Endless Meetings

There's been numerous meetings since the change was effective.  So far, it's been a great experience.  I don't mind the endless scheduled and ad-hoc meetings.  On the contrary,  I think they are very critical at this early stage of the change.

I can see that there are still a lot of problems to be solved, but nothing can be done overnight.  It takes time for people at all levels to adapt to the new environment.  It takes time for them to accept or adopt new ideas.  It takes time for them to acquire new knowledge.  It takes time for them to get to know the new faces.  It takes time for them to find order in the chaos.  There's been no surprises, these have all been expected.

I can see people react to or act upon it differently.  I tend to observe these things and try to stay away from the chaos and find some order out of it.  It takes a little sanity, a little creativity, and some guts to get ideas across and get things done the proper way.

I've not expected the things that I have learned so far from this change.  On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest job satisfaction, I think I will give my job an 8 today.  It's getting there, again many things to fix.. but I can feel the passion from the team and I believe we'll be able to make it, and change for the better.  We just need a lot more meetings...

Challenging my work

Well, after a week of adjusting to the change, I am starting to like it and enjoying every moment of it. Turning threat into opportunities, and taking charge of the change has given me reasons and drive to work. Challenging the issues and the authorities are now part of my job. It's given me a new perspective, a new dimension, a new experience. Something to cherish for, something to remember. It's made me stronger and more dangerous... I like it. These all means progress, improvements, a big leap towards my goal.

Beijing Olympics

The Summer Olympic games opened on Aug 8, 2008. Wife and I woke up at 5am Vancouver time to watch the show.

The 08:08:08 pm (Beijing Time) opening ceremony was certainly stunning. Two thumbs up to Zhang. 2008 drummers/dancers performed in unison. Marvelous use of colors and visual effects. Great costumes. I must admit I was amazed by some of the creative ideas: the count down, the footprint fireworks, the painting scroll, the movable type print performance, the lighting of the torch. Zhang has created a brilliantly dynamic and electric experience by making the best use of the stage, the city, the people, technology, and the chinese culture. It's the greatest outdoor show I've ever seen indoor.

True, the footprint fireworks on TV was an animation. True, the adorable little girl was only lip-synching. True, Li Ning wasn't really 'sky-running'. True, Lang Lang was only 'performing'. But does it really matter? It's all part of the show. It's all calculated to ensure success of it. Do you complain that David Copperfield's 'magics' were fake?

The Game has given the world a renewed impression of the capital city. The bird's nest, the water cube, the media center, and the whole olympic village and neighborhood have all portraited a modernized look of the developing China. I still vaguely remember my Beijing experience more than 20 years ago. What I see on TV now makes me wow. I'm sure many more visitors will be interested to come to China in years to follow.

It's been a success so far in the 2nd week of the Game. If nothing else, China has already captured enough Gold medals to be a very proud host indeed.

Progressing

The ordeal has progressed a little. Today, I met Peter and his main man to discuss things over.. to know each other better.

It's a good start. I am positive about it. The strategy side of me is brewing something. This is an opportunity for me to be trained up on the politics of what I do. It's important to be passionate about what you do and be known to be passionate as well. I think if you are true to yourself and others, you will get pass obstacles more easily.

We face tremendous challenges, but all are expected. It's not an easy undertaking, we thought we had it, but we just found ourselves at the starting point again. Life goes on.

BBQ with Michael, Donna, Mikaela, and Marie

We invited Michael, Donna, Mikaela, and Marie for BBQ at our place today. It's a long weekend, Monday is BC Day, and that means, we can play longer and MJ is the plan.

This time, I decided to prepare the food myself. We bought our supplies yesterday at Superstore, and marinated the meats last night. I looked at some grill recipe book at Superstore, there's a $20 one which was pretty good, a lot of delicious looking recipes all in one book... but at the end I wanted to do it my way. That is, to improvise... using my heart as the only ingredient.

