Saw Two of My Foes During Xmas Week

During that week, I saw Jane Moxam at a retail store.  If she wasn't talking in her British accent, it wouldn't occur to me to think that was her.  She gained so much weight since she parted ways with the Nanaimo Athletic Club, she was beyond recognizable.  To my knowledge, she always struggled to shed the pounds and not having a convenient go-to place to work out certainly doesn't help.  However, I wouldn't doubt that the stress of knowing about my blog had also contributed to her weight gain.  I also hear she is struggling financially.  It gave me a sense of satisfaction that I wasn't only one suffering emotionally throughout this ordeal but seeing her literally gave me a headache!!

On Dec. 23rd, I saw T-Mac, C.K.'s friend and co-worker at Frontrunners, at the Bowen Road Tim Hortons for the third time since the death threat plot.  I'm going to call her T-Mac for short, and no, it's not short for Tracy McGrady.  The first two times she saw me, she was uncomfortable in my presence at a level that I would expect.  However, the third time we saw each other there, she was EXTRA uncomfortable.  It looked as though she piddled in her pants and she was self-conscious about the wet patch that people might notice.  When it was her turn to order, she quietly and discreetly ordered a broccoli soup and then quickly tucked her entire presence at the other end of the service counter, completely out of my view.  Let me kid you not, I wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as I could myself.  She makes me sick.

Now, why is it so important for me to mention how T-Mac was feeling that day?  Please refer to this post.  There was a comment appended to the rant that a couple of my co-workers saw that made direct reference to me.  The entire rant was taken down before it could be screen captured.  Also, refer to the following snippets from a couple of my past postings:

It's All About the Shoe+: I Got Framed - The Full Story

Nov 10, 2015 ... She said they all referred to me as some "short little Asian guy". I was only in her store to buy shoes so why is she the only one trying so hard to ...

wongousworks.blogspot.com

It's All About the Shoe+: More of My Take on C.K.'s Frontrunners Store

Feb 21, 2016 ... Instead, I felt racially insulted (called me a "short little Asian guy") and very insecure about myself after leaving her store. Also, if she relies on ...

wongousworks.blogspot.com

T-Mac, you were there alongside with her when she made that racial comment.  I came in that day to buy some Brooks Dyad 7's from you - not for you and C.K. to get nosy with my personal affairs.  C.K. kept deferring to you and the other girls about what shoe modelists were saying about me.  C.K. said:  "Ask the girls about it."  So I asked you, T-Mac about how they were feeling and you said:  "Doubt."  Is that what C.K. was making such a big fuss about is that they had their doubts??  

Anyway, this was the original rant:

And the comment that drew the ire of my friend said this:  "We know of some Asian guy who works at ______ that does this."  Take a look at who is a member of the Rant & Rave group.  Pfff-ahhhck!!

How do you know where I work and why is it such a big deal to refer to me as an "Asian guy?"  Why were you extra nervous in my presence last week?  Listen T-Mac.  My main focus all along was on C.K. but if you want to imply your involvement in & knowledge of her death threat plot, so be it.  I'm going to discourage people from going to ANY Frontrunners stores.  They're all run under the same umbrella of people anyway.

My Thoughts:

We all know how I feel C.K. and her accomplices and how much of a challenge it is for me to move on from all of this.  However, this type of behaviour doesn't show me any reason for me to change how I feel about you and it doesn't reflect well on you and the store you represent, especially if you're trying to sell your brand as a community contributor.  You are trying to jump on any negativity directed towards me and I know not everyone is going support me (people like you).  My hobby is subjective and I leave it up to people to either like it or not.  However, there is no grey area in an act of crime.  It is either legal or it's not.  Uttering death threats is illegal and could've landed you a criminal record had I known my rights.  Perhaps you should focus on cleaning up your image by checking your egos at the door, rather than being mad at me being mad at you!! 

Keep an eye out in the comment section of this post.  I've got some insight to share with you.  Scroll past the white LiveFyre block to see it.

Update:  Jan. 16, 2017

This has been brought to my attention this morning:

That prompted me to revisit T-Mac's profile on the Rant & Rave group:

Look!  It no longer states she "works" for Frontrunners.  Either she saw that I've taken notice of her profile and detached herself from that name or she actually doesn't work for that business anymore.  Anyways, I think she knows she garnering more attention than she wanted by trying to stop me from being a shoe photographer.  Stupid!!

The Christmas Shoes

On Black Friday, I ran into this lady wearing these Skechers shoes.

Skechers Flex Appeal - Cosmic Rays

She bought these in the U.S. and I believe she said in Oregon, but I can't quite remember.  It turns out she's big into shoes as well and she was more than happy to pose for me.  Not to mention, she was very delightful and pleasant to interact with.

She also asked me if I've seen the movie:  "The Christmas Shoes."  I haven't, especially the fact the movie wasn't really about the shoes.  Instead, they were used as a symbol of a boy's deep love for his dying mother and a reminder for a workaholic lawyer to not overlook his family happiness through his own agenda.  You can do a Google search for more details on this movie.

Here are a couple of images from this movie, courtesy of a PCA's Guide to Life.  I ended up catching the back half of this movie on Christmas Eve, which delayed my Xmas shoe design posting.

Those who have lost loved ones this holiday season would most certainly be able to relate to this movie.

Ahem, so getting back on topic here, you probably want to know what I think about the Christmas shoes?  Well, when the boy flipped the bottom side up, it read:  "$19.99", so cheap is what came to my mind right away, ho ho ho!  Also, these would only be practical when worn for the first 25 days of December or if you want to look "Chinatic" (worn by a Chinese lady).  Hmm... Chinatic.  I don't know if that word exists but we'll just make it real in the "Wongous" dictionary.

As for the Skechers...what do you think what I think about them?  Would I trouble myself with this photo shoot if I didn't like them?  Well, maybe after she sees this post, she will wear them in public with a little more pride and be more attentive to people looking down at her fancy shoes.  👌😉

Take it from this lady, C.K. and Tracy from Frontrunners.  You don't need to commit a death threat crime (or to piggyback on this slanderer) to draw attention to yourselves - unless you want infamous attention, of course.  

Happy Holidays!!

Well, better late than never, but looks like I'm going to be able to get this post in before Christmas is over.  I have designed these 2 pairs of shoes for the Christmas season.

I named my first pair, "The Ornament".

They turned out okay as I was just warming up.  Also, this was done under NBA 2k17's shoe design program.  Their implement of the HDR technology affected the lighting on my TV screen and these turned out pretty dark.  I was also disappointed that they didn't add any new layers to encourage further creativity.  On top that, the shoes are smaller, making it more difficult to observe the finer details needed to make the most subtle of edits to the shoe.  Attention to detail is critical to a good shoe design.

I went back to NBA 2K15 to design my shoe.  The shoes are bigger and this version of the shoe design program has the most brands to choose from out of any of the NBA 2K shoe design program so far and the selection of layers are exactly the same.  Here, I composed:  "The Christmas Tree".

Though I'm very happy with how these turned out, I'm starting to get bored.  I need the 2K team to provide some gradients and new layers to feed my creative mind.  Otherwise, the same styles will be created over and over again.

Can You Tell I've Been Busy...

I've been doing a lot of running around lately getting shoe photos and have been just as busy working on this piece.  Stay tuned as I will be writing more about this and appending to this post in the coming days...

Mexican Inspiration

Very rarely do I come across someone wearing some flashy colours, let alone being able to photo-shoot shoes this fancy.  I knew I couldn't pass up on this kind of opportunity, especially she was here only because her Mexican brother lives in Canada.

Much thanks to Michelle for being so patient with the poses and to her husband, Miguel for being open about my blog notion.  I'm very happy about the way this collage turned out.

Here are the rest of the pictures taken as shown in the thumbnail set.

Nicely done Michelle.  You said:  "Maybe I like my shoes now" after we were done the photo shooting.  Well, you definitely will now!!

Caught My Slanderer Red-Handed (K.D.A.)!!

For those who have been following my ordeal to bring you all some of my most creative work, you know it has not been easy.  Being naive about how women work at first, caused me to put a lot of guilt on myself that I had no business bearing.  Had I not gone through the Nanaimo Athletic Club - Frontrunners experience, I would've thought I was the bad guy during this latest interaction.

I ran into this girl by happenstance, coming out of the EB Games store.  She was stationed at the Ben Moss jewelry counter, the angle counter pointing towards Tim Hortons.  I was not expecting this girl to be there and I definitely did not expect her to be wearing some cool kicks.  Our interaction happened on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 - 12:04 p.m. in the middle-right side of this pic:

I presented my business card to her while she told me how she obtained these shoes.  Afterwards, I asked her gently for a couple of poses so that I could post her shoes on my blog.  She not only gave me permission to take pictures of her shoes but she was more than willing to give me a couple of poses, as shown here.

Yet, she decided she could get away with slandering me on a Facebook Rant & Rave group, especially knowing that I'm not a member.  Well guess what?  There are people who support what I do and they are part of that Facebook group...and this was brought to my attention.

Fact:  

• Yes, you were with your baby because the pic shows the metal bar of a baby stroller.
• Yes, "I couldn't help but (to) notice your shoes..." is something that I would say.
• Yes, you did tell me you had just come out from the gym.

False:

• No, I didn't take pictures of your feet. 
• No, I didn't take pictures of your "modeling" before you gave me your consent.
• No, your shoes weren't pink Nikes. They were a pair of Under Armours with a baby blue body that just happened to have some pink accents (tinting more towards purple) to them.
• No, you didn't literally run out of the mall. You couldn't. You had your baby stroller with you.
• No, I never said I was following you.
• And last but not least, how could you say you were alone when our interaction happened in the mall, with a couple of clerks working on the other side of the jewelry counter??

Final Thoughts:

The key discrepancy here is the shoes.  Why did you choose to use "pink Nikes" in describing our interaction?  I know!!  It was what was used by C.K.'s henchman (girl) to set me up for the suspension.

Click on the block of text above for the full story!!

You read my blog and then you used C.K.'s tactic to draw attention to yourself, a tactic that is tarnishing her reputation.  Do you really want to wear her germy coat that represents criminal behaviour??

Remember what I mentioned about C.K.'s motive for dissuading me for taking pictures of shoes?  That's right.  The women were curious about my unusual requests and that took the spotlight off of her.  She got jealous and tried to twist what the women were really saying about me.  When she felt that I was starting to get suspicious it was when she lied to the gym management and owners to get me kicked out of the gym and to scare me with a death threat to make me believe in the huge conspiracy against me to forever dissuade me from my hobby and to cover her tracks.  That's a huge risk for her reputation if I ever figured out the truth.  Now I'm seriously considering imposing the same accountability for Kassandra here.

Let me tell you something, Kassandra.  C.K. slandered me because I was taking the attention away from her and didn't do it to gain attention.  She did it to regain attention and set me up with death threat to sidetrack me from finding out the truth.  If I ever approached those women and if there were any discrepancies in their responses, she would look stupid and lose instant credibility.  In other words, she was afraid of being embarrassed.

Now, you need to re-read my blog to see how your motive to draw attention to yourself clouded your ability to comprehend what it is C.K. was really trying to do.  If you wanted attention, you should've stuck around and given me more poses so I could feature your shoes for the right reasons.  Now I'm going to give you all the attention you could've imagined...but for reasons that are in conflict to your best interest, the same way I handled C.K..

The next person who slanders me and if I find out who it is, I will reveal the full identity of the culprit without hesitation!!  As for you Kassandra, after I post this article, you will now be on a tighter watch.  Be a good girl and keep your mouth shut or I will reveal to the world who you are and you will never have to worry about drawing attention to yourself again - infamous attention, that is...

