A day of media schmoozing and spare ribs (don't forget the couch!)
A very interesting day of work was had today. I had taken a few hours off in the morning so I had no idea what to expect. When I called to check in with my coworker, I was promptly informed that I would be going to a press conference at the Markham Civic Centre. Eventually at 3:00 p.m. I found myself in the main lobby at Markham City Hall receiving a little sticker with my name on it. It turns out that the press conference was to officially announce the launch of a new festival in Markham. Since us Markham people like a good party (a good party being defined as involving good music, good food and alcohol) the Rotary Club of Markham Sunrise had created something that fit the bill - the Ribfest and Blues Festival. What happens is they bring together the top "ribbing" teams across North America together and they have ribs making competitions; alongside this is a blues festival, with some great live blues performers from across the country to entertain. And of course there will be much to drink with the Molson Extreme Team on hand to entertain and give out prizes and merchandise.
Basically its a great way to spend the weekend of July 11th to the 13th; eating some of the best spare ribs in North America (with professional teams like "BAD WOLF BARBECUE", "BILLY BONES BBQ", "STICKYFINGERS", "THE PURPLE PIG", "CAMP 31", and "BIBBS BBQ"). Of course, being a vegetarian I'm going to have to miss out on this one. Of course, I already missed out on this one. That's right, you saw it. At the media launch, that mountain of gourmet ribs (made by the Purple Pig and Billy Bones BBQ on location) was available for "sampling", along with refreshments, appetizers, and little deserts. Man. I can see why some people like being in the media - I mean there wasn't really all too much reason to actually stay and attend anything. Sure there were speeches and annoucements made by various people of importance but there was nothing that wasn't already in the press release kit that they handled out at the reception. I can only imagine how many of these things local politicians get invited to. Needless to say, I made up for the not eating spare ribs with lots of other snacking. *grin* But man, I think there was an entire tray (1 of 3) left over afterwards that was probably tossed out...
After this great relaxing day of "work", I found that I had to deal with something that would require more effort. A friend of my father's was moving out and he had a spare couch (in decent shape) that he wondered if I wanted it. Seeing as our basement was still largely unfurnished, I said yes. Little did I know that my actions would wreak much havoc upon my house. The problem was that the couches were much larger that I expected, so large in fact that the 3 seater did not even fit into my basement. There we were, my brother and I, struggling to move a huge couch down a narrow staircase only to painfully bring it out again. *sigh* Well now we have a nice couch in the kitchen, good for dozing off in when the one in the television room is taken (by a sleeping Polish man). Hopefully we won't have it there for much longer though, its honestly pretty weird...
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Home handyman to be? Not me.
Have you ever tried to install a chandelier with 2 people? Have you ever tried being the one holding the whole thing up from below while the other guy fumbles around for 10 minutes while he's trying to put the screws in? (not my brother's fault, its a tough job too; its just not as painful). If you haven't I don't recommend it.
Well, at least one of two is installed; that's right, one of two. *sigh* I'll post with more detail when I do the second one (tempted to say "if" I do the second one but knowing my mom I will probably have to do it and soon). *rubs aching shoulders*
Have you ever tried to install a chandelier with 2 people? Have you ever tried being the one holding the whole thing up from below while the other guy fumbles around for 10 minutes while he's trying to put the screws in? (not my brother's fault, its a tough job too; its just not as painful). If you haven't I don't recommend it.
Well, at least one of two is installed; that's right, one of two. *sigh* I'll post with more detail when I do the second one (tempted to say "if" I do the second one but knowing my mom I will probably have to do it and soon). *rubs aching shoulders*
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Fontaine Liu, what every office needs...
Well first week of work has been an interesting experience so far. I can't remember all the details but already I've been an exterminator, a ceiling light technician, a counter cleaner, a street errand boy, a delivery boy, a database manager, a phone receptionist, a interior redecorator, and last but not least, a garbage boy. Great job, eh? (I'm serious about the extermination - the very first thing I had to do when I came in on Monday was to hunt down the slight ant infestation we had with bug spray and traps before it could get at our computers and other technically equipment. Someone had left cans of open pop in the recycling bin and that was what had drawn them in.) One thing I must make clear is that I am NOT a farmer. Again, that is I am NOT a farmer; as a matter of fact I have little to do with the rustic agricultural traditions of our country. The only vague connection is that fact that the office I work in runs an event each Saturday of the summer called the Markham Farmers' Market. Don't listen to everything that you hear, especially anything from this guy.
