Hold Your Wee For A Wii...

I know I'm a little behind in the times now.. but I recently found out about the radio contest in the States...

HOLD YOUR WEE FOR A WII

The object of the contest: Contestants are given an 8oz drink of water every 10 minutes and the last one to go to the toilet wins a Wii... easy enough, right?

Well, what most people don't know reminds me of an old addage my dad used to recite to me: "too much of anything is good for nothing". That includes something as simple as water... When we consume too much water bad things can happen. A.K.A. Water Intoxication or Hyperhydration.

You see where this is going, ya? The runner up ended up taking the JT Concert tickets in place of the Wii... she complained of headaches and nausea... Several hours later she was found dead in her home...

Listen to some footage...

Pickton Trial Begins...

The trial of (possibly) Canada's worst serial killer has just begun. Robert Pickton was a pig farmer that lived on the outskirts of Vancouver, in Port Coquitlam. He has been charged with the first-degree murders of 26 women from Vancouver's Notorious Downtown East Side.

The trial began yesterday where the prosecution laid out gory details of the remains found on his pig farm. This is one trial that the world will be watching...

It's strange when you find out something as grizzly as this was happening in your own backyard...

Being a fan of True-Crime books, movies, documentaries I had read about things like this all the time, I'm not sure how to describe the feeling when it's happening at this sort of scale, so close to home...

A collegue of mine mentioned that he used to go to Piggy's Palace to attend the after parties... interesting. He says there were cops sitting out front watching everyone come and go.

...And somewhere else on the property there were dismembered bodies strewn about...

To read more about Pickton and his story click here.

Movie: Snakes On A Plane...

Synopsis: A young man named Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) witnesses vicious and powerful mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) brutally murder a prosecutor bent on putting the crime mogul behind bars. Soon Kim's men raid Jones' house and attempt to kill him, but are stopped by Nelville Flynn (Samuel L Jackson): an experienced FBI agent who convinces Jones to fly to LA to testify against Kim. Aboard the flight are an obnoxious British Buisnessman, a famous Hip Hop star, an anxious man with severe flight anxiety and his wife, a young woman and her dog, and a ticking crate full of vicious and venomous snakes unleashed by an assassin to bring down the plane along with the witness to Kim's brutal murder. Can the passengers come together to survive or will Kim's plot succeed.

Summary written by redcommander27 (imdb.com)

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Um... ya. Not sure what to say about this one. AK and I didn't have much of a choice regarding this one... We were over @ JM's house visiting him, Missy, and the twins. He had rented the movie so we all sat down and watched it... kinda.

From what I've heard, Samuel Jackson took on this movie before even reading the script. Just by reading the title he was sure that it was going to be a cult movie. That being said, I was expecting a lot more than was delivered. The plot could have been worse, I suppose... but the special effects could not have been. Geez... it was one of the poorest over-uses of CG I've seen... I guess I shouldn't have expected anything more... meh. I can't say I'd even recommend this for rental :p donno really.

Eats: Tojo's...

For my Father's birthday my sister and I decided to take the family to Tojo's Japanese restaurant. Some people say it's the best in Vancouver, some say it's the best in Canada, and some say it's the best in the World!!! There is only one Tojo's and this is it... :) I had heard many things about Tojo's but never had the opportunity to go.

Tojo's has just relocated to 1133 West Broadway. We were initially set for opening night but Dad forgot that he had classes that night so we had to re-reserve to the following night. Who knows, it could have been a blessing in disguise :) Opening nights are usually pretty packed, so the quality of the food sometimes drops a bit. Let me tell you now, Tojo's puts out top quality food with top quality ingredients... oh ya, before I forget... Tojo's other claim to fame is: He invented the California Roll ;)

We arrived at the restaurant and were promptly seated in our booth towards the back of the restaurant. I wish I had taken more pictures of the new restaurant, but, I really didn't want to disturb those who were already seated and having their dinner. As I anticipated 95% of the staff were Japanese... a nice change, and a good sign considering 90% of Japanese restaurants in Vancouver are owned by Chinese or Koreans. The service was great. The waiters took the time to go over the menu with us and before they took our orders she made sure to ask whether any of us have food allergies. My sister opted out of the Mayo for some of the dishes, they made sure it came with no mayo :)

We had a look at the menu and all decided on the Omakase, something that was recommended from the start. On the menu, they list $60, 80, 110, and up... we all opted for the $80 dinner. The prices are per person. $60 = 4 dishes, $80 = 5 dishes, $110 = 6 dishes...

