Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Hope Sweet Hope

Hope Sweet Hope

Thursday, December 2nd is Holidays By Design, organized by DIFFA/KC (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). There will be a silent auction of about a hundred one-of-a-kind holiday wreaths designed and sponsored by various firms in the design industry, at the Restoration Hardware on the Plaza from 5:30pm - 9pm. Here's the wreath I created, sponsored by TakeTwo. It is made out of almost 5 pounds of candies, and hung over a frosted mirror. Entitled "Hope Sweet Hope", it is dedicated to all the 2.2 million children with AIDS in the world this holiday season. To whoever won the bid on this wreath, THANK YOU!
Let's not forget that December 1st is World AIDS Day. Let us ask ourselves, have I done anything to help fight this disease?

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Stylish Buddha

Stylish Buddha

This one came from Suba this morning. She took this picture of the statue in her garden. Looks like mink is back this season. This time with a full ensemble of high collar coat and furry hat. It is simply divine!

Still Snowing...

Still Snowing...

A total of 4 inches of snow is already on the ground at around 8am, and we're still getting more. This is taken from the entrance to my house, looking out to the street at my big tree. The snow is wet and heavy. I talked to Suba over the phone this morning and apparently, she had already gotten an e-mail invitation to go to a snowball fight! (I bet this type of snow is best for making snowball.) That's insane! I'm going back to bed.

First (Thunder)snow of the Season

This year's weather has been rather strange. I think we had the most the-weather-is-so-beautiful-I-wish-I-could-take-the-rest-of-the-day-off days this year. Very mild spring. Comfortable summer. And gorgeous and stretched out autumn. The foliage has never been so vibrant. Just last week, we had a balmy near 70 day in mid November! Of course, mother nature decided to surpise us with an early snow right before Thanksgiving. It was just rain earlier, but now the sound of rain is gone, and rain has totally changed into big white flakes. (Wow, I just heard the rumbling sound of thunder!) I think the snow and thunder combination is a rare phenomenon. Looks like the ground is not cold enough for any accumulation, but the grassy area has been blanketed already with snow. It is always fun to wake up in the morning and not knowing what to expect outside the window. It is even doubly fun, if you don't have to go to work that morning. Hurray!

Friday, November 19, 2004

Priceless Juxtaposition

Priceless Juxtaposition

While I was shopping at Costco today, I came across something rather amusing. As usual, I took my regular route, sweeping the big aisle anti-clockwise, and never fail to stop at the big stacks of DVDs. As I was scanning through the titles to see what's new and what's cheap, I found Showtime's female version of Queer As Folk, the first season of "The L Word". And there in front of my eyes, underneath the pink and the oh-so-lipstick boxsets, were the discs of "The Passion of the Christ!" Was it a coincident, or perhaps a joke?
I was glad that I had my newly acquired spy-cam (code name 007) handy, and got a shot of this funny picture. I guess, this is perhaps a simple illustration of the fact that, even though we're living in the middle of the "red state", there is still some "pink" among us. And they're not afraid to be on top.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Fanta Girls Video

This is the highlight video of the Fantanas at the 2004 TakeTwo Halloween party. Weren't they look fabulous? I'm sure Edna Mode would agree. They were all so giddy because of all the attentions they got from the fans and Paparazzi, especially Kiki. She did a Crouching Tiger move as she was getting off the stage which took the girls by surprise. (Notice how everyone stayed in character even during the moment of crisis. As long as thier wigs were on.)

Monday, November 08, 2004

Edna Mode, Dahling!

Edna Mode, Dahling!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Incredibles, the new Pixar animation that opened last weekend, I saw it twice on the same day. Just like the rest of the Pixar creations, the movie has both great visuals and amazing story. This is the first time we get to see human characters play the lead roles, and they are absolutely fantastic and believable. One the characters that tickles me the most is Edna Mode, the 3'8" superhero fashion consultant. (Brilliantly voiced by the director, Brad Bird himself!) There is a list of names out there that most critics suggest the character was based upon. The most mentioned is Hollywood's legendary costume designer, Edith Head. (Left) However, I think Edna reminds me of the fashion editor, Regina Krumm, in Pret-a-Porte , played by Linda Hunt. (Right) And I'm sure those over-sized glasses are from the late fashionista Carrie Donovan. Who else, Dahling. Edna's character is further enhanced by her fabulous mid-century modern inspired futuristic home that's filled with sleek minimal furniture. I wonder how she cooks, since she's shorter than her kitchen counter top.

Monday, November 01, 2004

The Real Deal

The Real Deal

Here's the real girls in case you don't know who the heck are the
Fantanas. I think we have better legs.

Wanta Fanta?

Wanta Fanta?

So here you go, our Halloween costumes -- The fantastic Fantanas!
Sophia (John Ong), Lola (me), Capri (Will) and Kiki (John Sims). The
are more photos to come, I'm sure. This one is taken by a professional
photographer.

Trick or Treat?

Well, Halloween came and went, and it was one of the most memorable one because my parents were here experiencing it for the first time. There are probably less then 10 children on our blook, but somehow, kids from don't know where just appear every year during this time. I mean bus loads of them! We decided to go to the 6pm Mass at the Cathedral because none of us wanted to get up too early after the big party at TakeTwo on Saturday night, (which I will talk about it in the future posting). The first group of trickortreaters showed up as we were leaving at around 5:30pm. So, I said, "Tough luck. Go to the next door." Less then 2 hours later, as we were entering our block, there were cars parked on both sides of the street, and trickortreaters everywhere, in the chilly rainy evening. As I was getting into my house, my neighbor dashed out and said, "I'm turning my lights off. All my 200 pieces of candies are gone! You're taking over." So we did. Between 7:30pm to about 9pm, we gave out about 200 candies! In other words, about 400 kids showed up in less then 4 hours! I was glad that we didn't miss the crowd because it's a culture not to be missed if you're not from the US and I want my parents to have the chance to give out candies to the kids. They not only gave out candies, they alsio took quite a few pictures of the cute trickortreaters. And they also took some of their own, in costumes. They seemed to have a good time. I'm glad that their last night of their 2 month visit was a really special one. And for next year, I now know how many trickortreaters to expect. Or perhaps I'll go out of town...