Away 'Cross the Ocean, Away 'Cross the Foam!

Hey

We went to see the Passion of the Christ last night. I was pretty much speechless for the night. It really hadn't sunk in. Very moving. The impression we always seem to have of Jesus is of an all-powerful, all-conquering being. To see him portrayed as so fragile and so 'human', really brought across how powerful the sacrifice He made for us, was. A must-see film.

Not much else happening at the moment, so I'll leave it there!!!

Oh yeah, just glad to hear Ireland is getting a bit of our beloved snow. Snow Angels, all the way!!

David

Hey there all,

Well as you can see, I have finally set up a "Comment Service" thing where you can post a quick hello...Just to warn you in advance everybody can read them so keep them clean!!

Well, the plan for tonight is to go to see the Passion of the Christ at 7 and be home just in time to see the finale of the Bachelorette....The things you do for love!!!

Well I was at an interview today for a marketing firm. I actually couldn't believe I had got the reply from them to call in, because i don't exactly have the experience yet and they seem to be a big firm. Reading the website and meeting with them, it's really what I would like to eventually see myself doing. ( http://www.williamjoseph.ca )

The guy I met with was very nice and he said they take on students the odd time but maybe the fact that i have only 8 months left here, wasn't to work in my favour. He was all ready to give advice though which was much appreciated. The business is on the 30th Floor of the Petro Canada Centre. You should see the view of the Rocky Mountains from there - beautiful - Inspiring view for inspiring work, I guess!
The rent up there is crazy but he said that they have a staff of 8 working hard instead of 20 slogging along, so it makes the rent easier to pay, as well as their wages - out of the 5 million they make on average a year!! He said he would keep my name on file though and if he heard of something he'd pass on my name. I wasn't really expecting much from it, and didn't end up with a job, but got some good advice and it was worth it for the view too!!! Alll in all, worth the 7am wake-up call!

Can't wait for the film tonight. Let me know what ye think, if any of ye see it at home. Are the hype and protests as crazy as they are here?
Anyway, leave a comment if you dare!!!
Later!
Dave

Hey there,

Well since I last wrote, we have a had a pretty good night at the Atlantic Trap and Gill, listing to Canadian Newfie music, which is "Irish music on crack". It was such an enjoyable night. We were there for Ryan's 25th-and-a-half birthday. Yes I did say 25th-AND-A-HALF. There's a long story to it but he missed out on his 25th birthday so this was his attempt to get drunk, and invite people to watch! I couldn't believe it - More people turned up for his HALF birthday than would turn up for my full birthday at home!! It's all about connections, and obviously Location too, as a good night was had by all. And the food....delicious!

We went over to visit Erin's sister and Mum, and Erin's niece too...What a gorgeous kid. And she actually acknowledged me too, which is good, because she is sup[posedly afraid of most males. And again Sinead didn't come home empty handed!! Erin's mum made a gorgeous blanket (Sorry, don't know the real name!) and loads of other stuff for us to send home too. And it was of course designed with Angels...Sinead's favourite! They are so good to us.

Sinead and I had a nice relaxing day shopping then on Saturday up in the Marlboro Mall. We made a few nice purchases too.

Well, I'm really looking forward to Wednesday to see The Passion Of the Christ. We might be going with Erin and Ryan, depending on their plans. I wonder if the movie is as good as the book!!!

Well, that's all from me,
Check ya later!
Dave

Ok so its actually been pretty warm here the last few days. I think it has even reached +6 degrees! This is what Calgarians call "Beautiful" weather! I can see what they mean though, especially since there has been snow on the ground since we arrived at the start of November. It actually feels warmer than 6 degrees. I can just imagine how warm it will be if a Summer ever arrives here!

Well, I badly need a car. I miss the freedom of it so much, and it would give so much freedom for travelling. I must go and check what the rates are for hiring a car and if I can even get one, as it seems to be harder here when you are under 25.

Well, not much happening here really. I am becoming, slowly but surely, more unemployed by the day, which puts the purchase of a car all that more further out of reach. Cars are supposed to be relatively cheap here but as usual its insurance that's the killer! Job searching is definitely on the list today!

Not much more news here. I think we are going to Erin's house tonight. We are under orders to see Erin's sister and niece before they leave.

That's it from me for now
Check out the "Liquid Generation" link at the side for a good laugh.
Later!
Dave

Hi there

Back again on the net. I have a new email address...finally. Its david_nolan@eircom.net....not much of a variety but at least it will help with freeing up my Email Inbox a bit.

Well today is Monday and things have got pretty good since the weekend. We went to the Calgary Flames game on Friday night with a big gang and Crystal and Jeff brought us Flames Jerseys to wear and all. It was great. Hopefully the photos will turn out great too. They beat the Mighty Ducks 2 - 1. They were all a bit disappointed there wasn't more goalmouth action, but the atmosphere was incredible. After the game Jeff dropped us home and we rang Ryan to say Hi because we hadn't talked to him in a week. Ryan and Erin called around then and picked us up at midnight to go for a quick drink! We went to the Hop-In Brew which is like a converted house. Its really cool from the outside and a really relaxed atmosphere inside.

