Amazing Enslavement: an essay

It was time to write my third essay in ARTS 1110, a writing course, and I wanted it to be something special. I had submitted two 90% essays previously and really wanted to break through the 90% ceiling. Renee told me that teachers never give more than a 90% to a first year student. The final 10% is reserved for those who come up with ideas that have never been though of before, she said. So I ponderd for something original and this idea came to me that Biblical Joseph (of Genesis) and genetic engineering science had a similarity: both have been tasked with saving a large group of people from a famine. I began to research the topics and within a day had a thesis to be excited about.




I nearly fell to the floor when I got back my submission. I got a 96% on it. My teacher said it was the best paper she's ever been handed, and that she's never read such a unique idea from a first year student. She asked me for permission if she could use parts of it in her curriculum to teach students how to write an essay. She then told me that WHEN I apply for my masters that I am to add her as a reference.

Talk about a confidence booster!

I'm putting the essay online, as well as including the short abstract below. Read it or not, but if you do than let me know what you thought!

Abstract

The story of Joseph is regarded by many as a tale of morality and good-will, with the hero Joseph saving the land of Egypt from a predicted famine. However, a part of the story which is often overlooked is of the taxable enfranchisement and relocation of an entire geographical area so desperate for food that they would sell anything to survive. Today, Earth is facing yet another famine, this time from overpopulation and overconsumption. There are similarities and differences that can be argued between the story of Joseph and the future. This paper finds that it is dangerous to rely on a monopoly for an essential service such as food, though this is exactly the situation the world might one day find itself in. It also concludes that the story of Joseph will not repeat in exactly the same way because of today's social climate and the uncertain severity of today's predicted famine. Monsanto is contrasted with the Joseph story since it mirrors many features of the Joseph administration. No conclusions are put for ward relating to the future of Monsanto, and it is used for illustrative purposes only.

Read the full essay here.

Mini Party Island

That's the name of our phenomenal flotation device, made by Coleman, which allowed for an awesome adventure muddy Assiniboine River. Six friends embarked on a first: Lazily tubing on the medium current of filthy water, not knowing what we would encounter around every bend.

We made the 6 o'clock news.

And rightly so. I've searched for stories of people who have plied waterways of Winnipeg on raft or tube and come up empty handed every time, so when the news crew spotted us nearing our destination, they couldn't help but capture this momentous occasion! I was videoblogging while they were filming us, and in the video dubbed our voices over top of the news footage.

The water of the Assiniboine is truly a turn off, resembling refined sewage without the smell. Could we be the first people to float down the river in an inflateable Mini Party Island and survived to tell the tale? I'm willing to bet YES. History in the making, folks. Go forth and do likewise.

Hesitation

Hesitation
Originally uploaded by Michael Tyas

Renee hesitates before she tries drumming.

Renee's BBQ

Renee has returned from Africa and, most recently, Ontario, to spend 7 weeks in the fair city of Winnipeg. Coincidentally, I am here too. Coincidentally, she is one of my best friends in the entire world.

I'm making new friends, however. Well, actually they're all Renee's really good friends and I've kind of weaseled my way in, but I think that they're all quality and I feel like they like me because I feel good about myself when I hang around them. I was having so much fun that I forgot to give this video a proper introduction, climax, or ending. It's all peanut butter with no bread.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv), Flash Video (.flv)

Garage Sale!

I'm having a garage sale on Saturday, starting at 6 AM. Come around if you are in the area! It's at the corner of Dawson and Lawrence, in Orangeville. There's lots of quality stuff that I just can't bring with me when I move to Winnipeg, and have no where to store it! Everything must go!

This isn't the first garage sale I've ever had. Renee, Sheena and I had a fundraiser in 2001 to send us to Mexico and South Africa, respectively. We made over $714! Click on the photo for more pictures of that day.


Aparently I had no fashion sense back then, either.

Zambia and Beyond

One of my best friends in the world is traveling to Zambia to help get out AIDS awareness and work with orphans. She has started a blog called To Zambia and Beyond which will chronicle her mission and fund raising efforts. Give her site a visit and read the archives for pertinent information if you so desire.

Lost Fall

As you may remember, autumn is my favorite time of the year. I brought my friends to my favorite hiking spot for the first time last fall, but I didn't edit it right away because the timing wasn't right. I wanted to savour the memory and wait for a miserable rainy day in the spring to recall our wonderful day together.

The video is purposely large because I wanted to capture in quality the beauty of the season.

Update: Mehrnoosh beat me to the vlog months ago. Here is her take on the day.

Update 2: The video took place over three regions. The first hike was at Mono Centre. Secondly, we visited Superburger in Shelburne. Lastly, we took in the sights on "My Hike" at the Pine River Provincial Fishing Area.

Update 3: I find it so funny that I exclaim "Winnipeg, whatever that is!" I had no idea I would love it here to much!

Starting in the middle

Click To Play

Renee wasn't around on my actual birthday, so we celebrated it altogether belated.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Under mistletoe

Under mistletoe
Originally uploaded by Michael Tyas.

Renee and I took a walk through Kay Cee Gardens this evening. It gets dressed up in dazzling Christmas lights every December. Asides from that, I call it the ghetto park.

Yet another two second exposure, combating winter darkness one photo at a time.

Onsies and atta'way

Click To Play

I like hanging out with friends. All the while editing this video, and afterwards when I've taken a peek at it, I can't help but laugh my head off!

All my friends are away (school, conflicting work schedules), so I cherish the time I get to spend with them.

I also have apparently lost what little French I learned at the beginning of the year.

