Mashed Thoughts

From Prada to Nada is a romantic comedy about two sisters with vastly different personalities who are left penniless after their rich father dies. Olivia is materialistic one and Nora is the bookworm. They are forced from their home by their half-brother's girlfriend - the brother they never knew they had. The girls end up in East Los Angeles with their aunt. There they try to learn about their Mexican heritage and find love...in an absurdly short amount of time!

Apparently this movie is based on Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility". I haven't read the book yet but I bet I would have gotten more out of it than this movie. The plot was just all over the place it tried to fit in their brother's story but failed miserably and the relationships that formed were very rushed. If you are looking for a light movie with no real sustenance then you don't have to look any further but don't expect to enjoy it that much.

From Prada to Nada opens in theatres in Canada tomorrow, February 11, 2011.

Yay! Welcome the Year of the Rabbit! Chinese New Year was on Feb 3rd this year but the annual parade was held last Sunday. This was the first time I attended (that I remember). I wasn't planning to go but I saw so many articles about it online that I couldn't resist. Plus I LOVE Lion dances as you can probably tell by all my pictures. The parade started at noon at the Millennium Gate on Pender Street and route is about 1.2 Km long. It wasn't just Chinese participating, there was Vietnemese (their new year also is on the same day), Natives, Irish and all sorts of others! It was very cool. The parade lasted about 2 hours but the poor Lion dancers had to keep on going because ALL the stores hung up lettuces for the Lions to eat and they have to do it for luck! So they didn't finish until about 4pm! My sister met up with me after the parade ended and we went to Tinseltown to "walk the flower street". It was very crowded and there were a lot of shows going on but it couldn't beat the parade! I had to wake up super early to go to church first so I was kinda exhausted by the end of the day. But it was absolutely worth it!

Oru at the Fairmont Pacific Rim will be our last DineOut this year. I need to save some for next year! I took my family out yesterday night. My photo taking wasn't that great. It was very dark and I'm still fumbling around with the controls lol. Anyways, my mom loves seafood so when picking a restaurant, there always has to be scallops. And Oru had scallops AND lobster in its main! We ordered everything on the menu except for the Braised Yellow Lentils. I tried the Sake Kasu Sablefish for appitizer (recommended by our waiter) and oh it was so delicious! Pick the sablefish if you are going to go to Oru! Tender, moist and seasoned just right. Lovely appitizer. It seemed we waited for our main course for a while though. I guess they expect many patrons to drink and talk but we were all getting hungry and there was unfortunately no bread basket to snack on because it is a Pan-Asian restaurant. For the main course my dad tried the Tandoor Roasted Lamb Loin and the three of us had the Roasted Scallops & Lobster Dumpling. It was so yummy! My dad didn't like the squash risotto that came with the lamb but I liked it so I helped him finish it. I love risotto. It was slightly on the richer side though. I was going to try the Coconut Cheesecake but I opted to try something different and went for the Vietnamese Coffee Pannacotta. I really enjoyed it! It had a very strong coffee taste which I liked.

We parked in the underground parking lot. It is $6 if you have a meal there. Just visit the concierge in the lobby and pay there. Unfortunately there was something wrong with the machine in the lot and we couldn't get out! It was funny because we saw someone else have the same problem when we were heading inside so my dad was worrying about how we are going to get out. Luckily someone came down to rescue us. Hopefully it is fixed now.

Overall it was a lovely evening. I enjoyed dinner and I would consider revisiting if I was in the area again.

Here is Oru's full menu:

Dine Out Vancouver 2011

Baby Cos Lettuce Salad
orange, spiced almonds, coconut vinaigrette

Crispy Squid & Spicy Sausage
garlic, chili, scallions, ponzu mayo

Sake Kasu Sablefish
gingered tomatoes, sweet miso sauce

_____

Tandoor Roasted Lamb Loin
crispy lamb croquette, squash risotto, sultana raisins, roasted eggplant

Roasted Scallops & Lobster Dumpling
sweet potato and chili, caramelized pineapple, black garlic emulsion

Braised Yellow Lentils
vegetable pakora, tomato chutney, swiss chard

______

Dark Chocolate Pudding
passion fruit, sesame

Vietnamese Coffee Pannacotta
condensed milk, avocado

Coconut Cheesecake
lychee, mango

Room is a story about love, innocence and learning told through the voice of five-year-old Jack who lives with his Ma in Room. Jack was born in Room and has lived there his whole life. It is everything he knows. But to his mom it is a prison that now has grown too small for the both of them.

I finished Room a week ago. It is a very good book. So good that I found myself reading into the wee hours of the night dispite having to work the next day. Donoghue writes a very compelling story through Jack. The story is told in a child's innocent voice which made me feel closer to the characters than I would have if the story was told in Ma's point of view. In the beginning the reader know no more than Jack. As he describes more and more, you piece things together and you realize that this big Room he depicts is not very big at all. There were many things in the beginning you have no idea what Jack is talking about. You discover the world as Jack discovers it. You feel as he feels. When you finish the book you will go "wow, that's deep". That is how I felt.

