Strigoi Strigoi

I watched this film during the After Dark film festival in Toronto. At first, I was very, very excited about the following description: “Strigoi is  Vampire movie that defies categorization. Shedding a fantastic light on a post-communist Romanian village, the film introduces us to an ancient myth: Strigoi, the souls that rise again after death to seek justice if they’ve been wronged, their appetites intensified by a hunger for blood.”

Sounds good, right? Add the appeal of post-communist countries, heavy color correction, Eastern European demeanor, handsome lead (Catalin Paraschiv) and you’re set.

Wrong. Directed by Faye Jackson, Strigoi is a slow, slow, slow film with droning, repetitive and not particularly humorous (nor scary) dialogue. It could also easily lose 30 minutes of footage and not risk losing any major points of the story. I was so surprised. Moreover, I feel the movie was mis-marketed as a vampire horror. Nothing particularly horrific happened, there were no fangs either. Save yourself some time and don’t bother actively watching it, although it would make an okay background soundtrack.

Although the film did receive the Best Film award at the Toronto After Dark Festival,  Eerie Horror Film Festival, South African Horrorfest and the Maelstrom Film Festival, and the Best Director at the Fantastic Film Sydney, I don’t think anybody really heard much about it. Who bought the distribution rights to the movie? It didn’t go mainstream.

Filed under: film , film, movies, review

Master Organizer

I took this in Vancouver in 2003;
uploaded by dreamtiger

I have issues with time. I keep thinking – I know, – it goes away somewhere and is never coming back. Which is not a lie to be thinking. I try to fill up my time with meaningful activities, good people, cultural enrichment, jolly delicious food and drink, and generally good things for me.

I, like many of us humans, tend to forget things as well. That’s where the electronic, Internet and old-school analog productivity and remembrance tools come in:

Since 2004 I have been keeping a series of To-Do Books. They are the classic 32-page, 7mm ruled Exercise Books with a Canadian map on them; I believe children practice writing in those; those exercise books are relics sort of. I’ve been using them (am on book 6) to write down tasks I had to do. All tasks fit into either the Career/Academic column or Personal/Hobby one. It works, folks. When I’m not at home, I jot stuff down in the Gmail tasks feature – it’s split into work/career activities and personal/whatever lists.

I downloaded Awesome Note for my iPhone, which I love, and which is helping me manage various types of lists, from what to buy at Shoppers Drugmart to Business Books I want to read to longer-term professional and personal goals.

I love me wall Calendar and scribbling in the little squares. I’ve a weekly Organizer which is something I miss from the days of school – weekly agenda with homework, appointments, dates, parties, and big due dates.

Every evening i prepare my Daily To-do post-it. It’s usually for the day ahead type a thing – key tasks and pressing issues that need to be resolved. Usually no more than 3-5 tasks, although I personally find that if I overwhelm myself I’m more likely to start working on them at 10am instead of waiting till 2pm on a Sunday afternoon.

When I feel that I won’t be able to make the most of the groceries in the fridge, I sometimes write out meal plans. But they’re the least successful as I scramble things around.

NOW. That does not mean that I never relax. I also plan Days of Nothing, where my biggest task for the day is to go to a spa, make my way to a coffee shop, or just walk for at least 30 minutes.

I don’t beat myself over uncompleted tasks, some of which have been known to carry on from page to page in my To Do Book for weeks!

PS. One more blog post tomorrow and my blog-writing will equal that of August 2009. This December I will try to beat last December’s numbers, but 17 entries is a lot and I want to enjoy my time with the family.

Filed under: simple life , iphone, life, memories, photography, photos, productivity, self, tasks, time travel

Discussing Dreams in Dreams

American Dream uploaded by dreamtiger

I just had a dream, some part of which was interrupted, because way too much sunlight entered my room (I think), and within the dream I had a problem seeing. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but I noticed that on sunny mornings (never night), closer to the waking time, and when my face is turned to window or is otherwise exposed, I have trouble seeing in a dream.

