January 2013 – Page 2

What Was Your First Ever Screen Name?

January 16, 2013January 16, 2013Social Media, TechnologyLeave a Comment

I had a long conversation with someone recently about how stupid our first screen names used to be. Even when I was little, I liked to have all my internet identities fall under the same pseudonym in the off-chance that I might run into someone I knew in a game or IRC chat room. Yeah yeah, I was a nerd as a kid, still am.

Due to my innate desire to have some sort of personal branding as a kid, I actually have not gone through that many reincarnations of nicknames. However my first ever screen name was pikachu12345.

This was probably due to the fact that it was grade 5 and Pokemon was very very popular, and the first time it was introduced in North America. Yahoo mail was actually a thing people used back then and the e-mail was also attached to my beloved Pokemon gifs website hosted on the now defunct Geocities.

After a while, I got bored of the Pokemon gifs site. Well no, I found out too many gifs on a website back then made your computer freeze so I stopped. Hotmail was becoming a popular alternative for Yahoo! and so I switched my username to anime_angel28 because my 13 year old self thought this was cute. I also might have been obsessed with Anime.

Embarrassingly (even though I became less obsessed with Anime), I used this e-mail/username until I went to university when it became commonplace to use your name for things. And so future employers would not think I am some strange Asian freak. In addition, sometime in high school one of my friends gave me teepoo as a nickname, and I begun using that for screen names in games and the newly rising social media networks.

The other nicknames no longer exist (nor do most of the networks I used them on) but I still use teepoo sometimes. When googled, it brings up a few things that are associated with me. An ex.fm account, this WordPress blog and probably some of my past work making anime wallpapers.

Only in the past few years, with the rising of Twitter did I really start using my own name publicly for things. In the era of social media, hiding behind a screen name is a thing of the past. If you’re afraid of people making a connection between your online/offline self than maybe you shouldn’t be on the internet. So, what was your first ever screen name?

Update: After writing this post, I decided to change the logo of the blog to reflect the future.

Things I Learnt From Silver Linings Playbook

January 15, 2013February 12, 2013Entertainment, MoviesLeave a Comment

After hearing all the award nominations for Silver Linings Playbook, I thought I’d give it a chance. Otherwise, I don’t usually go out to see romantic comedies. I have to admit I like it more than I thought.

Here are some things I learnt from the movie (warning may contain spoilers):

– If you stalk someone enough they will fall in love with you
– Lie if you can’t get what you want
– All the books you were forced to read in school are depressing.
– Sometimes your lies might turn into truths
– Superstitious routines actually work.
– It’s okay to bet your life savings on things.
– Dancing with another woman may win you your ex-wife back
– Mental institutions are racist because they seem to keep sending Chris Tucker back with no explanation.
– “Excelsior!” is actually the New York motto

Two Bite Saloon

January 14, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

Last month, before the holiday me and Nash ventured into the newly opened Two Bite Saloon at Bloor and Shaw. We popped in right at opening hour at 5pm and the whole dinner we were the only people eating besides a few sketchy looking people having drinks at the bar. This was a bit strange considering it was just right before the holidays and Blogto and TheStar had written about the place the month prior.

As an appetizer, I had the Kale Salad ($5). I had previously not tried kale (I thought it was just a hype vegetable), but I enjoyed the “salad” which was very rich in flavours because of some smoke-ham and Parmesan cheese. I actually loved the addition of smokeyness to what people have been calling the new hype healthy veggie.

For my main dish I had the Ribs ($17). The ribs were smoked and drenched with a very tasty barbecue sauce. It was served with lightly seasoned fries and a buttermilk slaw. I didn’t care much for the slaw as I found it too creamy, but I happily ate the fries.

One was eaten before I could take a picture!

Nash had five of the sliders ($14 I think). He had two pulled pork, two pemeal bacon and I forgot what the last was. They were a bit bigger than the food truck sliders we had tried previously and 5 was pretty filling.

It was a bit pricey but we enjoyed our meal. We’ll probably return one day to splurge on some of their interesting cocktails!

I’m Never Buying You A Watch

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013Life, Relationships1 Comment

Mom told me never to buy a clock for a Chinese person. In Chinese culture, the words for “giving a clock” also sound like the ones for a funeral ritual. It also symbolizes that your time is running out and considered an offensive gesture.

When I was in high school I dated this guy for a couple of months. I saved up money for what would be our first Christmas to buy him this shiny GUESS watch. When I finally bought it, I’d take it out of the box occasionally to bask in the glory of its shininess. I gave it to him for Christmas and he was delighted. However, it stopped working after a week and a little while later we broke up. 14 year old me was devastated.

