Braid = Amazing

I found a video game recently (I do not have much time for games but..) which was nothing more that the usual 2D Maria type of game. The thing is, as I started playing it turned out as something extraordinary. Surprisingly, I managed to devote a lot of time on it and I usually cannot get so much into a video game, however, I found myself playing all the time.

Braid is a puzzle game developed by Number None Inc. and it tells the story of Tim, the protagonist, who is similarly to Mario, looking for his queen. There are certain stages of the game which tells the story of the main character and if you are interested to spend time on reading the story you can indeed be fascinated.

The main element of the game and what actually makes it so interesting is the feature of time manipulation. Using this ability Tim progresses by completing different puzzles and slowly reaching his queen. The idea of the game is to gather different keys and puzzle pieces and to open new levels until you reach the final antagonist who is guarding the queens.

In the game you can see different time-based mechanics or different elements dependent on time, that you need to figure how to use or perhaps overcome.

Here is a link to the official page of the game: http://braid-game.com/

and a video preview:




A combination of amazing graphics and nice music brings you pleasure which you will have a hard time not stop playing.

Graduation - an end or a beginning

The 18th of May is approaching and it gives me mixed feelings. Should I be happy or sad, pleased or disappointed, secure or worried. There are so many questions that can be asked, but it is the uncertainty that really bothers me. 

For the past four years I was in an environment which offered variety of activities and academics and I knew which ones I should follow and which ones do not want to and it was easy as my options were many, but still limited to the scale of the university.

After graduation, I will not have the comfort of the predefined variety of choices. It will be all up to me and all uncertain.

The benefits, however, are prevailing. Life on your own, doing activities you like, no considerations with people free to do whatever you want.

The difference is that you will not have any guidance, it will be only your decisions and the free world.

Anyways, student life is not real life which clearly states my position. I am ready to take a step forward and accept reality as it should be. Every change which one should face is a positive one even if it doesn't seem so at first.

Sports

Whoever is not practicing any sports is missing a lot in life and not only, whoever is not practicing is generally not living a healthy and fulfilling life. Sports are in the essence of motivation and of discipline. Sports people are those with the concrete ambition and can hardly be influenced by negativism.

Throughout the years I have practiced different kinds of sports: swimming, football, tennis, volleyball, rowing.
All of them were an amazing experience and unfortunately I never manage to stick to one single sport, but always got bored or unmotivated so I changed and changed till I realized that there is a unique feature in every single of them.

Sports should be part of the lifestyle of people, not only it will keep your mind fresh, but it will allow you to take important decisions quickly, it will allow you to be more organized and manage your time, it will allow you be fit and boost your self-esteem.

Unfortunately, in AUBG there is no mandatory sport activity included in the academic education, which is one of the biggest downside. If it wasn't for different individuals who initiated volleyball, basketball and football training AUBG will be literally without any sports practices. AUBG Olympics is a club which tries to bring sports back into the life of students, but the major event is once a year and cannot bring that much value to people in those terms.
Video from AUBG Olympics 2013:

Volleyball is my favorite sport I managed to participate in my high school team for 2 years and it was an amazing experience. 

Which is your favorite sport? Comment in the section below

The magic of video editing.

In a process of video production there are several steps everyone takes: idea generating, planning, capturing, post production (simplified steps). Also, there should be different people responsible for different tasks as through those steps there are plenty of activities that need to be covered.
The director of the video supposedly has the toughest job as he is the one whose point of view the person watching will see. However, when it comes to presenting the visuals in a coherent and meaningful way, the job of the editor is very important.
Some even consider that the editor is the second director as the editor himself visualize the footage into a final product. More or less, he is the one who assembles the pieces of the puzzle in the mind of the director.
The editor can create fake impressions of reality, events, situations, people etc. He is the one who can mitigate certain circumstances and vice verse. Through editing reality can be completely distorted and again it is all up to the editor.That is why I say that editing is similar to magic. It creates everything you can possible imagine.
The best work of editing are actually those that you do not even feel have been edited. Meaning that if you manage to follow the story line and the situation without thinking about how the shots change and how they are all different, this means that the editor did a good job.

