My journey learning Astrohttps://blog.brodsky.au/en-ushttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/there-are-no-such-things-as-requirements/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/there-are-no-such-things-as-requirements/Many engineers treat product handoffs as fixed requirements. They are not - and it is our job to refine asks with feasibility in mind, not to hide behind the word when trade-offs get uncomfortable.Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/boo-for-booleans/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/boo-for-booleans/Booleans are not ideal; they should probably be something elseTue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/haru/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/haru/Apple recently released the MacBook Neo and the reviewers are focusing too much on is who this laptop is forSun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/what-is-a-computer-for/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/what-is-a-computer-for/Apple recently released the MacBook Neo and the reviewers are focusing too much on is who this laptop is forFri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/blog-5-0-fency/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2026/blog-5-0-fency/It finally happened, I migrated my blog off WordPress.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2025/sony-a7-v/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2025/sony-a7-v/A camera upgrade after almost 9 years of using my trusty Canon 5D Mark IVMon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2022/dubai-2022/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2022/dubai-2022/Covid is almost over and it's time to travel again and see my parents. Off to Dubai we go.Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/the-picnic-train/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/the-picnic-train/We took a ride on a old steam trainSat, 18 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/australian-citizenship/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/australian-citizenship/Not every day you become a citizen of a country! In fact for most folks this is once in a lifetime event. But for me, after spending 11 years in Australia living, studying, working, Australian citizenship was finally no longer a dream, but a completed life goal.Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/wedding-planning/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2021/wedding-planning/There are so many parts to planning a wedding, we were quick to realise that. But that didn't deter us, as we decided to do 2 weddings: 1 in Sydney and 1 in Nagoya. This way we can have my friends attend the Sydney one, and have us legally be married in Australia first, and then have a reception in Nagoya for Kotone's family and friends to attend there.Sat, 23 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/the-proposal/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/the-proposal/9 months we spent apart, and the whole time we were trying to figure out how to get you back to Sydney. But finally in October 2020 you made it back, and after 2 weeks in quarantine we were finally reunited on the 7th of November 2020.Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/the-hu/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/the-hu/Tue, 07 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/lockdown/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/lockdown/It is now May 2020 and the whole world has been in shutdown for 2 months now. Who would’ve imagined that our normal lives would come to such an abrupt stop in March 2020.Mon, 11 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/philippines/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2020/philippines/Another year, another family holiday. This time, amid the spreading health epidemic, we ended up traveling to the beautiful tropical islands of the Philippines. Like always the Brodsky family focused on 2 things, learning about the land and its the people, and relaxing on beautiful beaches of paradise. However, there was one thing that was very different from all of our past trips. A certain Japanese girl joined us on this trip! Thats right, my beautiful girlfriend Kotone came along for two weeks of fun in the Philippines.Sat, 14 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/japan-2019/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/japan-2019/This trip was the most spontaneous thing trip I've ever planned, but it was definitely a very pleasant and memorable experience. I recently started dating a Japanese girl named Kotone, and this November was her brothers wedding party. She was planning on heading to Japan for a couple of days to attend the wedding party, and I decided to tag along. Her parents invited me to the party as well as an honorary guest, and even let me stay at their house for a few nights.Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/eurotrip-2019/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/eurotrip-2019/This year the Brodsky family decided to drive around Europe and visit 2 new countries: Belgium and Luxembourg. Being part of the family means, that I got to experience this as well and thus raised my country count to 56!Tue, 10 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/blog-4-5-kurenai/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/blog-4-5-kurenai/The time has come to give my blog a bit of a glow up.Sun, 04 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/guts-the-future-of-smash-ticketing/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/guts-the-future-of-smash-ticketing/SMASH!, the largest anime convention in Australia, with over 22,000 people coming annually. And to support this convention we have a range of systems: website, recruitment, and ticketing. And now, in 2019, we have to rewrite the ticketing system from scratch. As a bit of backstory, let me tell you how we ended up in this situation.Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/photography-from-a-different-angle/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/photography-from-a-different-angle/For the longest time I have been taking photos with a DSLR camera, and sometimes with my iPhone. Recently however, I've been tempted by the beautiful photos from all these photobloggers and instagrammers, who capture absolutely stunning shots from angles that are near impossible, unless you have a device that can fly.Mon, 29 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/%E3%81%97%E3%82%83%E3%82%82%E3%81%98%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%AE%E6%8E%88%E6%A5%AD/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/%E3%81%97%E3%82%83%E3%82%82%E3%81%98%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%AE%E6%8E%88%E6%A5%AD/しゃもじ英語の授業Wed, 10 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/wisecamping/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/wisecamping/What better way to spend a weekend in May, than to go camping with your favourite coworkers! So we gathered Axle, Justin, Jordan, Josh, Cody, Mark, Tim, Kal, Steven, Sandra and myself together and set out to a campsite around Ulladulla.Tue, 07 May 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/lightning-photography/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/lightning-photography/Have you ever wondered what it feels like being under a lightning cloud while in the middle of a desert? Well neither did I, until I was under a lightning cloud in the middle of a desert!Tue, 12 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/skiing-in-seefeld/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2019/skiing-in-seefeld/This Christmas & New Years I thought of giving my parents the best gift I could - myself. I hatched a plan, to buy tickets home and surprise them. However I needed to make sure that they wouldn't be traveling somewhere, otherwise it would be a rather awkward situation. So I ended up collaborating with my dad to make sure that this plan would work and we would surprise mom.Fri, 04 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/welcome-isagiri/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/welcome-isagiri/iPad is a very interesting device category. It mostly fits between a laptop and a phone in terms of portability and comfort. However it gets closer to the phone in terms of productivity, but closer to the laptop in terms of screen realestate. So what gives? Why even own an iPad?Fri, 21 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/welcome-iphosphophyllite/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/welcome-iphosphophyllite/I’ve been holding off on getting a new phone for quite some time now, but the wait is finally over. Let’s welcome the latest edition to my tech family: a brand new iPhone XS Max_- iPhosphophyllite.Tue, 23 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/portugal-2018/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/portugal-2018/Its been a while since I've been in Europe, but here I am flying to Portugal (Country #54) in a Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class seat. Thats right, this time around we fly with the big boys.Thu, 10 May 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/css-quirks-and-oddities/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/css-quirks-and-oddities/CSS is a weird language. Some people don't even want to consider CSS as a programming language. However to me it will always be one.Thu, 15 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/webdesign-in-2018/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/webdesign-in-2018/Design is an ever evolving industry, and web design is no exception. The practices that were revolutionary in the beginning of the 21st century, seem archaic by modern design standards. Some may say it is hard to keep up, but there are always those that want to drive progress even further.Thu, 15 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/japan-2017-2018/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2018/japan-2017-2018/Its been over 2 years since I was last in Japan, and I find myself there yet again. This time I went Kyoto, Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Mt Fuji and Tokyo. The majority of the trip was to meet up with friends and to take photos of Shirakawago and Mt Fuji. But of course being the otaku that I am, comiket was also on the list.Tue, 09 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/my-first-car/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/my-first-car/Fri, 15 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/sri-lanka-2017/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/sri-lanka-2017/Another year, another country ticked off the list. #53 - Sri Lanka. Its been over a year since I've seen my parents, so this reunion was well overdue.Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/happy-10th-birthday-miku/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/happy-10th-birthday-miku/31st of August 2007 brought you into our world, and since then you have continuously blessed us with your beautiful voice and gorgeous looks. I can't believe that I have listened to 10 years of your songs, it feels like only yesterday I became aware of your existence and instantly fell in love. Since then I've bought numerous goods and CDs, and even came to see you live in Osaka in 2014.Thu, 31 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/smash-2017/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/smash-2017/Every year I go to SMASH!