Another TIFF year over...

Another year of the Toronto International Film Festival came to an end today. I've really gone all out this year with the movie watching. I managed to squeeze in 11 movies during the 10 day festival (plus a regular movie release - Contagion - terrible movie, don't go see it, Outbreak was way better).

I've decided to include a brief synopsis of all of the films I was able to watch in this post and I highly recommend all of them to you...well, the large majority of them. Here are my films (from most to least favourite):

(1) Friends with Kids. An incredibly funny story about two best friends, surrounded with friends who have kids, make a deal to have a kid with one another without getting married. The film takes us through their trials and tribulations and the emotional baggage that comes along with making such a serious commitment to another person by having a child. Great casting (pretty much 1/2 of Bridesmaids was in this movie), well-written witty banter and human insights that hit the emotional button of anyone in the audience, I'm super happy to find out that this film will be distributed next year in April. My favourite film by far - I laughed throughout the entire movie. 10/10.

(2) Last Call at the Oasis. What a great way to start off my festival this year. Last Call at the Oasis was the only film I had a chance to review before I got wrapped up in all the movies I had to go to. This film takes a look into our world's deepening water shortage issues. Contamination, shortages, waste are all contributing to us using up our fresh water supplies at an alarming rate. The one part of the movie that hit home for me was my industry's involvement in getting people to think that tap water was somehow dirty and that bottled water is a cleaner choice. If you've liked An Inconvenient Truth, Food Inc, or any other documentary that exposes a truth about how we're contributing to our planet and our own demise, you have to go see this one when it comes out in theatres. 10/10.

(3) In Darkness. A foreign film (combined effort from Poland, France and Germany) that brings us into the horrors of the Holocaust and the brave actions of a Polish sewer worker who hides Jews in the sewers of Lvov after the ghetto was cleared. It is an intense movie that portrays the raw emotions of those involved and the unbelievable struggles that the Jews who hid in the sewers had to go through when they lived there for 14 months. An incredible surprise at the end of the movie during the Q&A with the director, she brought the little girl who survived in the sewers on stage. She wrote the book that inspired the movie. I'm hoping the movie gets distribution so that all of you get to watch this gripping story. 10/10.

(4) Where Do We Go Now? This year's winner of the People's Choice Award (and joins the company of The King's Speech, Precious and Slumdog Millionaire) certainly delivers on the entertainment front. This foreign film (from Lebanon) is the story of a small town that deals with the challenges of tempering the peace between the Christian and Muslim men and the women of the village are the only way that peace is able to last. Funny dialogue between the women juxtaposes the tense moments where violence begins to erupt between the two factions. The movie deals with the sensitive issue of religious differences and brings hilarious moments while mixing in a couple of musical numbers - one in particular about baking hash cakes. Again, hoping this gets distributed! 9.5/10.

(5) Dark Girls. This documentary opened my eyes to a problem I wasn't aware existed - the intercultural discrimination amongst the black community, based on skin tone. Some really shocking perceptions of how darker is seen as being bad, being stupid or being worthless and how that does particular damage to the self-esteem of black girls. There are some heartfelt moments, in particular, those girls who have overcome their insecurities and are able to see beyond what others say about their skin colour. Not sure if it'll get distribution, but if you do get a chance to see it, I'd highly recommend it. 9.5/10.

(6) The Oranges. A brilliant cast with Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt tells the story of two suburban families that has to deal with one of the fathers (Laurie) having an affair with the other family's daughter (Meester). Besides the stomach churning thought that this couple was almost two decades apart in age, but it's also the thought that the father saw Meester's character grow up. There are hilarious moments and the film breaks down some interesting and controversial actions. A good movie to watch if you're looking for an older person version of Juno. 8.5/10.

(7) Pink Ribbons Inc. This documentary takes aim at corporations that pinkwashes their brands so they can peddle their goods to "support" breast cancer fundraising. While there are some really negative points of the movie - including the debate about the use of the term "cancer survivor," like any good documentary, it helps reveal the truths that us regular consumers, too lazy to investigate corporate cause programs, need to know. One great thing to note is that this film is co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Go Canada go! 8/10.

(8) Take This Waltz. Sarah Polley's second stab at directing produced a fun character driven film starring Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogan. Williams, a writer, is married to Rogan and starts having an emotional affair with a neighbour (played by Luke Kirby). There are some great moments including a pool exercise scene that made Williams pee herself. It is a bit slow for my liking, but for those who love lengthy dialogue and character heavy plots, this film is right up your alley. 7/10.

(9) The Lady. Speaking of dialogue heavy, character driven and a bit slow, The Lady follows Take This Waltz in the same path. The Lady is a biopic of the life of Aung Saan Suu Kyi - the leader of the Burmese Democracy Movement. Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), portrays the Nobel Peace prize winner who's life started with the assasination of her father, the man who established modern Burma. The film really builds the suffering Kyi went through during her years of house arrest (which ended in 2011) but it did get really slow - a renter for anyone interested in biopics or Asian history. 7/10.

(10) Violet & Daisy. Incredibly conflicted about this movie. Starring Alexis Bleidel and Saoirse Ronan, the story is about two teenage girls who are trained assassins. Filmed very much in the same way as Kill Bill, there are funny moments that are unfortunately outplayed by utterly weird moments. The back and forth banter does save the movie from being too slow, and the good news is that it is not extremely gruesome. Nonetheless, I had fun and now I know how to do an internal bleeding dance. 6.5/10.

(11) Samsara. My friend described this movie as if we watched a 2-hour screen saver. Think Planet Earth and take away the narration. It was beautifully shot and the music was incredible, but narration was so necessary to help identify what we were watching. A bit too artsy fartsy for me. 6/10.

So in wrapping up, I had a great time at the festival this year. Not that much starsearching but a lot of enjoyment over the movies I picked and curated for my friends.

Here's to waiting another 354 days until the start of the next festival!

TIFF Movie #1: Last Call at the Oasis

Sadly, my 28 day challenges dropped off the map when May hit...and that was four months ago. I thought I'd dust off the old blog to post about my experiences at TIFF. This year, I'm committed to 11 movies (crazy) and I kicked off the first last night with Last Call at the Oasis (with great company in the form of Karen, Andrew and Sabina).

My ticket in! The first of many.

Last Call at the Oasis is a documentary about our world's depleting water supply. The film is divided into three parts - the first, talks about how we're using up the world's freshwater supply at an alarming rate; the second, addresses water contamination in particular chemicals like hexavalent chromium (the stuff Erin Brochovich fought PG&E for) and also medication, which our treatment systems cannot filter out; finally, the film targets how North American society within the last 20 years has all of a sudden equated tap water with something that is dirty and the rise in consumption of bottled water.

The film starts out with an eerie prediction - many political science academics predict that the wars of the 21st Century will not be fought over oil, rather, over water supply. Throughout the film, academics, those who have campaigned for better regulations for clean water and those that have fought against big corporations that have polluted water supplies provide their accounts and personal experiences about how not having access to clean water will be a catastrophic issue in the next 50 years.

The movie was incredibly informative. Incredible visual effects and infographics helped emphasize a problem few of us in the Western world bat an eye at. The movie makes you consider your own water imprint and how much water you consume and waste - like flushing a toilet each time you use it is 6 gallons. Or how a simple BBQ could consume 18,000 gallons of water due to all of the water that has gone into producing the food you serve on the table.

After the film, there was a great Q&A with the director, Jennifer Lu and featured guests in the film like Erin Brochovich and a few of the academics in the movie. The film has not picked up distribution yet, but hopefully it will and you can all see it for yourself and understand why it is so important to consider our water usage.

Erin Brochovich at the Q&A. She's freaking tall!

To see the trailer for the movie, click here.

My Picks for Tomorrow's Election

Tomorrow is Voting Day. Take 20 - 30 minutes of your time, show up to your poll and cast a ballot. I've already talked about the importance of voting - so do it. (Your employer is legally obligated to give you time off to vote).