Here are some examples of editing programs you can use:

Final Cut for all Apple users.

Adobe Premiere

Sony Vegas Pro

Which one have you used and why?

Leave a comment in the section below :)

Piano Recital

I have been interested in piano since the first time I saw the instrument which was roughly around first grade. My grandparents had a piano in their bedroom and I would always play when I was visiting them. Later in the years they gave me the piano and I started attending a course. For four years I was tutored and then unfortunately my desire to play disappeared. Around 10th grade I started back again on my own and learnt several pieces, which sounded very well and as time went on I kept learning and learning.

This semester I decided to take up a piano course and learn something new. It is very interesting so far and very challenging on one side as you have to keep up with all your lessons and other courses, but also to find time to practice which is not necessarily a small time period.

I have been learning a piece by Chopin called Nocturne Op. 9 which is one of the best classical pieces out there. I new a little part before starting the course, but today I can proudly say I know almost the whole thing and not only that. In few weeks I will have my second master class which is basically a group concert of the people in the piano course and you get to see how the others a going and what they are learning.

My parents managed to buy an electric piano this Winter so whenever I get back home I can practice and not lose shape as it is extremely easy to do so.

Here is the piece I am performing:

Check out the video it is really amazing.
Do you play any instrument or want to learn how to?
You can leave a comment in the section below.

All Shook Up!!!

You definitely guessed what I'll be writing about. The premiere of the musical All Shook Up is tonight and I cannot simply sit still on my chair. Even though I am not a fan of the movies they made of those musicals and I have never watched any other live performances of any musical type - I consider myself as one of the biggest fans of the AUBG Musical.

Since my freshmen year when I watched Moulin Rouge performance I was fascinated, simply stunned. I was so excited about the whole musical at that time that I even went to see it for the second time in my home town with my parents - and then again I was amazed.

In my sophomore year the Broadway club performed Grease and even though that Moulin Rouge was better, in my opinion, Grease was simply brilliant and I really regret
not seeing it for the second time.

Last year they performed Memphis and even though I never heard of it before after the premiere my expectations were more than exceeded.

And this year we are all trembling with excitement to see All Shook Up!!! Based on the songs of Elvis Presley, this must be a real masterpiece.

It is one of those shows that you do not want to miss!!!

Here is a sneak peak from tonight's musical:

One or the other (Nikon vs. Canon)

If you sit down and think which one is the better quality camera, which brand is superior or which one is worth the money - well I would have to say that both are the same.


These are the top brands in the DSLR camera business and both brands produce high quality lenses and accessories which if compared would always have the same number of perks at similar price. You cannot explicitly say which one is the superior as the technical quality is the same (I am talking about same rank models).

Both, Nikon and Canon have nearly unlimited information and experience that has been gathered throughout the years of the companions and can now present amazing results in their models.

Now it all comes to design and approach and money that can be spent :) This is up to everyone's decision and opinion.






Here is an interesting video which compares tow of the highest rank cameras of both brands: Nikon 800D and Canon 5D mark 2

Thessaloniki right when you need it.

Whoever is interested in documentaries and film production should definitely plan on going to a Film Festival. Last weekend a group from university attended the annual Film Fest in Thessaloniki. My experience there with one word - AMAZING!!! Recently, I have been into video and film production a lot and this festival was the cherry on top of the cake. Great organization, great movies and great friends to spend the time with. From the very beginning as we arrived we knew it will be a time very well spent.

If we took dirt and garbage out of the picture, Thessaloniki looks like this amazing chill out place which young people go to to have fun and relax. The are various bars and restaurants all looking appealing and sometime it was difficult to choose as we knew we had limited time to go over all of them.

