July 2004 Archives

I couldn't have said it better myself:

"Anyone who presumes to judge another in the name of God has an extraordinary amount of arogance to assume that they have the right to spread hate and exclusionism on behalf of anyone's name."

- Min Jung Kim

Things to do:

star gazing/ watch the Perseid Meteor Shower
go to Treasure Island
hang out at the beach
photography expedition in San Francisco
rent tandems at Golden Gate Park
visit Fisherman's Wharf
wander around Chinatown, Japantown
visit Jelly Belly store
take Budweiser tour
dinner date at Zibibbo
see Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
driving through the mountains
learn to drive manual
shopping
karaoke

What happens when you combine my favourite toy and my favourite comic book character? Find out in the Internet short film, Spider-Man: The Peril of Doc Ock!

Fresh off the press!

Noteworthy: Banana Boys: the stage adaptation will be playing at the Factory Studio Theatre from September 18 - October 3, 2004. Don't miss it!

Warning: this issue is chock full of photographs of mouth-watering Asian fare. May induce hunger.

Caution: it's a whopping 10.3 MB of good reading, so save the PDF to your computer first!

Download your free copy today!

Later on this afternoon, my (not-so-little-anymore) cousin is scheduled to testify against her sexual assailant in court.

Go and send her some good vibes.

Note to self: book driving test tomorrow! Driving test booked for September 24 at 4:40 PM!

I'm determined to get my G2 licence before 2005, no matter what!

Now, if only I had a small car to practice various forms of parking, and driving on the road.

Someone who doesn't lose their patience to supervise me when driving would also be nice. My poor hand-eye-foot coordination gives my dad perilously high blood pressure (and freaks me out on the road when he yells in my right ear at 90 dB.) I've already scared away 3 professional driving instructors from Young Drivers of Canada. Anyone up to the challenge? I will pay cold, hard cash!

I took the political compass test and got:

Economic Left/ Right: -2.5
Social Libertarian/ Authoritarian: -4

This means that I fall into the same quadrant as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama.

I can't figure out why Mike makes fun of me for being a Commie, when he is only 0.5 points "less left" and one point less liberal than I am. According to the test, his political beliefs are not very far off from mine!

While the Green Party traditionally lies somewhere in my area on this map, I think The Green Party of Canada is more conservative, and actually kind of confused. I guess that's what happens when you design a party's platform in a free-for-all fashion using a wiki on the web.

Personally, I think these results show that I am a bit naive and a little bit too idealistic. I think I ought to be on the right, because that's more realistic. Perhaps my economic inclination will shift after I graduate and cease to be a poor student.

Take the political compass test

Note: Values for past and present political figures have been superimposed and replotted in Adobe Photoshop. This means that your results will not actually look this cool. :-P

Watch the super-cool blindfolded pianist in action!

Interviewer: "What's your name?"

Me: "Winona. Winona Tong."
       .oO(Wait a minute. Isn't he looking right at my resume?)

Him: "Is that your real name?"

Me: "Yes."
       .oO(WTH? Okay, at least it wasn't a Winona Ryder joke.)

Him: "Oh, because I interviewed a Chinese girl before you and it turned out that Michelle wasn't her real name."

Me: "..."
       .oO(Should I give him credit for not saying 'Oriental'?)

I had dinner with my mom and dad at East Side Mario's on King Street in Waterloo last night. I particularly enjoy going out with my parents... just the 3 of us. Very seldom do I get to monopolize their time and attention. Not that I don't enjoy spending time with my younger brothers as well, but it makes me feel really special when I get my mom and dad all to myself.

For the uninitiated, East Side Mario's is a kitschy chain of New-York-City-themed Italian American restaurants. Street signs for the intersection of Mulberry and Canal Streets and strings of multi-coloured lights transport diners to Little Italy, but after you let your eyes wander for a bit, you start to realize that they've tried to cram every tourist attraction in New York City under the same roof; everything from the Statue of Liberty, to the vintage checkered cabs.

I usually order some form of pasta when I go there, but an entrée called "Hell's Kitchen Chicken" piqued my interest on this visit. If you're wondering what Hell's Kitchen Chicken tastes like, let me tell you this: I lived in Hell's Kitchen and that chicken tasted nothing like any of the chicken I've had there. Who are they kidding? It wasn't a bad dish, but I'm going to stick with the pasta next time.

I have an announcement to make. I think it's important for me to get this out in the open.

I'm queer friendly.

I never thought it was a big deal to be open-minded, but apparently it is. It has just come to my attention that there are people in my life who discriminate against those with alternative sexual preferences as well as those who do not oppose such behaviour.

Personally, I don't think it should be anyone's business whether someone else is attracted to males or females. Neither should one's bedroom activities discredit their opinions on other matters in life. Queers are people, too.

If this offends you, if you feel that you can no longer remain my friend, or if you don't think you can respect me because of my beliefs, please let me know.

Thank you,

Winona

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!

Photos of Canada Day festivities