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ContactThis has been rubbing me the wrong way. It is a pain in the side that recently, more than ever, it seems like I am getting carded more when I go to the LCBO. I am probably getting carded more now than I was when I was 18. A month ago, I went in to the LCBO and saw this ad on the wall while waiting for checkout.
STOP, douchey looking Asian guy, the LCBO will card you to make sure you are not underage drinking all that Coors Light, cause god knows there are not enough illegal establishments for Asian people to drink at. OK, fine, I’ll let this one go, it is probably just a coincidence and LCBO trying to show off diversity or something like that.
May I bring your attention to article number two.
If you go to a holiday party and see an Asian guy with a more than normal squint eyes, more than likely he is drunk. I have no idea why this year they are targeting Asian guys, but not cool.
LCBO to Asian Guys: “STOP DRINKING”
Startup Weekend Toronto Recap
This whole weekend I spent my time at Startup Weekend Toronto. This was my first time at the event and just found out about it a couple of days before. The tickets were all sold out, so I scoured twitter for a ticket. Thankfully, @adamflint was giving his tickets away and he gave one of his tickets to me. I had no idea what to expect at the event, but was excited to find out.
So Friday, there were a couple of keynote speakers, talking about how we should approach the weekend. Then it was off to pitching. Whoever wanted to could pitch their startup idea in 60 seconds. After, there is a vote that happens online and the top 20 pitches will be the teams that are made. Then you can join a team. So I decided to pitch my startup Lookbout. I was incredibly nervous and had no idea how to sum up my pitch properly. That went extremely poorly.
Task #1: summarize my idea into a pitch
I decided to join a rather ambitious idea of an airBnB of parking. They rest of the night, we went out to a bar to discuss the idea, analyze the problem, and possible solutions. I thought this wasn’t going to take very long…
The next day, we got in at 9am and were still working on the details of the car. I started trying to develop the webpage. A form for people to select a location and see what parking is available. I have never touched the Google maps API before. Daunting. This is where I start feeling sort of bad, there are so many people around me that are so smart, coding frantically and producing products. The team was still discussing the intricacies of the problem and we iterated on the business a lot. Condos had to many rules and restrictions. We thought about solving the problem of parking at malls with people being able to buy almost like handicap parking at busy malls. Then we just thought that we would we focus on small areas that are really busy downtown but are close to residential areas. People would be able to rent out their spot with our solution, and essentially, have a pay meter at their doorstep.
The group did great work with research and calling people on craigslist to see if this is something they would be interested in.
The third day the team just worked on the presentation that would be made to a panel of judges. There were some great prizes at stake for 1st and we really wanted it. Sadly, it wasn’t us, but I sort of knew who was going to win.
Visualize.me won the event with their application that would take your LinkedIn profile and make a infographic resume. It is a really cool idea and they had a really rough product of it working its magic. I think its a very good vanity product for people, but with scale, it takes away from its uniqueness and once employers know that it takes no effort, it takes away its effect. That, and very few industries would even accept such an application. I think the judges really missed these points, mainly because they weren’t really critical of the products, didn’t ask questions, and didn’t critique at all.
All in all though, it was a great weekend. I need to be more prepared for next time if I attend, but its a great experience.
- man, there was a lot of food.
Song of the day
Why are buses able to idle for so long?
There are laws that cars can not idle for more than 2 minutes. But whenever I am on the bus, the driver will always idle the bus, even if its not extremely hot outside. There are times where its the end of the line and the bus will idle for close to 10 minutes. Those engines are never off. This applies to all buses: School buses, transit, tour buses.
Save some money and the environment and turn off the engine. You never know, the cost of public transit might even go down. What a waste.
Men’s Fashion Taboo
Ever since I was little, I loved dressing up. Some random days, I would be going to elementary school with a couple of my nails with random colors with whatever I can find of my moms. I remember I found this ‘diamond’ ring from my mom and I’d wear it to school a bunch of times. I just love accessorizing.
Every once in a while, I still like to wear nail polish. I have some black that I wear for a chic goth look, if I have it on, then I would have to wear black for a couple of days. I mean, I make it look good. I make a conscious effort to dress very well the days that I do have it on. That way, I find it even more odd for people to criticize my look when more likely than not, the ones criticizing look like crap. =) Man, I’ve actually been looking for a real cool headband that I can rock, but haven’t gone ahead to get one, but anyways…
I have been thinking about this and how far can I push the line, cause I think rocking a ‘kilt’ is pretty cool. I understand that showing hairy legs is not cool, and I also think that men shaving their legs unless they are swimmers is not cool, but I think it looks pretty damn cool on guys who wear tights or leg socks. But, at what point would you be considered a cross dresser. Well, let me say that I have zero interest in wearing a bra and a thong underneath. I think at that point it gets kind of weird. But, I do believe that men’s accessories can be broaden.
