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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Amazing Race Toronto 2
Team #98! A dry Team Wagamama before the start of the race
Our first major task was to locate buildings within a 2km radius of the Varsity cinema on Bloor and take a picture of it with 3/4 members in it. Do you know where these places are?
After slugging it out in the rain at Castle Frank station with small plastic pylons and dirty blindfolds (among other tasks), we were given a scavenger hunt list to be done at the Eaton Centre. Can you guess the answers?
5.5 hours later, at the end of a rainy, gray day, we ended up finishing 115/276-not too shabby. Regretfully, the victory glow was marred by the unfortunate decision to go to korean bbq for dinner. Note to self: the cows will revolt.
Full race stats and info: http://www.tcssc.com/amazingrace2/index.shtml
Team #98! A dry Team Wagamama before the start of the race
Our first major task was to locate buildings within a 2km radius of the Varsity cinema on Bloor and take a picture of it with 3/4 members in it. Do you know where these places are?
After slugging it out in the rain at Castle Frank station with small plastic pylons and dirty blindfolds (among other tasks), we were given a scavenger hunt list to be done at the Eaton Centre. Can you guess the answers?
5.5 hours later, at the end of a rainy, gray day, we ended up finishing 115/276-not too shabby. Regretfully, the victory glow was marred by the unfortunate decision to go to korean bbq for dinner. Note to self: the cows will revolt.
Full race stats and info: http://www.tcssc.com/amazingrace2/index.shtml
Monday, October 24, 2005
the grinch
my mother has ruined Ramadan for my brother's gf's family. Mom, or more affectionately known these days as the "Food Pusher" gave Leila some innocent looking fried tofu balls to take home with her. Little did Seiji or I know that she had substituted the ground chicken for ground...pork. Later that night, Seiji came back, full from a family gathering at Leila's house and questioned the Food Pusher on the contents of the afore mentioned tofu balls.
"Was...there...PORK IN THEM?????"
"Uh...."
Everyone erupted into that tense laughter which belies intense horror and disbelief. Amid the din, the Food Pusher kept on protesting her innocence, claiming Leila had told her her parents did indeed eat pork regularly.
"It doesn't matter!!!! Her grandmother wears a HIJAB!!!!!"
sigh.
my mother has ruined Ramadan for my brother's gf's family. Mom, or more affectionately known these days as the "Food Pusher" gave Leila some innocent looking fried tofu balls to take home with her. Little did Seiji or I know that she had substituted the ground chicken for ground...pork. Later that night, Seiji came back, full from a family gathering at Leila's house and questioned the Food Pusher on the contents of the afore mentioned tofu balls.
"Was...there...PORK IN THEM?????"
"Uh...."
Everyone erupted into that tense laughter which belies intense horror and disbelief. Amid the din, the Food Pusher kept on protesting her innocence, claiming Leila had told her her parents did indeed eat pork regularly.
"It doesn't matter!!!! Her grandmother wears a HIJAB!!!!!"
sigh.
Friday, October 21, 2005
time flies
there's not enough time to do everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
isn't that right, Fonzie??
YEAH, you know it!
there's not enough time to do everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
isn't that right, Fonzie??
YEAH, you know it!
Monday, October 17, 2005
thank you, CBC Radio One
Michael Symmons Roberts, the Macclesfield poet, was moved by the messages that many doomed victims of the September 11 attacks left for their loved ones in their final minutes. "They could have expressed anger or fear, but almost all left messages of love and its continuance. That says something hopeful about the human spirit." Roberts found himself musing on how he would feel if he had received such a message, preserved by the cold technology of machines. "Would I keep it in a silk bag? Could I bear to listen to it? Would I find it a comfort?" He wrote this poem.
http://igreens.org.uk/last_words.htm
last words || michael symmons roberts
(i)
You have a new message:
Kiss the kids goodbye from me
Keep well, keep strong, you know
I'm sure, but here's to say I love you.
I lay these voice-prints
like a set of tracks, to stop
you getting lost among the tall trees
beneath the break-less canopy,
on the long slow walk you take
from here without me.
