eman the wingman

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

2010-04-23T10:30:00.016-05:00

School's done and the itinerary is set! I can't wait for the up-and-coming Chitown adventures with the ad and PR majors on Monday, May 3rd to Sunday May 9th.

I'm particularly excited about Tuesday's itinerary, May 4th. According to Kenton Larsen's Infotainment blog, we are having a "Chicago welcome" pizza party in the hotel from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Free!

My only concern is if the pizza party is in fact a deep dish pizza party. I am on a quest to find Chicago's best deep dish pizza party. Nothing will stop me on my quest to find the most delicious, most tasty, and most deep Chi-keh-go pizza. OK, maybe I will stay in the constraints of the hotel vicinity as this little expedition could get out of hand!

So I've been researching online, trying to find the best deep dish hot spot and this is what I found.

Internet recommendations: (based on Google searching "best place to go for deep dish pizza chicago")

1) Lou Malnati's Pizzeria - 439 N Wells St. = estimated travel time 3 mins., 0.84 miles
2) Giordano's Pizza - 730 N Rush St. = est. travel time 1 min., 0.35 miles
3) The Original Gino's East of Chicago - 162 E Superior St. = est. travel time 1 min., 0.34 miles
4) Pizzeria Due - 619 N Wabash Ave. = est. travel time 57 secs, 0.26 miles
5) Pizzeria Uno - 29 E Ohio St. = est. travel time 1 min., 0.43 miles

Fairfield Inn, 216 E Ohio St. recommendations: (based on the person who answered the phone)

1) Giordano's Pizza
2) The Original Gino's East of Chicago
3) Pizzeria Uno

"You hit one of these places, you're a happy man," says Sul from the front desk of the Fairfield Inn. I think I'll take his advice.

And finally, a recommendation from a Chicago native:

"Oh man, you need to go to Gino's East. They have the best deep dish pepperoni pizza - it doesn't get more Chicago than that," says Jackie Te, 26-yr. old. registered nurse.

The Pizza Plan:

Logistics - after getting a hold of a Chicago map, I will be mapping out the five different locations for ease of locating them later when we're on foot. I will also bring a GPS device and go on a little pizza geocaching adventure. My team and I (and yes, I will need a pizza team for this one) will consume pizzas from all five locations. A deep dish pizza can serve up to four people or one hungry Neil Babaluk. Our team will be traveling on foot.

$$$ - will they take my 'par' Canadian dollars? I don't think so. So I will be allocating up to US$100 for my expedition, whatever it takes to eat pizzas from five different locations. As for everything else, there's always Mastercard.

Health considerations - none.

Fun factor - high.

And until I actually have pictures holding one of these babies, I'll leave you with an image that would make you wish you were going on this trip with us...

Ivana trust Macs...

2010-04-16T20:10:00.011-05:00

Some say Mac computers are great because there is little or no virus that can affect its operating system. Recently, I found something on my USB stick that would test that statement...

At first I thought the unidentified folder on my USB stick was mine, but then again I don't remember copying any folders called "Ivana" nor would I re-title a folder with that name. Once I collapsed the folder, I instantly knew what it was - a virus!

So instantly, when I saw a virus, I immediately thought it was caused by my PCs at home running on the Windows platform. I'm sure everyone has been affected or have known someone who's computer has crashed recently because of an unknown computer virus. And also, many would agree that it was very easy to catch a virus on a computer running in a Windows environment.

Nevertheless, I continue with my CreComm life by backing up the contents of my USB stick. As long as you don't run the program contained in the "Ivana" folder then you're actually fine. The virus in this case was an executable file ending with the file extension '.exe' so for it to work, you would have to double-click on the file. Collapsing the folder container would allow you to see the contents of the folder without touching the programs or files in it.

Knowing that my CreComm movements were logged and monitored at school, I was careful not to bring the virus to the school's Mac computers, which were what we primarily use because of Adobe InDesign and Final Cut Pro. So after formatting my USB stick, I transferred all my files back. I ended up doing this procedure about three times...finding an unknown folder, formatting my USB stick then transferring my files again.

Eventually, I got frustrated. I even ran my virus check on both my desktop PC and laptop, twice and yet no viruses were found. This puzzled me. Until yesterday...

I printed out a promotion campaign for The Fyxx for my advertising class. I brought my 'clean' USB stick to the print centre in the William building. As "Lorne The Print Guy" looked for my pdf file, he paused and picked up the phone. As he talked to the person on the phone, Lorne looked at the screen in front of him. I couldn't help but ask "Is there something wrong Lorne?" He hung up the phone and replied "There's a virus here..." still looking at the screen.

I immediately thought I didn't properly format my USB stick and that the folder was not actually deleted...my "Ivana" secret was out! And worse, it might have infected Lorne's computer! I must say I was a bit terrified and thought I was going to get expelled from RRC for crashing the network with virus on my USB stick.

Little did I know that the virus Lorne was looking at on his screen was a different virus altogether. Which meant that the virus came from his computer! Which meant that the entire time I was getting infected was because the virus was on select Mac computers at school! This also meant that my computers at home were NOT the ones that were infecting my USB stick.

Lorne handed me back my ISB stick and didn't say much. All he said was "The virus is contained, we quarantined it." As soon as I plugged it into a Mac at school, I saw a new folder added to my flash drive. This one was labelled "Sevebomba" but the contents had been emptied by Lorne.

For those Mac users who think Macs are impermeable to viruses, think again. This was proof that viruses exist on Macs and can attach themselves on to your flash drive or USB stick so always run a virus check on your platform at home and scan your USB stick too!

A view from Neil's beard. - Neil's review of a wing place!

2010-04-03T00:16:00.010-05:00

"A let down," says Neil Babaluk, a full-time student at Red River College's Creative Communications program.

Babaluk visited Big Guy's Ranch and Saloon in the St. Vital area with three of his buds to hang out and have some wings and a couple of bevies.

"It was good, but not Tony Roma's good," says Babaluk. He and some classmates from CreComm went to Tony Roma's on Pembina Hwy. the night before to take a break from studying.

"The wings were more meaty and the sauces were better in general at Tony's," says Babaluk.

"The wings were big and there were a lot of them," says Babaluk about his experience at Tony Roma's.

Neil Babaluk's rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5 for Big Guy's Ranch and Saloon.
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Big Guy's in St. Vital has their wing deal on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Wings are 49 cents per chicken wing with a minimum 5-win order. They have most of the regular flavours like honey garlic, hot, buffalo, sweet chili, lemon pepper, salt & pepper, and their popular flavour choices being cajun and teriyaki. I am intrigued by their pineapple curry and I'm interested how it would hold up to Movado's same offering.

Just for the record, Neil very much enjoyed his night at Tony Roma's when he was with me and a couple of other friends. He says that the best part of every wing night was the company.

The Truth About Chuck - Charlie Magazine

2010-03-24T15:05:00.014-05:00

It is done. We couldn't be happier.

After 2 weeks of sacrificing sleep, family time, and some good home-cooked meals, the creation of Charlie magazine definitely put up a fight - a good fight.

I guess this was the nature of group work though; late nights, endless group meetings, relying on each other to finish the work, and of course, lots of arguing. I must admit, the group atmosphere got really heavy at times and there was at least one definite time when I wanted to leave the room. Then, I wiped my tears (figuratively), took a deep breath and said "Charlie has poisoned your mind but you're still my friend" and continued working. Everyone had good intentions to finish the magazine strong, but because we were a bunch of CreComm superstars put into one stellar magazine group, our creative ideas didn't really work well with each other's. In the end, we just had to communicate as a group and work with all the ideas we've pitched. I really hoped that what we have in our hands was something everyone in the group would be proud of for the rest of their CreComm careers.

If you were wondering what our cover looks like, you're just going to have to wait until the magazine trade show/fair on April 1st. Unlike the other magazine groups, the creators of Charlie magazine chose to unveil their cover page at the trade show. It will definitely be worth the wait. We had to find a photographer, make-up artist, props, and one beautiful model to create a photo that was cover-worthy for a magazine that was visually stunning. Charlie's content was also fun, informative, and best of all, a good read!

The creators really poured their heart and soul (and money!) into the magazine and that would show through the overall layout and content of our product. Creating a magazine from start to finish was truly an amazing experience. I still couldn't believe that we wrote all the articles, advertisements, took photos, layed it out, then had it printed at a professional print shop. Magazine business is hard business - that I can attest to!

Being in a magazine group has many key learnings. Here were some of the things I took away from the entire experience:

1) Working in a group of four was tough! Three would have been better because there wouldn't have been too many ideas flying around and less people to butt heads with :)

I thought the hardest part of being in a group was making sure that everyone in the group was heard. Sometimes it was easy to listen and empathize with a member in the group and just let them talk about how they feel. But when another member in your group confided in you, it made it difficult to continue knowing that members weren't communicating through out the group.

So key to working in a group (and in any relationship) was open communication! With open communication, there wouldn't be misunderstandings and every group member would be on the same page. If one member didn't like an idea then he/she should say so before it was too late.

