Superfeet

I don't usually recommend products to people because a lot of the things are based on personal preference but... foot problem? Back pain? Give Superfeet a try!

Superfeet

This is the review I just submitted to Sportcheck.

My feet always get tired and get lower back pain when I stay on the ice too long. I had tried Dr. Scholls and another athletic foot orthotic insoles. Unfortunately, those did nothing. Upon googling, a lot of people recommended Superfeet. I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot. The difference it made is HUGE. Superfeet has literally eliminated my foot pain and my back doesn't feel as wonky as before. I recently went for an hour practice and while I did feel fatigue in my back near the end, it was nowhere close to the pain I had felt before. On a scale of 10 being painful, my previous pain was a 9 (couldn't stay on my feet) and with superfeet, it was a 1. Even though the yellow was designed for low and medium arch, I still felt comfortable with my high arch.

Highly recommend that you give it a try as I will be buying another pair for daily use and snowboarding/skiing.

Seriously, a few weeks ago when I went for a team practice... I started getting pain and spasm in my foot and then my lower back started to give out. It got to a point where skating became difficult - pain level did reach a 9. The only relief was to sit and rest. Last night, I had another team practice. It was my 3rd test on the Superfeet... Not only did I not feel any pain in my foot, I even pulled a Grabovski spinerama move on my buddy who was playing net, except I'm a right handed shot...



It's the best $40 investment without a custom orthotics... I'm going to buy 2 more.

Lost Girl

It's Monday morning and even being a little late for work because I couldn't sleep then woek up at 6:18am (yes, 6:18am) because of a dripping window THEN oversleep on the alarms, I'm feeling perky.

Of course, the snow right now IS helping with Monday Blues. Yes, I am one of those people that actually gets giddy for snow. However, why people can't drive properly in the snow is a TOTALLY different story.

After graduating from university, which is a while ago now, I kinda stopped following shows. One, there weren't anything of interest. Two, the stations keep changing date and time of the show that I can never remember when it is on. Three, while I would watch it online, sometimes I just forget about the show.

Right now, there are a few shows that I can say I watch "religiously."
1) Smallville (oh, Erica Durance... You have played Lois Lane with the type of spunk like Teri Hatcher)
2) Bones (oh, Emily Deschanel... such an awesome dry humour on Temperance Brennan)
3) Merlin (yea... but they keep changing air time...)

Now, I found 2 more shows to fall in love with...

Cover Affairs that stars Piper Perabo, who has this awesome cuteness. The show is from the creators of Bourne Trilogy but I never watched the show. Perabo is an awesome actress. She played an excellent Paulie in Lost and Delirious - such psychotic emotions. And in a completely turn around, she plays a recently married yet innocent, Rachel, in Imagin Me & You. So, when I saw the teasers on Showcase. I just had to watch! So far, I like it... I'm not really into these cop/undercover show but how can you not love a girl who (in last night's episode) drove a Ferrari... But I find the funniest thing is the show is filmed in Toronto (you can see a TTC bus and Union Station in some shot) but it's about CIA...

But the other show that I'm going completely "ga-ga" over is Lost Girl. Now, I am definitely not into the whole blood sucking vampire shows but this one, I can't help it (but the show is NOT about vampires). The story is about this girl/woman, Bo, who doesn't know who she is, other then the fact that her sexual desires kill people. But after saving a street kid, Kenzi, in distress, they become best friends. They soon realize there's a whole world of the Fae who lives among human and feeds on them. So, why am I going ga-ga over it...

1) Anna Silk as Bo
2) Zoie Palmer as Lauren
3) KC Collins as Hale
4) Rick Howland as Tricks
5) twists and turns
6) awesome story

Anna Silk... what a beautiful woman... you may remember her from this:


Actually, the show reminds me A LOT of Xena: Warrior Princess. Bo's relationship with Kenzi is very similar to Xena and Gabrielle... Kenzi is the loyal friend who's always got Bo's back. The other awesomeness is the show is CANADIAN. Yes, awesome Canadian show doesn't really fit but this show does. I think it's filmed in Hamilton as there was a shot of CN Tower from Hamilton region. Did I mention a "love" triangle, too? Bo's relationship with the human doctor Lauren, who serves the Dark Fae... then there's Bo's relationship to Dyson who serves the Light Fae and can transforms into a wolf (who I think it's a dick too).

The show can be watched online http://lostgirlseries.com/ and season 1 is complete... they sorta left us with a slight cliffhanger and while season 2 has been picked up... WWWHHEEENNN is the question?

