tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74177552009-12-01T11:59:07.773-08:00Victor's photojournal of life in Vancouver, Calgary, and all the stops along and out of the way.Victornoreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-35615191032812467452009-07-26T19:15:00.007-07:002009-07-28T01:18:51.208-07:00

As iTunes adds my 26GB MP3 library (for the 3rd time today, it pops into the foreground every minute so hitting ENTER at that moment Stops the whole process), I thought, there has to be a better way!I have a PC and a Mac, but this problem is for anyone with a new computer or re-installing. After many hours wasted trying the different ways I can workaround iTunes to share my music library with

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-64602774730205939622009-04-29T15:48:00.003-07:002009-04-29T15:55:36.812-07:00

I've replaced the ugly Twitter widget on the right sidebar with a simpler version. Want to add one to your blog so you too can delay posts for months, and instead microblog 140 characters at a time? Don't be intimidated, a little CSS is all you need to know.http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/04/add-customized-twitter-widget-to-your.htmlhttp://www.junglejar.com/2008/11/08/style-twittertweets/The

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-80675502807120044932009-02-06T14:25:00.002-08:002009-02-06T14:41:19.152-08:00

One up to the guy at the ProDesign (Danish designer eyeglasses) warehouse in SF. He couldn't help me find a replacement tiny broken metal hinge, but he did reply within an hour and sent a list of four distributors within a few blocks. He didn't have to do that. (But that little piece of metal cost me $75!)One down to Future Shop (suprise!). Picking up a web order shouldn't take 30min. It was 7pm

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-48807617600415568692009-01-18T16:06:00.003-08:002009-01-18T16:20:16.880-08:00

Last month I had great seats to the fantastic Arts Club Theatre production of Cyrano de Bergerac at The Stanley. I still remember reading the subtitles for the movie adaptation starring Gerard Depardieu in Miss Bourbonnais' French class in high school. Steve Martin depiction in Roxanne is probably the best known, or Janeane Garofalo's scene stealing performance in The Truth About Cats and

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-26847983545396730342008-12-15T18:06:00.003-08:002008-12-15T18:26:13.068-08:00

Recent album's I do like:Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See ItAs Mer said, its got that upbeat Motown feel. Still gross he's dating Joss Stone, 21 years his junior. However, their track 5 "Just One Kiss" together is a good'r. Not liking that Jay-Z makes an appearance on an otherwise good track "Oh Girl".Thievery Corporation - Radio RetaliationFaster paced than usual, the 1st track gets you up and

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-16368024423796935102008-11-18T23:08:00.006-08:002008-11-18T23:36:02.677-08:00

Canada has always been slow on the technology front, and Twitter acceptance is no different. I've setup my Twitter Updates to update my Facebook status because I can't be bothered to login to FB everyday. I don't know if I'll keep this up, but if anything, I'm spreading the Twitter word. The truth is, 90% of my friends still don't know what Twitter is. Twitter is the 405th ranked site in Canada,

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-62153147322157639472008-10-21T23:17:00.004-07:002008-10-21T23:35:19.908-07:00

I called Westjet's enthusiastically named "Sales Super Center" to apply a credit from my last trip to Calgary for delayed luggage. They answered after 4 rings. I remember last month they picked up so quickly I was caught off guard, partially because I had been on hold on Rogers for half an hour just before.So what about Air Canada? Out of curiosity, I called them as an experiment.1) Immediately

Victornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-64102327109566495992008-10-15T08:30:00.000-07:002008-10-15T12:24:39.795-07:00

TripHub is out of business, citing factors such as "the economic environment" and "the state of the travel". And also, they ran out of money.Devoted readers (all 7 of you) will remember my post from March'07 when I was searching for a trip planning site for my 3 weeks in Thailand. Shortly after posting my negative review, TripHub's VP of Marketing John Pope (with help from a web monitoring/