2) Knowing your role/having a role/taking a role in a group was also key. Sometimes in a group you have way too many people wanting to do all the work and that was great! But when you have talented people who want to put their mark on everything, you need to decide where to stand: Do you push your idea instead or do you find other avenues to help out? Once you thought about it, the answer was pretty clear. Again, this was a group project so you need to do what was necessary to achieve group harmony.

3) At the end of the day, it was just a project! Some people might think that getting top marks on this magazine project would determine the success of their project but when everything was said and done the important thing to take away from the CreComm group project were the things that couldn't be marked with a letter grade. Things like:

What did I learn about myself when working in a group?
How did I react when someone didn't like my idea?
Did I accommodate everyone's ideas or did I fight to stick with mine?
Did I listen more than I did talking?
What did I learn about using InDesign? Photoshop? Using a camera?
What I did learn as a journalist?
What did I learn about managing my time? My group's time?
How did I react when things didn't go my way?

I'm sure you could have added a lot of other things to this list. No matter, how you thought you're magazine turned out, the best thing you could have taken away from the magazine project was the fact that you learned how to work in a group of A-type students in an environment under a high-level of stress and survived to tell the tale. That alone was commendable. So congratulations to all the magazine groups for a job well done!

Here are some behind-the-scene pics of my interview with Constance Popp, a profile interview featured in the upcoming Charlie magazine available April 1 in the Red River College Princess Campus Atrium :)

This necklace was provided by Chocolatier Constance Popp. The necklace was dipped in artisan chocolate then dusted to give it an "Amazon" feel.

These chocolate cigars are neat! - Available at Chocolatier Constance Popp (1853 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, MB. Ph. 204-897-0689)

Dog's love chocolate! A special visitor was at the shop when I interviewed Constance

These and more pics will be available at the Magazine Fair on April 1, 2010 RRC Princess Campus South Atrium where Charlie Magazine's booth will be located.

See you there!

Winter or summer, you gotta get yourself to The Nub!

2010-03-07T21:31:00.017-06:00

Also known as the chimney of the contiguous United States, Northwest Angle and Islands is both beautiful and relaxing, and awesome. I know that's more than two but it really is awesome!

Getting there is definitely part of the experience. I don't think there are other places in Manitoba you'd encounter a remote area border crossing. All you need is your Canadian passport and a finger to press the button to call the border services agent on the U.S. side. There's nothing to it!

The boys and I had such a good time I think I'm going back in the summer sometime for a fishing trip.

Here are just some pictures of the ice road - which was the obvious highlight of the trip - that we took when we were down there last Friday. I also threw together a 2min video (not worthy to call a montage) on YouTube for you guys to see what it was like in a car with four guys on the road.

Eman and Neil.

Steve and Sean.

The Angler putting his mark on the Angle.

The Angler failing.

Our GPS as we approached the unmanned U.S. border.

This is how you report. You open the box and say hello.

It starts getting interesting...

The road's running out!

Seriously Neil, turn this car around!

Ahhh! We're on water shows the GPS.

Here it is - the ice road phenomenon.

Looks like the ice is melting but no slush will stop us from getting to the Angle.

In its full glory, we are right in the middle of the lake. DRIVING around the islands to get to our destination.

This is the wildest thing we saw on our trip. I didn't realize how big a moose's head is until I saw this mounted on top of the fireplace at Flag Island Resort. Definitely going there in the summer. Their lodge is amazing!

The most hospitable NWA resident we met. Don't know her name but she was all over the car when we stopped to get air in one of our tires. We'll miss you the most!

Now for a live-action account of the ice road. Forgive me if the video is a little short, just threw together a couple of short videos and a bg track. It was a 10-minute effort ;)

Pseudo wings & PR

2010-02-26T11:48:00.006-06:00

During our afternoon break, our PR instructor Kenton Larsen (that's him in the yellow shirt) bought the class (whatta nice guy!) a bag of Ruffles chips, "Hot Wings" flavoured. He bought it because he knew this blog existed, lol.

Well, needless to say, the chips somehow tasted like real hot chicken wings. Everyone was able to taste the chips and looked like everyone enjoyed them. I mean, who'd really say no to free chips? If you asked me, I think it was Kenton's way of making us work harder in class.

Sean Garrity's Zooey & Adam proposal was well underway and the class is almost done. I, myself, still have a couple of sections to do: executive summary, letter of transmittal, and tweak the evaluation section of my proposal. The proposal was such a neat project because in the end, we all get to put this proposal in our portfolios so it made it more important to complete a PR proposal that we would be proud to show to future employers.

As for the chips, I'd give them 3 1/3 stars out of 5 for tasting close to the real thing. haha.

PR Event in the Olympics: Death of Georgian Luger

2010-02-12T21:00:00.006-06:00

Tragedy strikes today at the Whistler Sliding Centre where a 21-year old Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili died when his sled crashed, throwing him off and hitting a metal support beam. You can get the details of the accident and a link to watch the video here: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/luge/news/newsid=39315.html

Now when something totally unplanned (possibly the worst thing that can happen in an event) actually happen, how do the organizers and event planners prepare for the media and the questions regarding the incident?

This is truly a PR test and I'm not sure if the CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games John Furlong has prepared himself for and, in fact, says exactly that he wasn't during an interview at the pre-show for the opening ceremonies Friday night.

The biggest question: To what extent does an Olumpic organizer plan for accidental deaths of athletes? Interesting.

Another thing to pay attention to are the advertisements during the opening ceremonies. It feels like the Super Bowl all over again when it comes to these ads; each one has a specific tone but was created for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Rona - this one follows a measuring tape as it retracts across Canada's diverse landscape. "It takes a great country to build great games."

Bell - a guy sends a message from his Bell mobile device while watching an Olympic hockey game that reads "Canada scored! What a goal!" and his message is carried across the country on a snowflake that travels from the venue to the remotest part of Canada.

Molson Canada - if you think their other commercials are patriotic, this one's that x3. It's pretty good.

Tim Hortons - a man prepares to pick up his wife and kids emigrating to Canada and brings a pile of jackets, toques, and mitts for the cold weather outside. He welcomes his wife with her first Tim Hortons cup of coffee. It is a touching story of the many immigrant families that makes up our country.

Hey did everybody see the opening video that lead to the start of the ceremonies? was it just me or was that just as exciting as the first Transformers movie? The announcer in the video got me super pumped when he described Canada's biggest competitors and ended the segment with "They are all here..." - how powerful is that?! Go Team Canada Go!

Writing creatively for radio dramas (and other things).

2010-02-09T18:56:00.006-06:00

In the second part of our Creative Writing class, we studied a unit on radio dramas. In this unit, our class was put into groups and wrote our own radio dramas. The dramas had to have a plot with a setting and characters designed to create a picture by listening to different sounds.

Our group of four guys: Neil, Sean, Steve, and I, came up with "Hot Ice." This was a radio drama about an elite group of specials ops agents assigned as Olympic detail to ensure public safety during the games. The group of four special ops agents heat up the action as they run around the city of Vancouver for clues after finding out from drug kingpin Chike Moi that something bad was going to happen at the Olympics.

The story was centred on bravery and heroism with a little bit of cliche and a lot of fun.

Here was a work sample of the dialogue my group and I presented in our class.

2. CHARLES NORRIS: See Moyer, nothing good ever comes out of a life of crime.

3. JERRY MOYER: Charles, can I finish him off. There’s no one around. No one will know.

4. CHARLES NORRIS: Come on Jerry. He’s scum, but let’s not stoop to his level.

5. CHIKE MOI: It’s too late special ops squad. I’m already dying, but you’ll be in the same boat soon enough.

6. CHARLES NORRIS: What do you mean Moi? Spit it out you scumbag.

7. SOUND: GURGLING SOUNDS

8. CHIKE MOI: You’re time is coming. The Russians will take care of you and your squad soon. The Olympics will be your doom. (DYING)

9. SOUND: DYING SOUND

10. CHARLES NORRIS: What Russians? What did he mean?

11. MUSIC: THEME SONG.

12. ANNOUNCER: Join us next week for another exiciting episode of Hot Ice.

As you can tell, this is our (and my) very first attempt at writing radio dramas so it may have sounded rough and even too cliche. The idea behind our drama was supposed to be funny and easy to listen to. Our target audience of aged 18-30 yeasrs old would like this kind of material as it is easy to understand and the episodes were easy to follow even if one was missed.

Writing and planning the script was pretty enjoyable. I would say writing the episode loglines really helped in ironing out the details of the story. The hardest part was thinking of eventful scenes for the entire 20 episodes. The episodes needed to make sense and needed to have some sort of linear component to it while each episode still had its distinct plot arc.

In the end, our group was able to come up with something we thought was fun to listen to with a plot that was unpredictable.

If there was an image that depicted our drama it would be this:

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An example of a well-written audio drama could be found here:
http://www.wirelesstheatrecompany.co.uk/index.php/component/jotloader?Itemid=15&cid=2&id=100

The Wireless Theatre Company was a company that still produces radio/audio dramas and released the drama called DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI on Feb. 10, 2010. I foundnd myself liking dramas about war or dramas that had heavy action in them. I really enjoyed 'Afghanada' and thought that style of drama was really interesting to listen to. So when I realized that DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI was about the experiences of soldiers in the first world war, I downloaded the mp3 (it's free!) directly from the web site.

