Transformers 3 is Entertaining

I watched Transformers 3 in 3D today. I was expecting the movie to suck, but I found it really entertaining. It was pretty much all action and way better than I expected. By far way better than #1 and #2.
The movie was also brutally violent (ie. Ironhide part, and the part with the captured old autobot). Alot of surprises in the movie for me too, especially Sentinel Prime (I did not see that coming at all... my jaw actually dropped).
I would recommend Transformers 3 to you readers. Skip #1 and #2 and go straight to #3.
BTW: There is nothing after the credits. I waited til the end.
*Ben, you definitely have to watch this movie.*

Dinner today -> Free Popcorn.
Wednesday is "Free Small Popcorn" at the AMC24 in Kanata. I got my popcorn after the movie, as I knew the popcorn would be salty and I didn't want to buy a drink.


^ Free Popcorn.

Dinner #2 today -> Spaghetti with Garlic Cheese Bread.
When I got home, I quickly put together some spaghetti with garlic cheese bread.


^ Spaghetti with Garlic Cheese Bread.

I've Got My Copy Pre-Ordered... Do You?

A new PSP game for AKB48 was announced yesterday. It's a sequel to last year's game called, "AKB1/48 Idol to Guam de Koishitara..." (Fall in love with your idol in Guam...). The release date is Oct 6, 2011.
Official Site is here.

I'm guessing the 1st print limited edition will get sold out fast, so order it while you can. I've got mine :) It comes with a ton of extras.


^ AKB1/48 Idol to Guam de Koishitara... 1st Print Limited Edition.

Official Promotional video on Youtube here,
and news article here.


^ Promotion by Kasai.

Lunch today -> Little Caesar's Supreme Hot & Ready Pizza.


^ Little Caesar's Supreme Hot & Ready Pizza.

Dinner today -> Steak with Eggplant and Cherry Tomatoes.
I made a Chinese Eggplant to go with the steak, but I burnt it abit because I got interrupted with a phone call while cooking dinner. It was still good. A charred flavour :)


^ Steak with Eggplant and Cherry Tomatoes.

Useless Transformers News:
Transformers 3 opens in theaters Wednesday. I'm going to go see it :) Ben is boycotting Micheal Bay films.

Sick Day

Nothing today.
Sick Day.

Beef Ribs Overload

Food this weekend ->
2/3rds of SQA Kanata went out for lunch on Friday. Reza and I hit the Chicken and Rib Cook-off downtown. I got a full rack of beef ribs with coleslaw and beans on the side. It was so good. I got BBQ sauce all over my face and hands, but I didn't care.


^ Beef Ribs Before & After.
(There are 2 layers of ribs in the "Before" pic, but it's hard to see it.)
Mmmm ribs... such a barbaric food. I feel like a caveman while eating them :)

I was think of going for more ribs this weekend, but discovered that Farmboy had a sale on beef ribs. So I decided to make my own. I used my favorite Kraft Chicken and Rib BBQ sauce on them. This sauce is only OK out of the bottle, but after cooking the sauce, the flavour changes and matches the meat perfectly.


^ Fongpay Beef Ribs Uncooked & Cooked.

I didn't cook much else this weekend. I wasn't feeling well on Sunday and had a headache all day too. Maybe it was meat overload?

Happy Birthday Charin!!!

Happy Birthday Charin!!!

Your lucky your Bruins won the cup too :P

Ramen with 5 Toppings +1 More

Dinner today -> Ramen with 5 Toppings +1 More.
More instant noodles with the same toppings as yesterday + some Chinese Greens. Added some hot chili-garlic sauce for a kick too.


^ Ramen with 6 Toppings.

Happy Birthday James!!!

Happy Birthday James!!!

Ramen with 5 Toppings.

Dinner today -> Ramen.
Made some instant noodles topped with steak, oyster mushrooms, quail eggs, fish paste rolls, and bean sprouts. Really tasty :)


^ Ramen with 5 Toppings.

Chicken and Rib fest started today on Spark's Street and runs through til Sunday. Hopefully I can get down there and get me some ribs this year.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48's Maeda Atsuko's 1st solo single, "Flower" was released today. Nice song. She'll be performing on Music Station this weekend.


^ "Flower" Live Performance on "Shin Domoto Kyoudai" with Takamina singing backup.

