for the day of Tuesday and went out for coffee with PJ. Coffee was awesome. I had a starbucks card, courtesy of Nellie, and it was a chance for him to tell me about his new job and a chance for me to tell him how screwed up I feel. We really had a good time, and it was a great time for me to just let loose. I got home at 5 feeling refreshed, only to have a dull boring night bringing my spirits down to where they have been in the last couple of days. I went to bed excited though because I was going to get to see Matt & Becky!!! Yay! Let me tell you about the rest of my Wednesday…

So getting home my dad tells me I’m getting an in-term report in photo. No surprise, my teacher is a fruit cake and I’m still trying to catch up because of my past first term problems. So I explained to my dad what’s going on and told him how crazy the teacher was and that it wouldn’t be the end of the world because it’s photo. I stepped into the house tired and Sarah wanted me to email her something, only to find a giant piece of paper saying “Matthew, No Internet (Messaging)” Which I’m staring at right now, but do I give a damn? Hell no! I’m tired and have enough crap to deal with so I go on the computer, email Sarah her stuff, and went to bed. I had just enough time to give my step mom a short summary of what I told my dad and that was it, off to bed. Today has proven to be just as a pain in the ass as last night. I called up the railway saying I’ll be home between 10:30 and 12:00 so call me then. It’s only 11:20 so there’s still time. Anywho, I went to photo, made three prints and had a rockin’ good time. I get home, check my email, and still frustrated from everything, I go downstairs to play with my playstation 2. My playstation lets me forget everything that is happening in life, because apparently you need all the brain power you can use to play video games. I did not know that, but it’s obviously helps me forget my problems. It’s like getting drunk almost, it numbs the pain. I go downstairs only to see that my playstation has been taken away, probably due to my in-term report for photo. NOOOOOO!!!! My fake drug is gone!!!! THAT’S MY DRUG! I PAYED FOR IT WITH MY OWN MONEY!!! I was okay with her taking my Nintendo away in the past because I didn’t pay for it. But I worked for my playstation! That is legally mine!! You can’t take that away! So here I am posting on how life is kicking me well I’m down. Sure it’s not that bad or other people have worse problems, but you’re not in my shoes, so you don’t know what this feels like. So if you’re going to post a comment saying suck it up, then shut up!

I’m honestly not well, but I guess I have dealt with these types of things before.

“Don’t cry for me, I’m already dead”

// For trying times.

IF
Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

// Props To Trevor

You tried man, you tried...

// Quest for the Best: Round 2 Over, Round 3 Begins!

Round 2 is done! Yes, it ended faster then round 1 ended, but it had a lot more votes then round 1 as well! So here’s what we have…

Group A
First Place: “100 Years” by Five for Fighting, "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2
Second Place: “My Glorious” by Delirious, "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace
7 votes for 100 Years, 7 Votes for Where The Streets Have No Name; what to do? I didn’t think about a ‘tie’ situation. So I’m just going to say the both came in first place and take a second place song. But WAIT! My Glorious and Innocent have also tied for second! So to make it fair, both songs will go to the final and out of group A, 4 songs will go to the final. Group A had some intense voting! U2 started off with a small lead having a majority of songs trail them. The biggest surprise was how 100 Years was doing so poorly, and it looked as if it was not going to make it to the finals. But it surprisingly came back with a bang and almost passed U2. Another surprise was how well Delirious did… well, it did only get three votes, but it still beat Dashboard! Our Lady Peace tied Delirious and with 3 votes as well. Every other song ended up getting at least one vote, except for Save Me, and as I have said before, it was very close.

Group B
First Place: "Times Like These" (Acoustic Version) by the Foo Fighters, "Wonderboy" by Tenacious D
Second Place: "El Scorcho" by Weezer
Again a tie! Times Like These and Wonderboy tie at first, with again, 7 votes! How did wonderboy do so well? I mean, I love the song, but does anybody even know who Tenacious D is??? Nevertheless, they kept right up with times like these, and ended up tying them. So they both will be crowned first place. Second place is Weezer’s El Scorcho, with five votes, and it as well made a late comeback to claim second place. Jet came third and again Dashboard didn’t do so well (I’m picking on them because Brendon said they were put in the world for one reason; to beat U2!). Again, almost everyone had at least one vote.

