A sad day in Metropolis :(.

Christopher Reeve died yesterday (didn't see anyone on the /. JE circle posting anything) An activist for stem cell research and a role model for the disabled, it's sad to see his passing. Wikipedia has a great article on him which far surpasses anything I could write about.

I really would have liked him to have additional screen time as Dr Virgil Swann on Smallville episodes, but he will always be remembered as Superman.

A sad start to a day, but thankfully it's Thanksgiving here in Canada...so at least a day of rest. So to all you Canuckistans, Canadians, Hockeyvites... Happy Thanksgiving.

As seen on fark.com:
Man attacks police with two cobras. GI Joe surrenders
On to keeping songs in ones' head ...

He'll fight for freedom wherever there is trouble, G. I. Joe is there!
G. I. Joe . . . A Real American Hero G. I. Joe is there.

Its G. I. Joe against Cobra and Destro,
Fighting to save the day.
He never gives up, he's always there,
Fighting for freedom over land and air.

G. I. Joe . . . A Real American Hero G. I. Joe is there.

"G. I. Joe is the codename for America's daring, highly trained, special mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

He never gives up, he'll stay till the fights won G. I. Joe will dare.
G. I. Joe . . . A Real American Hero G. I. Joe!

SW: Battlefront:

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone review this game yet on the /. friend circle (I think I have friended lots of gamerz, but I suppose they're busy playing instead of writing :) ). I'm not sure if I have played it enough to really write anything useful but I'm enjoying the game immensely on the PC. A few of my coworkers are trying to get me to subscribe to Xbox Live with our Xbox, but I don't know about FPS shooters without a mouse and keyboard. Essentially the game is an upgrade of Battlefield 1942 (for those that have played it), with StarWars weapons, characters, maps and vehicles. My favorite vehicle is driving the AT-ST around shooting Ewoks on Endor (which is actually quite a challenging map cuz of all the foliage and those lil' buggers being so small). On the 'Single Player' campaign there are Galactic conquest missions where you can have a Jedi NPC (Mace Windu, Luke, Count Dooku, Darth Vader) fight alongside! Jedi deflect laser blasts, but they also eventually die too. It'll be interesting if they add an expansion pack to play as Jedis, but right now all the different kind of characters are excellent. Playing as a Droideka as part of the CIS army is pretty cool with the shield. Hoth is an excellent map re-living the battle as it was in Starwars-Empires Strikes Back. Definitely something I will be purchasing once I can confirm the online play is playable and when I have more time to play.

Smallville WARNING SPOILERS

Has anyone else watched the Season 4 Opener 'Crusade'. What an episode! I was concerned about the introduction of Lois Lane onto the series, but she wasn't that bad. Quite pretty and the Margo Kidder cameo was nice homage to the original movies. Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), OMG she's so hot. SHOWER SCENE guys. :) WOOOOO... Her new boyfriend in Paris actually appears that he can act too. Very enjoyable episode with great lines like:
"I'm more into nerds with glasses - Lois".
"What is it? A bird? A Plane?" - Lex's pilot

New episode should have taped earlier today, so I'll watch that before I go to sleep...

Anyways I should get going, but damn, September is friggin over already! Apparently Winnipeg is going to get snow tomorrow. *sigh* Winterpeg at last :/.

Hullo out there... this is more for my personal record (people keep asking where to go for sushi and I'll just give this JE link). People have asked "Why don't you make your own sushi"? Well... gf and I have tried but we can't get the rice 'just right'. I think we'll need to get the medium grain stuff and spend the extra cash. Additionally, getting fresh fish and being able to cut fish properly is another story. Nori and crab and/or pieces of avocado and cucumber seem to suffice without the rice though for lunch :).