Election Day is my Super Bowl. I love watching election results and the terrible graphics networks use to show them. Incredibly formulaic and this year, I expect that touch screen technology will play a huge role (way to be behind the Americans by 3 years Canada) and that network news anchors will be throwing up results on the screen a la Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

Here are my seat predictions for tomorrow:

Province	#	Cons	Lib	NDP	BQ	Gr	Ind
NF	7	2	3	2	0	0	0
NB	10	5	3	2	0	0	0
NS	11	4	4	3	0	0	0
PEI	4	1	3	0	0	0	0
QC	75	10	10	33	22	0	1
ON	106	54	29	23	0	0	1
MN	14	8	1	5	0	0	0
SK	14	10	1	3	0	0	0
AL	28	28	0	0	0	0	0
BC	36	24	2	10		0	0
YK	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
NWT	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
NV	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	308	147	57	82	22	0	2
Before Diss.	305	143	77	36	47	0	2
Gain(+) Loss (-)		4	-20	46	-25	0	0

Sadly, we won't see an end to minority Parliaments, instead, we'll have our 4th in 7 years. The big sea change will be the NDP taking over as Official Opposition and the Liberals delegated to 3rd party status, the first this has ever happened for them. The Bloc will be half its strength and if there's any credit I'll give the NDP, it's helping to destroy a regional, sovereignist party.

Conservatives will see a small seat increase in Ontario (expect GTA ridings to turn from red to blue) and Newfoundland (no more Danny Williams to be a thorn in Harper's side) as they will also lose some to the NDP in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A gain of four will not be enough and will be a big black eye for Harper.

The NDP will gain big time - mostly in Quebec, and a couple of seats in provinces like Manitoba, Saskatchewan (which has a long legacy of NDP governments), BC and New Brunswick. One must applaud the NDP for not losing their gains this week, although, coverage of the royal wedding helped effectively move the attention away from the election for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Big losers are the Liberals and BQ. Good riddance I say. The Liberals need to re-evaluate what they stand for, and the BQ just need to crawl back into their separatist hole.

As for the party leaders, don't expect Jack or Harper to go anywhere. While most will think Harper will resign if he cannot make a majority mandate, he's effectively used his overbearing control to make sure there are no possible candidates at the moment to replace him as leaders. Even the possible candidates - Flahrety, Baird and McKay, don't have enough national presence (especially Western support) to take the reigns.

Depending on how badly he fails (and I expect it'll be big), Michael "Rise Up" Ignatieff will be FedEx-ed back to Harvard on the overnight. Expect him to resign post-consession. This time, the Liberals should really have a leadership race worth watching as this will give them a chance to regroup and elect a leader that is inspiring, rather than everyone's second choice (Dion) and "well, I guess we have to" (Ignatieff).

Expect Gilles Duceppe to fall by the wayside and announce his resignation. Expect also a quick and easy leadership convention for the BQ as they'll likely boost Pauline Marlois from provincial party leader to federal leader - they really don't have any other choice.

Many wonder how the NDP got the momentum that they did. Looking back, they did a lot of things right including:

- having a likeable leader: I'll admit it, if Layton wasn't running under the NDP banner, there would be a 75% chance I would vote for him. He campaigned while still recovering from health issues and didn't sink to the levels of mudslinging as Iggy and Harper did.

- did well at the debates: Jack had a couple of lines at the debates that were highlights. No other leader could claim the same.

- best use of social media to encourage young people to vote: I couldn't watch one video on Youtube without fucking NDP ads playing as pre-roll. And an overwhelming number of my friends on Facebook had more orange on their profiles than the Dutch. They electrified the youth vote (my brother even voted for them - to my dismay) and didn't turn them away like the Conservatives did

Some other factors helped including:

- Quebec - duh, they've had one party "working" for their interests for so long that after two decades of no results, people are over it. Quebec has always had more socialist roots (influenced by their more European point of view) so naturally, what the NDP was pitching, they were buying.

- people not liking Iggy or Harper - seriously, Iggy just has little to no leadership appeal. He always sounds condescending - likely because of his academic background. Harper, while he has proven to provide stable economic leadership, is bullish in his way of dealing with people. He rubs people the wrong way and rules with a top-down mentality.

- Conservatives vs. Liberals - these two parties brought out all their ammunition at each other and scoffed that they needed anything for the NDP. Even as the NDP surged, the two camps didn't care to respond or didn't have anything ready. They were late to respond to the NDP's rocketing success and lost out big time on hitting them back in the last weeks of the election

- Royal Wedding - there goes 3 full days of news coverage giving the NDP an opportunity to keep their recent gains

Well, no matter what, some change will happen, which after $400 million dollars, at least we can be happy that it wasn't all for nothing. However, I'm pretty sure Ignatieff will wake up Tuesday and do a hand palm to face while muttering, "I shouldn't have called an election."

As Quebec wraps itself in an orange Snuggie before election day...

So Jack Layton must be feeling really good right now. From week 1, where he was marginalized as a non-choice between the red and blue door, 'til one week before the election and BAM, he's riding an Obama-esque wave in Quebec and in other places around the country, I'd say he must be full of shits and giggles right now.

I have to give it to Jack - after a year of battling cancer and just recovering from hip surgery right before the election, one can't tell that this man's been through the gauntlet of health issues as he's just as spry, if not more spry than the Tinman, the Scarecrow and the drunk French guy. He did well in the debates, delivering what I thought was the #1 line to remember (him to Iggy: "If you don't show up for work, don't expect a promotion.") and throwing in #fail worked in his favour with all the Twitter fanatics that tweeted him a #WIN after the debates.

All that being said, I shudder to think of what an NDP opposition, and possible NDP led coalition government will mean for this country and our fragile economic recovery.

Their platform and how they plan on paying for it all.

There are some great plans in this platform - he wants to help seniors, families with small children, help small businesses and renew health care. All decent ideas that I'm sure no one would dispute or can't get behind. That is until you realize how much everything costs.

$6B will be paid by raising corporate taxes from it's current 16.5% to 19.5%. What they don't tell you is that it'll actually cost Canadians more than the $6B that the government will be earning because Corporations will just pass along the cost to consumers - we'll feel it in small price increases. There's also the risk of companies cutting costs to balance out the new 3% tax hike - costs like salaries and wages, resulting in lost jobs in the corporate sector. Raising taxes also deals a blow to us attracting any sort of foreign investment at a time our economy needs the money the most.

Then there's the $1B from getting back money from Canadians sheltering cash in tax havens, like Switzerland. Not really sure how they'll guarantee $1B or the $3B they project in year 3 of their four year plan, but we all know how easy it is to get the Swiss banks to cooperate by giving back money right? Aren't there still lawsuits pending from WWII survivors?

Then the magical $3.6B from cap and trade, a carbon emissions reduction program that punishes those who go over their limit. By the time legislation for cap and trade passes through Parliament, it'll be time for another election - doubtful of where they can realistically get this money from.

With all that said, their $9B in projected revenues is enough to cover every social program they've planned including big expenditures for small business help, education and helping families. I'd be a bit more cautious here, I doubt their projected revenues will be anywhere close to what they expect it to be.

Their candidates. Young and inexperienced.

Remember when you got out of school and you were filled with all the great pep talks from your educators - "You're going to be a star!" "You'll change the world with your ideas!" And then you step into your first job and you quickly figure out how much you don't fucking know. In many ridings around the country, especially Quebec, the NDP are running 20 somethings in this election, 20 somethings that might just win a seat in the HoC. Today, it was announced that one of these 20 somethings decided that a week before the election, she needed a vacation, so she booked it to Vegas. She couldn't cancel the trip for something important like the election, no, she needs her break! One can imagine the discipline she'll have as the MP for her riding.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on young people, but the sheer numbers of young people they have as candidates makes me wonder - if they all win a seat, will our Minister of Health be someone who's still finishing up university? For more on these candidates, and why I'm not the only one who's scared of them, go to: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/andrew-steele/jack-laytons-risky-potential-mps-in-quebec/article1999595/?from=sec368

Alright, I'll admit, the alternatives aren't any better. But let's think for a moment - the NDP have never formed a government or an official federal opposition. There is a reason why the are always a 3rd or 4th place party is because their views are so far to the left that Canada cannot possibly afford any of the plans they want to put into action. Their budget bites of more social programs than we can chew at this point. Knowing our neighbour to the south is still struggling to rescue itself from their quicksand of an economy, we cannot possibly take the change with such a radical budget and social program agenda.