The 4 days we spent in Greece were full of surprises and great moments. We were able to go the the world premiere of several documentaries and them meet their directors, we managed to go to the cocktail of the opening night and even we managed to create a buzz around a very emotional documentary, by leaving a message to the main characters and spreading the word about it.

Some of the films we watched which will stay in my mind and I would gladly watch again if I have a second chance - Finding Vivian Maier, The Starfish Throwers and the documentary Linar. All of them with great stories, shot amazingly, leaving a very positive message in everyone's mind.

Before going to this Film Fest I never realized that this will be so beneficial to me and my future career. Meeting all the directors, distributors and producers showed us the business part to this more or less creative process.

Here are the trailers of the films I am talking about. Watch them as soon as you can and tell me what do you think:

Welcome Home

Last semester I manage to take up a course called Documentary and Film making. In this course the whole group of students managed to create one short documentary in teams of two or alone and in the second part of the semester we managed to create a feature length documentary.

The title was Welcome Home and it is about a pensioners home in Blagoevgrad and about how much the perception of Bulgarians is distorted about what people do after retirement.

In Bulgaria people are used to taking care of their grandparents and parents after a certain age. Living together looking after them entirely. In the United States, for example, many of the retired people go to pensioners homes and are taken care of. They are happy there and in fact they are better off living in such a place due to many reasons.

In Bulgaria is a little different though. Thins movie tells the story of several people who are living in this pensioners home and are satisfied with their lives, contradicting with Bulgarian tradition they plan to spend the rest of their lives in there:

Here is a link to the movie:


WELCOME HOME DOCUMENTARY from Vasil Sariev on Vimeo.

The influence

This week I decided to write about a different topic, one that is not closely related to anything that I have written or will write and it is about marijuana.

It is commonly accepted that marijuana is the least dangerous of them all and some even claim that it is harmless and not addictive. Two reasons which completely prove why it may be legal in some places. However, this is not entirely true. According to recent researchers, marijuana is extremely dangerous regarding brain cells, motivation, mentality, emotions and addiction.

It turns out that there are two major sections of the brain that are affected and different abnormalities are recorded. 40 students have been examined, 20 who used cannabis and 20 who did not. Dr. Anne Blood says "These are core, fundamental structures of the brain. They form the basis for how you assess positive and negative features about things in the environment and make decisions about them."
It appears that marijuana alters the way brain perceives pleasure and reward, presenting ordinary activities as less fulfilling. In fact, with more smoking actually the brain start developing different new connections which serves as becoming addicted, which is generally observed with people constantly refusing to stop, but claiming they are not addicted.

Mark Winstanly says "For too long cannabis has been seen as a safe drug, but as this study suggests, it can have a really serious impact on your mental health."
It was also investigated what happens with minors using the drug and it turns out that consumers below or at the age of 15 have a quadrupled chance of developing a mental disease after their teenage years.

40 people are definitely not enought to draw concrete conclusions, but it is a start.

Original article: http://bit.ly/1h0TgXB

Here is a short video on the topic:

Leave your comments below :)

12 Years a Slave

The academy award ceremony was a long-awaited event in the sphere of cinema and movies. It is the most prestigious award any one from the industry can receive. There are various nominations in which actors, directors, cinematographers and many more can compete, but one nomination which deserves special attention would be for Best Motion Picture.
The nominated movies this year were American Hustle, Captain Philips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street. All great movies and all deserve attention for being already in the nomination, but there was another movie not mentioned above which actually won the nomination for Best Motion Picture - 12 Years a Slave.

It is about the years of slavery in the United States, where a free-born African American gets abducted and then sold to slavery. The story of the movie generated huge revenue for the last couple of months almost 150 million dollars and elevated the profits.

It was controversial whether a movie about the brutality of slavery would attract audience from oversea countries, it actually became very successful in many of them. It became very popular in UK, Italy, France and also in many Asian countries. It was a controversial fact why it was promoted with posters featuring white people like Brad Pitt who had a minor role in the movie or Michael Fassbender who not as famous as the star of the movie Chiwetel Ejiofor.