Noosh Evolved - Revlog

Click image to play

Noosh Says: My friend Mike is taking a group of use to a hike he has been going on for weeks. I have wanted to blog for a long time, but I just didn't know how to edit with a PC, and some people... ahem, Mike... thought they would never see the day I post my first blog, but here I am. Just in time too! I'm about to go to Paris!!!

Wish me luck!

Autumn Love

Autumn is my favorite time of the year, and today I went on a hike with five friends to drink in the delicious brilliance of the season. Each of us was armed with a camera. It's truly the digital age.

Enjoy the album!

If you please, it would be my pleasure to send you a waxed leaf so you can enjoy a little piece of this season. Let me know soon! We've only got a week and a half left till the colours fall away!

Friends:
Renee (this is more like a joke, add her for kicks)
Matthew
Tobin
Noosh
Justin (no myspace)

Damn! My friends are so attractive!

See Vous Play Hike

On day two after my procedure, I am feeling fine and enjoying my favorite time of the year. Then a tree almost falls on my head, which would explain why my video ends so abruptly. If a tree almost falls on my head in the woods, do I hear it?

Tune in to the See Vous Play concert, streaming live on Sunday, October 1 2006!

Links:

http://www.bandeapart.fm/
http://radio3.cbc.ca/

click here to download



Renee makes the move to school, perogies and all.

I really like rotoscoping. I'd like to rotoscope more. Best viewed at original size.

Labour Day Labour

click here to download

It's labour day, the officially unofficial last day of summer. There's still some things that I didn't get to enjoy this season.

So you thought you could dance?

Click Link for Video

Warning. Some might find this video to be explicit.

It's a rainy Monday evening. However, my friends and I are very creative. Don't you wish your girlfriends were hot like mine? Don cha?

Toni says we're like "three's company...a blond, a burnette, and a guy!"

I have also expressed this kind of creativity before.

Music by Justin Timberlake - SexyBack

Update - After deciding that one shot of Renee was way too skanky for our liking (secretly I liked it) I performed a little nip-tuck and switched some shots around. You'll barely notice it.

Am I alone on this one?

I recently switched over to spray deoderant. At least, until the bottle is empty. Sometimes new habits are hard to mix with old traditions.

Look at us. Suddenly we're all freelance photographers?

Embed

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I was interviewed for a Macleans article on the new narcissism. It took a while to get to me, and I haven't actually seen the article on paper at the time of this post. Josh Leo read the article before I even knew it was online...he's the only reason I know it exists!

I would like to clear up that:

• I am a shift supervisor in a popular restaurant chain and NOT a full time freelance photographer, as this article would suggest.
• the only reason I generate ad sales on my website is to help alleviate the costs incurred google & blip.tv, and not to become rich or market my life in a monitarily profitable way. I am in fact surprised that I have made $8.49 at all. And if I ever get cut a big fat cheque, I'll probably give it to charity or take my friends out for dinner. So if you know me in 10-17 years from now, expect a dinner date.
• when I called myself marketable, it wasn't in regards to money. I said, "It's a very positive thing to like yourself and think you're marketable enough to put your face out there...as if to say 'hi, this is me, and I think you'll like getting to know me. Leave a comment, and I'd like to get to know you as well..." I invest in this website because meeting new people enriches my life! It's you! The viewer, the commenter, my untradeable commodity!
  

This leads me to wonder why I was in fact interviewed for an article that seems to end on a low note, warning of "solipsism -- the inability to recognize the existence of another viewpoint." I just so happen to be in the midst of learning a new language and have every intention of returning to school for a degree in International Studies. I listen to War News Radio and the CBC podcasts on CD in the car, and read the newspaper (the paper kind) every single day.

Was I really the wrong guy? Perhaps. I personally don't feel like I bring much credibility to the issue. But I'm ok with being a weak argument, really. I'm not OK, however, with being so poorly described in two paragraphs.

Also, in regards to blip.tv, I would never call it a "new vanity product...to make the narcissist feel important." Blip is so much more than a self centred entertainment outlet. I can watch someone else's point of view on the other side of the world, or raise up a banner for any cause worth shouting about. New products like blip.tv are begining to give the world a very loud voice, opening up forms of mass communication for the common middle class that has never been available before. Did we miss the real story here folks? For crying out loud, never before in history has such a mass communication medium been available to the masses!

Are we really on the brink of a solopsistic society brought on by cherished memories and dull moments available online? I don't think I am, I'm too involved in getting to know other people ....but I understand your viewpoint if you think otherwise ;p

PEACE!

P.S. I always thought it would be cool to make a site around my remarkably EXTRAordinary exsistance, let the records show.

BC Rap

Play Rap

Bethany and Christy, sendin' some love. I edited it.

Second Anniversary!

Today was my blog's second anniversary. It passed by quietly.

I found myself flying a kite in the park, alone, with an ice cream cone. I wanted to leave, to go find people (mainly Renee, who had just abandoned me), but the string to the kite had to be wound up first, and that required two hands, really. The cone and ice cream was just too big and delicious for me to throw out, or stick in my mouth all at once.

Concede defeat.

Licking away my afternoon, I contemplated the achievements of a second year under my belt in this blogging world. Fantastic, isn't it? Only two years old and I feel as though I've archived a lifetime of memories.

Immortal.

Strawberry Sherbert.

I changed my header a few days ago. I think I'm going to do this once a year. The last time I changed it was last year's anniversary, and I just so happened to be in Squamish, British Columbia on the date. Thus, that beautiful mountain inlet scene which made me homesick for the west for 365 days.

This year's photo is significant to me. I'm standing still next to the future, giving myself a moment to get loose of the past (debt) so I can freely run towards the horizon, my eye on the prize.