| Where to buy travel plug adapter. |
[30 Dec 2009|12:22am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 curious |
] |
Greetings, fellow Vancouverites and Pre-Happy New Year!
Some friends and I will be heading over to South Korea for a getaway, and we're trying to buy Type C electric plug adapters so that we can plug in our electric devices into the plugs in South Korea.
Does anyone know where we can buy them?
|
|
| Reindeer Meat? |
[29 Dec 2009|10:38pm] |
Hey everyone :)
I was watching a Chef Abroad marathon on the Food Network, and after a particular Sweden/Arctic Circle themed episode, I'm curious about trying reindeer meat. Is there anywhere to get it already prepared in Vancouver?
Thanks in advance!
|
|
|
[29 Dec 2009|10:48pm] |
paranormal activity.
is it based on a true story? or not true story? i heard 2 different stories and i don't know which one is right. i presume it's not true story, yes?
happy new year to you all.
|
|
| Public New Year's festivities? |
[29 Dec 2009|08:38pm] |
Okay so this is only the second time I've been in Vancouver and not elsewhere for New Years although I've lived here over 3 years...
Back in Toronto there is always a big outdoor New Year's celebration at Nathan Phillips Square on New Year's Eve with a countdown. Does anything like that happen in Vancouver?
|
|
| Looking to Buy : Used Laptop |
[29 Dec 2009|07:19pm] |
Hey there Vancouver! I'm looking for a new-to-me laptop/netbook/lapnet/whatever, and I thought I'd give the ol' Vancouver LJ a try.
Here's what I am looking for :
1. It has to work (duh)
2. It has to have a WORKING BATTERY, which holds at least two to three hours of medium-usage charge.
3. It has to have, or be able to have by just adding a PCMCIA card or whatnot, full WiFi capability.
4. It has to be able to run Firefox, with full Flash, Ajax, et all support. A modern web browser, in other words.
5. It has to have some basic local storage, although because I plan to use it primarily for writing and web browsing, it doesn't need much.
6. It has to weight less than 20 pounds and not set my lap on fire while using it.
7. A full-sized or nearly full-sized keyboard is a huge plus. I'm not just a writer, I'm a writer with big fingers.
8. A good sized display is also a plus. I'm a writer with big fingers and thick glasses.
9. Delvery out to Richmond is also good, as I am a writer with big fingers, thick glasses, and mobility issues.
So to sum up, I am looking for a Wifi-capable laptop that works.
If you've got what I am looking for and are willing to part ways with it in exchange for sweet, sweet cash, reply in this thread. We can talk.
Got a brand new gizmo for Xmas and now the old one seems pathetic and lame? Turn that old wreck into cold, hard cash!
Thank you for your time!
|
|
| my FAVORITE female performances of the decade, thus far. |
[29 Dec 2009|08:21pm] |
so this series, part deux. I have to admit, the earlier part of this decade is a little fuzzy, but I have to go with what I have seen. please call to my attention any flagrant exclusions. I had so many options that I included an honorable mentions list:
11. Tilda Swinton -- Julia (Julia)
12. Mo'Nique -- Mary Lee Johnston (Precious)
13. Tilda Swinton -- Karen Crowder (Michael Clayton)
14. Kate Winslet -- Hanna Schmitz (The Reader)
15. Halle Berry -- Leticia Musgrove (Monster's Ball)
16. Adriana Barraza -- Amelia (Babel)
17. Rachel Weisz -- Tessa Quayle (The Constant Gardener)
18. Cate Blanchett -- Katharine Hepburn (The Aviator)
19. Naomi Watts -- Cristina Peck (21 Grams)
20. Rinko Kikuchi -- Chieko (Babel)
( Read more... )
|
|
| Thirst |
[29 Dec 2009|10:54pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 impressed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Carlos Imperial - Nem Vem QueNao Tem |
] |
Thirst is a vampire film by the director of Oldboy. It is also excellent. Very little of the usual supernatural or horror elements associated with Vampire films are shown here and when they are they are very mich incidental and in the background. The central character in the film is a priest who contracts the "vampire virus" during a blood transfusion. What then follows is an exploration of the priests morality as he has to come to terms with his new vapiriric needs.
A second theme explored in the film is suicide. Right at the front of the film the christian position on suicide is spelled out - that it is the ultimate sin. The main character is ultimately forced to resolve the question as to whether this is true - is there a circumstance when suicide is the lesser evil?
Given all of this the one thing that surprised me about the film is how much humour it contained/ This may be from the director of Oldboy and it does explore some dark places but there are plenty of laughs too and these are handles with a surprisingly light touch and the tone of the film maintains a good balance throughout. I liked this movie a lot.
|
|
|
[29 Dec 2009|01:15pm] |
F.Y.I
Starting Friday, January 1, new street parking regulations and rates will be in effect in Vancouver:
Parking meter hours will be in effect from 9 am to 10 pm, seven days a week everywhere in the city.
<" http://vancouver.ca/ ">
|
|
| snowboard wall mount |
[29 Dec 2009|10:52am] |
|
if i wanted to hang my snowboard on the wall, where would i find the hardware to do so?
|
|
| Tokyo: Day 2 |
[30 Dec 2009|01:22am] |
Day 2 is in the books, and I have to say I fuckin' love this city. Recency bias be damned; it's definitely making the top three of places that I've visited, and the "places I've visited" list is getting decently long.
