Christian's Blog Page

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus

2010-05-14T17:02:00.016+01:00

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus had a weekend performance at Darling Harbour over the Easter break so I went with my camera on Easter Sunday, hoping to get some nice shots. The Flying Fruit Fly Circus is Australia’s only full time circus training institution for children from grades 3 to 12 (up till around 18 years old).

Unfortunately, it rained the night before and all the equipment got wet so the performance was cancelled!

They were performing the next day as well and the disappointed children went around announcing to everyone to come back and watch them the next day. I decided to do just that so I went back the following day with my camera. The weather was again pretty bad but the show went ahead. (I was told later that they were unsure if they were going ahead until half an hour before showtime.)

It was an enjoyable and fun performance. You could see how much they loved doing it, and you can’t help but smile at their antics on stage.

Their production of the show Pirates will be travelling to Brisbane in June. You can find out more from their website - http://www.fruitflycircus.com.au

Inception (2)

2010-01-06T04:44:00.011Z

Back in August of last year, I put up the teaser for Inception, the new movie by Christopher Nolan. The first trailer for it was released not long ago and in keeping with the secrecy surrounding the movie thus far, the trailer does not reveal much about the story. The visuals though, look stunning!

*Edit* - Please have a look at the link given by my friend Matthew in the comments, it's pretty amazing!

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-01T02:29:00.012Z

Happy New Year, everyone! :)

Sculpture by the Sea 2009

2009-12-26T02:46:00.014Z

Every year around the end of spring or early summer, there is a sculpture exhibition along the beaches from Bondi to Tamarama. These beaches form part of the eastern beaches coastal walk, a scenic walk that I love to go on if the weather is right. This year's Sculpture by the Sea was held from the 29th Oct to the 15th Nov 2009.

I started my walk from Tamarama Beach and worked my way up north. Sculptures of all sizes and designs littered the beach, from skulls made of used Coke bottles to petrol station pumps in the middle of the sand. Note that the two girls sunbathing in the pic above are not part of the exhibition! (It's the structure behind them, see?) But with the weather so nice, I couldn't resist slapping on some sun block and getting a bit of sun myself :)

The pics posted here show just some of the sculptures displayed. There were so many interesting (and weird) stuff to see that I went back another day to look at some of the stuff I missed the first time around.

My favourite sculpture is the one below entitled Arte de las Playas (Art of Beaches) by Alejandro Propato from Argentina. It was a collection of huge coloured flags that whipped and lashed above my head as I stood looking at them. Situated at the top of a hill, this 'sculpture' made use of the strong winds to create interesting shapes in the air. Isn't that just brilliant? :)

Festival of the Winds

2009-11-19T13:31:00.016Z

Here's an event that took place on Sunday the 13th September 2009. It was a kite flying festival held at Bondi Beach, called the Festival of the Winds. Kites of all shapes and sizes filled the skies.

There were also musicians, kite making workshops, face painting, a kite exhibition and pony rides, among other things.

The weather was also perfect, with blue skies. Too bad so few people turned up at the beach.

Kidding! The beach was unbelievably crowded! It was like sardines in a can, and it's not even summer. Finally, as the setting sun bathed the cliffs in an orange glow, I left the beach and started my walk home.

Paddington Reservoir Gardens

2009-09-13T13:43:00.014+01:00

A couple of weekends back, I visited Paddington Reservoir Gardens, located across the street from Paddington Town Hall here in Sydney. Paddington Reservoir Gardens was officially opened on the 29th March 2009. It was originally built between 1866 and 1878, and was a crucial part of Sydney’s early water supply but was finally decommissioned in 1899.

The renewal of Paddington Reservoir Gardens won the 2009 Australian Award for Urban Design.

Paddington Reservoir Gardens is not a large place, but it's a nice little oasis of calm in the middle of a busy part of the city.

Although it covers only a small area, this is an interesting place for photography and I found myself visiting it twice at different times of the day.

Disney buys Marvel

2009-09-06T11:01:00.008+01:00

Disney is buying Marvel for US$4 billion! Yep, that's four BILLION dollars. Images of Marvel/Disney character crossover amalgams are now popping up all over the net. So instead of doing my work as I should, I thought it'd be nice to spend my afternoon doing yet another Marvel/Disney "mash-up" to add to the many that are already on the net! I give you... X-MOUSE! :)

Quotes - Terry Pratchett

2009-09-04T15:09:00.005+01:00

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Inception

2009-08-27T13:32:00.011+01:00

When news came out that Christopher Nolan was going to work on a movie called Inception, people thought it was going to be a small movie. Imagine their surprise when it was revealed that the movie has a budget of more than $200 million! For months, journalists and fans have been trying to find out more about this movie but everything is being kept top-secret, so much so rumour started that Inception was actually the working title for the third Batman movie by Nolan. That was proven to be false but even after the cast was made known, nobody involved with the movie is revealing anything. A week ago, the first teaser trailer was released. All that is known is that the story has something to do with the 'architecture of the mind'. Unlike James Cameron's Avatar, Inception is certainly very hush-hush, which makes me extremely curious.

The Crafting of Narnia / Basement Books

2009-08-20T16:35:00.013+01:00

Before I went to England, I often went to discount book stores to buy books. Sometimes I'd find some really good bargains for film, art or design books. Unfortunately, when I came back from England, I discovered most of the discount book stores have closed. I was therefore happy to find one of my favourites is still open for business. Basement Books is located at the end of Central Station's underground pedestrian tunnel. A couple of weeks back, I bought The Crafting of Narnia (a book that retails elsewhere at AU$45.00) for AU$12.95.

If you're interested in film post-production, then this book is a bargain. Creatures, castles, weapons and other beautiful art fill the pages.

The full address for Basement Books is Shop 1, Henry Deane Plaza, 2 Lee Street, Haymarket, Sydney. If you're ever in the area, do drop by and have a look. You never know, you may find something you'll like!

City 2 Surf 2009

2009-08-13T05:46:00.009+01:00

City 2 Surf is a 14km run from the heart of Sydney (near Hyde Park) to the famous Bondi Beach. This year, it was held on the 9th August and 75,000 people participated. Each year, the run starts at 9am and the winners usually take about 40 to 45 minutes to complete the course. But this is also a fun-run so in addition to the serious runners, you also get families participating (complete with babies in strollers), and people with superhero costumes or goofy getups. Winter is coming to an end and people are already spending weekends at the beach.

Throw in another 75,000 people and Bondi Beach was one crowded beach last weekend! Some were there for the run, some were there to watch the Australian Idol singers performing, and others just took the opportunity to make a political statement or two!

Participants also get a participation medal... but this year, they didn't have enough for those who crossed the finish line really late (people were still strolling across the finish line a couple of hours after the start of the run).

I'm thinking this is probably because a) they didn't make medals for everyone b) more than 75,000 people participated in the end or c) 75,000 people participated but some collected more than one medal! How inconsiderate! :)

And I hope no one had an urgent need to go to the toilet because the line was really long!

When I was leaving the area, I saw another long line that streched the entire length of the street.

At first, I thought they were waiting to buy lunch at the shops, but after walking to the very end of the street, I saw that they were waiting for the bus! Good thing I live within walking distance! :)

Daybreakers

2009-07-07T13:36:00.008+01:00

I'm not a huge horror fan but I've seen some really interesting horror movies in the last couple of years, the most recent being Let the Right One In, the Swedish vampire movie that's been hailed 'a genre masterpiece'. Daybreakers is a movie that was filmed in Australia and I thought it was going to be a cheap horror flick until I saw the trailer. It actually looks really stylish and classy, and with an interesting story too... this is now looking really good.

I'd like you to meet Milo

2009-06-23T14:11:00.021+01:00

During the recent E3 press conference three weeks ago in Los Angeles, a new type of computer interaction was unveiled. Meet Milo.

Milo is a virtual character that can recognise faces, voices and emotions! That’s almost like ‘real’ artificial intelligence. Put this algorithm into a physical metallic body and voila, you’ve got yourself a Terminator! Ok, I’m kidding... but still. The kind of interactivity shown in this video is truly groundbreaking. There have been similar technology in the past but none as seamless as this. Hard to imagine that 20 years ago, computers were giant cabinet sized machines, and now we have this? Is it real or is it just hype?

A selected number of journalists were invited to demo Milo. Wired has reported that Milo is real. During a test, when Game Informer magazine editor Andy McNamara stood in front of Milo and said his name, Milo responded ‘Hi Andy. I see you’re wearing green today’ (Source: Wired). Others have reported that it’s fake (Source: Gamer). But real or not, everyone who's into interactive gaming just can’t stop talking about it.

Milo is a part of Project Natal. No release date has been confirmed but it will probably be within the next year and a half, most probably sooner. I’m really interested to see how this will work out... it's all pretty cool, don't you think?

Sydney Vivid Festival - Part 2

2009-06-22T03:00:00.015+01:00

I went back to the Sydney Vivid Festival on the evening of Saturday 13 June and did the entire Smart Light walk from the Opera House to Observatory Hill. Again, I took photos of the Opera House, this time from the forecourt area as well. The Opera House exhibit was titled Lighting the Sails, by artist and musician Brian Eno from the UK.

I then went to the Passenger Terminal near the Rocks and took more photos from across the water. The two photos below were taken from the same spot, one at max wide angle (27mm) and the other at max zoom (486mm). This new camera has almost double the zoom of the one I took to Amsterdam. :)

Next stop was Janus, a display of lights suspended over an alley in the Rocks which resembled a face. Janus was by Tom Barker and Hank Haeusler from Australia. Public interaction controlled the changing mood of the face each night. You could even send emails of your face to be used as a display.

Human Tiles was by Carole Purnelle and Nuno Maya from Portugal. The projection of tiles was made from the colours of people’s clothing, which were video captured in real time and projected unto the wall.

I then headed towards Observatory Hill and passed a tunnel with lighted ceiling. This was Rocklights by Ingo Bracke from Germany.

Next was a display of used plastic Coke bottles lighted from the inside to resemble Fireflies. This exhibit by Francesco Mariotti from Switzerland was the most difficult to photograph, mainly due to my stubborn refusal to buy a tripod for night photography! I dislike carrying camera equipment with me (even though I love photography) and for this exhibit, there was no place for me to rest the camera so I ended up taking hand held shots with speeds as slow as 2.5 seconds. The tiny green lights were also flickering on and off really fast (they’re fireflies, after all), making focusing difficult. This was taken hand held at 2.5 seconds but I absentmindedly started to lower the camera before the time was up, creating the streaks which I ended up liking :)

Then it was up to Observatory Hill for a final display of Weather Projection by Alex Haw from the UK, where a virtual sky was projected unto the ceiling of the Rotunda on the hill.

I also took a few photos of the Sydney skyline at night. The photo below shows the skyline of North Sydney. The Opera House is behind the Harbour Bridge on the right (outside the frame).

All in all, it was an interesting festival featuring some impressive displays (25 in total - I visited only about half of them). I hope they have this festival again next year, I’d love to go again.

Barclay (Ads Part 2)

2009-06-20T08:28:00.011+01:00

Back in January, I posted the Hovis ad from the UK which I thought was very well made. This is another ad, a funny one by Barclay, also from the UK. Whenever I see something like this, I'm always interested to know how they did it, so I'm including a behind-the-scenes pic for those who feel as curious as I do! :)

Sydney Vivid Festival - Part 1

2009-05-30T04:21:00.018+01:00

Ta-daa! The Sydney Opera House like you've never seen it before! :) I went to Sydney harbour this past Thursday to look at the Sydney Vivid Festival exhibits and took some photos of the Sydney Opera House lighted up in different colours and designs. I’ve seen this kind of lighting before, both here in Sydney and also in Bradford, England where they lighted up the Bradford Town Hall, but the scale of it here is much bigger as the Opera House is a really huge building.

I also took pictures of the Museum of Contemporary Arts which is also lighted up in different designs, one of which reminds me of Gotham city, so I added the Bat signal to the pic.. hehe. I had to leave before seeing all the designs for the Opera House as I had to catch the last train home. The Vivid Festival is on until the 14th June so I'll probably go again if I find the time as there are still lots I haven't seen.

Susan Boyle

2009-04-18T11:49:00.008+01:00

With talent/variety shows, you never really know what you're going to get. Some acts are really good, some are funny, some are bad and some, like Susan Boyle... well, have a look.

9

2009-04-04T05:58:00.009+01:00

This looks absolutely amazing! Even the name is cool... 9. :)

Dancing by Matt Harding

2009-02-26T01:04:00.008Z

This is another video from the Adobe CS4 Roadshow. It's made by Matt Harding, who filmed himself doing a silly dance in various places around the world. It's actually his third video (if you're interested in the full story, refer to his website www.wherethehellismatt.com).

I love this video! I've even downloaded a High Definition full screen version of it. Since it was put online about 8 months ago, it has been viewed almost 20 million times on YouTube alone! The video has now become a worldwide phenomenon with Matt getting emails from around the world, requests for lectures and talks, and also sponsors.

Did You Know? by Karl Fisch

2009-02-24T16:14:00.011Z

I went for an Adobe Creative Suite 4 Roadshow at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour recently. This is a video made by Karl Fisch which I saw at the CS4 Roadshow. Karl is a high school administrator in Centennial, Colorado USA. The video was originally intended for his staff at the Arapahoe High School, but it went viral and millions of people have now seen this thought-provoking piece of work. The information presented in the video is about technological growth. I found it both interesting and yet scary at the same time. Skynet, anyone?

Sunset

2009-02-21T04:45:00.012Z

It's been more than a month since I've done any 3D work due to being busy with other stuff, and I've been itching to do some digital effects work, not necessarily in 3D, just about anything really. So this morning, I decided to play around with Photoshop a bit and came up with this. The original non-edited photo was taken a few weeks ago in my back garden and can be seen here. A big difference, eh?

Sydney, Australia

2009-02-11T02:10:00.012Z

So what's happening to the weather nowadays? I was reading the blog of a cousin in Bristol, England and it seems they're having the coldest winter in 20 years. Photos of snow-covered landscape dotted his site. And here in Sydney, the weather has been really hot. We've been in the middle of a heatwave for weeks now, with temperatures going over 40°C in some places for more than 9 consecutive days, and more than 50 bushfires burning in various places in NSW at one point in time. Entire picturesque towns have been burned off the map in Victoria down south. It's now Australia's worst ever natural disaster with many lives lost. Then all of a sudden, the temperature drops drastically the past 2 days. Yesterday was the coldest February day in Sydney for 17 years with the highest daytime temperature only 19°C! The next few days are forecasted to be more or less the same. It just makes you wonder what's happening to the weather everywhere.

A while back (when the weather wasn't so extreme) I was at Sydney Harbour and took some photos of the Volendam, a Holland-America Line cruise ship. Coincidentally, they were having a drill that day, and everyone had to 'abandon ship'. It reminded me a bit of the movie Titanic, except no one panicked and the life boats were a lot more modern. I haven't been to the beach yet since coming back to Sydney... maybe when the weather is more moderate.

Australia Day / Chinese New Year

2009-01-30T04:22:00.017Z

January 26 is Australia Day, which coincidentally also happens to be Chinese New Year this year. Every Australia Day, a few of the families on the street where I live go to a park nearby and have a get-together... a picnic and a friendly competition of boules (a form of lawn bowl). It's a nice, 'feel good' time attended by both young and old.

At events like these, I try to make use of the opportunity to take some nice photos. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so great, the sky was cloudy and it even rained a little.

As you can see, I wasn't the only photographer on the scene... I did managed to capture some 'Kodak Moments' such as this picture of Geoff and Tim.

And these are the 2 pairs of finalists for the Boules Competition. And the winners were... Glynn and Lyn. It wasn't a windy day so the Australian flag you see 'blowing' in the wind behind the winners is actually being held up by another one of my neighbours, Nigel (standing behind the flag).

AYOF 2009

2009-01-18T11:21:00.035Z

For the past 4 days, 1550 athletes from 23 countries have been competing against each other in 17 sports in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. The AYOF is held to give young athletes an opportunity to experience the environment of the Olympic Games, and to discover future Olympic champions. To promote this festival, entries to the sporting events are free. The events are held at various venues around Sydney, but the main venue (which is also the venue closest to where I live) is the Sydney Olympic Park, where two of my favourite ‘artistic’ sports - gymnastics and diving - are held.

I find watching gymnastics live and up close a bit different from watching it on TV. Up close, gymnastics is fast and has a certain rawness to it which I like, and it doesn't have that 'polished' feel that all the slow-mo computerised camera work gives it. It’s amazing to watch when everything works and they manage to do their routines perfectly. But even when things do go wrong, these gymnasts just pick themselves up and do it all over again, as shown by Ben Astley during his practise session.

Of course, there are also moments when things slow down, as shown by Sam Oldham from England :)

Sam is one of the top gymnasts from Britain and won the Silver medal in the Men's Pommel Horse event.

Some of the other events I attended were the women’s gymnastics, diving and athletics (which include the 400m, high jump, long jump, javelin and hurdles). Unfortunately, as wonderful as my tiny camera is, it’s just not sufficient for fast sports photography in indoor lighting. I kind of guessed it wouldn’t be good enough but I don't have a better digital camera so I basically had to make do. As expected, a lot of photos came out either blurred, noisy or underexposed. Such a pity since events like this don’t happen everyday (once every two years, actually). I literally took hundreds of photos but ended up with very few I like, and even those had to be heavily post-processed.

I was hoping the outdoor events would not present any problems as it would be with better light, but unfortunately for me, the time I was at the athletics arena was also when the sky was overcast with rain clouds! Some things are just not within our control :)

In the end, I basically gave up on still photos and starting taking more videos.

And finally, I like the actions of Ben Astley from Australia, who remains cool after his routine right up till the time he walks away from the pommel platform :)

Ben unfortunately just missed out on a medal by getting the 4th place in the Individual All-Around Men’s Final, an amazing accomplishment since his standing was 11th before the competition. All top 3 places went to gymnasts from the UK.

The festival ends today.

Hovis (Ads Part 1)

2009-01-10T14:42:00.019Z

Hovis recently filmed a new ad that premiered in the UK in September 2008. Some of my friends know that I collect ads that I like (yes, I'm a bit weird), and I have to say I love this ad! Maybe it's also because I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about England, now that I have left. When I first saw the ad, I could see that it depicts some of the historic moments in British history, but it was not until I saw the 'Making-of' that I realised how much I missed. (Watch the ad before reading further to see what you can spot.) The ad is 122 seconds long, and celebrates 122 years of British history. It also marks 122 years Hovis has been around. It employed 762 extras, and used over 800 costumes that are accurate to the period. It marks historic moments in British history starting from 1886 to 2008 including the Titanic, the suffragette movement, World War I, the first motor car, World War II, the 1953 Coronation, the Swinging Sixties, England's celebration of the 1966 World Cup, the miners strike in the 1980s and the fireworks of the Millennium celebration. The total cost of the ad is £15 million pounds, equivalent to the budget of some feature films. Some have commented it's nothing special but I think it's 'bloody brilliant' :)

New Year 2009

2009-01-05T05:58:00.013Z

People in Sydney are a little crazy when it comes to the New Year's Eve fireworks display. I saw in the news that one person actually camped out the night before new year's eve in order to stake out a good spot to view the fireworks. That's one night and one entire day in the same spot, just to get a good view. And unlike the northern hemisphere, December 31st 2008 was one hot day Down Under.

Unlike previous years, I decided to view the fireworks from a hill near where I live instead of going to the city with the crowds. There I was, sitting on the sidewalk with my camera atop a low wall next to me, taking some photos of the fireworks when a possum appears out of nowhere and charges me. In the second or so it took my brain to register what was happening, the possum was on my back. The entire time I was fighting this sugar-overdosed possum, the thought running through my head was 'Don't knock the camera over!' Having had its fun a short while later, the possum ran off but not before leaving a puncture wound on the back of my shoulder a little less than an inch long. What an interesting way to usher in 2009! :) Happy New Year.

Christmas 1915

2008-12-28T06:20:00.012Z

On Christmas Eve in the year 1915 during World War 1, British and German soldiers were fighting each other in the trenches in No Man's Land (a term mainly used to describe the area of land between two enemy trenches) near the village of Laventie in France, when the British Army regiment of the Royal Welch Fusiliers heard the Germans singing Silent Night. In response, they sang another carol, Good King Wenceslas. The next day, Christmas Day, both British and German soldiers got out from their trenches and greeted each other. For the next half an hour or so, the war was forgotten and both sides played a friendly game of football. Bertie Felstead, the last survivor of that football match, died on 22nd July 2001, aged 106 years.

Isn't it amazing that even in the middle of a war, two opposing sides can find peace? May 2009 be a Happy and Peaceful new year for everyone.

Malaysia and Singapore

2008-11-20T16:10:00.020Z

October this year was spent in Malaysia and Singapore. The last time I was there was in 2006, just before moving to England, so it was good to go back.

I saw my nephew Zach in Singapore for the first time.

And of course, I got to taste some delicious local Asian dishes :)

I had forgotten how humid the weather can get in Malaysia. Sweat didn’t seem to dry, and there was always a thin layer of moisture on my skin. One afternoon, I photographed a butterfly in the garden and looking at the photo later, I saw how vastly different it was from the one I photographed in Belgium... less furry and really thin. Guess the heat and humidity get to the butterflies as well :) I wasn’t used to it at first but just a couple of weeks later and I hardly noticed it anymore.

Maybe it’s just me, but after the hustle and bustle of London, life in Malaysia somehow seems simpler. And I mean that in a good way. I didn’t go to all the tourist attractions during this visit (except for the Twin Towers), instead I spent my time just taking in the normal sights of everyday life, both the old and the new.

And taking strolls at night in the village I was staying, I sometimes pass old timber houses where time seems to have stood still. I like looking in through the open doors and windows as I walk past, catching a glimpse of what life is like for these families.

Singapore, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any old timber houses. In fact, Singapore didn’t seem to have anything old at all! Everything seemed new-ish, new cars on the road, new buildings and apartment blocks. I’m sure there must be old houses located in some corner of this small country but they’ve managed to hide them well. Once again, I didn’t go to any of the tourist attractions since I’ve been to a lot of them just 2 years back when I was here, although I did go to the Singapore Biennale 2008, a showcase of contemporary art by artists from around the world.

One month passed in the blink of an eye, as it often does when you’re having a relaxing, carefree time. And now, more than a month later – I’m back in Sydney, Australia.

Oxford, England

2008-10-15T13:50:00.005+01:00

I met up with my friend Christine in Oxford last month, and we spent a day walking around the city. I like Oxford. It reminds me a little of Amsterdam (and that's not because I like Amsterdam so much that everything reminds of it).
It's because there are a lot of bicycles in Oxford, just like in Amsterdam... or the whole of the Netherlands, for that matter. Oxford is a university town and most of the students here ride bicycles everywhere they go. Unlike Amsterdam though, there are no canals criss-crossing the city. Unfortunately.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2008-09-24T19:06:00.044+01:00

Amsterdam - what can I say? I love this city, from the time I got off the train at Central Station and started walking, crossing over canal bridges in the evening light. There’s just something about the city, with its 17th century canal houses, bicycles and people, which gives it a certain charm. And even at night, the city feels very much alive. Even though someone told me Amsterdam is the least friendly city in the Netherlands, I still find the people here extremely friendly. (Those who think Amsterdam is not a friendly city should try living in London!) And I love the fact that although most of the city centre is busy and alive at night, you can just walk a few minutes and find quiet streets with sidewalk cafes on one side, and canals with houseboats on the other.

One of the first places I visited along with Kyle and Dylan was the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands’s largest national museum, opened in 1885. The art collection in this museum is truly extensive and the highlight, for me at least, was The Night Watch by Rembrandt painted in 1642. This impressive painting is huge, so big in fact that when it was moved to the Amsterdam Town Hall in 1715, they had to crop the painting to fit it into its new display area, resulting in the loss of a few characters from the painting! The current cropped version is approximately 4.37 x 3.63 metres (about 14.3 x 12 feet). Photography is not allowed inside the Rijksmuseum but the picture of The Night Watch below is from their website.

A few minutes walk away from the Rijksmuseum is the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh Museum was opened in 1973 and has the largest collection of paintings by Van Gogh in the world, more than 200 paintings, as well as drawings and letters. Among these paintings is one from the Sunflowers series.

Lunch was sandwiches beside a canal, watching boats go by and occasionally throwing bread crumbs to some ducks swimming past. It was like a picture-postcard day… sitting by the side of a canal in Amsterdam, eating a sandwich with ducks and boats going by, the late afternoon sun shining on our faces and the blue sky above us. All holidays should be like this.

During an evening stroll later, I wanted to test my camera again so I took 2 photos from the same spot on one of the canal bridges at Bloemgracht, one at maximum wide angle and another at maximum zoom. In the photos below, the 28mm wide angle shot showed a canal bridge far away in the distance but the 280mm zoom showed even the small numbering painted on the side of the bridge. Considering this is a pocket camera and not a professional dSLR, I'm impressed!

Apparently, Amsterdam's Red Light District is a favourite tourist destination. Unsurprisingly, this seems to be the busiest part of the city at night, with throngs of tourists walking around, looking at souvenir shops and prostitutes who stand behind glass windows. It wasn't as seedy as I thought it would be... maybe because there were so many tourists about and it was brightly lit on both side of the canal. I didn't wander away from the main streets, though.

The Anne Frank Museum, by contrast, was a sombre experience. Located at 263 Prinsengracht (the museum is actually at 267 Prinsengracht), this is the house where Anne Frank, a Jewish girl, stayed in hiding for 2 years before she and her family were betrayed and taken by the Nazis to concentration camps during World War II. Thirteen year old Anne began keeping a diary in July 1942, and gave an account of her life while in hiding. She made her last entry in August 1944, three days before she and her family were arrested. In March 1945, Anne died while at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, just a few weeks before the camp was liberated by the British Army.

Visitors to the Anne Frank house enter the rear of the house, where the Frank and Van Daan families went into hiding, via a revolving bookcase on the second floor. From there, you can walk through all the rooms, which are now empty except for the film-star pin-ups in Anne’s room. Models of the furnished rooms as they looked during the occupation are on display, built to details provided by Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the only one of those in hiding to survive. Letters, photographs and documents are on display; and video clips and interviews are shown. Once again, photography is not allowed inside the museum. The photo below was taken in Warsaw, but I think it probably represents the terror felt by all Jews during this period of time.

Having said all that, the Anne Frank house is not just a museum of past horrors, designed to make people depressed after their visit (at least I hope not) although I did feel sad afterwards, but the museum actually develops educational material on discrimination and human rights.

In order to cheer myself up after that visit, I decided to go in search of a local dish for lunch, and went to Nieuwmarkt, an open, paved square located at the south side of Amsterdam’s Chinatown. Cafes and restaurants circle the square and one of them is an unassuming place called Plein 26, recommended to me by someone at the place I was staying. I had a plate of stamppot, a typical Dutch stew of puréed potatoes, vegetables (I chose carrots and onions) and sausage. It was such a simple dish and did not look like much, but it tasted soooo good. I wanted to try other dishes but I was full by the time I finished and so, could not.

I also wanted to find a place to use the internet so I asked around and was told there is a small library nearby. I found the library at 69 St Antoniesbreestraat.

On the outside, it had a very plain façade but inside, it was beautiful! It had painted murals on the ceiling, designer table lamps, a piano covering what looked like a sealed fireplace, a wall mirror framed by gold-painted carvings… the place was amazing!

The only other place I wanted to visit for the day was Vondelpark, back in the Museum Quarter in the south-west part of the city. This is the largest park in the city and it was huge, although not as big as Hyde Park here in London. I only walked a small section of it and after an entire day of walking (and so many days in a row), I was too tired to explore the entire park.

Here's an interesting bit of information for you. While in Brussels, public urinals are installed for you to pee against the Saint Catherine’s Church, in Amsterdam many places have pee deflectors installed. Yeah, that’s right. Pee deflectors. Just like deflector shields on a Star Trek spaceship that deflects enemy fire, pee deflectors deflect your pee so that it all comes back to you, ending up mostly on your pants and shoes. I didn’t test this out but looking at a pee deflector, I’m inclined to agree with what I was told. But that’s not the best bit. For a period of time in the 1980s, to discourage people even more, these pee deflectors were electrified! No joke. Don’t you just love Amsterdam? :)

Finally, while walking around the city, I saw some work by a street artist who goes by the name C215. His work is amazing! Well, I looked up this person when I came home and found out his real name is Christian Guemy, a French stencil street artist.

I had never even heard of stencil street art before but having looked it up online, I must say I’m mighty impressed. This guy has held exhibitions and his work can be seen in many parts of the world. He has a blog at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=46321234
Videos of him and his work can also be seen on YouTube. Personally, I think his work is amazing.

All in all, it has been a great holiday and I've met some really nice people. I’m looking forward to future visits to this city in order to explore the east side of the city, which I more or less neglected during this visit… if the opportunity arises, I’ll be back!

Brussels, Belgium

2008-09-24T17:45:00.029+01:00

I went to Brussels on the 15th September and spent a few days there. From Brussels, I then took the train to Amsterdam. This was probably one of my best holidays... I had a great time. Brussels is a nice city, and the city centre is not very big so most of the sights are within walking distance. The first place I went to was the Museum of Comic Strip Art, or as I like to call it... the Tintin Museum. There is a nice collection of comic art here, including covers and panels from Tintin and the Smurfs. As I entered the place, the red and white rocket from Tintin's Journey to the Moon and Explorers on the Moon greeted me next to a central staircase. The museum covers three floors although I think the ground floor is mainly the merchandise store (where I bought my Tintin keychain).

My next stop was Place Sainte-Catherine, apparently in Brussels’s seafood district.

I didn’t come here for the seafood, though. I came here because I wanted to see Saint Catherine’s Church.

Why, you ask? Well, let me explain. In some countries such as Italy, if you were to walk up against a church building, unzip your pants and pee against the church, you would probably be arrested. But here in Place Sainte-Catherine, public open-air urinals have been installed so that you may do just that! I, of course, had to see that for myself and so I went looking for the urinal, and found it… right by the church. How do you like that?

From Place Sainte-Catherine, I walked towards the Grand Place, the heart of Brussels. The Grand Place is a cobblestone square with some amazing 17th century architecture. On the way there, I spotted a Chinese supermarket and went in to buy myself a mooncake, a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. So yes, I had Chinese pastry in Belgium. (And it was good too!) But back to the Grand Place… the main attraction here is probably the Hotel de Ville, a town hall that began construction in 1401 and was completed in 1459. It was the only building left standing after cannon fire by the French destroyed the other buildings in the square in 1695. It is a truly impressive building, with carved statues and intricate details all round the façade.

The Grand Place is also where you will find Le Pigeon, home to exiled French novelist Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables who lived here in 1852 when he fled France. Le Pigeon is the building on the extreme right in the photo below, with the darkened windows.

Not far away from the Grand Place is Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a boy pissing that has become the symbol of Brussels. The actual statue itself is not very big, less than half a metre tall. The original bronze statue was put in place in 1619. Several attempts to steal it were made in the 18th century by the French and British armies. But they were all surpassed by Antoine Licas, a convict who stole the statue in 1817 and then… smashed it. Yep, he stole it and then destroyed it. Why didn’t he just destroy it there? I don’t know, go figure. Anyway, a replica of that statue was made in 1818 and that’s the statue that is in place today.

As with any landmark of any country, the Manneken Pis can be found on a million items of merchandise. Manneken Pis postcards, Manneken Pis keychains, Manneken Pis bottle openers, Manneken Pis T-shirts, Manneken Pis thermometers, Manneken Pis chocolate… you name it, they have it.

And of course, I had to try some Belgian waffles while I was there and if you look, you will find many places selling waffles in the city. Some of the waffles looked fantastically mouth-watering.

In the end, I opted for a plain waffle with Belgian chocolate topping. Having had my waffle, I then walked around, did a little shopping and went back to the Grand Place to take some night photos.

But if you think Brussels is all old buildings, you’ll have to take a look at Dexia Tower, the third tallest building in the city, located a short walk from where I stayed. This building lights up at night, and I mean really lights up! The building has 38 floors with a total of 6000 windows. Out of these, 4200 windows have been fitted with a special LED lighting installation of red, green and blue lights which can be combined to give off any colour in the colour palette. And the result of this is? An animated light show towering 38 floors high!

The light shows centre around different themes and during the time I was in Brussels, the theme was ‘Weather’ where the lights change to display the temperature, cloudiness, precipitations and wind by using different colours and geometrical patterns to visualize these data. Apparently, the lighting system is also energy-saving and the energy consumption of the tower is one-seventh that of a football stadium and one-third that of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. More information on the Dexia Tower can be found here: http://www.dexia-towers.com

One of the last places I visited before I left Brussels was the Kruidtuin Jardin Botanique, the botanical gardens. This was the perfect place to push the limits of my new Lumix TZ4 digital camera and I must say I’m extremely pleased with the results. I bought it for my trip, to replace my old (but faithful) 4 MP Kodak. It isn’t perfect but for a pocket camera, it’s pretty close. I took the usual pictures of the gardens but the pictures that clinched it were the macro ones I took of bees and butterflies. Most of my friends know I love photography but if you’ve ever tried taking pictures of bees, you’d know how frustrating it can be. Those darn bees just won’t stay still to pose for a photo. The pictures below are scaled down from 8 MP images.

To show you what the images are like without scaling them down, I have included a cropped image below at 100% of the original 8 MP image.

You can see why I love this camera! :) Next stop - Amsterdam!

Seachd - The Crimson Snowdrop

2008-08-31T19:48:00.004+01:00

A while back, I posted an entry about a movie called Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle. Well, this Gaelic movie has now gone international but the international title is called Seachd - The Crimson Snowdrop. Personally, I think The Inaccessible Pinnacle is more relevant to the story but then again, The Crimson Snowdrop does sound much more dramatic, doesn't it? I like the new movie poster, though.

VOSS, from Norway

2008-08-16T10:22:00.024+01:00

What's so special about bottled water? Well, nothing. At least that's what I thought, until I set eyes on a bottled water from Norway called VOSS. Apparently, VOSS is found in top hotels, restaurants and clubs around the world, which probably explains why I have never seen a bottle of VOSS until now since I don't frequent any of those places. I'm in more of a 'youth hostel' financial bracket rather than a 'top hotel' bracket, you know? Anyway, I met up with a cousin of mine for dinner the other day. He's the only relative I have in England at the moment and he came up from Bristol with a couple of his friends to spend a day in London. It was when we were shopping around after dinner in Harrods that I saw the VOSS bottles. I knew I wanted to buy one as soon as I saw them, not because I was thirsty but because I wanted the bottle... yeah, the actual glass bottle itself. I love the sleek design :) A few days later, I found out the bottle was designed by Neil Kraft, the former creative director for Calvin Klein! I guess that explains the nice design. More info on VOSS can be found here - http://vosswater.com/

Watchmen

2008-08-06T16:09:00.022+01:00

When I first heard they were making Watchmen into a movie, I wasn't too sure what to think. Will it be a success or will it be like The Punisher with Thomas Jane and John Travolta? But now that I've seen the trailer, I'm thinking it could be good. The trailer looks awesome! And similar to 300, some scenes seem to be filmed from the exact perspective of the comic book panels. But it'll be another half a year before the actual movie is released.

Tate Modern

2008-07-28T15:29:00.006+01:00

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year - 31°C (88°F), and it certainly felt like it! Christine and I met up for lunch at that Japanese restaurant she likes... I'll have to remember the name of the place the next time I go! Anyway, since it was Sunday, most places were closed so we decided to walk along the Thames River Path and visit the London Tate Modern Museum. Among the more interesting displays were an original Water Lilies painting by Monet and an abstract bronze, metal and wood sculpture of a fish by Constantin Brancusi called... Fish.

Dinner in Slough

2008-07-28T05:00:00.013+01:00

About a week ago, I went to Slough to have dinner with Annalise and Vinod at their new apartment. Slough is located just outside London, towards the west. Although it's not very far from London, it still took me almost 3 hours to get there! A lot of the time was spent waiting for connections, since I had to wait for the bus/trains/tubes 5 different times throughout the journey. But it was good to see them again, my university friends from my Bradford days. Dinner was an excellent Indian Rogan Josh (lamb curry) dish, courtesy of Vinod. Not too spicy, just nice.

Carme's House

2008-07-15T12:34:00.007+01:00

You know how some houses make you feel at home once you enter but others make you feel as if you're in some hotel? No, I'm not talking about the marble columns and expensive chandeliers. I'm talking about the cozy, lived-in feel of some houses and the clinical, sterile environment of others. Well, when I was in Barcelona, I stayed with my friend Carme at her 3-storey terraced house and it was decorated in such a way that once you walked in, you immediately felt at home. Among my favourite places were the study in the top floor and the enclosed timber decked back garden (complete with hammock). I think I would like to live in a cozy house like that one day.

The Sound of Music

2008-06-09T00:03:00.021+01:00

My friend Christine had a few days off work about a week ago, so on Wednesday 28 May, we went to watch the matinee performance of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium Theatre. I had to go to work in the evening but could make the afternoon show so we took the opportunity to meet up for lunch at a nice Japanese restaurant before going.

19th May 2008

2008-05-26T14:33:00.013+01:00

So much has happened in the last month. I moved down to London on the evening of the 30 April 2008 (two weeks after coming back from Barcelona) and started work on the 19th May in London's West End. I've been to London a couple of times in the past but only for holidays. Everyone up north tells me they would not like to work or live here (one of my previous managers moved down here to work and moved back north within the first month) so it should be interesting to see how things go. The 19th May was also the day I became an uncle! Yep, although he’s half a world away, I now have a nephew named Zach! He's the first of my family's next generation. How cool is that?

Barcelona, Spain

2008-04-22T15:28:00.017+01:00

The first week of April was spent in Barcelona, Spain and it was wonderful! Life there was more laidback, the people were generally friendly and the weather was great. Of course, my positive outlook could have been because I was on holiday!

The photos above show random views of Barcelona, including the sardana, Catalonia’s dance that symbolizes unity, performed outside Catedral Barcelona in Placa de la Seu on Sundays at noon, and of course La Sagrada Familia, the most visited site in Barcelona. This Temple by Antoni Gaudi is quite a sight to behold. As I viewed it from a distance, an image of the Walt Disney movie studio logo came to mind, although this Temple looked like a more organic, darker version.

Some of the places I visited were famous tourist attractions while some were just narrow cobbled streets that had no 'attractions' to offer other than their wonderful ambience. In most countries I have been to, narrow streets are known to be dirty, smelly or dangerous but in Barcelona, they are generally clean and full of life, with families walking around, either having a meal at one of the restaurants or just strolling along. Walking along these narrow streets in the evenings, with old residential buildings rising up on both sides and with the light from the setting sun reflecting down from the top floors, provided a carefree laidback feel I absolutely loved :)

Equus

2008-03-31T12:17:00.012+01:00

One of the advantages of working in a theatre is that I get sent to preview shows. Last Thursday was spent up north in Newcastle, previewing the stage production Equus at Newcastle's Theatre Royal before the show comes to the local theatre where I work. This is the same production where Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Harry Potter in the movies, appeared nude in when it was playing in the West End in London. I did not know much about this show before the preview, but have heard that it involves sex and horses. Now, that may sound perverse, but having seen the show, I must say that I found it to be an intelligent who-done-it (or in this case, why-did-he-do-it), as well as a dark exploration of a teenager’s psyche. The nudity and sexual aspects of the show were definately not what some have made it out to be. The theme of the show is quite dark though, and deals with serious issues such as religion, oppression of freedom, psychological abuse and teenage angst.

Easter snow

2008-03-22T10:00:00.019Z

In the entire year and a half I've been in England, I have never seen snow as thick as the layer of snow outside my window this morning. (Someone who lives in... say... Finland, would probably find this blog entry amusing).

The glass-is-half-full response:
It was beautiful! The snow was so fine that I kicked up puffs of it while walking to work, almost like smoke being blown around my feet as I walked. And since it was still early morning on a holiday weekend, people were still asleep, so the snow was clean and sparkling in the morning sun.

The glass-is-half-empty response:
IT WAS FREEZING!! It's the end of March! Why is it still snowing?

And finally, bird-prints in the snow. Isn't it great? :)

Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle

2008-02-21T15:00:00.005Z

I watched this movie when it was released at a local cinema here last month. This is a movie that caused quite a bit of stir at the end of 2007, not because of any objectionable content but because it is a highly praised movie from Scotland (shot almost entirely in Gaelic) that the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) refused to nominate for the Academy Award’s Best Foreign Language Film category. Many critics thought this film stood a good chance of winning so BAFTA’s decision not to enter the film came as a shock. As a result, Scottish producer Chris Young quit the BAFTA in protest, stating “not only are they not supporting a British film and a British film producer, but they are actively putting obstacles in our path”. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the US demanded an explanation from BAFTA. BAFTA refused to explain why they are not submitting the film. The official website for the film can be found here: http://www.seachd.com/

Snow

2008-02-21T14:56:00.004Z

I woke up yesterday morning to go to work and when I looked outside my window, I saw a blanket of snow covering the ground. It hasn’t snowed much this year so I was kind of happy to see the snow. I guess since I grew up in the tropics, snow holds a certain fascination for me but after so many months of cold weather, I think I’d still prefer winter to end and have some warm, sunny days.

Me? Addicted to Digestives?

2008-02-21T14:44:00.008Z

Ok, maybe I do like to eat a couple of Digestive biscuits every now and then. But it’s not, like, an addiction. It’s more like an experiment to see what all the different flavours taste like. So far, I’ve tried the 8 different kinds you see above, plus a limited edition White Chocolate Digestive. There’s no photo of that here because I... er... ate that before I remembered to take a photo. And since it was a limited edition, I can’t buy it anymore.

Chinese New Year in London

2008-02-21T14:29:00.009Z

Thursday the 7th February was the first day of the Chinese New Year and I went down that weekend to London once again to see my friends Vinod, Annalise and Christine. It was nice to see what the Chinese New Year is like in London but Chinatown was waaaaay too crowded (no big surprise there). At one point, Christine and I literally couldn’t move as we were squashed in from all sides by the crowd.

In the evening, there was a traditional Chinese fireworks display – which basically meant it was really, REALLY loud! So loud, in fact, that a warning had to be given before the show. Chinese music was also heard playing on loudspeakers; songs that used to be played during the Chinese New Year when I was a kid. It was interesting to hear these same songs again, many years later in a country far away from where I spent my childhood.

James Bond stamps

2008-01-13T12:08:00.006Z

Ok, this blog entry is officially a geeky one but I don't care. I recently saw some stamps that I couldn't resist buying. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth and the British Royal Mail released 6 James Bond stamps, with 24 different book cover designs of 6 Bond novels. (If you didn't get that, feel free to... er... read it again). I didn't buy it in London but the postcode on the stamps show SE1, which is a nice touch as SE1 is the location of the British Secret Service headquarters in London. And starting from April this year till March 2009, there will also be an Ian Fleming and James Bond exhibition at the London Imperial War Museum where there will be... and I kid you not... Halle Berry's bikini from Die Another Day on display. And of course, the next Bond movie will be out before the end of this year. Now, if only Matt Damon is not too old to do another Bourne movie!

December trip - London

2008-01-09T13:00:00.006Z

New Year's Eve was spent in London staying at my friends' place. This is my second trip to London and I still like this place but London is not the place to be on New Year's Eve if you don't like crowds! The city was packed, and a lot of the people walking around weren't even speaking English, which I thought was kinda cool actually :) I decided to give the fireworks display at the London Eye a miss, instead I opted for dinner and champagne at home with four friends. New Year's Day morning was spent with my friend Christine at the National Science Museum (yes, a museum on New Year's Day) and although I normally find museums boring, I have to admit the National Science Museum is quite amazing. I wish I had a place like this to go to when I was a kid.

And on New Year's Day evening, Christine and I went to watch the West End musical Buddy, the story of Buddy Holly. A nice, quiet way to usher in the New Year with some good friends :)

November trip - Edinburgh / Inverness (Scotland)

2008-01-09T12:25:00.003Z

It's been ages since I've last written an entry. The past few months have been really busy, working at the theatre, designing my website, putting my showreel together and also going on a couple of trips :) In November, I went to Scotland with Wilson, my former flatmate. Our first stop was Edinburgh - a beautiful city but unfortunately, it rained almost every day we were there! Still, it was nice to get away for my first real holiday in almost a year (day trips not included). From Edinburgh, we went to Inverness, in north Scotland. Inverness is known as 'The Gateway to the Highlands of Scotland' and it was just amazing! The scenery was just spectacular and instead of the rain, we got blue, sunny skies! One of the places we went to was Loch Ness, home of the famous Loch Ness monster, but tried as I did, I couldn't find any sign of Nessie :(

Chester

2007-10-24T15:16:00.003+01:00

I spent Saturday in the city of Chester, in the north-west part of England. Chester is a nice quiet place with some very picturesque scenery, especially along the River Dee which cuts across the city. The city centre is not very big, and unless you’re doing some shopping, most of the city centre can be covered in an afternoon. There’s a city wall which was built in Roman times, an impressive cathedral, a museum... and even a Roman amphitheatre which is currently being excavated by archaeologists. Apparently, it was discovered by accident when the city started building a highway which was to cut across that particular site! Needless to say, the proposed highway has now been diverted. And of course, Chester also offers a nice, peaceful riverside walk along the River Dee, almost perfect for a quiet Saturday afternoon.

My Digital Art - Part 4

2007-10-18T17:46:00.003+01:00

I went for a talk yesterday by a company called Double Negative. They did the special effects for such movies as Pitch Black and Batman Begins. During the talk, they showed showreels from job applicants and gave some advice on what's good, what's bad, etc. Some of the showreels they screened were absolutely amazing! They looked as if they were done by Industrial Light & Magic or Pixar, not some fresh graduates – which on the one hand is quite discouraging, but on the other hand very helpful. At least now I know the standard I need to bring my own showreel up to, which means I will have to spend even more time on it. Sigh.

Grassington and Kettlewell

2007-09-30T16:53:00.003+01:00

A week ago on Sunday, my friends and I took the bus to Grassington, a village to the north-west of Bradford. Grassington is a small village and although nice, there's not much to see other than a few pubs and shops. Maybe if we had more time to walk further, we could have seen more, but we wanted to see the Dales so we hopped on a Dales Rover bus (£5!) which took us to the nearby village of Kettlewell. The scenery along the way was green rolling hills, something I'm still not tired of. The weather wasn’t too great though - cloudy most of the time with light rain every now and then. The two photos above were taken during those brief periods when the sun was shining. But then again, it's the company that counts, right?

Haworth

2007-09-20T18:17:00.008+01:00

Immediately after Saltaire, I went once again to Haworth. I’ve been here before when I came for the 1940’s Weekend in May but I really like this place. Somehow, I find most English villages very appealing. It's probably because I've lived in big cities almost my entire life. Haworth is much quieter this time of year, with just a few tourists walking about. I walked around Main Street for a while before heading off to the side lanes and roads. There are hills around Haworth that are not very high but still offer beautiful picturesque sights of the moors. Once again, I snapped happily away with my camera. (Aren't digital cameras great?)

Many photographs later, I made my way back to Main Street with the intention of visiting the same spots I visited the last time I was here. I passed by a book store at the top of Main Street and decided to have a look. As I paid for one of James Patterson’s books, I started a very pleasant conversation with an elderly lady behind the counter about life in Haworth. Her name is Margaret and she is 71 years old. Joe, her 12 year old grandson who was helping her joined our conversation, giving his take on life in the village. I found out this bookstore used to be a post office and the counter where I was paying for my book is the exact spot the Bronte sisters posted their manuscripts to be published in the mid-1800s.

But life in Haworth is slowly changing. Neighbouring supermarkets are making business difficult for shops in the village. There's a sweets shop a few doors away from the bookstore that has been there since Margaret was a child, but according to Joe, he and his friends would rather go to Spar for their sweets as it's cheaper. When I asked him where Spar was, I was told it was in front of the train station. On the way home after saying our goodbyes, I passed by the train station and sure enough, I saw a modern convenience store called Spar opposite. Well, I guess all good things…

Saltaire

2007-09-20T18:04:00.005+01:00

I spent Saturday morning in Saltaire, a village on the outskirts of Bradford that is now listed as a world heritage site. It was founded in 1853 by Titus Salt, a rich industrialist in the wool industry who built the entire village for his workers at the mill, providing them with housing, a library, and even a church building.

At this time of the year, the Saltaire Festival is on (from the 6th to 16th September 2007) and the streets are alive with activities including a street market (with very interesting and varied food from different countries), stage shows and also street performances. Among the places I visited were the Salts Mill, the David Hockney Art Gallery, and the Saltaire United Reformed Church building, apparently one of the finest Italianate buildings in this country. I didn’t have time to visit the River Aire or the canal, which is a pity as I really wanted to.

Slava's Snowshow

2007-09-17T19:50:00.005+01:00

University life is now over. All my projects have been handed in and my exams are done. Now, it's just a matter of waiting to see if I graduate in December. I'll also be using my time to produce a showreel, but first, a bit of rest and relaxation. Last Wednesday evening was spent at the Alhambra theatre watching Slava’s Snowshow, a unique 'clown' act that was surprisingly very, very good. There were not many laugh-out-loud moments, in fact, one act about a clown who was going on a journey and had to leave his coat behind was quite poignant. But the entire performance is, without a doubt, an artistic theatrical showpiece with the stage transformed into an ocean for one act and a snow-covered mountain for another. One part of the show had a huge piece of cobweb fall down unto the stage from the ceiling and dragged unto the audience! It was fake cobweb, but I was still finding it on my clothing two days after the performance! The finale included a blizzard that blew fake snow unto the audience. All in all, it was a very interesting and entertaining evening. More information on the show can be found at http://www.slavasnowshow.co.uk.

Screenshot from my film

2007-08-29T14:56:00.007+01:00

I was doing a short film project and I thought my deadline was a week and a half away but then a few days ago, I found out I only had half a week! Naturally, I pushed the panic button and worked till 4:00 am in the morning in the computer lab. I finished the film but barely had enough time in the remaining few days for my paper. But it's all good... it's all done now.

The Lake District

2007-07-24T14:25:00.008+01:00

The past weekend was spent on holiday with my friend Christine in the Lake District. The Lake District is situated in North West England and is a popular tourist destination because of its beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains. (Didn't that sound just like a quote from a travel brochure?) Having seen beautiful photographs taken by my friend Sandro when he came back from his trip there, I decided I had to go look for myself and all I can say is – the Lake District is absolutely awesome! One weekend is not enough to take in all the sights, especially if you intend to do some hillwalking (or fellwalking, as it is known here). The map above shows the walks we took, to High Sweden Bridge on Saturday and Wansfell Pike on Sunday. It rained almost the entire day on Saturday, resulting in washed out photos but the climb on Sunday was thankfully in sunnier weather. The third red dot at the bottom of the map is the Ambleside YHA, where we stayed, right next to Lake Windermere. The photos below show Ambleside YHA, Lake Windermere and the view from the top of Wansfell Pike, which at 482 metres isn't high enough to be categorised as a mountain (in the UK, it needs to be 600 metres or higher), but it sure felt like one during the steep climb up! The view at the top is definately worth it, though. Beautiful hills, valleys and lakes. It was a great getaway for the weekend, and I’m already thinking of going back! :)

Summer Rain

2007-07-06T19:51:00.007+01:00

Ok, now I understand all the comments people make about English weather. It has been raining every day for so long that I cannot remember the last day it did not rain. This past weekend was Veterans' Day Weekend in Bradford and I was looking forward to it because I wanted to watch the Spitfire plane flypast, but it rained the entire weekend so I did not bother going. I'm guessing the flypast was probably cancelled. It was cancelled due to bad weather during the Haworth 1940s Weekend when it rained then, and the weather this past weekend was much worse. This morning was really windy but there was no rain and I thought to myself - oh good, a day with no rain. But nope, it started raining around lunch time. At least it has stopped now and the sun is out.