In addition to Best Motion Picture it actually received another Academy Award and it was for Best Adapted Screenplay. With those two awards it definitely prove itself as one of the best movies for 2013.

Here is a trailer to the movie:

What do you think about the movie? Share in the comments below :)

And another one...

I posted recently about a team-building I attended with the RAs and this weekend I went on another one, but with AUBG Olympics. One of the few sports clubs left in AUBG.

One of the best decision I made since coming to this school is to join this club. It is not all about the sports, actually sports are just a tiny fraction of my desire to be part of it. It was mostly the people and their relation to each other. How they would be a big family having fun together and at the same time organizing one of the biggest events, entertaining people and promoting healthy life.

With all those cool people, we went to a hotel in a village nearby Blagoevgrad and spent the night playing games and having fun.

As last time, there was a team of people responsible for the games throughout the whole night. What was better, is that this time the games were actually interesting and most people had lots of fun. Everyone was enjoying himself with a drink or two - Yanev most of all as he passed out in the middle of the night.

As the team-building was going to an end I decided not to stay more and drink, but to go to bed at a more decent time and actually be able to function on the next day.

It is always a good time when you are with friends and I cannot wait for the next time we will go outside of Blago and have a blast.

The Galaxy Gear

If you think about the recent mobile products of Samsung, you can tell yourself that they actually did a very good job. Very high quality products and at reasonable and competitive price. Maybe if they change the plastic panels to aluminium will be just fine. Anyways, a huge innovation they introduces was the Galaxy Gear or the watch which you can connect to your phone.

As you can see from the picture it is another smart gadget which perfectly complements the already amazing smartphone. 

The size of it is a little larger than what most people take for a watch, but at the same time is is completely adjustable with its metal clasp. It comes with a charger, a headset and besides that it has a tiny camera and almost all features of a regular smartphone. Except the time, it can show you the weather, pictures, videos, you can listen to music and simply dial numbers without even bothering to take your phone out of the pocket. It is a huge concern how much the gadget will last in terms of battery charge as so far it can sustain functions till up to 1 day or 1 day and a half. 

Here is some more information about the product:

http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/gear/gearfit_features.html

and of course a video:

The Art of Acting

A university that satisfies all its students' needs is indeed a good university. Academics might be a priority, but one develops himself in various ways and that is why there should be variety of options and challenges every students can take.

If we set aside the usual stuff - work-studies and clubs - those that, indeed, will broaden your horizon in one way or another, students can devote their time in other curious ways. For instance, different forms of art - piano, drawing, choir or theater.

I personally decided to take up Acting. Throughout the whole summer before senior year we have been discussing it with some of my best friends that the very last semester should be filled with all kinds of emotions. There you go. For the last 4 weeks we have been rehearsing a play which will be performed some time in April. It consists of three miniatures which are not connected, but have something in common - comedy.

The miniature I am part of is called "The Proposal" and it is about a middle-aged man who is in desperate need for a wife and he is asking for the hand of his neighbor's daughter, who is in desperate need for a husband. While reading the lines for the first time we did not really know what to expect and it did not sound interesting or as a comedy sounds. But, however, as we started analyzing each character, imagining them in different situations, making interactions with one another, it all started making sense and eventually we got so into it that we are now absolutely sure it will turn out as a great comedy.

More updates will come later in the semester.

Have you ever been part of a play?
Which one?
What are your favorite forms of art?

Do not forget to answer the questions in the comment section below :)

The Team Building

To be in a team means a lot. You are part of an entity which works together for the greater good (or evil). Being in a team means you need to take responsibility towards the others as they count on you and you on them. But I am pretty sure you are all familiar with that. However, what every team needs is definitely a way to bond, a way to become closer and a way to build itself - this is why teams go on team-buildings.

