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Showing posts from 2014

rentalcars.com is a questionable company

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during iceland trip, i decided to look for a last minute booking for rental car, hoping to get out for a last chance to catch the northern lights. i decided to rent through a third-party brokerage company, rentalcars.com.  however, the weather turned seriously threatening and i had to leave early. *btw, real posts about the trip will be up in near future. the trip itself was absolutely amazing. on way back to town, i had about 30 min to the pick-up time. the company does not have phone lines open on saturday or sunday. without smartphone, i could not even try to get on the web to cancel the reservation.  so i called the actual rental car company directly to cancel. they cancelled it and said they have not received any part of the payment and is unlikely to see any of it, and that i am probably not going to see it either. and they were right. you can only cancel your booking online, only up to 48hrs to the pick-up time, it was all in the small prints. they are selling pre-paid s

connecting the stars, to faraway land

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(one of my fav shows ever, 'o' @ bellagio) it seems that end of 2014 is star-studded, literally. and yes, i thank the universe for giving me the chance to look up and see the beautiful space we live in. yes, space. this morning, the orion project launched and returned in success. almost faultless. here's nasa's brief explanation of the scope of the orion project. http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-orion-flight-test-and-the-journey-to-mars/#.VII9ORbWbx4 that's right kids, we are returning to space! 20 july 1969, three men- brave, probably nuts and extremely capable, went up and landed on moon.  six hours later, they left bootmarks on the moon.  the mystical moon became a brief reality- and it was so different from what we have pictured for the entire humanity up to this point.  a place with its own love (gravity), bit smaller and starker than our own home, but nonetheless, a familiar face. however, things then slowed down. nixon axed the space prog

… what shall we ever do?

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and just like that, the way to the north has been paved. fuelled by jazz gig i went to last thursday eve (in-your-face-beat-up metal jazz), the little blocks fell into place, no gaps- hyper-real tetris game. chasing after a feeling over and over and over again, in obsessive manner, decisions simply take shape. it was made already, somewhere, long ago, now catalyzed. i build a collage. i build a ship. i build a door for my cage. confluence. each time i travel, there's something to find. sometimes, with people. sometimes, alone. but always in flux of confluence.  tossing self out of the 32nd floor concrete nest, i always find something. something that was waiting for me- for how long, i may never know. at the local gear shop, kind salesperson who was helping brought up the idea of solace in desert.  his was the mojave desert. mine, volcanic steam vent desert of kerlingarfjoll.  and now, to ice desert. the desert is a place of solace, because it is not barren. in ab

winter is coming

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http://youtu.be/mrZ3ToUYFpw picture: this summer, in august, i saw the glimpse of winter,  as we trekked along langjokull in iceland.  it held its silence under 20+ hours of sunlight. winter is coming. it has bared its fangs suddenly. the slight chill that lingered on the edge of the scent 'autumnal foliage,' turned itself into a maelstrom of flurries and ice. compacted snow that eats your bicycle tires. all the sudden, the feet experiences amnesia: how to- . the basic rules of the day were thrown up in the air. things taking much longer. things slowing down. things diving into slurry of mixed decay- to silence. on this sudden descend to ice, i sink with it. the enormous wave will carry me into the depth of the winter, the solstice.  it will be dark. death. end. the longest night of the year.  the deeper we dig into the grey and blue, we will lose colour- space, ice, water, all mediums bringing you into the point of silence. a visual silence. absence of light.

