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New Feature: Use the search box below to find stuff in this blog!
HOME
ARCHIVES
BABYBLOG
ARTICLES
FIJISUN
FIJITIMES
MOVIES
WEBCAM
RSS FEED
WILLIAM
PATRICK
JEAN
SCEMO
TED
AARON
New Feature: Use the search box below to find stuff in this blog!
Saturday, February 01, 2003
New features: I will start collecting thematic articles on that link there, called Articles, gee wizz, so that e.g. that recurring question about the bad Online Connection here can be answered more quickly. I will also include (in time) the weekend trips and recipes. Feel free to email me if there are any specific topics you guys may be interested in.
As you may have noticed, I finally came around making a nicer title graphic ... and I just added the spanking new gallery which I only recommend to people with a broadband connection ... It will display all 100+ pics that are on this blog so far in one loooong website.
Enjoy your sunday.
Holy Bad Internet Connection !!! It is midnight between Saturday and Sunday right now and I have to type this offline since I could not get online pretty much all day ... I managed 3 connections, got kicked after roughly 5 minutes each ... barely enough to check email.
Anyways: Saturday I started with doing some work around the house, since it was sunny (yes, SUNNY) I put out all the bed stuff to "breathe". I then went downtown and saw that the guys were actually in the office working and I joined them for a bit. Later I had fun cooking an old german recipe, Koenigsberger Klopse (Dumplings Koenigsberg style) which I have not had in years, I actually think I have never made them myself, since they used to be readily available in the freezer section. Turned out quite nicely.
Later in the evening Edo and Marly picked me up and we went for Dinner at Daikoku. Very nice .. I never tried the shrimps there, they come with some "secret" white sauce ... seems it is basically a self made mayonnaise, and as everything with enough fat and salt, it enhances the flavor of the shrimps very nicely. The spicy chicken and the sashimi were great too.
We then went on to watch Gangs of New York and my first reaction was: this movie is loooooong !!!!
I am still reflecting .. but my thoughts so far:
- I do not get Diaz's character's motivation: just one fling with Leo and she turns against the guy who raised her like a father? Funniest line:"he never touched me until I asked him to" .. whaaa
- And the award for cutest tits goes to: Leo DiCaprio :)
- What's with this badly edited / badly FXed chopped up end sequence ? Followed by even worse end credits which are accompanied by a seriously unfitting song.
- It is easy and admirable to see how much work went into this movie: huge sets, many people, probably lots of detail I cannot even begin to appreciate.
- Liam Neeson, as short as his screentime is, did a great job. Daniel Day Lewis did a fantastic job. Maybe he is just that weird :) Leo's character feels like he could have been played by anyone. Let me correct that ... the way that he played it was forgettable ... it should have been played way more memorable ... by someone with a presence as Neeson Or Day Lewis had ... Leo does not have that ... Cameron Diaz felt misplaced, but always cute to look at, better than Kate Winslet.
- I have no clue about the historical background / accuracy of all this (wish I could go online and read .. but alas) .. but in the last quarter of the movie, when 2 very different fights mingle, sorry Martin, you lost me there ... and was that even necessary ?
- Again, the end sequence is just bad.
Well ... those are my thoughts so far. I doubt I would get the DVD and spend another 2.5 hours of my life on it, or go through tons of deleted scenes ... Glad I did not pay 10USD to see it :)
We were very surprised that on a Saturday night, opening weekend, prime time 8:30 PM, the screening room was only half full.
Friday, January 31, 2003
ok .. not much too report ... i am busy missing my sweet one .. and insects are crawling over my keyboard ... but i thought i capture something special .. my personal sound of hell. This is what i get to hear a bazillion times a day before I am able to connect .. and even after that I may get thrown off again ... to relive that feeling .. disconnect your cable modem .. and play that mp3 about 50 times .. :)
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Did I mention that it is raining like crazy again today ?
someone is coming through a US navy server quite often ... i wonder who that person is ... care to drop me a line ?? :)
oh .. and over at eatonweb I got this time a really nice review .. thanks to whoever that was
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Hello Kids, today we are going to learn the letter M, the letter M is one of my favorite letters!!! Many great words start with M, for example Monster, Money, Masquara, Manta, Morals, Mozarella, Mold and Mildew.
Speaking of which, I think today I want to tell you about the brothers Mold and Mildew, what they are doing to our stuff, why we hate them and what we could do to kick 'em out!
Mildew is a thin, often whitish to bluish-green growth produced by molds on many surfaces. Molds are simple plants belonging to the group known as fungi. Though molds are always present in the air, those that cause mildew only need moisture and a certain temperature in order to grow.
Ok, that was textbook. Basically: the stuff is ugly and stinks and feasts on your possesions. So, since we are always at a balmy 75 to 85 F (26 - 29 C) and humidity is constant 75% +/- 5%, those guys are just having a party here. You basically have to wash EVERYTHING once a week, no matter if you have used / worn it or not. Some things like wooden stuff, plushy pillows and upholstery I still have to find out what to do about it.
Here are some picture examples:
The solutions against it are not that great:Keep moisture out of the house. Great, not possible. The moisture is just everywhere in the air, the windows here are built for maximum circulation, thus have now glass, are always open ... Keep the temperature down. Lovely idea Einstein, I'd love that for many other reasons already. ... would mean to redo all windows, and pay heaps for electricity and probably getting a cold from the constant shock we get when going from inside to outside ... also, no more fresh air in the house.
It comes down to playing mildew police as often as possible, and sadly parting with stuff when there is no rescue possible. I wish there was some additive to detergent that makes clothing immune to mold. Or some spray to apply from time to time ... those silicon solutions seem expensive and cumbersome ... and technical dehumidifiers are unknown to this part of the world it seems.
I wonder how other people in very humid countries live with that (William???).
For the food critics (you Berna): Yesterday I made 2 different kind of chicken, one red thai curry with onions, the other canton black bean with rice. Both pretty yummy, seems I am on a chicken trip these days, I am trying a honey / coriander sauce today.
Oh, and of course it started raining early in the afternoon ... for the rest of the day and night.
Monday, January 27, 2003
Alas, no rain today, hooray !
But I am putting something up which i saved for a rainy day: The story of the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.
This place must have been the grandest place in its time ... in the 70ies a lot of cruise ship would stop by in Suva and a stop at the bar was a highlight for visitors, in 1954 Queen Elizabeth visited Suva and the reception was in this hotel's ballroom.
It opened in 1914 and was closed a couple of years ago "for rennovations" .. well ... it seems since then NOTHING has been done, see for yourself.
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Great ... this just in from some weather website.
January 26, 2003 04:15 a.m.
*As of early Sunday, Tropical Cyclone 06F (Beni) was centered near 12.4 degrees south and 161.2 degrees east. Winds are at 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph and movement was to the southwest. This track is expected to continue over the next 24 hours. Beni will continue to strengthen and likely reach typhoon-strength on Monday.
and today IS monday .... hmm .. that kinda explains all the rain, I just hope we will not get a power outtage again and that Ritsu is safe in Honiara ...
And it is still raining hard !!! I think I actually woke up from the sound of the rain ... and when you think it cannot rain any harder, it just pours a bit more ...
Sunday I spent mainly working on some pizza and doing some designs for a website I need to do. I had invited the guys to come over later for pizza and movie, but in the end only Wayne showed up. Why the others did not come is still unknown. But so we ate pizza and chatted all evening.
I talked to Ritsu Sunday morning and she told me about an interesting connection between a 350 million $ grant to the Solomon Government and a company running a pyramid scheme. I actually found a news story about it. Now I want to see if I find any information about a possible new cyclone heading our way.
