rRants

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Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:41:01 GMT

Flickr : russtproof

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Fri, 02 May 2008 07:17:50 GMT

Flickr : russtproof

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Altes Rathaus

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:34:52 GMT

Altes Rathaus, originally uploaded by russtproof.

Flickr Archive

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:12:55 GMT

Flickr : russtproof

178 photos archived. Generated by Flickr Album Maker

Moving soon

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:50:03 GMT

I'm moving in a week, and I still haven't found a place yet. Good luck me. Oh, and I haven't finished packing yet. Oops.

Random; there are sections from Hans Zimmer's Why Does Everything I Whip Leave Me and World's Fattest Fertilizer Salesman where he pays homage to Debussy's L'Après-Midi d'un Faune. *coughPLAGIARISMcough*

Boom

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:40:53 GMT

Wow, after a period of tranquility there's a splurge uploading of totally unrelated posts. But wa-hey, you know you like it!

Sugarhouse Previews / Free Sims

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:37:58 GMT

The following link gets you preview tickets to a new low-budget British film, Sugarhouse.

http://isalient.com/app/index.php?survey_code=e4e5cb07&login=1

I understand you will eventually realise that this post is quite useless since the preview starts in about 10 hours (at time of posting of course), but hey, I thought I'd let you know about it anyway.

Don't expect me there, most likely I'll still be snoozing.

On a totally unrelated matter, free sims are available again. Links below.

o2 UK
Orange UK
~~T-Mobile UK~~
Tesco
Vodafone UK - Not exactly free, but you get credit in return that covers the cost of buying the Sim card.

Den Den

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:10:55 GMT

Den Den
Originally uploaded by russtproof.

Harry Plopper

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:04:13 GMT

"Spider Pig, Spider Pig, does whatever a Spider Pig does. Can he swing from a web? No, he can't. He's a pig. Look out! He is the Spider Pig."

Quite a change..

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:09:35 GMT

..and more to come.

The last couple months have seen:

- A trip back to Hong Kong where I spent time with family and friends (though not enough) and stuffed myself silly.

I had the opportunity to go up to Guilin and Yangshuo, China, where I gave my brand spanking new Nikon D40X a run. Having filled my 2GB SD card for the first half of the trip, the remaining photos I decided to take with a 4GB SD card I bought from Shenzhen. Big mistake as they didn't work when I got back to HK. Shame though as the pictures towards the the second half of the trip started turning out better. Lesson learnt.

To give you an idea how wonky the Shenzhen SD card is, I opened an image from the 4GB 翻版卡:

뇊鷜嵁惀麑픰䗽桻卾㱎銩늢玀諓⒞扷痼

Interesting, non?

- Many a Karoake session with a number of people. Fulfilling, it was. Facebook has evidence.

- A graduation a few days after I got back to UK, approximately mid-July, where the parentals came over and spent 2 weeks in London.

- An internship starting in mid-July, ending by mid-October. Thereafter might see the end of a chapter.

- Major droolage over a potential successor to my current phone. Presenting the Sony Ericsson W960.

sonyericsson-w960, originally uploaded by Novato.Com.

3G, GPRS/WiFi, 3.2Mpx AF, Walkman, 8GB, BT headphones, Symbian-based UI, Radio, Keypad, TFT Touchscreen & Jogdial. The day has finally come. Oh wait, not until I make enough to buy it. Darn.

- An amazing day yesterday and today. The weather was fine (!!) and I spent 2 consecutive days at the park, chucking a disc and soaking in the sun.

- One of my photos have been short-listed for inclusion in Schmap's Brighton Guide! However the reason that it's been short-listed isn't because it was an amazing picture, but only as it was one of the few photos of Moshi Moshi on Flickr.

Moshi Moshi, originally uploaded by russtproof.

- A number of proms. So far I've only attended Prom 7, missing the fourth as I had my graduation that day. I caught Proms 22, 23, 24 on TV and am looking forward to going to P47, 52, 60 & 69, maybe more. Mmmm..

- Looking for somewhere to live at the moment from mid-August to end of October since certain plans have fallen through. Given that there are still 3 weeks, there should be a few opportunities popping up. I believe I need to get some packing done.

- Also looking to sell my piano. There has been interest, but that's about it.

- I've re-affirmed my extreme dislike for heavy metal. Thanks Meshuggah! I don't believe I'll even give Ocean Size or any remotely similar band a chance.

