14 posts tagged “qotd”

What are some charitable causes that you support or would like to support?

• The Heart and Stroke Foundation, a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living and advocacy. And as some of you may already know that I will be cycling 75km across Toronto in June for the H&S Foundation, so feel free to make a donation.
• Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.
• The Lance Armstrong Foundation is a registered nonprofit organization located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist, Lance Armstrong, the LAF inspires and empowers people with cancer. I wear a yellow LiveStrong bracelet in support of cancer survivorship and have a nice little backup supply in case I lose or break one.
  

I also stumbled upon the Friends for Life Bike Rally recently and am trying to find out more information on it. They bike from Toronto to Montreal in 5 days to raise money for AIDS. It is something I would be interested in participating in.

What are your resolutions for 2007?

• Cycle 75km averaging at least 35km/h, 40km/h would be perfect.
  
• Finish taking lead climbing course and conquer ceiling climbs and 5.11's easily and often.
  
• Find a better job
  
• Build a website
  
• Finish one of those long time video game mapping projects that I have buried away somewhere (and start some new ones).
  
• Find the time to actually do a little traveling this year.
  
• Read more books, watch more movies, and shorten those two long lists significantly.
• Actually accomplish at least one of these resolutions this year.
  

If you are going to dress up for Halloween, what will you be? Why? 
Submitted by Auweea.

I'm thinking of making a Chinese Qin Empire soldier's armour. It would certainly be different, and it would be a lot more flexible than most other kinds of armour. I'll accessorize with a huge halbard (I'm thinking around the same size as Cloud's sword from Final Fantasy VII - no one stands between me and my Halloween treats).

Not sure if I should go for historically accurate, like this...

Or a little more creative and fictional, like this one from Dynasty Warriors...

What's your favorite restaurant?

Restoran Malay
815 Major Mackenzie Dr. E. (Bayview), Richmond Hill
905.508.1432

It's a bit of the way outside the centre of Toronto, but Restoran Malay is worth the drive. You can pretty much order anything and it will be guaranteed to taste great. I like their tea, which is brewed strong and bubbly aerated by juggling the liquid between pitchers at arms length. I always order their lemon-grass beef as well as an extra helping of everything to take home.

Oddly enough, some time after discovering the restaurant, I found out that my niece (my cousin's daughter) used to work there as a waitress. Some of her friends still do.

Reviewed on Toronto Life.

What's the nerdiest thing about you?

• I wear glasses
• I'm a computer geek
• I used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Recently started watching Doctor Who
• I actually own a lightsabre (Obi-Wan)
  
• Nuff said

On the other hand, I guess I balance it out since I'm pretty athletic. I used to compete in swimming, I do a lot of cycling, and rock climbing. So I'm the nerdiest jock, and the coolest nerd, which is true even back in high school. I was invited to hang out with everyone, but wasn't ever exclusively part of a certain group.

What albums are in heavy rotation for you right now?

I'm having a Chemical-Brothers-O-Thon at the moment. Just converted the CD's to MP3's so I have them queued up and playing in iTunes. I'm about halfway through their discography. I wanted to listen to them on the go, but realized that I would need to get myself a new MP3 player first.

I won a Samsung Yepp in a contest pre-iPod days, back when everyone else were still walking around with CD-players and the occasional cassette tape player (sounds archaic, but it hasn't actually been that long ago). It's a 192MB Yepp, so it only holds 2.5 albums at a time. My Chemical Brothers collection is 706MB. So I'm contemplating getting an iPod Nano or another competitor's product.

My Chemical Brothers Discography

• Exit Planet Dust
• Dig Your Own Hole
• Surrender
• Come with Us
• Push the Button
• Electrobank
• Singles 93-03
• The Chemical Brothers Remixed: Believe EP
• The Chemical Brothers Remixed: Flip the Switch

The last two albums listed above were released by the Chemical Brothers as a free download in part of a community remix experiment. Unfortunately, it appears as if their website kicked the bucket recently.

What's your morning beverage of choice?  Coffee, tea, juice?  Homemade or store-bought?

