Busy Bee

Other things besides work that kept me busy:
- Yoga
- HRW HIV/AIDS event - which, BTW was sold out. 70+ pp showed up to hear 5 fantastic speakers. Joe Amon was amazing!
- food, food and more food.

Some great reads:
- Graffitists Resist Xmas Advertising
- ...conducting a survey
- Tories to deliver on AIDS pledge
- Steve Ballmer looks excited now...

Let's go dancing peanut...i'm ready

Just finished watching Wild At Heart. Delightfully disturbing. The next time you are at the local vid - pick this one up.

Definitely a Must-Have classic to add to your DVD collection - I know a lot of you out there have one.



What constitutes a classic exactly anyway? Hm, not sure if I agree with Wikipedia's definition - which they grab from IMdB anyway...to be discussed over a pint.

So Fresh n' So Clean...clean

- the right way to tie your shoelaces - thanks Sanj!
- not quite there yet...but close...brush your teeth.

...and of course, I have done this demonstration for a few of you already...



...um, why am I showing this to you? Because.

The Holiday Music Has Begun

Baaaa Humbug!

- Future Shop - Holiday announcements that make anyone and their dog want to cringe. (Wowzers, and $25 MP3 players)
- Essence du Papier - Christmas carols a plenty
- Club Monaco and Gap manequins dressed with santa cheer...

...is this supposed to bring cheer?

Buy Nothing Today

I really tried to buy nothing today...

My shopping list so far:
- 1 coffee $2
- 1 lunch meal $6
- will have to pick up some goat cheese

Here are some really good Black Friday stories...if you are interested:

- Walmart screws the online shopper on Black Friday.
- Black Friday: Man CRIES on News Because He Didn't Get to Product in Time!
- Shoppers mob malls.
- CNN reports

Consumerism at its finest. ergh!

Let's Chat...put on your red shoes...

Well, not quite.

Great post on Techcrunch today - The 6 biggest new ideas in chat.

I like IM. I just don't have many people to IM with. Most of the people I know still prefer email and phone (yikes, we are the 'old' generation). But I think IM is important for many reasons:

1. It is another way to start a conversation - both one to one and many to one
2. I think they make great marketing and sales tools
3. It's cheap!
4. It's fast.
5. Options continue to grow

Experiment: Happy Sleep

Read this article by the Globe on Happiness. If you are too lazy, because it is Friday, here is a quick quote:

"Every night, she was to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they had occurred. That was supposed to increase her overall happiness."

I am going to try this...I am actually a pretty happy person. The result of years of yoga and meditation I am sure...but also because I simply just am happy. However, I am interested to see if this will affect my sleeping patterns. Although I sleep fairly well, I don't think it is well enough...

I will keep you all posted. If you are going to try this experiment, let me know your results. I would be really interested to see how others make out.

Just hold down the power button

Mark sent me this post this morning from JOS. It talks about the powering off routine of the new Microsoft Vista.

Mark sent me this quote:

"Every time you want to leave your computer, you have to choose between
nine, count them, nine options: two icons and seven menu items. The two
icons, I think, are shortcuts to menu items. I'm guessing the lock icon
does the same thing as the lock menu item, but I'm not sure which menu
item the on/off icon corresponds to."

But I think this one is better:

"The more choices you give people, the harder it is for them to choose, and the unhappier they'll feel...The fact that you have to choose between nine different ways of turning off your computer every time just on the start menu, not to mention the choice of hitting the physical on/off button or closing the laptop lid, produces just a little bit of unhappiness every time. Can anything be done? It must be possible. iPods don't even have an on/off switch."

The reason why I like this post is because of several reasons:
1. I am for some reason, into usability right now
2. The headaches with vista amuse me.
3. Usability has a lot to do with marketing...and I am interested in marketing
4. Make me laugh when simple tasks become so gosh darn confusing

The Cool, The Bad and the Ugly

The Cool:
Degrassi Jr. Highghghghgh
FireNancygrace.com VS. ILoveNancyGrace.com
Don't forget - Buy Nothing Day is Nov. 24-25.

