first model kit completed :D

i told hubby that i read somewhere about pregnant mommies doing math questions for their unborn babies' brain development. basically i think it's not only math; anything that requires the mother's brain to function would help.

such as, working on a model kit.

and hence we went to the gundam expo 2013 and i got this~


source: web

hubby helped me finish it on weekend, before i gave up due to leg cramps and went to make sandwiches instead. anyway, here it goes~

 

  

gundam rezel, hg.

looking forward for the next one!

october 2013.

Ghibli Studio Diorama Collection

hubby told me he found some really nice ghibli statues at times square. he tried to look for totoro, but couldn't  find it. i've stopped buying figures and craft items for a while now, need to refurnish my finance (and since baby is on the way too :). yet ghibli stuff is tooooo attractive! then i receive some incentives for the patent i submitted last year, and hence i celebrate~

we went to xl shop at midvalley and found the second set of the diorama collection. totoro is in the first one, but the only item left from the first set was porco rosso. hubby helped me take the photo last night (while i was having great sleep on the memory pillow he bought me :p).

the secret world of arietty

based on the borrower by mary norton. you can find the children book series at kinokuniya. 

spirited away.

ponyo

mononoke hime

howl's moving castle

based on the children book by the late diana wynne jones.

i love calcifer.

*photos by gema

sept 2013.

miyazaki-sensei to retire?

"Studio Ghibli president Koji Hoshino made the announcement at the Venice Film Festival, where Miyazaki, 72, was not in attendance. Hoshino gave no details except to say that a press conference will be held in Tokyo later this week where Miyazaki himself will speak about the decision."

source: google.

antara anime2 paling awal aku start tengok ialah anime2 ghibli studio (selain yg ditayangkan kat tv macam doraemon & dragon ball). first one was grave of fireflies by isao takahata, tangkap nangis. all-time-favourite aku ialah totoro.

despite banyak gruesome controversies yang diada-adakan untuk filem2 miyazaki, masyarakat jepun generasi kita & atas kita, rata-ratanya membesar dengan anime2 diorang. ghibli is japan's disney.

aku suka anime ghibli. diorang still pakai 2D (walaupun ada anime2 baru yang dah start pakai 3D sikit2 dalam certain elements macam Howl's Moving Castle). aku pernah baca katne ntah, ada orang tanya miyazaki-sensei, kenapa taknak buat anime 3D? dia gelak, sambil jawab, "i'm too old to learn that now."

source

source

kalau korang tengok most anime dia, kartun simple je. indeed, every movie pun muka watak2 lebih kurang sama. background dia warna pakai watercolor. takde enhanced sangat, takde warna2 terang gemilang terbilang beserta special effects yang merapu2. the only things yang bergerak ialah celluloids watak2 anime, angin, ataupun air. tapi korang akan tertarik ngan 'dunia' yang dia wujudkan. korang mungkin akan rasa apesal citer ni slow giler, plot simple giler, and boring, tapi attraction dia ada. comel, klasik, dan untuk masyarakat jepun, brings back childhood memories. untuk bangsa lain kurang sikit la part tu sbb budaya lain. 

miyazaki sensei's office

miyazaki sensei's studio. aku rasa yg ni set up dalam ghibli museum? x sure.

anime dari directors & mangaka lain, feelings dia pun lain. kalau kau tengok akira or steamboy oleh otomo katsuhiro, ada rasa strained & depressed sikit ngan jalan citer & background dia. tengok millenium actress & paprika oleh satoshi kon, kepala kau pusing. tengok anime2 miyazaki, aku rasa idea baru & memorable.

aku jugak suka kreativiti dia olah cerita. ade anime dia adaptasi daripada buku kanak2. Howl's Moving Castle tu originally ditulis oleh mendiang Diana Wynne Jones. aku penah beli buku tu kat mph alamanda, memang best, aku lagi suka jalan cerita buku tu daripada anime miyazaki. tapi, anime miyazaki jauh lebih kreatif dan cantik.

dalam filem mononoke hime, dia gambarkan forest spirit dengan smart, and kalau korang perasan, dalam snow white and the huntsman, part antler dalam hutan, setting dia and feelings dia ada persamaan ngan setting dalam mononoke hime.