My Digital Art - Part 3

2007-06-13T23:54:00.003+01:00

This is one of my favourite photos from my Haworth trip. It's one of the few that I think may pass for an actual 1940s photograph as there is nothing in it to indicate it was taken in 2007. I removed the colour, added the film grain, and painted in the faded borders to create a more dated look.

Netherlands Dance Theater II

2007-06-03T17:13:00.005+01:00

On Friday night, I went for a performance by the Netherlands Dance Theater II at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, where I work. Netherlands Dance Theater II (NDT2) is a comtemporary dance company founded in 1978 and presently consists of sixteen dancers between the ages of 17 and 22. NDT2 was originally a training ground for young dancers before they move on to the main company, Netherlands Dance Theater I, but since its conception, it has developed into an internationally recognized company of its own. From the performance I saw, it’s easy to understand why. These publicity photos are from their first dance. There were 3 altogether, all incorporating simple props and costumes but choreographed in very artistic and original ways.

Haworth 1940's Weekend - 20th May

2007-05-25T01:14:00.007+01:00

Every year around this time in spring, there is an event in the beautiful village of Haworth situated on the edge of the Pennine moors in West Yorkshire, England. It's the 1940’s Weekend, a time when everyone dresses up in 1940s clothing, British and American soldiers walk the streets (along with a few Nazis), vintage cars and buses travel along the roads, and Winston Churchill and the Queen can be seen giving speeches. Newspaper boys and scouts in 1940s uniforms walk around selling newspapers dated from that era. Songs from the 40s can be heard playing from loudspeakers on rooftops. It’s like going back in time!! Really, really awesome!

I took the steam train here on Sunday from Keighley station and spent the entire day just looking around and taking photos. I originally wanted to see the WW2 Spitfire fly past which was supposed to be held here the day before but it was cancelled due to bad weather. I then found out there will be a Veterans’ Weekend from the 30th June to 1st July in the city centre of Bradford.... and guess what plane from the Battle of Britain will be doing a fly past then? Yep, the Spitfire :)

My Digital Art - Part 2

2007-05-18T23:52:00.015+01:00

This photo of Emma was taken against a plain white background, and then composited unto the peeling paint backdrop.

Edited June 2008 -
Looking back at this pic, I felt like removing this blog entry as the entire effect just looks wrong. I have no idea what kind of effect I was hoping for at the time! But then instead of deleting this, I thought maybe it'll be interesting to tweak the original image a bit and see what a comparison with an edited version would look like... so I've included a new edited version below. More pleasing, I think, but still very amateurish... you be the judge.

My Digital Art - Part 1

2007-05-05T16:46:00.005+01:00

These are just some images I created using Photoshop, something I do once in a while when I'm bored. I don't think they're artistic enough to be called 'art' but I didn't know what to call them ('fruits of my boredom'?) so unless I come up with something better, they shall be known as 'my digital art'.

Marks & Spencer flapjacks

2007-05-02T16:55:00.004+01:00

Here's an inconsequential piece of information for you. At the local Marks & Spencer store, you can buy 3 small buckets of assorted sweet chocolate and cookies for £5. They are delicious! Not really healthy for you (their flapjacks, for example, consist of 23% butter and 16% golden syrup, that's almost 40% of the total content - butter and syrup) but if you're looking for some sweet snacks, these are definately yummy!

North Wales

2007-04-14T14:39:00.008+01:00

Rokas and I went to Wales on Thursday, to Conwy, a small town by the sea with a nice old castle, and to Llandudno, a seaside resort town about 20 mins drive north of Conwy. They're both situated on the northern coast of North Wales. The weather wasn’t too bad but it was a bit cloudy and not as sunny as during the Malham trip last week. One of the attractions of Conwy is Conwy Castle, built by King Edward I and completed in 1287 (which makes it 720 years old). The view from the top of the castle was beautiful but unfortunately, the photographs didn't turn out that great.

Next stop - a walk atop the medieval town walls, which surround the entire town. There's a similar town wall in the city of York which I visited last year, but I think the one here is in better condition. From the top of the walls, I was able to look down at houses and in some instances even look into the living and dining rooms of some homes. At one house, we were able to look down a skylight into a bedroom! (I'm sure historians and tour guides would be hugely disappointed at the focus of my interest.)

After Conwy, it was off to Llandudno, a town with a nice seaside promenade. On the way up a hill known as The Great Orme, Rokas saw a classic Morgan sports car parked outside one of the hotels and decided to have a look. The owner, John Towles, showed us a leather-bound book with photographs of the construction process that went into making his car. Each car is individually made to order, and made by hand!

We chatted for quite a while and I loved the atmosphere at this hotel so if anyone is thinking of visiting Llandudno, do check out the Headlands Hotel on Hill Terrace Road – more info can be found here
http://www.stayinwales.co.uk/detail.cfm?i=3357.
By the time we finished, it was a bit late to climb up The Great Orme so we went to the pier instead before heading back.

Humpty finished

2007-04-11T11:17:00.008+01:00

Well, I'm almost a week and a half behind schedule in my work but I've finally finished Humpty Dumpty. Unfortunately, I haven't started any programming work (programming? I'm an arts person!) and have done next to nothing for my final project, and everything is due in about 3 weeks. I wish I had more time. If anyone reading this has a time machine, please let me know.

Malham Cove

2007-04-04T22:14:00.004+01:00

One of the nice things about doing a course in Yorkshire is that you're close to many beautiful places with amazing scenery. Take Malham, for instance... a small English village in North Yorkshire in the Yorkshire Dales (population 120, according to Wikipedia). My friend Rokas and I went there this afternoon with a group of university students. We walked about a kilometre and a half from the quiet village of Malham to Malham Cove, a gigantic limestone cliff reaching up to about 80 metres (260 feet). Apparently, this was once a waterfall during the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. I don't know much about these things but I do know that the view from the top was absolutely AMAZING! I think that's one of the nice things about England - the English countryside with its quaint little villages. It's exactly as you see it in travel pictorial books! Of course, this is assuming you like the countryside and are not one of those people who need to live within a block of a McDonald's. More info on Malham Cove can be found here:
http://www.malhamdale.org.uk/malham_cove.htm

Humpty Dumpty

2007-04-03T12:21:00.010+01:00

So this is my first 'official' post. I'm really not sure about this whole 'blogging' thing but I'm willing to give it a go, so... let's see how it turns out. I left Sydney, Australia in September 2006 and I'm currently halfway around the world, in the UK, doing my post-graduate degree in animation and special effects. The past week and a half was spent doing an animation of Humpty Dumpty fighting with a lightsaber (that's soooo in line with my level of maturity!) ... but so far, it's not looking that great.