Sometimes very sample things look so fascinating! They could remind us of a distant memory, a forgotten experience or a flashback to a dream! I love the sound of this candy dispenser machine! It takes me back to a colourful childhood memory that I never had! And for a moment lets me disconnect from this world, all my thought and concerns, and be lost in a different world! Wish I could stay longer … Close your eyes and listen first before watching!

This week I’ve been in Bournemouth training new recruits of my company. They have created an outpost within the art university college campus and I was sent down to train them for character stereo conversion. I used some of the shots that I worked on during the work with did for Harry Potter and overall I think it went well. I always like teaching and passing on when I’ve learned and experienced and this certainly wan as excellent chance for me too.

It was very interesting to be back in Bournemouth , where I lived for a year to do my masters degree, this time from a new perspective. I have so many different memories in this town coming back to me as I was passing by different parts. It’s been only a year since I left but feels much longer.

Just one of those random days. Shot on my Canon 550d with a 50mm lens.

The Question Mark, a short film that we made for our second term group project at NCCA, won “The Difference” award in the 11th Land Crab Film Festival. I have to admit, although Land Crab is not a very big festival and it’s more like a local event, and the fact that I wasn’t very satisfied with the work myself, when I sent the movie I wasn’t expecting it to be short-listed and obviously winning came as a complete surprise.

Getting recognized for having a different vision is definitely pleasing and encouraging. The Question Mark travelled a long way from being just a random sketch in my note book to become a film and shown on the big screen. It makes me want to tell more stories without the fear of being misunderstood. See the event below;

The other day I was thinking that there are so many things I need to do but there’s not enough time,made me wonder if even there’s any point in starting something, say a book, since there won’t be any time to work on them. In times like this you start to organize your time better and discover the time slots that you’ve been wasting doing nothing.

One of those times that goes to waste for me is when I’m on a bus or any other kinds of transport, usually I just listen to the music or day dream! and my imaginations are usually entertaining enough to keep me occupied during the journey , but the truth is that’s one of the best times to get some reading done! even when you are waiting for the bus (especially if you are waiting for the university transport which takes forever to come!), you can read a few lines which makes waiting less painful!

The other one which I recently discovered as well is when I’m cooking! last night I realized I spent 20 minutes just hanging out in the kitchen looking over my food! I didn’t feel I’m wasting my time but surely I could make a better use of it.

I’m sure there are other times during the day when we can make them useful as well, but if reading in toilet is one of the things you are wondering about now ! it’s not really recommneded since it might raise some health related issues. Check out this article from BBC websites which outlines some of them.

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Was invited to Bournemouth International (BIC) church for Chinese Mid-Autumn’s Day. They call it international but mostly Asian people are there and the  majority are Korean.  A very light and tasty launch was served (potato noodles, rice, kimchi and chicken and a small piece of moon cake) followed by tea! I liked the atmosphere there, although didn’t talk to anyone except the father who was Korean as well. Looked like a nice atmosphere to get to know people if you do the effort! especially since I saw a few of them in the campus the next day!

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They seemed unorganized and obviously they hadn’t prepared for  this meeting and just showed up thinking they know what to say, so there were a lot of pauses and they looking at each other! The first meeting with the academic team of the media school didn’t make a big impression! but maybe I’m expecting too much. The course starts next Monday and according to Philip Spicer the Programme Leader of MA Digital Effects, it will be really intense! he suggested we get as much rest as we can this week and repeatedly said “I kid you not!” when the students didn’t take him seriously! Although just by looking at the timetable you can see that he’s indeed not kidding! Main software taught are Houdini, Nuke and shake, although they emphasized that this is not a software based course and they teach “transferable skills”. It’s a very good approach but to what extent they can actually execute it remains to be seen.

A new city, a new university and a lot of new things to discover or to ignore! the first day (21/09) in the campus was overall a good experience. The day started with a presentation for international students which was short and to the point followed by a very boring sideshow of the cities where they are arranging some trips to take students. Next we had a brief campus tour and then headed to the information fair which was OK, nothing too special. Free lunch was provided for the first day and the tours to Bournemouth and Poole was the next plan. It wasn’t really a tour! and felt more like a transport! since they didn’t let anyone to get down and have a look at some of the interesting sites.

In the evening everyone was invited to the welcome reception which was a good chance to see people from different schools and join them to dine. There are many other programs arranged for the students (ISOP) to make sure there’s always something for them to do! although most of them are presentations which could be a bit boring. I’m hoping to have my personal issues sorted out by the end of this week and then start exploring the city properly. So far there’s a good mood in the air!

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