My Fingers Are Freezing.

Excuse any typos that may occur. Cold fingers makes for bad keyboarding.

Last night was the CD Exchange. I haven't digested them all yet (I'm about halfway through). Look for a bit of a review/one-sided discussion about it in my upcoming Video Podcast. This time for sure. Two or three segments left to do. Wii!

I actually took the plunge today. Consider it a bit of an experiment, if you will, but I signed up for a months premium subscription to Chinesepod.com. I figure that I've been using their free podcast for a few months now, and my Chinese has certainly improved since then. I've had a few basic Mandarin conversations since. I guess as kind of a thank you, and out of curiosity, I thought I would drop $36 via paypal for a month. The insurgence of cash gives you a handful of tools to help you organize your learning, download some goods, and various activities to help reinforce what you've learned. I'm actually hoping that I'll be able to learn more written Chinese while doing this as well. I'll be sure to let you know.

I think I'll also provide their website widget for the lessons that I've been working on so you can listen to what sample what I'm learning. Perhaps you might learn a little something as well. Hoorah for Web 2.0. So without further adieu:

菜鸟29 The 9-to-5 Visit ChinesePod.com

Also remember, if you subscribe to their podcast via iTunes you also get a basic transcript of the days lesson.

Technorati Tags: CDXC, Learn Chinese, Chinesepod.com, Warioware: Smooth Moves

The Weekend Report #3... on Monday.

Although your weekend is over, mine is just beginning. Wheee, sucka.

This weekend was filled with our recommended daily intake of the white stuff (I mean snow, thanks). It's like the Winter Machine wasn't working before January and now that it is working, it won't shut off. We also got our first real blast of cold air, too. It's not the coldest we've ever had, but it certainly was a good, albeit quick sample.

I didn't get to write this at work over the weekend--I was much too busy. So busy in fact, that I stayed late on Sunday--my Friday. How's that for dedication folks? Our office is moving moving into the downtown core this weekend, which is going to tack some time onto my day. I'll likely be taking the GO instead of driving all the way there.
Paid Parking + downtown driving = Unhappy-Ricos

Another example of why I think people are morons.

Payday on Tuesday. :)) Time to recoup after a my post-Christmas binges.

And finally, tonight is our kinda-sorta-annual CD Exchange. After the actual exchange, I'll likely put together a post regarding my song choices and either put it here or on my LJ.

Technorati Tags: CDXC, Winter, Warioware: Smooth Moves, Weekend Report, Work

Lessons learned.

Well. Tired. Yeah.

Last night found Grindy and Cloudie at my place of residence to get a little Wii action on. I was excited to finally be able to share the Wii with others, naturally. Since I made the purchase, I've been saying this is THE party machine. Last night was proof. TheWife™ and I enjoyed having them here as we got our Wii Sports Bowling, Golf, and Boxing on (Sunflower being the Boxing champ.. who knew?) In summary, we had a good time and we are now bound by the strings of fate to do it again.

And then the next day came. I'm beat. I am the dead horse. Consecutively, I had 6.5 and 6 hours of sleep over the past two nights. Some of you might mock me over this. Take note, that I'm usually a seven-and-a-half to nine hour sleeper. Pooped am I. At work I still had that "just woke up" voice three hours into my shift.
Despite the pains of the lack of Viking-time, I of course will likely do this again. I think only this time, I'll only have one evening of limited sleeping hours.

8:30pm sounds like a good time to crash tonight.

Technorati Tags: My Life, Wii Sports, Warioware: Smooth Moves, Wii

I can't be a whore.

I'll admit, having more than ten hits a day would be nice. I don't have any advertising or anything, but I'd certainly like to feel the hit love, but not punch drunk (rimshot).
I thought I'd whore myself out to myspace today. I'm not going to link them. I refuse. What a freaking retarded set up they have there. How the f*** did they get to be THE service for net socializing. I hate it. I really hate it. It's slow. It's clunky. And it's pretty far from user intuitive. Of course I'm going to try to figure it out. It's a challenge. And I want hits. And I want to feel the Interweb™ love. The best way to do it now is through myspace, much to my chagrin.

