Aluajala's Cockroaches

May flowers

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Despite some difficulties with camera that I'm experiencing now I make some nature photos anyway. For some reason (which is called laziness) I haven't posted them yet. But I'm going to start today. This post is about spring flowers that bloomed in May and the next one will be about critters I met in spring.

This is why spring is my favorite season: hundreds and hundreds of different flowers everywhere.

Meadow buttercups...

Forget-me-nots are among my favorite spring wild flowers. They bloomed here in May and I enjoyed these tiny blue and white flowers very much. The most interesting thing about them that I've discovered only recently is that both blue and white blossoms can actually grow on one stem.

Not sure how these are called.. may be they're some kind of Corydalis. And btw they should be violet. My camera for some reason doesn't seem to distinguish it properly :(

Absolutely lovely dandelions. Despite the fact that these flowers usually grow in huge numbers covering fields with bright yellow color, these particular ones grew in one batch by the road.

Looks like an apple tree. Or some other fruit tree. This one stunned me. So many flowers and you can imagine their fantastic smell! I also love the young fur tree needles. They're so gentle.

Some Wild geranium...

And I have no idea about this one. I sure need some field guide about local flowers. And mushrooms. And birds. I want to know more about creatures and plants I encounter and I need to know how they're called too.

Stinkhorn eggs saute

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:46:00 +0000

In my previous post I complained about low-quality pics I make with my camera. Well sometimes there are some nice ones too! And sometimes they are not just photos but sweet sweet memories as sweet as what my husband cooked today. Saute stinkhorns. In case you don't know stinkhorns (phallus impudicus) are fungi and I've wrote about them and their name here.

This year we had lots of rains in spring and in the beginning of summer, we have some even now. Moreover as I write I hear the patter of raindrops at my window. However there are almost no mushrooms in the forest and it looks like they still don't have enough water to grow. However yesterday we were lucky to find 9 stinkhorn eggs. The eggs do not yet have their famous smell and are easier to deal with.

The greatest thing about stinkhorn eggs is that they're very hygienic. All you need is to wash them, then cut off the base with a stalk and push the slimy body out of the skin. Then wash the slime out. That's all. You have the inside of the mushroom which is clean and parasite-free. What to do next? You may bake them or steam them or whatever you feel like doing.

My husband chopped a vegetable marrow with paprika and stinkhorns added some spices, a bit of sea-buckthorn oil and placed in a pan. Cooked it all on small fire stirring from time to time, then placed the almost ready meal in a strainer to get rid of excessive juice. I was unable to make the last photo of the resulting dish for it was too tasty to watch.

Why violet flowers become blue?

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:24:00 +0000

This year I got a little(?) disappointed with my camera (Sony DSC H7) and may be this is the reason why I'm making photos rarely then say last year. It is such a difference what lovely scenes do I see with my own eyes trying to capture an image in my lens and what awful-quality pics I have in the end. I know what you are going to tell me: it is not a camera but a photographer who makes photos. True. But funny thing is I know for sure I did have much better results with simple point and shoot digital cameras.

The main 2 things that disturb me are grain and wrong colors. I know that less light means more grain when you deal with digital cameras so the best thing to do is to set the lowest ISO and highest possible aperture. BUT The second thing... It happens when I'm trying to capture violet or yellow objects. As a result violet things become blue on my pics and yellow seems um.. unnatural. I know there is something to do with white balance. May be. But this is sooo disturbing. Look:

This flower is naturally violet.

Picture # 1. Auto mode. The flower is light blue. Sorry the quality is especially low because my hands shook when I made this pic (still can't make myself buy a tripod) but what matters here is color. Blue.

Picture # 2. I played with white balance (you know when you have to capture some sheet of white paper) and set some general exposure settings for a sunny day. The color has slightly changed into light violet. Not that natural violet but slight slight light-blue-violetish. And the leaves are now more yellowish.

Now this one is completely messed up. These flowers are naturally rich violet. Here they're blue. No matter what I do. And this is not the worst case.

Oh oh this is the same flower but it has terrific dark blue petals. Sorry I don't know how is it called or I'd shown you how it should look like. I understand that this pic is made in darker circumstances than the previous one but why why why is it blue and not purple?