lost in constellation

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i always thought life is much like the constellation chart. as a child with terrible vision, i never realized what stars actually meant.  finally, the summer i turned 11, i was given my first pair of glasses. with the new glasses, i was sent to a summer science camp, located in a mountain camp site. one night, during the evening activity, look up, the leader said. look up to the stars. city child, i thought: right. stars. okay. then, there they were. all the stars, falling into my eyes, like the greatest waterfall, with raging power, they fell, endlessly, speaking timeless stories, the stories that i never really heard, till i could see them. they spun and spun. the more i looked, the more fell, until my eyes were full of white dots, bright eternal ancient beyond my comprehension. people come into one's life. we do not know what they are. or what they are to become.  some may stay a while, some may stay, if a bit far. some may collide. some has been there

expanding man and shrinking seat are not ideal

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http://lolery.com/man-writes-the-greatest-complaint-letter-ever-to-airline-for-having-to-sit-next-to-an-obese-person/ the letter is clearly written by temporarily insane man.  im sure in a different context, he is not such a ranting maniac. though, i do understand what that feels like to slowly suffocate next to what i call the 'expanding person' experience. they seem normal. they sit down. polite hello and a slight unknown sense of dread. as soon as the seat belts are down, they start to expand, 3-D.  soon, their knees are touching yours, the arm rests are no longer arm rests, they are holding this expanding appendages that just keeps growing in space, real time.  after couple hours, you wonder HOW did they seem so normal at the beginning of the flight. incredibly, they still look normal, while occupying at least 50% more space. what is going on? *insert airtravel delilium music. *pop some pills and just pass out till arrival the real issue is not about personal

... it seeped through crack on basement

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*pic from cbc http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-a-day-of-chaos-leaves-soldier-gunman-dead-1.2808710 i am not a pessimist, nor an optimist. i try hard to be neither. the power of bias, suggestions and expectations are often too powerful to even detect, nevermind neutralize. however, with all the international violence, especially pointed at the united states, we have grown quite dull about it. the gulf war. rwandan civil war. croatian war of independence.  afghanistan. iraq-kurdish.  republic of the congo civil war. the chechens. north-west pakistan.  niger delta. thailand insurgency. somalia.  boko haram in nigeria.  kyrgyzstan. lybian. israel-gaza. these are the first ones that popped into my mind. without looking. eyes closed. and im not a political junkie. it made me wonder why- unequal lives of humans. and that makes yesterday's shooting in ottawa quite shocking in a weird sense, i thought it is stranger that it have not happened any earlier.  we

sigh, we do all want to be cooler, always! but sometimes...

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http://tracesofthereal.com/tag/national-concert-hall/ *what a lovely picture! http://www.baldur.info/blog/10-things-that-we-should-change-in-classical-concerts/ so johnny greenwood of very successful venture, radiohead, resident composer for the bbc concert orchestra recently pointed out 10 things he would change in a classical concert format.  and i thought in most of cases, his proposed changes are not met because well, most of classical music does not have the support hat johnny or the bbc concert orchestra (one of my fav ensembles) have access to.  and certain things, though the public may demand it, is not very helpful- such as access to technology during the show. WHY CANT WE HAVE ONE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARENT BLATANTLY TIED TO THEIR DAMNED PHONES anyway, we all live in a different world and i do think it's quite nice that someone who could be influential takes a stand. this is how things evolve. however, on certain points, i cannot help but to think... BUT...  so

no flyers! please! i trust you even less now!

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yep thats the sign on my door. been there for two years now... with local election coming up, there are lots of noise for campaigning and plea for supports. i put on this sign on my door because i rather not receive junk mail regarding political campaign.  of course, you are a great candidate on paper! what i need to know is what you do not say on the page... anyhow, last night, i come back home and guess what i find- a campaign pamphlet. so it being a late-start day, i cannot help self but to write back to the candidate. politicians, and everyone (as we are all political animals to certain degree), do make sure you are fairly represented through you and your team. all it takes is one lazy person to drop the group... and so i wrote to him. good luck to him and i hope all candidates do pay attention to all the details they present to the public, especially the careless ones... hello mr ahmed, (insert the pic above) i am disappointed to see that your campaign doe

