“Diversity is the pulse of creativity, innovation and human life.”

it’s a groomy monday. work is slow. i don’t have much work to do again.

i opened up my google reader again after ignoring it for months. after browsing through several articles on the RISD blog, i paused in front of a 30 min long video and clicked ‘play’. it’s the commencement address by Sir Ken Robinson on May 30th, 2009. and this video [watch] made my day!

not only his speech was greatly thoughtful and entertaining (like a British stand-up in a way, and his British accent makes him sound even more intelligent and humorous), most importantly i found as if this speech was made out just for me. his speech is around creativity and how talents + passion + determining and pursuing = success. Ken Robinson also just published a book called “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything“. The element is what he identifies as “the point where the activities individuals enjoy and are naturally good at come together.”

today, i feel a strong need of finding my element, and ‘pursuing’ is the missing part of my equation to success.

my favorite quote of his speech is:

“Diversity is the pulse of creativity, innovation and human life.” — Sir Ken Robinson

great finds of the week – design

just a list of intriguing images:

Cloud Unmbrella designed by Joonsoo Kim.

5 min candles.

1000 Acres Vodka Packaging by Arnell

Cloud is a sofa concept with soft floating upper part which is supported by the magnetic force generated by the bottom base.

KORB – amazing video-art

i seriously can’t track back how i found Korb. it looks like a video-art group from Lithuania, who does video art/design and animation. This is their official website. you can find both personal and commercial work. There are some really amazing and inspirational stuff.

my favorite is KU KU (short film). it reminds me a Japanese short film – Missing Pages. Missing Pages is a 24 min short derived from 40,000 digital still images in a super cool method called fotomation. omar also wrote about Missing Pages on his blog. this is part 1 out of 3 on youtube. remember to watch the other 2 parts.

back to Korb. This is an amazing music video they made for Mario Basanov & Vidis, called “I’ll be Gone”.

张悬’s melodies are deserts for ears

Recently, I noticed Zhang Xuan on last.fm. She is a Chinese indie singer-songwriter.  She also goes by the name Deserts.  Her style is simple relaxing melodies that make you feel like sinking into the most comfortable bed. Her voice is exactly the type of female voice I love. It’s mature, vibrant, and magnetic. I also love some of her music videos, which got some nice experimental feel. I am just playing catch up here, she has been popular for years, haha.

Her debut album is My Life Will…. She also has an unofficial release named Maybe I Don’t Care.

Best of the Best – World Poomsae

i am training for US Poomsae team qualifier right now. Mass State Qualifier is on March 28th. Think about it, it’s only 2 weeks away, and i have not been serious about training. it seems there will be some strong teams and individuals presence at Mass State. The only way to qualify is winning gold in a division. it’s time to cram again (something i am quite familiar with, haha). ok, seriously.

the new poomsae standard is a funny thing. at this point, the best way of learning is watching best of the best on the world poomsae stage. i took some time, consolidated this list, so it will save me time in the future to find them quickly. i hope you will find this helpful also.

resources that i am focusing on are 2008 World Poomsae Championships and Kukkiwon  Poomsae Dvd (2007).

* Sipjin

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 1st place: Rabia Kim, Ozlem Tumay, Elif Aybuke Yilmaz (Turkey). (score: A-4.30, P-4.15, T-8.45) [watch]

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 2nd place: Sanaz Khorami Pour, Nastaran Maleki Aderani, Golsoum Mollamadadkhani (Iran). (score: A-4.29, P-4.12, T-8.40) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.17, P-?, T-8.??) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 2nd place: Serim Olgun Bektasoglu (Turkey). (score: A-4.10, P-4.03, T-8.13) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 1st place: Nguyen Minh Tu, Nguyen Dinh Toan (Vietnam). (score: A-4.50, P-4.30, T-8.80) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.40, P-4.20, T-8.60) [watch]

* Pyongwon

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 1st place: Rabia Kim, Ozlem Tumay, Elif Aybuke Yilmaz (Turkey). (score: A-4.29, P-4.17, T-8.46) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 2nd place: Sanaz Khorami Pour, Nastaran Maleki Aderani, Golsoum Mollamadadkhani (Iran). (score: A-4.27, P-4.15, T-8.42) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.43, P-4.27, T-8.70) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 2nd place: Serim Olgun Bektasoglu (Turkey). (score: A-4.23, P-4.17, T-8.40) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.17, P-4.00, T-8.17) [watch]

