Jeremie Wood's World Wide Website

	*News Archive*

	November 21 2007 Hey Folks, for those of you who aren't on Facebook, here are links to the photos of my brother Tim's wedding: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. November 06 2007 Hey Folks, With the advent of Facebook this web site has lost some of its raison d'être. I'll keep it around as an archive of photos from my various travels but I proably won't be updating it too much in the future... So if you haven't done so yet, come friend me on Facebook for all the latest goings-on in my life. Looking forward to hearing from you! P.S. The photo of the week may or may not get updated depending on how lazy I feel. From now on I'll probably be posting most of my new photos on Flickr. March 21 2007 For all you wordsmiths out there... Was randomly browsing the other day and I came across this article in Wired: Very Short Stories. Sci-fi stories, written in six words (or less). Just goes to show, a few words can go a long way (a principle to which I've always adhered ;-) February 26 2007 Came across this quote recently. It's so good, I decided I just had to post it to the front page: If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children, you hurt me, you hurt the planet. You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite God Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter further along its path back to God. – Stephen Pressfield, The War of Art February 14 2007 Valentine's day, geek style: r(θ) = \| π - \| 3π/2 - θ \|\|, 0 < θ < 2π December 28 2006 The Death Penalty Fuels Crime, by Howard Zehr December 20 2006 Hi Folks! I decided it's finally time to do something with the Flickr account I've had lying around for years now, so I've started off by uploading a selection of my "greatest hits" from the last 5 years. Check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremiewood. I think I'll use it to showcase some of my more artistic photographs, and keep the photo of the week section here on my website as more of a photo-blog type thing. We'll see what happens... P.S. For those who don't know, Flickr is a photo-sharing website. P.P.S. Merry Christmas! September 11 2006 September 11: The Price We've Paid, by Jonathan Raban. Condolences once again to those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. But let us not become complacent in our reaction to it and allow our governments free reign in the name of "security." Once again Ben Franklin's well-known quote comes to mind: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Amen brother. August 12 2006 Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir's photos on Flickr. Amazing, awesome, inspiring stuff. I just found out about her, but apparently she's the most popular photographer on Flickr, and you can easily see why. Check it out! August 08 2006 Why peace eludes the Middle East, by Jeffrey Sachs. Good article. July 26 2006 Farewell Congo... until we meet again. Good luck with the elections, eh? July 05 2006 Lunch with the President You never know who's going to show up when you're sitting having lunch in a nice hotel on the edge of lake Kivu... See photo of the week section for more details. May 27 2006 Yesterday I Went Home 19 years after setting out for far and distant lands, I finally once again set foot on the soil of Nyankunde, the town of my birth and home for the first 9 years of my life. It was somewhat saddening to see what has become of this once idyllic little town in the intervening years. In September 2002, Nyankunde was attacked and pretty much destroyed as a result of tribal conflicts and jealousies in this unstable part of the world. In the intervening 3 1/2 years, progress has been made, reconstruction has begun, the hospital is once again open for business, and the locals are beginning to return to their homes. But it is sad to see the many homes still without rooves (the tin rooves having been removed by looters) and the generally unkempt nature of what I remember as being such a tidy, well-kept little town. Unfortunately, we didn't have long, so I didn't have time to visit the whole town, but at least managed a quick tour of the hospital and a visit to our old home. The whole experience, though, was highly surreal, as if I'd passed into some darker, dirtier alternate universe. My mind recognized old shapes and forms, paths and buildings, but everything was shabby and forlorn, run down and ruined. Almost like some bad dream from which you hope you'll soon wake up. The hardest part, I suppose, was coming to terms with the fact that the old Nyankunde, the Nyankunde of so many happy memories, no longer exists. The old Nyankunde of lessons in the morning with mom and running wild in the bush in the afternoon with friends and roasting whole pigs by the swimming pool and bonfires at the end of the runway and going down in our white and blue minivan to meet the MAF airplane; the Nyankunde of going