Please if you have any idea of what to do, tell me. Or is it only post processing that may cure my photos? Or a new camera? I'm seriously thinking about buying some point and shoot camera just to compare. And if the results are the same it is more convenient to have a small camera that fits in my pocket then a big one that I have now. No I'm sure there is something to do with settings but I just don't know what. Any idea?

Finally wild Tawny owls!

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Firstly I watched them through the webcam. Then I saw them captive. Finally today I found real live wild Tawny owls. Actually I saw one yesterday. We were following one of our usual hiking routes when my husband saw it fly across the forest and land on a tree. The owl sat on a tree and stared.. sat and stared while I stared on the owl. The OWL! We watched it for a while and since the owl did nothing but sat and stared we decided to move along.

Today we decided to take the same route. Not because of an owl but just because we wanted so. On our way I said "Hey imagine if we meet an owl again!" and what do you think? A moment later I watched an owl fly from one tree to another and squeak! I twitched my hubby's hand in excitement. The owl made several squeaks and flew to another tree to meet another owl! Two of them flew somewhere together so we could only hear their voices nearby. Then I saw one of them on a nearby tree. Finally both owls disappeared although we could still hear their distant squeaks.

We moved along the way, me still astonished almost jumping when we found an owlet on the ground. Unfortunately it was dead. I don't know what happened to this juvenile owl. Maybe it flew out of its nest and was attacked by other birds like crows. Maybe it landed on a ground where it was attacked by dogs or something. Maybe it was simply too weak and didn't make it. Sad but that's what usually happens in nature.

My husband pulled feathers and a leg out of the bird's body, brought them home and processed ("salt and pepper for you mommy"). Here they are placed in front of my monitor screen so that the Owl can surf the internet, educate itself and evolve. Don't ask. It's all about my husband's freakish technoshamanic affairs. Oh and no ads here.

So.. my feelings are mixed. Although this dead owlet was a sad discovery still those 2 living owls made the evening. Hope there'll be even more owls in there.

Old console games - my new blog

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:42:00 +0000

I've been silent and haven't updated this blog for a reason - I discovered a whole new world of console games and started a new blog where I review the games I play.

Here it is: http://old-console-games.blogspot.com/ my brand new blog with brand new experiences!

Superman: You'll believe a man can fly

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:21:00 +0000

There are two things I completely missed as a kid - they are video game platforms (like Nintendo or Atari) and superhero comics. However now I have a chance to catch up since my hubbie started introducing world culture to me. We've started with Roadrunner cartoon series and today we decided to watch some movies based on famous superhero comics.

Firstly we tried to watch the Dark Knight a new movie about Batman but we couldn't make it to the end. The film appeared to be totally witless and boring. I don't know why it received so many appraise from critics because to me it seemed plain. Just so plain.

Then we watched an animated movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. I liked it although the only character I liked was Joker who is the only one who has a sense of humor while good guys are full of inferiority complexes. Especially Terry McGinnis who regrets how bad he was before meeting Wayne and now uses the Batman costume and saves people just to excuse himself.

The third shot was Bingo! We watched Superman movie (1978) and I loved it and I'm going to write about it. So... meet the Superman!

Yep. Finally a charismatic guy with perfect sense of humor and self-confidence. I just can't watch those superheroes who mind their save-the-world business with a solid expression on their face and speak long monologues about the importance of the triumph of good over evil and other blah-blah values. No. Fortunately Superman has enough wits to joke and some phrases of his are just so funny like:

[a cat burglar is climbing up the side of a building. He looks up and sees Superman standing there]
Superman: Hi there. Something wrong with the elevator?

What's more important is that he enjoys what he does no matter if it is saving a crashing plane or...

...rescuing a little girl's cat from the tree. Again he doesn't need to excuse himself or prove something - he's just cool enough

to play a v-e-r-y shy guy in normal life. I mean he doesn't try to use his great abilities to say become a powerful politician or businessman - he doesn't need these hierachical games - he's cool by himeself. And he doesn't need a mask to cover his face.

Even if he wears underpants atop of his trousers :)

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the romantic episodes of the movie. The main scene is when Superman takes Lois Lane to fly with him. Again I don't like cliche romance with dining, dancing, flower giving and poetic love confessions - they all seem way too simplistic. Here the couple looks fresh and as I watched I couldn't help thinking how lucky Lois is to have such an experience.

