"Somewhat" Extreme Makeover - Condo Edition

On top of the usual holiday shopping, parties and family get-togethers, I've spent the last three weeks doing renovations. It all started with the need to change the old, tired and fading carpet to laminate flooring... and well, it quickly turned into a major project... Here's a short synopsis:

1. Ripped out old carpet and underlayment - damn that was fun.
2. Stripped off baseboard moulding - not as hard as i thought!!
3. Installed 300 sq. ft of laminate flooring (3 days) - 12mm material looks and feels real nice, but you better have a good saw to cut it!!!
4. Repainted living room, dining and hall - (1 day) -
5. Repaint kitchen (frickin' 3 coats and a primer) - (2 days) - i'm so thankful for Painter's tape...
6. Remove old ceramic tile and prepare subloor - 1 day - stripped off half of tje cement by hand, only to be told by Home Depot later, that its not really necessary!
7. Laid down new ceramic tile - 3 days of quad burning and back aching fun!
8. Applied Grout - 1 day of more quad burning and back aching fun!

I'm not done yet. Got a couple more weekends worth of work to be done. But in the end I think it will be worth it -- despite an irritating cold, dry, peeling finger tips (never leave cement on your hands for long periods), and a sore lower back and muscles.

If anything, I've gotten a much greater appreciation for those people who do this work as an career!

So this is Christmas...

(dang, i can't get that Lennon song out of my head!!)

- I'm dreading going to the malls... I like giving, but i hate shopping. I also hate finding parking at Metrotown.
- Nat and Drew from the Z morning crew are camping out at Pacific Centre to raise funds for the Salvation Army Toy Drive. The other morning they told of a story of a homeless man, who came up to the booth and gave up everything he had in his pocket....A dime, nickel and 3 pennies.
- The Province had a Guide to Christmas Lights display over the weekend, Niki and I checked out some of the Surrey displays. Boy, do some people really go nuts. One place was so popular that it had a tour bus bringing people to see!!

Oh, and it turns out i had 5 vacation days that can't be carried over to next year, and so i'm taking it off for Christmas. It won't be much of a vacation though...got a big project in the works...it's been something i've wanted to do for quite some time, but haven't had the time to do it. If I could only be more diligent in my blog entries, I may post updates every now and then...

Bell's Billing Blues

Wholly Schmokes!!! If you're on Bell...u might want to take a CLOSE look on your bank or credit card statements. Bell Mobility's move to a new billing system is royally f$&%ed up. Not only have the billing notices come out LATE. They've also been charging my credit card TWICE for the same month!!! AND....somehow they've changed the discounts on my plan so that i pay $25 more extra per month for the same service!!! I immediately called Bell, and was greeted by a pre-recorded messsage from their CEO, saying that the recent "upgrade" to the new billing software has caused some "delays" in billing -- any discrepancies would be "resolved" in the November statement. Ehhh...sorry not good enough. So I pressed '0' to get a real person, and proceeded to hold for the next 45min...meanwhile, i do a quick search on the net for "Bell Mobility billing" and lo-behold, there are reports and complaints from other disgruntled customers.

One person said they were put on hold for 6 hours....what the!!!!

Anyways...i have yet to talk to a real person about this, and who knows when i'll be able to get through their customer service queues. Gawd...i feel sorry for their reps on the other line. They must be getting a LOT of pissy customers, and its not their fault.

On a side note, i haven't been too happy with Bell's service since I switched from Telus. Their coverage doesn't seem to be as solid (especially in my condo), and their plan isn't as competive as City Fido. Plus, their phones aren't as cool :)

Taiwan and Korea

Just got back from a 10-day business trip to Taiwan and Korea. Besides work, it was a chance to meet up with NK in Taipei, who had just moved to there... (Hey N, funny, how it was easier to find time to meet up in Taiwan than it was in Vancouver!!) At the end of the work week, I went down to Hsin Chiu with L&S, to meet up with KK. We then headed down south to Kenting. KK's got a great little summary of our travels on his blog, so i'll spare all the details. All i can say is that besides the fact that I got s--t on by a bird, and having to watch a guy on a train throw up his dinner on the floor -- we all had a blast. From the 3hr uphill ride on bikes along the coastal road, the 40min ride DOWN the coastal road, standing mere inches away from the edge of sheer rock cliffs, nearly being blown away by gusting winds from an approacing typhoon, frolicking on the beach, and to strolling the streets of Kenting at night....it was a most memorable weekend. Southern Taiwan has got some amazing scenary. If Taiwan could only spend a little more to make the place more tourist friendly by putting more multi-lingual signs and maps, they could make a killing with overseas tourists. Then again....it might be better to keep the place a bit of a secret...

I also stopped in Seoul, South Korea to visit customers, and managed to find some time to see the sights in and around Seoul. The Koreans really like their palaces... here are some pics:

Farenhype 9/11

Time for a political rant...

For all its factual shortcomings, I found Farenheit 9/11 to be a brilliant piece of film-making in that Michael Moore took his opinion by the horns and turned it into an entertaining and persuasive form of info-tainment. Yah, he's a little extreme, but why can't his critics see that he's doing that on purpose!!! Good films take viewers to an extreme...sometimes stretching the truth. Moore's not the first one to do that!! Moore must be laughing in his pants (all the way to the bank). He must love it when the ultra-conservative types go out in the media and trash his film. Why? Cuz more people talk about, and more people want to go see it. Geez...if the right-wingers are trying to keep people from watching this film, they're doing quite the opposite.

To the credit of the right-wing, Bush fans of the world, they're fighting back. Farenhype 9/11, Dave Kopel, this blog and site, are all attempts to disprove Moore's film. Wow...freedom of speech at its best. Gotta love America, eh?

On another note, the 10-year assault weapons ban in the US is about to expire. Many say it didn't have much effect cuz it had loopholes that let gun manufacturers just change the name of the gun or make cosmetic changes so that a weapon didn't fit the "assault" category. At the very least the ban could have been reinstated to close the loopholes. The opponents of the weapons ban, always cite the 2nd amendment -- the right to bear arms. But somehow, i think that the founding fathers 200+ years ago didn't have AK-47 and machine guns in their minds when they came up with it.

Thoughts on a dreary, wet, grey friday

Argghh..i hate software debugging. I've spent the last week working on a problem, and have made very little progress. It doesn't help when the core software your application is built on is a beta version (read 'buggy!'). I get so frustrated because the debugging tools are not visual. I need to see little icons showing my different tasks, and how everything is connected. I'm a visual person, dammit!! ;-)

I guess the highlight of the week is that my boss moved to a different department, and now i'm offically reporting to a VP now. Can that be considered a promotion? I'm moving up in the corporate ladder! hahaha. not.

Caught the first episode of the Apprentice last night...its about the only 'intelligent reality show I'll watch, other than Survivor. The characters seem pretty entertaining....and I think putting the crew to work at the big corporations could be interesting--lots of free labour for them, i suppose. I still can't believe the guys team came up with that Crustacean Nation toy for Toys-R-Us.

