I finally saw Amelie, 937 years late. There are things that Amelie is not:

It's not a western
It's not a romance
It's not gut wrenching
It's definately not deep
It's not boring.

It's one word:

Fluff

This movie is 100% fluff. It's like eating roast beef with turkey stuffing and fuck-loads of gravy, washing it down with (insert trademarked drink here). Afterwards then eating a slice of pecan pie with a scoop of ice cream.

This movie is the first 20 minutes of Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge exploded onto the viewer. This is the kind of movie I wish Baz Luhrman had down, an entire movie of his crack addict cinematography that grips your face and takes you to camera angles never seen before; camera angles of the imagination that are grounded in the natural human movement of reality. This movie is by no means deep; it is brain candy, but the most satisfying brain candy. The luxary car of brain candy, the belgian chocolate of brain candy. The perfect type of brain candy that is fluff directed with such daring sass that it makes fluff an art-form.

For some odd reason, this movie reminds me of the two ends of the spectrum, The Matrix and Star Wars: Episode 2. I would put Amelie in the category of "The Matrix" of being so well done, it's pure perfection or at least art. I compare it to Star Wars because in there, I see the spirit of what AOTC could have been. A film of blissful eye candy that could have survived with it's shit script and empty plot-line, if only those in charge, "knew" how to fluff with artistic style.

I never really considered this movie a romance due to the fact that it's "fun" that seems to be the main vein pusling life into this film. It's more of an adventure and I knew that when Nino was following the blue arrows that it was indeed an adventure of sorts. Amelie with here innocent but mischievious pixe look would imprint on my mind forever the epitome of happy. The young Amelie brought me back to the times when Christina Ricci was the ever so lovable Wednesday, a look of stern brilliance stuck in the body of a child. The narration was beautiful, cutting down barrier and getting straight to the point. No inner monologue, just cold calculated explanation in a world of fun and life.

You must see it.

8-Bit Chat!

This is a wonderful chat program that my friend Don has made up in his spare time. Basically it's a chat program that is based on Final Fantasy 1 for the Nintendo. It's basically one town from Final Fantasy as the setting (the first one you enter) and you choose a character in order to walk around and chat through speech bubbles!

It's one of the coolest things I had the pleasure of chatting upon, but I think at the same time I have created a new term the BBB aka the BroadBand Bastard. This is of course due to the fact that BBB's can run circles around me during this chat program. But hey, it's all good!

So here's the link!

8 Bit chat that shit!

Chat you later!

Love: A lot going around.

I'm by no means a professional on love, the most love I got was from watching sex scenes during the huge "erotic thriller" boom of the mid-ninties in B-Movies. But still I'm sure on this thing only: Love is every changing and like Zen, it's everything at the same time. I'm going to go through a few points of love that I have observed.

1. Love as a biological reactions of hormones and chemicals etc. etc. AKA empty cold mission.

I have a friend who says this, or at least to some degree of this. I'll clarify that later and I don't blame him for being quite rejected, especially after his first major relationships during junior high. And to tell the truth, that may be the case, love is merely some combination of chemical reactions and biological instincts that motivate us to procreate and pass on our DNA. If only that were so easy for a human being. The key thing is:

How we "interact" about these instincts causing love.

That's it. That is love (at least in this point). I'm kinda sick and tired of the fact where something so wonderful as love can be somewhat seen as this cold factual item in a biology class. However since we are not lions of the savannah, having sexy for about 15 seconds 20 times a day without any schmoozing at all (just who's the biggest and leader of the pride), we do in fact need to explore a bit more than just dropping our pants, humping and say "Hope our offspring are healthy". Love it how humans interact with this biological feelings.

2. Love as a business

I have to agree with this as well. The fact of the matter is, sometimes love is like a business. You give some and you lose some, and for those unfortunate few, we do live in a society where money supercedes love often, therefore leading to the idea of security. Of course this item may be over-looked to those madly in love, and I don't blame them either since they're most likely to stay toegether or don't even care about it. So I guess this is for those people who can't find the love that stories of yore has told us from real experience. At least you have someone and money.

3. Breaking of hearts and multiple loves

I have to credit Madonna much for this. With her multiple partners before settling with Mr. Madonna, I think that love isn't merely just soul-mates or (s)he's the one. It may be the case through some sad twist of fate (or fortunate if you find her/him). I realize that sometimes love is about experience and it doesn't necessarily have to reside in one person alone. However I do at least believe that when you are with one person, you should stick with them for the time being and not see someone else on the side. I feel that perhaps someone's soul-mate is scattered into multiple people, and experiencing love with them brings that person closer to becoming happy. This isn't for everyone, but hey it happens. Broken hearts are hard to mend, and may never do so, but love is eternal to the degree of making you at least forget about those wounds.

4. sOuL MaTeS!

While at the same time I do believe that there are soulmates. Though it is quite peculiar because I understand that we have an entire vast world among us. Obviously your soul-mate would not be stranded in the same town or city that you live in, and instead fate's lovely send of humour wants you to find them. It might make it easy or hard but it's there.