All in all the movie leaves great impression - it's filmed great and has a nice soundtrack and super effects that are not annoying. Seriously I'm already tired of movies which have so many computer effects that cause pain in your eyes as if the movie is more about effects then the plot. But back in seventies there were no such technologies for creating fancy effects in one click and thus they become more adorable. I mean it is a hard job when actors perform some action tricks themselves and designers make so realistic-looking models of buildings and stuff. And this realization makes me admire this work when it is well done. Like this one.

Sad story today

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:01:00 +0000

My husband was the first to notice this sad couple under our balcony - a pigeon and his dead partner.

First of all we thought that he just does not understand that female is no longer alive for he started a spring breeding dance around her body. However after awhile as he saw she doesn't respond to him he slowed down came closer and touched her with his beak several times as if asking 'Are you ok? How may I help you?'. But the dead dove didn't answer. The pigeon sat nearby and stayed with the bosy of his lost couple for half a day. My hubbie explained me that pigeons form lifelong relations with each other unlike many other birds who mate different partners every spring.

We went outside to have some forest walk but first of all we decided to visit a pigeon. We took some sunflower seeds and fed him. And after a tiresome morning the pigeon was finally happy (or so we thought).

In fact before this day I never really liked pigeons. Moreover I didn't even considerred them birds but some yucky creatures. Always dirty these stupid trash dump invaders never inflicted any sympathy in me to say the least.

However even they are worth attention and since I've changed my opinion about them I realized that when I ignored them I actually ignored some interesting things. Like today when I saw another pigeon passing a piece of bread to his mate who passed it back to his beak. I wonder if it was some breeding game too.

Oh and while we were feeding pigeons this little guy came and had his bit of food too!

UPD. Oh and I forgot to mention an important thing: on the next day street cleaners threw away the body of a dead dove. However the same pigeon came to that place again and sat there for all day.

1 Owl + 1 Owl = 6 Owls

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:27:00 +0000

OMG 4 owlets are here! I mean there in Estonia.. but here in my media player! Um.. in case you don't know what is it all about: here is my previous post about the webcam inside the owl nest. There was a couple of owls and 5 eggs. Then a marten stole 1 egg and I'm actually glad it happened this way. As far as I know owls are able to bring up only 2 owlets and it would be really hard for her to take care of 5 guys. I'm even not sure these 4 are going to survive but I want to hope they do somehow. The more owls in this world - the better! =) So.. stay tuned and keep watching the owls.

Simply noise

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Today I decided to fix some of my social bookmarking sites and accidentally deleted all my bookmarks from del.icio.us service. Not much to regret about - there was some old stuff which I needed no more anyway. However there was one thing worth saving and this is an online White Noise Generator.

SimplyNoise is a small flash application which generates white, pink or brown noise non-stop. I used to have a similar noise generating plugin to my media player but lost it long ago. With this application you can adjust volume and select the 'color' of noise. The notes on the site suggest using it to aid sleep and soothe migraines. I never tried to use it this way (prefer some ambient or trance music in 1st case and painkillers in 2d) but this thing helps me a lot when I'm working. It keeps distractions off me and doesn't become a distraction itself.

Oh and by the way did I tell you I went freelance again? Yep. No need to get up early in the morning, use subway and spend long hours in a grey office. I get tired of work at home as well but hey I can get my cup of tea or a dozen of pastries every time I want and there is nobody to watch my monitor screen from behind my back.

Back to noise generator. I listen to it in my headphones and prefer brown. After a while I forget about it and stop hearing it at all! Or when I listen attentively it seems like it changes somehow. Weird feeling but very interesting too. Worth experimenting with.. I guess.

3 Tawny owls

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Today I saw 3 real live tawny owls!!!

We knew there are some bird aviaries in this park that we occasionally visit (cause it's quite far from the place where we live now) but we've never seen them. So today we intentionally went to see the part where birds are and bah! the OWLS! I've dreamed of seeing real owls for so long but since I do not visit zoos in Russia I had a small possibility to spot these creatures.

Unfortunately as you can see there is not much place for them in the aviary and their feathers look quite dingy and their looks sad. I am horrified to think how do animals must look in local zoos with all those conditions..

