Highlights

Cytoplasmic Writings - July 2006 Archives

A hot and humid July made me work less and more lazy. Another crisis in the Middle East begins and the world seems divided on Israel's response to an attack by Hezbollah.

Thursday, July 27th 2006

After a sabbatical from billiards in almost a year, I've become a complete suck at it. My billiard skills are wretched now and I was kinda embarrassed playing. I wasn't the worst player there but I definitely don't deserve to own a cue right now. Sigh. I really need practice more and get back into snooker. I definitely felt that fimiliar tug when my hand went to the felt. Hehe

Tonight's group outing with co-workers was great. I got to know a few of my co-workers a little better and I hope that we have more of these. The original plan was to go eat at Morty's, this chicken wing place, but the plans changed when the place wouldn't give us seats unless our full party was there. Which sucked because it would've been a 30 minute wait. We ended up eating at McGuinness Front Row. Why I ordered the Thai Chicken from a place called McGuinness Front Row, I dunno. It wasn't bad, but the chow mein noodles were sooo bland. Oh well, it was all free anyway, courtesy of my supervisor.

July is almost over. I can't believe it. One more month and the summer is over. After looking at all those fishing pictures everybody had, I really wanna go fishing again. It's such a fun sport, especially when you get to catch and eat your dinner. We're thinking Rice Lake, Hastings for our next trip. Hopefully we'll get some mad fishing yo!

DRAGONCRYPT 7/27/2006 11:28:35 PM

Wednesday, July 26th 2006

I'm taking a training course learning about setting up Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 this week. It was a last minute invitation (Friday afternoon). I don't mind because that means I'm off the phones for a week. I'm also finding this course very interesting. Setting up and securing an Exchange Server is a complicated task. I never would have thought that much preparation time was needed. I'm hoping after this course, I'll have a fair understanding of several concepts in the Microsoft Exchange environment. Just in time for my interview for IT Service Desk! Woohoo!

This coming weekend is also the engagement party of my best friend Mark. I'm helping him with food on Friday and I'll be on of the guys on the barbie. Before Mark had advised me of the party, I had already booked time off for a camping trip with my roommates. I had to cancel the trip but my rommates are going this weekend anyway with some other friends. Maybe it was a good thing I didn't go. The weather isn't that great and I would've missed this training session. On top of that, we have a work get together at Morty's (this wing place) and pool at Dooley's. Both free of charge. AWESOME!!!!

So ATI is being bought out by AMD. For those that don't know, ATI is a Canadian company that makes video graphics chips and cards. They are one of the leaders in graphics cards. AMD is computer processor company that has been gaining a lot of ground on industry giant Intel. The takeover hasn't been fully approved (on several levels) so it's still too early to fully confirm that it will happen. This is an interesting move by AMD. The graphics card market is very high-risk in my opinion. We've seen so many good companies go under, unable to keep up with the quick product cycles, and I hope that AMD doesn't get caught between competing with both Intel and Nvidia. We'll see what happens.

Since I'm going to be out tomorrow night, I might not get to post anything here for the next few days. I'm gonna see if I have time tomorrow night to post at least an entry. Oh yeah, I changed the Comics section as I realized it wasn't organized very well. I was trying to review entire titles instead of reviewing single issues. I'm going to make an effort in reviewing new comic books that I pick up. They're not gonna be long reviews, but instead some quick short ones. I get around 20 comic books a week so those alone would eat up a lot of my time. Well, I hopefully will be able to post tomorrow and recount the ass-kicking I gave my fellow co-workers in pool. Hehe.

DRAGONCRYPT 7/26/2006 8:47:31 PM

Sunday, July 23rd 2006

Another crazy week has passed. My condolences to the families of Corporals Francisco Gomez and Jason Patrick Warren. Both soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a Canadian Convoy. 8 other soldiers were wounded in the attack. I'm glad to hear that our politicians are still supporting Canada's mission in Afghanistan despite mounting losses. I hope the public continues to support our troops there as well.

