"... there is no business like the sea urchin entertainment world."

My entertainment right now: Lost in Translation Multi-Babelfish Tool

What happens when an English phrase is translated (by computer) back and forth between 5 different languages? The authors of [Babelfish] probably never intended this application of their program. As of September 2003, translation software is almost good enough to turn grammatically correct, slang-free text from one language into grammatically incorrect, barely readable approximations in another. But the software is not equipped for 10 consecutive translations of the same piece of text. The resulting half-English, half-foreign, and totally non sequitur response bears almost no resemblance to the original. Remember the old game of "Telephone"? Something is lost, and sometimes something is gained. Try it for yourself!

Original English Text:
There's no business like show business like no business I know.

Translated to Japanese:
私が知っているビジネス無しように芸能界のようなビジネスがない。

Translated back to English:
There is no business which I have known there is no business like the sea urchin entertainment world.

...

Translated to German:
Ich hatte nicht gewußt, daß der Handel nicht die kommerzielle wahrscheinliche Welt der Unterhaltung des Seeigels hat.

Translated back to English:
I had not known that the trade does not have the commercial probable world of the maintenance of the sea-hedgehog.

Chinese Cuisine and Alchemy

When I read a book, I almost always have a notebook handy to write down unknown words to be looked up in a dictionary (I love vocabulary), compelling quotes, interesting topics to explore, and ideas inspired by the work. This is just a sampling of the type of topics that were inspired by The Years of Rice and Salt an alternate history book by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Chinese Cuisine Digested on Answers.com

The combined cuisines of China have often been compared to French cuisine as having made the greatest contribution to the world of food. Chinese cooking styles have been divided into five main regions: Southeastern (Canton), East Coast (Fukien), Northeastern (Peking-Shantung), Central (Honan) and Western (Szechuan-Hunan). Cantonese cuisine is famous for its meat roasting and grilling, fried rice, and bird's nest and shark's fin soup. The province of Fukien is noted for its multitudinous selection of soups and for its seafood dishes. The light, elegant Peking-Shantung style originated the famous peking duck, and is highly acclaimed for its subtle and artful use of seasonings. China's Honan province is the home of sweet-and-sour cooking, and the Szechuan-Hunan school is known for its hot, spicy dishes. Mandarin cooking and Shanghai cooking are not regional designations, but terms used to describe cooking styles. The word mandarin means "Chinese official," and mandarin cooking suggests an aristocratic cuisine that gleans the very finest elements from all the regions. Shanghai cooking refers to a cosmopolitan combination of many Chinese cooking styles.

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Alchemy Demystified on Wikipedia

In the history of science, alchemy (Arabic: الكيمياء, al-kimia) refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art all as parts of one greater force. Alchemy has been practiced in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China, in Classical Greece and Rome, in Muslim civilization, and then in Europe up to the 19th century—in a complex network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.

Matcha Green Tea Lattes

Matcha (Wikipedia, Answers.com) green tea lattes can be very hit or miss, even from the same establishment. So much relies on the preparation of the drink.

I can't remember where I had my first one in Vancouver, but I know I have had green tea ever since I was little - usually at my Japanese relatives' houses or in the form of green tea ice cream.

I usually buy green tea lattes from Starbucks and Blenz, both of which are frequent targets of criticisms by Vancouverites as evidenced by passing remarks on the street or on public message boards (summed up in picture form here).

There are a more elucidating opinions especially this post (ellipses are in original):

Almost all of the negative talk about Starbucks revolves around the universal hobby of just not liking the giant multinational company, and jumping on bandwagons. And there's usually always a good reason for it...generally poor quality and mindless consumerism as a result of falling under the spell of corporate branding...that's never good. But for all the talk, people still patronize these places like crazy....the big corporations can pretty much ignore the backlash and continue to rake in the dough.

But all that is just an arguement over ethics...That aside, if we are talking stictly about the quality of their product (coffee), then they are in very good company....almost all coffee sold is stale...rancid...improperly prepared swill. It's only image and consistancy that propels Starbucks and other highly branded cafes....why do you think we still throw that McDonalds crap down our throats like there's no tomorrow?....cause it's familiar...we even convince ourselves we like it.

Pretty insightful, eh?

I wanted to find out how people in Vancouver thought the matcha green tea lattes were at different coffee shops, but I found no enlightenment from Discover Vancouver Forum - Matcha Tea. Although I was amused by the flame war on the second page.

My online search also revealed quite a bit of strong reactions to Starbucks' green tea latte, such as Off the Broiler (food and technology blog), Chowhound ("for those who love to eat"), and Slashfood (whose name reminds of Slashdot).