Still.. look in those eyes!.. I could stand for hours watching them. I wonder why do all three of them sit on the same roost when there are several more in the cage. Several more roosts I mean.

Here's also a short video I made of them. Fascinating guys! I was soooo glad I saw them!

Owl watching is addicting

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:50:00 +0000

It's about a week as we started owl watching. Since there are unfortunately no owls nearby we watch an online video of an adorable couple of owls brought to us by Estonian ornithological society.

In January 2009 a small infrared cam has been placed in a Tawny Owl nest.

For minimum interference of the breeding of owls the small webcam was placed already at the beginning of the January on the top of the cavity. In Estonia Tawny Owls usually start to lay the eggs at the middle of the March. Female owl is using the cavity continually for daily sleeping.

First there was one owl then in the beginning of February the second owl visited the nest. On the picture you may see the male (smaller) and female (bigger) birds.

On the 1st March we noticed something in the nest. Something that looked like an egg! Then yesterday we watched female owl sit on the egg for most of the time until about 11:00PM. In the night the male owl came and brought the female owl a mouse! And so he did today. The difference is as the female owl ate the mouse and left the nest for some time there were two eggs there!

So.. here goes the yummiest part: mms://tv.eenet.ee/kakk this is the link to the video. Just click it or copy and paste into your favorite media player's "open url" dialog box. The official site for the project is here. You can find some info about it and pics and videos of owls.

Just be warned the video is highly addictive! I almost feel the need to check the owl every second minute and can watch it for hours too! Another proof is that today in the evening my husband told me he's worried if the owl might be hungry and so he felt the need to feed it. Fortunately the male owl came right when we had this conversation. *Sigh*

Beep beep!

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:53:00 +0000

Today my hubbie started to introduce classic world culture to me. We started with watching cartoons about Roadrunner - his favorite WB character! From the very first episode made in 1949 to the last one made in 2003.

Roadrunner is an amazing character - he doesn't need to intentionally tease his arch enemy - Coyote (like Woody Woodpecker does), he doesn't use any tools. He just loves running and beeping. Roadrunner can run through the painted tunnel and easily breaks gravitation law (he didn't study physics anyways) he - like my hubbie said - is like a sand daemon who creates chaos on his way without any effort.

What about Coyote.. he's always hungry and paranoic. The only being who can harm him is himself with the help of Acme products he uses to catch the Roadrunner. Anvils, strings, rockets and slings are his favorites. He will use them over and over again no matter how many rocks have fallen on his head as a result. And of course he never succeeds to catch Roadrunner. (oops was it a spoiler just now??) :)

In some episodes, however, characters strangely change their behavior in a disturbing way. i.e. Roadrunner starts using some tools to tease Coyote and sometimes does it intentionally (which makes him no different then any other cartoon character). I wonder why - he was fine with his pure charisma before. In one episode Coyote even manages to get two feathers out of Roadrunner's wonderful tail which is like "what the hell?" thing. The reason is different director. So if you decide to watch this cartoon too I suggest that you see those directed by Chuck Jones and NOT Rudy Larriva.

Anyway all in all the series is wonderful and I loved and enjoyed it very much! The Latin-like names of characters like "Acceleratii incredibus" and "Birdius tastius" for Roadrunner and "Carnivorous vulgaris" and "Eatibus anythingus" for Coyote are especially funny. Oh and Roadrunner's crazy signature sound "Beep beep!" is just killing! Below you may watch the first episode of theWile E. Coyote and Road Runner" Fast and furri-ous" cartoon.
Have fun!

Fungi are here. The season is open!

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:16:00 +0000

I can feel the spring is coming! And although it wasn't sunny yesterday we decided to make a forest walk anyway.

Weather was quite wet. We waited for the sun to show and for the sky to get clear for at least a few moments. It was close.. but not close enough as you can see on the photo. But it did not stop us!

There was a feeder in the forest and a dozen of Great Tits and half dozen of Blue Tits feeding. I still can't capture a blue tit properly so here is another picture of a great tit.

As we crossed a clearing we heard voices. Two crows and a raven quarreled about something. Or were they just having a chit-chat?