In more light-hearted news, the San Diego Comic Con was staged this weekend. The largest comic book convention in the world, the SDCC is THE convention to go to. Lots of announcements were made, including an All-Star Wonder Woman written and drawn by Adam Hughes! Woohoo! For more information about announcements from the various companies, check out Newsarama for more details.

Every year I say I want to go to San Diego and every year I don't. Well, I still want to go so maybe next year! Now, I haven't been to the Fan Expo Canada in many years (too expensive), but this year the guest of honour is Jim Lee. To my knowledge, Jim Lee hasn't made a convention appearance in Canada in years. It's so tempting, but I don't think I'll be making it. Fan Expo's organizers always make the lines lengthy (for publicity shots) and I'm pretty sure the convention this year will surpass any attendance records it had previously.

Honestly though, I had hoped that more big name creators would have appeared at the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. That's what a comic book convention should be. There are too many non-comic events at Fan Expo. Perhaps when I have more funds I'll start attending both to get more accurate comparisons. Right now, Fan Expo is about generating revenue while Comicon is about getting creators to appear for the fans. It will be interesting to see if Toronto can sustain two conventions annually for the next few years (I hope so).

So I've written a few more movie reviews and noticed that the summer movies are definitely peaking. There are so many movies out there that I want to watch right now. Clerks II, My Super-Ex Girlfriend, Miami Vice and Scoop are some of the movies that I'm really interested in seeing. I've heard Clerks II had bad reviews (Joel Seigel walked out LOL), but I tend to ignore the reviews. My tastes are always a little varied when it comes to movies. I loved Varsity Blues, but I think I'm the only who did.

Oh yeah, I got great news last Friday. I'm scheduled for some training with Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server. That means a week off the phones and paid lunches! Woohoo! I was pleasantly surprised that I got another training session so soon (my first was in April?), but I'm not complaining. It's a topic I really know nothing about so I'm definitely looking forward to learning some new material. Let's just hope there are no time-wasters in my class...

DRAGONCRYPT 7/17/2006 11:52:32 PM

Monday, July 17th 2006

Work gave me a 3-day long weekend before working this coming weekend. Jenn and I decided to take advantage of this and we planned a cross-border trip to Niagara Falls and Buffalo. We decided it wasn't worth paying to stay a night there so we made it a day trip. Bright and early at 6:00 AM Saturday and back before midnight. The trip was awesome! We went to Prime Outlets in Niagara Falls. Jenn didn't buy anything but I couldn't let up the deals for some new shorts and pants. I bought some Timberland pants and shorts and a few polo shirts from Eddie Bauer. We then hit the Walden Galleria for some shopping there. So many stores I've never even heard of. I think we got lucky and there was a grand opening sale for Steve and Barry's. Apparantly they are akin to Old Navy with really cheap clothing. However, since it was a grand opening, everything in the store was 3 for 20 bucks. That was mind-boggling to me! Jackets, pullovers, jeans, t-shirts, bags, shoes, everything! Crazy!!!! The sale must have been on for a little while as there wasn't much in my size. I settle for some really funny t-shirts and a nice fall/winter jacket. For 8 bucks it's not even a risk to buy them.

One purchase I was really looking forward to was any LEGO. Most places didn't carry a nice assortment but I chose Toysrus as my final destination. They had the Imperial Star Destroyer!!! Just ask Jenn the delight on my face when I say the Star Destroyer available. The suggested retail prices between the Canadian and American LEGO sets is still really skewed. The Star Destroyer sells for 150 CAD while it is listed for 100 US. Even with tax and the exchange rate, I'm saving 50 bucks. I was tempted to buy some other sets but I've think I've already spent more than I should.

Since we left so early we were hungry, so we ate at this pancake place. Sourdough pancakes for me and Hawaiian pancakes for Jenn. They were so good! I haven't had pancakes in so long and I would've never thought of using sour dough. For lunch we went to TGIF Fridays. They had some specials so we tried those out. Jenn had Sangria Chicken and I had the Philly Cheese Steak. Those were yummy too! For dinner, we settles for some pseudo-Mexican place called Don Pablo's (Picture Jack Astor's but Mexican). Not authentic Mexican cuisine but it was still really good and cheap! There was this four course meal for 11 bucks so Jenn and I both tried it. It was your standard mix of fajitas and enchilladas. For dessert there was fried ice cream. It was the first time either of us had it. Tasty though!