My actual position title is the "Main Street Ambassador", and in actuality what I do fits that nicely. I work for the Markham Village BIA, that is, the Markham Business Improvement Area. We are a geographically designated zone in which the businesses have to pay an extra tax levy and in return the BIA uses this funding to find ways of promoting these businesses. We accomplish this in many ways, through street-wide festivals, a bi-monthly newspaper, as well as other promotional opportunities. Of course that's just the rehearsed stuff that I regurgitate on the phone whenever someone asks about us. Last year I got bored one day, well there was more than just one day (I hope my boss doesn't know about blogs), but I created this awesome poster for my position.
Honestly though, it a great job all in all, aside from the 6 am Saturdays (and this is my 4th year doing that). I hope people sign up for the community garage sale this Saturday (which I am incidentally in charge of this year). Come sell your junk, only $25 for a 6' table, a 10'x10' space, and advertising! Okay enough of the self plugging, I must sleep if I'm to be even half-awake tomorrow morning at 8:30. *flops down to bed*
Well first week of work has been an interesting experience so far. I can't remember all the details but already I've been an exterminator, a ceiling light technician, a counter cleaner, a street errand boy, a delivery boy, a database manager, a phone receptionist, a interior redecorator, and last but not least, a garbage boy. Great job, eh? (I'm serious about the extermination - the very first thing I had to do when I came in on Monday was to hunt down the slight ant infestation we had with bug spray and traps before it could get at our computers and other technically equipment. Someone had left cans of open pop in the recycling bin and that was what had drawn them in.) One thing I must make clear is that I am NOT a farmer. Again, that is I am NOT a farmer; as a matter of fact I have little to do with the rustic agricultural traditions of our country. The only vague connection is that fact that the office I work in runs an event each Saturday of the summer called the Markham Farmers' Market. Don't listen to everything that you hear, especially anything from this guy.
My actual position title is the "Main Street Ambassador", and in actuality what I do fits that nicely. I work for the Markham Village BIA, that is, the Markham Business Improvement Area. We are a geographically designated zone in which the businesses have to pay an extra tax levy and in return the BIA uses this funding to find ways of promoting these businesses. We accomplish this in many ways, through street-wide festivals, a bi-monthly newspaper, as well as other promotional opportunities. Of course that's just the rehearsed stuff that I regurgitate on the phone whenever someone asks about us. Last year I got bored one day, well there was more than just one day (I hope my boss doesn't know about blogs), but I created this awesome poster for my position.
Honestly though, it a great job all in all, aside from the 6 am Saturdays (and this is my 4th year doing that). I hope people sign up for the community garage sale this Saturday (which I am incidentally in charge of this year). Come sell your junk, only $25 for a 6' table, a 10'x10' space, and advertising! Okay enough of the self plugging, I must sleep if I'm to be even half-awake tomorrow morning at 8:30. *flops down to bed*
Monday, May 19, 2003
Conned
Well Anime North is done and done now. The verdict? Although it was pretty cheap as far as conventions go for $25 at a group rate, it was a pretty shoddy affair, one that I found to be unworthy of the effort. I can't say I didn't enjoy the experience - wait, I just said that. *sigh* It really wasn't that good, at least when taken in perspective to the CN Anime convention, which is held annually in late August. Although a 3-day pass at Anime North IS $15 cheaper than CN, there are a great many other things lacking. The anime screenings are all of generally older animes, there weren't enough staff actively working (except for a tall lanky out-of-place volunteer that was very very good at his job of asking all the other volunteers and staff whether they wanted water - he even kinda talked like the Waterboy), there were no notices for schedule changes, there was a general sense of complete disorganization, the food selection was plain terrible, and the venue itself was pretty poorly suited to host thousands of people. On the plus side, there did seem to be a great deal more strictly anime artists there (probably because of cheaper costs for renting display space). Well, I didn't buy much this time even though there were a couple great deals; I walked off with a Chrono Trigger piano music book. I can't wait to get to a piano to try some of it out (or better yet, just pu tit under the fingers of one the many wonderful piano playing friends I have *nudge nudge*). Another plus was the cell painting workshop on Saturday; Steve Bennett is both really talented artist and teacher (not to mention good at cheap humour). Of course, all that talent didn't save the Graveler from looking like a Haunter after my colouring (I haven't played Pokemon in a while!) ^__^;;
In any case, I believe I have put forth my opinion, laid out my points, and kept it objective and not rant-tastic; now I'm supposed to finish with some sort of conclusion. Overall, Anime North could benefit from a lot of work, esp. in the area of organisation and resource manangement. With the convention seemingly steadly growing each year, perhaps it is time for them find a more appropriate location. As much as it might cost less for a 3rd rate Hotel in the middle of Etobicoke, I'd rather pay a little more for something at least a little more spacious. Their current method of bringing in the crowds appears to be to have lots and lots of events - on paper, this looks fantastic with pretty cool guests and everything. However, the execution of said events were disappointing for the most part (the music videos were enjoyable though). They need to stop focusing on bringing in more people and work on improving what they have so they can keep the people they have. Then again, with anime fanatics (fanboys and fangirls alike) who knows? Just hang a picture of a cute anime girl/guy with a date/time/location and they'll probably show up.
