Sunshine, lightning and fireworks -- oh my!

Yesterday was probably the most interesting day for the Metro Vancouver area in a long time, due largely to the weather.

Within a single day:

• sunshine
• clouds
• rain
• gorgeous sunset
• thunderstorm
• lightning resulting from thunderstorm; at one point there were about 20 strikes per minute
• annual Celebration of Light fireworks competition (during the lightning)

You don't get too many days like these, that's for sure. Lightning is rare enough here in Vancouver (I think we get an average of 0.2 lightning storms per year), let alone an hours-long lightning storm like we did last night.

I also found out that taking photos of lightning is extremely hard. Eventually I ended up just holding down the shutter button and letting 'er rip until the memory card ran out of space. But getting soaked in the torrential rain was worth every penny.

Here are the shots that I did get (for larger pics, see my Flickr):








Here's a time lapse of the day as seen from downtown Vancouver, courtesy of KatKam:



And it's interesting how nobody reacted to the fireworks competition (as they normally do) but went "OOOOH AHHHH" at the accompanying lightning instead:



Who knows when Vancouver will ever see a fireworks display during a lightning storm again.

A fine frenzy

Here I am, still waiting for my official placement in the Seoul public school system, less than one month from my scheduled departure to the Asian motherland. (Okay, it's not my motherland, but at least it's not across an ocean.) The placement is needed before any kind of work visa could be issued. I was pretty concerned about whether there'd be enough time for my work visa to be completed, but I was told by my recruiter that despite the tight timeline, things should get done soon ("soon" as in before July 31st).

I was wondering why it was taking so long, since I submitted everything over a month ago. In fact, I thought I made good haste on my part -- whenever something was requested, I managed to get it done or submit it within the week. I didn't want to be screwed by a bump down the road.

Looks like it wasn't me I had to worry about. It was them. I did some research and apparently I'm not the only one who's waiting around for the placement; there are a lot of people on the same boat, apparently, because there is a huge backlog on the clerical end.

Why the huge backlog, you ask? Well, it's something that I found somewhat mind-boggling. I mean, I know these things happen, but it's still mind-boggling.

What happened was that EPIK was doing some massive recruitment campaigns this year in an attempt to attract more teachers. (EPIK is the English Program in Korea -- the program that handles all foreign English teacher hirings outside Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and the program to which I applied.) In previous years, the applicant rate was low enough so that your chances of getting hired were much higher.

They got their wish -- a lot of people applied. In fact, too many. Way too many.

Usually, they would interview people and then an average ratio of those interviewees would be notified that their interviews were successful. Let's say, for the sake of argument, the ratio is 1 in 3. Normally, as long as they kept up with that ratio, they'd reach their quota by the time they got through everyone.

Of course, 33% of 1000 applicants would be a much lower number of hirees than, say, 33% of 2000 or 3000 applicants. Apparently that was what happened this year -- the number of applicants skyrocketed, and they quickly realized that this ratio wouldn't work.

Oh noes! What to do with the people they accepted? Apparently SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Board of Education) is in need of some teachers, so about 100 positions in Seoul were opened up for EPIK applicants. Only the Level 1 and Level 2 applicants (who have the highest pay rates and qualifications within the EPIK system) would qualify for those positions. I was eventually one of the 100 people who nabbed a SMOE position (which was fine by me, since my first choice of location for EPIK was Incheon, which is right next to Seoul). Anyone with Level 3 or below would have a chance at EPIK openings only.

But the applicants kept coming in. That put EPIK in a very unfamiliar situation -- the ability to choose the best of the crop. In previous years, they needed you more than you needed them. The situation this year reversed that trend, so they could suddenly pick the most qualified and attractive candidates out of the bunch, instead of settling with someone who's simply better in relation to everyone else.

That led to something that some people have been complaining about. Since they decided on successful applicants only a day or two after the actual interview, that means they told some people that their interview was successful before they realized they could pick and choose this year. So what happened was that a bunch of people were told that they wouldn't be offered a contract after all -- after being told that their interview was successful. Ouch.

Add that to the high number of teachers renewing their contracts this year, and you've got a fine frenzy on your hands. Judging by the economic situation, I wouldn't be surprised if next year brings in a huge number of applicants as well.

Hopefully EPIK will learn from their mistakes and handle it better next year.

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As a side note, this bizarre set of circumstances have also impacted me personally. Normally, the new SMOE teachers go through the SMOE teacher orientation. Makes sense, right? Well, apparently I'm not going to go through that process despite being contracted to teach in SMOE. Instead, I'm supposed to be going to the EPIK orientation, despite not signing my contract with EPIK.

This means that I'll be arriving earlier than other SMOE teachers who didn't apply with EPIK. At first I was wondering if this was a mistake but then I found at least two other people on the same boat (and wondering the exact same thing). Those two are also part of the 100 people that applied to EPIK and got transferred to SMOE.

