You're not thinking fourth dimensionally!

As some of you may have guessed, I am a huge fan of time travel entertainment. I find the entire concept fascinating, which is interesting because I also think that time travel is completely impossible. And I think that is what captures my imagination - it is impossible to do anything wrong in a time travel story.
Think of it this way: if time travel is impossible, that means that if you are going to do a time travel story then there are no 'rules' to follow except those that you set yourself. That means you can ignore the paradoxes that you want to and enforce the ones that suit your story. Anything becomes possible once you start at a point of complete impossibility.
I often find myself shaking my head at people when they start picking apart the 'logic' of time travel stories and start talking like experts on how it 'should' work. There is no 'should'. Even theoretically there are no rules for time travel. I don't really think there is any sort of scientist who has come up with theories about how time travel would definitely work. Using some of Einstein's theories it has been speculated that time travel may be possible, but only forwards, never backwards in time (which makes a return trip kind of hard).
That means, as soon as you have a time travel story then there are no dictums that must be kept. If you want it to be possible for a person to survive the murder of their own grandfather, then they can. How? I don't know, maybe once a person travels in time he/she is protected by a quantum force that sets him/her outside of the space-time continuum, meaning all other changes do not affect him/her, including the erasure of his own bloodline. Sounds like a paradox, but we've already broke the impossible barrier by having that person travel back in time, so what is wrong with having something else impossible happen? I say, nothing!
With all of those impossibilities thrown out of the window it then allows for any type of story to be told. The best way to tell the story, of course, is to pick a set of rules to follow and follow them, or to completely ignore the issue and tell the story. Really, it's up to the creator.
Best time travel movies in my opinion are: Back to the Future (Parts 1,2, and 3) and Butterfly Effect.
Best time travel stories are written by Phillip K. Dick. I've really only read his short stories, but there are a few that deal with time travel and they are very interesting. I highly reccomend reading his work.
Best time travel quote: "One hundred years ago? That's this year!" Doc Brown in Back to the Future III.

I'ma going to Germany!

And this is a copy of my support letter!

