My Top 50 Favourite 70-80's Songs: #3-#2

I am getting down to my favourite song from the 70's and 80's, but there are two more songs that are listed before #1. Here are songs #3-#2.

3. Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

I've only known this song for 2 years, but it's an excellent song. I love the music, and the chorus part is great to listen to. It's also a long song, and I'm a fan for songs over four and a half minutes. It is up here because it reminds me of life, both the lyrics and the soundtrack. This track was released in 1981.

2. Village People - YMCA

Yay! This song has been a classic of mine, known this song since 2009. The beat is high-tempo, and making the letters with the hands is fun. Also, the lyrics are great, and overall, this song is up here because it's enthusiastic. This track was released in 1978.

Here's a bonus clip relating about the YMCA song. This was performed on AGT in 2016, and I loved the performance. Take a look for yourselves. 

Only one song left to go. This has been an on-off series, but all these songs have meant something in my life. Number one song coming up during the weekend.

NBA: Trevor Booker Circus Shot With 0.2 Seconds Left

On January 9, 2015, there was a game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Gordon Hayward of the Jazz tried to inbound the ball with 0.2 seconds left on the shot clock. He passes the ball to Trevor Booker who just got in the post up position. Watch what happens next.

Here is Root Sports Broadcast (Jazz) 

Play starts at 0:40

Fox Sports Oklahoma Broadcast (Thunder)

(The Thunder won the game 99-94 BTW)

A few days later, the Phoenix Suns team attempt to reenact the play during practice for fun. Check out how they did.

Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 4

Please read Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 1, Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 2, and Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 3 first! Okay, if you have read it, then on to part 4. I have decided to add a fifth to add small events and my thoughts on the trip.

There is one major event that happened on day 1 that I did not add, I will start with that first.

About 6:45 PM (The 45 min free time period)

Our leaders announced that we would write letters to each other. You can write to as many people as you want, and you can write a simple "thanks" or "hello", or write a paragraph, but must fit the small slips of paper that your leader gave you. When I heard this, I was quite happy because there are people who deserve a letter from me. I made 6 letters and 2 smiley faces, so I sent about 1/4 of the group a letter, which seems fair to me. One rule was that it has to be positive. The goal of this was to write to people you normally wouldn't write to, and there was one person that applied to that that I wrote to (won't say who).

8:45 AM (Back to day 2)

We went back to our cabins and packed up more, I brushed my teeth, Jesse cleared his bed, Justin cleaned the floor, everyone in my cabin was working productively.

9:15 AM

Everyone was finished early packing up, including the other cabins, so we all chatted around and going to other cabins. I wrote one more letter to someone, and that was it.

9:45 AM

We arrived in the common room to put our letters in envelopes and after that, we had Mass.

10:00 AM

Mass was fine. I made a few notes that happened during the next hour, though.

• Jericho slept during the homily by leaning his head on a pillar. LOL.
• During the peace be with you segment, there was a lot of shaking hands, and someone fell I think.
• The friar performed Mass well, no mistakes.
• The bread and wine came around during communion, and I got my bread, but when the wine came around and was offered to me, I did this to Marcus:

• No, I did not make that face. But that cup is disgusting when I saw that half of the people decided to drink wine from the cup (I was the second to last person to get the bread/wine)

11:00 AM

After Mass, we went back to our cabins and just had more chatting, inside and outside the cabins. Nothing much, just waiting for lunch.

11:45 PM

For our final meal at Loon Lake, it was make your own wrap or make a sandwich. For desert there was banana bread (or cake?) and a raisin (or cranberry?) cookie. I had a sandwich and put ham and cheese in it, and I got 2 cakes and a cookie. What kind of cheese did I eat? It tasted bad. I originally thought it was banana bread, but it was very sticky that I passed my second cake to Nico. This was my least favourite meal out of the four.

Was It Banana Bread 

Or Banana Cake??

Meal Rank'em Time

1. Breakfast

2. Lunch (Day 1)

3. Dinner

4. Lunch (Day 2)

12:30 PM

The teachers gave the leaders the letters, and Liam passed my envelope to me. I told Myles that these letters were just a popularity contest, but when I got my letters, I was shocked how many wrote to me. I got:

11 Letters

Wow. I did not expect that many! I got a simple "thanks" from one person, Liam sent me a looong paragraph (he sent everyone in our cabin one), Then I read Brett's letter: 

God of poker? (I think so.) That was funny. All the letters were positive and thoughtful. Myles and I traded envelopes and his were great, too.