Oh, Anna Silk... you should see this:



Teaser videos:


Go Team Lauren!

Best Blue Jay ever...

First read: http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/916709

Now, the list/candidate:
Roberto Alomar (1991-95)
George Bell (1981-90)
Joe Carter (1991-98)
Carlos Delgado (1993-2004)
Tony Fernandez (1983-90, ’93, ’98-99, 2001)
Roy Halladay (1998-2009)
Tom Henke (1985-92)
Lloyd Moseby (1980-89)
Dave Stieb (1979-92, ’98)
Vernon Wells (1999-2010)

Next, who I can't comment on: Lloyd Moseby, George Bell and Dave Stieb

Since I've never watched them play, it seems unfair for me to say if they're the greatest or not... .

So, onto the rest...

Roberto Alomar... he'll beat you with the bat, legs and glove. The best second baseman ever to play in the major league and well deserved to be in the Hall of Fame and in a Blue Jays uniform. But when I think about Alomar, I always think of Joe Carter and Devon White. Alomar became the all-star, gold glove player when playing in Toronto and continued his dominance in Baltimore and Cleveland. If I had to pick a player to play second base. Alomar but you have to wonder what would happen if the Jays didn't have the bat of Carter and the leg of White leading off...

Joe Carter... I love Joe Carter. Who doesn't? That smile. That bat. That homerun. That jump. Always a threat to hit the big hit. Best Blue Jay? Best right fielder but there's no Joe without Robbie. They both lead the team to the world series. He was the club record holder and if someone is on base, he'll bring them home.

Carlos Delgado... The player I love slightly more then Carter is Carlos Delgado. He was like a left handed version of Joe Carter without the jump. How could you not love Delgado's smile?? Delgado would be the best player developed in the Jays system. If money wasn't an issue, he probably would have stayed AND he did make Shawn Green and Vernon Wells pretty damn good players. Delgado needed no protector. You give him a nice pitch and he'll whack that baby out of the ball park. Remember that 500 level homerun? Funny how he only reached 42 homerun in a season but still, he's the club's homerun record holder.

Tony Fernandez... how many time has he returned to play for the club? 4 times and on the 2nd time, he got the world series ring. Got to love Tony. He never had the flash of Ozzie Smith but great duo with Alomar in 93. Great switch hitter too.

Roy Halladay... if there was a category for best pitcher in club history, I would put for Roy. Such a loyal and hard working guy. It's really too bad someone by the name of JP couldn't get it done. He should have won more then the 1 Cy Young in Toronto were it not for them injuries ie. ball of the leg. But every 4 or 5 days, you know Roy is going to shut down the opponent and he did it against the Beast of the East. He's already got one Cy Young from the AL and a CY Young from the NL, a perfect game and a no-hitter in his first playoff appearance. My hope is he get his world series ring (which is probably soon), and retire as a Jay (doubtful) and go into the Hall of Fame as a Toronto Blue Jays (hopeful).

Tom Henke... 9th inning, close game, one run lead, in comes Tom Henke. Enough said. Best closer in Jays history.

Vernon Wells... at this stage, I can't put him on the list of Jays elite YET. The last few years, he's been hampered by injuries and this past season, we saw what he can do when healthy. He is a consistent 30HR, 100RBI guy. He's already 2nd on the all-time Jays homerun list just behind Delgado. When Vernon Wells retires and holds all the club's offensive record THEN we can talk about how great he was. But right now, Wells, sorry, you're one of the best players to be developed and play on the Jays team but not great yet.

But you know what's interesting? This would make a great all-time Jays team (minus a 3rd baseman and a catcher but I threw 2 significant names in)...

My batting lineup?

2B - Alomar
LF - Moseby
CF - Wells
1B - Delgado
RF - Carter
DH - Bell
SS - Fernandez
3B - Gruber
C - Whitt

SP - Halladay
RP - Stieb
CP - Henke

UPDATE: Wells was traded to Angels... now he can put on the list of the Blue Jays Greats.

Roberto Alomar is now in Cooperstown

With 90% of the votes, former Blue Jays 2nd baseman, Roberto Alomar will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame. One of the most exciting and entertaining players to ever play for the city of Toronto and in Major League Baseball.

He is the BEST 2nd baseman... He will hurt you with the bat, with his legs and with his glove. I look at today's 2nd baseman like Yankees' Cano and if it were not for Roberto Alomar, they would NOT be making amazing plays.