There's quite a few sushi restaurants in Winnipeg now, but here are the ones I've visited:

Sushi Train (3 locations)

• Pembina (beside the Keg)D-1295 Pembina Hwy
• The Forks Market, main floor
• Madison Square, 1610 Ness Ave

- These guys are the most economical and probably best place to start if trying for the first time. They will not have the most complicated stuff and their quality sometimes isn't top notch. Definitely a place that my girlfriend and I frequent. Their nigiri pieces tend to be larger than normal, but temperature seems to vary at the Pembina and Forks location. The gimmick at this restaurant is a toy train that (during lunchtime mostly) serves sushi at the sushi bar.

Asahi

• Broadway (close to the Legislature)

- These guys are a step up from Sushi train, and their prices are reasonable but marked higher than Sushi Train. They have some unique 'maki' rolls which are rolled sushi pieces that have interesting names. They also have a larger menu encompassing other Japanese dishes (teriyaki, teppanaku, etc.).

Meiji (3 locations)

• Old Spaghetti Factory (previous location near Market) This may have moved
• Osborne Village
• Corydon Strip (also a Martini Bar)

- These guys are at a higher pricepoint, but their quality and extensive menu shows for it. Their target base appears to follow the higher end clientele as they have an extensive drink menu with expensive champagne's and martini's. I've tried their lychee martini and it was great (I believe these guys also know how to properly create stirred or shaken martinis in the city, but I'm not a martini expert). They also have some unique 'maki' offerings and creative sushi dishes. One of the unique 'maki''s are the Dragon Roll which is essentially a roll made with cucumber, shrimp, scallops, avocado, salmon and tuna with a special 'dragon' sauce. (Spicier soy sauce). Quite a treat.

Ichiban

• 189 Carlton St (Delta Hotel)

- These guys have a 50/50 split between their show case teppanyaku 'feast shows', and their sushi bar. For Sushi, the best day to go is on Monday as they have a limited menu where items are 50% off. Alternatively, they have recently created a Thursday 'All you can Eat' from a selected menu that can surely fill you up. I find their pieces smaller than usual, but their taste and presentation consistent. What my girlfriend and I normally order are the handrolls or 'temaki' as they are wonderfully done.

Mooshiro (2 locations)

• Grant/Pembina/Stafford corner (Formally another sushi restaurant)
• Portage Ave (in proximity to University of Winnipeg)

- These guys are relatively new, but their service is wonderful. They have some unique 'maki' offerings, and have nice, modernistic sitting areas. They also love to garnish everything with fresh fruit cut into shapes of animals, fans and furniture.

BIMI Restaurant

• Grant & Kenaston (located close to Grapes Restaurant)

- These guys are also fairly new, and their unique maki rolls are interesting and quite tasty. They have unique dinner ware and a couple of their maki rolls use a welder's torch. :).

Sakura

• 1765 Kenaston Blvd

- These guys have recently changed their menu and service offering. Originally their service was lackluster and our orders were mixed up and/or were missing ingredients. They have now offered a larger, extensive menu, and their lunch special is a buffet service. The waitresses are in kimonos creating a nice atmosphere.

Yatori

• Academy & Kenaston

- These guys operate as a store and small restaurant, as their sitting area is very tiny (can only hold 10 or so people at a time). They are relatively economical, but they aren't open late. I believe most people order 'take-out' from these guys.

Masa

• 10-2077 Pembina Hwy

- These guys have an interesting menu encompassing more of the rarer fish varieties (yellow tail, red maguro/tuna, flounder, etc.). They sell by piece, but taste has been consistent.

Edohei

• 355 Ellice Ave

I believe this was Winnipeg's first sushi restaurant, but the owner's son recently went to France and Japan and fuses French and Japanese cooking techniques and styles). This is one of the few places where you can get foie gras and sushi at the same time. However, they are quite expensive. These guys are also one of the only ones in the city to use Wild Pacific Salmon for their dishes and it definitely has a fresher/tastier taste and firmer consistency.

Wasabi

• #105-121 Osborne St -This is the bistro
• 588 Broadway - this is the fancy schmancy location that sets a lot of the other restaurants apart.

These guys have also opened a new store selling sushi wares and ingredients. I believe they have sushi-making classes, but I haven't had the time to really check them out. These guys have lots of unique dishes like 'Sushi Pizza' which is essentially cooked shrimp and scallop on top of a pizza shell made with rice. Interesting stuff. Expensive though as per normal.

