非洲的女生似乎都有經過特殊訓練, 頭上都可以頂各式各樣的東西, 一串橘子一桶魚或是一籃可樂之類的。男生則是在路上以台灣賣玉蘭花的方式賣各式各樣的東西, 鏡子皮帶報紙各種奇妙的東西。

在坦尚尼亞時, 我們去了傳統市場, 於是來來往往的民眾大部份頭上都頂著些什麼, 像是我遇到的這位也許是剛從市場買了一桶魚, 頭一頂就這樣帶回家了, 真厲害。

[FYI]
Contax T2
Fujifilm xtra400

, originally uploaded by Michael Sun.

picture from photowalk, some urban photography in the beautiful city of vancouver. my first urban/street photography

(words by modest mouse)

today: stayed home and cooked pasta and realized that i really like the taste of evaporated milk.

on that day, venue was change to old town butterworth, and we have finished all the 350 invitation card with DVD included, the ticket also ready to distribute, now is time to promote and spread the greatest event to every clb99 friends.

all of clb99 friends, someday, if you meet us (the committee), please appointed yourself to collect your ticket and join this greatest event.

more picture update soon

Organic chemistry is a branch and specific discipline of chemistry. Organic chemistry deals specifically with the properties, structure, and composition of organic compounds. Organic compounds, by definition, are compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms. It is generally agreed that the science of organic chemistry began in 1828. It is then that Friedrich Woehler accidentally evaporated an aqueous solution and came up with the organic compound called urea.

Although carbon is not the most common element in the world, it is one of the most versatile. Organic compounds are composed of carbon and hydrogen molecules, but may also contain other elements. Some of the most common elements found in organic compounds include oxygen, halogens, nitrogen, and sometimes sulfur or phosphorus.

Most organic compounds are covalently bonded, which allows them to form long, complex carbon chains and rings. Carbon atoms are very stable, and are able to form stable covalent bonds with one another (known as catenation). Unlike non-organic materials, organic compounds will usually melt or decompose if exposed to temperatures below 300 degrees Celsius. Another characteristic of organic compounds is that they tend to be more soluble in organic solvents. Solubility, however, always depends on the overall structure of the compound and the functional groups present. A functional group refers to the parts of a molecule that make up its specific chemical nature.

Perhaps the most important and most studied types of organic compounds are those that contain nitrogen. These compounds usually contain parts of the amino group. When the amino group combines with the carboxyl group, amino acids are born. Amino acids are regarded as the building blocks of proteins.

Scientists and researchers use several types of methods in order to determine the molecular structure of an organic compound. Here are the most common methods currently in use:

Crystallography: Crystallography is the science of determining the arrangements of atoms in solids. By studying the diffraction patterns given off by a sample, scientists are able to determine its structure. This is the most precise method for studying compounds. However, most crystals are not large enough to produce a clear picture of some compounds.

Mass Spectrometry: This method involves examining the molecular weight and fragmentation pattern of a compound to determine its chemical structure.

Elemental Analysis: Elemental analysis involves analyzing the sample of the compound to determine its elemental and isotopic composition. In studying organic compounds mostly destructive methods, such as flame atomic absorption or graphite furnace atomic absorption, are used to determine the elemental composition of a molecule.

Infrared Spectroscopy: Spectroscopy is used to determine the presence or absence of functional groups to learn the chemical nature of a molecule.

UV/VIS Spectroscopy: Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometry to determine the nature of a compound. Spectrophotometry uses a spectrophotometer to measure how much light is absorbed by the sample.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): NMR spectroscopy is one of the most common methods to obtain the physical, chemical, structural and electronic nature of a molecule. NMR works by studying the magnetism of a nucleus by placing it in alignment with a magnetic field, and then using an electromagnetic field to disrupt this alignment.

About The Author John Mclain is an expert author at http://www.chemistrytalk.com, a site all about chemistry. Visit http://www.chemistrytalk.com to learn about chemistry and find the right equipment.

Et bien sur quelques unes de nos orchidées locales ;)

Photo Editor valt in die categorie. Een deel van de functies van dit programma vallen in de categorie dertien-in-een-dozijn. Roteren, kleur corrigeren, ruis verwijderen, rode oge repareren en bijsnijden zijn geen functies waar we warm of koud van worden.

Interessanter is de Make-upfunctie die allerlei penseeltjes biedt om portretten een flinke opknapbeurt te geven. Deze biedt zelfs een tandenborstel voor wittere tanden (ook bruikbaar voor oogwit!). Ook handig is het Straighten-gereedschap om scheven gebouwen recht te zetten. Vooral leuk is het Karikatuur-gereedschap en de Lighting-functie waarmee je je foto's creatief te lijf kunt.