1:00 PM

The shuttle buses arrived, and it was time for us to go. How sad, as it was a sunny day, but we had to leave someday, and I had an excellent time overall.

So that's Loon Lake in a nutshell! Stay tuned for Part 5 as I break down the bus rides and other facts about this Loon Lake adventure.

Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 3

Please read Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 1 and Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 2 first! Okay, if you have read it, then on to part 3. There will be 4 parts to this series and maybe a fifth to add small events and my thoughts on the trip.

11:00 PM

I went on my phone to check some Toronto Raptors highlights (they beat the Pelicans 122-118), and the Seattle Seahawks highlights (they beat Arizona 22-16). I was going to sleep before 12 AM but my cabinmate, Jessie, slept early at 11:15 PM. Oh well, I might as well sleep sooner than later. After playing an app game called "Rider" (it's a great time-killer game), I slept at 11:30 PM. In fact, all the people in my cabin slept prior to midnight.

Day 2

1:00 AM

Wow. I was sooo hot in my sleeping bag that I woke up in the middle of the night. Even Jessie woke up, and it took a long time to go back to sleep. We both had to use the bathroom, and it extremely hard to get into a good position to get sleeping again. I tried using the sleeping bag as a bedsheet then put clothes on top of me to get warm, but it was COLD. Then I tried using the sleeping bag as a blanket, and that too was hard. Oh well. It took Jessie and I hour to go back to sleep. I even played on my phone a bit. Unfortunately, I had to conserve my battery as it was falling under 33% with half a day to go.

6:30 AM

At last, it was morning. I did my routine of going to the bathroom and using the toilet and gargling in the sink. I drank some water and found out I was the first person in my cabin to wake up. So it was a quiet start to the morning.

7:00 AM

I decided to go outside to see the morning view of how peaceful the water and the nature were outside. I even had a small chat with someone about how wonderful life can be by just looking at the scenery. Also, I was able to sneak a zoomed-in photo of the water later on in the morning. Back in the cabin, people started waking up and we started to pack our belongings early, which was good. 


7:45 AM

Quick meet-up in the common room, and I've learned that other people were up in their cabins until 2-3 AM. I'm like: "Oh my goodness! How do they do that?? They can chat for 3 hours?? Unbelievable." There was also people sneaking into other rooms instead of staying in their own room. I was told that there were 6 or 8 people in David's room at one point. Wha?

8:00 AM

If I had to pick the best meal, this wold be the one. Hash browns. Bacon. Eggs. Fresh Cantaloupe. I'm in heaven! I filled my stomach up, because I inferred that it would be a light lunch for me. Anyways, some of my cabinmates and friends were hoping for pancakes, but there weren't any. :( There also was cereal, sausages, french bread, and more fruits to pick from. I was hoping for milk, but it was only 2% milk. I only drink 1% or skim milk.

My breakfast, except no bread and more bacon. (I got this photo online)

So that was the nighttime and morning for me, we will start at 8:45 AM next time. Below/on the right is a picture I found of us on the field playing capture the flag.

Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 2

Please read Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 1 before reading this! Okay, if you have read it, then on to part 2! BTW, I don't know if there will be 3 or 4 parts to this yet.

4:00 PM

We played capture the flag for about 45 minutes. There was a group photo before we started, and we were deciding what the teams were.

FINAL TEAMS

Liam's and Alex's Cabin vs Danesh's and Sean's Cabin

This game was fun. There was lots of people running around and many people saving each other from jail. But there was limited capturing the flag because it was too hard with a couple people puppy-guarding both of the flags! I got caught 3 times but protected jail quite well. After about 20 minutes, no one scored a point for their team, so we changed the rules that if you run with the flag and get caught, you drop it, and another teammate can pick it up. Eventually, someone was bound to score, right? Well, it was still VERY hard to score. But after another 15 minutes, my teammate Jasper L. went Speedy Gonzales and got the flag from the opposing team. Therefore we got to eat dinner first. We were all very hungry to eat because of all the running.

5:00 PM

There was one more group talk that lasted for 45 minutes, then it was dinner time! We also got a special guest with us, and he was a friar. I liked him.