The unit on radio drama opened my ears to something pretty cool. The way I looked at it was radio dramas was like reading a book, except someone was reading it for you!

I thought writing for radio dramas was good training/experience in writing creatively in a sequence that made sense. I thought it was good practice for what was still to come - video writing and video game scripts!

In this screenshot from the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for XBOX 360, a character chose an action from a set of actions the gamer can perform. The path the story went would depend on the action chosen by the gamer. There was a choice of three different actions ranging from passive, active, and agressive decisions. Passive took the easy way around the story while the agressive choice usually lead to more villians along the way in this role-playing adventure where you select a team of four people to fight beside you.

The type of creative writing on this game would be very elaborate as the writer(s) would have to think of multiple scenarios to give gamers a choice of things to do and allow them to take the story to a whole new level. I'm sure they only wrote two or three different endings but the path to get there and the way the story unfolded had 20-30 different variations... or more!

I am excited to see what type of video I'd come up with!

Picking apart the iPAD video - what you and I should think about before purchasing one

2010-01-28T21:57:00.085-06:00

Which much hype, anticipation, and curiosity, Apple launches a high-res, 9.7-inch computer tablet much like an iPhone but "better".

I watched the video. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, almost to a point that I wanted to head to the Apple Store at Polo Park to grab one because of its affordable price tag (not available in Canada yet).

Then I stopped, thought, glazed over, then thought again. There were so many things to discuss about the new iPad. From its name to its design and practical use, there were so many things people could comment on. So I thought I'd give it a whirl and took snapshots of the video so we could talk about it. I used the handy-dandy CTRL + PrtSc button on my PC laptop, something that was not available on a Mac. It was so much fun trying to screen-capture the VP's best angles lol.

So here it goes!

The video started with the VP of Design describing the magic that was the iPad.

VP Design - "You know it's true when something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sorta becomes magical. And that's exactly what the iPad is..."

- Queue in cheesy bg music (available in iTunes of course)...

The VP of Design made it sound like people don't really know what they were dealing with here. Haha, he said this thing was magical! Hey dude, it's not anything new. This thing just looked like an iTouch, just bigger. Maybe the magic came from a million Apple iFairies embedded in the iPad that powered the device?

Let's look at more pictures of the VP to tell the story...

This was his 'magical' look:

This dude was really passionate I tell ya... I wonder how much he's getting paid.

VP Design goes on to say: "I don't have to change myself to fit the product, it fits me." - what an awesome quote Jony!

Then he smiled.

Then comes the VP Worldwide Product Marketing - whatta title you got there Phil!

You'd think the VP of Worldwide Product Marketing had something sophisticated and definitive to say about the iPad. Instead he said: "The ipad is the best web surfing experience, the best email experience, the best photo and movie-watching experience. It's gonna change the way we do the things we do everyday."

Oh don't forget, this was a video so at this point, the bq music changed to a faster beat... queue in piano concerto no.4... you're definitely dancing now as you watch this. You're iBlood is pumping through your iVeins, ready to commit to buying this thing...

But if you were supposed to market a new product I'm sure using the word 'best' holds no ground. I'm sure some people would ask "How is it the best?" or "Why is it the best?" I understood his use of plain words but in this case, the word 'best' didn't really mean or explain the capabilities of the iPad.

Thanks VP Worldwide Product Marketing, good explanation! (NOT!)

Go back to your office and re-read the fact sheet about the iPad that your marketing team prepared for you for this video.

VP Software was just as helpful in the cliche department. This guy was super iPumped though; very excited. iCaffeine must be free in all Apple offices.

He, too, used the word 'best' in his quote: "iPad is THE best way to browse the web."

- note the emphasis on THE. haha.

This was the best line in the video: "If you see something, you just reach out and tap it, it's completely natural. You don't even think about it, you just...[music stops] DO!"

- Wow! Hahaha... I'm sure they've used that line for the entire Apple line. I liked the part where the music cut out before he said the word 'do'. lol, classic Apple line. And also showed that music in video is a powerful tool!

Ok, ok, let's get serious here. As White Goodman in Dodgeball said: "Go ahead, make your jokes, Mr. Jokey... Joke-maker. But let me hit you with some knowledge..."

The actual dynamics of the iPad was very questionable. Starting with the posture you need to actually use the iPad.

Note how the Apple iModel's body was positioned in the video so he could type on the iPad. That was bad posture!!! I used to work for a big company that really took care of its employees and spent the time for each one to be ergonomically assessed. When working with computers, especially for extended periods of time, proper posture must be used to avoid injury in the long-term. This meant that the wrists and feet must be properly positioned. Also, the neck can't be strained while looking at the monitor which must be a certain number of inches away. I won't get into the specific details but as you can see with the iPad, all those guidelines were thrown out the window! I'd say if you were to use an iPad, limit your usage to 10-20 minutes. This thing is iDangerous to your iLife!

I'm sure chiropractors have a lot to say about the iPad.

That was about the only negative thing I had to say about the iPad: posture while using it.

There was a portion in the video, however, that made a lot of sense. The explanation was clear and conversational. It was from the VP of Hardware and seemed like the only real person in the video and Apple iPad's team. He was a man in his field...

His intro music was serious and compelling, made you really want to listen to what Bob Mansfield had to say. And actually, he did make a lot of sense! He explained multi-touch techonology and it was clear how the iPad worked based on the illustrations in the video.

He said "By putting well over a thousand sensors in this multi-touch design, the level of multi-touch accuracy the customer will experience is unprecedented."

"The backlighting system is LED. And LED is what gives you crispness and colour quality in the display itself."

(But I'm sure Bob meant to say 'color' because he was iMerican.)

"Beyond that we use IPS technology. IPS is a premium display technology that gives you not only a great experience looking directly at the device, but also off angle when you're sharing the device with someone else."

"The reason why this product responds so well, and you really feel the performance on them, is because of the custom silicon that we designed for this product. That silicon is called A4."

- Thanks Bob, now I know how to make my own iPad and the Canadians now have the technology. We will make our own and we're definitely not calling it iPad that's for sure! Bob should be the VP of Worldwide Product Marketing instead. Phil Schiller should work somewhere else, maybe for the 'best' company in the world - wherever that was.

Bob continued to say that this chip was designed by their hardware and software team and I'm thinking yeah but where was it made? In China! (Look at your Apple packaging as it proudly boasts the that your device was design in California but was made in China - nice!)

My magazine group is doing an article of Fair Trade chocolate. This means that cacao bean farmers in the southern regions of the world where conditions are more likely poor get a FAIR share from the profits of their harvest. This means the chocolate beans they harvest are more expensive so the money can dribble back to them. The money helps open doors to development, gives children access to healthcare, education, and a decent standard of living. (go here! - http://fairtrademanitoba.ca/why/faq/)

Which makes me think... Is there such thing as Fair Trade iPods? Or Fair Trade iPhones? Or Fair Trade iPads? If Apple has an agreement with China to manufacture their products for a low cost, do the Chinese workers at the plants get a fair share of Apple's iBillion-dollar profits? Who/where can I get these answers?

Apple's Agenda:

2010, iPad = check

2011, iHeartFT = all Apple products will be Fair Trade certified

2015, iPatch = a handy device you put over your right eye (could be interchangeable with your left eye) that will simulate being IN the internet. Why browse the net when you can be IN it?

If you want another review of the iPad, check this link out. http://www.geektown.ca/2010/01/whats-missing-from-the-ipad.html - His review makes more sense than mine :)

Taking a break from designing the news...

2010-01-22T03:47:00.007-06:00

Today was a long day. Got home at 3:30am. My Thursday night was a long but was filled with thrill and excitement - I mean that.

As one of the production editors for the Projector, my job was to layout the news section of the paper and make sure the paper looked good. My job was pure aesthetics only. I had to make sure that all words aligned properly and that all picture and text boxes were perfectly put in place. This also included making sure that the entire page was filled up or at least lookes filled up with text. Laying out the news story with the pictures that came with them and the advertisements that must go in that particular page was like playing a puzzle. It was my job to make sure everything fit!

That being said, it was a good time laying it out. This issue was the last intern issue and we all had a blast doing it! I looked at it as a good way to practice what was yet coming for us in this semester. The magazine project was a big assignment and would involve a lot of layout and designing. In a way, the magazine project would be harder because there would be more pages to layout out and there was no clear cut way to design it. The Projector had grid lines and a specific layout structure that must be followed. We wouldn't have that on our magazine.

I am happy that Berea Henderson is part of my magazine group because "i've heard" that she is good in layout and plans to go into advertising. Jessica Cable and Brietta O'Leary are equally as great as, already, I am starting to see that their story ideas are super cool. I'm sure the decision of majoring in journalism will help them in their future careers. So to summarize, I think Charlie magazine has a well-rounded team of editors and I really can't wait until we have all our stories written, edited, and ready to go. The designing and laying out of it will be the cherry to the icing! lol.

I will leave you with some images I've seen today starting with what Berea had for lunch. Man, was I jealous! hehe.