Salutaions!
There are many reason to write a letter. Sometimes you might have news (the future). Sometimes it is to catch up on past events (the past). And sometimes it is just to let people know how you’ve been (the present). Ever the over-achiever, I am writing for all of the above.
The Past
I was born on a warm summer morning in 1981. And then life happened and I found myself much older and on my way to Switzerland. As many of you know I spent some time in the land of chocolate and army knives this past summer working at an English camp. It was a different experience than any I had ever had before. I discovered that I love Europe, at least what little I had seen of it. There is a feeling there that is just different than anything her in Canada. I actually don’t have the words to properly describe it.
As for the camp itself, it was better than I had imagined it would be (and I had high expectations going in). The staff was made up of people from six different countries (Canada, Holland, England, France, Switzerland, and Germany_, yet after less than a week together preparing for camp it was like we had known each other for years. I have never seen such a diverse group gel so quickly before. It was like we were jell-o. I like jell-o.
When the campers arrived, I was expecting chaos, and I wasn’t disappointed. Yet somehow it was still organised. I now completely understand what organised chaos really is. I don’t know how we managed to pull it off. The camp house was not nearly large enough for what we needed. The kitchen was tiny and we only had one fridge with a fridge freezer for all of our food needs. Between my roommate and myself, my fridge at home is usually filled to capacity, and it is bigger than the one we had in Switzerland. Yet we somehow managed to keep everyone fed. We even had jell-o one night. Sure the kids didn’t like it (I guess jell-o was too exotic for them), but I was more than happy enough to finish their portion for them.
It is only by the grace of God that we got through. Everything about the camp screamed potential disaster. It was the first English camp being held in Switzerland by Janz Team. The staff was mostly rookies. The facility was inadequate. Yet there were no major problems. The kids got to practice their English. And more importantly we were able to show them the love of Christ through our actions and words. There was one young man in my small group who confessed to me that didn’t believe in God. Every morning the camp director would have a devotional time with the campers and send them off for some quiet time on their own, usually with a Bible passage that they were supposed to go through. Every day I saw this young man reading through the passage, walking around and seeming to at least consider the words he was reading. At the end of the week he still did not believe in God, but he did say that for the first time he had seen Christians showing love. I truly believe that in the future he will probably look back at the camp as a turning point in his life. I could fill a whole ream of paper with my experiences and thoughts of those two short weeks, but suffice it to say it was a learning experience. I was sad to be coming home at the end.
The Present
I returned from Europe and immediately wanted to go back. In the meantime I’ve been hanging out in Calgary, keeping busy with my work. Right now I am working as a sign installer, mostly at Home Depot, though we’ve done some work with Zellers as well. I travel around Alberta and British Columbia quite a bit, and work mostly night, but I don’t mind. It keeps me fed.
I have felt a bit listless since I returned. It took me a week to re-adjust to my time zone. I have been struggling as of late with what I am meant to be doing in my life. It is nice to know that the next couple of years have a definite plan.
The Future
And that plan is Germany. I have been accepted to work as an RA at the dorms at Black Forest Academy in Germany. I leave around August 6th. How do you say ‘yee-ha’ in German?
The school is a boarding school for missionary kids, a place where they can receive a good education while prepping them for a return to North American culture as many of them have spent most of their lives abroad and are soon going to be returning to Canada or the United States for college. For more specific information about the school I recommend visiting their website at http://www.bfacademy.com, or check out Janz Team Ministries website at http://www.janzteam.org.
My job is, in many ways, to be a parent to the kids in the dorms. I will help them with homework, make sure they are getting off to school on time, doing laundry, helping cook, etc. I will be there for two years, and I am so excited!
But I am not there yet. I will need some help. If I go without a tonne of prayer support then I may as well not go at all. This is not going to be a walk in the park. I will be challenged, stretched just beyond the point of breaking, chewed up, spit out, and trod upon. And I say 0 Bring. It. On! With support from back home and around the world, I may be bent, but I will never break. So please remember me in your prayers.
Of course, without financial support as well I will not get to go at all. In an effort to make the cost of the school as affordable as possible for the students the staff is required to raise their own support. The cost for me is going to be $1800/month. That may seem high, but I truly believe that it is a very reachable amount. There are two ways to contribute. One way is to give a one time gift. The second way is to give a regular monthly amount. If I were to get 36 number of people to contribute only $50 a month then I am set. And as always, tax receipts are sent out for all donations.
I encourage you who are web savvy (I love that word. Savvy) to check out my BLOG at http://pantssince1986.blogspot.com. I will be giving regular updates on my preparations and fundraising, and once I am in Germany I will continue to update with how things are going. And since it is my regular BLOG, it will also have my normal random posts. Check it out, leave a comment. If you have any other questions, email me at aliens8elvis@hotmail.com.
Again I ask for you prayers and support. Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling missive.

Darrell Ulriksen

P.S. If you would like to donate any money, email me and I will send you some pledge forms (or you can just get my address and send me the money directly - either way works.)

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 9 (See January 21)