So, if you have enjoyed green tea lattes in Vancouver, let me know. Or if you find a better review website that would rock.

My second mission was to make a better-tasting matcha "latte" at home, considering I don't have a milk steamer thingy. I did read that you can use the blender to get the drink all frothy. I should try that sometime. Right now, I use Blenz matcha powder, a bowl, a bamboo whisk, soy milk, and vanilla sugar. I found the best results with using hot soy milk instead of hot water to blend the powder. It makes a nice creamy drink and cuts down on the bitterness.

Here are some other recommendations for making a matcha latte:

• Qualiteas - Matcha, Froth of Liquid Jade
• RecipeZaar - Matcha Iced Latte or Smoothie
• TeaSwap - Matcha Latte II
• Boulder Tea - Matcha Latte and other many other green tea recipes
• Global BC - Vanilla Matcha Latte (if you have a milk steamer)
• Food Service News - The Lychee Matcha Latte (alcoholic drink)

In case the page with the Lychee Matcha Latte recipe is moved, here it is:

The Lychee Matcha Latte
1 oz. Lychee liqueur
1 tsp. Tea Fuzions Matcha latte powder
(dissolved in 1 oz. hot water)
6 oz. Steamed milk

Dissolve 1 tsp. of Tea Fuzions Matcha latte
powder in hot water in your coffee glass, add
lychee liqueur and fill with steamed milk.

Enjoy!

Career Assessment Exercises

I'm going through my "I want to blog about this" bookmark folder and here's another resource to share:

Graduate Guides: Career Assessment

It's a series of career assessment exercises from UBC Graduate Studies Professional Development. As far as I can tell, it's stream-lined, comprehensive, multi-format, and free of annoying ads that you might get if you found a similar resource from a non-academic website.

House Plant Care Guide

A while back, I Google searched for advice on taking care of my new houseplants. I haven't taken pictures of them but they are named Spike and Faye (from Cowboy Bebop) because Spike is well... spikey and Faye is a lipstick plant.

This was the best House Plant Care Guide that I found.

Urban Dictionary definition of Meesh

The submitters and voters of Urban Dictionary define Meesh as:

1. a "sexy and cool person"
2. "short friendly version of Michelle"
... and I would add
3. a fairly nutty person who is really nice and informative but can also be quite insane at times

Need some advice on tenants' rights for landlords and their realtor holding an open house for our residence

So, I have been distraught lately because Brett, Petter, and I have a one-year lease for our house but the landlords are selling the house before our lease is finished at the end of July. Now this is completely legal as far as I can tell. This is not the problem.

The problem is the realtor conducting "open houses" in our home! Now before I start my rant, I'll post some evidence from the Government of British Columbia Residential Tenancy Branch that it's legal for landlords to conduct open houses while a tenant still lives at the house:

At common law, the tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment and peaceful occupation of the premises. At the same time, the landlord has the right to enter under certain conditions. The Residential Tenancy Act (the Act) addresses the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants with respect to entry into a rental unit.

A "reasonable purpose" [for a landlord to access a rental unit] may include:

• inspecting the premises for damage,
• carrying out repairs to the premises,
• showing the premises to prospective tenants, or
• showing the premises to prospective purchasers.

However, a "reasonable purpose" may lose its reasonableness if carried out too often. Note that under the Act a landlord may inspect a rental unit monthly.

- http://www.rto.gov.bc.ca/documents/GL07.pdf

However....

Issue one: We requested in writing that the realtor put up a notice "Do not disturb occupants" on his "For Sale" sign on our front lawn. He said he would do it "ASAP." But nothing happened. We live on a busy six-way intersection just off a main street. We do not want people ringing our doorbell to ask about the home. We are graduate students and it's the end of the semester. Brett again contacted the realtor to ask him to post a "Do not disturb occupants" sign and the realtor gave the excuse that his office was out of such signs but he would buy one "ASAP." It's been a couple weeks now and no sign. This makes us slightly doubt the integrity of the realtor.

Issue two: The realtor did not lock our door when he left after the "realtor open house" last week. When I discovered this, I called him and he didn't apologize, but promised me that he would call a locksmith to "fix that." *boggle* Now, it's not a locksmith issue... it was lack of attention to a detail and it's a big fat security issue. But for some reason, the realtor worked his charms on me and I said thank you profusely for fixing the "problem" with our lock. After he hung up, it struck me that it didn't make much sense and he would probably not call a locksmith. I concluded that I can't completely trust what he says or does.

