"Art is a lie that shows us the truth" - Pablo Picasso







Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Revue Lux 2003 film projector


I got this projector at a flea market in Trier ("Floh Markt"). After some haggling by my tita Erma, we got this for 5 euros. At first I didn't really expect it to work, since we got it cheap, plus it was raining that time and although I tried my best to cover it, some moisture crept into it. It also didn't come with a power plug (I bought one at Saturn in Trier). But after plugging it in, it seems to be in working condition. The motor runs smoothly, and the bulb seems to be in perfect condtion. As of this time, I haven't really found anything about it online, and I really don't know how to operate it. I'm still waiting for a super 8 film I bought from eBay to test it. Some info and tips would be much appreciated. Updates soon.

Monday, December 28, 2009

My Super 8's

Hi All. Ages ago I ranted about culture shock, employment difficulties, unfair labor laws, etc. Seems I got the thinking that a blog about my problems would interest anybody and maybe even get me a job. Now although I still believe that the two afformentioned blogging reasons are still possible, I decided to make this blog more about my hobbies (passions?). Because I figured, this is way more fulfilling and easier to write about than my ongoing problematic life.




And so, after music and instruments, Capoeria, boxing, art and doodling, DJing, now its Super 8 (I still love all of these, mind you). I've been reading about super 8 filming and cameras for a while now, but only when I got the chance to buy an actual camera from a flea market in Trier that I really got into this world (that camera turned out to be defective).




So here's what I have so far. Articles on each coming soon.




Monday, October 26, 2009

?


Is this the beginning of the end?

Daniel

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Chicken Cacciatorre

I hope I got the spelling right. It was a really nice recipe to cook...haven't tasted it though lol. I hope Tina will like it. Thanks to Chef John at foodwishes.com

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Long time no hear/Things to come

Hello everyone..I hope you are all well.It has been a while since my last post.I dunno, maybe I'm having this lazy spell or something..Oh well. Been through a lot since my last post, but I don't think I'll go into that now..I will list what I will write about soon though..

I think I'll do a review of the Toshiba Camileo S10..and maybe a blog on my trials and tribulations on taking on the Luxembourg Law on Work Permits..

Friday, May 15, 2009

Ha-yah! Chinese Spareribs!




Wow, did not expect to get that good of a taste (allow me this one time for carryin my own bench here) for my first ever Chinese Spareribs. We had some laying around in the freezer for a while now, so I decided to cook that (plus we've had seafood for the last 3 or so days). I looked up youtube and found this video http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E526AA352EA27CA5&search_query=cooking . Instead of the cooking wine, I used Vodka and then I also added some honey in the end.

Anyway, it tasted really great and the best thing for me was when Tina liked it so much.Yum!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Still working on a dream

Hi all.Quite a while since my last post. I dunno, didn't feel like posting for a while. Have a couple of job leads. And just today, I gor a reply from the Catclub mgmt. Will see if I can musster enough courage to arrange for a test (which costs 9 euro by the way). Heard my brother Dennis got promoted. Really happy for him. But of course, it had me looking down on myself again. I'm trying to fight the feeling. I'm stiil working on that dream

Sunday, May 3, 2009

3 days away

Hi all. Was at mich's for three days helping out with the house..having a bad bloc case...

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Trailing Male

Yes,that's right,Thats what I am. Yesterday was a helluva day. So big in fact that I ended up getting out of bed at 10am this morning.

A lot of things happened yesterday. First I read a book online and was introduced to the notion of a "trailing male". That is, a male spouse following his already-with-work wife abroad? Ring any bells? Yup, thats me. It was such a relief to find out that my predicament was recognized, and that there are others like me. It put a lot of things in perspective. And, like to process of getting over an addiction, it was comparable to the first step which is "to recognize the problem".

I went to the city in the afternoon to fix some paperwork and who do I see? Dennis, another trailing male like me. We had some drinks (well, a lot of drinks) and had fun just talking about stuff. We even met this girl Christane. She was really nice to talk to as well.

Overall, yesterday was a real eye-opener. Here's hoping that the momentum will stay.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Near future


Has a nice ring to it,eh? Oh well,I just hope mine will be a good one. One might say that I'm not really doing anything to make that happen..well...I'll get to that in a minute.


Today is going ok relatively...Had folks come in this morning so I had a sense of purpose for this day. That mainly being food. I prepared some pasta. Not difficult at all. Done it a couple of times already. The dish was received well. It's a nice feeling when something you've poured some effort to is appreciated. But then you know that, don't you. Anyway,that went well.


After that, hit the books once again for some French. It's both a nice distraction, something to pass the time, and also a very important aspect of my finding anything here (i.e. a job). That went well too, with the lesson progressing to Near Futures using the different conjuctions of the verb "aller" plus the present tense of any verb..So that gives us "going to..(verb).." . I really liked that lesson. It sort of opened more possibilities and, I should say, greatly increased my "french bank". I still have to put it to practice though.


Which brings us to my weird statement up front. Yes I used the lame relevance of the french lesson with my personal trials and tribulations..but as the language had lessons for me, so did life. Today it sort of dawned on me that nobody will pick me up here...NOBODY...there's only me. There will be no magical job opening that will land on my lap. There will be no out-of-the-blue kind person offering me a company position. Nothing of that sort..So, if I really want that self respect, and the respect of other people that I so badly want...if I really want that Flip MinoHD camera, or that Jean jacket from Esprit, that Nikon D40 , the Dell studio MT, the Kaoss Pad 3, (ok we get the idea), I have to really get off my ass here. I cannot rely on anybody. It's as simple as that. Do I want it bad enough?