This situation is getting weirder every time I check, it seems. Maybe I should stop checking.

I live in a love motel. Wanna make out?

For my upcoming job in Seoul, I was scared and worried about many things. How will I deal with a classroom situation? Will I have enough money to live? Will I be able to adapt to Korean culture? (Will I eventually learn how to play Starcraft, get addicted and spend 3 straight days in a PC bang (PC방: internet/online gaming cafe) before passing out and dying?) Interestingly, one of the things that never entered my mind was the housing situation because it is provided by the employer. The contract with SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) specifies:

제12조 (주거)
1. 고용자는 피고용자에게 고용자가 선정한 주거를 제공한다. 주거 형태는 서울교육연
수원 내의 숙소동, 임대주택, 원룸, 아파트를 포함하나 이에 한정되지 않는다. 주거의
사용에 따른 제세공과금은 피고용자의 부담으로 한다. 주거의 형태를 일단 결정한
이후에는 고용기간 동안 이를 피고용자 임의로 변경할 수 없다.

Article 12 (Housing)
1. Employer shall provide Employee with housing selected by Employer. Housing selected by Employer may be, including but not limited to, an apartment of faculty residence in Seoul Education Training Institute, a studio-type room, or an apartment. Any and all fees, charges, costs, taxes, expenses, etc. incurred in using the housing shall be borne by Employee. Once housing is decided, it shall not be changed at Employee’s discretion during the term of Employment.

I've lived in the smallest bedroom in the house for so many years now, and I am usually pretty apathetic to the quality of living quarters as long as the neighborhood is safe enough and not out in the middle of nowhere, and as long as I have everything I need.

However, I came across something that was rather concerning regarding the specific treatment of the housing clause by SMOE: apparently it is possible that they will stick you in a "love motel" co-op kind of place. You know, the place that guys take their mistresses to and make love next door, which you can then hear through the paper-thin walls. Of course, the doors are no better so you can hear absolutely everything that goes on outside. By the sounds of it, even hardened veterans (ie. people who have been on the job in Seoul for years) can't handle more than two months of this.

And this is essentially a hotel, not a proper suite, which means that staff can enter the suite, which they can do without knocking and at any time. This is particularly concerning because it indicates that safety may be a concern; I'd have to make sure to keep any valuables (and non-valuables) well-hidden from view, in case greed takes over a staff member. I'd hate to leave my DSLR lying around and then come home to find it gone!

A lot of amenities are also shared among multiple guests, including laundry machines. The cost for utilities is apparently as much as what a proper apartment would cost -- for a huge difference in quality and piece of mind. Not to mention the reported size of the hotel co-op suite is something like 3 meters by 3.5 meters. There seems to be something strange about cost for utilities; from what others (with actual apartments) have reported, the hotel co-op utility costs seem to be quite inflated (which indicates that there's some shady business going on).

The advice is basically this -- if SMOE tries to put you in such a place, ask them to find you another place. If they don't (and you can't afford to threaten to find another job), then just take the ₩500,000-per-month rent subsidy (the contract specifies that if they can't find a place for you and you must look for your own place, the rent subsidy must be provided to you) and pay a little more out-of-pocket for security and piece of mind. Or, if you can't afford it, suck it up for a few months and then rent your own place elsewhere.

From what I've seen, even something that costs an additional ₩200,000 out-of-pocket looks more desirable to what was described. From the descriptions of the rooms themselves and the neighborhood around them (which can be quite seedy), it sounds just slightly better than the Downtown Eastside here in Vancouver, minus the drug addicts.

I know I shouldn't be complaining about housing that's provided to you, but that there's a difference between complying with the contract outlines and taking advantage of unsaid and unwritten loopholes in the thing to work it to your advantage (and compromise the safety and security of the employee and his/her possessions in the process).

Mind you, this apparently doesn't happen to a lot of SMOE teachers -- but it happens to some and the possibility is still there. That window of possibility is pretty disheartening by itself. I just hope it doesn't come down to that.

Air ticket madness

It was a zoo yesterday trying to get the plane tickets to Seoul's Incheon International Airport. Direct flights are all either pretty expensive or fully booked -- precisely on the date that I need to get there by. A day later or a day before is a huge difference -- lots of available seats and a $200 price difference. Go figure. (This is a chance for me to blame the school kids for messing everything up, so I will take that chance. Damn kids.)

One of the scenarios that came up was leaving over a week early and spending a week with relatives in Hong Kong before taking the short flight to Seoul from there. That would've been ideal, if not for the possibility that the South Korean customs officials might not let a Canadian in on a teaching visa after such a stay in Hong Kong. Too bad, because that would've been ideal (since I was planning to make a trip to Hong Kong at some point anyway).