In college, I found the perfect gift for the vest-wearing guy I was with at the time. It was a pocket watch. The back had a hole that displayed the inner-workings of the ticking clock. The outside was a shiny silver with interesting carvings and the innards were gold. It was wind-up power so it never needed battery. I’m 88% I got it engraved. Anyways, I gave it to him, the spring broke and a week later he broke up with me for another girl. In hindsight, he was probably an asshole.

Now fast-forward and I am with somebody who appreciates me for me and I am the happiest I have been for years. Nash, you are stuck with me forever because I’m never buying you a watch.

Tacos at La Tortilleria

January 10, 2013March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

When you walk in La Tortilleria at Bloor and Dufferin, it looks like a mini Mexican supermarket. People who just happen to wander by the market might even miss the fact they serve food in a little corner. We were on an adventure to try a new taco place and found this place on Yelp by searching “tacos”. In terms of atmosphere, it couldn’t get more Mexican. We were surrounded by a market of authentic Mexican treats, food and spices. There were only 3 small tables for people to eat in. Mexican music played in the background.
I ordered 3 tacos for $6.99. One beef, one pulled pork and one chicken. They each had a black bean sauce at the bottom. I totally forgot to put salsa on mine so it was a tiny bit dry, but still flavourful and delicious. Plus at $6.99 I was sufficiently full after eating them.
Nash ordered two “big quesadillas” for $8. They were like a cheese-steak sandwich in a pita. It was packed full of meat and creamy mozzarella and honestly one of the best quesadillas I have ever tasted.

To wash things down, we both bought some Jarrito, a Mexican soda made with natural granulated sugar. I had lime and Nash had orange. They were sweet but not too much.

For what we paid for, the food was a lot better than we thought and we will definitely be back.

Hikari Oe and The Music of Light

January 9, 2013Books, Entertainment, Music1 Comment

After reading Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia, my boyfriend lent me The Music of Light- The Extraordinary Story of Hikari and Kenzaburo Oe written by Lindsley Cameron. It chronicles the life of Hikari Oe, a boy who was born with a growth on his brain the size of almost another brain. His father Kenzaburo Oe after much thought and reflection decided to operate on the growth and Hikari survived. However, he suffered a form of autism, vision loss and constant seizures. Despite not being able to absorb knowledge and learn everyday tasks like most people, Hikari became one of Japan’s most renowned composers.

The book dealt thoroughly analyzed the connections between Kenzaburo Oe’s writing who was deeply inspired by Hikari and used it to tell the story of their lives. While very interesting, some of the book was rather repeated with sometimes entire section being stated again somewhere else in the book. In addition to telling the story of their lives, it also analyzes musical savants (even quoting some of Sacks’ work) and how Hikari is different from the norm because of his ability to compose music. Overall the book rejoiced on the positive qualities of Hikari’s condition.

I looked up some of Hikari Oe’s music after reading this book and found it simply beautiful. It is not over complicated and often inspired by music of classical composers like Mozart. It has a lovely calming effect.

Poorly Written Song Commercials

January 8, 2013Entertainment, Music, TV1 Comment

I’m not talking about jingles. 1-800-267-2001. If you’re Canadian, I just got that stuck in your head right? Anyways, this post is about poorly written songs in commercials that don’t rhyme, and aren’t memorable in any way except for their suckiness. The most recent being this one which reiterates in different forms all over the Food Network.

Now did that entice you to buy chocolate in any way? Side note: I can’t believe people in the Youtube comments actually inquire the name/artist of the song as if it is legitimate.

However, the most guilty culprit of horrible commercials lies not in adult products, but the ones directed to little girls. For example, watch ANY Barbie commercial:

Who gets hired to sing these things? Do they make a lot of money? If so, where do I sign? This does rhyme, but the song itself isn’t really doing anything except singing what they are doing. Imagine if I was going through my day singing what I am doing in rhyme.

“I AM WAKING UP NOW. GOING TO DRINK SOME MILK OUT OF A COW.”

To be fair Barbie used to have good commercials. For instance this first commercial ever seems to have a better song. Or maybe everything sounds better when it’s sung in 1959 swing style.

This doesn’t seem to be the case for toys targeted to boys. They get more epic sounding songs with very enthusiastic voice-overs.