I have a hard time pointing to anything specific today to say why today was awesome. It's really more just the whole experience of being in Tokyo. It's everything everyone claims it is: busy, full of energy, technologically modern, pretty, culturally distinct, cosmopolitan, full of great food and things to do, but to merely list those things seems to sell the city short; the whole is clearly greater than the sum of its parts.
I woke up early to go to the Tsukiji fish market. Access has been somewhat restricted for the next couple of weeks because tourists keep getting in the way and making things a pain in the ass for the workers, but you can still wander around quite a bit and watch people do their thing. While you can no longer witness the fresh fish auction unless you're on official business, I imagine most people just want to eat the product anyway. As evidence, when I got there -- at just before 8 AM -- there were lineups for all the restaurants. Obviously, I selected my restaurant by choosing the largest line. Then I was informed that I was not in the line. I needed to get to the line to get in the line. It was a common mistake; other people kept doing this as well and got sent to the (ever-growing) line behind me. I noticed that in no case did anyone respond with a haughty "fuck that noise, there's no way I'm waiting in line for that". They just dutifully shuffled over to the new line and waited.
You order in the second of the lines, and as such your food is pretty much there the minute you get seated. And yes, it's very fresh, and yes, it's fantastic and better than home. Especially for the price. Because of the pre-order system, the experience is over very quickly; I was in the line for 90 minutes only to have what turned out to be about a 5-minute meal. The ratio reminded me of being at a rollercoaster at Disneyland. Lots of waiting, lots of anticipation and it's great while it lasts, but it doesn't last long. And when you're done, you want to do it again right away!
Tried to get into the Edo Museum, but it was closed for the holidays. So too, apparently, is the Meiji Shrine. Seems like a lot of stuff is closed around this time of year, but no biggie. I thought a bit about how to encapsulate my tourist "style" and I settled on something like: I'll plan out destinations, but I'll be happy if I'm distracted along the way. After a nap back at the hotel, I walked from my hotel to Harajuku and Shibuya, the district where all the teenaged girls buy (and show off) their bleached hair, Hello Kitty earrings, gaudy boots, fishnet stockings and all other manner of fashionable absurdity.
In Shibuya, I also experienced first-hand how North American women get body-image complexes when they get to Japan. I had never, ever in my adult life ever not bought an item of clothing because I was too fat for it. I'm 5'7", 135 lbs, 28-inch waist, and have been pretty much my whole adult life. And indeed, I could barely get the button done on the first pair of jeans I pulled off the rack. I ended up buying a kind of absurdly expensive pair of jeans mostly because I felt guilty about leaving the really nice sales dude empty-handed after struggling so hard to help me in English (I'm very aware I'm a sucker; the polite thing to do would be not to point it out).
The highlight of the day was unquestionably the Ooedo Onsen Monogatari. An onsen is a geothermically heated hot tub, or rather, a collection of them. OOM is one of the biggest and has a traditional theme, at least once you get past the plaza of restaurants (16 of them), shops and even carnival games. I am a massive fan of hot tubs and especially outdoor natural hot tubs. It was a bitter 9 degrees by nightfall in Tokyo tonight, and I was cold walking around the city with my cashmere coat and fleece sweater, but being naked in the outdoors submerged in a 45-degree tub was fucking heaven. My only regret was that I could not stay longer (they're open until like 8 AM or something, but my heart actually can't handle hot tubs for very long). My only complaint was that there were just too many penises and male asses everywhere. Yeah, yeah, I know, product of my Western prudishness, but it's annoying to have a bunch of penises and male asses in your line of sight all the time. You try to avert, but it's like being told not to look at the purple elephant in the room. I eventually resolved it by sitting in the corner of the tub, facing away from everyone else, and trying to stare up at the moon.
I expected the onsen trip to rejuvenate me, but it just made me more sleepy. By that time it was about 10:30, and given that the trains stop some time between midnight and 1am and I was still an hour away from the hotel, it seemed reasonable to head back anyway. I don't know if I've ever been out by myself for 10 hours in a day just touristing, but that should be enough to say how much I've enjoyed my time here. Tomorrow though, I plan to take it relatively easy, and on the 31st pretty much my whole day will be in Saitama Super Arena.
|
|
| Sherlockian thoughts... |
[29 Dec 2009|10:37am] |
The movie tried so hard to recreate Sherlock that the only thing the characters in the movie shared were names and a Baker Street address.
Without traditional characteristics as described in the books, the characters could have been named anything else and it would have been just as good, the marketing just would have been a bit harder, and it would have been harder to create a "franchise."
The performances were good, it was an enjoyable film. It just felt more like a turn of the century detective tale than an actual Sherlock Holmes movie. It could have been called "Will and Jack from "Will and Grace" solve mysteries at the Turn of the Century."
I much prefer "Young Sherlock Holmes" -- the 1985 Barry Levinson film detailing how Sherlock and Watson meet. And save a girl from being sacrificed by a secret society. Hey, that sounds familiar. That was an issue, for me, too: Two Sherlock theatrical releases in 25 years and they share this major plot point.
Anyway, it's worth spending the money, especially if you go in not knowing much.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
mathew5000's Friends Page
