The Cassandra Crossing

The Cassandra Crossing is a 1976 British disease epidemic thriller film directed by George Pan Cosmatos and starring Irish actor Richard Harris, Sophia Loren, Martin Sheen, Burt Lancaster, Lee Strasberg, Ava Gardner and O. J. Simpson.

 Myself, I love anything with Burt Lancaster in it.

But what amazed me about this particular film was the array of stars... Richard Harris! Sophia Loren! Martin Sheen! O. J. Simpson!

AND Burt Lancaster, all in the same film??? Oh and its technically also an action movie with guns, bad guys who wear masks, explosions, and trains! Oh my!

The main characters are played by Sophia Loren and Richard Harris - and if you don't know who Richard Harris is then watch the first two Harry Potter movies and pay attention to the old guy playing Dumbledore.

Totally worth watching.

Swimming, Pool, Patio and Dance

Nothing beats swimming in a lake, and that is why I am starting this post with a short of beaches I recommend.

#1. Keewatin Beach, North of Goderich.

#2. Goderich Beach

#3. Beaches, Toronto

But if beaches aren't your thing there's also swimming pools, such as those run by the YMCA. And if you really have your heart set on owning your own pool then you can visit progreenlandscaping.ca which does landscaping, pools and renovations in the Toronto region.

Of course once you have the pool most people also rush out and start buying patio furniture, most likely from Canadian Tire or some other low budget source.

HOWEVER before you do I want to point out that many of the products sold in Canadian Tire are not actually made in Canada. And worse, the quality is so low that in 3-5 years you will have to replace everything.

This is why I am recommending Velago Patio Furniture. Made in Canada, high quality, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Lastly I want to talk about dance classes. I recommend the following places to learn dance.

#1. York University Dance, Toronto.

#2. The National Ballet School of Canada, Toronto.

#3. Danceology, Toronto.

#4. Ballet Creole, Toronto.

The King's Speech

ENTERTAINMENT - I give The King's Speech five stars out of five. I saw it on the weekend with my girlfriend and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.



A bit of warning, its a happy tearjerker, so bring a kleenex.

On the Oscar front The King's Speech has received 12 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and for once I actually agree with their choice. The closest rival, The Social Network, received only 8 nominations.

I also give True Grit five stars as well. If I had to choose between the two, I think True Grit would win Best Picture.

2011 OSCAR NOMINATIONS

1. Best Picture: “Black Swan,” ''The Fighter,” ''Inception,” ''The Kids Are All Right,” ''The King's Speech,” ''127 Hours,” ''The Social Network,” ''Toy Story 3,” ''True Grit,” ''Winter's Bone.”

2. Actor: Javier Bardem, “Biutiful”; Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”; Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”; Colin Firth, “The King's Speech”; James Franco, “127 Hours.”

3. Actress: Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”; Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”; Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter's Bone”; Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”; Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine.”

4. Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter”; John Hawkes, “Winter's Bone”; Jeremy Renner, “The Town”; Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”; Geoffrey Rush, “The King's Speech.”

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, “The Fighter”; Helena Bonham Carter, “The King's Speech”; Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”; Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”; Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom.”

6. Directing: Darren Aronofsky, “Black Swan”; David O. Russell, “The Fighter”; Tom Hooper, “The King's Speech”; David Fincher, “The Social Network”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “True Grit.”

7. Foreign Language Film: “Biutiful,” Mexico; “Dogtooth,” Greece; “In a Better World,” Denmark; “Incendies,” Canada; “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi),” Algeria.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, “127 Hours”; Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”; Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, “Toy Story 3”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “True Grit”; Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, “Winter's Bone.”

9. Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Another Year”; Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson and Keith Dorrington, “The Fighter”; Christopher Nolan, “Inception”; Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, “The Kids Are All Right”; David Seidler, “The King's Speech.”

10. Animated Feature Film: “How to Train Your Dragon,” ''The Illusionist,” ''Toy Story 3.”

11. Art Direction: “Alice in Wonderland,” ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” ''Inception,” ''The King's Speech,” ''True Grit.”

12. Cinematography: “Black Swan,” ''Inception,” ''The King's Speech,” ''The Social Network,” ''True Grit.”

13. Sound Mixing: “Inception,” ''The King's Speech,” ''Salt,” ''The Social Network,” ''True Grit.”

14. Sound Editing: “Inception,” ''Toy Story 3,” ''Tron: Legacy,” ''True Grit,” ''Unstoppable.”

15. Original Score: “How to Train Your Dragon,” John Powell; “Inception,” Hans Zimmer; “The King's Speech,” Alexandre Desplat; “127 Hours,” A.R. Rahman; “The Social Network,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

16. Original Song: “Coming Home” from “Country Strong,” Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey; “I See the Light” from “Tangled,” Alan Menken and Glenn Slater; “If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” A.R. Rahman, Dido and Rollo Armstrong; “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3,” Randy Newman.