A group of people were waiting to greet me as I left the examining room. They were all strangers to me, but that was no surprise. In the past few days everyone I had known had been killed, leaving me as alone as I've ever been.
"...and it's an honour to finally be meeting you." A hand was held out in front of me, and grasped it in a firm handshake. I realised that I hadn't been paying attention and they had started to make introductions. Honestly, I didn't much care.
The group started walking around the building. It wasn't much more than a large warehouse that had been gutted. A massive machine sat in the middle of the room, humming in the background. As I looked at it, I was a little disappointed. It looked rather frail. The man whose hand I had shaken saw me looking at it and grinned.
"I see you like our little device," he said expansively. The pride on his face led me to believe that this was the lead researcher on the project. I nodded, not ready to trust my voice in the overwhelming group that surrounded me. "Well, I'm glad you do. We've put a great deal of work into this project, and it was all for you. I couldn't be happier."
Something about how he said that tickled my mind every so slightly. His grin didn't seem as sunny as it had a moment before. I didn't have a chance to explore this thought because the doctor broke in at that point. "We don't have time to go into the details of the machine right now Doctor Stevn. Caz has to get prepped for the mission. There is a full briefing in a few minutes."
Dr Stevn nodded. "Of course, of course. We will talk later my dear." He walked away briskly, disappearing into a lab.
"Now, Caz," said a kindly woman, "your mission, as I'm sure you know, is very important to, well, the world. It seems like a great deal to handle on your own. But don't you worry. We have a whole cache of gadgets and information to make everything a snap. Come with me to the briefing room and everything will be explained."
Ten minutes later I found myself sitting in a small room at one end of a table. The room was featureless except for a large window that looked out over the warehouse. A set of stairs had led up to the room as it was situated at least a full storey above the groun. On the table there was a small holo-projector set in the middle. Two other people were in the room with me and that was enough to make it feel crowded. The projector came to life, starting to play a mini-drama, as the man on the left began to speak. "Many years ago there was an omen given to our people, a prophecy of great importance. That prophecy spoke of a dark time, a time when life would become unbearable for all those who live, where the dead were counted among the fortunate." Images of war and of pain played across the table as people were cut down in agony. "But admidst the suffering there would rise one who was able to lead them, one from a far-flung place not known to us now. He would be able to stop the uprising, but not alone. A brave warrior would be sent to find him and to bring him back. Together they would bring freedom to a land long oppressed." As the story came to a crescendo the images flashed quicker and it soon became possible to only see one man and one woman, surrounded by the swirling images, battered and bruised, but ultimately victorious. "That traveller, that warrior, Caz, is you."
I had already heard some of this, but this was the first time I was confronted with the whole story. "What...?" was all I could manage. I felt dizzy.
"I know it is hard to understand, but you must trust us on this." It was the same woman again. She was obviously very important. Everyone had been deferring to her ever since I first saw her. I studied her closely, and in response to her unanswered question she said "My name is Amanda Brun, and I run the organisation. And I have to say, I think you are holding up marvellously considering the circumstances." She smiled at me, but there was a great sadness there.
"Someone needs to start explaining things to me much less theatrically, and they have to do it soon." I was trying to be gruff, but it was mostly bluster and hot air. I was terrified.
Impressed with my spirit, Amanda smiled. "Very well. First things first." She reached down and handed me a pair of wristbands. "These will bring you back here to this machine-" she waved a hand at the centre of the warehouse "-as well as the one you are to retrieve. We don't know a great deal about him, but we do know he lived in the early 21st century and he went by the name Spin."
"21st century?" I rubbed my ears, and then my forehead where the headache was forming. "That's going to be a little tough."
The man stood up and looked out the window at the machine. "Doctor Stevn is a brilliant man, Caz, and he has managed to create something that no one thought possible. You will be able to return to the 21st century and find that which we seek."
I stared at his back and then turned my head to face Amanda, who nodded. "It's true, my dear. And with that invention we will be able to save our world. Now, let's get down to the specifics."
Before she could continue I heard a large crash from outside the warehouse, followed immediately by an alarm. Amanda looked up, her eyes wide. "They've found us!"
Pandemonium reigned downstairs. The sound of gunfire and explosions sounded louder and more frequent outside and on the inside armed men and women were running around, yelling things to each other. I followed Amanda as she rushed down the stairs. "We have to get you out of here. This base is compromised. We must regroup and..." Her thought was never finished as shot rang out, piercing her through the heart. Almost simultaneously the entire wall of the warehouse disintigrated, falling inwards with a crash that seemed to reverberate forever.
In the newly created hole I could see the uniforms of the M.E.R.C.s. I knew enough about them to realise that the building was surrounded. I had no escape. Frantically I looked around for a weapon, hoping to make a last stand. Instead my eyes fell upon the machine. With a sigh of resignation I realised that my path was set. Sprinting towards the machine I grabbed a lab technician hunkering behind a console. "Can you operate this thing?" I shouted to be heard above the sound of the gunfight being waged.
He looked at me in shock, then at the machine in front of us, and then back at me. "You're crazy, I hope you realise that." Moving quickly to small booth he flipped a few switches. "Luckily we have had it powered up all day. Go stand on the platform."
I moved towards the stairs, but stopped when he grabbed my arm. "One more thing - this is going to hurt like hell. I just thought you should know that!" He let me go and concentrated on preparing my departure.
Muttering oaths under my breath I climbed up to the platform as was immediately surrounded by energy. It glowed softly and then then more ferociously. The last sight I saw before it completely obscured my vision was the technician waving at me, and then being shot twice in the chest. I looked over to see the same man pointing his gun at me. As he squeezed the trigger the energy suddenly compacted itself around me, blinding me completely. A thousand hot knives followed by a thousand icicles followed by a peeling of the skin followed by shattering bones followed by rending muscles followed by stretched tendons followed by intense pressure followed by sudden darkness and wetness.
I stood for a moment, crying with the memory of the pain. Lights came towards me at a great speed and suddenly I jumped, feeling cold metal smash into my legs and glass shattering on my back. Without concious thought I clung for my life, holding on as I spun and whirled to a stop. Something below me opened and a figure leaned out, gagging. My hand fell limply down, brushing his head. "It's not to late," I breathed as my strength gave out completely. As I slid downwards I gratefully swam in the darkness that came to claim me.