My parent’s have another view on the matter. My dad is pretty naive about these things and during dinner discussing with my mom, aren’t there people who will beat up people wearing that because they think that you are gay. lol. Then they say, Elvin just wants to get people’s attention and that its kind of strange because I am 25 now.
#1: I can’t believe I am 25. I sure don’t feel that way and age is all relative. Obviously relative to the amount of orbits around the sun, but mentally, definitely not feeling it.
This is absolutely nothing new to my parents and should of expected these things from my childhood. What’s the point of looking good anyways? You feel good, gives you confidence, and people notice. Why else do people wear makeup or why do men wear ties. You think guys like tying a noose around their neck? What is the reason and who made up the rules of fashion and why do you adhere to the rules laid out by societies and generations before you. I don’t want to necessarily be the change to society’s views, but I wont let other people tell me what to do.
People need to question everything around them. Your prejudice is based on what and why? Open your mind, be creative. Live a little.
Song of the day:
New Orleans – Mardi Gras
Gotten back a while ago, but been busy catching up with school and being tired.
Spent a good 3.5 days in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. It should of been 4.5, but got stuck in Memphis for connecting flight. Damn, wish I got compensated a bit more for that, but it was a comfy sleep at least. Stupid Delta, can’t believe they wouldn’t hold the flight for 5 minutes.
New Orleans is a beautiful city although kind of small. The french quarter has quite the charm and close to the river banks. I don’t know whether it was the havoc of Mardi Gras, but I was hoping for a bit more charm. I always the streets and bars with jazz musicians, just like the movies. Maybe they were all in the parade on floats. I also thought that I was going to see more voodoo shops; places where I could get a shrunken head.
Is Mardi Gras as crazy as portrayed on TV? No, not really, but it is pretty crazy with the amount of people, but young women disorderly conduct are few and far between. There is lots to love though, you can get a drink anywhere and anytime. Everywhere you look, you can buy a drink and surprisingly, there is very few people puking or getting drunk.
The oddest thing was I grabbed a grenade in the French Quarter and when I finished, I just decided to chuck the big plastic drinking canvas on the ground next to the curb where it won’t be in someone’s way in the middle of the road. I wasn’t shy about the fact that I was dumping it on the ground. Then there was a lady that saw me dump it on the ground and walked up to my face and said, why are you littering on the ground. You are making the city look like a mess. I was in shock! I wasn’t sure if this girl was serious or not. The whole Mardi Gras is a big dump. There are mounds of beads on the ground and plastic cups. This chick should be complaining to every single person tossing beads. I am one of the biggest green freaks in the world and I would bet that I would be at least in top 15% of green friendliness. I felt bad for the girl though, she must of been going nuts inside of what was going on, or maybe shes just an idiot. I don’t know.
Being in the US is definitely odd. There are definitely huge differences. Everything is done big. There are floats almost going on non-stop during the weekends and all the floats constantly toss out plastic garbage. Probably 2/3 of the objects get caught, the rest of the 1/3 are uncaught and end up on the ground. The cleanup at the end of the night at like 2am is insane. Trucks all over the place picking up garbage and trucks holding big load of cleaning liquid and guys spraying the streets. The streets just smell like cleaner. Insane. I really wish there was some way they can hold Mardi Gras without the amount of waste involved. So much of it is unnecessary.
The planning of Mardi Gras is terrible. There are definitely not enough porta-potties. There are probably only 3 in the french quarter. Have you ever seen a porta-potty overflow. It is disgusting. I walked totally out of the quarter to go to the washroom.
Another difference in US is the food and how taste has to be huge in terms of flavor. I ordered a bunch of crawfish and it would have been delicious if it wasn’t for the fact that the boil had so much Cajun spice. I ate at an Ihop in Memphis and the chicken tasted like black pepper, the mashed potatoes tasted like salt, but surprisingly the broccoli was bland. Then I had a fruit blend from Tim Hortons and it was so sweet, I couldn’t drink it. US needs to tune down their sodium and sugar intake. That is why you fat.
