shy’s Neighborhood

QotD: Sound Off

Nails on a chalkboard, TV static, the alarm clock... What noise annoys you most?
Babies crying ... or people talking while your trying to watch a movie in the cinema.

Karate ≠ Kung Fu

lazywong
2 days ago
1 comment

Can't stand remakes come on, my friend was a fan of the original Karate Kid (it was ok as a movie for a young kids),

Karate_kid

so much that he forced me to go watch the god awful Karate Kid part III with him in the cinema (I nearly died from the boredom). Ralph Macchio no longer looked that a kid and the plot was non existent, they had to flog the horse again with "The next karate kid" ugh !

Now there is a remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, give it a rest please !

The plot from imdb : "Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.", note the word kung fu and not karate or even karate fu, ... I don't Jackie Chan has the same charisma as Pat Norita.

The Karate Kid Trailer (2009) HD

Snow mobile

The nation is the grip of a cold snap from Siberia, sometimes you see people in their cars who have literally only cleared two eye holes in the windscreen, leaving the rest of the snow on the car. How idiotic is that ?

I had a scary time driving home today in the artic blizzard, the visibility was quite poor and I was terrified !

How depressing.

mcco12
4 days ago
7 comments

A local singer I really liked, Lhasa de Sela, died a few days ago. I didn't even know she was sick (breast cancer). She was only 38. From the US originally she was raised in Mexico but moved to Montreal many years ago and was quite well known here. She was such an original talent and sang in English, French, and Spanish.

La Llorona

Lhasa De Sela

I remember wearing out her album, La Lhorona, the summer of 2004 in Tokyo: I'd come home from work and listen to it nearly every single night, reveling in its unusual melodies and lyrics.

We passed that CD around our little apartment complex, actually: Dave was crazy about it and used to play one of her songs at his singing gigs that summer. And I had to get snippy with Alex and Lexi to return the CD to me before they left for the Czech Republic.

I did get it back, though I haven't listened to it in a long time. I should go dig out my CD collection and put it on, though it'll probably depress me.

Here she is at The Loft last April with another local singer, Patrick Watson.

What a shitty start to 2010.

Fiume Nights _ Montreal _ Lhasa de Sela & Patrick Watson, take1, april 2009

Lhasa

Winter blahs, Sunday blahs.

mcco12
5 days ago
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It's Sunday but I have some work to do. And I'm procrastinating. I did a bit of work this morning earlier, but the snow is crazy outside and not sure I really want to be adventurous (read: wet) right now.

New Year's was nice: we had a small get together that lasted until around 3am. I had a raging headache all day Friday but I still managed to get up and make really good beef stew. We had the kid for the holiday and her mother came over Friday night for dinner and presents. It was mellow. And very nice.

I'm 39 now. Don't feel much different but I sure look different in pictures! On a related note, I've decided to stop putting up pictures of myself.

What will this year hold? I can't really imagine and I guess the only goals I have for this year are to have more money in the bank.

Being happy is boring.

This blog has evolved/devolved into something I don't much feel connected to. I used to write about things happening in the big outside world, not just my own meager and rather dull life. And while it's good to have some life stuff here (mainly how I keep my life alive for family and friends who live far away), I should engage more with what's happening in the world. I mean, I am interested in it very much but I rarely have time/interest/energy to write about it here.

Today, finishing a book review, working on an article on spec, maybe watch a movie later this evening. And tomorrow real life comes crashing in again after three weeks of a rather light and easy schedule (compared to my normal schedule, that is).

Winter:

January 3, 2010 12.34pm

QotD: 2010 - The Pressing Issues

lazywong
5 days ago
4 comments

Oh-Ten? Two-thousand and ten? Ten? What will you say when you have to say 2010 aloud?
I shall say twenty ten

10 minutes to 2010 ....

lazywong
Dec 31, 2009
1 comment

Happy new year to everyone

The last day of 2009

Jazz
Dec 31, 2009
5 comments

It'll be a full moon tonight, a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve. Once again I wonder where the year went. I can barely remember being off treatment, sometime in the summer. More vivid is the memory of the (painful) bone biopsy and making our first offer on a house the next day (I hobbled around with a cane). And more significant is the lingering feeling of having wasted that precious time house hunting! But anyway. Here we are.