for hikes in the bush and climbing trees and church outside under the eucalyptus trees on Christmas morning... The old Nyankunde which I can still picture so clearly in my head; every house, every path, every tree (well, almost)... A place that was once home, a real, honest, true-to-goodness home, where we had our very own house, with my very own bedroom, now no longer home at all. The story of my life, I suppose. Old homes left behind, now strange places inhabited by strangers. Starting anew in new places, with new friends, new ways of living, new rules, new customs... Such is the life of a nomad like myself... The other interesting part of the trip was observing the general state of affairs in this part of the world. Everywhere along the road between Komanda and Bunia, UN troops are everywhere, barricaded behind barbed wire in various camps along the road (and government troops at various spots in between, asking for "tolls". Fortunately they leave us wazungus alone). One gets the feeling that if these UN troops were to leave, this part of the country would very quickly once again fall into lawlessness and anarchy. The truth, I think, is that at this point in time, the Congo (or parts of it) consists more or less of fedual fiefdoms ruled by various warlords, and the UN is the only thing currently holding it together. One can come up with various theories for why this is, but my theory is that there are various stages a country must go through on its way to becoming a nation-state and various prequisites for each stage. For example, maintaining control over an area as large as the Congo requires good communications and good roads (both of which are fortunately rapidly improving, thanks to cell phones in the case of the former and foreign aid in the case of the latter). And building a modern, democratic nation requires an atmosphere in which people percieve greater benefit to themselves through peaceful trading and commerce than armed aquisition and conquest, and a sufficiently robust economy that young men are able to make a better living through good, honest work than looting and pillaging as part of a roving militia. We in the west forget that it took over 1500 years to progress from the tribal conflicts of the dark ages, to the feudal kingdoms of the middle ages, to modern, industrialized, parliamentary democracies. The big question, of course, is whether the Congo can catapult itself into the 19th century with the upcoming elections at the end of July. I think the Congo has already done amazingly well to go from the stone age to the middle ages in just 150 years, but perhaps a parliamentary democracy is pushing it just a bit too much? One remains cautiously optimistic, but we shall see what we shall see... The good news, though, is that at the end of it all, Congo will belong to the Congolese. Ask any Congolese whether they would prefer to return to colonial days and they will quickly tell you that no, they would far prefer a little chaos and disorder to being under the rule of a foreign power. I've just finished reading English Passengers by Matthew Kneale and he very powerfully portrays the plight of the native aborigines as they were completely wiped out from the island of Tasmania. (They weren't treated much better in mainland Australia either, from what I've read). Likewise the native tribes of North America seem to have ended up with the short end of the stick. But though there will likely be more birthing pains along the way, at the end of it all, the Congo will be owned and run by and for the Congolese people. P.S. The world-renowned mangoes of Nyankunde are just as sweet and juicy as ever. P.P.S. Wow, long post! P.P.P.S. I've made a gallery of images from Nyankunde here. April 29 2006 Travelling Again Hi folks. Some of you may have heard that I've been feeling a little under the weather lately. So I'm off to the Congo to stay with mom and dad for 3 months in the hope that a little fresh air and sunshine and parental love and care will do me some good. I'll be sure to post a few pictures when I get there. January 15 2006 Hi all. I came across this really good website a while back and I've decided that it's so good I just have to let the rest of you know about it. It's called Baghdad Burning and it's a blog about the war in Iraq written by an Iraqi. If you have any interest in the issues surrounding the Iraq war whatsoever, it's mandatory reading. Hope you find it as thought-provoking as I did. September 09 2005 Hey boys and girls! I decided to put together a gallery of some of the QuickTime VR panoramas I made during my travels in Austria. These are 360° views which you can scroll around and zoom in and out of. Almost as good as being there! If you've got a fast Internet connection, check them out here. June 06 2005 Things to do on a rainy Saturday ...include going to Kitzbühel to see a classic car rally. After all, why not? My favourite was