Monday, September 28, 2009

Les Faux Bourgeois Bistro

A number of people recommended this quaint little restaurant near Fraser and Kingsway. All of the positive reviews were accurate as the food was delicious. We shared an appetizer of meat with (obviously) French bread. I ordered the Steak Frites and Amy had mussels, both were delicious. For dessert we had a nice big cup of creme brulee. Yum yum.

Love Happens

And we have Jennifer Aniston in yet another romantic comedy, this time with Aaron Eckhart. The movie started off slow and was a tad boring. It also didn't help that the people behind us found it necessary to do a running commentary of the movie. Yes we heard the first time that parts of the movie was filmed in Vancouver (as well as Seattle). No, the Space Needle isn't in Vancouver. Thanks for letting us know in advance everything that will probably happen.

But the last part of the movie was quite touching, although I didn't see a lot of chemistry between the two main characters.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Casino Life

It is often said that one should never date a coworker or someone in their own workplace. That does make a lot of sense because of what would happen if things don't work out. But that is not the topic of this entry.

I'm writing more about the life of a casino employee, especially one with either "abnormal" hours or swing shifts (my hand is up). Well I guess I can extend it to anybody who doesn't have a regular 9am-5pm job, like doctors or other on-call occupations. How do you function? How do you mix work with a social life? If you are single, how hard has (or had) it been to do things outside of work? If you are dating, how understanding is the partner? "Normal" relationships consist of having dinner with each other at 6 or 7 and then a movie or other activities.

If you are married, how understanding is the spouse? I do know it actually works well for some "married with children" people. One parent will tend to matters while the other is at work. But this also means that they are away from each other for 8 hours. Is this good or bad?

Friday, September 25, 2009

Lotto Max 2

OK maybe I'll win next week. The good news is this week I won a $5 free play plus $1 on the extra. The bad news is how much I spent to get the $6.

Know your limit, play within it.

Lotto Max

Please let this be the week I win the lottery... well anytime in the near future would be nice.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Dating Disaster (Luckily Not Me)

Amy and I were having a casual dinner at a small restaurant in Burnaby. Normally I don't make comments about people sitting beside us but in this case I must. It all started when the couple sat down and probably within 30 seconds they were holding hands. Or perhaps the girl grabbed the hand of the guy or vice versa. Well whatever. All I know is on the corner of my head I saw a guy in a shirt or polo shirt. Then Amy told me to look at him as he was standing up. I almost burst out laughing. The guy's tie was, well, shall we say, hanging even further than "down there". I mean, mean usually have their ties too short (even I am sometimes) when the tip should be just at the belt buckle. This guy's tie was practically touching the floor.

Then when it came time for them to go, the guy tells the girl to pay her own half or something like that. I could sense the girl really pissed off at this time. She said something about having no change. Then she goes up to the cashier to get change. Maybe the guy thought she would end up paying or something. It gets all confusing after. While she was up there paying the guy gets up and goes to the cashier too (to get change??). The girl comes back followed by the guy who gives her money because I think he assumed that she paid for his share too. But she hadn't so the guy had to go back up to the cashier to pay his share. I know, I know, why should I care. I just found it so silly. If this was a first date then I'll bet the farm the loser guy isn't getting another one. If they've gone out before then I'm pretty sure it's over now.

There's your laugh for the day. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Cafe Medina

We tried a nice little cafe downtown for brunch today and it was very very good. It is called Cafe Medina. Amy had the "Fricasse" and I had "Les Boulettes". Both were delicious. We ended with a really yummy waffle with mixed fruit topping. We'll definitely be going back to this nice little find. I'm also kind of obsessed with this really far-fetched idea for a restaurant that came into my head.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

All About Steve

Wow, a movie about a crossword puzzle constructor, how can I refuse? Even though I'd read some questionable reviews, I really enjoyed this new Sandra Bullock vehicle. I identified with her character for some reason. Well, I would love to be a professional crossword constructor myself, but I know how hard the field is to get into. She was a bit too neurotic, but it was a good film anyways.

RIP Patrick Swayze

"No one puts Baby in the corner".

He finally lost his battle with pancreatic cancer but it was a gallant fight. What was once thought to be only a week or month became an 18-month fight.

It only seemed like yesterday that I saw Dirty Dancing and Ghost for the first time, when in fact it's been 22 and 19 years now. How time flies.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Don't Go West

We now have a new member of the "Please Go Away" Celebrity Club, Kanye West. I didn't get a chance to watch the MVA's but it's obvious this guy is a loser. He can now join Jon & Kate, Octomom, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and the rest. Drink some more, idiot.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Boo Hoo

I'm glad Serena Williams lost today. She can whine and bee-yatch all she wants, the fact of the matter is she lost. One year she accuses her opponent of cheating. This year she whines over a clear foot fault violation. She is the sorest loser in tennis. May she never win again.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Forever

To all my friends (and love of my life) who gave me advice after my little Facebook status posting, thanks. And to those who have been there for me throughout each day, month, year, and decade... thank you. I feel blessed and fortunate to know some very wonderful people who mean the world to me.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

9

After Gamer, we went to see a weird cartoonish movie about a post-Apocalytic society where the machines have all taken over. It's hard to explain the movie so I won't try but it was pretty interesting. One week, Joe and I saw Inglourious Basterds and the next week we saw this one.

Gamer

I hadn't seen Joe since he got back from Vegas and getting Marie Osmond to call me (hee hee) so we had dinner at our usual haunt (The Keg) where he gave me back the Marie Osmond book that I had her sign. Then we went to see the first of two movies afterwards, the Gerard Butler flick. This guy is cool, one minute he's some ultra-violent meanie in movies such as 300, then he can go 360 and play romantic roles such as P.S. I Love You and The Ugly Truth. Gamer is an obvious homage to Blade Runner with some Running Man references thrown in. It was a lot better than I'd expected.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

America's Got Talent

OK normally I have nothing but negative things to say about reality shows. And even for most of the episodes I've watched of America's Got Talent, nothing has particularly stood out. It seemed that the only memorable acts are from strange people. There is the country singer who reminded us of Susan Boyle for some reason. Tonight I saw two kids probably eight or nine dancing to Michael Jackson but ballroom style. Huh?

But the last performance was that of a lady named Barbara Padilla who had evidently beaten cancer years ago. My first reaction was, well, of course, without a story how could they get so far? But then she started singing one of two opera songs that I truly adore (the other one is Pie Jesu), Ave Maria. I remember the first time I heard Sarah Brightman sing it, "there was someone in my eye". Tonight it happened again. While we'll find out tomorrow of she makes it to the final, I can't see anybody else beating her. As Piers Morgan said, "a star was born tonight". Bravo.

Monday, September 07, 2009

7 Days

Today is day seven in a row of work for me. I'm spending it in the confines of Fraser Downs for a nice relaxing shift. It's good to see some old friends again and meeting the "new" slot attendant.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Bobby Loo

Well, it was announced a few hours ago that Roberto Luongo re-signed in Vancouver at $64 million for 12 years. While it seems to be quite low for him, it seems obvious that he did it so the team can sign some good players up front (Heatley rumors?). No, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon but I admit this was a nice move. I'm still cheering for the Habs though.