So I just dreamed that I was at a friend’s mansion, wandered off into the unknown premises on my own, then – presumably, – turned towards the window in my sleep and got blinded in the dream. I started seeing my dream film in split screens, kept bumping into walls and objects, walking in circles and generally behaved in an erratic and disoriented fashion.

Then I somehow got out of the strange room I got myself into (there were other odd qualities about it, but that’s beyond this post’s scope), and hurriedly walked down a luxurious set of stairs towards my friend. I told him about the experience I just had: “I just experienced something, and got lost in your house. You know how when you’re dreaming and way too much light gets in the room, blinding you, so you stop seeing right in a dream? You see split screens, become disoriented and you know it’s morning in the waking world?”

He said, “No”.

But of course, he’s my brain’s production, and my brain probably was not anticipating the scenario where I actively start discussing this particular dream and why I couldn’t see properly and that I knew that this dream film was a movie anyway, yet I obliged its rules.

Filed under: imaginings , dreams, obsessions, photos

Derrida

o my friends, there is no friend

Filed under: random facts , derrida, friends, philosophy

Apologetic WestJet

I meant to write this a while back, when I first received the e-mail from WestJet. WestJet, a Canadian low cost (arguably) carrier, e-mailed everyone on the WestJet list and apologized about the new reservations system being glitchy. I personally didn’t notice the glitch as I haven’t been booking flights; also, I don’t see how the system is better than the old one.

So below is the first A note from our President. The company written and sent the second one, and the third one. Apologizing in advance may be an overkill at first, but it definitely softens a consumer’s heart when  he/she does indeed starting having problems booking holiday tickets. I think it’s great that their PR team mobilized and handled the communications so well and prevented an online/offline outburst from so many outspoken Canadians (myself included). See the full message below. And follow them on Twitter! And buy flights with them! Maybe we’ll even cross sky paths

Filed under: Great Products , good life, marketing, recommendation, westjet

Lactose-Free Milk or Gratitude

I was in the kitchen at work, washing my dishes, and started spacing out when I noticed a carton of lactose-free milk (organic, too) sitting on the counter, well, standing on the counter (we’ll talk about my semantic hangups with the “sitting” expression some other day), and I thought, my god, in this society we have so much to choose from, so much to  please us, we are free to align ourselves with any belief, any brand, movement and organization and so many take it for granted or absolutely don’t realize that in almost any other part of the world things are not the same way.

I thought back to my Eastern European days, and my country men’s love of sour cream and other dairy. There was no lactose free milk there (but then again, I never met a lactose-intolerant person back there, either), no talk of veganism, gluten-free food and other gastronomic curiosities, self- or doctor-prescribed. What would a vegan do in Sarajevo? Heck, there would be no vegan in the first place, or there would be serious health problems after 1-3 years of veganism. And what about Africa, dare you even mention spelt bread or organic, sustainable, wild/farmed salmon?

I’m not condoning those things, these are great additions to our wonderfully cushioned life in the West, but they are things that a lot of those born here take for granted. Things that don’t even exist in the majority of the world, or for the majority of people. I suppose I’m saying that people should be a little more grateful, or not scorn the poor barista for over/underheating their venti skinny half-sweet hazelnut latte with extra foam. Bitch less about the excess of what you have and instead be grateful for all the wonderful opportunities under your nose.

There’s a Russian expression which applies perfetly: [Они ]с жиру бесятся.

Filed under: the world eh , food, pop culture, society, work

Frank O’Hara & A Photograph

Yes, Frank O’Hara was featured in the last episode of Mad Men, season 2, and that’s how I first heard about him. Recently I acquired “Meditations in an Emergency” collection of poems, and to my delight, found that he’s an exceptionally talented poet. He mixes nuggets of pop culture with vivid images and aptly coiling phrases that project sly, sticky pictures in your head. If you follow the link at the beginning of the post, you will learn a lot more about him, and perhaps, be surprised. Frank O’Hara is not an obscure name in American literature, it is I who’s been an obscure mind in the dark about him! Bonus: he also loved Mayakovsky, and even wrote a poem to him.

