cola-flavoured aspirin granules

okay, a quick update:

- tonight i completed the colour correction on all the stills i took at the wedding this weekend, found a skookum aperature plugin that does direct uploads to flickr

- 1 day post-hangover (tues), i caught a nasty flu

- ken from seattle is arriving today in vancouver for the destroyer concert on saturday

- i attended the asian script reading group on monday night in hopes of doing some stealth casting for our next feature

- on tuesday, cola-flavoured aspirin granule sample packs were being handed out at the skytrain station at waterfront and about half the office had them. so, because i was starting to come down with the flu, i thought i would try it. this stuff looks and tastes like Fun Dip. i'm not sure aspirin should taste like candy.

shhhh.... read quietly plse

on the flight home, i slowly sipped ginger ale and gently ate "turbo sticks."

yes, i am hurtin'.
yes, i hurled 3 times last night.
yes, i had a good time.

rob was telling people today at the out-of-towners lunch with the newlyweds that i was the designated drinker. i don't know why i got wasted and not rob.

if, after filming another family's celebration and drama, i felt that i missed my own family and their own specialness, i didn't have to wait long before i got a dose of my own drama.

on the way to picking me up at the airport, my dad was rear-ended. i was on the phone with my mom (she had just returned from taiwan for a 3 week visit) when it happened and she freaked out on my dad so then i felt compelled to defend my dad, then my mom got mad at me. so, because she was so mad, she demanded that my dad drive her home and go pick me up by himself.

ahhh, it's never a dull moment with my family.

rob is staying in edmonton for 1 more night to hang with family and friends.

i'm probably going to bed at 9pm.

here's one of my favourite photos from the wedding; it's rob's nephew, ryan, who was the ring bearer. i love the look on his face. he's only 5 but i can relate to the expression he's wearing.

small crisis

you would not believe the look on my face as my dad (who works at the airport) is telling me that there is no golden arches outlet at the airport.

hence, i was denied my bacon mcgriddle combo meal which was to be my reward for getting up so freaking early today.

other options were not appetizing enough for me so i settled for a chai latte, half sweet.

. . .

it's been a long day, here's a quick recap:
4am - i'm up. god, i can't believe i'm up.
5:30am - arrive at my parents' house
5:45am - check in
6am - sitting with my dad and rob in the domestic terminal eating area, watching rob eat an a&w breakfast.
7am - mail off the ladyhawk doc to another film festival from which we will probably be rejected.
7:15am - sitting at the required gate with my dad, waiting for boarding at 7:30am.
8am - plane takes off
10:30am - plane lands in edmonton
11am - sit down at the "golden rice bowl restaurant" with rob's dad and step-mom for some dimsum
12:30pm - arrive at rob's mom and step-dad's hotel room and hang with them and about 8 other family members until 2pm.
2:30pm - quick trip to the mall
4pm - arrive at yellowbird community centre to film "decorating the hall"
5:30pm - drive back to rob's dad house (where we are staying) for dinner, wine and lots of catching up.
8:30-9pm - quick nap
9-11pm - rob's friend (who is getting married in july and rob is the best man for his wedding) arrives with fiancee and i get to hear stories of rob's youth.
11:30pm - crash and burn

emo

rob found this emotional performance by bon iver (another jagjaguwar artist) and i just had to share it.

i've been listening to bon iver quite a lot and have watched a few of his live performances but this one just blew me away.




right now we're busy packing for our trip to edmonton. we need to wake up at 4:30am to make it to richmond by 5:15am so i can park my mom's car at my parents' house and get a ride from my dad to the airport to make an 8am flight.

this sounds like the definition of pain. i think i'll drown my pain in a bacon mcgriddle tomorrow morning.

last weekend / this weekend

LAST WEEKEND, i picked up 2lbs of spotted prawns from granville island and brought them home for dinner.

rob decided to go with a garlic butter dip and i went with the canola oil and soy sauce dip. both were very delicious but i think my dip tasted better.



it was suggested to us at the new humongous wine store in north vancouver (www.everythingwine.ca) that the barossa 2007 semillon sauvignon blanc from australia would be the perfect compliment to our feast.



interweb search results indicated that the prawns should be steamed for only 3 minutes. i steamed them in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding.

in the first batch, i steamed them for 2 minutes but didn't shake the steamer. for the second batch, i steamed them for 3 minutes and shook the steamer a couple of times.

here's the difference that made:
- first batch was perfectly unrubbery.
- second batch was in the rubbery territory.

the other consequence of this was that the prawn heads in the second batch were cooked perfectly but the prawn heads in the first batch were undercooked.

which is fine. because prawn heads are rather high in cholesterol. surprisingly, rob did not partake of the prawn head slurping and consuming.




the wine was a good match although i think a better pairing could have been had but for wine that's under $15, i was very pleased.

overall, we found the prawns fresh, sweet and delicious. a perfect feast.


