I don’t know what to Say

One day we were driving home and decided to take another route home; just so that we could take a look at some of the other houses in our neighborhood. Wile wishing that we were living on the “other side of the tracks” we came across this home, and had to take a picture.

Ok, my first reaction was… “What the hell is that, and what did they do to their place?!” Why would anyone paint characters on their garage door? However later found out that the characters are the Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, so I thought to myself; “That is ok, I think I would do something Canadian, if Toronto got the Olympic Games, or something as big was going on in Canada.

Yet again, a friend of mine said to me that he would be offended if this was done in his neighborhood. He said that we are in Canada, and that we should be backing our own Olympic team, and country, and he feels that this is a slap in the face to him.
Hmm… should I be offended? I don’t know. I might do something to say that my family is from Grenada, if something big was going on in there.

I guess the initial shock of seeing it turned me off, but now that I know what it is, I’m not turned off by it; it’s kind of cute, and funny. However in the fall of 2008 after the Games, if they were my neighbors, I would want it to come down.

 

Technorati tags: Beijing, 2008 Olympic Games, Olympic Mascots, neighbors

Vacancy

I really did not want to see this movie, well not in a theater anyway's, and if you know me you know that don’t handle horror to well; well all I have to say after seeing it, is that I’m glad I did.

This movie will be soon forgotten, and will not win any Oscars, and Luke Wilson’s acting was not too convincing, but the movie was a thrill ride non-the-less. I really found this movie intense, almost too intense.  For me there was no big surprise, and no big twist, it was just scary.

Kate Beckinsale was really good in this movie.

On Rotten Tomato's, the critics did not think much of it, however people seemed to like it.

7/10 It did what it set out to do, without the go gore.

Technorati tags: movie reviews, movie, Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry, vacancy

Falling off the Wagon

The last two weeks have not been good for me and my diet.  After Easter, I have totally gone on an eating bender, and I know that I have gained back some of the weight that I have lost. It’s not fair, that it’s so easy to put on weight, however so hard to lose. God I have such a killer headache. 

Also I have not been keeping up with my blog entries, and I said to myself, that I would try and do an entry every day. So starting tomorrow, I have to get back on that horse, and go to the gym, eat right, and work on this blog.

On to better things; today I got together with an old high school friend, curtsey of Facebook. It was really good to see her again.

Technorati tags: diet, weight loss, facebook, blogging, blog

Flooring is done

Yesterday, they finally completed changing the upstairs carpet, we now have new carpet and hardwood on the upstairs level, and I think that is looks good. Now we have a lot of cleaning to do, on top of the general spring cleaning that has to be done. We have to clean the back yard, replace some trees, clean the basement, and now clean all the sawdust that is in the house (god how I hate Spring, bring on summer). 

Now, my task for next month is to redesign my office, but I don’t know where to start.

Before:

After:

Games, Games, Games

This weekend was gaming weekend for me. A friend of mine let me their XBOX 360 (he just got a new PS3, and is loving playing with it), I also played a lot of PC games, and won at poker (well not really won, just got my money back before the end of the night, sorry Rod, heheh).

Well, I started to play Supreme Commander once again. Last time, I was vary disappointed with it, but thought that I would give it another try, before I delete the demo. After working with the graphic settings again, and getting them to a point were I can play the game (it’s still not grate, but a lot better), I’m now having some fun with the demo, and I think I will get the full version now, and try and finish the game.