(ii)
You have a new message:
I do not want to leave you this
magnetic print, this digit trace,
my coded and decoded voice.
I do not want to leave you.
If I had a choice, my last words
would be carried to your window
on three slips of sugar paper in
the beaks of birds of paradise.
The words would say,
I'm sure you know,
I love you.
(iii)
You have a new message:
I throw my voice across the city,
but it meets such a cacophony
we overload the network.
Countless last words divert
on to backup spools and hard drives.
Systems analyst turns archaeologist:
his fingertips, as delicate as brushes,
sift through sediment of conferences,
helpline hints, arguments and cold calls,
searching for the ones that say
You know, I'm sure, I love you.
(iv)
You have a new message:
This is the voice you hear in dreams,
this is the tape you cannot
bear to play. This is the voice-mail
you keep in a sealed silk bag
in a tin box in the attic.
But the message is out - in
the sick-beds and the darkened rooms;
in the billowing curtains
and the hush so heavy
you can hear the pulse in your wrists.
The message is out, in the ether,
in the network of digits and wires.
I know, you're sure, I love you.
(v)
You have a new message:
Don’t remember this, don’t save
this message. Keep instead
the pictures of last Sunday
in the park when summer
leaves were turning, Rollerbladers
hand-in-hand, our boys
throwing fists of cut grass at each other.
Think of the extravagance of green,
and think especially of the sky,
its blinding cloudlessness.
You know, I'm sure, but here's
to say I love you.
(vi)
You have a new message:
This is the still, small voice
you longed to hear among the ruins.
This is the voice you fished
with microphones on long lines,
lowered into cracks between
the rocks of this new mountain.
And your ears ache with the effort,
the sheer will to listen, to conjure
my words, your name on my lips,
out of nowhere. Here's to say.
(vii)
You have a new message:
When a city is wounded,
before it moans, before it kneels,
it draws a breath, and keeps it,
as though all phones are on hold,
all radios de-tuned, cathedrals locked
and all parks vacant.
It becomes a windless forest.
But remember, silence is not absence.
Learn to weigh them,
one against the other.
Each room of our house contains
a different emptiness. Listen.
Then break it. Say
you know, I'm sure, I love you.
(viii)
You have a new message:
Do not forget the beauty of aeroplanes,
those long, slow pulses from the sun
which passed above our garden as
we lay out in the heat. Do not forget
their gentle night-time growl,
and how we used to picture people in them
- sleeping, talking, just as we were,
how we used to guess the destinations.
Do not forget the grace of aeroplanes,
the majesty of skyscrapers.
You know, I'm sure.
(ix)
You have a new message:
Still, a year on, you rifle through
black boxes, mail-boxes, voice-boxes,
in search of my final words.
You hunt them in the white noise
between stations on the radio, the blank
face of a TV with the aerial pulled out.
You walk in crowds, wondering
if my words were passed to him,
or her, as messenger. If I'd had time
to leave you words, you know, I'm sure,
they would have been I love you.
(x)
You have a new message:
Now, my voice stored on your mobile,
I can tell you fifty times a day
how much I love you. "Tell the kids,"
I say. I don't know if you still do.
Sometimes, when you're out of town,
on trains, or in the shadow of tall buildings
You lose the signal. The network breaks.
You hear vowels splinter in my throat,
as if struck by a sudden despair.
(xi)
You have a new message:
Where did my last words go?
Out and out on radio waves
into the all-engulfing emptiness,
fading to a whisper as they cross
from sky, to space, to nothing.
Or in, and in, as litany repeated
in your heart until all tape is obsolete.
Each cadence, every tongue-tick,
every breath is perfect, as you say
my words: You know, I'm sure.
(xii)
You have a new message:
There is nothing new in this.
My voice has printed like a bruise,
like a kiss, like a kiss so strong
it leaves a bruise. I love you.
You know it, I'm sure.
Beyond the smoking ruins,
smoking planes, and empty rooms,
above and beyond is a network.
