Xmas...

Hells bells, it's Xmas time already. This year, I have managed to get myself organized with the least stress possible and for the first time in a long time, I am actually looking forward to this holiday. As this is the first year as a single parent, (I spent last Xmas in the hospital) I am free from the obligatory visits to every obscure relative within driving distance to deliver last minute chocolates and bath sets. It feels frickin' awesome.

For the first time, I am celebrating this holiday season the way I've always wanted to... with friends and loved ones around some good food and drink. No meaningless knick knack presents, no driving, no shopping and no boxing day retail hell.

In the world of The Aimless Cook, I am proud to announce that we have just reached 2000 subscribers. It has been a long road and I am really enjoying the ride. The viewers are fantastic, positive and supportive. I really love making (lol...lovemaking) the videos and sharing my experience with as many people as I can. I have also begun to promote the official Facebook page. People are starting to 'like' and I am beginning to learn that I have to build 2 audiences. FB fans and YT fans are separate. Facebook people don't always have YouTube accounts, and for that reason I need to cater to that audience by updating statuses with my new uploads and blog posts.

Well, time for me to get back to work. I hope to see you somewhere out there, either on Facebook or YouTube...or of course, in meatspace.



J

Australia 2010

Australia. What a great place. After a trip like that, all I can say is... watch this. I hope to have more as time goes on.

My Slow Food Movement

I have had a great summer of camping, mountain biking, hiking, swimming and long boarding. Best of all, I have been able to give my children some great experiences and memories. Life is beautiful.



What's coming to The Aimless Cook?

Slow Food. Last weekend, my friend had a farewell party before moving away to another city. I did something radical to some by giving them my microwave. I have never lived without a microwave since I was 9 years old when my parents bought this woodgrain monstrosity sporting dial controls and an analogue clock. I thought about the whole thing and realized that I really only use the microwave to reheat and defrost things. I might bake the odd potato or steam some vegetables, but other than that, it sits on the counter taking up space. Since I learned to cook real meals, I have had no real need for something that has become the one stop convenience appliance for heating up the pre-packaged crap that some test kitchen calls food.

The Slow Food movement is grabbing hold of my life as I look every day at what's happening to the way we eat as a society. We are a culture that is being indoctrinated on convenience and the perception that we just don't have enough time to enjoy the simple things in life anymore. What started for me as an observation of my effect on the environment through my buying habits has turned into something deeper. Who says I don't have time? We can be our worst enemies sometimes and unconsciously sabotage our own good intentions. All I've got to say is take a step back sometime and look at your life, and more importantly, relax.



Check out www.slowfood.com to get some information of what I'm talking about. In most cases, there is a huge amount of food being produced near you right now and readily available for you to take home and enjoy. Yet, we go to the grocery store and insist on buying apples flown in from New Zealand or buying Lunchables for our kids while the local deli has a fresher, preservative-free, more delicious assortment of locally produced meats and cheeses. Well, you get the idea. It's all about the way we're thinking, and as a result, the way we're buying.

So the show will be taking a deeper look at slow food as we take action in our lives and make more educated choices about what we eat and buy. We will be taking steps to reduce our waste by eliminating the take-out containers, buying more bulk, refilling existing containers when possible and generally being conscious of what we spend our money on.

Sorry for the long post, but I guess it's been 6 months, so I had a lot to say. Until next time, take care.

J

200+ subs and counting!

Sorry I haven't been able to post anything new in the past little while. I have been catching up to the cooking blog in addition to making new videos on YouTube. As a matter of fact, I have been contemplating just continuing on with the cooking blog and deleting this one. It seems redundant to have 2 blogs when I mostly talk about cooking on this one anyway. The fact of the matter is that my viewers like the cooking more than they like the vlogging anyway. I think the same goes for me since cooking is a big part of my life.

Speaking of YouTube, I recently hit the 200 subs mark and am still going strong. I have been getting lots of great feedback on the videos and I'm making lots of friends. I am currently about halfway to my summer goal of 500 subs so I am very pleased. I got a message from BusanKevin a couple days ago about doing another collab video on my favourite Japanese food. It's so hard to decide what to pick! I think though, that my first and forever fave would be sushi...in particular, Uni.

So, until the next time we talk, take care!

New media and my goals for the future...

 

This week I hit 150 subscribers for the MrJingjong (The Aimless Cook) channel! More importantly, the quality of subscriber I have been getting recently have been surprising. I am really starting to feel like a part of the J-vlogging community. Facebook has also been quite a tool in promoting my YouTube endeavors and I'm finding that a lot of YTers are doing the same.

There's something surreal about the interaction in new media. TV just doesn't have that. Mind you, I still like TV, but if I were to make a choice today...internet FTW. There's something to be said about watching your favorite YT personalities and being able to comment, rate and interact with them. When I made the decision to get serious about my channel, it was cool to be able to pick up and learn everything I needed to in order to make it all happen. I watched a lot of what the other YouTubers were doing, what tools they were using and listened to the comments to tweak my channel into what it is today. It's still a work in progress, but I'm having so much fun in the meantime

What does the future hold for MrJingjong? Well, I think it's a reasonable aspiration, but I want to hit 500 subscribers by the summer. I want to be able to reach even more viewers and get more involved in the YT community through collaborations and guest spots. I would also like to take my first trip to Japan. It's always been on my life's "to-do" list as I have been into Japanese culture for a long long time.