The Bad:
Seriously. Nickleback... ergh!
Wii you should digg this?

The Ugly:
HIV grows to 39.5 million infections...read the comments on this one.

Social Dining

I got a business card fron Kultura, and it reads "social dining."

What does that mean exactly?

I consider myself a pretty serious foodie, and between my waitressing and prep cook years to my several years of Tdot fine dining...I never really got what social dining meant?

Isn't the act of dining itself social? At what point was it no longer a social thing? Is it because we can share dishes? Does that make it social? If so, then what do you call chinese, thai, indian, spanish etc. dishes where they were always meant to be shared?

PS. Mark and I went to Kultura on Sunday for brunch. YUM! Order the pancakes. seriously delicious.

I need a camera

Do you ever let your child use the digital camera...wowzers, can you learn a lot.

Tyler, age 6, (in the pic) is using my sis' digi whereas his little bro, Liam, age 3 is using mine.

What did I learn from the experience?
- They love to see themselves on the screen
- It didn't take them long to learn how to use as well as replay the last photo and stream of photo's.
- They quickly learned that they can tell a story through the camera (they decided to reenact the T-Rex vs. King Kong scene)
- They understand what "be careful" means...seriously

Getting Away With It

My Brother can get away with wearing a tuxedo shirt...
I can get away with wearing blue cowboy boots and a matching cowboy shirt...
Renita can get away with wearing cute girly hair thingys...
JennyB can get away with wearing pink barbie high gloss...
My sister can get away with wearing some bling-bling earrings...
Mark can get away with wearing great band shirts no one would know...
My mom can get away with wearing sequince tops everyday...
My dad can get away with wearing mafioso suits...

The new colour of The Bay

My parents had the big 60 party last night. Some 130 pp crammed into our family suburban home in O-town. It was great. Tonnes of food, too much food...check out the photo's in my flickr if you are really interested in what Tampoya parties are all about.

But, what I really wanted to post about was the new The Bay gift boxes. My parent's got a few gifties from their pals from the store. No longer the navy blue with golden stripes, their new boxes are a brighter than mustard yellow with am embossed logo. Pretty nice actually.

Okay, nope, I am not excited about the boxes but am excited at the strong branding. All of my aunts, who were around watching Tyler open the presents for my parents were talking about the new boxes. The deals at The Bay, what is worth going there for (Mikasa & IZOD)...and not. These 60 year old women know their department stores...and they love them.

They are still of that generation that enjoys a good Macy's, Sears...the days of Eaton's and Simpson's...

Although they know of Hollister, Gap, La Senza and others...they still trust the good 'ol department store...

November Babies

Happy birthday to:

My mommy & daddy - the big 60!
My sweetie
Auring
Tita Ada
Ninang Norma
Susan
Toto

I am officially bankrupt!

Lambchops

No, not with fresh rosemary and apple sauce...

I have never heard someone being called a lambchop until I read Seth's post this morning.

alright, after you have read what a lambchop is, I hope you feel the same way as me...Oh, how I hope he is right.

After a few corporate gigs under my belt and friends and family with the same - The two biggest topics I hear about all the time? People and Promises. They matter more than you think.

You gotta love a lambchop.

Closed

I had 15 minutes to burn before picking up my takeout order. So what did I do...I decided to check out some of the stores near the resto.

Heck, the holiday's are coming up so maybe I can get some quick shopping in...

I popped into the first store - Robere's...a jewellry store at Y&E. I made sure that the store was still open before going in. It was 6pm...the sign said the store was closing at 7pm. I took a few steps towards the first display case when the customer service lady asked me if I was "picking up something"...my reply, "nope, I am just looking."

She paused, looked at me for 2 seconds, until I said "the sign on your door says you close at 7, are you closing." Her reply, "yes we are, the weather is bad." I looked out the window, noticed the rain had stopped and replied, "right, it is really bad."...Then left.

I am typically not this sarcastic or rude. Any other day I would have said 'thanks' and would have walked out the door.

But for some reason this really got to me. Maybe if she told me the moment I walked in the door that they were closing, maybe if her tone was a bit nicer...maybe, maybe...

