Daryl’s Brain

Doctors have created a list of who should be allowed to live and who should be left to die when a pandemic hits. My questions to them are:

• What makes someone over 85 years old, or a person with Alzheimer’s, a less valuable person?
• Have any of you even read any history books, or even head of the Holocaust?
• Are your own names on the list?

I was shocked when I read this article. I hardly know what to say. The fact that this is being taken seriously makes me want to cry.

The problem is not that some people are going to live at the cost of other people’s lives.  If the pandemic strikes, that will happen no matter what we do.  The problem is that this list sets a precedence with regards to the value of human life.  It states that one groups deserves a chance at life while the other doesn’t.  How far off from that are the gas chambers?

Well, hopefully it will have an end to it. And hopefully that end will involve the project’s completion. Until such a time, however, I thought I would let everyone see some images of our progress so far.

(The following pictures open up in the same window.)

The starboard side of the craft.	The port side of the craft.	the hovercraft as seen from behind.
The bow of the craft from one side.	The bow of the craft from another side.	The lift duct as seen from the side.
The lift duct seen from within the cockpit.	The eventual main thrust duct.	The main engine.
	The main engine up close and personal.

What a joyous celebration! The main Paschal celebrations began with the baptism of the child of some friends of ours. She was the most well behaved infant I have ever seen baptised. There was a slight whimper at the end and that was it.

Afterwards, the body of Christ (a cloth icon of it) was taken from its place in the centre of the sanctuary and placed on the Altar. Then we marched around the church three times and the priest pounded on the doors demanding that they be opened for the King of Glory! Someone from within the Church yelled out “Who is the King of Glory” to which the priest responded “The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle!”

Then we all entered the Church which had been transformed from its dark and gloomy atmosphere of the tomb to a Church that was all bright, white, and covered in flowers. The service proceeded from there with the priest throwing flower petals over everyone present and yelling at the top of his voice “Christ is risen!”, to which the congregation would yell back “Indeed He is risen!”

This went on for some time while the choir was singing (very well, I might add) about the joy of the resurrection and the fulfillment of prophecies. After this we became partakers of life eternal (took communion) and then headed down to the hall where the priest blessed the Pascha Baskets (that’s fun to say, by the way, you should try it).

Then we ate of all the foods we had been fasting from (but only to the point of being satisfied) and enjoyed one another’s company. It was a grand event indeed.

Having got home sometime after 4:00 AM, Stella and I headed right to bed and didn’t get up until 1:00 PM. Then, at 4:00 PM, we headed back to the Church for Paschal Vespers and a Ukrainian barbeque. There were all kinds of food there, including a chocolate fountain, and once again we all had a blast. It is truly the most awe inspiring service.

This year I learned all about the Holy Fire in Jerusalem. It is a miracle that occurs every year where holy fire comes out of the tomb in which Christ lay and ignites the candles present. Read this article all about it and make sure to check out some of the video links there too.

One of these years Stella and I will pilgrimage down there ourselves, but for now I am satisfied with the fellowship of my fellow Orthodox Christians here in Victoria.

Pascha is almost upon us. I have taken all of Holy Week off of work in preparation for the event. There have been morning and evening services almost the whole of the week and I’ve managed to get out to almost all of them. It’s been a very long week. Now, with just hours left, the last of the services is about to start.

I must apologize to those from my work who wanted me to get pictures of all the events. Unfortunately it just has not worked out. However, Stella will be taking pictures of Pascha itself so I will have some to show you.

I was surprised to discover how many people took the whole week off of work. It was more then I figured it would have been. The funny thing is that, when it’s been men taking the week off, their wives have all had their schedules all thrown out of whack. Funny that.

Well, I better go and get ready. I need to be their early (9:00 PM) to help get things set up. The service itself won’t start until 11:30 with a baptism happening at 10:30, but there’s still a lot to do. Happy almost Pascha everyone!

Looks like they found the gateway to hell, and it’s not San Francisco.

There also seems to be a back door to a similar place in the United States, however.

Ever wonder how to fold a napkin?

If Klingons were programmers…

My body still hasn’t recovered from my “time away”, but I am glad to be home!

I will write a more detailed post at a later point, but for now I am going to just post my review of the movie “I am Legend”.

I saw this movie expecting a “what would you do if you were the last person on earth” kind of theme with a zombie twist. The person who was the last one left, however, had an obsession that the general public can not identify with: curing a disease that caused vampirism (not zombieism). Will Smith’s acting was, of course, very good, but the movie suffered from a lack of content and a major inconstancy that the entire plot hinged on. There was no real effort made to explain how the main character survived, kept that bacon for three years, or managed to sustain indoor plumbing. It was very predicable and a little cheesy…especially the fact that people turned into vampires. That said, the special effects were pretty good.

3/5

This movie will not become legend.

After writing this, I made the discovery that the movie is based on a book by the same name that is, of course, way better.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Okay, my life at the moment is crazy!  I am currently doing training for the Fraser Health Authority on how to use some new software.  They have scheduled me for 16 hour days and prevented me from accessing internet while I am training.  Every once in a while I chatch a break and get access, but not offten.

I have had 15 minutes today during which I could eat something as the breaks that are between sessions seem to be filling up with other things to do.  It is completely crazy.

Also, I knew I was reliant on internet, but I had no idea I was this dependant on it.  No work email, no personal email, no blogging *cough*.  And, the hospitals often don’t take any credit card to pay for things so I had to transfer over money into my account…but I didn’t have internet!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

For those of you who know me and would like to visit, I will be on the mainland (all over the mainland actually) soon for work.  While I am there it looks like I am going to have 3 hour lunch breaks (counter balanced by 16 hour days) during which I will be able to visit people (or do whatever, really).  If you want to see me just send me an email and let me know.  Otherwise I will assume you hate me.  Just kidding.

The dates of my “travels” will be February 25th through March 8th.  If no one wants to visit with me I will use the time to sleep.