Now these are what I call box toys!!

Incidentally you can download and build this Bumblebee model from here
This one is from Howl's Moving castle. Damn cool...the people who worked out how to build this stuff must be die-hard fans.

Looks like I won't be going to watch Gidon Kremer's performance tonight. Nevertheless I'm subconsciously counting down the time until his performance, damn MPO website for putting the countdown timer on their main page...makes me feel regretful for not going for the performance.

I kind of decided the show wouldn't be worth it with Igudesman and Joo distracting from the performance, I think it's more of their show...but Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica orchestra should have a solo show...they're here anyways. It's not that easy to find musicians of their standard performing in Malaysia you know. Perhaps the Kremer team realised that as well. Most Malaysians have a culture of 'junkfood music' so they might as well perform in the US or Europe where they certainly can get more audience and people are more willing to pay for the tickets.

Oh well...until we meet someday, goodbye, Mr. Kremer.

Nevermind...I'll keep track of the goings on at the orchestra halls in San Francisco when I go there. I'm hopeful that I can at least catch a performance by Itzhak Perlman sometime in the future.

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On a side note, my parents are surprised that I like classical music. I'm sure they think I just simply love junkfood music which is all we get on Malaysian radio.

Ah, at last i found a site where i can watch The Cell.

Now time for some sick twisted entertainment. I know a lot of people don't like this movie(people who have watched it will typically either give it a 10 or a 0, nothing in between), think it doesn't have a plot(what small brained idiot said this?) and is all about sadism, but I think differently. After all a movie that makes us sympathise with a serial killer is a rather refreshing take on the theme and not glorifying violence like what others would say. And as usual Tarsem elevates the show to an artistic level, which is the main reason why I like his works. Yes, Tarsem does get inspired by Marilyn Manson videoclips, but you gotta admit, disturbing as they are, they are actually kind of beautiful. Also, I kind of forgot that Jennifer Lopez is a surprisingly good actress.

BTW I found out that there's a sequel to this movie, but not directed by Tarsem Singh. Wonder whether it will be as good...

AAAAAAAAVuibhklnjmk;klokijhhcgvbjk;lvbhjnkl!!!!!!!
Gidon Kremer is coming to KL for a performance!! Siapa nak pergi with me?? Mari kita pergi!! The show's on Monday.

Only thing is it's too bad that he's not having another performance with only himself and the Kremerata Baltica. I know Igudesman and Joo are like famous as well, but all that humour distracts from Kremer's full potential, I would think. So should I go or not?? Dilemma...

Damn...so close but yet so far.

Anyways, here are 2 pieces performed by Kremer.





And one more from Being Gidon Kremer:

OK, here's another advertisement for my graduation batch. We are currently selling a collection of cute stack-able box toys designed by our graduating students of various majors.

Those are the designs that we are selling.(Lion dance heads, monsters, owls, Japanese warriors, Japanese girls, chibi expressions and a black and white sumo) Each toy is 8.5cm tall. We are selling them flat and you can enjoy assembling them yourselves ( but if you don't like assembling, I'll gladly do that for you, I like that kind of stuff in a weird way) Each pack consists of 3 toys of the same series, as above. Btw the black sumo next to the caption is for sale too, also in a pack of 3. Each pack is RM5. So please tell me if you want to buy any of them. As usual, proceeds from the sale will be going towards funding our graduation exhibitions (which we have to raise ourselves, all RM15,000 of it)

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Also, because our lecturer, Mr Caringman told us that the 2 most powerful words is sales are sex and free, I will be doing a bit of promotion of two delightful designers of the box toys. Pictures stolen/taken for promotional purposes from Facebook of course.

First up, Warner Wan, who is also our vice-president of the graduation committee. He designed the first batch of toys as seen in the above picture (the lion dance heads).In this picture, Warner seems to be promoting the Batch 71 logo against his shirt. Hidup semangat 71 ! Of friendly and outgoing nature, Warner is also currently single(i think).

"Lion dance head" box toy. RM5 per pack of 3.

Warner Wan is intended for illustration purposes only and is not included in pack.

Next, Tan Zi Hao, who is also our Art Director for the graduation committee. He came up with our concept of "Link" which is about keeping the arts relevant to the public. He designed the second set of box toys as seen in the first picture, which is a set of monsters. In this picture, Zi Hao is...er...eating something. Nvm. Hidup semangat 71 ! Of great intellectual and creative spirit, Zi Hao is also currently single (i think).

"Monsters" box toy. RM5 per pack of 3.

Tan Zi Hao is intended for illustration purposes only and is not included in pack.

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Well, goodnight. And let me know if you want to place an order. The students of Batch 71 greatly value your kind consideration.

Right...so now I'm a bit hooked on award winning animations that can be found on YouTube. It's all Yunzi's fault.

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This one is "My Love", which was nominated for an Academy Award last year. It's directed by Aleksandr Petrov, who previously won an Academy award for another of his works; "The old man and the sea". Check it out. His animations utilize a rare style of animation, which is acrylic paintings on glass, so his work looks very realistic and painterly. Seriously I think each frame of his animation can be considered a pretty kick-ass artwork by itself, but here he has to rub off and modify each painting to make things move. Look out for the dream-like transitions and the good acting (expression and body language). I like.

Here's like the shortest summary you've ever seen, courtesy of Wikipedia:
In nineteenth-century Russia, a teenage boy in search of love is drawn to two very different women



Btw the Japanese poster not withstanding, it's actually an animation made by a Russian crew.

It's around 1/2 hour long. And here's part 1.

Oh look...this is my 401st post

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OK, that's besides the point.

I thought of sharing this animation that I found out about in college. It's called La maison en petits cubes(The house of small cubes), which besides having a French title, is actually made by a Japanese team.I think it's pretty touching. It won the grand prize for short films at Annecy and an Academy Award for best short animation this year.

Here's the summary from Wikipedia:
As his town is flooded by water, an aged widower is forced to add additional levels onto his home with bricks (cubes) in order to stay dry. But when he accidentally drops his favorite smoking pipe into the lower submerged levels of his home, his search for the pipe eventually makes him relive scenes from his eventful life.

And here's part one.I think the entire animation is around 15 mins.