Wide Lens Wonder

I've always been fascinated by wide lens pictures. Whether it's to shoot buildings, scenery or even person photography. I love the exageration effect it produces and makes you feel really close to the ground or the scene.
Here is a link to a good collection of them on DPS.
Note: Photo on the left taken by Wvs

Choices and Direction

At the end of the day, it's what matters most to you that gives you direction.
Life is about choices, and i believe that will guide me.

I don't know yet what lies ahead, but I know this is one of the best decisions I've ever taken.

May His presence be with us...

The Waiving Man

This photo of Bush & Obama walking in the White House is taken by AFP & found from quite an interesting article on Bush's most memorable pictures during his presidency tenure. Please pause a moment before continuing reading, and look at the picture again. What do you think is going on in the picture?

Excerpt from the article:
ERROL MORRIS (Interviewer): Yes. Why do you like the picture so much?
VINCENT AMALVY (Photo Editor of AFP): We don’t understand what is going on. Why does the shadow appear? I suppose it’s a shadow of somebody else beyond the corner. But the picture is only of two guys walking. It’s a profile of George Bush and Barack Obama. And he’s near the Rose Garden of the White House. And so in the back is a shadow of somebody who says, “Bye-bye.” And it is looking like a joke, but it is amazing.

My initial thought of the picture was that there must be some bodyguard behind them, trying to stop someone (presumably the surrounding press agents) to approach nearer... But as one of the article's readers' comment pointed out, it's actually Obama's shadow (you can see a little bit of his finger under Bush's cheek, that becomes part of his shadow). What intrigues me is that even the editor himself can miss the factual circumstance of a photograph. It just reminds me how perception of readers can be so much altered by a selection of photos put on a newspapers or even video shootage on the news.

Wise words from Seth Godin

From the blog of a business guru:

What are you good at?
As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.
- Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head.Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable.
- Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn.

While I don't really agree that Content is the easy one & Process is the hard part. (I think it can be well the opposite actually). I like the way he separates the attributes necessary to market yourself into the 2 sides. We always strive to achieve both.

Clearance Sale!

I don't usually get goodies at Sale, that's why I don't usually go rushing for them, unless I really know I will find what I need. But yesterday, I decided to push for my little luck once more & went to Plaza Indo for a book sale. So as to prepare for a possible disappointment, I went there to also watch a movie (Bride Wars!), and I even had a back-up movie (Bank Jobs) in line.
However, when I stepped into Ak.'Sa.Ra and digged futher in the fiction section.... waw... books at idr 50,000 & 100,000... and then I still thought 'ah they must be selling only the ageing displayed books that noone wants to buy...'. But what do u know... I actually saw a few familiar writer names and they were in that 50,000 rack... This must be a lucky sale for me...

I got myself:
- Haruki Murakami "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" - Collection of Short Stories. I've read his book on Norwegian Wood before & he does have a certain style: if it was a fabric, it would be soft delicate linen, if it was an activity, it would be strolling in the park. airy & breezy.
- Irene Nemirovski "David Golder". I've enjoyed her Suite Francaise a lot.
- Aravind Adiga "White Tiger" - This one not on discount, but I wanted to buy one of the newer best selling books around. The story set was in India, perfect! I'm currently loving books with a particular country & culture setting. It makes me feel like travelling when reading it.
- Muriel Barbery "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". I've never heard of her/the book before, but the cover review was interesting & I couldn't resist the material of the cover, it was smooth like a photo-poster print, but a little bit thicker.

I was thinking to buy Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' as well, but I was not sure if my eyes would last reading the 8-sized fonts novel. Sigh... it was also selling at $5.

