Google Translate as a hobby

Since I started studying Chinese a little while ago, I have made a hobby out of occasionally visiting Google Translate and translating some things from English into Chinese, and then taking the Chinese translation and translating it back into English. It's an amusing way to spend 20 minutes every now and then, and it helps me to remember how different the languages are. I don't try to use formal language that will translate well, I just type it in like I would say it if I were speaking to a friend. And then onto my segue of speaking to friends... So I IMed my friend, JC, at work today with a brief review of a movie I am watching via streaming Netflix to my Wii (which I highly recommend... it's very cool and relatively easy to stream Netflix to the TV that you have attached to your Wii, without having to wait for a DVD to come in the mail).

Here is my original review:

There's a movie on Netflix streaming called "Chocolate". Very entertaining, but in a Tony Jaa meets the 3 Stooges way. Well, the 3 Thai Stooges. And there's really only one stooge. Well, 1 and a half.

Here's what happens when I translate it into Thai, using Google translator, then translate it back into English:

Netflix streaming movies are called the "Chocolate 's" Ja Phanom but enjoyable as well 3 Stooges 3 Stooges to Thailand and have a really good one and a half's stooge.

And here's what happens when I do the same thing for Japanese:

Netflix streaming movies and called on "Chocolate." Very entertaining, and Tony Jaa meets the three general ways. Well, boss, Thailand 3. And, in fact, only one out of it. Well, 18 months.

And, of course, a trip to Google Translate for me would not be complete without translating something into, or out of, Chinese. Or doing both. Here it is:

There are a Netflix streaming movie called "Chocolate." Very interesting, but Tony Jaa manner consistent with the three Stooges. Then, three Thai lackeys. There's really only a puppet. Ah, half.

How I'm staying in shape

A couple of month's ago, I started reading a lot of buzz about a 100 Pushup Challenge on Simler.com (and speaking of Simler, if you want to get an idea of what it's all about, check out this little page that shows you some of the recent posts that people have put up on the site). I decided to see what all the hype was about, so I went to the one hundred push ups site, printed out the complete program in PocketMod format (there is a link on the left hand nav bar that says "Complete Program") and folded it up.

I finished the 1st week program at the 3rd level of difficulty, logging my progress in the pushup logger on the same site. The pushup logger was pretty limited, so I forked out the money to buy the app from iTunes. If you have an iPhone or iTouch, I highly recommend the app. It tracks your progress in a daily log, displays it in a bar graph (very nice for motivating you to keep going), and even gives you a little timer to count down your rest time between sets. If you decide to do the program, and you're trying to decide whether or not to buy the app, just buy it.

I got all the way to week 6 (the last week in the program), but I don't think I ever completed the last day before I pigged out for an entire weekend and couldn't hardly move, let alone pound out 225 pushups in 5 sets. After I got back on the diet wagon, I reset myself back to week 4.

For those of you who are still reading, the program is very simple and only requires about 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week. The trick is to just make sure to do it consistently, because once you take a break, you'll find that it's difficult to pick back up where you left off.

To fill out my fitness a little bit, I've also added the two hundred sit-ups and two hundred squats programs. If I have a ton of energy when I start my pushups sets, I will finish my 1st pushups set, do a squats set right after the pushups, then do the 1st sit-ups set. 1 or 2 minutes of rest, then on to the 2nd sets. If I am a little worn out from my day, I'll finish my pushup routine, rest for a little while, do all my squats, rest for a little while, do my situps and then have some dinner.

I also run a couple of days a week for cardio, but that's even more boring than everything I've already written, so that's all I'll say about that.

BTW, Jenny says my arms and neck are looking bigger. And so is my ego. She only says that 'cause she wishes she looked as ripped as I'm starting to look.

Of all the people in the world...

...to forget an anniversary. All day, Jenny has been telling me how glad she is that we've been married for the past year. She's figured out what were were doing a year ago today at various times during the day. We've received cards in the mail (thanks Eleanor and Don, Kathleen and Kevin, Butch and Misty, Sarah and Cody, Heather and Clint), text messages (thanks Emmy, Kyra and Brad, Makenna), voicemails (thanks again Eleanor and Don!) and phone calls (thanks Regina). Amanda even sang to us in the car on our way to Farmer's Market. Which brings me to this afternoon.

Jenny and I went to Fresco tonight for our anniversary dinner. I had her call them this afternoon to make the reservations. I'm paraphrasing, but this is generally how the conversation went:

Jenny: I'd like to make a dinner reservation please.

Dude on the Phone: How many will be joining us for dinner?

Jenny: 2, please.

Dude: We have reservations available for 7pm or 7:30pm.

Jenny: Do you have anything available around 6pm?

Dude: Let me check that for you ma'am.

...

Dude: Yes, we can accommodate 2 this evening at 6pm. Is this for any special occasion that I can make note of here on the reservation?

Jenny: Nope.

...

Jenny: Oh! I mean, yes! It's our anniversary.

