She's Always A Woman Cover

For the only woman who's put up with all my angst and unattainable dreams. A 3-minute imperfect video isn't enough to express everything but I made this with a lot of love.

Happy Mothers' Day, Nanay!



Original song by Billy Joel






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Snowballing

I finally had the time to unbox my new toy. After staring at it for several weeks contemplating if my purchase was necessary, I've convinced myself that a 50% discount for this gadget is worth the extra night of just canned tuna and rice for dinner.



Music by Nic Bommarito "Hymn for 200 Sugar Packets"


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It Is OK To Sing About It!

I had no clue that the balding, frantic lawyer who did this song on Harry's Law's Season Finale was the same Paul McCrane who appeared on Fame.



If you haven't seen Fame (The Original Movie) released in 1980, this song was actually sang by the character Montgomery, a young and openly gay aspiring actor. The theme is universal though. How many times have we dreamt of actually talking to our ultimate crush? How many make-believe dates have we booked?

I dedicate this song to the hopeful romantics who are in the verge of crossing over to extreme stalking. If all else fails, then it must be a sign to move on.

This cover was created using the following:
1.Canon T1i
2.Garageband
3.iTunes
4.iMovie

Ramune "Almost Epic" Fail

I discovered a very interesting non-alcoholic beverage while vacationing in Montreal. I've never actually seen it in Toronto but that's partly because I never actively looked for it. But I'm guessing I'd probably find it in Spadina or in an Asian-operated convenience store.



If I were to describe the taste, it's similar to a "flavoured martini" without the actual alcohol zing. If they start selling an alcohol-based version of it, this would be perfect for people who cannot control their intake 'coz even sober guys would have to exert some extra effort just to open the bottle.

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Unboxing Gary Fong

Here's my unboxing video of Gary Fong's Light Sphere, Power Snoot and the Amber Dome.  As mentioned in the video, you will save more if you just buy these accessories in local shops.  I learned it the hard way by buying online. You are probably safe from the brokerage fee if you live in the U.S.  I have yet to use the new toys but will definitely share my snaps as soon as I get the chance.



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Granada

Thank you Bruno Mars for such a tragic song for those broken-hearted who just wanna sleep through February 14. I will ride on the bandwagon with a massive grenade launcher in my backpack!

Obviously, this is not an official music video.  For the cheesier original, CLICK HERE.

Granada
Uploaded by R_Q. - See the latest featured music videos.

Happy FREAKIN' Valentine's Day suckers!

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6:59 PM, Once a Year

It's a deafening explosion of contemporary art in one night. Even if you plan your trip, you will never get to see everything. I don't think I ever saw the "people's choice" winners for 2010, but I still enjoyed the ones that I got to experience. Yes, it's not just a "look-see" kinda exhibit. Most of the installations feed on the interaction with the people, which is why the whole experience is exhilarating. It's sad that there's only one night to enjoy this compendium of creativity and good taste; but then again, art is all over the city 24/7 waiting to be discovered.









Check the Nuit Blanche official website for the 2011 event.

For more of my pics, CLICK HERE.

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Fierté Dans La Capitale

It's not as big and as loud as the Toronto celebrations but it's great that we don't have to stand behind fences to enjoy that amazing day.

CLICK HERE for the link to the gallery on flickr.










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Toronto Pride 2010

Toronto Pride 2010
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

After 6 months of hibernation, I'm finally uploading most of the contents of my memory cards. It's been a busy 2010 but at least it's a nice way to reminisce and prepare for the next Pride event in Toronto. Enjoy!


CLICK HERE for the link to the gallery on flickr.










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Doing The Right Thing

Not very often do I find very effective PSA's; and when I do it's got to be shared with the rest of the world. Here is the ongoing TV spot by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport:





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365 Days of 2010

This is a video compilation of my personal project on flickr:

It's "very" long but you can just put on your headphone, turn the volume up, close your eyes and enjoy the music from artists I discovered on AudioFarm.org:

Out Of Control (A Different Mix by no|REAKTION)

Stereofloat - Crashed

Grace - Zichk

bisk - lipstick

P.S.
The tags I used all appear in at least one picture in the compilation. Can you spot them?

Toronto Zombie Walk 2010

IMG_1890_zw
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

A year has passed and the annual compendium of brain hungry corpses is here. I went with a friend who, unfortunately, succumbed to the infection of the undead. So I was left alone to finish the job. Once again, I captured the onslaught of the zombies...











For more pictures of the carnage CLICK HERE

I was lucky to get outta there alive. Until next year...

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Toronto Fringe Candidates?

shutternewbie 

Was flipping channels and got lured to what seemed like free airtime of unedited and one-take video clips of people running for the city's top post. It was a little odd but amusing. I had to check the Toronto Candidates List to see if what I was watching was just a sequence from "Air Farce Live." I was wrong. These people are absolutely running for city mayor.