Alomar was the first player to run to the ball, jump, turn and throw in the same motion and he RARELY (almost never) miss where he was throwing.

Although, I think Alomar's finest moment was in the 1992 ALCS vs the Athletics and that homerun off Eckersley - that moment is engrave into Blue Jays fans. The homerun and the 2 hands raised signaled the monkey off the bank.

I never got to watch the 85, 87 or even the 91 Blue Jays. I don't even recall the big trade between the Jays and Padres that brought Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to Toronto (I was just 7) but I remember being drawn to baseball around September (and probably because it was Toronto and nothing else was on, other then Maple Leafs training camp). I do remember watching the series versus the Atheltics (them with Dave Stewart and HoF Rickey Henderson whom we stole for 1993 run) and the series versus the Braves. It was an exciting time in Toronto.

Then it was the magical 1993 run... Olerud, Alomar Molitar finished 1, 2 and 3 in the batting race and then it was back to the fall classic... first the White Sox then the famous Joe Carter walk-off winning world series homerun.

When you think the best Blue Jays ever... Roberto Alomar comes to mind. And hopefully, he will be the first Toronto Blue Jays to be in Cooperstown.

Although, I personally have always loved Joe Carter more, it wouldn't be the same without Roberto Alomar. Time to get a retro 1992 Alomar jersey!

Too Asian?

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/10/too-asian/

It's true and I will tell you why. But first, why "Too Asian?" What is Asia? To be politically correct, Asia REALLY stretches from Japan ALL the way to Turkey and includes all the countries in between - China, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, former Soviet Union countries. Ironically, when people say "Asia," people quickly think China. Apparently, Asia means China. Indonesia and Malaysia is South Asia. Iran and Iraq is the Middle East. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan is former Soviet nations.

Seriously, Asia actually includes the Middle East, South Asia, India AND the former Soviet nations. Eureka!

I don't understand the "controversy" to this article. I fully understand where it's coming from. The unfortunate part is, as Chinese immigrants who came to Canada (mostly Hong Kong during the pre-handover), it was almost drilled into are mindset that the only good university is University of Toronto and nothing else. Personally, I don't see why, even though I'm Chinese...

Also, for Chinese culture, the only successful and respectable professions are: lawyers and doctors, and anything else are looked down on. Since University of Toronto have a great law and medical program, it is only nature for Chinese parents to want their children to go to the best school. But why are people up and arms over the issue? It's the Chinese community that made it "too Asian." And I didn't want to go to UofT either because of the stigma that was attached to it. Anything that's not University of Toronto is a sub-university and not worthy of going.

I don't think Mclean's article was making any racial comments other then stating the fact that we, the Chinese community, has put a prestige on University of Toronto among the culture.

The throw a different angle...

Is Markham "too Asian?"
Is Richmond, BC and Richmond Hill, ON "too Rich?" (Seriously, lots of Chinese live here because of "Rich"mond)
Is Agincourt (division of Scarborough) "too Brown?" (due to the rise in Indian/Sri Lankan population in past 10 years)

The most important question really...

DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
Live. Love. Respect.

Sometime I wish Toronto had Hazel McCallion as mayor...

Mississauga only too pleased to take Toronto’s light rail money

Considering the fact that Hazel McCallion is turning 92 or something like that. She may be ancient but she's done a better job then last 3 mayors combined.

Rob Ford better have a plan... but he may have a point in cancelling the Transit City.

Having the Light Rail Transit really doesn't work around Toronto. The streets are too narrow and there are WAAAY too many cars. However, the LRT in Mississauga works.

The ultimate solution to this transit problem is easy but the problem is money (leaving cost out of the equation). How it will be charged, who will collect and which city get what share. That is probably why Metrolinx works so well. One system, one payment, one transit.

The 4 transit system in GTA should consider amalgamate into one (Mississauga Transit, Brampton Transit, York Region Transit, Toronto Trasit Commission and the Durham Transit). How many people live in one end of the city and work in the other end? PLENTY.

There's also talk and work in progress for expansion to Downsview subway station to York University and into Vaughan. But what about the others?

Kipling should be extended to Square One in Missisauga, then Missisauga Transit and Brampton Transit can build the LRT on Hurontatio/Hwy 10.

Kennedy Station NEEDS to be extended considering that was the original intention back in the 80s when the Scarborough RT was built. Really, 30 years later, that still is incomplete... go and connect Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre and might be useful to connect THAT to Pickering Town Centre.