On Monday May 2, I hope that this wave of orange fever is just that, a fever we'll be cured from by the end of this week.

PS - thanks Quebec for giving us this orange fever in the first place.

April Challenge - Day 18 - 24 Bad Weather + Working Lots = Sick

Well, this week hasn't been great for my exercise regimen. After being knocked out with a bad cold for 5 of the past 7 days, I haven't hit the gym as much as the weeks before. Here's a brief overview:

Monday - weights
Tuesday - 7km run
Wednesday - Friday - the worst of my cold days
Saturday - 17km run
Sunday - Weights
Monday - 4km run and abs

I'm hoping I can get back into the groove this week. With the 10k run on Sunday, and my rest day on Saturday, I plan on running at least another 10k this week and a smaller run on two days. Fingers crossed on no injuries!

11 years...

Here's a note I wrote last year when it was the 10th anniversary of my mom's death. With today being April 22, I thought I'd repost to my blog.

Saturday is the 10th anniversary of my mother's passing. On April 24th, 2000, she lost her fight to cancer. She put up a brave fight, having been diagnosed with lung cancer the previous September, she went through several rounds of chemo and radiation. All was looking great up until February 2000, when the cancer spread throughout her body.

I remember that day well. I heard a soft knocking on my door, my stepfather stepped into my room and let me know, tearfully, that my mother had passed during the night. After he let me know that, I remember that sounds became muffled, all I could say was "okay, okay." My brother was still asleep and all I could think about was how to possibly break the news to him.

After sitting at the edge of my bed for what seemed like an entire day, I was able to gather myself to go visit my mom for one last time. I could only mumble "I love you, mom," before I broke down into tears. I left shortly after and by the time I could compose myself, the staff from the funeral home had arrived to remove her from our house.

The one thing I truly regret was the fact that I didn't say a proper goodbye. I couldn't face the fact that the person who gave me life and raised me was gone. I couldn't bring myself to go to the service and I was back in school a couple days after my mom's death. I was (and still am) thankful that I had many great friends who had kind words and were just there for me during that terrible time. If it wasn't for them, I doubt I would have been able to get through that difficult time.

I often think back to that day, and the pain hasn't really diminished even with all the time that has passed. Every year, around this time, I find myself dipping into a slight depression. It wasn't until this past year, when I stumbled across several family photo albums when cleaning out my grandmother's apartment, that I've been able to gain a new perspective on my mom's death, and more importantly, her life.

My mom (age 4)

My mom, Agnes Muh-Jing Yao, was born on February 26, 1956 in Taipei, Taiwan, to my grandparents, Ken-Fa Yao and Hsiu-Ying Lo. She was a spirited child. My grandmother would often tell me that my mom excelled in school and would be giddy to go to school in the mornings. My grandfather would scold me when I would not do so well on tests and remind me that my mother would stay up studying all night in order to get the top score in her class (I was in grade 3 at the time...really grandpa?)

My aunt Anne, my grandmother, my grandfather, my mom and my uncle.

My mom had two siblings, Morgan (the oldest brother) and Anne (the middle sister). My mom was the youngest and clearly my grandfather's favourite. My aunt once told me that her and her brother both knew this fact, and secretly hated it when my grandfather would say to them, "why can't you be more like shao may" (shao may was my mom's nickname). Nonetheless, they were all very close when they were younger, but when my uncle moved to Canada, and my aunt moved to Los Angeles, the distance put a strain on their relationship.

My mom in University.

It's weird to see photos of my mom in university. First, it is hard to imagine her at my age. Second, she looked so distinguished in all her photos (compared to my hundreds of drunk photos posted on Facebook). And finally, she looked so happy and ready to take on life's challenges - not to say she wasn't happy later on in life, but I could definitely see that she had more energy and optimism. What I find most empowering about finding photos from her youth is the fact that she worked incredibly hard to get herself into university (at a time where women still had a difficult time in getting into higher education) and came out with a degree in accounting. She secured a job as a teller at Chase Manhattan bank in Taipei and decided that it was time to start a family. From what I understand, she made the decision to get married to my dad and the decision to have me - incredible, considering that the Chinese culture is still very patriarchical, that she called the shots.

My mom and me in Taiwan.

My mom had me when she was 27 (again, another fact that scares the shit out of me, considering that I turn 27 next year and I am no where close to being ready to have kids of my own). From the very beginning, she was a loving, but often stern parent and this held true all the way into my teenage years. Once again, she proved to be different than the other women around her at the time, rather than staying home to be with me, she decided that she should also be able to pursue a career as well. She went back to work after her maternity leave (again, uncommon during that time in Taiwan) because, she later told me, that it was important to her to pursue a career in order to provide the best possible future for me (and soon, my brother).

Immigrants.

My family immigrated to Toronto in February of 1989. We settled in first with my grandparents in Scarborough, but soon, my parents bought a house near McCowan and Finch, which is where I grew up. I remember it wasn't easy for my parents - both had limited English skills, so finding a job was difficult. But my mom secured a bookkeeping job - good thing she decided to pursue her career back in Taiwan, because it was much more difficult for my dad to find anything in his field. For many years, my mom supported our family and ultimately, that resulted in the dissolution of my parents' relationship. My dad couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't able to provide for his wife and children, and my mom didn't want to give up on being able to provide for her family.

My mom was a tough parent. I was often disciplined when I was out of line or when I didn't perform academically in school. But she was also a hilarious mom - I've often told my friends this story. When I was six, as a way to help me learn English, she would rent movies for me to watch. The first movie she got from the corner store was "Silence of the Lambs" - she had a limited understanding of English at the time and even less of North American pop culture. She just recognized the word "Lamb" and thought it was a children's movie. I sat in my living room watching this movie as a six year old, too scared to watch and too scared to tell my mom that I didn't want to watch anymore because I knew she'd yell at me to watch the movie (again, not understanding what the content was).

As my brother and I got older, we became more defiant, especially when I entered my teenage years, I was a huge brat. I remember for four months, my mom and I didn't talk to each other because we got in a huge fight (and for some reason, our family loves to excommunicate each other when we fight). I often regret this incident, had I known I had so little time with her, I would have never cut her off for that long. Looking back, I am pretty sure that that incident hurt her more than it did me - as much as she was tough, she loved my brother and I a lot, and it probably killed her the fact that we weren't speaking.

My mom and my brother.

My brother and my mom had a completely different relationship. My mom coddled my brother - he was her baby. He never got hit, she was often more leinent on his schoolwork than she was with mine, and boy was I jealous. To this day, I still rag on my brother for how easy he was treated - he obviously doesn't like that I do that.

My family had our first run in with cancer when my uncle was diagnosed back in 1993. At the time, there was some tension between my uncle and the rest of my family, but his illness definitely brought the family together. He passed away very quickly after the diagnosis.

Seeing my mom go through that was painful. She had recently gotten divorced from my dad and to have this happen, she was hurting. Her only focus at this time, to get her mind off things, was to get her CGA designation in order to provide a better life for my brother and I. As a single mom, she would drop us off at school, go to work, come back and pick us up from my grandparents at 7pm, go home and study for her courses. She worked so hard to improve herself in order to make our lives better.

After my grandfather died from cancer in 1995, my mom was devastated. Since childhood, my grandfather would always be the person she relied on for advice and support. Now, he was gone and she also had to now take care of my grandmother. I couldn't imagine that kind of stress placed on me, but she was able to do it, and never once showed my brother or I, how scared and upset she must have been.

1998 comes along, and my mom meets my stepfather, and she was finally happy for the first time in a long time. However, that happiness would be shortlived as in September of 1999, she got the diagnosis that she too, had cancer.

