Summer Time

It's been a while -- exactly two weeks since my last post. Since then, I was in Seattle for a work conference for a week, went to Niagara on the Lake for the weekend, and wrote an exam for my course. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but now everything is finished and I have some time to relax and enjoy the summer!

The next month will be somewhat busy as there is only one weekend in August that we don't have anything scheduled (for now). From what I remember, September comes after August, which means vacation time!

We'll be going on a vacation of a lifetime, visiting Galapagos Islands and Easter Island. Two magnificent locations filled with wildlife at one location, and mystery at the other. I credit this trip selection to my Wife as she has always wanted to go to these Islands. I'll be honest, these were not on the top of my list of places to visit, but I'm glad we're going on this trip. After reading up on the facts, looking at the pictures, and reading reviews, this trip will indeed be one to remember. And since I've taken a liking to photography, these two locations will definitely provide me some rich landscape to capture.

Not just yet though! Although we can't wait for the vacation, there are still two whole months to enjoy, which includes fishing, weddings, and get togethers!

Fun while it lasted

Each floor of our condo has a small room for the garbage chute. The chute only operates between 800am-1000pm; after these hours, it shuts off.  There are times when there's something stuck in the chute and it won't work either.  The alternative is going down to P1 and going to the main garbage area and throwing out your things there.  We live on the 2nd floor, so going down to P1 isn't all that big of a hassle.


For the longest time, tenants are lazy and couldn't care less, so whenever the chute isn't working, and even during its down time, they leave their garbage on the floor of the chute.  And even when the chute is working, they leave big items there that they know can't fit down the chute, but leave it there anyways!  We've seen things from boxes for shelves to shower curtain poles.  We even caught a few people leaving garbage there too!  Worst part is, one of the directors of the board lives on our floor, and we saw his girlfriend going to the chute at 11:00pm, so obviously she knows it's closed, but she left it there anyways.


I decided to print out a gentle reminder and stick it on the door. It wasn't the meanest reminder, but it wasn't nice either. It was just to tell people to not be so lazy and be courteous to your neighbours and go down to P1 to throw your garbage away.  I posted the sign Monday evening.  I checked the chute whenever I passed by this week to see if there was any garbage left, but there was none -- until this morning.  Someone left a bag of garbage there.


So, it was fun while it lasted.  The sign's still up, and hopefully it'll stay there just as a reminder to those who leave their garbage there.  It's not the biggest deal, but at the same time, it just doesn't make sense.  Mind you, I'm sure it's only a few suspects that consistently do it.

dlography

My friend and I did an engagement shoot last weekend for a couple getting married in September.  It was a hot and humid day, but the couple braved the elements and was able to be playful, smile, and laugh for us!


Check out some shots here and here.

Food Critic: Bellevue Cafe

We went to Bellevuew Cafe (61A Bellevue, Kensington Market, Toronto) the other day with another couple. It was a Friday morning on the long weekend and the weather was nice outside, so we sat on the patio.

I'll go right ahead with the rating: C

I give it a C because it wasn't anything spectacular. I think because I'm not really a huge breakfast guy, so I'd have to be really impressed with the food.

The food was good, don't get me wrong. Everything appeared to be freshly made, from fresh ingredients; nothing compared to a greasy Denny's breakfast that's for sure. The sausage appeared to be actual sausages, as opposed to (Denny's, or other breakfast joints) regular oily sausages.

The service was on the slower end as everyone seemed to be kind of laid back. Price wise, it was actually not too bad considering the type of food it was (fresh, compared to packaged or frozen).

If you're looking for a breakfast joint in the Kensington area, check this place out. Although there was another bigger breakfaster place directly across, and it had more people there, so maybe check that place out?

Slow Spiral

As you can see, this blog is slowly spiralling into a downward black hole into the middle of no where.

Not that I don't have anything to blog, but I tend to keep my blogging limited to certain topics, and it just so happens that those topics are not happening right now.

