Life Around Here

I am still sick. Not as sick as I was last week but still pretty sick. I have had a couple of 18 hour naps and I still can't shake the fever/chills cycle I am in. Wendy and Mark are pretty sick as well although Mark is getting better.

On Monday I managed to have supper with Jared Siebert who was in town doing whatever it is that denominational stooges do for a living (changing paradigms I suppose). I don't know if we got anywhere in our plans for world domination but we did enjoy some nice seafood at Red Lobster. I give a shout out to Red Lobster as the restaurants I have eaten at lately in Saskatoon have been horrible and it is nice to have had some nice hot food that wasn't burnt.

Beyond

The media empire behind Beyond Magazine has been busy lately.  They have shipped the latest version of their award winning arts magazine, updated the look and feel of their site, and now has a mailing list to keep you updated on what is new in the land of Beyond.  So if you are a friend of Beyond, drop on by and leave your e-mail address.  That way when they take over the world, they know who to install as puppet leaders, that and you will know how when new issues come out, things are added to the site, and upcoming Beyond events.

Technorati tags: Beyond Magazine, e-mail, magazine, Canada, ad-free

Upcoming

A couple of months ago I was seriously thinking about moving out of Saskatoon.  The real estate market is hot and until you have lived in Saskatoon for a winter, you have no idea how cold and miserable it can be from November to March.  Now Saskatoon in the summer is a wonderful place.  Festivals, parks, long hot summer nights, most restaurants have a patio to relax with friends on and literally thousands of lakes within driving distance.  Winter it is different.  Around 300,000 people just try to stay warm.  Even Al Gore idles his car when he doesn't have to in Saskatchewan.  Now I could drive to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, or Regina but I only gain a degree or two in warmth at most in any of these places and only Calgarians have managed to enjoy the winter and only then because they get chinooks all of the time.  I haven't seen a true chinook in many years and this winter is as cold as any others.  Now to be fair, there is hockey but the Saskatoon Blades are brutal this year and are in yet another rebuilding season so driving to an arena to pay good money to watch bad hockey and then not have your car start, is not a fun way to spend the winter. 

Since I decided not to move to someplace warm, I decided to make the best of Saskatchewan this winter.  To keep us from going crazy this year, Wendy and I have had to start looking high and low for things to do.  There are a couple of sites that do list things in Saskatoon but none that I find do that great of job.  After bookmarking a lot of different sites in trying to see what was up around town, Wendy and I started to enter the interesting items at Upcoming, which is a pretty great service by Yahoo!  To sum it up, Upcoming is a community for discovering and sharing events. It can help you find stuff to do, discover what your friends are doing, or let you keep private events online for your own reference.

For Wendy and I, it is also our calendar of social events which gets used to schedule holidays and day offs around.  For me it also gives me something to look forward to and our friends a site to plan around.  I also use it with Resonate, our group features events that are interest to the emerging church in Canada (check out our group and add anything that you know of if you are so inclined).  If you haven't signed up for Upcoming, you may want to check it out, check out your city, and see what you can find and add to the community.  I should also point out that it now integrates with Flickr so when you post to Flickr, add the correct Flickr tag, your photos show up on Upcoming.  Of course it comes with things like RSS, integration with Google Calendar (which surprised me), and other Web 2.0 bells and whistles.

If you are wondering, here is my profile on Upcoming (it is also on the blogs footer).  Wendy's profile can be found here.  Remember if you know of anything interesting and worth going to...

Technorati tags: Upcoming.org, Upcoming, Yahoo!, events, Flickr

A Call For Submissions

Jason and Brooke Evans are looking for submissions for a cookbook of recipes for and from missional communities.  Check out this post for more information.

Technorati tags: cookbook, Jason Evans, Brooke Evans

The Beyond Magazine Shop is now open

I don't know how worried Wal-Mart is about this but I think it is pretty cool. Beyond Magazine's new shop is open. Speaking of Beyond, their blog has a new design and a new magazine is hitting the stands. Click around and check out the renovated digs.