6:00 PM

For dinner, there was chicken, mashed/cooked potatoes, and you can add some gravy and melted cheese. The was a small cake tart with whipped cream on top on desert. I easily had the chicken and the cooked potato slices, and it was yummy. I regret not dipping it in the melted cheese, though. During dinner, my cabinmate Nico was joking that he was tired and wanted to sleep at 8:30 PM. But there was plenty of events left to go!

6:45 PM

We have the longest free time session, which lasted for about an hour. Most of my group played card games, like Bastard (which is Big 2 but a variation) and cheat. I correctly guessed the bastard (LOL Justin M) and won the game. I came second in cheat, as Liam won the game. Elsewhere, some people did some "funny stuff", and in the other cabins I heard there was lots of chatting and laughter.

7:45 PM

We had ANOTHER group talk, and since we finished early, I got time to take a shower. And WOW! The shower looked and was clean. It felt good to take a shower, and I felt energized for the next event.

8:15 PM

Back in the common room, we had to pick out a picture on the ground and it front of everyone, describe what it was, and how you relate to it. At first, when I got my picture, I was laughing with two friends (shoutouts to Ryan D. and Brendan L. [3x already!]) that my picture was funny, but I realized that it actually compared to me well. The picture was a man giving up his clothes and food to another man, who looked homeless, and the giver had his arm around the other man's back. That's me in a nutshell. I care about people, especially my friends. ^_^

9:00 PM

(Still in common room)

By then it was very dark outside. The leaders told us to relax and lay on the ground, while they put on some peaceful, sleepy, music. They had a slideshow of the night sky, and it felt amazing. I felt comfortable laying on the ground with friends, and I loved it.

9:30 PM

Since we finished early, we went back to our cabins and cleaned up, getting ready for bed. I personally went to the big cabin to snoop on some people, chatted with a few friends in the upstairs cabin, and talked basketball. At 10:00 PM, I went back to my cabin, read a book for a bit, said goodnight to my cabinmates, and rested on my bed. 

10:30 PM

The lights went out at 10:30 PM, but the fun was just starting. 

Part 3 up tomorrow, where we start off at 11:00 PM.

Loon Lake Camp Retreat Part 1

(This will be divided into 3 or 4 parts, this will be very long)

Between Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, 2017, I went to Loon Lake Camp in Mission, BC, along with 31 other people. Our leaders were very helpful and let the retreat well. It was great camping and having fun with friends. Although sleeping was rough, the atmosphere was good. More on that later. Below was the house cabin that I slept in. I was surprised on how tidy it was. 

There were two cabins that accompanied 16 people each with 8 rooms, and a third cabin that accompanied eight more. The cabins had a small living room, with 2 bathrooms that also had a small shower. The bathrooms were sooo clean and had a good smell. Here is another view of the two big cabins.

Day 1

We arrived at Loon Lake at around 10:30 AM. It was raining at that time, but not too hard. In the room we all meet up in (called the Common Room), Our leaders put us in pre-selected cabins, and I was in an OK cabin. My leader was Liam, and my cabinmates were Myles and a few other people I was somewhat close with. But there were better cabins, such as:

(You asked for it Brendan L.)

CABIN POWER RANKINGS (My thoughts when first heard the cabin names)

#1: Danesh's cabin: (Shoutout to Julian V. and Brendan L.)

#2: Alex's cabin: (Shoutout to Gabriel T.)

#3: Liam's (My) cabin: (Shoutout to Myles M., Anish V., and Justin M.)

#4: Sean's cabin: (Who was in this one again? JK)

One big thing to find out was that every time you enter a room, you remove your shoes and only walk in your socks. Very interesting, and it's a good thing I brought 3 socks for the trip.

10:45 AM

Our leader, Liam, showed us around the camp, as they got here a day earlier to prepare on leading us for this retreat. The place looked nice when Liam showed us the tour. We had time to unpack our bags and sleeping gear, and for being in this cabin for the first time, it was nice to have a clean cabin.

11:15 AM

We played a few icebreaker games in different stations as cabins, such afaiths "The Egg Drop" and "Telephone Charades", and if we worked together well and go the most points, we get to eat lunch first. So it got a bit competitive with some trash talk went around some cabins while switching stations. We came third out of four with one point. Oh well. At least we were not last.

