Ski: Carving style

During the week ends I continue to ski in Southern France ski resorts, which to be honest are not that bad. The main advantage here is a proper snow and no ice on the slopes. For training some moves (which I am doing right now) it's one of the best conditions.

Here I spent time skiing with some guys from Austria. It wasn't difficult to find them as one them is just in the same room. And they are really good skiers. I was amazed when I saw myself skiing together with them. Of course, not at the same speed, but yet... Eventually, I started wondering about the skies that they rented: one asked for carving and the other one slalom. I stick to carving style as my current skies are just right for that. And in this video are the results of this week end. I know that's far from the ideal moves, but at least now I can claim that I feel the skies and I go just after them, they are leading me, the curves became more beautiful... and the fun that you get has doubled!

Slides ant kojų!

Slidinet yra gerai visgi, 100%, o jei dar turi raumenys koju prisikachialines, tai aplamai pasaka! Slidinejimas si karta vyko tame paciame regione, tik kitoje puseje - Val Gardena. Vieta fantastine, grazu, sauleta, kalnuota (ne vien sniegas). Ir net sportininkus galima stebeti bei seile varvint ziurint i juos. O dar per pertraukeles skaniausi apfelStrudeliai gali praskaidrint dienele ir nuovargi.
Dziugavau siuo uzsiemimu visa savaite, is kurios te 4,5 isejo praleisti ant trasu, deja..Bet vis gi, na ir pavargau gi as ten.... maloniai pavargau..






Pavargau!

Off: IT Manager Evolution

New Manager


  10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
  20 END

Middle Manager

  mail -s "Hello, world." bob@b12
  Bob, could you please write me a program that prints "Hello, world."?
  I need it by tomorrow.
  ^D

Senior Manager

  % zmail jim
  I need a "Hello, world." program by this afternoon.

Chief Executive

  % letter
  letter: Command not found.
  % mail
  To: ^X ^F ^C
  % help mail
  help: Command not found.
  % damn!
  !: Event unrecognized

  % logout

Source

Muzikinis hitas

Aga, plagijuoju, bet tikrai veža tokie energingi veikėjai kaip šie :))

A visit to Lithuania

Visiting Lithuania in June is really impressive :) And it always was like that during the warm period of the year. However, coming back to Cote d'Azur is not a less pleasant thing to do :)

Having only a few spare minutes lets me to post only the views from Vilnius and its suburbs that I saw through the camera and not only. The only place that is missing is Trakai. Don't know how it happened that no appropriate pictures were taken. I think the food and drinks have filled my arms :))

By the way, at last I have declared my income taxes for the French government. It took me *only* 3,5 hours. And the rest of the free time after my return to France I was preparing for meeting the guests from Lithuania, which means probably a few (or even no) posts for some time. So, enjoy Lithuania ;)


Rotushe & its new fountain, Vilnius, Lithuania


Museum, Rumshishkes, Lithuania
(celebrating friend's birthday)


Orthodox Church, Vilnius, Lithuania
(searching for my grandma, who is an often guest there)


Cemetery, near Vilnius, Lithuania
(in the memory of my beloved grandpa)

Very popular person currently in Lithuania (on the left). I had a chance to visit him at the very first day of his debut :) I knew nothing when I came there (shame on me), but I liked it a lot. I wish a good luck to Irmantas Jablonskas!

Sriubu restaurant, Vilnius, Lithuania

Festival de Cannes 2008

Festival in Cannes is going on currently, it's a second week and this Sunday it's going to close. For this reason, lots of people all over the world are gathering in Côte d'Azur. Yesteday I and my colleague have visited it in the evening. The main aim was to watch an old movie filmed by Clint Eastwood in 70ies which was filmed in San Francisco :) All this was organized on the beach in Cannes, in the evening. Before the movie there was a band playing Twin Peaks sound track until it gets dark. The atmosphere was unforgettable... The surprise was to see Clint Eastwood on the same scene just before the movie and to make a nice shot of him.