Maybe I really wanted to shop and she was preventing me from it. Maybe I will never return.

Word Up!

I missed Word Up! yesterday. The word of mouth conference put on by Dave Forde.

If you are a WOM junkie like me, check out some of posts on the event.

Usability Camp

Tighly seated in the reno'd Gladstone Hotel, the sold out Usability Camp was...not very user friendly.

I managed to get a seat in the back, albeit with a few of Tdot's digerati, but had a hard time seeing the screen due to the occasional head in the way and the distance.

I have to admit though, the case studies, from what I heard, were pretty good. New Media Lab spoke about a project on 'becoming an animal.' It was neat - although one of the issues that arose was that people didn't know how to use it. Was a bit shocked that they didn't think of that in the beginning.

Sapient spoke of various case studies, Butterfield Bank's mortgage calculator, Rogers and their pick a cell phone, Sky Tv, Acura's extranet, Citibank's creditcard. I will have to investigate these more as it was only screenshots that I saw and could barely make the print.

Autodesk's was also pretty good. They spoke of the developer and designer interaction, waterfall vs. agile. It was nice to see how they worked things out and definitely the lessons learned were good too.

Conceptshare was the next up. I had seen them before and met the crew at ThirdTuesday (which was also that night, with Shel Holtz). They have a good product, I just want to see how much farther they can take it.

...I missed the last case study. Maybe someone there can let me know what I missed. I started to become very hungry and clastrophobic so really, really had to get out!!! Sorry I missed a few hello's and goodbye's...next time, next time.

Eliminate AIDS

Human Rights Watch Toronto Young Advocates, in association with The University of Toronto, International Human Rights Program invite you to an informative panel discussion:

End Abuses, Expand Access, Eliminate AIDS: The Importance of Protecting Human Rights in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS

DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006 at 6:30 pm

LOCATION:
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
84 Queen’s Park - FLC Lecture Room
Post discussion cofffee & tea reception in the Rowell Room

COST: $5.00 (pay at the door)

REGISTER AT: hrwya@hotmail.com

Register soon, space is limited!

THIS YEAR’S PANEL WILL FEATURE:

- Joe Amon, Director, HIV/AIDS Division, Human Rights Watch
- Alana Klein, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
- Dr. Philip Berger, Chief, Department of Family and Community Medicine and Medical Director, Inner City Health Program, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto
- Believe Dhliwayo, Refugee and HIV/AIDS Activist

MODERATOR: Rebecca J. Cook, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

For more information on HIV/AIDS & Human Rights,
please visit the Human Rights Watch website at www.hrw.org

For more information on the Human Rights Watch
Toronto Young Advocates, please visit www.hrw.org/toronto

Everything is Bigger in O-Town

Today is momsie's birthday - the Big 60. So, that is why I am here, in Oakville - o-town, jokeville, Oakside...whatever you prefer.

Running some errands, I never realized how big everything is. How wide the street is, big enough for street parking on both sides and two lane traffic. How big and roomy stores are, enough for super-sized shopping carts. Heck, even the beer store is huge, with lots of promo material and quick pick cold products. wow!

...sadly, I was somewhat excited to get back into my car. I kinda miss driving and my good 'ol Alero sure has been missing me - at least that's what I think.

My Bad or Your Bad

I went to go vote today and was surprised at the other areas I was asked to vote for...I didn't know? Was I supposed to know that I had to vote for four board members of the local Roman Catholic School Board? I didn't get that memo.

Make Time

Tomorrow is Election Day, MAKE TIME TO VOTE!
...yes, I am screaming.

Tags: vote, mayor, election, Toronto

Breakie at Il Fornello

It was miserable yesterday, so Mark and I decided to hike up to Bayview Village (yup, outside of the 401, DVP, 427 area) for breakie (although it was noon), and some groceries for the week.

The mall was really busy. Il Fornello pretty packed as well. The chefs were screaming out timing of meals, the buffet line was long and slow and the waiters were bustling around.

The table behind us didn't look too pleased. Not only did my meal come before their's, but their dishes did not come at the same time. They wanted to eat together. The waiter tried to explain it was because it was busy, but they didn't care.