_and every year I cosplay. This year_instead of the usual "dress up as the character you like", I did something different. I actually brought the anime character into the real world! I brought Inferno Cop to life.Fri, 25 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/introduction-user-experience-design/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/introduction-user-experience-design/User experience (UX) design is a relatively new field and only came around with the mass adoption of computers and digital technology. It has evolved over the years and is now an essential part of the digital product development cycle. The core mission of UX is to craft digital experiences that not only empower, but also delight users. In this digital era, innovation never stops and with it more and more opportunities for creating user experiences arise.Tue, 20 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/perfection/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/perfection/> Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take awayThu, 25 May 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-9/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-9/Well, looks like this is the end, its time to go home. My flight back to Sydney was at midday, so you know what that means? I can go for another sunrise!Mon, 24 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-8/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-8/After that really long hike up and down Mt. John, Anton and I were definitely not up for another hike, especially at 6am in the morning. So we went around the lake, looking for some decent photo spots. Took a few shots here and there, went back to the tree...Sun, 23 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-7/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-7/The town of Wanaka in beautiful autumn colours. How better to capture it then to go to the world famous Wanaka Tree. We thought that we are the most prepared photographers, we got there a good hour before the sunrise. When we got to the tree itself, we quickly realised that this was a very popular spot as there were about 20-30 people gathered around the tree with their tripods. Anton and I tried our best to get a good view of the tree, but we found it to be impossible.Sat, 22 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-6/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-6/Our next destination is the lakeside town of Wanaka, so we set off for there. But first we had to take one final look at Mt. Cook, this time from the other end of lake Pukaki. We stumbled upon a Chinese photography tour group and decided to tag along and see what they are up to. They led us up to this hill, which had a stunning view of Mt Cook and all its surroundings. That morning was definitely worth the time to wake up early, drive for about 40 minutes and then take these great shots.Fri, 21 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-5/When we woke up this time, I didn’t feel cold, as I was wearing 4 layers of clothes while sleeping in my warm sleeping bag. But once we opened the tent, we quickly realised that it was around -2 as we could see the frost on the tent. Somehow our bodies have already gotten used to the early rises so waking up for the sunrise was not a challenge anymore.Thu, 20 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-4/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-4/Just when I thought it couldn’t get any colder… 0° tonight. It's 5am again, and we're off for another sunrise photoshoot.Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-3/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-3/Another day, another early rise. This time so we can get to our next stop - Mt Cook Village. But first a sunrise at lake Pukaki. After driving about 5km on a dirt road, we stumbled upon 2 cars parked next to a pond, and a bunch of people with tripods next to it. So we figured that that must be some kind of photography group or tour, as there was 1 guy who was teaching people what to set their settings to, to achieve certain creative effects. "Perfect" - we thought to ourselves, "if a photography group is here, this must be a good spot!". Unfortunately I didn't manage to get many good shots, due to the mountain ranges being pretty much fully covered in clouds, but was still a good stop.Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-2/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-2/Early to bed, early to rise right? Well, it was 5am and we had to be ready to hike up a mountain. Mount John was our first target. Apparently the whole lake would have been visible from the top, if it wasn’t covered in clouds… We only got a small glimpse above the layer of clouds and fog, until it consumed us as well.Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-1/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/new-zealand-photography-trip-day-1/I recently got myself a new Camera - Canon 5D Mark IV. So of course I need to test it out by taking photos of the most beautiful landscapes in the world - New Zealand.Sun, 16 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/sand-dune-photography/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/sand-dune-photography/I figured it about time I upgrade my kit. I love landscape photography, but I was constrained by my camera and lenses. So before embarking on a new journey, I upgraded a bit of my kit. I ordered the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM from Amazon Japan. Its so much cheaper from Japan then here in Sydney, so happy with the cheaper price I got.Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/mongolian-throat-singing/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2017/mongolian-throat-singing/Sun, 08 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/2006-vs-2016/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/2006-vs-2016/So this year there is this thing going around: me in 2006 vs me in 2016. So I decided to get on this bandwagon and combine it with my yearly retrospective post.Wed, 21 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/i-member-uts/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/i-member-uts/I 'member the good old time, you 'member? - South ParkMon, 05 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/happy-birthday-muzaffar/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/happy-birthday-muzaffar/Some people go to dinner, others just chill at home, what does Muza do? He organises a place at Jervis Bay for the night and gets