Since I’m on a movie bend this week (and generally, too), I’m sharing his “To the Film Industry in Crisis”, below:

Not you, lean quarterlies and swarthy periodicals
with your studious incursions toward the pomposity of ants,
nor you, experimental theatre in which Emotive Fruition
is wedding Poetic Insight perpetually, nor you,
promenading Grand Opera, obvious as an ear (though you
are close to my heart), but you, Motion Picture Industry,
it’s you I love!

In times of crisis, we must all decide again and again whom we love.
And give credit where it’s due: not to my starched nurse, who taught me
how to be bad and not bad rather than good (and has lately availed
herself of this information), not to the Catholic Church
which is at best an oversolemn introduction to cosmic entertainment,
not to the American Legion, which hates everybody, but to you,
glorious Silver Screen, tragic Technicolor, amorous Cinemascope,
stretching Vistavision and startling Stereophonic Sound, with all
your heavenly dimensions and reverberations and iconoclasms! To
Richard Barthelmess as the “tol’able” boy barefoot and in pants,
Jeanette MacDonald of the flaming hair and lips and long, long neck,
Sue Carroll as she sits for eternity on the damaged fender of a car
and smiles, Ginger Rogers with her pageboy bob like a sausage
on her shuffling shoulders, peach-melba-voiced Fred Astaire of the feet,
Eric von Stroheim, the seducer of mountain-climbers’ gasping spouses,
the Tarzans, each and every one of you (I cannot bring myself to prefer
Johnny Weissmuller to Lex Barker, I cannot!), Mae West in a furry sled,
her bordello radiance and bland remarks, Rudolph Valentino of the moon,
its crushing passions, and moonlike, too, the gentle Norma Shearer,
Miriam Hopkins dropping her champagne glass off Joel McCrea’s yacht,
and crying into the dappled sea, Clark Gable rescuing Gene Tierney
from Russia and Allan Jones rescuing Kitty Carlisle from Harpo Marx,
Cornel Wilde coughing blood on the piano keys while Merle Oberon berates,
Marilyn Monroe in her little spike heels reeling through Niagara Falls,
Joseph Cotten puzzling and Orson Welles puzzled and Dolores del Rio
eating orchids for lunch and breaking mirrors, Gloria Swanson reclining,
and Jean Harlow reclining and wiggling, and Alice Faye reclining
and wiggling and singing, Myrna Loy being calm and wise, William Powell
in his stunning urbanity, Elizabeth Taylor blossoming, yes, to you
and to all you others, the great, the near-great, the featured, the extras
who pass quickly and return in dreams saying your one or two lines,
my love!
Long may you illumine space with your marvellous appearances, delays
and enunciations, and may the money of the world glitteringly cover you
as you rest after a long day under the kleig lights with your faces
in packs for our edification, the way the clouds come often at night
but the heavens operate on the star system. It is a divine precedent
you perpetuate! Roll on, reels of celluloid, as the great earth rolls on!

 

 

And to start the week on a friendly foot, here is a September picture of me, taken by Slava:

Filed under: Quotable , film, mad men, movies, photos, poem, poetry, pop culture, Quotable, self

Big City Small City

We were talking about there perceived friendliness of people in various cities that we have both been to. And I often try to notice patterns in systems or in modes of human interaction; I’m interested in how people form clusters and what makes them tick, what makes some people enter the hubs/communities, what makes them leave and the like. I guess It seems that the smaller a city is, the less likely the people are to connect with outsiders, or welcome a newbie into their clique.

My friend moved to Vancouver ages ago, and spent over a year there. He noted that despite having no problem finding one-time hookups, real friendships didn’t really blossom. Another friend went west recently and had East coast-hating vitriol spit on him by those who never even visited Toronto. I return now and, besides enjoying and nurturing my established circle of old friends, have not a single time even had an opportunity to randomly meet a person. These days here I/we meet a new person almost every night. Or I have no problem talking to people, and they’re friendly. Bigger cities with their bigger ponds possibly mean that there is always more fish out there? Or you will never see that person again, why not try your best now? Or practice makes better, especially when you’re in a megalopolis?

