The Loopy Christmas Tree

When Halloween is over, Christmas decorations seem to begin showing up everywhere. Even the office building that I am working in put up this loopy thing that resembles a Christmas tree in an abstract way. I would rather prefer an old fashioned Christmas tree but I guess the management of the building doesn’t want to offend any non-Christmas-celebrating-people. If I am so against Christmas, I would definitely go to work in those days to demonstrate my dislike. But so far, I have never seen anyone gave up their holidays. As far as I am concern, it doesn’t really matter what ethnicity that holiday belongs as long as there is a day off. After all this is Canada and we should celebrate each other’s festivals.

The more I look at this loopy tree, the more it resembles to the blue spiral art installation that I saw in this year’s Nuit Blanche.

It’s quite interesting that they are both the same shape but they portray entirely different images.

Winter is Officially Here!

Winter is finally here! There will be close to 5cm of snow tomorrow. While I don’t actually mind the fluffy stuff to much, I just hope that people can drive resonably so that I don’t need to spend two hours to get home from work.

GooTube

Sometimes you can find some rare videos on YouTube and you wish that you can download a copy of the video. I found a tool called GooTube FLV Retriever. It allows you to download videos off YouTube and from some other video sites. You will need to use a player that supports flvs and I recommend downloading the Adobe Media Player.

You can definitely embed the video in your blog in order to watch the videos in the future but they are more like bookmarks. If the owner of the video or the administrator from YouTube decides to take off the video, you will be out of luck.

Of course, I do wish you can purchase the legit DVD whenever possible. Anyways, have fun downloading!

Joe Hisaishi & New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra

I have always been a bit cautious when it comes to buying stuff online through ebay. There are just too many stories of transactions that turned horribly wrong. A friend of mine was trying to purchase a camcorder through ebay and he lost almost a thousand dollars since the seller never really attempt to deliver the product. After hearing that story, I usually limit my ebay purchase to things that are relatively cheap. This time, I tried to purchase a Japanese DVD that is relatively difficult to get in North America. It was reasonably priced and the cost of shipping is pretty decent too. The product was delivered really quickly but when I opened the parcel, I knew immediately that it is a bootleg version. Moreover, the seller is from Richmond Hill, Ontario yet he listed himself as from California. The shipping is definitely way over priced. Fortunately, when I demanded a refund, the seller refunded immediately.

Anyways, I don’t really want to talk about my unfortunately ebay transaction. The reason that I wanted the DVD is that I saw the following YouTube video:

It is part of a concert that commemorates 25 years of cooperation between Miyazaki and Hisaishi. The concert is accompanied by a 200-piece orchestra and 400 chorus singers. It has some of the great soundtracks that are from some of my favourite Japanese animation. I especially enjoy Laputa and Princess Mononoke. The videos on YouTube are great but the quality is only alright. I would love to have a DVD of that concert. Unfortunately, after much research online, I still couldn’t find a DVD that I can purchase. The only thing close to it is the W.D.O. Joe Hisaishi DVD. So, I tried to bid on one the I found on ebay. It’s too bad that it is not a legit copy. I will just watch the ones online for a few more times until I can get my hand on one.

You can also enjoy the concert using these links:

Part 1 - Nausicaa of the Valley Wind
Part 2 - Princess Mononoke
Part 3 - Kiki’s Delivery Service
Part 4 - Ponya on the Cliff by the Sea
Part 5 - Laputa - Castle in the Sky
Part 6 - Porco Ross
Part 7 - Howl’s Moving Castle
Part 8 - Spirited Away
Part 9 - My Neighbour Totoro

Enjoy!

Common Traits Between Muffin Man And Sandman

Today is another cold and windy day. The occasional flurries seem to be reminding us winter will arrive any moment. Well, as long as I don’t get out of the house, you really can’t bother me. I can bake muffins indoor while you generate all that nasty wind outside. While the muffins were baking in the oven, the muffins remind me of a nursery rhyme that goes:

“Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?
Do you know the muffin man, who lives in Drury Lane?

Yes, I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man;
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man, who lives in Drury Lane.

Then two of us know the muffin man, the muffin man.”

The first time that I heard about this song, I pictured muffin man as a muffin with arms and legs. Only until later on that I realized it’s talking about a man who delivers muffins door-to-door.

Well, I made the same mistake when I was doing this music assignment. We listened to this song about a Sandman who sprinkled sand into the eyes of children at night in order to lull them to sleep and we had to illustrate a scene with the Sandman. I thought the Sandman is a man that is made out of sand, so he must be something that resembles a gingerbread man. It turns out I was totally mistaken. He is supposed to be a man with a bag of sand. How boring!

You can see an animated version of Sandman here:

Don’t know about you but I doubt anyone can sleep after watching it.

