Month: November 2014

I’ve noticed that I subconsciously classify songs into three categories (music, voice, lyrics). It’s rare for a musician to excel in all three areas at once. Either it’s a strong beat with good lyrics (Vysotsky and other bards), or the lyrics are terrible, but the music and voice make up for it (there are many examples, from Armstrong to Mumiy Troll). Very rarely do all three components excel. “Na gora” reminds me of Mayak by Splean/Mayakovsky.

Bunker 42

From the “Useless Knowledge” section: Read about ethnonyms (Demonyms). It turns out, it’s not just in the Russian language where there are excessive complexities with naming the people who inhabit a city or country. For example, residents of Lviv are called Lvivians in Russian and Leopolitans in English. In Madagascar, you have Malagasy, and in Los Angeles, where I’ll be going soon, residents are called Angelenos. In the city of Torzhok in Tver region, the inhabitants are novotory (the city was formerly called Novyy Torg), and in Mtsensk, they are called amchan. Residents of Voronezh are known as voronezhets, voronezhets, but what to call a female resident… vorozhenka?.. turns out, no such term. In Tver, locals are referred to as tverichane, tverichi, tverityane… In Chernivtsi, the inhabitants are called krayane.

When I was in Wales and England, I was struck by the fact that the language, people, and the localities sometimes have different names. In Wales, residents are Welsh,

in Manchester — Mancunians, in Liverpool — Liverpudlians. There are also Vitebsk citizens known as Viteblyane…

The “WORLD OF MATHEMATICS” series has finally concluded, which I barely managed to keep up with during my infrequent subway rides. The 12 thousand rubles spent over 45 weeks were not in vain – it was worth it. Now, they have introduced Wi-Fi on our subway line and a new series is coming out, “Science. Greatest Theories.” It will be even harder to read 🙂

From December 28 I will be in Los Angeles. Where is it cheaper/better to rent a car for a couple of weeks? Maybe a Jeep Wrangler. I heard that insurance can make the rental cost 2-2.5 times more expensive, should I get it and which one?

I plan to visit San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Page. In other words, probably no less than 2-3 thousand miles.

This is how to make family albums!

https://500px.com/horazio

Yesterday, I heard an example of psychedelic classical music on Orpheus radio – Symphony No. 1 by Schnittke. It was Schnittke’s birthday yesterday. It would have been his 80th, so they played it. It’s not easy to listen to, it’s okay in places, but in others… listen to a short excerpt for a taste)

https://soundcloud.com/wordrive/95uretlsgkrh

My phone number in Kazakhstan for this week is +77089124587

Fellow photographers, which lenses for 6D would you NOT recommend for 6D (full frame) – list below.

Please consider two points straight away.

1) There are budget constraints – if by replacing a lens worth, say, 15 thousand you suggest a lens for 30 thousand, then it’s not a replacement for me, but rather delaying the purchase for at least half a year to a year. Better to suggest an alternative from non-official brands, if there is one.

2) If you have anything bad to say about lenses – please clearly indicate whether it’s based on your experience or someone else’s. I trust your opinions more 🙂

So, here is the list IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE FOR ME:

1. Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 USM portrait prime (~11000) or CANON ER 50MM F/1.8 USM (~4000)

2. Wide-angle Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM (~16000)

3. Telephoto Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM (~20000) or Tamron SP AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di VC USD Canon EF (~13900)

I currently have the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Alexander Letyagin Vitaly Sokol Andrey Kasatkin Evgeny Sizov Sergey Ivanov Arkady Moreynis

“Nikonism is the trampling of canons.”

You may congratulate me on acquiring a Canon 6D + Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens 😉 Next week, I’ll be testing morning sunrises in the mountains of Kazakhstan