the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso. As Ferris Buehler would say, "It is so choice." Other notable vehicles included a couple of gull-winged Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupes and a nice selection of classic Porsches and Jaguars. Jaguar XK 140 DHC Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe Porsche 356 Speedster Ferrari 250 GT Lusso February 05 2005 Party Time The beginning of February means that in Venice it's time once again for Carnevale. I was offered the chance to go again this year so of course I naturally jumped at the opportunity. Wasn't quite as happening as the last time I went (seems we picked a bad day to go) but I still had a great time. And, of course, Venice being Venice you can't go wrong no matter what's going on. This time around I created a photo gallery so you can see a few more of the amazing costumes. December 17 2004 December 3rd, 2004 - This date featured the grand gala opening of Imagantia, a photographic exhibition featuring mainly the Pinzgau region of Austria. Together with my associate Natalia Borecka, we mounted an exhbition of original photographs in the Kaminzimmer here at Schloss Mittersill. It was a great success; all the reviews were good, everyone had a great time, and we managed to sell over 2/3 of the 110 works on display. A lot of work to put it all together, but all in all a wonderful experience. See the photo of the month section for a shot of the event. September 05 2004 Adventure with a capital A Well, I read in the newspaper a while back that there was some sort of big sporting competition going on in this part of the world this summer. Something called the Olympics. Or something like that. Anyhow, it sounded fun, so I figured I had to go. So I got together a posse of brave adventurers and we set off. The group included Drake and Emily Lawhead, Kathryn Hanson, and myself. Unfortunately, Kathryn got stopped at the border to Macedonia due to visa problems. But the remaining three of us made it all the way to Athens and had a wonderful time. We saw some beach volleyball, cycling, table tennis, and mens' gymnastics (beach volleyball was the best, no question there). We wandered around Athens, saw the acropolis, temple of Zeus, and sampled genuine Greek baklava and yoghurt with honey (seriously good stuff). In short, we had a great time! We also figured that accomodation in Athens would be highly overpriced, so we planned our itinerary so that we could sleep on the train. Our trip to Athens took 36 hours, we spent 18 hours in Athens, and then we got back on the train for the 40 hour return journey. But it was worth it. Our route took us through the Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia and the scenery was gorgeous every bit of the way. And with books to read or cards to play, even 40 hours on the train passes quickly. We also had a 3 hour stop over in Ljubljana on the way back; just enough time for a quick sightseeing trip to the center of the city. Beautiful little place. Highly recommended if you're looking for a cute little undiscovered part of Old Europe to explore. So as they say, all's well that ends well. Kathryn ended up having a wonderful time in Serbia even though she wasn't able to make it all the way to Athens. And the other three of us made it to Athens and back and saw the Olympics, all for only € 248 per person. Check out the photos in the photo gallery I've created specially for this trip. And then a week later, just for good measure, I popped over to Budapest for five days and had a look around. Another great place to visit. Had a great time. I've put some photos from that trip in the photo of the week section. Enjoy! July 11 2004 Travelling Again Yes, that's right, I'm off travelling the globe again. Just back from St. Louis, where I had a wonderful time. I've posted a few pix in the Photo of the Week section. Next up: Kiev, Ukraine, after a brief stopover in London. June 21 2004 Website Updates Hey folks... just added a few new sections to my photo gallery. Finally got around to uploading the photos of my trip to the Congo in March of last year. Yes, I know, took me long enough. I also uploaded a bunch of photos from my time at the Schloss and a selection of touristy-type snapshots from my worldwide wanderings. Enjoy! P.S. In the course of updating my website, I noticed that the frequency with which I refer to myself with words such as "cute" or "good looking" or "stud muffin" or other such terms (hover your mouse over my portrait above for an example) is rather alarmingly high... What to make of this, one wonders? Any amateur psychologists in the audience? Narcissism? Over-inflated ego? Or perhaps the opposite; some deep, lurking insecurity? I leave it for you to ponder... P.S.S. Yes, I know, my photography website is currently "hors de service". It is at present without a home. One day soon I shall resurrect it. But not now. February 01 2004 Happy New