. . . . . . . . .

THIS WEEKEND, rob and i will be in edmonton for his sister's wedding.

yes, we will be videotaping the wedding.

that is all.

3 things

this long weekend consisted of 3 things.

1. watching 13 episodes of battlestar galatica: season 3.

when i watch BSG, i suddenly turn into one of those people who can't not respond to what's going on in the scene. however, my vocabulary is limited to either "OH. MY. GOD." and "OH. MY F*CK." i usually say these phrases loudly and in quick succession. rob's so nice to put up my tourette-like tendencies.

we have 2 more discs left to watch to complete the season.




2. a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again by david foster wallace.

reading a report on the disturbing realities of cruises by david foster wallace. thanks to ken m for buying the book for me and thanks to bill for convincing me to read the part about the cruises. wallace's description of his 5 hour experience leading up to entering his room already convinced me to never set foot on a cruise.




3. patio-ing

my version of gardening but with loads of containers. i mixed old soil with new soil and transplanted plants into bigger containers. besides a neater looking patio that is now ready for parties, i also can't seem to walk without major pain emanating from the buttocks and thigh areas which had something to do with all that bending over and kneeling.

thank goodness watching BSG doesn't require any movement.




P.S. when i was in the patio or reading the book, rob was engrossed in a PS3 game. i think it was some combat, military shoot terrorists game. so really, we both had a great relaxing weekend.

spring cleaning (1 of 2)

rob and i went thru our dvd collection this weekend and now have a shoebox full of dvds that didn't make our "does it inspire us?" litmus test.

email me by next Thursday (May 22) if you want any of these.

i've separated the titles into 2 blog posts so that the post isn't insanely long. this blog post will deal with the north american titles listed in no particular order.


1. The Motel (2007)
www.themotel-film.com
Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean American man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood. --The Motel website



2. The Ice Storm (not the new criterion edition, 2001)
The Ice Storm at Wikipedia
Suburban Connecticut, 1973. While the Watergate hearings blast from the TV, the wayward Hood and Carver families try to navigate a Thanksgiving break simmering with unspoken resentments, sexual experimentation, and cultural confusion. With crystalline clarity, characteristic subtlety, and even a dose of wicked humor, Academy Award–winning director Ang Lee adapts Rick Moody's acclaimed novel of American malaise into a trenchant, tragic portrait of lost souls. Featuring a tremendous cast of established actors (Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver) and up-and-coming stars (Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes), The Ice Storm is one of the finest films of the nineties. --Criterion.com
This is on my list of perfect films. --china lily



3. Thelma & Louise (Special Edition, 2003)
Thelma & Louise on IMDB
I think we all know what this movie is about. --china lily



4. Dummy (2004)
Dummy on IMDB
Steven, a socially inept young man who struggles to express his feelings, learns to communicate with the world through art of ventriloquism. --Amazon.com



5. Where the Truth Lies (2005)
Where the Truth Lies website
A female journalist tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup years earlier of a celebrated comedy team after the duo found a girl dead in their hotel room. Though both had airtight alibis and neither was accused the incident put an end to their act. -- from the DVD



6. Imaginary Heroes (2005)
Imaginary Heroes website
Imaginary Heroes is a look at one long year in the lives of an ostensibly typical, upper-middle-class suburban family. It tells a tale of a family in crisis with wit, warmth and a very contemporary sardonic spin. --Sony Pictures Classic



7. the Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Film trailer
Will Smith stars in this moving tale inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman struggling to build a future for himself and his 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith). When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out. Chris is left to raise Christopher on his own. Chris' determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self-confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend. --DVD



8. Shipping News (2002)
Shipping News on IMDB
An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life. --IMDB
A star-studded cast: Julianne Moore, Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett, and Judy Dench. --china lily