Most of the students went to the spots the night before and waited patiently for more than twelve hours to just have a glance at Olympic torch. Millions of Chinese people along the Olympic torch relay were shouting one slogan: “Go China”.

read more and see the pictures in The Brooklyn Voice

Down Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that results when a person “inherits all or part of an extra copy of chromosome 21,” according to Encarta. The defect causes mental retardation. For McMahon, it greatly affects his mental capacity and his speech; he has a bad stuttering problem that many times affects his ability to express himself...

Read more at "The Brooklyn Voice"

Read more at The Brooklyn Voice

Since the 1950s, he has galvanized cinema audiences the world over (albeit in this country relegated to art houses and, ironically, grind houses) with his powerful brooding performances – transcending the language barrier with his trademark penetrating glare.  Truth be told, those magnificent eyes can literally stare you to death...

Read more at "The Brooklyn Voice"

It's not often you see Batman and Superman get this pummeled!

Via Joystiq

Since Independence Day is our country's birthday (in a fashion) we celebrated the way we celebrate all birthdays in this house: we had a cake decorating party. And how can one be gloomy when there is cake? It's hardly possible.

There was frosting:

There were toppings, in an appropriate color palette:

There was, of course, a cake to be decorated:

S4 commenced the requisite Taste-Testing of the Frosting (all-important, after my last fiasco with buttercream):

...and the verdict is....

...we're good to go!

There aren't many opportunities to photograph when you're swishing frosting on a cake AND trying to keep your busy little helpers from swishing frosting on each other, the table, the chairs, the windows, etc. Thus, you must trust me when I tell you that we frosted the cake.

Then came the fun part. Toppings!

Of course, no amount of admonishing my offspring about saving the toppings for the cake could keep them from sampling the goodies.

At least they got some on the cake, right?

Speaking of cake, they did a really nice job.

And how could one have a birthday cake without candles on it?

Yes, those are sparklers on the cake. It's the Fourth Of July, which might as well be "Fireworks Day" in our neck of the woods. Gotta have the sparklers.

And in case you think we aren't cool or something, let me just say this:

and this:

Yeah, Duff Goldman. Take THAT.

In other happy-picture news, I peeked out at the garden yesterday, and guess what I saw? A baby tomato!! It's so teeny tiny, but it's there! And my other tomato plants have flowers! Wooot!

And there's more. Oh, yeah, baby, there's more. Like, my first nasturtium bloom:

Nevermind that little bit of red lettuce poking up on the right. It was in my salad today.

Meanwhile, we have a wicked cucumber plant doing all sorts of acrobatics on the trellis:

Do you see the little flower near the ground? How exciting is that?!

Sigh.  Doesn't that just make you smile?  It does me.  I can't wait for all the plant sex to start.  It's very exciting.

It appears that the secret to happiness- in my case, at least - is to set cakes on fire and film plant pornography.

I must be really, really tired.

]]> http://miquiecrew.wordpress.com/?p=292 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:19:36 +0000 miquie's crew http://miquiecrew.wordpress.com/?p=292 on June 30th, 2008, there was a really bad storm. it stormed for over an hour and i was able to take a picture of the sky before it poured down. the sky was gorgeous. i have decided to share a picture or too. enjoy...

Beenleigh Station

Mitch and I met on the train into the city as we usually do. We live on the same train line, (the Brisbane - Beenleigh/Gold Coast line) he's 4 stops towards the Gold Coast from where I am. So he jumps on the express train which stops at my station and we generally meet in the last carriage. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the City.

We got off at Brisbane Central and decided to go grab some Japanese food before the lunch rush. There's 2 places we usually eat at, can't remember the names... But yeah, we were talking about how everyone seems to make a big deal about Ramen, and neither of us had eaten it before.  So we made a decision to go with the Ramen that morning. We got Miso Ramen and they brought it out and it looked pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of soup-like foods in general but this was pretty good. But, like, if I went back there (which I will, i'm craving Japanese food as I write this), I doubt I'd get the Ramen again, because I would prefer Chicken Teriyaki or Karaage (fried)...

But yeah, overall, for a soup, Ramen was pretty good. Although I have read that it is kinda hard to get "good" ramen outside of Japan. Now this was my first Ramen ever so I dunno if it was "good" or not, so i'll just wait till I reach Japan and try the various ramen over there. Another thing I've noticed is my Chopstick skills are getting a lot better! Yay...

After lunch, we headed into Uni and jumped into a computer lab. I tried to upload the Skydiving video but it wouldn't work, so I had to work a bit of my magic and finally got it to work. Mitch and I then decided to chill a bit and play some games and study up on some Japanese. We were there for a while but then we got hungry again. So we know of this place where you can get a full serving of Chinese for $3.80! So we went there before it closed, it was gooooood.

After that we felt very asian. Next paragraph.

