Eeeyer why like dat one!!

Book Review List

2006-01-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

To review:

"Everything Bad is Good For You", Steven Johnson
"Tuesdays with Morrie", Mitch Ablom

Back from Heaven...Gewurztraminer, Bacchus, Auxerrois!

2005-07-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

Had the most awesome long weekend! Took Friday off and took a nice relaxing trip to the Okanagan/Kelowna area with Heather, Eric, and Tonny.

Friday 9:30am...Heather and I left a little earlier and made our way towards Kelowna. It was a wonderfully relaxing drive in the morning without any tight schedules or much traffic. The only downside was that it was raining...we didn't mind too much as it meant not scorching in the little civic, sincer there was no A/C. When we reached Kelowna and checked out our reserved Bed and Breakfast lodgings at "Richelle's B&B" we were surprised to find only 2 bedrooms, both with queen beds... hmm... we had booked for 1 room with double beds and one with a queen so Heather wouldn't have to share a bed...anyway, it was suspiciously Richelle's mix up as she had 2 older ladies take over the room with the double... It wasn't a big deal as Heather and I decided to have first dibs on the nicer bigger bedroom with a proper washroom. The other bedroom we left Eric and Tonny with sported a very intimately romantic shower stall that had its clear glass door right against the bedroom wall...making anyone showering look like a displayed entertainment piece...lol.... haha poor guys... we all had a good time in beautiful Kelowna. Can't believe how much has changed and the amount of new facilities and business there now. Gorgeous parks by the water, rivaling Stanley Park's seawall, and live outdoor music every weekend evenings, fresh paint on everything!... Water and mountains everywhere... simply heaven. Not to mention all the "kryptonite" of paler persuasion romping around if you fellas know what I mean...

So the town and stay was great and the Wineries were even more spectacular. I wasn't really expecting much so I was blown away at the amount of fun I had. Driving from winery to winery, sipping different wines, getting educated on the processes, the grapes, the flavours, the etiquette and customs, the majestic scenery, the interesting architecture.... only one word... heaven. Mission HIll was especially amazing with their polished staff members all dawning uniforms and memorized spiels on the estates, and a full theatre just to wash the audience/visitors over with a multimedia offering to brainwash you into Mission HIll's elegance and austerity.

Kinda funny seeing some narcissistic shots within the video of the estate's proprietor, Anthony von Mandl -- cheesy. Nevertheless, very well done presentation, and the architecture of Mission HIll was breathtaking.

Well the only wine I bought was Arrowleaf's Bacchus. A white wine, very sweet and refreshing. Very promising... the Okanagan... many new wineries coming up and they're doing well both in the local and international scene!

I would recommend everyone to take a weekend this summer to check out some of the best BC has to offer in the interior. Get a crazy tan....Like I did too... mind you a little too much... darker than I've ever been in years...

Sunday videos

2005-07-17T23:58:00.000-07:00

Okay I need to pull out more clips from the riding shoot today but here are some for now..

http://www.techrunners.ca/tony.wmv

http://www.techrunners.ca/tony2.wmv

We even saw the one and only Porsche Carrera GT in Vancouver and caught it on film going west on Broadway! "There goes $600,000 rolling down the street!"

http://www.techrunners.ca/carerra.wmv

Past Sunday Video

2005-07-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

Downloaded last Sunday's video of bikes... of ride to Squamish/Whistler. Enjoy... more filming to come this week. This time of actual riding more. lol

http://www.techrunners.ca/whistler.wmv

Mucho Delta

2005-07-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Okay I don't post for 2 weeks and this is what happens... lots.

So remember all that talk of how to restyle the gix?... Well, lets scrap all that!! I'm sellin my baby... Yup, time for some life rearranging and part of the gameplan is consolidating debts...starting with the biggest luxury item I have -- my most faithful and loving of companions -- my 04 Gixxer 600. :( I was incredibly melancholy when I laid out all my riding gear on my apartment floor and cleaned and prepped the various items in preparations of sales. It was like coming to grips with yet another loss of a relationship and packing up the mementos... That makes twice this year... Oh well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do right. STay the course, Alvin... two steps forwards requires one step back right?...and all that stuff.

