Boxing Day 2009

Here is my wish list...

Batman Arkham Asylum
Best Buy - $39.99

Router
D-Link Wireless N 150 Router (DIR-601) @ Best Buy/Futureshop - $29.99
Belkin N150 Enhanced Wireless N Router (F5D8236-4) @ Best Buy - $29.99
Belkin Wireless N Router [300 Mbps] (F5D8236tt4) @ Futureshop - $34.99

HDMI Cable
1.8m (6') @ Superstore - $6.99

SLR Camera
Nikon D3000 SLR w/ 18-55mm lens and 55-200mm lens both non-VR and Bag @ London Drugs - $549.98
Nikon D3000 SLR w/ 18-55mm lens non-VR @ Best Buy - $449.99
Nikon 55-200mm lens non-VR @ Best Buy - $119.99
Nikon D3000 SLR w/ 18-55mm lens non-VR @ Futureshop - $449.99

Drill
Jobmate 18 V cordless Ni-Cad @ Canadian Tire - $34.99

Hopefully the snowfall amounts are reasonable...I plan on heading out to BB/FS first to pick up the game and router, both stores open at 6 AM. Then I'll head to Superstore on Grant which opens at 7 to get the HDMI cable. Next I'll head down to London Drugs at St. Vital which opens at 9 AM to pick up the SLR camera.

Las Vegas Itinerary

Las Vegas 2009 - Concert

VENUE - MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
DATE - Saturday October 24, 2009
PURPOSE - Charity
PERFORMERS
Leo Ku
Linda Chung
Bosco Wong
Gillian Chung
Joey Yung

Las Vegas 2009

10 Days Till Vegas!

The countdown is on, only ten days until Vegas. Leaving on Wednesday evening (October 21, 2009) and returning on the 27th (Tuesday). We're staying at the Flamingo on the Strip. It'll be nice to experience summer again especially after the snow storm that we got in Winnipeg on Friday. Here is my list of what I want to do...

• Hoover Dam
• Cirque de Soleil show
• Magic Show
• Chinatown Plaza
• Outlet Malls
• Fashion Show Mall / Cesar's Palace mall
• more to come...

Mac PhotoBooth

Images taken with PhotoBooth effects...(from top to bottom) Pop Art, Coloured Pencil, Comic, and Glow.

Ottawa 2009 - Photo Album

New Apple MacBook Pros

I was on the Apple website for no particular reason...and I saw that the new MacBook Pros are now only $1299 with the student discount. Upon further reading, Apple has named all their aluminum body MacBooks, "MacBook Pros", so $1299 is for the 13" notebook. The new 15" start at $1899, the same price as last year but the non educational price has come down to $1999. They've come down from $2049 ($2199 non-educational pricing) when they were first released. On top of that, significant improvements have been made to the model that I thought were drawbacks to mine and even the first aluminum version. All MacBook Pros now support up to 8GB of RAM (mine maxes out at 4GB) and they now include an SD Card Reader! Further, they feature the new built in battery previously only offered in the 17" model and claim to last 5 years and last up to 7 hours. Mine was at 5 hours to begin with if everything was turned down (screen and processing speed) and 3.5 hours under normal operation but now after a year, I think I can only max out at 3.5 hours if I really tried and 2.5 if I had things going normally. New batteries are over $100, I won't get on this year but I may get one next depending on if I attend grad studies. The hard drive has a capacity of 250 GB (up from 200 GB) and the processing speed has been increased to 2.53 GHz for the base 15" model (up from 2.4 GHz). I remember the 2.5 GHz 15" model was $2399 when I bought mine (good thing I didn't waste that extra money). However it still only features a 3 MB cache rather than 6 MB the 2.5 GHz model feature last year. Wow, I'm jealous.

However, the one newer drawback is that the entry level 15" (2.53 GHz) no longer features a discrete graphics card but an integrated 256 MB shared memory. However, with a possible 8GB of RAM, does it really matter now? With that being said, there is 13" model with the exact same specs as the 15" (except the screen size) selling for $1629 so you would save $270. I think I would take those savings if I was buying a new notebook because I can use that money for upgrades. The 15" model with a discrete graphics card sells for $2149 and that is just too pricey for me.

The entry level MacBook Pro (13") features a 2.26 GHz processor but only a 160 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM. If processing speed isn't much of a concern, you can upgrade the RAM to 4 GB and the hard drive to 250 GB to match the next model and check out at $1446 and save another $183. I think the $56 hard drive upgrade is a must especially for design students that need to run VMWare or Boot Camp. Unlike RAM, it is something that can't be easily changed later. Having said that, the $111 RAM upgrade is actually reasonable because it would work out to be $55.50 for each 1066 MHz DDR3 module. The RAM that goes on sale and the one that I have is only 667 MHz DDR2.