I went to Dine Out again yesterday night. This time we went to Ebo Restaurant which is in the Delta Hotel in Burnaby. I think hotel restaurants tend to have better menu and service and their Dine Out menu was only $28! The dinner was exceptionally good and our servers were very polite and knowledgeable. Each dish was explained to us when it was brought out (except for the dessert because it was a different person) and that made it much more interesting!

Dinner started off with a bread basket. I love bread and it always pleases me to have a complementary bread basket. Our party tried all the dishes except the Beetroot and Goat Cheese and Cream Spätzle with Butternut Squash. My favourite dish was the Roasted Baja Scallops. They were large and tasted amazing! The presentation of the dishes were very nice too. Each plate was like a work of art. I had the tuna for the main course and it was awesome and filling! It didn't look like much but trust me, everyone was very full by the end. I finished off with the Warm Apple Crumble. It contained a biscuit and cute little (and tasty) peach jelly cubes. We all agreed that we wanted more cubes in our desserts.

I highly recommend Ebo. I enjoyed the dinner very much!

Here is their full Dine Out menu:

Wild Mushroom Soup (V)
Purée of Wild Mushrooms, Feta Cheese, Seasonal Mushroom Sauté,
Truffle Oil

Beetroot and Goat Cheese (V)
Marinated Baby Beets, Molten Marcella Goat Cheese, Organic Lettuce,
Textures of Apples, Pine Nut Granola

Roasted Baja Scallops
Vanilla Scented Cauliflower Puree, Serrano Ham, Capers & Sultana Raisins

˜˜˜˜

Tuna
Rare Rice-Crusted Albacore Tuna Steak, Avocado Purée,
Asparagus with Serrano Ham, Chili Gastrique

Braised Beef Rib “galbijim”,
Crushed Potatoes, Braised Carrots

Cream Spätzle with Butternut Squash (V)
Slow Roasted Hazelnut Crumble, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts,
Chevre Noir

˜˜˜˜

Warm Apple Crumble
Granny Smith Apples, Raisins Coconut Streusel and Vanilla Ice Cream

Baked Marble Cheesecake
Berry Compote

I'm betting that it'll be six more weeks of winter seeing that the cold air that is lingering around Vancouver doesn't seem to want to go away! I'm so cold in the morning that I don't want to get out of bed!

It's not preventing my flowers from starting to bloom though! Yay! Last year I planted a whole bunch of bulbs in the front yard. This spring should turn out to be very colourful. I am eagerly awaiting the spring! Snowdrops are blooming in the garden for a few weeks now and I see that daffodils are starting to come out of the ground! Some of my lilies are also starting to poke out of the soil. I'm so excited! I think I will buy some more snowdrops though. One here and one there doesn't give a lot of impact. I want clumps of snowdrops!
When the weather is warmer I'll have to plant my "rescue" plants as well. They are the ones that I bought for a dollar or less at Canadian Tire when the planting season was over. Hahah I know I shouldn't have bought plants to try to revive but it was so inexpensive and I had a coupon for $5 off so it wasn't that much. I'll have to start weeding too. Those pesky weeds are coming back in again!

Dine Out Vancouver is here again! This is an annual event that happens for two weeks of the year where participating restaurants in Vancouver offer customers a special 3-course menu at set prices ($18, $28, or $38). If you wanted to try a restaurant, now would the time to do so.

I also have a new camera so I apologize for the blurry photos while I'm still learning how to use it.

This year I went to Gramercy Grill with a bunch of friends. Their Dine Out menu was $28 and they had a fair selection dishes and also add-ons if wanted. I thought the food was faily good. I really enjoyed the Seared Ahi Tuna as the appitizer. My friends said they enjoyed the other appitizers as well. We were a table of five and we each ordered different things to try. The Cream of Cauliflower soup looked very good and so did the Triple A Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio which was the other one I wanted to try out. The main course was Braised Australian Lamb Shank. It was very succulent and the meat just slid right off the bone. I tried a little of my friend's Wild Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto and it was delicious! For dessert I tried the Crème Brule. It was cold and the sugar was melted and only crispy in the middle but it did taste very good cold.

The food at Gramercy Grill was good but the portions may be a little small for some people. Customer service was another matter. We had to wait a LONG LONG time between courses. I don't know if it was just us because another table came about when we were just finished the main course and waiting for dessert and they finished around the SAME TIME as us! We had to wait about 15 minutes just to get cold desserts! Yes ALL of the desserts were cold or room temperature! It shouldn't have to had taken that long to bring out. Then after when were paying the bill, we told them what to charge on the individual credit card and they them took away only to return 10 minutes later to ask us the amounts again! Was it because we didn't order any extras or wine or coffee? It shouldn't matter. All patrons should be treated equally!