 

dalam ponyo, dia gambarkan tsunami tu disebabkan beribu2 mermaid berenang menjadi ombak besar. mermaid dia bukan macam ariel dalam the little mermaid. tapi ikan comel bermuka baby yang jatuh cinta kat budak lelaki yang duduk kat tepi tebing.

 aku jugak suka settings kiki's delivery service,  bandar tepi laut dengan gaya europe. indeed sebelum dia buat citer tu pun, dia ngan isao takahata pegi jenjalan kat europe untuk study architecture kat sana.

dan yang paling best, muzik by joe hisaishi dalam anime2 ghibli. tak jemu dengar.

ada beberapa anime baru ghibli yang aku belum tengok lagi, sebab aku still prefer diorg punya old anime start dari laputa ngan nausicaa. anyway compared to animation2 disney, pixar, ngan dreamworks, aku belum jumpa lagi movie diorang yang setanding ngan movie2 ghibli dari segi pengolahan cerita, kreativiti, & that feelings you're left with after you finished them.

bye-bye...

*seki-san dari last year dok tanya bila nak datang jepun. dia nak bawak jalan2 gi ghibli museum ngan kedai2 anime. masa dia asek datang malaysia untuk projek kat steelcase dulu, every time kitorang akan dok kongsi manga2 lama yang best. dengan status sekarang, nak cari kete, umah, dll, tunggu baby dah boleh appreciate totoro la kot baru kitorang dapat pegi, huhu..

*lagi satu tempat aku nak pegi - prague. sebab aku suka citer monster by urasawa naoki. final set up dia kat prague. ada membe2 pegi bercuti kat sana arituh, cantikkkkkkk sangat!


september 2013.

can anyone suggest a good sealant?

used to draw on paperboard coaster for commissions. after sketching and coloring, i simply sprayed on them using acrylic. the effect was good;- the colors were enhanced and they looked shiny. 

however, if you want to use them drink coasters (as the original purpose serves), you can't put hot drinks on them as it will make their surface tacky.

yet i love the coarse surface, it's perfect for cross hatching. there's no problem if it's used as just another art piece, but having a good sealant on the surface would be great as well.

i did find epoxy at art shops, but it's too expensive: rm 60 for a small can. the finishing is just like another epoxy sticker, not hard enough and could be tacky sometimes. it was then that my friend introduced a 2:1 hard epoxy they've been using in their engineering projects. i tried using below drawing, just a piece of sketching paper glued to polystyrene.

the mixture needs to be poured onto the surface and left for one day to dry. there're problems here and there: air bubbles, spillage, a bit yellowish, and stuff, but the outcome was awesome~

the surface becomes hard plastic! knock it, throw it, it won't break.

basically this method has been used worldwide to seal the surface of paintings and furniture, but to find a good and affordable sealant would be a problem; especially here. i went to plenty of DIY and hardware shops to find the materials yet couldn't find them. of course, there's a lot on ebay, but the prices are not worth it.

while still looking for sealants (a lot of requests on them, i've finished the drawings but they have to work as drink coasters first!), i made some tiles coasters instead. they're easier as i used decorative papers as the pattern. could not use original arts on this as the glue would smear the watercolors. 

  

..and some glass magnets, also using decorative papers..

..and finished some commissions..

it's cheating, but my friend says it's ok. she likes it anyway :p

i've made another blog sharing the *completed* crafts i made. there won't be much posts though, since i would not put stuff i haven't found solution for. hope u guys do drop by sometimes! :)

asphodel's craft

september 2013.

kereta kena curi, metallica, one-way astronauts.

1. brother-in-law's cars were stolen.

 the funny part:- sebelah rumah abang ipar aku tu ada 2 ekor anjing besar cam serigala. kau lalu la depan rumah dia, kompem dia hulur kepala dia celah pagar and menyalak kat kau. ada sekali tu masa aku ngan laki aku baru parking depan umah abang ipar aku, dua ekor anjing tu terlepas keluar rumah, tunggu kitorang keluar kete. maka kitorang pun melepak je la dalam kete sampai tuan dia panggil masuk umah.

so aku wonder masa penyamun tu datang curi kete sampai 2 bijik, anjing2 tu x menyalak macam gila ke?