She brought her own BBQ chicken wings! And she didn't even offer! :) But that's ok, what's a wingman to do??!?!?!?

Well, go for wings, of course!

Though I planned to try a new place this week, I ended up at a local hotspot. My justification? = easy to get to, no wait times, consistently good service, and amazing wings ALL THE TIME! Movado's Polo Park is attached to Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery - grab some wings today! (No, I am not affiliated with these companies, food just excites me.)

upper left corner: salt & pepper
lower left corner: BBQ
right: pineapple curry

left: hot-honey (combination of hot sauce and honey garlic sauces)
right: salt & pepper

Being the "Last Men" - In The Chamber play review at Rachel Browne Theatre

2010-01-15T21:29:00.008-06:00

A few of my fellow CreComms attended the Jan. 14 show of In The Chamber, a series about two men going through an identity crisis. The first of the series was Last Man in Universe Alpha - 11 written and performed by Gordon Tanner. The story was about an engineer investigating a hog barn fire at a Hutterite colony. The second of the series was Last Man in Puntarenas written and performed by Steven Ratzlaff. The story was about a man who used his retirement dinner to speak about his findings in Puntarenas. Though both stories were different, both men shared the common desire to get out of a state of imprisonment.

The show started with a pretty funny eye-opening scene which kinda set the mood. Comparing the two of the series, I identified with the first one more. The topic was about hog barns and the inhumane ways hogs were kept in their holding cages. I enjoyed bacon as much as the next guy but the way hogs were treated in these barns were definitely something everyone should be made aware of.

I thought both Tanner and Ratzlaff did a fine job up on stage. During the first scene, I realized that Tanner had been talking for 45 minutes and that he'd probably talk for about an hour. How does someone memorize an hour worth of lines? And it was a monologue!!! Wow! Obviously, these guys were seasoned actors so they knew what they were doing.

The evening was followed with a meet-and-greet and we were offered a couple of drink tickets to enjoy wine, beer, and delicious cheese. The evening was sponsored by Amphora Imports and Bothwell cheese. Needless to say, the cheese was amazing :)

As we walked away from the theatre that evening, I took away from the play that no matter what we do in life, we were always presented with choices. I believed that every single one of us has been equally empowered with the ability to choose right from wrong and the challenge lied in when to use that power given to us.

The message of the night: don't be the last man.

Chocolate / Tony Roma's wings

2010-01-14T16:17:00.007-06:00

As the new year unfolds, we are bombarded with projects that have to be completed before the semester ends.

I'm super pumped for both the magazine project and my IPP proposal. The magazine project alone is enough to keep busy during this semester as there are a lot of things my group has to plan and think about. Even after planning and actually doing what we need to do, I'm sure there are many things we could re-do to make our magazine really, really cool and professional.

For our magazine topic, we chose chocolates. I remembered when our group was just in the brainstorming stage for a concept and the topic of chocolate was pitched. We collectively thought it wouldn't be such an interesting idea since chocolate has to do a lot about food. At the end of our brainstorming, when all possible ideas had been exhausted, we reverted back to the chocolate idea as a fail-safe topic and wrote it on our proposal. We actually prepared to get shot down by panel and had the topic of magazine for university students as our second choice. Luckily, the panel approved our first choice and our group couldn't be any happier!

The birth of Charlie, our magazine's name was on Jan. 12, in electronic publishing class when Jessica Cable and Berea Henderson pitched the idea to me. The name was actually initially thought of by Jessica a few days back but was sadly missed. Jon Braun a.k.a. JB a.k.a. The Man from Niverland reiterated the idea to the girls and it stuck the second time :) The final approval came from Brietta O'Leary who heard the pitch last. When all four editors were on board, Charlie was born. So actually, the official birth date should be Jan.13.

Since then, the editors and I have come up with so many story ideas for the magazine and can't wait to get at it! The many cool things that will happen in the next few weeks give me enough reason to jump out of bed every morning and live life to the fullest... ok, maybe not that full... wings still do it for me.

So without further adieu, I leave you with some images of hope from my wing odyssey last night at Tony Roma's Pembina Hwy...

Asian Sesame - sweet Thai chili sauce w/sesame and flax seeds

Teriyaki - Tony Roma's in-house Teriyaki sauce w/sesame and flax seeds

Lemon Pepper - fresh lemon and pepper spice

First post of the year - PR & Ad in the flesh...

2010-01-10T22:30:00.010-06:00

So for my first post of twentyten I thought it would be nice to start off with some spirit.

I attended the Olympic torch ceremony at The Forks on Jan.5 and witnessed the torch being carried to the podium to light the cauldron that housed the flame during its stay here in Winnipeg. I was able to snap some pics with my cell though the quality was pretty low.

Though we didn't as close to the main stage as we would like to be, we were able to watch the big screens on top of the stage. We stood right in fron the CTV News crew and took a picture of Gord LeClerc and Sylvia Kuzyk, not sure who the girl in the middle is.

As I stood there I realized this was the kind of stuff we were learning in school: how to be in front of the camera and how to operate a camera. It was kinda neat to see it outside of our learning grounds and see how this stuff works in the real world of broadcast journalism. I don't plan to major in journalism but this stuff still interests me and seeing it right in front of me with all the people at a major public event was pretty cool! Who wouldn't want to be on that CTV stage dressed in Olympic gear to deliver the news fresh as it happens??? I'm sure that night was the highlight of their week lol.

As I enjoyed the community and Olympic spirit of hundreds of Winnipeggers around me, I couldn't, however, think of how much preparation it took to make this event actually happen. I'm sure it took a lot of PR and advertising for the event planners from start until they actually saw Noah Palansky running into The Forks with the torch that carried the flame that symbolized an entire country getting together. That single image, I'm sure, was worth all the trouble it took to arrange the event from start to finish with all its joys and all its problems.

So I wondered what certain things event co-ordinators had to do to make it a reality. Well, I'm guessing there must have been a pitch to have the event happen in the city, at The Forks; either Mayor Katz to the Olympic committee or the olympic committee to Mayor Katz. Either way, someone had to write a memo/letter of why this event would be beneficial to Winnipeg, Winnipeggers, and Olympic fans. Obviously, that letter was pretty convincing.

In an ad perspective, I noticed Coca-Cola was everywhere at the event. One might conclude that Coke is the official sponsor for the 2010 Olympics or was at least a major sponsor. So for this to happen, someone from Coca-Cola is the head of all Olympic advertisements, making sure that everything Coca-Cola pumps out in terms of add has a certain uniformity in their Olympic ads. The colour must be consistent, the tone of their ads, the length, the script, every ad should be equally as great as the rest. I'm also thinking about the ads they run at movie theatres before the main show... those "Believe" ads that they have seemed to share a common theme of supporting your Canadian athletes; very patriotic, very Canadian :)

As I stood in the crowd, I was filled with a certain warmness as excitement of the torch getting closer to the stage got a hold of everyone's attention and the noise from parking lot in front of Sushi Train got louder and louder. I looked around and I see Winnipeg all around me: different nationalities joining as one, calling Winnipeg their home and now together in the cold (actually it was only -21 that evening) to cheer for the torch coming, to cheer for Canada winning. What a night to remember!

The atrocities I witnessed in the last three weeks ~ was a good fight.

2010-01-02T01:25:00.013-06:00

Phew! Christmas Break was an awesome ride :)

Here are some of the things that made it complete!

I played Halo 3 on a 65-ft. screen.

I ate sushi ~ thanks sushi chef Tomo for inscribing my name with Sriracha sauce, haha!

I ate more than sushi.

I put up 1,300 lights.

I drank eggnog.

It was rich and creamy with cocoa...

I ate eggrolls.

I was able to squeeze in a wings nite.

Yes, they were delicious.

Then ate the mother of all wings.

At our huge Agpalza party

cuz it was Christmas

and we had everything Filipino, like this traditional pita and hummus (I'm kidding)

and this butter chicken from Emerald Palace

and Uncle Allen's 5* roastbeef

how about the Christmas ham? Wow huh?!

There was Caesar's salad

and two different dressings? Why, I don't know... We like options?

Of course, mashed potatoes and grrrravy baby yeah

and stuff-yo-face stuffing.

There were actually Filipino dishes too...

Like this Filipino 'pancit' which symbolizes long life - I don't think I ate enough of it :(

and this chow mein which I don't know what it symbolizes since it's not Filipino, haha - but it was still good!

Every Agpalza family gathering has one of these present: Heavenly Hash ice cream, all 11.4 litres of it!

That's what I survived on Christmas break! :) I haven't actually weighed in but I'm sure I've picked up at least 2lbs. along the way haha sweet!

Here's another cool picture: the Portage & Burnell liquor mart on Christmas eve - no joke, people had to line up to get in!

"The Means To An End"

2009-12-10T21:13:00.002-06:00

As I sit in W308 (my second home) I ponder the path Eman The Wingman has travelled in the past three months... and wow, have I learned a lot!!

A single blog will not hold the amount of information I've learned so I will not post it here. All I know is that I've changed a lot since sitting in that orientation room downstairs on our first day as CreComm students. Sitting here now, I could say that I had no clue how much invaluable things I'd be learning from that day: from PR to Ad to journalism to broadcasting to my grammar and writing - wowzers!