I may slowly lean into photo-blogging. I have my various sites where I post my pictures I take but in the past, I didn't tend to do a caption of the picture or write a blurb. I'm starting to now, so depending how that goes, I may just turn into that direction and go straight forward.

...to be continued.

MTL!

Got back from Montreal on the Sunday that just passed. I went with a bunch of friends for our friend's Bachelor Party and it was great! We had tons of fun that words can't even describe it. There were many stories to remember, but they're mainly the ones that will probably end up with "you had to be there". Just things people say at the moment is hilarious.

It was a good extra long weekend for all of us. We haven't been to Montreal for a few years now so it seemed like forever since "the guys" had a true guys night(s) out. It was also fun to celebrate our friend's upcoming wedding as well, which is coming up quick in just over two months and we're all looking forward to that!

We don't have much planned for the next few weeks in terms of outings, but come end of July for the next month, it appears to be busy, which is good as well.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Update

Been lacking on the blog entries as of late. I wanted to try to post something at least once or twice a week, but I haven't for a while.

Been studying the past few days for my midterm Wednesday night. That's about it :)

Not that I haven't been doing anything worthy of posting, I just don't like to proclaim my whole life on the Internet for everyone to read -- because SO many people read this!

Soon!

Photogs

It seems like photographers (and wannabe photographers) are bursting into the scene these days. Everywhere I go, I always see someone with a DSLR walking around taking pictures. There are also endless amounts of websites of people's photos that they take on a daily basis, not to mention the many websites talking about photography and professional photographer's websites.

My theory may or may not be true. I've only recently taken some seriousness into photography and therefore I'm noticing more things, and people, around me. I'm also constantly looking through people's site and endless amounts of pictures as well. As technology keeps speeding by, the average cost of a DSLR has declined a bit too. It used to cost a whole lotta dollars to get DLSR camera, but today, there are always sales going on and you can pick up a new DSLR for as low as $500.

Anyone can be a photographer, but it takes a skilled and dedicated photographer to keep afloat and earn the interest of other people's eyes (says me, who just started really using his camera for less than half a year). You can see the difference in the photos taken by a "pro" vs. an amateur. You can also see the different styles of photography each person has. The same goes for any industry; to be noticed, you need to be different from others and provide them with something that nobody else can provide.

I don't even know what to call myself -- there's nothing lower than an amateur. It takes a little bit of time to be noticed as a good photographer; it's not like I can post a video of my pictures on youtube and get recognized overnight. All I can do right now is keep my day job, and keep on shooting.

Movie Review: The Next Three Days

I realized that I'm not really good at providing plot summaries, so I'm going to stop. Instead, I'll find ones on the Internet and post them up!

"Plot Summary: Life seems perfect for John Brennan until his wife, Lara, is arrested for a gruesome murder she says she didn't commit. Three years into her sentence, John is struggling to hold his family together, raising their son and teaching at college while he pursues every means available to prove her innocence. With the rejection of their final appeal, Lara becomes suicidal and John decides there is only one possible, bearable solution: to break his wife out of prison. Refusing to be deterred by impossible odds or his own inexperience, John devises an elaborate escape plot and plunges into a dangerous and unfamiliar world, ultimately risking everything for the woman he loves."

Overall Rating: "A" - It was a slightly long movie at a little over two hours, but well worth it. The story was well written and thrilling. Every scene makes you think what's going to happen next, and makes you wonder if she really committed the murder.

Movie Review: The Mechanic

We wanted to watch The Mechanic when it came out in theatres but never got around to doing so. Luckily these days, movies come out to DVD pretty quick. We picked this up at Blockbuster (yes, we still rent movies) on the weekend as it just came out last week. We didn't hear too many good things about it, and we always check imdb.com for the rating it received by the viewers -- turns out, the reviews were right. The movie was a low end typical action movie. Some action movies get the credit of being an excellent movie, but this does not. It had all the right items for it to be action: guns, a nice car, a woman that had absolutely nothing to do with the movie, explosions, and a regular Joe who becomes an elite assassin in a span of a few days. You get my drift...

Overall Rating: C-