#113 - I'm still alive.

No, really.

In brief
A lot of has happened since the Canucks were in the playoffs. They didn't win, that's obvious. I'm gainfully employed with the city. I took a leave of absence from Safeway till the summer of 2008. Canadian University Ultimate Championships are coming up next weekend. Tiffany is doing well. Sleeping as I type this, as usual. Facebook has come to replace blogging as much as I tried to stay away from it. But as usual, it was inevitable that I give in to the trend no matter how much I wanted to not be trendy. More Threadless shirts have been ordered and are on their way. DHL brokerage fees are going to kill me. I bought a new camera and have been taking photos and have been playing around with them in Photoshop. Learning as I go with that.

That's about it. We'll see how long it takes for me to make another post.

-jer

talk to me! --> [seakrait@hotmail.com]

#112 - Holy bandwagon Batman!

Canucks HAVE to make things exciting.

Always.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars
Really a war of goalies with the Canucks' Roberto Luongo versus the Stars' Marty Turco. Turco seemed to be the one making the flashier saves but Luongo came out on top at the end with the Canucks blowing a 3-1 series lead only to claim the series in Game 7 over the Stars 3-1.



And Robson St. erupted with joyous honks and screams when the game was over. And all that noise lasted for over two hours before the VPD came in to clear the streets.

For more pictures, CLICK HERE.

-jer

talk to me! --> [seakrait@hotmail.com]

#111 - One down, three to go.

One Ultimate tournament that is.

Huckin' For Hearts (2007)
The tourney was a success raising over $2400 for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. It was almost rained out with the weather being uncooperative in the days prior to Saturday but on the day-of, the weather was good.

Waking up at 5:45am in the morning to drive down to Richmond to set up the fields and Disc Central wasn't quite as fun but once the games got started, it was clear sailing all the way. Our discs were sold in mass quantities and prizes we raised were given away.

All in all a good day of Ultimate.

I was just a little bit envious that these kids got to play Ultimate in high school. I mean, when I was in high school, the most Ultimate we got was extra-curricular and was just a basic knowledge and tossing affair. Now these kids have teams and play on school teams and get coached by Furious and Prime. WTF, eh?

Anyway, onto the pics. Photos were taken by Ramir and Andreas, photographers off Revscene. More pictures to follow soon.

Click here for Ramir's (partial) slideshow.

Coming up next, organizationally speaking...

Flowerbowl 2007 on June 9-10th, 2007, Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) October 2007, and World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC) August 2008.

Fun times, fun times.

-jer

talk to me! --> [seakrait@hotmail.com]

#110 - The Empire's Worst Engineer.

Hilarious stuff for you Star Wars geeks (ie: me).

Nardo Pace, the Empire's Worst Engineer
What you're about to read is from Something Awful and is the Email Inbox of Nardo Pace, Engineer for the Empire.

"Subject: Trash Compactor
From: Death Star Detention Level Janitor
Date: A Long Time Ago 7:46 PM
To: Nardo Pace

Hey, kid. That trash compactor you designed is up and running and I've got to say it looks great. Lots of grime, a magnetically sealed hatch that can't be opened from the inside, a tentacled garbage creature that practically serves no purpose at all. It's got everything a salty old janitor could ever want.

One thing, though. It takes an awful long time to flatten garbage. I'm talking a minute or more, depending on how many flimsy poles I toss in there. If our capital ships can boogie at faster than light speeds, why can't we make a few walls slide toward one another at a speed that outpaces a Hutt's leisurely stroll?

-------

Subject: breathing device too fuckin LOUD
From: Lord Vader
Date: A Long Time Ago 12:20 AM
To: Nardo Pace

yo hey i still dont understand whats going on with this thing

can u put a knob on my breather apperatis so i can turn down the volume when im in the library or sneakin up on maintenence droids? why did u put a speaker on this thing in the first place lol

-------

Subject: E-11 Blaster Rifle Calibration Still Off
From: Stormtrooper Commander 09731 <09731@empiremail.com>
Date: A Long Time Ago 3:51 PM
To: Nardo Pace

As you know, the E-11 has come a long way since its initial prototype. Thanks to your hard work over the past three years the rifle no longer fires completely sideways, and with your latest revision, the number of casualties resulting from blaster fire being directed completely backwards has been drastically reduced.

That said, the E-11 still has some accuracy issues. We recently bolted one of the rifles to a testing mechanism so that it couldn't move even a millimeter, then set up a human-sized target six feet in front of the blaster's barrel. Shooting in two second intervals, we let the E-11 fire at the target continuously for three days.

The result? Not one shot hit the target. I realize you're busy, but perhaps we can go over the design one more time and iron this out.

-------

Subject: Death Star :(
From: Foreman Galhi
Date: A Long Time Ago 8:13 PM
To: Nardo Pace

Keep your chin up, ok? Don't let the whole "Death Star getting blown up" thing get you down.