Since it'd be quite a commute from Seoul to the orientation venue in the southwestern part of South Korea (a shuttle will be provided) and because of any possible travel delays, I really want to land in Seoul before the evening, which isn't really possible via direct flights. And from the prices of those direct flights, it doesn't seem like that would be a good way to go either.

We hatched plenty of scenarios (one of which had me going from Vancouver to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Singapore to Seoul), and finally found one that would work -- Vancouver to Shanghai to Seoul, for just under $600 on a smaller airline. That would be a lot better. The downside is that I'll arrive at night in Seoul and will do an overnighter, but I'd rather be early than late. I can always sleep on the plane and then take a nap at the airport terminal until the first shuttle to the orientation venue arrives in the morning.

However, now there's the issue of the visa. I was told that the head office in Seoul will send me some documents to take to the consulate in "two to four weeks." It's now past four weeks, and I haven't heard a peep yet. I zapped off an e-mail to my recruiter to see what's up, and they said that the last time they asked, the Seoul office didn't get my documents yet, and that they "should" have gotten them by now. I'm quite anxious about that, as you can expect, since it's now about a month to my departure from Canada.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Kim Jong Il's worldwide personality cult

Last night, it was reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer. While there are no official sources confirming this (and, as always, the news sources are citing "unidentified" officials from South Korea and the People's Republic of China), it wouldn't surprise me one bit considering the state of his appearances and health as of late. As well, this would obviously set off an interesting situation for the country's leadership, as it is expected that Kim's son, Kim Jong Un, will take over in the future.

There. One paragraph. That is pretty much all there is to say about this. So that's why it's interesting to me that some news reports not only go on longer than that, but continue to describe in detail Kim's history, actions, personality cult, and so forth -- there's even a bit of tabloid-like speculation mixed in there that may or may not be true.

People keep talking about the Kim personality cult in that country, about how they have gigantic statues of Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il's father and original leader) and like to have portraits of either/both of the Kim leaders everywhere. People are aware that there is a worship-like thing going on surrounding the Kims and that every aspects of the North Koreans' lives are supposedly centered around Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

However, sometimes I think that the cult personality covers most of the outside world as well.

Now, I'm not saying that people all over the world do things according to the wishes of Kim Jong Il or that people see the Kims as saviors. Hell, most people don't even like Kim Jong Il. But despite his rather strange way of doing things, he has somehow achieved near-celebrity status in the parts of the world that he does not control. Obviously this is in part because of his never-ending threats to destroy the US and take over the world (despite the fact that he can't even take over the Korean peninsula at this point). But the bigger reason for this is how the world just eats up everything he does and reports on it like he's some sort of celebrity.

Out of all the people to get celebrity-like coverage, he might have the smallest fan base out of everyone; his fan base's size makes George W. Bush's fan base look gigantic in comparison. Besides a handful of visits (mostly summits with Japan and South Korea, and some meetings with the People's Republic of China), Kim Jong Il hasn't really ventured outside his own little nuclear-laden hermit kingdom.

Yet, everything he does or declares gets reported, no matter how idiotic it may be. Hell, he could release a statement declaring that he has nuclear missiles aimed at Springfield and will wipe out Evergreen Terrace next week, and it'd be reported and posted all over the major news networks.

Sure, he's making himself an easy target for the butt of jokes, but sometimes with all the media obsession over whatever he does makes me wonder if his personality cult covers most of the world rather than only in North Korea. Yes, it's handy to know what the hell goes on in his country and what the hell he's up to, but the extent of coverage that he gets is just incredible compared to some of the people who are just as bad, like Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. We seem to know a hell of a lot more about Kim Jong Il than either of those two guys; hence, the cult of personality seems to cover us too.

Canada Line goodness

After many years of political red tape, the long-awaited rapid transit rail line between Richmond, Vancouver International Airport and Vancouver will become a reality in the form of the Canada Line. It was originally announced that it will open on Labor Day, but by the sounds of it, it might open as early as the BC Day long weekend, which is at the start of August.

That means for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, visitors coming from the airport will be able to avoid having to cram into a small taxi cab and use a train line instead.

While I love the fact that the line is finally here, I do have some nitpicks with its construction and planning. The station and train lengths are a mere 40 meters and there is no room for further expansion. This is an alarming lack of long-term thinking by the private company that had the construction contract for the line.

Also, all Richmond, Delta, South Surrey and White Rock buses that normally run as express buses to downtown Vancouver will instead terminate at Bridgeport Station of the line. As a regular passenger on the Richmond routes to downtown Vancouver, I can say with certainty that despite the line's and the local buses' increased capacities, there will be a serious overcrowding issue. My peak-hour bus from Vancouver is already bursting at the seams at 15-minute frequencies. The local route (which will be the only option after the line opens) will run at 12-minute frequencies. Now, if a 15-minute frequency can't handle the Vancouver-Richmond passengers alone, how do you expect a 3-minute increase to make any difference when you add local Richmond riders to the scenario as well? It will not work.

