Saturday, July 30, 2011

3 types of reality shows

There are 3 types of reality shows in TV. I would watch the first and second type but will definitely NOT watch the third.

The first type of reality shows are the most worth while to watch. These are the type of shows that really showcase talents amongst its participants. You got the likes of Extreme Makeover, Dancing with the stars, America got talent, American Idol, You think you can dance and The Voice. There are some drama with some participants which adds flare to the show.

The second type of reality shows are decent enough to watch. These are the shows that have a lil bit more drama but still showcase some talents with the participants. Examples are Project Runway, Top Chef, Million dollar decorators, Flippin out, Design to sell and Hidden Potentials. At least in these shows you can still see the talents of the participants. There is something you can appreciate visually.

And the third and worst kind of reality shows do not showcase anything at all but just drama. The kind of drama that involves skeleton in the closet of ordinary people that we gawked at. These participants have no talent what so ever and often are not pleasant to look at too. Shows that fall on this category are The bachelor/Bachelorette, The real housewives of where ever, Kardashians & its derivatives, Big Brother, Jersey Shores, The A-list: New York and Survivor.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Janet's vet bill from the bite.

As I have blogged earlier, Janet was bit by a big black dog while walking two Sundays ago. I took her to the vet and it cost roughly $300 for the treatment. Many people I have spoken to about the incident and people in facebook have indicated that the owner of the black dog should pay for the vet bill. I did not feel right about it cause I felt just culpable for the incident. We both allowed the dogs to interact since both dogs were not showing signs of aggression. The big black dog, for some unpredictable reason, snapped at Janet and bit her in the butt. Also during one of the earlier meeting, the dog owner did indicate the black dog is not the friendliest of dogs. And back then, we did not have the dogs interact. Having said that, I was not sure if I should contact the dog owner or not. My upstair neighbor knows him so I could have asked for the dog owner's number or email but I just decided to wait when I see him again walking his dog.

So today while I was walking Janet, I run into the black dog owner. I told him about how the bite wound did not heal and I have to bring Janet to the Vet. I asked him, without pointing blame, if he could help out with the vet bill. He offered to pay half which was very fair as far as I am concern. So we parted with that understanding. The exchange was very amiable and I felt happy to recoup half of the vet bill. When I returned home from our walk, I saw him again by my building with $300 at hand. He decided to pay for the whole vet bill which I thought was very gracious of him. I told him that he did not have to do that cause part of the blame was on me. I told him I would have been happy with whatever amount he could offer to help or half as we both agreed on. Evidently, he was very guilty with the incident that he felt he should foot the whole bill. Indeed this was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise. I am very happy.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Tennis player Philip Bester

Canadian Philip Bester is still an unknown in the Tennis world perhaps with the exception in Canada. He is ranked in the 200+. He may not be that good compared to the other international tennis players but he certainly looks good playing. And he is still young so he may become one of the well known players someday.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

3 stories about friendship

Here are some connecting thoughts about friendship that I would like to share.

My first story is about Ed who has been friends with me and Joe here since the mid 90s. Ed moved to Tx 5 years and would on occasion keep in touch via facebook with us. Last month, Joe got an email from Ed that he is coming back to Chicago for his Grandma's birthday celebration. Unfortunately Joe was also going to be in Wi for his sister's wedding that weekend so Joe alerted me that Ed is coming and told Ed to contact me instead. Joe told me to call Ed so I did but unfortunately the number I have of him did appear to be a wrong number. I did not get an email from Ed either so I figure he was busy with his family or he just did not deem my company worth his time. I do not know cause I never did see Ed that weekend when he was here. Here is my take about this. A friend will find time to see his/her friend. If Ed made the effort to contact Joe that he is coming but yet did not bother to contact me just shows me that perhaps I am not really that kind of friend to him. So I left it as it is and did not make a big deal out of it. I figured life is too short to vex myself about how my "friends" behave.

