The world is enormous;
My surroundings are amazing beyond descriptions;
My life occupies that little part of the enormity;
and for those of you who are unable to experience;
what my eyes sees, this is the place where I dump;
what my eyes explains to my brain.
I have been a member of SMS.AC for a long time now. You would probably know they are free-service providers when you sign up. However, behind the attractive word "Free" that consumers like me are always looking for on the WWW, there is a price to pay.
When you DO sign up, I learned (just now even though I was already a member for over 2 years) that you have several credits per day in which will allow you to send text messages via their website for free. Those credits will be replenished at midnight Pacific Time. However, your membership with SMS.AC will warrant an automatic sign up to their other "pay per use" services. You will be charged for every text messages received. I have gone through their Terms and Condition and assuming I have not overlooked any clauses, there is no where it mentioned that users like you and me will be bounded to such situation, which does actually opens up a door for them (SMS.AC) to milk us out.
You might probably be asking yourself how would they charge you. Well, SMS.AC is predominantly a text-messaging provider company and when you signed up you have provided them your cellphone number. That is where you are vunerable.
My cellphone bills have been regular and I am quite familiar with the iteneries within in until I received my last bill. Take a look and I shall draw your attention to the highlighted item that reads "Total Pay Per Use Service Charges".
I just got off the phone with Rogers operator/customer service assistance. Been on the phone for like 33minutes! They have been trying to resolve what seems to be my problem as well as Roger's. Because it appeared on my bill, therefore, it does mean that Rogers know about it and was charged thus I am responsible for the charges. But How did I not know about it?!" This is what I'd call it hidden charges.
I don't exactly know how it (SMS.AC) works out. They may have changed their policies, terms and conditions without notifying or highlighting key points that could and/or would change or influence consumer's choice on whether or not to continue to stay as their members. For most cases, silence construes acceptance or agreement, which I think is totally unjust.
Recently I have been receiving a lot of text-messages from them and I haven't actually question myself as to why and how seriously... until today.
So, the purpose of me writing this to you so that you be aware of SMS.AC's cunningness or wittyness in their business conduct. Alhthough I do not and am not a member of any pornography websites, I know how they work-- you sign up for XXX's 3 days trial at NO COST and failing to withdraw your membership within 72 hours gives XXX the right to bill you their full membership rates as well as you are automatically signed up to XYZ, AXX, ABC, XZZ trial porn sites for free... but you'll be billed. Before you know it, you've been billed by 10 sites behind your back when you are only aware of ONE porn site that you signed up for at the end of the month when you look at your credit card invoice.
Another point I am making: ALWAYS (EXTRA EMPHASIS!!) READ AND SCRUTINIZE "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" and "PRIVACY POLICY" whenever you sign up to a web service site that requires your financial information (e.g. credit card).
There's another reference to this testimony and is found at Abysm Of Time. Who ever needs a translation, I am more than willing be at your service. All you have to do is to let me know... using the comment link available at the bottom of this posting.
Friday, July 23, 2004
SMS.AC Alert!!
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Not quite a good start
I wasn't going to miss another bus as I was late for a scheduled physical therapy appointment. It was already 13:54 and I was still in my room; I have 1 minute. I dashed out of my house half naked and the 6A bus passed me and stopped at the bus stand which was just next block. There wasn't even a chance for me to slide in my shirt (buttoned) as I did the fastest sprint as I could... on my almost torn sandals. Just a few more steps away from the stand, the bus left.
"No!!!", I exclaimed!!
Already panting and grasping for air, I walked at ease and realized that the bus was slowing down at the ambering lights ahead on College Drive and Wiggins Ave. Determined not to miss my ride, again I did the 100 meters sprint. As I approached the junction of Wiggins I was sure I could get the driver's attention. It stopped at the next stand on Wiggins. A couple of people got down and doors were closed. I was only 3-4 leaps away and the bus had to step on it.
"Nooooooooo......!! Not again!!", I shouted in frustration. Who wouldn't be frustrated after attempting twice or more to flag down the bus after a few sprints? I gave up and guilt almost ate me up for leaving my door late... but, alas, I heard screeching noises from the bus and that's a good sign--the driver had lifted up his leg on the gas pedal and stepped on the brakes! Woohooo!! I jogged there to make my entrance... still half naked! Stepped up the stairs and dug up for coins in my pocket, still topless! Passengers by the windows who noticed me running after the bus applauded me and one of them made a comment:
"You must be ready for the Olympic games!".
I was panting like mad. I offered a generous smile to the person who made that comment as I walked down the aisle passed him looking for a seat to put on my shirt. gee!
After receiving treatment, I paid and left for Walmart to get my photos. When it's my turn to pay I gasped and panicked digging all the 6 pockets of the cargo pants I wore.
"Heck! where is my wallet!?"
Apparently, I left it at Daniel Kimbers Physical Therapy clinic. The panic attack subsided after I made a call to the clinic and so I strolled down 8th street when my sandals torn into two pieces.
"Give me a break!! It has not been a good day to start with since I stepped out of my door at 13:54!"
Limping my way to the clinic and took back what belonged to me and limped back to Walmart to pay for the merchandise.
Limped all the way to Sportschek and the first thing I did when I stood before the shoe shelves was to kicked off the rotten sandals I was wearing and pick them up to dump it in my trash bin behind me.
The sales assistance grins. I bet he thinks that "this" guy is certainly going to buy something from here. hehe! Of course I am! Don't wanna be walking on bare foot now do I?
Great!
Headed to Black's photography to pick up slides I shot for Claudia. Some turned out so-so but most of them are okay and there are a few exceptional ones. Felt excited as it is my first time shooting on slide films. Color saturations are top quality and they were all super vivid! I have to keep in mind to underexpose by either ½ or 1 stops next time I shoot slides, and overexpose by the said amount when I shoot negatives. I'm quite satisfied with the quality of slide films has to offer!
Later in the evening, I was at Stanley Dansville's to make another impression of stepping stones that he lays down in his magnificient lily garden. This time it'll be a different stepping stone -- it has my name printed on it. Not that I don't already mind people stepping on my name, but how many international students (I'm from Malaysia) would have their names on a concrete stepping stone in somebody else's garden in Saskatoon, let alone Canada?! *sniggers!* I thought of it as a time capsule and offered that idea to Stan, a retired mchanical engineer who will be 83 years old in a month, and he pretty much liked the idea and adopted it. Best of all, he taught me how to do it and I did everything on my own.
After that, I joined Scott, Andrea, Andrew, Jordan, and a few other friends for a game of Ultimate -- the ultimate frisbee game!
Whew! What a day! :)
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
A forwarded mail with good intentions
Dear Guys,
Please update how true is this if you've been there.
Please forward to all your girl friends out there!
Subject: FW: Aware of the RUSH club washroom!
To every ladies out there,
Please be aware that there is a new club which used to be calledViva located in Eastin hotel called RUSH Club.Inside the ladies washroom there is a blue water flowing glass with a mirror next to it, it's a one directional mirror from the guys washroom.
So ladies be aware because we can't see the guys from the oppositebut the guys can watch every single move and things that we are doing in the washroom except when u're in the cubicle.
I've been to the club and my bf told me about it.He said he sees every gal in the washroom clearly and the otherguys are like watching a show in their washroom. Please pass this messageto all of ur gal frens to aware them about this humiliating action that isgoing on at RUSH Club.
The Group of Asians in Waskesiu
Shot by LF: Group photo... how about a lift of my leg for kudos!? Had good time!
Photoblogged!!
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Just in case you're wondering...
... about the motion picture of the sexy lass in white on the right side bar of this page, you might have asked yourself why is it there and perhaps wonder about the degrees of a social deviant I am that would equate to a sick pervert.
Before you allow your mind to lead you thinking in that direction, you must first allow me to clear up the stench in the air then you make your judgement.
I, too, have never heard why would anybody want to hack into personal blogsites like mine and put up stuffs that the hackers thought was funny or just for the heck fun of it.
Doesnt' it look cool? Okay. That picture is situated on the "About" [this blog] part and not "About Me" part so it doesn't speak of my sickly fetishes or that I'm sick. Whatever I do to that picture it will still come back. So, for now I'll just leave it as it is until it's time is up. Right now I"m too lazy...
Cheers!
Monday, July 19, 2004
Another weekend in Waskesiu
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Got up at 06:15 and started packing up before my ride arrived at 07:10. Threw in a sleeping bag, a pillow, a tripod, a camera, and some clothings into Julian's truck.