Holycrap my gf and I eat out a lot. No wonder I'm broke lol. Oh well... that was Winnipeg. Nothing compares to Vancouver though, but in Vancouver all you need to do is visit Chinatown or go to Richmond and every where you go there's sushi... cheap too.

So the gf and I spent the long weekend in Minneapolis. I had originally wanted to spend it in Chicago, but realized that 14-15 hours of driving would get tiresome. Additionally that would only allow 1-2 days of actual sight-seeing.

An hour or so into the trip we hit the infamous U.S. border. To save a few dollars we had a paying passenger (my cousin's cousin named R) that we were to drop off in St. Cloud, but true to Filipino tradition... he brought a 'balikbayan box'.

Balikbayan box - translations: BALIK means to come back. BAYAN means hometown or homeland. So if you put the words together, BALIKBAYAN means someone who is coming back home. The box is filled with various gifts and goodies that range from cds, shoes, lotions, canned goods etc to be given to relatives and friends back in one's homeland. Basically it's like a care package for you college kids from your mom. "Balikbayan box... chocolates... dilata (canned goods)" repeated over and over. As a tid bit those two items are like a madatory staple in a balikbayan box.

But instead of goodies and stuff, he packed his clothes in there. Well, normally this would be fine if he had taken an airplane and the xray scanners scanned the box, but the Department of Homeland Security clerklady did her job and asked us to go to hangar door 2 to get checked.

The gf had to go to the washroom and pee, so she left. R and I decided we should help these guys out so we proceeded to get out of our car and open the rope and tape sealed box. All of the sudden we hear yelling and banging and (apparently according to reports from the people before us, [who we ended up knowing being related to people we knew]) guns were taken out on us. Although we weren't previously told, we were supposed to stay inside the vehicle until told to. R had his hands up in fear of getting beaten by the pro-wrestler scanner guy named O'Toole (he was a Tool alright). We then proceeded to drive inside the hangar bay. At this point I'm wondering wtf happened to nankerz (gf) as she would have been back now. So anyway, already at shock at being yelled at we are then asked to show our IDs and bring any valuables/wallets to the stainless steel scanning desk. Mr. Tool asks me the same question 3 times (how long have you and your gf been going out [i say 5 years]), so I assume he was seeing if he could catch me in a lie. Regardless, these guys had guns and large knives and big Maglite flashlites so no joking here. R kept putting his hands in his pockets and the nazilady kept telling him to take his hands out of his pockets. Eventually R put his hands on his head, I laughed and then mr. tool decides to tell me to turn around and unflay all pockets. I proceed on asking them where my gf is and they go, we didn't see her, and I'm like geezus christ this is becoming like Xfiles conspiracy creepy. Eventually we're put in this sealed room where the windows are one way when I hear my laughing gf going where did the guys go, and i'm like oh no she's going to get yelled at too, but nothing. Mr. tool and nazi lady did the bad guy good guy thing and we got the bad guy treatment. They eventually search our entire vehicle to find nothing and force us into organizing everything so we could fit stuff again. Great job, defending america from terrorists f***ers.

So on we went to terrorize america with my enraged cousin ready to spread the word and deposit his seed... er.. .At this point it started to rain heavily, but thanks to Rain-X, it was easy driving... till everyone in the car started sleeping and I almost started to pass out. Thankfully we hit a Krispy Kreme in Fargo and got myself a free fresh from the conveyor belt of dreams original glazed donut. MMM... bought a cruller and on we went to St. Cloud.

I've never seen such a largely catholic city in my life till we hit St. Cloud/St.Joseph. Wow there was catholic everything, and all the american patriotism... never seen so many flags concentrated in one place. Almost freaked me out.

