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Welcome to my site.
Students: Please click on the link for your course on the left.
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| Patrick's new friend |
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| at conference |
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| Bob's tree in the dunes near Al Ain |
Links:
Patrick's e-Portfolio on Google
Yahoo Canada News
Vancouver Sun
Gulf News
Khaleej Times
The National newspaper
My Vimeo Channel
Personal UAE Photo Album
My Travels
BC TEAL
Photos:
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| Crunch! Our Pathfinder 4x4 got hit from behind, Oct 2006 |
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| 1997 Volvo S90 - replacement car, Oct 2006 |
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| Growing like a weed, Oct 2006 |
Favorite Books
"Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Non fiction, writer's
experiment living on minimum wage jobs in the US (read 5/2004)
"Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen Ambrose (read 4/2004)
"The Pillars of Hercules; travels around the Mediterranean" by Paul Theroux. Fascinating description of various places
all round the Mediterranean that were visited by the author.
"Motoring With Mohammed: Travels in Yemen" by Eric Hansen.
This is a true story that begins with the yacht on which the author was sailing being beached on a small island in the Red
Sea off North Yemen.(Read 2/2004)
"Dude, Where's My Country?" by Michael Moore. Asks a lot of questions about the reasons Bush gave
for going to war in Iraq, and brings up a lot of issues that are worrying, especially the erosion of civil rights. (Read 10-11/
2003)
"A Perfect Heresy: the Cathars" by Stephen O'Shea. Medieval History. Describes the brutal and successful campaign
waged against the Cathars, a sect whose beliefs went against the orthodox views of the time. The story takes place in Languedoc,
France in the 13th Centuray. (Read 10/ 2003)
"What If" Edited by ... Essays in "counterfactual" history speculating
about what would have happened if the Persians had defeated the Greeks at Salamis, if the English had not defeated the Spanish
Armada, and if the Americans had lost certain battles in the War of Independence, and so on. (read 10/ 2003)
"Reefer
Madness" by Eric Schlosser. Has three sections dealing with contoversial US topics: the illegal marijuana industry; the strawberry
industry and illegal workers; and so on. (read 9-10/2003)
"Animal Farm" By George Orwell.
(read 9/2003)
"The Hero's Walk" By Anita Rau Badami (Indian
author living in Canada)(read 9/2003)
"Les Miserables" By
Victor Hugo (read 8/2003)
"The Year Zero: the True Story of
Life in Britain 2000 years ago" By Kleinmann & Davies (read 8/2003)
"Neither
Here Nor There: Travels in Europe" (1991) By Bill Bryson(read 6/2003)
"Fast
Food Nation" By Eric Schlosser. This is enough to turn anyone off hamburgers and french fries. (read 6/2003)
"Stupid
White Men" By Michael Moore. Sometimes humorous critique of the state of current US government policies. Makes George W Bush
look pretty bad. (read 5-6/2003)
"Ben
Hur" By Lew Wallace. For me, this classic had quite a few unforgettable scenes, particularly the ocean battle and the chariot
race. The main theme is the revenge of prince Ben Hur against the Roman oppressors. I was impressed with the depth of Wallace's
knowledge of the ancient world. (read April 2003)
"Life
of Pi" By Yann Martel (Canadian). This Booker Prize-winning novel is about how an Indian boy survives being stuck on a lifeboat
with a Bengal tiger in the Pacific. The witty writing style is just as interesting as the ingenious plot.
"The
Power of Babel" By John McWhorter. A readable history of the world's languages. Borrowed from Bob S.
"The
Pickup" By Nadine Gordimer. A novel about the relationship between an English South African woman and an Arab man.(gift from
Mom, read Feb 2003)
"Guns,
Germs and Steel" (A Short History of Everybody For The Last 13,000 Years) By Jared Diamond. Explains why there are such huge
differences in culture and technology on different continents as being due to environmental and geographical factors rather
than race. (Borrowed brom Bob S.)
"Treason
By The Book" By Jonathan D. Spence
A
true historical account of a treason case in China of the 1700's against the Manchu Emperor. This book rekindled my interest
and respect for ancient Chinese culture. (Gift from Mom)
"El
Alamein" By Field-Marshal Lord Carver. About how a modern tank battle and pivotal WWII event was fought in the desert. (Sept
2002)
"The
Alchemist" By Paulo Coelho. About an Andalusian shepherd boy's spiritual quest. Unfortunately this book did not do much for
me -- too didactic. (Sept 2003)
"The
Old Testament" and "The New Testament" Enlightening reading. The Quran is next, although I have read highlights of some parts
of it. (Ongoing)
"Paradise"
by Toni Morrison. Race, religion, love, violence in a fictional African-American community in the rural south. (Aug 2002)
"The
Absorbent Mind" by Maria Montessori, 1967. Educational Psychology. "...growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding..."
(June 2002)
"The
Muslims in Spain" By Stanley Lane-Poole. A detailed account of how the Moors (Berbers) and the Arabs established an Islamic
outpost in Europe that was characterized by its scholarly and liberal outlook.
"Battles in Britain: 1066-1749"
This book helped fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of British history. In particular I learned a lot about the Wars
of the Roses and the English Civil War.
"Reversing Heart Disease" by Dean Ornish, MD. (I don't have heart disease
but Cornish is also author of "Eat More, Weigh Less", which appealed to me. This book motivated me to become a vegetarian
as of March 2002. (After a year of this regime I went back to eating meat, but only in small amounts and avoiding steaks,
etc.)
