Tuesday, December 22, 2009

All Thumbs

As a teenager, my favourite TV show was "Siskel & Ebert". Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert would debate the pros and cons of a film before declaring their ultimate rating: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.



Ah, if only I could review my everyday life in the same simple way....

Now I can!

This is the All-Thumbs Portable Reviewer. Thumbs Up on this side:


Thumbs Down on the other:


And here are my Woo Reviews!

The movie "Up": Thumbs Up


The movie "Fired Up": Thumbs Down


My local yarn store, "Black Sheep Yarns": Thumbs Up


The Staples store that accepted my online order for an office chair, then mistakenly delivered that chair to an Alan Wu (even though our last names are spelled differently) before forcing me to visit the store in person—twice—to receive my refund for the now out-of-stock chair: Thumbs Down


Jalepeño chips: Thumbs Up


Parking tickets: Thumbs Down


Stepping into my shot: Thumbs Down


Long-term effect of the 2010 Olympics on the Vancouver economy: undecided


Our finite existence in the infinite universe: Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down


Regular readers of the WooWork.com blog, including my girlfriend, my mom and you: Thumbs Up!


...and Happy Holidays!

42 comments:

  1. Thumbs up for this post!
    Happy holidays, fijne kerst en gelukkig nieuwjaar.

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  2. That is so cool - and you always always make me laugh with your crazy ideas!

    Happy Christmas!!

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  3. I absolutely love this - the picture with the mirror puts it over the top! Happy Holidays!

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  4. You make me laugh!!!
    Such a great idea and incredible photos : thumb up ;)
    Happy Holidays you too :)

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  5. Thumbs up for this entry! I have to agree about our finite existence in an infinite universe LOL

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  6. Howie! This is amazing!

    I had to comment to say that I LOVE that colour in your hair, it really suits you.

    Happy Holidays!

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  7. funny... it's like you're standing outside the Staples store with their 'easy' button. apparently it didn't work... thumbs down.

    nice festive streak in your hair

    Merry Christmas

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  8. Love your posts! And your creations. Have a wonderful holiday season!

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  9. happy holidays to you too! i can't stop laughing at the picture of you in front of staples. and i love the last one :) it's too cute

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  10. Hahaha!! So funny! :D

    I saw Ebert once while skiing at the Von Trapp Family Lodge, but couldn't work up the nerve to approach him. Much to my delight, he was also at the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory we toured on our way home! Seeing him twice seemed like a sign (thumbs up?) so at the last minute I decided to go right up and say hello... and when I finally did, it wasn't even really him, just a look-alike (thumbs down!)

    Diane (cheriefrancis on ravelry)

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  11. Cute & adorable as always!Merry Christmas to you & yours!!

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  12. thumbs up Howie.....

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  13. I just found your blog while googling crochet....and I am glad I did you have a very cool blog. And two thumbs up for such a great post :)

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  14. You are such a funny guy - now my daughter comes to the computer when she sees me reading your post - you're contagious! :D

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  15. Howie Woo, Mary Jane, Howie's mom - THUMBS UP. :)

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  16. And a super big thumbs up to you, Howie, and your curly brain :-)

    Have a great holiday!

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  17. Love it! And thumbs up for the festive hair colour.

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  18. Happy Holidays to you, Howie!!! Thumbs up, most definitely, to WooWork!!!!

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  19. You are definitely a thumbs up in my book! :)

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  20. You have a new follower. Your blog is hilarious and adorable, all rolled into one ball of yarn. Merry Christmas. :)

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  21. Awesome! I would so wear one of those throughout my day.

    Happy holidays to you, Alan Wu!

    Sincerely,

    Staples
    ;)

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  22. flava flav needs one of these!

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  23. mochaxlight: If everyone had an All-Thumbs, we could form an army of reviewers! Watch out, kitchen-nightmare restaurants ;)

    inkie: Thanks for teaching me how to say Merry Christmas & Happy New Year in Dutch! :)

    PaisleyJade: I hope your Christmas was full of crazy ideas and crazy fun too :)

    Jenny: Despite the calm of the mirror photo, MJ slipped on the rocks during that shoot and scraped her hand a bit. Self-reflection can be dangerous! ;)

    Christelle: Thanks! I'm glad you laughed and I hope to bring more chuckles in 2010!

    Sharona R: hehe In a vast universe, your thumbs up is appreciated! ;)

    Lindsey: Thanks! Purple hair is next :D I'll be blogging about a gift to my cool hair stylist in a few weeks too...

    Abby: Yes, Staple's "easy" button can only make things more difficult! Thumbs down to them and my evil twin, Alan Wu ;)

    Shorty: Thanks for the love of the 2009 posts! I'll try to add one more fun post before 2010 :)

    youngmi: That Staples photo was an accidental photo that MJ took while setting up the shot haha It made us laugh too when we were looking through the other posed pix :) Thanks for the wishes!