Won Tons:

Well to those who already has their own way..tough noogies. It's the only thing of the top of me head.

It really varies, but my family's version end up with small won tons.

Ingredients:

About two pounds of Lean Ground Pork (usually one small package of it at Overwaitea or whatever): or you can cut up your own.
Shrimp
Other things that you want to put in the wonton that be good if you boil it.
One egg
Won ton wrappers
Soy sauce
Green Onion

Clean the shrimp and de-shell it and cut into small bit size pieces. Add it to a bowl with the ground up pork. Mix well and then add the egg. Mix well again. Proceed to the tedious task of wrapping the won tons.

Remember to use water along the edges of the won ton wrapper to act as a glue to hold it together. Wrapping them is all up to you, since there are many ways to wrap them properly. I prefer to bring one corner to the opposite corner making a triangle. Then you take each corner and fold them over each side of the top triangle as much as possible to form a 3 point crown.

Put the won-ton in boiling water and make sure to mix them initially since they can stick on the bottom. This would take about 10-12 minutes or until the wrappers are a bit see through and the meat is cooked and the shrimp is pink. It varys.

Meanwhile, chop up about two tablepoons of green onions, and toss in raw into a big bowl. Raw because the hot won tons will warm it up. Then as after you fish out the won-tons, put in bowl and splash with a bit of soy sauce. Basically taste to measure so you don't get it too salty.

Bon Appetite.

Friends friends friends...which are good...which are bad?

The stock market isn't run by greed, it's run by friends and connections. Ok that's not true, but this is kinda my take on friends and such. I'm really the kind of friend who wants to spend a lot of time with another friend if we have the time. However I'm also the kind of friend who wants time alone....really alone. The fact is, when friends and I dont' see each other for a long time or make me feel left out (or vice versa) don't really feel bad. I'm the type of person who nudgingly thinks of all my past friends in my mind. Basically dont' feel bad that you guys need an actual "life" that doesn't involve me, since I'll cherish the moments that we get together anyways.

The basics of cooking...um....stuff:

essetial utensials:

Frying pan, at least ten inches or more.
Tongs and a towel: You don't want to be burned? These are your main weapons, large claw tongs too, not wire ones.
Canola oil: Stop using butter. It covers the taste, and canola oil is healthier.
Big ass pot: for boiling stuff and such, also a steamer if you have a stand. Plus it can substitute as a fryer if your frying pan is on the fritz.
Optional: Wok (then must have a large spatula): It really depends on how to buy your wok. I would opt for the traditional if and ONLY if you have a gas stove. For a electric stove, go with a wok with a flat bottom, sans stand. Woks are very versitle if you know how to use them. They are basically three untensils in one; a fryer, steamer and boiler (optional deep fryer as well). Note that boiling is better off done with a pot since being so vertical, the heat is not just in the center of the wok at all times, but it's all up to you.

Care of wok: Unless you have a non-stick wok, DO NOT WASH WITH SOAP!!. Woks are often steel, not stainless steel. I don't know about today's wok because our wok is older than I am. Why not use soap? RUST. Last time I checked, rust was not an essential nurtient. The natural grease layer is clean enough to use another time. So this means:

1. Everytime you use the wok you just wash with plain water.
2. To dry the wok throughly, wipe dry with a clean towel, or more sanitary napkin/paper towel. Then place back onto hot stove to evaoprate any other water left.
Extra advice: Note, if you cooking session with a wok ends with water in the wok, then at least get rid of the water ASAP. Rust may form.

How to know when a wok is ready: There are many ways, such as toss some water in the pan to see if it's hot enough. Since the wok is more bowl like, it lends to more "aura" heat. Therefore you can stick your hand into the wok, about 2 inches from the bottom. If you feel heat, then it's ready. You can adjust accordiningly depending on how hot your stove gets and such. The most important thing is with electric stoves, know how to use them, since it takes time to vary the heat. I prefer to use the frying pan on electric stoves since you can control the heat by lifting it up. But the main thing is to crank the heat up to max and then bring it down accordingly to the appropriate heat.

Recipies:

Stir Fry:

Ingrediants:

Canola oil
Meat of some sort
various types of vegetables: (generally 2 types)
water, soy sauce and corn startch/tapioca starch -> stir fry sauce.
Optional: garlic or ginger

Procedure: Preferable in a wok, but can be done in a frying pan.
1. Cut everything to about bite size pieces. That way it cooks faster.
2. Heat the oil: enough to cover the meat or at least the bottom of the wok. Usually it's about 1.5 - 2 tablespoons of oil. To add it you can take a spoon (or the container) and pour it down in a circle around half-way up the wok. The other way is to pour the oil in, and use the spatula to spread the oil around.

For some more aromatic flavour, add some garlic or ginger and fry them up to infuse the oil. Remember, to keep it short, or turn down the heat. Garlic and ginger might burn easily due to the high heat. Either that or toss in the meat ASAP so they do not burn.