Well Anime North is done and done now. The verdict? Although it was pretty cheap as far as conventions go for $25 at a group rate, it was a pretty shoddy affair, one that I found to be unworthy of the effort. I can't say I didn't enjoy the experience - wait, I just said that. *sigh* It really wasn't that good, at least when taken in perspective to the CN Anime convention, which is held annually in late August. Although a 3-day pass at Anime North IS $15 cheaper than CN, there are a great many other things lacking. The anime screenings are all of generally older animes, there weren't enough staff actively working (except for a tall lanky out-of-place volunteer that was very very good at his job of asking all the other volunteers and staff whether they wanted water - he even kinda talked like the Waterboy), there were no notices for schedule changes, there was a general sense of complete disorganization, the food selection was plain terrible, and the venue itself was pretty poorly suited to host thousands of people. On the plus side, there did seem to be a great deal more strictly anime artists there (probably because of cheaper costs for renting display space). Well, I didn't buy much this time even though there were a couple great deals; I walked off with a Chrono Trigger piano music book. I can't wait to get to a piano to try some of it out (or better yet, just pu tit under the fingers of one the many wonderful piano playing friends I have *nudge nudge*). Another plus was the cell painting workshop on Saturday; Steve Bennett is both really talented artist and teacher (not to mention good at cheap humour). Of course, all that talent didn't save the Graveler from looking like a Haunter after my colouring (I haven't played Pokemon in a while!) ^__^;;
In any case, I believe I have put forth my opinion, laid out my points, and kept it objective and not rant-tastic; now I'm supposed to finish with some sort of conclusion. Overall, Anime North could benefit from a lot of work, esp. in the area of organisation and resource manangement. With the convention seemingly steadly growing each year, perhaps it is time for them find a more appropriate location. As much as it might cost less for a 3rd rate Hotel in the middle of Etobicoke, I'd rather pay a little more for something at least a little more spacious. Their current method of bringing in the crowds appears to be to have lots and lots of events - on paper, this looks fantastic with pretty cool guests and everything. However, the execution of said events were disappointing for the most part (the music videos were enjoyable though). They need to stop focusing on bringing in more people and work on improving what they have so they can keep the people they have. Then again, with anime fanatics (fanboys and fangirls alike) who knows? Just hang a picture of a cute anime girl/guy with a date/time/location and they'll probably show up.
Friday, May 16, 2003
I went to the MDHS spring concert at Markham Theatre tonight; it was a night of great music as always, at least from what I heard. I had to leave before it started to attend a festival meeting that I'm now apparantly on the committee for (tell me you Markham people know of the "Olden Days and Antique Cars festival" that runs in late summer - apparantly everyone I've asked, with one exception, has never even heard of it). It all looks to be good. Anime North 3-day convention starts tomorrow and I'll be looking forward to that, although I'm not completely set on going tomorrow. Saturday and Sunday will be for sure though =) I'm hoping they'll have some new stuff to strut or at least some good screenings of stuff I've not seen yet. There are a ton of events going on as well at least according to the website. If you're going, I'll see you there!
And now for something completely different:
Listening now more and more,
Makes me wish that I could ignore
Lest this thing become a chore,
When heart and brain are hurt and sore.
Ugh... eyes ARE hurting now... I really need to sleep. I stayed up until 5 last night on the computer... so bad. But so GOOD! =)
And now for something completely different:
Listening now more and more,
Makes me wish that I could ignore
Lest this thing become a chore,
When heart and brain are hurt and sore.