I don't know if I will be returning. Good food, if not paired with good customer service leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Here was their Dine Out menu if you want to ever try them out:

Appetizer Choices:

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Hearts of Romaine Salad
pancetta lardons, crispy capers, grana padano cheese, roasted shallot & garlic vinaigrette

Triple A Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio
truffle aioli, crispy capers & grana padano

Seared Ahi Tuna
sesame seeds, seaweed flakes & pea shoots orange ginger vinaigrette

Entrée Choices:

Oven Roasted Sablefish Filet
miso, ginger & tamari cream roasted baby carrots & asparagus, vegetable spring roll

Wild Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto
grana padano & mascarpone cheese

Cherry Creek Free Range Chicken Breast
green onion mashed potatoes,roasted baby carrots & asparagus, truffle tapenade

Braised Australian Lamb Shank
merlot jus, butternut squash puree, roasted baby carrots & asparagus, pickled celery & carrot

Butternut Squash Agnolotti
sautéed spinach & tomato sauce, topped with grana padano cheese

Angus Triple A Beef Tenderloin - additional $5
garlic mashed potatoes, roasted baby carrots & asparagus, shiitake mushroom merlot jus

Baby Back Ribs & Blue Cheese Macaroni - additional $5
house made whiskey barbeque sauce

Dessert Choices:

Lemon Tart
local berry coulis & whipped cream

Pecan Pie
cardamom caramel sauce & whipped cream

Warm Flourless Chocolate Torte
caramel sauce & whipped cream

Duo of Cheeses - additional $4

Crème Brule

At tomorrow 10:00 a.m. the largest earthquake drill in Canadian history will be taking place in British Columbia! My work place probably didn't register for this but apparently there are 420,000 people going to be participating.

There is always the threat of the "Big One" looming in BC, ever since more than ten years ago I think. And I had heard we were overdue for one and it was rather anti-climatic when none really did occur. The last earthquake we experienced was the aftershock from Seattle and that was back in high school. It was rather funny at the time because I felt it shaking before everyone else and I was looking around the classroom to see if anyone else felt it but the everyone was acting normally and the teacher kept teaching. I was tempted to raise my hand and ask if it was an earthquake but more tremors started up and my teacher screamed "OMG IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!!!!"

So now everyone can practice drop, cover and hold on after all these years of going soft with no earthquakes. It never hurts to be prepared. Which reminds me that I still need to put together an earthquake kit.
You can find out more about the ShakeOut here at http://www.shakeoutbc.ca/.

The stray is actually quite pretty. She's very photogenic and very affectionate. Toward people anyways. She hates Sunny but she's learned to tolerate him a bit. It did take a long time for her to warm up to us too. It was all hissing and growling in the beginning.

It's been a long time since the last time I have drawn anything...When was it?...My last pic upload was winter of 2008! That's really too long I've been absent from the art world. I'm thinking of starting up again. I have a Tron themed pic floating around in my head. There are a few things a want to buy though. I'm thinking of purchasing Photoshop CS5 and upgrading my Wacom tablet. But I also want to some other electronics like a DSLR! Then there's the Kinect. Decisions, decisions...

Photoshop CS5 - US $199.00 on Adobe.com
Wacom Tablet - CDN $69.01 on Amazon.ca

Maybe I should just not delay and purchase them. I'm still waiting for the Canon T2i to come down in price a bit. Maybe next boxing day...or black friday.

The one-year anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games is fast approaching and there are events going to be hosted everywhere in February. One of these events is a film called With Glowing Hearts: A Vancouver 2010 Social Media Story. This documentary will talk about how social media had a huge and positive impact during and after the games for the people living in Vancouver by letting everyone tell their own story. For a limited time, tickets to the screening are free! Request tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1203033305/?ref=estw

Watch the trailer here:

It seems that there are so many Groupon type sites popping up these days. Hmmm I wonder if I should get in this trend.

So this latest site is called The Daily Steal. And to get lots of people to follow them they are hosting a HUGE giveaway which started today! All you have to do is sign up! http://thedailysteal.ca/?utm_source=uu2531
Make sure you use the registration code located in step number 2 because they will credit your account with $10 right away for you to use on their deals!

Here are the list of prizes to be won:
Day 1: $200 Memory Express GiftCard
Day 2: $200 BestBuy GiftCard
Day 3: $200 Metropolis GiftCard
Day 4: $200 Starbucks GiftCard
Day 5: $200 FutureShop GiftCard
Day 6: $200 Holt Renfrew GiftCard
Day 7: 7 Days in Paradise in Orlando Florida. (Value $3000)
Day 8: one Apple iPad every 12 hours
Day 9: one Apple iPad every 12 hours
Day 10: one Apple iPad every 12 hours

Sign up at The Daily Steal today and get in on the giveaway!

Taking pictures of baby kribs is very hard as they don't like the autofocus light and dart all over the place. My babies are so big now! They are about an inch long and their parents already have another batch of fry they are taking care of. Pretty soon they will have to go on to new homes. Watching them grow up makes me so happy!

Incendies begins with the reading of the will of Nawal Marwan (Lubna Azabal) to her twin children Jeanne (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette). Naval's last requested to her children is to deliver two letters - one to their father, whom they thought was long dead and a letter to a brother they never knew existed. This sets the twins off on a journey to the Middle East where they start to discover their mother's horrific and heartbreaking past and in turn discover theirs as well. The movie shifts back and forth in time following the twins’ journey to find their brother and father and Nawal’s journey to find the son that she was forced to give up. The movie just builds and builds until the shocking revalation at the end.

How to describe this movie? Incendies has me leaving the theatre reeling. Montreal filmmaker Denis Villeneuve draws us into the tangled story of Nawal Marwan and her children with great skill. It is not a feel-good movie but I cannot deny it is very good storytelling.

Incendies has already won a lot of awards and there are rumours that it will be up for an Oscar in February.