Final Voting Results

Group A

“100 Years” by Five For Fighting, 7 Votes
“Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2, 7 Votes
“My Glorious” by Delirious, 3 Votes
“Innocent” by Our Lady Peace, 3 Votes
"Rapid Hope Loss" by Dashboard Confessional, 2 Votes
“Pitiful” by Blindside, 2 Votes
“I Believe I Can Fly” by Me First and The Gimme Gimmies, 2 Votes
“Growing Old With You” by Adam Sandler, 1 Vote
“Can’t Buy Me Love” by The Beatles, 1 Vote
“Save Me” by 40 Foot Echo, 0 Votes

Group B

1) “Wonderboy” by Tenacious D, 7 Votes
“Times Like These” (Acoustic Version) by The Foo Fighters, 7 Votes
2) “El Scorcho” by Weezer, 5 Votes
3) “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, 3 Votes
4) "The Best Deceptions " By Dashboard Confessional, 2 Votes
5) “TNT” by ACDC, 1 Vote
“Taking Care of Business” by BTO, 1 Vote
“Dream On” by Aerosmith, 1 Vote
“Headstrong” by Trapt, 1 Vote
6) “Blow At High Dough” by The Tragically Hip, 0 Votes

// Only on Weekends

It probably never really occurred to any of you, but I lead 2 separate lives... or do I? Would you even know? How would you know?

I live in Vancouver, none of my school friends go to youth, so they wouldn't know if there was a difference in my behavior at church or at school. They wouldn't notice a difference if I was hanging out with school friends or youth friends. Nor would my youth friends know about my school life.

Do I even have school friends?

Do I even go to school?

I have no brothers or sisters living with me, so they can not justify my behavior at youth, because they do not know how I act at school, or at home. My parents don't go to youth; they don't know any difference in my behavior.

How do you know I live at home?

What if I live at my grandma's house?

How do you know anything about me? I could be the weekday Spiderman, nobody would know. I could have a girlfriend that I don't talk about, nobody would know. I could drink, do drugs, be a drug dealer, and nobody would know.

How do you know I don't come into Richmond wearing the biggest lying mask that anyone has ever heard of? That I'm only a 'weekend Christian'. Would you be able to prove that I'm not?



Just so I don't freak you out, I don't do drugs or any crap like that, but I do live almost two different lives. None of you know what I do in school, out of school, or at night. I live in a completely different city and no one has bothered to check up on me. What if I was like that, not wanting any one to know I do drugs, living a lie. How would you guys even know?

It’s funny because you guys wouldn’t. Luckily I’m a good kid who can survive on only G.O.D.

// Quest For The Best: Round One Done, Start Round 2!

Well folks, round one is complete! It was definitely an exciting little voting thing and we now move on to round two! Before we do so, let me give you some detailed results first.

Group A
First Place: “Superman” by Five for Fighting
Second Place: “History Maker” by Delirious

It definitely was a no brainer for voters here; Superman was the song. It completely destroyed everyone else with 13 votes, and History Maker only had 4. However, Delirious seemed to have pulled off a second place victory with only 4 votes since the next best song only had 2 votes. One Last Breathe and Don’t Want to Miss a Thing were tied third with 2 votes each, and Kryptonite and Beat It were tied for fourth with one vote each. The last four songs had zero votes and the biggest surprises of them all had to be Cold Play’s yellow, and the Barenaked Ladies first number one hit single in the states, One Week. But, when you come down to it all, everyone loved Superman.

Group B
First Place: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John
Second Place: "Celebrity" by The Barenaked Ladies

Group B was the complete opposite of group A. Youth of the Nation had a commanding lead at the beginning but Elton John came right back to take over the lead. The biggest surprise was how the Barenaked Ladies caught up to pass POD and robbing them of second place. The song is a great song, but it is nowhere near as well known as Youth of the Nation. Clumsy and Drops of Jupiter were the only other two songs to get votes, and they were tied for fourth with one vote each. Paint the Silence, OLE!, Be Like That, and Don't Walk Away Eileen all tied for fifth with zero votes.