Since the Downsview is being extended to Vaughan Business Centre... Finch station should be extended too and why not? There are lots more people living in York Region that works in Toronto so, it would only be logical to extend Finch Station to Major Mac, even to just Hwy 7 would work.

And then there's the "subway line to nowhere," you know what I'm talking about... Sheppard. That was build in 2002 with the idea that it will be extending westward... well, go and complete that!

Ideally, THIS is what the Toronto subway system should look like...



We would finally have a subway system that REACHES the airport...
We would have a way of getting people to work in Toronto from Mississauga
While the East expansion to Pickering would not be a high priority, it would truely connect the GTA from East to West.

You want people to drive less and be more dependent on transit?? Make the transit easy to access to and from work!

But the system will be new trains that travels faster then 70km/h... yes, the TTC subway only travels at 70km/h... Street cars only go at 50km/h and buses ranges from 50-70km/h depending on the traffic and the driver... and some people wonder why some other people prefer driving to get to places...

The only thing missing is probably a subway line that runs on Eglinton from the airport to Kennedy station with stations in; Jane & Black Creek area, Eglinton W, Eglinton (on Yonge), Sunnybrook Hospital, and location somewhere in Victoria Park/Eglinton area before ending on Kennedy Station. However, I don't think there would be enough user to justify construction for this line, an underground LRT could possibly work.



While THIS would be the utlimate solution... but it just seem too logical for the people at TTC to comprehend.

Sins of the Past

The first episode of Xena... I absolutely love this episode and can't really find a flaw in it.

Love the opening scene. It opens with a distinctive instrument. I think it's a double reed shawm, it is loud and sharp sound. As Xena rides, we get flashback episodes from Hercules. It worked nicely. I guess the producers assumed you had already seen the "Xena Trilogy" in the first season of Hercules so, not much is said until Xena hears a sound from a burnt house in which a kid comes out and ask for food. The kid explains that his parents were killed by Xena who "came out of the sky in a chariot."

Here's the first scene, I don't really get. Xena, feeling somewhat responsible, just tosses down a wrapped item. The kid opens the item to find a piece of bread (or cheese, some half circle) and smiles back as Xena rides away. Problem: the way the kid is smiling seems odd, it wasn't a "thank you" smile but more of the "oh yes, i tricked you, haha" smile.

Xena had already decided to give up fighting and began burying her equipment. My problem here is, does that white undergarment REALLY fit underneath that leather? I think not! Anyway, while in this "goodbye, warrior princess" look she hears sounds and "hides" behind the bush. We are finally introduced to the character Gabrielle. She decided to risk her life so the others could be free. Of course, Xena comes in a save the day and the first time we hear the infamous battle cry.

Skipping ahead...

Next scene that I enjoy is the cyclop scene with Xena and then a later with Gabrielle. I love how they used 2 different angles on the shot. The cyclop standing close to the camera while Xena/Gabrielle are standing far away. By the way, did anyone notice how Xena called her horse a boy as she went over the bridge?

The scene between Xena and her mother is very touching. You see the hate and the love at the same time. Xena tried to explain Draco is going attack the village but no one would listen and a mob is gathered.

Best line of the episode?

"What? Is one woman too much for you? Let me even the odds, one UNarmed woman might be more to your taste."

As Xena is about to be stoned by her people, Gabrielle arrives. I love how she use false logic to convince the villages.

"Let's say you're right and she's Draco buddy, let's even make her his girlfriend. You think Draco is bad news now? What would happen if he hears you knocked off his woman? Boy, it gives me the creeps to even think about it."

In the next scene, we see Xena visiting her dead brother. What I do find odd is Gabrielle following Xena INTO the catacomb/chamber. Seriously, it's a private moment and Gabrielle just decided that she can just come in. But of course...

Xena: It's hard to be alone
Gabrielle: You're not alone.

My favourite scene of the episode is probably the ladder fight between Draco and Xena. Awesome soundtrack, awesome fighting choreograph aaaannnd fighting on heads... and happy ending.

Campfire secene at the end was a nice touch.

Xena: It's not easy proving you're a different person.

The episode ends on a positive note:

Xena: You know where I'm headed, there'll be trouble.
Gabrielle: I know.
Xena: So why would you want to go into that with me?
Gabrielle: That's what friends do, they stand by each other when there's trouble.
Xena: Alright, friend.

I've watched this episode so many times and still love it. I'm not sure how else the episodes can be done differently...