Ugh... eyes ARE hurting now... I really need to sleep. I stayed up until 5 last night on the computer... so bad. But so GOOD! =)
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
It'ssss minesssessss, give back my precioussss
Give me back my cell phone University of Toronto!!! I'll admit I should have known better than to bring it into an exam but still, surely I don't deserve this. I feel like I'm cut off from the world without it these days. I called the Dean's office yesterday to try to see if I could just go down and pick it up and here was my responce:
"I'm sorry but we are trying to process the several hundred cellular phones that were confiscated from the examinations as quickly as possible. The Dean has been going through them individually so just be patient and you will be contacted when you can come pick up your phone."
If they end up "contacting" me by trying to call my cell phone... *shakes fist*
Give me back my cell phone University of Toronto!!! I'll admit I should have known better than to bring it into an exam but still, surely I don't deserve this. I feel like I'm cut off from the world without it these days. I called the Dean's office yesterday to try to see if I could just go down and pick it up and here was my responce:
"I'm sorry but we are trying to process the several hundred cellular phones that were confiscated from the examinations as quickly as possible. The Dean has been going through them individually so just be patient and you will be contacted when you can come pick up your phone."
If they end up "contacting" me by trying to call my cell phone... *shakes fist*
Monday, May 12, 2003
The sweet taste of summer... curry?
Well its my first full day back in Markham. I'm definitely already running on summer time as I woke up at 3 in the afternoon. Quite nice to be able to do that again (I couldn't do that at RJ because I had to get up or miss my paid-for meals) Going downstairs expecting a nice fried noodles or egg-fried rice or something Chinese and yummy, I quickly learned that I wasn't competely free of the University life yet. Curried vegetables over rice...this is what was prepared for me for lunch, the EXACT food that I had been complaining about in the past fewweeks months (just ask the crazy I-don't-sleep man). Bah! Foiled again. Fortunately my family went out to a nice Chinese restaurant in the plaza at the back of Market Village/Pacific Mall for a mother's day dinner. The really really tasty-like-I've-never-had-before tofu almost made up for the horribly currified Indian breakfast/lunch I had. Almost. (don't get me wrong because I actually do like mildly curried food; just not after Burwash food where they think throwing curry into half their entrees makes things better)
Yesterday a whole bunch of us went over to a friend's place for dinner/movie and the whole bit. It was pretty cool seeing these people again (except for him of course), especially since we were all in the post-school mood and all. I mean, most of the people there I had seen throughout the year at U of T anyway but the feeling of us all joking around and being loud while playing games and relaxing was great. While I'm on the subject though let's get a few things straight.... "Henry" Hung = mad Halo camper wh0re + flukiest Mario Party player ever. As well, I hate Folkers. To ensure that my own hatred cannot be misinterpreted as "I like Folkers", or "I think Folkers is okay", or even "I dislike Folkers" I will state it again: I hate Folkers. Your day will come, markypoo... =P
I'm already looking forward to this summer, I hope the feeling lasts.
Well its my first full day back in Markham. I'm definitely already running on summer time as I woke up at 3 in the afternoon. Quite nice to be able to do that again (I couldn't do that at RJ because I had to get up or miss my paid-for meals) Going downstairs expecting a nice fried noodles or egg-fried rice or something Chinese and yummy, I quickly learned that I wasn't competely free of the University life yet. Curried vegetables over rice...this is what was prepared for me for lunch, the EXACT food that I had been complaining about in the past few
Yesterday a whole bunch of us went over to a friend's place for dinner/movie and the whole bit. It was pretty cool seeing these people again (except for him of course), especially since we were all in the post-school mood and all. I mean, most of the people there I had seen throughout the year at U of T anyway but the feeling of us all joking around and being loud while playing games and relaxing was great. While I'm on the subject though let's get a few things straight.... "Henry" Hung = mad Halo camper wh0re + flukiest Mario Party player ever. As well, I hate Folkers. To ensure that my own hatred cannot be misinterpreted as "I like Folkers", or "I think Folkers is okay", or even "I dislike Folkers" I will state it again: I hate Folkers. Your day will come, markypoo... =P
I'm already looking forward to this summer, I hope the feeling lasts.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Time to go
Well, this is it. I can't believe its over for now. I'm going to miss this place, RJ420. The craziness and fun times had in this place will always be in my memory... or failing that, at least in this blog and the several others. I know complained several time about school and the work and the food and everything actually, but its all really culminated in a fun and amazing time. I can't even remember half the antics but just thinking about the ones I do recall make my smile.