Amy and I have been good friends for the past 15 years but lately I noticed that Amy is more preoccupied with her other new friends and have neglected me. As I mentioned above, friends will make time for another friend so I figure if Amy is too busy for me, then I will just leave it be. I slowly did not bother to contact Amy and pretend that we are still very good friends when in fact I was not that to her anymore. Somehow Amy may have sensed that I have been absent from her life for quite some time now that she decided to reach out more and start making efforts to hang out with me. Her efforts have not been met with rejection. My take on this is simply. A friend may neglect another friend but a true friend will make efforts to make up for neglecting his/her friend.

Sometimes when a friend moves away, there is a gradual decrease of contact as a result of geographic distance between the friends. This is very natural but neither distance or time can not separate true friends. This brings me to my third story about me and Gen. Gen and I were good friends in college but have not lived in the same place since then. So we rarely see each other. In fact the last I saw Lillibeth in person was 10 years ago when she visited Chicago. Despite of rarely seeing her, we have managed to keep in touch via phone call or text. I am happy to say that I have been good at keeping in touch with old friends without any ulterior motives to it. I am glad I am not one of those that are "user" friendly. I am not only keeping in touch with old friends cause I have something to get out of the friendship but for the sake of keeping in touch with a friend.

I hope to always remember these stories and hopefully it will continue to guide me to be a better friend to another.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Pet Peeves - kard ASS ian.

I got subscription to US Magazine because my airline miles were expiring and I need to use it or it goes to waste. Since the very first issue I received, those damn talentless Kardasians are always featured either in article, cover or photo. Every damn issue I see them. It feels like they are pushing it on my face. "Here you got to see them cause otherwise nobody will know them cause they have done absolutely NOTHING to warrant attention." I personally want to see celebrities that have actual talents as actor, singer, or artist. Not some trying hard to be popular talentless people. That goes the same for those Jersey Shore freaks.

Needless to say, I am not renewing my subscription to US magazine!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Trip to MN July 2011

Taken around Lindstrom, MN during their Karl Oskar day celebration.


The Franconia Sculpture Park located at 29836 St. Croix Trail, Franconia, MN at the intersection of Highway 8 & 95. Fairly interesting park with artist living in the premise to produce art work.


Taken while hiking along St.Croix river. On the other side of the river is the State of Wisconsin

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Farewell, Harry.


I did not watch the very first show of the last Harry Potter movie but I did go on the opening weekend with my friend Richard. We were both Harry Potter lovers (not as much as others) so it was exciting times. And as usual for the 8th time, the Harry Potter movie did not disappoint. Even though I knew what happened since I read the books, it was still very magical for me to see the characters played by the actors that have grown dear to me. When I think of Harry Potter, I picture Daniel Radcliffe in mind. The same goes to each of the Harry Potter characters I have grown to love. So watching these characters go through the struggle and lost and joy as they finally defeat the dark lord Voldemort was very satisfyingly gratifying.

The movie was full of magical actions and it was littered with very sad moments too. I heard so many sniffles in the theatre, including myself, as the heart breaking scenes of death, destruction and love were played out. Specially when they brought back the major characters that died in the earlier movies like James Potter, Lily Potter, Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black. Seeing how every good wizards and witches joined to help Harry defeat Voldemort's army was just so poignant. Even the redemption of Severus Snape's character was just too much for me to contain my emotion. The cinematography and special effects were all superb which just added drama and realism in this magical story. Kudos to the director and screenwriter who made the movie flown so effortless. The last scene in movie where they showed Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco all grown up (aged by make up) 19 years later with their own children going to Hogwarts just reinforced finality to the Harry Potter story.