I love the Def-Jam series of fighting games, and have completed them all, even though I suck at video game (my list of completed games is small). So I down loaded the Demo for the new, Def-Jam ICONS, and all I have to say, is that I hate this game, I mean I really hate this game. And it’s really too bad, but that is why I love playing demos, I don’t have to waste money on a game that sucks. Also on the XBOX side of things, I’m finding that there are not too many games that I like. The only games I found fun to play were Dead or Alive 4, and 99 Nights, both are Japanese game, I don’t know what that means. So I wanted to know if my old copy of Def-Jam fight for YN for the old xBox would work for 360; and guess what, it does not work. Hmm.. I think I’m starting to look at the PS3, as my next game system, we will see. (I’m playing GOD of WAR 1 on my PS2 right now, it is so much fun, and it works on the PS3, just saying)

Onto on line games; witch is not my cup of tea, however something somewhere got me thinking about EVE-Online again, so I downloaded the 14 day trial to try.  I did that three weeks ago, and I’m still playing, it’s not the best game, and it’s a slow game, but for some reason I want to keep getting a bigger and bigger ship, so I’m still playing. Some people online have tried to talk to me, but I’m not ready to play with others yet, and I just don’t think I have the time to play with other people. When I play by myself, I can stop playing any time, I don’t think I can do that, with other people, with out pissing some people off.

So the games I’m playing right now are (or going to play):

Supreme Commander

God of War I & II

EVE Online

I’m going to look at Command and Conquer next, people are saying that it is good

 

Technorati tags: video games, PS3, XBox, God of War, EVE online, Def-Jam Fight for NY, Def-Jam ICONS, Supreme Commander, poker

Long Time No blog Entry

Long time no blog entry

I have been negligent in my Blogging duties, among other things. A lot has transpired since my last entry; we got the new carpet put in, and new hard wood; had the family over for Easter; lost the last game in volleyball; saw a few movies, and other things

Where do I start? Well this is going to be a short blog entry, and I’m only going to touch on a few things.

My Diet; well it is going well, today I found myself at 163.7lbs. I started to slow down losing but it is still coming off which is nice, and I’m soon going to have to get a new wardrobe.

Easter was fun, and it was nice having the whole family over. My younger brother brought over his xBox 360, and the whole family (even my mother) was playing it.

We just had our last game in volleyball, against the #1 team, and lost, they were just better than us. Oh well there is always next year.

The work we are doing on our house, in the upstairs is still not done, and now it is feeling like this is taking way to long, but we are getting a good price so we are not pushing it. It’s looking really good right now, and I can’t wait until it is done. When it is done, I will start to work on my office, and come up will a new look for it, even thou I don’t know what to do with it.

I will talk about the Movies I saw in my next few blog entries.

Ok that is it for now. I will talk to you, (really, myself) later.

Blades of Glory

This weekend we wanted to something light and fun, and Blades of Glory seamed to fit the bill. Now I have to admit, that I was really in the mood for an over the top, funny movie. So I was looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint. If you like Will Ferrell and his type of movie (like
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ), you will love this one. There are quite a number of sex jokes (howerver not gay sex jokes, surprisingly), so some people might not want to take the entire family. Now you need to understand, the the story is really over the top, and some people will just find it dumb, but in this case, I feel that it worked. It will be the perfect renter when it comes out on DVD.

I also loved Amy Poehler in this movie, I want to see more of her.

7.5/10  I found myself laughing out loud at times

Technorati tags: Movie review, movie, movies, Will Ferrell, Blades of Glory, Amy Poehler, Talladega Nights, comedy

Diet, and the Dog Whisperer

It has been some time since my last post, I have been a bit busy with the house and spring cleaning and the new carpet, (that has not been installed yet).

The Diet; well, it was going good until this weekend, then I fell off the wagon and ate way too much. I’m going to have a lot of work this week. Peter, I’m having a hard time with just eating good food to lose weight. I think I will be staying on the Slim Fast for just a bit longer.

I will have to thank my friend and his wife for coming by and showing our dog Frodo who’s boss and showing us how we have to be with Frodo; she was like the “Dog Whisperer”. They stopped by and brought their dog Popcorn; now if you know Frodo he hates any and all other dogs, and will do anything to get them to go away. Well Frodo tried to attack Popcorn, but I got him to sit down but he was still upset that Popcorn was there. I gave Frodo’s leash to my friend’s wife, and she was able to get Frodo to be calm, it was amazing, she was tough and firm. Now I’m going to be a lot tougher with him from now on.

 

Oh and I have finally wired the lower part of my house, and moved my desktop computer into the basement. It felt good to get that done.

