The Week

I've had a really busy week that hasn't ended yet. So I'm sorry for the lack of posting. A review of the week:

Monday
A many number of things
Tuesday
I went to the mall, got a new fish. (My other fish died, see my other blog)
I saw HSM3 in theatres.
Wednesday
I got my G1 even though I could have had it more than a year ago!
Thursday
I went down to Toronto to help out the homeless through Light Patrol.
Today
I need to finish working on my portrait for art. I'll post a picture of it here when I'm finished.
Tomorrow
Practise driving? I don't know.

Maybe I'll have time to think and blog laterish soon. (I know you know what I mean)

Pineapple

ATF

Alright, ATF (Acquire the Fire), this past weekend was really great. The drama wasn't their best but still good. They had great speakers, my favourite was Casey Johnson. Her husband Joel Johnson and Ron Luce were also great. I really was not disappointed at all.

On the Saturday, I found about this thing done through Teen Mania called the Honor Academy. (www.honoracademy.com) I spent a few hours filling out an application that day for it and made some new friends in the process... while missing out on Jeremy Camp. I don't think that was a bad decision. I'm seriously praying and considering going to the HA for next year. Yeah, so we'll see. I'm excited.

Can you believe it?

It snowed today. It is October the 21st, and it snowed today. Can you believe it? It's only just a month after summer officially ended! And this was cold snow. When it fell on the ground it stayed. I tried throwing a few snowballs at my sister, and if only I had better aim it would've worked perfectly.

I really hope it goes away soon.

-P.apple

What if...

What if there were such thing as a national encouragement day?
What if everyone at my high school knew Jesus?
What if I weren't so tired...

Does anyone know if the word sun is supposed to be capitalised all the time?

Tape Anyone?

I mean, does anyone have tape for me? I can never seem to find mine when I need it. I often find myself asking myself, "If I were me, where would I put the tape..."

Oh, ok, I just found mine behind my boombox.

Bee Movie

Alright, so. I just finished watching the Bee Movie.

Now, it's important to understand that I am a huge fan of Pixar and their movies. The Bee Movie was made by Dreamworks.

I just wanted to say that after the movie was finished, I considered how it did as a Dreamworks film, in my opinion. Overall, I thought it was well done. They did a good job and it was nice to hear a different story for once in a while.

With that being said, I have a few criticisms. For graphics in the look of humans, I think Pixar still wins that one easily.

I don't know. Ratatouille is my favourite movie, so in my mind I'm thinking to that. But I've seen it so many times. It's not fresh in my mind. That story isn't new to me anymore.

Considering those two movies however, the Bee Movie and Ratatouille, I have a few things to say.

After coming out of the theatre for the first time after watching Ratatouille, I was crazy about it and couldn't stop talking about it. (That was the movie that got me crazy about Pixar, so there was no bias in that). That same enthusiasm hasn't returned to me after watching the Bee Movie.

I also think that Ratatouille is more realistic in several ways. One, if you've never noticed, the mice and people never actually verbally communicate in Ratatouille. I applaud the animators of that movie for their skill in expression and creativity in communication. The bees clearly talk with people as people talk with people through out the Bee Movie, and I was a bit disappointed by that.

Second, consequences. Ratatouille had consequences that were more clearly connected to their cause. Remy steals some food from the kitchen and lets Emile have some. Emile brings friends, and eventually the whole colony. This leads to a breaching of trust between Linguini and Remy.

In the Bee Movie, after the bees win their case in court, it seems like the consequences are very lumped. Let me explain myself, it was like one thing after another was thrown at you. Kind of like this: all the honey was taken off shelves, all the bees quit work with no resistance because they had so much extra honey, there was no pollination and nearly all vegetation on earth ceases to thrive because of that. All within a matter of days. Am I making a point there?

Thirdly, and this one may vary with your taste, but in my opinion Ratatouille used a larger colour palette, if you will, in terms of music. They used more instruments available to them to create emotions within the audience. And the one song they used with actual words was created for the movie. Look up Le Festin on youtube. It's a French song, and I know a bit of French so it has more value for me than others. But I was watching the commentary of their movie in the bonus features (or maybe a video on youtube a while back, I can't remember) and one thing they were proud about was that the song was not translated into an English version, or any other language for that matter, but kept it's original language. I thought that was a good point because the setting of the film does take place in France and so it was true to its context.

In the Bee Movie, they used songs that were already written to make an attempt at accomplishing the same thing. I'm not sure what they're called but the they used the songs that started with "Honey, honey" and later on the one that starts with "Here comes the Sun".

Lastly, Ratatouille is a much more creative movie title than Bee Movie. You've gotta give that one to me at least.