So I started contesting after my sister started winning a whole bunch of things and she got me hooked. My prize list isn't as impressive as hers but it is quite a list. My winnings total up to approximately $3446! No trip or home theatre system yet but I did manage to win an XBox and who can forget my EPIC win: floor tickets to Lady Gaga concert! Here's to another year of wins. My goal is to win a Kinect.

I didn't keep track of any wins prior to April but there probably wasn't a lot of wins anyways since I didn't really start seriously contesting.

Apr 1
-Flip Mino from ScotiaBank: $199
-$50 iTunes Gift Card
-$100 Outdoor Gift Card

Aug 17
- Zaggfolio ($69)
- Canucks Poster (never received)

Aug 20
- Lady Gaga floor tickets for Aug23 show from Samsung Mobile (2x $99 + service charge)

Aug 23
- Double Screening Pass to Going The Distance from VIA
- Double movie pass to see THE LAST EXCORCISM from Georgia Straight

Aug 24
- $10 code for Threadless.com
- 2 tickets to PNE and 2 tickets to Playland from London Drugs

Aug 25
- InvisibleShield from ZaggDaily ($39.99)

Aug 26
- Longchamp bag from AirFrance $60

Aug 27
- Pack of Duracell batteries (x2)

Aug 28
- Pair of Vancouver Trolley Passes

Aug 31
- $100 Best Buy Gift Card (+ additional $100)

Sept 2
- Real Player Travel Mug ($5)

Sept 3
- Panasonic ZrO2 Couture Earbuds $59.99 (was supposed to be the $69.99 pair but was stolen)

Sept 8
- Killers Blu-Ray

Sept 9
- $5 Blenz Coffee Gift Card

Sept 13
- $50 PetroCanada Gift Card
- 2 tickets to Train at the Commodore Ballroom on Sept 18th : $40.00 x 2

Sept 16
- Double movie pass to see Buried
- 2 Double movie passes to see LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE
- 2 tickets to see Artemis Rocks! show

Sept 17
-two VIFF tickets to see The Woodmans or Waste Land (includes 2 VIFF membership $2 each)

Sept 20
- 2 tickets to Hanson at the Commodore Ballroom on Sept 25th MSP: $36.50 x 2

Sept 21
- double pass to the advance screening of Never Let Me Go

Sept 22
- advanced screening for two to NOWHERE BOY

Sept 27
- advanced screening for two to The Social Network

Sept 29
- advanced screening for two to Secretariat

Sept 30
- 3x free bread coupon from Nature's Own

Oct 12
- Elixar by Hilary Duff ($17.99)

Oct 13
- advanced screening for two to Hereafter

Oct 14
- How to Make Peace in the Middle East ($28.99)
- 2 double advanced screening passes for Conviction

Oct 15
- XBox 360 Slim 250GB ($299.99)

Oct 19
- Halo Reach ($59.99)

Oct 20
- Grey Kobo eReader from Chapters/Indigo ($149)

Oct 27
- Alan Wake (never received), got Halo Reach instead

Nov 1
- Exclusive Faber Drive Concert by Samsung Mobile Canada
- Millenium Prize pack (Blu-ray/DVD combo of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire)

Nov 3
- Next Three Days advanced screening pass for two

Nov 4
- I Wear Your Shirt T-shirt, sticky notes, bottle holder and stickers

Nov 5
- 2 "lights on or lights out" stickers
- 30 music downloads

Nov 8
- LG Pop mobile phone from Rogers ($174.99 w/ no contract)

Nov 9
- Tangled advanced screening pass for two

Nov 10
- Rubber Duckie
- Dead Space: Ignition code for XBox $5
- BlackBerry Curve 3G + 6 months of $65 Unlimited Plan + 10$ unlimited data

Nov 12
-127 Hours Prize Pack: screening pass, water bottle, t-shirt

Nov 17
- Tangled advanced screening pass for 4

Nov 18
- Born to Bark book

Nove 19
- House Brawl t-shirt and $10 code from Threadless

Nov 23
- Pink BlackBerry Curve 3G

Nov 26
- The Fighter Advance Screening for two

Dec 15
- 2 tix for deadmau5 in Toronto (no transportation provided unfortunately)

Dec 22
- Shapercise

Dec 23
- Room by Emma Donoghue

The Pepto-Bismol team has put together some hilarious commercials with Ken Jeong (The Hanover, Knocked Up). They say it's ok to indulge yourself; Peptol-Bismol's got you covered should you suffer any stomach problems! Mom to Bed by 8 is hosting a contest for a Peptol-Bismol party prize pack that includes a pink iPod Shuffle! It's super easy to enter so check it out here. Good luck!

First post of the year and I'm a week late. So it's a new year and it is the 7th year that I have started blogging on and off. Well I guess one of my resolutions will be to post more often. Cleaning up and redecorating the house seems to be another one of my goals this year. I'm in the process of cleaning up my aquariums and getting rid of the ones I don't need anymore. I've already sold my 20 gallon (that was a sad night for me). I have three more ten gallons and possibly a 5 gallon to get rid of also. Another thing todo is to go through and process my Europe and San Franscisco photos. It is quite a backlog. Finish playing Dragon Age: Origins, set up the XBox, play Halo: Reach, win more contests... Here I am rambling about boring things to do. I told you there is nothing juicy in my life. LOL well hopefully there will be more movie screenings and midnight launches in 2011 that I can blog about. I've already won my first screening of the year this week. So look forward to the post about it next week. I've also have to add up my contest wins of 2010. That will be my next post; probably tomorrow. I post about such boring stuff. Haha. Happy new year!