Four of the so called, "fringe candidates," in my opinion, have more edge than the 4 more popular ones, in terms of "interestingness." I am in no way condoning them but their ideas might just be less crazy and less far-fetched than the frontrunners' platforms:

RATAN WADHWA

I found this 2006 article about this fedora-loving guy from Wapedia...

Ratan Wadhwa lived in Mumbai before moving to Canada. He is an actor and Charlie Chaplin impersonator, and the owner of Charlie's Flower Co. in Toronto. He first campaigned for Mayor of Toronto in 2003 at age 48, calling for legalized prostitution and cannabis, free condoms and viagra, and the creation of a red light district. He said that he was trying to develop political contacts rather than win the election, and speculated that he could manage a decent showing if enough people in the sex industry voted for him. He received 121 votes to place 43rd out of 44 candidates. He promoted much the same platform in 2006, and also called for increased helicopter surveillance and bullet-proof vests for police.

This year, he is advocating the construction of casinos and the creation of a red light district.

CLICK HERE for a short Q&A with him courtesy of CP24


(pic from CP24)

DAVID VALLANCE

I guess this guy has one of the most ambitious plans for the City of Toronto. Follow this LINK and judge for yourself.



To be fair, David's proposal is in Wikipedia.

Here is his Q&A courtesy of CP24.

CARMEN MACKLIN

Not sure why she is running but on the candidates list her address is at the Waverly Hotel in Spadina and she has Yahoo for email. In her video clip, she mentioned that when she becomes the mayor, she will be available to Torontonians almost all the time except when she has to take care of her mom.

JOSEPH PAMPENA

I am most intrigued by this candidate's look rather than his platform. He appears to have a visual impairment, if not blind, and just kept on yapping about "running the city like a PR office."

CLICK HERE for an article about him on The Star.

(pic from Insidetorontovotes)

Here is the Q&A by CP24.

It's good to know that there are other choices in the Toronto Mayoralty race aside from the four, supposedly, frontrunners. The other, not so loud, candidates might not be better choices to run the city but at least they are doing "something" for it...or they are trying to.

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My Charice Experience

Crazy Fans
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

I knew I was gonna be late but I headed to the Eaton Centre anyway. The mini-concert was set at 6 pm and I got there 2 minutes before that. I wasn’t expecting anything and even prepared myself not to see her. I thought maybe I can just do video interviews with the fans that showed up.

Although it was hard to wade through all the people in the mall, my years of experience in flea markets and Boxing Day shopping prepared me for it. Fortunately, there were some technical difficulties on the stage so I had time to be as close to the stage as I could. I am a little vertically-challenged so I had to extend my arms above my head to record her performance in my SLR. I couldn’t really check the viewfinder and the display screen of the cam so I had to rely on my instincts.

Here is a video of what I got. I made it into snippets as most of what I recorded were bald spots and sweaty arms holding cameras:



I am happy I got to experience her live although I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t get there earlier. Hopefully she comes back for a concert and hopefully I can get time off from work when that happens.

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Read the Fine Print...Always

Day 125: May 05/2010
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

To those who received this free $100 AdWords card, please read the "terms and conditions" at the back of the letter that came with the brochure.

Part of it says: ...advertisers will need to suspend their ads if they do not wish to receive additional charges beyond the free credit amount...

Enjoy and happy blogging!

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Don't Let Your PayPal Get Phished

In a span of a week I received about 5 emails urging me to check my PayPal account for a certain security breach. I'm just so lucky that it's become a routine to check the "from" section of every email that I get...even the spam ones. I did some screen shots of one of the emails, which I hope can help others be less gullible and stop them from clicking away. Of course, if you don't have a PayPal account, you don't have to worry about anything.




If you look closely, the FROM section has a dubious sounding email address, which PayPal would never ever use...


DON'T click on any links in that email. But, if ever you click on the link that was provided, you will be redirected to this page, which looks almost exactly like the real thing:


DON'T ever log in! You will notice that the URL in the address bar does not start with (www.paypal.com). Also, the tabs and links on the page are unclickable. The phishers have only one goal, which is to get you to log in.

It's a cruel world and one way to survive is not to be overly trustful.

GTGL8RZ!

Homeless But Not Forgotten

Day 30: Jan 30/2010
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

Did some window shopping earlier and had the urge to light up outside the mall. I rediscovered this memorial, which has probably been there for years, but I never really stopped and actually checked the list.

The memorial had this text posted:

This list includes more than 600 names of men, women, and children who have lived and died on the streets of Toronto as a diect result of homelessness. Stop, pause, and remember all of these people and the many more who continue to struggle as they live on our streets. Then call your local city councillor, the Mayor, your MPP and your MP. Help solve the homelessness disaster.