So before hitting Minneapolis we decided to stop at Albertville Outlet mall. Wow what a selection of brand name deals. Of course nankerz was in heaven, but I was tired from 8 hours of driving. Bought a few things and then headed to Minneapolis. Checked into a TravelLodge that we initially was a dive and lied about having a hot tub (found the hot tub later but figured it was not hot enough). Then went to sleep, wake up later to go out to eat. Decided to go to a place called Sawatdee which was a Thai restaurant. Now normally I don't eat Thai food cuz a lot of their sauces are of the peanut variety and I'm allergic. But nankerz ordered some chicken satay (which I didn't really eat), and we rounded it up with some beef in oyster sauce and some fried rice. Pretty good fare for the price ($20!). We then proceed to get lost trying to find a Walmart, and when we do find it, realize it's just next door to our hotel.

The next day my goal was to check out the Underground aquarium at the MoA (Mall of America) and taste the ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. We decided to eat lunch first and nankerz picked the Panda's chinese food place and we had some Orange Chicken, Mandarin chicken, Chow mein and Rice. Nankerz also had a chicken egg roll which I felt was kinda gross, but oh well. We then hunt for the Cold Stone Creamery and oh my god. I've never had such a great ice cream before. Granted, they are uber expensive but it's nice how they mix up all their ice cream on that stone and place it on the waffle cone. I was kinda disappointed with the waffle cone, I thought they'd make it fresh and thick, but it was just like any other waffle cone.

Checked out a few stores like the Oakley store, and nankerz checked out p.B. Loco. Pretty cool concept... peanut butter stuff... but I was grossed out at the pictures of people with peanut butter all over their faces.

We then line up to go to the aquarium, and wow was it busy. Grabbed a coupon from the walking sharky on the first floor and proceeded to walk through the aquarium. At first I thought it was kinda junky looking until we finally hit the tunnel with the moving conveyor belt. We have something similar at our Regent Casino here in Winnipeg, but not as massive as what's there in the aquarium. Basically it was a tunnel through the aquarium where you are engulfed in the presence of all the aquatic fishes and turtles. Pretty cool fishes but I felt the aquarium in Stanley Park and Seattle were far better (they had more animals and shows). Mind you, this was the first time I was able to see an Octopus actually move around and about playing with stuff. Holy crap that thing was big... would make lots of tako sushi :). Anyways, went to go tickle a shark and manta ray and on we went to the endless shop after shop. I managed to pick myself up a magic trick kit set that allows me to levitate cards and stuff so I'm quite excited to use that to show off. lol . That night we found the hot tub and found out the people we sat beside were from Winnipeg too. Sadly their place of work went bankrupt (Classy clothiers) and unfortunately due to the rain they couldn't even go to Valley Fair (been there done that, gf got sick :/ ).

The next morning we visit the IHOP (we don't have one in our city) and I ordered myself a steak omelette... wow great omelette, too bad it's not canadian beef.

At this point nankerz is freaking out cuz she lost her ID. Told her it'd probably be okay but we waste time going back to MoA and Albertville outlet to see if her ID was left anywherez. eventually when we hit the border, my assumptions were right and the people at the border *WERE* on strike :). So although we were at our $ limit of duty free items *AND* nankerz not having an ID, we were just told to go home.

Anyways that was our trip, and if you read this far, holycrap... I didn't really think anyone would be that interested to read this far. But Thanks :)

I don't normally do this, but I'm procrastinating at work and thought this quiz was pretty bang on. Thanks to dubiousdave. Quiz can be taken:here

You are a XPIG--Expressive Practical Intellectual Giver. This makes you a Catch. Wow a catch... Too bad I'm not really looking..

You are a magazine-cover, matinee idol dreamboat. Parents love you and want to set you up with their kids. However, first dates are tough because it takes time for your qualities to come out. I've never thought of myself as a magazine-cover

You are generous and kind. You think first and act later. You are cool in a conflict, but your practical side means if your partner throws out emotional appeals ("why can't we do what I want for a change?") they will grate on your nerves, even when the conflict is resolved. This is soooo true... don't know how it was able to figure this out in only 20 questions

You're a romantic. You enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and you don't just fall into bed with anyone. You pay close attention to your significant other's needs, and this makes you an excellent lover and partner. The problem is that your friends and lovers may find it so easy to express things to *you* that they lose sight of whether you feel as comfortable with *them*! This doesn't necessarily make you feel under-appreciated -- you're too well-adjusted and self-aware for that -- but you may feel restless. Thus you seek adventure in your life outside the relationship to prove and actualize yourself. So does this mean I'm more likely to cheat? Oh come on. Anyways I agree tho, I'm more of a giver than a receiver.