Alright...time to get the Banana bread out of the oven.

Ever wondered what to do with that old typewriter?? 

half a world away...

For the past 5 weeks, Niki has been half a world away, enjoying the sand, surf and sun of Mauritius. Right now she's on her way home, on an airplane somewhere over Europe enroute to London, where she'll catch her connection to Vancouver. And in about 16 hours, she'll be home. Yay!!!

Hardware Design Principles to Live By

Our company has always been striving to remain ahead of the technology curve. We believe we have found the solution to our problems...

If its worked for thousands of years, then by golly, its gotta work for us....

don't take your loved ones for granted

I found out today that a former co-worker tragically took his own life over the weekend. Although we weren't close on a personal level, he was very well respected and admired by his colleagues (including myself) for his tireless work ethic and super friendly personality. I don't think i ever saw the guy without a smile on his face. Knowing the kind of guy he was, i would never have imagined his life meeting such a tragic end. My heart sank as i thought of what his family and close friends are going through. I'm sure there are a ton of "What if" and "How..." questions going through their minds. Feelings of guilt, sadness, maybe even anger.... Life has its ups and downs. And certainly this is a reminder that even the most seemingly resilient and strong people you know, can be completely overwhelmed during those down times in life -- when nothing is going their way. And while their loved ones can't always solve their problems, just knowing they have their unconditional support can make a huge difference. So think about your friends. Think about your family. And if you know someone close who might be going through a tough time in their life, just let them know you're there for them, and that you have them in your prayers.

doin' the grind

Recently, officials in the North Shore have been warning people to be prepared when doin' the Grouse Grind, and encouraging people to not take small kids. Well this morning, on my (somewhat) regular Saturday morning Grouse Grind i watched the people a little more closely. First of all, it was pretty crowded..much like a slow moving line at an amusement park during some sections. Occasionally, I'd be trudging my way up with my head down for a few seconds, then look up to find my nose about 6 inches away from someone elses butt (i hope people don't eat beans before heading up!!). I passed several old folk doin the grind wearing nothing more than jeans, a t-shirt and loafers. They didn't look prepared, and they weren't carrying any water. One particular lady who was dressed as if she just came from the mall, was literally using the ropes on some steep section to pull her way up the trail. I also saw one lady, pulling her son by the hand....the boy looked no older than 5 years old! Interestingly enough, the people who looked the least prepared to go up were Asian...i don't know what that means....but that's what i noticed.

Anyways...despite the crowd, i managed to finish the grind in 52min 14sec. Oh, and the nice thing about doing the grind, is that you can enjoy most of the mountain-top activities for free (well, i did pay $5 for the download, but compare that to $27 for general admission at the base)!! So i took advantage, and took the Screaming Eagle gondola chair for a nice view of the city. If i had stuck around a little longer, i could have seen the Lumberjack Show and Grizzly exhibit for the Nth time. Oh well...maybe next Saturday.

Words to live by..

Got this from last week's church bulletin...

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
Eat a live toad in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.
If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
Never buy a car you can't push.
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you don't have a leg to stand on.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so sleep late.
When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors but they all have to learn to live in the same box.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.
Have an awesome day, and know that someone has thought about you today....

unorganized chaos

And so i've embarked on yet another attempt to bring some sense of organization to my life. I need a better system, a system to keep track of things to do at and outside of work, and ideas that just pop in my head. There has yet a day to pass where where I don't come up with something that i'd like to do, and I tell myself I need to write it down somewhere, but i don't. It's like saying i need to remind myself to remind myself, but i don't be cause i didn't have a way to remind myself in the first place. Argh. I wouldn't say that my life is so chaotic that i don't get anything done, i just know i could do more and maybe even save myself some money if i had a system. (heck, i was 1 week late in paying my property taxes!! i couldnt believe it!) So with that, i'm gonna take a look at David Allen's system. I've heard some good things about it, so its worth a try i suppose. Now let me make myself a reminder for that.... ;-)

I'm baaack....

rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. ;-) I just got back from a road trip through the Rockies and Calgary. Now its back to the daily grind.

The People Next Door...

The other night, I attended the Annual General Meeting for our Strata council. I've never been to an AGM Strata council meeting, and I've always been curious as to what happens in them, so i thought what the heck I'll skip the flames game and go to the meeting (hah! crazy huh?!?!). Anyways, I arrived a few minutes early to register, and once the scheduled start time came around the property manager announced that we had not reached quorum and according to Strata rules we had to wait at least 30min before starting to allow for late-comers. Oh great...maybe i should have stayed home, i thought...

Turns out someone was able to phone and drag their neighbor to come out, he showed up and we finally had quorum. Anyways, I found the meeting quite interesting cuz i learned things that i didn't know about.

* Always make sure your house insurance covers any renos or upgrades to your unit, cuz most don't...
* If your mailbox gets broken into (like ours) and you ask Canada Post to replace/upgrade the lock it can take up to 6 years! (don't you love gov't beauracracy!?!?!)
* pressure washing vinyl siding is no good cuz it can leave pits in the surface because of the high pressure and allow more dirt to seep through
* it costs over $14,000 to repaint and HAND clean the exterior walls, trimming and grounds..(damn, that's a car!!)

To be honest though, the most fascinating part of the meeting was meeting my neighbors. I've lived in my complex for nearly two years, and i've only met a handful of people. It was neat to meet the "others", especially that guy across the courtyard who has all the loud parties!! hahaha.

Anyways, when time came to elect a new strata council, i raised my hand (for better or worse), and decided to become a council member. . What did i get myself into!! ;-)

Mozilla's Firefox

I've been using the open source web browser, Firefox, from Mozilla for the past week or so, and I must say that I've been pleasantly impressed with it so far.

Firefox was quick to download (couple minutes). Things I like so far are include: the tabbed browsing, the improved bookmarking system (its easier to file your bookmarks), its got more keyboard shortcuts than IE, and it seems to have a pretty good pop-up blocker system. Search support is much better in firefox too. I'm a big fan of the Google Toolbar under IE, but now its integrated with Firefox, and you can also link to other search engines. And for some reason, I really like the ability to pick multiple "home pages" so that when you start your browser it will automatically load more than one web site (for example, your favorite news sites, and blogs).

I also like the extensions, which allows you too add/remove new features or functionality. One extension called EditCSS actually lets you edit the CSS of a webpage and see the changes live (local of course). This is handy for experimenting with CSS blog templates. I really am a big fan of these modular "upgrades" to software apps. This way, you can choose what you want and what you don't need rather than being forced to do a wholesale upgrade -- which is common with Microsoft products.

In terms of overall performance Firefox seems to take a little bit longer to load up (i wish you could keep in pre-loaded in the system tray), but it seems to render pages as fast, if not faster as Internet Explorer. And my home PC is already slow as is (Celeron 466), so the speed improvement is more noticeable. The UI is pretty clean and quite simple (doesn't clutter up your screen), plus apparently you can download free "skins" or themes for it.

And of course, as with all open source, its absolutely free.

