Pictures and Stuff

So, after what seems like 2 solid weeks of partying, the damage report has come in. No, not to my liver, or to my poor brother's house (who had the party on Halloween), rather the pictures from several events in question have been developed (and by developed, I mean downloaded). I feel they turned out rather well considering most of us were pretty hammered on Halloween.

The Banff pictures turned out pretty sweet as well. One of my good friends (Erin) is doing me and Dianne up a slide show for the wedding. Now, I have no problem getting into any picture that I see an opportunity to get into, but not all people are into the whole photo scene. Dianne in particular does not like having her picture taken, despite looking drop dead gorgeous in any picture she graces.

It is this problem that leads us to have a distinct shortage of pictures with both of us together. Erin gave us an ultimatum recently that we had better get some pictures of us together so that she can fill out the slide show. Thankfully, Dianne's usual complaints against having her picture taken are nothing compared to my vague threats that there will be no pictures of us in the slide show. With the wedding in mind I managed to convince her to pose with me (and even without me!) many different times on Halloween and in Banff. And so without further ado...

Here is me and Dianne all spiffed up for Halloween (I'm a hobo, not a scarecrow as was the common misconception). We went over to a buddy's house so that we could pre-drink while we waited for my brother to get home. We managed to snap off a few pics while we drank...

Here's a picture of some of the ladies that were pre-drinking with us. I love Halloween for many reasons. It becomes pretty obvious why when you find scantily clad bugs posing with little red riding hood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and dark angels...

Here's a crazy picture of my brother posing with Dianne and Erin. The crazy part is that he has the curliest hair of anyone I know, almost an afro even. He decided to straighten it for Halloween. The result is a very creepy looking brother who reminds me vaguely of a skinny version of that fat guy off of the Butterfly Effect.

Alrighty, so let's skip into some of the Banff pics. Here's a rare photograph of the "Photo-shy Dianne". Previously thought not to exist at all due to complete lack of photograhic evidence, I managed to snap off this rare photo by promising to marry her ;).

Again, I would mention that one of the goals of our trip was to get as many pictures together as we possibly could. This one was taken at a tourist trap called Bow Falls. It is absolutely beautiful there and in order to get this picture we had to fight our way past 2 tour buses full of Asian people. They got into my shots TWICE, so we finally had to commission the help of a friendly fellow who gladly snapped this pic of us.

Banff seemed full of helpful people on this particular day. This shot was taken near the Gondola and Hot Springs. We arrived about half an hour too late to actually ride the Gondola but we arrived in time to find a fellow milling about willing to snap off this pic of us. Once again, the scenery around this area is amazing!

And lastly, I had to post this picture of Dianne in downtown Banff. She just looks so darn sophisticated! Downtown Banff is a shining example of how beautiful the area is. The whole thing is overshadowed by a gigantic mountain. It almost seems too surreal to exist. Definitely worth checking out.

Ok, so that is all the pictures for now. Mainly because I am running out of time and have to head off to work soon. Talk to you soon!

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.9.2004

Banff

As anyone who has passed through the sacrament of marriage before can tell you, the process of planning a giant party that will contain members of two entire families and as many friends as possible can bring about some degree of stress. Don't get me wrong, it is both exciting and rewarding to plan a wedding, but after a while the toll on your time and wallet can get you into a rather stressful state.

Rather than let the almighty stress rule over our humble lives, me and Dianne have decided to make a trip out to banff this weekend, so if you are wondering where my weekend blog posts have gone to, well, I will be too deeply submerged in a hot tub to press any keys.

Now, being a Calgarian (born and raised) I tend to take our mighty Rocky Mountains for granted. Widely considered to be one of the most beautiful areas in the world, the area surrounding Banff is nothing short of spectacular. Full of wooded areas not touched by man, teeming with wildlife and ultimately surrounded by snow capped peaks, many a person has beheld the splendor of Kananaskis country.

Whenever I am in need of some deep relaxation, the Rockies are always happy to deliver. There is something very soothing about soaking in a hot tub, or walking down a snowy, tree lined path while being completely surrounded on all sides by structures of rock whose size is beyond comparison.

The sheer enormity of the giant structures is enough to humble my minor daily concerns and bring things back into perspective.

So it is that me and the fiancee shall be spending an extremely relaxing time in one of Canada's true wonderlands. Should you ever get the chance to experience the breathtaking beauty of the Rockies, I can guarantee you will not be disapointed. Oh, and the party scene rocks too, if you are into that sort of thing ;).

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend, see you on Monday!

Comments (1) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.4.2004

Hero

So I finally got around to watching the movie "Hero". Often my fiancee will bring home Chinese movies that have been dubbed into Vietnamese and watch them. I look on to them with a sense of mild intriguement. Most of them look something like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but with a much lower budget. None the less, the movies are so different looking that I cannot help but want to know what is going on.

Thankfully, every once and a while, there is released a straight up Asian movie subbed (preferably) or dubbed in English. Hero is that movie. The great thing about only getting a select number of hardcore Asian movies released on this side of the ocean in English is that we generally get the high budget stuff which makes it a lot easier to appreciate.

I find that moreso than North American productions, Asian style movies really push on the whole stylistic side of things. Everything in Hero is submerged deeply in heavy imagery, beautiful scenery and wonder symbolism. Colors play a big role in how the story is told and the creators did an amazing job making the sets look good, rather than concentrating mainly on the fighting, which many films are apt to do.

That is not a knock to the fighting however; there is lots of it and it is quite interesting to watch. Fights play out as most Asian style movie fights do. Plenty of flying around, moves that could never be performed without the use of wires, and lots of speedy, (very) well choreographed martial arts scenes. Hero also has a heavy emphasis on weaponry, sword play in particular, and some of the weapon battles are beautiful to behold.

I would prefer not to ruin the plot for anyone who wishes to watch Hero, but needless to say the storyline runs many unexpected ways and comes to a grandiose conclusion that is both emotionally moving and, at least in my case, highly unexpected.

All said and told, Hero is worth the watch if simply for its amazing use of colors and wonderful scenery. Those of you who have HDTVs, be prepared to witness a true showpiece of DVD quality that will make your set dance with vibrant, exuberant color and light. Hero is one more reason that I am glad North America is finally beginning to accept some excellent cultural diversity.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.3.2004

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]