The major focus at this time is to try and get a mortgage and get me a new place to live. Lots to think about! Where do I buy, how old, what's type of amenities do I want nearby, projected mortgage fees, condo fees, property taxes, down payment amounts... ahhh And to top it off... should I go ahead with this now?... One thing to think about is the commitment to Vancouver, and also to whatever current job I have at the moment. If I am to purchase, my hold on the property should well be beyond 2 years at the minimum if I am to see any positive gain on equity and value increases. Anything less and I'll probably be losing to taxation, real estate transfer fees and the hassle...hmmm... Will update the ongoings of the search. I suspect I'll commit to something a little less risky -- a condo UNDER $140K should keep mortgage fees down and any incurred losses should marginally be lower than that of something higher in price. For now, preliminary areas include Mount Pleasant, Fraser, and Cariboo Heights. I want nearby skytrain/transit access and some size. Minimal hooker/bum assortments as well.lol...

Anyway, as of last Thursday night, I've sold my suit, my boots, my gold iridium visor and back protector for a total of $605. I'm still listing my black & chrome Teknic Violator Pro gloves for $150. All things going well, I stand to have $755 cash for the gear. I'm still keeping my helmet and cheaper gloves while my bike isn't sold yet. I"m hoping to get $9000 for the gix to pay off the entire loan out and up my monthly cashflow by $500 total. (insurance incl).

Aside from the above developments, I've been keenly reading a lot more. I've finished Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, which I strongly recommend to all of you out there. I would actually argue that it is more exciting and has an even more twisted plot than the DaVinci Code. I especially enjoyed the various arguments and viewpoints on Science and Religion and their opposition and also their merger.

To replace Angels & Demons on my daily commute on the 44 Express to UBC and back, I'm reading Dan Brown's earlier work, Deception Point. So far so good. I'm a sucker for White House power plays, military involvement (Special Forces), and science fiction. What better book than one that fills the emptiness left from the lack of Jack Bauer's 24 over the summer!

For the secondary read, I'm deeply engrossed also in Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. It has all the historical tellings of a documentary combined with the emotional connection and storytelling of an epic film like Braveheart, or Gladiator...torn families, political maneuvers, power struggles, military tactics, and of course your obligatory love story. I would love to see a Edward Zwick or Ridley Scott rendition of this entire book. I think it would be a really strong film. There's simply so much that the filmmakers could draw upon. I'd buy stock on it, if movie productions were shared public ventures that could go on some sort of exchange.

Gixxer Styling - Solid

2005-06-28T00:49:00.000-07:00

Thinking of getting rid of my Gix's stickers. Clean solid look -- Ducati style! Whadaya think?

STOCK

NO SUZUKI

MORE OFF

SOLID AND CLEAN

SOLID WITHOUT REAR FENDER

Ridathon

2005-06-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hmm..... 12:07PM... Just woke up.... You'd think I would feel rested, but I don't. It doesn't matter how late you sleep until. The reality of it is how early you go to bed that determines the quality of rest... at least for this mofo. That and if I've been working out... I haven't... booo...

Okay its been 6 days into my week off and its been a whole lot of eating out, sleeping late, watching fobby chinese chapter shows and music. Darn Eric!!! Well, its all that and a whole lot of riding. Eric's finally finished his Pro Ride class and has his MSA. Went for a crazy all day ridathon yesterday and about to begin another one today. We hit Langley to check out HOleshot Racing and visited Jess and had a STarbucks. AFter that it was riding to Burnaby for eric's mock road test with ICBC/Pro Ride. Meanwhile, I was doubling Jess and we went Downtown (Robson->Denman) and then to Kits (Cornwall), and on to Spanish Banks/Jericho, and through UBC, then met back up with Eric in Burnaby and headed down to Richmond to meet up with Sherlock and Simon for some foodage....then back to Surrey after that to drop Jess off.. Then it was back up to Vancouver at 11:30 at night. Bloody hillarious as we rode speed limit through Surrey with no cars around and were fucking around doing retarded shit(superman, horse ridin)!

