That last one particularly sticks with me. A couple of weeks ago, while my family was driving on the 401 to Kingston for my sister’s graduation, we witnessed something I had only seen in the news. We witnessed the motorcade for Private Alexandre Peloquin, a Canadian soldier who was recently killed in Afghanistan. If you don’t know what happens with Canadian soldiers who are killed in battle, then this may sound odd that seeing black cars speeding pass me in the opposite direction for brief moment sticks with me. Its much more than that. Let me explain.

The portion of highway 401 between Trenton & Toronto has been renamed the “Highway of Heroes.” It is this stretch of highway that all Canadians killed in action is driven down, from the air force base in Trenton, to the morgue in Toronto. Every-time this horrible trek happens, something amazing happens as well. Canadians from all backgrounds, veterans & civilians, men & women, young and old, gather on the bridges above the Highway of Heroes to pay their final respects for the fallen soldiers. Some sit, most stand, some salute, some wave flags; they all remember. And that’s why that trip to Kingston sticks in my mind so much. Not just the fact that I saw the motorcade pass by, but also witness the reverence and respect my fellow countrymen had for our fallen soldiers. It was really quite something.

So never forget. Don’t only remember those who past away who made the headlines. Remember the lesser knowns and the unknowns as well. Somebody loses a son or daughter, brother or sister, friend or family, every-time someone dies.

Always remember.

Imagine a day where you fully open up. Fully Embrace. Fully receive. Fully open up to the love from above. Fully embrace your true potential. Fully receive the Holy Spirit.

Imagine a day where you are truly spontaneous. Where everything you do comes out naturally from your ingrained character. A character born from the one above.

Imagine the possibilities. Imagine the joy. Imagine the hope. Imagine the unimaginable.

Now imagine a life filled with these days…

Well, you can definitely (and should) look at each party’s platform on the issues like the economy, education, health care, job creation, tax increases/decreases, etc. Those are absolutely important factors in deciding who you vote for, but I challenge you to look at more. The aforementioned issues really only deal with our own country. What about the rest of the world? And I’m not just talking about foreign policies/relations. What about AIDS? What about poverty? What about all the injustices in the world? As one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world, we have a responsibility to those countries in need. Our leader must be one who is committed to this responsibility and acts on it. Not only should he/she look out for our country’s best interest, but also the world’s.

So when it comes time to cast your ballot, I hope everyone will consider not only the domestic issues, but also the world issues.

“Never forget, JUSTICE is what LOVE looks like in public!”

Communication. Things like facebook and MSN messenger are great. You’re able to communicate with people around the world. Distance is no longer an obstacle. Don’t forget about e-mail and blogs as well. Simply awesome. I’ll admit, I hated facebook when it first came out. I joined initially because a friend told me it was great. Truth be told, it sucked when I first joined. There were only 3 Canadian universities on facebook when I first joined and no features. Except poking, the most useless facebook function ever. No photos, no videos, no cool apps. It was basically an online popularity contest. But I have to admit, over time, facebook has become an excellent communication tool. Catch with old friends you haven’t seen in years, plan events and parties easily, share your pictures and videos with friends effortlessly. Good stuff.

Purchases. Get anything and everything from the internet. No longer are you bound to buying what’s close by. If you can find it on the net, you can buy. How very convenient! I especially love buying a lot of my music online now through iTunes. I’ll still buy CDs whenever I find a good deal, but iTunes is great. Not only is it cheaper, but often times, if I pre-order, I get bonus tracks that aren’t released on the CDs. Sweet!

Entertainment. With sites like youtube, how can you go wrong for entertaining yourself. Who know how many countless hours I’ve spent watching stuff on there. I love it. Not only can you entertain yourself, but you can also discover new things. One thing I never thought I’d use the internet for is discovering new music talents. I’ve always found out about new artists through the radio and friends. But now I’m discovering cool artists by just browsing the net. My personal favourite right now is Jennifer Chung. A sweet girl from Cali with an amazing voice and songwriting skills to match. Here’s my favourite song of hers:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zar6Lx9-Riw]

Speaking of entertainment, check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Joss Whedon + Neil Patrick Harris + comedy + musical = awesomeness. Seriously, check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Now, unfortunately, it isn’t all good. With all this freedom opened up with the internet, it’s also given voices to people who frankly shouldn’t be talking. Hate groups and hate websites are unfortunately on the net. So are disgusting things like child pornography. I’m pretty sure this stuff only makes up a very small sliver of the internet, but it still saddens/angers me that people would put stuff up like that.

Back to the good stuff. There are many more communication tools that I haven’t mentioned, but there is one I’d like to highlight before I end this post: twitter. For those of you don’t know what twitter is, it’s basically a tool where you can post short messages about what you’re doing at that moment. Friends can subscribe to your feed and be in the know about your doings. It’s suppose to let people know what you’re doing in between blog posts. Now I’ve received a few invites for this over the last few months, but I’m still skeptical, seems like it’s a pretty thin line between twittering and stalking. Do I really want people knowing what I do on a hourly basis? Do I want to know what others are doing on an hourly basis? I just don’t know. What do you think?

If you read my last post, I left a quote hinting at what my this post would be about. Johnson was able to guess correctly (and amazingly quick too: he commented on my facebook note a mere 36 minutes after it had been imported from here. and just to be sure I saw his answer, he again posted a comment on my original post…oh Johnson, so keen). So, what’s this post about? Wong Fu Productions! bonus points to Johnson, just as I promised!

If you know who and what Wong Fu Productions is, then you already know what I mean by “oodles of talent”. If not, allow me the privilege of being the first to introduce to them to you.

Wong Fu is made up of 3 guys from Cali, (Phil, Wes, & Ted) who went to school together at UCSD and now live together post-uni, and create some of the best videos I’ve ever seen. They started out creating these lip-sync music videos and soon expanded into creating shorts and even created a full-length feature film, all while finishing their post-secondary education. They’ve become a huge hit on the ‘net, with fans from all over the world (myself included) and are continuing with their media-making endeavours as their career now.

What makes their videos so good? Well, there are their comedic ones (like Yellow Fever) which just make you crack up like nothing else without being obscene or dirty. And then there are their more “serious” videos. These are the ones that fuelled my obsession for their work. Many of their videos are based on relationships, not just the romantic kind, but friendships as well. These are done so well, they’re just so real, something that most people can relate to, and something I definitely can relate to. My personal favourites are Just a Nice Guy and You’ve got a Friend. If you’ve got a half hour to spare, I definitely recommend you check these two series of videos out. Well worth your time. If you don’t have much time, check out this music video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPEm7oWHd0&rel=1]

Now, if writing, directing, producing, editing, and whatever else goes into making these videos wasn’t more than enough evidence to show you what creativity and talent these guys have (and it is), they’ve got more up their arsenal. They’re also amazing photographers, animators, dancers, and composers. Not all 3 of them do all these things, but each of them do a few and do it very well. Talk about creative talent. Check out all of their stuff at wongfuproductions.com and you can see why I’ve got a bit of man-crush on these guys.

PS to all of you who wished me a happy birthday yesterday whether in person, facebook or text message: THANK YOU! I’ll never cease to be amazed with how many great people I know. Thanks and if I don’t see/talk to you in the next week or so, have a very Merry Christmas and a super awesome Happy New Year!