Welcome to India

This week's specially hilarious video was brought to you by... Tunak tunak tun... Notice the elaborate hand gestures:

Pre-Wedding wonderfulness

So, I've been busy building a website for my wedding. It's pretty fun to do, and it will have all kinds of details, stories, photos, slideshows, and contact information.

It will also have a guestbook, so I EXPECT you all to sign it. All two of you, who actually come to this site.

I'll let you know what the address is, but you can probably guess what the domain name is now...

SPECIAL BULLETIN: Need a Room-mate?

This is not a test of the emergency broadcast system:

No... this isn't for me. I'll have a permanent roommate from May 27th of next year. A friend of mine is looking to move into Burnaby, East Van area... and he needs a roommate. He's really clean and wants to move closer to work and to a congregation with good spirituality. So... if you wanna move closer to the city... let me know, and I'll pass on the word. Also, pass the word around your friends. You never know who wants to move...

Cheers!
~G~

Extremely Shy, you say?

This is an INSANE movie. First, you have to know that most Japanese people think Dakota (I can't remember her last name) is insanely cute. Okay, most people in general do, but with the blond hair and blue eyes... they just dote over her.... By the way, kawaii (pronounced like Hawaii with a "k" means "So cute!!" , and can be heard by small effeminate women, and large roly-poly sumo wrestlers. Enjoy:

Cool Illusion

Okay, it's not perfect, but this is my desk space and about 5 minutes of my time on the Friday before the holidays began. I got the idea off a website somewhere... though, if I spent some time and dimmed the monitor a bit, or didn't have such a shadow in the background... then it would look better.

Gives a whole new definition to "windows" 

Hands in my pocket...

I have had that REALLY stupid advertising jingle, "Hands in my pocket" from the Capital One Mastercard commercial.

HANDS in my pocket, Hands IN my pocket, HANDS, in my Pocket...

Arghhhh!!!! Please, make the jingle stop!!! How are they able to put these stupid things into my head.

Anyone else have annoying jingles they hate?

Five Second Rule

before, you watch this short clip... remember, it's only a movie... it's not real... he didn't really eat that chip! Anyway... anyone use the 5 second rule, here? Comments? Feel free to weigh in your opinion... ^_^

Oreos and Twinkies

No, I'm not going to talk about sweet treats and yummy foods. But rather, I'm going to talk about categorizing people. If you're anywhere near Vancouver, you've heard of the term twinkie... or "banana" referring to asians who were raised in a western environment... probably eat non-asian food and likely are more western than eastern. They're often affectionately named: "twinkie." The reasons are obvious, I think... and if you really can't figure out why then email me and I'll enlighten you.

You might not have heard of "egg" referring to someone who's white outside, but knows more about Asia than Asians.

And just MAYBE you're heard of the term "oreo" which if you're following the pattern, is easy to figure out.

But there's no food group representing the jigga's and chigga's and wigga's. You know, people trying to be black... or getting all involved in black culture... dressin' up, and talking in ebonics etc.

I mean, in the end... i think it's stupid to label people as such... based on their skin colour... although it can be funny with the right people... as people are really a product of their environment. If I spent enough time in Japan, I would probably become very Japanese... my parents have been here longer than UK, and though there's this notion that UK is still home... in reality, "home" has changed so much that really... home is here in Canada.

I guess, though, it's different to different people.

Funny Japanese English Lessons...

When I was in Japan... there were tonnes of these 5 minute shows on TV. Some of them were hilarious... all to teach English... with ultimate hilarity.

Scrumpt-diddly-umptious

This cake is simply a work of art. And it was very tasty. We had a dinner at work. One of our suppliers takes our department out once a year... so we can pretty much order whatever we want.

The Scotch was great, the Steak was Salivacious, and the dessert was divine. Nothing much else to say right now... i need to do another rant or two... like the McDonald's rant.

Maybe I should do a poll on people's favorite dessert... although the cappuccino cheesecake may biased some, now. 

How does McDonald's Do it?