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Coronary in a Box

I've recently graduated from the regular poutine to the more "gourmet." The best so far is from Smoke's Poutinerie. I tried the curry chicken and pulled pork varieties. The place is accessible and clean. It seemed like the one on Dundas is mainly for take-outs, but they have a long side table for those who can't wait to quench the craving. After all, it should be eaten straight from the frier. They don't have seats though, which is fine if you're not planning on having 6 boxes of poutine on your own. The packaging is thicker than the usual chinese take-out boxes and the large box can actually be shared with 1 or 2 more people, unless you have Chris Farley's appetite. I've never been to the one on Adelaide but I was told it's more of a sit-down kinda place. They also have a roving poutine van, which may well be an alternative to the usual BBQ in the summer.

Obviously, this type of food is not for the ones on limited daily caloric intake. Easily, it may have about 1000 calories per small box, but for the taste and comfort , it's worth a try.




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Pulling Weeds

Something's very odd when the highlight of a commercial movie is a buck naked Gerard Butler. Don't get me wrong, this is like the scalded skin at the roof of your mouth that you'd keep on tounging 'til you're next chai latte burn. Law Abiding Citizen had the potential to be a good movie, only if star power would suffice. Unfortunately, that's not enough.

(SPOILER ALERT...if you don't care, then read on...)

The movie's storyline is not at all unique, although I liked the fact that they explored how a topnotch hired killer defines "an eye, for an eye;" and that's where all the loopholes and crazy set-ups stem from.

For example, the movie begins with the massacre of Clyde's family and the ensuing legal battle. Towards the middle of the film, we learn that instead of Clyde just doing vigilante work, he is, after all, a soulless, high profile killer/spy. Now, if he's so cunning and sly, how can two crackheads with a knife and baseball bat subdue him? How can he miss checking who's outside the door before he opened it? Were the deaths of his wife and daughter just an excuse to bully the law? Was this crime part of his plan as well? We will never know because the movie thrives on the "viewers' perspective" kinda style.

Clyde had 10 years to carefully plan his revenge. He must've had the power to see the future, but then again, he missed the part where he bites the dust unintentionally, so there goes the fantasy/sci-fi twist. There's a part of me that wanted him to succeed just so he can bitch slap District Attorney Rice, because, for me, Rice actually is the villain in a very subtle way.

In the movie, the American judicial system was portrayed as a well-bred horse with permanent blinders, which, when given a chance to roam free, would forget it's entire purpose and just continue running 'til it can't run anymore. The movie also makes you wonder if collateral deaths can be compared to swatting black flies that hover around your pecan pie or maybe pulling weeds to give way to hyacinth bulbs.

Another warning for the highly critical. The screenwriter/s just had to bluntly force the title of the movie in the dialogue, which almost made me barf. Don't you hate it when they do that?

It's not entirely a bad flick. If you really have nothing to do, I recommend watching it instead of spending your good money on cheesy 2012 (and I'm not even spending time to give you a link for that one).



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Tetsuwan Atomu

This is definitely not the best movie ever but I sure was pleasantly surprised, especially with the quality of the animation. This would have been better if they released it in 3D or IMAX. They totally revamped the birth of Astro Boy and the setting is not in 2030 Tokyo. Too bad, WALL-E already came out with a similar plot, but true fans will be very happy with this version, which obviously sets itself up for a sequel.

I read reviews on the movie before I saw it and they were ranting that it's totally for kids and that adults should get multiple shots of espresso before bringing their kids to see it. Well, it is, of course, not Family Guy and it's supposed to be a little clean. Although, if you think about it, a violent death of a child (Toby's), isn't exactly kid-friendly. The 80's series was a little morbid and dark. I dunno if you will remember an episode where Robio and Robiette get mashed between 2 race cars; now, that's a little graphic for kids.

When I saw the movie, A.I., I thought the idea resembled the original Astro Boy sans the artillery. They have the same themes; that of tragedy and loss, acceptance and deliverance, and so many others. Well, one can argue that they're obviously modern versions of Pinocchio, which I don't contest.

For those who think that this is a big political allegory, well, it is...if you think that Spongebob can potentially be the best president.

I thought the voice casting was good, particularly that of Nick Cage as Doctor Tenma and Nathan Lane as Hamegg. It was just a little weird that they presented Toby as a preadolescent, rather than younger. I think the original Toby was probably 7 or 8 years old. They did not keep the high-pitched voice from the original, so you'll be less than amused if you're expecting a femme boy. So yeah, in spite of the long and curly eyelashes, being shirtless with black tights and red boots, the awkward gait and perkiness, Astro Boy is not gay because he is a freakin' robot. Hmmm...a gay icon maybe?

Here's a teaser for those who are interested:




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