Final Voting Stats

Group A
1) "Superman" by Five For Fighting, 13 Votes
2) "History Maker" by Delirious, 4 Votes
3) "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by AeroSmith, 2 Votes
"One Last Breath" by Creed, 2 Votes
4) "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down, 1 Vote
“Beat It” by Michael Jackson, 1 Vote
5) "Get In Line" by The Barenaked Ladies, 0 Votes
"One Week" by The Barenaked Ladies, 0 Votes
"Deny" by Default, 0 Votes
"Yellow" by Cold Play, 0 Votes

Group B
1) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" by Elton John, 8 Votes
2) "Celebrity" by The Barenaked Ladies, 7 Votes
3) "Youth of the Nation" by POD, 6 Votes
4) "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace, 1 Vote
"Drops of Jupiter" by Train, 1 Vote
5) "Paint The Silence" by South, 0 Votes
"OLE!" by The Bouncing Souls, 0 Votes
"Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down, 0 Votes
"Don't Walk Away Eileen" by Sam Roberts, 0 Votes

// Regarding Bravenet???

Hey all
About that whole bravenet thing....im all good with it as long as we don't get into any financial liabilities. Thats not gana happen is it???
Oh, sorry for not posting very regularly cos im working more than 48 hours hours a week and training 2 and a half hours a day for basketball. When the summer holidays are ove i'l be on here more often...
cheers

// "Let's be classy about it."

Grr! This is so frustrating! Why'd I have to be such a cute kid?! Okay, here's my "problem"... Grad write-ups and baby photos for yearbook are due in a week. I have my write-up dealt with; that was the semi-easy part. It took me awhile to figure out what I want to do with it and then, when I started writing it, it was easy. But now I gotta pick a baby photo! But there's two really good ones that I absolutely love, but I CAN'T DECIDE! So here are the photos, everyone should comment and tell me which one they think would look better! Or is cuter! Whichever! WHATEVER! hehe. Which one do you guys think looks more like me? Can you even tell that it's me?!

1. In this one, I'm about a year and a couple months old.

2. Here, I'm under a year old. I don't even know anymore!

What do you think?

Anyway, youth was pretty rad tonight. I was happy because it was a huge turn-out for Youth Explosion and usually, we don't have that many people show up for Friday night services. Didn't head out to McDonald's afterwards and felt pretty good about that. Of course, I missed hanging out with everyone, but I didn't spent money, I didn't eat more unnecessary fattening food, and I actually got some work done when I got home. RAD MUCH?!

Anyway, tomorrow is going to be a long day. I'm scared already.

// Quest for The Best Song!

If you have not yet noticed, there is a "quest for the best song" link. This is my new little thing I have come up with! To find the best song! Here's what I'm doing...

I'm taking songs from my CD's and I'm having an ultimate showdown to see what song is named the best out of all the songs I listen too! Feel free to give me some songs to add. The list I have up right now is the first and definitly not last, and songs will be added to the list. I call this "Round One" and I will take the top two, maybe three, and take them to the finals! Anywho, I figure this will be fun and I have nothing to lose so whatever! While this is going on I'm going to take down the mini poll, so there will only be the Quest For The Best.

Let's Quest!

// Slip on Ice Bad, Photo Class Good!

This week I must admit I have been distracted from posting because of are large debate we just had. So after posting a comment, I didn't feel like posting anything else. Now that debate is done, and I move on in the blog world.

This week has been a little hard, but nevertheless, I am in a good mood! I had the weirdest night though, I had some crazy dreams and yeah, mind blowing. The hard part of this week has been mainstage, because we're learning how to tap. OH! Just to let those who want to know, our musical this year is 42nd Street. It definitly doesn't look as fun as Bye Bye Birdie, but it is going to be hard! I can't dance, and now I have to learn how to tap. Not good. But yesterday I only made a small amount of errors in our dance and I was thinking pretty high of myself! Oh yes... Anywho, I never complain about school because school is good to me.

Yesterday night was very fun! Sam, Chris and I gathered for a game of hockey which was a little more dificult then useual. The rink was covered in ice and snow for most of the part, and I forgot my jersey. Usualy my jersey gives me a false sence of security, thinking that it will protect my exposed arms from the ball, but it doesn't, and when I get hit, it hurts real bad. So I had no jersey making me a coward, and why not? Chris had a bullet shot which went of my pants and hit my elbow which really hurt, and then Sam let's one go which pegs me in the right arm! That was it for me, I pulled myself deciding I wasn't going to make any improvement by staying in net, just a lot of bruises.