She called me from the hospital when she got the diagnosis, and I remember crying on the phone. She was crying too, but reassured me that she will fight, promising me that she will beat this cancer. She knew I was scared, considering I've seen my uncle and grandfather pass away from the disease. But I can't imagine how scared she must have been - to be the head of a family, knowing you're facing a disease like cancer.

The last couple of months of my mom's life were some of the happiest times for our relationship. However, when the cancer started to spread, I started to distance myself, likely due to my fear that I didn't want to see her pass away. I've regretted that to this very day.

Having discovered these photo albums, that had been lost to the various boxes stored in my grandmother's closet, I have spent the last couple of months looking through them, several times. On one hand, it was great to find these photos and reconnect with a part of my family that I've forgotten about. On the other hand, it brings up some painful memories of the loss of my mother.

In the end, I am grateful for the lessons my mom has taught me in life. Work hard, work hard, work hard. Hard work make you the best, hard work will provide for yourself and your family, and hard work will inspire others to do the same. I have many aspects of her personality - the good: I'm diligent, responsible and assertive; the bad: I'm extremely stubborn, very impatient and terrible at expressing my feelings properly.

Not a day goes by that I think about her, or wish that she was still here. When she died, I remember praying to God, bargaining with him to bring her back, and that I would do anything if he did. Everyday, for the week after she passed, I would wake up and run to her room to see if he had answered my prayers, and would be heartbroken when reality hit. She was really gone.

My brother has taken her death harder than I have. I pretened to be tough, swallowed the hurt and did my best to honour her by working hard, he was incredibly hurt. It took a toll on him emotionally, and changed his personality. He was 10 at the time, and unfortunately, it took him a good nine years to get back on track. He's doing better now, especially academically, and I know my mom would be super proud of his journey back to the person she always imagined he'd be.

As for me, I hope I have made my mom proud - I wish I could have shared some great accomplishments in my life with her. I miss talking to her and laughing with her. For the last 9 years, I've let April 24 get me down. But having discovered these photos, remembering the life my mom led, I will make this April 24, the 10th anniversary of her passing, different. This year, I will celebrate my mom's life and reflect on the great memories I have of her.

So mom...I love you, and I miss you. Cheers to a life well lived.

With this vote, I protest this election.

Yesterday was the first of three advanced voting days (you can also vote today and on Monday as well). As a person recovering from a nasty cold and nothing else better to do, I went to vote as I'm pretty sure that when May 2nd comes around, I'll be so angry with the political parties I might refuse to go vote.

I got to the polls - conveniently located a kilometer from my house - to the clearly labelled, yet oddly confusion arrow signs that pointed me to the washrooms as opposed to the central room that the voting was taking place. Nonetheless, I'm a smart person, I figured out that the stall was not where I was supposed to vote.

I get greeted by one of three greeters sitting around. Of the 15 polls located in the community centre, there were at least 45 elections officials sitting around, on their cell phones or chatting up a storm with one another. The greeter asks me, "are you here to vote?" The asshole side of me would have answered, "No, I'm here to partake in craftmaking," but I replied with a smile and "yes."

He directed me over to my polling station where I'm greeted by a man with a handlebar moustache who is on his cell phone. After looking at me with a confused look, I stated, "I am here to vote." He politely asked the person on the other end of the call to hold on for a moment and tells me that I'll have to wait until his companion at the polling station came back from the washroom. I asked, "can't another person from another polling station (not two feet away) substitute for her?" He said, "No, it's the rules," and went back to his call. So after waiting 4 minutes for his polling co-worker to take the longest dump ever, and twittering my displeasure of having to wait at the polls, she returns. A spry woman, she looked like Uma Thurman in the Batman where she played Poison Ivy.

After taking my driver's license and my voting card, it took them another five minutes to go through the voter's list, write my name down on the advanced voters list and hand me my ballot. Did I mention that these people are being paid between $14 - $20 / hour for this speedy service?

Regardless, I'm just happy to get to vote. I get into the booth and look at my ballot with six names on it. There are the four major party candidates and two fringe party candidates (there's actually a Marxist-Leninist candidate in my area!).

As I go to mark my X beside the Conservative Party candidate, I hesitated. I thought this would have been an easy vote for me, but I had a minute of deep reflection as to why I should give this party my vote. They've produced a platform that was as weak as their budget, they have a leader who refuses to answer any direct questions from the media, and now stories of more corruption and scandal that would make the Liberal's Sponsorship scandal look like a legal transaction. As much as I believe that we need a strong majority government, this was not the party to do so.

So I consider marking my X for the Liberal candidate and wince at the thought that Michael Ignatieff would be PM. The Liberal platform is just as bad as the Conservatives, with funding calculations using parts of the Conservative budget they defeated to cause this election. This guy has also flip flopped on the idea of coalitions, which shows me he'll do whatever it take to gain power - similar to Stephane Dion, his doomed predecessor. I couldn't justify my vote for him.

Then I go to Olivia Chow - who I think has done quite a bit for our riding and was the only candidate who approached me with a flyer near my building. But I could never justify a vote for the NDP, not after what they did to Ontario in the 1990s under Bob Rae's leadership.

I thought about giving my vote to the Greens - perhaps throw them my $1.95 / vote funding that they so desperately need. But Elizabeth May has made less than a rat's fart of a contribution to these elections. They certainly didn't have the same gusto as they did back in 2008. So no, not them either.

Now, while it seems like an eternity has gone by at the booth, it's only been really 10 - 15 seconds. 10 - 15 seconds of me going through the disgust I had with all the parties and wondering why we're even having this election in the first place. I highly doubt seat counts will change much, the Conservatives will still have a minority government and the same leaders will be back to behave in the same manner as they would have before this election.

Then I did what I thought I'd never do. I drew a line across my ballot, spoiling it. My own protest against this election. I protest the fact that there is an election, I protest the fact that these parties have not spoken to my needs during these elections, and I protest that these are the leaders of our political parties - petty, whiny assholes. I protest that my regular vote for the party of my choice doesn't count in my overly NDP/Liberal riding. I protest the fact that we will have another minority government after having 3 failed attempts because our politicians can't cooperate. I protest the current state of Canadian politics.

I slight disbelief that I just spoiled my ballot, I walk to the ballot box and quickly placed the ballot in before I changed my mind. After a "thank you for voting," from the poll workers, I left the polling station in a state of shock and giddiness, like a child who knows he's done something to defy his parent's wishes.

I encourage the rest of you to vote - take Monday as an opportunity to take some time out of your day and cast your ballot (your employer must legally allow you this time off). If you don't vote on Monday, vote the following Monday like everyone else. And if you're as pissed off with the parties as I am, think about spoiling your vote. It is your right to do so.

April Challenge - Day 17: Fruit Smoothies

I've been experimenting with various real fruit smoothies lately. During my Sunday shopping at the supermarket, I buy a whole bunch of fruit and then make different combos of smoothies.

So far, I've tried:

Mango Strawberry

Blackberry Strawberry

Mango Raspberry

Mango Orange

Each pitcher that I make provides three servings. It's great and provides me my morning and afternoon servings of fruit. Super healthy and with no sugar whatsoever.

April Challenge - Day 10 - 16: Bad poster...

I've been a terrible blogger. Just terrible. It's been a jam packed week but that's no excuse for bad blogging. Rather than trying to make up each day as I have done before - I'll save everyone's time by putting it all into one blog posting.

Monday - cardio - 7k on the dreadmill, I mean treadmill.

Tuesday - weights (focusing on arms)

Wednesday - cardio - 6k with the Sporting Life team at Queen's Park.

Thursday - weights (focus on legs)

Friday - after having dinner with a client, it was to the gym to concentrate on core. I can't say this was the best idea this week

Saturday - I was pretty sick, so my focus was on exercises that wouldn't aggrevate my stomach...so it was just arms today.

Sunday - 8k run - felt good, but would have been better outside

This week, I'll be better at posting. I promise.

Why you should fucking vote and not be a lazy asshole.