So, not sure where to head today yet... but I need a bloody haircut. First thing on the agenda no doubt....

Merovingiansensensen

2005-06-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

Okay finally finished da Da Vincci Code as I had the whole night to myself at home (my slutty apartment...commonly also referred to as JOC - Joint Operations Centre ... um.... Black Hawk Down... We're freaks --- I know..) Anyway, I was absolutely glued to the book through the last 100 pages there. Talk about perfect plot twists, suspense, and a whole lot of "oh that makes sense" as Dan Brown wrapped it up. Very entertaining. Thanks for the illustrated novell of a Birthday gift, Cathay. So now on to Robert Langdon's other adventure -- Angels & Demons which I'll soon be starting thanks to Eric's find at a used book store.

So the day's been kinda of low key...

I gain consciousness at around 8:40AM and snooze my alarm till I'm super late already for work at a brutal 9:40AM. (I usually start at 9:30). Still sliding around in bed trying I get that familiar internal conflict on whether to kick my ass up for work or to call in sick, as the overwhelmingly enjoyable "forbidden sleep" seems to have a stronger than usual hold on me this morning... probably due to my body making me pay for my bad habits of sleeping at 2AM the entire week. So finally I call work and say I'm coming in after lunch at 1PM to make up for time I will be spending this Saturday morning @ 10am to perform offline server maintenance... I call the "sleep deferral technique". Very effective and very rewarding... So I thought... I didn't fall back asleep after the call... boooo!!!!!!!! damn human nature... always wanting what you can't have and I'm no exception!

Got to work and made it for Bob's 30 years service at UBC party. Okay that was hillarious... I wasn't even born when he started employment at UBC in 1975. 30 years!!! Flashes of myself being at UBC at the same post for 30 years freaked the crap out of me all day. Remembering the ease at which I performed SDT earlier made me realize how UBC might entangle her tentacles around me as well...Must keep mindful of this and not remain complacent!!

So I got a parking ticket.... Finally, I was wondering when UBC Parking would realize my yellow horse in the Rose Parkade didn't have their stupid sticker denoting monthly pre-payment... Yup a whole $12 ticket.... Not bad considering I parked there for about a month...Still...Boo frickin hoo... ain't payin... I knew the day would come when I would get the ticket and when that happened its time to stop riding to work... back to takin the bus which I am supposed to get used to anyway.

After finding my kinder surprise on my seat, I start for home and almost got a speeding ticket. Bloody ghost Dodge Caravan cop was tailing me close and I remember thinking, who's this asshole driving so fast and close to my ass! and then changes lanes to be right beside me like some punk.... I look to my right and the dude's smugly smiling and waving at me as though saying "I gotcha, but I'll let u live this time". Sure I was a little overzealous on the throttle on my way down the hill (70k in a 50k Zone), but he was driving like an ass behind and around me with pressure. .B.A!!! Anyway, no ticket and he sped past and turned right.

Crap its midnite. Ok gotta get back to the most popular past-time on earth... Sleep. Heading to Heather's New Media BC event -- Vidfest tomorrow. Dang I wish I had a digital camera....

"Clearly has issues"

2005-06-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Okay how cool is this guy. Christian Bale has this perpetually angry, dark and stoic look that makes all the other Batman predecessors look like school girls. I think he's my favourite actor... Not your typical hollywood poster boy. He's talented, takes on a variety of roles, youge and ripped, and above all, dark and intense. I just found trailers for some of his other films and the one I most want to see now is "Equilibrium". Its a kind of a 1984 with stylistic cues from Blade and the Matrix. Hmm.. I think Bale could've been a better Neo than that piece of wood -- Keanu Reeves. Let's see... top male actors for me now are: Bale, Eric Bana, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt.