That looks fuckin’ awesome. Girls have to deal with more of these:

FYI, I always thought boys had cooler toys. I think my disdain for barbies, dolls and ponies comes from the fact that my ears were pretty musically trained at a young age. My future children are going watch their television streaming so they will never have to suffer through these.

What horrible song commercial have you seen lately? Perhaps it is too terrible to remember.

Who Should Blog?

January 7, 2013February 12, 2013Social Media, Technology3 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I wrote one of my many restaurant experiences on this blog. I hit publish and then proceeded to paste the link on my Facebook wall. Most of my friends enjoy reading of local eats, so I do the occasional share on social networks. A minute later somebody posted this rather passive aggressive Facebook status:

“Unless you know what a mirepoix, paysanne or bain-marie is you shouldn’t write about food. Eating out with a camera doesn’t make you a writer.”

Technically, it wasn’t personally directed at me, but the timing was just too perfect. For the record, I do know what all those things are without looking them up on Wikipedia. I do my fine share of making fried rice, cutting vegetables for stir fry and watching the food network. Anyways, all those things are irrelevant to what makes a blogger.

If you’re reading a food blog, unless it’s a recipe blog, nobody cares if the carrots were julienned. In the Yelp and Foursquare era, people just want to know that things taste good. That is what the food (books and other) posts are for, to give an opinion on something. If you don’t care about my opinion than kindly hit the x at the top right corner (or left if you’re on a Mac). Also, what are you doing here in the first place? I have a modest following of people who do care.

In the internet age, everyone has the right to blog. All food critics probably started out paying for meals themselves and evaluating them. Just like all music bloggers started out paying for concerts and practising their camera shots and reviews. Blogging is not a god-given right to somebody with a pretentious degree in a subject area. In fact I don’t think people would even want to read something with a lot of condescending jargon. Would anybody care if I told you some song had too many parallel 5ths? If you are passionate about a subject, or if you just like sharing things regularly then go ahead and blog.

I lulled on this subject for the past few weeks and then realized. Who cares what one dude thinks? As long as you can maintain readership and a following on your blog (even if it is a few really dedicated fans), then keep writing. You have every right to.

Ps. I love all my followers. Thank you for continuously following my life adventures and nerdism. I promise to bring you a lot more in 2013.

I Don’t Have A Cat But…

January 4, 2013March 10, 2013Books, Entertainment, PetsLeave a Comment

I have a new found appreciation for cats. As you know, I am a proud dog owner. Previously, I was not very fond of cats. I always thought they were rather frightening, unkind and boring.

By some strange coincidence yesterday, I read I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano and The Oatmeal’s How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You.

I read How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You first. To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of The Bobcats mini-series that focused on these cat characters being jerks in the workplace. The majority of the book was devoted to this “mini-series”. For something by The Oatmeal creator, it was somewhat of a let-down.

My favourite illustrations were the other sections such as if humans and cats changed roles and the comic strips illustrating the much more realistic behaviour of cats. Of course there was also classics like Cats vs. The Internet and How to Pet a Kitty.

i could pee on that

Marciuliano’s book explored the mind of a cat through a series of hilarious free verse poems. There are four categories of poems: family, work, play and existence.

If I had to buy a book for a cat lover it would be this one. The poems illustrate why cats do certain devious things and that perhaps we are misunderstanding them as human beings. Most of the poems start off in a vague manner and it is not until the end that you understand what the cat is doing; whether it be knocking down a vase or scratching itself in the mirror. In between poems there are also adorable cat photos related to the writing.

I don’t plan on getting a cat any time soon (or ever), but in reading these books I definitely don’t think they are boring anymore. On a random note, if you do like cats I found this random site called Catmoji which is like a Pinterest for cats.

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland

January 3, 2013Books, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

Did you know Patton Oswalt was the voice of Remy from Ratatouille? Also he wrote this book called Zombie Spaceship Wasteland. What is this book about? That is a question that is very difficult to answer. The book is about many things, and at the same time nothing at all. Each chapter there is a new theme, a new story, idea, joke. However it is guaranteed that you will end up laughing your ass off at some point or another.

Without revealing too much, there are parts of the book that deal with Oswalt’s earlier experiences as a comedian, which are rather dark. He also takes lessons from REM lyrics. However the rest includes everything from hobo songs to my favourite section of horrible screenplays written by Erik Blevins. Someone PLEASE make a Slade Ripfire movie.

If you are into Patton Oswalt’s comedy, you’ll love this book. Here’s a really random Patton Oswalt video that has nothing to do with the book: