Buying from foreigners on ebay – mini I-phone clone
I thought I might mention my purchases on ebay from the Far East.
Last February I purchased a cute little touch-screen mini I-phone clone – a CECT A07.
Cons:
- Every four or five days it decided to freak out, reset all settings, and delete all but the last 16 incoming SMS texts. Apparently the quality of these phones can vary dramatically.
- It died permanently last week. R.I.P., less than a year after I received it.
- It eventually produced a static noise that those on the other line would hear.
- The robust MP3 player would wear down the batteries pretty quickly.
Pros:
- Cute, cute, cute! I used it in Spain on two trips, and I got asked about it all the time. I can’t imagine lugging around a clunky I-phone. My purses are tiny.
- Powerful sound from MP3’s. You could seriously annoy some people.
- Really neat displays on applications
- A choice of several keyboards. I used the Spanish. It was so easy to type accents and caps, etc.
- Best for people with fingernails unless you want to use the stylus. The stylus did not fit in the phone itself.
- Really light-weight
- Supported a Micro-SD card up to at least 2GB (never tried a larger size).
- Included FM radio.
So, when it died, I needed another one. I have a Lebara SIM card from Spain that retains its balance and phone number as long as I use it once every 90 days. ***CORRECTION: you have to add credit to it every 60 days.*** Luckily, they are partnered with T-Mobile, so for a premium price, I can simply send a text periodically and retain my very cool number and card. By the way, Lebara sells by far the cheapest SIM cards and has crazy good rates to call back to the States and Canada from Spain. I got mine from SIMS FOR SPAIN.
ANYWAY, so I’m looking for a replacement GSM cell phone for my international trips. Did I decide to buy a reliable brand like Samsung, LG, Nokia, or Motorola? Noooo. Because they’re boring and I’m so used to the touch screen yet not the clunkiness of one. So…I bought the next generation of the same phone, the CECT A08, and it should arrive in three weeks. Of course, I’m hoping I luck out on quality. At least the ebay seller has crazy high ratings, so we’ll see. The problem with ratings is that you’re encouraged to give feedback quickly. If a month later, the product craps out, the seller still gets a high rating.
Anyway, I’ll post pictures of my new phone and tell you how it goes.
Later!
Obscure Plastic Surgery including jaw reduction and hairline lowering
I know. This has nothing to do with international shopping. But it just fascinated me!
HAIRLINE LOWERING
Look how much better some of the women in the link below look after hairline lowering surgery. No more huge foreheads!
http://www.bevhills.com/gallery/lower-hairline-photos/
CORRECTIVE JAW SURGERY (Orthognathic Surgery)
And here we have jaw alterations. In these cases, surgery has been performed to fix serious structural abnormalities. Many of these patients look fabulous post-surgery!
http://drrichardjoseph.com/jaw-surgery/
For standard jaw reduction surgery – or jaw shaving, that apparently is popular among Asians, check this out:
http://www.asiancosmeticsurgery.com/html/beforeandafters.asp
Though also notice that the rhinoplasty before and afters aren’t dramatic and in most cases, I don’t see what was wrong with the original nose or the enhancement wasn’t worth it.
Film Reviews – from the last two weeks in Spain
I’ve just come back from two weeks of partying and chilling in Spain, and was also fortunate enough to see four films.
- Paris (50-50)
- New York, I Love You (thumbs up),
- El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret of His Eyes) (thumbs up)
- Anti-Christ (hell no).
New York, I Love You follows the same concept as Paris, Je T’aime, a series of slice-of-life shorts each focusing on a relationship and featuring well-known actors. However, I believe the Big Apple version is a more fluid whole versus a bunch of shorts plopped one behind the other. Bravo. Get past the abruptly unrealistic, full-on dialogue between strangers and cozy up to some clever story developments.
The Secret of His Eyes is a clever mix of comedy, thriller, and drama. Gripping, engaging, and emotionally powerful.
The Anti-Christ, though co-starring the powerful Willem Dafoe, was a disaster. The first half so boring I wanted to bore my eyes out, and the second half just slightly weird thus annoying, followed by an end-cap scene that comes out of a bad science fiction movie shot on your grandpa’s VHS camcorder but with modern special effects. Not to mention the no-titted co-star who conveyed a blandness not even a Catholic communion round could compete with.
Paris was just run-of-the-mill drama, not particularly depressing and not gripping, far-fetched with Juliette Binoche playing a pre-dowager – please, Juliette? Yeah, right. Like someone would believe that. You want us to believe it? Cast an unknown. It’s like Kim Basinger who was supposedly a downtrodden trailer park cast-off in 8 Mile. Um, pasty foundation does not make a drop-dead gorgeous woman someone’s hand-me-downs.