Above: A Canada Line train during practice runs, as seen from No. 3 Road at Alderbridge Way in Richmond.

Also, for some areas in Richmond's western parts, such as my house, the commute time will actually increase as a result of the new routings. Besides those living within a kilometer of No. 3 Road (where the line runs), there is no benefit. There will be no other alternatives for Vancouver-bound commuters.

For the Delta, South Surrey and White Rock routes, the extra transfer will end up with little to no savings in commuting time. While the impact is minimal for them, it seems a bit unnecessary. However, I'm hesitant to say anything beyond that because I don't take those buses during peak hours.

If the line opens early (as planned), the route changes won't be in effect until the next schedule rotation, which will be in September. By then, I'll be far away from here and will avoid the circus that will be Vancouver public transit commuting. Hopefully all the problems will be rectified by the time I return. But knowing the local transportation agency around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they remain clueless.

Anyways, here are some related videos, pics and links:

My photo gallery of the Canada Line.

Videos courtesy of the Buzzer Blog:

Approaching Vancouver City Centre Station:



Leaving downtown Vancouver:



Transition from underground portion to above-ground, at Marine Drive Station:



Crossing the bridge to Richmond:



Arriving at Richmond-Brighouse Station, the terminus in Richmond:



Arriving at Vancouver International Airport's YVR-Airport Station:



Projected ridership situation:



Okay, I was kidding about the last one. I think. Actually, I don't know if I'm joking about that.

Planes like crashing near my house

It is past 2:00am and I am sitting here at my computer, drinking some hot cocoa. Sometimes you feel so jittery that you try to drink something that usually makes you even more jittery (like hot cocoa) in an attempt to make yourself less jittery. I don't know how the hell that works, but it's worth a try.

Why am I so jittery? Well, the thought of two planes crashing within two years within biking distance from my house seems like a good reason to be nervous, does it not?

Around 10:06pm tonight (I guess it'd be last night on July 9, since we're past 12:00am now), a small plane bound for Vancouver International Airport crashed here in Richmond, resulting in a huge fireball and at least one large explosion. (News story: [Vancouver Province].)

The crash site is about 15-20 minutes from my house, and less than 300 meters from the Summer Night Market, a large weekend attraction that would've been open to thousands of people had it been Friday or a weekend rather than a Thursday (as it's closed from Mondays to Thursdays).



By the looks of it, what happened was that the pilot of the small plane that crashed was following too closely behind a large Airbus plane, thus getting caught in the wake turbulence behind it. That caused the pilot to lose control of the plane, and the aircraft eventually hit the ground nose-first in an industrial zone in northern Richmond.

Above: the plane's last approximate position before disappearing from the flight tracking map; it likely hit the wake turbulence of the large Airbus on the left. (Courtesy: WebTrak for Vancouver International Airport.)

While that area is well known for being one of Vancouver International Airport's flight paths and while the cause of the crash appears to be an error by the pilot, this is certainly unnerving. Just two years ago, in the fall of 2007, Richmond was also hit by a plane crash. Unlike the one tonight, which hit an unoccupied industrial zone in the middle of the night, the one in 2007 hit a residential complex in downtown Richmond (just 10 minutes from my house) during rush hour, narrowly missing the popular Richmond Public Market. (News story: [CTV].)

From 2007's crash:



While both of these are completely different types of crashes (except for the fact that they both occurred here in Richmond and they both involved small planes), this still feels scary. Richmond is home to the airport, and most of the residents live on the west end of Richmond; surprise, surprise, the airport is also located on the west end of the city. It makes me wonder if we're all a bunch of dumbasses for setting up our city like this.

But then again, at least we're not Hong Kong yet (despite our huge Chinese population):



Let's just hope that in the future, flights landing and departing Vancouver International Airport get less exciting. "No news is good news," as they say.

"Unendable" movies, part 3

In a previous entry, I started a list of "unendable" movies. The first four films I listed were Good Bye Lenin!, The Parent Trap, Speak and Juno. In this entry, I will continue with the final 2 titles on the list. (Obviously, if I think of more titles, it won't be the "final" list. But it's the final list for now.)

---

5. Saved!

Above: Left to right, Roland (played by Macaulay Culkin), Cassandra (played by Eva Amurri) and Mary (played by Jena Malone) as pious and not-so-pious students at a Christian school in Saved!.

Hilary Faye: Mary, turn away from Satan. Jesus, he loves you.
Mary: You don't know the first thing about love.
Hilary Faye: [throws a Bible at Mary] I am FILLED with Christ's love! You are just jealous of my success in the Lord.
Mary: [picks up the Bible and gestures at it] This is not a weapon... You idiot!