I would have been pretty ticked too. Just because a restaurant is busy, doesn't mean the experience has to be bad. If a table is dining for breakie, lunch, snack, whatever - you should expect that they want to eat together - unless they explain that they don't. The experience matters...unless you don't want customers to return.

My new tiff with Starbucks

I am not a Starbucks fan - everyone around me will tell you that.

Last night though, I had to meet Mark somewhere and didn't feel like roaming around the in-your-face Christmas/Holiday advertising that has already begun at the Eaton Centre. The only place I could think of was the 'bucks around the corner from Massey.

I ordered a large/grande, whatever the fancy name for big is...cup of green tea. And they gave me two cups.

Although their cups are made of recycled material - why the two cups? It is all part of the "Starbucks Effect."

Tags: starbucks, coffee, Marketing, environment, pollution

Blue Presents

Can someone tell me where these blue presents are coming from? I have seen them in the subway station, outside of the Eaton Centre (there is a giant one outside of my yoga studio)...someone? anyone?

REVIEW: Los Lobos at Massey

Los Lobos took the stage last night at Massey Hall to a dull and somber Tdot crowd. Huh, it must be the seats. This always happens at this venue. Nobody ever stands up, dances or goes crazy to the music...there is an attachment to the 2x2 seat. Everyone pretty much sat there, like most concerts, tapping their hands on their lap or slighly swaying in their seats.

But the band from L.A. had had enough, they went into the crowd and pulled people to dance onstage. The crowd suddenly tranformed. People in the balcony and mezzanine were on their feet - dancing too. Heck, I certainly was.

This band is not only solid (after 20 some odd years together) - they know how to have a good time.

PS. Strange story. Andy sent me a line about a show at Glen Gould theatre that is too be great - but it is sold out. They landed up being the opener to the show last night - Blackie and The Rodeo Kings (mm, they were okay)...and get this, one of the band members is a cousin with someone that works with Mark and Jeff...Andy met Jeff at casecamp and they share a very funny story (ask them the next time you see them).

Tags: Los Lobos, concert, Massey, Toronto, dancing

Spreadin' the Love - WOM style

Mark and I are addicted to VEDA takeout. We ordered it twice this week - but the word on this resto has spread like mad...I will let you know a portion of the wildfire from my end.

- Renita told me about the restaurant. (Her sis went to MBA school with the owner).
- I go in and get some takeout and really digg it
- I take three friends in with me for lunch - they enjoyed it and have gone back with their friends...
- I decide to write a review
- People email me about the review
- Mark tells people at his office about the food
- I order more food...
- I bring leftovers to work for lunch
- The smell of the food wafts through the air - people ask me what it is they are smelling. I email them a link to the resto.

...and on and on and on...

Geekin' It Out Last Night

Props to Mitch and Michael for organizing Geek Dinner II (my invitation got lost for the first one).

Geez, finally got a chance to speak with Sulemaan Ahmed, who I see at almost every event. Lot's of great laughs.. And, David Jones - whose face shows up on several of the blogs I read. And, Sean Moffitt who I was supposed to meetup for a coffee one day but I got the cafe's mixed up - yes! There are 2 roastery's in this city...definitely some cool cats were in the house.

The usual crowd too - Chris, Kathryn, and Ed Lee (who too I see all the time and never get a chance to speak with...next time)

Great conversations with Goody from McLaren McCann...but not about marketing but Summerhill and the love of good food in this city. yum!

It was good times all 'round.

Who's going to Usability camp next week?

Image Recognition Search for Online Shopping

This is so fun. All you shop-o-holics - go check this out.

I learned about Like.com, a product by Riya on my Robert's Shared Items Feed. He pointed to Somewhat Frank's piece on this. Read more posts on this here.

This is the basic summary of it - Like.com uses visual image recognition of photo's and applies them to clothing, bags, shoes...you name it. You can then shop for similar looking items.

Even more fun, check out the way they launched this product.

Feed me audio...ole!

Damn, so many podcasts, so little time.