First up, Tuna Tataki: Seared Tuna with Ponzu Sauce, delicious. The tuna was seared lightly and placed on a bed of shredded white radish, topped with Ginger, Daikon with spicy sauce, etc...


Japanese White Fish (Snapper) mixed greens with wasabi dressing.


Halibut Cheeks (Yuzu) served with Ginger Butter & Miso sauce, Oyster Mushroom, Spring Onions, Chives...


Salmon (Beef Teriyaki), Teriyaki sauce, Organic Shiitake, Daikon w/ Spicy Sauce...


Main platter: Lots of different rolls... I don't quite remember most of the names :p Umm.. I remember a Golden Roll... uh... there was one with Scallop, one with Dungenous Crab, Flying Fish Roe... some with Avocado, and this was the plate where my sister requested no Mayo :) Hers was served on her own plate, nice...


Coconut Icecream with Blueberries, Raspberries and Apple, Very very nice... refreshing...

Our Tojo experience was definitely a positive one. I HAVE to go back again under different circumstances (w/o the family) :p I'm sure it'll be a different experience. IMO, anyone who enjoys good food made with top ingredients with top quality service must come in and try the food at Tojo's. They are very accommodating and will prepare the food to your preferences... :) Remember... Only in VANCOUVER!

Movie: Apocalypto...

Synopsis: Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

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Some of you will love it, and some of you will hate it... I belong to the group representing the former. I was quite pleased with this movie... The movie started as soon as the commercials were over... no 'opening sequence', opening credits or title screen... that in itself was a very nice change, why? because it didn't feel so 'commercialized'... so 'Hollywood'. Stupid, I know, but it made a difference to me. The whole movie is done in their ancient language with subtitles to help you understand. The subs were not entirely necessary as the characters were fairly animated and the plot was not overly complicated. For a 138 minute movie it did well in terms of keeping the momentum going... there was plenty of action and some great humor too :)

I had a conversation with AK after we watched the movie, we came to a consensus :) It was like a movie about a man who had a REALLY shitty day :D hehe. Congratulations Mel, job well done! I wonder if he managed to sneak in some subliminal anti-semitic messages :)

Poor B.C. Place Stadium...

In case you haven't already heard... BC Place Stadium, one of the most recognized structures in the Vancouver cityscape, has had a tear in panel which has brought down her inflatible roof :(

The tear occurred in the first week of January during the wind/rain/snow storm that we had, but they're uncertain of the exact cause of the deflation.

Since then I've had conversations with different people and everyone says something different. One of the more interesting explanations is... when snow starts to settle on the roof, the keepers at BC Place will over-inflate the roof such that the snow will crack and slide off. It appears, however, that was not the case.

Below is some footage of the roof deflating...

If you would like to learn more about BC Place... click here!

Movie: Blood Diamonds...

Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - a South African mercenary - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.

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I don't know about you, but I'm not a huge fan of Leo... The last movie that I watched and enjoyed him in was Basketball Diaries, tho I've heard that he puts on a pretty good performance in Departed. That being said I wasn't expecting too much... mind you, I never really go into anything expecting too much... especially movies that are hyped up or billed a certain way. Leonardo DiCaprio puts on a stellar performance in this movie... He's got that wierd Afrikaner look to him, and he managed to pull of a pretty mean Afrikaner accent too. Very impressive.

The main character, played by Djimon Hounsou, does a very convincing job of portraying the fisherman who has just had his village pillaged, burned to the ground, and family ripped from his grasp... his relationship with [DiCaprio] takes many twists and turns, you could never tell where it was going to lead next... sorry.. this isn't a very good description :p but, meh...

Weighing in at 143 minutes in duration I have to say that it still didn't feel like it dragged-on. There was a nice balance of dialog and action/suspense... one of the best parts for me is that they kept the drama/love scenes to a minimum :) good stuff.