Super Size Me
30 Jul 2006 14 Comments
in Books, movies, music, TV, Food
Super Size Me is a documentary about filmmaker Morgan Spurlock who embarked on a one-month McDonald’s binge. He signed up three medical professionals to monitor his health while in this extreme experiment – a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner. He also worked with a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist.
For 30 days, he was to eat only foods from McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and supper. He could also drink coffee and water provided they were bought at Mickee Dees.
He started out very healthy. As a matter of fact, his exercise physiologist said that he had above average fitness for his age group. He stood 6’2” and weighed 185 ½ lbs. His cholesterol was 168 and his body fat was 11%. He was sexually active. He was a previous smoker but had quit many years ago.
So Day 1 came, he started his McDonald’s binge and he was fine. On Day 2 he experienced a stomachache and even vomited while having his meal. On Day 7, he was experiencing chest pressure. By Day 18, he was feeling fatigue and he had less sexual drive.
Six Weird Things About Me
26 Jul 2006 25 Comments
in About Me
I’ve been tagged by Señor Enrique to name six weird habits or things about myself.
Here are the rules:
The writer will create a blog with “6 weird things/habits about yourself.”
People who get tagged will have to post a blog of their own telling 6 weird things/habits about themselves.
At the end of your 6 weird/things/habits, you need to choose 6 people that you would like to be tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave a comment that says “You are Tagged!” in their comments and tell them to read yours for instructions on how to proceed!
Here are my six habits or things that you may find weird:
1. I go to bed at 1:00 a.m. Even when I am exhausted, I’d stay up watching TV or reading a book, sometimes falling asleep on the couch, and then I’d get up at around 1:00 a.m. to get ready for bed.
2. I would put my right leg up on the chair and tuck it under my left leg, not only when I’m being comfortable on the couch. I also do this when I’m at the dinner table and at my workstation. And it’s always the right leg under the left leg. But I only do this at home. And since I work at home, it’s getting to be a bad habit. Sometimes I’d also put my left leg up on the chair. I tend to get into a cramp position while working. Not very good for my back.
3. I don’t know how to ride a bike. And I don’t drive either. I did try to learn driving once but I always got nervous on the road.
4. I grind my teeth at night. I didn’t know this until my dentist told me earlier this year. And then I noticed that I do clench my teeth whenever I’m angry or stressed. Now, I have to wear a night guard to protect my slowly deteriorating teeth.
5. I keep my grocery receipts for up to a year and at the end of the year, I make a summary of our expenses. Even though I know that it gives me chest pains to compare our income and expenses. Our expenses tend to be always greater than our income. I’m always on the lookout on how to cut back on some of our expenses.
6. I have a collection of movies on VHS tapes, mostly ones that I have taped from TV. Some are five to ten years old and I haven’t watched yet. I just can’t seem to find enough time. And while most people are replacing their movie collection with DVDs, I still buy mine on VHS tapes. They’re just too cheap now. Sometimes they cost only a couple of bucks. (Read more here.)
I’m tagging these six wonderful people.
1. Jayred
2. Toe
3. Noemi
4. Ann
5. Mmy-lei
6. Jairam
Can men and women be just friends?
23 Jul 2006 33 Comments
The first time Harry met Sally, he said to her, “Men and women can’t be friends because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.” (Please guys, tell me this isn’t true.) Sally disagreed and found him to be obnoxious. He, on the other hand, found her to be very high-maintenance. So they didn’t hook up on that first meeting.
The second time they met, they were both committed to other people. Harry still stood by what he said to her the first time. She still found him obnoxious.
The third time they met, they just broke up with their partners. They became friends, and later on they actually became the best of friends, being able to tell each other about anything, including how they feel about the people they were dating. But they kept denying their attraction for each other.
I love When Harry Met Sally. The actors look so young. Meg Ryan was so pretty. Billy Crystal was funny without even trying to. Harry Connick Jr, who sang the theme song It Had To Be You, also looked so young and handsome. And I love that famous scene in the restaurant when Sally faked an orgasm just to prove to Harry that women do fake it. And then the woman on the other table said, “I’ll have what she’s having.” That was hilarious.
