ALDS Champs!!

That was the most exciting, dramatic game I have ever watched in my life. From biting my nails to tearing up to jumping on my sofa…. that was some game. I was listening to the first few innings in the car while driving home, we were down 2-0, and was able to cash in one run to make it 2-1. Then, eating dinner and nail biting for them to please tie up the game and long an behold, Edwin does his chicken wing dance to tie the game. All hopes were back until the long long exciting 7th inning. I still couldn’t believe Texas was able to score a run from just Martin throwing the ball back to Sanchez and it hit the batter’s bat. That was ridiculous, I couldn’t believe that after the umpire called timeout, they were still able to overturn the play and let the run score. I was really emotional and pissed at the same time, if we lose the series because of this run, I was going to be so annoyed. After the long reviews and arguments, we got to the bottom of the 7th.

Karma baby!! 3 errors committed by Texas in a row, bases loaded, no outs. After 2 outs, 3-3 tie .. then what .. .well, when Bautista is pissed, he takes his anger to the baseball and hit a 3 run homer. And he knew it, flip that bat with attitude! The entire stadium went crazy to the 6-3 lead. And the game was ours after this.

After bench clearing a few times, Osuna got the save to end the game. ALDS Champs!!

The Jays are one of the rare % that lost the first 2 games and was able to win 3 in a row to with the ALDS. The streets are crazy, I can hear all the Jays fans coming out from Roger’s Centre, screaming, cheering Go Jays go. Lots of car honking, flags on top of cars driving along the street. Even after 2 hours after the game, I can still hear the cheering and honking. Crazy!! I’m glad I live right in the middle of it.

Will never forget this Game 5! I can’t stop watching the Bautista home-run.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We couldn’t go without making a turkey and trying out my new oven. Convection oven is so much better, it circulates the heat, therefore, saving electricity as the food gets cooked faster. I was able to bake a 13 lbs turkey in 3 hours vs the conventional 4.5 hours. As usually, our family likes the stuffing the most, it is our centre dish while the turkey meat is a side. The turkey turned out great, very juicy and crispy skin. I think I’m getting the hang of it now. I didn’t do any prep work the night before. Started chopping up the veggies, cooking the stuffing, washing the turkey starting around at 2:30pm, got the turkey into the oven before 4:30pm, ready to eat around 7:30pm.

Night with Alan Tam

It’s my mom’s birthday and it just so happened, Alan Tam was in town for a concert. So a little present to my mom, we spend the night watching him sing. I must say, I was just a little kid when he was popular so I didn’t know half of the songs that he sung. Oh well, but lots of real die hard fans were there singing along song after song.

Thoughts after Game 1 ALDS …

Well, sometimes too much hype gives too much pressure and not performing at your best. I couldn’t find a way to watch the game so I was only able to check the feed scores. From just reading the feeds of the plays, it was a disappointing game. We were not able to take control of the game. Our ace Price was not able to hold the fort and our offense was not enough. Can’t believe hit so many batters, and key players injured already in the first game. I’m glad I didn’t take time off to watch it.

I was able to catch the last 2 innings from listening to the radio (wow, I haven’t done that since 23 years ago). I got home just in time to see the disappointing Jays fan walking out from Rogers Centre. They were all so sad, in their Jays jersey and rally towel … walking back home head’s down.

Let’s hope tomorrow will be a better day, Stroman’s show.

Toronto Blue Jays – 2015 AL East champs

I have to say, I didn’t think the Jays was going to clinch 1st place, I thought they would be going up against the Yankees till the very end and lose. But I predicted wrong (thank goodness), can’t believe they won their division and with a 6 game lead over the Yankees. How things have changed. We just keep winning while others are losing. Back in July, we were 8 games out from first, many of us thought it was over but then it was all uphill from there. After 22 years, this day has finally arrived. Toronto is going crazy, the whole nation Canada is going crazy!!