And now! Look at these precious yellow things. Fungi! Jelly fungi. Having picked enough of them one can make a soup. What a joy to find them! And this means.. the season is open! Ooh can't wait for saddle fungi and for morel fungi too!

Hooray! Hooray it's a sunny sunny day!

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:03:00 +0000

On Thursday this week I woke up and saw the sun. For 2 months the skies have been grey and depressive. So I couldn't believe my eyes as a bright day welcomed me with a sweet touch of golden rays emerging from the blue sky with no single cloud.

And we finally made it! The first forest walk in these 2 months. I longed for it so much.. oh how I longed for it!

Even before we reached the forest we saw a wonder: snow crystals. You cannot see it on the photo unfortunately but these crystals shined like they're made of colored glitters. So bright that I couldn't watch them for a long time.

And then... oh yes the birds! I've seen dozens of Great Tits, several Blue Tits and a couple of Eurasian Nuthatches but was able to capture only Great Tits.

This one is awesome!

As we walked in the park we found such funny graffiti drawn on informational billboards. Looks like something is missing on the picture. Something these two guys look at. A fish on top of the fur tree maybe?

Ooh lots of crazy animals here! An owl and a bat are my favorites here. Yeah it was a wonderful trip. I'm sooo happy we took it. And I hope for more! And I look forward to spring and more colors too of course.

A friend in need...

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Cold and snowy days are still here so I don't go out other then to work leave along photography. However, I cannot say I spend my free time 100% in vain. No I don't. In fact I was reading a lot and thinking twice more. In this post.. I'd like to write about friends and friendship and what it means to me.

Though I've always had a friend or two in different periods of time it yet took some long time for me to get to know a person enough to call her or him my friend. Exceptions? Sure. Sometimes a person would just be the right one to fit into my life instantly. People came and went through the years. School friends, friends from college, friends from first work and from second... they used to be with me for several years untill our ways would separate. I never wanted to hold someone.. if I felt that a distance between me and some person grew bigger I would let them go. What's the point of sticking to someone if you have less and less in common anyway?

In recent two years the situation got different. The last friend went away from my life at the same time as I've met my husband. I was and still happy to spend my days with him. Also through these 2 years we've met lots of new people. Some nice people and crazy people, people to discuss interesting things with and to party together. Yet I can hardly call anyone of them a friend. Well there is a couple of guys whom I am very thankful for their support which they gave me when I needed it and a couple of girls whom I wish I knew better.

There was also some bad experience of the usual kind when a person who was close to being a friend suddenly disappeared as soon as he knew that we're having problems. Well... I consider problems a sieve - good people go through it and remain friends. Others don't. It would be worse if I continued to trust a person and got in trouble because of it someday.

So. Nowadays I don't meet anyone in person. As I said I don't go out much now. And I don't find my present co-workers interesting. In fact I find 90% people boring and they definitely find me unamusing. I haven't watched TV for about 6 years or so, I don't like big crowds means I don't visit nightclubs or concerts, I hate gossip, pop culture, I don't support any sports team and I don't care about celebrities.

And yet sometimes I feel that I need to find a couple of reliable persons to socialize. To meet in some quite cafe and discuss some books we've read and interesting places to visit (nature related especially) and pc games worth playing, music that's worth listening and to share some stories too. Of course such topics cannot be eternal but there is plenty of things to talk to if you have a good company. I know some persons who'd be glad to meet. But I don't think it is possible now.. not when we are in such a suspended state having no home of our own.

Fortunately I have some pen pals and they are a relief really. I love exchanging long letters, discussing things, sharing stories, memories and such. Usually I'm quite serious about emails and people who I exchang them with. It is a pleasure to make a cup of tea, sit beside a computer and think about what I would like to discuss this time or how do I want to answer questions my pen pal asked me in the previous email. And of course there are some people from different countries who I wish that I meet in person some time...

That's all I guess... and as I wrote all of this I got the idea of what my next post will be about.

Meet the green sheep

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:50:00 +0000

The second sheep is done! This one has looong ears and my hubbie said it looks like a cartoon character ) It was much easier and faster to make (practice is a great thing indeed). The longest thing was to extricate the thread. Last time I put the scein on the table peacefuly just to find it all entangled. So it took lots of time to unwrap it and make a nice ball. Ugh.. I thought I'll die of boredom. It's like with earphones. You leave them for a moment and when you decide to take them again they've got dozens of tie-knots. How they do it? A miracle.

