The Way of the Russian

Der internet connection is stable again. Not what I expected at this time, though.

one Здравствуйте.
[Sdravstvuytee/Hello.]

I had my last piano class with my previous teacher, Ms Yeo, somewhere in the middle of last month.  I’m not the quitter or anything, but my teacher had to leave Malaysia for Australia as she is getting married :’-)

Note: I am currently doing my Advanced Certificate.

It was just last month when I found out that I was getting a Russian teacher. Today was my second class with Mrs Irina (I think). She used to be an examiner (for piano practical exams) in England. Sounded scary at first but she really is nice (and very pro)

My first class with her last week was something like a strange encounter. There I was, playing the piano. My teacher’s daughter was there to decorate the room and at some points, she’d speak Russian with her mother. Being the half-absent-minded person that I am, it really felt like I just entered a Russian household

The strange bit is that…I just learnt the Russian alphabets a few months ago.

two SB-900. It’s here.

For some odd reason or another, I seem to get my photography-related items mainly in September.
Chronology:
2007 – D40
2008 – Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm f3.5-5.6
2009 – SB-900

I need to study flash photography soon though! :O

three What if…Science classes (especially Physics) are exactly like an episode of Mythbusters?

How about…: What if we had these guys as our Science teachers? Or at least, tour to different schools for some demo on what they do?

During the recent trial exams, I’ve been thinking about those questions which I asked myself (once I’m done with my paper).
If we had the Mythbusters to teach us, it’s definitely going to be very interesting. C’mon man, who wouldn’t agree with taking Science to the EXTREME level?

Best of all, we’d get to see BIG BOOMS a.k.a. explosions (+ a very happy Mr Savage and an ever-stoic and invincible Mr Hyneman)

While I was studying Physics last week, I couldn’t help but to yawn as I read the boring text. It’s nothing new but that’s when I thought of this: If our textbooks had pictures of Kari, Grant and Tory explaining stuff at every page and every corner, I’d be delighted. [I may not have photographic memory, but I know that pictures are easier to remember than words.]

I’ll just keep on dreaming. Gunnaw start looking for the Mythbusters address and send them a copy of the drawing…

Bobs

A-H1N1 is not a matter of’…”The more the merrier”.

ML-L3 — Finally got the wireless remote which I needed.
Small little thing with a pretty big pricetag!

Selected Sim heeeh.

To tell ye the truth, this here Plumb-Bob belongs to my friend who pre-ordered a copy of The Sims 3.

If only this thing could change colours from green to orange or red depending on one’s mood..
..but still, it’s the most interesting thumbdrive I’ve ever seen. I can spend hours by just looking at it.

Yesterday, Farisha told me this joke:
There were two hydrogen atoms.

Hydrogen atom 1: Hey, I think I’m losing an electron.
Hydrogen atom 2: Are you sure?
Hydrogen atom 1: I’m positive.

You must know your chemistry.

Surviving the second week of holidaze

New theme, as you can see. Changed it because I felt like doing so. Besides..this theme adds a pretty neat frame to my pictures.

one Random photos.

‘Twas taken the morning after our Biology Paper 2.
Supposedly “Mid Year Examination” and “Biology”
(And yes, I reach school THAT early) 

I think almost everyone has seen this sort of picture. A coin/ring + a book to get that heart shadow.
Cliché but I decided to try pulling off the same kind of photo for myself.
Suits the title of the chapter on the right, don’t you think? And that book was I Am The Messenger

The sky was pretty one evening. It’s too bad that there are parallel cables in the view.

The study lamp that has aided me throughout the years.
Oh no, it doesn’t enlighten me in terms of knowledge. In fact, it’s what I use on my photography subjects!  

Something tells me that the Various Ink (Refill) looks tasty. Chocolate syrup?

And behold, the smallest dummy I’ve ever seen:

It figuratively screams “I’m lyk soooo famous and populuuuurr”

Told ya it’s small.

Buzz Lightyear!
(“Buzz off, buzzard breath.” – Monkey Island 4) 

I know that I have other Toy Story toys/figurines somewhere..Bo Peep + her sheep (from Japan), Zurg, LGM, but no Woody  
But hey, Toy Story 3 will be released next year! I’ve been waiting for this since ‘06. Or was it ‘07? *shrugs*

“Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”
- Kermit the frog 

two I found this video of Vladimir Putin “reviewing” Call of Duty 4 (For those who don’t know, Mr Putin is the Prime Minister of Russia)

Nyeh, don’t worry — it’s fake. You gotta admit that his in-game name is…very clever.
The video gave me a strong urge to learn some Russian alphabets. And so I did. In less than an hour.
My name in Russian alphabets would be Малини. Pronounced the same way. Heh. That’s what happens when you stay at home for two weeks. Of course, I did greet the sun now and then.

three Found another old camera in my house – Canon Autoboy SII. Not as old as the Canon AE-1 Program which I found. Both are film cameras. Autoboy (Autobot heh) has such a small viewfinder but it has this panorama slider-button-doohickey which makes the viewfinder narrower. AE-1 Program has a huge viewfinder. Oh yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that D40’s is rather small.

Yep. Autoboy.

Canon Canon Nikon
All from different uh, decades. 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s.

[I'm still waiting to buy me films to test the AE-1.]

Plus I don’t know whether Autoboy is considered rare or what because I can’t seem to find this thing through Google.

Sports Rehearsal

It’s not as important as the upcoming Annual Sports Day. But well wells. It wasn’t so bad, despite the absence of my close friends. I can survive with the school band people. In fact, the band’s been pretty fun, lately. Except for the part where I have to tolerate the juniors’ lame jokes. Man, I AM growing old.

Lots of candid photos ahead.

 

Kevin the fast-learner-but-gets-distracted-too-easily euphoniumist and Brandon the cymbalist

The emotional Mr Lim
..or should I say, Bandlord Lim?

Odd-looking fringe + Twisties between teeth + tanned skin + no sunblock applied = Yours truly

Bandlord Lim’s you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me face

Lala band president Siew Yee and Si Min

Some people are just camera-shy

Little dude from the horn section gets a head-crushing experience

Suicidal sparrow wants to jump down!
(Really, it did)

 Zi Hao, who appeared out of nowhere, came to join us, took out his phone and said, “My phone can be used for Truth or Dare..can spin quite long one..” 

And that’s when the game started. 

Truth – Question: “If you were to be with the last person on earth, who would it be?”
Took me >5 mins to answer that because there were so many busybodies (not shown).
Look at how uneasy I was feeling. Hahah..

Bandlord Lim laughs!

Christabel the alto saxophonist! Also, she’s a D90 user.
It so happened that she brought it today and I got to play around with it for a while. The continuous shooting (not shutter speed) is..super fast. Greater than D40’s.

Han Quan, a trombonist, looking very confused

Yu Xin/Tiny the clarinettist, busy with her music theory homework

Back to the Truth and Dare game..
Dare: Ming Ying had to hug Nagulan.
Und both of them are trombonists.

Dare: Zi Hao (not a band member) had to hug Vicky

The Truth or Dare circle + Wei-Jun who isn’t here in the picture
(he left the school band and went to pursue his librarian dreams ) 

Dare: Hoev Quan had to hug Pei Xi

Dare: Zi Hao had to sing a love song to Pn. Deva
Brave guy, I tell ye. There was once where he had to say “I love you” to a random girl.

Dare: Wei-Jun had to hug Melissa (I don’t think they know each other)
Free Hugs Day, eh?

Dare: Hoev Quan had to kiss Ellison’s hand

Dare: Ming Ying had to shout “I LOVE YOU!” to no one in particular.

Dare: Zi Hao had to kiss Mr Lim’s hand.
“Which hand you want? Left or right?” – Mr Lim 

The last dare: Si Min (in green) had to say “You’re very good-looking” to a random boy.
Look how puzzled and lost he is! HAHAHA.
He shook his head afterwards. 

The game was brought to an end and I was left with nothing to do. I got to borrow Christabel’s macro lens and snapped some photos using manual focus [it can't auto focus on my D40 apparently], with the f-stop remaining at 1.8. I think the time has come for me to make use of the Shutter Priority (S) mode, heh

Gads, Zi Hao was the only one who was willing to pose   

 Trumpet valves

The side of a trumpet..so much bokeh, dood.

Candid. He’s a junior trumpettist whom some of us label as “The Blur-blur Guy”
 No bad intentions lah, but he does look like he’s going to fall asleep if you talk to him.

Yeaaah. Sri KL’s very own water bottles.

Pretending to be a tango dancer, replacing the rose with a bass drum mallet

And to think that this was taken with manual focusing..not bad, you know!

Epic fail!
Jonathan “Chow” was telling us how expensive bass drum mallets are. ≈ RM420

Mein phone. It has been serving me for nearly three years.
Won’t be replacing it for another few years although it has some ugly scratches.

Last but not least,
Mr Phuah!
Thimbletack does not look pleased.

Who are we?
Sri KL!
Who are we again?
School band!
Where are we?
Matsushita Stadium!
What are we?
The best! 

f stops and lo!

 

Methinks that there seems to be some sort of photography revolution going on.

I mean, just about everyone owns a dSLR now. Or at least, they want to own one. As I see it, this “trend” has been booming since last year. I’m glad that I got mine pretty early (that was somewhere in October ‘07)

It was fun while it lasted, heh

Sadly, some people do not fully utilize the functions of their dSLRs.
Some just want the megapixels.
Some do not know what an aperture is, nor how it works.
Some never tried to explore the M, S, A and P modes.
If one is always using the Auto mode, why bother getting a dSLR in the first place eh?

(irrelevant: Fake bokeh done Photoshop or any other program looks horrendous!)

As for me?
I almost always use the Manual (M) mode.
I hate to use the built-in flash. Even if I have to, I would lower the flash intensity.
I used to stick to ISO 200, but now I’m trying to get used to ISO 400 and 800.

(+)The main reason I have a D40 is because I got really sick of my previous digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 5200). Time after time, that thing failed me too often with its slow shutter speed and a whole lotta noise. I couldn’t do any manual focusing and the zoom’s speed was slow.

New Year, again? In the same month?

Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate this auspicious occasion!

Random shots taken at Mid Valley Megamall:
(note to self: Always shoot in raw format when there is enough space…) 

On a random note…
one Franz Ferdinand’s third album is out today! Couldn’t find any copy though…*sigh* I’ll have to wait.

two Ever seen black nylon strings for the guitar? I bought one set of new strings just the other day and I found that there were three black strings in the pack. Yay?

Yes, I has an owrange room.

 

A prelude to a bright new year

The clock struck 12:00AM and the people at the playground started launching their fireworks, while I switched to bulb mode and started taking photos. Of course, they’re nothing compared to the ones they had in the Beijing Olympics 2008.

There’s one bad mistake though — I forgot to change my White Balance to Auto and that explains the red night sky

The photos:

EPIC FAIL 

Not too bad, just a wee bit too small

One of the best

The best shot in my opinion, also the one used as the current header

The last shot taken

On a completely different note, I have a colourless blender. It can’t blend fruits and vegetables. It can’t blend ice. It can’t blend anything solid. Pretty useless, don’t you think? This…is how it looks like.

Yep. A colourless blender for blending colours.
 It’s a Copic marker. I started collecting these artsy markers since last year and they cost a bomb! Yesterday, I started off 2008 [after I woke up] by going out to buy 2 Copic markers. Today, I have 19 in total.

 
Square ones cost approximately RM15 each, and the rounded ones cost RM17.50 each.
RM15 X 8 =  RM120
RM 17.50 X 11 =  RM192.50
RM 120 + RM 192.50 =  RM312.50

Who knew art could be such an expensive hobby…Oh well, I’m going to collect more anyway.
As for my New Year’s Resolution, I don’t have any and I never really had one, but I might as well make one now.

1. Drop Additional Maths and Accounts for SPM and take up Art and EST for SPM
2. Get involved in another class activity, like the Drama Competition or something else
3. Perform on Graduation Night, be it a solo or an ensemble with the fellow school band members
4. Get some birthday gifts and MAKE CARDS for my close pals as I might not get to see them again for some time
5. Try not to give up on anything
6. Design the Green House shirt again
7. And finally, make the best out of my final year in school

Good day

Paperwork on Christmas Eve

‘Twas a night before Christmas…

I did some interesting paperwork to let time pass by. By paperwork, I mean papercraft. CubeeCraft. Not origami nor something related to WarCraft.

What it really is: A paper model of a character designed to look very cube-like.

Click on the link above if you want to view the available models or download the templates to get started.

I’ve done three models so far. And here they are:

Itsa him, Mario
He may have jumped down when it’s “Game Over” for him, but he’s a character that never dies

Bender from Futurama
This show was broadcasted in TV many, many years ago

Erik/Phantom! Why would I NOT make this one?
Credits goes to this deviantArtist who made the template for this one

 

As cliché as it may sound…
Merry Christmas to everyone! (doesn’t matter whether you celebrate it or not)
For those who have Christmas trees at home, may it give birth to some presents

PS: I like Christmas songs. They sound so much better than Eid/Raya music, honestly. Eid/Raya music is just too “Arabic” for my taste.

Hark! The Herald angels si-ing.

Send that coke bottle back to where it belongs

Yesterday night, I watched an old film named The Gods Must Be Crazy which dates back to 1980. It was recommended by my mother, and she said that it was a funny film which she watched back when she was the same age as I am.

The Gods Must Be Crazy did not even have a God featured in it. Nobody gets offended

Anyway, I thought that it was an innocent comedy film. It was basically two lines that intersect one another at a point: Line A and line B. The settings: Botswana and South Africa, I think.

Line A shows a bushman named Xi from Kalahari (where his fellow bushpeople have clicks in their language; think of Russell Peters). An empty coke bottle was magically dropped from the sky and landed right in front of Xi [pronounced 'Kee'] and he believed that it was a God-sent gift. Xi brought it back to his home and shows it to the rest of the clan. The bushpeople were very civilized; they knew the meaning of happiness, and they do not wish for anything more — for what they have, they have enough of it. They soon learnt that the magical bottle had many uses. Eventually, greed, anger and hatred existed among them since there was only one bottle and they did not wish to share it. Xi was not happy about that and he then believes that it is an evil thing.

He threw the bottle back up to the sky to send it back to the “Gods”. Innocent Xi did not know about gravity. What goes up must come down. The bottle nearly hit the poor guy. Apparently, the “Gods” did not want it back.

Line B was about a romantic scientist named Andrew Steyn, who was sent to fetch Kate Thompson, a village school teacher. Mr. Steyn encountered a lot of problems along the way, especially with his lousy Land Rover nicknamed The Anti-Christ, and he also claimed that he turns into an idiot and his brain simply turns off when he comes face-to-face with a lady. Clumsy and nervous, yes he is. An interesting psychological phenomenon

Line B meets with line A when Xi stumbled over Mr. Steyn, his accomplice M’pudi, and Ms. Thompson. Xi wanted to get rid of the evil thing and offered it to them. There was also another line, line C, which intersected the first two lines. Line C was mainly about terrorists that commit hostage-taking. With all of the three lines intersecting one another, the whole show became a comical twist.

There was a part where Xi immobilized a goat because he was hungry and he told the shepherd that everybody could share the meal. Not being able to understand the clicky language, the shepherd ran off in fear to inform some people about what happened and Xi thought that he went to call other people who could join in for a feast. As I said, he was innocent.

Another thing I liked about this film was its use of fast-forwarded frames an a comedy effect. This effect was used in parts when something goes wrong, or someone is just in a rush. The terrorists were sitting in a Jeep that stopped way too quickly that one of the terrorists actually rolled off the Jeep (ja, inertia)

Those who have watched the film (Coke-bottle sender/God knows if there’s any) might want to view this to recount the funny bits: Things I learned watching Gods Must Be Crazy

On a completely different note:
one Today is Nick McCarthy’s 34th birthday. Long live the guitar God

two Photos! (+4)

Light info: Study lamp on the right and handphone’s light on the left
(Nein, not the screen light. It’s the one that comes from the back of the phone which serves as a flash)

Ja, I really took this photo. With my trusty 18-200mm lenses.

There it is, Rekha. My did-not-get-to-use sandals/slippers

Used a circular polarizer to cut off a bit of Bob’s reflection on the left mug
(and yes, it’s supposed to form one picture, like a puzzle)

three The gold(s) of the month: Igudesman and Joo. They’re a brilliant musical-comedy duo. You must watch their videos below, or thou shalt regret for not doing so
Piano Lesson – Slapsticky

Rachmaninov had big Hands – Joo has an interesting invention which solves the problems of small hands

I Will Survive – Just when you thought that Igudesman is a noob who does nothing, look at what he can do. I like his jolly face, that Russian chubster