Of all the types, you would make the best parent. Something that I'd like to be someday, but not now :/

You are coiffed. WTF is coiffed?

Didja see "Big Fish"? 'Cause you're like Ewan MacGregor in "Big Fish." Gotta see Big Fish now

Of the 34800 people who have taken this quiz, 8 % are this type. Wow only 8%? Mebbe I should take this quiz again :/

Not sure if anyone already had this website bookmarked, but a co-worker gave it to me earlier this week to check out games I loved back in the 90's (Colonization, XCom, etc). It's the Home Of the UnderDogs and they have almost all the games back in the 80's and the 90's. I downloaded colonization, played it and didn't realize 2 hours went by. I then downloaded Dark Legion and realized the computer really sucked... never really got to play that game modem-modem cuz my computer wasn't that great.

Went to see two folklorama pavilions in week 1. Not too sure about visiting any more pavilions in week 2. Went to the Viva Mexico pavilion which was located at CityPlace (formerly Eaton Place, soon to be attached to our new arena). The seating was really bad (of course not bad for the bus tour people), but we had to sit at the side of the stage. Noticed that they didn't introduce their 'ambassadors' at this pavilion but oh well... Didn't try the food but the margueritas looked yummy with their frosted rims and icy tequila goodness... mmm... The show was basically imported people from some province in mexico doing traditional dances, one looking like an iguana and the girls all dressed up in very colorful dresses and such. Not bad for their first year.

The Australian/NewZealand pavilion was impressive. The guy was invited all the way from Austria (he married a german/austria lady), and he sorta gave a tutoring on the Didgiriroo (spelling not my #1 skill). Man that tube of hollowed out wood sounds cool! He showed how his control of his air and lips/tongue made all the strange and odd sounds. The food was good too :). We sampled a lamb chop with mashed potatoes and gravy, anzac biscuits (coconut cookies), lamington (cake? tasted like a bounty bar), a mini meat pie (mmm greasy), and a fruit cup thingy. Very yummy indeed.

I have mod points again and none of the fp stuff are appearling to mod atm. If anyone needs de-fanging/etc let me know the post and i'll defang it away.

And if you have read this far you may be part of the JE circle. Where exactly did everyone go or has that yet to be decided? Oh well...

Haven't been to a pavilion yet this year, but one of the things that makes my city unique is its Folklorama festival. It's generally a multicultural event performed by local, national and international entertainers in a few dozen venues. Only at Folklorama can you 'visit' 30+ countries in two weeks. In all of the venues each 'pavilion' also sells food inspired by that nation or culture... very yummy :).

This year I'm going to visit the Mexican and New Zealand and possibly a couple more pavilions. Of course, there's also the Pearl of the Orient pavilion that I have to plug 'cuz it's the best. :)

Don't know if anyone else saw this but...

The Death Star is orbitting Saturn! :)

Update: Website has been Fark'd... FarkArticle

Our 'Rainbow Stage' is celebrating their 50th anniversary with the show King and I and the gf and I scored free admission via my cousin who plays an amazon guard. I thought the play was very well done and the sets were beautifully crafted. I still think of the King in the King and I to be the bald guy in the movie though. Anna was played very well and the girl who plays the headwife is one of the most famous filipina musical professional in our city. Very well done and worth it if u like musical theatre.

Winnipeg Fringe Festival 2004 ends...

So the gf and I were able to watch a total of 27 shows together. Since I was a volunteer I ushered (so basically watched) 3 additional, so a total of 30 shows. The most shows I've ever watched at the Fringe.