* Taebaek

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 1st place: Rabia Kim, Ozlem Tumay, Elif Aybuke Yilmaz (Turkey). (score: A-4.30, P-4.17, T-8.47) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 2nd place: Sanaz Khorami Pour, Nastaran Maleki Aderani, Golsoum Mollamadadkhani (Iran). (score: A-4.30, P-4.13, T-8.43) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.20, P-4.09, T-8.29) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.17, P-4.00, T-8.17) [watch]

* Keumgang

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Female 1st Team (14-35 years). 1st place: Rabia Kim, Ozlem Tumay, Elif Aybuke Yilmaz (Turkey). (score: A-4.30, P-4.17, T-8.47) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.42, P-4.27, T-8.69) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 3nd place: Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.30, P-4.17, T-8.47) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 1st place: Nguyen Minh Tu, Nguyen Dinh Toan (Vietnam). (score: A-4.33, P-4.20, T-8.53) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.33, P-4.17, T-8.50) [watch]

* Koryo

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 1st place: Nguyen Minh Tu, Nguyen Dinh Toan (Vietnam). (score: A-4.30, P-4.17, T-8.47) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.30, P-4.20, T-8.50) [watch]

* Taegeuk 8

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.39, P-4.30, T-8.69) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 2nd place: Serim Olgun Bektasoglu (Turkey). (score: A-4.27, P-4.13, T-8.40) [watch]

* Taegeuk 7

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Male 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Bo-Hyeon Kim (Korea). (score: A-4.20, P-4.13, T-8.33) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Male 1st (19-30 years). 2nd place: Nguyen Dinh Toan (Vietnam). (score: A-4.10, P-3.97, T-8.03) [watch]

* Taegeuk 6

• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 1st place: Yu-Jin Kang (Korea). (score: A-4.37, P-4.30, T-8.67) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. Individual Female 1st (19-30 years). 2nd place: Serim Olgun Bektasoglu (Turkey). (score: A-4.30, P-?, T-?) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 1st place: Nguyen Minh Tu, Nguyen Dinh Toan (Vietnam). (score: A-4.30, P-4.13, T-8.43) [watch]
• 2008 World Poomsae Championship. 1st Pair (14-35 years). 2nd place: Juan Miguel Gomez Gomez, Laura Kim Kim (Spain). (score: A-4.27, P-4.17, T-8.44) [watch]

public art is fun

couple of public art that i’d like to share:

1. 3D pavement art by Edgar Müller.

i have heard of this type of work. they are truly amazing. it’s all about visual perspective tricks (my favorite chapter in psychology classes).  check them out.

watching the making process is more amusing.

2. the aquarium phone booth in France by artists Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino. this piece was make as part of the Lyon Light Festival in France (Dec, 2008).

browsing through other installations from the festival… just making me really want to be there in person.

81st Academy Awards and more

this year, i felt a drift from Hollywood films and Oscar nominees in a good way. So called Hollywood style is now blended with indie and international styles more than ever. It’s like the globalization of film industry while snapping more experimental stuff with it.

Slumdog Millionaire is a good example. A British film with British director and screenwriter, based on a Indian novel, the mean character as British actor and mixed with other Indian actors/actresses, filmed in Mumbai, and mixed western film with Bollywood style. The result is… the Awards told it. I do love the movie, but at the same time, a part of me feels it is overrated in the States (a little but no quite the same way that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was overrated). I feel most US audience are not exposed to indie films like this, but there are many indie films with equal quality, creativity and impact somehow were never flown down to general audience. Hope this film has waken up the separated film industries, and inspire more collaborations. it’s the era for mixed breeds.

Wall.E is the best animation film I have ever seen in a LONG time. Very very happy for Pixar.

Here are couple of US films of 2008 that I love but didn’t get nominated for Oscar. and surprisingly, they don’t fall into my normal taste of films.

Also Oscar is Oscar, I wouldn’t hang myself around it too much, as I don’t judge a film only based on IMDB rating, especially for international films.

No doubt, this is a super controversial film. Two thumbs up to Bill Maher for just making it. Not mentioning how witty every line is. It’s very entertaining to watch. But I can imagine how offensive it is for some people.

This movie surprised me. Directed, produced and acted by Clint Eastwood. This is also his last film. He wins the lifetime achievement award in my heart.

This is a must-see! But have to warn you to process/filter what you see in the movie well before taking it in. Just super interesting stuff.
my to see list (realizing i am behind, haha):

Nikon SB-400 AF Flash unit

I have been dreaming for a flash unit for a while. As all professional photographic equipments, a flash unit is quite expensive too. Jordan has been on top of getting me a flash unit. He read many reviews on the internet, and surprised me with a Nikon SB-400 as valentine’s day gift by spending what a dozen roses would normally cost on that “special” day. that’s what i called a good functional valentine’s day gift =]

For detailed reviews, here is a good one:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb400.htm

Here is a good entry about DIY flash and lighting hacks (thanks to bobby).

http://digital-photography-school.com/diy-flash-and-lighting-hacks-for-digital-photographers

These are some photos I took to compare the build-in flash on D90 and SB-400. you can judge them yourselves =]

This is jordan:

::with build-in flash::

::with SB-400::

here is mochi:

::with build-in flash::

::with SB-400 flash::

thanks jordan!

DIY – chandeliers

I have always liked chandeliers. It can be that one dominating element defines the mood of a room. Chanderliers are elegant, expressive, and massive. I think it works the best when the there is a big contrast between the room and the chanderlier itself, in style, color, or contour complexity.

The sad part is that chanderliers are expensive. I will never spend hundreds of dollars on one (at least not in the next 10 years). For our neat and simple living room, I was invisioning to spice it up with a beautiful retro styled chandelier. After couple days of looking around, I realized that we couldn’t afford one. So this is what I did. It took me 4-5 nights of work, about 1-2 hours each night.  The most challenging part is making it as symmetrical as possible with free hand drawing.

Here are some other cool DIY chandeliers I found on the web. Pretty inspiring stuff. Hope you will find them inspiring also.

Dram lamp by Propellor, made from vintage tumblers

Silverware!

wine glasses!

CD cases!

socket chandelier!

The Chiquita Chandelier

Recycled glass chandelier

Paper Clip Lamp, handmade from over 4,000 little clips!

It turns out, I actually know people who worked on this photograph. What a small world! Now I can give each of them credit =]

The Photographer was Adam Chinitz. Assistant was Christopher Annis (my friend, check out his website!). The Room design is by Drake Design.

little research on airfares – interesting facts to know

My fiance and I just started planning our around-the-world trip (Boston to Beijing to Sofia, Bulgaria and back to Boston), not just for fun, but also to meet each other’s families before the big day. We were thinking June would be a nice time. He won’t have school stuff for sure, and it’s not too hot yet in China.

Yesterday, my inner voice was telling me it’s about time to check out the airfare, and start planning the trip. good thing that i listened. I used my favorite travel site [kayak.com], and the result was scary. The cheapest airfare was about $3K per person. It felt like I was just being robbed or something. Somehow, the airfare stat data charts were there anymore, or maybe i was blind. They normally show airfare trend depending on when you book the flights and when you are travelling.  

There are some many variables in airfare these days. So I did a simple research today and found this very useful site and video to share.

http://farecast.live.com

the video is here:

Some very interesting fact there indeed. Sad that there isn’t a graph for US to Asia. But I think it prob will be about the same as Europe with small different peaks around Chinese holidays. But US holidays will still be dominating factors of the peaks. And summer is always a hot season for travelling.

In our case, we should consider moving the days to May. Wow, it seems so close now, can’t wait! … just realized that Jordan won’t be able to test for his black belt in May and we will have to miss the spring banquet too… and who said this world is perfect???

also, 2009 is a different beast. With current economy situation, things might be quite different. First, consumer demand is week, airline will in turn lowerr their prices to fill those seats. Secondly, if the oil price stays low, airlines might pull back on surcharges and fare will drop too. So 2009 should be a good year to travel. There are could be lots of other travel related deals.

Here is a post for spring break tips:

http://farecast.live.com/blog/2009/02/spring-break/