What I wish from New Orleans Mardi Gras. There should be definitely more music in the french quarter. Sometimes you walk through the street and there is no music and it doesn’t seem like a party. It would be nice if there was a big club in the french quarter area so that all the revelers can really party, but all the bars are pretty small and narrow because the way the buildings in the district are shaped.
Oscar Animated Short Films
So the best part of Oscars is going through the short films. I am late again, but its ok. Enjoy.
The Gruffalo – Max Lang and Jakob Schuh
The story about a mouse escaping its predators about its friend the Gruffalo.
Day & Night – Teddy Newton
I am sure everyone has seen this since it is the short before Toy Story 3. I thought this was going to win as it was something very different and with a heartfelt message.
Let’s Pollute – Geefwee Boedoe
This is a satirical film about consumerism, consumption, and polluting. It’s in French, but, I guess that’s why I took french in school.
Madagascar, a Journey Diary – Bastien Dubois
Uhm — not sure how to describe, just a person’s travel journal to Madagascar.
AND THE WINNER
The Lost Thing – Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan
Man finds a lost thing on a beach and tries to find and return it.
Song of the day
Dunk Contest 2011
I am kind of late and I havn’t posted in a while. I have been mad busy with school and stuff and need to get ahead of everyone because I’m going to be taking a week off. That and just being super exhausted.
SO, to the dunk contest. I have heard a lot of people complaining that the dunk contest is boring. I absolutely can’t believe it, if you thought this year was boring, forget about ever watching again. The next couple of years coming up are going to be terrible, that is for sure.
But to the criticism, I would like to compare the what people call the “best dunk contest of all time” the year 2000 and the latest one.
Year 2000
Larry Hughes, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Ricky Davis
Year 2011
Serge Ibaka, Demar Derozan, Javale McGee, Blake Griffin
From the year 2000, there was a handful of memorable dunks.
T-Mac – Alley-oop two-hand, down to knees clutch reversal, Bounce pass two-handed windmill
Steve Francis – Most were alley-oop bounce pass, but the one he cocked back to his ankles
Vince Carter – Reverse 360 windmill, 180 windmill from under the basket, Bounce pass through the legs, and the Elbow dunk
Demar Derozan – Pass off the back pole through the legs, Alley-oop bounce with Dr.J low swoop reverse on other side of rim
Serge Ibaka – Free throw legit
Javale Mcgee – two nets two balls one off the backboard, rock the baby baseline under the basket
Blake Griffin – 360 two hander, Off the backboard elbow
** note that I did not include Mcgee’s 3 ball dunk because it was ugly or the Griffin “over the car” or the off side backboard two hand windmill.
If you look at the list, there is no way that you can say, one was better than the other. Except for that Carter bounce pass between the legs, I don’t think anything has measured up to that sickness when it happened.
After watching the entire dunk contest of 2000 again, I have noticed HUGE changes to the dunk contest.
1. You are only allowed ONE dunk attempt in the first round, the best two out of three scores are taken. This is the way it should be, most dunks are all about anticipation and questions of what the player is going to do. Dunkers shouldn’t try to do dunks they know they can make 1 out of 5 times. It is just ridiculous. When players missed a dunk, they got 6s across the board. Larry Hughes missed his first two dunks and was essentially out of the running after his 2nd dunk.
2. Because it is only one dunk attempt, it was good to have 6 contestants. This way players can be strategic on how they are going to get into finals and there is more pressure. Some favorites are going to choke and they should be out of the contest and each dunk should be SUPER important just like the 3-point contest.
3. Electronic voting is much better than the judges now holding Sprite numbers. Save those for the fans, be more professional as a judge as it was before — even though Isiah Thomas still jumped over the table.
LESS IS MORE. The NBA is trying too hard to make the dunk contest relevant and keeps tossing things in including the kitchen sink. Its ridiculous. They should go back to the original rules. The dunk contest will suffer in the beginning, but it will recover, back to the original roots of crowning the best dunker and it will get back its prestige. The prestige is TOTALLY GONE. Especially when we knew who the winner was before the dunk contest even started.
The NBA sent a Press Release to Media Members at 5:28 PST on Saturday Night. Stating that “2011 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest winner Blake Griffin” was making an appearance at Jam Session on Sunday. – lakersnation
You could sort of see the panic in the judges eyes when Blake did his second dunk, because they had to figure out how to score everything to get Blake in the finals and you can see the discussion at the table. NBA had to make sure that KIA got their product placement in. Soon no one is going to participate in the dunk contest because it is such a mess.