Then the game got very exciting! Oh yes... we did a free for all; when someone scored the loser went off, until someone scored again. Poor Chris only ended up with 4 goals and it turned out to be Sam and I tied 9-9. Did I mention the game ends at 10 goals? Anywho, I beat Sam after a lot of work and we went out to celebrate at the beautiful McDonalds! Chris didn't come which sucked but Sam has definitly grown on me, the kid is a pretty fun! So we laughed it up at McDonalds, as he almost made me choke on a cheeseburger, but still, we had an awesome time.

Today is looking good! As I said I woke up feeling energetic and I've been rip ready roarin' to go! Photo was awesome! I developed my film which has always been scary and it worked! The last time I developed pictures, I only got two. But this time I got almost more then 10! Well I didn't count but yeah, there were a lot! We also got a new student, from Texas! Holy crap I had to talk to her,I love talking to Americans. She came in late and ude to me developing my film we couldn't talk much. The best part was she said "wow, it's like you all have accents!" That is so funny! Becase we speak normally! Hehehehe, sorry but she is pretty cool so far!

Anywho, I still haven't got a call back from anyone about getting a job so this is a bit discouraging, but I'm having a good Friday so far so I don't want to screw it up. You guys better be ready tonight! Cause i'm two weeks behind in hanging out some I'm planning on rocking the joint tonight!

// NHL Lockout Troubles

It's really annoying, isn't it? Why can't these people settle a simple problem? Can't you give us hockey back? You jerks! Why!? I miss the hockey! You greedy players!

Shut up! Calm down! Is it really the players fault?!? Not completely, but still, let’s look at this...

You’re a NHL hockey player and you’re pretty good too! You were fourth in team scoring last year, and you were a key factor for your team's success. How much money do you want? $1,000,000 a year? Yeah rite!

Now think of this. You wake up to your family in your house, have just enough time to have breakfast with them, and then it is off to the ice rink for your morning practice. So it's like going to work, you get to see a bit of them before you go, that's okay. You work yourself pretty hard at the rink, so you’re a little tired after. You do some extra things with the team off ice and your well into the afternoon. You have enough time to maybe eat dinner with the family, and then its game time. Your coach is putting a lot of pressure on you because you’re a key player but haven't been getting many goals lately. So a lot of pressure is on you to do well. You step on the rink and look at the thousands of fans looking at you, watching every move you make. Does that not add some pressure on to you? You play an okay game and you win! Yay! That feels good, but you have just had a long day and a hard game and now the media wants to talk to you and a crowd of people surround you, giving you no room to breathe. You get home at maybe 11 or 11:30 and your kids are probably in bed so you don't get to see them. That sucks! To top it off, your going on a road trip tomorrow, and you won't be back in town for a week. Only when you get home to repeat the same cycle over again.

These people don't save lives, but they live hard ones. They have to put the game above everyone and everything. They've sold their soul to the fans; they have almost no free time. This job isn't easy, so it's understandable for some of the salaries.

So before you go calling the players greedy, think about that.

// A Weekend Well Wasted

I'm back in action after a poor Friday and Saturday, but I am back! It all started Friday when I wasn't feeling very great so I decided to take a nap. I said farewell to Kelsey, who I just told I didn't feel like throwing up. At this time, it was 4. When I woke up at 6:30, I threw up, and after that it got worse and well, let's not talk about it... I went to bed at 11:45, after my last time throwing up, and then my sleep from hell came. Every minute I seemed to wake up and this horrible headache seemed to keep me from sleeping. Finally, at 2:30 am, I got up, drank all the ginger ale, took 2 Tylenol, and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I couldn't sleep, so what was I to do at, now, 3am? Well, I got a cold damp face cloth, put it over my head, got a cold cup of water, and watched dodge ball. Creating... Matthew's Headache killing plan! Maybe it was the Tylenol, or lack of sleep, or Ben Stiller's sexy acting, but I went back to bed at 4:30, and was asleep before 5.

I woke up at 10 and the headache was still there, so it was another day inside, so I wouldn't get Saturday for fun either. I used Saturday for recovering and my dad set my G Scale up in the snow! The fresh air seemed to lift the headache and I was back to normal as I went to bed Saturday at 10:30pm

Sunday, after a night of rest, was a day of cleaning. Being sick I felt I shouldn't be obligated to do my chores or clean, but Sunday was different. I spent all day cleaning! Well, there were times where I would slack off, but I cleaned a lot! Then I got to go to Boston Pizza! Yum Yum! I had a Boston Cheese stake sandwich, which is like Beef Dip with more toppings. Note to anyone ever going to Boston Pizza; never get the side salad, its smaller then your fork! I got to the church service at 6:20, very quietly too, I don't think anyone realized I was there! Anywho, I can't remember anything about last night’s service, I wasn't taking anything in, and my brain was turned off. Afterwards, there was a game like no other before...