After a two and a half hours on the road we arrived Waskesiu. We were on one of the beaches to start off with lunch at around noon time. Played and relaxed on the beach till 17:00 when rain clouds were already setting in. Some of our guys said that there was going to be a thunder storm in this place earlier but nobody seemed to be bothered by it too much because the sun was scorching our skins earlier and at this time it would be been deemed to be an impossible phenomena. Skies were clear and cotten-candy clouds painted the blue skies pretty. Man, I even got a mild sun-burn.
A group of people went to town for a shower while a few more stayed back. I stayed back for some sun and photo-shootings (scantily clad girls in bikinis perhaps?). At around 16:45, Leonard, Raymond, and Jotham Gan have all gone to the campsite to pitch up our tents leaving behind Josephine (Jotham's mother), Melissa Gan, and myself at the beach side. They came back 20 minutes later and I must say their timing were excellent. We would be under water had they not. All of a sudden, winds up to probably 56 km/h were constantly blowing for more than 5 minutes. It's not like a gush of wind for a second or two but a constant flow of air so strong that it would have perhaps moved the lid of the hibachi sideways. Waves on the waters became violent. The six of us pack up stuffs in haste and headed out to our campsite. No rains yet but we were already expecting one.
It started rainning already when we arrived at our campsite and since there were 11 of us in total, we had to pitch up another tent. Four of us got out leaving behind Josephine and Melissa in the van to do just that. Each of us held a corner of the tent and stretched it out to lay it on the ground. As soon it the tent was on the ground, something dropped from above and hit on the tent right in front of me and I thought the tree bore some kind of interesting seed or fruit as it was white in color. The second I picked it up it didn't take me long enough to know that that is an ice ball. About an inch in diameter and half and inch in height and looks like an UFO's flying saucer (oval).
"Hey guys! It's a hail!! This is ice!", I exclaimed.
Already [half] drenched in the rain, we must have unanimously agreed in our minds to get into the tent that was already pitched because somehow we believed that that one piece of hail that fell off the sky had a purpose.
Those 3 guys quickly crumble-folded the tent and walked towards the tent. They were confused as they did not know where to put the tent -- back into the van or bring it into the tent that was dry on the inside. I shouted to get them into the tent and they did. As we hurried in, the rain just got heavier. We opened the 'window' of our tent and we can see Josephine and her daughter stucked in the van on about 10 feet away to our front left side. A minute later (17:40) there wasn't much rain but this time little hails poured down.
We sat/knelt in the tent and stared at each other in consternation just watching one of mother nature's powerful force unveiling her wraths. The grounds were beginning to look like a floor of white sago seeds rolling in all directions as water droplets hit them. The hail got worse. 5 minutes later, the sound of hails that hit out tent grew harder and louder. We looked outside once again and we were telling each other to look how the size of the hail changed. They were no longer the size of sago seed but now the size as big as foosball and golf balls. It size of it all were just mind-boggling.
Josephine later on relate to us her experience to be inside the van during the hail. It's like somebody playing a drum kit's snare and you're trapped inside it. She got so worried that those hails would crack her windshield so without much hessitation she switched on the wipers at max speed hoping the pair of wiper blades can bat the thousands of hails pouring down on her van and on us. We thought the movie we watched a few weeks ago--The Day After Tomorrow-- is not simply just a movie but some kind of manifestation as prophesied in that movie.
The hail storm lasted about 20 minutes and it is the first hail storm I have experienced to date. Alas! That first hail that dropped on the tent we were going to set up has served as a warning to us all -- "GET IN!! Or else you'll be hurt!!". If that's the work of God, He must have been gracious to have warned us! Glory to be Him!!
The rest of the people finally arrived at the campsite at around 18:10 when it the hails were already over. I bet they have had hell of a ride to here. One by one came into our tent. We sang and played the guitar. Jean, from Taiwan, is apparently quite talented at strumming the strings and singings as well.
The storm subsided 20 minutes later, 18:35-ish. Mosquitoes came out! Great!! Why didn't we have a break from mother nature? I have seen those mosquitoes the size of a twoonie coin (2$ Canadian coins). Here is a pic of that coin: 
. When one of those blood-sucking pest lands on your back, you had better slap on it fast and hard when its stomach is still empty or you're gonna get your own blood splattered all over its land site. God knows what kind of viruses/bacteria it carries. I learned that mosquitoes only detects carbon dioxides that our skin pores and breath emits. They don't have those super high tech heat sensors or was it called a thermal goggles, no, no shiats like that. Products like insect/mossies repellents sprayed onto the skins prevents CO2 from emitting into the air. really effective! I've seen a wandering mossie buzzing close by my left arm confused whether or not to land on its land of milk and honey.. but hessitated and landed on my shirt (where I didn't spray anything on it) to meet its death.
Great! Now that rain has subsided, firewoods were wet and we can't start a fire! How can we have dinner? Soon I realized that the woods were wet on the outside but dry on the inside so I began splitting them using a 20" axe and violà, we made FIRE!!
Kevin drove Josephine, Mariata, and I to Waskesiu's town for shower. We left at 20:40. Just 3 minutes before we arrived town four of us got the opportunity to catch the breath-taking sunset on the horizon of Waskesiu's lake. I asked Kevin to pull over so that I could capture that rare moment. It reminds me of some arts we used to draw during our elementary years in schools where the bright orangy-red sun sinking down into the sea or behind some mountaineous humps or both. The reflections of the sun on the water is not missed too. The sensation was so... oh, so wonderful! Magical if I can say?
Anyway, the shower facilities in town were closed. We arrived 20 minutes late. So, I suggested that we sneaked into another campsite that has shower facilities. That campsite is electrified, but ours are not. Mission accomplised! Feel so refreshing!
It was already dark then. It was 22:00. When we were back at the campsite, all were already gathered around the hibachi warming up, singing and having fun.
By midnight, most have gone to bed. Those who were still up were:
Jotham, Leonard, Jean, Char Mei, and I.
Leonard, weilding his digital camera, and I decided to head out to the lake nearby (~2 minutes walk) to be away from the trees and to get a better view of stars. The Big Dipper (Ursa Majora) was really, really big in the clear dark skies.
We walked down several steps in half a circle before we came to a landing. It was low tide then and it was 01:40. The second we landed on the platform and looked up the skies (that's what we were there for anyway), we beheld something else we never would have thought we'd see. Jotham, Leonard, and I were "Taken away" in spirit just by looking ahead of us. We were facing north as Polaris was just right above and in front of us. For 30 minutes, Leonard and I rushed each other for the one tripod we brought with us taking turns shooting at the amazing showdown on earth -- Aurora Borealis or commonly known as the Northern Lights.
Not wanting the other 2 lass to miss the show, we decided to call them, who I believe are still playing the guitar and singing around the hibachi, over to join us to watch the show.
We stayed up till 03:15 before hitting the sacks.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
More meat for breakfast. They have, I think, done quite a good job in taking care of the food part. We were all fed quite well and energized for the day's activities. So, kudos to those who have prepared and thought out for the meals.
Packed and headed out to town by 12:30noon. Most of us went into the water. The sun was at its peak heat and I could literally feel it scorching on my skins as though I have my arms just over the electric stove set on max temperature. Well, guess what? For the first time in Canada, I got sun burn. I had one yesterday but this time I thought I could really want to burn myself. Frolicking under the heat of the sun at the beach and later sun bath for 40 mins did a lot of burning. I'm now... an African Chinese!
Left Waskesiu at 16:10. Still hot! To be in the van with only a window that opens a crack is stifling and perhaps a torture!
Had good dinner at the Mandarin Restaurant when we arrived Saskatoon.
That's that!
The pictures of this trip are up next. They are photoblogged!
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Why Women Reject Men…And What To Do About It
I'd like to share a secret to success with women that I've been thinking about and using for awhile now.
The interesting part of this particular secret that I'm going to share with you is that it involves CONFLICT.
And it involves conflict on more than one level.
Because this particular issue involves such a touchy and emotional topic (conflict), one which most people like to AVOID rather than talk about, I have to ask you to read this email ALL THE WAY THROUGH before making any judgments or decisions about how you're going to use what I'm going to share...
Fair enough?
OK, so here's the concept in a nutshell:
WHEN IT COMES TO ATTRACTION, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DO THINGS THAT SEEM "MEAN" OR "INCONSIDERATE" ON THESURFACE IN ORDER TO GIVE A WOMAN WHAT SHE "REALLY"WANTS. IF YOU DON'T DO THESE THINGS, YOU WILL FAILTHE TEST, AND ULTIMATELY FAIL WITH THE WOMAN.
By the way, I really struggled with the idea of writing this particular newsletter. It's not always easy to explain things like this particular idea, and I know that I will lose subscribers, have some women get upset with me, and cause a little bit of commotion. But ultimately I do believe in what I'm sharing, so I feel that I have to say it.