Technorati tags: Dog Whisperer, Frodo, Diet, slim fast, dogs

Spring Cleaning

Well my weight loss is not going as well as I would have hoped by this time. I can’t seem to get below 167lbs. I know that I’m hitting the harder part of this diet, and I’m going to have to eat a lot less at dinner, and that is going to be difficult for me, I have become very accustom to big dinners.  So this week will be the start of my new dinner plan.

On to other life news, this weekend we spent the day’s spring cleaning, and moving stuff into the basement, from upstairs, so that the carpet can be changed. I hate spring cleaning, but it will give me the opportunity to re-design my office. So next weekend, after the carpet is done, I’m going to look at some new stuff for the office, and re-wire the house.

Technorati tags: weight loss, diet, spring cleaning

Idol

OK, I now know why Bush won his second term in office, ok, I’m being a little tongue and cheek, but if you saw last night’s American Idol you will know where I’m coming from. Yes I’m one of those people that watch American Idol, I love to see the bad signers with the good, and there is always something to complain about. Well this year it is Sanjaya, and how he should not be there. And now Simon said that he will quit the show if Sanjaya wins. Well Simon you were one of 3 people that let him though, so stop crying. But he is one of the poorest signers to make it through to the final 12.

Well, watching Idle got me thinking about all the good singers out there, and so I began to try and find some of their best performance, on YouTube. Then it hit me; Super Bowl; American Anthem. When that song is sung well, it can send chills up your spine (Don't get me wrong, I still love our Canadian Anthem, however, it's a big deal to perform the US one, so they go all out). Tell me who you think is the best:

Whitney Houston - Star Spangled Banner(I love this one)

Dixie Chicks National anthem (this one was so good)

Beyonce superbowl 2004 (this one good, I think too)

Marvin Gaye sings American National Anthem

Destines Child National Anthem

Kelly Clakrson - American Anthem

Clay Aiken - Star Spangled Banner - National Anthem

Kellie Pickler sings the National Anthem

Elliott Yamin - National Anthem NBA Finals Game 2

Ayla Brown - American Idol sings National Anthem

And the best for last Rosanne Barr Star Spangled Banner

If you find others; others that you think are better tell me, I want to see them.

Technorati tags: YouTube, National Anthem, American National Anthem, American Idol, Sanjaya, Bush

The Blue Screen of Death is Back!!!

OMG Windows Vista really sucks!!! I now hate it, and I’m the real windows lover. I was under the impression that Vista was the OS for games, and if you want to play games, you can move from XP to Vista with little worry. Well that is far from true, only new games work well with Vista. But it’s not just older games that have problems with vista, it’s just that vista sucks! Last night I was browsing the web, using tab browsing; looking at some YouTube videos; downloading some podcasts, and that was all. Doing all of this made my computer come to a halt. I could not believe that those tasks would kill this laptop, now I don’t have the best computer, but it’s not that bad.

I have a 2.13GHz Processor, and I know that is slow for today, but, Vista said it was good to go with that. oh well.

Now today I was trying to run Lineage II, and it was not working, so I tried to run the game as administrator, then it happened, THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!! Well that is what I get for jumping into Vista.

Ok I’m going to wipe my computer and install Vista clean, and see if run into the same problems. If that does not work, I will go back to XP, and really start to look at getting a Mac, and I’m one of the few people that don’t like apple (long story, tell you about it some other time).

Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Vista, Blue Screen of Death, Apple Computers, Mac, games for vista, games for windows, computer crash, windows xp, xp, dell xps

Getting Back into the Gaming

A good time has passed since the last time I have played a good video game, a game that I just could not stop playing. I would have to say that the last game that I really had fun with was Def Jam: Fight for NY, I really loved playing that game.