Didn't think that everyone's got an appetite for a full meal deal, I just bought enough to allow everyone a taste of charcoal and a stomach with room for fruits and desserts. I added a grilled vegetable dish to the menu - zucchini, eggplant, green beans, corns, and tomatoes.. a colorful mixture that is as healthy as it is tasty.

My secret marinates for the drumsticks and pork chops remain secret, a mix of everything available, and everything from my heart. I am the chef after all.. and I like to surprise people. Steak was seasoned with a Montreal steak seasoning. Okay, I didn't technically created this spice, but that's part of the chef's job, isn't it?

5pm and Michael, Donna and their daughter Mikaela arrived with 2 six-packs of Coronas - something we've forgotten altogether. The adults MJed while the little girl was kept occupied by Wii and TV. Mikaela watched us play MJ for the second time, and she's always shown interest in being part of it: 'Can I have the flowers?', she said. Certainly playing MJ is not in her parents plan for her upbringing. The little lady has been attending private lessons for phonetics, piano, ballet, chess, swimming, and every other survival skills there is to offer. The last thing to do is to corrupt her.

Marie came in the midst of 'South Circle' with her fruit plates at around 6:30pm - the perfect time for a babysitter and a leg substitute. It's time for the Chef of the house to show some colors. I already had 3 beers at this time, well, frankly I didn't feel anything yet. Drinking and cooking certainly enhanced the cooking and makes the food tastier. In less than 20 minutes, the garden is full of tasty aroma, everything cooked to the chef's liking... it's judgement time, the moment of truth.

Everybody liked it. Yet Chef believes the pork chop is a little dry, and green bean or what Mikaela referred as 'green worms' were a little more crunchy then expected, but everything else was pretty tasty.

Bubble gun was also played by adults and kid today... Overall, another successful BBQ this year. The next one will be next week... in a friend's place this time.

Dark Knight at IMAX Theatre

Gotham City, Bruce Wayne, Joker, Robin, Batmobile, all the Batman ingredients. Dark Knight is another episode of the Batman legacy. This time, as is the last one, stars Christian Bale as Batman, and Heath Ledger as the Joker. Michael Caine is Wayne's butler, and Morgan Freeman builds all of Batman's gears.

It's a big movie this summer, already No. 1 for the 2nd week in the US. We decided to watch the IMAX version of it, for one we haven't watched a real movie in an IMAX theatre, and two, it's such an acclaimed and popular movie that it's so much worth to watch in a more visual and audio advanced cinema.

The show time was 12:15 pm, and we arrived an hour before, worrying that there could be line ups for the seats. You know, in Canada, there's no assigned seats... To our surprise, we were among the first 8 people in the theatre... The screen was exceptionally tall and wide.. it's so big even from the 2nd last row. The screen was blank as we settled, and I certainly hoped that the picture would turn out at the right proportions and easy to the eyes.

So the movie started... OMG, the picture is so clear and so bigggggggggg. I need to adjust my focus... my eyes has to be pushed to the back of my head to see the whole screen. I actually feel a little dizzy after a while.

The movie, oh well, it's action packed. The HK aerial scene was stunning indeed. Edison appeared for a few seconds when he escorted Freeman off the chopper. Wife missed it.. and asked me where he was near the end of the movie. She must have blinked her eyes at that time. Christian Bale was handsome I think. Freeman is as wise as ever. The Joker.. oh my oh... he is absolutely unbelievably in character - intimidating and sarcastic at times, and funny always.

Ledger portraited a more mental version of the Joker, compared to Nicholson almost 2 decades ago. He's certainly shown a completely different character than his role in the Oscar nominated Brokeback Mountain. He is convincingly possessed, a psycho who was disturbed in his childhood and betrayed as a husband. He sees Batman as his arch enemy. He is lonely and he needs attention from Batman, the only person who makes his life interesting.

Anyway, story aside, it's a pretty long movie in an IMAX setting. I think I will just go normal theater next time.. once is enough, my eyes still hurts and I feel as if I haven't had coffee for two days.

Conclusion: movie good, IMAX not so good.