Battle Damage Softball Players

CMC Strike Fighters played the "A-Team" for the last time this regular season tonight. We lost a close game, 13-12.
But the loss wasn't the only thing that happened. Marc and I both got hit in the head by the ball!

I got hit 1st trying to catch a high pop-fly. I backed into the fence, which jostled my glove hand, and the ball hit me in the face!


^ Battle Damage Fongpay.
I was told the echo of the hit was really loud, even into the outfield.

Marc got hit running to 2nd base where the second-baseman mis-played and deflected the ball into Marc's face.


^ Battle Damage Marc.
You can see the stitch marks of the ball on Marc's head. It's pretty cool.
I didn't get any stitch marks because my baseball cap slightly protected my head, and the ball only left a line and a pretty big bruise.
Hopefully we don't have concussions.

Wind Orchestra Version

Dinner today -> Steak with Boiled then Fried Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes.
More steak today. Kind of getting sick of it and I have 2 left. I really don't like freezing fresh steak, but looks like I have too.


^ Steak with Boiled then Fried Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes.

Useless Idol News:
Everyone needs to listen to this: AKB48 Medley by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. (Aitakatta -> Ponytail to Shushu -> RIVER -> Sakura no Shiori -> Heavy Rotation). It's really good.
I'm having trouble ripping the mp3 version of it. Can anyone rip it?

Short video of the Making of Eguchi Aimi. Yuko's body was the basis used to make her!

Weekend Report: Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!

We went to Rideau for Father's Day.
We got Lemon Chicken, Fish and Tofu Hotpot, Beef with Chinese Greens, and Imperial Pork.


^ Rideau Food.

Useless M:tG News:
I picked up a set of Magic Commander cards on Friday. Miraj Trading has them for an amazing price, but only sell them as a set of 5. They were sold out Friday by 11am, but the guy told me they will be getting more next week.


^ M:tG Commander set.

Food this weekend ->
I bought some live Blue Crabs from T&T. I put them in the sink with some cold water. Whenever I walked near the sink, they would stand up on their legs, with claws up, ready for battle.


^ Live Blue Crab.
They put up a good fight, but I put them in their place... my stomach :)


^ Cooked Blue Crab and Trophy Crab Heads.


^ Little Caesars Pizza with Hot Sauce and Blue Slush.

Rib Steak is on sale at SuperStore. I got a bunch of them.


^ Steak with King Oyster Mushrooms, Zucchini, Quail Eggs, and Grape Tomatoes.


^ Breakfast.


^ Fongpay's Birthday Cake.
Black Forest Cake from Swiss Pastries in Carlingwood Mall.

Useless Idol News:
It's official. Eguchi Aimi is a CG Idol.
Also on the Glico site, you can generate your own CG Idol using AKB48 parts (pick last tab). It's actually a pretty neat tool, almost like making a Mii on the Wii.


^ CG Idol Creation.
BTW: The all 4 parts can NOT be selected from just 1 girl (I tried).

Download it to your computer as wallpaper when your done.
FYI: While you wait for the wallpaper to be generated, a random AKB girl does a kiss scene.


^ Kasai Kiss.

Boycotting Merivale BestBuy

Lunch today -> Sobey's Pepperoni Pizza.
Picked up a "Family Sized Pepperoni Pizza" for lunch today and split a couple of slices with Steve. It was better to pay $6.99 for the whole pizza, than $1.99 a slice.
It tasted OK. Nothing special. It was good enough for $6.99, but probably won't get it again because Willy's Pizza is right across the street, and is WAY better.


^ Sobey's Pizza.

Dinner today -> 168 Sushi Buffet.
Went out for my birthday dinner with the family! We went to the new 168 Sushi on Merivale.


^ 168 Sushi Japan Buffet.
For the price of dinner, I was kind of disappointed with the selection. The service was really fast, but the food wasn't worth it. We should have just gone to Hockey Sushi. It's pretty much the same menu, but at a more reasonable price. But I and everyone reading this wouldn't have known until someone went there at least once.


^ 168 Sushi Dishes.
(I forgot to take the pics until after some of the pieces were eaten.)


^ Tempura Banana for Dessert.
The tempura banana was really good.