I, Matthew Robson, was the challenger. I knew my limits, and that I was no where near as good as my opponent, but if the Calgary Flames can make it to the finals, why can't I win? My opponent? Judy Phillips, the owner of the game. What game? Bop It! Not just Bop It, it was Bop It EXTREME!!! EXTREME I TELL YOU!!! After a practice game, I was the loser as predicted. I was tense, worrying about every move, Judy kept her cool. You could slice the tension with a knife. After we went long into the game, longer then I had ever seen before, I started to lose my cool. I was getting slower to every flick, pull, pass, spin, and bop it. I passed it over to Judy and she started, and then the unthinkable. She made a mistake and it was over! I was victorious! I WON! WOW! That was insanely intense. I stayed out of the snow activities of the night which was an excellent choice. I got a ride home, got a blizzard from Dairy Queen, and watched a bit of Men with Brooms. Didn't really like it, BUT! They had O Canada! The one from Historymaker! I've always wanted to get that O Canada version, but never have been able to find it! I went on a frantic search, looking at the soundtrack trying to find the song, but nothing. If anyone finds an O Canada with an electrical guitar, or if you were at Historymaker and know it, sends it to me pleases!

I fixed up a couple things on my resume, said hi to Steph since I've barely seen her lately, or even talked to her, and went for bed. My sleep was not pleasant however, so booo! Oh how my sleep sucked! I'm now back to school, with a longer school week then last week, which is going to kill me because I saw none of my friends barely this weekend! Tear...

Anywho, I'm applying at Rogers Video today after school so please keep me in your prayers! I NEED a job, and Rogers Video would be perfect. Safeway still has potential, I only dropped it off last Monday, so there still could be a chance...

Remember, when life gives you lemons, clone them! And make super lemons!

// A

// Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

Woah. This snow is intense! I hope it never stops. In my honest opinion, the year should be split into 2 seasons. Winter & Summer, just those 2 again and again and again. It's supposed to snow for the following week, which means ALOT more snow coming! woot!~

Today was great, cold... but great. During 15 minute break, I went outside to wait for my teacher to open the door to my math portable, in a t-shirt. Friends spotted me, and all ambushed me because I was wearing a t-shirt.... bad mistake. I got totally soaked but so pegged a bunch of them in the faces, so I sure showed them. Muahahhah. One thing I've noticed, this weird warm feeling you get in your hands once they get TOO cold. Like my hands are burning, but then when I pick up the snow... it's, warm. Then later on in the day, I went over to Mike's place with some friends and we ended up eating dinner, watching a movie and then of course... SNOW BALL FIGHT. *sigh* I'm exhausted, and once again cold. *shiver*

// Introducing...me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi people!!!
I'm Joel...I happen to be the guy in the black and white suit. Some of you might be wondering how I got here, or maybe not. Well i was talking to Nellie on the phone and i think matt, garry and joyce were there and i talked to everyone except matt (hey matt im i thinking of the right matt) awwww sorry matt. well he talked to me on msn through nels account (shhh dont tell her!) and i thinki gave him my email address, then talked to him online and stuff and well...here i am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So yes....ummm my name is Joel Jing-Ghid Bell, Im earasian from New Zealand. Ummmm im 6'1 i like stuff and basketball!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't really know what to say...if ya want to know more about me you can ask on the comments thing or talk to me online my adddy is jinglebells1414@hotmail.com
sweet as!!!!!!!!!!!
I look forward to blogging with ya all...
oh and i think we should give matt a round of applause for having such a cool blogg. Ive seen many blogs in my time and this one has to be the best (im not just flattering you cos u invited me, it really is the best!!!), oh and another hand for all you who post on here woohooo!!!!

// Snowball Fight-Tastic Fun.