So I wasn’t able to see as many films as usual. Such is life. I will make up for it with the DVD’s I bought. Reporting soon. Signing off.
Indie American chick flick Women in Trouble coming soonish
I just went to themoviebox.net to see what’s coming up in American cinema. Here comes a delight – okay, so it’s a click flick – featuring the fabulous Carla Gugino. It’s called Women in Trouble and you can watch a trailer at either link. Only playing in a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 13, 2009, I hope it will come soon to a theater near me, perhaps at the SXSW Film Festival in March.
Top 25 soccer websites – Telegraph – courtesy of kickette
Yeah, it’s a mouthful. But lest I waste your and my time compiling my own list of soccer related sites, thanks to info from the dolls at kickette.com, the Telegraph has already done it. So go to the listing of the Top 25 football (soccer) websites.
A movie you’ll never see in the States
I had the pleasure of seeing the uninhibited film Mentiras y Gordas (Sex, Party and Lies) in Madrid in the spring. It’s a gorgeous raw little film full of smoking hot young Spaniards f*ing, doing drugs, f*ing some more, and in general doing bad s*. There was also note-worthy drama so you do get pulled into these people’s lives as well. I enjoyed every sweaty minute of it. Unfortunately, you’ll likely not be able to see this in the States as it is not so-called artistic enough for general release. Or, you could say, foreign film aficionados in the States would be too high-brow to be so indulgent.
The brooding hottie at the middle top is Maxi Iglesias, who co-stars in a television series Física o Química.
My friend Javier Albarrán was art director for a Spanish GQ photo shoot that featured the angel-faced, naturally porn-bodied Ana de Armas and six other Spanish starlets. A lovely homage to vintage B films with lovely ladies.
Another film I’ve seen but far less controversial is the Chilean En la Cama (In Bed). There’s enough suspense that it doesn’t warrant a second viewing, as the virginal experience is spoiled, but it’s a simple, concentrated emotional look at a one-night-stand. For me, it was riveting and easy to identify with both characters – the only actors in the entire movie. This one you can get from Netflix.
Update October 30, 2009: I just bought this DVD in Madrid a few weeks ago. What luck! Now I can be the American expert on this oeuvre.
I love hostels!
My first hostel experience at age nineteen was my worst only because my friend and I did not know what to expect. It was not until years later that I rediscovered them through sites such as hostels.com and hostelworld.com and fell in love. I have since stayed at fifteen hostels throughout Europe and the States.
I grew up vacationing in tents and an expandable trailer (I miss it). As an adult, I’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed deluxe accommodations like the Intercontinental, a fabulous five-star hotel in Singapore, New York’s four-star le Parker Meridien, and various gawdy hotels in Las Vegas.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- small quarters
- bunk beds
- sometimes no windows
- people who may not clean up after themselves
- few bathrooms
- varying levels of security
- mostly young people
- sometimes a chronically ill person
- sometimes a creepy f*er
- noise, especially if you’re on a popular street
- planned hostel events like pub crawls or dinners
- usually a great location
- a really cheap price
- paying a bit extra for linens or possibly internet
- sometimes a kitchen and use of the frig
- to book, pay only 10% up front, if you don’t show, you’re charged one night’s stay only
I personally tend not to hang with people at the hostel, just because I prefer to party with the locals and not speak English, the prevalent hostel language.
WHAT DO I LOVE?
The fact that it’s cheap allows me to travel much more often than I would if I always stayed in hotels. There are people to hang out with if you’re bored, and you have a kitchen (sometimes) to store your food. There’s usually free wi-fi or PCs and a metro stop is often nearby.
HOW TO FIND A GREAT HOSTEL
Your primary tool is the rating system. On booking sites, each hostel is rated by its guests. I usually stay at hostels in the 75% to 90% satisfied category. Secondly, you look at the written reviews. Through them, you see what quirks you might not enjoy, like being on a major street, rude staff, or cold showers. If I see any reviews of bedbugs, that puts me on edge. Once in a New York budget hotel, I woke up looking like a leper. No thanks. I’ve never been attacked by bedbugs at a hostel. As for noise? Bring earplugs. I usually come back to the hostel at 4 or 6 a.m. I’d hate to wake you up. One more thing, if you’re getting on in years, hostels are probably not for you. Meaning, if you’re an older person, you may fall into the “creepy f*er” category, and I’d hardly want to encourage you to be my roomy.
If you’re staying for a decent period of time in one city, book several locations, for variety’s sake. You’ll discover more parts of the city, and if you happen to have a roommate that hacks up her guts every night and guilts you into buying her dinner, you can say, “Bye, bitch.”