So I told Jenny that I was just going to have to take someone who was enthusiastic about our anniversary, but Makenna, Emily, Amanda and Kyra were all busy. Just kidding. Jenny and I had a wonderful time at dinner, even though she almost forgot why we were going.

What actually happened (boating)

Jenny mentioned briefly what happened to my face on Sunday...

In the interest of accuracy, I'll tell you that the story actually goes like this:

(Scene 1)

(It's overcast and dreary. The lake is calm and eerily silent. Apparently no one thought it would be a good day for boating. These absentees have no idea just how right they are; these waters are about to turn darker... with blood!

Our boat sidles closer to the dock, but we're still about 10 or 15 feet away. The dock worker makes an under-hand throwing motion with the ski flag. I hold out my hand to indicate that I am ready to catch the flag when he throws it. Oh, how wrong I was. If only I knew what was in store for me, I would have worn a hockey mask, or maybe my grinding face shield (picture below).

The dock worker, sullen and grumbling about having to step out of the comfort of his rickety shack and into the squall that was now mercilessly battering the lonely dock, viciously hurled the ski flag at me like a blunted dart of fury. I, expecting it to tumble end-over-end like a baton, and not straight at my face, like a javelin of suffering, misjudged its speed and the projectile rammed into my face, just under my right eye, then ricocheted into Jenny, who was sitting just beside me.)

Dock worker: "Hey, sorry about your face!"

Jenny: "It didn't hit my face! It hit my boob!"

Me: "Uh, I think he was actually talking to me."

(Jenny turns her head up to look at me, and as the realization dawns on her, her face turns into a mask of horror and concern.)

Jenny: "Oh my gosh! Are you ok?"

My face: A Grinding Face Mask:

Random Photos

I went golfing a while ago. We saw a fawn (that's a baby deer, for all of you who never saw Bambi and who can't figure out how this internet thing works). I didn't get my phone out in time to snap a picture of that, but I did get a picture of this squirrel that was hanging out around our cart, probably hoping for handouts.

It kind of looks like I'm dancing. Or maybe I'm a puppet. Make up your own caption and post it as a comment.

O'Falafel

790 East 2100 South, SLC

http://www.ofalafel.com/

Last week (or maybe it was the week before), a couple of guys from work and I went down to O'Falafel for lunch. This was my first visit and I was not disappointed. Check out the menu on their website. I made sure to take pictures of the dishes that everyone got. I am going to try to remember what is what (sorry for the poor pic quality... these were taken with the camera on my phone).

My meal was called Yakhni Khudra. It was one of the less flavorful that I have tried here, but it is still very good. It is served with basmati rice. If you're not sure you will like Mediterranean style food, this would be a good dish to start with. There was some kind of vegetable in here that I didn't really like, but other than that, this was delicious.

One of the guys I work with had the Kifta (the near plate in the photo below), and he also ordered a Meat Pie (the far plate in the same photo). The Kifta is described below. The Meat Pie is seasoned, ground beef stuffed into pita bread (I think), then grilled like a panini. I haven't tried this (yet), but the guy who ordered it said it was really, really good.

I like the place so much that I made Jenny come with me to lunch the next day.

We both like the Fatoush from Mazza, so we decided to give it a shot here. It was very good; very fresh, and very colorful.

It looks kind of funny here because I forgot to take pictures until after we had started eating it. Actually, I forgot to take pictures until we were about halfway done eating everything.

Imagine that everything in these pictures looks much better than it does in the pictures.

The Baba Ganouj was excellent. It was chunkier than the stuff at Mazza, but still just as flavorful. I think this is because it's not made in a food processor.

We also had something called a Spinach Pie. If you're not a spinach fan, try something else. If, however, you do like spinach, definitely give this a taste. These kept pretty well in the fridge over night too (especially with the left-over baba ganouj).

Jenny got a sandwich called Kifteh. It is made out of ground, seasoned beef, and served in pita bread with some kind of magical sauce made out of pixie dust. It makes me salivate just thinking about it.

The Good, the Bad and the Charcoal

Every time I eat something new that makes me smile, I immediately want to try to duplicate it at home. Usually I forget about my aspirations, but sometimes I actually remember to try a recipe later. Almost always, I screw stuff up the 1st time I try to figure out a dish without a recipe. Which leads me to my next point...

Jenny and I have had sweet potato fries at Salt City Burger Co. a couple of times and have loved every minute of eating them. They're good with fry sauce, ranch, mayonnaise, A-1, or just plain. They are just plain good. When you get the cooking time right.

Also, the fries need to be turned over every 10 minutes so they don't turn out looking (and tasting) like mine did. Jenny and I were able to try a couple of the fries with the aioli sauce that I made for them. I will describe the aioli sauce in more detail in a later post. I made my 1st batch of fries a while ago and, after 3 attempts, am finally able to pay attention long enough to get them to turn out ok. They're still not nearly as good as the fries at Salt City, so I think I'm going to (mostly) give up on trying to make them at home.