NIK TOWN: about nik

About Nik

My name is Nik Dionisio and this is my web site. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is where I grew up and went to school since moving to Canada from the Philippines in 1980.

I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, although I spent quite a bit of time working for the Department of Computer Science. I currently work as a software developer/consultant/analyst for Ensemble Systems.

I enjoy playing basketball and volleyball. I also snowboard in the winter. I camp and hike during the summer when the occasion presents itself. I also golf poorly.

GROOP

My crew calls ourselves GROOP; it doesn't really stand for anything (though we usually make up something funny when people ask). GROOP is just a group of friends that go back a ways. Our lives have taken us to different places and we may not live all that close together any more, but good friends, through it all. We still get together often to party, or just hang out.

We used to have LAN parties and play games all night back when we were in school, but now that most of us have a broadband connection of some sort, the idea of packing up our computers and hauling it to someone else's house to play games seems ridiculous. GROOPNet, as we called it, started up as an experiment to network four systems to play multiplayer games. Marty, did some research on the Internet, and masterminded the whole thing. Marty and Ranyl hosted most of the GROOPNet sessions. They live in Redmond, Washington now, so playing online is the only option left. Just not quite the same.

There used to be quite a few GROOP sites, but servers shut down and websites get neglected. Here are some sites that may or may not still exist: Edwardoland, Armand's Domain, Ranyl's Domain, Phil's Site, Mitch & Michelle's Wedding Website, and Jeff's Funnky Fresh Pharcyde.

Volleyball

I started playing volleyball after first year of university. Just about everything I know about volleyball, I learned since I started at UBC. I'm still not that good, but I play anyway.

I learned the game in the Filipino Student Association summer league, and in the intramural league at UBC. I was the FSA's sports rep in my last year at UBC and I had the honour of organizing the 6th and 7th Annual FSA Summer Volleyball Leagues. Apparently, there was no 8th Annual FSA Summer Volleyball League.

These days, I play drop-in at a community centre once in a while, but mostly in leagues set up by Volleyball BC and VancouverSport. In the summer, it's outside on the grass and in the sun. The rest of the time, we stay indoors out of the rain.

Snowboarding

My first time snowboarding was for my friend Ed's birthday in 1998. He was trying to recruit new people to go riding with. I resisted for another couple years, but I got sucked in and bought a one-niter pass at Cypress Mountain. The snow was good that season, and I made good use of the pass.

The following year sucked. Between travel for work and other commitments, I probably used my pass twice that season. I ended up going to Whistler-Blackcomb more often that season. Lately, I've been buying Express Passes for Whistler. Local residents can buy passes at a discount rate.

The day trip up to Whistler isn't that bad, but it's always more fun to stay a night (or two) and party it up. Just remember it's cheaper to drink before you go to the bar and to bring your own buns, because it's always a sausage fest.

Basketball

All through high school and university I spent a good share of my spare time playing ball. I don't get to play as much as I used to, but I make it a point to get a game in once in a while. This usually involves embarrassing myself at the community centre drop-in program.

I was a big fan of the former local NBA team, the Vancouver Grizzlies. I was always watching games or listening on the radio when I couldn't make it to GM Place or to a TV. My other team is the Seattle Supersonics, since they were the local team for years before the Grizzlies arrived. It's hard to watch Sonics games now, since their local coverage is mostly cable or pay-per-view instead of network now. We can catch a lot of other games on Sportsnet and TSN, but I wish we could get TNT up here.

On the weekends, you'll often find me watching NBA games on Sunday (after football season), and occasionally NCAA Basketball on Saturdays. When March Madness hits, I have to get in some basketball pool action. So much basketball, so little time...

When I can't see it all, I just check out the scores on Sports Page, a local TV show, or check out the ESPN.com for up to the minute news. CNNSI.com also has some news and good insider articles.

Intramurals

After a few mediocre seasons in 1995 and 1996, one of my intramural basketball teams made the league championships and won. Actually, the Thuggish Ruggish Bones won consecutive championships. We won the Nitobe Basketball League 'A' Championships in the spring of 1997 and the 'AA' Championship in the fall. My men's volleyball team also scored 'A' gold in the fall of 1997, but I don't count that one because there was a lack of competition.

I wish they gave out Intramural League Champs T-shirts like they used to (unlike a T-shirt, you can't wear a medal while playing ball). They still have T-shirts for the all-stars, but the first time I was selected in 1997 they had green shirts with way too much yellow silk-screening. The second time I got an all-star in 1999, the shirt was too small and had a big ugly logo on the front. At least it was blue and white and not green and yellow. Sometimes I wonder what those guys at Intramurals and Recreation are thinking.

In spring 1999, I formed a team for the FSA. It was supposed to be recreational, but there were certain people who wanted to play competitive. So, I convinced the women to play in a men's league, and I convinced some of our less gifted players that we could still use people who couldn't dribble or shoot. Despite just narrowly making the playoffs, we battled back and knocked off the top team in our division (who had kicked our butts twice already). Playing through extra rounds we made it to the finals only to be beat by some team demoted from a higher tier. Pretty exciting finish to a season that was well short of spectacular and we all have a silver medal to show for it.