Just loaded Wilco's latest podcast (over 1 hour!) plus a clip of "The Thanks I Get" by Jeff Tweedy. I can't wait to see these guys again. Fun times, fun times.

Finally got 'round to loading Chris Thinn's, the latest blogTOer and new host of the Toronto Independent Music Podcast. Nice.

Lastly, Turntable Radio. With hour long shows it is tough getting through each one but pretty mch up-to-date now. Just got October left to spin.

Now, off to be a geek and listen to my marketing podcasts...

Tags: podcasting, audio, wilco, dj, tunes

Dated

"I would die for you" came onto the car stereo this morning and Mark automatically said, "when I listen to Prince's music, it sounds so dated."

He was right...and I am a huge fan.

And this article seals the deal too. He is joining the likes of, dare I say, Celine Dion, Elton John and Barry Manilow in...Vegas.

Heck, even the Chappelle sketch - "Charlie Murphy vs. Prince"showed just how dated he and the NPG is.


Tags: entertainment, basketball, Vegas, Prince, performance

Things I Wanted to Know Today

- How did the CAA know my 'other' address? Geez, I thought I had been so careful...I smell a sold contact list that has my name on it.
- Why is communcation between student and teacher still so difficult at so many colleges and universities?
- Where can I find a good site that explains every brand of makeup from the hi-end to the low-end...tech crunch for makeup.
- Why are so many magazines that I opt-out of still sending me their publication?
- Why don't people hold the door for the person behind them?

For the Love of a Dumpling

小籠包 @ Ding Tai Feng, LA
Originally uploaded by yusheng.

Was playing around on flickr this morning...procrastinating as usual. Man, do I have a long list of stuff to get done today...
- laundry
- ironing
- HRWYA and AIMS stuff
- Scotia stuff
- grocery shopping

But I love a great picture of food...

Are you procrastinating today?

2 Bars and a Restaurant

At 630pm last night, Ren and I were scrambling to get a resy somewhere decent. We knew we wanted to stick to QWW, KW or Yorkville...we were going to a party thereafter. The east side was a possibility but only if we were desperate.

Our list went as so:
1. The Drake Hotel
2. Kultura (eastside)
3. Caju

Called the Drake, no answer. Left a vm and no call back...Kultura, rammed. Caju, we just weren't in the mood for brazilian.

Here was our list of calls thereafter:
- Swan
- Midi
- Brassaii - YES, got a resy
- Bodega - YES, got a resy...we eventually settled on this cute french resto.

We had a great time at supper...laughs all around. Celebrating but not celebrating Edva's birthday...PS. the place has a great phyllo warm lemon cheesecake. YUM.

After supper, it was off to Chino in Parkdale for a birthday party. It was busy with the birthday gal's buddies but pretty laid back for the most part. We decided to go to 2Cats to check out that scene. There was a line...I don't do lines (weird, every time I had ben in the past, there was never a line)...SO, it was KiWe, the new resto/bar were Innocenti used to stand. It was hm...dead.

Let it be known that I typically do not go to bars. Restaurants - YES, Bars - NO.

Before I go, here are some of my observations about bar life in this city (really, I should say the so called "trendy" bar life...because there are quite a few that are a hellava lot better than the ones I went to last night):

1. Terrible music. Eurobeats from 10 years ago. I swear someone has made a CD of this trash and has sold it to every club.
2. So packed you can't move...or it takes you 30 minutes to walk 10 steps
3. Line-ups. Ergh.
4. Majority of people are dressed for success.
5. The 2:00 am crowd outside the bars are quite scary to interact with
6. I can't hear a damn thing.
7. Did I mention the God awful music.
8. Expensive bevies
9. Can sometimes take forever to buy a drink
10. forget it, the music will keep me away.

If someone can tell me of a great bar/lounge that is low key, spins great tunes and has a small menu until 2am...let me know please.

Tags: bars, social life, trends, Toronto, beats

Behaviour

Two of my best friends are behaviour analysts. They study human behaviours and they develop programs for changing them. Sometimes I wonder if they are running a program on me to change something I am doing that they find super annoying.

But what struck me about their job was how critical a behaviour analyst can be to a sales or marketing department. They can look at the behaviour of the consumer and develop programs to change it and/or see customer reaction to specific campaigns.