Finally, at the end of a trip, I like to book a a single room to decompress, shop like mad and not worry about where to put all the new stuff, and just enjoy being by myself. I found a crazily-prized, highly-rated single room in Barcelona for a miniscule 25€ a night, including taxes and booking fees, through barcelona30.com.
I personally have had no issues of theft in a hostel. Usually, people who travel in hostels already have so much shit, the last thing they want is yours. Laptops are very common so unless yours is amazing or light like a netbook, there isn’t much of a draw. Plus, you can just put those things in a locker. Also, don’t bring things that would make you cry if you lost them. That’s just standard travel advice.
Enough about hostels. I’m almost done booking mine for my upcoming trip. One more city to go. Happy hosteling!
Travel Advice
24-Hour Cancellation
Booking directly through a major airline, including American Airlines, Delta, and Continental, allows you 24 hours to either cancel your trip at no charge or hold the reservation. In the case of a hold, American claims they reserve the right to change the fare till the ticket has been purchased, but in my experience, they abide by the fare reserved. Once, I totally did a brain fart and booked a trip when the other person would have already been on a business trip. I noticed two hours before the deadline to change and lucked out.
Earning Frequent Flyer Miles
Earn miles for every flight you take. First see if the airline you’re booking with partners with airlines you already have accounts with. I missed out on 10,000 miles once for not noticing that I could have applied my Alitalia trip’s miles to my Delta account. That’s a whole lot of stupid. Next, if the airline is not, apply for a frequent flyer account and enter it when you check in. It may someday merge with another airline and you’ll have combined redemption power.
By the way, you do not earn miles on trips you take using miles. Wouldn’t that be sweet?
With American, you can hold an itinerary for reward miles for five days which is super convenient. They also just recently added a feature where you can book international travel online and clearly see what days carry what mileage requirements, and which flights within those days are eligible.
Note that there is a maximum % or number of passengers on any particular flight that are traveling using their miles. This is why I ended up buying a ticket for my upcoming trip instead of redeeming my precious miles.
American-edged Germany in memorable film
I finally saw Inglourious Basterds today and I came out deeply satisfied. Lately, I’d been watching a series of war and post-war movies set in Germany or German-occupied countries. All were marvelous, including German films Der Tunnel (The Tunnel) and Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) – originally called Sonata for a Good Man, and the Dutch masterpiece Zwartboek (Black Book).
I was pleased to see some similar faces such as Daniel Brühl and Diane Kruger, both who played similar characters in Joyeux Noël, a fantastic multi-country co-production. And unforgettable was the smoking-hot Til Schweiger, who played basterd Hugo Stiglitz. But mostly, it was the flawless acting which allowed me to be surrounded by the scenes and not be put at arm’s length like many flashy Hollywood films prefer to do.
Kudos to you, Herr Director. If I ever see your towering presence again in Austin, I will salute you. Maybe a Heil Tarantino would be in order.
Other foreign actors I’d love to see more of in American films (and in meatier roles) are:
- Marion Cotillard
- Benno Fürmann
- Guillaume Canet (who is also a promising new director)
- Jason Statham
- Jean Reno
- Carice Van Houten
- Sebastian Koch, and others I’ll mention later.
Anyway, if you haven’t already seen it, do. It’s not a blood-fest. It’s a well-thought-out dramatic piece with plenty of bits of comedy to entertain.
A delight!
Til Schweiger and I versus monogamy
I came across a short article in Die Presse, a German newspaper. I put it through the Babelfish translator and got the gist of what Til Schweiger, the oh-so-hot actor who plays the German officer who has a penchant for killing his superiors and later helps the Basterds in Inglourious Basterds, believes.
The summary: Monogamy is stupid. Why does man strive for freedom in any other realm besides women?
This doesn’t preclude marriage, as he was married for ten years to a woman with whom he had four children, but it does mean “I’m married” need never be an excuse to turn down a passionate fling or even another relationship, if you’ve got the time. I personally came to the conclusion that monogamy didn’t make sense when I was seventeen and had read Fear of Flying by Erica Jong. A quote stuck in my head ‘which read something like, “It was the great deceit of marriage. Leaving the one you really want to fuck sitting there, and going up with the man you married, pretending he’s the one you really want to fuck.” Something my jazz dance teacher told me also molded my beliefs. “If I could combine my husband and my dance partner into one man, they’d make the perfect husband.” Why should one man contain everything you want in a partner? He doesn’t deserve those unrealistic expectations and neither do you.
Marriage can be a great thing, especially when it’s not so restrictive. I’m not advocating fucking everything in sight, and you can certainly voluntarily be monogamous for years without its being wrong. It’s just that forever tends to breed resentment and lethargy. And there are certain things you never learn about a person, connections that are made, only in the bedroom. And I, for one, am a richer person for it.