Finding a Chord - The play is generally about two sisters who have not much in common. The sixteen-year-old younger sister has become reserved recently, and this is something her 18-yo partying/rebel older sister can't quite understand. They talk, and talk - about their parents, about who they are and who they will grow up to be - and finally the younger sister reveals that she's a lesbian. I went to look for a website and found out this site where you can actually just buy the script! (The playwright was the older sister). This was one of the shows I ushered for, and was short, sweet and not bad. The montreal chick was quite hot too. :)

The Burning Meatloaf - Worse fringe play I have ever watched. I don't know what they were trying to do, but it wasn't funny, interesting or at all memorable. I can kinda remember that they had the promise of talent, but the writing, the jokes and everything was just a waste of time.

Punch and Polly - A puppet show definitely not meant for children. This one was weird as I've always watched puppet shows reserved for children or for at least a general wide PG audience. This show was violent and really strange. Definitely a fringe play, but not my cup of tea.

P.S. 69 - A one woman play who plays 15+ characters about a substitute teacher teaching for her very first time in the Brooklyn school district. Susan Jeremy definitely has tons of talent, and this show consistently sold out in Advance Tickets and I believe sold out for most of its shows. It eventually won 'Best of Venue' so was able to play an encore on Sunday that was also sold out. Very interesting but maybe it's cuz we sat in the back and this big guy was blocking most of our view did I not really enjoy this one.

Paradise Hotel - Holy geez this was definitely a 'fringe' play. Repetition of the phrase 'Hotel F*ck* still echoes in my head and the image of the chick in faux moustache and large phallic device strapped still haunts me. I didn't particular like this one, but it definitely burned images and sounds into my head so I may not forget. I can't really explain what was this about but it was people saying out loud what we may be thinking and the conflict between unfettered passion vs. love and happiness? I dunno... or maybe it's about this chick who wears a fake moustache and a big phallic thing and everyone just shouts swears all the time to confuse you.

Double Dutch - Cool play about these championship skipping rope people. Much like the movie "Dodgeball'.

Improvision - Improv by three of the best improv artists. I slept through their 'song' sequence tho so not the greatest.

Fairy - Highschool production, quite interesting and a great challenging story about growing up and innocently finding about your own and your friend's sexual orientation. They took forever for scene changes though.

Worst Fringe Play in the World - This was really funny. Basically it was a play about everything that could be wrong with a fringe play. Laughed throughout but I think this was more meant for a seasoned fringer as most of the jokes were about situations that only experience would understand.

Borge Again - This was Reiner Hersch doing a play about Victor Borge. This guy is seriously as talented as Victor Borge but I believe he should have stuck with the humor and passed the 'Who really was Victor Borge' bit.

Lunatic Van Beethoven - This play was done by the guy who did Teaching Shakespeare year. I thought it was interesting but preachy at times and didn't have enough humor elements to make me really like it. Very interesting though.

SlipKnot - TJ Dawe the master of monologues really knows how to do monologues. However the night we watched this show he forgot some of his lines and had to reference his published book to figure out the lines (and made fun of doing it too). I can't even imagine how he is able to remember all the material that he uses though.

Risk Everything - I dunno, I thought the characters were kinda over-the-top, but I guess the story was semi-interesting. Generally about this alcoholic mother trying to risk her own family to exploiting her gambling habit. The guy who plays the porn director minded me of the Simpsons episode when Homer played baseball and the guy had a case of giganticism (sp?).

Man 1 Bank 0 - A true story about this guy who deposited a 95 grand check into the bank, got caught, found out it was legit (due to legal loopholes), but returned it anyway. My gf thought it was excellent. I thought it was a great story but found it more 'wow that's so cool' than 'haha that's hilarious'.

Chris Gibbs - This guy is originally from London and I loved his 'Power of Ignorance' play he did last year or the year before, but this play he seemed almost unprepared but still funny.