Getting a little closer...

I'm such a peeping tom, but i can't help it. These are kodak moments! I'm so excited to see Rico and Ally getting along.  

A Playful Couple

Rico and Ally were being quite playful this morning, so i thought I'd take a few candids. As you can see Rico decided to make a few moves on Ally, but I think she wasn't too amused. 

A Kool Car?

As I was driving to work today, I followed a Dodge Aries K car for part of the way. Yes, the venerable "K" car...boxy, boring, and anything but exciting. But this K car was different, it was clean, it had a shiny grey paint finish, polished chrome and...get this, dark TINTED windows. I don't know why i found it amusing, but it was. Maybe I chuckled at the thought of someone buying an old K car to restore it or even "soup" it up. I wondered if it had any engine or exhaust mods (although none were visible). Wouldn't that be something..a turbo-charged Dodge Aries K car. That would be the ultimate sleeper car--imagine that passing your sports car on the highway.

Victoria Day Long Weekend in Whistler

Thank goodness for long weekends. I was really looking forward to the Victoria Day long weekend, and it didn't disappoint. Yvonne was able to snag a really good deal on a condo near the Chateau Whistler (thanks, again Yvonne!). The place was huge, with two bedrooms, two baths, a loft, vaulted ceilings, patio, and living room and kitchen -- we made full use of the space as there were nearly 12 of us!

It was pissing rain as Niki, Debs and I drove up on Sat morning, but the sun managed to make an appearance by noon. Once we arrived, I made a last minute decision to try out the Whistler Bike Park with Dana. I dropped almost $100 for a bike rental and day pass. After the first couple runs, i realized my road cycling helmet wasn't gonna cut it, and got a full-face helmet. About 4 hrs and 12+ runs later, I managed to leave the park without serious injury :) thanks Dana!

Later in the evening we all made our way to the Longhorn pub for some suds, pool, darts and good company. Its too bad the Village has been overun by drunk rowdies (even the Hells Angels were there) + the club lines were a little too long, so most of us headed back to the condo a little early to get some rest. I slept in till about 11am. Niki and I made some sandwiches for the gang, and the whole group met up at Alta Lake. We all put ourselves in super- relaxation-not-a-care-in-the-world mode, and hung out in the sun before heading back to the condo for dinner. Afterwards, some of us then headed down to the pool and hottub. Unfortunately, the pool was under maintenance what apparently was a high "sulfuric acid" concentration--ewwww ;-) After some time in the hot tub, we headed back to the room for the much awaited Cranium and Pictionary tourney! I'm surprised the noise police didn't drop by cuz we had a riot - marked by fierce trash talking, crazy laughter and even some "spitting" -- all in good fun of course.

We checked out the next morning, but the weekend didn't end there, as we made our way back to the lake to veg out again in the sun to play cards (damn SlapJack hurts!), build human pyramids, canoeing, and some touch football.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend in the company of some awesome friends (some of them i hadn't seen in 5+ years!). At the very least, I give props to Queen Victoria, for giving us a good reason for the extra day off ;-)

Sunset on Borocay Beach, Philippines. I wish i were back here again. By the way, this posting tool for photos is pretty nifty! 

experimenting...

I've just discovered how to write blogs via e-mail. I've also decided to try using Blogger's comments feature instead of Haloscan for a more consistent look and feel. If you don't have a blogger account please write your name in the comment body...

 

Time to play with this CSS stuff now...

American Idol: Disco Days

I've been a little late on posting these updates from Debbie...but here's the latest on just before the results are announced!

Jasmine--oooo....not up to snuff with the other girls on both songs.
Poor girl started crying on stage after her evaluation. I don't
think she should feel too bad b/c 4th place isn't awful among the
tens of thousands that auditioned. She's got a nice voice, it's just
not up to par with the other ladies.

La Toya--Again, I thought she was great. Liked both songs but the
Thelma Houston, "Don't Leave Me this Way" was just awesome. After
the judges critiqued her first song about not showing personality, I
found she really tried to show more oommph into her performance and
was more personable than reserved.

Fantasia--Liked her first song better ("knock on Wood") than her
second song. It was a good performance all around. She's very
consistent and has proven that she can sing pretty much anything.

Diana--Wow, she was my favourite last night. Disco was her element
and she was just ggrrreat! Go Diana! I don't know how she'll do
competing against the La Toya and Fantasia next week but it's been
quite a ride for her. Good for her.


Unless it's some kind of huge upset like the Jennifer Hudson fiasco,
I think Jasmine's going home tonight.

so what do u think?

I was such a geek tonight. I just spent the evening optimizing a DSP algorithm on paper (for work, of course). (Hmm..i wonder if my compiler doesn't already replace integer multiplies with bit shifts, cuz if it doesn't i'm gonna save a whole lot of cycles!!) And then i just spent the last hour playing with the new Blogger UI and templates. I settled on this look. I kinda like it better than my last one....but it could use some more tweaking. I gotta learn to this crap myself though...CSS, PHP, RSS, XML, blah blah...i already have enough acronyms at work to deal with....

Go Flames Go

With all due respect to the canucks, I'm proud of the Flames. They deserved to win yet another thrilling game last night. I can only imagine the insanity that filled the streets of Calgary. I guess Vancouver could take comfort in the fact that the Flames disposed of a more talented and skilled team in 6 games instead of 7.

Hockey Night In Canada

The Hockey Night in Canada theme song has been offcially released for download on Puretracks.
Some people have billed it as Canada's Second national anthem.

I'm sure this song will be a popular download purely for its sentimental value, for others...it might serve as a good reminder in case someone asks you to hum it. ;-)

American Idol 3: Barry Manilow Week

This may sound dumb, but for the longest time i got Barry Manilow and Barry White mixed up. Geez...how is that possible??? They're so different. ;-) Anyways...here's Debbie's recap of Tuesday's show ..

Barry Manilow week. hmmm...I'm not a big fanilow and only a couple of his songs i.e. Copacabana. This week wasn't too entertianing for me but here's my weekly recap:

Diana DeGarmo--I can still here the illness she's been nursing for the past couple of weeks but I think she do a good job. I think the comment Randy gave about her choosing songs that are just slightly over her range rang true. She has a wonderful big voice and I love her confidence on stage but maybe she is a little too young to convey the emotionalness of the songs she chooses.

George--I didn't think he was that good.

Jennfier--Nice to see her coming along. She's on a roll and can very well be in the final 3 with La Toya and Fantasia. 3 outstanding divas.

Jasmine--great job Jasmine! It's getting closer to the final and I while I think she has a beautiful voice too, I don't think she can compete with the other 3 divas in the room.

La Toya--once again, great! She is soooooo good.

Jon Stevens--a familiar song but did not like it. I hope he goes. Conan's time has ran out. I hope America hears it.

Fantasia--my VCR stopped during the middle of her performance. I bet she was good. Fantasia has been nothing but be consistently good.

Bottom 3 for me: George, Jon and I guess Diana. I hope Jon goes but I think America's likes Jon better than Diana.