pc bank provides pro service on phone today

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/hararis/3016139663/ on phone with pc banking: monkey: i was wondering if you can help with TFSA acct transfers- man: (cuts in) NO, you cant do that. no e-transfer for that. okay? monkey: (huh?) but i have done it in branch? as authorized transfer for registered investments? man: (takes time)... hmmm, yeah, you can do that. 5 min later monkey: ...but it's been a month since transfer was initiated? branch person said it would be sufficient time? man: AHAHAHAH. whoa. ha. monkey: can you explain? man: that's when things go smooth. monkey: okay, so what may go wrong? man: well, it's a wrong estimate. (with sense of condemnation) monkey: such as? man: (big sigh) monkey: (wtf?) after rolling more eyes monkey: ... okay, so i should re-check by friday then? man: yeah. good day. (ready to hang up) monkey: (baffled) umm, excuse me? (whats this? you working now or what? your break is up?) man: yes? wha

bank emails. yay.

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so following up on the last post, all three parties got back to me through email, conveniently suggesting that i call everyone else.  td wants me to call certapay.  certapay says they dont have access to my banking, so i must call back td. pc bank says they cannot handle this so i have to call them back as well. so far, i am truly amazed that it is taking this long- the fradulent activity of the third party whose email was hacked was on 19 june 2014.  that is 82 days since the beautiful event took place.  now, after about seven phone calls, adding up to well-over seven hours, and a branch visit which took an hour, including more time on the phone through their internal secured line to the loss-prevention dept of td canadatrust AND a new debit card (teller person was sure this would solve the problem, i wish that was true. alas.)  the amount of variations-on-the-theme, 'no, no one is responsible for you, it's the other guys,' has been truly baffling in their presentation

td canadatrust, pc bank, certapay mayhem issue 2.

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well, here's body of email replies back from the financial institutions. analysis and reflection to follow... 1. reply back from td canadatrust, ask an expert: I'm sorry to hear about your situation, (nutters monkey) Considering the scope of the problem and that it involves more than one transaction, I recommend that you give us a call immediately so we can start to look into this. We definitely want to investigate further and will work towards a resolution as quickly as possible. We can be reached 24 hours a day at 1-866-222-3456 (available 24/7) All the best, Hye Won. Sincerely, TD Helps Team 2. reply back from interac: Dear (poor monkey) Thank you for contacting our Support Centre for the INTERAC e-Transfer* service.  We apologize for the difficulties you are experiencing trying to access the service. Due to privacy reasons, INTERAC does not have access to your personal banking information. We will escalate your issue to the TD Loss Prevention.  

td, pc bank, certapay: modern day banking woe

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i was hoping that may be my first post back from summer would be a nice one, however... sigh. here's copy of my email to certapay, tdcanadatrust and pc banking. im butting head on the wall. i really hope this can be resolved somehow...  all three are saying the others' responsible. well, it makes no sense to me. may be this is beyond phd level education... if anyone has any idea of how to tackle this problem, do let me know! hello, im having a serious problem with access to e-transfer. i have two email addresses (hotmail, gmail) and two bank accounts (tdcanadtrust and pc banking). i have been taking e-transfer payment through tdcanadatrust account without problems. then early june, one of my clients had his bank account hacked, unfortunately; and even more unfortunately, i was the unlucky recipient of the hack (gmail address). i called td and they told me that i should not have any problems. however- since then, i cannot receive e-transfer from anyone, and ca

money,we barely know ye!

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peasant wedding, bruegel the elder, c. 1569 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZafL7_CaMbg&feature=share&list=PL7hp3oXD4aCwpdka-grIL6qJPiPGU3Hmz&index=8 the subject of money fascinates me. ive been on a payroll since ripe age of 14 as a church organist; combined with the experience of growing up in an immigrant entrepreneurial household, i was quite aware that there are so many different ways to earn and spend it, that it can make or break a person, even change them somewhat permanently. when i started to work after finishing school, that year, first time in my life, i gained real concept of what a 'thousand' dollars feel like.  dad coolly replied that it's because i am billing in units of tens and hundreds, that as a business owner (albeit mompop scale), that he, who deals with thousands on monthly scale on both in and outgoings, would have different feel for units of thousands. this all made sense.  i remember being in high school, getting paid in hun

beautiful white men shall tell us what beauty is... sigh.