Equilibrium trailer: http://movies.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.totaleclips.com/player/splash.aspx%3Fcustid=9%26playerid=38%26clipid=e16410

Best ride day yet!

2005-06-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Okay my nerves are still slowly calming down.... yup another buck nuts riding day to Squamish/Whistler. The day started with some groggy phone calls. Everyone was half asleep when hailed around 10AM. Ironic, considering that within a few hours, adrenalin would be coursing through our veins and our two wheeled rockets would hurtle our bodies at up to 200km/h precisely through pristine BC coastal/country roads.

I rounded up the troops at noon. We met at the usual spot...Main and Terminal McDonald's and had a quick bite before making our half a dozen rider crew maneuver through Robson Downtown and Denman. After some posering through Vancouver's most popular street we filled up at a nearby Chevron and started booking it through towards North Van via Lion's GAte... Once again, as usual, I'm outnumbered by Yamaha's, with only a Honda HOrnet to help me out as the minority -- 4 Yamaha r6's, 1 Hornet, and my Gix. I was the tip of the spear... enjoying the site of 5 bikes with guys/gal in mostly full gear and sportbikes in my rear view mirrors,...we made our way towards Squamish and it was mediocre, except for a great stretch of a 5-10km's devoid of front traffic. Talk about a rush gearing down, leaning into a corner and powering through. Getting more and more comfortable slicing around curves and its a little concerning... Somewhere in the back of my mind I kept telling myself to relax and slow down and not push it, but the devil inside partners up with testosterone and urges u like a sick tease... "go faster, go faster..." and today I listened... I know terrible!... but man there's nothing that beats that sense of pure focus. NOthing else in the world mattered right then... its just the bike, your body, the environment and how you conduct the symphony of velocity and precision handling.

After some coffee at the Squamish STarbucks, we decided to head on toward Whistler. This time we added another rider... and yes... another Yamaha!...this time it was an 05 R1. Tony, who used to ride dirt bikes, but just started riding sportbikes was chatting with us and decided to join our mini-armada. Okay now, we severely "booked it" to Whistler. The roads from Squamish to WHistler was always better than Vancouver to Squamish. Less traffic, wider lanes and nice curves... We all took turns taking the lead and leaned through like wannabe MotoGPers... so much fun it should be illegal... actually it was... LOL. Anyway, once we got to Whistler we had more drinks and walked through the village. What a sweet day trip, fun getting there, fun being there, and all for $25 of gas and snacks... gotta love it.

Ok lazy to write more.. short story... we hit up Richmond for some dinner at Estea and then scattered off home @ 8:30PM...

1 hour later ...

Alan and Eric are over now and just returned with some Family pack KFC meal... yelling at me to eat!...

Post shower, meal, shorts and t-shirt....-> Nerves calming... smile subsiding... boo work tomorrow.!

Slack ass ham

2005-06-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

Ok ok... I was supposed to go to the dentist for some cleaning this morning and then get my car Air Cared and then, go to work at 1:30PM ish......I never ended up going to work... =). ...neither did I do my Air Care!.... Let's recap, shall we... After waking up at 10:10AM to Eric's annoying Blackberry alarm coming from the living room and Jess' phone call at 9:15AM on my cell in the den, I knew i had to get up to get ready for my 11am appt at Dr. Seebaran's. Rushing with a protein shake and getting dressed I thought I was gonna be late for hygienist. Met Charlene WHitford again, and it seemed as though no time had passed since my last visit. We talked about vacations, south east asia, passports, and how she had visited Thailand and United Arab Emirates on within the same vacation once... quite an eye opening experience going from one extreme to another with regards to women and liberation and acceptable conduct. Anyway, my teeth are doing well and Dr. S has scheduled me for a visit to add some tiny fillings at the bottom of some of my lower left teeth. Some of my gums have recessed and is causing sensitivity...this exposure is apparently due to either acidic food or my vigorous brushing... probably the latter. Also, they expectedly lectured me on visiting Dr. Chow for getting my wisdoms out... ugh... so do not look forward to wasting a few days for getting all 4 suckers out and eating out of a straw... I guess I should sometime this year....