Onward.
As I've mentioned many times in these newsletters and in my products, women aren't attracted to men who have lower STATUS than themselves.
This is one of the reasons why there is a lot oftension around the ideas of:
- A taller woman with a shorter guy
- A woman making more money than her spouse
- A man being "led around" by his female partner ...etc. etc. etc.
These are "naturally" sensitive issues, because these issues hint that the man is "lower status", and somehow we all know that this is somehow "not right".
Now I'd like to give you a situation that you may even have personally experienced (in fact, there's a pretty good chance that you have), and use it as an example to explain the principle I'm explaining.
Here's the situation:
You're going out on a date with a woman. You ask her where SHE'D like to go for dinner. She doesn't give you an answer, and seems to be indifferent.
So you ask her what her FAVORITE restaurant is.
She says "Well, I really like this one particular place, but it's up to you".
You say "But I really want to take you wherever YOU want to go... you decide".
You can hear in her voice that she's actually beginning to get annoyed. This confuses you, since you're just trying to find out what she wants so you can give it to her.
You finally decide to just take her to her favoriteplace, since... well... DUH, it's her favorite place, so she's obviously going to enjoy it.
As the evening goes on, you can sense that she's in a bad mood, but you can't understand why or how this could be. The evening ends on a bad note, even though you went out of your way to make it nice for her.
OK, sound familiar?
Let's try another one:
You meet a woman, get her number, and meet her for a cup of tea. She's unusually attractive and beautiful, and at the first meeting you realize that she's also intelligent and successful. This woman is obviously exceptional.
After the meeting you go home and think about her.
A LOT. You decide that it would be good to call her to tell her that you had a great time, and ask her out again.
You pick up the phone and call her. You tell her what a great time you had with her, and ask her if you can see her again the next night. She agrees.
The next night, you have a wonderful dinner, and great conversation. At the end of the evening, you start talking to her, and you tell her that you can't believe how beautiful, intelligent, and sweet she is, and that you are already beginning to have feelings for her.
She smiles and says "thank you", but doesn't offer any comments in return.
The next day, you decide to call her and ask her out again. She doesn't answer her phone, and doesn't return your call.
You get an email from her three days later saying "I'm sorry, I just need some time alone right now. I really like you, but I think we should just be friends."
Even though it was obvious that you were both havinga great time and enjoying each other's company... something went wrong. You somehow suspect that it had to do with the fact that you shared how you felt with her, but you have no way of knowing.
And how about a third scenario:
You meet a nice girl, get her email and number, and call her to make plans to get together.
She flakes out on you, and doesn't show up for your first meeting.
You call her later that day and ask her what happened.
She explains that she got busy and wound up having to help her best friend who was going through a crisis.
You say "Oh, that's OK. No problem. Can we meettomorrow instead?"
She says "Sure, give me a call then and we'll talkabout it".
The next day when you call, she's not home, and she doesn't return your call.
You call her the following day, and she has anotherexcuse for why she wasn't around and why she didn't return your phone call.
You keep calling to ask her out, but she keeps being busy, and eventually stops talking to you altogether.
Ever had THAT happen? HERE'S THE KICKER...
In the first situation, the best thing to do would have been to just decide where YOU wanted to go for dinner, then take her there.
In the second situation, the best thing to do would have been to NOT call her right after you met for coffee, NOT go out the next night, NOT share how you "feel" so quickly, and actually LEAN BACK a little and give her space and time to miss you and pursue YOU a bit.
In the third situation, the best thing to do would have been to NOT TOLERATE the fact that she flaked out, and to actually CONFRONT her with her poor behavior, then to NOT call her for awhile (if at all), and to make sure she understood that it isn't acceptable to waste your time ever again.
SO WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?
And why is it that sometimes, when you're trying your very damn best to be nice, considerate, honest, open, and respectful, women DIS you and run? Why is it that doing things that seem inconsiderate are best in some situations?
Well, part of the answer is that ATTRACTION isn't like other areas of life.
Attraction isn't a CHOICE, for one thing. We don't go through a logical decision-making process and carefullyconsider who we're going to be attracted to.
NO WAY.
It just HAPPENS.
POW!
And attraction isn't triggered by being NICE.
In fact, as ironic as this sounds, some of thecharacters in movies and romance novels that are considered to be the SEXIEST are mean, nasty, and horrible!
Go watch Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire".Women will tell you that he is a SEXY BITCH in that movie.
Oh, by the way, he also beats his wife and rapes his wife's sister in that movie.
Attraction is NOT triggered by being nice and considerate.
Often, ATTRACTION is triggered by things that make no sense at all, and it's destroyed by things that SHOULD make it stronger.
Now, I'm not saying that you should treat women badly. Of course that's not a good idea.
I believe that you can take what I'm sharing and actually treat women VERY well. But if you don't understand the psychology of the situation and the psychology of ATTRACTION, and know how to handle situations like the ones I've just mentioned, you will fail the tests, and ultimately not succeed with women and dating most of the time.
To put this in plain, simple words, women aren't attracted to WUSSIES.
Women are ATTRACTED to men who DECIDE, who LEAD, who are in CONTROL. Women feel that gut-level emotional attraction for men who have DIRECTION... men who make decisions and then take action on those decisions... NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS.
This is why you can ask a woman what she wants, take her to her favorite restaurant, tell her how you feel about her, and have get ANNOYED at you.
It's because you made a BIGGER mistake while you were trying to be "nice". When you asked her what SHE wanted to do, you put HER in CONTROL. This is annoying to women. When you couldn't make up your mind where to take her, and wound up taking her to her favorite restaurant, you demonstrated that you can't LEAD. Again, by being "nice and considerate"in one way, you were making a HUGE mistake on another level.
The reason why it's hard for me to express this thought and explain this concept is because this isn't exactly great news about life.
It means that you have to deal with and accept the fact that you might have to do something in a situation that seems "inconsiderate" in order to actually "do the right thing".
I have one friend who is VERY good with women who says that if you can get into an argument when you first meet a woman, she'll be far more likely to sleep with you.
This really shook me up when I first heard it, because this isn't something I wanted to hear. But then I thought about it and realized that "jerks" often have the most beautiful women around them... and these hot women will often endure all kinds of abuse just to be with the jerk. So there it is.
Sometimes you have to do things that don't seem to "make sense" or be "considerate" in order to make and keep a woman attracted to you... and ultimately give a woman what she REALLY wants.
I've spent the last few years taking what I've learned about how to be successful with women and dating, and distilled the process of ATTRACTION down to a few keys. I've also done something that I'm very excited about... I've figured out how to do the things that make women feel that powerful GUT LEVEL ATTRACTION... but without any of the ABUSE that jerks use.
I now honestly believe that it's possible to treat women well, while being interesting, challenging, ATTRACTIVE, and sexy at the same time.
But you have to know how.
It all starts with understanding the basic principleslike the one I've just discussed, the origin and evolutionof ATTRACTION, the beliefs and values of "naturally"successful guys, and, of course, the specific techniquesand strategies to use in different situations to do things like approach women, get numbers, get dates, and take things to a physical level...
And I'll talk to you again soon.
Your Friend,
P.S. If you'd like to send me a Success Story, Question, or Comment, follow these guidelines:
1) Keep it short and to the point. Two paragraphs max.
2) Tell me what's working for you before you ask your question. I appreciate all of the "Your stuff is great" and "I don't need to tell you how well your stuff works" comments, but the fact is that I DO need to hear all of the specifics... because this helps other guys to see what's working in different situations.
3) If you have a Success Story, write "Success Story" in the subject line of the email. I read these first.
4) At the end of the email, give me your initials and tell me where you're from.
5) Send it to me at:
d a n t v l i [ a t ] h o t m a i l . c o m
...don't just hit "reply" to this email. Thanks!
Notice: The article above is authored by David D. and you can find more information on what he writes about at his website.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Sold my digital camera that was a gift from dad 3 years ago to a Nigerian guy for 10$. It is a Fujifilm FinePix 2100 and it was acquired for 299$ then and I believe it has been discontinued. Besides, the SmartMedia storage that it uses is no longer popular and perhaps discontinued as well. For 10$ perhaps it's a little too cheap for a digital camera that is still fully functional. It should have been 30$ to justify the price that was paid for but for a person who stepped into my room and imagined himself as though he just entered a Dollar Store or Dollarama Store where most merchandises are under 5$, I didn't think 30$ would be as attractive to 10$, or even 1$ (might as well be a give-away). I haven't been using the FinePix for a very long time ever since Canon Rebel Ti has been my possession last summer.