As usual, Apple is 'giving away' iPod Touches (8GB) with the purchase of a MacBook Pro. This year the upgrade to 16 GB is only another $70 rather than the $100 I had to pay. It is definitely worth it to get the 16 GB if you want to put movies on your iPod or have a massive mp3 collection. The iPhone is expected to come down in price too when pricing is announced for their next iPhone on June 19th! The US model has come down by 50% to $99 for the entry level one. My contract is going to be up in November 2010 (another 16 months) so hopefully there will be even better deals because I'm thinking of getting an iPhone if I can afford it. If I can pay $40 a month after all taxes and fees, then I'll take it :) I know that is asking a little bit much especially by today's standards but I'm a student. I would like call display and some texting (~100 texts) but don't need particularly much data, 250 MB a month would probably due because most places I'm in (home and school) have wifi. Roger recently dropped there light texting value pack for $11 with Call Display and Voice mail. Now you must pay $15 for 1000 msgs but you get new features (that I don't want) like mobile back up and web browsing. That would bring my monthly bill to over $35. It was supposed to be a $10 plan!

I think each year, Apple is making their products even more affordable and desirable than ever before.

Though I am really jealous and wish the products came out a year earlier, I think I'm going to buy another Apple computer but it would likely be an iMac. They are cheaper than MacBooks and are cool desktops. They start at $1349 and feature 2.66 GHz processor with 320 GB hard drive. I've seen people keep their MacBook for 4-5 years and I've already have bought two notebooks, I think the next one should be a desktop.

Trip is only a few days away

It's beginning to feel surreal again like last year before I left for Toronto. I get excited when I buy the ticket but then the feeling temporarily dies off while I wait for the day to come and as the day is near it feels surreal!

Trip to Ottawa

What's a trip without countless changes and negotiations...well it seems like everything is set...leaving Winnipeg on Friday June 12, 2009 at 12:55 PM to arrive in Ottawa at 6:55 PM (after two stop overs at Thunder Bay and Toronto). I'll spend the entire time in Ottawa until Thursday June 18, 2009 and board a plane bound for Winnipeg at 2:10 PM and arrive in Winnipeg at 3:53 PM. I did get an amazing deal on the tickets! Both way after taxes for just over $250. In addition to Westjet's Midnight seat sale, I found a 10% off promo code on RedFlagDeals.ca :D

Doors Open Winnipeg 2009

Some images from Doors Open Winnipeg on Sunday May 24, 2009



Winnipeg City Hall
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
View of downtown Winnipeg from inside the Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus Entrance Ceiling
Red River College Princess Street Campus Entrance Floor
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus
Red River College Princess Street Campus Exterior
Old CPR Train Station - Now Aboriginal Cultural Centre
Corner detailing
Platform where people used to wait for trains
Costume Museum of Canada - I didn't know we had one
Ladies Fashion
Hats!
Millennium Building? Ceiling
Millennium Building? Wall
Millennium Building? Wall
Millennium Building? Lounge

Year End Exhibitions

Date April 24, 2009
Time 1900 - 2300
Location University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture

Though our site model was thrown out and it seemed like all odds were against us, our group pulled through and put on a solid display! Way to go!

Wrecked Drawing

So I was working on a graphite drawing today for studio and I went to get it sprayed with fixative after I was done in the spray room. I was initially amazed by how clean the spray room looked and I put my drawing down and did the spraying. While it was drying, I stepped out and went to talk to a few friends in other studios just to see what they are up to. When I got back to the spray room a few minutes after, there were two students in there in front of my drawing...

Him - "Is this your drawing here?"
Me - "Yea..."
Him - "I f*cked up your drawing, I'm really sorry..."
Me - "Uh...(while I take a closer look at my drawing)"
Him - "I'm really sorry, I was opening up a can of paint and this happened."
Her - "I don't know what you are planning to do with it but it's only on the outside, is there a way that you can still use it?"
Him - "Is there anything I can do to make it up?"
Me - "Oh...um...it's okay I guess, I'll post-rationalize something from it...I can be good at that" (trying to crack a joke)
Him - "If there is anything I can do to make it up, let me know...I'm really sorry"
Her - "Get him to buy you a case of beer or something..."
Him - "I sit just outside so let me know"
Me - "Okay..."

I was upset that this unfortunate incident occurred but he stayed at the scene of the crime and waited for my return to apologize, at least he didn't leave, so how can I be mad at one who is willing to admit to his mistakes... It seemed like he felt worse than I did and it seemed like I was comforting him..."It's okay..." kind of thing...

Sejima's Kanazawa Museum of Contempory Art of the 21st Century on The Seventh Day

I recently came across this museum by Japanese Architect Kazuyo Sejima in a history class lecture and thought it looked familiar...it was featured on the 19th episode of the Seventh Day.

Krawchuk Memories

After being empty for over 10 years, the old red building is coming down...

I did go back to take some pictures last Saturday of the school. It was so sunny and warm on Saturday, sort of the calm before our rain/ice/snow storm that you're getting now. I've uploaded the pics to my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/RichardChiang1288/Krawchuk?feat=directlink

While I was there I met a few other strangers who either went to the school or had kids who went to the school. It was strange because I never really expected anyone else to be there. There were two men in their 30s who went to the school and there were two senior men who had children who went to the school. We talked for a couple of minutes and I guess cause it was in the paper, it was highly publicized and people knew about it. One of the seniors picked up a red brick as a souvenir. The place is supposed to just be flattened for a playground.

I was talking to my studio friend about the demolition and we were talking about those Scooters too! Totally unsafe as our fingers were run over and we did silly things on them (swinging each other around and letting go)...I think they ban them from elementary schools.