This may sound like I've just been bringing down the Bee Movie a whole lot, but honestly it was refreshing and I enjoyed it. And I apologize for talking about Ratatouille as much as I did. That was an accident.

Also, please realize that these are only two movies. I wasn't impressed at all with Flushed Away, and I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda yet but I have high expectations for it when I do.

(And thanks for letting me borrow the movie, you know who you are)

Dang it! I've forgotten what else I was going to say. So that's all!

OK, actually I've just remembered. My favourite lines from the Bee Movie are

"We can make a suicide pact"
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'll sting you and you step on me"
"That only kills you twice".

- Pineapple

No one ever writes me love letters!

If you are anyone and ever feel the urge to write someone a love letter, feel free to send me one. I volunteer! Anonymous or not. I don't care.

misc. pics.

A normal shadow, right?


NOT! This is what I saw. I know, it's pretty crazy. Feel free to use your imagination to add details.


The first frogpole from my pond. He's a cute small one, eh? Photo taken Oct.13.08 I named him Henry (Henrietta if it so turns out to be a girl)


My first guitar hero song to get 100% on: School's Out on Medium.


A five I recently got. It's got three simple multiplications I can do in my head. Makes me think, if you were given permission to write anything you wanted on one bill, what would it be?

Hey, and I just thought that it was funny that those multiplications were written on his head...

** Remember you can enlarge the images by clicking on them

Jon... Another One?

As I posted my last post I realized that was the second Jon who's work I had made mention to on this blog.

If you can recall, the first Jon was Jonathan Harris. See collects stories for a recent video of his and I would also encourage you to explore We Feel Fine (this one works better for faster connections). Google him and I'm sure you'll find lots more of his stuff. You can use my Google Button if you want!

The last post was about Jonathan Ben-Tovim and his encoder rings. I won't post a link here because obviously it's right below.

I have a third Jon now to mention. His name is Jonathan Foster. He is an artist who's work I have recently fallen in love with while researching an art project. I'm just going to put a link here and you can check him out yourself if your interested. The link: http://www.jonfoster.com/

Encoder Rings

I found out about these super cool rings through that one floor up I've told you about.

I followed the LINK to go to the creator's website. So the design of these rings are basically made up of binary code and if you were to buy one you could have a customized ring with a secret binary message (up to 64 characters).

I thought that it was an awesome idea. Maybe a bit nerdy, I don't care. So I followed up on it and emailed the contact email on the site to say that if they were available to purchase, I would be interested.

This is the email I was sent back from Jonathan Ben-Tovim:

Development for the Encoder Ring is complete, and we are now ready to take orders. The production version will be Rapid-Manufactured in the United Kingdom using a high quality SLA resin with an extremely high accuracy of finish. The Encoder Ring will be as strong and clear as possible, with a lovely quality of finish.

1 custom made ring with your own 64 character message encoded on the surface is £130 + £10 postage and handling (225 + 17 US dollars)

If You would like to make an order, please let me know and I can provide you with details of how to do so.

Kind regards

Jonathan Ben-Tovim



Oh, those are expensive... And if I were rich, that would be on my list of things recently purchased. Rather than a similar list it's currently on: things I'd dream of one day buying if I had money. That would be along with a Macbook and a large framed photo called Solitude by David Lorenz Winston.



It caught my eye one evening at a friend's house and I fell in love with it!

If happen to have the kind of money that's needed to buy those rings, then go ahead, email him and let him know that you're interested. But if you do, make sure I get the chance to see it!

-Pineapple

(insert noise here)

So I have need to get some reader's notes done up for tomorrow but I really don't feel like it. That really doesn't matter because it needs to get done anyways. The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom, good book. I should write something...

Okay, I felt like something else was going to boil up to reach my fingers as I type, but guess not. So that's it.

Just a Thought

... I should floss my teeth tomorrow. (Don't worry I do brush well!)

Consider Yourself Mooned!

It's a little bit early I think but a friend just emailed this to me and I thought it was really funny.



Happy Halloween!

Toronto

I was in Toronto last night, and like any major city, the night sky is never known to be superb. Well, I have I one comment to simply make. I think it's pretty cool that despite all the many thousands of lights that there were, that there are bright enough stars for us to see. I think I could have counted with ease at least 10 stars, if not more. No where near as impressive as Belize or Africa, or even camping on a clear night. The of my hometown doesn't even compare to those though.

There are two things I know for sure make me stand in awe. The first is by far everything about the sky; the stars and the moon mostly, but also all the different possible arrangement of colours and clouds, and also the beauty and physics of a rainbow. (Whether you can see it or not everyone rainbow has a double rainbow, did you know that?)

The second is frogs. The whole life cycle of that species amazes me. I have a pond in my backyard. It's fun to first see the eggs and then slowly watch the tadpoles grow. Awesome.