17. Costume: “Alice in Wonderland,” ''I Am Love,” ''The King's Speech,” ''The Tempest,” ''True Grit.”

18. Documentary Feature: “Exit through the Gift Shop,” ''Gasland,” ''Inside Job,” ''Restrepo,” ''Waste Land.”

19. Documentary (short subject): “Killing in the Name,” ''Poster Girl,” ''Strangers No More,” ''Sun Come Up,” ''The Warriors of Qiugang.”

20. Film Editing: “Black Swan,” ''The Fighter,” ''The King's Speech,” ''127 Hours,” ''The Social Network.”

21. Makeup: “Barney's Version,” ''The Way Back,” ''The Wolfman.”

22. Animated Short Film: “Day and Night,” ''The Gruffalo,” ''Let's Pollute,” ''The Lost Thing,” ''Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary).”

23. Live Action Short Film: “The Confession,” ''The Crush,” ''God of Love,” ''Na Wewe,” ''Wish 143.”

24. Visual Effects: “Alice in Wonderland,” ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” ''Hereafter,” ''Inception,” ''Iron Man 2.”

Magic the Gathering SUCKS

ENTERTAINMENT - Now by saying that Magic the Gathering, the collectable card game, sucks, what I am also doing is admitting to previously playing the game.

Truth be told, an ex girlfriend in high school taught me how to play the game. On her bed. That was 13 years ago and I have gone through periods where I played every day and periods where I didn't play for years. Its addictive, but for the wrong reasons.

But enough about that, lets discuss the game itself.

#1. Magic (or MTG) is a game wherein new card sets are always coming out and players can collect the cards, trade them and play with them. The collecting part can be quite addictive, because the cards have fantastic art on them and I can definitely appreciate the artistic elements.

#2. As a card game however Magic has a variety of different formats one can play. Classic, Extented, Standard, Freeform, Broken, Multiplayer, Two-Headed Giant, Three-Headed-Giant, and so forth. This was you can play against a friend, against multiple friends, in teams, etc.

#3. There are 6 basic card types: White, Black, Red, Green, Blue, Artifact and Land. You need land to play the other cards in your hand against your opponent. You can only play 1 land per turn normally. The different colour of cards have different affinities (things that they do well). White tends to be soldiers or birds, black tends to be undead, green tends to be elves or forest creature, blue is sea creatures or birds, artifacts are magical items that are useful, and land you just plain need to use the other cards.

#4. However, the goal of Magic as a card game is to defeat your opponent. This is where the game runs into some serious issues. Its basically designed to turn you into an a$$***e. You play the game long enough and you will become a prick and a scoundrel, and then you will wonder why you don't have any friends. Worse, you become addicted (its a weird egotistical thing) to being a prick. You become obsessed with defeating your opponent in the first 3 rounds of the game, or defeating them in such a way that its embarrassing for them. If you lose, it just reaffirms your commitment to trying to get revenge on them. IT IS NOT A FRIENDLY GAME.

#5. I have determined over the past 13 years that I will no longer play Magic in any competitive way. I still have a huge collection of cards, but they're more like an art collection now. I only play with friends on rare occasions, and even then its purely as "a for fun only game" and the decks I design for such occasions are designed with that in mind. I keep them simple too, that way hapless players who are just learning don't have a steep learning curve.

#6. There is also Magic the Gathering Online, which is even worse on the prick factor because you're not even playing with friends, you are playing against other pricks online. Their goal there is to see who can be the biggest prick. I tried that out too and can confirm that the people on there must have no life because they make the most boring decks I've ever seen (I swear they just try to bore you to death).

(There is an amusing clip from a TV show where Osama bin Laden dies and is awarded with 40 virgins... unfortunately it is 40 virgin men all playing Magic the Gathering Online.)

There are much better games out there to be playing if you want to play fantasy games. ie. Munchkin is always hilarious. Traditional AD&D (with pen and paper) is always fun, and there is also Dungeons and Dragons Online, which is free and won't cost you a cent. DDO is a much better game, far more exciting and its emphasizes friendship and teamwork. That is the kind of game I would much rather play.

Magic the Gathering is for losers who don't have any real friends. :p

Canadian Music

Looking for music which is quintessentially Canadian, but still good quality and won't annoy the younger generation?

Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer-songwriter. If you haven't heard of her already you must be living in a cave.

Ashley MacIsaac, a professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island. Best known for "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond.

Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter. Best known for "Sk8er Boi", "I'm With You", "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend".

Barenaked Ladies or BNL, a Canadian alternative rock band with multiple hits, including the theme song from 'Big Bang Theory'.

Chantal Kreviazuk, a Canadian pianist / singer-songwriter of adult contemporary. Examples: "God Made Me", "Believer" and "Wayne".

Choclair, Canadian rapper. Best known for "Let's Ride".

Great Big Sea, a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs + original material. ie. "Its the End of the World as we Know It"

k.d. lang, a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter, with multiple hits including "Constant Craving" and "Miss Chatelaine".

Moxy Früvous, a socially conscious and politically satirical folk-pop band. My favourite is their rendition of "Green Eggs with Ham".

Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter. Best known for "I'm Like a Bird", "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right".

Our Lady Peace, an alternative rock band. Best known for "Starseed" and "Somewhere Out There".

Priestess, Canadian heavy metal / stoner rock band. Best known for "Blood" and "I Am the Night, Colour Me Black".

Sarah Harmer, Canadian singer-songwriter and activist, former lead singer of Weeping Tile. Notables include "Chicken", and "You Were Here".

Sarah McLachlan, Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. If you haven't heard of her already you must be living in a cave.

The Tea Party, a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences. Best known for "Heaven Coming Down".

Tom Cochrane, Canadian musician and humanitarian, best known for his hit songs "Life Is a Highway", "Lunatic Fringe" and "I Wish You Well".



Enjoy!

Book Stores in Toronto

The following is a list of my favourite book stores in Toronto, in order of which is best.

#1. Eliot's Bookshop - 584 Yonge Street, 416-925-0268

#2. BMV Books - 10 Edward Street, 416-977-3087

#3. Toronto Women's Book Store - 73 Harbord Street, 416-922-8744

#4. World's Biggest Bookstore - 20 Edward Street, 416-977-7009

#5. Any of the Indigo stores. Bay and Bloor, the Eaton's Centre, Yorkdale, etc.

NOTE: Nothing however beats the good ol' library. ie. The Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Baileys = Yuck

No offense to the people who make Baileys (or drinkers who enjoy it), but its just not my cup of tea. Or alcohol in this case.

Same goes with Kahlua. Yuck.

Give me brandy, cognac, whiskey, vodka any day. Or if you like Asian drinks, baekseju, soju and sake.

But Baileys and Kahlua. Sorry, its just not that good. Its too sweet, and when you mix it the flavour is ruined.

Boxing Equipment from CSN

ENTERTAINMENT/HEALTH - Awhile back I got into a fight with a crazed crackhead in downtown Toronto (see Fisticuffs in Kensington Toronto) and I revealed my interest in traditional boxing as a martial art.

Or as I like to call it, Good Ol' Fisticuffs.

Since then I was contacted by CSN stores and asked to write a review of their boxing products. They sent me the following items by courier:

* "The Champ" Boxing Focus Mitts
* Double Mouthpiece
* "The Champ" Velcro Boxing Gloves
* MMA Quick Wraps

However they made a mistake sending the quick wraps. They accidentally sent me TWO right handed hand wraps, and neglected to send a left-handed one. I am planning to contact them and hopefully they will send me the left one to complete the set.


Since receiving them the items which I've used the most are the boxing gloves themselves and the boxing pads, both made by Amber Sports. I've even shown taken them with me around Toronto to show friends and get their opinion on the products.

(That and it helps to have someone else holding the boxing pads and taking turns at it.)

I even brought the boxing gloves and pads to a Christmas get-together with some relatives and my cousin's children got to play with them. That was amusing all by itself and I wish I had taken photos of them.

So far I can give the following review:

Durability - 5 Stars (No rips, they're still in perfect condition despite regular usage.)

Fit/Ease of Use - 5 Stars (Very easy to use.)

Eco-Friendliness - 4 Stars (They're made from plastic polymers, like a tougher version of nylon. No animals or plants were harmed in the making of these products from what I can tell. Some of the bits look like faux leather. Note: Polymers are made using either oil or recycled plastic. I didn't say any any label that said "Made from Recycled Materials" so I am going to guess they're made from oil, so they lost 1 star for that.)

Seriously, the only complaint I have is that they messed up the order with respect to the left-handed quick wraps. Hopefully they will remedy that soon enough and I can post an update that they were quick to send the left hand wrap too.

