Sunday, May 30, 2010

Eat Vancouver

This was the second year that Amy and I have gone to this exhibition. Last year's edition was held at BC Place and I must say it was much better then. This year it was at the new Convention Center downtown. While the site was really nice, I thought the ballroom was a lot smaller. As a result, the place was packed with rude people who really didn't have any manner. Hey dipsh*t, we're lining up here for a reason, did you ask beforeod you rudely budded in? After a while I just pretended it was a Boxing Day sale and didn't even say "excuse me". What's the point?

Oh the food. It was pretty good. My favorite was salmon on a stick, so good I had two. Otherwise we enjoyed some of the samples but were not impressed with the lack of cleanup on the floor. There weren't enough garbage cans and they should have differentiated garbage bins and recycle bins more, as people were throwing garbage in the recycle bin. Oops. I'd say 2 stars out of 4.

Monday, May 24, 2010

No Regrets

To my most beloved team that I have cheered for since I was a tiny little boy who came to Canada in 1972, thank you. Thank you for making me believe in miracles and for teaching me to never give up no matter what happens. You beat two of the best teams (and two of the best players) in the league. And while I could waste myself wondering what could have been if the Bruins hadn't folded, I cannot do that. The Habs players should be proud of themselves for making a 43-year-old man feel like a kid again. To Jaroslav Halak, the ghosts of goalies past touched you these playoffs.

I congratulate the Philadelphia Flyers on well-played series. You also came back from insurmountable odds to make it where you are now. I could hate your team, but it was a great series. There is no "what could have been". Best of luck in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Letters to Juliet

Officially I only have two days off this weekend, but unofficially it's three, as I had Saturday-Sunday off and a graveyard shift Monday. Day 1 was spent mourning the Game 4 loss of the Habs, but then we went to see a very good movie, Letters to Juliet. It may be my favorite movie of the year. It starred Amanda Seyfried (of Mamma Mia! fame) and the story reminded me a lot about Mamma Mia! There is also an amazing performance by Vanessa Redgrave which may possibly bring an Oscar nomination. It was a very romantic story.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Sweetness

The Forum Ghosts watched over the Habs last night. They were among the many packed into the Bell Centre as they saw Les Habitantes defeat the Penguins. The hockey gods stood behind Jaroslav Halak once again, and skated beside Mike Cammalleri. Maybe there is something magical about the playoffs and the Canadiens. It was pure magic tonight and the magic shall continue, whether it be Boston or Philadelphia, and then whether it be San Jose or Chicago. Forever Proud!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Summer of '79

Last night I went to a reunion for my elementary school, Sir Richard McBride. It was a chance meet people who were there in the 1970's. There were three of us from the "Grad '79" class (yes, I graduated from elementary school in 1979). It was a night full of sudden flashbacks when certain names (of students and teachers) were mentioned and memories came back, of the neighborhood grocery store, of Freezies and Hubba Bubba and that Coke dispenser. Amazing, that was 31 years ago. Where did the time go?

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Priorities

I really have to sit down and decide on a schedule for my life. As much as I'm enjoying my "side job" working at Mahalo, I need to put aside some time (hopefully every day) to do some writing or editing. Right now I'm still considering it somewhat of a fun thing (even though I'm starting to make more and more money). I'm getting a lot of searches for some of my articles, but I need to put in an extra effort to get them to or near the top of the Google Searches. How do I make people more interested in the Montreal Canadiens Roster? Who wants to know more about Jaroslav Halak? Do people still want to hear about Marie Osmond? Do you buy Iams Pet Food for your pets?

Monday, May 03, 2010

Dine Out Vancouver: Beach House

Due to my schedule I'd never gotten the chance to participate in Dine Out Vancouver until last night when we decided to go to The Beach House in West Vancouver. There were other choices but unfortunately they were all booked up for the weekend. The rain ruined a very nice view across the water.

For appetizer, she went with prawns while I opted for a delicious carrot and ginger soup. We both decided on the Beef Shortrib for our main course (I wasn't in the mood for salmon or chicken). It was a generous portion of meat with creamy mashed potatoes. Toffee pudding and Napoleon Mille-Feuille completed a very beautiful evening. It's too bad that a) I have so many night shifts thereby making it unable to attend more Dine Out restaurants and b) all the restaurants are so busy!

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Freelance Writing

Aside from the bad drivers in Richmond, and the occasional "stuff" at work, I am happy. My dream has always been to write for money and right now that dream is starting to come true. The last month with Mahalo I made about $200, which is nothing spectacular but it's a start. The more I write the more I earn. The more people search for my tidbits the more I earn. It's something called SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. I'm learning more and more about it. Currently my Vertical Manager, Jeff, has given me a lot of tasks on the Montreal Canadiens, what more can I ask for? I've tried not to write too biased an article on Jaroslav Halak. I was also part of the GoTeam last week, where we spend 8 hours cleaning up other pages. It paid $10/hr which is cool. I'm getting a lot of projects to do which is time-consuming but I'm doing something I love. I have a page on Marie Osmond, and even a page on Amy's favorite actor in the world, Daniel Henney. And believe it or not, they assigned me a page on Iams Pet Food, even though I've never had a pet in my life. It's great.