Starring Jena Malone and Mandy Moore, this movie does something that you don't see very often -- it critiques Christianity without being anti-Christian and without offending people. As most of you know, whenever you dip into arguments about politics or religion, things tend to get nasty. But in this film, it doesn't.

The plot involves students at a Christian high school (filmed at Clayton Heights Secondary School in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver) whose lives revolve around Jesus Christ. And I do mean that in the strongest sense. For the first part of the movie, their piousness is exaggerated so much that every sentence seems to contain one of the following words: God, Christ, Jesus, Lord.

The main character, Mary (played by Malone), finds out that her boyfriend is gay while swimming in his pool. Immediately after the revelation, she hits her head while underwater and hallucinates an image of Jesus (actually the poolboy who dove in to save her from drowning) telling her that she must help him overcome his homosexuality.

After doing some research (including typing "gay" on a search engine and finding a pornographic site), she comes to the conclusion that having sex with him (and having her virginity "restored") is the only way to save him. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that sex can often lead to pregnancy because the Christian school didn't feel it was necessary to teach sexual education until the last minute.

While this has the makings of a farce, this movie is far from one. It could've easily turned into the stereotypical teen movie focused solely on Mary's whoopsie-doodles through unplanned teenage pregnancy. But what this movie does for me that is "unendable" involves not only Mary but practically the whole cast of characters.

Every character is extremely multi-dimensional, from the hero Mary to the villainous Hilary Faye (played by Moore) to the outcast characters of Roland and Cassandra. One quality that all my "unendable" movies have is that the characters have so much depth to them that you wish you can learn more about them. After the pregnancy causes her to question her faith in God, I want to see how Mary copes with "real life." I want to see how Hilary Faye rebounds from committing some rather heinous sins. I want to see how Roland and Cassandra's relationship blossoms despite their differences. I want to see how Tia deals with her newfound courage after standing up to Hilary Faye at the prom.

There's just so much more that you want to see that cannot be condensed within the plotline presented by the movie. Had Saved! not been a movie, it would have made for an interesting television series; it certainly has enough material to be one. And if that kind of movie can impress me, a self-described "agnostic bastard," then it has certainly done something right.

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6. Home Room

Above: Busy Philipps as Alicia, left, and Erika Christensen as Deanna, right, play binary opposite characters dealing with a school shooting in Home Room.

Alicia: WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? You think you can come in here and you can spend ten minutes and come out with all the FUCKING ANSWERS? Hey, I've got one: kids pick up guns and THEY KILL OTHER KIDS. That's it! And if that answer isn't good enough, then maybe you should see a doctor or a priest and you can ask THEM why. And they'll feed you all the psycho babble you can stand or they'll tell you that God has some "greater plan" for everyone. And when you keep pressing and those answers aren't good enough, all they'll have left to tell you is the unholy truth, that KIDS JUST DIE.

Home Room is a movie that isn't very well known. It's about a school shooting and was coincidentally made around the time of the Columbine shooting. The film was already a work in progress when the Columbine shooting occurred but instead of backing off from the project, director and writer Paul Ryan modified and re-worked the movie according to what people seemed to overlook at the time -- what happens to such a community when the television cameras and the reporters go away.

The premise is quite simple -- there was a school shooting in which Deanna (played by Erika Christensen) was shot in the head but miraculously survives and Alicia (played by Busy Philipps) was also in the same room as the shooter but somehow escapes injury of any kind, effectively becoming a top witness and suspect in the shooting. The principal, in an effort to make things better, suggests (somewhat coercively) that she visit Deanna in the hospital.

What results between Alicia, a makeup and black-clad loner, and Deanna, a popular student with a bright future, is an unlikely friendship. But perhaps "friendship" is too strong a word -- it is more of a mutual understanding more than anything, and they end up helping each other through the grieving process.

I love awkward "friendships" in movies. I just do. This friendship between Alicia and Deanna has so many subtle signs to it that you feel that they have more in common than one would think, considering their polar oppposite appearances and personalities. What makes this movie "unendable" for me lies in the premise itself -- what does happen when a community experiences such a tragedy, after the news crews go away? Using Columbine as an example, everyone knows what happened. But how many follow-up reports do we get? One per year, if we're lucky?

A lot of people across the country came together when it happened, but that caring seems to have an expiry date; after that, the people in that community are left to fend for themselves before the scars even heal. Instead of treating a school shooting like a spectacle, what this movie does right is treat the human aspects of the event and show that its repercussions stretch far beyond what is covered by the media.

Best bus driver in the world?

As much as I love having an excellent bus driver, even a stunt like this would be too much for me to handle as a passenger.



