MiKE: New Camera.

erm. Bought a new camera. Want to see some photos? Here you go...

A photo of the University of Toronto Varsity Stadium, at night, with the CN Tower in the distant background. No tripod was used here. Just my steady hands, and yes, Canon's amazing Image Stabilisation system. (sounds like some infomercial, eh?)


Came across this car at Kensington Market. Really well preserved vintage Buick:
There's even a clock at the centre of the bumper, although it seems like that's not working. Here's a shot of the interior:

And a couple of my shots that are now my favourite. There was this store that had its bubble maker on at full blast, and this kid, oblivious to my clicking camera shutter, was playing:



As usual, you can see more of my photos at my flickr site.

MiKE: Shamisen & Taiko

Ya, I know. I have not posted here in a long while. Looks like this is quickly becoming rene's blog.

Came across this video. Was very moved. You should watch it:



And as for me contributing more some time soon? We'll see.

ReNe: ghost hound (神霊狩)

Another anime to recommend. Ghost Hound (神霊狩) is a mix of supernatural and mystery, set within a small Japanese town. However, there are modern elements such as VR games and biotech industrial intrigue, with quite a few psychiatry lessons thrown in. The anime was created by Production I.G. and Shirow Masamune, of the 'Ghost in the Shell' fame (another favorite anime of mine).

The initial few episodes were slow and the storyline confusing, but we kept on watching because it received good reviews on the net. We were glad we did, and the story soon picked up. The story revolves around three boys, who had prior traumatic experiences, and their newfound astral projection ability (to project their souls into the 'Unseen World'). Meanwhile, odd supernatural events appear to be taking place in their small town. The quality of this anime is very high, from the story and characterizations to the artwork and sound effects. Mike's opinion on the anime is that it's a bit confusing. I think it's a intriguing and excellent anime.

ReNe: summer lethargy

Mike and I have been at a loss to explain our extreme lethargy in summer.

All over Toronto, there are events happening every weekend, sometimes these events was not even restricted to the weekends (such as the recent jazz festivals). Weather is warm and balmy, and the locals are all out in skimpy clothing to catch as much sun as possible. Every weekend, we look up current festivals or plan out some cycling route... and nothing much happens. Sometimes we do go out, and then we're spent for the remaining weekend.

Mike's theory is that summer in Toronto is TOO much like Singapore, where we were used to just lazing about on weekends. I agree; the other seasons, especially winter, are novel and it was exciting to see the city during a different climate-scape. For example, seeing the Beaches (a sandy stretch along Toronto's eastern waterfront that really looks like a beach) under a layer of thick snow and in biting wind was new and fun; seeing the Beaches in sunny weather was hardly exciting. Plus, I don't think it can compare to beaches in Malaysia or Thailand...

The other big reason is the sun. It's not really that hot, temperature-wise, but is damn sunny. Many of the locals here love the sun, but when I look out at the blazing sun and bright blue skies, I feel like hiding indoors. A conditioned response, probably. Cloud cover tends to be less than in Singapore, and there are no raintrees or angsanas with huge canopies to provide shade; i.e. one can get very burnt walking around outdoors. Understandably, the vegetation here is nowhere as lush as in the tropics, not when the plants all have to start from 'ground zero' every spring.