After the dentist, I went for lunch at Kits Restaurant with Eric and then headed down towards Air Care centre by SW Marine Drive...As we were en route, Eric thumbed through my paperwork from the glove and saw that my Air Care expiry was only due in May 2006... 2006!! I didn't know to feel stupid or happy... I think both!!! Sweet cuz I don't have to wait in a stupid car line up and pay an extra $40, but stupid for planning so much to do it both at work and with Allan before. So with that, I decided to just call it a day and not return to work as it was already 1:30pm and we were nearby Richmond... So we hit up some fobby CD/DVD shops and then went to RMS & Pacific Yamaha to check out some new gloves and look for a battery tender for ERic.

Got back to Kits around 4 as Eric had to go pick V up from work. He took off from my apartment and I ended up eating a nammer sandwich and falling asleep watching some Special Features from the Last Samurai. Woke up around 6 and cleaned up the whole apartment.... Damn dishes!

Hit the gym at 7PM and primarily worked legs. Did some triceps and shoulders for secondary. Man 7pm at Kits FW is a zoo. Had to wait for every machine!

Left immediately after working out to Superstore in SW Marine and renewed the Integra's insurance for another year... $113 a month!! chep!... I'm a 10 year driving vet and I was apparently entitled to another discount stipulating that usage of the car is restricted to household members of 10 or more years of driving. No problem... its just me and lil' Epic in my household... lol.. Not looking forward to next year though when my premiums will increase due to Allan's front end crash of a month ago.

After Superstore I headed down to Surrey to visit Jess. Had a good chat over some coffee at Starbucks as she had to air some issues she's dealing with lately...As we're chatting out in the cold, facing 152nd street, some guy on his CBR600RR bails right in front of us.... He was trying to change lanes quickly as a van in front of him slowed down but realized at the last second that he didn't have enough room....he grabs a bunch of brakes and ends up lightly bumping the van and falling over. I quickly ran to him on the street and helped pick his ride up and checked the situation... thank god he was fine!... just a busted foot peg and mirror for his error... lucky guy... good thing he had some protective gear on. After bucks, me and Jess stopped by her place and played some cards over watching MTV and some Jesse James bike documentary on Discovery.

Interesting slack-ass-hookie-of-a-day!! Thank you UBC!!

Teg is back

2005-06-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

Finally got my ride back last night. Allan brought it over right after his work and it was so nice to see her all shiny and fresh...at least from the front third anyway. Apparently, they couldn't paint the rest of the body as ICBC kept close tabs on what was worked on with a whole slew of photos of her before. Unfortunately, the spoiler and the mirrors are faded pinkish but as a whole -- the car is looking good again.

So with the ride back I decided to hit up Surrey and visit Eric and Tonny as I dropped off Allan. Eric was practicing with his new CBR600RR and I wanted to watch and help too with Tonny but as I got there, I was told that his battery died. Too much low speed riding and messing around in the garage for it. (Same thing happened to Adam. He too couldn't ride his beast and played around with the lights and revving it at stand still one too many times....)So we had to take Eric's battery out and I had to bring it home with me to charge it for him...its fully charged now and I'm gonna ride it up to him tonight and we can continue his training..

The other major reason for hittin up Surrey last night was to continue our hard core workout regiment for this week...beginning with Chest and Abs again. Tony had to bail and visit an out of towner friend and Eric and I ended up in Langley's Fitness World. Really nice facilities there and a full juice bar!! What a shame Kits FW doesn't have the same. The real estate was significant too. A full warehouse with a semi-open plan. Very, very nice... I think I'll be working out there again. It was pretty quiet and there's something about suburbia and the type of people that come out to play. ... After blasting through our sets, we ended up having some awesome Post Workout Shakes and chilled at the cafe au fresco like sitting area in the warehouse...