Also I made lots of mess when making the eyes. A cap got bonded to a glue tube so that I couldn't open it without spliting the glue on the table and my hands of course. Fortunately I managed not to stick my index finger with a thumb together as I did once. LOL that was fun =)

Now the first sheep is not lonely! And together they will eat my dinner faster. Oh NOoo!...

It was a warm and sunny day...

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:51:00 +0000

As I searched for some pics of street animals among my shots I found I whole new folder with pics I forgot to publish. They were taken in the end of July.

It was a warm and sunny day.

The colors were so bright!

Insects were all over. I couldn't even imagine to count all the kinds of flies and bees and butterflies and dragonflies I saw that day!

Yep. Dragonflies. They are quite hard to catch. I wonder how I managed to capture this one so close.. hm.. magics

Bumblebees. There were tens of them on these ball flowers. I love bumblebees. I wish I had a garden full of bumblebees. Oh and a robot gardener too! All my fingers are thumbs when it comes to flowers and gardening. And unfortunately not green ones ((

See this guy? I've chased his kind for almost one and a half year. They're very colorful birds usually and very fast too. Last summer I thought they hate me. The would gather in groups of 5-10 and wait for me to come, wait for me to get my camera from the bag, turn it own, take aim.. then they would fly away. All of them. The same scheme each time. Giving them food didn't work out too - they would get it and fly away before I push the capture button. This guy on the picture.. I think he was making fun of me too - his feathers are mewing and covered with dust.

My temperature button shows it's -16C (3F) outside and no I won't look out of the window. I want to keep a picture of that sunny day in my mind and maybe to see all those flowers and bumblebees in my dreams.

How to deal with street cats and dogs

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:49:00 +0000

I have encountered a petition on one of the russian forums that I visit quite often. It is about protecting street cats and dogs from murdering as local authority suggested. Here is the excerpt from it:

"Starting from July 2008 in Moscow and all over Russia there is a total liquidation of dogs and cats off the streets as it was ordered by the high standing officials. According to the Decree of Moscow Government No 2460-РП issued 06.11.2007 there are dog shelters to be constructed by year 2010 for the total number of animals as 26 thousand species. There are two animal shelters the construction of which has not yet been completed and the First deputy Mayor Peter Biryukoff has ordered to place all dogs to these unfinished shelters – all 26 thousand dogs!!! Another high ranking official – the Governor of Moscow Region Boris Gromov has ordered to kill all street dogs".

I signed it. Not that any such petition has ever reached authorities let along changed something. But I have a position which I would like to share.

First of all I have never ever had problems with street dogs although met lots of them especially last year when I lived in a region where at least 3 packs of street dogs lived. However I did have problems with dog owners. For example in September last year a woman set lose a dog at me and my husband ordering it to attack us. This was how she reacted on our suggestion to put a muzzle on the dog (as law suggests) because the dog was big and in a playful mood and tried to jump at me while they walked near a children's playground.

Actually I think that keeping such big dogs in small apartments is a crime itself. I consider it a cruelty to keep a large animal which needs plenty of space to run and jump within four walls. But this is another topic to discuss.

I joined a conversation on the forum and of course found people divided into 2 groups: pro-petition users and the bigger one - kill-street-animals-NOW guys. The latter ones described their fear of dogs which usually originated from some bad experience with them in childhood. They were sure it is better to shoot an animal to make sure citizens will not be harmed. Of course none of them would ever kill a living creature themselves as the most loud sayers are usually the least doers. Gladly I must add. Because I think that the person who can kill an animal for any reason but self-defense can do the same with human too.

I think that the best possible solution here is shelters. Not those of ill conditions as we have here but those where workers are truly dedicated to their work like the person Cheryl describes and where animals are washed and medicated and then are taken to some new caring hands.

p.s. As I searched my hard drive for pictures of street animals I made through last year to use them in this post I found a bunch of photos I made in summer which I forgot to show. So you may guess what will my next post about. Yeah! It'll be shiny and colorful and full of buzzzing creatures!