_P>Apple

Sonnet 147 & Parody

Proof that I've been working on my homework. The parody I wrote is exercised themed but I'm not really into that stuff at all.

Sonnet 147 by Shakespeare

My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic mad with ever more unrest.
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed;
__For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
__Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

Parody of Sonnet 147 by Pineapple

Exercise is a fever, moving still
For the body which will work the disease,
Using energy which preserves the ill,
The ongoing stamina is to please.
The couch, the doctor to my diligence,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
"T.V. gone!" I say with belligerence
Strength too strong is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, laziness is past care,
Adrenaline with ever more unrest.
My thoughts and my discourse as athlete's are,
Are focused on the truth: I am obsessed;
__For I thought of it as so good and right,
__Now it's clear, you consume like day to night.

Priorities & Thoughts

I hate having priorities because sometimes that means I have to deny my inspiration's desire to draw and be creative, to, in this case, write poems. But on the other hand, those priorities are ultimately good. I'm choosing to do my poems tonight and skipping small group so that I can see some of my friends tomorrow that I haven't seen since July. I'm really excited about that and I'm also excited to for my art because I was given my art culminating today and I've got a great idea that I think should work perfectly with it!!

I've got two quick thoughts now before I get to my poems:

Last Friday, after coming home from youth, I turned on the TV even though I was tired. The movie Remember the Titans happened to be on. I had never actually seen it and I figured that since last year I drew Denzel Washington from the cover of that movie, I should probably watch it so I know what it's about if someone were to ask me.

As I watched, I realized that its setting took place in years past when racism was far more prominent and ubiquitous. And I noticed that in myself the idea of a society divided by our skin colours, was very foreign to me. Even despite the fact that I've always been taught of how things once were. Although there is value in knowing and experiencing how things once were, I think that that foreignness is generally a very good thing because I can't, and I would never want to, imagine a society that lacks the equality and respect for the diversity we humans have.

Second, on the way home from school today, I wondered what the people from Biblical times would think about how much we've advanced in technology since then. I think that if they could see what we have now most people would either feel a little bit of both fascination, or simply fright. But as interested as we are in moving forward, I think we're just as interested in how people used to live. And though change, for some, causes difficulties, I think we need to appreciate how we are always changing.

-Pineapple

Google Button

This is an html test for me... hope it works!



It worked, I'm amazing. You can click on the image of google and it will actually take you to google.ca, rather than seeing the enlarged image!

A Life Recorded

One of my favourite websites is www.onefloorup.com. It's basically a collection of good ideas. I visited it today and through it I found out about a guy named Jonathan Harris. He's a really cool guy. Do a search on him.

This is the video that I watched of his. It really intrigued me. I'd watch if I were you, maybe, depending on who you are. I really liked it. It's rather long. (20min approx.)

I think what I would like to do, after I've run out of paper in my journal and after I finish my current sketchbook, I would like to merge those two things together into one. Maybe this blog too, by using the print screen button of mine, y'know. And then I would literally print it off and pasting it into my sketchbook.

I imagine this merging to take shape into some kind of huge book, always with me. That idea really fascinates me. Like a really big sketchbook filled with feeling and expression. A life recorded through writings and drawings. Something someone can look through and get a really good glimpse of who I am. See my personality on paper. It would be the kind of thing to look through to find an honest testimony to the way I've lived after I die. (Hopefully not anytime soon!)

-papple

Autumn Nights

Sometimes it feels as though my favourite season changes as often as I've gone through them. Summer, the season of the warmer days and of my birthday. Spring, a time of refreshment and of new tadpoles. I never seem to like winter much but snow days and snowball fights are always fun, not to mention Christmas.

But I'm pretty sure that overall autumn is my favourite. As it starts, you feel the need for organization because of school. It's a rare thing for me to keep organized but when it happens I really, really like it. I just love it. Also, I like the temperature range in which most of its days fall. It's cool in the mornings and in the evenings, and it warms up through out the day. It's never too cold to wear a t-shirt, but it's never so warm that you can't where a sweater, or even a coat if you want. Good weather for skateboarding! I like the colours that come out during this time. The colour scheme seems to be filled with rich, earthy browns, and beautiful warm reds, oranges, and yellows. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I think that autumn colours probably match me best. I wish it could be autumn all the time and that I could live in a house at the end of the road in the picture.

So this autumn night I've been doing a lot of thinking. This past week has been really weird. It's like I'm trying to piece together what I'm supposed to do with my life, not that that's truly doable in that much time.

First there's the thought of a life centered around art (after Jesus of course), possibly an art teacher? Well, I don't really think I care enough about that to spend the majority of my time teaching, doing, and marking art. I don't think there's enough community involved in that kind of job for me.