Check out this SAS case study.

Some other good reading along these lines - here is a great study of the impact of customer communities on customer behavior at eBay in Germany.

PS. That pic is in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic 2 years ago...oh, the good 'ol wafers!

Friday Night is another Game Night

Ha! Raps won! First game of the season at home...and a win. Sweet.

I forgot how nice it is to order in a pizza and watch a game on a cold Friday night. If I wasn't feeling so miserable, I would of liked to have a beer and maybe some chippies. YUM!

Well, there is always Steelers on Sunday.

PS. Love the new uniforms.

Yahoo Food

If you go to the new Yahoo Food site, the first person you will see is Martha Stewart's face. To the right is a list of most watched video's - all which are of MS.

Some of the recipe highlights include Thanksgiving...so you will see turkey, pumkin pie, stuffing...oh and more turkey, more turkey and more...you get the idea.

HOW BORING!

The quick recipe search is easily lost beween the graphics and...turkey.

Where is all the great ethnic food?

Alright, maybe it is in the quick search. I did a lookup for two very popular dishes. Butter Chicken and Pancit...

I came up empty. ergh. Actually, the butter chicken search results included penne with chicken and green beans, broiled herb chicken, chicken a la creme...a few dishes, but not the good 'ol fashion Indian dish.

ergh, never again. Boo on you yahoo!

PS. All receipes is so much better...heck, so is the LCBO recipe site.

Hm.

- Creme brulee or chocolate fondue?
- B&W or colour?
- Gum or mints?
- Ponytail or bun?
- football or basketball?
- cupcake or slice of cake?
- Movie theatre or home theatre?
- drive or walk?
- sit or stand?
- rice noodles or egg noodles?
- milk or cream?
- calphalon or le creuset?
- G&T or dubonnet?

Hmm. How does one decide when two great options are presented? Why does one become the favourite?

Tags: behaviour, choice, experience, applied, manner

Let's Go Raptors

The Raps regular season begins today...and I am...hm...somewhat excited...

It is kinda weird really, I used to really look forward to the first game...gotta cheer for my team right from the getgo. But for some reason, I am just not as excited as previous years.

My excitment has increased for the Steelers (um, don't want to talk about their season thus far though), pretty excited about my regular shows, The Office and Rescue Me...

But the Raps? I am missing something. Why am I not excited?

I read a few articles this morning, but even that couldn't light a fire under me.

Has been the lack of raptor advertisements around the city, on tv, in magazines? (I hate those anyway, but is that it?) Has it been my lack of time reading articles, instead I focus on my RSS feeds which has all of 1 sports feeds (do I even want to increase that?).

Or is it simply that they have lost me months ago. A few bad seasons, trades I didn't believe in and now a roster and management I am unfamiliar with.

"I think we're going to surprise a lot of people in this league," Raptors point guard T.J. Ford said. "(Tonight) is the first stepping stone. Right out of the gate, we can surprise a lot of people. No one expects us to do a whole lot."

Oh, how I hope you are right TJ.

IMDB vs. The Local Video Store Guy

Yesterday was Halloween, I wanted to get scared.

Mark sent me a line earlier in the day that SAW got a great review on IMDB. 7.6 to be exact. (PS. He always checked the site when we rent movies - before and after). That would be the flick of choice.

The last few times I checked IMDB, I was disappointed. I did not agree with the average...

This is where the local video store guy comes into play. Now this guy has been on the ball with us. He knows I like the, as Mr. Lan calls is, downward spiral type movies...Haneke, Lynch. I love watching the destruction of ordinary people. (I am a bit odd, I know). He knows what looks good on the big screen, what to rent when I am in the mood for a comedy, romantic, action...

Not only that, when we rent a movie, he will clearly tell us to watch out for the bad acting of so and so, the music, etc. This time it was the overacting of Cary Elwes (also known as Westly from the Princess Bride). And he was right, again.

The point I am trying to make is...sites like IMDB are great, to get an overall average result, get a sense of what other people think. But people like the local vid guy are priceless.