Back from vacation!!

I'm baaaacccckk! Paris was awesome! I'm soooo jetlagged. Once my laundary is done, I'm crawling into bed. Stay tuned for details and pics!

I'm going to Pareeeeeeeee!

So after frantic packing, buying things last minute, working on homework (which is still not done) and work-work until the last moment, we are finally going to Paris!!! Yayayayayayayay!

We'll be back Aug 30 (yes, it's not that long of a trip), and hopefully I will have lots to tell you all and lots of pics to show you!

Au revoir!

Paris: T minus 2

So it's two days before Paris, and I still have to:

• Do laundry
  
• Pack (haven't started)
• Tie up stuff for work (there's something major that's planned for Sunday, I may be pulling out hairs then)
  
• Figure out what we're doing (cracking open ye olde guidebook)
• Get evil homework to a point where I can show stuff to people
• Get copies of my documentation online for backup
  

On top of that, family is in town, so I won't have time to do nuthin! And I've looked at a half-dozen weather sites and they all tell me something different! I'll need to take half my wardrobe to be properly clothed! Bah!

Stress, stress, stress...

People, stop asking if I'm excited about my trip, I haven't had a half decent minute to think about it properly yet!

Hubby's fight against cancer - BC Cancer Foundation's Tour of Courage

Please support Hubby as he rides to raise funds and brings awareness to blood cancer research.

And now, a message from Hubby...

******

On September 23, I will be participating in a community bike ride in support of the BC Cancer Foundation's Tour of Courage with special guest Lance Armstrong. The money raised will support leading-edge research into improving diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

For this inaugural event in Vancouver, I will be riding on behalf of my friend Laleh, who has been battling and suffering from a rare and deadly disease, Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC) for the past two years. Because of its rarity, ACC does not get a lot of research focus or awareness. It is usually diagnosed at a very late stage, when metastases have already developed in other organs, and in Laleh's case, her liver.

Please consider offering your support by making a pledge to the BC Cancer Foundation, and by praying for Laleh.

You can access my personal page at the link below, where you can make a pledge to support the BC Cancer Foundation.

http://acf.convio.net/goto/David.Eng


Below you will also find a link to the ATAC Research Project, one of the few research projects dedicated to ACC.

http://www.atacfund.org/
http://www.atacfund.org/video.html/

Thank you for your attention and support,

Dave

Thriller!!

1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines were taught by the prison guards the dance steps to Michael Jackson's Thriller. I particularly like the guy in drag, too funny!

Thriller!!

1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines were taught by the prison guards the dance steps to Michael Jackson's Thriller. I particularly like the guy in drag, too funny!

Movie Review: Bourne Ultimate

Hubby and I saw the final installment of the Bourne movies today. I really liked this last movie. The plot was simple, but it was fleshed out well, so it wasn't boring. The action was well choreographed, and the script only let out so much to have you keep guessing as to what may happen next. The length of the movie was just right. The CIA didn't look quite as stupid in this one as they did in the last one.

And yes, Jason Bourne finds out who he really is in the end. In fact, they only put in what was necessary about how the whole thing started with Jason Bourne and what his true identity was, and nothing more. I really liked that, any more details and it would have detracted from the overall plot.

As an aside, I really liked Julia Stiles hair colouring in this movie, I was thinking about doing the same for my next birthday colour stint. Hubby noticed that none of the air bags deployed in any of the scenes with car crashes (and there were lots).

Anyhoo, I give this movie a 9 out of 10. Well done Bourne.

Rebranding Lotusland?

I read this article today about how the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) wants to re-brand the area name to "Metro Vancouver". While I understand and agree with their point of view (after all, I've gotten blank looks before from people when I've mentioned the GVRD to them), I still think Vancouver and the entire GVRD should become a "mega-city". A Mega-city in my definition is a city that incorporates their suburbs into one main city. Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary are all mega-cities under my definition. After all, the entire region share a lot of resources already, why not just go all the way and incorporate everything properly into one city? It certainly would cut out a lot of inefficiencies.

I did some poking around on Wikipedia. According to this list, Vancouver is actually eighth on the list of the 100 largest cities in Canada. (I think there are way more than 578,041 in the city of Vancouver itself, but let's just say it's true for argument's sake). I've been to Ottawa and Calgary, and trust me, these places are not at densely populated as Vancouver is.

However, when you look at this list, Vancouver comes in third in terms of population size. And this is what everyone, including the media, quotes. But then they would be incorrect. The city of Vancouver is actually smaller than the city of Winnipeg.

Are you starting to see my point of view? Okay, maybe not, cause I have very "unique" ways of seeing thing and don't always articulate myself very well. Or maybe it's a pride thing. Whatever.

For me, it makes sense economically and demographically to do so. However, I don't think this will ever happen. I feel that the natives here like their borders too much and trying to get buy-in for a mega-city will be near impossible with a hurtle like that. Plus, the unions will not like having their members' jobs obliterated, because, well, we don't need job duplicates in one big city like we already have with a bunch of smaller regions. I love the fact that BC has such a stupidly strong unionized mentality. My tax dollar being used more efficiently apparent means squat in the eyes of the unions.

So Vancouver will remain Vancouver, and the areas around Vancouver will remain their own entities, unless they share Metro Vancouver resources. Same, same, but different. Not unlike the place where I work at. Gotta love it.

The nice man who is pictured in this blog is Robert Burnaby, the man whom the City of Burnaby (where I live) is named after. In my elementary school, they used to have his picture up on the wall and I would stare at it all the time. I know, I was a strange kid.