12:00 PM

The lunch bell rang, and we all lined up for lunch. We went inside what was called the "Bentley Family Dining Hall", we removed our shoes, washed our hands, and sat down with our cabinmates. For lunch, there was a beef sandwich, french fries (YUM!), some coleslaw, and some other side dishes, including soup. I got a lot of fries with lots of ketchup, and it was delicious. I filled up my stomach. Also, I learned that this place was only built a few years ago.

12:45 PM

We got some free time to roam around the cabin. By then, I fully unpacked my belongings and I chatted with a few friends. Lots of jokes were made, and I laughed a lot.

1:15 PM

It was time to start the retreat in the common room. There was lots of talking from the leaders with their reflections, and a small activity where you pick an item from a luggage and talk about why you picked it. I picked this exact sports cap seen on the right/below and said that I am a huge fan of sports. Then we went into our cabins and answered the questions said in the reflection. We did this for a while.

2:30 PM

More talking from the leaders and we sang a bit in the common room. More questions and more group talk in the cabins. I got to learn more about my cabinmates though, and that was nice. The "analyzer" (me) is in effect.

3:45 PM

We had a fifteen minute break before a fun "Capture the Flag" competition.

That is where I will stop for today, part 2 comes out tomorrow, starting with Capture the Flag.

NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo Meets Hundreds of Greek Fans in Cleveland

(Loon Lake Post Tomorrow)

Three days ago in the Quicken Loans Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio, Giannis Antetokounmpo gets surprised and serenaded by a crowd of people from Greece. It was a "Greek night with the Cavs," an annual event that has basketball fans come from five Greek Orthodox churches in the Cleveland area. Antetokounmpo emerges from the locker room and appears surprised by the size of crowd waiting to greet him. "There is no way you guys are all Greek," he jokes in the video below.

The crowd proves that they are Greek by singing the Greek national anthem, with Antetokounmpo joining in. He then signs autographs and poses for selfies before saying he wanted to make a video for his Instagram account. Before leaving, Antetokounmpo pauses for one more autograph. He gets a basketball tossed to him, and signs the ball, spins it on his finger and heads out.

Giannis had 40 points and 9 rebounds in the 124-119 loss to the Cavs.

My Top 50 Favourite 70-80's Songs: #5-#4

(3 more blog entries, including this one, until this is over)

From here on out, these top 5 songs will have a small summary about why I love these songs so much. So here are numbers 5 and 4.

5. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In the Wall

I love this song. The guitar riff at the end is awesome, and the children singing the song is nice to hear. The beat and rhythm flows well, and I enjoy the music. It may be a shorter song than average, but it's still a classic song. Also, the lyrics had a meaning (school is bad!?). Fun fact: this song was banned in South Africa for a period of time. This track was released in 1982. 

4. Phil Collins - Another Day in Paradise

Ah. This song. It is so touching, as the lyrics explain that there are many poor people around the world. The music overall and the piano in-between the chorus is very calm. Elsewhere, all of the instruments that were used sounded fantastic here. I only learned this song in the summer of 2016 while I was on vacation. This track was released in 1989.

NBA: Can Kristaps Porzingis Be the Best in the NBA?

After an 0-3 start, the New York Knicks are 4-1 in their last 5, and are being
led by young leader of Kristaps Porzingis. The 22-year-old power forward has already posted six games with at least 30 points this season. Porzingis has received huge praise from former Knicks center Tyson Chandler. He said that he has a legitimate chance at being the top player in the game. "Porzingis is special," said the Suns veteran. "He has a chance to be the best player in this league. Watching him tonight and seeing what he's done so far this season, he has a real shot of being the best player in this league." 

Would Porzingis say the same? He agreed. “I believe so, too. And that’s something I’m going to work towards,” Porzingis' talent has been in the spotlight early on this season after the departure of Carmelo Anthony. He has the length to cause problems on offense and defense. The rising star not only has the skill set, but also the passion to become the best player in the game. “When you’re 7'3 and have the skills that he has and doing it on both sides of the ball, you’re going to be put up as one of the best players in the league," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "KP has that drive. Not a lot of guys have that drive. If they do, they don’t want to put the effort in there to get there. He does. He’s worked hard in the summer. He’s so young, he’s going to get better and better."

Above is a video of Porzingis' recent highlights against the Phoenix Suns.