My 5 days January trip to Jogja was mostly spent indoor and recovering (& by that I meant lazing around). My dad had quite a bunch of cool dvds on the table & there was enough selection for my time-span there. Three of them had Brad Pitt in it. All of them were good and interesting movies, Pitt is either so lucky or really knows which contract to choose.
- Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Watch this if u want to see Brad at his best flawless facial skin, like when he was starring in Legends of the Fall 14 years ago)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (There's been many movies on the real-life american version of Robin Hood, but this one focuses on how his life ended...)
- Burn After Reading (Pitt plays a dumb guy & Clooney keeps looking older, I still wonder why it was not titled Burnt After Reading)

Facts about these movies:
- 'Curious' was directed by David Fischer, who directed Se7en that starred Pitt as well.
- Shiloh (Pitt's daughter) played in the movie as well as the baby version of Cate Blanchett
- 'The Assasination's director of photography was Roger Deakins, who also handled 'A Beautiful Mind' and was cinematographer for 'Revolutionnary Road' & 'Fargo'.
- 'Burn' was written & directed by Ethan Joel Coen brothers
- I've come across the Coen brothers a lot in articles/spreads but never really noted what they are known for. After some online research, they are known for 'noir' taste. In fact one of my all-time favourite movie Shawshank Redemption was directed by them! Their other movie that i have watched & also on my luv-list is Fargo.
- Most of past Coens films had Deakins as Cinematographer (see 'The Assasination'). Words has it that the only reason 'Burn' was not cinematographed by Deakins, was because the schedule conflicted with the filming of 'Revolutionnary Road'.
- My fave pick out of the 3 is 'Assasination'. I was in awe of the cinematography rendered. I will write a separate post on it :)

Halo

I've been re-running the videoclip & enjoying the song "Halo" by Beyonce endless times.
Both the song & movie got this ethereal feeling right from the beginning.
I think beautiful does not need to be complicated. And this simple clip was what it was about.
Just cuts of light ray, snapshot of a couple's daily life, and Beyonce is already striking thru.

Just love it.

ps: There is also a rendering of the same song by amateur duet Rin on the Rox. They gave the song a 'happier' feel, quite worth to look at, so I'll just put it here. they've been featured in Ellen Degeneres Show!

day dream

....And I hope you realize, this isn’t just happy snappy positive thinking. Rather, it is a call to use your waking hours to think deep and dream big. For this will open you up to new realities, just as Edgar Allen Poe once said, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”... (Chris Orwig)

B'day Day :)

Location: Bali
Menu: Pork Ribs at Bebek Bengil, Dinner & Chocolate Cake at Double-Six :)
Activities: Strolling at Ubud, night beach swimming at Seminyak, and chilling out at Kudeta. Thanks to a company of great ladies!
Best Moment: Floating on my back in the waters, looking up at the starry sky & counting my blessings... :)
Most Precious Advise Received: It's a matter of choice: You can stay as you are & do no change, OR make a conscious change (for a better of me)

Welcome to another year :)

Lightroom Rave

This holiday, I've been playing with raw shoots & lightroom!
It's FUNtastic :)
Since I bought my SLR, I've actually been so far very satisfied playing shoots & direct publishing, no editing in photoshop whatsoever (except for cropping) - 'cause shooting it right at the first time has already been a challenge in itself .... That is until I discovered Lightroom & Raw files processing. It's fun & simple, so much easier than using photoshop!
Here is a very good tutorial website, where I've been downloading & reading its videos & tips: http://www.lightroomkillertips.com

Technology bites

Just discovered picasaweb's face detection technology. This s/b the coolest tech-gig this year or something! Just tag a name to a photo's face, & it will suggest other faces belonging to the same name! And it's scaringly accurate...
Wow... u can't really hide from anywhere nowadays... it's amazing, yet pretty creepy too!

The Last Lecture

"The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're here to stop the other people"
- Randy Pausch in "The Last Lecture" -

I just *heart* the book. You could read it as the inner kid in you, as an adolescent, as a future parent, or even as a seasoned parent. This gotta be my favourite non-fiction book ever... I hope to read it again & again.
The video of last lecture is in YouTube as well (1hr16mins).

the Blue Sky

You know you are a photo geek when you look at the sky & see the clear blue backdrop with spots of white cloud, and all you could think of is the 3-letters-word "CPL".
In Jkt, it is so hard to get a glimpse of this, that everytime I see it, I pause & just be thankful for the day.

Heroes.... !!!

"Forget your thoughts. What is your heart telling you to do?"
Parkman, Heroes Season 3.

