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.










GTGL8RZ!

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.










GTGL8RZ!

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:





GTGL8RZ!

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...

GTGL8RZ!

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.

GTGL8RZ!

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.

GTGL8RZ!

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!

GTGL8RZ!

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.


GTGL8RZ!

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.




GTGL8RZ!

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).



GTGL8RZ!

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:




GTGL8RZ!

The Undead Are Back!

IMG_7862_zombiewalk09
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

It has been a year since I received the antidote to stop me from becoming fully infected. I'm on my way to full recovery but the temptation of shooting the undead still has its tight grip on me. So, in spite of the chilly weather and the risk of being maligned because of this odd addiction, I loaded my gear and headed to the supposed pit stop of the howling mob.

I positioned myself where the Containment Team was and aimed my equipment to get some perfect headshots of the zombies...




Here's the evidence of last Saturday's bloodbath...











It was a successful ambush, considering the enormous amount of the soulless corpses that attacked. They will be back next year and I will be ready.


To see more pics of the bloodbath, CLICK HERE.

GTGL8RZ!

AIDSphobic

It was a pretty good day until I stumbled on this article about a very appalling incident in Bangkok:

HIV activist Nicholas Snow catches abusive Bangkok neighbour on video
by Sylvia Tan

Nicholas Snow, who came out publicly about being HIV-positive last year, captures and shares his traumatic experience of being verbally accosted by a neighbour about the former's HIV status last night on video.

Nicholas Snow, a Bangkok-based journalist who publicly disclosed his HIV-positive status in an exclusive interview with Fridae in October last year, was verbally accosted by his neighbour at his Bangkok apartment on the evening of Aug 24.

In a four and a half minute video uploaded on Youtube, the unnamed neighbour - a young Thai man - was seen picking up a knife and attempting to throw several objects at Snow as he yelled across the hallway about Snow's self-disclosure of his HIV status in a “book” (magazine) and on a gay personals web site.

Snow, who is gay, said his neighbour began verbally abusing him just as he was returning home. As the tirade did not stop after Snow had closed his door to his apartment, he picked up his video camera from inside his apartment and opened the door to film his neighbour.

The exchange went:

“I will not be harassed because I have HIV. You are not allowed to treat your neigbhours this way.”

“I don’t want friendly with people with HIV,” said the neighbour when Snow said that he's only being friendly when he greets him or others in the building.

When Snow warned his neighbour that the video would be posted on the Internet, he was told: “I don’t care. You can put it in the newspaper.”

As the tirade went on, Snow retreated into his apartment and revealed that he believes that his neigbour had come to know of his HIV-positive status from his profile on a gay personals website. On the same day, someone has sent him a message asking him to “die” or “go back to (his) own country.” The sender had also correctly identified the name of his apartment building. Snow added that he recognised the apartment, in which the photos on the profile were taken, to be similar to his own apartment.

He further explained that the will post the video on the Internet as an “example of stigma and discrimination that exist around HIV and AIDS.”

“I sorta invited stigma and discrimination to come my way because I wanted to stand up against it.”

Last year, Snow founded ActionEqualsLife.com, a social networking web site created to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, champion "human rights for all" and support equality for all LGBT people.

He also wants to stress that the “behaviour of the individual in no way represents the majority of loving, accepting, hospitable Thai citizens and expats who live in Thailand. However, HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination is prevalent throughout Asia and beyond.”





I guess I will never really feel the gravity of living with HIV/AIDS until I'm actually on the receiving end of such attacks. I dunno the circumstances that led to this incident but I know for sure that this is an unacceptable way of dealing with the issue at hand. Who knows, maybe the Thai guy had a thing with Nicholas and his world crumbled upon learning of his predicament. Or maybe he's just a slob who doesn't have anything productive to do than make people's lives miserable.

Oh well, life goes on...and ignorant people continue to dwell...

Here are some stats for those who are interested:

People living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 33.0 million
Adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 30.8 million
Women living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 15.5 million
Children living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 2.0 million
People newly infected with HIV in 2007 2.7 million
Children newly infected with HIV in 2007 0.37 million
AIDS deaths in 2007 2.0 million
Child AIDS deaths in 2007 0.27 million

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.

Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphans.

At the end of 2007, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa.

Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.

In developing and transitional countries, 9.7 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.99 million (31%) are receiving the drugs.


GTGL8RZ!

Wonder Woman Tattoo

wonder woman tats
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

Met up with friends at the Old Nick pub last night and one of them was smiling from ear to ear. He got Lynda Carter to sign his leg over an existing Wonder Woman emblem tattoo. And, of course, as a true fan would do, he had it tattooed.

I guess it was only a matter of the stars' alignment. It was meant to happen. I would do the same thing...but I would go the extra mile and insure my tattooed limb.












GTGL8RZ!

RIP

She seemed restless as portrayed on TV.


I hope her family finds peace.


RIP Alexis Cohen.


For the story on what happened, CLICK HERE.



Found this tribute for her, uploaded after her rant on AI:





GTGL8RZ!

What the "TOOT"?

I find it amusing that a group of researchers have actually spent time studying "swearing" as a factor that could reduce physical pain. It is pretty obvious that it is part of the fight-or-flight response and I don't think swearing would do any good if you actually cut your finger off compared to just submerging it in ice water.

Here's the actual abstract of the research:











































Here's one of the researchers trying to explain the results of the study:





Now, just for pure amusement...here's Christian Bale and Napoleon Dynamite in a heated discussion...




GTGL8RZ!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Toronto Pride Celebration 2009

IMG_7088_pride_2009
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

How do you take great pictures in an event if you don't have a press pass? Well, you don't.

It's hard enough to focus on moving subjects, and when I had to stay outside the barriers during the pride parade, it made it even more of a challenge. But I managed to take some quick snaps in between a puffy mane of a shemale and a seven-footer princess.
















It was, mostly, a wet celebration but spirits were high as always. Each year, a large number of people come to share with the fun but I do hope all the bright lights and deafening music won't make us forget of why there's even such a celebration.

To see more pics...CLICK HERE

GTGL8RZ!

yellow cabs everywhere...

Yellow cabs all over..
Originally uploaded by shutternewbie 

It's so nice to have some change of air once in a while. It's not always cheap but it's worth every penny.

I spent a few days in big old NYC. Thanks to a very accommodating buddy, I didn't have to pay for a warm bed and pillow. I played the tourist role and went around Manhattan with my backpack and SLR. The web of rail and bus lines there is overwhelming compared to the simple loops in Toronto. I'm so frugal that there's no chance that I'd take a yellow cab to do my sight-seeing. With the help of hopstop, I completed my itinerary in no time. The nice weather helped me maximize the limited time I have to get some decent shots of the city as well.



There's just one thing though that I couldn't help but notice during this trip. The trash was just everywhere...and, I mean, everywhere. I guess it makes for good urban decay shots. But I never got to do any of that. I was either too busy dodging cars at crosswalks or trying to look local in Brooklyn (I don't even know what I mean by that...but anyway...).




I need to go back and stay longer.

GTGL8RZ!