Read part 2.  There's more to this story.  A Frontrunners staff may have been fired for piggy-backing on K.D.A.'s slander!!

Why I Ask for Multiple Shoe Poses

For those of you who have been following my little hobby, I do this for the showmanship of the shoes.  However, there is another reason why I want multiple poses.  The reason is this!

Caption:  You Nike girls can sort this amongst yourselves.  I'm an Asics customer and I was just passing by.

NB:  I know it's just one piece of work but this took me over 5 hours to compose.  Hopefully this pic will reflect that and will have enough re-view value to keep you all amused for a while just as a good video game would with replay value.

I want to be as creative with my passion as I can possibly be.  I've mentioned my interest in creating collages before but I don't think my doubters hear me well enough.  Now, I've finally gotten around to executing what I've intended to do all along, composing a collage without "cheating" with screen captures.

I hope to become more proficient with this graphics program and be able to post something more creative in the future...although it will be tough to top this.

By the way, to my volunteers...do you recognize your shoe?  I'll let you absorb this and then I may post photosets of each shoe within this photo.

Lots of Cool Shoe Pics on the Way

All this field work and prepping of the photos are taking a lot more time & energy than expected.  I hope to have a new posting by the end of Monday.

In the meantime, here's one of the shoe pics of one of my volunteers...

Much, much more to come.  I promise!!!

Valentino Lace Sneakers

Here is another floral-based sneaker...

Valentino Lace Sneakers: Valentino Lace Sneakers available to buy at Harrods. Shop Valentino womenswear online and earn Rewards points.

Non-Shoe Fanatics Wouldn't Understand

As I usually do, I do my casual stroll out and about and I just happen to see someone wearing a cool pair of Nike Shox with one of my favourite colours.  As much as I hate breaking conversations, I had to ask for some pics of these.

Having technical difficulties uploading these pics so I will have to do it when I can get to my PC.
For now, I will leave you with this pic:

To finish off my story, after she and her friend left, man sitting at another table gave me a dirty look.  I gave it right back to him, influencing him to look away.  He didn't look like a flashy and colourful personality so I'm not surprised that he didn't understand.  It used to bother me but I've come to the realization that people have their own interests that aren't approved everyone either.

Nanaimo Man Charged with Death Threat Remarks!

Here is an example of how uttering death threats can get you into some trouble with the law.  On Aug. 30, 2016, a Nanaimo man was charged with uttering death threats to his ex-wife.  Read more about this situation here.

No wonder my former store manager blasted off to a different store shortly after suspending me.  He supported the death threat directed towards me by the customer's so-called boyfriend.  He KNEW he did something that could've gotten him into trouble.

Related:  Would I Recommend Working at...

Now, my dear C.K., Jane Moxam, and Mexican Dave (former Nanaimo Athletic Club owner), imagine if I had known what my rights were.  In the end, it cost you your gym.

How can people continue to support businesses that employ such irresponsible and disrespectful conduct in society?  I'm talking about Frontrunners, Nanaimo Athletic Club, and Value Village (since they've hopped on the bandwagon).

Comparing Colourfuls

People who don't have a shoe obsession will never understand us.  So who's crazier me or them?

Their collection:

All the colours of Mizuno Wave Creation! #Repost @jillymarie6
・・・#mizuno #wavecreation ..… https://t.co/yyEnI0ohOL pic.twitter.com/ol8fM5ElLH

— MizunoRunning Canada (@MizunoRunCanada) August 31, 2016

My collection:

 

Nike + Liberty London = Floral Tennis Shoes

There is no doubt that some of the flashiest shoes out there are worn by professional tennis players, especially during competitions as significant as the grand slam tournaments.  Just when you think tennis shoes can't get any cooler than those bright colours, Nike's tennis shoe division, Nike Court has joined forces with Liberty London to create floral tennis shoes.  They named this line of shoes:  Nike X Liberty.  This design was inspired and to give tribute to the summertime flowers that bloom in Britain.

The women's lineup can be seen here.  The shoe being worn in the picture below is called the Air Max 1 (white Liberty print).

London love! New favourites from @nikecourt x @libertylondon. #nikexliberty pic.twitter.com/okFX5VdEes

— Katie Swan (@Katieswan99) June 20, 2016

It's nice to see that creativity can be achieved without using bright flourescent colours that draw so much *ahem ahem* attention all the time.

Customizing the Nike Zoom Pegasus 32

I scored myself a pretty good deal on some orange colourway of these shoes, which inspired me to play around with some colours of this particular model.  You too can customize these shoes at the NikeID store.

Playing it Safe:

I've always been big on combining colours that are harmonious with each other so that they wouldn't become an eyesore.  However, this sometimes can restrict creativity and can yield a dull end result.  Here's an example:

These shoes definitely wouldn't suit C.K. as this muted colour theme would not draw maximum attention that she would be seeking.  Refer to:  "Why I'm Getting More Attention than C.K." to know what I'm talking about.

Incorporating the Neon Yellow:

Not all colours are made available for each part of the shoe by the people at Nike but the one constant colour that keeps popping up is the neon yellow (volt).  I was torn between thinking how it might go well with the green and how it could just stick out like a sore thumb.  I decided to take the risk and here's what I got.

 

I slowly incorporated the neon yellow into the colour theme.  At first, I didn't think it worked very well but after looking at it for a second and third time, I found it to be quite interesting.  The picture directly above turned out to be the most creative.  The back heel looks it's getting more light exposure than the toe part of the shoe.  The colourway created that kind of an illusion.

Lastly, I wanted to see how I can neutralize the glare of the neon yellow.  This is what I came up with.

Why These Colours Work:

The reason why these colours work is because of the shade of green we are working with here.  This particular green has a bit of a blue tinge to it and the neon yellow has an ever-so-slightly green tint to it, allowing the green join one hand with one the yellow and the other hand with the blue.

Death Threat Lady is Close-Minded

Before this Frontrunners Nanaimo clerk, C.K. got me kicked out of the gym that I've been a member of for 19 years and spearheaded a death threat to dissuade me from photographing shoes, I told her at one point that I wear purple (shoes).  C.K.'s can't-believe-it response:  "You wear purple??"  Yes, I wear purple and I'm comfortable in my purple skin too!!  See how I've "masculinized" a purple pair of women shoes and how it could've possibly inspired this colourway for these men's shoes:

This is another example of a unisex colourway.  Here's another example of guys being "allowed" to wear purple.  It's a Techno-Viper action figure from G.I. Joe.

If you don't remember him, how's about the more famously known, Skywarp or Galvatron, formerly known as Megatron.

Skywarp was the first ever Transformer I owned because you guessed it - because of the purple accent on its body.  As for Galvatron, anyone who follows Transformers, knows he is far from being homosexual.  He is as masculine as they come.  If this very masculine character, who is also the leader of an evil pack, dawns a purple body, what does that tell you?

Not to be outdone, I came across these Mother's Day rendition of the Curry 2's.  For the longest time, pink was primarily thought of as a girls-only-type colour, especially shoes.  The way the pink is used on these shoes, makes it look more masculine than feminine.  In my opinion, this is a very well thought out colour scheme.


So just why am I posting this?  Well, let's not kid ourselves.  The shoes are cool.  That's the primary reason.  However, the colours also reminded me of the series of problems this one lady has caused me and this is the perfect opportunity to further stake claim to the validity of my hobby and to encourage an open mind.