Thank you JK Rowling for bringing us this wonderful story of the boy who lived who came to die all for love and righteousness. Farewell Harry.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Too friendly for her own good


Many people I have met while walking Janet have described her as "like a lamb", "cute" and/or "not a mean bone in her body". Janet is indeed cute, soft, white and very friendly. And I have always feared that she is sometimes too friendly for her own good. She would even approach a cayote if she sees one even if that cayote would mean to eat her. My fear was confirmed this morning as we were walking. We met one of the neighborhood guy walking two big dogs. One brown dog that was friendly and another black dog that was not too friendly. So Janet of course was pulling towards the dogs to meet them. As we have the dog interact, the neighborhood guy was cautious with having the black dog interact with Janet. It was all ok cause they were just sniffing each other and the big black dog was not barking or growling or showing signs of aggression. As we separate the dogs to get on our way, the big black dog just snapped and bit Janet on her left hip/thigh area. Janet of course let out a big yelp and the big black dog bite did not hold long. Janet received one bite that penetrated her skin but she seems ok. She was shaken but not limping or showing signs of pain or bleeding. When we got home, I softly washed the wound with water and this obviously stung a lot cause Janet yelped so much from the pain. Poor thing. Her suffering was eased with a big treat which she gingerly ate. If she was not in pain she would have eaten the big treat voraciously. I think she will be ok. I have had dogs before that fought and leave each other bloodied and they were able to heal. I just hope she learned something from this experience and not be too eager to meet every dog we see. I definitely have learned to be selective on who she can met or not next time.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Transformers destroyed my kind of town Chicago.


After seeing the firetruck Sentinel Prime in the Lindstrom parade, I was definitely psyched up to watch the third installment of the Transformers: Dark side of the Moon. The fact that the movie was shot mostly in Chicago just doubled my anticipation. So Sam and I head out to Wisconsin across the St. Croix river to go to the nearest movie theatre.

The movie was not wanting of excitement. More than half of the movie was action packed. It was super cool to see Chicago being devastated by the Transformers. I am amazed how good and realistic the destruction was done. It really does make a big difference if the production is for an A-movie as oppose to a B-movie. This time Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) got a new girlfriend in the person of Carly Spencer ( Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Other former Transformer cast like Lennox (Josh Duhamel), Simmons (John Turturro), Ron Witwicky (Kevin Dunn) and Judy Witwicky (Julie White) reprised their roles. New cast came in the person of Dylan (Patrick Dempsey) as the antagonist of the movie besides the Deceptacons themselves. Frances McDormand was also casted as the tough government official Charlotte Mearing. It was also nice to hear the voice of Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime. On top of the action, there was some heart felt moments that made me choke a little. Also the way the movie took old TV footage of the first successful moon landing of Apollo 11 and weave it as part of the story was genius.

I say it was a very worthwhile movie to see even if it were just to see Chicago being destroyed. 4 stars out of 5.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wishing is NOT a crime

I can not claim that I am always the bigger person. I am not all good, sinless and devoid of evil thoughts. But does having evil thoughts the same as actually doing the evil deed? As far as I am concern, it is not. Rejoicing that your enemy died is NOT the same as killing him. Wishing that someone who has wronged you to suffer the same fate is NOT the same as exacting the revenge. It is not as if my wish will be granted. Perhaps it is just Karma if those who wronged you get to have a taste of their own medicine. So that saying that "I would not wish it on my worst enemy" is just plain stupid to me. Of course I would wish that bad fate to befall my worst enemy. He is my enemy after all. If I would not wish it on my enemy, I might as well not have any enemy which is unrealistic. Everybody has an enemy one way or another. That is just my take.

Karl Oskar Parade at Lindstrom, MN

I went to Lindstrom, MN with my friend Sam for the Karl Oskar Day celebration. There was a parade that run right off the street of Richard's house so we got good view. It was not anything like the Gay Pride parade here in Chicago that it gets so packed with spectators. Everybody get to have a good view of the parade. The parade was fun enough. Several cute spectators, many local Queens/princesses, a local marching band, several veterans, star war characters, a pig and some politicians. The firetruck that was Sentinel Prime himself in the Transformer 3 movie was even there!