It could be worse, I guess. We could have the polar opposite of safety:

Anaheim Ducks retain Todd Marchant; I say "I told you so"

Today, the Anaheim Ducks announced that they have re-signed forward Todd Marchant for two more years. Marchant was one of the team's leaders this past playoff run, essentially playing on a broken foot to help the Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks in the first round and come within one game of knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings in the second round (no small feat; the Red Wings eventually came within one game of repeating as champs).

Above: Todd Marchant prepares to enter the ice during pre-game warm-ups at the second most recent Anaheim Ducks game I attended, versus the Vancouver Canucks at General Motors Place on December 30, 2007.

I'd hate to toot my own horn, but... Well, scratch that. I love to toot my own horn. For the past two seasons around the National Hockey League's trading deadline, fans have been calling for Marchant to be traded because of how he's occupying precious salary cap space without producing enough offensively.

Through all of that, I remained a big supporter of Marchant. I pointed out that his value lies not on what he puts up on the scoreboard, but rather through locker room leadership. For those who don't know, let me fill you in. In 2007, when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, he probably showed the best example of leadership I've seen in the sport -- while he was injured, he created T-shirts with inspirational words.

That sounds extremely corny, but he started out with one word on the shirt and added another word after each successful playoff round (for a total of four words). Eventually, the shirts read, "DESTINY is HEART, SACRIFICE and PASSION." Those words had a huge effect on the team, and was significant enough to be eventually engraved on the team's championship rings. I cannot think of another instance where a player has come up with something powerful enough to be immortalized in this way.

In a press call today, even Marchant described his role on the team similar to how I feel about him: "It’s easy to put a value on someone who scores 30 goals, scores 60 points, plays on your power play and all that. Someone like myself, on paper, blocking shots, killing penalties, being a leader in the dressing room day to day doesn’t show up on the scoresheet. Successful teams all have players who fill those voids. I’m thankful that the Anaheim Ducks recognize that."

This reminds me of how Samuel Pahlsson was regarded during his earlier days as a member of the franchise. He didn't put up a lot of offensive numbers, but he was a grinding player who could effectively shut down the opposition's star players. It was only in 2007 when people realized that (to the point of naming him as a big reason why the Ducks won that year). Meanwhile, the Pahlsson supporters grinned and went like, "Neener neener neener -- I told you so!"

So with that in mind...

Neener neener neener. See? I told you so.

Bleeding children to reduce car accidents

In New Zealand, a billboard campaign has started with the goal of preventing deadly accidents on roadways.

The campaign entails of a face of a child which bleeds when it rains. Yes, bleeds.



This is probably one of the creepiest ideas I've heard of, but you can't really deny the fact that it's effective. Sure, you might not get the message right away or even get the message at all, but it's sure scary enough to make you slow down and wonder what the hell you just saw back there (and, if you're M. Night Shyamalan, whether you just came across a brilliant idea for the next big horror film).

When it rains, it pours, yada yada yada

I had the worst night of "sleep" ever. I drank a huge glass of cold milk tea during dinner, which kept me hyper and unable to sleep. So I decided to get a glass of milk to drink. I didn't notice that the milk had expired the day before, so that resulted in a stomach ache, which kept me awake even more. Finally got some shut-eye around 3:30am, but woke up at 5:30am and have been awake since.

So now I'm hyper, tired and enduring the tail end of a stomach ache. All that's left is someone to kick me in the balls and light my nostrils on fire.

Argh.

"Unendable" movies, part 2

First of all, a happy Fourth of July to our American friends to the south.

In a previous entry, I started a list of "unendable" movies. The first two films I listed were Good Bye Lenin! and The Parent Trap. In this entry, I will continue with the next 2 titles on the list.

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3. Speak

Above: Melinda Sordino (played by Kristen Stewart) releases her emotional pain through an art piece consisting of turkey bones, much to the discomfort of her former best friend and her eccentric art teacher.

Melinda: [voiceover] All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. No one really cares what you have to say.
Heather: So here's the plan. We join 5 clubs. One for every day of the week. Not like Latin club, but cool stuff. What do you wanna join? Hey, maybe we can tutor kids at the elementary school. What about your friends from last year? Don't you know Nicole?
Melinda: [voiceover] I wonder how long it would take for anyone to notice if I just stopped talking.

Based on a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (who is excellent at writing fiction about teenage angst and drama, by the way), this movie tells the story of Melinda Sordino, a high school student who was raped at a house party. In the resulting distress, she phones the police and is quickly blamed by everyone at her school for being a snitch.

Call it sadism, if you must, but there is something beautiful in Melinda's suffering, in both the movie and the novel. In the movie, she is portrayed by Kristen Stewart (known more nowadays for playing Bella in the Twilight movies). The title is an indicator of what Melinda cannot do after the incident; she stops speaking to anyone, save for a phrase here and there, and because of this lack of information, one can't help but be curious about what happened to her.