I was wondering the other day how McDonald's is able to keep prices so insanely low. I mean, come on, 1.49 for a burger? At first I thought it could be the mass of min. wage school workers, and of course, there's obviously an economy of scale. If McDonald's buys enough cow meat to sink Manhattan with its collective bovine weight, I'm sure they get a good discount.

Then, I thought they make a tonne of cash off of Fries and stuff... and just manage their loss leaders well... but why were the prices never this low? It's almost like giving the burgers away.

It came to me while I was watching an Arby's commercial. There's something a lot different about the McDonald's of today. Surcharges.

If you remember the early 90s or the 80s, you'll remember that if you wanted an extra packet of ketchup or one more slice of tomato or something else... they usually just did it... but in the last 10-15 years, a noticable change has happened, you want something extra, you will pay... and you will pay a lot. I don't know about you, but getting dinged 0.49$ for a slice of bacon when a whole pack costs a couple of bucks seems like extortion to me. Or how about how they try to upsell the Big Xtra (with Bacon, sir?) suggesting that it's included, but they just want to make sure that you wanted it. Most people don't notice the "Xtra" charge on their receipt.

This isn't just at McDonalds, it seems that prices just couldn't get lower without cutting these extra services. Some would argue that it's a good thing for consumers... gives them what they pay for and penalizes the ones that try to abuse it by ordering 10 extra pickles, but I would say that it gets us used to surcharges. Now, when I get surcharges on my mobile phone bill, or some random bank charge (they never USED to charge as much as they do now) I barely flinch.

And I don't know about you... but I blame McDonald's for it all.

fun with fog

It's really foggy here in Vancouver, and one of my favorite places to go in the fog is Trout Lake. The whole city is blanketed in fog, but Trout lake has some really cool and sometimes creepy willow trees and and many trees with tortured branches sticking out from its troubled leafless trunk. Apparently, the fog is low lying so you can get above it on Seymour or Grouse, so I'm going to try that today, I think. 

Only in the Wack

Only in Chilliwack could you find a major street that's not busy enough so that you can push a car that doesn't start, down it. Is that proper grammatical english? 

Nature Matching game

I chose this picture because I thought it was cool that the lights were matching the sunset. It's almost as if they're an extension of the sunset and they too would fade to night as the sun goes down. Sunset sensitive traffic signals.

If you look carefully, you'll see the murder of crows in the sky on their way to the roost by McDonald's headquarters. Sidepoint: Did you know that crows are officially considered songbirds? They may not sound as pretty to most people's ears, but they're actually very intelligent and apparently, as the largest of the songbird family, they sing. 

Sensory Overload

It's too easy to be non-caring about 3rd world countries and their plight. It seems it takes effort to actually caIt's too easy to be non-caring about 3rd world countries and their plight. It seems it takes effort to actually care. I don't mean caring on the surface... like knee-jerk reactions to the starving faces of gaunt African children on TV infomercials. That’s natural. I mean, the deeper caring, the inadequacy that comes from feeling you have to do something, and you really want to, as well. That takes effort. It is much more difficult. This partly results from, simply, too much disaster. But it’s not just the disaster in itself, but rather, the unending coverage of them that dulls us.

With the pervasion of media, we can offer instant satellite fields from the battle fields of Iraq, or a report from the eye of the hurricane. In fact, watching the news wasn’t always all about getting a good video clip of the disaster site. It used to be the case that some news stories were only reported on, or were audio only. That seems more and more rare these days. Just think, a split second event in New York was caught by half a dozen video cameras… and if you can think back 4 years… if there had been no video footage, you probably would’ve almost craved it… and as it was, people pored over the available video footage.

Well anyways, I digress (a lot). The point of all this is that unless things are sensational, they don’t evoke an emotional response… and isn’t that sad? I think we really have to experience it first hand… and even then… in Vancouver, passing beggars in the street no longer elicits much more than an apathetic “no thank-you” as if I’m refusing the service of supplying them with a few cents. You never really get used to seeing people in poverty, but it sure gets easier to tolerate as your sensitivity to it gets dulled. I suppose we just have to work at doing what we can and try not to separate ourselves from that all. Which is harder than it looks. How does today’s picture make you feel?re.

