Total blackout started around 4pm yesterday. I hear some people along Bloor St. got power back by 10pm and still have it. I was not so lucky. The power on my block sputtered on for 2 seconds and then died. This happened a second time. On the third time, it stayed on for about 10 minutes. I didn't know that it wouldn't last so I booted up and logged in. Kelvin Wanker (hehe) buzzed me on MSN until my power died again. Couldn't sleep right away so I took a walk around a few blocks and took some pictures. If you're lucky, I will get around to posting the pics up someday. :) Some people got their power back at 5 and it lasted for 4 hours.

After hearing about the power further up the city, I ventured out at around noon and got some cash at a working ATM on College and Spadina. Bought some relish and mustard for tomorrow's barbecue. The Dominion's near Bloor & Spadina was closed so I had to go to a neighbourhood grocer.

Apparently, we are not the only "world-class" city with an idiot mayor! Michael Bloomberg, NYC mayor, blamed Canada for the blackout quite early on before he learned to shut up. I'm reading reports that it was a fire in the plant in Niagara NY USA but also that it may have started in Ohio. Oh, we'll sort it out soon enough.

I should squeeze a few more chores off the list while I still have power. Signing off for now.

Wow, did you know it is possible to get drunk from tea? I didn't believe it when I first heard it but after 2 and a half little pots of pu-erh, kungfu style, I am a little light-headed. I am also feeling quite lucid. I am finishing that third pot as I type! :D I hope I don't get too big of a caffeine-induced tension headache.

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I saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night. A good fun movie and Johnny Depp was particularly amusing in his role. Next up on the To See list is SWAT.

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Chocolate bar makers are trying new things. There are Crispy M&Ms, Peanut Butter M&Ms, KitKat Chunky, and a whole slew of orange-flavoured chocolate bars. My big idea is ... Dark Chocolate M&Ms!! Tadaa!

The only thing better than milk chocolate is dark chocolate. It'd be a special edition M&M with an off-white cream-coloured candy shell. In the TV ads, Barry White (R.I.P.) would be singing "Sweetness Is My Weakness".

A great idea, you are all saying! Yes, but I wrote to M&M and they gave me a standard reply saying they cannot accept unsolicited ideas. :( Ah we can only hope. Perhaps a petition? :D

Well I tried frying chopped jackfruit last night and my official conclusion is... meh. They ended up a bit like grilled onions in taste and texture. Hey, if I wanted onions, I'd buy onions; they're cheaper and don't give me sticky hands.

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Has anyone noticed certain commercials on tv, such as one of the Head and Shoulders commercials, where they've been dubbed? Only if you read their lips, you'll see that the models were speaking English in the first place! What up with that? Were they speaking with Australian accents or some really bad cockney? C'mon, I've seen "Crocodile Dundee", "Black Adder" and "Keeping Up Appearances" and I never had trouble keeping up.

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I saw director Zhang Yimou's Hero (starring Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen, Daoming Chen and Zhang Ziyi) on DVD last week and it is still on my mind a bit. Oh sure, the history was inaccurate and revisionist, and the film could be misused to justify communist rule in China but all that was secondary. The cinematography was great. The fight scenes were some of the best I've ever seen. To me, they just seemed to capture the essence of "cool" and "style". Take this from a Canadian Chinese for what it's worth. I think Zhang Yimou has tapped into the Chinese cultural psyche and accurately depicted the heroism, stoicism, poetry and philosophy of kungfu legend. Don't even compare Hero to The Matrix or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon because they are not the same!! And if you can't tell the difference, then that means you just don't get it!

I bought a chunk of jackfruit from chinatown the other day. I must say I prefer durians over jackfruits. Jackfruits taste bland in comparison to the custardy goodness that is the durian. :) Cutting the jackfruit left a sticky mess on my hands. No, not a slimey type of stickiness. More like the stickiness of melted transparent packing tape. ugh. After eating, it left an irritated burning feeling in my throat. Could I be allergic to it?

Since I don't like eating it raw, I've looked for recipes on the web. It seems I will have to try frying it. And maybe I will try it in a salad or in a milkshake. Wish me luck!

Ok! Finally set up this blog to have a template consistent with the rest of my site. Blogger.com. They have some weird restrictions for the date format. You can have it YYYY-MM-DD if it's the Date Header, but not if it is the timestamp. Does anyone care? ;)

It's been almost a year since my last update. 2003 has been very hectic and stressful at work so I'm glad I finally get to take a couple of weeks off. However, I'm about halfway through my holidays and most of the days have been rainy ones. :(

Anyway, it's good to cross a few things off the To Do list. My next item is to photoshop that bunch of photos for Aunt Nora.

Over time, I will be posting whatever comes up... ideas, happenings, etc. Some of the stuff will be things I've probably said before but that I want to shout out to the world. Others will be brand new!