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-11063336620864674362008-10-09T13:02:00.003-07:002008-10-22T13:27:36.095-07:00

A month ago I received a text from evil Rogers about Apple's product recall for all 3G power owners, and today I got my DHL package in the mail.I was surprised to see the size of the packaging, as Apple's retail products typically use minimal packaging. The ultracompact adapter is less than 5x3x3cm, but the box it came in (photo taken from my iPhone, uploaded via Evernote) 25x15x9cm. A little

Victornoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-69071642400763472592008-10-06T15:15:00.003-07:002008-10-06T15:31:02.100-07:00

I put one post up on Friday looking for a contract IT worker, and here are snippets from the 44 replies I got back:"We are confident of assist you as a partner"- I will not hire anyone who can't pass Grade 12 English."...I charge a flat fee for a liscence to the cms, and $40/hr for doing customizations (the customization possibilities are endless). "- Unfortunately, my budget is not endless."I

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-78820952937444181872008-09-21T22:00:00.003-07:002008-09-21T22:09:04.085-07:00

Watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona if any single point below applies to you:A) You've been to Barcelona and loved it.B) You are a Scarlett Johansson fan.C) You are a Penelope Cruz fan.D) You are curious as to how Javier Bardem plays a romantic role (creepy guy from No Country for Old Men)E) You watch all Woody Allen films.F) Scarlett & Penelope kissing turns you on.G) You enjoy watching angry Spanish

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-91601263886469604452008-09-20T13:19:00.002-07:002008-09-20T13:24:36.851-07:00

This is a foodie post, so I'll share one of my fave pix from the June trip to the Okanagan. Mission Hill Chef Michael Allemeier's Sooke Ruby Trout with herb garden puree, walla walla onions and a chorizo tart was to die for. I was pointed to an excerpt from Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" circa 2000. Among other cooking and dining tips, Bourdain

Victornoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-12042404622716846592008-09-17T11:11:00.003-07:002008-09-17T11:26:27.065-07:00

This month's Vancouver Magazine has a wonderfully compiled list of food and drinks to try in BC, with photos. Thanks to Laura for the tip!Example of the more offbeat selections:- Vij's Cricket Bread- Cioppino's Deep-Fried Zucchini Blossoms- Nu's Beer-Injected Fried OysterSome ubiquitous BC picks:- Raincoast Crisps- Kurobuta at JapaDog- Ambrosia apples (invented right here!)Top of my list to try:-

Victornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-86920185099652787912008-09-09T16:10:00.004-07:002008-09-09T16:30:01.752-07:00

I had a conversation with a friend last month about my distaste for the lifestyle and morality of investment analysts. This led to a debate on the absurdity of the stock market. My opinion was that the whole financial system has turned into a mechanism to make those most closely involved richer. My friend who works in the industry agreed.Intro to Economics teaches you that markets are efficient.

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-57444276257880841842008-09-04T16:41:00.002-07:002008-09-04T16:52:19.195-07:00

You can order a pizza at Subway.Or get a sub sandwich at Dominos. AND Dunkin Donuts.Now Pizza Hut is pushing pasta.What next? You're going to tell me McCain and Obama are tied in the polls? Yeah right...

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-23626745978827105852008-08-22T02:25:00.002-07:002008-08-22T02:32:17.746-07:00

I've always dreamed of this day. OK, I dream of better things, but it is a good day when a wonderfully useful site like yelp comes to Canada. Vancouver has had this hole in the webosphere that DineHere.ca and the Martini Boys could never quite fulfill. Chowhound will still be my most trusted source for restaurant reviews because of all the knowledge foodie contributors, but it can't compete with

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-63181862767400256422008-08-18T00:24:00.003-07:002008-08-18T00:50:56.162-07:00

