Bunch of Nothing: December 2005

Incredible DDR

I came across some DDR videos but I ran across one that was just incredible. You will need RealMedia player to watch these.

It's just amazing with the human body can do. This guy has 1 leg!

http://raphaelpungin.com/videos/ddr/oneleg.ram

and here's a video from some DDR tournament. It starts with a closeup of the screen and then pans away to see the competitors. I always find it cool when you see 2 people playing at the same time since it looks like synchronized DDR....should be Olympic sport ;-)

http://raphaelpungin.com/ddr/game_on_ny/et2-036.ram

The Cobalt Flux is here!

Well, I had a very frustrating and tiring day at work so I was VERY happy to see that my ew Cobalt Flux Metal Dance Dance Revolution Pad was waiting for me! It just brightened up my day immediately. This pad is pretty expensive but it's suppose to be the best metal pad available. Other metal pads supposedly break after a few months of use. After taking a couple of hours to just relax, I finally unpacked the pad and man, it looks awesome (picture doesn't do it justice). It feels pretty sturdy and it's quite shiny. The pad comes with some anti-slip pads so it won't move while you are playing (unlike those soft pads). After finally hooking it up to my PS2, I wasn't sure what to do next! I mean, it looked so nice that I didn't want to even step on it. Since it was late, I thought I would try it with barefeet and take it slow (it's recommended you don't since I heard stories of people cutting their foot). I hooked up my PS2 and popped in DDR Extreme 2. The Metal pad experience is quite different from the soft pad. The pad actually stayed in place and the buttons were quite sensitive so you don't have to hammer on them. I love it! Playing barefoot wasn't as bad as I thought it may be but, I may change my mind soon since my foot is trying to tell my mind something right now: "Yo Mr. Nothing, those screws hurt! Maybe you didn't feel them while you were jumping up and down but it hurts...wake up!"

Anyways, after tomorrow, the Christmas holidays start. I can't wait to really give this pad a workout...now I just have to decide which shoes won't damage my pad.

Batteries Part 2

Yesterday, I was headed off to see the movie Syriana with some friends. It was a bit too early to go to the theatre so we decided to go to Future Shop to kill some time. It was 9pm so I was a bit surprised they were still open. I asked the lady at the front door "What time do you close?". She replied "today we close at 11pm...." and I didn't quite hear what she said after that. I said "Pardon?" and she says "Do you need any batteries??". Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhh! There's that stupid question again!! Someone kill me....

Do I want Batteries?!?!?

I was at Future Shop today paying for a cd when the sales lady asks me "Do you want any batteries?". I'm standing there thinking "huh? what? Batteries? For what?"....I say "Pardon?" She repeats "do I want batteries?". I look over to my right and there are stacks of batteries just piled there...man, if I wanted batteries, I would of picked them up myself. Just let me buy my CD. Future Shop drives me crazy that way. Last time I was buying a mouse and they asked me if I had internet access. I said yes...she then continues on by saying "well we are giving away Free Rogers for a month". Uh...did I not say I have Internet access already? All I want to do is pay for the mouse. She then begins filling out a form to give me free Rogers internet and ignores what I'm saying. It took me an extra 10 mins to pay for the mouse.

Future shop employees, let people pay for their goods so they can leave!

Mmmm...sweet

I just wanted to thank my friends Chocobo and Illusion for bringing over some nice sweets to celebrate my b-day.

I was lucky enough to eat a Dufflet Chocolate Truffle cake. Supposedly, Dufflet cakes are the best cakes in town! The cake was "mmmm mmmm good". WARNING: heart may stop after eating one. (Picture slightly modified with Photoshop) To learn more about Dufflet cakes, go here: http://www.dufflet.com/home.asp

They also brought over some cupcakes from the Cupcake Shoppe. I have yet to try one but will today! Hey wait a minute...they left me only 1 and took the rest!! BRING THEM BACK! To learn more about the Cupcake shoppe, go here: http://www.thecupcakeshoppe.ca/welcome.html

The Myth

When I was very young, there was a theatre at Dundas and Spadina called "The Golden Harvest". This was the only theatre that would show Chinese Movies in Toronto. At that time, Chinese television channels did not exist and it was almost impossible to get a Chinese movie on tape. I used to beg my parents to go past this theatre every weekend so I can see what movie was playing. Of course, it was usually a kung fu film which is why I wanted to go. One day, I came across this movie called "The Young Master" which starred Jackie Chan. My god, he was incredible! Not only was he funny, he introduced all these different objects when fighting the enemies (i.e fighting with a bench, fan, woman's skirt) and the last fight scene was just incredible to watch. I became a fan instantly. I would always go back to that theatre looking at the movie poster of the current showing hoping that I would see the "big nose" guy which would help me identify Jackie Chan. I have even been lucky enough to meet Jackie in person twice (not that he would recall that). Over the years, however, I've been quite dissappointed with his films...especially the ones he did in Hollywood. He's not really the main attraction in the films anymore and is always portrayed as a the comedic sidekick. I want the dude who was in Police Story, chasing down the bad guys and kicking major butt. I know he's much older now so I've come to accept that he's slowed down a few steps. Having said that, when I hear a Jackie Chan film is coming, I still get a little excited hoping that Jackie is going to return to form and deliver the goods! This time, the movie was called "The Myth". I watched this on the weekend with my cousins in Montreal. The Myth follows archaeologist Jack and Meng-yi, a general I believe from the Qin dynasty (Jackie plays both characters in the past and present). Jack dreams that he is General Meng-yi who is in love with the Emperor's Concubine, Ok-soo. In the present day, Jack spends his time in search of a gemstone that defies the law of gravity. Somehow these 2 stories collide in the end. Confused? I was. The first thing I have to say about this movie is: Jackie, you need to stop making 20 year old girls your love interests! It just looks wrong. It's time to accept your age and find older women. This movie was a HUGE dissappointment for all of us. It started off well with a short fight scene which showed glimpses of the old Jackie but then the movie just falls apart. It had a bad plot, bad acting, and no awesome fight scene at the end (I'll live with bad plot and acting if I get some well choreographed fight scenes). Also, I'm sorry, but a horse kicking enemy soldiers really took the cake for me.

Anyways, I would not recommend this movie unless you are a true Jackie Chan fan like myself but be prepared for some pain and realization that the great Jackie days are probably over. Next movie I heard he might be working on "Rush Hour 3"....oh joy...

First Pictures with My Panasonic FZ-30

A few weeks ago, I finally purchased my very own camera. Before, I would always use my parents camera. I decided to pick up the Panasonic FZ-30 because it had a nice 12x zoom, received quite a few good reviews, but most importantly, I had a connection at Panasonic that got me an awesome deal which I couldn't pass up. I had a chance to use it on my trip to San Francisco and so far, I'm quite happy with it. The controls seem to be quite user-friendly and having the 12x optical zoom is just wonderful. I was always upset with my older photos from my point and shoot cameras because I could never zoom in close enough to objects far away.

Anyways, I thought I would post some photos I took which I'm happy with. I'm a totally newbie when it comes to Photography so maybe these photos are considered pathetic but as long as I'm happy with them, then I guess it's ok. Feel free to post any comments on how to improve my shots.