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please, meet the beautiful, proud, diverse men who knows how to truly appreciates what we should all look up as beautiful and aesthetically sound examples from the western arts world: from left top, clockwise: richard morrison, michael church, rupert christiansen, andrew clements, all highly-qualified, uber-intelligent and so influential that they get paid to write personal judgement on women's appearance instead of musical reviews. could not find an appropriate jpeg of andrew clark, writing for the financial times. may be there's a reason. unsightly? so recently, five delusionall-powerful white male music critics (can we say stereotypical?) wrote their heartfelt review of the rosenkavalier at the glyndebourne festival, saturday night. hey, it's opera, obviously, we NEED to look how the women looks? after all, fat men can still deliver beautiful music, but women... no, their physical beauty must comply with each individual man's dream list (whatever it m

'misogyny cleanup in premium whiskey aisle, please'

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illustration: cathy wilcox, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/misogyny-its-still-all-greek-to-male-chauvinists-20121011-27fv3.html today i was at the LCBO on king and spadina .  on a quest to find the magic whiskey to celebrate the end of the year, was my friends were coming over for dinner- had soda water, ice, just... whiskey! (we have a healthy stock at home, so yeah, this really was the magic unicorn chalice chase) so i thought this would be a good branch to walk into. hmm. may be. as a  young-ish small asian girl, i waited for the floor helper to approach me. he (in his 50s i guessed) went and served a gentleman in his 50s.  okay, we walked in at the same time. i will wait. then he went over to another man, in his early 40s, talking in great details about the 'premium' stock. as he was making a pass to a third man, he asked the obligatory question: did you find everything? are you looking for a gift? i was quite a bit shocked. REALLY

... and her voice turned to tears.

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http://youtu.be/dt1q2Z1s5p8 tis a grey spring day in yyz and things are finally slowing down- which often means letting one's own guard down; when things are busy, often i cannot afford time to be emotional (in name of efficiency).  so with extra time within the day, i dwell, rethink and formulate those feelings that may have been caged in for a bit. on 16 april 2014, a korean ship sank into the brutal water.  there are many speculations how the situation couldve been handled, but at the end, 23 days later, there are still over thirty people missing. undercurrent speed reaching up to 4m/s, divers are trying to find the bodies through 'feeling things through,' as visibility is poor. following the news update daily, i tried to not look into it as much as i can, as month of april was still rolling on full-steam. i eyed 26th and tightened mentally, the day of my younger brother's death, now four years ago. on 01 may, i completed a particularly difficult recital

drilling for success, well-done, uconn 2013-14!

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ryan boatright of the connecticut huskies celebrates with a teammate after defeating the kentucky wildcats 60-54 in the ncaa men's final four championship monday night: jamie squire/getty images, from nytimes.com so men's ncaa basketball is over and i better run to bed... argh. here's a few thoughts on the game... the final score wasnt far at all, 60:54 (uconn vs kentucky) for me, the difference between then teams were foul shots: uconn: 10 of 10 (100%) kentuckey: 13 of 24 (54%) thinking that if kentucky DID make front end of one-and-ones, they couldve have more than 24 shots. potentially missed 28 pts from foul shots. kevin ollie's ride to the championship with that legendary 2011 uconn freshmen army really refocused my interest on 'taking care of the small things,' such as nailing those foul shots. his half-time comment was brilliant- something along the lines of 'just staying ahead and keeping that distance.' not cocky, not crazy- c