Scene in Cannes






The band playing Twin Peaks




Clint Eastwood telling a few words

Adventurous travel back home

So, at last I got home from L.A., but not without any adventures :)) While flying from L.A. to Francfurt just right next to me an american guy was sitting. I found him interesting because he was drinking vodka and water, and also reading a book about fascism. Strange enough, hmm? Later we started to chat like where are you going - to Lithuania. I thought he was joking but then I read from his face: does she know this country? :D Yeah, that was trully fluctuation, cause he must have flew an hour later, but it happened so that he was flying with the same plane and sitting next to me and speaking perfect english and as it appeared good lithuanian. Kestas was born in USA, but after Lithuania has gained an independence, started visiting Lithuania. We chated all the flight about Lithuania, Europe, USA... he explained many things going on in America from the point of view of american citizen, problems they are going through like about 3 millions of mexicans are living in L.A. right now, like poor american people actually are living quite well... They just look horrible. As for the end of the trip that was really Wow! I'm looking forward to meet him sometime :)

Then I had a connecting flight in Francfurt and met a girl from L.A., Emely, also going to Nice, festival in Cannes, which starts next week. We met in a strange place - toilets :) She works as a designer in some newspaper (magazin) and was travelling alone from L.A. to N.Y., then to Brussels, then she missed her plane and got to Francfurt instead of Nice. She has spent about 24 hours in planes... and had nobody to talk to! That's horrible, sometimes there are days like that. But also I found it very intersting to chat with a young girl from L.A., who actually works in that star-business. Now I found out why do people stay in queues to get to the club in USA :)) The reality
is ridiculous, but it's a different story...

And in order to end the adventurous story of mine... I met a german woman traveling to Nice who is building a house on the border of France and Italy somewhere in the mountains. I think I convinced her to go to Grasse for perfume :))

West American national parks

I know, I know... I kinda promised some stuff about American food, but there's just too much stuff at the moment to write about. So, during the weekend we had unbelievable trip through western national parks of USA like Death Valley, Mohave desert, Sequoia, Joshua tree. And it's easier to show some pictures then to describe anything :) And this time I had somebody to take pictures of me :) Big thanks!

Also, after some time of hesitation I have purchased a new instrument for macro - Tamron 90mm macro. It suites well for pictures from the car as it has F2.8 and also is perfect for portraits. However, I was unlucky to find any suitable infrared filters, which is strange. Will try next time :)


Bad water, Death Valley, CA ("Below sea level")


Blooming cactus, Death valley, CA


Exploring off-roads, Death Valley, CA


Testing new macro lens, Mohave desert, CA


Object for testing :)


"Working" down the Grand Canyon, AR


Old corvette on Route 66, AR


Until the sunset

Reinswald ski resort

Italian Alpes

Slalom

Lunchbreak

Snow cannon

Young skiers

Telemark skiing (Norwegian)

Snowboarding

Profs

Aktyvios atostogos

Ka gi, siandien teko pargrizti is aktyviu atostogu, praleistu Italijos Alpese. Bazuotis teko Bolzane, Trento regione Italijos siaureje. Garseja Bolzano apskritis Dolomitais (kaip man - Dolmontinais) - labai graziais kalnais ir ispudingais ski rezortais. Dolmontinu rezortai ispudingi tuom, kad ten ir vasara galima slidinet, o taip pat ir kainos ispudingos. Kadangi as ne su stora pinigine ten vaziavau, o toliau testi slidinejimo pamokeles ir skill'us tobulint, tai nusukau i priesinga Alpiu puse, nzn kaip ji vadinasi, bet rezortai pagrinde aplink Merana ir ten ju daug - net 12! Tai praktiskai kiekviena karta galima buvo keisti dislokacija ir daryti sau note'us kur patiko, kas patiko ir pan., cool uzsiemimas :) Siaip parsiveziau kru-u-uva ispudziu, pavargau ir pailsejau po polnoj! Idomesni ispudziai:
- Pshekai Italijos ski rezortose
- Photo & Skiing = nesusiderinamumas
- Iveikta juoda trasa jau antra diena
- Traumu netruksta
- Kaip susitaupyt slidinejant
- Lietuviu studentu gyvenimo Bolzane ypatumai