My fan died on me yesterday and it's hell to sleep in my room now that it is so hot and stiffling!
Anyway, I'm glad that I have finally found a store that carry Jelly Beans, the original Jelly Belly's. It is just right after Famous Player's Capitol. Had a great time shopping for jelly beans there. She commented on the weather and yeah, I agreed with her that it's a nice and hot weather out there. I told her about my fan out of the blues and her jaws just dropped and eyes was about to popped out and she gasped. She thought I said "My friend died [on me] yesterday" and she was surprised how I can still shop for jelly beans happily. Pretty funny. Got to know her during my 45 minutes stay there. She's in her mid thirties and of Ukraine origin. Dressed in a simple low-cut spotted brown blouse knee level. Maybe she wanted people to notice that she has a nice cleavage and she's naked under her blouse. Her B-cup quasi-sagging boobs hangs down wobbling a little and stretched in freedom when she bends down to reach for a jelly bean that dropped from the counter. hehe! I don't know... not that I am a bloody pervy but hey, maybe I was there at the right time and the right place. She's single and have no kids by the way. *winks!*
I just got a Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 prime lens and a tripod, which is a monopod also. Both of these cool items can be striked off my wish list now. Darn, the rate of depletion just gets steeper as I spend more... burning a bigger hole in my pocket.
That's all for today. later!
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Commitmentophobia?
I am turning 25 this September.
Am I ready for a new relationship?
Should I still be on the look out even though I already have one by my side?
But that couldn't be cheating, no? Maybe it is because my heart is not devoted entirely to my current girl. Am I afraid to commit? I don't think I am afraid to commit myself into a relationship as long as we are both attracted to each other.
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with commitment in a relationship but if this is so, then why are there some people out there are afraid to commit? They are not ready to 'settle down' I'd suppose and that being said, perhaps they are still looking for more fun before tying a deadend knot (assuming divorce is not an option)? I call it diversification.
Diversification is healthy in a relationship, I mean, if you are in a relationship and you'd like to know if he/she is really the one for you, then you should diversify! I know it sounds crazy but it's not like I am "for" Temptation Island's idea but, somehow I do believe that every relationships should be tested for its threshold tension; that is to say how far or how strong the relationship is before the ropes that ties the couples together in love snaps. Not the kind of test where you take her (and not only her) for a "test drive" where she'll "ride" on you happy.
While I am not suggesting that is the right thing to do, when you do "test" out your relationship at the of the day you'll reap out the benefits by multiple folds.
gone for beer. brb.
Back.
My previous romantic relationship was more of a lesson to me given the condition of "now that I know". I did test out our relationship in many ways that now I thought were all misleading and headed to no where. To make matters worse, I had placed a lot of high expectations on her to which she did not respond sufficiently and appropriately leaving me feeling flustered and frustrated most of the time. There was no "Temptation Island" on TV then ;) hehe! I love her too much. But things just didn't go the way I wanted. Am I being selfish? Both of us were selfish in our own ways so I guess we're even, but on the wrong grounds. To be even on a balancing scale (杠杆 [gang2gan3]) our relationship would have a higher probability of survival. However, it seemed like there were more than one balancing scales and instead of being in equilibrium for all the scales, they are unequally weighted on either sides.
That was what Ben and I discussed --the BGR (Boy-girl Relationship) problem-- when we went out to catch some breezes on our blades along the Mewasin Trail (River side). We sat on the last bench closest to Circle Drive bridge for a good 20 minutes and chatted. His girl is afraid to commit but simply because I think she's still immature towards BGR. Scott made a huge mistake on giving up on Chelsea but he realized soon enough to mend back his relationship and right now, what can I say? Lucky chap!
What's going to happen this weekend? I thought of going back up to Waskasiu Lake for a weekend camping getaway. But I want to see Theresa Sokyrka the cutie at Lydia's too. The opportunity cost of forgoing a last camping trip to the wilds and be in and around natural habitat "is" I think, greater in some number than going to see Theresa serenading my heart soft on Sunday when I know she plays at the Lydia's most Sundays. If I can have both, then it is suffice for me to say that I am even better off thus happier?! Yeah! So, camping that is!
Oh yeah, I watched King Arthur with my brother earlier... Not that good even though I did enjoy the medieval settings or backdrops in the film?
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
I hate Mondays
I spent the entire evening and night over at Yanbing's place watching Cool Running and "The Journey of Natty Gann" and chatted till sunrise and watched funny video clips at Joked.com (Be warned! Some medias are not suitable for persons under the age of 23!). Went to sleep at an ungodly hour: 7:45am and got up at 2:00 when my phone rang. It was a person looking for some items I put up for sale because I'm moving out of this place pretty soon. I thought I have put up notices to have people call me after 8pm to enquire? Tried to snooze a little bit but couldn't because a few minutes later came in another call, from the Royal University Hospital. Thank god Dr. Ansel rushed my case to the hospital otherwise I wouldn't be able to use my left arm ever again! That sounds like kind of cruel to my own arm, but anyway, it is not that serious. I'm quite happy as it is healing fast!
I stepped on a weighing scale and there was no good news! Horrors were scribbled on my face as I read out loud my weight in disgust! Kirk Backstrom, Yanbing's other half, tried to be nice by saying that the scale is off by 5kg (~11 lbs) but I know that is not a possibility. I am eight-fucking-ty kg (~176 lbs). 2 weeks ago, as far as I can recalled I was merely 76kg! Heck, what did I do to myself?! I didn't want to continue facing my horrors by not doing anything so I decided to put on my blades and go skating. Hmm, felt kinda heavy downward... more gravity thus more stability (don't they call it center of gravity?). fuck! aahh!! im fat!! heck no! but look at my tummy ... or has it become a belly?! omg!! omg! Danny! Cut this out! You're not fat! You just need to do more ab-crunches! Oh, that is so reassuring! So, my brother decided to come along. We skated south on Clarence Ave and I noticed 2 young look blonde girls taking a stroll ahead of us. One of them was wearing a particularly short skirt, tight on the hips but lose around the hem lines. It's funny the way she walks , or maybe it was just her skirt that was flapping back and forth each step she takes. If you have eyes, then her bare naked ass is impossible to miss when her skirt flaps up. There was a puddle of water and she lept! Oh-oh oh no!!! I tripped and fell when the thong revelation befell on me! hehe! Nah, I didn't fall. Couldn't afford to lose another arm now, could I?
Anyway, they continued walking down on Clarence and we turned left on 12th street and we had dinner at East Mario's. Good meal but the Kung Pao's chicken pasta is not that fantastic. It's funny how they westernized a chinese/asian (Kung Pao chicken) menu item... anyway, I did flirt a bit with our server/waitress. hehe! I played dumb and later I admit I was just kidding with her and she hit me. hey, that was something! My brother who sat on my right tried to stop my obnoxious behaviors towards the dirty blonde server maybe because I am embarrassing him? hhehee! Fun though!
Somebody called me and she sounded too distant to be audible so I asked her to speak up. She hessitated for a bit and threw in some interjections which I didn't understand. From the voice, I can tell she's a Chinese, Mandarin speaking person. So, I told her to speak in her mother tongue and my, my... the next thing she said totally blew me away! It was Xiaoyu! We laughed silly at ourselves because we didn't recognize each other's voices and number (I have caller's id). So, yeah, we'll meet tomorrow for a date. ;) hehe! But it'll be more like... uhh, well, she's coming over to my place... to buy things! Cool!
Sunday, July 11, 2004
News from down south
School girl got suspended for showing off her assets in a sexually suggestive manner.
For complete story, click here.
Click here to read more.
Hint: Right-click and "SAVE AS" for larger picture.
A Photographer's day out
... with Claudia. She's a very quiet, sweet and undoubtedly innocent looking girl. She calls herself "冷血人之家", which means "The [chaotic] cold blooded person"; as the name would suggest a serious [but down to earth] person, to see a smile from her is to see flowers blossoming to maturity during the end of winter. I am certainly one person who was taken away from her mesmerizing smiles-- the elixir of love. Unfortnately, I could have failed to capture every of that moment as far as I can remember. She doesn't reproduce her expressions on demand or on request. From what she dresses today, I can probably tell that she's quite shy with her god-endowed looks but at the same time, bold enough to try out various posing positions as I request. Ackward feelings invoked within me as I explored into new areas posing of glamour photography but with casual outfits. We all had fun... under the hot afternoon's sun from 14:10 to right now, 18:00. My, my my, am I getting dark already. Once again, she has been fun to work with and I look forward for another opportunity.