Anyways, I have to stop adding arms and legs to everything! LOL

Chinese Brush Painting - Goldfish

The weather has been rather crappy today. It has been raining dogs and cats for the entire day. If I have a choice, I would rather stay at home and catch up on my reading. Unfortunately, I have Chinese brush painting class today, so I don’t ready have a choice but to battle the nasty rain. I had a family gathering last night; therefore, as usual, I had to wake up extra early to get some homework done. I have finally persuaded my teacher to teach me something other than shrimps since I really do not like them too much. My shrimps look too much like those crawly bugs. So, my teacher started to paint some goldfish with me. I was a little skeptical about goldfish since the fish that I did last time was horrible too. My sister said they look a bit cartoonish. (Maybe it’s because I watch too much cartoon at work.) Anyways, we started on the tail first and I painted almost fifty of them but the colour seems to be a bit off.

My teacher demonstrated the goldfish again today and I have finally understood the reason. I had simply added too much water to the paint. Since the colour is a lot lighter once the paint is dried, I should use a lot less water in order to keep the colour vibrant. After a few more practice, I tried to put the body, eyes, and fins together with the tail. My first try in goldfish is actually not too bad. I am starting to like painting goldfish.

Lego Speaker for ipods

I love receiving parcels. There is something about opening boxes that makes me very excited even though I might already know what is in the box. A few weeks ago, I started my Christmas shopping by buying a few items from delight.com. It is definitely a bit too early for Christmas shopping but I was stuck at work on a Sunday and nothing makes me happier than doing some “window shopping” online. And eventually I gave in to temptation and pulled out my credit card. Most of the items were gifts for my family and friends, so I didn’t feel too guilty. Technically, I only bought one item for myself as a treat for working during the weekend.

The parcel finally arrived and I am quite amazed how they have packaged the items very nicely. I was kind of worried about the Pomaireware that I bought for my mom might break during the long commute. Everything is wrapped in brightly coloured tissue papers and they have also included a few organic lollipops and a sample packet of energy drink as a token of appreciation. I will definitely buy from them again!

The little gift that I bought myself is a tiny speaker for my ipod that is shaped like a piece of Lego. I tried it out immediately and I think it works great. The sound quality is decent and the best thing is that it doesn’t use any batteries. All you need to do is connect your ipod to the speaker and you are all set to rock and roll. You can even control the volume using two of the knobs on the Lego piece. This will come in handy when I stay late at work since sometimes headphones give me headaches. I highly recommend this ipod speaker for any gadget loving friends. Since it only cost $20, it’s an affordable gift that is perfect for this holiday season. You can get it on delight.com in a few different colours.

AGO Is Opening Tomorrow!

The construction on the new AGO building is finally completed and it will be open to the public starting tomorrow! My grandaunt happened to land on a few tickets to the preview last Sunday. After wondering in the galleries for the entire day, I have to say the new building is really amazing. While the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is shocking and dynamic, the AGO’s new building is clam and comfortable. The extensive use of naturally coloured wood gives the gallery a warm glow and an organic feeling that the visitors can relate to. Galleria Italia wasn’t entirely completed when I was there but everyone was just looking at the bright hallway in awe.

I only have five more words to say “You should go see it!”

I’ve Got My Book Signed by Jamie Oliver!

I have met a few celebrities throughout my life, e.g. Jackie Cheung, Andy Lau, Christine Cushing, to name a few. However, I have never asked anyone for an autograph. Maybe I just find it a bit embarrassing to ask or maybe I am just not too crazy about them. But when I saw the poster for the book signing event with Jamie Oliver, I have decided immediately that I have to go!

The line up at Indigo was super long. It went all around the bottom floor of the store. I figured I probably won’t be able to get an autograph but I decided to stick around for a bit longer. When there was fifteen minutes left for the event, I was around twenty people away from the cut off line. It was a bit disappointing but I figured there will always be another book and I can come again next time around. So I quit lining up and tried to get closer to the stage in order to take a few pictures. One of the Indigo employees was super nice. He helped quite a few customers to take pictures in the “restricted” zone. Otherwise, I could never get any decent shots with my height and without any high heels. When the event ended, Jamie happened to pass by my area and signed my book! I just couldn’t believe being so lucky! I can’t help but smile through out the day. People probably think that I am crazy. LOL

Jamie at Home is not exactly a new book since it has been out for around a year. I love how it relates food to their source. Nowadays, a lot of people can tell what kind of fruits and vegetables are actually in season. With the abundance of food imported from all over the world, we lose sight of what food can be grown locally in the current season. When I was small, my mom would buy watermelons in the summer, persimmons in the fall, oranges in the winter and cherries in spring. However, you can find so many different kinds of fruits all over the year nowadays since they can be imported from all over the world. The problem is that the long commute to get the food to arrive at our supermarket means that usually these fruits were picked when they were still green. I especially dislike those imported American strawberries. They are huge but they are so sour that they don’t taste like strawberries at all. Jamie’s book also gives lots of tips about gardening and neat (and simple!) recipes that you can make with your crops. It will definitely help me to get rid of those numerous zucchinis and tomatoes that I get from my garden next year!

Anyways, it’s time to watch Jamie’s Kitchen Australia!

Shrimps!

I have chinese brush painting class again today and as usual I have to wake up early to get some “homework” done. No offence but shrimp is not my favourite subject. From the above image, you will see why. They look more like bugs than shrimps. Maybe I am not good at shrimp painting but I am definitely good at shrimp eating. Anyways, off to class!