Commercial vs Piracy vs Open Source

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:09:00 +0000

In comments to my previous post I approached the topic of piracy and would like to share my opinion about it here. Just a short notice to make it clear: I hold neither strong pro-legal purchases only position nor pro open source and / or piracy. Now here goes some case study:

Let's begin with the game from the previous post. The author made a truly wonderful game and sells it by fair price. I have downloaded its pirated version and enjoyed playing it for free BUT as soon as I get my salary I'm going to use my debit card in order to pay the author for his work. Because I want to thank him for the joy he gave me with his creation. Here in Russia btw it is considered weird (huh? you buy things? but why if you can just download them for free?).

Now let's say I'm buying some game from a well known distributor corporation. In this case not only do I pay to the authors, but to distributors, advertizers etc. Of course I admit that each work should be payed yet sometimes it is hard to understand what you're actually paying for. In this case I'd rather download a pirated version and then decide the following: whether I really enjoyed it and would like to buy the original cd (with some additional features and technical support from the company) or it was just another stuff which I'll delete from my hard drive and forget about it.

So here the basic difference is that I want to know what I'm paying for and whom.

Now say there are two programs a commercial one which I can buy or download a pirated version for free and an open source which is less functional yet has the same basic features as the first one. Chances are I'll chose to download an open source program from its developer site simply because it exists and usually I don't use additional functions available in commercial progs.

Yet if a developer claims his program is the best in the world just because it's open source and this makes it better then any legal stuff that isn't worth a penny by default - I'll never ever try his product. I respect the right to choose and the fact that this guy wants to give his product for free does not mean that another guy who sells his program makes things of worse quality. And yeah open source is Not a religion to me.

Finally sometimes there are cases when you just cannot pay for the goods legally. For example if the product can be payed via Pay Pal that does not provide its services in your country . Then you have no choice but stealing it. Or not having it at all.

To sum it up: if there is an open source program which is quite fine - I'm choosing it. If there is a licenced program and I liked its trial version - I'm going to buy the full one so that I can also have tech support and newest updates for my stuff and the autor gets her/his revard. If there is an overpriced thing which I'm not sure will interest me - I'm going to get it somewhere for free and then make decisions.

Let's play with Physics

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:09:00 +0000

This post is actually a reminder for myself so that I don't lose the link to this game again. You know I consider myself a big gamer actually. When I hardly have an opportunity to go out (especially in winter) I enjoy playing pc games. Most of all I like adventure games. Playing them is like taking part in a story from some book. Solving puzzles is fun too. Now here is something more about puzzles then adentures. The video tells more.

I learned about this project last year when a friend sent me a link to the game Crayon Physics a puzzle game where you need to draw geometrical objects and use physics and laws of gravity in order to make ball symbol from one location meet a star symbol in another location. By that time author of the game had been working on the improved version - Crayon Physics Deluxe with more intersing features. This mounth he announced the release of the game for PC.

When I first saw the video above I thought this is the kind of game kids should play. It is enternaining and also teaches the basics of physics oh and logical thinking of course. Yet I decided to wait for deluxe version to buy the improved game with extra features. Now I can do it!

For whom the cell rings

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Cell phones mean a great deal in modern society. They help us stay connected with our friends and family, fix business meetings, get in touch with emergency cervices etc. However I notice that I feel like switching my own mobile phone off for a couple of days more and more often.

Because in fact it is the cell phone that uses us for it's own dreadful purposes. Well I'm kidding of course. Yet sometimes there is a feeling that telephone is not just a tool that I use whenever I feel but that it lives its own life. It rings whenever it wants: in the morning when I sleep, at lunch time when I'm having a meal, even when I enjoy the privacy with my husband.

Also people's attitude towards phones seems strange to me. I don't really understand why would someone get annoyed if you didn't answer their call for some reason and hadn't called back on the same day. Of course there are urgent situations, but why don't they redial one more time? What if I'm having some urgent business too? At these times I even miss those days when noone had mobile phones and what's amazing we kept on living!

If only I could advice all cellphone addicts to switch their phones off and go outside to breath fresh air and to hear many beautiful voices of nature. Oh and how I wish to do it myself!!! By now I've downloaded some nice music that I will listen before going to sleep. And I switched my phone off.

Your sunny blogs warm up my days!

