Merry Christmas To All And To All A Good Night

Christmas 2006 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I'd like to wish my friends and family back home a very merry Chirstmas!

If I walk five minutes in one direction, I’m hitting golf balls at the driving range. If I walk five minutes in the other direction, I can go skating at the Pyramid. I’ve only been skating once with Mr. James’ class. The skates that they rent to you are indescribably terrible.

A Christmas tree that would make Clark W. Griswald proud

Palm tree snowman.

Outside the Pyramid.

Christmas 2003 in Fukuoka, Japan. I'd like to live in Fukuoka for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea. It’s very difficult to find a job in Fukuoka.

A picture from my favorite Christmas movie.

Is it December 13th?

Chillin in front of my beach bungalow.

It's too hot here. I had to go to the beach to cool off. I spent three days in Pangkor, Malaysia. It was awesome. I did absolutely nothing, which is how a vacation should be. It didn't rain at all while I was there. Pangkor is not really on the tourist trail. I hope to go back soon. My camera sucks and I really hate it.

My First Graduation

For those of you that don’t know, the students in the ICPU program at Taylor’s College earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) when they graduate. Here are a few pictures from the graduation ceremony.

I titled this post, “My Fist graduation” because I have a long tradition of never attending my own graduation ceremonies.

The VIP was David Summers, the Canadian High Commissioner to Malaysia. When I think about it, he’s probably the most important person I’ve ever shaken hands with (my life is sad). We enjoyed a nice catered lunch after the ceremony.

The ICPU director leading the students in the lighting of the candles. It's an ICPU tradition.

The ICPU students preparing for the graduation ceremony.

Mr. St.Garbage

Here I am on the last day of school. I was conducting portfolio interviews. You can see some writing in pencil behind me. It's some nice graffiti. I don't understand most of it though. There are at least four things written about me. The only one I can make out says, "Mr. St. Garbage". Future Taylorians are going to think I was a really bad lecturer.

Seriously though, I'm going to start being strict on graffiti.

In other news, I'm going golfing in Port Dickson tomorrow. Last time I was there I saw two gigantic lizards. Last night I was talking to my buddies and they said cobras were on the golf course. I don't know if they were just trying to gain a psychological advantage over me before the game tomorrow, but I’m really scared.

I'll post pictures tomorrow night.

The Laffer Curve

I just felt like posting these two pictures because I feel that they represent how I feel most days.




Many times I'm having so much fun, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing.

Sometimes I feel like this guy. I think I need to decrease the amount of notes I give each class. My general rule is that notes should not be taken for more than 20 minutes in a lecture.

CLASSIC QUOTE

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. "Voodoo" economics.

A Great Semester Comes to an End

The crew from Miles Greener.

There are probably about 1,000,000 I.B. pictures floating around the Internet. Here are a few samples. For some reason, many of the photos people sent to me don't upload. All of these were taken with my own camera.

Adrian getting ink done at the Lagoon.

Impossible is Nothing!

The Fresh Diamond team look optimistic about third quarter profits.

Professor Charles and Mr. Saint tackle an unsolvable math problem. Prof. Charles actually developed three theories in I.B. this semester. He combined them into one great theory called "The Profit Triangle".

Problem solved! I'll let Professor Charles have the Fields Medal. I don't need another one.

Here I am presenting the Award of Excellence to Swing. She is the C.E.O. of Fresh Diamond. She won't tolerate anything but excellence from her employees.

Ryan Sheng Jie Ming

Hey Ryan! If I come home this summer I'm going to the trailer. Ray, Lennie and Dave will show you young punks how to party "tralier park style".

Long Time No Blog

It’s been quite a long time since my last post. I haven’t lost interest in blogging. The problem is that the semester is coming to an end and everything is hectic right now. I have an overwhelming amount of marking to do. I spent all day Saturday at Taylor’s marking tests. Two pens ran out of ink. There was no aircon at the school, so I was dying. I stayed there because there are too many distractions at home.

Today I’m doing more marking. Another pen ran out of ink. You know you’re not having fun when cleaning your apartment seems like a great idea. This post is actually just another way for me to escape.

Four more days of classes! I.B. exam is Friday. At least I get about a week to mark them:)

I guess I'll sneak in a little message at the end of this boring post. Sandra is coming to visit me December 21st. If you're reading this Ryan, you owe me $20. You said four weeks and it's been almost six months. The easiest way for you to pay me is to click about 2000 ads.

Taylor's Volleyball Team

I am the staff advisor for the Taylor's Volleyball Club. All of the students in this picture are from the South Australian Matriculation (SAM) program. They are about to write their exams and graduate. The volleyball team will be down to about four people. I'm going to need to get my act together and advertise for new members next semester. My camera gets foggy in the rain.

FUBAR!!!!!!

Great costume.....or the greatest costume?

Phone Images

Probably the first picture I took with my phone.

Petaling St.

Downtown KL. I rarely get a chance to go.

The Petronas Towers.

A five star near my house.

Outside the Sheraton, where the ICPU teachers had a Chinese buffet.

Inside the Sheraton.

Did you know you can have pet monkeys here?

Stray cats are everywhere.

My school.

Shertaton banquet hall before the unveiling of Taylor's 10 year mission.

A beach in Penang.

The street beside the big lion in the first photo. This is right near my house.

An ugly picture of the pyramid. You can see a monorail track that never got completed. It's such an eyesore.

The first place I went golfing. A year long membership is about $150 CDN.

One man golf cart.

Your parking spot.

My parking spot.

Before my last taxi ride. 6:45 am.

7:00 am and still waiting.

I'm happy that I got picked up and only had to pay twice the meter rate.

Stray dogs right near my house. They have a healthy fear of man.

I ordered a coke to go. I didn't order a coke in a bag!

I forget what you call these things. My dad has one locked in the storage area. One of my students uses this to stay refreshed.

Anyways, I thought my phone was pretty darn good, but I found that it's a bit out of style. I can't buy an adapter to download pics to the comp. Luckily, one of my students has the old-skool adapter. He was nice enough to lend it to me for the weekend. Thanks Bobby!