Pradesiu ne pagal sarasa. Slidinejau visa savaite su viena iseigine (jau nebejauciu skausmo :) ), kelione pati uztruko su viskuom 9 dienas, kur po beveik diena nuejo tam, kad nusigaut nuo tasko Nica (tiksliau Grasse) i taska Bolzano. O prasidejo kelione 7:50, kai kroviaus daiktus i masina ir netiketai susitrenkiau galva su masinos durelem. Na bet kadangi as skubejau, daug demesio neatkreipiau, tik vakare pastebejau jau sustingusi krauja galvoje po plaukais. Ta pati ryta pavelavau i autobusa i Nica, kaimynas mane draugiskai paveze su masina. Toliau jau zaidimai su italiskais traukiniais prasideda :) Nice - Milano - Verona - Bolzano. Skirtumai tarp traukiniu kazkur po 2-20min., ir dar turekim omeny, kad traukiniai kartais veluoja. Zodziu per ta diena man nepavyko nepaveluoti niekur! O dar to pasekoje beskubedama Milano trakiniu stoty gavau kita trauma - kritau ant asfalto lenkdama kazkokia bobute-itale. Cia vel gi staigiai atsigavau, nes velavau ir tik vakare radau 3 guzus ant kojos, o dabar spalvota melyne. Visgi po 13,5val keliones as parsigavau i taska B sveika :) Pastoge gavau Bolzano universiteto barake, gyvenau kartu su ten besimokanciais lietuviais. Taigi be abejo for free ir not legal, kitaip ir negaletu but :) Kiti nelegalumai prasidejo sekancia diena kai vaziavom slidinet i Reinswald'a. Daug vietiniu studentu turi sezoninius skipassus, kurie kainuoja apie 250eu ir vazineja kiek nori. O tie, kurie nereguliariai vazineja, jie skolinasi is ju - nelegaliai, as prisijungiau prie vietiniu tradiciju :) Negi geriau 22eu per diena moket?! O dar tricky momentas, kuri studziai prauoste - Reinswald'e slidziu nuoma - pigiausia. Sezonui pvz. issinuomot slides + lazdas + batus kainuoja apie 110eu. Bet cia dar ne viskas... is tikro taigi slidet gali ir pas studzius pasiskolint, jei tavo ugis mazdaug atitinka ju :) Zodziu, prihimichint ten galima kiek tik telpa... Net nusigaut i rezortus galima nemokamai - yra nemokami skibus'ai, bet arba ne kiekviena diena vaziuoja, arba ne is Bolzano.

Vienas svarbus momentas sitame regione yra tai, kad naudojamos 2 kalbos: italu ir vokieciu. Taip nutiko del to, kad anksciau regionas priklause austrams. Todel jeigu nosi kisi kur nors i mazesni kaimeli, negarantuota kad kalbes su tavim italiskai. Be to pastebejau, kad man eina su zmones susisneket italiskai-prancuzsikai, bet tik ne vokiskai. Bet betkuriuo atveju, praktiskai visi kalba angliskai :) Riebus pliusas italams!

Taigi, teko aplankyt 5 ski rezortus: Reinswald, Meran 2000, Schnalstal, Schwemmalm, Obereggen (Dolomitai). Didziausi is ju yra Schnalstal ir Obereggen, kur pastarasis garsus didziuliu slidinejimo trasu pasirinkimu, per puse dienos gal didesne dali ir suspejom pravaziuot. Ypac patiko kad priklausomai nuo oru gali susirasti geras trasas, nes pvz. kai karsta, tai sniegas ant kai kuriu trasu pasidaro minkstas ir labai sunkus. Tai nuvarai tada i nesauletas trasas i toliau kaifuoji :) O Schnalstal yra garsus stai kuom:

1. Slidinet galima ir vasara, kadangi didzioji dalis trasu yra nesauletoj pusei (uztad ten LABAI salta)
   
2. Trasos yra 3000-3200m aukstyje
   
3. Ten pat rado seniausia zmogu - Ötzi, dabar ji laiko Bolzano muziejuje
   
4. Ten pat galima sutikti DAUG psheku

Aha, tai pshekai... Kazkaip jie man vis kliuna ir kliuna. Internete su jais net teko kariaut uz virtualius plotus Lineage2 zemelapy :) O dabar teko italiskam rezorte 'dziaugtis' ju draugija slidinejant, pietaujant, kilant keltuvais ir ypac jiem stringant. Smagesni ivykiai buvo kai atradom gera trasa ir pradejom ten ratus sukti, greitai iseidavo pakilti su keltuvais, fun :) Bet po kazkiek laiko keltuvas vis dazniau sustot pradedavo... ir galiausiai pamaciau priezasti: pshekai nuo ju nulipt negali ir krenta! Ogh... It was totally frustrating. Rezultate sitas rezortas surinko mazai balu, per daug jau minusu. Nors skipasso kainos cia auksciausios - 47eu/diena. Nesveikai siek tiek... Mano kojom tai labiausiai patiko Obereggen ir Meran 2000, daugiausia kokybisku trasu treniruotem :) Be to ir psheku mazuma.. Tokie pozityvus rezortai :)

Galiausiai trumpas pastebejimas del studijuojanciu lietuviu Bolzane. Kiek supratau is pasakojimu ten jau studijuoja kazkur tai 5-a lietuviu karta, todel daugelis sporto shaku yra jau 'apuostytos' ir studentai buriuojasi grupelemis: ferrata, climbing, skiing, hikinh. Tiek man zinomu siam momentui. Kas idomiausia, jie visur naudoja ta pati principa: pasiskolink ka gali! O taip pat vieni kitus mokina techniku, teko ir man gauti kokybiska instruktaza, aciu Valdai ;)

5 Centimeters per second

5 Centimeters per second - vienas graziausiu Anime (o gal ir aplamai filmu), kuriuos teko matyt. Siltas, nuosirdus, romantiskas... primena vaikystes vysniu zydejima, svajones, troskimus...

Mano pirmas Webinar'as

Stai cia jis guli. Pries kazkiek laiko teko susipazinti su webinar'o terminu pas kolega J. Salna puslapyje. Pamastai, kad funny toks terminas ir pamirsti. Na bet gavau gi pries pora savaiciu pakvietima ir paciai sudalyvauti, ir dar mane dominancia tema! Kur gi geriau sumastysi :) Jamam!

Siaip Webinar'o esme, kad per ineta ziuri i vaizda, dazniausiai slaidai, kartais ir ka idomesnio parodo, o per telefona gauni garsa ir gali taip dalyvaut. Simple! Smaigiausia dalis, jog pilnas pavadinimas Web seminaras. Naujoviskai skamba, kaip koks Web 2.0 buzzword'as :)

Taigi, ivyko jis 18val mano laiku, o jau po pietu pradejau jaudintis. Sedziu ir mastau: aha, reikes skambinti i USA numeri... kaip ateis saskaita uz telefona, tai ir gausiu malku darbe. Tai nuejau aiskintis kaip cia dabar, manes aisku nesuprato ka as veiksiu :) Na bet pamaste matyt, kad kazka svarbaus veiksiu, tai sake OK, skambink i USA be problemu. Tik pora emailu parasyk valdziai - no problem :) Atejo ilgai lauktos 6ios valandos, jungiuosi per browseriu prie seminaro, o ten man sako: "suvesk numeri - paskambinsim tau!" O cia tai as apsidziaugiau chaliava :) Na bet chaliava yra chaliava, po 10min nutruko rysys webinaro snekovui. Tada jau teko skambint, ir net dar 2 kartus, nes rysys luzinejo. Galiausiai pakeite webinaro numerius ir tada jau skandziai pratese monologa :) Bet kaip visgi cool! Kaip pagalvoji kokie privalumai vaziuot niekur nereikia ir moket nereikia, skaityt irgi nereikia :) Ir nauda aisku tokia, kad tie Open Source softo kurejai, jie dokumentacijos ne visalaik daug pateikia, tipo pats issiaiskink daugiau. Tai aisku irgi pliusas iskarto webinarui, gauni info is paciu kureju. Jo, cool viskas! :)

Capoeira

After some time of coming to Sophia Antipolis, you may know, that in Garbejaire (a 'village' in Sophia Antipolis :) ) these is an MJC (Maison Jeunes Culture - Дом Культуры Молодёжы) where you can find a big variety of courses like language courses, sports, arts and etc. I personally was interested in French language courses, but accidentally I spotted Capoeira. I googled it in youtube and found some interesting clips, which drives me crazy recently:

• introduction
• tournament
• brazilians

Basically, it's about martial arts combined with dancing elements. And even when they are fighting, it looks awesome...