Just yesterday Sing and I were outside RJ for a while trying to juggle a soccer ball (one that he bought from the Nike Store yesterday when everything was 25% off) in the air for over 10 hits. After many ball-in-the-bush retrieval antics (all Sing's fault of course given his unwitting stupidity) and Sing falling to the ground after using his head to stop a strong kick from me, we finally did it.
Right now the room is bare except for bits of Ray's junk and my computer, and I'm going to pack up the latter when I finish this. *sigh* I've made my mark (literally, if you look at the right place on the walls with an ultraviolet light) and its time to move on. Time to move out too in a couple hours I guess.
Farewell, RJ420. Cheers.
Well, this is it. I can't believe its over for now. I'm going to miss this place, RJ420. The craziness and fun times had in this place will always be in my memory... or failing that, at least in this blog and the several others. I know complained several time about school and the work and the food and everything actually, but its all really culminated in a fun and amazing time. I can't even remember half the antics but just thinking about the ones I do recall make my smile.
Just yesterday Sing and I were outside RJ for a while trying to juggle a soccer ball (one that he bought from the Nike Store yesterday when everything was 25% off) in the air for over 10 hits. After many ball-in-the-bush retrieval antics (all Sing's fault of course given his unwitting stupidity) and Sing falling to the ground after using his head to stop a strong kick from me, we finally did it.
Right now the room is bare except for bits of Ray's junk and my computer, and I'm going to pack up the latter when I finish this. *sigh* I've made my mark (literally, if you look at the right place on the walls with an ultraviolet light) and its time to move on. Time to move out too in a couple hours I guess.
Farewell, RJ420. Cheers.
Friday, May 09, 2003
The end of school... and the start of everything else.
I'm breaking my usual blogging rules (not finishing an old blog and typing without structure) but YEAH!!!! FINISHED MY EXAMS!!! This feels so unbelievably good!
On a sad note, I forgot to remove my cell phone from my belt and they confiscated it to check it for being an instrument of cheating (or SOMETHING). Now I'm phoneless for the next few days until I get it back. *sigh*
BUT STILL! NO SLEEP TONIGHT! NO MORE (until I collapse somewhere...)
OH BABY! (yup, that old expression is back!)
I'm breaking my usual blogging rules (not finishing an old blog and typing without structure) but YEAH!!!! FINISHED MY EXAMS!!! This feels so unbelievably good!
On a sad note, I forgot to remove my cell phone from my belt and they confiscated it to check it for being an instrument of cheating (or SOMETHING). Now I'm phoneless for the next few days until I get it back. *sigh*
BUT STILL! NO SLEEP TONIGHT! NO MORE (until I collapse somewhere...)
OH BABY! (yup, that old expression is back!)
Saturday, May 03, 2003
2 down, 3 to go... damn
Ah... just finished my French exam yesterday; it didn't go too bad, if I may say so myself. Unfortunately I had messed up a earlier examination that day, my G2 exit test. Gah! I have to say that of all the times for my mother to schedule my road test, 9:00 am on the the same day as an university exam would probably not be the best. Of course I attribute my failure to my own nervousness before the examiner and lack of prior practice to raise my confidence. Of course I might say that the circumstances were not favourable for me at all but I should know better (after Psychology brain pounding) than to use the self-serving bias. I should have also known better to get more sleep the night before; 4-5 hours cannot possibly be all that conductive for driving. *sigh*
Well, back to reading about European history for me.
Ah... just finished my French exam yesterday; it didn't go too bad, if I may say so myself. Unfortunately I had messed up a earlier examination that day, my G2 exit test. Gah! I have to say that of all the times for my mother to schedule my road test, 9:00 am on the the same day as an university exam would probably not be the best. Of course I attribute my failure to my own nervousness before the examiner and lack of prior practice to raise my confidence. Of course I might say that the circumstances were not favourable for me at all but I should know better (after Psychology brain pounding) than to use the self-serving bias. I should have also known better to get more sleep the night before; 4-5 hours cannot possibly be all that conductive for driving. *sigh*
Well, back to reading about European history for me.