The Simpsons Season 21 Episode 16: The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed

Reverend Lovejoy tells Ned to invite the Simpson family to join the group on their tour of Jerusalem. Homer is skeptical, but Marge accepts and go to Israel. When they arrive in Jerusalem, they are joined by Krusty the Clown, who is making a Jewish pilgrimage. They pass the Western Wall and meet a talkative tour guide named Jakob.




Homer and the other tourists show more interest in the hotel's buffet than they do in seeing the city, much to Ned's dismay. As they arrive at King David's tomb, Ned says to Homer to show some respect. However, Homer continues to goof off and Ned becomes increasingly impatient with him. 

Their next stop is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Ned prays that Homer finds some meaning in the tour. But when he discovers Homer taking a nap on Jesus' tomb, he loses his temper and yells at Homer. Ned gets removed from the church by security and is banned for life from visiting the site. Ned subsequently scolds Homer, telling him that his soul is "not worth saving", and storms off.

Homer rushes after Ned to make amends, but loses sight of him and believes that Ned is lost in the desert, while Ned went to get a cup of tea to calm his anger, then watches a movie. Homer takes a camel and rides off to find Ned, but finds himself lost in a sandstorm and starts to feel the effects of dehydration. Homer arrives at the Dead Sea and drinks some of the salty water, furthering his dehydrating. He hallucinates a visit from a pickle, carrot, and tomato from VeggieTales, who tell him that he is the new Messiah. 

After Homer is rescued by Marge, Dr. Hibbert diagnoses him with Jerusalem syndrome, whose sufferers possess religiously-themed obsessive ideas. Homer escapes from the hotel and ends up at the Dome of the Rock. Ned, Marge, the children, and Dr. Hibbert chase after him, only to hear him preach that the similarities of different religions outweigh their differences, and that all should search for a common ground for a new religion, the so-called "Chrismujews". Ned witnesses Homer's speech and is moved by it. On the flight back to Springfield, Ned and Homer reconcile.

In a mini B-plot, Bart runs away from Homer after a prank, and Jakob's daughter, Dorit chases after him. They fight with karate and Krav Maga, and Dorit wins the fight by kicking Bart in the groin, and hurts him. On the plane trip back to Springfield, Lisa and Bart fight for the window seat, and Lisa kicks Bart in the groin, which hurts Bart again.

My thoughts:

How many times have I watched it: 4 times, might have watched it when it first came out (March 28, 2010).

Couch Gag: The Simpsons are dogs at a dog show, and Homer and Bart get into a fight. This was really weak and stupid!! (D+)

Storyline: Ugh. It was a weak premise to get them to go there and no conflict. Just Ned being irritated of Homer's childishness. This was just mindless and incredibly unfunny. Sacha Baron Cohen's character of Jakob was annoying and impossible to understand, which doesn't really work when he's delivering the majority of the jokes (I loved Cohen playing King Julien in Madagascar 1-3). This was an uninteresting conflict between Homer and Flanders, and also suddenly Homer thinks he's the messiah for absolutely no reason, and once he does, everybody now thinks they're the messiah. One small praise was the background. The temples were designed very nicely. I did love the B-Plot with the Krav Maga scene that I've talked about before with Bart and Dorit.

I liked most jokes in this episode minus Jacob's yelling. Flanders yelling Porky Pig!, Veggie Tales (flashbacks to elementary school), the Omlet bar joke, and the drinks on Homer's (Flanders') camera. But The Reformers, Krusty in Jerusalem, and the first act in Springfield were average to below average.




Overall, a mediocre episode. This episode was not received well with most fans, and I've seen people grade this episode was much worse than me.

My grade: C-

6 Random Videos That I Saw This Week

Well, I see lots of different YouTube videos, but here are 6 random, unrelated videos that I saw this week. All videos are under 2 minutes, and I enjoyed all of them.

(With comments)

I just found this video today...

LUCKY.

Check the TV ad on the bottom.

Hahaha!

What. A. Collision.

0.5% chance of winning on the flop...

Old PowerPoints 1/4: Technology Impact Interview Presentation

Here is the first segment out of my four old PowerPoints I will share to y'all. These presentations took a while to make, but it was worth it. We start with a Technology Impact Interview Presentation I made recently with a friend.

Click Here for the PowerPoint

Also, if you do not want to click the PowerPoint, here are some slides to "preview".