two new books

Finally i got the two books i've been waiting for. It's basically compilation of Brandon’s artwork, photographs and journals entries. If i write a book, i'll probably do something like this.
These are some of the pages from the two books.

Zeitgest: Addendum

Today i was reading Brandon's blog and found link to following documentary.
For a mind boggling experience, i recommend you to watch Zeitgeist: Addendum available at http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
Hope you have one and half hour of your time but I promise your brain will hyperventilate at the end.

The word Zeitgest "is a German language expression literally translated: Zeit, time; Geist, spirit, meaning "the spirit of the age and its society". The word zeitgeist describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate, ambience and morals of an era (similar to the English word "mainstream") or also a trend. In German, the word has more layers of meaning than the English translation, including the fact that Zeitgeist can only be observed for past events" (taken from wikipedia).

picture taken from www.zeitgeistmovie.com

Paris je t'aime

I just got back from my trip to Paris.
I must say i've never been to a city that beautiful. Every wonderful thing people say about that city is true and even more. There are so many monuments, gallaries and places to see but i had only two days, so basically I was running around with a map to see as much as i could.
One thing i've realized from my trip to Paris is how my knowledge of the city comes from movie, music, history and books. I use to think watching movies was big waste of time but it's amazing how much or little i already know of the city from the movies I’ve watched.

I've read the famous 'Da Vinci Code' and also seen the movie, so one thing on my list was to see the Louvre (AKA the grand gallery). We were given only three hours but apparently it takes at least one week to see all the amazing masterpieces inside Louvre. So with little time i had, i wanted to see the one painting that draws million or even more to this place. There was a huge line when we went to buy the tickets. When we finally got the ticket, there was another huge line to go inside the main gallery (security check). I was beginning to wonder if the line would ever end but i was just too excited and looking forward to see the paining that the line begin to move forward swiftly. While waiting in queue, I got to see the exact location of MM’s tomb (RL’s theory at the end – if you’ve read Da Vinci Code). This was another exciting moment for me.
As soon as we got inside the main gallery, my quest to see that famous painting begin. I almost felt like Mrs. Jones on a quest. I had only two hours. It was definitely an overwhelming feeling to see so many master pieces and history right before my eyes in one giant hallway. Finally after skipping thought many arts, i entered a room. There was a giant panel centered away from the middle of the room and it had only one paining hung on it, one of the many attraction of Louvre, the masterpiece of Da Vanci, the very beautiful Mona Lisa.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the famous Notre Dame. It’s amazing how my knowledge of this place comes from a Walt Disney cartoon 'The hunchback of Notre Dame'. I have and always will be a cartoon freak. One of the fist cartoons i've seen was Bambi. I can still remember crying when Bambi's mother dies. Anyways that's beside the point. Notre Dame is considered one of the most beautiful churches in the world. I can see what they mean by that. It's truly an architectural marvel or miracle. My mind was just too amazed to even comprehend the amazing detail of each element of that church. As soon as i saw the gargoyles on the highest tip of the Notre Dame, i though of Quasimodo’s three gargoyle guardian (lol). We were lucky enough to catch the sunset hit the place. i just couldn't stop drooling like a fool when i saw this place.

And of course there is the Sacre Coeur, another beautiful architecture on the highest point of Paris, the very popular Eiffel tower, the beautiful Arc, the Opera Garnier, La Defense, Moulin Rouge, Pompidou and many others. All these places were breathtaking. For someone who loves art, what more can i say... it was purely WONDER-FUL and bit too overwhelming at times:)

PS: the weather was amazing. Blue Sky and white fluffy clouds everywhere.

music and animation

Today my sister sent me an animation she made a long time ago. As always i though it was amazing. The reason why i love her artworks so much is because it’s totally different and creative. These are things she picked up on her own interest and she started it only when she was in her tenth grade. Before that she was as bad as me. Now art is something that comes to her naturally. I guess there are things you can teach yourself without necessarily learning it anywhere, all you need is passion and interest (and a bit of skill). The song is called 'woo hoo' by a Japanese rock band (three girls) called 'the 5.6.7.8'.

Maastricht (as i see)

music: Carter Burwell - esme's favourite
place: maastricht
I took all the pictures in one day (on this rather sunny day)

two videos on youtube

Just something I experimented with cause I’ve never made a video before.

colours of spring

Spring is wonderful, the warmth and the sun. Its definately worth appreciating after long winter cold. I've been out with my camera these days, trying to frame the colours of the spring. Some picture i took these couple of days.

15 mins late

I missed my exam for the last module. The funny thing is that i was so definite that the exam starts at 10am, so in my mind i was 45 mins early when i was 15 mins late. The rule was changed just the other day which i unfortunately did not read cause i was busy studying for the exam. I normally recheck with my friends for the examination time but this time I didn’t. Ironically it turns out i did tell Sarah that it starts at 9. Well when i found out i was late, i just rushed into the examination room but the examiner there (an old lady who apparently doesn't speak English) wouldn't let me in (bloody rule). Well i did everything i could in my capacity to get the exam done on that day. I was so prepared and ready to get it done. I was even locked in a room by my course coordinator so that she could work out on the problem (her idea of shutting me out from information/connection). But somehow nothing got worked out. Well now i just have to take the re-sit which is two months from now. At first i was mad at myself for the sheer stupidity of not asking anyone or checking the course manual twice or even once. But seriously now i'm totally over it. I honestly think that my problems are just too insignificant to be worked out about.
Anyhow my only resolution for this year is to 'experience new thing' so probably this is a good thing; another new accidental experience to add to my list.
These days I’ve just been on deviantart trying to capture spring as much as I can.

pic taken few mins ago

battle of the bands

Today was the final round of the battle of the bands. The bands i voted for earlier made it (big smile for that).
So today we had The Imagineers, Polot Flames, Jamestown and TV Off. Besides their own songs, all of them had to do a cover song of Nirvana's 'smells like teen sprit'. I loved the version by the imagineers, they made it their own and it sounded like a whole new song. The one by tvoff was very creative since they mixed the music from the cover song with two other song and it totally worked.
so my vote:
first :: TV OFF


second
the imagineers


another night of live music.
hl-otn: the vocalist from tvoff gave me a copy of their CD, how cool is that.

taking flight

Quite unusual but blue skies and white fluffly clouds finally.