First roll of film is on slide film and it is my first time shooting slides. It is the best out there and there are, of course, many many advantages over 35mm negative films. The second 36 exposures is on B&W, which will give out a more artistic value as oppose to color. I am about to find out which of these two will stand out best. Wayman was there to helped me out and I must admit that he has been very useful to today's success photo-shooting. Although a mere reflector guy, if all the photos turned out to be excellent then I will have to buy him a house as a big thank you. hmm, a cup of Blizzard from the house of diary products, DQ. I'm pretty sure the 3 of us enjoyed our time out there today. All photos were shot on campus; the slide film was used mostly for outdoor photos while the other, indoor. We'll have to wait for at least a week to see the results.
As I was shooting for hours earlier, I cannot deny the fact the job of a photographer (especially when he is starting fresh) can be quite taxing. I don't consider myself as one, yet, although I would like to. Right now I'm just enjoying my hobby and this could probably be the reason why I found today's "work" is demanding. Where does all these lead to? Well, lets see. At the moment, I have no intentions of getting noticed professionally so I'll just do what I do best in giving and making good pictures. Communications, humbleness or was it meekness, generousity, understanding of the line of work, patience, and along with other positive morals are some of the few values to be observed even more thoroughly as a photographer, as a person?? Anyway, I don't really know waht I am saying here so I'll just leave at it.
Once again, a big hug to Claudia and Wayman. You guys have been great! More pictures to be posted up here soon.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Mah weekdays thus far
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Cheap movies on Tuesdays for new releases. Too bad nobody can bring in their finger licking good Toonies Tuesday's KFC into the theaters. My brother and I watched White Chicks at the Odean cineplex, Circle Mall. Nobody actually thinks comedies from Hollywood like this breed are ever good. IMDb's ratings on movies are quite credible as far as movies are concerned and the people who rated them are movie buffs. Anyway, silly movies like this one doesn't deserve to be at the top 90% quantile in the category it's in (Crime/Comedy). When it is in its own category and people who would rate are aware of such categorical ratings, then I would say this movie is worth at least an average of 5.4/10 as oppose to its current 3.7/10. It's not that bad, really. Movie-goers who watched this movie went in with too high of an expectations that includes laughing their arses out.
Later that evenning, there was nothing much on my agenda for the day already. So, I pigged out in front of the computer playing my mayor's role in Simcity 4. Everything in there is so methodical and perhaps ritualistic. Mundane. Being is mayor is the only reason for me to kill plenty of time. Time Killing sprees.
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Marzi came over to my place to look at the desktop I am selling. My almost 3 years old IBM P3 machine is going off. Gave her a good back massage for like 10 minutes as she complained about the soreness around her neck area and her back. So, I remedied her with my sweet careress and... things happen you know?
Went to the movies with Ben Eng, Scott, Chelsea, and her two other friends. At long last, Fahrenheit 9/11 is out to reveal the little secrets of America's late president, George Wussy Bush. It is not exactly a movie that most movie-goers have been watching at cinemas but it is more of a documentary-type showing GWB's backdoor life and how is he related to the collapse of the World Trade Centre that happened on September 11, 2001, and what is his stance. Also, how the war in Afganistan shifted focus to Iraq, which means to say that how the search for Al-Qaida/Taliban members went to hunt down Prime Minister of Iraq Saddam Hussein, which means to say that the focus actually shifted from apprehending criminals that attacked United States' business center and military center to a person who never attacked United States in his lifetime. As to me, it has already been apparent that pursueing the attackers of United States is not U.S's top priority but disarming Iraq and bringing down Mr. Hussein is. Oil is blatantly the reason and this reason is denied by the US government. My opinion is not influenced by this documentary I just watched but it has merely substantiated what I believe in even more strongly--that GWB is the terrorist.
There has been some theories regarding the 9-11 tragedy and one of it is that it was a commercial jet aircraft that hit the Pentagon building but a mock aircraft that looked like one but in reality it could be a remotely guided missle like that of a cruise or a tomahawk missle.
I can't believe that the GWB could sit through reading stories to elementary school kids when he was informed that aircraft hit one of the WTC's towers. His expressions remained the way it has been for the past 30 mins or so... no dramatic change like "omg!! wtf! who could fucking do that! lets go lets go lets fucking go!!" But, his face looked kind of troubled but could not do anything. maybe he was consciuos of his crime--Selling America!
Worth a watch! Kudos to Michael Moores!
Thursday, July 8, 2004
Stopped by Economics Department to see Prof. Bruneau and Howe. Had a nice chat with them. I asked them to write a reference letter for me to which they both agreed to write a good one. Quite happy to hear that.
Later in the evening, we (Ben, Scott) headed out to Lydia's to see cutie Theresa Sokyrka perform live. She's one of the top 10 competitors in Canadian Idol and she's from Saskatchewan! OMG, she has this husky voice that I happen to find it extremely attractive, sexy, and relaxing.. like a piece of chocolate melting in the warmth of your mouth, ooh!! She jazzed from 8pm till midnight and she's a natural scatting jazzy jazzer. What a talent & a an extremely nice person too! Ever heard of Scatman's World? Received a hug from her (an Idol?!! woot!!)... well, if it wasn't for Ben who intended to go up to her and congratulate and wish her best, I would go home feeling empty. Thanks to him!
We stayed over at Ben's place after that. They, Ben and Scott, were going to watch "The Last Samurai" but those wussies fell asleep leaving me watching the movie alone until 6am. Only had 2 hours of sleep when Scott had to get up and go to work. I didn't sleep until Saturday's morning at 3am.
Hasta de la vista, baby! Later.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
An ilde mind of a mayor
Saturday, July 3 2004
Friggin' cold today but I hanged out at my brother's playing a role of a city-building mayor in SimCity 4 for an unfathomable 32 hours with an accumulated 8 hours of break. There will arrive a day when I just get so sick of playing that game that I "would" devote my free time to do something more constructive. Gawd! I hate doing nothing during holidays.
Friday, July 02, 2004
O Canada...
I just played this game and was horrified, petrified, and mortified! Little did I know that vagina bears an uncanny resemblance to raw meat.
Was at school early in the morning for a forgotten appointment with Lavina Yuen but she waited for me anyway. So, I ran into Connor, a beautiful 6ft Caucasian hockey player girl (36D-34-38) in the Arts buffeteria right after I dropped off the Adobe Photoshop 7 textbook to LY. She was having her egg sandwich lunch I suppose, alone! I couldn't help myself but to approach her for a conversation because we have never really had a real conversation in 3 years we've known each other. It was pretty wild 3 years ago when we met in Rez in a person's room and she was sitting in there and I noticed her tattoo on her back that reads "beautiful" in a Chinese Character (美). Trying to impress her then I went on to explain the character's etymology while we sat in the UV illuminated room. Today, she's dressed in a white sleeveless top wrapped around a colorful sarong sporting a high cut slit on the left side. Mm-mmmh!
So, last night was quite intense with Scott, Ben, Silvia, and Chelsea. We finally had dinner at Moxie's on Circle and 8th just right by McNally's Robinson bookstore because the 2 other restarants we planned on going initially were closed for Canada's Day; Sushiro and East Mario's. The latter restaurant was just too long a wait so we end up in Moxie's, where i had a 10 lbs New York steak. We were all planning on going to the Diefenbaker's Park to watch the fireworks in conjunction with Canada's Day. Only Ben, Scott and I ended up going there while the girls could not be found anywhere-- the place was insanely packed. There were so many people. Every boom that went off lits up the night skies and I'd just look down the hill and be dumbfounded at the amount of people that were present. The fireworks can also be seen from the Broadway bridge, according to Connor who was there with her friends. The grand finale of the pyrotecnics showcase was, as it was mentioned, grand! Awesome! There exploded about 10 colorful blooms and the last couple were the biggest and the grandest of the colors of the flag of Canada -- red and white! The entire showcase lasted 10 minutes from 22:40. To get out after the grand finale was a pain in the ass considering the size of the crowd there. It was a good thing Ben did not park 5 minutes away from where we sat to watch, but a good 20 minutes walk.
We stayed over at Ben's place because it was already too late (and it rained!!) for me to walk back after watching "Stuck on you". I thristed for cold beer for the entire night but sonofagun there is none to be found and i then settled for the second worse beverage -- coke!
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Mildly weird night & Canada Day!
This afternoon, about 13 hours ago, I've got my arm treated at Daniels Kimberley Physiotherapy and this time the therapist (not the rapist!) is a guy! Ookay, although out of my expectation, I walked in to his treatment room with him anyway. Had my t-shirt off and laid down and he started pressing on my shoulder where the pain is massaging there. Soothing! I saw his 2 degrees that were hanging on the walls to my right and noticed his name. I asked if he was a "Hokkien" or equivalently a 福建人 to which he was surprised and said yes. His last name is "Ong", which is to mean A king (王). Session lasted only 30minutes... my last session was an hour long. Probably I don't need further diagnostics on my arm.