Tomorrow can’t come any faster. But stupid MLB ruined majority of the Jays fans by scheduling the first game at 3:30pm. Damn it, people have to work!!! I still haven’t figure out how I can watch it, most likely, I can’t and will only be able to check for the score updates throughout the afternoon. So stupid, just ruin the fun. First, the scrappers brought all the tickets to the game so they can make a huge profit, those Jays fans who wants to attend the game paying market price cannot. Then, thinking at least I can enjoy the game on TV at the bar, they play in the afternoon which takes out all the fun.

As I might have mentioned before, me and David Price have no fate to watch him pitch. Every time he pitches, something happens and I am unable to watch him live. Just like this time, I thought, finally, I can watch the 1st game of the post season, but now the game is in the afternoon so I’m going to miss his performance again.  As a constellation prize, I could watch Friday’s afternoon game as I work from home on Fridays. If they cheer loud enough and the dome is open, I could probably hear them from my place.

Go Jays Go, let’s collect all the pennants. 🙂

Nuit Blanche exhibitions – part 2

More art from the night.

1. Pattern Study, Amanda McCavour – large-scale textile collage that explores pattern, texture and line in space.
2. The Eyes of the Bridge, JR
3. Les Bosquets in Toronto, JR – The destruction of a re-construction.
4. Light Cave, FriendsWithYou – a cathedral of the spirit.

Nuit Blanche exhibitions

More art exhibits from the night of Nuit Blanche. From top left clockwise:

1. Torus, Mary Mattingly – Torus acts as a peculiar meeting space with a watery center. Just prior to sunset, the Torus is tugged to shore and tied to a pier where it will be docked for the night.
2. Frio Estudio del Desastre, Los Carpinteros – 3D reconstruction of a photographic image of an exploding wall. Shattered fragments from a cinder block wall suspend in the air, while a gaping hole in the wall indicates the point of impact of the blast responsible for this domestic ground zero.
3. Dispersal Zone, Time Knowles – The road becomes a gloomy, ghostly scene punctuated by a series of modified street lamps from which smoke falls in a glowing deluge to the ground.
4. The Cleaving, Heather & Ivan Morrison – is the detritus from a catastrophe; a huge storm, tearing up trees, piling ruin upon ruin, creating a blockage between buildings.

Inside Out, JR

The big project this year in Nuit Blanche is this “Inside Out” by JR. There is a photo booth set up where visitors can go into the booth, make a strong face and they snap the portrait. Then, a black and white poster is printed. And your face is posted here on the grounds of City Hall. This was an extended project so I was able to check it out day and night for the effects.

This project ran in different cities across the world.

Black Cloud, Carlos Amorales

Catching up on my postings. Spend the night checking out art from Nuit Blanche. This one was one of the top on my list. Thousands of black paper moths affixed to the wall. It look pretty scary as you enter … it would be even cooler if they have a fan going that make the moths move …that would be more life like.

Copenhangen – The Little Mermaid

You can’t visit Copenhagen without seeing the Little Mermaid. The Mermaid is on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade. It’s 4.1 ft tall and weighs 385 lbs. It’s too bad that on the opposite coast, the skyline is of different factory buildings so it’s not a really pretty background. Since it is on rocks at the shoreline, so many people try to walk down to the slippery rocks to get a closer picture of it.

The actual story was by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It’s quite a sad fairytale. A short version is the mermaid fell in love with this prince and wants to become human so she can be with him. She went to the Sea Witch and the witch had a potion that can turn human. In exchange, she had to give up her tongue, she will always feel like she is walking on sharp knives and she can never turn back into a mermaid. In addition, she will obtain a soul only if she wins the love of the prince and marries him, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Or else, if the price marries another woman, the mermaid will die and disintegrate into sea foam upon the waves. The prince fell in love with the mermaid but his family disapproves and only allow him to marry the neighbouring princess. After there wedding ceremony, the mermaid was heart broken. She began to dissolve into foam but she felt the warm sun and turned into a daughter of air. Because she was selflessness, she was given a chance to earn her own soul by doing good deeds and one day will rise up into the Kingdom of God.

That is a sad fairytale, not like the one from the Disney movie.