Year! Ok, so I'm a month late, so sue me. Happy 1st of February, if you prefer. Or happy un-birthday, in the case that it happens to be your un-birthday (which it probably is :-). Quick update on my life for those of you I haven't been in touch with recently: I'm now in Hamilton (Canada) and working for McMaster University while I plot the next step in my plan for world domination. My contract with the university is only for another 4 months, so who knows where I could be five months from now. Opportunies abound. Stay tuned. August 14 2003 Hi Boys and Girls! I've just completed a major update of my photography web site. Check it out at www.jeremiewoodphotography.com! It now includes photos from my recent travels to Vienna, Copenhagen, London, and Paris. Sorry, no photos from my Africa trip yet. Those are coming soon, I promise! P.S. For those of you with whom I haven't been keeping in touch via email, I'm now finally back in Canada and currently looking for a job. More updates to follow soon! March 09 2003 Hello Everyone! Life has been exciting in this part of the world. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to go to Venice for Carnival! Lots of fun. Lots of people. Lots of partying. Great times. But the even bigger news is that I'm off to visit my parents in the Congo for a month. That also means I won't be checking my email for the next month. However, in an emergency you can reach me at oicha_hospital_aim-drc@aimint.org. Please, no pictures or fancy graphics - the email all comes in by satellite phone and it's very expensive. I'll be sure to post some pix when I get back. In the meantime, I've posted a pic of me at Carnival. Enjoy! January 04 2003 Happy New Year Everyone! Just thought you all might be interested to know that my parents were recently mentioned in the Hamilton Spectator as a result of their trials and tribulations in the Congo. You can check it out here: Hamilton Spectator article. I'm proud of my parents and the work they do, even if there is occasionally a danger to their lives, and I pray that God will richly bless them in all that they do. December 04 2002 Long time no update! Sorry about that. But then, given my track record, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise... The big news is that I finally have my photography web site up and running! Check it out at www.jeremiewoodphotography.com. It features a selection of the photographs I've taken over the past year here in Austria and on my travels. Check it out and see what you think. Next update to follow in a couple of months ;-) Till then, keep safe and don't work too hard! August 22 2002 Hello peoples! As always, welcome to my web site! The big news is that I've finally got around to posting some pix of my holidays with my good friends Doug and Keith. We did a little sightseeing here in Austria, popped up to Germany to check out Schloss Neuschwanstein (you know, the really famous one) and then visited Scotland for a week to see the home of Keith's ancestors and the site of Doug's favourite movie. Anyhow, you can check out the photos here. Have a great day! May 09 2002 Hi Boys and Girls! I haven't updated the news on my website for 5 months now, so I figured it was about high time I got around to it. Let's see... I'm still at Schloss Mittersill, really enjoying it here, enjoying the opportunity to do see a different part of the world, meet some cool people, and read some good books. I'm currently planning to be here until the end of July. I just got back from a trip to Italy and Greece, helping out a couple that's moving to Albania. Had an absolutely amazing time; beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, and some nice sightseeing in Venice. I'll be posting a few pictures from that trip over the few weeks so you can see what it was like. Well... Guess that's all for now. Have a great day! January 21 2002 Got sent this poem by my friend Karen the other day, and I really liked it so It thought I'd post it here for you all to read. Very appropriate for those of us who have lived nomadic lifestyles and aren't quite sure where to call home. I have no place that I am from except for where I've been, And somehow everywhere I went, from there I came from then. Though given time I could explain just where it was I've been, Suffice to say that where I'm from is beginning once again. January 01 2002 Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2002! Best wishes and all that sort of thing. Quick update on my life: Things are great here at Schloss Mittersill. Had a great New Year's celebration. At midnight, all the different towns and farms all up and down the valley set off fireworks, making for a great communal fireworks display. I took a few pictures but they didn't turn out very well, so I posted a picture of the Schloss at night instead. My current plan is to stay on here at the Schloss until next summer, probably around June or July. After that, who