Short Movie Review of the Day

Replacing Japanese thespians with American celebrities was a wise idea for director Takashi Shimizu in the American remake of his movie, Ju-On. He probably raked in a large sum of money with the American version, but the original Ju-On is by far a greater film than The Grudge. Although the western Grudge had better special effects, it failed to even deliver at least the same amount of terror its predecessor did. Ju-O will have its viewers trembling in fear in broad daylight. Daily routines will no longer be dull after watching Ju-On. The only flaw to the Japanese version of the horror flick is that the ending makes no sense. One character ages miraculously fast, making it difficult to grasp the concept of time, and the fact that the film is not in chronological order does not help. I haven't finished watching The Grudge, but so far it makes sense. I'll give my verdict when I finish the American Ju-On.

Movie made sense at least. If you haven't seen the original, this will scare you. But it pales in comparison to Ju-On, as I have said earlier.

Lyrical Tribute to Biblical Truth

Writing about God again, and this time in the form of a worship song. Talks of RHCBC starting a band like Hillsongs and singing original songs once upon a time got me writing. Eliot will compose the music to my lyrics. I think the lyrics are looking good, and I'm sure Eliot will spin out some sick beats. Not a rap song, of course. Don't get me wrong. I actually have no idea how the song will sound. I just wrote it by syllables. The song will not be posted, because as a writer, I don't want my writing to be stolen off the net by punks who plagiarize. It's happened before, it won't happen again.

Rapper Boy's Version of Pastor Roy's Sermon

Since I'm up and writing already, might as well post more. So I was tired and drowsy on Sunday because I was stupid enough to stay up all night by myself. I got front row seats at Pastor Roy Sommerville's sermon part 3, and he was preaching juicy stuff. All the more reason to stay up and listen, but the flesh was weak. So what to do? I was feeling it then, so I decided to write rap. I used Roy's points to write rhymes, though my points may not be identical to those of Roy's. Here they are, for those who are interested (I know Bobby is):

August 7, 2005. 11:01 pm
Destructive as a proud mind
If you live for worldly pleasures,
Temporary cloud nines
You're missing God's treasures
Take a turn of 180
I'll be what the One had made me
For God the Son has saved me
Dying on the cross so bravely
Do stop what you know ought not to
But do what you know ought do
Ain't it wonderful
That as far as blunders go
God forgives us and forgets
Brings you peace to your regrets
He will help clean up your mess
Turn to Jesus and be blessed
11:53 pm

My format for writing rhymes is pretty systematic. Before the first line, I record the time and date of when I started, and at the end when I stopped. These lines aren't the greatest, because I wrote them to the beats and rhythm of Pastor Roy's sermon, and the beat wasn't very consistent. It's like writing lines to jazz. Never tried it, so maybe that was a bad example. But anyway, I will revise them one day, and post the updated version here or something. That's it for now.

Sleepless in Hamilton

Mentally exhausted from running "broken fax" on Saturday, I proceeded to play some bball right after. I'm a lazy guy who moves only when necessary, so I don't know where I got the energy to play. I was pretty pooped afterwards, but the day was far from over. One more game to go at 10, and I hoped it would go better than the trio of games we had in the afternoon.

"Capture the Stixxx" as Johnny and I had dubbed it, was pretty slow at first. Some defenders were too close to their flags, and the playing area was too big for some. The game moved along much quicker when Johnny and Janette suggested we remove the option of playing defence. That was a relaxing time for game leaders, or at least for me anyway. I hardly moved, just stood at the same spot, chilling with jailbirds and guards, and talking trash over the walkie talkies.

Afterwards, back in my crib, I recorded my thoughts in my journal, then got out to chill while the night was still young. Robyn wanted to play board games, and I did as well, so we went hunting for monopoly. When we did find it, Robyn decided to roast marshmallows and left me hanging. I had fun with the younger guys though. The game got intense quick, and I was got broke with Justin and Nick duking it out against each other. It was 4:45 am then, so I decided to go sleep. Outside my house, Eliot talked me into chilling with them instead, and I pulled out a chair beside them. The conversation died down pretty quickly, and we just sat and slept around in silence. Then Roz came out and kept me company for a bit. We took a walk around the houses, and she went to sleep at 5 something.

So there I was, alone in the dark. The sky was still dark, but in the distance a lighter shade of blue can be seen to the east. Going into retreat, I've felt quite distant from God. Today, I was told it was possibly the devil trying to pull me down as I help out with church stuff. Pretty likely scenario now that I think of it, since there were lots of downs, and few ups during the past weeks. So alone in the quiet morning, I bowed my head and prayed. I figured I shouldn't wait for God to come to me, but instead approach Him. It was a great time of prayer, but I don't think it went on for even half an hour. Spiritually refreshed, I sat in the quietness of early morning waiting, admiring the dark sky.