It's really my fault just as much as it is yours. Your original plan called for three weak spots, and I asked you to cut it down to one. If I had suggested we get rid of the weak spots altogether none of this would have happened.

What do we do now? Mope? No. We learn from our mistakes and make an adjustment to the blueprint for the new Death Star I'm working on.

Construction is going great, by the way. As you suggested, instead of constructing a defensive shell around the framework then working my way inward, I'm just building all the cool stuff in the middle first. I think you're right, it's the best way to go.

-------

Subject: AT-ATs... hell yeah!
From: Maximilian Veers
Date: A Long Time Ago 10:09 AM
To: Nardo Pace

WOOO! Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me!? These AT-ATs rule!

I cannot believe how awesome they are. I'm personally piloting one on our upcoming operation on Hoth and I can't wait to stomp on those rebel scum. There's like, no way to stop these things. I'm a big fan of yours, man. Big fan.

-------

Subject: carbonite transport device
From: Boba Fett
Date: A Long Time Ago 3:17 PM
To: Nardo Pace

I am currently transporting a bounty that has been frozen in carbonite with a device you created. I have been told to direct any questions or comments I might have your way.

This is obviously a new technology, but might I suggest adding a few security measures to the transport device's control panel? Right now anyone can walk up to this thing and flip a few switches to release the frozen prisoner. I'm thinking a number pad with a secret code would be great, or heck, even a plain old key.

Just a friendly suggestion. Oh, and thanks for the modifications you made to my rocket pack. That "ignition" button square on the back of the pack where I can't reach it is great.

-------

Subject: This darn bottomless shaft in my room
From: Emperor Palpatine
Date: A Long Time Ago 1:42 AM
To: Nardo Pace

You are responsible for designing my Throne Room, yes? Do not doubt it. I can see the truth inside you. It burns with a twisted blackness that cannot be denied.

I ask you this: Why is there a chasm in my room? Was it really necessary? What purpose does it serve? Nothing useful has ever come of it. In fact, sometimes when I awake in the middle of the night and stumble in the darkness while making my way to the Imperial Restroom, I mistakenly wobble along the shaft's edge. I also bump my knee on the Imperial Coffee Table, but that is another matter.

I'm expecting very important company today, but I fully expect that you will draw up plans for a grate to cover this errant hole and have someone build it tomorrow. It is your destiny."

ROFLCOPTER.

They have arrived!
Huckin' For Hearts is just around the corner (April 14th, 2007 at Stevestion Secondary in Richmond) and the discs I designed have arrived! Check it out!



Speaking of disc designs, check these out: http://www.discraft.com/gallery/supercolor/index.html ... an example of which below.



As you can see, the image on Discraft's SuperColors discs are printed right almost to the edge of the disc as opposed to a regular disc like the Huckin' For Hearts disc where the image is just printed on the centre circle.

Which brings me to this:



I mean, wouldn't you want to toss around a disc like Captain America? I'd have to order 50 of them at a cost of US$9.00 a disc plus shipping and brokerage fees which means I'd have to sell them for roughly what GAIA sells discs to non-members. Hmm...

-jer

talk to me! --> [seakrait@hotmail.com]

#109 - Tooting my own horn.

A good day of Ultimate.

Vancouver Indoor Ultimate - Final Day
I won't talk about the Finals because that was a relatively foregone conclusion about 10 minutes into the game where Team 2 had a 10 point lead on Team 4 (the winningest team during the regular season) and held onto that lead all the way through to the time cap for the win as Champions of the Inaugural Season.

The Beer Finals earlier in the day, however, was much better.

Picture this: A tight close game with Team 1 (the team I'm on) having a 2 or 3 point lead on Team 3 the whole game. Team 3 makes a final push at the very end and ties the game with 30 seconds to go (in Indoor, there are no ties. Just sudden death overtime.) which means now first point wins.

This is the second time that Team 1 has been at a tie. The last time was last week against Team 2 and we LOST in overtime (thus us playing for third place instead of first). But anyway, back to the story.

Everyone's psyched up and I'm just pissed that we gave up the lead at the end. Four minutes into OT and no point had been scored yet, a real nailbiter. Turnovers and defensive brilliance on both sides. Finally, Team 3 gets possession on the far end of their own endzone in a corner. I'm poaching as usual. Their handler makes a throw to swing the disc to centre and I pounce on the disc and into the endzone for a Callahan Sudden Death Overtime Winning Point!

Wo0t!

I, of course, had to prance; so exulted and happy I was. :)

So all in all, Indoor Ultimate seemed to be a success. Many a person thanked Keating and I for our work at organizing this whole shebang. We've worked out a few kinks in this first season of ours and look to improve the rules and gameplay for next season (Jan - Mar 2008).

Yay us!

-jer

PS: No pictures yet. I was either too busy playing or keeping score so we'll have to wait for Christian to send me some pictures from today. In the meantime, click here to be reminded of what Indoor Ultimate is like.

talk to me! --> [seakrait@hotmail.com]