Earlier, as I was writing about autumn colours, I left to go look for an old book (yes, I do my research). I think that it was entitled Color Me Beautiful, but the search was without success. In the process of looking through my dad's many books, I found an old book written in 1987 titled Why Suicide? by Jerry Johnston. I picked it up because I took interest in the title. I spent the past hour reading through several pages through out its different chapters.

It made me think of my friend who I mentioned in the previous post. How I don't know if she's suicidal but I know she's not in a good place. How I think one of her ex boyfriends committed suicide, although I don't think that was how his death was officially labeled.

I was talking to a good friend today about her, of how I care for her, how I'm praying, and how I wish I knew more people like her. She suggested that maybe I should be a counselor, which is kinda funny because she's in the process of doing just that.

I don't know. In someways, I think I would really enjoy that kind of job. I thrive on deep conversations and getting to know people personally like that. But then I think of how it would probably be hard listening to so many broken stories. How would that affect a person?

And I've probably said similar things this before but I'm struggling to feel motivated about school work because I feel so short-sighted about where it's all going. I would just like to see the bigger picture, see the purpose more clearly. Like my math class. I'm still doing it because number 1, God told me to stick with it. Second, I'm hoping that I'll learn how to get down to business when it comes to doing things you just don't care that much about anymore. I think next semester I'll have to switch my calculus for something else. It's the hardest math course in high school and if I can't keep up with it, it will bring down my average a lot, especially because I'll only have three classes then.

Oh well, it's really late. By the way the time it says things are posted is always earlier than it really is. Wrong time zone or something.

I am tired! Goodnight!

TWLOHA

Second:

TWLOHA? Say what?!? To write love on her arms. I seem to promoting things that I like here, so here's another. Check them out: http://www.twloha.com/

This is a really cool group. I don't know their story that well but I know that they started out with some friends who surrounded another girl through her depression, addiction, self-injury and more. They are a testimony to hope. You can read the story under their vision section of their webpage. And my understanding is that as their story started being told they've found that there are a lot of other people in similar circumstances and a lot of people with questions.

I think I have a heart for people who go through these kinds of things. I have a friend, who I love to death, who struggles with cutting and probably a lot of other stuff too. I'm praying for her all the time, that things will get better, that our relationship will grow, and that ultimately she'll want to fall in love with Jesus and follow after him.

Honestly, I wish I knew more people like her. Maybe that sounds bad, almost like I'm wishing that more people were depressed. But that's really not the case. There are already lots of people struggling whether I know them or not, that's reality. There's probably plenty in my very high school. And if I only knew more of the things going on in the lives of people my age, maybe God could use me as a vessel to tell people of the hope and freedom he offers.

I only want the opportunity to listen and love them, to be a friend who will be there. Ooooh... my heart aches.

- PineApple

PS Here's a video a friend of mine got to be a part of making quite a while ago now.



I'm finished for today.

PSS I think Anberlin supports TWLOHA.

My Skateboard

So there's a couple of things I would like to write... Let's see if I can get them done quick or save them for another day. First:

I've noticed today that my skateboard and I have something going on that is very similar to a long distance relationship. We stay in touch through my brother. We still get enjoy getting together when things work for us and when the seasons and times are good, we do.

I went to youth last night by skateboard. It took me half an hour, which was a lot less than I was expecting so I spent the extra time practising tricks and praying. Fun stuff.

I used it again today. I can do a stationary ollie pretty well so I've been working on what I would like to call the "kinetic ollie", and eventually over curbs and such things.

(I'm doing this in parts, you'll hear from me again)

-P.apple

html

I had some trouble with the html in my last post when I was trying to set it up the way I wanted it to appear. But I've done it, I figured it out, and that's a good feeling! ... Now to go eat!

-Pineapple

Dove

Watch the preceeding video. If you have never seen it before it's probably a good thing that you now have. I don't really ever use dove products but I like the way they advertise and they usually make good points. That commercial makes me a little angry at the way the media operates. I really don't like the way it uses its power to manipulate the thoughts of normal people! The very girl in that video couldn't look like the final work, even if she wanted to.

Here's another ad from Dove that I enjoyed.

(Click to enlarge)

From an artists point of view, I thought this was really creative. And I liked how it alluded to the Flintstones!

New Surrender

I just bought Anberlin's fourth studio album New Surrender on iTunes for $9.99. It was released on September 30, 2008. I'm just listening to it right now. It's sounds good so far, it sounds like Anberlin, which is a really great sound. Mostly new songs but they've put Feel Good Drag on again. I don't know what it's originally from but it's my favourite Anberlin song so I really don't mind that it's a repeat.

Here's a non-official video of that song that I absolutely love. It's the older version but they sound almost exactly alike.