May 23, 2005 09:21 pm
Yeah, someone had this crazy idea to bike to the Triple Rock Venue to see Stereo Total. I was like, "yeah, let's totally go for it !!!!" all gung-ho and crazy. So I took the front wheel off my bike and stuck the bike into my trunk with hardcore effort. When I got there, she's in a skirt and had already consumed 3/4 of a bottle of red wine, hahaha.

We drove to the venue instead.

April 11, 2005 12:10 am Poutine is Nasty (Updated)
I will have to post pictures later, right now I just wanted to write about some random things that happened in Canada. I had so much fun. Everyone was so nice, I really have to come back later on.

That expensive icewine is making me ill right now, so suddenly I'm not sure if I'm going to actually even write about the long party weekend...

Too much stuff happened anyway, here's just some highlights:

PUBLICTY PHOTO EXIHIBIT
The first day I arrived, I took the bus to the train to meet Linh. I haven't seen her since 1996 !! We went to the Publicity thing and I met another friend I've known for quite a while: Ilke. I found out later (at a lunch meet) that Ilke is an actor/writer. I found out through the imdb.com that he actually worked on X-Men !!! That's actually so cool. I thought he said that he will be on Kojak... but it's not like I watch TV or anything...

CASA LOMA
I wasn't going to go in the house as it was $12. I thought it would be lame. So I asked this tourist woman, Ikuka, if it was worth it. She seemed to think so, so we went in and had a pretty good time. I later bought a post card of Casa Loma and sent it to her home in Japan with a creepy note: "Hey, we met here."

Also, the name means "House on the Hill" in Spanish.

CHINATOWN
Okay, I have to admit that this was pretty cool. It's full of people walking and tons of stores. All the DVDs they were selling were bootlegs, but it was sooo cheap. I didn't want to support it, but I told myself that I was going to buy them when they DO RELEASE them in the states (especially if they have special packaging/quality). I bought KUNG FU HUSTLE, which was so fun. I'm going to freaking see it in the theaters anyway, dude. The best part is the knife-flinging scene.... I laughed for 20 minutes.

NIAGRA FALLS
"The Honeymoon Capital of the World."

This was pretty much a tourist trap.

There is a bridge that links Canada to the USA so Niagra Falls is shared between the two countries. Except the better view is in Canada, so a lot of Americans drives over.

ONE-OF-A-KIND SHOW
Magda had a booth set up in the "Fashion District", and she got us free tickets to the show. The tickets comes with a complimentary free glass of wine, which is a pretty good deal!

There was a live fashion runway show and hosted by some Canadian celebrity, who I had no idea who she is. She was the host of "Fashion TV" or something.

CANADIAN CANDY BARS
We have Kit Kats here, but this was a weird caramel flavor. I also have no idea what these others are, I ended up buying them at the $1 store (for 50 cents) to try them out. They weren't bad, I like the Coffee Crisp one.

BLACK SQUIRRELS
I guess it's pretty common in Toronto to have black squirrels. We only have grey ones here (and sometimes an albino squirrel...).

More photos and stories later...

To be continued....

March 01, 2005 11:46 pm 3/1/2005 Torontoplanning
I got my flight itinerary today. The roundtrip ticket was pretty amazingly cheap, it was $169.10 plus $67.65 (taxes/fees). I used www.priceline.com, mostly because I've used them in the past for cheap airfares (and William Shatner is their spokesman!!).

I guess I should let you know that I'll be staying mostly with Linh, my old penpal from 1993. It's great, we met through a friendship booklet because she liked my xfiles and music selections. We became good, good friends.

We finally met in October 1996 (see picture). I had to alter the picture because I haven't asked Linh for permission to post it.

There's other people in it - my oldest (in terms of knowing) friend, Melinda and Mark. Mel is doing well I hear. She's leaving Japan and embarking on Manchester or something ? Sigh, it must be nice to have her job !

I will also finally meet my two old, dear friends, the twins of coolness: Karren & Sandy. Hooray!

Anyroad, if you live in Toronto/near it, send me a message. Let's hang out! I'll buy you beer and stuff.

Anyway, for something completely, my german friend sent me these two links: megaflicks and www.penisland.net. No seriously hilarious links!!

February 25, 2005 03:40 am I have been talking to my very old penpal Linh and I guess this late March I will be driving to Toronto. I realized that my passport had expired and I do not think they'd let me in Canada without a proper passport !! It's alright, I think I will try and solicit my friend Dave to drive with me. At least someone to talk for the long drive.

At the moment, I have Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind, playing on my dvd player. I saw this movie like 13 years ago with my friend Shawn and his sister Lindsay. It's great because Miyazaki is now LOVED by everyone and I'm glad that Disney is finally releasing these on DVDs.

I wonder if Shawn or Lindsay is on myspace ? I'm going to do a search now.

UPDATE: No, neither of them are on here. Unless they're using pseudonyms.

February 15, 2005 03:40 am It's 3am and I'm really tired... but it was worth it. V-Day did not end so badly, I suppose. Bettie Serveert played an excellent set, and I'm so glad my friend Heather sent me Bright Eyes' "Lover I Don't Have To Love" song, because, guess what ??? Bettie Serveert played that song !! There was three songs that was not on the setlist:

1. Driven
2. Tom Boy
3. White Dogs

Anyway, I met a pilot called Bruce and later after the show I was waiting for Carol (the singer) to come back and sign autographs, but she never showed up. A drunken woman sat down next to me and started talking to me. She had this really odd accent, like British cockney. She tells me that she's from mn, but have been pretty much everywhere. Said she spent a summer in Scotland, and all this stuff.

Of course, like with all things, my bad luck showed up, along with her apparent boyfriend. Haha. It was nice talking to you, lady.

Speaking of setlist, I've got to a few concerts and most of the time, I try and get the setlist. I have a few more, like Superdrag and 60ft Dolls and, oh so many !! Where is my Sleeper & Manic Street Preachers setlist ? Sigh. I can't find some of them either... Anyway here are the ones I've scanned:

brassy.jpg
idlewild1.jpg
doves.jpg
ucksmiths6-18.jpg
ours010819.jpg
juno010822.jpg
sp.jpg

It's kind of cool how tiny and small 7th Street Entry is. I mean there's the stage, and there you are. if you lean 2 centimeters, you're practically on stage. Oh god, I'm so sleepy, my cat is on my lap and he's so warm !! February 13, 2005 09:57 am I'm going to see Betty Serveert tomorrow. She's playing at the tiny 7th Street Entry for like $8, plus it's Valentine's Day and what better way to spend it than venturing alone in the cold to see her, haha. I'm pathetic.

Interpol is also coming here, but the tickets are above my concert-threshold. I have a pretty strict no over $12 show. I'm only going to see the Decemberist ($15) because I told Mel that I would do it for her (I'm supposed to buy something at the show).

Speaking of pathetic, I spent Saturday playing Scrabble !! I was doing it while cleaning up my room and listening to music.

I need new scrabble players, el keeps kicking my butt.

I will leave you with these Luckies lyrics:

I know it’s a consequence
Of clinging to consonants
But P R L N Q F C
Spells trouble to me