Next week's judge, Hear is Gloria Estafen. Ms. Estefan seems like a really nice lady but I don't think she has a nice voice at all! I can't believe she was in one of those Divas live show singing the almighty Aretha Franklin. I don't think she can hold her own with the likes of Ms. Franklin and Ms. Dion.

For Real??

Has anyone seen that commercial for Powerade featuing Le Bron James? It shows what seems to be game-day footage of James practising his shooting and draining about 4 or 5 of them in a row from 80 feet while a reporter says to his cameraman, "Do we have that? We have that, right?".

I've seen it a couple times, and I'm still not convinced its real. I don't think anyone can shoot from 80 feet out straight on with barely any kind of jump. Most guys have to do a run-up of sorts to get it that far. But even if its digital effects, its a pretty darn cool commercial, that's for sure...

Sun Run

So I did the Sun Run -- the first time I've ran it since moving to BC in 1988. Since I was still nursing a sore knee, I was only able to walk/jog the route. Nevertheless, it was great feeling to cross the finish line along with 45,000+ other runners, and experience one of Vancouver's most famous annual events. I'm paying for it today though...my back and hip is sore as heck. I hope i didn't aggravate my knee too much either...i'm itching to play some basketball.

Life is like a Roadtrip

What is your life metaphor?. For example, is it a house party? A play? A Club scene? A box of chocolates? I liken my life to a grand roadtrip, where I'm driving a car (a "virtual" purple-metallic six-speed 2004 BMW M3 :) ) and there are countless junctions, exits, turnoffs, roads, highways, alleys that i can choose to take at any time. Sometimes it makes sense to take a highway because its the fastest, most direct route. Its the route that everyone tells you to take -- and for most of my life so far, that has been the path I've taken. But sometimes you chose to take the little country road that takes you off the beaten path. Sometimes that country road leads to a dead end, so you may backtrack and get back onto the freeway, or chose another road. Once in awhile, you get on a road that goes right through a barren and desolate desert. You may feel lonely, lost, helpless, and maybe abandoned. You question, why you went on this roadtrip in the first place. And when things look really bad, you might suddenly see a lucious, green oasis with water in the distance. But when you come to it, its all just a mirage -- it was never real. But yet, you stay in your car, and you keep driving -- knowing that you're almost THERE...wherever THERE is. So you just sit back, turn up the music and relish in the solitude of the moment -- and be thankful that you have air conditioning and a great sound system ;-).

And don't forget the people you meet on the roadtrip. The city people, townspeople, the villagers, the hitchikers...all of whom provide some education, some joy, some sadness, some insight, and even some levity! Some people are best left where you find them, others may be lucky enough to have you take them for a ride (or vice versa). But of course, there's always that one PERSON you pick-up that you'll take everywhere on your road-trip (if they say yes), and then it becomes a trip you BOTH share.

Like roadtrips, life isn't always easy, its easy to get lost, especially if you don't have a good map. And unlike a real roadtrip its always hard to answer the question, "Are we there yet?". So even though you may question where you'll end up, you know you'll end up *somewhere* -- (and hopefully somewhere pleasant, like a sunny tropical island in the middle of the pacific), so you just sit back and enjoy the ride!

MC Hammer

Our AI3 critic also had this to say about a recent show she saw.

Debbie:So I was watching Much More Music--the more adult orient-ed Much music a la VH-1 and they have this show called listed. I'm not sure if it was originally a Vh-1 thing but anyway, they did a top 20 "dance" acts of all time. Number 1 and 2 were Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson rightfully. However, I was astonished that they listed Hammer at 20. What??? Excuse me? Yes he was cheesy but he could dance and he entertained everyone. They listed Backstreet Boys (Nick Carter is pretty bad) and New Kids on the Block (well Jordan Knight was a really good dancer) ahead of Hammer. Isn't that ridiculous?

Me: That doesn't make sense to me either! Who else was above the Hammer? Britney Spears? Christine Aguilera? Maybe MC Hammer just had too much style for his own good? Was it those shimmering puffy party pants that detracted from his dancing? I think not. (I had a pair of pants and shoes like those once...but lets not go there) Yah, it might have been cheesy looking back, but he could definately entertain.

That said, my favorite dance video of ALL time to this day is Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation.

American Idol 3: Movie Week

So some FOX executive decided that George Bush was apparently more important than AI3 and bumped it from its Tuesday slot to Wednesday. ;-) I missed the show, again..but here's the rundown from Debbie...

Good night tonight but I have to say, I enjoyed last year's show much more than this year. I guess I am just a bigger Rueben and Clay fan than this year's hopefuls. They're still good but personally I thought last year's people were more fun. Here's my rundown:

George: Corey Clark sang Against All Odds last season and was much terrible. George faired better but it felt a little flat. I think a better song choice for him would have been "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King.

Jennifer: Sister Act 2 her favourite film? What??? Anyway, picked a classic Whitney song and did justice. Good job Jennifer!

JPL: Jailhouse Rock? Who would have thought to pick that song? Anyway, I thought it was a good song choice for him. It was a fun and spirited performance. Again, this guys isn't strong vocally but he is very engaging. I think he's still pretty safe.

Diana: ooo...unlike Jennifer, she didn't do Celine's song justice. Celine is soooo hard to do. She was good but fell flat. Singers should definitely stay away from the Whitney and Mariahs and Celine song b/c they are so recognized. If they aren't supergood good, it just reflects poorly on them. Another comment I had about Diana is that I think Simon was sort of onthe right track with her. She's not presenting herself as her own age. She very mature. I love Diana and I am a big fan but I agree, I think people are having a hard time identifying with her.

Jasmine: Good performance, not great. My comments for Jasmine is the same for Diana. Maybe they're they're just a tad too young to convey some of the maturity these songs require. They're going to be awesome singers but right now they may need to experience life a bit more to understand the passion of these songs.

John: This was an easy pick for him. Juct pick a song that has this old time vibe and do your thing. HE did his thing. He was good. I think this kid is long over to get the boot but I think he's staying for another week at least.

La Toya: Great performance! Wonderful! Bravo! Excellent!

Fantasia: WOW! Amazing...my favourite tonight. She performed the song with such emotion and vulnerability. Awesome job. AS for Rnady's comment about that being the best performance hands down from all 3 seasons, I beg to differ. Still got to root for my girl, Tamyra.

Predictions: Bottom 3 for me is Jasmine, Diana & George. I like all three and I hate to see any one of them go at this point. I'd rather see JPL or John go but I think they're safe unfortunately. I think it's going to be Diana.

Grouse Grind

The Grind is open as of today!! Woo Hoo! Now you can hike up the mountain, and then strap on your snowboard to come down ;-) I'm gunning for a sub-45 min time this year (came close last year). I gotta get this darn knee to heal though...doctor says I've got some bruised tendons from last week's bike ride. Which explains why, I've been watching so much TV lately.

American Idol 3: Elton John

If you missed last night's show, like me, here's Debbie's lowdown on last night's showdown.