Tips from an inspiring parent

Couldn't sleep at my proper bedtime. too much adrenaline running after a long meeting-run at work. Zapped the tv on & watched a dad's math olympiad winner daughter being interviewed. From the instant he answered questions on TV, I knew he was a good educator. What he said, and he really did say it nicely:
- Raihlah cita-cita itu, selama cita-cita itu gratis.
- Lihat ke arah mana interest si anak dan kembangkan, bukan kembangkan interest yg dimaui oleh orang tua, tapi interest si anak.
- Kembangkan interest si anak, agar dia bisa pakai itu sebagai arah dalam hidup.

Now, I realized I have quoted this not 100% exact wording, cause the interview sounded much better than the words I have typed in. But more or less, that was the meaning & I thought it was just good to note it down here, for me to remember...

And the little daughter, a probably 12 year old kid, the mathematics whizz actually said:
Matematika itu tidak dihafal, tapi dimengerti. Kalau mengerti, maka sendirinya akan hafal...

Hah...! It's really good wording, I shall say it if I meet someone who has difficulty in Maths. I really believe this, because that's what i've always (tried) to do for maths & physics :)

1 year after

- Looking back, I am grateful that we could celebrate the one year ocassion over the weekend trip he made.
- We had a shared foie gras at a resto next door, which was sublime :) nyam - nyam. i still can remember how the soft duck melted in my mouth :)
- After one year, we discovered that both of us had much saving ... in kilograms of weight, that is... hehe. he couldnt fit into his pre-wed shirt anymore, and me, of course u can instantenously see it from my cheeks :)
- We have a wish for next year. Well actually 2 wishes. not to tell out loud for now. but I do hope both will happen smoothly.
- Mundane Conversation we had:
A: Honey, how much do u love me
B: As much as the US Bailout plan
:)

Happy Anniversary Darling!

Retro Colors

Love how the colors by Kate Spade (1-3) and Paul Costello (4) interact with each other.
I would probably only dare to wear the 4th combination though.
Still, each of these pics speak for themselves beautifully.
ps. note the Palin hairstyle & glasses.

Scent of a Woman

I kinda have a soft-spot for lovely smell these days.
Some smells do lift me up and what I like best is fragrance that lasts longest across all my different moods
(Hence my favourite Summer of Kenzo).

Just browsed thru People's website & discovered SJP has launched another new perfume called "Covet - Pure Bloom" in a purple amethyst-topped bottle. Quote:
"The fashionista adds ultra-rare royal Indonesian pikake flower to the fragrance's tuberose heart, mixed with top notes of purple plum, fresh mandarin and coconut water and base notes of amber and creamy musk"

I was wondering what pikake meant & googled it. And it's actually jasmine flower. why dont they just call it jasmine, duh...

Anyway, I can't wait to smell it. Would it be as lovely as "lovely" (ooohhh this one is also very nice, but i think it doesnt cover as much mood as Summer).

ps: Tuberose = Bunga Sedap Malam. wow, this perfume seems to smell more like an aromatic javanese spa :)

Flight of the Red Balloon

Just finished watching this movie. My kind of movie when I feel I need something calming & refreshing...

Some notes on the movie:
- Like many other french non-action movies, the pace is slower compared to Hollywood movies. I feel that slower-paced movies give you enough time to connect & feel the characters in the movie.
- This movie reaffirms my believe in the difference btw general american & french movies... americans like to produce more adrenaline-wrenched movies, caters to most markets & easy to watch. While many french movies are little bit more poetic, the enjoyment of watching comes from implicit meaning of the stories. I'm not saying one is better than the other, I actually enjoy watching both, just depends on what mood I am on.
- I enjoyed this movie because, one, it reminds me of everyday's Paris. Many movies are set in Paris, but few show the 'daily' part of this. The setting chosen in a small old parisian apartment really gives you the smell of it. The apt is so small that the camera shoots were always taken from the same angle. It also gives you an attachment feeling to the movie.
- Second reason, probably, because I can connect to the main character. A busy woman, trying to juggle between finding money (work) and family. Sometimes, I wonder if I could be good in both, once I have more members in my family :)
- I thought the ending song "Tchin Tchin" (as in sound of 2 glasses clinking), by Camille, wrapped the movie beautifully

The Inheritance of Loss

Currently reading this book by Kiran Desai, and so far it's been a good read.
Excerpt:
"... The greatest love is love that's never shown."
"You say anything that suits you." (Sai)
"Yes, I've found it's the best way" (the cook)