The Bad Dog Grill

The Bad Dog Grill's almost finished website is now online. For those of you who don't know, Scott Williams opened the Bad Dog Grill late last year in Mission and from what I have heard, it is a pretty great place to hang out. Now all he needs is a Flickr account and we could see how great it is. The phone number is 604-820-BONZ. Nice.

Update: The Bad Dog Grill now has a Flickr account.

Technorati tags: Bad Dog Grill, food, restaurant, grill, Mission, British Columbia, Scott Williams

Happy Holidays

Well as I post this I am ready for Christmas.  Every fall I start a spreadsheet and over the following months it gets refined and items picked up.  We were done the bulk of the shopping well before the craziness of Christmas shopping hits and I actually made two trips to the 24 hour Wal-Mart to do some shopping.  Last night Wendy and I set our alarm for 3:00 a.m. and went to the Stonegate Wal-Mart and wandered around a bit.  It is amazing how the shopping experience gets better when there are only 20 other shoppers in the largest Wal-Mart in western Canada.  The really odd thing is that on both trips to Wal-Mart I saw someone shopping in what was clearly pajamas.  If I could be dressed to shop, surely they could be as well.   Wendy and I only had a couple of things to look at but the problem with shopping at 3:00 a.m. is that you can't really call anyone up and casually ask, "So do you have a deep fryer?".  I guess you could but Wendy wouldn't let me.

Wendy struggled a bit with her shopping for me and blogged a bit about it.  Her depression, self-imposed pressure, and firm deadlines don't always go together.  After reminding her that the perfect Christmas generally isn't purchased, a lot of stress went away and the four of us are relaxing while listening to some Christmas tunes.  Well actually Lee and Mark are having a Karate duel right now, Maggi is barking, and Wendy is officiating.  It isn't looking good for Mark or Lee while Maggi is holding her own.

Lee is off work as Case New Holland shuts down for a week over the holidays.  While I am sure he has some skills working on the paint line, he just brought up some presents that look like they were wrapped by a man.  Wendy is working at Safeway on Christmas Eve but for only the second time since we have been married gets Boxing Day off of work.  The big question on Christmas Eve is how many married men will come in at 4:00 p.m. or later and ask Wendy where Safeway keeps the jewelry.  They look so worried when she says they don't sell it.  I am putting in a half day at the Centre tomorrow and then am out of there at noon.  I am spending the morning sorting out the stuff that we are giving to the guys on Christmas morning.  Some churches have made gift bags for the guys as well as a lot of individual donations to be sorted.  The photo to the right is just some of the stuff taking up every single square inch in my office.  On top of that I have stuff stored all over the Centre.  Last week I actually created a spreadsheet to keep track of it all.  We are renting some DVDs and offering up a lot of food as well, it should be a pretty nice day.  If the weather improves Mark and I will take his GT Sno Racer out for a run.  I had one as a kid and some of the most painful things I have ever endured came as a result of that thing so it should be fun.  I just hope his injuries don't affect his Christmas.

On Christmas morning, I am getting up early and helping set up things down at the shelter.  Once shift change happens, I am heading back home to open gifts with the family.  Sometime tomorrow we are heading to the Reimer's to eat and argue.  Today Gloria and I had a conversation where we both decided that we would rather just talk about the faith rather than live it out so all we have to do is argue :-)

I have a growing photo set on Flickr of Christmas 2007 photographs.  I am sure more will be uploaded over the next couple of days but don't expect anything here until I head back to work on the 27th. 

Enjoy Christmas!

Technorati tags: Christmas, Wal-Mart, GT Sno Racer

Staff Christmas Party

Wendy and I went to the staff Christmas party the other night at The Barn Playhouse and she has a rather nice blog post about it.

Technorati tags: The Barn Playhouse

Best Designed Independent Press Awards

My friends at Beyond Magazine have been nominated for Best Design at the Utne Independent Press Awards which as you can imagine, is a pretty big deal.

We began by upending the orderly shelves of our library, corralling some 1,300 magazines, newsletters, journals, alt weeklies, and zines into wobbly stacks. Then we dug in to read articles that we might have missed during the year and to reread our favorites—everything from gritty newsprint publications to polished perfect-bound journals. After much deliberation, debate, and a bit of teeth-gnashing, we whittled it all down to 111 standouts.