In New York I have strangers come up and talk to me a lot. Montreal are a brave folk, except when they start addressing me in French which I speak 0 of, at which point I think they become turned off. Whatever the case, it got me thinking about the super small community, for example, Tiny, Ontario where I spent few nights at a friend’s cottage. Well, there was nobody to meet and socialize with in the first place Small (and I mean 1-2 million residents in a greater area is still small) communities, in my experience, tend to stay more centered on their own groups and are less open to newbies. Maybe it’s just the elitist West coast communities, I don’t know. Need to explore Europe more for a better understanding.

PS. No hate, please, these are just my opinions.

Filed under: the world eh , cities, city life, montreal, new york, toronto, vancouver

Watch Lady Gaga With Me

I had the privilege of laughing my butt and brain off whilst reading this superb analysis of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance video by my Italian sci-fi-obsessed, Harvard-throttling friend of friends, Ainge. Her livejournal (holy crap, old school!) is friends-only, so you are missing on a lot of entertainment and a drastic increase in sci-fi writing compared to her political science days. Nevertheless! See below, a minute-by-minute commentary.

Filed under: Uncategorized , creative, ladygaga, music, pop culture, video

Winter Wonderland

Much like spring this year caused a surge of excitement and eagerness, winter’s appeal is growing too. I’ve always loved  snow and holidays, always highly anticipated as the break between school, sleeping in, reading in bed, snow angels and making elaborate snow men. But this year something special is happening. I’m really excited about winter, despite the irritating cold it will bring with it.

I don’t ski or snowboard, so sporty frolicking in the snow is not really an option (BUT I am willing to learn how to snowboard if anyone is going). To me winter means: snow, Christmas, red Starbucks cups, snuggling in bed, dinner parties, movie nights, winter beer (Innis & Gunn ftw), presents, going to Vancouver to see family, Bugs Tomato in a ridiculous Santa outfit, high school friends and old faces, sleepy snowy evenings, reading annual summaries (this year will be full of celebrity deaths and other craziness), writing my own summaries, setting goals, finding ways to accessorize that boring sweater, spending more time in the gym, plowing through the bookshelves, writing, cooking, spending more time at neighbors’, pomegranates, mandarins, way too much napping, frenzied dancing and more…

This year I don’t have any pressing exams, 8am classes this year, or all-weekend study sessions planned this year. I get to fully enjoy my cup of tea, the snow dance, the clean and white streets. I await the winter in its truest, most elegant, least overwhelming manifestation.

Filed under: simple life , home, memories, toronto, vancouver, wine, winter

Another Foursquare Success Story!

Today marks one month of me using foursquare, and I thought I’d write about my experience over the last 30 “nights out”.  Foursquare is an iPhone app (also available on Android and I think Blackberry) that lets you “check in” to various venues from your office to a ditzy restaurant to a university to a laundromat. Whatever you want. The more times you check into one place, the more likely you are to become its ‘mayor’. You will lose your mayorship if another person goe to your venue more times than you. You’ve to keep checking back. You can also see who else is in the same venue as you. You collect points for visits, creating new venues and traveling long distances. You can see where your friends are. Oh, and you earn badges for various activities.

I like foursquare because I think it allows for more social activity (for me ), it lets you connect with people faster on any given night, and I like the thrill of collecting points / trophies for activities. Plus, as you can see it’s motivational in some cases I’ll describe below.

Success story: I haven’t seen my friend Steve in over a year. We used to work together, so we saw each other quite a lot back in the day, but since then our lifestyles changed and it became difficult to plan. We are foursquare friends. One night I was out and about with my ex-roommate when I received a text from Steve asking me if I was out. Why yes, let’s join forces. He saw my check-ins at various places throughout the night and decided to connect.