If you haven't already heard, Apple Canada is offering 12 days of free downloads for the holidays starting fom December 23 (tomorrow) through January 3! The download could be either free music, TV episodes, movies, apps, or books from iTunes and each will be available for 24 hours only. Check out the details on their site: http://www.apple.com/ca/itunes/12days/

Other companies offering an avent calendar type promotion include Gameloft. You are going to have to follow Gameloft on Twitter though to find out what the daily offer is. Sometimes they offer free downloads of their games on different platforms. Other times it is just a trailer or trial version or desktop wallpaper.

I got the chance to watch an advanced screening of Tron: Legacy on Wednesday. I have never watched the original Tron from 1982 but with all the hype generated around this new sequel, I was really looking forward to watching it. Plus I like glowy things and Tron: Legacy has so many mesmerizingly glowy things. It certainly has benefited much from the advance in technology.

Turns out you don't need to watch the original at all to enjoy this movie. It did a very good job of providing backstory and stands very well on its own. Garrett Hedlund stars as Sam, Kevin Flynn's son (the protagonist from the previous film). Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn and also plays Clu.

Kevin Flynn is a genius programmer and the CEO of Encom. A sudden and mysterious disappearance of Kevin Flynn leaves his young son Sam orphaned. Years later, Sam recieves a message from his dad's friend Alan Bradley regarding a page he received originating from the office of the abandoned Flynn's Arcade. Sam investigates and discover's his dad's secret office and is somehow whisked away into the Grid - a digital world of his dad's creation. There he meets Clu, a program his father create years ago to handle things in the Grid but apparently he has turned bad and gained control of all the Grid. Sam manages to escape from Clu with the help of Quorra (Olivia Wilde from House), a fearless and mysterious program of the Grid who knows where his father is. Together they must race against time to make it out of the Grid alive.

The movie had awesome special effects - did I mention cool glowing costumes and set? An amazing musical score by Daft Punk carried the atmosphere of the movie very well. The actors did an amazing job but the only thing I didn't like was how fake the younger Kevin Flynn seemed. Disney had to digitalize Jeff Bridges' face to turn back the clock but everytime younger Kevin or Clu spoke it was rather uncanny. But that is a small detail. This move is full of eye candy and you will love it. I would recommend the movie to everyone whether or not you are a Tron fan! But if you are a Tron fan, I am told that there are many references to the original movie. It is not likely to disappoint. However if you can watch in non-3D choose that option. The movie had practically no 3D effects!

Tron: Legacy is in theatres today! Go see it! I highly recommend it. I want to go back and watch the original Tron now. And I hope they will make another one!

In other news, I am currently in a contest that BestBuy is hosting on Facebook. It's the Unboxing Day contest and I'm currently in the top 3 and need a lot of help to stay there. I need people to vote for me and you can vote every day until Dec 31. Everytime you vote, you get entered into a weekly draw for a $150 BestBuy giftcard! So the more you vote, the better the chance you will have! Please vote for Jenny Lee (Xbox Unboxing). Thank you very much! http://apps.facebook.com/unboxingday/gallery.php?sort=2

Best Buy had the midnight launch of World of Warcraft:Cataclysm on monday. There are two versions available. The regular game goes for $39.99 and Collector's Edition is $84.99. For $45 more you get exclusive in-game content, trading cards, art book, soundtrack, behind the scenes DVD and a mouse pad.

It was fairly quiet at the Cambie location. They also hosted a costume contest again. This time two winners got an HP AMD Quad Core and Triple Core respectively. I heard that downtown Futureshop also hosted their own contest. There were a lot of good costumes. In my mind I thought that the person who paints themselves blue would win. And I was right. A girl showed up late with her boyfriend. They both had awesome costumes and but she was all blue. She won the quad core laptop and a guy that dressed up like some kind of mage won second. There were also incentives to line up early. The first 50 people at the Cambie store would get a Steelseries Original WoW MMO mouse! More than 50 people were sitting outside by 9pm already waiting in anticipation.

In addition to the costume contest, there was a draw for the WoW:Cataclysm Collector's Edition...And guess who won it! Blue girl's boyfriend! They are so lucky! What are the odds?! They left shortly after receiving their prizes. A lucky person also won a large vinyl WoW poster.

It was also the midnight launch of Inception and Shrek 4...not that anybody cared.

In other news, I am currently in a contest that BestBuy is hosting on Facebook. It's the Unboxing Day contest and I'm currently in the top 2 and need a lot of help to stay there. I need people to vote for me and you can vote every day until Dec 31. Everytime you vote, you get entered into a weekly draw for a $150 BestBuy giftcard! So the more you vote, the better the chance you will have! Please vote for Jenny Lee. Thank you very much! http://apps.facebook.com/unboxingday/gallery.php?sort=2

Hi all,

I really need some help with a contest I am in. This is a daily vote and I need all the votes I can get. If you can, please take the time to vote for Jenny Lee.

You will need facebook to vote. But if you do you get entered into a draw for a weekly $150 BestBuy giftcard! Each vote is an entry ballot so vote for me daily!

http://apps.facebook.com/unboxingday/gallery.php?sort=2

Thanks in advance!

The developer of Angry Birds confirmed on Twitter that they are updating the Angry Birds Halloween edition - free for currently owners! This update will probably happen sometime in December. I think the Halloween edition is $1.99 in the Apple App store. And is you don't already know yet, if you own an Android phone, the regular version of the full game is completely free for download, albiet with ads. But it is a small price to pay for one of the most addictive games out there!

Angry Birds is also approaching their one year anniversary and apparently Saturday, December 11th is Angry Birds Day! There are meetups every around the world! It'll be like a flash mob type thing. You can either join a group or create your own. I think the closest one to Vancouver is in Delta right now. Not sure if I'm addicted enough to attend though. lol

I've also discovered that Rovio made Angry Birds plush toys! So cute! I want them all to throw at people. Hahaha! If only they weren't $14.99 plus shipping and handling! =/ http://shop.angrybirds.com/

The Fighter is a movie based on a true story about the early years of famous boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, starring Mark Wahlberg, and his life leading up to the World Championship. His older brother Dick "Dicky" Eklund, played by Christian Bale, was also a boxer and taught Micky everything he knows. Dicky becomes Micky's trainer and their mother Alice (Melissa Leo) manages his career. Sadly Dicky is an unreliable trainer since he is a drug addict. After one too many loses and Dicky ends up in jail, Micky quits boxing until his girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) convinces him to go back - this time without his mother and bother. His family was plagued with anger and feelings of betrayal but suddenly Micky is actually winning and has a chance at the World Championship.

This movie is actually pretty good! For someone who knows absolutely nothing about boxing, this movie was very entertaining. It was about family and rising up to meet all the challenges life throws at you. It was humourous, heartwarming and will have you cheering for Micky until the end. This inspirational movie is about never giving up and how important family is - just when you think someone is going to lose, they come back and surprise you.

The Fighter opens in theatres Dec 17, 2010.

I went to the Sara Bareilles Concert at the Commodore Ballroom on Monday. Holly Conlan and Cary Brothers opened. During one of Cary Brother's songs, Bareilles actually come out and sang with him!. And there would be more of this later on when she performs her own songs. She would invited Holly Conlan and Cary Brothers and their band members to participate in her songs and even asked the crowd to sing along! In her famous "Love Song", she let the crowd sing first chorus. "It's all about interactivity" she said. Her performance was spectacular. Bareilles was very funny and down-to-earth. I loved her stories about her songs. There were times where she did the unexpected though - like climbing on top of the piano to sing! Crazy!

Bareilles and her openers liked to close their eyes when they sing so most of the pictures I took are with closed eyes. LOL

This weekend, new cell service provider, Mobilicity opened up multiple stores in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal! They have very low rates and when they say unlimited it is actually unlimited. The cheapest plan is $25 with unlimited talk and text with caller ID! And for $10 more you can add a unlimited data plan! This is awesome deal compared to other service providers! Too bad I'm still in a contract that doesn't end until March. Otherwise I'd be all over this! Mobilicity is also currently offering two grand opening specials ($30 or $40 unlimited plan with data) that are valid until the end of the November.
Virgin Radio was on site at some of the stores promoting the grand opening. Guess who was at the Kingsway location! KIAH! He's so cool. Got a picture with him too! Eeee! Too bad Tara Jean wasn't there. Kiah said Evil Kiah gave her a nervous breakdown so she had to leave early. LOL I hope I can meet them together one day. =)

Tangled is a retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel. In Disney's version, Rapunzel is a princess, kidnapped as a baby and locked up in a hidden tower by Mother Gothel. Why would she do this? Well, Mother Gothel is an evil old lady that wants to use Rapunzel's magical hair to keep herself young. She's managed to convince Rapunzel to stay in the tower for 18 years by telling her that the outside world is too dangerous for her. Along comes theif Flynn Ryder who accidentally stumbles across the tower while trying to escape the palace guards. Rapunzel convinces Flynn to take her out of the tower to see the floating lanterns, that always seem to appear on her birthday. But Mother Gothel is not going to stand idle while her precious fountain of youth walks out the door and also everyone seems to want a piece of Flynn! A hair-raising adventure ensues...

I have to say Tangled is AWESOME! I was looking forward to watching it and Disney did not disappoint! I loved the animation, the story, the music, everything.

Rapunzel is voiced by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi (from TV series Chuck) voices Flynn Ryder. They did a very good job of making their characters come alive. One of my favourite non-voice characters is Rapunzel's pet chameleon, Pascal. He didn't need to utter a single word but he made the audience laugh all the time. As with all Disney movies, there is singing. Alan Menken does it again with an awesome set of songs and score. I loved all the songs and I might even purchase the soundtrack!

Tangled is shown in 3D but I thought that it wasn't necessary. There weren't many places where Disney took advantage of the 3D effect. The movie would be enjoyed the same if watching on regular screen. If you are planning to bring your kids to watch a movie, you can't go wrong with Tangled. Disney delivers a very entertaining, humerous and unique spin to a story that kids and even adults will love.