Issue three: Our landlord is asking us to move some of our stuff out of the house so that it looks nicer for the open houses this weekend. Luckily there is a storage area on the property that we can use for securely stowing our poessessions during the open house. And just to let you know, worrying about people stealing my stuff is HUGE to me. I still am queasy about people tramping through our house looking through our things, but ergh. But here's the kicker: the realtor says that he needs to show this storage area to people at the open house. Uh no. That is our place to store our valuables and there is no need for people to look in there. He says... he will make sure to lock it after everytime he shows it. Ummm.... see issue two... NO.

Man, I needed to vent all that. It's been eating up my insides.

However, I might be able to secure our poessessions and quiet my mind with this excerpt from Government of British Columbia Residential Tenancy Branch:

An arbitrator may find that the holding of an "Open House" by the landlord's realtor is not a reasonable purpose if the landlord cannot ensure the safety of the tenant's possessions.
- http://www.rto.gov.bc.ca/documents/GL07.pdf

Argh, so do I need to find an arbitor or can I just tell the landlords and realtor that they need to ensure the safety of our (the tenants') possessions by keeping the storage area locked. And if they can't promise that then what?

I need some advice. The open houses are this weekend. Thank you!

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Here are some more resources for anyone who is in a similar situation - that you are a tenant and your landlord want to have open houses to sell the rented unit:

Q: What rights do the landlords have when it comes to showing the house for sale? What rights do we have in this case - can they do an open house etc when we are not home?
I have heard of landlords having to pay for the inconveniences caused etc - is this the rule or just that they are decent landlords?

A: Practically, I recommend that every seller and/or realtor arrange a schedule with the tenant for viewing, and make an appointment to inventory valuables lest they go missing during a showing. Realtors in particular know that co-operative tenants are assets to successful sales, which is why you hear of appreciative agents and sellers providing tenants with restaurant dinners, hotel stays, etc.

Technically, the landlord must provide a minimum 24 hours written notice of entry and the purpose of the entry must be reasonable, and between the hours of 8 AM and 9 PM.

- http://apartmentguide.ca/advice/expert-advice.asp?q=160&sub=146

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Q: I moved into a basement suite on June 1st. June 20th, there were people wanting to tour my suite - the landlord has decided to sell the house. The landlord does not live in the house and the suite upstairs has not been rented since July 1st when the previous tenants moved out.

I understand that the landlord has the right to sell the property (although I wish they had made me aware of their intent prior to renting to me), but am wondering how often I need to make my suite available for viewings.

There have been several open houses, and the realtor is pushing to continue them every weekend. I find it extremely inconvenient and intrusive to have people touring through my suite continuously.

Is there any guidelines on how many hours or times a week a tenant needs to make their suite available for viewing?

The realtor keeps insisting he can do this at any point with 24 hours notice and has been unwilling to provide notice in writing. If I don't abide he has accused me of attempting to prevent the sale of the house. This isn't my intent - I just dislike having strangers wandering through my home.

A: It really is amazing, but some realtors just don't seem to appreciate how important a cooperative tenant is to the potential sale of a property. Frequently, realtors will insist on barging in on tenants to show a property because they have a hot prospect, and hope to land an immediate sale. Some realtors ignore or pretend they don't know that the Act requires 24 hour written notice specifying the purpose, the date and the time of entry, which can only take place between 8 AM and 9 PM. Furthermore, the reason for the entry must be reasonable.

If you think the realtor (the landlord's agent in such a case) isn't being reasonable you can refuse him entry, and the landlord will have to go off to the Residential Tenancy Office and file to get an Order for access. You'd likely get back to square 1, which is where a schedule would be struck.

Conscientious and professional realtors generally make prior arrangements with the tenants to show a property, often working out a schedule and ideally obtaining in writing the tenants'agreement to enter the premises. Many professional realtors also have an inventory sheet or process control because a lot of tenants are concerned that articles of property may go missing during these entries. Some realtors recognize that tenants are a deciding factor in making a sale and several provide potential purchasers a copy of my publication so these potential landlords have a practical reference and guide on how the Residential Tenancy Act applies to rental property in BC.

If the landlord's realtor insists on accessing your premises without your permission, cite section 29 of the Act to him, (http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/R/02078_01.htm#section29). You might also want to ask the realtor which section of the Act he is referring to when he says he can come in anytime he likes.

- http://apartmentguide.ca/advice/expert-advice.asp?q=373&sub=146

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And here are some general resources for Tenants in British Columbia:

Government of British Columbia Residential Tenancy Branch

Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC) of Vancouver, BC

TRAC Tenant Survival Guide (2006 Edition)

Student loans are not taxable in the U.S.