We had a great valentines day then on Saturday. Went for a meal and then to the cinema..pretty simple but a nice day.

Sinead was working today but it was a long weekend here with most people having the day off for "Family Day". Crystal got me a free ticket for the "Bishops Cup" in the Saddledome, which is a charity hockey game played by the local priests against the Calgary Flames Alumni. It was a really funny game...and ended 20 -20!! Sinead is just on her way back now from choir practice, so gotta run.

Later
D

Hey there

What a week!

My Eircom email address is acting up on me again. I'm getting a load of junk mail. Its for all those pages I subscribed too for once-off things, and they must sell on the email addresses then. It has clogged up my whole account. Its usually good for just receiving emails, when you don't subscribe to anything.
I need to get a new address!!!

This week hasn't been the best really. Sinead has been sick for the last few days and I feel like I'm getting it now, just a cold/flu. Its due to the change in the weather, getting a bit milder. Also I was only supposed to be getting three shifts at work this week, and at that they rang me this morning to cancel the one today.

Just need to get travelling a bit soon, or even maybe a move on from Calgary. There could be more of a chance for Sinead to get a lab job in Toronto, so who knows...Watch this space!! At least we have the Flames game to look forward to on Friday.

Well thats it for now. Hopefully the next posting will be all the more cheery!!!

Later
David

Hey there people,

Well another day off. The work shifts are getting few and far between now as the lottery winds down, so I'm online again potentially looking for a new job (i.e. sending emails, writing this etc.!)

Well, the Canadian post has been good and bad to us over the last three days. Sinead received a parcel from home on Wednesday and another one yesterday. I was there yesterday when the parcel was delivered and (acoording to the post lady) due to the value of the items inside and the weight of the package etc. there was a GSt (tax) to be paid on the parcel of $33.86. It's bloody crazy especially since the package only cost 16 euro to send in the first place. But they redeemed themselves today by arriving with a package for me from home containing Irish taytos (yippee!), Cadburys Creme Eggs (My favourite) and a copy of d'Echo! (Thanks Mum!) Also the tea-bags were much appreciated..and just in time. We were running out (Call it mothers intuition!!)

Well, as you all probably know, the Grammys are on this Sunday and I heard this morning that there is a Canadian Religious Rapper nominated. They have a very big religious music selection here, from Religious Pop to Rap. I haven't heard much of it though. I did a quick search for that guy on Google. He's called "Fresh I.E" and the site I found is www.jesusbeatz.com! and you can listen to some of the music. Make up your own mind!

That's it from me at the moment.
Later!
D

Check out this for all the Superbowl ads. These are probably one of the most expensive ads ever. The cost to show these during the superbowl is something like $2.5 million.

Check out the 7Up one. We never got the 7up ads in Ireland where a guy was asked to design an ad for 7Up, and he came up with the slogan "Make 7Up yours", and as part of it, designed T-shirts saying on the front "Make 7" and on the back it said "Up Yours"!

http://ifilm.com/?sctn=collections&pg=superbowl2004

Well worth a look!

Hey there,

Well the last time I wrote we were all set for our Edmonton trip. God damn weather disrupted all of that. The road to Edmonton was closed. There were warnings not to travel into, or out of Edmonton unless it was extremely necessary. Aparantly, David leaving Calgary for a weekend wasn't important enough to warrant the trip!! There were also major avalanche warnings so travel was out of the question. It has been really scary seeing the remains of cars that have crashed due to the weather here. And topping that with the recent front page story in the Calgary Sun naming Calgary as the "Murder Capital of Canada", makes our move here even more questionable!!!!

Well, we may have missed Edmonton but we made it to Vietnam....a vietnamese restaurant, with Ryan and Erin....yummee!! Saturday night was then spent with them at the Night Gallery, watching a band called Hurricane Felix and the Southern Twisters! It had the appearance of Fred Zeppelins, crowded with tattooed-goths, but even they seemed out of place listening to the "rockabilly" music. Let's just say it made for an interesting night...especially with the burlesque dancers that accompanied the band. It was good fun and we had a good laugh.

Sunday was Superbowl Sunday, and of course we had to leave for mass at 5.15, so we only got to see the pre-game show, and the pre-pre-game show and the pre-pre-pre-game show, and only about 20 mins of the game. I got to see the highlights though. I wish I had got to see the full game though. It's a really addictive game to watch when you get into it. (Thanks a million again for the lift Allison).

Looking forward to the Flames game coming up soon though. Last night then we were all trying to decide where to go to eat and were trying to come up with something other than BP's, so naturally we ended up at BP's!!! Crystal gave us a lift home then (Thanks a million for the lift Crystal).

It was a good weekend in the end. Must check out some of the possibility for some day trips now though.
Anyway, that's all from me, for the mo.
David