So after a busy Saturday, we decided to have a quiet Sunday. Sunday night we decided to go have dessert at "The Sugar", it's this new place that opened up at Finch and Leslie. The desserts were interesting combinations. Variations of ice cream, ice and exotic fruits. I tried the durian coconut milk ice and Jenn has some crazy menagerie of fruits, tapioca and ice cream. Everything was still tasty, albeit a tad on the expensive side. But then again, I pay 5 bucks regularly for bubble tea so this isn't too bad.

That was my busy weekend and now I have to go back to work. Since I work the weekend, I'll be working six days in a row. It's going to be interesting to say the last. The good news is that I got an interview for the IT Service Desk. Perhaps it's a time for change in environment at work. wouldn't mind switching jobs. The only thing is that this job has 12 hour shifts that rotate, so my schedule will be difficult. It does give me some time off in blocks so it allows to me to other things. We'll see how the interview goes and whether there's options to move to a more stable work environment in the future. Maybe some of the other jobs I applied for will ask for an interview as well. Well, wish me good luck anyways. Cheers!

DRAGONCRYPT 7/17/2006 11:52:32 PM

Thursday, July 13th 2006

Go figure. I decide to take a trip down to the States to do a little cross-border shopping and the Canadian dollar starts to drop. It isn't too bad but I would've gotten a sweet exchange rate two or three weeks ago. On the bright side, the interest rates didn't go up so my loans don't get hammered again. Guess it works out in the end, somebody takes my money.

There's some serious shit brewing in the Middle East. Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops and killed 8, injured 2 and captured 2. Israel's response. Strike back at Lebanon. Air strikes, missiles from naval vessels and ground forces have targeted several targets in Lebenon. Over 50 people have been reported dead, many civilians. Let's not forget the Israeli offensive in Gaza which is still ongoing. Wow. Lebanon has some allies in Syria and Iran so things could get ugly, but I can't imagine any of the governments dragging their countries into war. I don't side with anybody but this tit for tat is ridiculous. It just goes to show how quickly things can go downhill. I hope leaders on both sides can come to their senses and stop the escalations before it really gets out of hand.

On the topic of war and violence, I saw this news program that was interviewing people on the streets for their opinion about North Korea's missile tests. The question was how worried should we be about the missile tests. There was one answer that really stuck out to me, a woman said that she was really worried because she didn't want World War III to happen. Cue a little bit of silent shock. I wasn't sure what to think. At first I was thinking "World War III"? North Korea? Sure, China is seen as an ally but I don't think China would fight alongside North Korea if North Korea decides to launch some missiles at Japan or South Korea. So the woman heard missiles and panicked a little. Which itself is scary. How much do we really know about the events that are reported through the media? I'm so guilty of not understanding the full scope of wars, disasters, scandals and such before making judgements about them. However, I'd like to believe that I have enough knowledge not to make blatantly exaggerated statements. But I try really hard at keeping up. What of the masses? Man, if people can jump to such conclusions, it really gets me scared thinking about it. Granted it was only one response, but it still shows the potential. I mean they showed three or four people. Is that a valid sample? Probably not, but even if a small population could conjure up such notions of World War III, it's a little disconcerting.

With all the negative headlines, do you think that the world is going to the shitter? Honestly, I think it isn't that bad. With the advent of the Internet, more information and news is reaching out to the masses. I mean, there are still dozens of conflicts across the world. However, there are been a lot of good points. The Cold War ended, Northern Ireland's peace is stable, some of the turmoil in Eastern Europe is contained. I don't think the world has gotten any worse than the decades before, perhaps more exposed. What do you guys think?