Waited for 3 hours to catch "Spiderman 2" at 15:50 with my brother. Never would I have thought this movie is also a sequel like that of "The Lord of the Rings" that comes in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Unlike the ubiquitous advertisments for LOTR sequels annually (or more like monthly), Spiderman sequels were never advertised and for the most part of it, we will always be guessing if Part 2 is the end of the sequel. I guess with 99% confidence there will be a Part 3 next year. At least now I know after the end of the LOTR's sequel, it's not the end of my cinema-going habits. There's another exciting movie to be anticipated next year, much like we have for all the LoTR's. Perhaps the producers were not heavily funded in adverts as its counterpart did. It's worth a watch; be sure to know where the story left off in Part 1 before you watch this next sequel.
I have been watching too many movies in these 2 days. Tomorrow I might be catching "White Chicks". Why so many so soon? It's boring to be sitting at home building cities.
Received a call from Marzi and she insisted to pick me up at 21:00, so I waited but she did not show up until 22:00. Changed venue from Winstons (between Bessborough Hotel and Midtown Plaza) to McGuire's on 8th. On the way back in Heba's car, we saw a white couple making out in their living room of their apartment on the 2nd floor, along Cumberland Ave and Main Street (just before the Stop sign at the 4 way junction OR click on the link and look out for the red star). No curtains whatsoever on the wide window and it was brightly lited by the ambient floor lamp. From where we were, Frank noticed them first and he exclaimed "stop stop stop! they are people making out up there. back up! back up!" Heba was surprised and I supposed curious too. haha! she backed up the car in the middle of the road just weeeeeee before the Stop Line and turned right into the front door of the apartment where we watched the entire show. Like in one of Craig David's song, "... Why do I see two shadows moving [back and forth] in your bedroom... can you fill me in?" We actually saw 2 person, guy behind (looking down; at his dong, i suppose) and the head of a blonde girl looking at him (his dong, perhaps). The guy was only visible up to his middle torso from where we were looking. We honked twice and drove away. Back up the car and passed by their window again, lights were off and they were not doing what we saw seconds ago... guessed they knew they were being watched. hahaha! A great way to celebrate Canada Day... for them!
Other news
Waskasiu pictures from Hindra's digital camera available here.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
The heatwaves are out
Pretty hot day today. 28ºC by noon. Nothing much to do on this hot day after giving a last session of Adobe Photoshop to my student. Went to Centre Mall on Circle & 8th and practically spent the entire evening over there watching 2 movies: Shrek 2, and The Two Brothers.
I could help thinking what it would be like if really, my brother and I were separated like the latter movie. Even I have a share of joy watching how the two tiger brothers reunited and later with their mother at the end. The story has simply dazed me; I mean, it's wonderful! In a scene of the movie conveys a very strong message to boycott poaching by-products, which in my opinion, is an excellent way to create and disseminate awareness of endangered animals. I'd recommend one to watch this NOT just to take note of the anti-poaching movement but also the wonderful love story of The Two Brother in their journey to survive among humans.
As for Shrek 2, I could not believe I can be entertained by a mere green ugly (but cute) ogre especially donkey's deviant talkative behavior. The the cat, when it befriended Shrek with its drop-dead-innocently-cute look with wide eyes open gazing into Shrek's eyes, everyone in the cinema went "awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...............!!" An undeniably heart-melting look! If you're looking to be entertained, watch this!
Currently listening to DJ Tiesto's Just Be. You don't know who is this DJ?? Then you might want to check out the following link here and read a little about his achievements. I'm taken away by his musics most of the time and it always feel anew everytime I listen to his numbers. I must say, great musics! Instruments and trance genre are probably my all time fav!
Monday, June 28, 2004
A weekend in Waskesiu
Just got back from Waskesiu approximately 2.5 hours north from Saskatoon. It is situated in Prince Albert's region.
The trip was generally a good one and will consider of heading back there if I ever get a chance again with one condition-- that I know for certain mosquitoes will not party in the woods during our presence. The best part of the entire retreat is not one but many and that includes close encounter of a mother brown bear with her 2 cute cubs...
So, as soon as we arrived at our camp site, tents were set up. There were 6 tents all together and mine was the most mini of them all. Cute though. Since mosquitoes were already out by sunset, I was already overly annoyed by these blood thirsty peskies that I couldn't wait to spark off a camp fire. However, we did not aleady have a permit to do so but Rianto got them after dinner. It cost 2$ for the camp fire permit. Together we gathered some fire woods that were already halved to a suitable place. Initially it was under some branches and I didn't think it was a good idea because I was going to make a huge fire. Having a permit doesn't give me the right to burn down a tree now, does it? Anyway, the woods were relocated so that the rising flames dance freely and not consuming anything in the air. That night was friggin' cold too; that fire helped a bit. We gathered around the fire and Eddy brought in his small packet of marshmallows and wooden skewers (satay sticks).
Albert P. started to make noise at 4am waking me up. My tent was just beside theirs. Most of us froze our ass out by dawn. I didn't think this was worst than my last camp with Benson and Richard Wong in Meota-- -15 celsius with windchill on our first night. Insanity! But this time it felt like 4 celsius with windchill.
Day Two:
After breakfast (simple bread and jam), we headed out to the beach by 10am and stayed to 2.30pm. Went back to camp site for a quick lunch and we left for a nearby lake for canoeing and kayaking. I did the kayak. Little have I realized it could be so much fun! Best story of the day was Albert P. ran into the canoe (my brother and Edwin were paddling it) and he flipped downside up. We all knew the water is cold. As we laughed and watched him struggle to climb back on his kayak (10 of us kayak and 2 went on a canoe) only to see his kayak gave up on him and flipped again; there he went down the cold water. Poor saint. We guys paddled to his rescue and he climbed onto the canoe and they brought him back onto ground. All went with him and only Rianto and I stayed back to hold on to his kayak and his paddle. I was the last to struggle against the waves and wind before I reach the pier. On the way back, we stopped along the road side and watch a mother bear with her two cute cubs feeding. The mother bear would probably stand to 5.5 feet. I got a picture and will put it up here soon.
On the last day, Sunday, all of us went back to the beach and this time we went into the waters. Cold! That's all I can say about the water. There were a lot of people this day compared to yesterday. Lots of people sunbathing and frolicking with one another on the water, especially the indonesian people we're with. I went around with my camera wielded in my hands hoping they'll notice that I do not want to get wet. A neat excuse to avoid getting bashed on beach.
Trip is over.
Arrived Saskatoon and mom got busy packing stuffs and preparing to go back. I did not stay in my room for long. Went to school and ran into Marzi, Navjot Kaur, and Heba. We went out for a drink but Heba did not join us. Matthew did; and we hanged around and chatted till 2am at Olympia downtown. Came back and mom chatted with me till 6am. I lay down and fell asleep immediately. 7 am we were suppose to send mom to the airport but I got too comfortable sleeping and really hate myself for hessitating to go just because of sleep. I don't think this is the way to pay my respect to my mother. I'm really sorry.
Got up at 12noon and headed down to Daniel's Kimberly Physiotherapy for my left arm. It's so much better now compared to last month as I now have full arm movement. I will need to do some home exercises to strengthen and hasten the healing process of the partially torn tendon. Since I have full movement, the tear could range from 20% - 40% tear, which is not too serious.
Other news
I got a confirmed placing at the University of Leeds, UK.
Karla got sunburn on both her arms.
Mother left for Vancouver and onwards to KL on Wednesday.
I'll be heading back to Malaysia at the end of July or in the first week of August.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
A floss a day keeps decay away
My dental appointment was tentatively scheduled for July 13 but I received a call yesterday and Michelle, the nurse (why are there so many Michelle species around?! One big one who teases me as though Arnold Schwarzennegar has a little dong is already enough to handle), informed me there is one today -- in the morning. I promptly agreed without much thought that these days I not really the morning type of person
I got up at 08:45 to make a phone call to the clinic explaining to the nurse, I suppose it's Michelle's sweet voice, why I couldn't go. I don't have any other excuses except lame ones. Felt too lazy to get up anyway. Still in bed and felt like I could get drowsy and hit back to dreamland again, 2 things woke me up. Mom was already up earlier and was working in the kitchen making some goodies for dinner later. It was the smell of chinese mushroom that ponged my senses up--too strong a smell. The other, Michelle said: "Oh? Did you know that there's a 50$ charge for last minute change or 'no show'?"