together a gang of Russians (Uzbek, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Kazak Russians) and takes us all to the beautiful beaches. Early wakeup on Saturday followed by a 2.5h drive out to Jervis Bay resulted in us getting some good sun, a few dips in the cold water and a hike through the national park. In the evening, as per tradition, we have shashlik (skewered meat) on the grill and some drinks, while chatting into the night.Sun, 06 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/there-and-back-again/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/there-and-back-again/And thus I have left my comfortable dwelling to go on an adventure to the land of Middle Earth New Zealand. For only a brief 8 days I wandered the uncharted lands of the two islands and explored vast valleys, steep mountains and lush forests.Mon, 31 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/ive-graduated/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/ive-graduated/What a long, strange trip it's been... I came to Australia in 2010, when I was only 17 years of age. I stayed with a homestay family and studied a foundation course in UTS:Insearch. Then after a year of that, I was accepted into UTS to start my 5 year double degree of IT and International Studies (Japan Major). Then just 5 years later I find myself graduated with distinction, with a full time job, living in a great apartment with an amazing housemate and surrounded by people who made me who I am today.Sun, 23 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/-or-/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/-or-/This title may sound a bit strange, but the question behind it is very serious and has caused numerous debates between UI designers.Wed, 07 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/cities-skylines/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/cities-skylines/Back in the 2000s when I just got my first computer and got to play video games for the first time, I got really into city builders. You know, those games where you are like the mayor and architect of a new city, you get some funding and a few roads to start off with and then have to build up your city and turn it into a grand metropolis. Yes SimCity 3000. Those were good times. I think the reason why I was so into these kind of games, was because they reminded me a lot of Lego, which I loved to play with at home. I guess this all also ties in well with how I am a developer now, I have a creative mindset - I want to create great things, maintain them and improve them.Tue, 09 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/web-the-sassy-way/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/web-the-sassy-way/I've been designing and coding websites for a good 4 years now, but only as a hobby in my spare time, nothing serious or professional. It was all basically just simple HTML DOM together with a_CSS file defining the look of my sites. Sometimes I would experiment with certain JS features to have menu bars and various animations, but that was about it. Last year, when I migrated my blog hosting, I had to learn how to set up a web server from scratch using LAMP. And I did, twice: jamiejakov.lv and utsanime.net. Looking back now thats not a great achievement, especially with all the guides out there, but hey, when you don't know anything, even something as simple as setting up a LAMP can be hard.Sun, 24 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/kyary-in-sydney-2016/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/kyary-in-sydney-2016/The fashion monster of Japan is back to Sydney for another live concert! This time as part of her 5 year anniversary world tour. Once again us Kyary lovers gathered to watch the pop idol perform. This time however, they had an option of VIP tickets, which allows the fans to get a photo taken with Kyary herself! (photos done by professional photographer and will be available for download on the 4th of July; See below!). Also included in the VIP package was the chance to be first in line for good and first to access the concert hall, which equals front row position! That was probably the main reason that made this concert so much better than the previous - the opportunity to be really close to Kyary and actually see her face and cute smile.Sat, 25 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/why-i-make/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/why-i-make/Adam Savage, one of the hosts of Mythbusters is in Sydney at the moment, so I looked through his tweets and found this video he stared in. Adam starts off by saying that making, is creating something that didn't exist in this world.Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/spotlight-search/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/spotlight-search/If you use keyboard shortcuts, macros and various other workflow automation techniques, then you might consider yourself a power user. However if you have never used Spotlight on macOS and iOS, you are missing out on a great productivity improvement.Sun, 19 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/milky-way-photography/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/milky-way-photography/Night photography is something that I have always wanted to learn to do well, but have failed over and over again. In the past, I wouldn't have a tripod, so taking good night shots was near impossible. Then I had the technology, but lacked the skills. Now I have finally started learning how to take photos of the stars and what details to bring out in a photo, if I want to see beyond the horizon. 