DRAGONCRYPT 7/13/2006 9:31:43 PM

Monday, July 10th 2006

Lots of things happened in the last two weeks. Canada celebrated its 139th year as a nation, Italy won the World Cup of football, tensions in the Middle East are escalating after an Israeli soldier is held captive by Hamas, North Korea test fires some missiles, Mexico has a very close presidential vote, a Canadian soldier is killed in action, two Mounties are shot in Saskatchawan, Toronto had its Grand Prix along with 10 other festivals last weekend and so forth. There's always a ton of things happening in the summer. Sometimes it is definitely awe-inspiring when I stop to think about the sheer chaos that life is.

So after promising to update the site, I get completely bogged down from work and also running errands. I have been working the early shift these last couple of weeks and it has really thrown me off my sleep. Immediately after eating dinner I go coma and feel like crap for the rest of the night. It doesn't help that the weather has been hot and humid. It's funny cuz I completely forgot that I had a ceiling fan. The fan is surprisingly effective, especially during the night time.

Jenn came up last week. It was awesome not having to cook for a week and having something different every day. It was also a great experiment to see if we would get on each other's nerves after spending a whole week living together. Nope, Jenn didn't get sick of me. Maybe I wasn't obnoxious enough hehe. On Friday we decided to play some games with Brian and Jee-young. We ended up bringing out Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz III. If you are not familiar with it, no worries, it was an obscure game. Think Trivia Pursuit but the questions are about 25 times more difficult. Each player takes turns answering questions. There are 3 levels of questions each worth 1,2 or 3 points depending on the level of difficulty (3 being the most difficult). How do you know when a game is insane? The objective of the game is to get 35 points. Sure it sounds easy but we played the game for 4 hours. Crazy!

So after a great week with Jenn, came back to Toronto to watch the World Cup games. Germany played a solid game and it was nice to see Portugal finally put one in. Lady Luck was not on Portugal's side. Germany vs. Portugal was by far one of the better games I've watched in this World Cup. Even though top prize was third, both teams looked like they wanted it. The final was exciting as well. Starting with the early penalty shot and a great header by the Italians. Some controversy near the end of the game but the Italians executed their game plan well and deserved the championship. So what about Zidane's head butt? I remember Figo head-butting the English player so I guess it's just something that happens. It's not great sportmanship but for now, I think Zidane was provoked. That being said, Zidane still should not have retaliated, but football is an intense sport.

After the finals, Jenn and I went downtown and I had my first okonomi-yaki. It's like this egg-flour flat thingie that's pretty tasty. The place was a little expensive and not very filling. We ended up sharing a falafel as well. That was pretty yummy as well. WIth the hot and humid weather, I introduced Jenn to Greg's Ice Cream down at Spadina and Bloor. She had the Banana Coconut Rum while I had the Roasted Marshmallow. I miss eating at Greg's (went a few times during Citibank). We walked around with downtown as I had arranged a get together with my ex-co-worker Ulla from the Second Cup days. I wasn't sure how long dinner was going to take so we ended having a good hour and a half to kill. Walking around, we ended up in Little Italy. Until yesterday, I had no idea where Little Italy was. It was kewl to see everyone celebrating. Man, Italian women dress crazy sometimes. Not all of them should be wearing tight clothing. Some can pull it off, but most look unflattering. Jenn commented that the Italian football team had some attractive guys. I didn't think so, but I guess I can see where it's coming from. Italian men have that air around them, I think it's the confidence or bravado they have.

Met up with Ulla and exchanged stories about the last few years. Glad to hear she's doing well. I also realized that after two years, she's the first of my female friends that have met Jenn. Hmmm, I think I have to rectify that soon. Need to get in touch with a few of my other girl-friends to see what they're up to. In fact, I really should get to see a few more of my friends. My high school reunion was last week and I didn't attend due to prior committments (and I real need not to attend) but I heard a lot about some old friends and where some people are. Maybe the 25th anniversary?

The Feds are announcing tomorrow whether there will an another interest hike. Jenn and I are going cross-border shopping so the dollar better not fall sharply this week. Otherwise it would be another ill-timed event this summer. I can't believe the summer is halfway done. I need more long weekends dammit! or at least more vacation time!

DRAGONCRYPT 6/26/2006 11:07:16 PM