I was born in Taiwan in October of 1983. When I was born, my parents had no idea of what it was to live under a democratic state. You see, Taiwan, while broken off from the People's Republic of China and communist rule since the civil war in 1949, was a non-democratic state with the Kuomingtang party ruling under martial law. My parents never voted when they lived there and their parents never voted either since moving from the mainland to the tiny island in the Pacific.

When my family arrived here in Canada in 1989, Brian Mulroney had just won another majority in December, so politics was far from their mind. It wasn't until 1993, when we became citizens, that my parents had to even concern themselves with voting - the timing was perfect, it was time for an election. From what I can remember from this time period, my mom was more excited about an election than my dad was. My dad never adjusted all that well to Canada, and wasn't interested in immersing himself in the culture. My mom on the other hand was determined to integrate and to make sure her children did as well. I remember one day at the mall she spent about 20 minutes talking to the local Liberal candidate while I was being an annoying twat asking her why we were talking to this strange man. She gave me one of those glares that this was something important and that if I didn't shut up, I'd be sorry later.

This was the first time I saw her buy newspapers everyday and read them when she came home from work at night. She would call her few friends in Toronto to talk about the elections and who she should vote for. In the end, her mind was pretty much made up because my grandfather and grandmother told her to vote Liberal. The Liberals, they said, were the party that welcomed immigrants (very true during that decade) and our family needed to repay that open arms policy with our votes.

I even remember when she voted that January of '94, she walked me to school, which happened to be our local polling station, and stayed with her to watch her vote. She registered, she went to the booth and told me that this was very important. I asked her, why can't I do the same thing she was doing. She said, when you're 18, you can.

I didn't realize it at the time, probably because my main concern was what fruit roll up colour did I get for my lunch snack that day, of how important it was to her to go and vote. It was the first time in her 38 years on the planet that she was able to go to the polls and make her voice heard. When she lived in Taiwan, she and her family never had the opportunity to have a say - they were told what to do by the government. I even remember her telling me that when I'm 18, I should vote Liberal too. (Sorry mom, that's one piece of advice I don't think I'll be taking anytime soon.)

Her experience is like many other immigrant experiences - coming to this country and embracing the privilage and right to vote, something that a large segment of our population has shunned for no good reason.

Sure - people point to the fact that we've had four elections in the last seven years. People are tired of voting. Well, had an additional 10 - 15% of people gone to the polls in the last election, we might have had a majority government, which would have prevented us from having to return to the polls before the four year term limit expired.

Sure - people point to the fact that we have uninspiring leaders. With the exception of the US, I doubt other leaders from countries around the world are more exciting than our Harper, Ignatieff, Layton lineup. In fact, I am pretty sure Gordon Brown of Britain was less popular than Harper, something most non-Conservatives here in Canada couldn't possibly imagine.

Sure - people point to the fact that the parties all say the same things election after election. Well, it's the same reason as point number one - our voices and votes make them change what they focus on. It happened before when the country booted the Conservatives over terrible handling of the 90s recession, it happened again in 2006 when the Liberals were turfed over sponsorship. The parties will only change their ways when they get fired - which we have the power to do so.

I can't even begin to tell you how angry I get when I hear people complain about how politics is too hard to follow and how they are too lazy to get educated on the issues. Not to be overly dramatic, but people have and are dying around the world to be able to obtain the right to choose their governments. People die around the world everyday, never being able to experience the freedom of casting a vote.

Not to mention, we have our brave men and women of the Canadian military who risk their lives to defend our country so that we have a right to vote. Everytime you choose to wave your right, think of it as a massive dishonour for those who parished in WW1, WW2 and other conflicts to prevent dictatorships from spreading.

Finally, you're doing yourself, your family and your community a great disservice by waving your right to vote. The policies that these federal parties are cooking up will impact your taxes, your health care, the funding your community receives on infrastructure and so many other areas of our lives. You'd be a fool not to say which one you feel will make your life easier in the next four years.

Media and Poll researchers are already predicting low voter turnout as voter apathy hits an all-time high. In fact, I watched a local news channel interviewing people on the street and some baffoon (in her lulus and ugg shoes) didn't even know there was an election going on. Can we parachute her into Libya and make her realize the privilages she's throwing away by being an ignorant constituent? And don't even get me started on how many women's suffrage leaders would be spinning in their graves if they heard her statement - why did they fight so hard for you to get the vote then?

What's worse about someone not voting is that they complain about the government after an election. I think those that don't vote should have a massive wad of duct tape slap them on their mouth when they complain about government. You don't get to voice your opinions after the fact if you didn't make an effort to vote. Frankly, I don't want to hear it.

Like in all elections, there's still a large majority of undecided voters that could make all the difference between a majority or minority Conservative or Liberal government. If you're sick of how Canadian politicians have been behaving, cast a ballot. Give someone a mandate so that we don't have these minority government political shinanigans from all parties.

Going back to my anecdote, I can't even imagine how it must have felt for my mom to vote that cold day in 1994. The amount of pride she must have had to let the government know how she felt just by marking an X on her ballot must have been incredibly empowering. Since that election until her death, she voted in every municipal, provincial and federal election.

I remember my first vote was in the 2003 Ontario Provincial Elections. While not as exciting as a federal election vote, I still felt great pride in being able to walk up, get my ballot and make a difference. My first federal vote was in 2004, when the Liberals under Paul Martin, won the first of many minority governments.

With that said, I can't wait to cast my ballot this time around on May 2. And to you I say - educate yourself and fucking vote - don't be an asshole.

April Challenge - Day 9: Pull Ups - not the diaper...

Since last year, I've been trying to improve the number of pull ups I can do. When I was rock climbing, the most I could do on the rings was 7. Weak, I know. And considering I'm all of 135/140 lbs (the latter happens on my binge eating weeks), it shouldn't be that hard to do a pull up.

Since then, I've been trying to best that each week at the gym. And it hasn't been as successful as I had wanted it to be. I'm up to about 9. I'm sure I can squeeze out that extra pull up to make it into the double digits but by the time I'm done 9, I feel like fainting.

Here's to hoping by the end of this month, I'll be able to surpass 9 and hit 12 or 13. Then at least these guns will be upgraded from bb guns to some sort of respectable caliber weapons. Boy, my gun analogies are terrible.

April Challenge - Day 8: Farting at the gym

Okay, I think we can all admit, we've all accidentally (or purposefully) passed gas at the gym. You might have had an extra glass of milk than you needed that morning, or didn't realize that sushi wasn't the best choice of snack before hitting the weights.

Two days ago, (I'll admit, yesterday, I was in no shape to train as I was recovering from the worse hangover ever) I was on a treadmill in the morning before work. There are three treadmills in my condo gym, so I take the one on the far right. There's a strategy to this...you take the far end, the next person takes the other far end (leaving a nice space in between) and then, when it does get busy, that last spot gets taken up. It's like seating on the TTC...when there's seats everywhere, you don't go and sit beside the only person on the streetcar.

Apparently, someone didn't tell this man the proper etiquette (we'll call him Bob, as it's one letter away from Boob, of which he had two). Bob struts into the gym, onto the treadmill beside mine. After a friendly nod, I thought, OK, just focus on your workout and crank up the music. He begins to let out some loud breaths while stretching...yea, he hasn't even started yet. As he stretches, a good five minutes go by, and I wonder - rather than stretching on the treadmill and taking a spot away from someone ready to run, why don't you stretch in the studio area? Whatever, back to my run...focus Terence, focus.

Bob then starts running, at a mild pace. Not two minutes later, he's huffing and puffing like he's at the last part of a torturous marathon - face red, sweat streaming down the sides of his face, pit stains the size of Lake Victoria. As I turn my iPod up to the maximum level before my ears bleed, I start smelling the smell of rancid eggs. I look around, and there were only four people in the gym - Bob, myself and two people working in the distance at the weights.

Being the utterly insecure person that I am, I first do a self check by pretending to wipe my face on my sleeves and making sure it wasn't my armpits emitting that odour. Check - they actually smell Tide Mountain Spring fresh.

I then look at the two people away in the distance in the weight area. They did not have the same contorted face of disgust as I did on my face. So by process of elimination, Bob was the offender.