Elton John is truly on a level on his own. Last night's show was pretty bad and in my personal opinion, one of the worst shows (on a whole) in the past 3 season. These people tried oh-so-very-hard but didn't really pull through--I mean, the only one that can do Elton is Elton, last night's show was just an average karoke (sp?) night. Here's the rundown of the performances:

Fantasia--She was pretty good. She's bit arrogant and starting to bug me but that's my problem not hers. She can sing anything and in the words of Ms. Abdul "makes it her own". I'm not sure I liked how she came from the audience but I understand that she wanted to interact with them. It just reminds me of Ricki Lake or Geraldo walking up and down the aisles during their talk shows.

JPL--um, I thought he was all over the place vocally. I agree with Simon that he needs voice lessons to add some texture to his voice. I think he'll stay though b/c some crazy women really dig him.

Jon Stevens--ooooooo.....awful, kid, awful. But you know what? I thought he was worse last week. He tried and he tried to show he had some stage presence and that he was having fun and I'll give him that but he was bad last night. I don't know what the capital H-E-double hockey sticks happened last week b/c he should have gone but he SOOOOOO deserves to be in the bottom 3 tonight. He royalled sucked the last two weeks.

Camile--She was bad too last night. Now, I've said this over and over, i love her voice. I think what her problem is is that she picks awful songs for herself. It's all about song choices and she makes really bad decisions. She could go night.

Diana--I like her lots too but she wasn't in the zone last night. She kept coming in and out. After her performance we found out she was under the weather. She wasn't awful but pretty bad considering her track record. it just wasn't her best performance.

George Huff--Good. One of the bright spots of night for me. On the opposite side of Camile, George has made great song choices that reflect his style and ability as a singer and performer and it shows through. He needs to keep it up.

Jasmine--I thought she was good last night. She is most definitely a balland crooner. I think she picks songs that suit her voice and style too but I think she's a bit safe. She needs to change it up slightly and do something a bit different to knock people off their feet like Fantasia does.

Latoya--great. While I think Fantasia and Latoya are the top 2 right now the way they carry themselves is very different. Latoya carries herself more professionally than Fantasia. She style and a graceful elegance to her--she's poised whereas Fantasia is a spunky, energetic, almost like a diamond in the rough.

Jennifer--I thought she was absolutely the best from last night. Best song choice for her vocally and her best performance of the competition. I hope she continues with this success. She has always been on the verge of being eliminated so I hope America cleans out their ears and listens to her. On another note, my brother was saying how he likes her voice but doesn't like the way she moves. I told him, I think it's the high heels. I don't think she's moves gracefully across the stage either in high heels but if she's got a lower heeled-shoe I think she could move around with more fluidity.

Bottom 3 picks for me are: Camile, Jon and JPL. I think it will be between Camile and Jon though. I'd prefer it would be Jon but Camile hasn't proved to anyone yet that she belongs to be there.

Me vs. The Mountain

Having been blessed with yet another glorious sunny day, i decided to go on my first mountain bike ride of the season yesterday. So RT, WW, WL, and I met up at Mount Seymour base camp at 3:30pm (just off Northlands Golf course at the base). After getting all geared up, we proceeded to make the climb up the main trail. Most people actually "shuttle" up the mountain (one person leaves a car at base, while another drives everyone with their bikes to the top -- it helps to have a pickup), but us pain-lovers decided to go for the gusto and do it the hard way. So began the ride up the mountain, with WL leading the way, and WW&RT bringing up the rear, with me in between. Normally, we'd only go about 400m, to the entrance of Old Buck Trail, an easy, X-country trail. This time, though, WL suggested we go up to a trail called Ned's Atomic Dustbin. He said it was just "a little bit" further up the trail. Well.. actually it was a whole lot of "little bits" strung together, and WW and RT were clearly getting a little impatient (and tired). Meanwhile, my lower back was killing me, and my legs were feeling really heavy... I jokingly told WL, that he'd be getting a few weeks of silent treatment from his friends for making us do the climb. But, we stuck it out, and about an hour later we made it to mid-mountain.

By now, it was 5:30pm, and it was gonna be getting dark soon. We weren't able to find Ned's trail, and instead found Pingu which i vaguely recalled doing last year. The entrance of the trail featured a "pleasant" one-foot drop -- just to get us in the "mood". We all managed to get through it ok, and so we were all pretty pumped. Our minds (and bodies) quickly changed its tune though... While the trail is wider and more scenic that the ones on Burnaby Mountain, I soon remembered why Pingu is was one of the more challenging trails around, with its numerous dropoffs, curving ladders, and long skinnies. RT had the first "incident", when his brakes locked up during a landing..and went he flipped over his handle bars. Now, I didn't get to see it first-hand, but I can imagine. RT always seems to manage to fall without anyone seeing him, and if he does he gets up really fast, trying to appear if nothing happened. But I didn't laugh, cuz i knew i was in for a doozy of a fall -- and sure enough it came about 20 min into the ride. I cleared this curved ladder section, but upon landing my front tire caught the face of a big rock stuck in the ground. My bike came to a grinding halt, and thanks to wonderful laws of physics, my body kept moving through the air. For a brief moment, I was airborne, and touched down rather ungracefully on my forearms and chest. Fortunately, my body armour protected me from serious injury , but i had the wind knocked out of me. My knee also hit the ground, and until now its pretty tender (i suspect i bruised the underside of my knee cap). Needless to say, I was pretty shaken up by that fall, and i was tentative the whole way down..and decided to walk many sections, that i otherwise probably would ridden. I did manage to clear this 30' foot long ladder skinny across a stinky wet bog. THAT was a rush. WW tried to clear it too, but ended up walking most of it until the last section. She fell, but fortunately she didn't end up in the pond (which smelled like rotten eggs). Of course RT, was their to pick her off the ground (albeit with some light laughter :) ).

ANYWAYS...Pingu turned into Pangor's trail which wasn't any easier..but we realized that we'd best not doddle as darkness was starting to fall upon us. Plus, some of us were getting really hungry and cranky. So we started hauling some a$$ down the trail (mostly with our bikes in our hand ;-) ). The trail was becoming somewhat unfamilar, and we just knew we had to keep heading down. We eventually came upon a T junction. WL and I had to make a call, and we decided to head RIGHT. EHHHH! WRONG!!! After a couple minutes, WL asked a hiker who'd happened to be running the opposite way for directions. Sure enough, we were supposed to head left. [What is it with guys and not being able to ask for directions, huh? sheesh!!! ;-)] We finally made it back to the parking lot at 6:30pm. We were sooooo happy to have made it. It was such a rush to be able to finish...especially after riding uphill for an hour, where you not only have to fight that little voice inside telling you that you should turn back, but also testing your patience, stamina and the strength of your friendships too ;-) However, next time we're gonna start a earlier in the day, so it won't be such a race against time (and darkness).

Admittedly, the mountain served me a can of proverbial whoop a$s yesterday -- it definately got the better of me . And I'm paying for it today. Nevertheless, we all had a AWESOME time, and I'll be back for more.