Now I'm on the hunt for my next game. I just installed the demo for Supreme Commander; I was really looking forward to this game, it was going to be my next Starcraft (the best real time strategy game of all time ). Well to my surprise, my computer is not up to spec, and the game is really choppy, witch makes it not fun to play . I so disappointed, I was really looking forward to this one. Now I have to get a new computer; maybe I will ask for one for my birthday

Right now, I'm installing Lineage II, and I don't know how it is yet because it is taking forever to install. A friend of mine is playing it right now, and is loving it. I really don't know if I will like it, but I said I would give it a try (there is a free 14 day trial). I really don't like the idea of paying to play a game each month, however I did play both World of Warcraft, and EVE online, and I liked them both. The problem I found with those two games is that it took a lot of time to play, and I found them both repetitive. But I did stick with World of Warcraft a lot longer than EVE.

OK, the install is now done, talk to you later.

Technorati tags: video games, xBox, PC Games, online games

Facebook

I just have to say that I'm starting to really get into this FaceBook thing. I like blogging, but I'm starting to love FaceBook (don't know how long this will last). Yesterday a co-worker called me and asked me "What is this FaceBook thing? and why are people sending me request to sign up?" So I told her about it, and she said that she will look into it. Well today she told me that she is now addicted to it, and that she just found a family member that she has not seen in a few years.

Well have been on the site for 2 weeks now, and I have already did a look up of people in my email list that might have a facebook account, but inspired by my co-workers encounter, I decided that I will try it again and see if anything comes up. Well in those 2 weeks 8 people on my email list have made a new facebook account, and one of them was a cousin from Trinidad, that I have never seen in person. This facebook thing is growing so fast!

Also today, I had a good time in spinning class at the gym. The instructor said that it was the best he has seen me spin to date, I was really feeling good.

After work, went out for drinks and conversation with some friends, and got home a bit late. Most nights Dan would have just called me and headed off to bed, however tonight would have been better if I had gotten home earlier. Dan wants to change the carpet upstairs and maybe put in some hardwood as well, and tonight the guys that were going to do the work came by with the samples. Now I really didn't want to change the carpet this year, however Dan really wants to do it now, so now we are having the carpet changed. Blah. Oh well, I guess it will make the house look better.

Technorati tags: gym, carpet, facebook

What is this BMI Crap?!

BMI (Body mass index). Well, last week was not a good week for me and my weight loss program, I have been up and down with my weight all week. So then I went and did something really dumb, I looked up my BMI, at this site http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm. Thinking that I have now lost 12 lbs, and at lest my BMI would say something good; No it said that I'm my BMI is 26.4, and that is OVERWEIGHT for my height and weight (STFU!!!). Sometime I feel that the weight loss thing is just not worth it, and I wish it was faster and easier, oh well, back to the Slim fast.

On that same page there is an "Ideal Weight calculator", it told me that I should be 158lbs, so that means just 10lbs to go. I hope this time I can keep the weight off.

Technorati tags: weight loss, diet

300

This was a good and full weekend, and I did not get too much sleep. I will talk about; how I lost my money in poker, and volleyball in a later post, right now I wanted to talk about the movie 300.

I was really looking forward to this faithful adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel, after seeing Sin City (which was not my favorite comic book movie; however it was fresh and new). Well 300, does not disappoint (at that level), the look of the film was amazing, and I was really dawn into the story, because of the look, and presentation.

And now for my complaints, and I have a few. First, I wish that this sorry was not a true story, in our history, which we know a little about; the Battle of Thermopylae. I did not know of this battle and I’m a bit upset that this distortion was my first look at this event in history. Now I understand that all movies that are based in fact are made to entertain, and not educate, but there was so much fantasy, it started to take away from my enjoyment of the film; I wished it was just a comic book story.

I also felt that film makers were worried about how this movie would be perceived, with all the men running around with little on, looking like a gay man wet dream, so they put in a few gay bashing comments. Also the made Xerxes (The Persian ruler) an androgynous 8 foot tall monster (We know that in history that he was evil, or at least tyrant). But it just did not stop with that, the film almost looked like it was making the point, if you are different; deformed; perceived ugly, that you are evil.

