Just came back from having dinner with Rod and Rene at Ghengis Khan. It’s a pretty interesting all you can eat buffet where you grab different kinds of meat and grill them at your table. They also had sushi, sashimi, shumai and potstickers. There was plenty to eat and it didn’t cost too much.

I let Rod and Rene grill the food since we all know I’m not the best chef…but I did get a chance to do a little grilling, too. Fortunately, I didn’t set myself on fire. There were a lot of flames everywhere. All the better to thoroughly cook our meats! Everything tasted really good, though the tiny scallops didn’t fare too well on the grill, they got stuck and fell through the slots.

So I sit here with my laptop on my lap, and my belly full, and I STINK. I smell like barbeque. My hair smells, my clothes smell, and the smoky scent is coming out of my pores.

Just smelling myself is making me hungry again.

This is my last day of non-healthy eating before I start my ‘gotta get in shape for Hawaii’ diet. Which means nothing actually, because diets never work for me. But I just like to THINK that I’m going to go on a diet. Really though, I need to tone up a bit before I can even consider going in public in a swimsuit. Echhh…..

Off to shower!

Oh, and Rod sucks because he keeps on talking about being related to Whilce Portacio and that he met Mark Dacascos the other day. Hmph! *seethes with jealousy* He’s never even watched ‘Only the Strong’! It shoulda been me!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Well, she’s already been nominated, but I hope they vote for her…

The little lady I’m talking about is Keisha Castle Hughes, from ‘Whale Rider’, which I reviewed below. The studio had pushed for her to be nominated as a supporting actress, but it seems that the academy felt her outstanding performance was deserving a best actress nod, making her the youngest best actress nominee at 13 years old.

She was picked by the same casting agents who found Anna Paquin (who won Best Supporting actress). They found her in school, and chose her to be in ‘Whale Rider’, even though she had no prior acting experience. She even lied and said she was a good swimmer, just to get the part.

But by watching the movie, you can see that this young Jennifer Beals look-a-like is a natural. Just watching the emotions go through her face, with no words said, is amazing. Her nuanced emotion changes, sadness, stubborness, pride, determination give life to the movie.

I hope this little girl wins…she’s got tough competition, and chances are that Charlize Theron is going to win…but I’d like to hope that the Oscar voters will give us a little surprise and give this gal a chance. And if not this year, I hope that she’ll have many more chances in the future…

Tags: Daily by Yano
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I’ve been wanting to write this for a while now, but just haven’t had the chance, nor remembered when I had extra time.

But if you ever have a free night, and you’re looking for a movie to rent, rent ‘Whale Rider’.

‘Whale Rider’ is the story of Pai, a young Maori girl in New Zealand who’s grandfather is the leader of her tribe. Her twin brother, who died at childbirth, was to be the tribe’s next leader. The death of her brother broke a line of male heirs way back to her ancestor Pikea, who legend said came to New Zealand from Hawai’i on the back of a whale. Her grandfather never forgave Pai for being the one who lived.

So she goes through life trying to live up to her grandfather’s expectations, but never pleasing him. And her tribe is need of a new leader. Her grandfather takes all the young boys in the tribe to teach them the old ways, but will not allow Pike to learn because she is a girl. But she knows that she is better than any of the boys, and she knows that she can lead her people.

So it’s your typical ‘girls can’t do this because of tradition’ movie, yet it’s so much more. All the performances in the movie are powerful, especially the grandfather’s and Pai’s. It touches on the differences between generations, trying to maintain a dying culture and learning that sometimes to move on, tradition has to change. And the movie blurs the line between reality and fantasy…the ending is just beautiful.

I’ve always had an interest in the Maori culture, and never knew how rich the culture was in New Zealand. The movie gives a wonderful insight into an unfamiliar culture. All the extras in the movie are from the actual tribe where the film was filmed, and the backdrop of the New Zealand coast is breathaking.

So see it. It’ll make you feel good.

Tags: Reviews by Yano
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For those of you who love taking pictures and posting them on the web, here’s a listing of photo meme projects to check out:

PhotoMemes.org

And for those of you who don’t know what a ‘meme’ is (which I didn’t know), here’s the definition, courtesy of Noelle:

Now you know.

Tags: Cool Link by Yano
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Haven’t posted a short track-centric thread in a while…

I watched Apolo Anton Ohno at the 2002 Olympics, and I was impressed with his sportsmanship when he fell in the 1000m, and instead of getting the gold, got the silver. He had the medal in his grasp, but got involved in a pileup and had to scamper for second. Some people would have complained, some may have asked for race to be run again. Everyone expected him to win, people were disappointed. But he was happy to have gotten second, he jumped up and down on the podium holding up his silver like a little boy in Christmas.