January 4th is when we come back. I heard semester two was supposed to be harder than semester one so I'm excited about that :( - Well, I guess at least I know what to expect!

Semester two here we go!!!

I was allowed to live.

2009-12-09T21:04:00.007-06:00

Today was pretty much the hardest day of the week and, probably, of the entire semester.

We wrote our PR and Ad exams today. It was highly anticipated. We studied until blood flowed from our eyes, ears, and noses. Team Ampersand was there til the end.

It was awesome studying with the team. We all got together and quizzed each other PR questions on life cycle of public opinion, principles of persuasion, theoretical models of PR, and Steve Dunkletooth's favouritest: 9 ways PR contributes to the bottom line. It was worth every drop of blood.

At the end of the day, all i can say is :) - the hard part is done.

Teriyaki Chicken Maki

2009-12-07T21:25:00.003-06:00

In addition to my love for chicken wings, I also have an-almost-addiction to sushi. I mean, who doesn't? Sushi is awesome. But I must admit, when I started eating sushi, I wasn't all 'gung ho' about it. I started with the cooked kind of sushi - teriyaki chicken which was basically a piece of breaded chicken breast in a sushi roll with teriyaki sauce; dynamite roll which was cooked shrimp with mayo and some fish roe.

I was super influenced by a Japanese friend who I was roommates with in dorm at Prov College in 2005. He taught me a lot about his culture and in turn, I taught him the difference between the words 'light' and 'right' because the Japanese language does not have 'l' sounds.

I chose Tomohito Ogasawara as the subject of my personality profile assignment for my journalism course. I thought Tom was particularly interesting to write about because of the challenges he had to overcome in order to fully integrate himself into North American living. His sense of humour was something that everyone remembered about him on top of his humility and determination.

I wish to honour him on my blog my posting his story here :) He is living proof that hard work and determination will get you where you want to be.

(photo taken from Access Winnipeg accesswinnipeg.com)

---

Tomohito Ogasawara

He sleeps in a t-shirt, a sweater, and jeans over his sweat pants. He also sets the room’s baseboard heater thermostat to the maximum 30 degrees Celsius before encasing himself in a cocoon of blanket. That is how Tom feels about Winnipeg weather. Few know him by his real name, Tomohito Ogasawara, as a lot of people are intimidated by its pronunciation and spelling, but the opposite can be said about Tom’s personality.

“He is friendly and good to everybody,” says Nikki Sung, one of the owners of Sushi Train At The Forks where Tom has worked as a Sushi Chef for the last three and a half years.

Tom moved from Nagoya City, Japan in January 2005 to pursue Biblical and Theological Studies at Providence College and Seminary in Otterburne, Manitoba to become a pastor. After a year and a half of college, Tom realizes the good life Canada has to offer and puts his studies on hold. He wants to get Canadian Immigration but first needs to work for a minimum of two years according to the standard requirements for his specific condition.

For Tom, hard work and dedication is engrained in his life. At 41 years old, he still likes to be challenged and to try different things. Learning english has been one of the toughest things he ever had to do.

“I hardly used English when I lived in Japan. Still, it takes time what I really want to say,” says Tom, correcting himself twice in mid-sentence before finishing.
Tom admits that not being able to put into words what he wants to say can be stressful at times. He keeps a pocket-sized, electronic translator that gives him word definitions, synonyms, and even their pronunciations.

Tom’s current challenge is undertaking piano lessons. He walks 20 blocks one way to get to his lessons every Tuesday because his bike was stolen.

He smiles as he says, “Most people take piano lessons when they’re kids. I want to try everything.”

When asked about Tom as a beginner piano student, piano teacher Don Kissick says, “He’s a very intense person. He likes to know exactly how things work in and out.” Kissick says he has to be careful how he words his sentences as Tom takes what he says very seriously.

Kissick continues, “Having worked for a Japanese company in the past, I know that his personality is unique for us, but it’s not that unique for Japanese people. When they do something, they do it, and Tom is like that.”

Tom left early October to visit Japan and said he would pick up on his lessons after one month of being gone. Kissick thought he would never see Tom again. Shortly after he arrives in Winnipeg, Tom calls Kissick and says he is ready to start again.

Jenny La is a waitress at Sushi Train At The Forks. She has known Tom for a year and a half. “He is a loyal friend,” says La. “Every time his friends come in, he always makes a special dish for them.”

When asked to describe Tom in one sentence, his roommate Aaron Griffiths says “Tom is a fastidious Christian gentleman of the Orient.” The two men met through a mutual friend and have shared a Roslyn Road apartment for the last two years.

Since moving to Canada, Tom has made numerous friendships. He never married and has had no children. During Christmas last year, Tom met his now girlfriend Miyako when she visited Winnipeg for the first time. 36-year-old Miyako Inoue is Tom’s first girlfriend. Since Inoue lives in Japan, they keep in contact through e-mail and internet chat.

“She’s not hot at all,” chuckles Tom with the revelation. “But I like her personality.” He has plans to bring Inoue to Canada if they marry.

Eventually, Tom would like to get his Canadian Citizenship, buy a car, and open a restaurant business in Winnipeg. For now, he will continue to walk to his piano lessons and finish the beginner level while staying warm the best he can.

Tom’s piano teacher summarizes him the best: “What you see is what you get.”

These Wings Were Made For Flying

2009-12-06T18:36:00.006-06:00

I have a semi-fictional story to tell you. Fictional in the sense that I changed the proper names but most of it is pretty factual :) So without further adieu, I give you: "Warrior"

Hope you enjoy this... I'm going to try to get it published and maybe have a read at McNally Robinson Polo Park wearing a red smoking jacket and a monocle by the fireplace.