Some new experience

Today I am very happy to share some really good news - it is a first lecture of French courses! And, that's not all:

• they are free!
• they are at Eurecome, means no need to go anywhere
• they are together with students!

The only minus that I discovered - they are organized only once a week. So, I am looking for other possibilities to get them gratuit :)

P.S. Also, I visited a hairdresser (at last!!!) :) It was extreme in a way... Cause I had to pay more then a was told several days ago. So, I was out cash! And, influenced by stress, completely forgot how to ask a bill in French (l'addittion) to understand why I was paying more. Lastly, when I brought the cash (it took ~30min), I got a discount for being a student :D I really need to take some tough French courses...

Issikrovus kuprine is po kelioniu....

...atrandi daug skaniu ir naudingu daiktu, kaip pvz. dalis ju yra nupaveiksluoti sekanciame foto:

1. Swiss sokoladukai

2. Alpine sokodalukai

3. Ivairus saldainiai, tame tarpe ir Hippopotamus :)

4. Tusinuku tik mazuma liko namie

5. Sasiuvinys

6. Deklas vizitinem kortelem

Kuriu nera foto:

7. Maike su BeaWorld20o7

8. Zalias besilankstantis zmogeliukas su laikrodziu vietoj galvos :D

9. Podstavke tusinukams, su laikrodziu ir kitais navarotais

10. Tase

11. Plastmasinis butelys vandeniui, ryskiai melynas - BeaWorld2007 :)

12. Dideles (0.5L) firmines (BeaWorld2007) stiklines (plastmasines)

15. Informaciniai kelialapiai turistams po Barselona, Viena, Zuricha, Monaka

16. Spalvoti piesimo piestukai Hippopotamus, bet tik 4 spalvos

17. Duso zele, sampunai

Oho kiek... Pasistengiau :) Haliava visalaik traukia, nebutumem is Rytu Europos :)

Back on track!

Gyva as, gyva! :) Niekas net nebande manes nuzudyt Barselonoj, o ir Vienos vietinio pobudzio lenkai nepasirode labai pyktais :)

Taigi, teko man biski pakeliaut, o pries keliones apturejau sveciu, apsistojusiu gana ilga laika. Per keliones teko aplankyt pietine Prancuzija, kadangi buvo keliauta su masina i BeaWorld2007 konferencija Barselonoje. Pietine Prancuzija pilna romenu statiniu: amfiteatrai, sodai, akvedukai, tiltai po ~50m aukscio... O pati Barselona randasi Ispanijos regione pavadinimu Katalonija, tai ten teko nosi irgi ikist - amazing vietoves! O ir Barselona su Gaudi architektura tiesiog pribloskia savo kulturiniais, architekturiniais bei meniniais kuriniais. Manau ten tai jau butu galima savaite explore"inti apylinkes ir vis but kuo nors stebinamam.

Kita dalis - Viena, kur pamaciau pagaliau pagrindine dali bendradarbiu :) At last! Tas buvo fun, nors jie tuom jau nebesidziauge, tipo seniai matytos rozhos... Che che, ten apturejau proga daugiau suzinoti apie zmones, su kuriais vykdomas tas pats projektas ir su kuriais karts nuo karto yra kovojama :) O Viena - primena kazkiek Lietuva - pilka, vesu, daug alaus kabokose :) Paskurinio resurso kokybes pagrindu apturejau gera laika ragaujant ivairu alu, parduodama kabokuose - nei vienu nenusiviliau! Veliau issiaiskinau ir is bendradarbiu, jog Prancuzijoje alaus jie nevartojo, o tik labiau vokiskuose salyse - that's right! Zodziu, pasijutau beveik kaip namie :)

Taigi fotkes veliau - neturiu dabar su savim. Na o keliones jau kaip ir baigesi, dabar toliau bus galima kibt i darbus bi dziaugtis sauletom dienom, nors jau ir nebetokiom siltom kaip anksciau.