My Dad's a major tea connoisseur and I guess I inherited his taste for fine tea. We drink mostly Chinese varieties that we import from China and sometimes, scavenger hunts in Chinatown will yield a decent brew. I like mostly black and Oolong tea (means black dragon, and is between black and green teas in oxidation) and usually stay away from green tea.

We don't actually ground up tea like those in tea bags that you buy at the supermarket. Instead, it's better to brew the whole leaves since it prevents giving off any bitterness or aftertaste.

My favorite variety of Oolong tea is Tie Guan Yin, grown in Fujian province and the leaves are often hand rolled into little pellets. For black tea, I like dian hong, which is grown in Yunnan province and is usually rolled into small stringy bits.

My brother is a coffee nut who buys fresh green coffee beans that he roasts, grinds and brews himself. I think he said that he sticks to Sumatra or Ethiopian blends. My family is very beverage eccentric.

Interesting Factoid:
Theodore Roosevelt was a major coffee aficionado whose coffee mugs were said to resemble vats. Joel Cheek, founder of Maxwell House, presented Roosevelt with a cup of coffee at a county fair, to which Roosevelt declared, "Good to the last drop!", and adopted by Cheek as a slogan.

What is your current computer desktop image? Let's see it!

Good girl. Bad girl. ( 1600 x 1200 ) x 2.

Soda? Cola? Pop? (Sometimes coke, regardless of brand) What do you say? Any other regional words that set you apart?
Question submitted by Gladys.

Oh gee, as a Canuck, where do I start...?

Aboot - I don't say this, but some Canadians out in the bush use this instead of "about".
Eh! - 'tis true. We do say 'eh' a lot. Often used at the end of sentences or as an alternative to, "huh?"
Kraft Dinner (or KD) refers to Macaroni and Cheese, often produced in small boxed servings by Kraft Foods Inc.
Touques are winter knit hats (often with a pompom on the tip).
Loonie is a one-dollar coin, imprinted with a Canadian loon on one side and Queen Elizabeth on the other. Makes a game of heads or tails rather interesting.
Toonie (sometimes doubloon) is a two-dollar coin. A polar bear on the "tails" side.
Tim's/Timmy's refers to Tim Horton's chain of coffee shops, the Canadian equivalent to Starbucks (only better!). There seems to be at least one Tim's on every major intersection here in Toronto, sometimes inside the gas station booth. Tim's sells coffee, doughnuts, pastries, sandwiches, soups, and Timbits, which we use to describe doughnut holes in general.
Double-Double - while on the topic of Tim's - is understood to mean two sugars and two creams.
Homo Milk is homogenized milk that contains 3.25% butterfat that other countries call whole milk.
Hydro is used to describe anything related to the electric utility, since a lot of power generated in Canada is from hydroelectric sources. For example, "pay the hydro bill", "they cut the hydro lines", "the cat decided to do a swan dive from the top of the hydro pole".
Skdoo means snowmobile, popularized by the Bombardier Inc. line of Ski-Doo motors.
Two-Four typically refers to beer in general, since most beer is sold in boxes of 24 bottles.
Poutine is a popular Canadian fast food of french-fries covered in cheese curds and gravy. Artery clogging, but quite tasty when you need to satisfy that occasional junk food craving.
Canadian Tire Money - if you are a Canadian, you must have Canadian Tire money tucked away somewhere in your kitchen drawers, your wallet/purse or in the glove compartment of your car. It's almost like some weird law for all Canadians. Canadian Tire is a retail chain of hardware/home merchandise/auto repair/sporting goods/garden centre/etc. that issues coupons printed with various amounts of change that looks a lot like real money every time you buy something. You collect and then redeem the Canadian Tire money the next time you buy something, only to have them hand you more Canadian Tire money. I have one friend who actually has more Canadian Tire money than actual legal tender.

So now, you should be able to speak like a genuine Canuck, eh!

Who is your favorite Muppet? Why?
QotD submitted by knitwitology.vox.com.

I'm a fan of duos. Statler & Waldorf and Bunsen & Beaker.