Men!

I had a typical man moment today. I don't often have these, but today, I did. What happened is this:
Jeff and I are currently working on an acreage about 20km outside of Calgary, helping to renovate the basement. Today we had some wire things delivered that are to help with pouring concrete on the floor (at the moment it is just gravel covering dirt, but that will soon change). The person delivering them happened to be female. I figured she would be an older woman (though I had no reason to think that at all), but when I went outside to help offload them I was surprised to see that she was an attractive young woman. I went and was getting them off the back of the flatbed truck and some became stuck so I hopped up to get them unstuck. When I jumped up I destroyed my knee on the side of the truck. Rather than reacting I merely grimaced slightly and finished the task at hand. I then went inside and tried not to cry. My knee still hurts somewhat, and it turned purple where I hit it almost immediately.
Why this is a typical male moment is because the whole reason I didn't react at first and then went inside was because I didn't want to show any weakness in front of the cute girl.
It was really a silly thing to do. It's not like I had any reason to try and impress this woman. I would be shocked if I ever saw her again, and I wouldn't be hitting on her or anything if I did, so why should she care if I'm tough. And yet I refused to let it show.
I'm not usually like that, but every once in a while I catch myself trying to be macho. Men are so dumb.

The font in my dreams

You know, there are times when I just don't know exactly what to do. Quite often I feel like I have taken a step back from life and I see things without any sort of emotion or connection and I don't see much point to much. For example, every once in a while I just cannot enjoy eating. It seems to be so pointless. Making foods that taste so different and has a variety of smells and colours and textures just feels like a waste of time because you end up chewing it all up, only to do it again a little later in the same day.
Even to me, that sounds kind of silly. But there are times when it is not so silly. I find myself looking at all things in life that way and it gets me frustrated, especially when it comes to dealing with people. I feel like there are so many relationships (and I don't mean exclusively dating relationships, but just the relationships everyone has with everyone else) that are just made more difficult becuase there are things that just can't be said, certain truths that can't be revealed because it might make someone uncomfortable. Why does everyone have to hide so much?
I have an extreme nature. I tend to go from one end to another without having a stay in the middle ground. The big picture is completely visible to me, but I don't really see the brush strokes that make up the big picture. Except, what I'm talking about today might be described as seeing the brush strokes and nothing else, being incapable of seeing the picture for what it is.
How many people have been hurt because they just weren't able to say the whole truth, to be free with themselves and with others, complete with warts and rainbows? Frustration, to me, is realising that I am unable to give words of encouragement because they will be misconstrued and there is nothing I can do about it, so I would rather say nothing. What kind of solution is that?
My life is not perfect, I make mistakes like everyone else. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I do know that many of the struggles that I have endured have been because of my reluctance to actually vocalise my problems because I feel that people don't want to hear them - not because they don't care about me, but because there is a notion of me in their minds and people don't like their preconceived notions to be destroyed. But how many problems are better left covered up? I can't think of any.
This is where my extreme nature comes into play. I don't see the point of telling only some people. I want to just force people to confront their own feelings about any issue I might be having. If it makes them uncomfortable, I want them to face that feeling and see what they do with it. Isn't the Christian community supposed to be an open community, one that shares and uplifts all members? So why do I often feel like there are only a small number of people who might react well to brutal honesty.
If we are talking about brutal honesty, I have to say that I don't know how I would respond to someone else doing what I'm talking about. How would I face such openess? I can't say.
Having written all of this, I am unable to come to a conclusion even in my own mind. I tend to get impulsive sometimes, and that may happen again. Or it might not. Talk to me a week from now and I may have completely forgotten about what I talked about here. Or I may let you see more than I have ever shared before. I do know that whatever happens, it will most likely occur in writing. I am very weak in orating my ideas. But when I write something, I write what I mean (even if it gets a bit confused because I don't know what I mean).
I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned...

