JamieJakov Blog

Australia Day 2016

January 27th, 2016

Every year families all around the country gather together to celebrate Australia Day. Its the day that the whole nation celebrates the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, NSW. Australia has become a very multicultural society, but nevertheless everyone gathers together for festive barbecues and beach outings. All of this is usually followed by a display of fireworks in the CBD of the major cities.

Also, there is a antique car show! So Amy and I went to explore it. Old cars are so majestic, and the photos turned out great:

Родители и компьютер

January 23rd, 2016

Нашел вот такое уморительное видео про то как мама пытается сыну отправить файл по емейлу. Концовка вообще убойная, не ожидал прихода бабушки. Советую всем посмотреть.

Конечно у меня мама более продвинутая, она сама умеет книги на планшет скачивать, но когда-то и она вот так с компьютером общалась.

Taigagatari

January 19th, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQQLOJhGUYY

For Shafts 40th anniversary they made a special promotion called Madogatari, where they crossed Madoka and Monogatari. Which spawned some truly amazing art and merch. I wish I was in Japan to experience it, but alas.

However I have found something of equal beauty! A cross between Toradora and Monogatari. My two favorite shows together in one; can you imagine?! And what makes it even better, its Kugimiya Rie (Taiga’s voice actor) singing.

The song is Renai Cerculation, with my Taiga. Prepare for cuteness overload.

The Goal

January 16th, 2016

I don’t really read many books, but when I do, they affect me in a big way. This book made me question the processes we follow and actions we take in our everyday lives, and evaluate their value in terms of achieving “The Goal”. It was published in 1984, but the concepts that it covers are still relevant to this day. Personally, I strive for perfection and getting the most value out of everything I do and that happens around me. Trying to minimise wasted time and effort, and achieving most results with minimal expenses (financial and other).

Miku – ありふれたせかいせいふく

December 29th, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX1tiW2xOJs

Featured in Project Mirai 2, this song is a great representation of the robotic nature of Miku and the song itself is rather catchy. Even though its really challenging in Expert mode in the game, I enjoy failing it every time.

Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions

November 21st, 2015

When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to watch theatre plays, operas and of course symphonic orchestra performances. I’ve heard my fair share of Bethoven, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky. And during my high school days, I also played a fair share of their pieces as well, while being part of the school orchestra.

But ever since I came to Australia, I haven’t had the chance to go to anything of the sort. And the only time I’ve been inside the opera house, was when I went to watch a rock concert by Tenacious D.

This November, the Sydney Symphonic Orchestra is preforming a rather unusual set of songs. They can not be defined as classical music and they were not even originally written for an orchestra. These pieces are the OST (Original Sound Track) for the Pokemon games! The concert is called Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions and the orchestra performed a variety of soundtracks from all Pokemon generations 1-6. It was truly a beautiful experience to hear soundtracks that defined your childhood performed as a symphony.
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Sculptures by the Sea 2015

November 8th, 2015

Every year the creative minds of Sydney gather together and present a number of exhibitions at the cove between Bondi and Bronte beaches. This event is called Sculptures by the Sea. UTS Drawing Circle, being the more creative club, organised an outing to this event, and since I have friends there and I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to practice taking photos with my DSLR, I obviously joined in.

The weather wasn’t the best, but I managed to get some good photos. You can see all of them right here:

Eiga Dorobou Cosplay

October 7th, 2015

I’d say this was one of my most successful cosplays, if not THE. I have cosplayed a number of different characters in the past, as outlines in this post about cosplay. But our joint NO MORE Eiga Dorobou (NO MORE映画泥棒) with Amy definitely tops the list.

SMASH! 2015 was held on the 8th and 9th of August 2015 (yes its been 2 months, but they just posted up the photos) and so we decided that I would go as the camera guy for both days, and Amy as Madoka during the first day, and the policeman for the second. I can say for a fact, that the people loved us. We had probably over 100 photos of us taken in those 2 days. People were excited to see us, even though a lot of them had no idea what we were, or where we are from. Thanks to the Gintama Movie some people knew the cameraman from that, but only a handful actually recognised us as the characters from the stop movie piracy ad, played in Japan before every movie. It was a very fun experience, now lets think of what we can cosplay as next!

Here are some more photos: 1, 2, 3.

Anime Day 19

October 4th, 2015

Day 19 – Best anime villain

Who is the best villain? Well to answer this question, we must first identify who is a villain? Does he have to be human? How bad are his deeds supposed to be for us to decide wether he is a “bad guy” or a “good guy”? These questions are rather hard to answer on the spot, but I can definitely say that for me a villain is a character that acts against social norms, but not just for the sake of it, but because they have a good reason behind it. For example Lelouch is a great villain, because he has seen the world, wanted to change in, and accomplished his mission, even though he kinda screwed everyone over in the process. I like characters like that, as they have a good motive for their actions, and ultimately want change. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Anime Day 18

October 3rd, 2015

Day 18 – Favorite shone anime

Shounen eh… Thats a genre of anime that I rarely watch. I haven’t seen any of the big 3 (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) and have ignored most of the shounen stuff that would come out in every season (with the exception of Haikyuu of course). Thats is why picking a favourite would be most challenging, if it were not for Shaman King. This was one of my first anime, actually before my first first anime, because I watched it in Russian/English dub.

Why is it great? Well simply because it has loveable characters, none of that fan service stuff, none of that filler episode crap, a clear set plot, and a lot of funny scenes. That is what makes a shounen anime great, it shows us that even a teenage boy can become the Shaman King, but as long as what he believes is right, has a clear goal, and he has fun along the way. Even though the anime is old, I would still recommend people watch it, alongside with Law of Ueki, as they are very similar (Shaman King still better though).