small frags between madness called march

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http://youtu.be/ZhN0RRlLhDg 1. doing one's best does not equate to doing whatever one may do. 2. this polar vortex thing should be called polar PMS. so demanding. so unreasonable. 3. tell people that you love them. after coupla months, my granny often waits till i say 'i love you' before we wrap up the daily conversation. hehe. so nice. 4. before saying 'well, someone liked it,' see if you also liked it.  it is okay to like one's own doing. 5. being methodical and practiced will lead one to be free and expressive. spending one's money however one wants can only result from sane financial planning + execution. 6. playing beautifully written music does not guarantee one to play beautiful. sigh. 7. free things are never free. better to make careful observation then pay the agreeable price. responsible purchasing/contracting.  nothing more futile than making shitty purchase then having to taking it back... 8. what do i need to ma

adagio assai in deafening silence

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winter landscape near a village, c. 1610-15. hendrick avercamp,  oil on panel, museum of fine arts, boston http://youtu.be/zCafDY483fU the difficult month of feburary just left the driveway and we all breathed out a long sigh with relief. shortest month of the year, however, in north america, this year's february has been particularly brutal, full of snow, sludge and heavy ceiling sky with opaque, grey low clouds. no end of grey. unlike the spring rain, which leaves a hint of echo, fragmented silence with each drop, the snow kept coming, muting the deafening silence of stasis, death and melancholy- waking many pensive memories from the past: the things that no longer are, the people who no longer are, the person i wanted to be... perhaps the rare bright sunshine over the lake ontario this afternoon is seeking forgiveness.  from ourselves. from failing ourselves. from grieving ourselves. my parents are going through difficult times with their business. a friend left th

good night, dear lady.

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measuring the passage of time, it is so easy to become fixated on a particular point of view- of one's own. i often look into my calendar and think about what ' i ' need to do.  occasionally, i am reminded of the vastness of this world, never-stopping, gently undulating ocean, through the news that comes through the resilient spider-silk communication of people i love. i always wish that i reach out to others as much as i reach inward for self. i dont, always.  i lose perspective and get myopic about self-centred events, forgetting the most important concept- that i exist only within the context of the world. and often, the news are surprising, filling the day with many hues of thoughts. today, i read that a friend from nebraska days finally concluded her journey with cancer.  regrets came like waves. like bitter, angry, north winter wind.  a maelstrom of  'wished, couldve, shouldve...' as i get older, often, i can measure the passage of time through lose

february is month of anger?

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http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Nicholas_Longworth following the vegan/veg post of yesterday, today i ran into whole bunch of angry posts on crackbook regarding an article where a mom 'blogged' how expensive and useless music education/teachers are (this article is now several years old). of course, many of my crackbook acquaintances are in the music 'business.' as you can imagine, the posts were full of frustration, anger and even condemnation. 'how dare you... you ignorant!' as much as i can try to sympathize, it is true that 1. whatever the service may be, whatever the prices may be, there will be some complaints.  okay, so someone thinks music lessons are too expensive. what's so new about that?  oil-changes are expensive. so are dentists. what about hockey practices? things are expensive and that's always been the case. if you dont like it, it'll always be expensive.  jarlsberg is expensive, but i will be buying that cheese in futu

fill it up with your favourite things!

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few of my friends love mod. i find it tad weird. few of my friends love cheese. the other few wrinkle their nose. i like salted and fermented fish bits. usually people run away. few of my friends love classical music. the other few loves metal. i cannot wear colour purple. few of my friends look killer in purple. few of my friends always order beer. the others, wine. even cocktail. few of my friends are vegans. few of my friends are vegetarians. few of my guy friends like guys. few of my girl friends like girls. one friends of mine was a he now a she. and this is what my world is made out of, differences. it is alright to be passionate about one's preferences. it is alright to stand by one's conviction. however, justice is a blind deity, a personal choice is not a public matter of discussion (unless highly illegal or infringing on another's rights), it is bit silly to escalate these differences into violence, name calling, finger-pointing and bigotry.