Technorati Tags: My Life, MySpace

Oh, you noticed.

Yeah, a little house cleaning. Despite the anime theme, I rarely talked about it anymore. Wii, on the other hand, I seem to speak an abundance about. Did I mention I picked up Warioware: Smooth Moves? I'll talk more about it later. Old habits die hard.

Technorati Tags: New Look, Nintendo, Warioware: Smooth Moves, Wii

We have a prototype.

I would just like to officially announce that a prototype for this years CDXC has been pressed and printed. I think I've outdone myself this time. I'm even thinking about taking the ever so bold step of getting a CD labeller to complete the process. It's all about image.

Technorati Tags: CDXC, Music

Wii-kend Report Vol.2

I'm sore, believe it or not. Bowling and Boxing on LosWiicos has kicked my ass. LosWiicos is the nickname for my Wii. I am talking about the console by the way. Seriously. During the initial setup of the console, you're asked to give it a name. LosWiicos seemed appropriate, and thus it was done. I actually took a break from playing last night in the hopes I could get back into the ring tonight, but I have my doubts. I'm still feeling rather tender.

I'm really glad that Nintendo went this route with their new console. It certainly is a lot more entertaining for me, plus a guaranteed form of exercise for all the little fat kids who never go outside to play. Now that I think about it, all the Nintendo spots I've seen for the Wii weren't even geared for the child set. I guess we know who's playing then.

A change of pace.

Every company has their freak/weirdo kind of dude. Where I work is no exception. We'll call him Juan.

Wednesday morning I came in and was updated by N. about Juan. Juan had finished his shift at midnight, but had stuck around since then hoping to "mooch" a ride off of someone. Strange enough, sure, but I was willing to let that one go.

More stories came in. Most interesting to note was about Juan in the bathroom. No, this isn't a poop story, however I guess it's poop related. He was sitting in the poop box with a lighter, igniting sanitation covers for the toilet seats. From what I'm told, poop smells better than burning sanitation covers. Will Juan go postal when someone takes his red Swingline stapler? Will he set the building on fire? Stay tuned.

A Wii Adventure

You know, I don't think I'll ever get tired of that name.

On Sunday morning, before I left for work, I called around to inquire about available Wii's. Of course, there were none to be had. Downtrodden, I want to work shortly thereafter and thought about how I might attain this amazing treasure. Other than phoning and randomly dropping by selected retailers, I had nothing. I wasn't going to eBay it. Screw that noise.
The storm blew in on Monday. Everything had turned from green to ice. Schools and businesses were closed, and the roads were a mess. I thought this may be a truly great day for obtaining a Wii! No one would be crazy enough to risk this weather. I dialled, and dialled, and dialled. It didn't occur to me that the trucks wouldn't be on the road either. Dreams were once gain vanquished.
Tuesday I went through the same drill. I made a few phone calls, I checked the internet, and no Wii's. We had to go to the Chinese market.
On the way to the market there is a Future Shop. I thought to myself, "why not." I stopped in, I asked, I was rudely treated and also received a negative answer. It was worth a shot.
After market we left. I remembered that there was also a mall we could also stop off at. To the mall we went. I popped into a Wal-Mart (sad but true), and I had just missed their last two remaining consoles. Off to EB, where I was also greeted with no Wii's. Feeling sad, and defeated once again, the proprietor at the retailers advised me in a hushed voice that Best Buy had received a shipment in that morning. I grabbed TheWife (who was still in Wal-Mart) and hustled out to the car. I drove while fastening my seat-belt off to the Best Buy across the road. I ran hurried inside (my first trip into a Best Buy.. ever.. ), scanning for the Video Games section. I saw an older gentleman grabbing a Wii from a salesman like a mother holds a baby in a windstorm. I kindly said to the salesman, "please, tell me there are more." There were. Three more. The coveted Wii was mine. Behind me was a woman of 23-ish, who received a Wii as well, while gasping for breathe. She had ran from the mall when she had heard the news.