I don't mean caring on the surface... knee-jerk reactions to the starving faces of gaunt African children. Those feelings of inadequacy which result from the thought of "well, what can I do" 

Eskimos in style

In Search of coolness...
So, apparently, these new furry hooded jackets are in style again. Cool, i remember being 3 the last time they were in style... it's about time. Our model, Reuben, here is modeling how you are meant to walk down the street. You are not actually meant to wear the hood (that would be uncool... you can't let people think you're dressing for the weather, after all. Rather than that, you're meant to strike the quasimoto pose and stagger down streets... and that, my friends is definitely the coolest thing I've ever seen.

And if you didn't detect the whiff of sarcasm... then your ofactory sense needs a new scentometer. Seriously though, these jackets are cool... though I don't know why I'd need one in Vancouver, unless it had a built in reverse tractor beam for rain... now someone has GOT to invent some sort of rain force shield. They'd make millions... and of course, spend billions in making it... but that's what military trickle down technology is for, right?

If you click the title bar, you'll be able to get your very own minks... Yay. ^_^

Toe Socks!!!

I got a package in the mail from Seiko today. And among all the wedding picture stuff I found two pairs of toe socks! They're pretty cool and after the first little bit of weirdness, they're comfortable, too. They take a little longer to put on, but apparently they reduce toe sweat (ewwww!) because the toes don't touch each other.

You can get them here too (not only Japan) but it's so much nicer getting socks as presents... especially when they're mailed. Who doesn't like getting a package in the mail.

Don't buy these headphones

Yes, they're cheap Jensens. Yes, they're only $10 at Future shop... but it's my second pair in about 6 months. One side always quits on me. I know I'm rough on my stuff... but still...

I'm going to buy some quality ones... and lo' and behold I may actually go for the Future shop warranty... i work right beside future shop and so it's not difficult. Also, I've been listening to more and more podcasts recently, so I want something nice...

Normally I HATE those rip-off warranties, but we'll see.

Torigami - fun with cloth

Fun at Centro!

Just a little explanation... Tori (鳥) means chicken in Japanese... so therefore, the art of rolling and folding a cloth napkin (serviette for any aussies) should be torigami... right?

Hmm... I wonder what Seiko would think if I decided to put torigami on all the place settings as a plate decoration at our wedding reception. ^_^

A brave new day...

So, I decided to make use of the fact that I have a blackberry (and yes, my dependence on this beast is growing daily) and set it up so I can actually email updates to my blog from anywhere. It's too bad I can't send pictures as this thing has no camera (what was RIM thinking!!!) But it will serve its purpose well as a mobile rantbox.

It scary how fast the world has changed from sending mail to one person to posting videos and photos from a mobile phone (except blackberries) the size of a few credit cards stuck together.

Recently I've also been getting into podcasts, the video versions of which have been feeding my lust for a new video ipod, or at least a new nano.

But alas, weddings are expensive... And therefore technolust will have to be put aside... For a few months.

But if you want to check outwhat video podcasts are all about, you should go to itunes (you are using itunes, right?) And do a search in the itunes music store. There's some pretty cool stuff in the regular podcasts too.

I found Nemo!!

So, if you're ever in the Reef on Main st. in Vancouver, you gotta check out the aquarium in the back of the place. Ok, with a name like "the reef" you'd expect to find him... but seriously, it's strange... what's even stranger is that popular culture has made the cartoon more recognizable than the actual fish. I found myself trying to find ways to free him before the evil braces-clad little terror came to kill (err... care for) him. Anyway, the picture is cool. 

Whose wedding day is it?

Take a quick glance at this photo and you see a rather innocuous scene. Just a Wedding party right? A wedding party on the streets of Seattle, waiting to cross the street.