Now, at first I thought, aww shit, it's BO. But the smell didn't come in a steady stream as BO would. Then I heard it. At first, a pop then fizzling. Yes, it was that loud that I heard it through my iPod music. Bob at this point didn't seem to care that he was contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases, he was more focused on trying not to have a heart attack. I, on the other hand, was grossed out beyond belief.

How, at 7am in the morning, can you have gas that is that intense? How are you not ashamed that you're releasing that evil onto the world? How do you not kindly excuse yourself and go to the washroom to get that issue resolved?

As these questions flooded through my head, thankfully, I was close to the end of my 30min run. But it wasn't until he released another barrage of air WMDs into the gym and this time, I think the people at the weights heard as they looked up and giggled.

Dude - you might be running, but you're running on a stationary piece of equipment. It's not like outside where you are far far away from your mischevious deed and no one can pinpoint it is you.

That was it. I stopped my treadmill - took a deep breath in from my mouth to avoid smelling anything, and quickly wiped down my machine before running into the studio to work away from Bob's stench.

My hope is that Bob felt that his run was so strenuous that he won't be back in the gym for a while, but I might have to stop working out in the mornings to avoid exposing myself to nauseous gases.

April Challenge - Day 7: Cardio and the need for good music

In the lead up to my run May 1st, it's been all about cardio for the first part of my work out. Whether it be 1/2 hour on the treadmill, bike or elliptical, I've got to build up that endurance. Nothing helps more than a good set of tunes, and that was super apparent as I had forgotten to charge my iPod before going to the gym.

In my mind, there are three key reasons to isolate yourself with the sounds of your favourite tunes at the gym:

1) It pushes your workout to the next level.

A good upbeat song or an angry Eminem song (my favourite is Til I Collapse) really helps motivate you to push yourself when working out. It helps you run that extra mile or do that extra set or work through the pain. It's the personal trainer that doesn't cost you $100 per session.

2) It cancels out all the gross noise at the gym.

During my music-less run, I began to realize why I should just bring a set of earplugs the next time I forget to charge my iPod. The noises at the gym are disgusting. Grunting from the neanderthals at the weights, heavy breathing from those on the treadmill running at less speed than grannies walk, and farting, YES, farting noises coming from people who have headphones on, thinking that if they can't hear the noise, others can't (this topic is left for another post alone).

3) With a playlist, you can keep yourself in check for a regular workout.

I have a set playlist for running. When I'm done, I know I've reached my needed run time for the day. What a great solution for a timer.

Of course, having your headphones on does have one drawback. You're an anti-social git. There've been plenty of times people have tried to engage in conversation, and I've always had to make them repeat themselves as I remove my headset to respond. But then again, the gym shouldn't really be a place for chit chat...

April Challenge - Day 6: Biceps

One part of my body that I've never been able to workout just right are my arms. No matter how many bicep curls or tricep exercises, these guns never get bigger than a bebe gun.

So that's one of the areas I'll be working out in the next month. Today, I did the following:

10 sets of 8 reps of bicep curls with 20lb weights

5 sets of 8 reps of bicep curls with 30lb weights

4 sets of 5 pull ups

10 sets of 8 reps of tricep extensions with 15lb weights

Now my arms feel like jello. Waiting for them to be operational again.

April Challenge - Day 5: Running with others = motivation!

So with the run less than 24 days away, we've started a running group at work. Today's showing was just myself and Hayley, but all in all, a great run from the office to Queen's Park and then three loops around the park and back to the office. All in all, 5k in about 30 min.

Running after work was exhilarating - great way to relax and I went back to the office, ate my dinner and did some work. I felt so accomplished afterwards.

I am sure we'll run every Wednesday - even after Sporting Life run is over.

April Challenge - Day 4: Exercising my brain

I decided to take a break yesterday, and instead, focused on exercising my political brain. As most of you, I have been very interested in these upcoming federal elections. One particular issue that's been bugging me is the fact that Elizabeth May, leader of our 4th place national party, was not invited to the English and French debates.

So instead of exercising my body yesterday, I exercised my brain and sent Ms. May a suggestion - question is, will she take my suggestion? I hope so.

Hello Ms. May,

While I do not support your party, I have been one of the many thousands of Canadians infuriated by your alienation from the English and French national debates by both the media consortium and the other federal parties. It is embarrassing that this country that professes to be a democratic society, shuts out a legitimate 4th national party and putting a regional separatist party at higher standing.

I think your fight to be included in the national debates is admirable, however, it looks like at this point to be a lost cause. So here's an idea. If they won't include you (likely because they are all afraid to debate you), hold your own Youtube town hall during both debates. Live stream and take live questions as opposed to the questions filtered by the national media. Reach out to the Youth vote. Reach out to those who are disenchanted with the state of Canadian politics. Do the unconventional and go online, while the rest rely on traditional media.

Use social media to your advantage - with the groundswell of support you've had on Facebook, I wouldn't be surprised if you get more views than the leader's debate. Get your candidates in key ridings you can win to follow up with linked videos. With the debates just a week away, focus your efforts on doing your own thing, as opposed to a system which is clearly out to exclude you.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope you do take my suggestion - if you do, I'll definitely watch you over the leader's debate.

Cheers,

--
Terence Jou

April Challenge - Day 3: Ab exercises - the devil's work

I've somehow hurt my wrist (no dirty jokes please) and wasn't able to do much except for some cardio and all abs. Crunches, Situps and Side Crunches - that was the focus today.

Here's an overview:

15min of running

100 crunches (4 sets of 25 reps)

150 situps (6 sets of 25 reps)

50 side crunches (2 sets of 25, each side)

There's nothing great about crunches or situps. I looked like a struggling panda bear trying to get up from a nap. I turned into the morons that grunt and moan at the gym. At one point, I think my legs were wiggling around I was doing some sideway dance in the air.

And I turned into I feel like someone has punched me several times in the gut. This better pay off. Just keep thinking - Thailand, Thailand...

April Challenge - Day 2: Squats

Today's workout was done early this morning - I'm not a morning exercise person. But I still gave it a good try and today, the focus was on legs.

My workout consisted of:

- 40 min on the stairclimber

- Five 1 min intervals of speed running on the treadmill

- 20 min of core exercises

- Ten sets of squats (10 reps) with two 25lb weights

- 100 lunges with two 15lb weights

- back to wall squat (leg bent at 90 degrees, similar to a sitting position) for 30s intervals

My legs are on fire. I felt a bit of the strain during the exercises but now, I feel like someone has beat me up below the waist. This just shows me how much more strength training I need on my legs in order to build up my speed for my run.

Attack Ads - Stop it already.

I love TV. I watch TV every night. I normally PVR through commercials but lately, whether it be laziness or just curiosity, I've sat through commercials to see what type of election campaign advertising the competing parties were going to throw at us.

What they flung at us was shit. The campaign began as negatively as the last two and half years in Parliament. It began even before the elections started. What's even worse, it can't even be called advertising - I'm ashamed that these commercials have been done by another agency who thought, this is good advertising. Who can blame them? Nothing's changed in campaign advertising - your enemy is bad, you are good and the more desperate that party becomes, the more negative the ads become.

Let's take a look at the Liberal attack ad:

Not to excuse anything that Harper has done, but let's be honest - the majority of Canadians do not care about this compared to issues that will impact their lives, like the economy and health care. Those who are offended by the Harper government's flagrant disregard for democracy have already made up their minds on which party they will vote for. If the goal of this ad is to get the swing voters, I doubt it'll swing anyone.

Now for the NDP -

A little "happier" and lighter than the doom and gloom of the Liberals - interesting use of puppet/animation. It does target a big issue that Canadians are concerned about, but spending more time talking about what the Conservatives haven't done for Health Care and less time about what you plan on doing for health care doesn't make me feel super confident in your party. However, I appreciate the fact this ad doesn't look like armageddon is happening tomorrow.