Right when I get out of the car and about to go into the church, Dyllan pops out of nowhere and screams : ' AHHA BRENDON! ' and nails me with a snowball, and i look behind me and Matt M was there armed with snowballs ready to pummel me. I dash for the door, and close it JUST in time to hear multiple smacks against it. Woah. Man that was intense. After it cooled down, I went outside and the 3 of us wait for Andy to drive up with Sam inside, and right when they come out of the car we all ambush them. Our plan backfired, we didn't know that Sam played baseball, and that Andy playED baseball as a kid. Every single one of their snowballs were going like 40 KM an hour. Yikes. Me and Matt ran, Dyllan got taken down. Ehhe. The surprise party for Bill went off without a hitch! He had no clue! It was a great time, we joked around, and just hung out for a long while + Norman was there, which was a first that I actually talked to him in an actual conversation instead of just in passing. After that pretty much all the youth guys rushed outside to have an enormous snowball fight. Norman even offered to drive one of us in his car to use as a drive by shooting! Hahah, but Nick ended up getting snow in his car, that wasn't cool. After a long time fighting against each other, the youth guys got tired so they decided to find a new target. The elderly. HAH actually not elderly, but Pastor Steve talking to his bunch of aquaintances. Thinking they'd just get mad and yell, we went ahead and threw snowballs at em anyway to find that they were still full of fight. They even ran after us and totally chased all of us away. Fearsome. Anyways it's getting late, and I'm tired, and cold.

// Friday Night Lights

Due to the fact that we just went bowling at the all-nighter, I don't want to spend another $10 on bowling... so let's look at this. I'm a loser and my only friends are at youth, so what should I do?

Is this true? My only friends are at church? Wow, your sheltered man... WAIT! There's always Andrew... yeah Andrew...anywho, I've given myself some choices for Friday, and I must follow the light. I'll rate my choices out of 5!

Option 1: RPC Youth, Bowling, $10
Let's look at this. We just went bowling, and a large amount of people aren't going now. I probably wouldn't want to blow all my money on one night, I'm sticking to a tight budget.
Rating: 1/5

Option 2: Movie, $0
Jasmine and Chris have told me about posibly seeing a movie Friday, which doesn't sound like such a bad idea! They said something about watching this movie called Spanglish???? If your as confused as me, visit this link and check out the trailer. I'm kind of an Adam Sandler fan so it gives me more enthusiasm to go see it! Yes, did I mention I still have gift certificates for famous players? That's free admission baby! Plus I would get so hang out with a smaller group of friends, and my wife.
Rating: 5/5

Option 3: A Different Youth Group, $??
Dyllan has told me about Evon's youth group and has also said that Nick and Matt are going too. I really don't want to go to a different youth group, mainly cause I just can't express myself as I do with friends. People I don't know will be watching me and be like "loser". Anywho, even if that didn't happen, I have no clue what there doing, where it is, and how much it would cost.
Rating: 1/5

Option 4: Hockey
There was a church I went to last year to play hockey at which was tons of fun! Was very intense hockey, I really enjoyed myself. I think I made about 6 visits or something and then they ended in April. They started up this year again, except having it on Saturdays, it is now on Fridays, which makes it really hard to go since I have youth Friday, and I love my friends so much I don't want to leave them for hockey. This would be a perfect chance! It's free and fun! But the snow has made it hard for me to get there now and I still want to hang out with friends. So I dunno
Rating: 3/5

There we have it, and I'm gonna say the movie looks like the best choice! HEY! IT'S SNOWING EVERYONE!

// This One Is For You Brendon

I was looking for a shirt I really didn't care about Tuesday for hockey. During my short search, I came across a shirt a had only used once... my canuck run shirt. I forgot all about that shirt! That was a fun day! Brendon was there and it was the first, and so far the last time, just us two hung out together! It was really very fun! To top it off, I stumble across Brendon's first ever post of Whatever... take a look....

http://whateveryouwanttodo.blogspot.com/2004/09/its-all-been-done.html

Yeah, that reminded me of an awesome day... look at it this way, the first time I ever met a hockey star ever, I was with Brendon! I can say the same for him too! After a rather slow start Brendon has finaly started to post more then once a month. So this one is for you Brendon! Happy Whatever!

// O Canada...

The Canadian junior men's hockey team made a case for it to be called the best ever with its domination of the 2005 world junior tournament.

If there was any question whether these players were unique in the history of Canadian junior teams before Tuesday's final, this squad put an exclamation mark on their answer with a resounding 6-1 win over Russia for gold. Leading 2-1 after the first period on goals by Ryan Getzlaf and Danny Syvret, Canada put the game out of reach when Jeff Carter, Patrice Bergeron, Anthony Stewart and Dion Phaneuf scored in the second frame.