Speaking of which I am a resident assistant at AUBG - small university in Eastern Europe which, allegedly, provides world class education. The team of the resident assistants (RAs) in one of the dorms has created a family environment throughout the years for me. That is why they are something I cherish and something I am always ready to fight for. Since my first year, I am part of the RA organization and for 7 semesters I served the campus and my residents with pleasure :)

Here comes the important part. Throughout those 7 semesters, or in other words 3 years and a half, I have witnessed many people come and go. Some graduated, some quit voluntarily, some involuntarily, some decided to take up a different activity and so on and so forth. The point is that the same team of RAs managed to change multiple times for good or bad. The point is, however, that we always stayed together, always supported each other no matter what. And this is how it should always go. Staying together means staying strong, keep that in mind!

The key to our success is definitely the team spirit. And how is that achieved? The ways are various, but what worked for us are the regular casual gatherings, the often team-building trips, the nights-out and all the time spent together around the front desk (our work area) and meetings. All those activities complement to the mood of each one of us. You might be terribly overwhelmed with work and studies, but there is always time to relax with another of the RAs.

Yet another team-building happened this Saturday. Mountains were preferred than the usual SPA in this time of the year (The missing Winter). The whole trip included some walking, a night in a very fancy hut, some football in the snow, barbecue, a great dinner, tons of team-building games, some drinks and sadly leaving on the next day. At least we managed to stop by a monastery on our way back and eat one of the most delicious breakfasts in Bulgaria, namely mekici. A great end to a great team-building.

Skapto 2, RA Team

This is a picture from the hut right before dinner. We managed to play games before and after. Some more serious, some more amusing. Nevertheless, fun is guaranteed.

What is your favorite team-building game?
What kind of team are you part of ?
Write your comment in the comment section below :)

Plovdiv, European Capital of Culture

My home town is Plovdiv, even though I was not born there. However, most of my life I have spent in the second biggest city in Bulgaria and that is why I feel it as my home town.
Last summer I learnt that it has been nominated for an European Capital of Culture for 2019. Indeed, this is one of the oldest cities on the Balkans and it has amazing cultural history. It is a crossroad of different ethnicities living together for centuries. It has an incredible Old Town with an ancient theater and Roman Stadium. It is a city where you can see churches and mosques are built next to each other.

For the last several years it has won several international and Europe projects for development of cultural activities. Plovdiv is one of the few cities worldwide that is built on hills and most of the old town is suited on top of some of those hills.

The award European Cultural Capital was initiated so that European nations can get closer to each other, it was created with this fundamental idea by the Council of Ministers of the European Union.

Every year two European cities take the award and to participate they need to have a matching theme with the requirements of the European Union

Here is a video about Plovdiv and its History:



Plovdiv @ Via Diagonalis - MOVIE - EN from plovdiv2019 on Vimeo.

The missing Winter!

Adrenaline can be raised through various ways: driving with 300km/p, jumping from an airplane, bungee-jumping, taking drugs and many more are the means, but what keeps me going through the winter is skiing. Yes, sports can be a great source of bringing up adrenaline. If you did not know, try your favorite sport and put the biggest effort, devote as much energy as you can and you will feel it.

This is what skiing does to me - words can hardly describe the sensation and emotions which this winter sport creates. However, we can hardly call this time of the year winter. Cold weather, smaller days, snow, thick clothes and sledges are some of the key features which will make you reminisce of winter, but half of those are missing this year. Why? No one knows why. But I do not care much really, because whatever the reason is I cannot practice my favorite sport.

Generally, I visit ski resorts not more than 4 or 5 times a season, which is not even closely enough to satisfy my thirst for the sport, but that's because of my financial situation. If I had more, I would go more. This year, reaching 3 times will make me happy. Quite ambitious huh? As they say the last week of winter already passed and from now on we should expect the days of Spring. Believing this claim is up to you, but I refuse to. Winter should be cold and snowy, winter should be filled with children laughter while making snowmen, it should make you recall the summer days and the seaside, it should make you desire hot drinks and nights in front of the fire place.