A matrix of souls,
as fragile as lace,
but endless and unbreakable.
To save the message, press.
Michael Symmons Roberts, the Macclesfield poet, was moved by the messages that many doomed victims of the September 11 attacks left for their loved ones in their final minutes. "They could have expressed anger or fear, but almost all left messages of love and its continuance. That says something hopeful about the human spirit." Roberts found himself musing on how he would feel if he had received such a message, preserved by the cold technology of machines. "Would I keep it in a silk bag? Could I bear to listen to it? Would I find it a comfort?" He wrote this poem.
http://igreens.org.uk/last_words.htm
last words || michael symmons roberts
(i)
You have a new message:
Kiss the kids goodbye from me
Keep well, keep strong, you know
I'm sure, but here's to say I love you.
I lay these voice-prints
like a set of tracks, to stop
you getting lost among the tall trees
beneath the break-less canopy,
on the long slow walk you take
from here without me.
(ii)
You have a new message:
I do not want to leave you this
magnetic print, this digit trace,
my coded and decoded voice.
I do not want to leave you.
If I had a choice, my last words
would be carried to your window
on three slips of sugar paper in
the beaks of birds of paradise.
The words would say,
I'm sure you know,
I love you.
(iii)
You have a new message:
I throw my voice across the city,
but it meets such a cacophony
we overload the network.
Countless last words divert
on to backup spools and hard drives.
Systems analyst turns archaeologist:
his fingertips, as delicate as brushes,
sift through sediment of conferences,
helpline hints, arguments and cold calls,
searching for the ones that say
You know, I'm sure, I love you.
(iv)
You have a new message:
This is the voice you hear in dreams,
this is the tape you cannot
bear to play. This is the voice-mail
you keep in a sealed silk bag
in a tin box in the attic.
But the message is out - in
the sick-beds and the darkened rooms;
in the billowing curtains
and the hush so heavy
you can hear the pulse in your wrists.
The message is out, in the ether,
in the network of digits and wires.
I know, you're sure, I love you.
(v)
You have a new message:
Don’t remember this, don’t save
this message. Keep instead
the pictures of last Sunday
in the park when summer
leaves were turning, Rollerbladers
hand-in-hand, our boys
throwing fists of cut grass at each other.
Think of the extravagance of green,
and think especially of the sky,
its blinding cloudlessness.
You know, I'm sure, but here's
to say I love you.
(vi)
You have a new message:
This is the still, small voice
you longed to hear among the ruins.
This is the voice you fished
with microphones on long lines,
lowered into cracks between
the rocks of this new mountain.
And your ears ache with the effort,
the sheer will to listen, to conjure
my words, your name on my lips,
out of nowhere. Here's to say.
(vii)
You have a new message:
When a city is wounded,
before it moans, before it kneels,
it draws a breath, and keeps it,
as though all phones are on hold,
all radios de-tuned, cathedrals locked
and all parks vacant.
It becomes a windless forest.
But remember, silence is not absence.
Learn to weigh them,
one against the other.
Each room of our house contains
a different emptiness. Listen.
Then break it. Say
you know, I'm sure, I love you.
(viii)
You have a new message:
Do not forget the beauty of aeroplanes,
those long, slow pulses from the sun
which passed above our garden as
we lay out in the heat. Do not forget
their gentle night-time growl,
and how we used to picture people in them
- sleeping, talking, just as we were,
how we used to guess the destinations.
Do not forget the grace of aeroplanes,
the majesty of skyscrapers.
You know, I'm sure.
(ix)
You have a new message:
Still, a year on, you rifle through
black boxes, mail-boxes, voice-boxes,
in search of my final words.
You hunt them in the white noise
between stations on the radio, the blank
face of a TV with the aerial pulled out.
You walk in crowds, wondering
if my words were passed to him,
or her, as messenger. If I'd had time
to leave you words, you know, I'm sure,
they would have been I love you.
(x)
You have a new message:
Now, my voice stored on your mobile,
I can tell you fifty times a day
how much I love you. "Tell the kids,"
I say. I don't know if you still do.