Now my Wii is at home and set up. We have nunchuckus, and Wii-motes, and Wii Sports. Wii are happy.
Just a word of warning, Linksys and Wii don't play well together. But , to coin the narrator from Hammy Hamster, "that's another story."

Technorati Tags: Best Buy, Electronics Boutique, Future Shop, My Life, Nintendo, Wii

Louder than words.

Oh, it's on.

No Wii for Mii?

Oh woe is Mii. 

 

It appears as though (and I should have listened to Daejin about this), that I won't get to play with a Wii on Monday.   What I thought was easy pickin's has DECEIVED ME!  Bastards.  I might go guerilla to try and acquire one in the next couple of days.   We'll see.  I want to play my Wii!  I know you do, too.  So what will I do in the meantime?   Why I'll mope of course. 

 

So if you're in the Southwestern Ontario region, it finally looks a little bit like winter.   By tomorrow, it WILL look like winter.  No more green grass for us.  Break out your ice skates and skis.   I'm hoping the majority of it hit whilst we're all sleeping, as I don't wish to be stuck in my car during a snowstorm.  Snowstorms have a tendency to take your normal drive, and increase their duration by three times or more.   *shudder*

 

Strange.  I have nothing else I wish to say at this moment.   Carry on, then.

Ricos-Sama's Weekend Report Vol.1

Welcome to my first Weekend Report, brought to you by email, a lack of things to do, and boredom.  

 

This week has nearly come and gone and everything is good.  Well, almost everything.   I don't have a Wii.   To continue my aggressive acquisitions, I will go on a holy quest to find a Wii on Monday.   I have a couple of good sources of where I might actually be able to find one.  Future Shop, Best Buy, forget those man.   You'll never find them there.   I won't give away my source, lest you take my Wii.  I'm not guaranteeing that I will have one within the next four days, but know that I am most certainly on the hunt.  

 

In less than five days, I'll have been at my current job for a month.  Scrazy.   I feel quite comfortable there now.   People are beginning to know me a little better, so now I'm slowly introducing some RIcos-isms.  Heck, one guy already calls me LosRIicos sometimes.  Yup.  Comfy.   Good.   I also got paid again.  Wii!

 

I'm now officially excited for this year's CD exchange.  Everyone's onboard and pretty much ready to go to print.   We discovered that Mad World by Gary Jules had made it onto two-and-a-half playlists, and so I've decided to replace the track with something else.   I haven't decided what that track is going to be yet.   As soon as that's done, off to the presses.  I feel that this year's CD will be more conventional then my previous iterations.   There hasn't been much Asian invasion in my diet this year.   This will probably mean less track skippage for those listening.   Tee-hee.

 

I've almost finished reading Life Without God by Douglas Coupland.   As he put it (paraphrasing of course), the X-ers are the first generation to really grow up without God.   In truth, I'm really just outside of the X-Generation.   Despite this, there's still a lot that holds true for following generations such as myself.  This is why Coupland often speaks loads to me, and makes him my favourite author.   Next on the block will be either Shampoo Planet, Generation X, or J-Pod. 

 

For those interested, my schedule changes next week.  Wednesday to Sunday 6am to 2pm.   This means I'm in bed before 9pm with the exception of Sundays and Mondays.. maybe Saturdays if you ask nicely.