"Looking for Dilmun" by Geoffrey Bibby, 1969. Dilmun is the ancient name for Bahrain. The book provides
information about the archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, inlcuding sites in the UAE, such as Al Ain and Umm an Nar Island. The
descriptions of some of the rulers of the Emirates in the 1950s and 1960 were interesting.
"Creating Web Pages for Dummies" - gave me some pointers on web page creation and helped me
learn some HTML.
"Lawrence" By Michael Asher. This biography of TE Lawrence, the so-called Lawrence of Arabia, delves
in to the personality of the war hero and refutes some of the claims made in his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", without
denying Lawrence's bravery. The author, Asher, himself is an intriguing character who was an officer in the SAS, is a fluent
Arabic speaker and has travelled across the Sahara on a camel.
I am currently in the process of obtaining my ICDL qualification (International Computer Driver's License), as training and
testing for it is going on at the college. Of the eight modules I have passed three of the easier ones -- general concepts,
file management and word processing, and am not worried much, except about the module on databases which I know nothing about.
Wish me luck getting this valuable qualification!
The A2R2 (Al Ain Road Runners), of which I am a member, meets every Saturday and Wednesday six-ish for group runs.
We follow a route that takes us through a river bed (wadi) , into the desert, past the old airport and some farms, and back
on asphalt for the final 2 km. It gets warmer as summer approaches and making it round can be a challenge, and I have been
known to give it a pass on really hot days; however, our indomitable leader Phil Almond does a good job of cajoling and bullying
us if we try to wimp out!
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Movies watched recently
"Open Range" Starring and directed by Kevin Costner. Free grazers take on a dictatorial rancher in the American
West circa 1880s. The gunfight is desanitized and give a pretty good impression of what they must have been like in the old
days.
"Matrix Reloaded" Keanu Reeves saves the human race from eradication by intelligent machines in this SF action-filled
flick. (June 2003)
"Bowling for Columbine" Oscar-winning documentary about gun control in the US and the culture of
violence there. By Michael Moore. (May 2003)
"The Quiet American" Based on the Graham Greene novel about 1950s Vietnam.
With Brendan Fraser and Michael Caine.
(May 2003)
"East is East" Comedy about a Pakistani family in Manchester
circa 1971. Directed by Damien O'Donnel.
"K-Pax" Sci-Fi. Kevin Spacey plays a mental patient who claims to be from
a distant planet called K-Pax.
"Minority Report" A sci-fi picture that I enjoyed for a change: Tom Cruise stars as
the director of the department of Pre-Crime Enforcement in washington DC. July 2002
"The Bourne Identity" Matt Damon
stars as a US Govt black ops assassin who discovers his conscience. The car chase through Paris in an Austin Mini was the
best scene for me. I enjoyed the European setting as well. July 2002
"Shrek" We bought the video for Rachel, but found
that it can be enjoyed by adults quite a bit too. Great soundtrack, which I have got a hold of through Amazon.com. For me,
the Rufus Wainwright song "Hallelujah" is the best.
"Mad About Mambo" Another fun ballroom dancing romance, this time
involving a teenaged soccer player who thinks that picking up some Latin rhythm will give him that Brazilian style flair on
the pitch. Set in Belfast, with the specter of "the troubles" in the background.
Favorites
Movies:
"Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe
"Gladiator" with Russell Crowe
"Thin Red Line" About the WWII battle of Guadalcanal. Starring a lot of great actors including Sean Penn, John
Cusak, Nick Nolte, Jim Caveziel, etc.
Sports to do: Orienteering, Running, Swimming, Cycling, Triathlon
Sports to watch: Soccer, Hockey (when it's the Stanley Cup, World Champs, etc but not regular league play)
Sports ignored/rarely watched: Cricket, Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Golf
Personal Goals:
Lose weight and get fitter. Dream on. With middle age and a sedentary job it's going to be tough. I need a drill instructor
to drag me out of bed at 5:30 to go cycling.
It would not be unrealistic to set climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as a goal. A lot of colleagues have spent vacations
in East Africa -- safaris, etc, so it would be do-able.
Some summer I would like to upgrade my Korean ability by attending a language course at a place like Sogang University
in Seoul. I have probably forgotten a lot of vocab since I was last in Korea in Dec 1998.
As there's not much chance of taking a Korean course in the UAE, if I had the time I would take a course on Arabic. I
attended lesson given by one of my colleagues at the college, so I know a bit, including the writing system. Knowledge of
the language could be very useful when travelling off the beaten track or in emergencies, though it certainly is not needed
on a daily basis -- most shopclerks, etc speak English and most UAE nationals are not interested in/too busy for(?) socializing
with foreigners .
Unclassified
have a greater appreciation for organizations like the SPCA.
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The situation there is intolerable and a disgrace to Canada. I don't understand how citizens
can put up with an area that is reputed to be the heroin capital of North America. I support the police's efforts to clean
up the area, even if heavy handed measures are sometimes applied. It appears to me that organizations devoted to protecting
the rights of the disadvantaged have gone too far, with the result that the ordinary citizen is put at risk. How can we put
up with drugs being sold in broad daylight and tourists being threatened if they make the mistake of walking into the area
(as happened to me in 2000)? Shame on both the politicians and the silent majority who dislike the situation but do nothing
about it.
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