But really, is it possible for a man and a woman to be friends without turning into a romantic relationship? In Harry and Sally’s case, they became friends first, but there was obviously an attraction even at the beginning.
This reminds me of a Home Improvement episode when Jill had a guy in her book club. Her husband, Tim, was jealous when Jill and the guy went out one night to attend an event that they were both interested in. Tim wasn’t really interested in books, you see. But Jill assured him that he wasn’t interested in the guy in a romantic way.
Which brings me to another question. Can you love somebody and yet be inspired by another? And I’m not talking about being inspired by a celebrity or famous person. I meant being inspired by somebody you know personally. Would that be wrong?
The Skatepark
20 Jul 2006 12 Comments
in Winnipeg
There’s a new attraction in town. The skateboard park at The Forks.
I’ve watched my kids play their Tony Hawk’s Playstation game and I’ve enjoyed watching it. I’ve seen the different moves and turns that one can do with the skateboard such as the kickflip, the ollie, the grind, and the 180- and 360-degree turns. I think they’re awesome. But it’s a different experience watching kids skateboard for real.
Skateboarding can be a pretty dangerous sport. Just two weeks ago, a teenage boy already had an accident at this park. There have been debates on whether the City should impose a law on wearing helmets and protective gear such as knee and elbow pads. Winnipeggers are split on this issue. On the one hand, some think that the City should impose a rule because they think that it’s the City’s responsibility to protect its residents. On the other hand, some think that the City shouldn’t and everybody should mind their own business and it should be up to the parents to make sure that their kids are protected when they do skateboard.
I’m just glad that my kids are not into skateboarding. If they were, I would make them wear helmets and pads. But then again, I think there’s pressure on teenage kids if they see their peers not wearing helmets. They kind of feel like the odd one out. And the younger kids look up to the older kids. They think that whatever the older kids are doing is cool. And pretty soon they will want to imitate the older kids who aren’t wearing helmets. I know this because I always struggle with my youngest son to cover his head in the freezing temperatures in the winter when he sees his older brothers not wearing their toques (hat/bonnet) or hoods.
When we went to check out this skatepark a few days ago, I noticed the smaller kids, who were obviously with their parents, were all wearing helmets. The teenage boys, who were there by themselves, were not. I watched a teenage girl fall from her skateboard and I winced when she did. I was even worried that she would scrape her lovely skinny legs. But she was all right.
Other provinces here in Canada enforce laws on wearing helmets while biking, rollerblading and skateboarding. Manitoba hasn’t yet. I’m sure if my kids were into skateboarding, I would also vote for the legislation of wearing helmets. I think anything that involves flipping and suspending oneself in the air is dangerous.
Click here for more photos of the skatepark.
Cantaloupe drink
18 Jul 2006 12 Comments
in Food
Another family favourite is the cantaloupe, or milon (mee-lon) in Tagalog. Sometimes we just slice this fruit after removing the seeds and the gooey middle. But most of the time, we make a cantaloupe drink. What we do after removing the middle part is scrape the fleshy meat with this utensil, pangkayod, (I don’t know what it’s called in English) and we get these string-like shapes. We then add sugar and water and voila, we have a cantaloupe drink.
The other day, I was too tired (from the heat) and too lazy to prepare anything elaborate that I just boiled some corn on the cob and I cooked hotdogs. That’s what the kids and I had for dinner and also this refreshing cantaloupe drink. The corn tasted so good with margarine on it. It was like a picnic meal. The kids and I enjoyed it.
“Mommy, why does everything we eat today is long? The hotdog, the corn, and even the milon is also long.”
You can just imagine what kind of conversation it started. If you haven’t realized it yet, I live with four boys. If you have been around boys, you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about.
Later on, I told them to stop playing around with their food and they just kept on giggling throughout the rest of the meal.
So what about you? How do you eat your cantaloupe?