---

The altimeter read 2,300 feet and climbing at 500 feet per minute. In that brief moment of time, on that clear sunny day, everything was in its place and things could not have been better. For Max, getting the Warrior safely off the ground was just one of the things on his agenda. Today, he would be climbing at an altitude of 8,000 feet over the small town of Vita, 25 miles northeast of Budapest to practice his upper air work, in preparation for his first cross country solo flight.
…
Max Paluzski was enrolled in one of Hungary’s top flight schools, András Aviation Academy, accredited for its safety record and noted for its world class pilots who were able to find jobs internationally. A select number of students were chosen each year to attend its specialized program. Selection was based on rigorous aptitude testing, behaviourial testing, stress management testing, and a final interview. Successful candidates went through a final test where they were put in an aviation simulator that recorded their reactions to potentially dangerous situations while flying at a speed of 170 knots – the equivalent groundspeed of 311 km/h.
Max was one of the lucky ones. Every year, the academy accepted 150 new students to their highly advanced training program. Thousands apply each year and only those who displayed the exemplary skills and potentials were accepted. Max had been dreaming of getting into the academy since graduating high school. His parents’ death from a tragic accident when he was 16 years old had made an indelible impact in his life that he needed to prove to himself he could do anything he set out for himself to accomplish. And completing the flight program at András Aviation Academy is one of them.
Growing up, Max Paluzski never once thought he’d be enjoying the sun’s warmth inside the cockpit of a Cessna Piper Warrior cruising at 100 knots. As a child, Max dreamed a lot. He dreamed of being a doctor curing diseases; a fireman putting out flames; a businessman owning one of the biggest franchises on earth; and amongst these boyhood dreams was to become an airline pilot, touring and exploring the world. Max was sheltered from the outside world; was raised in Bulacan, a small town in the countryside, 45 miles southeast of Riga, Latvia. His parents, both teachers in the local elementary school, taught him the values of hard work, perseverance, and humility. Max only saw the outside world through pictures and heard about other townsfolk’s experiences through their stories. His dreams and ambition were his only connection to the world outside Bulacan. It was something that, at the end of the day, he could escape to; without having rules or boundaries.
…
As the vertical speed indicator reached his desired climb speed of 900 feet per minute, Max opened the throttle to 2500 rpm, leveling off the Warrior at its ideal cruise setting. As he checked the cockpit’s gauges, he looked out the window caught a glimpse of the ground below him. Straight lines outlined perfect squares and rectangles of land that stretched as far as the eyes could see. The roads that lined the plots of land ran perfectly along the four cardinal points as if designed by Mother Nature. There were no two sections of earth that were alike. Each one had its own distinct colour and topography. The lighter ones in shade were farmlands inhabited by families and their livestock. The sections darker in shade were coloured by the trees and bushes that occupied the space. Max knew that in the unfortunate event of an emergency, landing staying away from the darker shaded land increased his chances of landing the plane safely and surviving an emergency situation.
As Max turned his attention back to the dials inside the plane, he was reminded of an experience he had a month ago that could have ended his training at the academy. As a prerequisite before being able to fly solo in the Warrior, students had to perform and get out of dangerous situations airplanes could fall into. One of them was called the spiral. When a plane’s nose was slightly pointed down, and its wing banked on one side, the plane could easily slip into a spiral maneuver. This was experienced as the plane spiraled in a circular motion, still upright, gaining speed as it got closer to the ground. If an unwary pilot did not realize the situation he was in, the control stick eventually gets too hard to pull, too difficult to correct and would cause the plane to crash crushing its passengers instantly due to the great speed upon impact. To get out of the spiral, the pilot must act quickly. Closing the throttle would put the engine on idle then he must straighten the wings to its neutral position while pulling the nose of the plane back up to level with the horizon. Max barely got out of the last spiral he put himself in and realized after that quick reflexes was a pilot’s best quality. After landing the Warrior, he took a second to pray and thank God for keeping him safe. It was another experience to learn from nonetheless.
The altimeter reading was now at 8,400 feet above sea level. The vertical speed indicator showed a climb rate of 50 feet per minute. Max overshot his target altitude by 400 feet. He closed the throttle and pointed the nose down to lose the extra height. As he descended, he quickly scanned the outside surrounding for traffic including other aircraft and birds flying into his path. His instructor warned him about birds. At that speed and altitude, the damage of a bird hitting the plane was equivalent to the damage of a wrecking ball smashing into a brick wall. Once clear, he set the throttle back to cruise speed of 2500 rpm. Max did another cockpit scan for his gauges. He checked the airspeed. He checked the altimeter; now at 8,000 feet. He checked the rpms and the vsi again. Then, he did a quick scan outside the window before his radio call.
“Budapest control, this is Cessna Piper Delta Tango Alpha. Current position is two miles south of Vita at 8,000 feet doing upper air work. Delta Tango Alpha.”
Within half a second of Max’s radio call to dispatch, he began his final maneuver into the spin. He grabbed the throttle, cutting engine power. He pulled the knob out for carburetor heat to keep the engine warm. As he pulled the control stick back as far as it could go, the buzz of the stall horn came on indicating a nose dive was imminent. Perfect entry he thought. As the nose pointed toward the ground below him, he threw in full right aileron bank putting the Warrior in a full, perpendicular downward spin headed straight to the ground. With a half-smile, Max loudly recited the maneuvers to correct the situation he imposed on himself:
“Full right rudder. Straighten wings. Pull up!”
As the Warrior stabilized to straight flight, he slowly added engine power and turned off the carburetor heat. He executed the commands flawlessly. The only way to survive an airplane in a spin was to do all the commands in the right order, in the right timing. Max ended the exercise with another radio call. He announced his altitude at 6,500 feet flying westbound with a location two miles of south of Vita. After getting his bearings, he headed back to base just in time for lunch.
…
Upon entering the room, the immediate aroma of ketchup filled the air. For any lunch time, the smell of ketchup meant two things: French fries and grilled cheese. The lineup for food was long, as Max had expected. At twelve thirty, the cafeteria was the only place any student should be. As Max jumped in line, he spotted Rikard Penner and Andreas Campbell at the condiment station. Rikard and Andreas was busy talking about their morning flight as they ladled ketchup on their French fries. Max yelled out their names and swiped two grilled cheese sandwiches and some fries onto his plate and caught up with the boys at the table.
Sitting at the table were the three student pilots who had been friends since the first day of school. As they enjoyed the greasy lunch, Max recalled meeting Andreas in dorm. Andreas and Max met in the dormitories where they were assigned roommates. Rikard shared a room at the end of the hall with a quiet fellow from China named John Lau. While in Jansen Hall, in the east wing of the Bergen Hall dormitory, Max made a few friendships that he didn’t know would cultivate into something more meaningful. The three were all enrolled in the advance program of aeronautical acrobatics and together found a commonality amongst them; a sense of community, a brotherhood. Yet, it was at the cafeteria table, that same corner table by the far wall where the three had the chance to catch up and talk about their day. As loud chatter from the other students at the other tables filled the room, Rikard, Andreas, and Max talked about their morning by discussing the difficulties of the exercises and the requirements that need to be fulfilled before finally being permitted to go on a cross-country solo flight in the Warrior. Rikard admitted he needed more practice with spins while Andreas, being the more advance of the three said the slow flight exercise was really easy. Max found his skill level between Rikard and Andreas. He found some of the exercises as difficult as Rikard described but was also quick to learn like Andreas. Being all 24 years old, the three were inseparable; when one ate, all three ate. When one slept, all three slept. All of them even shared the same love for Halo 3, as a past time when they were not flying. After lunch, the trio walked back to Bergen Hall. Tuesday was a short day; flight training in the morning and flight planning in the afternoon. It was an easy day for them.
…
Back in the Hansen wing, the dorm came alive. Each wing has 16 rooms. Each room boarded two students. When thirty two guys were kept in the same confines, nothing got done. Dorm was a place for rest, relaxation, brotherhood, and a place where the boys could just be boys. The afternoon between lunch and dinner was known as Halo o’clock when the wing’s IT network was put to good use. Thirty two combatants clog the virtual space as they shot, sliced, and blew each other up through the video game carnage that was Halo 3. As you walked through the halls of Jansen, all you saw was the glare that emanated from the TV screens in the rooms and the sound of loud kablams and kabooms as bombs and rockets blew bodies up into mangled pieces tossed up in the air. Nothing unified the dorm like a good round of Halo 3. As the game unfolded, Max and Andreas had ganged up on Rikard and his quiet roommate from China. This was where Max’s abilities limited him. Video games were not something he was good at. Though he played a lot when he was a boy, video games were something that Max quickly grew out of. When his parents died in a horrific plane crash, Max had to grow up even faster. He no longer enjoyed doing the simple things that boys his age enjoyed like going out with friends, watching movies, and even riding his bike. Accepting his parents’ death was difficult for Max to deal with and was constantly thinking why it had to happen to him. Their death could have been avoided had the airline pilot choose not to drink before climbing into the cockpit. The grisly sounds of the video games made Max realize he was losing at Halo 3. He put the game controller down because the sheer violence reminded him of the loss of the two most important people in his life. It was a good time for him to grab his backpack and study. He politely excused himself from the room and headed out for the library.
It was close to six o’clock. The sun was about to set on the clear September evening and the skies were filled with beautiful hues of red-orange, purple, and yellow, as the light of the sun slowly retreated in the distant horizon. The wind was calm and the gentle rustle of leaves could be heard on the field across the academy’s main building. As he approached the entrance, he saw a crowd of guys huddled around the TV screens mounted on the walls set to televise news from around the world. As he entered, all he could hear was a news reporter stating the situation of the war had been escalated to a state of emergency. The Americans had declared war over Germany. Living in Hungary, its government was loyal to that of Germany, as part of its commonwealth. The Germans were in desperate need for pilots. According to the chief flight commander of the András Aviation Academy, all qualified students would be assigned on a mission to aid in the war. All those who had completed their upper air work exercises would be assigned to a fly with a flight instructor to aid in humanitarian purposes. They would be flying into the warzone to drop supplies.
Max could not believe his ears as the announcement sent the students in the academy’s main lobby in a frenzy of confusion. Suddenly, everyone erupted in a barrage of questions only to be shut down by the chief flight commander as he stated only those who qualified would have their names appear on the TV screens. As Max desperately tried to process and digest the information he just received, it crossed his mind that Rikard and Andreas were still in the dorm, playing Halo 3, engrossed in their virtual world while real people were about to be sent out to experience the real thing, out in the real world just a few hundred kilometers outside the safety of the academy.
Max, filled with determination, was reminded by a flash of a recent picture of his parents and found the courage to walk up to the TV monitor to check for his name. He knew exactly where he was in his training and expected his name to be on that list. He waited a few seconds as the list got to the section of the alphabet where his last name should be. The monitor read: Paluzski, Max: qualified specialist, acrobatics major, solo flight ready.
In that brief moment of time, everything was in its place. For Max, this was the break he was looking for; a moment to prove that he could do what he set out for himself to do. As he stood in the lobby, he clenched his fists as if to muster the strength from his feet as the chief looked at him. Without the exchange of words, he gave Max the affirmation he needed.
For Max, getting the Warrior safely off the ground was just one of the things on his agenda that evening.

Try this: Crack-Stuffed Chicken

2009-12-04T15:03:00.009-06:00

If you thought I was talking about crack - as in cocaine - you were right!

A man Guatemala was arrested in a Virginia airport dec.4 for carrying a cooked chicken stuffed with more than four thousand dollars worth of cocaine.

I originally found the news on Canadian Press' newswire but here is the article from a web URL:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34273476/ns/local_news-washington_dc/

Customs officials say the 32-year-old Guatemalan citizen was detained at Dulles International Airport in McLean, Va., last Saturday after authorities found 60.4 grams of cocaine inside a fully-cooked chicken he was carrying on a flight coming from El Salvador.

When inspectors examined the cooked poultry, they found a white powdery substance inside two small plastic bags stored inside the chicken's cavity.

The drugs have a street value of about $4,300, officials said.

While unusual, last weekend's episode is certainly not rare. In fact, one may be surprised at the lengths people continue to go to conceal narcotics.

---

Haha, what a guy!...

I guess he was thinking the idea wasn't going to be suspicious but that's more of something people do when travelling on a bus. I mean, who brings a whole chicken to a flight? Haha, what a guy!

Bottom of the priority list and taking the shot

2009-12-04T14:59:00.004-06:00

I took the H1N1 shot today. It took 2 minutes.

