Conversations that made me burst out in laughter

Conversation One:
Me:  Did you see my pics from the camping trip I went on this past weekend?
Mainlander:  Oh, yes.
Me:  Well, what did you think?  Beautiful, eh?
Mainlander:  I sent you an email on it.  No girls, man ~ that was bored...
Me:  It was a male bonding trip with a friend of almost 30 years.
Mainlander:  Who cares, man!  No girls!!!
Me:  Damn it man, ok, you're right.  There were times I look at my friend and wanted to scream, "Why the hell are you here!?  Why aren't you a sweet young hottie!!!"  I'll admit the stars were so beautiful by the cliffs, I was very touched and wished I could share it with a dream girl.
Mainlander:  Yes!  And if you take a girl there - even if you rape her, she doesn't have cell service and cannot call anyone!
Me:  -???----???-

I looked at his face and couldn't help but burst out into laughter - no offense ladies, I know it sounds terrible on paper, but this dude is an immigrant from mainland China who is harmless and actually, quite sweet.  I just couldn't believe he said that out loud.  This was a nervous laugh.  I attribute his harsh tone to his lack of command over English.  Truthfully, I was laughing at him, not with him.  Poor guy.

Conversation Two:
Me:  I can't wear contacts, I have astigmatism.
Princess:  *stare*
Me:  *stare*
Princess:  What's that?
Me:  One of my eyes isn't perfectly round, it's warped in shape.
Princess: Oh....I'm sorry~?

At this point I just burst out into laughter...she was so sincere in her apology, and that's so sweet but this was so unexpected!  Why is she sorry?  Hilarious.  This was an affectionate laugh. 

Conversation Three:
Princess:  I see you also like taking portrait shots.
Me:  Well, it's not that I like portrait shots, it was just the two of us and at times, I was alone so it was either the self-timer or self-portraits.  I am somewhat of an amateur photographer so I guess that comes through.
Princess:  You have a steady hand which is already better than most people.
Me:  *smile*
Princess:  I hate people who take bad photos, it's annoying!

Man, I really laughed at this statement.  Princess is so funny sometimes without even trying!  That's talent/genius.  Speaking of natural talent for making me burst in to laughter...let's move on to the Little Lamb.

Conversation Four:
Little Lamb:  I wouldn't show this picture around if I were you
Me:  Why?  Is it a bad pic? 
Little Lamb:  You will give the wrong impression [of your sexuality].
Me:  Sheesh.
Little Lamb:  Hey look, you have your top off in this one.
Me:  Yea, I know I have a spare tire starting.
Little Lamb:  It's not bad, you can tell you have muscles there.
Me: *stare*
Little Lamb:  Hey your shirt's back on here
Me:  Yes, well, ahem, there were women around so I didn't want to steal away anyone's fiancee, girlfriend or wife ~ you know how it is.
Little Lamb:  You had to be careful, women might have fallen off the cliff if you didn't put your shirt back on.

This one is hilarious.  She never misses a beat and just keeps hitting them back to me.  I always end up laughing so hard with her.  She truly has a talent.

Killarney Provincial Park - I've found my paradise in Ontario

British Columbia wins hands down over Ontario when it comes to the outdoors.  Not only do they have everything we have, but even more.  Just this afternoon, I drove back in from a night's camp at Killarney Provincial Park.  I must say that this place is heavenly.  Although I would love to call B.C. my backyard, after my trip to Killarney, I am happy with what I saw.  Ontario truly is beautiful.  My life-time friend and I left his house early Friday morning at 4am and we arrived at camp 930am same morning - even with three stops enroute.

I had the best and most challenging hike of my life here - yes, even more than what I experienced in British Columbia.  I saw a falling star.  I swam in waters that I thought could only be seen south of the equator.  To make things even better:  fully serviced shower facilities, washrooms, and full signal from both my Telus and Rogers wireless devices!

Not too shabby eh?  Here's a few pics from my trip.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I did taking them.

Of course these pics do not do justice to the beauty that is Killarney, but they give you an idea of what is up there.

I emailed myself this brief note last night.  Here is the email:

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 11:17 PM, wrote:

I am typing 5 hours out of Toronto, in one of the most beautiful provincial parks I've ever been.

I am lying down on a huge bedrock, staring at the stars in the night sky every so often to gather my thoughts.

This is life. This is what it is to live.

It's romantic, it's exciting, it's adventurous - all of these and more!

I will live in this moment and enjoy it.

I definitely recommend this provincial park to all.  I plan on going up once more before September ends.  Hopefully, this time with a young hottie - yes, I have someone in mind. ;-)

POF Journal Entry One

It's been about four days now since I joined POF.  My friend suggested it as he was finding quite a bit of success with his profile.  But then again, he has a yakuza gangster tattoo on his left arm/shoulder, so he gets the Queen street fetishists going after him.  The dude gets serious action from all these girls - and that's what he wants in his current stage of life so good for him.  I, however, am looking for meaning beyond the physical.  Yes, I cannot believe I just wrote that, but it's true.  We all have to grow up someday and I guess I grew up.  So, since meeting women is rather difficult, I thought I'd give it a try.

Three women contacted me.