Tangled is in theatres Wednesday, November 24, 2010.

Quaaatichi!!!!

He was only $4.99 at the Olympic warehouse sale!
They have lots of stuff still in stock and this week they are giving away a free 9.5" Miga with Red Mittens no purchase necessary!

http://www.17hours.ca/index.php

Best Buy had the midnight launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops today. I was expecting more people than the number that showed up. There seemed to be more Halo fans than Call of Duty. Maybe they were offering better free stuff with purchase also. They were only giving away free toques to the first 90 people to purchase the game. There are three versions available: normal ($59.99), the 'Hardened Edition' ($79.99) and the 'Prestige Edition' ($149.99). The Prestige edition offers a remote control car with in-built camera with addition maps and the Hardened edition includes the extra maps and a tin case.

Best Buy also held a costume contest. They gave away two Prestige Editions to runner ups to their costume contest and XBox and game bundle to the winner. They also gave away one Prestige edition to a random person in line. I dressed up as well as I could but in the end the Best Buy manager choose another girl (the one in the blue uniform) to be runner up. There were 3 girls that participated in the costume contest. Everyone had their paintball or airsoft gear and I had my homemade costume. T_T It was fun though! Everyone complemented me on my costume. =) I also was filmed for the news! I might be on TV! LOL Two of the sound developers of the game were there too and I took a photo with them and got their autographs on a bandanna!

I tried playing it. There are Zombie Nazis! Aaaaah! I didn't last very long...

So far so good! This is the umpteenth time my Kribensis have spawned but every time they never lasted more than three days. This time the guppies have been put into jail and the fry seem to be surviving! I've been feeding them baby brine shrimp and crushed flake food by squirting the food in their direction. They gooble it up so fast their bellies become round and fat. They are sooo cute!

Hahaha. Mum doesn't like me taking pictures of them.

I was looking at it while I was driving home and I remember thinking rainbows are a driving hazard! So beautiful! I ran inside to get my camera after I got home. It's actually a double rainbow and but the second one is kinda faint. I wasn't far away enough to get the whole thing. =( It was a complete rainbow from end to end. Seeing this rainbow today made me think of Karen's double rainbow mission. That song is stuck in my head!

I went to the midnight launch at Best Buy on Wednesday night to check out the new Kinect. There was a crowd but not in the numbers as the launch party for Halo Reach or Starcraft. About 200 or so people showed up. Diamonds in the Rough and Blueprint Cru (runner up in America's Best Dance Crew) were there and gave awesome performances. They also played with Kinect, especially with the Dance Central game. Not surprisingly they all got high scores! Kinect is very fun to play. I can see how this might have the potential to overtake the Wii or PS3 someday, but better games have to come out first.

I tried out the Joy Ride game but the sensor had trouble detecting me so I ended up driving in circles. Everyone laughed. T_T I thought the sensor might use heat to detect where someone is and I was very cold and my fake leather jacket didn't help either. Turns out I was right! One of the sensors on the bar is a infrared red sensor! Still very fun and people probably won't play outside in the cold anyways.

I had a good time and got a Kinect hat signed by the Blueprint Cru and also a picture taken with them! Yay!

I was lucky enough to be invited to this event presented by Samsung Mobile today. There was an open bar and and Faber Drive was gave us a private show! Samsung Mobile was promoting the new Galaxy Tab and Samsung Captivate phone and I got a chance to take a look at both. Unfortunately they didn't give one to me. =( I took some photos of them but the lighting was dark so the photos may not show them at their best. You can see the screens are very bright though. These devices look awesome and I hope to get one of them soon in the future.

Faber Drive gave an awesome performance. I loved their song "When I'm With You" most of all. There was a lot of energy in the room. It wasn't very crowded so I got to stand at the front. I even got a Faber Drive t-shirt! Woo! =D

Zombies, zombies everywhere! AAAAAAH!
Thrill The World is an annual worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” According to the unofficial count there were 6,590 participants this year! Wow!
This took place today at Roundhouse Community Centre at Yaletown, Vancouver.

Seen the latest video by Vibrant Coast yet? It's pretty awesome! Play it over and over again. It's EPIC.

If you want to leave the theatre feeling happy, this is definitely the wrong movie to see. Buried left a bad taste in my mouth. It is about a US supply truck driver who was attacked by Iraqis and buried alive. Ryan Reynolds plays Paul Conroy trapped in a coffin with only a cell phone an a lighter (at first) and his time running out. Don't get me wrong Reynolds performance was spectacular but he is also the only one we ever see. Everyone else in the movie are only voices coming from the cellphone, Paul's only link to the outside world. Even though the entire 94 minutes is spent within a box, it was at times thrilling and the ending will shock you. Buried that leaves you feeling very uneasy and thinking about real current situation in Iraq is and how it might not be too far off from fiction. Not a movie to take your date to.

Buried opens in theatres tomorrow Friday October 8.

I love horse racing movies. Secretariat was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was very exciting to watch even though you know that he wins. Secretariat is about the legendary racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1973. It revolves around Penny Tweedy and her horse Big Red known as Secretariat in the races. After her parents passes away, she is faced with a 6 million dollar debt in inheritance taxes for her parents farm. Hope springs the colt Big Red who quickly demostrates his amazing ability to win races. Even then Mrs Tweedy is faced with skeptics and pompous opponents in a male dominated sport of horse racing but she never loses faith in Secretariat or herself. This movie tells us that sometimes you have to stick with what you believe in.