(but i didn't administer it on myself like this roidmonkey did) photo taken from:http://s3.images.com

What bothered me was that students didn't really take full advantage of the free shot that was offered on campus today!

"OTTAWA — If every Canadian heeds the advice of public health officials to get the H1N1 shot, there will not be enough vaccine available by Christmas as the federal government has been promising, the chief public health officer acknowledged Tuesday."

- http://www.canada.com/health/Feds+promise+H1N1+shot+Canadians+Christmas/2233699/story.html

I know people have a lot of concerns when taking needles/shots and how it would react with their bodies but the general consensus is: eveyone should take the flu shot.

Given that health officials were saying there weren't enough shots to give out to every Canadian if they opted for it was a concern in its self. But students not taking it when it was offered to us, on our own convenience, was kinda ridiculous. I do understand that people, of course, have the choice of whether or not they wanted the flu vaccine, but considering the demand for it was similar to throwing out food when other people were starving around the world.

Tell me if I was wrong to think this way, but perhaps like me being on the bottom of the list, people felt the need to reserve the shot for someone else that needed it.

Does this make me feel selfish? A little bit. But I also want to make sure I don't catch the flu and spread it. If the doctors and health officials say we need to take the shot to protect ourselves, I just don't understand why people wouldn't do it. There's no catch here, it's not like their gonna send you telemarketing promos cuz you entered your name and phone no. on the application form! It's to improve your immune system and protect yourself!!! So take it!

Lack of Wings In My Life

2009-12-04T09:08:00.002-06:00

I've said it and it sucks....

There has been, in fact, a lack of chicken wings in my life. This event could be blamed on school and its many insanities :)

Lately, we've been pounded with many assignments and exams to study for. It's insane the amount of stuff we need to juggle in the past couple of weeks and now it's exam time - it's final crunch time!

I know a lot of people are freaking out because of all the stuff we need to accomplish. I think there's a word they use when you're feeling this way. Oh yeah, "overwhelmed"... or is it "suicidal"? I'm sure they're direct synonyms... (by the way, I was joking about the suicidal bit. Please don't report me to a helpline for this).

But going back to talking about my emotions, I definitely feel the pinch (in my brain). And because I also got the flu shot, my arm is starting to hurt.

Thanks for listening :)

It's no chicken tweet!

2009-11-25T11:34:00.002-06:00

Ahhh! It's funny how I told myself I wouldn't get a Twitter account cuz I thought it was silly. The main reason really is that I wouldn't have to check Facebook, Hotmail, GMail, and now Twitter. Great :) But I guess in the world I live in, this is expected of me.

I come on board Twitter with high hopes and great enthusiasm. Watch out folks, Eman is making his way in full force.

One thing I'd like Twitter to change though is their platform for mobile tweets. I'm one of those guys who has yet to sign up for a data phone. As much as possible, I'll try to keep my life simple with a regular PCS cell. I'm afraid that if I jump onto a data device, I'd stop using speech to communicate. I mean I'd be glued to my data phone and send messages through it to communicate. I figure I'd save it after school when I'm actually working.

I'll try to be 'old school' if I may say so cuz I know once I cross over, I'll never go back!

Another concern I have about all this technoplanet we live in is this article:

Winnipeg Free Press - http://shar.es/aKC7P

Scary man!

Earls' Taser Wings

2009-11-06T13:32:00.007-06:00

Last week, a buddy (Steve D) and I stopped by Earls Restaurant in St. Vital for a quick bite after being exhausted from a city hall meeting and doing interviews at St. Vital mall for our journalism assignment.

We ordered a pound of Thai chicken wings while discussing our angle on the presence of Tasers in our Winnipeg Police Service. We sat in the lounge and enjoyed the ambiance that is distinctively Earls; nice, comfortable furniture, open space, plasma screen TVs, and friendly waitresses.

When the wings came, they looked a deep glossy brown. The wings were smaller than I have imagined them to be. I guess it had been a long time since I've had wings at Earls. Nevertheless, I wanted to see how they'd measure up to the other places I've gone for wings.

Unfortunately, at first bite at a wing portion (the one with two bone pieces) I noticed the bones were cracked. Considering the size of the wings was small, I concluded that Earls simply does not measure up. The flavour wasn't all that bad. I expected the Thai flavour to be sweeter and spicier like the Thai chili sauce you buy from oriental stores.

My wing experience wasn't all that great because of the broken bones and lack of flavour in the wings. No one wants to see bone marrow. I think Earls, being the classy restaurant that they try to be, can spend a bit more on higher quality wings. I'm sure I can find a few people that would agree.

Nevertheless, half of the reason I go for wings is to also enjoy the company I am with. I'm reminded of a saying one of my best friends always say: "It's never the activity, always the company." Steve and I discussed good angles to write our journalism story on Tasers and issues and concerns people have about them and more importantly, why people should care.

The fact that a Polish immigrant died in Vancouver in 2007 showed how Tasers can easily be misused. Our Winnipeg Police Service has had these devices since 2008. The issue regarding Tasers right now is for police officers to have access to defibrillators when using Tasers. This recommendation comes from the actual company that makes these devices (Taser International) and should not be ignored.

So really, the bigger issue is if Winnipeg Police should really be using these devices since we all know not all police officers have immediate access to defibrillators since only paramedics and emergency vehicles have them. In the event that a police officer chases a guy armed with a knife down the alley and not have access to a defibrillator, should he then rule out using the Taser altogether?

The topic of Tasers was a really good topic and through my interviews I found out that most people are against it. Maybe because this technology is new and most people don't really know how they work. In the event of the Vancouver airport tradegy, could have definitely been avoided if RCMP officers where more trained and knowledgeable of these devices.

Nevertheless, wings and Tasers were a good combination. I should suggest to Earls having a flavour called "Taser" on their wing menu would probably bring a good variety to my bland, yet classy, wing experience.

Chicken and Text Short Codes

2009-10-14T00:49:00.022-05:00

...Have nothing to do with each other.

Unless KFC starts using text short codes on the side of a 20-piece bucket to promote a contest.

For those of you that don't have a clue what I'm talking about then read on.

The Skinney: My Adverstising class chose this topic based on the fact that short codes are everywhere right now and it is a growing product in the mobile electronics industry. Text short codes affect every one who owns a cell phone device. It doesn't matter what country or region you're in, text short codes are rampant everywhere and could easily end up on your next cell phone bill.

Text short codes are text messages that come into your cell phone inbox because you have recently participated in a contest or signed up for those personality quizzes you see online using your mobile device.

Our group conducted primary research by interviewing Marc Choma, Director of Communications at Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA); an association that regulates text short codes in Canada. In addition to this, we subscribed to actual text short code services currently being offered in the market as promotions. After this, we conducted a survey to the target market (13-15yr olds) to confirm our findings.

Secondary research included finding other examples of text short code "scams" and examples of advertisements that purposely mislead consumers from the fine print.

Well, if you haven't figure it out, there is a charge for using this service and you won't see the charges until your monthly cell phone bill is printed and sent to you in the mail. If that is the case, unsubscribing is as easy as how you participated in the first place.

How to Opt Out: All you need to do is get the 5-digit short code number from your inbox (this is the number that appears in the "From" section of the text message) and reply the word STOP (just type in S-T-O-P without any punctuations or anything else) and you will be automatically unsubscribed. If you did it correctly, a final text message will be sent to your inbox confirming you successfully opted out of the service.

At this point, rejoice. The hard part is done. Now, all you have to do is pay your cell phone bill. If you think you're a good (and loyal) customer with your cell phone service provider, then go ahead and call them and explain the situation to them. Most of the time, they will give you some money back especially if it is your first offense. Remember, it is not your cell phone provider's fault this happened. They did not sign you up nor give out your cell number out. Only you can stop this and must be done from the cell phone.

Avoid! What everyone needs to take away from this is BE AWARE of what you're doing or signing up for when it comes to your cell phone number. Remember, your cell phone number is still private and personal so you shouldn't easily share it. You have the right as a consumer to ask or question the purpose of a retail cashier for asking your information. Some stores just use your cell phone number to identify you as a customer and pull up your account based on that number. My opinion is only give out your cell number to friends and family and for everything else: give out your landline number. If your cell phone is your primary number then you would just have to be careful who you give it to. Worst case scenario, you can see your service provider for a number change. There might be a fee to change your number but will be money well spent in the end. Of course you will have to contact all the peeps in your address book but that's kinda the point of the exercise... only contact the people you want to give your new number to.

To summarize: Stay away from text short codes and any promotion that require you giving out your cell phone number or having to text in an answer using sms (short message service). So again, short codes = bad. Chicken = good.

Five Days of Fowl Feast

2009-10-13T23:48:00.010-05:00

Yup, 5 days. Let's just get to the nitty gritty of the story cuz I've rated all 5 experiences right here... After all, I'm not Eman The Wingman if I didn't talk about the wings!