I loved the look of the film, and how it turned chopping off heads and limbs into art, but I can’t get passed how it portrayed the Persians as evil monster; and how it rewrites the past. I don’t think that we should take history, and twist it like this. I would ask people to read up on the Battle of Thermopylae, and the events before and after, then see the movie, as mindless entertainment. I know that most people will disagree with me, and most people will love this move, and say that it's comic book, get over it.

4.5/10 Looks really good, but I can't recommend it.

Hmm.... I don't see myself as James T. Kirk

James T. Kirk

An impassioned commander with more respect for individuals than for authority, you have a no-holds-barred approach to life and its obstacles.

I don't believe in the no-win scenario.

James is a character in the Star Trek universe. STARTREK.COM has his Starfleet record.

Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?

To take the test, select an answer for each of the questions below, then click Score Results. There are no right or wrong answers, merely virtues and traits you most adhere to. You will then be matched with the fantasy or science fiction character that you have the most in common with.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Well I finally sat down and watched this movie, and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, this was not a good film, however I did not hate it. I think it was ok for what it was. This was a good looking film, with a really bad story. Also, I feel that if I knew more about the Tokyo street racing scene, that I would really hate this movie. I would say this was better then the second one at least. This is one of those films that if you don't say that it is crap, then you must be stupid, well I just can't fall in line with that line of thinking ( it does not belong in this list ).

5.5/10 Not good, but not horrible. You can skip this one if you want.

Tokyo Drift Reviews

Technorati tags: movie review

Breach

Back to the theaters, to see a movie with some friends; the company was good the movie was just ok. The first thing I would say about this movie is that you don't need to see this film at the theaters, it was not that good. The Acting was good, the story was interesting, and it was told in a very realistic format, and I'm afraid that its realism was the problem for me. I found myself boarded, or just not taken in by the story; however I can't say what they could have done better. One main problem was that they told you the end, at the beginning, and that works with some movies, however with this one (for me anyways) it's took way the punch line. OK I did not love the film, however, most people did; take a look at reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

5/10 hmm.... I don't really know, good, but not good.

Dinner afterward was fun.

Kinky Boots

Ok, when did drag queen stories become old and tiered? This movie seemed to do all the same things that most movies before it did; the outcast in the strait world trying it fit in, ho hum..... Then the outcast makes people like him, bla bla bla......

Well this one was just a little better than that. Writing and acting make all the difference, and you can see that in this film. I did not see anything outstanding or new, it was just a nice story that was presented well. Ok the ending was a bit over the top, but it fit I guess (you will have to see it, to find out what I'm talking about).

6.5/10 Not a must see but ok for what it was.

Technorati tags: movies reviews

Toronto Snow Storm 2007

OMG, what a day, things were going so well too. Well not that well, but good enough. The morning went by (still working on a programming problem but hope to get it fixed soon), then at 1pm I went to the gym with some co-workers for a quick workout, and got back just in time for the snow storm to hit. I was not thinking to much about the weather, not yet anyway's, however people in the office were all gathering around the windows. Then Dan called me, tell me I should head home, and right after that my mother called saying the same thing. Then the Office sent out an email saying that we should all leave, the weather was looking really bad. Now I did not want to go, I wanted to play volleyball tonight, but I decided to heed people’s warnings and head out. 

Well I was so wrong; I should have stayed at work. I left around 3:30pm and thought I would get home around 4:45pm. On a good day it takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to get home, and on a bad day, 45 minutes. Well today it took me 3 hours! Yes 3 hours, and to top it all off, Toronto has been hit with worse weather.

My foot was starting to hurt; I needed to go to the bathroom, and traffic was not getting any better. I was thinking that I should get off the road, find a washroom, and get something to eat, but I stayed on the road (stupid move). Well I was going to pull into a gas station just to top off the tank, and find a washroom, but the gas prices are at 99.3¢/L that like $3.15/G

Well I did make it home without an accident, and Dan did the driveway for me, which was nice of him, but I missed my volleyball game. I should have stayed at work, oh well.