Now the Conservatives:

It's like the Liberals and Conservatives hired the same agency to produce the same ad for both camps, just switching out the leaders. Who the fuck cares that Ignatieff loves America? He's here now, he's ready to lead, how the fuck is this an election issue? Spend this money (and the time you're wasting of mine) and tell me what you plan on doing.

One would hope the Greens would do a better job:

What the fuck was that? This ad looks even scarier than all the other ones combined! It barely tells me anything about what the Greens plan on doing beside not being negative (but being negative at the same time). What happened to friendly, smiling, aloof looking Elizabeth May? Maybe she was bitter she wasn't allowed in the debates.

All in all, a terrible tone to set this early in the election campaign and another reminder to Canadians that this yet again, a useless election.

April Challenge - Day 1: Walk the Plank

So my goal for the next 28 days is to train for the Sporting Life 10k which takes place on May 1. I've already started on the treadmill this past week, but the goal here is to also do some strength training in order to get beach ready for my trip to Thailand in May.

So I did about 2 hours at the gym today, which included:

- 27min of running (5K - need to get this time down to 24min somehow)

- 10min of skipping (goal was to get 1,000 skips in - I think I achieved about 800 before I was like, no more.)

- 30 min on core - I tried a new exercise on the swiss ball. One handed planks (more on that below) and various crunches and situps

- 20min on freeweights

- 15min on back

- 15min on flexibility exercises (stretches, yoga poses)

The one handed plank on a swiss ball was perhaps the toughest thing I did today. It was less than successful. After trying to stabilize myself for about 2 minutes, I thought I finally found my perfect balance, removed my left hand and promptly fell face first into the floor. Thankfully, no one was around to witness this sad display of fitness (or lack thereof). So I modified it and did a regular plank with the swiss ball. Still incredibly challenging but better than the one handed plank. I'll continue to try this exercise - we'll see how many attempts and faceplants it takes before I get it.

April Challenge - Getting my fitness on

So this month, it's all about training for the Sporting Life 10K run taking place May 1. We started up a group to run at BBDO/Proximity and we have about 15 people on the team at the moment.

The Sporting Life 10K helps raise money for Camp Oochigeas that provides a great camp environment for kids with cancer. This is a place where they can forget they have this terrible illness and just be kids.

Please support us by going here or if you'd like to donate to me directly, please go here. I thank you for any contribution.

My challenge this April will be to run, but also strength train. I'll try out new exercises everyday and let you guys know about my progress. My posts will start tomorrow.

PS - April is also Cancer Awareness month. Buy some daffodils from the Cancer Society to help fund cancer research.

March Challenge - Day 26: Fail.

So I've failed at my March challenge of keeping up with reading interesting stuff and blogging for 28 days.

Was this a well thought out challenge? Not really. Should I have put in more thought? Yes, I was lazy. The parameters of this month's challenge were not defined properly nor was it a specific enough challenge. So my first fail in three months of this challenge.

Oh well, here's to hoping April is better.

March Challenge - Day 25: Perhaps the NDP shouldn't have voted down the government

Poor Jacky. He must be regretting his move to bring down the government with the other parties. In this first week of this election, he's seen his support wane and a lot of that support going over to the Liberals.

Some point out that it's because the Conservatives and Liberals have done a great job at focusing the media's attention on a two way race between the blue and red, leaving Layton out in the cold. Some others think that it has something to do with Mr. Layton's health and that people view that as a reason not to vote for a candidate with ailing health.

Regardless, this really has become a Conservatives vs. Liberals debate. Everyone wants to see a majority government, but don't know which side to turn to. As I said in my last blog, it's time for a party to take bold moves and propose a true vision and not just one or two nice to have campaign promises.

March Challenge - Day 24: Election...2008?

So this first week in the election has seen some new (albeit not so great) campaign promises, but also a lot of old rehashed campaign promises from parties from the 2008 and 2006 elections. While it's important to reuse and recycle, regifting campaign ideas and calling them new is terribly unappealing.

Take the Liberal's universal daycare promise for example. They've been promising this since they were in power in the 90s. Has it happened? No. Will it happen? No. Their plan this time, to share the burden with the provinces. Have provinces committed? No. It's like telling investors you have plenty of business partners willing to help fund your idea, but when the investors contact your partners, the partners haven't the foggiest idea.

Then there's the NDP tackling the oil sands issue. It's totally expected of the NDP to put this on their agenda. But let's be honest, even if Canada experiences an orange sweep this election season, Layton would be hard pressed to try to touch the Oil Sands considering the troubles going on in oil rich regions of the world. There is demand - oil sands make money for Canada. Touch that and you risk damaging Canada's economic growth.

As for the Conservatives - minor moves and shifts this campaign - nothing too out of the box considering they want to hold onto their lead. This is the dumbest idea ever as they are slowly watching the Liberals gain more support. It's time for bold action in order to inspire voters to go out and vote and perhaps choose a majority government that has a vision for the country in the next four years. Talk of stability is fine...but stagnation is just around the corner if we don't start making some big moves soon.

March Challenge - Day 23: More election promises - still blah

So both the Liberals and NDP unveiled a campaign promise today. The Liberals focused on education, the NDP focused on credit card debt.

The Liberals plan, wrapped with a ribbon and called the "learning passport" gives $1000 a year to any student's RESP when they are between the ages of 14 to 17, and would be paid out during each year at college/university. For low income families, that amount is $1,500.

The NDP unveiled their plans to slash credit card interest rates in an effort to cut down consumer debt. This promise would effectively ban high interest rates, cutting it down to close to 5% above prime compared to the 19 - 21% banks currently charge.

Both plans are interesting and certainly appeal to a core voter group - families. Families with kids they have aspirations for to go to post-secondary education. Families with debt.

The trouble with the Liberals' plan is that while $1000 helps, it doesn't address the crippling student debt a large majority of students will have to take on to pay for the rest of the cost that the $1000 does not cover. Rather than the $1000 handout, why not address the student loan system and provide incentives to pay back the loans faster, programs for students struggling to find work after they leave school so that they can pay more manageable parts of the loan? Perhaps restructuring the student debt payment program would be more beneficial to students rather than giving them a handout as you're in a way teaching them financial responsibility - for every loan you take out, you must pay back. But give them the leniency that they need so they don't default. The cost to this program? $1 billion a year. I would say, take that money and do a complete restructuring of the student loans system and you'll see a greater return.

The NDP promise is interesting - and noble. Credit card interest rates are insane. However, you put a cap on the banks, they'll find another way to get money from consumers. And let's address the bigger problem in the first place. Too many people have too many cards. Cap limits on cards. Cap the dollar limit on those cards so that people aren't taking out more than they make. It's not cost of living that is driving people into credit card debt. It's irresponsible spending based off of no limits set in place for credit card acquisition. Interest rate caps aren't the problem. People who are in debt will continue to be in debt regardless of the interest rate.

So again, two smoke and mirror promises. 0 points to any of the parties so far.

March Challenge - Day 22: Open Letter to Olivia Chow - Let Elizabeth Speak

Dear Ms. Chow,

I am one of your constituents in Trinity-Spadina and I was outraged to hear that your party took such a lacklustre stance in the decision by the media consortium's decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the leaders' debates. By not taking a stand and asking the networks to allow the leader of a legitimate national party to join the debate, you are in fact chipping away at the democracy you constantly say you defend.

When your leader Jack Layton said that he is ready to go head to head against Stephen Harper to become the Prime Minister of this country, he failed to mention he was too good to go head to head with other leaders who stood a chance of challenging his candidates in key ridings. Is he afraid that Ms. May and her party could pose a serious threat to your party in future elections because your parties share such similar ideologies? Is that why he's willing to compromise democracy and make sure that Canadians do not have an opportunity to listen to another party who has a legitimate right to be heard?

The Greens are running the same number of candidates as all three major parties. In fact, it's running over 200 more than the BQ, yet they have a seat at the table. The Greens received 6.8% of the popular vote last year - 3% shy of the BQ and about 1/3 of your party's popular vote. This showing should at least guarantee them a seat at the table.

