Monday, August 31, 2009

Border Crossing

We decided to check out the new hotel at Tulalip for our "weekend", and do a little shopping at the Seattle Premium Outlet as well. Our trip started off with a relatively short 40-minute wait at the border on Sunday (I've waited up to 90 minutes before), then a short walk at Bellis Fair where we had Clam Chowder at Ivar's. Mmmmm.

The hotel was quite nice, better than I'd expected it to be for the $130US/night price tag. The cool part of the room was the shower, which consisted of three separate heads (one for the head, one for the torso and one near the feet). You could have all three running, or control which one you wanted. This was quite ingenious as I'd never seen it before.

Gambling-wise, I took it easy, and managed to make less than $100. Amy made a little bit of money on roulette and I got to show off and pass 200 roulette chips to the dealer, who was probably more pissed off somebody could do it. Oh well, too bad.

All in all, it was a great time and I can't wait to visit again.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Birthday

Even though the media frenzy hasn't subsided, I do wish to note that Michael Jackson was to become 51 on August 29. Many hated him for what he allegedly did, but I remember him for his music. So Happy Birthday MJ.

Inglorious Basterds

I hadn't seen Joe in a while so we went for our usual dinner at the Keg in Surrey, then headed out to watch Quentin Tarantino's latest venture. It was his usual violent fare, this time taking a somewhat historically "different" view of the Second World War. While the movie was pretty good, I did not have a good time due to the idiots sitting two rows back who more or less laughed at various inopportune times throughout the movie. Thanks for ruining the movie for me.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I Am Canadian

Why is Gary Bettman insistent that an NHL team stay in Phoenix when it is obvious nobody cares about hockey over there? Canadian fans are so eager for another team, even if it is led by a silly guy such as Jim Balsillie? Heck, even a team in Portland would generate more interest than Phoenix, but Bettman doesn't want to admit he's really an idiot. Look at the hockey hotbeds he's developed in Carolina, among others.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Take That, Buster

Amy and I spent a wonderful day at the PNE. While it was nothing special compared to other years, it was a nice relaxing day. I even rolled an 11 for her when she was playing Over/Under 7 for a nice $60. She also was doing quite well on the carny money games. Meanwhile I couldn't win anything, not even Whack-a-Mole. But we had a good time.

And then we went back to where our car was supposed to be. For those that don't know, there is a spot on East Pender just in from Renfrew that is FREE. If you read the signs, yes, it is permit parking beyond the sign but there is space from the post to the corner if your car is small enough. I've parked there before, but today there was a van in front of us but I gambled and lost.

OK, it's fine, I got towed. I accept that (although I will probably contest it because of the 1.5 meter rule that I'm pretty sure I followed). So I called Buster's and they said it was there. OK, I got off the phone and then realized that there were two Buster's Towings (one under the Granville Bridge and the other near Science World). So I called back and asked for the address. Well, Amy was nice enough to donate her monetary winnings toward the cab ride to the Buster's on Science World because that was what the lady said. When I went there it was a guy who said my car was in the OTHER lot. You know the rest. The lady who worked at the OTHER Buster's on Granville Bridge gave me the address of the one at Science World. I'm just getting ready to put together a really nice letter to the manager of Buster's.

Argh.

Friday, August 21, 2009

48 Hours

One more afternoon shift and one more morning shift and I will get a much needed two days off. All I want to do is....nothing and "embrace silence".

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Success

Dr. Wayne Dyer's 10 Secrets for Success....

1. Have a Mind that is Open to Everything and Attached to Nothing.
2. Don’t Die with Your Music Still in You.
3. You Can’t Give Away What You Don’t Have.
4. Embrace Silence.
5. Give Up your Personal History.
6. You Can’t Solve a Problem with the Same Mind that Created It.
7. There are No Justified Resentments.
8. Treat Yourself as if You Already Are What You’d Like To Be.
9. Treasure Your Divinity.
10.Wisdom is Avoiding All Thoughts that Weaken You.

Thanks, Maureen.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Life

I sit here typing away at my blog which I have more or less done faithfully for five years. I have Restaurant City running in the background. In about 3 hours I will be going to work and then coming home close to midnight. It seems that I've done this a lot in the last while.

I have met a wonderful girl and she means the world to me, but is there something I can do to make things even better? Five years from now will I be in the same position as I am now? Ten years? I know I should be following my dreams but the reality of life stops me from doing that. I could be out on a yacht or cruise ship or flying to exotic places but I haven't won the lottery (and perish the thought but I may never win). I could retire and drop everything but how do I survive the next 52 years?

Is this it?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

QB's

There must be a shortage of good quarterbacks in the NFL. You have the Philadelphia Eagles signing the idiotic Michael Vick. Everybody knows he should have signed with the Cleveland Browns so he can be cheered on by the Dogg Pound every week. And now, the 90-year-old Brett Favre will play for the Minnesota Vikings. Maybe OJ should consider a comeback.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Time Traveller's Wife

While the trailer for this movie was intriguing, I didn't know what to expect as I sat down for this film. I suspected that this was one of those films that was better as a book, and I was right. The cinematography was nice but somehow the story got too confusing. That's not to say that Rachel McAdams isn't beautiful. She still has that beauty that made The Notebook such a wonderful film. But I saw Eric Bana's butt a few too many times. This movie wasn't bad but I guess I was a little bit disappointed.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Julie & Julia: Postscript

The main reason why I liked the movie so much was that it mirrored my life in many ways. I'd often thought about blogging professionally, but I've been thinking a lot about what I can write about. Unfortunately the life and times of a random guy in the universe probably won't turn into a blockbuster movie (and besides, Meryl Streep can't really play me). So perhaps I can ask for advice from my two or three fans. What can I start blogging about? Food blogging (at least with respect to cooking) is really tough to get into. Besides, I really can't cook and I don't plan to go through Julia Child's cookbook anytime soon. Perhaps some sort of an eating blog, where I can go to restaurants every day ($$$) or week? Entertainment or sports blog? Any ideas?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Julie & Julia

Bon Appetit! There wasn't much in the way of good movies this week, and I wasn't in the mood to line up for GI Joe (not that I'd expected it to be any good), so we decided to watch Julie & Julia, which was "based on two true stories". Director Nora Ephron managed to combine two stories from two eras into a cohesive tale. I really enjoyed the "older" story of Paul & Julia Child. Stanley Tucci plays yet another "sidekick" role to Meryl Streep (ala The Devil Wears Prada) wonderfully. And Ms. Streep, is there nothing in the acting profession you can't do? It only seemed like yesterday I was singing and dancing at the Mamma Mia! movie. Your portrayal of Julia Child was amazing.

P.S. "You are the butter to my bread, and the breath to my life".

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Music Mania

I spent the last two nights (2 hours yesterday, about an hour tonight) doing a focus group on music. We listened to a total of 1000 (!) music snippets of about 5 seconds each. In the end I (and the other 100 or so people) got $100 incentive. That's not too bad, except I didn't hear one ABBA song. There were two Michael Jackson song but quite a few favorites from the 80's.

Lost Weekends

Evidently this Monday was B.C. Day. So much for a long weekend, since I had Tuesday and Wednesday off. Now I get the pleasure of working six days in a row. Such much for a regular weekend. Ho hum.