This was a talented, mature and relentlessly determined team thanks to a combination of the NHL lockout and a spike in talent of Canadian players born in 1985.

Canada outscored opposing teams 41-7 in this tournament. What is more telling is that it gave up only seven goals in six games and only three of them were even-strength goals. They never trailed once.

The closest team in depth and talent to this one may be the team in Red Deer, Alta., in 1995, which was the last time there was an NHL labour disruption. Canada outshot the rest of the field 49-14 that year.

It is a measure of Canada's smothering defence that starter Jeff Glass saw only 19 shots from the skilled Russians and only 11 in the semifinal against the Czech Republic. Canada was so strong defensively it didn't need Glass to be spectacular, just dependable, which he was.

Only a shot off a Canadian stick by Alexei Emelin beat Glass in the final.

Canadian head coach Brent Sutter made defence a priority because he felt with such a talented group the offence would take care of itself and he was correct.

With the exception of an inconsistent performance in the opening game against Slovakia, Canada had the same work ethic and attitude against every team, regardless of the colour of the jersey, which led to some lopsided scores.

This Canadian team had a lot of things going for it, not the least of which was that Ralph Engelstad Arena often felt like it was in Canada. Hundreds of Canadians, most of them Manitobans, made the trek to Grand Forks to create a home-ice atmosphere for their team.

"I think the Canadian people must be proud of this team," said Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin, who took hit after hit from the Canadian team and left the game in the second period with a shoulder injury.

But while the team's road to victory looked easy on paper, but it wasn't without its bumps.

Defenceman Cam Barker was sent home after three games with mononucleosis, forward Jeremy Colliton was able to play only one period with a knee injury and defenceman Brent Seabrook played through a shoulder injury he suffered on the first day of selection camp.

Sutter, a Stanley Cup winner during his 18-year NHL career and a former international player for Canada, guided the team with a firm, but intelligent hand. This was Canada's oldest team at the world juniors and with a record number of returning players from last year's tournament, they knew the drill and what was at stake.

"I'm a big believer you have to be a mentally strong team to have any success," Sutter said. "Going into today, I was obviously nervous and worked up, but I also had tremendous amount of confidence in this group because of the way they had handled themselves not just in the games, but the way they handled themselves between games and at practice and how hard they practised.

"They were truly professionals every day, every step of the way."

While the veterans didn't like to talk about last year's debacle in Helsinki, where the U.S. scored three goals in the third period for a 4-3 win, there was a sense of redemption for that in the team's victory Tuesday.

Canada's last gold at the world junior tournament was 1997 and there has been four silver medals and two bronze since then.

The NHL lockout was a factor not so much in giving the junior players who had been in the NHL last season - Bergeron of the Boston Bruins was the only one - but it kept players who might have been there this season in the junior ranks, such as forwards Carter, Getzlaf, Michael Richards and Stewart and defenceman Phaneuf.

Bergeron was named MVP of the tournament and has NHL teams kicking themselves for not taking him in the first round of the 2003 draft. He helped Canada win the 2004 men's world championship and now a world junior title in 2005.

"It was the experience of my life because it was with guys my age," said Bergeron.

He led the tournament in points with five goals and eight assists, followed by Getzlaf, a standout in the gold-medal game, with three goals and nine assists.
Carter was another impact player for Canada, leading the team in goals with seven. Phaneuf was a workhorse on the short-staffed defence and also contributed on offence.

Sidney Crosby took his game to another level from when he was a 16-year-old playing for this team last year. He excelled among players two years older and will be invited to play for Canada many more times.

Richards delivered as captain by scored the needed goal, winning the key faceoff or dishing out a team-lifting hit. Canada's special teams were the best in the tournament thanks to the efforts of players such as Nigel Dawes, Clarke MacArthur, Shea Weber and Colin Fraser.

"This is the big one," said Getzlaf. "We're going to enjoy this for years to come. Anytime you see the guys, we'll have that special bond now."

// Tsunami Troubles.

Woah. I actually never realized how serious this was, I mean my initial thoughts were : " How can you die from water? It's a wave, it's not like they were submerged in it, just shoved around a bit. " but now I think I have a better understanding of it. After being nagged at by parents for not listening to the news or reading the newspapers much over the holidays, I came to realize that it actually was a much bigger deal than I thought. Even today on the first day at school I spent all of Socials class talking about it. The activity we did in Socials really helped me look at it from a different perspective.