"Could they be the miners?" "Sure, they're like three years old." "MINERS, not minors!" "You lost me."

I watched Galaxy Quest last night. I love that movie. If you have not seen the show, I'll give you a quick run-down: It is basically a spoof of the Star Trek phenomenon. Tim Allen plays a man who starred in a Star Trek-ish show (Galaxy Quest) twenty years ago, and now he spends his time going around to various conventions and appearances as the captain of this space ship. The rest of the crew does so as well, but they are all less enthusiastic about it. For the most part they are all sick of it, but Tim Allen absolutely revels in the spotlight, almost acting like he really was the captain of a spaceship. The rest of the cast essentially hates him, and he doesn't really give much regard for their thoughts and feelings either.
And then one day some real aliens come and take them aboard their ship. They received the transmission of the TV show and had mistaken it for historical documents. They built a ship that looked exactly like the one from the TV show and want Tim to negotiate with their most hated villain.
Once he figures out that the ship is real he tries to convince the rest of the cast to go back with him. They decline at first, but then decide to go with him because they think he's talking about another paying job. So they all end up on the real space ship and they have to help these aliens defeat their enemy (a very nasty looking creature named Sarris).
So that's the premise of the movie. What makes it so funny is how the various characters are played. There's one character, the engineer (named Fred Kwan) who is so completely easy-going that nothing bothers him at all. In order to get to the ship a thousand light years away, they stand on a platform and covered with goo, and then the platform goes hurtling through space (and through a black hole) to the ship. All of them land on the ship and are in shock and completely unable to react at all. They just stand in one spot, shaking with fear. But when Fred comes through (he was a second behind because he was buying some snacks from a vending machine) he just smiles and says "that was a hell of a thing" and then he goes with Tim Allen to view the rest of the ship, casually asking "what's wrong with them?" before walking away. That's about when one of the others comes out of shock enough to scream at the top of his lungs. All throughout the movie he is completly unflappable. When the ship gets shot to pieces, he calls from the engineering room and repeats some highly technical jargon about what is wrong with the ship and how to fix it. He obviously has no idea what he is talking aobut because he is just an actor who doesn't actually know anything about a space-faring vehicle. When he is done giving the suggestion of the rest of the alien engineers, Tim, who is acting as the captain of the ship, agrees with what they say. So Fred turns around and says "that's right again. come on, group hug". I could go on about him, he slays me. His delivery was absolutely perfect.
Tim Allen, for his part, was pretty great as well. He is much like Fred in that nothing seems to bother him, but he is absolutely enthusiastic about everything. It doesn't even phase him that they are an unfathomable distance away from Earth on a real spaceship. He just figures they'll be able to operate it without problem.
The last character I want to mention is Guy. At the beginning of the movie, Guy is just the emcee who introduces them at the opening convention. Then we find out that he played the part of "Crewman #6" in the last season, in an episode where he died to show that the situation was serious. He doesn't even have a last name. Somehow he manages to go along with them into space and spends most of the movie worrying that he is going to die. He is the one who screams like a little girl when they first get on the ship. He's really funny as well.
Anyway, it's a fun movie, and shame on you if you haven't seen it yet.