We then headed to the Post Office to see what the deal was with Passport photo's and passport applications. Like we didn't know if we had to make an appointment or what. But as we walked in the door we saw a sign that said "Instant Passport Photo's". So we just decided to get our photo's done there and then. After a few minutes and $14 later we had our Passport Photo's. I look like the biggest Criminal. Meh.

Brisbane's Post Office

We also enquired about the Passport interviews etc. We didn't need to make an appointment, just bring all the correct documents down and they do the interview there and then. But one thing they didn't mention was any costs. I looked up the passport costs on the net the other day and it costs $200!!! WTF!? Guh... Well seeing as I have recording with the band next week and I gotta pay for that, I won't be applying for my passport anytime soon. Although all my passport stuff is completed, I've had my guarantor (my best mates mum lol) sign off on what she needed to sign off and so I'm ready to apply for the Passport... just need a wad of cash first...

So yeah, a few steps closer to Japan which is all good. I'm assuming my next post will be Band related and be about recording our EP. Can't wait!

Ciao for Now!

These days, Schlotzsky's is a morgue.  Seriously, I never see anyone in there.  It's hard to believe, but when I go inside Schlotzsky's. it's right up there on the "Bore Quotient" with Boston Market.  No music and the employees are uber bored 'cause they ain't got no sandwiches to make.

With great trepidation, I stopped by Schlotzsky's today because they are right next door to the tennis shop where I get my racquets restrung.  I literally stood outside the door debating if I wanted to get back in my car and go out of my way down to Smilin' Moose or just go to Schlotzsky's.  Fuck it, I'll give Schlotzsky's the nod.

My problem with this place is that their menu is really tired.  They don't ever experiment with new breads or  sauces.  Every time, I get the same boring-ass Smoked Turkey Sandwich.  Every fucking time.  This sandwich is so boring, I actually let them put some of their crappy mayo on there.  The only reason this sandwich looks tasty is because I took a totally fucking awesome picture.  But believe me, this is a boring sandwich.

My advice to Schlotzsky's:

• Your pizzas suck.  Get out of the pizza business.
• While you're at it. revamp the whole fucking menu.  It needs it.
• Toy around with some new breads, and sauces.  And I know it's not your thing - but add cheese to some sandwiches.
• Lay off the stupid olives.  You don't need them on EVERY sandwich.

This advice is free.  But if you want to talk more, I'll have to charge you.  I'm not sure how much, but it will cost you something.

Janelle Monae taken by Yvette (classic), originally uploaded by joeytoofresh.

Funky BBQs.

And Janelle Monae.

I love accidental music discoveries. I'd heard about her through OKP, but being wary of some bad OKP recommendations before, I wasn't quick to pick up on her stuff. She blew me away. Raw energy topped w/ punk-ska, J-pop, brand new heavies style hat sounds familiar but is completely her own creation. Wow. I was so excited that I grabbed Joe's camera and messed around with the settings. The pic above is the result and I think it captures the hyped up adrenaline of Janelle and the crowd. I also think being able to capture the flash was a nice touch.

Check her out: Janelle Monae

a police stopped near my car and asked what i was doing since i was in a rather unsuitable place, for long time. i was in front of a tree i've been following with my eyes for a while. but this saturday the 3 pm light was amazing. i wanted water in the glass, because i love how it affects the image but i still can't handle all the many alternatives the windshield has, dropping water, different speeds, so it took me a while since i got the right amount of little drops. this looked suspicious for the policeman. anyway when i explained i took photos of tress from the car my only proof where in the camera, so i asked him - wanna see them? he agreed, and said they were very beautiful and let me go.
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I made a mistake yesterday (and have since corrected it). Without looking at the large version of this photo, I quickly wrote it was Breckenridge. While you can see Breck from the top of Keystone, this is a view of where you can find all blue and black ski runs -- North Peak at Keystone.

Here is a Polaroid I took at right after the photo from yesterday. Note the obvious quality difference; but I really am loving how this one came out with a natural vintage feel.

pssst... you can see this Polaroid developing in this image

Here is the digital version to compare...

One of the goals I set was to learn a musical instrument.  I didn't think it would be that hard.  The guitar seemed cool, so I bought a guitar and learned three chords (I believe that made me eligible to join the Ramones!), but primarily earned sore fingers and gained a new appreciation for the flexibility of guitarist's hands.  I've picked up my guitar on and off over the years, but have never really had the passion or dedication to excell at guitar.  I have thought about piano too, since we have had one sitting in our living room (nice decoration) for several years waiting for one of our kids to learn (I'm not much of a musical example to them).

I think one of the things I am learning from this goal is that I must be passionate (or at least interested) about a goal in order to achieve some measure of success.  I believe I really set this goal with a thought to impress others, rather than having pursued self improvement - another good lesson.