Much has happened since I last posted, this clearly isn't a definitive list. More to come, but not soon.

This post is dedicated to eLfiec

Mon, 28 May 2007 09:34:51 GMT

The reason? With her help, I managed to salvage my e-mails. (YES!!) Having had the experience of (temporarily) losing her inbox to a virus, she directed me to the folder which contained the misnamed files. Thank goodness!

Just for the record, I had been searching long and hard for those e-mail inbox files. Who knows why I never noticed the folder labelled 'Mail'. It really wasn't that obvious!

Thanks elfiec.

T minus 20 hours and 45 minutes

Sun, 27 May 2007 23:44:17 GMT

In less than 24-hours I'll be lodged between two arm-rests, squeezed into a seat pitch of 30-odd inches, breathing in an atmosphere consisting purely of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, and suffering from a temporary case of insomnia, spacing out in front of the inflight entertainment.

Oh how I love to travel.

Pure Frustration

Fri, 25 May 2007 10:08:25 GMT

My computer crashed whilst loading up iTunes and downloading e-mails. The result? My external hdd has ceased to function (it makes an occasion but very disturbing ticking noise) and I've lost my Thunderbird (and Firefox, since it was open I guess) information.

I am currently feeling extremely frustrated, with a hint of despair.

A few days ago, it had occurred to me that it was about time to back up but was leaving it until after my final exam, yesterday. The timing couldn't have been any better.

There were many, MANY e-mails that I really had to keep. Gmail has some, however, my university POP settings involve downloading and deleting the emails immediately off the server. That means a batch of emails will never get to me and remain a mystery.

I realize 'System Restore' is useless in this situation and have tried Googling for information on restoring Thunderbird. Have found nothing yet. Is there any hope of retrieving the inbox file? That's essentially all I want at this very minute. I haven't begun thinking about all the information that I've lost from my external.

This is going to be painful.

// Edit : From further Googling, ticking noises from the hdd is definitely not a good sign, usually indicating disk failure. I guess I may have to consider data recovery then. *profanity galore*

Final Day

Thu, 24 May 2007 07:50:26 GMT

My final recital, or more technically known as the performance exam, takes place today just after lunch at 2:15pm. About 20 minutes after, I will have unofficially graduated. I hope not to 'freak out' like the previous two attempts in the past years and strive to remain mentally composed - to enjoy this year's programme of French (and French-influenced) piano music.

Blog Spam

Mon, 21 May 2007 08:47:39 GMT

Oh look [1, 2], that's interesting. I'm beginning to get blog spam.

Depending on how Livejournal holds out, I may consider tweaking privacy levels.

Headphones

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:27:48 GMT

I never mentioned about the day I came back to find this..

A mutilated pair of headphones. Oh wait, I mean headphone.

My better pair, mutilated and decapitated. I've learnt my lesson, from now on, my desktop is as bare as a stone.

In frustration, I went and bought a new pair (they were due for replacement anyway). After extensive researching online, I had my eyes set on the Audio Technica ATH-CK7.

Oh my! Slightly less bass is compensated with crystal clarity at all registers. I was rather surprised to take them out of the packaging to find how much heavier they were than the Sony MDR-EX71s. All due to the "Forged Titanium Body".. ooooohhhhh!!

Anyway, on a separate note, several victims have fallen to the teeth of Den Den, my Moleskine for one but I never took a picture. It was far too painful at the time ;)

Zooomr Test

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 10:52:46 GMT

Magnolia Tree

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:29:04 GMT

Magnolia Tree
Originally uploaded by russtproof.

Kew Gardens in Spring - photos are up.

Totally like whatever, you know?

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:35:06 GMT

"Word! Like, you know what I mean? Shut up!!"

Lovely way to spice up the language. So what's the current HK equivalent? This video will give you an idea..

"鬼死甘多人, 超低能..
勁搞笑 你真系呀! 比你吹脹."

That's all for now..

"Safe."

Ok Go!

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:17:50 GMT

Many of you might remember the infamous dance choreography to the song "A Million Ways to be Cruel", if not, here's the video to jog your memory.

Soon after they came out with another video, that I stumbled across recently, where they go mad on 8 treadmills. Definitely time well wasted.

Youtube - - Instrumental Beatboxing & Happy Chinese New Year

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 18:47:40 GMT

An update is due but in a slight pinch for time so, for now, will leave you with this ~~these~~ videos.

Greg Patillo beatboxing with the flute. That instrument must be soaking inside.