Boycotting Merivale BestBuy News:
Ben, Susanna and I went to BestBuy on Merivale after dinner.
Susanna bought a Wii, but the idiot punk of an employee who sold it to us was so rude and stupid! He said, "There is no point in buying a Wii. You know the Wii U is coming out soon, and that makes the Wii useless". I told him the Wii U was not coming out soon. There is no release date, and it most likely be out around Christmas 2012.
He then goes on about the speech about the 3 yr warranty for $80, and that BestBuy will help find parts for the Wii when Nintendo stops supporting the Wii. Doesn't this punk know anyone can go online and order parts/accessories for the Wii from other places than Nintendo or BestBuy? He seemed dumbfounded that I didn't want the warranty.
After paying, he then said "Enjoy your out of date system" as we were leaving. Unbelievable! Does he not have any manners or know how to make sales!?!?
We are returning the Wii back to Merivale this weekend and getting it from Kanata. Reason: Stupid and rude employee.
If Susanna didn't have the receipt with her, I would state this dork's name.

Update: 1st Home Run.

Useless Transformers News:
Today, Transformers 3 sponsored the Live Lunar Eclipse Streaming today. The Lunar Eclipse happened at 3:13pm (EST). I forgot and missed it when I went to talk to Steve :(


^ Post Lunar Eclipse.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters played Lockheed Martin tonight. We won 25-19. We are now 5-1 for the season.
Stefano, Mal, and Mark weren't able to make the game and they missed me getting an in-the-park Home Run!!! My 1st homer in 3 seasons!

After the game Marc and I went to the new Sobey's for some freshly squeezed orange juice.


^ Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice.

Lunch today -> McDonalds.
Picked up some manga at Chapters during lunchtime. Dropped by Walmart's McDonalds afterwards and got 3 Double Cheeseburgers and a Large Fries for lunch.


^ 3 Double Cheeseburgers and a Large Fries.

Dinner today -> Sliced Steak, Mini-Tomatoes and Rice.


^ Sliced Steak, Mini-Tomatoes and Rice.

Useless Idol News:
I need to watch today's AKBingo! They dressed some of the girls up in Fat Suits to run an obstacle course and to play other games!


^ Today's AKBingo! Getup.

Update:
Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7, 4-0.
Congrats Charin. Your team won!

Lazy Birthday

I was planning to take a day off work for my birthday, but I decided against using up a vacation day.
Going out with the family later in the week for my BDay dinner, so I had a nice lazy birthday:
- Went to work.
- Went out for lunch at "Panda Garden Buffet" with some of the CMC Boyz. (The buffet had tunafish sushi, just like the ones I made a few days ago! Copycats!)
- Mowed the lawn.
- Watched TV.
- Read some Manga.
- Played on my iPhone. (Playing Valor app. I'm ranked #1 in World 11!)

Dinner today -> Steak with Veggies and Rice.
1 more steak left for tomorrow.


^ Steak with Veggies and Rice.

Useless Idol News:
One of the AKB members, Ayaka Kikuchi, spilled the beans on the CG idol. She posted on her blog something like, "I also got photographed for it, I wonder which part of my face was used for her". Ayaka's blog was then edited and had this part removed. Still no official word from management yet.
This is either a Blog FAIL or this "oops" was done on purpose to boost publicity.
(Quote translation credit to AKB48 Journal.)

Happy Birthday Fongpay!!!

Happy Birthday Fongpay!!!

Happy Birthday to me :)

Computer Generated Idol?

Dinner today -> Steak with Zucchini and Rice.


^ Steak with Zucchini and Rice.

Useless Idol News:
I got the new AKB48 Album "Koko ni Ika koto" in the mail. I got the Limited Edition version with DVD and Photobook. What I didn't know was the the normal version came with a bunch of alternate CD covers. I'm debating wiether to order it or not :(


^ AKB48 Album with HMV Bonus Notebook.
I got a Mayuyu photo in the CD.

The 1st track on the new AKB48 album is "Shoujotachi yo". The theme song to their documentary. The video is full of behind the scene shots. The song and video are really good.


^ AKB48 - "Shoujotachi yo"

A new member was recently added to AKB48, and there is a whole debate to weither this new girl, Eguchi Aimi, is real or is computer generated. The decision seems to be leaning towards she is CG.
With video technology in Japan these days, I wouldn't be surprised. Even the Japanese morning news is covering this story.


^ Glico Ad with Eguchi Aimi (the 3rd girl to appear and the center girl in the group shot).
If you look at these pics, Aimi has Yuko's body (same outfit, then Yuko is in a different outfit for the group photo). Maybe Aimi is made up of the other member's body parts too?