As a female MP, I'm sure one of your interests is to see more women represented in the HoC. Pressure your leader to take a stand and get Ms. May into the debate. Let the only female leader of a major Canadian political party speak and get her party's platform out for Canada to see. Give her the same shot your party has.

Thank you for your time.

March Challenge - Day 21: First Campaign Promise Fizzles

So the Conservatives were the first to lay down a campaign promise today, one that really isn't important to me, but important for any family with two parents - income splitting.

For couples with kids under the age of 18, they can split up to $50,000 in income, allowing 1.8 million families a savings of approximately $1,300 a year. This $2 billion dollar tax cut that impacts about 20% of the population (if not less) comes with two big ifs...

(1) The Conservatives win a majority.

(2) The Conservatives can balance the budget.

While the first point is a possibility (with 12 seats away from a majority, gains in Quebec and Ontario can make all the difference), the second is a laughable condition. With it's own predictions during last year's budget that they won't be able to eliminate the deficit well until after 2015, they'll be well on their way to planning another election before this tax cut can kick in.

For a tax cut that is both unrealistic and doesn't help those single-income families that could use a tax cut the most, you get an F on your first campaign promise.

March Challenge - Day 20: Make your own Friday video Madlibs

If you are not one of the people who've contributed to Rebecca Black's close to 60 million views of her "hit" song "Friday," where have you been this past week?

For those of you looking for Youtube Superstardom, here's an easy plug and play formula / mad libs to star in your own day of the week video:

(mix of ohhs, ahhs, yeas, and hmms)

(insert time), waking up in the (noun).

Gotta be (adjective), gotta go (place).

Gotta have my (noun), gotta have (noun).

Seeing everything, the time is (verb).

Ticking on, and on, everybody's (verb).

Gotta get down to the (place). Gotta (verb) my (object).

I (verb) my (pl. object)

(Verb) in the front (noun), (verb) in the back (noun).

Gotta make my mind up, which (noun) can I (verb)?

CHORUS

It's (day), it's (day), gotta (verb) on (day).

Everybody's looking forward to (noun), (noun).

It's (day), it's (day), gettin' (verb) on (day).

Everybody's looking forward to (noun), (noun).

(Verb), (verb), yea! (x2)

(Expression), (Expression), (Expression), (Expression), looking forward to the (noun).

(New time), we're (verb) on the (noun).

(Verb) so fast, I want them to (verb).

(Expression), (expression), thinking about (expression).

You know what it is.

I (verb) this, you (verb) this. My friend is by my (place).

I (verb) this, you (verb) this. Now, you (verb) it.

(Verb) in the front (noun), (verb) in the back (noun).

Gotta make my mind up, which (noun) can I (verb)?

(repeat chorus)

Yesterday was (day). Today is (day). We we we so (verb). We so (verb).

We gonna have a (noun) today.

Tomorrow is (day), and (day) comes afterwards.

I don't want this (noun) to (verb).

RAP SOLO - please recruit creepy looking rap artist driving a moderately priced vehicle, preferably a Honda or Toyota. As it is rap, the artist has freedom of expression.

(repeat chorus) x2

AND YOU'RE DONE! Well on your way to being a Youtube wonder!

PS - I noticed the word FUCK fits perfectly throughout the song. What a versatile word.

March Challenge - Day 19: You can't be serious

So our first election issue is talk about whether or not a coalition will happen after the election. So all parties are preparing for a minority government (again). Proof once more that this $400 million boondoggle will make Canadians even more furious and stay home this election.

Please guys, let's talk about things Canadians are worried about:

- Health Care

- Economy and job creation

- Lower Taxes

- Urban transportation infrastructure and funding

Maybe that way, you'll get the majority you want as opposed to a minority that we're surely to get if we don't talk about important issues.

March Challenge - Day 18: How to be an asshole during Earth Hour

This will be my third year participating in Earth Hour - during this hour, I'll be wandering the streets of Toronto taking pictures of normally lit hotspots going dark like Yonge and Dundas Square. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what Earth Hour is all about, it's to raise awareness about how much energy we use and what one hour of not utilizing electricity would do.

Last year, I got into an argument with two of my friends, one of whom does not believe in Global Warming (which I consistently remind him that Global Warming has now been rebranded as Climate Change - still no dice). Their argument - what's the point of Earth Hour since the electricity has already been generated? True - the electricity that is "saved" during Earth Hour has already been generated and if not used in that Earth Hour, would be used at a different time. However, turning off the lights helps in two ways: (1) Generating awareness on how much energy we use, some of which is unnecessary and (2) through that awareness, if it motivates people to use less energy, then the electric companies won't have to generate as much in the future. It's like getting rid of plastic bags - sure, the plastic bags are already made, but if people stop using them, grocery stores order less, which in turn makes manufacturers produce less.

Doubtful I'll ever be able to change my friends' views, however, I realize that there are still many ways for people to be an asshole during Earth Hour even if they don't turn on their lights at home. And here's how:

(1) Hum some Lionel Ritchie as you bathe.

It's dark, so what's more soothing (and possibly romantic) than to take a nice bubble bath with candlelight. Of course, you'll want to unload the dinner you just had - make sure to flush two or three times, as it's dark and you don't want to have the stench of pork and beans filling up your bubble bath environment. Make sure to make the water extra hot - you don't want to have the water go cold during your relaxing bath. Note: a bath uses about 3 - 5x more gallons of water than a shower - the bigger the tub, the more water you waste.

(2) Furnace, full blast - engage!

It's fucking cold outside, even for March. And in the dark, even snuggling under layers of blankets won't get you warm. So why not turn the furnace to full blast? This way, you can also share your heat with others in the building also observing Earth Hour. You're friendly and thoughtful.

(3) Canadian Idle.

So you're bored after your bath and snuggling under the blankets, you want to go outside for some fun! Forget public transit, you only have an hour - you don't want to be waiting at a bus stop for the majority of your time just so you can share a vehicle with commoners. Jump into your H3, go over to your local gas station, fill the tank and drive to some lookout point and idle that baby as you observe Earth Hour from a vantage point. Boy, the city does look beautiful all dim, especially when you have your highbeams pointed right at it.

(4) Grocery Shop til you Drop.

Go to your local grocery store. Buy a lot of exotic and imported food (you're so cultured and supporting people thousands of miles away!) and also plenty of items in non-recyclable containers. Go home and immediately throw all that food into the garbage. You don't need all those calories - what were you thinking?

(5) Shotput that trash.

Immediately take all of the packaging from your grocery shopping adventure and chuck it over your balcony. If nature's so great, it'll take care of it.

(6) Burn, baby burn.

Gather your leftover gas from your Hummer excursion, cut down some 100 year old trees in your neighbourhood and start a giant bonfire to bring the community together - hey, I know some great pagan ritual dances that will really get the party started.

(7) Chemical brothers and Expired Medicine - no, I'm not headed to a rave.

It's time to get rid of all those harmful chemicals in your cabinets and throw away all that expired medicine. What better way than to pour it down your drains and flush it down your toilets so that it helps clean up our water supply. Estrogen pills go bye bye - we all want bigger boobs right? This way, you're sharing the wealth with everyone as they sip our tap water.

(8) Clubbing - seal clubbing.

Okay, this might be difficult in major urban centres (unless you live by a zoo) but there's nothing more fun on a Saturday night than to beat some defenceless animals to death. Don't let their cute faces deter you. I believe a certain issue of German People magazine in 1937 voted Hitler as the Sexiest Man Alive...and we all know how he turned out.

(9) Timber!

So an hour might be pushing clear cutting a large swath of forest, but not if you get hundreds of like minded people involved. Teamwork makes things work faster. Plus, you'll have all the wood you need for activity #6.

So I've run out of activities one can participate in - but nonetheless, you get the point. You can still be a douchebag during Earth Hour, but hopefully we're all smarter than that. Be a part of the global movement and understand our actions have a big impact on others. By changing our daily routines, we can make a difference, and if by turning your lights off for one hour helps you turn off more lights throughout the year, well, then the Hour has helped.

PS - read a great article in Fast Company about companies participating in Earth Hour. Really - can't they make more of an effort. It's just an hour.