Distracting things from Australia...

The land down under has provided me with two distracting things that have really kept me from accomplishing too much this weekend. The first is this book, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. It is a fascinating novel that was recommended to me by two different school librarians. It might be classified as Young Adult literature, but was first marketed as an adult novel in Australia. It is narrated by Death, and tells the story of a girl living through Nazi Germany. Very unique and interesting...



The other distraction is the Australian Open, and I'm sure any tennis fans would agree that this weekend has provided some enthralling matches. I was gripped to the game between Federer and Tipsarevic -- a relatively low-ranked Serb who almost ousted the king of tennis in the early rounds of the tournament. I stayed up until well after 3 a.m. Friday night watching that game, which unexpectedly went to five sets, and ended 10-8 in the fifth set (tie-breakers aren't played in fifth sets)! I went to bed after that game, but caught a rerun the next day of another marathon battle that lasted until 4:33 a.m. in Australia between the country's favourite Leyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The match looked like it would end fairly quickly when Hewitt was up 5-0 in the fourth set, but Baghdatis rallied back to win the set in a tiebreaker, forcing a fifth set! Incredible...

To understand the post below...

These are the videos I stumbled across by Stephen and Amber that inspired the response I have posted below...

If you've got 15 minutes or so of your life to waste...

This is a video response to a very funny/strange video I stumbled across by Stephen and Amber (Chryslyn's brother and sister-in-law). Enjoy...

Part One


Part Two

All things new...

It seems it's all things new for my friends Chad and Sharon lately. Here they are in their new Toyota Yaris with their first-ever cell phone (I think)...


And here they are doing "American Gothic" in front of their new house in Sunridge in Lethbridge.


They'll have a nice view of the mountains as long as nobody else builds... ;-)


And here's the group of us after taking in the touring Banff Mountain Film Festival in Lethbridge.


One of my favourite films of the night was King Lines about one of the world's best rock climbers doing an amazing deep water climb on an arch of rock off an island in Spain. Check out this crazy trailer for the film: http://senderfilms.com/KLclip.html

Christmas at the Farm!

This year's family photo...


All the grandkids... The twins hit five months just before Christmas.


My favourite moment from the holidays. I took this picture of Laura, Ryan, Caleb and Chloe sitting on the bridge over the river behind the house. I said I would take one more...


And then this happened... Caleb suddenly decided to jump off! Look at Laura's expression. It was hilarious. He was fine, landing on the snow about five feet below. The day before, both he and Tate had been jumping into Ryan's, Murray's and my arms, but I didn't expect he would jump without anyone to catch him! Too funny... Unpredictable toddlers!

Christmas Goodies...

Chryslyn and I spent Christmas apart... She in Paraguay visiting extended family, and me in Saskatchewan with my family. When Chryslyn got back, she had several present for me. The first was this sweet piece of pottery from a market in Paraguay.


These "cups" are called guampas and the "straws" are called bombillas. They are used for making yerba matte tea, a popular drink in several South American countries. It is definitely an acquired taste. The cup filled with the yerba mate leaves is passed around the circle as a social drink, refilling it with hot water for each new person. Traditionally the cups are made out of a bull's horn, but these are both wooden. The one on the right is from Chryslyn and the one on the left is a gift from her grandmother in Paraguay!


This is my Christmas gift to myself... an HDTV from Costco. I was in need of a new TV and decided that I should get an HDTV, as by next year, all American networks will be legally required to broadcast strictly in digital formats, and Canadian stations have to make the switch by 2011. Traditional analog TVs will require a special converter box in order to work. (Note: The photo of Hillary on the TV is not intentional... I am much in favour of Barack Obama over Clinton.)