Then there was the controversy surrounding Kim Dong Sung’s crosstracking call and Apolo’s ‘theatrics’ in the 1500m. I’ve seen enough short track by now to see that many people flail their arms around, especially when they’re trying to avoid a disqualification. It was made a bigger deal than it actually was. But it was great to see him get his gold.

NBC made him their poster child. He was everywhere during and after the Olympics. I admit, I was hooked.

So I was talking with Claudine one day, and I said that someday I wanted to meet Apolo. She laughed at me, and said it would never happen. Because really, when would I ever have a chance to? So I made a bet with her that within five years, I would shake Apolo’s hand. She was sure she’d make her five dollars, easily. Short track would be a short lived fascination that I would quickly lose interest in.

Of course, those of you who know me or have been reading this blog for the last year know that I’m WAY past that now. I’ve seen him more times than I can count, watched him race, gotten his autograph, had my picture taken with him, interviewed him several times, gotten the head nod of recognition from him…And really, because of that soul patched phenom, my life has changed. I’ve made so many new friends - fellow fans, webmasters, even an occasional skater or two. And some of these people I call some of my closest friends, you know who you are. As for Apolo, well, he’s transformed from this celebrity I looked up to and almost idolized, to this regular guy that was faster than most. Which is still pretty cool.

So Claudine….pay up.

And for your entertainment, since I’ve got some extra bandwidth for this month, I’m including a clip of him from Marquette, winning the 500m race. It was already posted on the OZ, but I’ll post it here so my non-short track readers can get a glimpse of it. This only gives a fraction of the speed, heart racing excitement, and noise that you’d experience at an actual competition. If you ever have a chance to go to a competition, definitely go to one!

Apolo’s 500m Win in Marquette

18MB

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This week’s Friday Five:

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?
Dave. If he was with me, then my sisters.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
A kickass new computer.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
Well, I would pay off Dave’s loans. That’s our biggest financial worry right now.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Certainly. Close family (Claudine’s got some massive loans and Fata needs to go to grad school), help some friends out, and charities.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
Yeah, I’d invest a good part of it. How? I guess I would as the Modern Pope for some investing advice. He seems to know what he’s doing.

Tags: Weeklies by Yano
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Photo Friday: Emptiness

Before the Reception - August 2003

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You never really think that people ‘invent’ these things, but I guess they do!

‘CtrlAltDelete’ Inventor Restarts Career

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Theme Thursday: Repeating Patterns

Stitches!

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Well, as you know, I’ve had a couple skiing/snowboarding adventures of late. It gets pretty expensive after a while, with buying the lift ticket and renting equipment. Also when you rent your own equipment, you need to get used to a new board, new shoes and you have to worry if everything will fit you correctly, or if the boots smell or how worn the equipment is, and it takes about an hour out of your day to wait in line and go through the motions.

So we thought of a solution.

Buy our own boards!!!

Muhahahaha….

Since it’s the end of the season here, there are sales everywhere. Sportmart is having an awesome sale on snowboards. Most of them are 25% - 55% off. That includes bindings, boots, bags and other accessories. And if you buy a board, boots and bindings at Sportmart, you get an extra 10% off the whole package.

That’s a pretty sweet deal!

But the toughest thing is finding a board, because at Sportmart, there are a LOT of ugly boards there. Ugly and damaged, since they’ve been out all season for people to pick through. We also discovered that every Sportmart here has a different selection of boards.

But I was able to find THE ONE. It was almost like finding my wedding dress. I saw some different boards and thought, ‘Ehh, that’s nice…’ ‘This one looks okay…’ But then I found HER. As soon as I saw her, I knew it was meant to be.

So let me introduce you to Kitty.

The SIMS Mystique

Isn’t she pretty? First of all, she’s purple. Second, she’s got a cape and a little cat mask on. Can’t you just picture me wearing this get up?

Well, if you can’t, I want you to know that I’m going to sew myself this exact outfit so I can match my board as I go down the slopes. Can you imagine me in a purple cape and cat mask whizzing down the mountain? Hahahahaha…

So where am I getting all this money? I don’t know. Me and Dave decided not to go to the movies, have boba shakes or eat at Todai for two months. And after a couple years, the boards are going to pay for themselves, so it doesn’t matter anyway. So really, it’s not costing THAT much, at least that’s what we’re fooling ourselves to think…

So YAY! I’ve got a snowboard!

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