Ignis Brunensis

So I'm after some frustrating experiments with blogspot's upload function I found that it was a far easier route to just upload my vids to youtube and embed them. So I hope you enjoy the fruit of my efforts in posting these, though honestly it's not that different from a screen saver :p I'll have to take better videos in the future so stay tuned!

Last week was the start of the annual fireworks competition Ignis Brunensis, which might be the biggest spectacle in the Czech Republic outside of them cinching IIHF hockey championship on Sunday :) The atmosphere is generally filled with that mix of Summer carnival and the energy of students both high school and university sensing their Summer holiday is almost upon them. The weather has serendipitously held up during the nights of the show, while during the day there seems to be an extreme fluctuation between harsh thundershowers then blindingly sunny weather every couple hours.

Just a small snippet of the first actual show which lasted for about 20 mins, at a certain point I have to put down the phone and just watch the show :p

Old World Beauty

Haha I know I’ve been bad, and have not posted anything in 2 weeks! So to make it up I’ll put up a block of pictures I’ve been building up since my arrival in Brno. Hopefully this huge mass of photos keeps you returning to the blog for more ;)

The theme of the post is old school architecture of the city of Brno. Honestly, I used to get a little miffed at the previous occasions when European friends would recant tales of their visits to the US and their subsequent general disappointment at how ugly the cities they visited were. I always thought sure Western Europe may be packed with a few more famous landmarks, but in the end there all just cities like anywhere else in the world right? I can’t really speak for the rest of the European cities, but in my short time in Brno I am starting to understand how drab the cities back home can seem, where only the commercial real estate makes an effort to appear impressive, but rarely in a completely awe inspiring fashion.

While Brno certainly has it’s fair share of the modern, it is 2nd largest city in the Czech Rep after all, and its fair share of the ugly, the period under communist rule did not do any favors towards making any worthwhile contributions to the city’s skyline, it’s the old school buildings that really gives this otherwise typical city its WOW factor. By “old school” I’m referring to buildings that were built as late as 1920’s to as early as the 1600’s all perfectly encapsulating the architectural fashion of their respective eras despite whatever renovation must have been needed since their creation. The sheer amount of flourishes that adorn simple random buildings every time you turn on to a new street can really provide a highlight to your day. If you’re willing to take the time to notice something will always catch your eye, and give you the realization that a leisurely stroll through city center has revealed art.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures, but you really need to visit rather than be comforted by vicarious viewing from my simple 6MP camera phone :D











The dreaded camera phone self portrait shot, just to show that these are indeed my photos, and I'm very much alive with all vital organs intact :)

Chill weekend at home

Great day :D, saw Iron Man 2 a week before the rest of the US due to an earlier release in Europe. Yes, it's super awesome as if that was in any doubt, and the easter egg after the credits had me barely holding in my nerd boy giddiness....

Hugely crazy coincidence ended up meeting some random guy in the ticket line who was not only from America, but was on a business trip from Blue Coat systems in Sunnyvale, and on top of that he's a freaking Silicon Valley local having gone to Saratoga High, and dated a girl from Lynbrook (a good..15-20 years before I ever got there but still.) It's just crazy being on the other side of the world and meeting someone who prob lives 15 mins away from my home :D

And .... :D Great day