Minutes later, my sleeping companions woke up and decided to catch the sunrise. We went to the tennis court which was already occupied by Will, and sat on the dew-y benches, shivering and half asleep. I was feeling only slightly chilly though, since I was up the entire time. When the sun finally came up, it was too bright to look at, and I decided to head back for a shower. The anticipation was more fun than the actual viewing of the risen sun.

After the shower, I fell asleep for around 20 minutes and woke up at 7:53 or so. I went back out to where the chairs were and plopped my sleepy self down beside a few people. I remember RoboRich and Sarah there, but I'm sure there were others. I said some things to Rich, and he ran off. I don't remember what I said, but I hope it was coherent and non-offensive. After a few moments to push my sleepiness aside, I started talking to Sarah and got to know her a bit. That was cool. I like meeting new people.

I skip what happened next for another time. Back home, I pulled out my keys to open the front door, and realized I still had my retreat house key. Oh shoot! Oh well. Andrew said not to worry about it. My cousin and uncle were in town from HK, and Sunday was their last day in Canada. I couldn't sleep, because that would be beyond rude, so instead I stayed up to play Dance Dance Revolution with my lil cousin. I didn't know I had such amazing dance moves. Not to mention my amazing agility and my unexplainable burst of energy to bust a groove on those slippery dance mats. I thought I'd be dead tired, but I was holding up all right. By the way, I've never pulled an all-nighter before. This was an experiment. Long story short, I didn't sleep until past midnight on Monday. Which means I had been awake Saturday at 7 until Monday at 12:10 or so. Wow, didn't think it was possible for a lazy man like me. More on retreat later. If you actually read this entire post, say so in a comment for the previous entry and you just might win a prize.

Segment by segment

Here begins my account of the events that took place between the days of August 5-7 at Redeemer. It may not be chronological, or any order for that matter. I will not write about everything in one entry, but separate my thoughts into segments suitable for reading for computer users.

Second summer retreat I've ever been to in my entire life, and already I was co-leading the English Speaking Congregation of RHCBC for fun activity periods. With Johnny and Janette teaching me how to be a leader, we spent days organizing retreat games weeks before August. Oblivious to traditions or expectations for such functions, I suggested playing a scavenger hunt-esque style of game that would begin on the first day of retreat and end on the last. I had no idea how the game would be received or what possible problems could arise from the game, but I didn't really care. I thought the game would work based on the ideas I had, and I thought it would be fun and new to the people.

We went with the idea, and pretty much planned the rest of the games around this main game I had suggested. Gary suggested we run a game that involved solving riddles and following the campus map to different locations. It would be a combination of scavenger hunt, puzzle solving, and a timed competition. There were problems with that game that we did not see at first, such as how we would divide the teams, what puzzles to use, and what routes to give them to name a few. We had a few other ideas that ended up discarded in the final days of planning or on the spot at retreat. Initially, we were planning on having a dance off for each team on Friday, and the winning team would claim the first item. Due to time restraints, we decided to have a vote for the best mascot instead, which worked just as well. A problem with planning games around the 3-day game was that there must be a winner for every game we play. And since we had such specific prizes for the winners, there cannot be ties.

Personally, I didn't have much idea how things would happen during game periods, but Johnny's smarts and leadership gave me a strong sense of calm and reassurance. He may appear a laid-back individual to most (or to me at least), but he is actually a responsible man who will step up to the task and complete everything that needs to be done. Johnny, it's been a pleasure working with you. Janette was always an encouraging presence for me as well. Filled with insightful ideas and big muscles, she did the most significant fraction of our manual labour. Not to mention her encouragements for us throughout this entire process. Thanks, partners. From the feedback I received from several retreat goers, the games weren't perfect, but were generally enjoyed by most. They, too, showered the leaders with words of encouragement and were pretty cooperative during game time. I thank you all for bearing with this newbie. It's been an educational experience for me, and every second of it has been enjoyable. Thanks Kim for giving me this opportunity to help out, and for trusting me with games. Most importantly, thank You Lord for Your grace, for Your strength, for blessing us with patience and energy to get things done, and for wisdom when things don't go according to plan and the only option left is improvisation. You are a God who provides and sometimes without asking, and I'm thankful for that, Lord. Thank You for watching our backs and for giving us rest when we're worn out at the end of the day.

Speaking of rest, I didn't sleep Saturday night, but I'll expand more on that in my upcoming posts. May God be with you all, and especially with those who accepted Christ for the first time in your lives at retreat. You have made an excellent decision.