The Joy Show - My gf was excited to realize this chick was a tv star on the show Good Girls Don't or something or another. This chick was energetic and funny. Gf is now hooked on said show (although it has nothing to do on her standup routine). Funniest part was when she dared the audience to take their clothes off and dance and hug everyone.... well this big tall whitey guy ran up to the stage and took off his clothes and proceeded to hug everyone. I felt like I was Ben Stiller in the movie where he had to play basketball with the big sweaty guy.

Testacles and Ye Sack of Rome (Sound and Fury)- Wow what a great night of entertainment these guys are. Originally from L.A. this touring group creates Shakespearian (sp) plays and use double and hell single entendres to make them so funny and entertaining. If these guys have a show in your city, go and watch 'em... very funny stuff.

Bloodsuckers the Musical - One of the larger productions at this year's fringe, I thought it was a great setup. A little polishing can even get this to the mainstage even.

Feminine Eye for the Straight Guy - Kinda proud that this was written and played out by guys at my University Of Winnipeg (theatre department). Very funny experiment of guys acting like chicks to get chicks.

Hey Hetero - A play about these two obvious gay people preaching to heteros trying to expose who they really are. Although their play seems to be more directed to a dumb heterosexual point of view, most of the audience was of homosexual orientation and I thought the jokes and stereotypes were juvenile and typical. Nothing new here, but sorta funny.

Never Swim Alone - Not really sure what this one was about as I kinda slept through some of it. Most of the audience members were old so not sure if this was something at all interesting.

Pilk's Madhouse - These guys did Boy Groove last year or a funny exploit play about a boy band. This year they used the writing/scripts of thsi guy named Pilk who wrote while he was in jail and/or a mental institution. Didn't really like this one, but at least they were throwing away stuffed animals and my gf and I were able to catch one and play with it.

Swashbucklers - One woman play about pirates and stuff. Didn't really enjoy this one. When I think of pirates I think of more than one person fighting with swords and hooks and stuff.

Dry Cold Comfort - Very nicely written play about a couple, a rich guy and an attention seeking daughter of rich guy. Written by the same playwright of Bloodsuckers-The Musical, I thought it was a great play about lies, deceit and love all starring in Winnipeg on the coldest of coldest nights.

If Ugly was a Colour - Didn't really need to see this one, twas about a girl getting dumped and to counter this she tries to gain weight and get a bad hairdo. I didn't laugh much on this one but this was one of the last ones we watched and I was so tired and sick of the Fringe already lol.

Shows I wish I had time to see:

Articulate - A show about people who have hard times striking up conversations or making them end on a good note.

A heart to my Soul - A re-enactment play about this Korean girl who born of not the greatest of circumstances talks about her journey and eventual immigration into Canada.

Saw two more performances today at the Fringe Festival. One was interesting and the other was excellent writing but I may be biased.

Pygm@ilion was basically a play of 4 people whose primary communication between each other was email. This one was played really fast, and I was worried that the senior citizen (not the gf :) ), sitting beside me was going to have a heart attack as she was always slouching and clasping her hands. Maybe it's cuz they swore a lot in this play, but who doesn't in email? Lots of cliches all over the place and definitely a fringe show. Not sure if people who don't use the internet on a daily basis would understand this play.

Two Browns don't make a White - (no website :( ). Wow, very impressive writing and as a filipino-canadian I can totally relate to some of the characters. Although I couldn't call myself a 'coconut' - white in the inside, brown on the out, being able to identify oneself has and is a challenge. Do we identify ourselves from who we were born from or from our life experiences? I think it's a bit of both. This show was definitely a must see for some closet 'coconuts' I know, but showcasing a writing talent that I think the general public should experience.

If any /.'er is in town and or is thinking of visiting our fine city of Winnipeg... come on down to the Winnipeg Fringe Festival!. Volunteering again this year, and already watched 3 shows.

One Man LOTR. If you're a geek like me and watched the movies at least thrice on dvd, you'll love this physical re-creation of the movie in 60 minutes. This guy works his precious off folks... when he rolls around the ground you can see the perspiration. Excellent.