I'm like, "50 fucking dollars just for no show?!! That's ridiculous!"
Then after much hessitations I felt like I was cornered and there was no other way out unless I am willing to fork out 50 bucks for nothing.
Whew! Fresh air finally! I'm out of the house and the smell of mushroom no longer cause uncomfortness to my nose. It's not stinky or the like but they were just too strong too aromatic that I couldn't take it anymore.
Dr Simon Wong is his name. He is the dentist. I didn't wait long outside and when I got in, I gagged and went like gagaga!! Woah!! 6 TV's, 6 inclining chairs, 2 beautiful nurses (pls ignore this), clean as white and bright. I was invited to lie down and the other nurse slided down something on my head in which I learned that it's a headphone so I don't watch mute TV! Totally cool! Then she pulled out something from the cabinet on my left side and inform me that she was going to take some x-rays. Later, I saw my 10 x-ray pictures and Dr Wong explained everything, including the most terrifying thing I've ever heard: I've got 9 cavities; 10 including my dysfunctional wisdom tooth.
Dr. Wong took some colored digital images of my teeth with a tiny little steel rod. I was watching TV and he grabbed the RC from me (*sobs!*) and switched to "Video 1" mode and Viola! all my decayed teeth in color media! *embarrassed!*
But above all that, that dental clinic is one that has impressed me so far.
Quote from Dr. Wong:
...brushing your teeth is only 60% complete. Flossing give you the other 40%
But, on the contrary, even if you floss your teeth daily, you will still get decays. What happens is that flossings only reduces the chances of tartar build ups (which I had, omg! but they're history now) thus minimizes cavities and decays. They're still going to be there. But you're helping your dentist a lot such that s/he doesn't have to spend too much time cleaning.
Met Leah Knox.
A new item
A new item to add on to my wish list. I fell in love with it when immediately after reading all it has to offer me. *drools!*
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
A soothing placebo for my mind, body, and soul
Just chatted with 草草 (double grass) and she mentioned a phrase that I thought I would meditate upon: 一切事情的发生，都有它存在的道理。 And that would mean that For every problems that happened, there [also] exist a reason, an explanation for it all.
The translated meaning, I must admit, does not sound or does not look as good or authentic as it should be. Maybe I am just not too good a translator ; or perhaps the English language is somehow limited or inadequate to unleash its full capacities to be able to convey the exact meaning as it is written in the Chinese language.
"Learn to let go" flashed in my mind after reading that phrase.
A day of mixed feelings
Today officially marks the beginning of the most awaited day or perhaps season of the entire year by at least everyone, but me. *sobs!* I miss winter! Summer kicks in today; there better be warmer days ahead but the hope of warmer days didn't seem so promising with rainy clouds to start with today. The earth must have been crazy. Perhaps Saskatoon itself, eh?
It looks like I have acquired this habit of sleeping at ungodly hours and waking up at noon time for the past month already. I got up just in time to walk over to the Royal University Hospital (RUH) for a scheduled Ultrasound scan appointment at 12:30noon. I was all dressed up and ready to go by 12:20 when I flipped my Sony Clie SJ-22 to check which floor am I suppose to be. Heavens strucked my oblivious state off when my organizer showed me the place I was suppose to go was not the RUH but Saskatoon's Imaging Center on Bedford's Square. Now, where is Bedford's Square? I didn't want to be late to try to remember where Bedford's Sqr. is. Immediately I rang up for a cab and arrived to Bedford's Sqr., a very familiar place I've frequented for some bubble/pearl tea. It is on 8th Street!
When I was at the clinic's reception desk to register myself, I was asked to produce the note Dr. Ansell gave me. Oh fuck! I must have forgotten as I left in a hurry. I got in anyway. The nurse who is a blonde chic named Michelle, told me to take off my shirt and sit beside her. Oh wow! *wild thoughts running around; but within the confines of the room. She closed the door behind us and dimmed off the lights. I'm like, this is sooo.... not happening!! Stop it, Danny!! What are you thinking?! Okay. She squirted some gooey Ultrasound gel on my naked left shoulder and picked up the scanning device and motioned on my shoulder bone-arm. I could see a baby!! It is a girl!!!! Nah! I mean, I will not be normal if there was really another being growing in my hurting shoulder! It was just amazing how these Ultrasound scans work! Michelle picked up some gel onto the scanning device and pressed lightly on the front of my shoulder and while rubbing in circular motion she's observing the monitor with me. The images are, unfortunately, not colored. Of course, I expected that. The entire session lasted for about 10 minutes. Now, behind the chair I seated is a bed. It didn't take me long enough to realize that it's primarily for expecting mothers. duhh!!
My brother and mom were doing some groceries at Superstore. I met up with them. Collected some photos of my graduation as well as my recent "camping weekend" in Scott. As I looked through the 35 prints, I was kinda disappointed when I saw the picture 'Jillian Morgan' and I posed in the Arts tunnel on the 26th of May. Not very nice and I had the most ackward pose of all. Then I thought about it for a while and wondered if she was offended. Maybe we were physically too close to one another? Felt shitty and embarrassed and couldn't bare to take another look. The convocation pictuers didn't turn out all that good either. The auditorium was dim, the film's speed was a ISO 100, and the distance from the photographer to the stage where I received my degree was as far back and high as the auditorium could get. Although my family and I did go to campus for some more photo shooting, the weather then wasn't all that pleasing either. I could just heave a heavy sigh of giving up right now to realize I have lost an opportunity of a lifetime. It should be temporal though. It's just that things on that day did not go as I wished them to be. However, I should just pat myself on my back and convince myself that I am at least fortunate enough to have my parents over to celebrate this late convocation with me. My other friends whose parents couldn't afford to come to celebrate with their only daughter/son. Worst yet, one even had to borrow a camera from her friend to commemorate her convocating day. So Dann, you're fine. It's okay when things didn't go the way you want them to be sometimes. It's not that your expectation levels were too high, but this is the time when you learn how to tolerate with others, things, and especially yourself! So, be cool!
When my brother graduate next year, he's gonna be my center of attention! I hope he allows my glamour shots! hehe!
Bought a book from McNally's Robinson on Photoshop and found out it's kind of not worth up to its value (25.99$). It came with a CD and I'm not quite certain if I should return it... is it returnable?
Chatted and video-conferrenced with Priscilla G. today. Feelings of guilt lingered in and around me when she first messaged me in MSN messenger because I haven't finished reading it and I did slacked off for a few days. As soon as I knew it was her messaging me, I'm like oh-uh! is she going to ask me about the paper that I'm suppose to proof-read and I'm like only three-quarter done? The conversation went kinda cute though and I thought I was snaking my way out of it. But no, it was funny! Then mom came to the rescue by yelling "dinner is ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come and eat your Egg pocket!!"
Egg Pocket, mom's new creative creation. T'was good. I'm gonna steal the recipe from my mother and make it for my own (well, later I'll make it for friends) till perfection. Like the Americans, they steal ideas and make it better and claim ownership on it. Thankfully Im only quasi-American.
Felt like someone was insinuating me. Maybe I am just overly sensitive. I should just put up with a Alex-type A behavior--don't give a fuxk about anything. It'd be different for me, change the "anything" to certain things
Happy Summer holidays! Enjoy your summer, dear readers!
Sunday, June 20, 2004
My first digital art published!! Spent an hour creating this cool feather pen using Photoshop CS. Feather pens have always been associated with knowledge, intelligence, articulacy (if ever there's such an adjective), and literacy, hence, the "Knowledge is Power". Quite a common adage I must say but it simply adds more to the composition. I thought splattering some ink carelessly would make it more believing. Do you have time to critic on this picture?
H!
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Palomino Horse ride in Downtown
Here are the few banned ads that I find extremely hilarious. For more, please visit Block Nine and click on the video section.
Boobs Magazine
Bad idea jeans
3 girls take off bikinis in Denmark
Blind man and Levis jeans
Erotic food
Fart
Loose panties
I need a condom now!
Kylie Minogue [Lingerie]
Yeah, but at least it takes our focus off your face
Metal detector
Nice boots
IKEA pig farmers
Fighting chimp
Football fever
Dancing penis
Sony camera
Other news:
Yahoo! Mail has just increased their free webspace quota from 4MB to 100MB, which is a positive step to take in order to keep customers from flocking to Gmail that offers 1000MB free! Did I say free? Yeah, for FREE! What makes Gmail more interesting is the keyboard short-cut keys in which I believe no webmail providers have done it before. Thus, making Gmail the pioneer in this cutting edge technology and is about to change our daily rituals of using webmails as our primary email consoles. Yahoo!'s new interface hasn't a dramatic change either. I don't think I am all that impressed with the changes except for the 25 times larger mailbox. Check it out!