Learned to prepare the French staple "croque Monsieur" from youtube. Seems it is prepared differently by diff people. I think I have all the ingredients, save the actual "jambon" which i can purchase at Del Haize across the street. Sure to try it one of these days. Keep you posted.


Oh,and that picture? It's the snack I had...Your usual coffee and "beucoup de bonbon". Better watch it suger levels will go up (or my teeth will be f/%ç/cked).


Hmm..what's for dinner?

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Back from Trier

Went to my aunt's place in Trier, Germany. Had a nice time. Saw the Aphitheater and Porta Nigra from the inside. Nice. Somehow, I don't feel the words coming right now to write about it all. I don't know..still feeling lower than ever.;;hope this doesn't stick...just now really pissed off because I'm having memory card trouble with this aspire one..sigh..the photos from our little trip are on my multiply and facebook pages..

Friday, April 24, 2009

4 Bofferdings and counting..


Well thats that..Bofferding is pretty nice I guess. I think I've had too many bad experiences on Sagres and Super Bock..Diekrich would be secondary too. I would prefer belgian beers. But what I really want right now is a nice cold bottle of Pale Pilsen or A big ol' Red Horse. What I woudn't give for that right now.


The fried chicken experiment didn't go over too well. I guess the better thing to do is just coat the chicken with salt directly, then the coating of flour or whatever, then the frying. I should definitely stick with that then experiment on other aspects.


Chatting with scott. That guy is the real deal. Real nice guy. Very positive. All he has, I think, is not in small part to his very positive attitude. Wish I was like that.


I just want to say it flat out.."I'm losing it"..I think I am..I dunno..I just don't know. Maybe I just say that to chicken out on responsibilities..I just don't know. I better get a job fast. Or I'll definitely lose it..

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Good Morning Gasperich

Hi All.Woke up early today.Cooked some sardines for breakfast.Well, I didn't really cook them..they came in a can.I just sort of, put in some olive oil and some onions with them in a pan.Smells good though. Smoked my morning cig, or as Ann Marie calls 'em, "fag". And relished one of my newly acquired hobbies, watching cars go by through our balcony.

"On ne peut désirer ce qu'on ne connait pas..You cannot desire what you do not know" - Voltaire
I came across this quote last night and found it very interesting. Relating it in a pessimistic way and regarding my situation..does it mean that I don't have the right to want the jobs here because I know nothing of them? Of course thats not what the quote meant in context. It may mean that it would be impossible to want something you dont know about like the Dell Studio mini tower if you have your old desktop still with you and you're quite satisfied with it.Thats where advertising comes in. Still, I thought about my unemployment again, as I do everyday..I have to get off my ass really..and just look for the damn job..

Good morning Gasperich!

of shrimp and porkchops

Woke up still a little dazed, from too many beers and smoking the night before.And so,breakfast was unfortunately skipped. We still had a tray of frozen shrimp in the fridge, and how to prepare that was what I was thinking about. So, i looked up recipe videos on Youtube, and sure enough Peachy had a nice one for me. It seems she is in Europe,because she bought her shrimps for something euros. I think she is in Italy because the cameraman, who seemed to be her husband, was referred to her as mi amore. Anyway, it was basically shrimp with sauteed garlic, and zuchini. Now I didn't have zuchini at the house, and the only things that I had with starch in 'em (as what peachy mentioned about zuchini) were carrots and potatoes. So in they went. The dish was..pretty ok. It was clear I had a lot of improvements to do. No biggie, I DO have all the time in the world after all.
Dinner was a bit delayed. Had to buy the actual meat right before cooking it. Pork + lime + salt + paprika powder + volatile cooking oil = porkchops. Now that was a bit of a success for me. I think I will experiment further though, to tweak the taste.
I'm having writer's bloc I think (that doesn't mean I consider myself an atual writer). I keep thinking about things to write throught the whole day, but when I get in front of the computer, I choke up. Oh well, this IS only my 2nd blog so..
Happy earth day..

Monday, April 20, 2009

A beginning, of sorts


So,it begins..Hello to everyone that might, at some point, be able to read my posts. I could end up only talking to myself, but thats ok. As stated in the obvious, I am a newbie to this "phenomena". Quite late, but its never too late to..blah blah blah.So, being "le premier blog", I think an introduction is in order. I was reading about blogs before I set up this one, and it seems that other people choose to have an anonymity aspect to their blogs. I think I won't go down that road for various reasons. And besides, my personal info is already all over the place. So.."Je pense,Je suis"..I don't even know if I spelled or worded that correctly. As you may notice, I have futile and feeble attempts at French here and there. I reside in Luxembourg as of the moment, and French ,and the pursuit of getting good at it, is pretty much a big part of my life right now. I have been planning to create a blog for some time now, and I finally just did it. I have so much time on my hands, after all. But probably the clincher was an article I read that said blogging can help with employment opportunities..and boy do I need a job right now (I hope I didn't sound so desperate there). I figured that was true, seeing as blogging has so many possibilities.


I just ended a video chat with my mom in the Philippines..yes, I am Filipino. It sort of disrupted my train of thought but I was glad to talk to her. We talked about some stuff..my twin brother..the family there at our house in Cubao. It has been 6 months since I came here, and I have to admit I am getting a bit homesick.


I think thats it for this one.I'd like to keep it brief..just to sort of get the ball rolling. I will check back again soon.