3. Cook meat: just brown it and to almost done. Steak is the only thing that can be left a bit rare, all other meats must be cooked throughly. The small pieces should cook fast and easy. Remove when done to a small plate.
4. Add enough oil to cover the veggies, about one tablespoon this time, since there is enough oil from last time as well. Cook until they change to a bit transparent. You want to get the natural sugars to come out.
5. Add meat and stir together for about a minute, lower heat. Let things cook together if you want to, add flavour accordingly like pepper.
6. While you wait, prepare the stir fry mixture. Combine one heaping teaspoon of corn-startch with a bit of soysauce just enough to cover, about 1:1 ratio. Then add a bit of water to dillute it, about a small splash aka teaspoon.
7. Turn up the heat, and push the meat and veggies to the side to make a small clearing in the center. Add the sauce right in the middle and let it boil until a bit thick. Add more powder or water accordingly, enough to make the sauce kinda thick.
8. Combine everything together and voila...a stirfry dish. Serve with Rice or whatever.
Etra info: Note that this can be made with any combination of anything. You don't even need meat for vegetarians out there, tofu can be used. Make sure that for those ingrediants that require more time to prepare, then please do cook them ahead of scedule.

More cooking lessons in the future.

Gifts, the currency of friendship.

Well at least to me. The fact is I tend to give gifts often to my friends to buy their love. It's a really bad habit since it proves to be poor financial management, not to mention that I would probably be no better than a rock star buying BMWs for all my friends. But enough about me giving gifts, how about me recieving gifts.

Now I'm not a person to really accept gifts. Upon reflection I even rejected one very rudely and even hurting the person, though I don't really know anymore. To look upon a small little story, voila I was invited to a party of one of my acquaintices. This was in grade...4 or 5, I don't quite remember, but instead I just tossed the invitation in the garbage, almost right in front of that person. This isn't to say that I didn't like said person, it's just that I wasn't interested and I didn't know how to break it to them, let alone know that I need to inform them that I'm not interested. That basically shows how much I feel about extentsions of friendship beyond a free lunch.

To tell the truth, I respect the idea of someone presenting me a gift, and I can accept it. But first of all I'm not really a materialistic person...........um.........................OK maybe I am! But only when I call for it. Sometimes when I set my mind to get something, I fucking want it and want it now. And being a spoiled brat I was basically very showered with material whims of toys and such when I was growing up. Not so much now, since the most that I ever want is socks and underwear. I I think that is a good explanation, that since I was pretty much showered with all these gifts, it hard for me to appreciate anything. Or else I'm just like those emotionally constipated "husbands" off of "While You Were Out", I hardly get emotionaly (which I desire). I want tears, I want cries of joy, I want to hug people to death and thank them....yet all I do is say "cool...um...man".

Another reason, which I consider the most revelantly aware reason is that people never get what I want because of my privacy of showing my wants and needs. I'm sooooooo cryptic on what the hell I want, it's either out of most people's price range (say a GBA or the Cowboy Bebop limited edition Box Set) or I mention it once, in innuendo and people get it wrong. It's not that I don't appreciate it (unless it WAAAAY in left field), it's the thought that counts, but still it's not what I want. I have this stupid little idea that a gift is something that I like, but I didn't mention. HENCE SURPRISE. Of course not everyone is a mind reader and I assume that 100% of my friends do not posess this ability. I want to be extremely wowed to the nth degree, yet to give no one a distinctly right clue to what I want, because to tell the truth I don't tell exactly what I want. Maybe that should be a resolution, stop being crptic. But then again, if I tell you my gift, what good is it to be a surprise?

To further elaborate, I feel that anything I get or own, has to be done on my terms. I want to go through the ritual of buying things, because it is then and ONLY then I truly see it as mine. Things I want to own must seem to pass through me. It's almost tradition, a way to complete myself and that's where I think my materilistic side comes in. Through buying or attaining these things myself, I can only add to my personality or complete my soul. Especially the Tea Party CDs. Music is an important thing in my life and for something like that, despite my good friendships, I feel it's still something mine to get and mine alone.

Well more later

I'm really beginning to hate the idea of Xmas holidays, and primarily even hate it to the degree of being the most bane of other holidays. Never since this year have I been so....annoyed with the Xmas holidays. I now probably know what Mike feels like whenever he gets home.

I could never understand why a holiday that promotes relaxing with family and such has become such a fucking bother, essentially trying to mimic summer but in a two week period, that feels like one long stress filled week. I try to get around to my friends but obviously their busy and when they ask me out, I am busy as well. Work, obligations, bringing down FUCKING food. etc. The very fact that I can't spend too much time since the day my friends actually do get together, it's on a day I have to help out in the night. Not to mention the damned obligation of having to meet people who you KNOW don't gives a rat's ass whether or not you meet them or not, (and I seriously know that) but eventually just go there for another stressed filled hour of bullshit, worrying about taking up their time and you own schedule.

I'm not lazy, I just want to rest.