Sometimes, when you're out of town,
on trains, or in the shadow of tall buildings
You lose the signal. The network breaks.
You hear vowels splinter in my throat,
as if struck by a sudden despair.
(xi)
You have a new message:
Where did my last words go?
Out and out on radio waves
into the all-engulfing emptiness,
fading to a whisper as they cross
from sky, to space, to nothing.
Or in, and in, as litany repeated
in your heart until all tape is obsolete.
Each cadence, every tongue-tick,
every breath is perfect, as you say
my words: You know, I'm sure.
(xii)
You have a new message:
There is nothing new in this.
My voice has printed like a bruise,
like a kiss, like a kiss so strong
it leaves a bruise. I love you.
You know it, I'm sure.
Beyond the smoking ruins,
smoking planes, and empty rooms,
above and beyond is a network.
A matrix of souls,
as fragile as lace,
but endless and unbreakable.
To save the message, press.
Friday, October 14, 2005
beautiful day
David Suzuki Foundation:Nature Challenge
Here are 10 of the most effective ways YOU can help conserve nature and improve quality of life!
1. Reduce home energy use by 10%
2. Choose an energy-efficient home & appliances
3. Don't use pesticides
4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week
5. Buy locally grown and produced food
6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
7. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit
8. Choose a home close to work or school
9. Support alternative transportation
10. Learn more and share with others
I think #1, 2, 10 will be the most challenging! =)
D.Suz is down with biking!
David Suzuki Foundation:Nature Challenge
Here are 10 of the most effective ways YOU can help conserve nature and improve quality of life!
1. Reduce home energy use by 10%
2. Choose an energy-efficient home & appliances
3. Don't use pesticides
4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week
5. Buy locally grown and produced food
6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
7. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit
8. Choose a home close to work or school
9. Support alternative transportation
10. Learn more and share with others
I think #1, 2, 10 will be the most challenging! =)
D.Suz is down with biking!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
tagged!
Rules of the game: Post 5 Weird and Random facts about yourself, then at the end list the names of 5 people who are next in line to do this. Also leave a post on their xanga (but do blogspot because it's better) to let these people know.
5 random facts about moi:
1. Although I claim to hate it and list it as one of my most disliked foods, I have never actually eaten natto. when i was younger my dad tried to force me to eat it and i immediately balked. fast forward 18 years later and i watch someone lose all the colour from their face and almost hurl right then and there after eating some. no thanks. I am not adverse to making other people try it though.
argh.
2. when i used to figure skate, i couldn't do a sit spin and camel spin, even though i was a Senior. I would always pull out of rotation early because i could never centre my spins properly.
3. if i had to become a dog, i would become a labrador retriever because they like people, are solid and love eating =)
4. I wonder if people who choose to be clowns are secretly manic depressive
5. I really want to track down my Grade 3 homeroom teacher/primary grade French teacher, Ms Louise Tedford, and see how she's doing.
I tag kathy, liz, janice, sharon and dora!
back to ancil o.0
Rules of the game: Post 5 Weird and Random facts about yourself, then at the end list the names of 5 people who are next in line to do this. Also leave a post on their xanga (but do blogspot because it's better) to let these people know.
5 random facts about moi:
1. Although I claim to hate it and list it as one of my most disliked foods, I have never actually eaten natto. when i was younger my dad tried to force me to eat it and i immediately balked. fast forward 18 years later and i watch someone lose all the colour from their face and almost hurl right then and there after eating some. no thanks. I am not adverse to making other people try it though.
argh.
2. when i used to figure skate, i couldn't do a sit spin and camel spin, even though i was a Senior. I would always pull out of rotation early because i could never centre my spins properly.
3. if i had to become a dog, i would become a labrador retriever because they like people, are solid and love eating =)
4. I wonder if people who choose to be clowns are secretly manic depressive
5. I really want to track down my Grade 3 homeroom teacher/primary grade French teacher, Ms Louise Tedford, and see how she's doing.
I tag kathy, liz, janice, sharon and dora!
back to ancil o.0