Oh, and in case I don't get round to it, 恭喜發財! A Happy Chinese New Year to you all in the Year of the Pig.

Musical Quality and Musical Taste

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:44:03 GMT

..is the name of the (only) history course I've opted to take this semester. Aside from the let's have a cup of tea whilst we chat about Music attitude (the next lecture, it's speculated we'll be sitting in a circle; a laxative to more verbal diarrhoea), a few good topics popped up and I thought I'd share a few questions to see what you guys thought. Although I'll be talking about Classical Music, there's no stopping other people from bringing in their preferences, let it be House, Rock, Cantopop, Cheese, or whatever else turns you on.

So, what music do you like? This could be a genre, a particular group - best to take a particular song that makes you dance like the world doesn't exist, or perhaps makes your heart race/skip a beat. Now taking this example, why do you think it's good? Why does it make you dance like a madman? Oh, and saying "because it's good" does not suffice as an answer.

In the second half of the lecture, we were given excerpts of music to listen, from Classical to Monty Python. At one point, we were introduced to Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio : Movement VIII - Peace, part of his Classical selection of works. I'm not sure how many people have heard that piece, but to be honest, it's crap. Poor - orchestration, melodic writing and word setting, lyrics.. everything was wrong about it musically. I mean "The Devil is evil, with a D. And God is good, Without an O." What's that all about?!

Another issue was that it sounded like a parody, but was that the intention? When PMcC wrote this, was he serious? Or is this just a marketing strategy; he deliberately wrote it this bad, but is pretending it's not a joke. We compared this with Monty Python's Every Sperm is Sacred, a piece well done as a parody. Clearly there is a difference in professionalism.

As it was only the first lecture, we touched only the tip of the iceberg. We briefly concluded that factors of taste may depend on;

- Accessibility. The chance to listen to new music (lack of opportunity sequentially leading to the listener sticking to 'safe' familiar music
- As performers, repeated studies of music and rehearsals may change the way they look at certain pieces. A Romantic may come to appreciate Stravinsky, say, when everything comes together in a dress rehearsal
- Autobiography : Your taste is a result of history, and also a personal reflection of who you are
- Context : Your taste may also be a result of what's going on around you. Perhaps as an influence by friends and family

Of course that's not all. What do you think?

颱風呀!

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:15:18 GMT

Walking around London, it could easily be a Signal No.8, upgradeable to 10 here in the Docklands (well, maybe not). There's not point in fixing my hair when I go out, nature shapes it for me.

Hong Kong could probably do with more typhoons to clear out the smog.

Just keep writing, writing writing.. still..

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 01:51:05 GMT

I would like to say I'm approximately 60% complete, but in actuality it's a little less. Eyes are feeling the strain of staying up past my normal bedtime and I don't think it's healthy staring at the screen for a day.

The last couple months, my laptop would reach dangerous temperatures after running it for 20 minutes, doing nothing. Then recently, it started shutting itself off, which I identified as a measure of preventing damage to the hardware due to heat. After googling around, one possibility might have been that it may have been a motherboard problem as this model was prone to loads. However, considering the construction site outside and the roaming fluffball around the house, perhaps, I thought, the computer is clogged up with guck.

So 2 days ago, I took out the vaccuum cleaner and sucked whatever I could. I noticed from the fan outlet that there was a bit of something hairy lodged into the mechanism. I used a pair of needles and ended up extracting almost 3 large clumps of dust.

After, the computer has been able to run everything without any problems, though it may be too early to say, the prospects are quite positive.

On a different theme, I missed the eBay deadline for the item I bidded on, but no worries, I won it. Woo! Brahm's Symphonies, come to papa!

Just keep writing, writing writing..

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:40:16 GMT

I spent the last 45 minutes searching for books on Amazon and sorting out my wishlists, bookmarking tons of Cambridge Music Handbooks. Then subsequently went on to eBay, comparing the prices of listed full and study scores with online Music bookstores, like Boosey and Musicroom. Finally, I spent a few minutes looking through a particular shop's CD collection before it occurred to me that instead of browsing through Mahler's Symphonies, I should be discussing the teacher-student relationship between Messiaen and Boulez for my essay due in 2-3 days which is only about 22.35% complete.

On a slightly different note, if I win my bid on eBay, then I'll be getting Brahm's Complete Symphonies (Dover Full Score) in about 11 hours.

Just keep writing, writing writing..