Of course, I also want money. Nothing wrong with wanting money. One of the first J-bloggers I seriously got into was Danny Choo. He has been a real source of inspiration to the work I do. It's true that your passion can take you anywhere, and in my case, I know that I can get what I want out of life by just applying myself and putting energy into what I love doing most, which is cooking, teaching and making engaging content for my viewers. Cookbook, DVD...yes. Definitely.

So, that being said, I want to say, "Thank you" to the YT community for the great comments, support and encouragement. My channel is steadily growing and finding its niche among the many cooking channels that are already out there. I'm glad that I can be a source of information and entertainment for the viewers and I plan to continue as long as there are people that love to cook.

100 Subscribers!! Thank you for your support!!

Last weekend, I broke the 100 subscriber mark! I was so stoked and I wanted to just say thank you to all the viewers that are watching and enjoying my videos! A special thanks to Runnyrunny999 and Busankevin for promoting my channel. Thanks, guys!

What's goin' on?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. With YouTube and the cooking blog, it's tough to play catch up with everything. Since that evening at the hockey game, things have been pretty good. I did a collaboration cooking video with my friend, Taro, aka Runnyrunny999 and also appeared in his cooking video. The vids are at the end of this post.

As a matter of fact, its been a busy weekend for videos. In addition to Runny's vid, I did a Spam Musubi video that will be released on Friday. My friend, Kaori also asked me to make a video of her koto performance this past Sunday for the anniversary of the Evergreen Church. That was her first public performance since she was in Japan. Way to go, Kaori! That video will also be at the end of the post.

Speaking of that church anniversary, the food was phenomenal. Since most of the congregation is Korean, so was the food. I had Japche, ribs, rice cakes...man, you had to be there.

Just one last thing; I want to thank everyone who watches my channel for your continued support. Thanks to Runnyrunny999 for the collabo, I'm getting more and more subscribers everyday and I hope to get 100 soon. I have big visions for my humble channel so keep watching and tell your friends!

Until next time...

A Trip to Calgary: The Good Old Hockey Game

I had the pleasure last week of spending some time with a couple co-workers from Saskatchewan. They had been in town for the past 3 weeks to help us with a special project. Since I had been out of commission recently, it was refreshing to get back into the swing of things by hanging out with these two crazy chicks on an adventure in the big city.

As you can see, it was also a week full of finger food. Rest assured, I did get my share of the 4 basic food groups: wings, fingers, nachos and riblets. All of this nutritious food washed down with refreshing beer. (Beer is essentially liquid bread, you know)

After a few days of this wonderful fare, it was time to go experience our national pastime. It was time to go to the hockey game. I picked up the girls at their hotel after they had done a little shopping to 'prepare'. A couple Calgary Flames T-shirts and some temorary tattoos and we were ready to roll. We picked up some free burritos in the hotel lobby, jumped in the car and we were off.

Here are the highlights of this epic evening. Hope you enjoy, and when you come to Calgary, don't forget to go to the hockey game. Until next time...

Happy New Year from MrJingjong!

My friend, Steve was back in town for the holidays and he invited me to spend New Years Eve with him watching the Calgary Flames play the Edmonton Oilers. Of course, that was after we stopped for some fresh sushi at Globefish. After being in the hospital for Christmas and hanging out on my couch as I recovered, I was feeling a little cabin fever so Steve's invitation to get off my ass sounded refreshing.

So here's the video. Enjoy and don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe to MrJingjong!

The Day I Joined the Cult of Mac.

Throughout my many years of being a PC user, I have always been "Mac Curious". After my crappy Christmas in the hospital, I thought it would be a good excuse as any to treat myself to a nice gift. So, I went to the Apple Store on December 30th, 2009 and officially became the proud owner of a MacBook Pro.

It's been 4 days since I made my purchase and all I can say is that I am in love. Can you love a computer? If they are sexy, you can... I guess, and they are sexy. There is love in every aspect of this product. Even the box is incredibly beautiful with its molded black, plastic tray and foam-lined lid. As I opened the box for the first time, I was greeted by the signature logo on the Aluminum unibody case. Lovingly wrapped in plastic by angels just for me, it was pure pleasure unwrapping this beauty.

I have never had an OOB experience like this since I was 9 years old, opening up my Millenium Falcon toy, complete with Han Solo and Chewbacca figures.

The refreshing thing about Macs is that, unlike PC notebooks, Macs are not overloaded with crapware that's supposed to make your computing experience easier. When ever I buy a notebook PC, I usually expect to spend the first couple hours uninstalling the wares that the manufacturer installs. After that, I am endlessly adjusting and tweaking Windows to my preferences, getting rid of the dashboard, taking out toolbars, deleting unnecessary shortcuts, etc... Oh yeah, they actually include the recovery dvds. You don't have to spend additional hours making your own.

I was pleased to be able to use my new MacBook Pro right out of the box with a touch of the power button. After entering my name and registering, I was greeted by a nice welcome video and I was on my way. The learning curve for this new frontier is gentle. There are a few things different about working on a Mac, but once you get the hang of it, you're good to go.

Right away, I wanted to learn how to edit video with iMovie 09 and after a couple practice sessions with some test clips, I was making some great looking video. Just in case you want to see my first iMovie edited video, check out the Happy New Year post. The graphics card and processor handle my video wonderfully, rendering my transitions and previewing my clips with ease. It's truly great to have this new tool.

A Trip to the Hospital: Christmas 2009

Hello folks. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been sick lately and spent my Christmas in the hospital eating lime jello and popsicles. I went to the emergency room on Christmas Eve and had myself some lovely surgery. So, for your viewing enjoyment, here is my trip to the hospital.