The Trickster. TJ Dawe is considered one of the 'kings' of the Fringe. Many of his shows are sellouts and are top notch writing and direction. This one was more of a strange fusion of standup and story telling. Lots of funny jokes and insightful questions to ask yourself :).

Truth About Daughters (link goes to his scripts and website). This one was more of a warm chronological journey of a father observing himself and her daughter as she is growing up. Cute, but less 'Fringe'y than normal. Definitely something a daughter would relate to.

So I got my first photo radar speeding ticket in the mail recently and boy I'm pissed. Damn camera got me at 64km/h in a 50km/h zone. I'm pissed cuz it was a Sunday afternoon and there was nobody on the road. Still, the ticket had to say it was a school zone to make me feel bad. I normally pay attention to speed and this would be my first traffic violation. Damn them to hell! Anyone in the /. world have photo radar and/or received a photo radar ticket in the mail?

Just recently went through the interview process of hiring a backup position at my work and it was quite intense. Since January I've been in the reports/analyst role for another project (non-technical) and it's been odd but interesting working for a mainly service-oriented project. Although the position is very demanding in its own right, it's harder still to find other people that know enough about PCs, Excel and/or technical ability within the project (in contrast to my old project, everyone was able to use a computer and/or work around Excel/Access). Upper management has gotten nervous that if I left and or got gravely ill, the backend reports would cease from operation causing dissaray. So finally they were able to allow the scheduler person and I to hire backups. After delivering a skill assessment test and short interviews we finally had our two candidates. Little did I realize that we were also to inform the unsuccessful candidates of their outcome. Having no experience in this, it was quite hard to tell people that they just didn't cut it, but a rewarding experience. Now that I think of it, I think it was best that these candidates were informed instead of being left in the air or given a PFO (please f off) letter. Anyone out there have experience in giving the bad news?

Only a few more months till the Original Trilogy is released on DVD! :) I know some of you may have already seen these, but for those that haven't (need shockwave i think tho) the Star Wars Fan Film Awards have some funny fan-made material. Of course none of these come close to the fan made original Troops , but still a good laugh. I still play SWG, and found out that our server was home to these guys. If any of you play SWG, check out their downloads section and watch the 'Baby Got Back' music video. Excellent in-game made film adaption/clone of the actual music video. Great use of in-game emotes and dance moves :). Made me laugh and move hysterically.

I think I'm getting old or my gf is getting more l33t than I am (she already downloads more than I do and can find stuff faster). Anyway, I'm happy to report that there is a NetFlix for Canada! Zip.ca is a Canada-only DVD rental service. I haven't subscribed yet, but I have been waiting to sign up for Netflix for the longest time.

I shouldn't really be posting... i have so much stuff to do.. but... aWalrus has an open invite to gmail and was requesting funny stories. I don't have many funny stories (not a great story teller, but I submitted the below and thought I should share the rest of the /. crowd too :) ).

Our cubicles at work leave much to be desired, but most of us have trinkets, photos, etc. to personalize our cube space. A lot of the people here have small stuffed animals from Winnie the Pooh to Homer Simpson. One guy named Neil only had one stuffed bear, and it was a 'Chubby Chicken' miniature stuffed A&W Chubby Chicken character.

One day, as a joke Shelly from work decided it would be funny to 'kidnap' lil' Chubby Chicken and offer a ransom note.

Ahead of time, Shelly bought a second 'Chubby Chicken' from A&W and cut it up in little pieces.

So the day went by and the ransom note was placed. Neil thinking it was so silly. announced to the room that it not funny and that it was a special item that he had from his gf.

So because the ransom note wasn't answered (he had to walk around and pluck around like a chicken), Shelly gave one of the managers outside the cube room a 'wing' of the chubby chicken and another ransom note.

Neil wasn't impressed.

While everyone was giggling and laughing at the entire event, unfortunately Neil got really upset and left early that day.

I guess it was only really funny to the people that knew it was a joke, but Neil doesn't talk to anyone anyone in the room anymore. In fact, he moved out to the floor citing bad stress.

(names have been modified to protect identity).