Despite the suffering and emotional turmoil that Melinda goes through, there is also a surprising amount of sarcastic wit and humor in the writing (something that the book also has). Even when you get the feeling that Melinda isn't trying to be funny, the dry wit in the words and the acting of Kristen Stewart makes everything seem like a joke without making you forget that Melinda is still in anguish. It's a beautiful mix.

As the movie goes along, it becomes clear through her art and her interactions (or even lack thereof) that her suffering is also causing her to grow as a person, which is something that is so difficult to show in any movie, let alone a movie about someone who is giving the world the silent treatment. Even when the movie concludes, it is difficult to let go of Melinda because you can't help but get the feeling that there's so much more we can learn about her.

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4. Juno

Above: Ellen Page as Juno and Michael Cera as Bleeker in Juno.

Juno: You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.

Now, I know this is a cliche nowadays. Juno this, Juno that. And granted, I'm a little biased towards this movie because a) I was already an Ellen Page fan from her performance in Hard Candy and b) this is a Vancouver-made film. But there is also something in the character of Juno, underneath that smart-ass exterior.

Juno is an utterly unrealistic character. This is not up for debate. While some people in real life do talk like her (ie. myself), real-life teenagers are unlikely to have the vast cultural database that Juno has. It is not that aspect of the character or film that intrigues me. What does intrigue me, however, is what lurks beneath the sarcastic exteriors of Juno, as well as the peachy and overly innocent setting of Dancing Elk, Minnesota.

Juno is a smart-ass. That much is obvious. But the better question is, why is she a smart-ass? At the end of the film, she destroys that persona completely while in the arms of Bleek in the hospital room. She turns from this 14-going-on-41 character to what she actually is -- a teenage girl in a world littered with adult issues. If you look carefully, it is clear that she uses sarcastic wit to cope with her problems, and that it is merely a facade to her real character.

The setting is also interesting. It is not urban or rural or even suburban. It is just your average town in the middle of America. It is not a complicated place; it is a rather simple place with a school and community. There aren't a whole lot of things to it. It almost seems too perfect. In fact, it seems that its outside innocence is similar to Juno's facade -- by maintaining such an innocent-looking place, the town seems to be dealing with troubles it can't handle by acting like a clean perfect community. You can practically wonder if the setting could be an influence for Juno putting up the character facade.

The ending shows just a small glimpse of what could be the real Juno. While the movie ends quite neatly, you almost want to see it continue so we can really get to know her instead of only knowing the fake side of her. With that said, I'm one of those people who thinks that Diablo Cody is a total genius in this particular screenplay. She pulled off an amazing character.

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That's what I have for the first two titles on my unendable movies list. The list will be continued next time, with 2 more on the way.

North Korea airs first beer commercial

In an article published by the Los Angeles Times today, apparently North Korea has aired its first beer commercial.

True to the North Korean government mentality that everything must be bigger than everyone else's version of the same thing (ie. how their arch of triumph in Pyongyang has to be slightly taller than the one in Paris), this beer commercial has to be longer than normal -- the ad lasts for about 3 minutes (comapared to the normal 30 seconds for North American commercials).



According to the ad, "beer relieves stress and improves health and longevity." Don't tell that to people with liver poisoning.

Also in the article, a South Korean Unification Ministry official, "who has been monitoring the North's television for more than two decades, told The Associated Press that it was the first time he had seen any sort of advertisement for food, much less beer." Maybe they're just hoping their people can drink their hunger away.

There is also a mention of Kim Jong Il's love for beer.

I guess if it makes sense for him to test fire missiles wildly if he's drunk. Hopefully he'll remember what happened in the morning.

Giant sewer blobs -- apparently, they exist

Those of us who grew up in the late 1990s may remember the Goosebumps book series by R.L. Stine. There was one title in the series in particular that seemed both amusing and disturbing at the same time -- The Blob That Ate Everyone. It seems laughable that a blob would be scary enough to do such a thing.

Well, here's something that will make you stop laughing.

In a place called Cameron in North Carolina, a camera was going through the sewers (probably to check for blockage or something like that) and discovered a huge blob that isn't only incredibly gross, but also seems to be pulsing and very much alive.

If you're eating spaghetti or noodles, be warned -- this may make you lose your appetite.



What the hell is it, you ask? Well, officially it's an "unknown" organism. All everyone knows for sure is that this organism is a huge blob found in a sewer and is alive.

One possible explanation comes from Dr. Timothy S. Wood from the International Bryozoology Association. He explains:

They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other. The contractions you see are the result of a single worm contracting and then stimulating all the others to do the same almost simultaneously, so it looks like a single big muscle contracting.

