Since coming to Kingston, Amazon has consistently impressed me, leading to increased purchases from them.

Whaddya think? Did I overdo it?

Just A Few Of My Amazon Boxes

My Books, DVDs and Graphic Novels

I think I may just miss Amazon most of all when I go home.

My housemates and I haven’t left the house almost all weekend except for exams thanks to two nights of snow that have left most of Kingston white:

Snow!

Snow!

Snow!

These pictures were taken closest to the kitchen so I think some snow might have fallen on the roof instead, the amount of snow on the backyard and the streets are slightly deeper than this!

Oh it almost makes me long for Singapore’s weather!

Just 12 days ago I was marveling at the amount of fallen leaves in our backyard:


Kingston - Fall: Leaves, No Grass from Daryl Tay on Vimeo.

And today, the landscape changes yet again, with the heaviest snowfall yet!

Kingston – Heavy Snow On November 18th, 2008 from Daryl Tay on Vimeo.

On a separate note, I did a quick check on the weather for the next 14 days and here are the results:

Kingston Weather Forecast

Basically the white line is the historical average and the graph is the “high” for the next 14 days. Looks like there are going to be very few days above 0! Cold days ahead!

So first of all, let me say that we (Irini, Leah and myself) didn’t intend to watch this movie. We intended to watch “Burn After Reading”, but because our little cinema here in Kingston is so small, the movies change really fast. So they had five new movies starting today, so apparently “Burn After Reading” was bumped off the list. So of course, the boy in me said “Let’s watch Sex Drive!” with nothing else to go on other than the fact that James Marsden (Cyclops from X-Men) is in the movie. And that the poster involves a donut costume.

Sex Drive Poster

So watch it we did, and the movie premise is nothing new or original. Think of Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle or Superbad, replace finding White Castle and that glittery bottle of alcohol with meeting a girl he met online and you have the plot.

Amanda Crew

The difference is that this movie has a considerable amount of emotion in it. Not the male hate emotion common in Harold & Kumar or Superbad, but the female addition of Amanda Crew adds a new dynamic to the genre traditionally dominated by male-male interaction. (ps: She’s Canadian!)

The final plot thread of Ian meeting the online girl (Ms Tasty) was pretty surprising. I for one was totally expecting Ms Tasty to turn out to be a man or tranny, but that would’ve been too obvious now, wouldn’t it?

Humour-wise, the show is funny. It’s not outrageously funny where you’re laughing minute-to-minute, but it’s funny enough that you won’t feel bored. (If you do, there’s Amanda Crew to look at).

What I liked was the plot point with the whole “I like you but we’re best friends and it might place our friendship at risk” angle. It’s been done before, but this version felt particularly true, especially the scene in the “burning room”-themed motel. Patricularly relevant to me now, but we’ve all felt that from time to time, right?

FOB & Seth Green

The other thing that stuck out for me was the soundtrack. Okay I love “Life Is Beautiful” by Vega 4 as much as anyone, but it’s already been done on Grey’s Anatomy, and having it play thrice in the show was just overkill for me. On the other side of the coin, Fall Out Boy makes a cute cameo appearance that I wasn’t expecting at all, and they have a great little scene with Seth Green during the credits. You can read more about how they got to be on the show from MTV Asia (no, I’m not linking them because they’re my ex-employer. They just happened to be in the Google results).

All in all, I did enjoy the show. It was a nice chill out on Friday night movie. Amazingly the theatre had no more than two rows full. I guess people in Kingston have “better” things to do (like getting drunk) on Fridays! Catch the show, particularly if you’re a fan of Harold & Kumar, American Pie and/or Superbad.

Oh and one more thing: “take that girl; and go visit grandma!”

I got into Kingston yesterday afternoon, and because we can only move into our apartment on Wednesday, I had no choice but to find a temporary place to stay for a couple of days. Enter, the Summer House Inn.
It’s a nice house on King Street with a wonderful owner Joan who has been very hospitable. I’m in a room that isn’t very big, but it’s more than enough for two nights stay.

This morning I got up late and there was remnants of breakfast which Joan calls “nothing much”. Have a look for yourself!

They also have a really cute dog, Simon. He’s so affectionate he actually moves nearer to you when you pet him.

Finally: Check out my room!

My Room At The Summer House Inn, Kingston, Ontario from Daryl Tay on Vimeo.

I haven’t really talked about this so far, but I’m heading up to Queens University in Kingston, Ontario on August 24th for exchange. I originally wanted to leave on the 22nd of August so I could celebrate my birthday here, and then land on the 22nd and celebrate it again, but oh well, no seats.

So the dilemma surfaces here: Should I get an overseas internship but graduate in December ‘09, or come back and graduate asap in April ‘09, and find a job.

Getting the overseas internship is not for the sake of it being overseas. It’s that the true thought leaders in social media are most active in North America, and a short stint there would be beneficial to me.

However, that will mean being away from SMU for 16 months, and a lot can change from then. I already can barely stand certain aspects of the school, and who knows what the economic outlook will look like in December ‘09/Jan ‘10? People may not even want to hire a social media specialist/strategist by then.

What would you do if you were me?