It used to be a goal of mine to wake up in a place I'd never been on New Year's Day (and no, not on the floor of some place I don't recall going). I had a romantic notion of walking the quiet, rainy streets - or maybe sunny streets - of Rome or Tahiti or hell, I don't know...some far off land, on New Year's Day while everyone else slept their hangovers away. I always thought that would set the tone for the rest of the year, or at least I traveled somewhere that year, if that was the only chance. Alas, on the rare occasion the hubby's home on New Year's Eve, he's living his dream (being home). So much for that idea. That said, I haven't entirely lost sight of what's truly important. Or have I?

I just received an e-mail from my oncologist, thanking me for some stuff I left for him.

"Thanks for actual food and the proverbial food for thought.

You have done very well with living your life being aware of the cancer and keeping it from being your primary focus.

You are an amazing person and our team recognizes how fortunate we are to work with you. We have learned from you as well.

Again, thanks for your many gifts. Best to your husband,

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year..."

Everyone seems happy to see 2009 go, but this time last year everyone was excited about Obama's inauguration and the end of 2008, which seemed truly awful.

Well, this might rank as the most boring New Year's Eve I've ever had. It's too cold to take the boat out to SF Bay to watch fireworks, and it's supposed to rain (although it seems dry to me). The best thing about today was hanging out in the afternoon with an old friend from work days.

Either way, we're all still here, and that's very much to be joyful about, possibly more than I could even hope for!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

2009 End of year Meme

mcco12
Dec 29, 2009
2 comments

1. What did you do in 2009 that you've never done before? Bought power tools. Stripped, sanded, stained and varnished hardwood floors.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions for 2009 and will you make more for 2010? I never make New Year's Resolutions and don't plan on starting.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die? My graduate thesis advisor dropped dead at age 51. I wouldn't say we were close but he's the only one I can think of who died. I bummed that Blossom Dearie died. Oh, and Bea Arthur.

5. What countries did you visit? China and the US state of Vermont. Weird to have traveled so little.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? A fun trip somewhere.

7. What dates in 2009 will remain etched in your memory and why? No date in particular: July 15 when we closed on our place.

2nd floor

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Buying my own place.

9. What was your biggest failure? Racking up way too much debt (see #8).

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No.

11. What was the best thing you bought? The second floor of a triplex built in 1919 in the heart of Montreal's Plateau.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Masa for putting up with me. Ken for helping us out with renovations. Yuko for all her great dinner parties.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No one I know personally, I guess.

14. Where did most of your money go? Into this apartment. Renovations are expensive!

15. What did you get really excited about? Being a home owner and having a place to hang my hat.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Anything from Andrew Bird's "Noble Beast."

17. Compared to this time last year are you a) happier or sadder b) thinner or fatter c) richer or poorer? I'd say the same for all. Perhaps happier. More secure, at any rate. Same weight. More assets but more debt, too.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Chilling out. Hanging out. Getting away from this blasted computer. Traveling, of course.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worry needlessly (is any kind of worried needed?).

20. How did you spend Christmas? Got up late. Cooked a big breakfast with Masa and Ken. Watched "The Little Drummer Boy" on TV. Opened presents. Laid around and watched movies the rest of the day.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? I fell more in love and feel luckier than ever.

22. What was your favorite TV program? I bought St.Elsewhere Season 1 on DVD which I am enjoying.

23. Do you hate anyone you didn't hate last year? Not particularly. A few people I am not fond of.

24. What was the best book you read? Too many. English by Wang Gang. The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Loudon Wainwright. And Sophie Millman. And Nellie McKay.

26. What did you want and get? M's immigration papers!

27. What did you want and not get? Can't think of anything....

28. What was your favorite film this year? I liked Cairo Time. Mon Oncle Antoine. Goodnight, Irene. Into the Wild. Kasky. I also liked Che a lot, too.

best park in the city (a block from our new place)

29. What did you do on your birthday? My birthday in 2009 was too far away to remember. But my birthday for 2010 is coming up in two days (1/1). I will recover from 12/31 and have a small dinner with some good friends.

30. What did you learn in 2009? Using bathroom paint on the walls of the bathroom prevents repainting every few months; dogs are a lot more work than cats; don't take down a drop ceiling until you are sure you can afford to fix what's underneath it; Park Lafontaine is one of my most favorite spots on Earth; cooking is relaxing and people who think it's stressful should have my life for a day!!