Got home round 12:30, showered and read a couple more chapters of Da Vincci Code...the part about Sexual Rite... I have to admit that it was slightly disturbing and hard to think about considering my love life woes lately... When will I be completely unnerved hearing stories of adultery, "casual sex!!", and the like. Sick of it all. Less and less being kept sacred these days and its very depressing...Don't get me started! I'm praying to stay naive and unaltered in my utopian views on relationships regardless of what happens...purity please!

Anyway, it was nice cruising with nothing but my thoughts in the evening with the Teg again!!

Hattori Hanzo Katanananananaaa..

2005-06-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

Went out for all you can eat sushi at Sui Sha Ya yesternight at Lansdowne Mall. Allan, Gary, and myself were bloody starving so we went a little overboard on the order sheet. Gary was designated to fill it in and it was crazy. By the time Jonez and Eric arrived our table was packed with dishes of sashimi, rolls, cones, miso, tsunomono, agedashi, edamame, pork terriyaki, beef... etc.... as soon as we cleared a plate and tried to make more room another dish would come... it got pretty ridiculous... we all got pretty stuffed and it was hillarious. Just as we were about to order some desert to cap off an already gluttonous meal, an unassuming waiter arrived with yet a full plate of assorted sashimi and rice.... the horror on our faces was prices had to be seen!! So we thrashed about and slowly went to work but couldn't finish..... though we still ended up getting some jello, and oranges for desert.

AFter the usual barrage of "What do you wanna do now?"s exchanged back and forth, we all decided to hit up night market. We were all thinking it was bloody cold for a June night as we strolled through the place... stopped at a couple of sword/knife stands that had assortment of samurai katana's, daggers, and chinese battlements. I was close to dropping 80 bones for a Last Samurai sword. There's something sinfully appealing in feeling the weight and wielding the grips of such a instrument of surgical death... (mind you none of the swords were sharpened). Perhaps I will pick one up for keepsake and display, though I should really be saving money and not spending on random trinkets...

Had some Dragon beard confection for the first time... (flour/sugar strands wrapping peanuts and more sugar) ...Apparently only chinese emperors were treated to such a snack...so I was told by Eric....I didn't think too much of the taste....interesting nonetheless.

Gary ended up buying some massive CZ stud earrings and it was hillarious. They were ridiculously huge, but I think he can pull it off. They looked the size of a full carrat ... per stud!!. Can someone say Balla! Diddy style!... lol if only they were real.

After NM we all headed to White Rock Starbucks and had a drink before heading home @ around 1 in the morn....Sleepy as hell... I managed to sleep in 3 different cars on the way back home from White Rock to Ironwood, from Ironwood to gary's, from gary's to kits. (Acura EL -> Mazda 3 -> Porsche Boxster)... lol B.A. ... can't wait to get my car back tonight from body shop.

Rainy Sunday Morning

2005-06-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Woke up to rain... One of the sweetest sounds to awake to, especially in the summer. Had a great sleep too and feeling superbly rested. As I got up, the slight muscle tension in my neck and the slightly sore feeling in my shoulders, biceps slowly crept in and reminded me of my workout session at Fitness World yesterday at 3:30pm....(which was after one of the best naps I ever had... lending also to my current feeling of being well rested). So nice to start getting serious on the workouts again!

Met Heather at the gym and we ended up planning to meet after for Dinner at Malone's by Kits beach... It was nice having a beer and some dinner. First time trying a Granville Island Heferweizen beer... its kinda light and "bubbly" and has a slight lemon flavour...had a walk around the beach area and headed back to my place. Heather downloaded a bunch of Celia Cruz, Alex To, and miscellaneous trance/rave music for working out. So we're planning on heading to the interior next month for a mini-holiday touring wineries...visiting Mission Hill sounds amazing.

Heath left at 10:ish and headed to ERic's for poker. Ended up winning a 1 on 1 against Alan and then a 5 person tournament. Lost the 3rd game though to Tony. Thanks to Alan for driving my carless ass to and fro kits to surrey.

Anyway, gonna watch 24 episodes with Jessica and help Tony reformat his PC today.... so far... ok ok I shall write more another time... Jess has arrived...