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Every morning as I turn my computer on and connect to internet there are two things I usually do in the first place: I check my mail and RSS reader. These winter days this ritual has become even more important to me. Surfing through your posts is like visiting a fantastic universe where lots of beautiful flowers give their nectar to colorful butterflies and bees, where thousands of birds frolic freely in bright blue skies and landscapes are filled with warm summer sun.

I would like to give this award to those wonderful people whose blogs warm up my days and make me smile:

Dear Sherry your blog is my favorite one! I have never met such an enthusiastic and crafty and spiritual person like you offline but I'm glad I found your blog (blogs actually) and it is a number one place I usually visit. It always puts a smile on my face!

Dear Cheryl when I want to obtain peace in my mind it is your blog that I visit. Your garden is truly a sanctualry, a masterpice and I adore you for you create it with your own hands. Thank you for sharing your treasure it is so interesting to discover new corners and shiny details.

Dear Mel your blog is the most shiny to me. When I visit it I forget about winter as such just. Do you carry a piece of sun with you? I bet you do! Your photos show me how eternal summer must look like.

Dear Eve although you now have winter photos in your blog yet they warm me up too! I really like the way you describe things - some of your posts really make me laugh especially those with Guineas. Oh I seem to have fallen in love with them. Looking at these crazy creatures walking on the snow makes me forget about cold outside!

Dear John your blog was one of the first places I've visited after moving to this platform and it opened me the whole new world of nature photography! I still think of your photos as an example to follow. You show us things that look beautiful and warm even those covered with frost!

Dear Mary I have found your blog only recently and it was love from the first sight! Watching your posts is like drowning in colors of warious winged beauties that visit you. I just can't get enough of your photos. They bring me in such a good mood that even depressive winter colors won't spoil it.

Greenless lifestyle

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:32:00 +0000

I have been checking my rss reader when I saw Sherry's post about Green Lifestyle. It made me recollect an internet shop that sells bamboo eco clothes I found this week (too bad I forgot to bookmark it) and think about the situation here.

If you happen to come to Moscow you will see separate containers along with usual trash cans. However it is shameful to admit we have no recycling center in the country thus garbage from those separate containers finally gets mixed and goes to disposal tips. I actually heard some news in 2007 that government was going to sponsor the building of a big recycling center but instead last year the construction of a set of incineration plants has begun.

Sherry is also right about the fact that it is our attitude and demand matter. For example I saw pencils or toilet paper with a proud sticker "made of fresh raw materials" on them and these products are considered very cool here.

What about the pictures above and on the right - these are photos I took this spring. They show what is usually left after picnics in the forest. I described our wonderful forest walks with my husband many times but didn't mention the fact that sometimes it was really hard for us to find a place for some rest which wouldn't contain such amounts of garbage.

It is also a usual practice for us to take trash bags and gather empty bottles, plastic bags and whatever else people(?) leave behind them. Sometimes I was quite angry thinking ~~why the hell should we scavenge all the crap some bastards didn't bother to take~~ why if someone likes picnics then what kind of pleasure is it to return to a place full of trash? Or is it just a normal part of landscape to them? Sometimes we gathered 2 or 3 bags of rubbish 190 pint (90 L) each from the single clearing.

Ugh.. a long and sad post it is as well as the situation. As I'm writing it I think about looking closely at some internet shops which sale eco clothes and other things. I'm now able to purchase them since I have a debit card although I'm not sure if I'll get my order in a proper shape since there are usually lots of problems at customs.

Baa Baa Pink Sheep

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Hey there! This guy occupied my room and tries to eat everything that it sees! Okay okay just kidding ) This is my very first crocheted work! Oh the second sheep is to come soon - this guy obviously needs a company. Actually I plan to make lots of sheep.

The easiest part was its body and the hardest is its ears. They just didn't want to make a proper size and shape. I made about 10 of them before they suited the head firmly. The funnies thing was making the eyes and legs. Oh those crazy eyes...

And by the way I fixed my camera! Now it works fine and I can't wait for warmer days to capture some winter shots.

Crumb the Blackbird

Aluajala@gmail.com (Aluajala) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Recently I've added a cartoon to my collection. Now here's another one! It's about a blackbird.

Here is Blackbird's blog