Long overdue for an update, so I'll just sum up the past two weeks (with lots of firsts):Road the Aquabus for the first time (after Fireworks)Umbro Beach Soccer tournament at Spanish Banks (we tied all 3 gamesPride Parade (too many floats, not as good as last year)First hot yoga class (thx E)Scored tickets to the Dec 21 Seahawks vs Jets with Brett Favre announcement a few days later (10am

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-10200528398286677252008-06-21T22:43:00.003-07:002008-06-27T00:38:43.127-07:00

I'm headed to the Okanagan with Ryan tomorrow for 4 nights, staying by Kelowna & Summerland. Yup, just us two, we had some interest in Van & Calgary but it all fell through (kind of like the Canada Day camping trip...). Last month as I was doing my occasional nerding out on tech news, I caught this video on how to use PBwiki, using a camping trip as an example. My thirst for new tools and not

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-44352571259314453852008-06-08T22:32:00.005-07:002008-06-08T22:53:12.539-07:00

 Call me easily amused, or possibly the fact that I am in the bathroom more often when I've had a few drinks and giggly, but I love when an establishment adds a little wit in the loo. I'm not just talking the urinal ad that gets your thirty seconds of undivided attention. An example is this poster from one of my favorite lounges, Section 3 in Yaletown. That's all there is to it, no words, just a

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-75756735595818752502008-06-05T13:20:00.005-07:002008-06-05T14:01:44.691-07:00

My friend in California is a rocket scientist. His Gmail Chat status reads "Hating Work". Two contacts below, my friend in NYC "is hating the CFA". She's been with one of the largest investment banks for five years. I don't have any more background on their feelings at this no doubt stressful moment, but it echoes some thoughts I've had recently.If someone were to ask you to do something you

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-27080556622810570082008-05-29T12:19:00.005-07:002008-05-29T13:53:57.915-07:00

 Its been gorgeous lately here in Vansterdam. So much so that I've been at the beach three times in the past two weeks! I'm not bragging... OK maybe a bit, but the beach is one of the things I missed the most in the past four years in the land-locked Prairies where all you get for water is a glacial-fed lake or a cess pool like Sylvan (then again, its rare to see locals actually IN the water on

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-64819809229138499352008-05-22T12:21:00.004-07:002008-05-29T13:30:07.096-07:00

I stepped out of the safety net today and attended Launch Party 4 by myself last night at The Republic. A gathering of "entrepreneurs, techies and marketers", LPV4 as its known is a networking event for the small but growing Vancouver .com scene. Of the seven start-ups showing their stuff, two looked to be on the cusp of something big, while another two seemed completely out to lunch. I met a

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-56925519487818080922008-05-15T16:21:00.000-07:002008-05-15T16:20:14.978-07:00

 Think of the out of focus cluster of leaves at the back as Pandora, one of my favorite sites that is no longer available to Canadians. I wrote about this back in 2007. The semi out of focus leaves to the left could be Last.fm, which I still use and scrobble my iPods with. The top leaf could be Yahoo! Music, the 2nd most popular streaming on demand music site.So you're asking, what about the leaf

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-35067559345497238182008-05-12T20:47:00.003-07:002008-05-12T20:53:20.562-07:00

I'm one of those people that are always looking for the next vacation. So the latest deal I heard (through my mom of all people) is from up and coming (and profitable) Allegiant Air. If you don't mind the border and park'n ride hassle, Allegiant is offering new summer service from Bellingham to SF for $78 each way. Thats $177US after taxes! Or if you're looking for a different kind of culture,

Victornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417755.post-29764213997351323102008-04-21T13:49:00.003-07:002008-04-21T15:25:35.421-07:00

Its not unusual for snow to fall in April or May in Calgary, but the amount it snowed on Friday was something to be seen. 15cm, with temperatures down to -13C on yesterday! This is the 2nd storm in a week. I heard Vancouver got a bit of snow as well, while its over 25C in the East. At least its good to know I can fly out, and it'll be the last time I'll feel that kind of cold for six more

Victornoreply@blogger.com0