If you are a college student and you need to file a U.S. tax return, take note. As far as I can tell, student loans are not taxable!

Student loans are also not taxable. If all or part of a student loan is cancelled or forgiven, the amount of debt forgiven may represent taxable income. See IRC section 108(f) for details.
- http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/taxability.phtml

4.8 Interest, Dividends, Other Types of Income: Grants, Scholarships, Student Loans, Work Study

Is money from student loans considered taxable income?

A school loan is not taxable at the time you get the money and should not be included as income on your return. A loan is not income because you are expected to repay the amount borrowed (plus interest). If, at a later date, any part of the loan is forgiven, the amount forgiven would be income in that year. Under certain circumstances, student loans forgiven are not income. For more information, refer to Exceptions under Canceled Debts in Publication 525 (PDF), Taxable and Nontaxable Income.

References:

* Publication 525 (PDF), Taxable and Nontaxable Income
* Tax Topic 422, Nontaxable income

- http://www.student-loans.net/student-tax-faq.htm

However, I could not find a conclusive answer on the IRS website. So if you happen to know more about this, please post a comment.

Meesh's Stand Up Comedy Dates

Hello everyone!

Yes, the rumours are true! It's almost time for Meesh to hit the stage for my first ever stand-up comedy performances:

Stand Up for Mental Health first practice show
Wed. April 4, 7:00 - 8:30 PM
John Braithwaite Community Centre
145 West 1st Street, North Van, B.C.
(apparently the venue is near the SeaBus Lonsdale Quay Exchange)
* For public transportation directions from UBC, see bottom of post
Cost: Totally free. Bring your own snacks and low, low expectations.


Stand Up for Mental Health second practice show
Fri. April 13, 7:30 - 9:00 PM
Laughing Bean Coffee Co.
2695 E Hastings, Vancouver, B.C.
Cost: Gotta buy $5 worth of coffee or snackies, but apparently the drinks and grub have garnered a rave review online


Stand Up for Mental Health debut show with Mike MacDonald
Sun. April 15, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Arts Club Granville Island Stage,
Vancouver, B.C.
Cost: Doh, it's the real thing with a professional comic headlining so it's $28 plus ticket service charge from Ticketmaster.

IMPORTANT: For students I can sell the tickets for $15 instead of $30!!! You have to buy the tickets from me sometime before the show so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to buy a half-price ticket from me.


If you know anything about me, you know that I have psychological quirks...

Well, now's your chance to laugh at them with me! Not only will you get to hear some eccentric people relate jokes that have been crafted from real life incidents but you'll also learn a bit about what a strange yet familiar world mental illnesses are.

If you are curious about the program itself, here's the nuts and bolts of Stand Up for Mental Health from the website (but it hasn't been updated for 2007 yet).


* Public transportation options from UBC to Meesh's first Stand Up Comedy show

1)
2)

Gah, I can't get the images to line up correctly. *smack smack*

So... I will just use this space to say that these directions work well if you live along the 99 Bus Route - you just take the 98 to the SeaBus Station. In fact, there might be many other ways to get to the SeaBus Terminal, so you're all smart cookies and you can probably figure it out.

Hope to see you all at one or more of my shows!!

Offenbach’s Orpheus: Gone to Hell!

Soo... I'm feeling a bit better. I won't go into detail right now but the depression had me pretty bad for a while. One thing that is helping is to cut back on the WoW (World of Warcraft) and go for the real live things out there that I enjoy but in which take more faith to engage. I don't mean religious faith... I mean the faith of someone who has depression and other more serious psychological concerns.

Anyhoo... I decided to join Disha and Michelle for a girls' night out to see a musical in West Vancouver - Offenbach’s Orpheus: Gone to Hell!

First off, the audience participation was so weak that the actors' energy just plummeted. I think that the audience was either too polite to clap at anything but at the end major singing numbers - like one would at a more formal venue - or they didn't get the jokes and minor heroics strewn throughout the performance. I was so bored with the lack of energy before the intermission that I considered leaving (but I drove two other people so that wouldn't have worked).

However, during intermission I decided to take matters into my own hands. I clapped for little highs, and giggled for the plentiful jokes, and even whistled during a very sexy number. This seemed to nudge the rest of the audience to participate more (with more clapping and laughing) and brightened up the actors. Now, part of my personality disorder is to doubt my effect on people or to completely inflate my impact on strangers. But I'm hoping that I did have the right effect here. No matter what, I had more fun when I participated more.