Why there is no winter. Is it because of the global warming or it is a pure coincidence. Should we expect this in the following years or we can hope for more than 10 centimeters of snow.

My last skiing trip was last weekend and to be honest I enjoyed it so much. Somehow as if I knew there will not be a chance for another. Since the early morning till the very last moment we were constantly on the track sliding up and down until we ran out of energy. Exactly how skiing trip should go. In the end of the day plans were made for future trips, but then there were none. I am glad so many people share the same excitement for the winter sports, but so what? I can officially say that we are missing a winter here.

Kartala, Bodrost.

Here is a picture of me jumping towards the camera. As you can see it is an amazing day at the top of the world. We want some more of those winter days. Don't you?



What is your favorite winter sport?
Do you think winter will come back or will be forgotten?
Write your answers at the comment section below :)

BUS 449 Post 1

Motivation

Student life is awesome, no question about that. You enter a society of individuals who are at the same age, understanding of life and more or less away from home and do not feel the influence of their parents in the same way. Which, of course, leads to different outcomes, but here I'll concentrate more on the negative part and how little effort you need to live healthy inexpensively.

Tuesday nights are the biggest social event around here. If you have nothing to do on a Tuesday night, this is probably problematic and you should give it a though. Students, even faculty, enjoy some drinks together in their favorite clubs, eat something on their way back in the middle of the night and if they are lucky enough will sleep in with pleasure. The problem comes when you do not actually go out only on Tuesday night, but every night or at least often enough so that as time passes by you realize that money is not enough, sleep is not enough, mornings are hard to handle, time is hard to follow, professors are hard to follow and many more routines. Again, this all depends on oneself, but observation and history show these results.

To be honest I might as well have been in a similar situation and not for short, but for some time now I believe I found how exactly to feel well, be organized, be motivated and have fun when the time comes. 

Someone mentioned to me recently that you adopt new habits in 21 days. It doesn't really sound a lot and at the same time it sounds reasonable. I never thought about trying this theory, but for the last 2 weeks I managed to set up a schedule in my mind, at least, and follow it. Waking up early, which almost necessarily means going to bed early, training as often as possible, eating the right food, being positive, reminding myself what I want to do and then following it. This of course is not the first time you read someone is feeling well after all those activities put together. Same case with me. You come across those suggestions from parents, teachers, articles so often that you do not even pay attention anymore. Believe me, it works. It works, it works, it works. It is hard to be consistent, it is hard to wake up early and eat only healthy as we all know which type of food is the most delicious. 

After two weeks, now I can proudly say I feel refreshed. Even though, my type of training and food choice will not be pleasant for everyone, there is always an alternative as long as it is in that same direction and as long as you are persistent about it.

I find myself thinking fresh, being organized, I keep track of my activities easily, concentration is on a high level, motivation rises even more when I see the results and many more are the benefits I can think of at this moment. The only downside of all this might be considered the choice of food - seldom people manage to eat healthy as generally healthier products are with lesser taste qualities and let's face it - most of us are used to eating those crunchy chicken bites or that rich pizza or even the risotto which seems all fine as you think there is nothing bad about rice and some frozen vegetables, but then you find out that risotto is prepared with cooking cream and some butter. I will not urge people to eat healthy, it is enough spammed on our minds almost everywhere you look (maybe for a reason). The idea here is to find the balance between having a good sleep, having a productive training, charging your body with the best fuel and following what is on your own mind. Motivation comes along

It worked for the last 14 days and the plan is to keep it up. Sometimes it might be more time-consuming to make your own meal and train every day, but there is not a better way to spend time. And for those who do not have much of it, remember - if you do not have time, you need to make some.

Here is a little motivation:

This video was recently released on 9gag.tv. It is a speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger which in combination with the visuals really brings up your spirit. It does not include all my suggestions mentioned above, but is definitely a motivator.