The activity we did was close our eyes and listen to our teacher read out this first-person narrative story about someone on vacation in Phuket the tourist city in Thailand at exactly 9:55 am, 5 minutes before the first wave hit shore. The story he read us stopped exactly at the moment the first wave hit, and afterwards we were asked to continue on the story ourselves ( and to make sure people aren't lazy, our first-person character was not allowed to die. )

Tsunami Troubles.

As I squinted my eyes in the sun I looked off into the distance to see the ocean rise to touch the sky. I feel a sudden breeze, and the tide pulls back to uncover sparkling silver fish and various other ocean life on the naked ocean floor. The screams around me were then quickly replaced by what seemed to be the laughter of children. Many people then crowd towards the shore in attempts to gather and catch some of the stranded fish. Suddenly I felt cold, I looked up to realize that I could no longer feel the heat of the blazing sun upon my shoulder, hidden behind the impenetrable wall that was the ocean water. As I stood in disbelief, people around me realized the same thing. Screams knocked me back down to reality, and I begin to follow a group of people heading in the opposite direction to their cars; and others on foot. Just as I was about to go into the entrance of my hotel, I look back. Just in time to see the first wave hit the shore. The children, the people, everything. I quickly close the door behind me and with the help of others, held it shut tight. I waited in the akward silence for a few seconds and suddenly water rushed past and blocked the whole view. Standing barefoot in the puddles formed by seeping water, I watched as everything is swept by unchallenged. For what seemed like eternity, I waited helplessly. When the tide receded, I slowly open the door to see what was happening, and everyone surrounding me immediately rushes outside to help. I slide down to the floor in disbelief, and I grip the soft carpet under me. Suddenly a shadow is cast over everything outside, and just as I look out through the glass door I see people being swept back out to sea. Everyone around me is gone. There is silence.

The End. Yea, that was actually BEFORE all the informative stuff the teacher told us, and later I found out that it was proven that even the tides, the trees stood yet the buildings didn't. So holding onto a tree would've been safer, and the building would have collapsed. My bad. Anyways I hope you all pray for those that are out there, and for the families who know those that have perished or have been injured.

// Welcome

Good morning America how are you!?! Saying don't you know me I'm your native son!

Not exactly how the alarm clock went off at 7 :19 AM, it was more like a conversation about who is going to win tonights World Juniors game. Nevertheless, it was back to school! I woke up feeling some what not as dead tired as in the past, so that was a perk! Photo was fine and now here we are... in 2005!

It really is a new year? It doesn't feel like one, but the calander says it is, the TV says it is, my watch says it is; so does my cell phone! It' kind of sad to say goodbye to 2004, so many good things happened...

Friends who have left in 2004... well, I guess I only don't see Matt and Becky anymore, now that was a hard blow. Seems like just yesterday I was at there place, yet it seems like I haven't seen them forever.

Friends I have gained... Well, i guess we were friends, but now were really close. You know who I'm talking about! That's right! YOU STEPHANIE! We've become really good friends and I'm so glad to cause your so awesome to be around! Same with Anne, I really got to know her a lot more. I met Nellie and I got to know her a lot more and she has become a awesome friend! I've gotten a lot closer to friends at youth, like Dominique and Jasmine. It was just a great year. Yeah there was pain, but i don't remember! YEA! That's awesome! I've already forgoten! Who else have i gotten really close to? Kelsey! She is so cool too. Ummm, so far I've only put down girls, is this a problem? Wait, how about Sam? Yeah a bit. I guess I can talk to girls a lot better about personal things then guys. Maybe that's why God has put all these awesome people in my life!

Anywho, I've been welcomed into the new school year, well new year, so I must prepare myself. I'm out! Bye bye!

// A Tribute To Andrew

I am here to inform you that Andrew, a beloved member of Whatever, is no longer a part of this blog. We have let him go so we can now feel independent from ranDOMinion, and because he can’t contribute as much anymore with the radical changes coming to his own blog.

I personally would like to thank Andrew for the inspiration for me to build this blog, and all the help. I don’t know if this blog would have even been created without his help.

I can still remember the day I saw ranDOMinion and I was so stoked about blogs! I asked if I could join and he said “why don’t you make your own blog?”…

Which I did, and here we are…

Thank you Andrew, and goodbye