    Diane: That missed-Ebert/found-Ebert-impersonator story is hilarious! I hope the fella was flattered at the comparison? Also, your trip sounds like a perfect outdoor adventure: skiing with ice-cream :)

    Miss Julep: Merry Christmas to you and yours as well! Your Southern charm is unmatched! :D

    ronniemama: Thanks for the thumbs!

    Jackie: I'm happy that Google sent you my way! I hope you stick around :)

    Jennifer: Yay to your daughter for liking my blog! I hope she'll learn to crochet some cool things in the new year too ;)

    Marcy: MJ, my mom and I thank you for your thumbs :)

    Dave: ... And happy holidays to you and your talented family! Thanks for the awesome illustrated YES Mag projects in 2009!

    Ascasewwen: If I was truly festive for the holidays, I'd add tinsel and ornaments to the green hair! Maybe next year? :D

    TADA's Revolution: Thank you for the positive TADA review!!

    Amy Lynn: I'm grateful to be in Amy's Book of Thumbs Up :)

    Kimi: Thumbs up to new followers named Kimi!

    JenGoPop: Of course you'd want to wear this, Staples store! Just like I'd like to be sitting in my lost chair!! ;)

    Viola: Yes, Flava Flav and I should go out on the town. That way, we could rate things at the top of each hour :D

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  24. What a delightful post/idea Howie. I love this.

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  25. Mom and I are cracking up together at this post! Thank you for giving us a good laugh! Love the jalapeno chips photo!

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  26. Awesome, Howie! I need to make one of those to use in my classroom!!

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  27. Love it! That pic of the yarn shop is making me want to start trying to knit again.

    Like the new hair colour a lot too. Happy Holidays!

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  28. Kara: I delight at your delight, thank you!

    Monica: Thanks for the heartwarming, holiday image of you and your mom curled up next to the warm computer, laughing over this blog post :) I hope mugs of hot cocoa were involved too!

    Jana: If all your students had an All-Thumbs, they could use the Thumbs Up side instead of putting up their hands :) Detention = Thumbs Down!

    Kitty Ballistic: I'd love to see more of your knit creations :) You do everything so well, whether it's yarn or felt or beads or clay or beyond...! Happy Holidays :)

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  29. Hilarious! I love the thumbs down for staples...I too had an evil staples experience that just wouldn't end, in fact I actually blogged about it twice and even them giving me a 20 dollar gift cert was frustrating because I couldn't find anything in stock in the actual store to buy!

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  30. Brilliant! (and I give 'Up' a thumbs up too!!)
    Happy Hogmanay Howie - heres to a wonderful 2010!!

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  31. Thumbs Up to you Howie for giving us another brilliant creation (funny how so many of us have a Staples Story)! I have to agree about the Vicker's Jalepeño Chips! Definitely Thumbs Up! ¡Que picante! ¡Me gusta! Thank you for bringing so many smiles to my face this past year. I hope 2010 will bring you, MJ, and your sweet mom so much love, happiness, peace, and good health. Thanks for a wonderful year.

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  32. RollerScrapper: haha It's good to hear from another Staples survivor! You're so right about them having very little stock of some items. On some sites, Staples is referred to as StOOPles, with the OOP standing for Out Of Stock!

    Elaine: I hope your Hogmanay was lots of fun and that you're all set to start a new year full of creative goodness :) Thank you!

    ecuadoriana: Our families appreciate your sweet new year wishes, and I hope 2010 offers you health, happiness and mountains of jalepeño chips! ;) *crunch crunch*

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  33. AniDoll: I'm glad you do, thanks! :)

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  34. We all need one of these to rate the minutia of our lives. :D

    OT: Is Woomi going to have to get his hair changed to green now? Your green is more subtle than the orange, but I like it.

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  35. CraftyShanna: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Minutia of our Lives." ;)

    hehe My hair changes colour ever two months (dark blue right now), so Woomi refuses to constantly change his hair to match. He recently yelled this at me: "I'm not your alter-ego! YOU'RE my alter-ego!"

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  36. Ha ha ha, this is hilarious! I thought it was going to be a little token, but wearing it Flava Flav style makes it even funnier!

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  37. This is so awesome! The timing being what it is, I hope you don't mind that I sent your link to Roger Ebert himself on his blog. He cannot speak anymore because of surgery to remove cancer. I told him he should commission you to make him one of these to use when he needs to communicate his feelings without using words, computers or post it notes.

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  38. Crafty Coug: hehe I forgot to crochet the Flava Flav sunglasses! Ah well, next time :)

    Anonymous: Thanks so much for suggesting this link to Roger Ebert's blog. Your mention may have led to him checking out a short film of mine from 1999, which he tweeted about! Thanks again :)

    mOther: I'm going to check if it's made of chocolate ;)

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  39. hi! i just found your blog. It's brilliant and so funny! I just had to comment on this post because the last picture of your gf, you and your mom is awesome! Totally bookmarking your blog! :D Cheers!

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