knows? We'll work that one out when we get to it. In the meantime I'm keeping busy here cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, doing dishes, mopping floors (Ma, you'd be proud of me!) and reading a few good books every now and then. Hope you are all doing similarly well. Have a great New Year and feel free to come visit me here anytime you want! October 04 2001 Well, things are going well here at the Schloss. The people here are great and it's just a really fun, warm, relaxing commmunity to live and work in. The past three days I've been doing some painting outside, and since the weather's been absolutely gorgeous it's been lots of fun. Today it's a little more grey and it's spitting rain, so I'm doing more indoorsish type stuff. Check out this week's photo of the week; I've finally got around to putting together a nice panorama of the view from the front of the Schloss. The scenery here really is absolutely breathtaking (did I say that already?), especially after living in southern Ontario for the past little while, and I love being able to look out the window and see snow-capped mountains in the distance. Yesterday, because the weather was so beautiful, a few of us took a half day off and went to Hintersee, a beautiful melting-snow-fed lake up in the mountains. I'll post some pictures of that soon. In the meantime, enjoy the panorama of Mittersill and environs. September 29 2001 Change of plans... Well, life continues to keep me on my toes. Lee Abbey have been a little while responding and they say they may not get around to making a final decision on whether or not they want me until the end of October. So in the meantime, I've accepted an invitation to volunteer at a similar place by the name of Schloss Mittersill in Austria. Therefore, this past Wednesday, I boarded a train in Guildford, and 22 hours later I got off in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The scenery here is absolutely breathtaking; beautiful, snow-capped mountains all around, charming little cottages perched on the hillsides with gorgeous flower boxes, and just generally beautiful scenery wherever you look. I'll post some pictures shortly so you can all have a look as well. So far I've just been relaxing and taking it easy here. After two days just enjoying the scenery and getting to know the people here, I'm already feeling refreshed and ready to tackle some new challenges. Monday I start work, so we'll see how that goes. The adventure continues! September 18 2001 Well, guess what? After much toil and trouble, I am now safely on the other side of the Atlantic, in England! I was scheduled to fly out of Toronto on September 13, and at first it looked like I wouldn't make it, what with the massive disruption in flights as a result of the terrorist attacks in America. But after some last minute phone calls to the airline, it turned out they were going to let us fly after all. The line ups at the airport were huge and everything took twice as long as usual because of all the extra safety precautions (get this: the airline even went to the trouble of replacing the silverware that usually comes with our meal with plastic cutlery!) so although we were scheduled to take off at 9pm, it wasn't until 2am that we finally got off the ground. But here I am, safe and sound at last! So what next? As I mentioned earlier, I'm hoping to join the Lee Abbey community for 8 months to a year starting as soon as possible. However, they're still waiting on some paperwork, so it'll be a few days yet before I find out one way or the other what's going on. I'll let you all know as soon as I know more about my future plans, but in the meantime, take care and don't work too hard. Oh yeah, and make sure you check out this week's photo of the week! September 11 2001 The Day The World Changed Forever... Deepest condolences to those in the U.S. (and elsewhere) who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. Let us hope that this is not a harbinger of things to come. September 02 2001 Update on Jeremie's life: First of all, I have finally graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Computer Engineering. It seemed like a bit of a hard slog at times, but I made it! Yee-haw! For this summer I have been keeping busy doing contract programming in Waterloo. However, I've been wanting to take a bit of a break from computers for a little while now, so I've decided to do something a little different this fall... Namely, I've applied to a Christian retreat centre in England called Lee Abbey. I hope to be able to join them and work with them there for 8 months to a year. I've always sort of admired the monastic lifestyle, and I think washing dishes and making beds will make for a wonderful change from 6 years of sitting in front of a computer. I've submitted my application to them, but have yet to hear anything definite in return. After that, who knows? God alone knows what the future holds.