Good intentions

I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. Heck, I was all excited by it. Everything was set up, I began the process, only to find I'm simply not disgruntled enough. I like the video podcast. I enjoy doing them. My problem when it comes the whole process is a reoccurring theme, which is easily summed up by the word content.
When I created my previous masterpieces (I do use that term loosely), I was bored and dissatisfied with my current station in life. A rent-a-cop with aspirations to be something more, but feeling hopelessly stuck in the status quo. Between that, and the "sleepy crazies" of working overnights, I always had something to say. Something was always edging me the wrong way.
Today, I'm happy. I've been happy since December. The pendulum is swinging on the positive side again and so content is me. It's pretty hard for me to be funny and/or entertaining when I'm feeling pretty Zen about everything. All is right in my microcosm, and thus I have nothing to say for the camera.
Meanwhile, my regular joe blog is much easier to fill. I can drop the drivel down and not give it second thought. This is a prime example. Given that my VLOGs at least have a limited amount of production value to it, I can't bring myself to sully them with crap. And thus is the story of my good intentions.

Technorati Tags: My Life, Video Podcast, VLOG

Considered, yet unspoken.

We love music. We are a society that spends millions upon millions on it. We download it legally, we download it illegally, we share it, we simply enjoy it. In the car, on the home stereo, on the iPod (or reasonable facsimile), we can't get enough of it.

It's been spoken of individually, but not as whole. So I'm just gonna say it plainly. It's time once again for the CDXC (my cool acronym for CD Exchange). I've already gave it tons of thought, and I hear others have been giving it thought as well. Same rules as always. Put together a music compilation of music that has mattered to you, or in some way tells a bit of story. Give your playlist some thought, compile it, pump it out. For the graphically inclined, make a cool CD leaflet.
This project always excites me, as it's interesting what people pull out of their pocket and surprise you with. You learn about new artists, re-discover artists from your past, plus you get to put together some great tunage yourself.

All in?

A Shortie. Vol.1

Just a quick post. I feel like I should. TheRoss is getting ahead of me. This is bad form on my part.

Work's wiping me out this week. 10 hour shifts from noon to 10. A lot of number crunching. Brain getting slow.

What?

Oh. Bed time.

The best of 2K6

So the man made marker of 2006 ended a short time ago. And what comes with the end of a year? Why, the best of whatever for that 365 day period.
So without further adieu, I bring to you my own personal list of:

2006: The best Of

Favourite Album: I have to give some serious thought to this one. There were a couple of albums that I found had played numerous times into my desiring ears. The runners up would probably be Jurassic 5's Feedback and Blue October's Foiled. But after all is said and done, the Deluxe Edition of Barenaked Ladies Are Me probably takes the cake for this category. After the disappointment that was Everything to Everyone, this double disc collection was fantastic. Not a track I didn't like. Way to go BNL. You won me back.

Favourite Movie: I didn't see a lot in the way of movies this year. After Chinese Customs didn't return the DVD's which they stole from me, I kind of lost interest in rebuilding my collection. Despite that, I did get out to see Silent Hill, the horrible 3D remake of Night of the Living Dead and Clerks II. None of these movies really deserves the title of favourite movie. So I'll have to go with the DVD I most enjoyed watching this year, regardless of when it was made. The rediscovery of Donny Darko easily takes that category. That movie is fucked up, and I love it.

Favourite Anime Movie or Series: Like the Favourite Album category, this one is a little hard to decide on. Death Note and Kanon are both great series, but I think Nana has me by the balls. Sure it's a chick series, but I'm hooked.

Lastly and most importantly...

Favourite Moment: Unarguably, 2006 was a difficult year for me. Stumbling block against stumbling block career wise, some horrible car expenses, personal conflicts, and an overall uncertainty about my own future. All problems aside, there were some great times to be had as well. The Oilers made it to the cup final, which no one would have guessed. High up there would also be the marriages of two of my closest friends. I also discovered ChinesePod.com and their podcast for learning Chinese. However, in the name of selfishness and pride, I'd have to say the best moment was getting the phone call on Wednesday December 13 to tell me that I was back into the world of careers and salary. Goose-bumps, people. It gave me goose-bumps. After trying for over a year to land myself back into a career, it finally came to fruition. It really was quite the way to finish off the year. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift.

So there you have it. The best things about 2006 according to me. I hope to read the opinions of this year according to some select others. Hopefully I'll get to read them soon.

Technorati Tags: Best of 2006, My Life, Year in Review