In other words, they are the sewer version of these worms:



Nevertheless, this is really spine-tingling to look at. Apparently these things can enter households through drains and toilets as well. Here's some food for thought the next time you're taking a crap or a shower. Maybe that's the next big horror blockbuster movie. Who knows.

"Unendable" movies, part 1

First of all, happy Canada Day to fellow Canadians out there. Hopefully your area wasn't as crazy as mine; it was a madhouse out here.

Anyways, for today, I thought I'd touch on something that I call "unendable movies." What are they, you ask? Well, put it this way. Have you ever watched a movie that probably wasn't the greatest movie in the world, but you just didn't want to see it end no matter how good the ending is? Did you wish that the movie could keep going on and on, because you love the characters so much?

That's what I call an "unendable" movie. And for this entry, I'm going to list a few of my favorite unendable movies, in no particular order. Today, I'll touch on 2 of them. In the next entries, I will touch on the other unendable movies on my list, 2 movies at a time.

Here we go...

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1. Good Bye Lenin!

Above: Lenin greets an incredulous Christiane in Good Bye Lenin!.

Ariane: You were in a coma. Eight months ago.
Christiane: Eight months? What happened?
Ariane: Yeah, it was...
Alex: It was in October, in the supermarket. There was this enormous queue and it was really hot and you just passed out.
Christiane: In October?
Alexander: It was a really hot October. At the time.

This gem isn't very well known to most people but for those who are interested in foreign films, this is a treat. The plotline involves East Berlin during the tail end of the Cold War. The main character is Alex and his mother Christiane is a devoted communist. Political backlash is at an all-time high, and Alex finds himself mixed in with the protests calling for an end to communist rule. One day, Christiane spots him among the crowd of protesters and faints from shock.

She slips into a coma and in the meantime, communism collapses in East Germany and the Berlin Wall falls. When she wakes up, the doctors warn Alex and his sister Ariane that Christiane is still extremely fragile and any shock could potentially kill her. Fearing for his mother's health, Alex develops quite an elaborate scheme to hide the fall of communism from her, including making fake newscasts showing that East Germany is still alive and well, and acquiring his mother's favorite East German pickle brand (which is actually regular pickles in a jar with the East German brand's label stuck on it).

The rouses get more and more elaborate and ridiculous as the movie goes along as Alex finds new ways to "explain" some of the slip-ups which occur. (One of the more memorable rouses is when a large Coca-Cola banner is unfurled outside the window; Alex quickly makes a fake newscast reporting that Coca-Cola is discovered to be an East German brand after all, not an American one.)

The continued escalation in desperate attempts to keep East Germany "alive" makes me wish the movie would keep on going forever, because each attempt is better than the previous, while simultaneously putting a human face on this aspect of the Cold War. The ending is quite fitting and well done, but it's an ending that you wish would come later than sooner.

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2. The Parent Trap (1998 version)

Above: Lindsay Lohan as both of the twins, the late Natasha Richardson as the mother and Dennis Quaid as the father in the 1998 version of The Parent Trap.

Annie: That's the lunch bell.
Hallie: [as she wipes away her tears] I'm not so hungry anymore. So if your Mom is my Mom and my Dad is your Dad... and we're both born on October 11th, then you and I are... like... sisters.
Annie: Sisters? Hallie, we're like twins!
Hallie: Oh my god!
Annie: Oh my god!
[they hug]

Before Lindsay Lohan's life started spiralling out of control with the tabloid reporters at full attention, she was quite a talented young actress whose debut performance put an exclamation mark on what could've otherwise been an average screenplay.

In the 1998 remake of the original Parent Trap movie, she takes what seem like skeletal dialogues for the characters of Annie James and Hallie Parker and adds meat and emotion to them. Like most people, I want to pull for Hallie and Annie in their ultimate goal of reuniting their parents, but at the same time I do not want to see the movie come to a conclusion because the acting makes me feel like I actually know the twins in real life. It's not often that this effect can be achieved, but it succeeds here.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, here it is. Annie and Hallie are twins whose parents divorced when they were babies. Annie went with her mother to London and Hallie went with her father to the Wine Country in California, with neither of the twins informed of the existence of other. In a freak coincidence, they meet each other at summer camp in Maine, where they are antagonists despite their physical resemblance.

They go after each other enough to warrant a "time out" in a cabin isolated from the other campers, where they eventually discover their identities as twins. In an attempt to get to know their parents better and to reunite them, they devise a plan to switch places after camp -- sooner or later, the parents will need to switch them back again and consequently be forced to meet each other again, face to face. Things are complicated when it is revealed that the father has met a rather cruel girlfriend and plans to marry her.

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That's what I have for the first two titles on my unendable movies list. The list will be continued next time, with 2 more on the way.