Wednesday, Oct. 07
Location: Shannon's Irish Pub & Eatery
The Deal: $10 will get you one pound of wings and a glass of Mooesehead, no substitutes with the beer -- I know...
The Verdict: I would rate these almost-warm, near tasteless wings a 2 out of 5 *'s. This was my first time at Shannon's and my rule is always never judge a place on the first try. Allow them room for error. It's kinda like the principle "Never judge a book by its cover." But since this was my first time and they must be rated, then I'll give them a ** out ***** for now and leave it at that until next time. For now, I haven't closed the book on Shannon's. Actually, this was also probably because the local talent, J. Williamez, kept me entertained during my stay.

Thursday, Oct. 08
Location: Movado Sports Bar & Grill
The Deal: 39cents per wing with minimum 10 wings per order per flavour
The Verdict: **** out of 5. Movado wings could always be depended on to be hot and fresh and rarely do the girls mess up on your order. The flavour is exactly as it's stated, no surprises. They lose a * for service as it usually takes flagging your waitress (which they hate) to get their attention. Sorry, next time I won't use my shirt as a flag to get you to refill my Diet Coke. Hehe, jk, I didn't take my shirt off nor do I drink Diet Coke.

Friday, Oct. 09
Location: Mitzi's Chicken Finger Restaurant
The Deal: $8.99 will get you the 5-piece chicken finger meal with fries, coleslaw, and spectacular mayo-dill sauce. And yes, consommé to start.
The Verdict: Don't judge me! I realize I was just here 8 days ago... For me, it's not a treat; it's a way of life. Haha, plus 8 days later is like 6 mos in the restaurant industry since we always have to eat.
Ok, so the verdict... Remember how we say always give a restaurant room for error? Room to screw up? Well, this place always produces the best chicken fingers. I could care less about the fries and the coleslaw. The place is called Mitzi's Chicken Finger Restaurant, not Mitzi's Fry (or Coleslaw) Restaurant! Haha.
I'll give em **** and a half out of 5 :)

Saturday, Oct. 10
Location: 792 Garfield St.
The Deal: Ok, this is one of two turkey dinners... My buddy cooked a 20-lbs. turkey for me and 11 other people. Cooked with salt, pepper, and butter, the product was turkey perfection! Not bad for a first time for my buddy! The meat was flavourful though the breast and other white meat were in the verge of drying out. Still good.
The Verdict: I'd give it *** and a half out of 5. The half was only because my buddy has three (unsharpened) Samurai swords hanging on his wall and is not afraid to use em -- we made him cut his cake with one on his birthday. That was hilarious!

Sunday, Oct. 11
Location: 18 Cutler Bay
The Deal: Family, food, and fun. Enough said.
The Verdict: I always kinda get sentimental when my family gets together. I'm not sure if it's because of seeing all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my 91 year-old grandma all get together under one roof or because there's so much food. I can never tell. My uncle makes all the difference I think. He is English and married my Filipina aunt so in our family, he is turkey king. I appreciate him regardless.
So that said, I give this fowl experience ***** out of 5. Highly likable because I didn't overdose on the tryptophan in the turkey this year! Hehe.
(Tryptophan is the amino acid found in turkey that causes you to feel sleepy.)

Thanksgiving Day wasn't really one of my favourite holidays but this year proved that overeating wasn't as scary as I thought! Haha, jk... maybe next blog I could talk about ice cream cuz I had 3 types of ice cream on apple pie this weekend. Yup, pies and ice cream... next blog topic fo sho!

The World's Best Chicken Fingers... In The World!

2009-09-29T23:20:00.008-05:00

Let me talk about another passion of mine... it belongs to the same genus: chickenus friedisha and was almost the focus of my blog :)

Upon entering the restaurant my buddy and I are greeted by same waitress that serve us on countless occasion we eat at Mitzi's... and yet I do not know her name.

This was our favourite place to go for chicken fingers. The fingers were handmade (go figure!) in-house apparently by the owner, Shirley Eng herself! (More info at: http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/business/business_profiles/mitzis/)

For those who haven't been, let me just go on to say Mitzi's chicken fingers are the best in town. Not only are the fingers marinated in a 'super secret' recipe made by Shirley, they are also made fresh. The fingers are tender and unlike most fingers you get elsewhere, Mitzi's fingers aren't flat!

If you order any finger platter combo (choose between fries, rice, or salad) you are started off with rice consommé which is a type of soup made up of rice, soy sauce, and fresh green onions. Don't let the description fool you... the soup itself is delicious as it is interesting to look at (the green onions contrast with the dark-coloured broth).

Shortly after enjoying the soup, our unnamed waitress brings out our identical order of '5-piece with fries.' The other good thing about eating at Mitzi's is the speed of service. Because they are located downtown (St. Mary at Garry), lunchtime is their craziest time. Unfortunately, they do not accept reservations during lunch as it gets really busy so avoiding the rush between 11:30am to 1pm would be a smart idea.

As I look at my mouth-watering platter, I quickly check and make sure I got the mayo-dill sauce and coleslaw. I call it mayo-dill because unlike honeydill, Mitzi's dipping sauce is not clear. It looks like a mayo-like concoction with the little dill herbs swimming in it. The viscosity of their mayo-dill is also different from traditional honeydill so the experience is bound to be different! lol.

The coleslaw, however, is left to be debated. To me it's kinda hit or miss. I really like fresh coleslaw, unlike the green stuff you get from KFC. But the coleslaw at Mitzi's, to my experience, is sometimes not enjoyable because of its lack in the freshness department. Sometimes it just doesn't have that 'zing' coleslaw brings in your mouth.

Nevertheless, the fries, fingers, and mayo-dill are the elements that make my Mitzi's experience satisfying. As long as all three elements are okay then my mouth is smiling and another tick under Mitzi's is added for the best chicken fingers in the whole wide world.

poultry quality

2009-09-20T21:21:00.005-05:00

hot, fresh, and prepared to order -- what else do you want?

I was amazed by the wings I got. I had to wait a few minutes before diving into the basket cuz the wings were fresh and steaming hot! And when I say fresh I don't mean dripping with oil it was cooked in; I mean the wings must have been cooked and seasoned just moments before they were served to me. Whenever this happens, I get really excited. It makes any wing-lovers dining experience extra special and I'm sure a lot of people would agree. For me, the feeling is more of as if they knew I was coming and the cooks stood by; waiting for me to put my order through and prepared my wings as soon as they got the order. Sounds cheesy I know but what can I say? I'm a sentimental kinda guy lol.

Try the teriyaki... you won't regret it. I normally stay away from teriyaki wings unless I know the teriyaki was hand-prepared by an old woman in her Japanese house making the sauce with authentic ingredients from her backyard. I'm kinda picky. Nevertheless, Tony Romas' teriyaki sauce is a good substitute. They don't use the regular gooey stuff you get from Superstore. Instead, they have a special teriyaki sauce they apparently make in-house. I thought that was cool but the wings will speak for itself -- the sauce is not sticky and it doesn't overcoat the wings (or your face for that matter!) when you nibble on them. The flavour is very oriental; with the touch of soy and subtlety of what I think is ginger. Who knows?! All I know is that this is the only place I'd go for teriyaki wings.

Bottom line is that their wings are top-notch quality (and the service too) that I'd ask them to cater my wedding! Soup, salad, or chicken wings ma'am???

Wing Etiquette.

2009-09-13T22:12:00.001-05:00

Once you get past the point that approx. 5 chickens had to die just so you can enjoy a pound of your favourite wings then you're off to a good start! Actually, I'm more after the idea that I didn't the good pieces of the chicken that I feel I'm in such a loss...

Anyhow, for those of you holding back on chicken wings because, well, they're just messy little buggers! Here's a tip on how to eat them with the least number of fingers involved. Even the queen would approve! Ha! Don't quote me on that.

Actually, I don't recommend that technique to the ladies because it doesn't look lady-like to pummel a wing with their fingers. Besides, aren't you worried you'd get wing bits in your nails???

Instead, grab a wing portion (the one with two bones) and you can apply the same principle of "The Plunger" technique except push the meat from one side to the other while holding the wing portion at both ends.

Eventually, I'll post a video of me demonstrating the technique here. Or better yet, go out and do it yourself!!! Should be fun... so fun, you'll want to strip the meat off other people's wings too! Good luck!

Kicker

2009-09-10T23:08:00.004-05:00

A mix of lemon pepper and cajun. That's the feature tonight.

It's been a while since we last went to Smitty's on Ellice for wings. I forget about the wing features and how clever the guys in the kitchen could be by mixing ready-made flavours with spices and call it the feature of the day. Awesome! Haha.

So tonight, I ordered the feature and my same choice of electric honey. The order got to us quick - same time as we got our drinks. Normally, of course, I'd order beer with it but since we all went out last night to Shannon's with all of Section 1, I ordered a Diet Coke instead.

The wings got to us quick - same time as our drinks. That's what's good about Smitty's... you can expect the service to be quick. There had been some nights when service had been slow and poor altogether but tonight was a good experience.

We were served by some girl named Faye. I've never seen her before, then again it had been a while since we went there. It's funny though how goin for wings at Smitty's Ellice has never changed. I still see the same Smitty's regulars who frequent the place for some late night snacking. It's sad really and even worse, I'm part of that crowd. Haha.

Anyway, the feature was good and the electric honey was extra slimey tonight -- too much honey... or too much electric??? I don't know, it was good nevertheless.