Look a little closer and you see a kilt. One lone (Scot?) in a kilt. Look even further and you notice that he's the only one of the wedding party wearing a kilt... while everyone else is wearing a suit. It stands to reason that it would seem that we have located the groom. It wasn't until you saw the bride, with the groom at her side did you realize that your assumption was wrong. I don't think I've ever seen someone who appears to be in the wedding party and yet sticks out more than the groom. Is he just being proud of his heritage, or just showing himself off? You be the judge. 

Autumn's last blush

Autumn's really blushing this year. I think it's the most vibrant autumn I've seen in a few years. It's more than that though... out of all the colours in the colour spectrum, they all match. They are also always pleasing to the eye. It's like it makes it easier to mix and match everything. I've never seen such an easy to match wardrobe. The planning that has been put into fall colours and spring colours is so evident, that we use it to replicate in clothing lines. Because, after all, we have to match with the season, right? It's like we feel this need to fit into nature. Further proof we're part and parcel made up of the same stuff. From dust we were made, right?

Getting things in Perspective

Yay for Picasa. It enables me to quickly serve the needs of the blogging world while quickly doing a write up of interesting pictures. Seriously, though... as Mac user... it has to be pretty good to gush over a piece of software that only runs on a PC... so I won't... but try it... you will be amazed.

So anyway, this shot is from the International SandCastle Competition... and I thought this sand sculpture was so cool for the way it used perspective. In actual fact, that sculpture is just a flat wall, but it's sculpted in such a way to give it this incredible depth... how many of you were actually fooled into thinking it was a 3D sculpture... okay, technically all sculptures are 3D but this one is totally FLAT! the rest of the sculture was cool too... really though you had to close one eye to see it in perspective.

Interestingly, apparently Ocean sand sucks for this stuff... it's too rounded. The more silty and less "worked" the sand is by tidal or river forces, the better. It sounds like the science of making snowmen to me... you know that snow that really sucks for making stuff... and the stuff that's great for making iceballs and throwing them at people? Sure you all know...
well winter's just around the corner, you better keep your eyes out for me and my cold snow arsenal.  

Ooooh... Digital Joy

So I discovered the joy of digital Photography. Okay, maybe it's not so much digital photography, but the fact that I can take the shot over and over again and know instantly if it works is pretty cool. I have a pretty automatic camera, but it can keep its shutter open for up to 15 seconds...

Keep posted, I'll be doing some cool things in the future with this.

Pork Dumping

Pork Dumping
Originally uploaded by atomiton.

Okay... So where exactly do I dump my Pork? I mean seriously, I've been wanting to dump my pork for a while now, I've got so much extra. Last night we went out for vietnamese food. the waitress was surprised when I greeted her in Vietnamese. (sounds a little like Dchow Gee) which led to some hilarity as Tony decided that it was insanely funny and rambled on for what seemed like eternity in Vietnamese. Oh well, at least he invited her to the memorial.

It's a funny shot... I've walked past this sign many times, but I've never noticed this... but yes, it is in an Asian mall in East Vancouver. Too funny.

I'm sure starting Sunday, I'll have plenty more engrish to share with you from Japan. Here's another good one from a local Thai Restaurant called "Take Thai Home"

Cheers all... until next time.

Episode IV : In expectation of a Prequel

No one likes to start at the beginning, so I'm firmly starting in the middle. It's been clearly established (thanks be to George Lucas) that you can indeed start at the beginning, after the conclusion has been made. So from now on, I plan on watching the end of the movie to make sure it ends well, and then go back and view the beginning. It's better that way. Trust me on this one.

Well, so begins (or rather, eventually continues) this blog.

A Preview of things to come:

• Japan! Yes, I'm going to Japan... and it will be great.
• Japanese! (Closely related to the Japan Topic, I will share my observations of learning a language which has been called as grammatically distant from English as you can possibly get.)
• TESOL! (The Joys of teaching people how to talk... in Engrish)
• Weddings! There are years which are full of them. Oh the Ills and Spills...

Enjoy...