Here's to the 2004 freeriding season! Ride on!

American Idol 3: Motown Week

Without further ado, here's the latest rundown of last night's performances from our AI3 correspondent, Debbie L. Thanks, Debbie!

As a HUGE fan of Motown, I thought the show overall was pretty entertaining. Ashford & Simpson were alright for judges. I think Ashford's a lil' scary-looking; every time I look at him, I think of Eddie Murphy in "Vampire in Brooklyn". The Funk Brothers band were great. I think they added so much more to the performance. Anyway, here are my thoughts on this week's AI:

Camille-- She tried really hard last night to show the judges she's having fun and can a work a crowd. Much better than the past two weeks but she's still pretty weak performance wise. I think she'll be in the bottom 3 again.

JPL--I thought he was pretty good last night. I think he picked the right song for him although I thought Corey Clark did a lot better version than him in last year's competition.

Jon--ooohhh...I think he did pretty bad. I think his voice got lost in the song. I think he'll definitely be in the bottom 3 tonight.

Latoya--I liked her hair extensions! I thought she looked great and she did Smokey proud with her rendition of "Oooo Baby, Baby". Great song, great performance"

Jennifer--I thought she rocked the song last night. I think it was her best performance on the show however, I she may be in the bottom 3 tonight as she hasn't grown to be a crowd favourite yet.

Jasmine--Great. She was really good last night except for the one last note. I think Randy and simon agreed with me on that one.

Fantasia--She was great last night too. She's absolutely frickin' safe tonight.

Amy Adams--again, I think she picked the a really good song for her voice and personality. I liked her performance last night. Also...I think her boyfriend's kinda cute.

George--Great song choice for him. Excellent song. He was really good last night. Definitely the strongest male competitor for me.

Diana--She is soooo comfortable and confident on stage. I think vocally she was great but I didn't think too much about the performance. On a whole it was good but I don't know. I think I was distracted by the red skirt. I think the outfit was a lil' wack.

Bottom 3 for me tonight is Camille, Jon, Diana. Camille may go home tonight for 3 lacklustre performance in a row but Jon I thought was the weakest and is mostly like going home.

Is it Chicken or Tuna?

In a total random act -- without premeditation or planning whatsoever, I found myself watching the show Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica while flipping channels this morning. I don't know what kept me glued to the channel...maybe it was the shock of watching Nick fart while they talked to his parents with Jessica on the living room sofa, maybe it was watching Jessica do her laundry...no, i think it was seeing Jessica complain after 3 days of camping in the woods proclaiming that she wanted a massage, a manicure, and pedicure, wait...i think i know what it was....it was listening to Jessica ask Nick whether a can of "Chicken of the Sea" was really Tuna or Chicken, while Nick sat next to her looking at her indisbelief.

Next channel please...

Immortality

Do you want to live forever? Throughout time, people seem to be on a search for that elusive "Fountain of Youth"...that one scientific breakthrough that will allow someone to live in eternity. But do people really want to live forever? or just longer? Or do they just simply want to LOOK and feel young (i.e. courtesy of anti-wrinkle cream, botox, Oil of Olay..) ? Or do people want to live in eternity, but not necessarily in our current physical form? In which case, its a matter of whether you believe in "life" after death. Reincarnation? Heaven? Personally, I believe that our home on earth is only "temporary", and our real home is in heaven. Its obviously a debate as old as mankind, but I notice that its something rarely talked about among my group of friends...

American Idol 3: Country Week

I sat and watched AI3 for the first time in awhile, and i thought the performances overall were ho-hum -- no one really stood out to me, except for Diana and George. Everyone seemed to be trying to play it safe - com'on its only 30M viewers you have to worry about ;-). Honestly though, I get the biggest kick out of watching the sparks and punches fly between Simon and Paula. I wonder how much Paula was paid to kiss Simon. Ha ha. Anyways..enough of my thoughts, let's hear what our AI3 correspondent, Missy D has to say about last night...

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Since the country-music genre is not my favourite, I wasn't too keen on this week's American Ido but lo and behold there were a few surprises for me. Here's my lil' rundown of the night's performers:

Diana--Great. This girl has some pipes and she's just the seasoned performer. Very natural. I think she can go really deep in this competition. George--Again, I missed his performance last week so I can't comment on how much he improved or didn't but he was just okay for me last night. Fantasia--I thought she was really good last night. I never would have thought she would do a Willie Nelson song. Good for her to change it up a bit. Camille--ooooohhhh...I thought she was really bad last night. I still love her voice but she's choking in this competition. I think it was just a bad song choice for her and it can cost her. She could be cut tonight. Matt--this guy is soooo cheesy! But I have to say every time I see him and his goofy grin, I smile too. It wasn't great but I think he'll stay. John Peter--Wasn't impressed but he's got some ladies' votes so I think he'll stay tonight too. Jennifer--I dug the straight hair and I dug the song but I have a funny feeling she was maybe in the bottom 3 tonight. Maybe she's like the Kimberley Locke from last year. I always felt Kimberley was good but she just kept hovering around the bottom 3 but eventually started to blow people away. I am hoping the same will happen to Jennifer. John (redhead)--Thought he was good. Didn't notice he messed up the words to the song. Really good recovery. For such a distinctive vocal style I feel he's done a really good job on picking songs the match his style. The guy just has to get more comfortable being on stage. Jasmine--ooohhh...she picked such a safe song but I thought she was totally off-key. Hopefully she's been good enough in the past to avoid the bottom 3 but it could be a close one for her. LaToya--Wowee-wow. Didn't expect the Garth Brooks's song she chose but she did awesome. I think she's becoming my favourite. Just everything about her performance last night was awesome. Amy--She was on point last night and so much better from last week. She was sooo good. So happy for her b/c I like her kookiness.

Bottom 3 picks tonight are: Camille, Jennifer & jasmine. Now I like all three and hope they stay but I think Camille is the one going home tonight.

American Idol 3

My good friend Debbie has been a die-hard American Idol fan ever since it started. She's graciously agreed to share her weekly rundown of the last episode. So come back and check often for updates! Enjoy...

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I'd like to introduce myself, my name is Debbie and I am a HUGE American Idol fan. I'd like to thank Cyrus for allowing me to post my weekly rants and raves of the third installment of this great series. So to start things off, here is my first AI3 post.

Didn't have time to write about last week's show until now. First off, I had a freak VCR recording mishap that I missed George Huff's performance but it was really good show for the most part. Other than that here is a quick blurb about the rest of them:

Latoya--I thought she was really good, not as good as her previous performance but good. I think she'll go far too.
Matt Rogers--Total cheeseball but I thought it was fun cheeseball. He strongest asset is that he's a likable guy
Jon Peter--Like Matt, I think his strongest asset is his personality. I wouldn't say he'll make it to the top three but he'll be around for a while. I think'd he be like a Josh from last season.
John Stevens--like his voice but he needs to work on his performance skills
Camille-- I really like her voice but I agree with Simon that she needs to work on her confidence. Her performance level needs to be worked on to and that only comes with time.
Amy--Not her best performance but I'm glad she'll be back. She seems fun
Fantasia--Great but I think at this point, I like Latoya better.
George--even though I missed him, I heard he was really good.
Jennifer Hudson--I really like her and I'm surprised she was in the bottom three. I think she will only get better
Jasmine--WOW...incredible. What a voice. Hope she goes far.
Diana--She is so comfortable on stage. She did really good too.
Leah--Glad she's gone, never really thought she had a great voice. I think she was the weakest performer on the show last week. She deserved it.