2. metallica.

i) aku bawak bantal. pinggang sakit sbb tgh diarrhea lepas start minum susu anmum materna. skang dah berenti minum susu untuk beberapa bulan.

 ii) orang depan aku merokok cam !@#$, aku tutup muka aku ngan jaket pun boleh bau rokok lagi. so aku pegi panjat bukit kat belakang tu duduk atas rumput, tepiiii sekali, tu pun ade lagi 2-3 bangsa yang datang merokok jugak.

iii) aku dok tunggu the memory remains, siap nak sing along (sebab tu je lagu yg aku hafal lirik sikit2). tapi takde :'( nothing else matters sangat best, nak menangis aku dengar live. master of puppets pun feveret.

husband aku dok pasang lagu metallica dalam kete sejak dia beli tiket haritu. akhirnya baru la hari ni aku mintak dia bukak balik nightwish ngan machine head.

3. one-way astronauts

JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) & NASA ada datang uni aku untuk buat talk, aerospace club jemput diorang every year. pastu yang suka datang tu pulak pakcik2 fizik yang muka diorang macam einstein;- manakala students (aku) datang jugak, untuk tido.

first time aku pegi simply sebab aku pegi gatal amik tajuk mars rovers untuk assignment astrophysics aku, so since the talk was exactly about mars rovers:- spirit & opportunity (masa tu phoenix belum landing lagi);- talk tu banyak la membantu paper aku.

last sekali aku pegi sebelum grad (tahun 2009), masa tu diorang dah start cakap pasal nak hantar orang ke mars. benda yang aku paling ingat, pakcik JPL tu cakap, masalah diorang masa tu ialah untuk cari orang yang nak pegi mars, tapi taknak balik. ha.ha.ha. 

and then ada lagi other factors such as psychology, emotional stability between men and women, what to do in case of nervous breakdown, etc etc. plus, due to the 'requirements' of men and women, kena la hantar sepasang, kalau hantar lelaki-lelaki atau popuan-popuan kang lain lak jadi. kemudian timbul pulak persoalan patut ke diorang hantar pasangan suami isteri dan sebagainya.

so bila aku baca article ni and found out ada puluh2 ribu orang volunteer nak pegi one-way mission ni;- 

"uncle, has your problem been solved?"

***

pernah ada orang tanya satu soklan masa Q&A, "what's the real purpose of space exploration?" 

pakcik JPL tu tunjuk kat kitorang dua jadual. satu milik ESA (European Space Agency) dan satu lagi milik NASA. Jadual tu tunjuk bila next mission diorang ke bulan (return to the moon), ngan first mission to mars.

after kitorang compare, nampak 'race' di situ. bila ESA letak satu tarikh, NASA letak date awal sikit; dan sebaliknya. dua-dua berebut nak siapkan misi diorg lebih awal.

"it's national interest," pakcik tu jawab, jawapan jujur giler.

masa final year, untuk subjek aerospace material and structure, aku buat lagi pasal mars rovers (sebab sume data dah ade), tapi focus more on the structure and materials of the spacecraft and the rovers themselves instead of the whole story. untuk conclusion, aku masukkan jadual yang aku copy drpd pakcik tu and tulis komen jujur tu kat dalam. lecturer aku tak cakap apepe tapi dalam projek tu, untuk bahagian aku, aku dapat markah penuh :p

august 2013.

ramblings

had a berbuka buffet at boulevard with colleagues yesterday, collabtech's treat. the food are awesome, highly recommended. RM80 per pax if im not mistaken.

saba' cyberjaya is having buffet at RM 53, highly recommended as well.

hubby didn't join me yesterday; he went to amcorp hanging out with his friends. killing time, i spent almost and hour at artfren 'sourcing', and visited borders two times to look for habibi (couldn't find it). it was later that i went to mph and the girl who helped me checked the stock informed me that the graphic novel has been banned by kdn and hence it wouldn't enter bookstores. have to get it online then.

since hubby promised me to buy a book as raya present, i looked for alternatives. mph is placing 70% off on most of its graphic novels, you can buy Nausicaa at ~RM10. but i found this, and there's no discount :(



i'm a fan of osamu tezuka's works. even that i dont really like astroboy, dr black jack is my all time favorite (however, the other version of astroboy written by urasawa naoki:- PLUTO, is awesome). while most of his stories are light, the issues in this particular one is a bit heavy and controversial. next, i'm aiming to collect Buddha (why graphic novels are so mahal one??)

*been slowly collecting old mangas. you can read them online, but good books are best handheld :p*

*our Rosa has a baby! everyday we peeked into the aquarium for the hoglet. there were three at first, two died :( hope this last one will make it.

happy end of ramadhan, and selamat hari raya semua!

august 2013.