Toshiba Notebooks, Canon Cameras and Windows7

TECHNOLOGY - I bought a Toshiba Notebook computer yesterday. According to the numbers on the box it is a NB250. It looks exactly like the photos shown below.

Now while I have used laptops and notebook computers before for work and play, I have never actually owned one of my own before.

I was tempted to buy one when I was living in South Korea (they were relatively cheap there and comparable to desktop prices) and I regret not going the laptop route because it would have saved me luggage space when I eventually brought the computer back to Canada.

But now that I finally have a notebook computer (and its just the right size too, small and super easy to fit inside a bag, but not so small that I am typing with my thumbs or something silly like that) it means I will finally be able to take a computer with me when I go traveling.

Technically I bought it for my website design business and I will be claiming it as a business expense on my income taxes. The idea is to have a nice portable computer which I can have with me when I meet clients.

And the price did not break my budget. $285 + tax. I also bought a wireless optical mouse to go with it because I prefer to work with a mouse. That is going on my business expenses too.

However I am kind of kicking myself today because I could have entered a contest (and possibly won) a Toshiba Notebook anyway. Its a Lenzr photography contest sponsored by a designer swimwear company, ERP software, and a beauty school. Not that it really matters who sponsors it, I just thought it was interesting that I could have entered the photography contest and assuming I won I could have got the Toshiba Notebook for free.

Or at very least got some interesting photography out of the competition process.




Canon Cameras

I am a big fan of Canon cameras. I have 4 of them now. I have 5 cameras total, the 5th is a Polaroid (which I cannot find film for any more). I have been very happy with the quality of Canon.

My first Canon camera was a simple point and click. I give it 4 stars.

The second was a digital camera, a PowerShot A20 (which is so old its considered obsolete but still works amazingly well). I bought it in 2001 and later took it with me to South Korea in 2003-04 and again in 2005. I did not replace it until 2010. 5 stars.

My third I bought in South Korea, a manual Canon Rebel SLR. I even bought an extra lens to go with it. The quality of the shots I got off that camera was amazing. (Also, while I am at it, I recommend the Kodak Photo Shops in South Korea for developing. The quality over there is amazing.) 5 stars.

And my new digital camera is a Canon PowerShot A480, purchased in 2010 for a fraction of what I paid for its grandfather in 2001. And unlike its grandfather it can also shoot video and has a lot more options, more pixels, etc. 5 stars.

Which brings me back to the Toshiba Notebook NB250. It comes with a webcam on it. I have never owned a webcam before. I am struggling to figure out what to do with it. Maybe do live podcasts or videos of myself for YouTube. Dunno yet.

Windows7 Starter

One thing is bothering me however... how do I change the desktop background image on it? Normally that is an easy thing to do, but Windows7 Starter does not seem to allow it. It makes me tempted to download and install the Google Chrome OS when it becomes available for notebook computers because the inability to customize some of the settings on Windows7 Starter is super annoying.

The rest of the computer is fine. I was playing games on it and watching movies on it last night to test it out. Works great for everything else. Its just those freaking Windows7 Starter jerk computer programmers who said 'Hey, lets be even bigger jerks by not letting people customize their own computers and then they will download Google Chrome OS when it comes out?!'

Morons. They are just shooting themselves in the foot. I can't wait to try out the Google Chrome OS.

Otherwise I am sure there is a program out there that I can download and which will allow me to customize my desktop somehow. I will find it!

All Day Breakfasts in Toronto

Looking for a good place in Toronto for an all day breakfast?

Well I was. I normally like going to The Sunset Grill (Yonge and Richmond, 5 stars), but today I decided on a change.

So instead we went to:

Future Bakery & Cafe (Annex, SW corner of Bloor and Brunswick, just west of Spadina)
483 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 1Y2, Canada
416-922-5875

I had the blueberry pancakes and they were excellent. My vegetarian date had a spinach omelette. Both were excellent.

The place was very busy however, a sign that the food is very good, but it felt rather cramped. The place triples as cafe, bar and all day breakfast place, so it was understandably busy when you consider its prime location on Bloor street.

The food was great, but there is no waiters. You have to go up and make your order at the bar and then they call your name when it is ready. I give the
Future Bakery & Cafe 4 stars out of 5.

Another good breakfast place, if you're in North York, is The Blueberry Hill at York University. Good music, nice seats, great decor, and lots of university students. Blueberry Hill is inside the York Lanes Mall near the middle of the campus. Parking however is tricky. 4 Stars out of 5.