CMC Strike Fighters Division C Champions!!!

CMC Strike Fighters are the Hi-Tech Softball League's Mid-season Division "C" Champions!!!
On Friday, we dramatically held the lead in the last inning and won vs A-Team, 9-8. Stefano with the pick-off play at home plate for the last out.
The Quarter Final Game was Saturday morning and we lost, but we don't get eliminated until we lose 2 games.
The Semi-Finals Game was Saturday afternoon and won 6-3. I hit a clutch double for 2 RBI to give us the lead and the win :)
The Finals was late Saturday afternoon and we played in the rain. We finished strong with a 24-9 win.


^ Go Strike Fighters!
After playing 5 games in 3 days, it's the first time in a long while that I fell asleep before midnight. I woke up Sunday with sore legs and a sore shoulder.

Food this weekend ->
I got a KFC Double Down Combo for lunch on Friday. I didn't get one last year and I had to try it out.


^ KFC Double Down Combo.
It was OK. I was expecting the chicken breasts and bacon to be more crispy, but the whole thing was too salty. This wasn't worth it. I could have gotten a bucket of chicken for almost the same price.


^ Steak with King Oyster Mushrooms and Zucchini Squash.
Salt and Pepper medium-rare steak, with garlic butter mushrooms and garlic butter zucchini. Good stuff :)

2011 Election Results

I went to bed around 2am last night and woke up at 6am this morning just to check the results of the AKB48 Election on Twitter. I thought the event would have finished by then or be almost over, but I forgot they performed a mini-concert and did member introductions before they started, so they were only at #32. I stayed up and kept refreshing twitter to follow it to the end. It finished around 7:40am. I found out later that I could have watched a live stream on my computer.
Full results with vote totals here.

Notable Results:
- Kasai at #16! That totally sucks!
- Sasshi at #9. She deserves top 10 ranking. She works so hard and is always entertaining. Her blog is the best too.
- Mayuyu at #5. Mentioned just for Gavin.
- Yukirin at #3. Weather girl beat out Mariko for #3.
- Yuko at #2. Funny part of Yuko's speech "... Also, I didn't get a trophy last year. Give me!" LOL
- The number of votes cast was incredible. Check out the numbers in the link above.
The number of votes at #23 this year were enough to get #12 last year.
The number of votes at #12 this year were enough to get #1 last year.


^ Maeda at #1.
The face of AKB48 is back on top. She beat out Yuko by over 15,000 votes! Maeda had a really good speech too.
BTW: If you look closely, Itano (top left) looks like she is not very happy falling from #4 to #8 this year.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters 1st Tournament game was today. We played "Hooters". They are an "A Division" team, so as expected, we got slaughtered. I don't remember the final score, but I think it was around 26+ to 5.
Tomorrow we play "A-Team", who we already beat once this year.


^ I cut up my leg sliding back to second base.

Dinner today -> Tunafish Sushi Rolls.
I made some tunafish sandwich filling (tuna, mayo and Miracle Whip, black pepper, wasabi, cayenne pepper) and put it in a sushi roll. It was basically a simple onigiri, but in roll form.


^ Tunafish Sushi Rolls.
It was messy to eat as the filling kept squeezing out the other end.

Final note: That car was in my spot again!

Barq's Cream Soda Froster?

I got my parking spot back :P Let see if I get it tomorrow too...


^ My Spot.

Lunch today -> Dry Fried Rice Noodles with Beef and Barq's Cream Soda Froster?
Picked up some take-out from Rideau for lunch. The chef mixed the ginger slivers in the dish really well this time. There were little slivers of ginger everywhere! Usually it is in clumps and I can pick them out, but he really mixed them in :( It took me a long while to pick them out.
The sign for the Froster dispenser said "Barq's Cream Soda", but it tasted like Orange Soda with a splash of Barq's.


^ Dry Fried Rice Noodles with Beef and Barq's Cream Soda Froster.

Dinner today -> Snow Crab Legs with Spaghetti.
Boiled a frozen bag of Snow Crab legs.
Then I used the boiled water to make spaghetti. I mixed the spaghetti with oyster sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, and garlic butter.


^ Snow Crab Legs with Spaghetti.

Useless Idol News:
FYI: Thursday morning at around 5am (Eastern) is the 3rd AKB48 election results event. By the time I wake up, the full result will be out.