What happened to the guest judges? This week is country week apparently. I didn't like country week last season so I'm I'll enjoy this time around.

Embarassing...

Me and MW played some drop-on basketball at Pinetree Community Rec centre in Coquitlam. Nice courts. There were enough people to make 4 teams for 5-on-5 full court. MW and I really just wanted to shoot around since neither of us have been played some serious b-ball for quite some time, but we still joined a team, and boy did we ever get our arses kicked! I dunno what it was today, but I found playing 5-on-5 with strangers too be too much pressure, and all basketball fundamentals seemed to just go out the window... couldn't pass, couldn't get around the screens, couldn't do a freakin' layup or short jumpshot (had some really nice air-balls though!). For goodness sake, my check just slapped the ball away from my hands when I fronted him after getting the pass. How embarassing, i know i could do much better... if anything this was exactly the motivation I need to get me back into playing some serious basketball over the summer... anyone know of any basketball leagues or other gyms with drop-in b-ball?

That Little Icon

Yesterday, i accidently turned off that little envelope icon in the system tray that notifies you when you get a new message in Outlook. Since then, I've become slightly more productive, as I'm no longer tempted to check my messages every time that little envelope pops up. I'm able to focus for longer periods on a task -- without interruptions. I haven't yet figured out how to turn it back on (cuz you can't see the icon anymore!), but I think i'll leave it the way it is for now...

Now if i can only stop checking blogs so often... ;-)

Looking for Love?

Scientists have developed a system for mobile phones called, "Serendipity", that allows people to identify potential "mates". How? Users sign-up to a database which keeps their online profile, picture and list of "desirable" traits in a mate. When the user is out in public, the system can detect when another user is within close range (using Bluetooth technology). The system can then determine if there are enough similarities between the two people, at which time it notifies the user (with a picture and other info) that a potential match is close by!!

Save those Quarters!

Hang on to any of the new Newfoundland quarters. If you have them, they may be worth much more than 25 cents. The Canadian Mint announced today that it is recalling all of the Newfoundland quarters that are part of its program featuring quarters from each province.

"We are recalling all the new Newfoundland quarters that were recently issued," Canadian Mint Deputy Minister Jack Shackleford said Monday. "This action is being taken after numerous reports that new quarters will not work in parking meters, toll booths, vending machines, pay phones, or other coin-operated devices."
The quarters were issued in the order in which the various provinces joined Confederation. and have been a tremendous success among coin collectors worldwide.
"The problem lies in the unique design of the Newfoundland quarter, which was created by a team of Newfoundland natives," Shackleford said. "Apparently, the duct tape holding the two dimes and the nickel together keeps jamming the coin-operated devices.

[note: I'm a Newfie, so i'm allowed to make fun of myself ;-)]

End of an Era

Sigh.... Our company has been going through some serious restructuring of late, and cuts have been made across the board -- people, capital and services included. Watching 40+ of your colleagues get the pink-slip was obviously the hardest part to deal with. But its also the little things. For example, I went down to the gym for my lunch-hour workout and when I came back to the change room, realized that there weren't any more towels! Our company had cancelled our towel service. In a couple weeks, the water cooler and satellite TV service in the Gym will be cancelled. And today was also the last day for cafeteria service. The days of buying lunch in case I forgot my lunch, are over...

I suspect no one will sympathize with me -- these were luxuries after all. ;-) ...but its OK...we still have the foosball table!!

Passion of the Christ. Revisited

Whoa. Talk about intense. Passion of the Christ was an emotionally visceral experience. If the point of the film was to make its viewers *feel* the magnitude of Jesus' sacrifice, then it went above and beyond that. Whether it helped viewers *understand* Jesus' sacrifice, is questionable. So much focus was placed on the violent and brutal *death* Jesus experienced, that despite the regular flashback scenes, and other visual allegory, I think that it came up short on educating people about the *life* of Jesus. Then again, there's only so much you can show in a movie, and Mel Gibson had to narrow his focus..and that he did. The movie itself was very well crafted under Gibson's direction. I wasn't bothered by the fact that the film was entirely done in Aramaic with english subtitles -- mainly because there seemed to be more shouting, grunting, whipping, punching, and kicking sound effects than dialog. [Interestingly enough, "idiot" is the same in Aramaic as it is in english]. I can see how the portrayal of the Pharasies as a cold, mad, and merciless mob could have of been construed as anti-semtitic -- but I don't think its anything to have Jewish groups up in arms.

Passion is not a movie you can enjoy. It's more of an experience. Whatever your religous orientation, I think it will shock, inspire and force you to question your faith, your spirtuality, and your purpose in life. If it doesn't...then at the very least, you'll see your friends AND enemies in a much more positive light.

...I think i need a break from these "thinking" movies. Next week, I'm gonna see Starsky and Hutch ;-)

Move over Karoake. Here come's Movieoke!

Can't sing? Well, picture getting up on a stage, with a big screen behind you playing a clip of your favorite movie scene. As the subtitles scroll across on the bottom, you recite the lines as you "act" out the scene. Of course, the audience is cheering you along ;-) Its like Karoake, but you don' t have to sing... do you buy it? Think its a stupid idea? Well, at least someone thinks it's worth turning into a business. Check it out.

The Corporation

They're (in)famous. You've been hearing their names all the time on TV and in print. Enron. WorldCom. Parmalat. Global Crossing. Halliburton. etc. -- all of them corporations who have rocked the market with their scandals, and probably ruined the lives of a few (ok, a LOT of) investors. Its easy to forget that a corporation has the status of a "person", with legal rights that are virtually equal to those of a real human being.

The movie, The Corporation is 2 1/2 hour thought-provoking, jaw-dropping, edge-of-your-seat-but-not-really documentary which is based around the simple hypothesis that if the corporation is a person, then it is someone without morals, to the point it should be considered a psychopath. Through a fast-paced collection of stock news footage, and interviews with CEOs, right-wing think tanks (aka, the Fraser Institute), social activists, Noam Chomsky & friends, and an FBI criminal expert, the movie builds the case that corporations have run amok with reckless disregard for the environment, and the lives of other people -- all in the pursuit of profit. For example, did you know that some companies would rather pollute than comply with environmental regulations because its cheaper to pay the fines than to comply with regulations? Or did you know that Bechtel once tried to privatize the water supply in a small town in Bolivia? Obviously, when one sees this movie, you'll get a sense of the bias the directors have -- despite the fact they did get interviews from all sides of the debate. Anti-globalization, left-wing activists, and socialists alike will rally around this movie. As for me, I enjoyed the movie immensely, simply because it made me think. And I like "thinking" movies. As for corporations, I don't quite see big corporations as the monsters the movie tries to portray them as. But some things certainly have to change... and learning about what is going on today in the corporate world, is just a small, yet important step towards positive change...(George W. Bush, here I come!!! hahahah).