What happened
It was my turn to make dinner today and I made one of my fav Asian dish called Szechuan's Eggplant Stir-fry with ground beef. I'd g crazy over this dish and because it was sooooo goooooooooood, I'm insanely mad... to have a late lunch and wasn't hungry at all when I dished it out. Mom has always insisted that she makes our meals but she didn't have to. I didn't hessitate even though I dislike working/playing on the computer for too long. T'was a great dinner though. We, mom brother and I, took a walk downtown along the river side up to Delta Bessborough Hotel when 2 parade horses pulling a carriage parked beside the curb. Ah! 7.50$ per person. Since we missed a horse ride in Montreal 2 years ago, we hopped on this carriage and the Palomino horses took us for a 15 minutes ride trotting gracefully. The sound of cloking: clok! clok! clok! clok! when their hoofs coherently hit the ground is not any noise/sound. Unable to explain nor describe in further details, felt like musics to my ears. These light brown parade horses are simply just amazing creatures. I had the opportunity to carress my palm on the mammal's body, neck, and head. I'm dreaming of the horse taking me away to a land far far away, with my lover behind me. We had to hurry home as it was getting dark and I felt a heavy heart to leave these beautiful beasts. I don't know how to explain how I felt but I think horses and I do have some kind of connection. My brother made a statement: "It's nice to own a horse, eh?".
It's weird and yet amazing and coincidental because here I am today with real horses; 3 days ago, we were all trying to immitate the 4 singing horses Acappella style. Mom traced out the gray horse that stood on the most left. What is the connection? Is something happening?
At Mandarin restaurant having dimsum with Lavina Yuen for lunch earlier, I read my chinese horoscope for my year, 1979. The last sentence reads: Gets along well with Horses, Boars, Sheeps, and ... (can't remember). I'm a Sheep/Ram by the way.
After lunch, I had to lugged back a 14lbs bag of rice. At least now I know how to get around town by bus, so, it's really nothing. In the bus, I noticed a young large girl at the back of the bus where she sat looking at me. Well, I wasn't sure if it was a look or a stare. I noticed her eyes shied away when I was glancing around my shoulders, then I looked back at her and she greeted me with an obliging smile. A smile makes two. Wow! That was something. If she had really been looking at me, should I freak out?! Nah, rather I should be a man and get to "sell myself" away in hopes to get, uhh..., laid? I'll just leave that to my imaginations. She got off with me at the stop close by where I live. No wonder she's somebody familiar? Perhaps I don't quite remember where I've seen her or what I've done to/for her? Oh-uh!
Finally, I watched Jackie Chan's latest remake of "Around the world in 80 days". I am still amazed at JC because he is still able to amuse people with his absofucklutely cool stunts and moves. One big disappointment to me is that this version do not have cut-scenes at the end of the movie. I have always loved to see how things went wrong and they're always really hilarious! It's quite funny but not the best given the knowledge of his capabilities and abilities. JC can make better movie than this one even though it's a remake of the one in 1989??
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Wish list
615! Six fifteen!! Claudia (Cheng Kayan) hinted to me it is a kind of shoe. I found out later that 615 is a type of New Balance's shoe for girls, uhh collector's items, I think. Last week, she has been changing her handle everyday and it doesn't look any different except one will definitely know that she's counting down to June 15. So, I asked her Monday what was she going to do in a few hours time over the chatline. She just said "615!!!!!!!!!!" I thought, "Oh yeah, right, the shoe. Probably it's a year's anniversary for her shoe and herself." I asked her today when is her birthday. "615!!" Ah, A belated birthday wish from me then. I thought I have just missed something... felt the emptiness in my heart.
I asked what she wished for to which she responded "I can't tell you. If I do, then it will not come true". Well, here is my wish list people:
(some are really just imaginaries/fictitious),
1. A nice home; not too big nor small like where I'm staying now
2. Vaccines to all diseases so people may live longer
3. I wish I could stop United States from nosing into another's ass
4. Happiness within myself as well as my immediate surroundings
5. Unbreak my broken limbs
6. I wish to find a loving & understanding soulmate (Yoon-Young Choi look-alike always preferred)
7. Peace in my heart as well as in everyone's!
8. Lactose tolerant!
9. Cranium has a Malaysian Edition, in English!!
10. A professional digital SLR (Nikon & Canon)
11. High end lenses to fit item 10, cheapo ones don't mind too.
12. Travel around the world.
13. Able to draw nudes better, they all look disfigured on my drawing paper. lol! gotta visit the art's studio more often and still be able to hold on to my sanity.
14. iPod 40GB!!!
15. Casio Exilim! Why the heck do I want more than a camera?! I love these little gadgets.
16. A love doll. *sob! I'm so lonely.
17. A magic wand!! granting wishes for myself.
18. a sponsored annual snowboarding trip in Canada, Whistler Mt.
19. Retire early.
20. A car
21. gas price drop!!
22. Another bachelor degree!
23. academic scholarships
24.
...
Is your list longer than mine? Are all your wish list, uhh, selfish?
What do most, if not all, men want the most in their lifetime (other than sex with all beautiful women in the world)?
given a chance, would you live either on the moon or Mars for 6 months? I wish for the red planet.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Zero
Zero. Nothingness, emptiness, empty, no longer there, not existing or non existence and that's probably up to where I can think of zero. If you have other variations, please feel free to add on. Pretty much like the previous posting "Till the last drop", but the only thing is that this time I had a Finnish vodka Evgeuni P. got for all of us to drink from small shot glasses at Mark Caeser's apartment (Sutherland). Clint, Caeser's friend, I'm quite amazed at how much in similar taste in genre's of games he has with me. A big fan of Silent Hill episodes in which I did try to play the 3rd part last week and was already all freaked out. He completed the game.... whooooosh!! Jumped out of his seat twice; Caeser wasn't left out of the action too as he devotedly watched Clint fiddling his way to kill monsters and get terrified, petrified, and mortified by the game.
After much of the vodka disappeared (down in our stomaches), and after much talking, Caeser decided to show us something he finds amazing. He opened his email and there are four horses behind wooden fence like those in farms. When I saw it I knew what those horses do. They don't run or does anything like what normal horses do. Interestingly, well, you might have seen it before, they represents a type of sound in music, much like in acappella, but without music instruments. Because it was so long ago I heard & seen of such thing, as well as it was the first time for the rest, it was pretty amazing. If you want to know what I'm talking about, please visit the following link below:
Acappella Ranch horses
So, it is very difficult to try NOT to immitate the sounds of each horses especially the dark gray horse that goes "boom schee schee; boom boom... booom schee schee". So, because Mark plas the guitar and records his own musics on the computer, it was his idea to record all of us doing what the horses are doing. We each pick a horse to immitate (its voice). I picked the above, Clint the female horse with receding hair (most right), Evgeuni is the light gray horse, and Caeser is the second from left that sounds like as though he's the meditating buddist monk going "Ooouuummmmmmmmmmmmmm...." repetitively. Much like you'd click on the each horse to hear it humming its own acappellic voice, we did the same by pointing fingers. The entire scene was awesome & hilarious, it was recorded too. When we hit the playback, we can actually see the sound waves of our singing. I started first and the wave was mild; but it grew as the others took turns to join in the singing, didn't want to leave me solo all the time. Then, there was this big leap in the waves... that's Clint's. None of us could contain our laughters and as soon as I broke out in laughter, it spread!! It really spread to the rest. Almost died laughing! I will get the sound file up here for your listening.
As for the poor bottle of vodka, which has been sitting & chilling out in the fridge for 30mins already, Mark grabbed in and called for the 7th toast, was was for :( some BS i can't remember. But the 6th was for Exotic women in which we discussed quite interestingly disputing each other's point of view. Mostly a comparison between caucasian women and asian women. the 4th toast sounds like "you can do any friggin' thing you want, but just don't get caught". Perhaps the lamest toast by me. haha! the 3rd was to friendship; Mark offered upon which I agreed/seconded abruptly. The 2nd, was in Russian in which Mark's guessing translation turns out to make more sense after Evgeuni explains the need to rhyme like that of Russian. So, "Between one and two, keep the minutes few" but what the heck, we understood anyway. Down goes the vodka.
The first shot (and the 5th), WTF?!, can't remember. Anyway, had a good time there!
My student for photoshop is really dissing me by making me do all her assignments. :( but should I complaint much as i'm getting quite a good pay for an unemployed chap like myself?? hehe! so much to learn.
I'm broke. Now, doesn't the zero up there makes more sense to you?