First woman - I missed the part on her profile where she states she is only looking for Chinese/Cantonese men.  I sent her my apologies for the miscommunication and wished her all the best.

Second woman - she seems nice and really genuine.  Her picture was really sweet and I was quickly taken with her natural beauty.  Definitely no games here with this person.  But she only put up one picture of her face and describes her body type as "average".  Clearly a warning sign that there is a potential danger she is delusional and far from average.  Apparently, POF "average" women are generally heavier than the men they meet.  I'll see for myself as I'm meeting her this Sunday for coffee.

Third woman - wow, talk about defensive and insecure.  Describes her self as "strong" but she did not come across this way.  She took a witty and humourous email message and turned it into a a highly defensive attack about me being shallow.  Hey, quite often, I mess up so I was open to the fact I could have been dumb with what I wrote.  So, I showed two very intelligent and well-spoken, truly "strong" women what I wrote, and they both, independently said that she is an insecure, defensive person.  Too bad, because if her pictures were true to her likeness in person, she was actually quite cute. 

I showed my friend's wife my profile pics and apparently none of them do me justice.  She suggested I post some topless pics to show off my athletic and gorgeous body - but I think that could potentially backfire on me.  Perhaps later, if I decide to give up on this thing.

More entries to come.

The lyrics of this song really hit home for me...

Life Is Like A Boat:

Nobody knows who I really am
I never felt this empty before
And if I ever need someone to come along,
Who’s gonna comfort me, and keep me strong?

We are all rowing the boat of fate
The waves keep on coming and we can’t escape
But if we ever get lost on our way
The waves would guide you through another day

Nobody knows who I really am
Maybe they just don’t give a damn
But if I ever need someone to come along
I know you would follow me, and keep me strong

And every time I see your face
The ocean heaves up to my heart
You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon
I can see the shore

Oh, I can see the shore
When will I see the shore?

I want you to know who I really am
I never thought I’d feel this way towards you
And if you ever need someone to come along,
I will follow you, and keep you strong

And every time I see your face
The ocean heaves up to my heart
You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon
I can see the shore

~ Rie Fu

Roger Huerta: Hero or Street Vigilante?

Roger Huerta is an ex-UFC professional mma fighter and is a current Bellator professional mma fighter.
On Aug 4, 2010, TMZ posted an amateur video of Roger Huerta engaging a larger African-American male who moments earlier bull-rushed and sucker-punched a woman from behind.  The video doesn't really show much of the actual fight.  We catch a quick glimpse of a head stomp from a topless Roger Huerta and the larger African-American male is lying motionless on the ground.

Immediately, many netizens of the mma forums and communities heralded Roger Huerta as a hero who dished out justice when no one else would.  Today, in Huerta's statement, he does not deny the incident, but rather justifies it by stating:

"I just don't think that it's right to hit a woman. I approached the man calmly and said, 'Do you know what you just did? You just knocked out this girl.' [He responds] 'F*ck you, f*ck these b-----s, I'll knock out any f*ckin' b---h that I wanna f*ckin' knock out, I'll knock your f*cking b---h ass out.' ... As he's saying this, he's taking off his shirt ... and at that point I was like, alright ... I got the better of him and I left. If that was my mom, if that was my sister, my spouse, anyone … I would've wanted someone to step in and do something about it."

If Roger Huerta prevented the African-American male's punch by stepping in to intercept it and then redirected the force as a means to defend both himself and this female victim, then it would be a different matter entirely.

However, that is not what transpired.  Huerta sought out this man after the fact.  There was no need for him to get involved.  How did he protect the woman?  He didn't.  He was angered and he reacted to his anger by engaging the perpetrator with violence.

I recall reading somewhere that the difference between marital arts and mere violence is that in martial arts, the disciple trains his mind, body and spirit to protect things precious to him/her - be it his/her family, friends, Emperor, King, Lord, or ideals.  The key difference is:  there is a willingness to protect - a motivation with a focus on positive energy (to protect).  Without this intent, any practitioner of any martial art is simply applying violence.  With deep regret, I must admit, this is exactly what Roger Huerta demonstrated.

In my heart of hearts, I believe this violent low-life of a human being who would sneak up on a woman to deliver a potentially lethal punch deserves a stern sentence from the justice system.  There is a side of me that is happy Huerta took him out.

However, the rational side of me knows that this incident is not one where Huerta is the hero.  Every fibre of my being knows that what Roger Huerta did was wrong and what's even worse is that the mma netizens seem to be supporting the actions of this talented professional mma fighter.  By doing this, we are not sending a positive message about martial arts, the sport of mma and its fighters.  Martial arts is about discipline and control (of self).  There was no need for Roger to lose it, but that's what happened.  The opportunity to protect flew by and Huerta made the incorrect decision to exact his own brand of street justice.

For Roger's sake, I hope nothing career-damaging comes out of this incident.

Harry Brown (2009): A movie worth watching

After watching Sir Michael Caine's riveting performance in this script and character driven British film, I am now convinced, more than ever, that the best actors in the world come from England.

This film was a joy to watch.  Hollywood should learn how to make movies like this - without blowing cash on silly explosions and such.

I strongly recommend it - this is not your average revenge film.  The director's choice for lighting and shots/angles really sets the mood early. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289406/