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/

Is there no limit to how cute and sexy this woman can get!?

Ayase Haruka

I think these pics pretty much explain everything - including my obsession with this Japanese actress.  Kim Yun Ah was sooooo yesterday!

My new favourite summer spot

Awenda Provincial Park.  This is my new favourite beach and summer day trip spot.  Tobermory is gorgeous and of course nothing comes close in Ontario to the sheer magnificence of Tobermory, however, driving five hours compared to two hours makes all the difference for me.

The two hour drive is relaxing and convenient as there is a pit stop opportunity every 30 - 45 minutes somewhere.  There are lovely and quaint townships you must drive through en route to Awenda.  I stopped off in one spot to grab a nice healthy lunch and took some pictures.  Here they are:

Here's the inside of this historic General Store, now turned Country style bakery and restaurant.  I liked the interior.  Judge for yourselves.

These shots were taken from where I was sitting.  Use your imagination and put the two pics together in your mind - yes, because I'm too lazy to splice them for you!  You'll get the idea of how this place looks if you apply your creative side.

This was my lunch.  Nothing fancy.  In fact for the price, quite depressing.  However, the bread was baked at the restaurant.  The mayonnaise that was used to make the tartar sauce is homemade.  The veggies are all from local markets.  The fish is from a local fish monger who only deals in the freshest products.  Yea, it was good and yea it was fresh.  But it was pedestrian.  And the tartar sauce was lacking.  I, however, still enjoyed it as it was clean and healthy.

The owner who greeted and served me said they offer some of the best desserts ever.  So I took a look.  They were impressive.  So impressive I seriously wondered if someone who used to live in Pickering up until 8 years ago could really have the training to pull off these levels of homemade desserts.  No joke, these pies were killer professional.  I asked her which pie was the best and most popular among the patrons and she said everyone claims the coconut pie to be the best they've ever had.  Bold claim. 

I took her up on her recommendation and ordered a slice.  Here it is.  Visually it was stunning.  The cream, the shavings of coconut, the pie crust...my eyes soaked it all in like a tyrant just before he is about to devour a female offering from a local chieftain trying to win his favour.   Where that comparison came from I don't know.  Food and the intimacy of a fine woman are my two great loves, so forgive me if I confuse the two at times. ;-)  So back to this "best coconut pie ever" review.  I ate it.  And to my surprise it really was a spectacular pie.  Spectacular, I say!!!  But, was it the best pie I've ever had?  Well, considering I've only devoured one other homemade coconut pie and that wasn't very memorable, I guess it really was the best coconut pie I've ever had.  The flavours were real.  Light and yet still sweet enough to satisfy any dessert lover.  Creamy without being overwhelming.  Truly a delicate balance of cream and sugar.  Wow.

After another 40 minute drive from my lunch stop, I arrived at my favourite beach.  Take a look.

You may notice a lack of people on this beach.  There were others on the beach, but you can't see them because the area is so expansive on a mammoth level that the other visitors to the park are so small, they seem to be invisible.  For someone who hates confinement and tight quarters, this little fact is a bonus.  Even if crowded, there's enough beach for everyone.

Can you see the others?  ;-)  I wasn't alone on the beach but I might as well have been.  A few people walked by but no one really setup tent in my area - as you can see from both the left and right shots.

 This picture doesn't really doesn't capture the sheer size of this beach.  If I was to walk over to the area where I am staring off to, I think it'd probably take me about 10 minutes.  That's pretty dang far.  There were a group of teenagers over there but, from where I was, they were as small as ants.

The only regret I now have is that so many friends are asking me to take them up with me.  Should I have kept my mouth shut? ;-)