Birdy

I think so. It's too easy to be marred by experience and to allow ourselves to become jaded by it all... to let single circumstances stand for the whole. It's weird though... I think this way but i don't find fault in the participants as there are just too many... it's too collective. It's a sad reality, really, and the reason why i barely ever click into this thread. People fear what fundamentalists can achieve, but don't fear what those vehemently against can and do, do.

Marco, nothing is more satisfying than a crossword puzzle. I'm with you my friend! I buy newspapers for nothing but, skip straight to the crossword section, yank it out and recycle the rest.

this and the layout's all wrong.. it's just too deep and the stage doesn't give a person in the back a shot in hell of actually catching a glimpse of the band.

I missed my flight over the big pond last night, which pretty much sucked. Now i'm up for round two tonight!

I had a wicked time last night! my only wish was that the venue was a little larger to accomodate the crowd! i think an honourable mention for the best costume award should go out to c-towns, the kokanee rep. Sorry for repeatedly yanking on your stash buddy, but damn! You pull off creepy alarmingly well.

hahaha... i was almost positive that backbacon's rhythmic clapping was going to be heard on the recording.

Yay Meggo! I had a sneaking suspicion i could count on you to consider. This cause is pretty much top notch for me. I can't tell enough people about it!

I learned about this organization in a book i just finished "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This part is about to be a repeat in this forum, but whatever. The book is about an american mountaineer/humanitarian who ventures on over to Pakistan to climb K2, but fails and stumbles barely alive into a small village in the northern region. The local people take him in and nurse him back to health. Moved by their kindness he vows to come back and build them a school. The book details his progress as he comes to co-found the Central Asia Institute and builds over 55 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's one of the most moving books I've read in years and stirs inside of you the want to do good and the will to make a difference. I think everyone everywhere should read it. So here's where you teachers come in: an offspring of the Central Asia Institute is a non-profit organization called Pennies for Peace, whose mandate is to educate school kids of North America (elementary & high school) about life in Afghanistan and Pakistan and how important of a role education plays in promoting international peace. Every day in these remote regions muslim extremists fueled by rich Saudi oil money are opening up schools by the hundreds and instead of teaching math and language are teaching jihad and how to shoot down an 'infidel'. The people are so poor and so uneducated to the point where differences in these schools means nothing to them. It's the CAI's mandate to combat this by providing these children with a balanced education and a hope for the future. Visit the Pennies for Peace website (www.penniesforpeace.org) and sign your class up today to start making a difference! The organization will send you postcards for each participant, stickers for your penny containers, certificates of appreciation, etc. The organization only accepts pennies, as they are the coin that most North Americans view as useless, but over in Pakistan and Afghanistan it buys a pencil and gives these kids a second chance. The money goes towards school supplies for the schools the CAI builds. I've already signed my cousin's split 5/6 class up and am really hoping others get involved. Upon visiting the website you may notice the terms "American Schools", "American children", etc. thrown around a lot, but i've emailed them and know that a number of Canadian schools are already making a difference. The website also has a great curriculum outline and resource list to help you inform your class of what is happening out there and to stir great classroom conversation as to who can make a difference and how. I feel so strongly about this and I hope everyone on here at least gives this great idea some thought. It's a fantastic way to promote international understanding and to get kids thinking at such a young age that anyone, anywhere, with only a penny in their hand, can make a difference. Please consider this!! Here's a couple of websites to check out!: Central Asia Institute Pennies for Peace United Nations Cyber School Bus

IN! no on the costume.........

This thread kind of drives me crazy in the same respect as those who think extreme muslims represent all muslims drive me crazy. Not saying that anyone in particular participating thinks whacked out fundamentalists represent all Christians, it's just this threads very existence... and perhaps its title.

I wuv Swifty.

I'm now on to "the book seller of kabul' by Asner Seierstad.

I hate flying too. I'm makin' the big leap over the pond come Saturday.

I read Faulkner's 'Absolom! Absolom!' a couple of years ago and it was probably one of the hardest books i've ever read. But i'm glad i did. It's now one of my most favourite books of all time.

Kev, i agree with the message of the comic, but i don't think it's thaaat good. We all know how crazy Chitownites are about their architecture and their history, and this building and this company is iconic to them.

hey now.. that Marshall Fields is a Chicago landmark... really!

ooooooooooooh... stage sound amplification... sounds f'ing AWESOME!! don't worry blurry! somehow, someday you'll get this book back. hang tight.

Yep, i'll read the Phil book... can you lend it to me? Another really good one I just finished was 'the Kite Runner'. What a fantastic book that was! A kid coming of age in Afghanistan before the Soviets rolled into town, struggling with concepts of class and different denominations of Islam and what it meant to be priveledged... then forced to flea and seek refugee status in Pakistan and then America and start his life anew... and then years down the road return to Afghanistan finding it under Taliban rule, utterly destroyed and forced to face the demons of his past... soooooooo good! I read that one in a record seven hours!

Just wondering what everyone's been reading these days... i'm on the hunt for some good books! I'm currently reading "Three cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, a true story of American mountaineer/humanitarian Greg Mortenson who heads over to the northern region of Pakistan to climb K2 but fails due to oxygen deprivation and all of the terrible things that go hand in hand with that... miraculously he's able to descend the mountain and stumbles barely alive into a tiny little settlement where he is taken in and nursed back to health by the local villagers. Moved by their kindness, he vows to come back to them and build them a school. I haven't finished the book but basically it's the story of all of his trials and tribulations as he learns of his humanitarian calling and goes on to co-found one of the largest not-for-profit aid organizations in Pakistan and builds over 55 schools. I highly recommend the book to all... it's very heart warming to read about all of his goodness. What are you reading?

Splenda reminds me of that stuff that they fill those c-shaped airplane pillows with.. just picking up a bag of that stuff and realizing it weighs less than a grape is reason enough for me to think it's waaay bad. If you're that concerned about your sugar intake, take it back. Don't look for chemical alternatives.

i think he's pretty f'ing great too!

Good to hear that it's priority number one! I only hope that other retailers are equally as concerned.

I don't know but the price difference of the average commodity is ridiculous. I was in Chapters this past weekend looking at the prices of books in the US vs. Canada and almost had to cross the border because of it!

I'm surprised this wasn't the other way around. I've seen his bro do some crazy stuff and heard of even crazier! haha! you're welcome lady! i think i could easy set up a whole portfolio of just you and your rye. Good times!

where do you read that?