Message to C.K.:

I don't force anyone to shoe pose for me against their own will.  How is it your place to police the Nanaimo community on behalf of your so-called "complainers"?  Let's suppose it's socially unacceptable to ask strangers for this type of favour because it makes some feel uncomfortable.  If that's the case, it would make ANYone, not just me, feel much worse by threatening people's livelihood by way of death threat just because you want to massage your own bruised ego and agenda.  Your disgraceful actions nullify any goodness you make yourself out to be as a (Frontrunners) shoe sales clerk and as a spin class instructor of the Nanaimo Athletic Club and any other gyms you work in.

There IS Such Name as Wongus!!

Okay, okay, so it's not quite "Wongous" but it's still pretty cool considering the fact that there are people bearing the family name that sounds like a word that I made up out of the blue.

Do a facebook search for "Wongus" and you'll see what I mean!!  Pretty trippy if you ask me, and these people aren't necessarily Asian either.  VERY interesting!!

Women's Wave Catalyst | Mizuno Canada

Here's a better look at these shoes.  I love this colour.  It's not orange, pink, nor red.  It's something in between - almost like a darker shade of salmon pink.  It really gives these shoes some pop.  The only thing I don't like about the design is the empty holes within the mesh.  When Phyllis B. had them on, though new, they looked like they've been exposed to rain and damp soil.  I'd like to see those holes be filled with some form of white.  That would help take away some of the gloominess that a soiled shoe would present.



Women's Wave Catalyst | Mizuno Canada

Is Orangetheory Fitness Being Creepy?

Just to let you all know, I have not relinquished my drive to finish off my story with Brenda Beecroft and Jesse of Value Village...nor have I forgotten what C.K. of Frontrunners did to me.  How could I, when Jesse piggybacks on C.K.'s immoral claims towards me.

Related:   

Value Village Supports Slander - Part 1
Value Village Supports Slander - Part 2

Below is a picture of the Mizuno Wave Catalyst taken from a similar angle to the way I like to do my photo shoots.

We caught Phyllis B. wearing the new #Mizuno runners she won last month from our friends at @mizunorunCanada! pic.twitter.com/usJr2k2gz2

— Orangetheory Fitness (@OTFRichmondHill) July 14, 2016

Welp...Marlene Davis, store manager of Nanaimo Value Village and Brenda, the district manager of all Vancouver area store, you'd better ban this photographer from all Canadian Mizuno stores.  C.K. of Frontrunners Nanaimo and Jane Moxam and Dave (former manger and owner, respectively of Nanaimo Athletic Club), you'd better call the cops on this photographer and to stage a death threat to discourage this person from ever taking pictures of shoes again.  *sarcasm* 

Even my auto mechanic says C.K. should be glad I'm doing what I'm doing.  It serves as free advertising towards how good running shoes look when worn.  That's what Orangetheory is trying to do for Mizuno.  Good thing there are many other choices where we can shop for running shoes, and for less too, without the uneasiness you'd feel from a commission-based environment!!

Also read:  

I'm Not the Only One

An Intrigued Fan

What I'm about to post here is called the Avia Avi-Finesse A1441WBI.  I ran into a woman sporting these and I wasn't sure if she was as enthused about her shoes I was.  It turns out that my blogging concept intrigued her enough to go out of her way to allow me to do a photo shoot outdoors.  Here are some thumbnails that preview the stunning colours that I was able to capture.

Later on, I will be appending some full-size pics of these photos, so stay tuned!!

A Super Enthusiastic Fan!

I met a super nice gal today, wearing some pretty cool NB kicks.  She bought them primarily for the comfort, but the fact they were colourful was an added bonus.  Once she saw the pictures I took of her shoes, she became really giddy.  She wanted my pics.  She must've really like them.  Patience Sheila.  They'll be posted on here in due time.

The photos are not ready to be posted yet so I will tease you with this one in the meantime...

Can you tell what the model of these shoes is?  Keep checking for an update on this post.

New Balance WX20v4 Minimus

This is a rush job so here some thumbnails to keep you amused until I am in better shape for time to post individual pics!!

Poses

I will post the pics shown in the thumbnails in sequence.

Cute Postures

Intense Poses