In case you haven't done so, head on over to Beyond's website and subscribe. Your subscription supports what Utne thinks is one of the best designed independent magazines out there.

Technorati tags: Beyond Magazine, Utne Independent Press Awards

In the Bahamas

I got to the Bahamas late last night and am staying in a great beach front condo with Spencer, Mark Scandrette, Adam Klein, Jim Palmer, Todd Littleton, and Mike DeVries.  We dropped off our gear and wandered down one of the two beaches surrounding the beach and floated outside falling over shells and into holes in the dark.  Not that I swallowed a lot of water but the ocean is a lot lower today.  Will find some time to post later but the morning will be spent in staff meetings and setup.

The Soularize old school webcam is now online and at the moment was capturing Mark Scandrette trying to set some rum soaked bananas on fire. 

Mark Dowd, Jim and Tammy Schoch, Shayna Metzker, and Dwight Friesen have come by for breakfast.

Technorati tags: Bahamas, Soularize, webcam

What If?

Cultivate Missional Living [CML] is a six month training course for people who want to learn how to engage in mission in an urban community.

[CML] takes place in the Beasley neighbourhood in downtown Hamilton, Ontario - one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada - and is hosted by The Freeway.
[CML] is supported by Allelon, Resonate, and The Salvation Army.

For more information about [CML] or to receive an application form, please contact the [CML] director, Jordan Donald, by e-mail [jordan@frwy.ca] or by phone: 905-929-0890.

Technorati tags: CML, Cultivate Missional Living, Resonate, Allelon, Salvation Army, The Freeway, Hamilton, missional living, discipleship

Emerging Church Documentary Tour

Nathan Colquhoun (whose blog I just bookmarked because I can never spell his last name correctly without looking it up) took some great photos of the recent emerging church documentary road trip.  The details of the recent road swing are here.

Technorati tags: Emerging Church Documentary, Nathan Colquhoun, Joe Manafo, Kim Reid, Resonate, photography

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope yours was a decent Thanksgiving weekend. Around the Cooper family compound, it was busy with Wendy and I both working all weekend as well as the holiday today. I worked the graveyard shift Sunday so I got to cook the dinner. Wendy enlisted Lee's help who managed to turn on the oven by himself and place the turkey beside the stove before wandering off. After that I just kind of took over with Mark and we cooked up a fine dinner. After watching Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, I rediscovered my love for Yorkshire pudding and of course have joined the Campaign for Real Gravy.

Later last night, the Reimer's came over and Mark gave Gloria a karate lesson, we ate some pumpkin pie and all was good.

The Bad Dog Grill

Scott Williams opened the Bad Dog Grill (Come.  Sit. Eat.) last night in Mission, B.C.  If you are in the area, you will want to check it out.  The reason Scott is opening the restaurant is that he is bored.  Being a church planter, full time social worker, and dad wasn't enough for him.  The rumor is that next year he plans to take over and turn around one of the big three automakers on his holidays, just so he has something to do.

Technorati tags: Scott Williams, Bad Dog Grill, restaurants, Mission, British Columbia, food, dining

Prince of Peace - God of War

John Campea's movie, Prince of Peace - God of War is now out and getting some good reviews from the film festivals. Yes I am in it and no I haven't seen my part yet... I hate the sound of my voice so I will see if I can get a special director's cut without me in it to see what McLaren, Campolo and others have to say. There is a trailer and more information on the site. As they say, it will also be coming to a theatre near you.

Arlington Beach

My submission for this week's Photo Friday challenge, The Beach.

The Dave King Road Trip

On Labour Day, Dave King will be in town and to celebrate some of us are hanging out at our place. If you want to join us, feel free. Some more stuff will be posted on the when and where later this week.

2007 Canada Remembers International Air Show

On Saturday, Wendy, Mark, Nathan, and I went to a soggy Saskatoon airport to check out the Canada Remembers International Airshow.

Despite the cloud cover, dreary weather, and poor lighting, I did manage to take some photos.

A sepia toned photo of a B-25 Mitchell.