Success story: My friend Slava and I go to the same gym. We also started using foursquare about the same time, so we have almost equal number of check-ins to the gym. We are in a semi-rivalry over the gym mayorship. I think it’s great – every time I see that Slava checked in or worse, stole my mayorship, I feel an urge to go to the gym to work out. This run for the gym mayor has positive effects on my health. And I just unlocked the Gym Rat badge. Going to keep on building that tightbody.

Success story: I went to a movie theatre few weeks ago. I checked in, and clicked on “People” to see who was the mayor of the location and whether anyone else checked into the place. Lo and behold, my colleague Allen was in a theatre watching a film as well!

Success story: Let’s take it to the next level. Eugen and I checked into Squirly’s on Saturday only to see that two other people were at the bar, too. For such a tiny location, there was definitely a lot of foursquare presence. A pitcher in, a bloke comes up to us pointing to his fousquare screen and introduces himself. Being the friendly folks that we are, we totally joined forces and had a good chat over the remaining drinks. met a rad guy who works in a creative industry like ourselves. Score

Word of Caution! If you’re friends with half of your megalopolis (word of the week btw), there will be a lot of updates and notifications pushed to your device. I recommend turning the notifications off so as to avoid being hassled at 2am by your still-in-university friend’s updates from The Social.

This is me, you can now stalk me.

Filed under: Great Products , foursquare, friends, fun, iphone, toronto

Winter Slang. Real Talk.

The time has come and I bestow upon you an injection of new fun words to spice up thy drone speak. Shake it up, add festivities! Thanks, trendcentral!

Gen Pop
n. term used to describe the general population when “bridge and tunnel,” yuppies, tourists or “undesirable” individuals “intrude” upon an event, outing, club or local restaurant
“Did you see that girl on the dance floor wearing purple Uggs? Wow, the gen pop really takes over this place on Saturdays. Let’s go to a dive bar.”

G.O.M.L.
v. acronym for the phrase “Get on My Level;” said when one person both wants to imply that someone else can’t keep up and wants to urge them to catch up
“C’mon, pot bellies are totally in. G.O.M.L., and order some chili cheese fries.”

Cuddy
n. a word used to describe something shady or sneaky
“He’s still listed as single on Facebook, even though they have been dating for, like, three months. That’s so cuddy!”

Curl
v. a new way to crop your pants without cuffing; best for skinny jeans, curling is when you roll the bottoms of your pant legs very tightly two or three times, creating a delicate cinch above the ankle
“If you wanna show off the studs on your boots, you should curl your jeans.”

Guacamole (Personal favorite!)
n. money, cash, or funds
“If we’re going to that bar, I’m gonna need to stop at the ATM to grab some guacamole for drinks.”

Post-Zuckerberg
adj. term used to describe the era of Facebook ubiquity
“In the Post-Zuckerberg era, I never email anyone, well, except for my gram and when I’m trying to dig my way out of funemployment.”

 

PS. In other news, my left foot is infected and quite swollen and I wish I had minion to tug fruit and vegetables up the stairs. I’m extremely lethargic from all the antibiotics I’ve to take.

PPS. Previous thematic post: Summer Slang, August 12

Filed under: Quotable, random facts , culture, fun, funny words, marketing, pop culture, trends, word

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Just a quick note. Fall is approaching steadily, and so is the fact that we all probably need some boots or booties. Several brands you might want to investigate:

1. Maud

Found at Pixie Market and other sexy places, these are some fetching designs. Legacy Buckle Boots & Mayhem Slash Booties (both sold out there):

2. n.d.c.

Couldn’t take my eyes off these creations for men:

3. Band of Outsiders, men’s chukka:

4. Underground shoes are for going to the extremes:

5. J Shoes

High quality shoes for men and women – fine leathers, craftsmanship and design with a global reach. Exemplifying understated beauty.

Filed under: Uncategorized , autumn, fall, fashion, shoes