Look – the dunk of Blake over the car looks even uglier in slow motion.
In comparison to who should of been in the final, with his dunk in slow motion, the dunk is absolutely gorgeous.
Song of the day:
Kanye – All of the Lights (demar derozan edition)
SNOW DAY
Toronto got pretty lucky. There isn’t much snow here, but snow day was called prematurely anyways. When did max of 30cm become a big event anyways? I think we should only give warnings if its 50cm or above. If not, people should just gauge the weather by looking out the window.
So how do I spend a snow day, went to dim sum for lunch. Yum!
Song of the day:
Eat & Sleep
So now that I am back at school I am getting into these weird schedules. One that I am happy about is that I am back on my one meal a day plan. This is good because I was getting fat. Because of this, when I get home, I am shoving a lot more rice into my bowl. After dinner, I’ll rest in front of the TV for a bit and I will eventually get really tired and fall asleep. I don’t know what it is, whether its the school that is making me tired or the itis from all the food I am eating, but I really should prevent myself from falling asleep after eating. What a terrible habit. *sigh
I should really walk Appa after dinner or something. Get me up and moving.
Weekend in Niagara
So a hotspot for a short trip weekend when living in Ontario is Niagara. I was trying to not go for the typical, did some search of some B&Bs up north, but even off season, the places are pretty expensive and there aren’t many activities to do around this season. Now looking back, probably a good idea not to do the B&Bs because it was quite cold this weekend.
So I was just at Niagara Falls for the weekend with Kim for her birthday. There are definitely a bunch of ways to be cost effective and do lots of fun things at the Falls. I got a nice gourmet package at the Oakes Hotel. They have a one or two night package. It includes breakfast each night at Applebees, so its much better than some crummy hotel continental breakfast. It also includes a dinner at Remingtons’. That restaurant was pretty yummy. That in itself is some huge value, I would say over $100. Then the package also includes wine samplings at 3 different wineries: Inniskillin, Jackson and Triggs, and Peller Estates. We went to two on the way back home and it was hilarious because Kim got drunk off 6 wine samples, 3 at each location. Wine sampling is a fun fun thing to do. Yum! Got a king room with a jacuzzi, free internet, with falls view for 2 nights for only $200. Pretty sweet.
It is normal for most hotels in Niagara Falls to charge for parking. Since Oakes is literally right next to the Fallsview Casino parking lot, I parked at Fallsview Casino. It is free parking there as long as you have a players card and that you play a little. It doesn’t take a lot, like $10 in a machine which is how much you would pay parking at the hotel. Who knows, you might even win some money too. This is what happened to us, we kept moving from Niagara casino and Fallsview because they are pretty far apart and they are close to different things around the area. Everytime we wanted to leave the parking lot, we would play a little bit at the casino. Ended up winning $100+ along the way.
A hidden gem that tourist don’t think to do while in the Niagara/Buffalo region, is to go to Martin House. Martin House was a rich man in the Buffalo during the cities booming times and he friended Frank Lloyd Wright, the most famous and US premiere architect. This is a house that Wright designed for Darwin Martin. It is a gorgeous home with a collection of other homes built for the gardener and extended family, and the home and mission to preserve the home has a great story. The tour was $10 per person for us because we are students, if not it is $15. The tour is great and is supported all by volunteers to keep this gem around.
Another thing we did was to see Yuk Yuk’s in Casino Niagara. The show was ok, but something different to do, instead of walking around the cold. Tickets were around $18. The show was good, but Yuk Yuk’s isn’t as good as laugh resort. The crowd is really big and some of the people in the audience are abnoxiously loud. The head-liner comic tried to make some plays at asian people, and he got played by me like twice and then he stirred away. lol.
Man, pretty pissed. Dave and Busters sent me a $10 free game play and wanted to use it in Niagara. I had it printed out, but forgot to bring it with me. Sign up for the newsletter there and they’ll send you free play card deals all the time and can make your Niagara experience more fun. We still played ticket games in Niagara and for $20, we did pretty well, got a medium sized stuffy that looks pretty good. HAHA. Usually you expect some trash. Best game by far is deal or no deal. Kim loves that game. Can’t believe she took 65 tickets when she had 30 and 100 left. She would of won the 100 tickets. LOL.
Those are some cool things you can do in Niagara and keep you away from the cheesy Guinness, Ripley’s, 4D rides, Wax Museums that are a complete rip off.