Nathan, Wendy, and Mark inside the bomb bay of the B-25 Mitchell. I was just standing around when I was called over to join them inside the bomb bay which was a little bizarre but who am I to judge.

Pilots explaining the inner workings of a CF-18 Hornet.

Mark attempting to hijack a USAF C-130 Hercules.

Nose of a B-25 Mitchell bomber

Inside of a Challenger VIP jet that is used to ferry the Prime Minister and people more important than you or I around the country. Nathan pointed out that if he ever had access to one of these, he would surely abuse it.

The Snowbirds doing a fly over. Speaking of the Snowbirds. All of the planes are numbered, 1 through 12. As they were taking off, number 9 stayed on the ground. Mark turns to me and mutters, "What about those of us who came to see number nine, those people are going to be disappointed." He did get over his dismay especially when I bought him an inflatable CL-41 Tutor jet to hang in his room.

The only bad thing about the show was that many of the smaller planes that I wanted to see could not make the flight in due to the terrible storm we had Friday night. They also had said there would be a F-16 at the show which was a no show (I have never seen a F-16 up close). The storm we had Saturday night lead to the cancellation of the Sunday show.

• Related Links: Canada Remembers Airshow Website
• My Flickr Photoset from 2007
• My Flickr Photoset from 2006

The show says that this cancellation is hard on their bottom line. Despite the bad weather this year, it does do a good job of honoring the veterans (who show out in good numbers). Hopefully it will be back in 2009 (2008 is cancelled due to runway construction).

Sustainability

Jason Evans has an excellent post on sustainable community living and co-housing that you will want to read.

Update on Darren

Wendy, Mark and I went to Royal University Hospital to visit Darren tonight.  He is doing as well as one would expect after having his heart stopped for several hours but he was in good spirits and we had a short visit, dance (the famous straw stirring the drink) and prayer together.  They send him home on Friday but it will be a while until he is back to normal.  Thanks for everyone who has been praying. 

Technorati tags: Darren Friesen, prayer

Darren is doing fine

For the next little while Jordon has midnight to eight a.m. shifts at the Salvation Army. So if something important comes up I get to hack his blog.

Our good friend Darren Friesen has open heart surgery this morning. It lasted four hours and was done to see if they could fix one of his valves. It was too badly damaged to repair (which is preferable) so they had to replace it. Darren's wife Sherryl is keeping me up to date. She did say that the surgery went well and that she will get to see him shortly.

8:00 Update: I just talked to Sherryl and she said that he is off his breathing tube, is at RUH, and continues to improve.  She said that when Darren woke up, he was disappointed that Jordon wasn't there (weird in itself) and apparently was supposed to be dancing.  Jordon and I plan to go up and visit him tomorrow evening and Jordon said he will be dancing.

Wendy

Technorati tags: Darren Friesen, heart, prayer, surgery

Prayer for Darren

Over the years Darren has had to take a lot of abuse being a co-worker and friend of mine. It kind of falls into the category of "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" category. We worked together at Lakeview and now he is the Saskatoon Community Chaplain and he works with some of the guys that are a part of the half-way house that I work at. He is also a partner in crime in the Church of the Exiles and I have hugged him more than any other man in the world (which is unnerving to us both)

Darren is having open heart surgery on Monday and we would all appreciate your prayers for him and the family over the next couple of weeks. Darren asked me if I would post some updates on my blog since he will be a state of mind sponsored by morphine (TM) for a while after the surgery and I will do what I can.

The Covenant Church

While in Prince Albert, I managed to find some time for lunch with Randall Friesen of Gateway Covenant Church and Steve Menshenfriend of Blackstrap Covenant Church in Dundurn. It was a good time of sharing, laughing, and exchanging ideas. Steve and Blackstrap Covenant Church has the same problems that Church of the Exiles in that neither one of us has a physical location and we had a good discussion about that.

It was a nice experience being at Gateway in Prince Albert. It was one of the few churches that I have ever seen that wasn't painted white or eggshell inside and actually has colors. The other thing that struck me was the art hanging on the walls in the sanctuary which gave a great vibe to being in there. Randall has some interesting plans as well which I think would be interesting for other churches to watch. Wendy and I hope by to stop by this summer and take in a service.