So go see it. Its playing at 5th Avenue and Tinseltown.

Does Fido need a friend?

Our four legged friends need not look further! With dogster.com your dog can expand their social network. Whether Fido is seeking lost friends, new friends, or true love this site will certainly become their place in cyberspace to connect.
Doggone it, what will they think of next? dog blogging??!?!?!! :)

A Different Kind of Life

On a recent trip to Thailand, I went on a trekking tour just north of Chiang Mai, along the Burma-Thailand border. One of the villages we visited belonged to the Lahu tribe, and I'll never forget the day we entered the village and seeing a group of 10+ village children come rushing towards me and the rest of my trekking group.
It became quickly apparent that they led lives vastly different from ours. No electricity, no video games, no GI Joes, no Cabbage Patch Kids, No Barbies -- and no Transformers!!. Instead, the kids spend their days playing in groups outside their bamboo huts while pigs, chickens, dogs and other animals roam freely. Their faces, arms, legs and clothes get soiled as they romp around on the red-clay dirt -- meanwhile their parents watch from afar..ignoring the mess they're making. When we brought out our cameras, a delirious riot ensued -- they all wanted to get their picture taken. Apparently, there are no mirrors in the village and most rarely get to see their own faces. When they weren't clamoring to see their picture on camera, they were jumping on our backs and tugging on our arms, waiting for us to swing them around in circles through the air. When night fell, everyone in the village gathered around the campfire. The girls sang and danced to a few native folk songs, but we all had a good laugh when the boys treated us to their rendition of Jingle Bells (apparently the last group that came through had taught them). After a couple hours, the parents called them back into their huts as it was bed-time. As for us, we spent the rest of the night drinking Thai whiskey, and exchanging stories under a clear star-filled night sky. Some memories fade away easy, but the memory of this day was definately gonna stay with me for the rest of my life.

the truth about mars

I knew it!

quote du jour

"There are 10 types people in this world....those who understand binary, and those that don't" -- a co-worker.

unwired

My brother asked me to give back his ethernet router (after "borrowing" it for the last 2 years :) ), and so I bought myself a wireless router from future shop for $50 (after rebate). Setup was a breeze. Its only got 802.11b, but its all I need...and you can't beat the price.

I've used wireless before at airports, but I still find it totally cool to be able to plunk down on the couch or bed and work on my laptop without that stupid wire. I'm **so** much more productive now!! ;-)

Transformers...more than meets the eye!!

Come on, what little boy didn't like the Transformers? I used to wake up by 7:30am every morning to catch the cartoon (which was followed by Tom & Jerry and the Jetsons!!). Every time Christmas or a Birthday came around, I asked mom and dad for a new Transformer toy. (i no longer to that anymore...). I didn't have a very large collection, but I had the classics...Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Bumblebee, Soundwave, Metroplex and Astrotrain. But I thought the coolest one of all was Omega Supreme! Seems like the Transformers are going through a renaissance of sorts, as Hasbro is bringing back the Originals to mark the 20th year anniversary. I REALLY didn't like those prehistoric or dinosaur transformers -- and now they have the Alternators, which are in the form of cars like the Impreza, Jeep and Corvette... cool, but not as cool as the Originals...

What were your favorite Transformers?

stirring controversy

Mel Gibson's new movie, Passion of the Christ, which gives a stirring account of Jesus' last 12 hours of life, opened today in theatres. The timing of release is uncanny, not just because its Ash Wednesday, but because I've been re-examining my own faith and spirituality over the last couple months. I've been talking to Catholics and Christians, reading books and articles, and I've probably come up with as many questions as I have gotten answers. The movie has been stirring controversy for the past year, as many have branded the movie anti-semitic (even though it hadn't been shown yet!) -- something which Gibson denies. I'll watch the movie and decide for myself, but from what I can see, it is purely one man's interpretation of an event that occurred 2000 years ago. Like any other historical event, there can be multiple interpretations. Gibson just wanted to share his interpretation and let people question and decide for themselves. Judging by the controversy and flurry of media attention..i think he's already succeeding.

destined to become introverts??

As the usage of electronics communications (e-mail, chat rooms, instant messengers, text messaging, etc) skyrockets, you have to wonder what its going to do to our "in-person" social skills. Most forms of electronic communication gives people a sense of anonymity and security that allows even the most shy person to reach out to anyone in the world. But is it possible that electronic comms can develop shyness in people because they no longer get much chance to communicate through traditional means such as in meetings (one-on-one or group) or over the phone? I mean, there's no denying that its easier to talk to a total stranger (or someone you just met) through e-mail or IM. What's the extreme? Could we evolve into a society where in-person contact is avoided..and everyone is introverted by nature?

maybe some other time

A planned business trip to Israel has been cancelled. I had been looking forward to the trip with both excitement and some anxiety. But I'm not too disappointed because, after all, Israel has been the center of intense, violent religious conflict for many years -- not exactly the best environment for foreigners. Coincidentally, there was yet another suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem killing 8 people. Given that most suicide bombers target public buses, I'm amazed by how the Israeli public still continue to use buses despite the danger. I suppose that the Israelis have learned to live with such a risk, thereby refusing to let terrorists control their lives.

Doesn't it bug you when you see someone who's face you recognize cuz you know you've met before, and yet you can't put a name to their face? I saw this girl last weekend at church, and it irked me that I remembered her face, but not the name. I think she noticed my not-so-subtle stares (i suspect she was thinking the same thing). I guess I could have approached her and used the classic "Don't I know you from somewhere..." line, but it sounded cheesy at the time...and i still wasn't positive if it was the same girl i recognized. ANyways..to keep a short story short, she approached ME today and asked me if I worked at Spectrum, which I said yes. Turns out she was friends with my other friends who works with me, and we had all gone bowling as a group a couple years ago....

yah. that's all i really had to say.

I just spent over an hour cleaning my kitchen. Its become a weekly ritual. Its amazing how quickly the dishes pile up in the sink (and on the counter), and the garbage starts bursting at the seams. I've made a mental note to myself that if something ever explodes in the microwave...wipe it up RIGHT away!

By the way, when the food package says "Best Before 14-Feb-2004" does that mean you throw it away after Feb 14? I suspect most people do, but is it really that bad for you? Who and how is this date determined?

awwwwessome..

Its days like today that make you just love living in Vancouver. Its a perfect place for the person who loves the city life, but craves nature and the great outdoors. THere aren't very many cities in the world that have sandy beaches, grandiose snow-capped mountains, and an abundance of greenery and trees.

To blog or not to blog, that WAS the question. I guess I've answered it.
Here we goooooo!!