Secretariat opens in theatres Friday October 8.

My back is aching, my whole body is sore and I'm so tired but it'll be worth it for the flowers that will show up next spring! I spent almost the entire day planting bulbs. I had to take advantage of the overcast sky otherwise the rain will come and I won't be able to plant anymore! The Gladiolus are currently blooming in the garden and the autumn crocus are starting to come out too. I love autumn. The fiery colours of fall always make me smile.

When I first heard about this movie I thought it was a stupid concept and why would anyone go to watch it?! After I've watched it, I've changed my mind. The Social Network is actually a good movie! It is about how socially awkward Mark Zuckerberg managed to build a multibuillion dollar company centred around social networking online but while screwing up in real life with his friends. The movie revolves around two lawsuits Mark is in between Eduardo Saverin (Mark's former best friend) and the Winklevoss twins. What we are presented with are a series of flashbacks which tell the story of how Facebook came to be and how Mark ultimately ended up in two lawsuits. Jesse Eisenberg did a brillant job at playing the young programmer genius and Andrew Garfield who played Eduardo did an awesome job too. And not to mention he's so cute! I'm not sure how much of the story is true but it was very interesting to see how the relationships in the movie played out and you will start to feel very strong emotions toward the characters.

The Social Network is in theatres now. Go see it!

I was lucky to win a pair of tickets to see the Hanson concert at the Commodore last Saturday. Invited some of my friends too. One already had tickets because she's a die-hard fan! I have to confess. I have never listened to a single Handson song in my life or not that I could remember so I REALLY did not know what to expect. The floor was already packed with fan girls by the time we got in. We were near the back of the crowd at first but it grew more crowded as time went on. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. >=(
The Hansons had two opening acts. The first was Andrew Allen. He is another artist that I never knew I liked! I always like him on the radio! He sang his hit, Loving You Tonight, and a few other ones that I didn't recognize.

The second act was A Rocket to the Moon, a group I've never heard of. The lead singer of the group looks exactly like a younger version of Justin Timberlake! Their songs were ok but my friend says they sucked. They played a long time too. By this time it was 10:30pm (music started at 9) and the fangirls were getting REALLY IMPATIENT! Especially my friend who was booing at them! And other people were chanting Hanson! Hanson!
The Hansons finally came on stage at 11pm. >=( The girls didn't care they had their idols. They are not little boys anymore! Lots of energy in their songs.
The crowd was going crazy! The screaming and jumping!Many caused the crowd to jump up and down in unison which had me alarmed because I could feel the floor depressing and I was afraid of it collapsing. (Hey! it happened before! http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/04/25/bc-abbotsford-chur... They were also jumping up and down too!) My only favourite was Mmmbop. The others...well let's just say I won't be getting their CD anytime soon. I had an awesome time though!

We took a lot of Taylor pics because he is the most good-looking of the brothers. lol There was also a lot of hair flippage. lol

See the full gallery on posterous

Modroids, the first augmented reality video game for Android, optimized for the Samsung Galaxy S. Make your character, modify it and battle with your friends! See your characters come to life in the real-world and enhance your game-play!
Brought to you by team Vibrant Coast. Follow them on Twitter @vibrantcoast
Like, leave a comment and share with your friends!

I'm trying out Posterous so I don't know how this post will turn out. Sorry if the pictures looks funny.

I went to the Train concert yesterday at the Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver. I was fortunate enough to win tickets and I really had no idea what to expect because I didn't know who they were except that they sang "Hey, Soul Sister" - a song which I like. They did not disappoint. The concert was awesome. Pat Monahan was awesome. Turns out I am familiar with a lot of their songs! And most of them I already like! I'm so getting the CDs!

We ended up standing near the center front since all the seats were taken already. The opening act was Ryan Star. He wasn't bad but he was no Train! Pat Monahan has an amazing voice. He also dances around a lot and had four t-shirt changes! He threw away two of them into the audience and SIGNED the Canada one too! The girl who got it was so lucky! He said she was wearing a San Fransisco shirt and she should be wearing a Canada one so he gave it to her! The girl behind us got his white t-shirt. He also went crowd surfing and went around the audience when during the "Marry Me" number. And he also threw away his guitar picks. I was lucky enough to get one! At the end of the show, the drummer threw away his sticks too! Hey, Soul Sister was the second last song and the whole audience participated in singing it. I'll admit I joined in too. It was an amazing concert experience.

See the full gallery on posterous

Yesterday was the new Apple iPods and today is the Samsung Galaxy Tab! These new things are making me salivate with desire.

The iPod touch looks pretty sweet with it's new camera. But the iPhone has a better camera and now supports HDR!!! Whoa! Makes me want to consider an iPhone...However the Samsung Galaxy S looks very tempting too.

The Galaxy Tab looks like it's better than the iPad! It's smaller, but it has a CAMERA! Awesome! That is what the iPad is missing. Can't wait to see one in Canada. Wonder how much it's going to cost though. I hope it's not as much as the iPad! Outrageous prices!

Popular Posts