'Sat, 07 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/sydney-brick-expo/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/sydney-brick-expo/Ever since I was a kid, I've loved LEGO. This simple, yet complex game of building anything that your imagination can think of, has entertained me for numerous years. Alas due to the move to Sydney, I could not bring my trusty LEGO blocks with me and continue building (though I started building with the power of software).Mon, 18 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/my-home-media-server-plex/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/my-home-media-server-plex/Continuing on from my previous post about building a home media server, this time, I'll tell you about a brilliant piece of software called PLEX.Fri, 08 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/my-home-media-server-nas/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/my-home-media-server-nas/Ever since I got my own computer and started watching movies, cartoons and anime, I've wanted to have a great collection, and back in the day the only way to do that was to save them on your computer hard drive and view them on that computer. Then I learned about the these really convenient little things called portable (external) HDDs, so I could store my media on that and then view it on a different device, and that worked great... at the time.Fri, 01 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/sunrise-photography/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/sunrise-photography/Ever since I got a new DSLR and lenses, I have been intrigued by the opportunities it has given me in terms of my photography. I have been trying out various angles, lighting, scenery (whenever I travel) and try get photos that would leave my viewers amazed. And I thought I was doing pretty well. But as with anything, there will always be someone who is better than you. Even though that sounds discouraging, I believe that its important to befriend that person and ask them to teach, to mentor you until you acquire skills similar to theirs.Fri, 25 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/malaysia-2016/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/malaysia-2016/And so I find myself in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, sitting at my gate, having waved another goodbye to my parents, on my way back to university and work life in Sydney. The holiday is over, even though it feels like it has only just begun.Thu, 17 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-apple-vs-fbi-debate/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-apple-vs-fbi-debate/You have probably heard about this case, but for those that haven't: the FBI have ordered Apple to create a version of iOS that would allow the FBI to access a terrorists smartphone in hopes of finding some valuable clues to the case and possible links to other terrorists. What they affectively want is for Apple to compromise their own security "for this one case" and then "un-compromise" it again. Let that sink in.Wed, 16 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/over-50-countries-check/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/over-50-countries-check/Last time I updated my visit country list,_it was at 47. Well as of today, I've passed the 50 mark. Now I shall enjoy my holiday in unique country that is Malaysia. Expect photos!Sun, 06 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/singapore-2016/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/singapore-2016/For my family travels this year, we decided to head over to Malaysia. However, on the way there, I got a great opportunity to visit my friends in the small island-country-city - Singapore.Sun, 06 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/wikiwand-extension/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/wikiwand-extension/Today I would like to introduce you to a browser extension you never knew you would need, but will not be able to live without. Its called WikiWand_and it will change_the way you interact with WikipediA forever!Sat, 13 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/hearthstone/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/hearthstone/As you all know, Blizzard has made a lot of great games in the past. Memorable titles such as Warcraft III, Diablo II, Starcraft and of course currently WoW have all been hugely successful in their genres. One of their latest games (well it came out in 2014) is Hearthstone. It is a collectable card game, where you fight one on one against opponents from all over the world. Hearthstone is based of the Warcraft universe, so for people who have played Warcraft III and/or WoW, the characters/minions/spells will be very familiar.Sun, 07 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-history-of-japan/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-history-of-japan/Fri, 05 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/jamiejakov-blog-4-0-%E3%82%8A%E3%82%93%E3%81%94%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/jamiejakov-blog-4-0-%E3%82%8A%E3%82%93%E3%81%94%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9/There has been a lot of stuff happening in my life recently - got a new job, moving to a new place, last semester of uni soon, started playing Hearthstone seriously, etc. So I decided it would be a great time to update my blog.Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/australia-day-2016/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/australia-day-2016/Every year families all around the country gather together to celebrate Australia Day. Its the day that the whole nation celebrates the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, NSW. Australia has become a very multicultural society, but nevertheless everyone gathers together for festive barbecues and beach outings. All of this is usually followed by a display of fireworks in the CBD of the major cities.Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D1%8C%D1%8E%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D1%8C%D1%8E%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80/Sat, 23 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/taigagatari/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/taigagatari/Mon, 18 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-goal/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2016/the-goal/I don't really read many books, but when I do, they affect me in a big way. This book made me question the processes we follow and actions we take in our everyday lives, and evaluate their value in terms of achieving "The Goal".Sat, 16 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/miku-%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%B5%E3%82%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%9B%E3%81%8B%E3%81%84%E3%81%9B%E3%81%84%E3%81%B5%E3%81%8F/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/miku-%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%B5%E3%82%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%9B%E3%81%8B%E3%81%84%E3%81%9B%E3%81%84%E3%81%B5%E3%81%8F/Mon, 28 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/pokemon-symphonic-evolutions/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/pokemon-symphonic-evolutions/When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to watch theatre plays, operas and of course symphonic orchestra performances. I've heard my fair share of Bethoven, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky. And during my high school days, I also played a fair share of their pieces as well, while being part of the school orchestra.Sat, 21 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/sculptures-by-the-sea-2015/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/sculptures-by-the-sea-2015/Every year the creative minds of Sydney gather together and present a number of exhibitions at the cove between Bondi and Bronte beaches. This event is called Sculptures by the Sea. UTS Drawing Circle, being the more creative club, organised an outing to this event, and since I have friends there and I don't want to miss out on an opportunity to practice taking photos with my DSLR, I obviously joined in.Sun, 08 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/eiga-dorobou-cosplay/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/eiga-dorobou-cosplay/I'd say this was one of my most successful cosplays, if not THE. I have cosplayed a number of different characters in the past, as outlines in this post about cosplay. But our joint NO MORE Eiga Dorobou (NO MORE映画泥棒) definitely tops the list.Wed, 07 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-19/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-19/### Day 19 - Best anime villainSun, 04 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-18/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-18/### Day 18 - Favorite shounen animeSat, 03 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-17/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-17/### Day 17 - Favorite tsundereFri, 02 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-16/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-16/Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-15/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-15/Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-14/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-14/### Day 14 - Anime you've rewatched the mostMon, 28 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-13/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-13/### Day 13 - Favorite anime attending high schoolSun, 27 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-12/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-12/### Day 12 - Favorite mecha seriesSat, 26 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-11/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-11/### Day 11 - Post a cute neko-girlFri, 25 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-10/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-10/### Day 10 - Current (or most recent) anime wallpaperThu, 24 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-9/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-9/### Day 9 - Favorite slice of life animeWed, 23 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-8/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-8/### Day 8 - Anime you remember most fondlyWed, 23 Sep 2015 03:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-7/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-7/Tue, 22 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-6/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-6/### Day 6 - Favorite anime coupleMon, 21 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-5/### Most annoying anime characterSun, 20 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-4/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-4/### What is the LAST anime you watched that made you cry?Sat, 19 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-3/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-3/### Day 3 - Your anime crushFri, 18 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-2/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-2/Continuing on with the daily my daily anime questions.Thu, 17 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-1/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/anime-day-1/In 2013 when I just became an exec in anime@UTS, Anthony and I started this "game" where every day we would post 1 question on the club FB group and all the new and existing members would reply to. These questions ranged from favourite anime characters, to most hated moments, but were always related to anime. We called it 100 days of anime. Now, almost 3 years later, the list has found me again (thanks to a certain kiri bird), and I decided, why not do it again, this time on my blog. It would give it new life, and honestly when was the last time I blogged about anything anime related?Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/animeuts-does-hanami/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/animeuts-does-hanami/As per tradition, every year anime@UTS heads over to Auburn to experience the beauty of the Japanese sakura trees. _This year was no different. Unfortunately due to the large storm that hit Sydney the previous Monday, there weren't many blossoms left, but enough to get us excited and to take so many beautiful photos. This year it wasn't just UTS who attended either, all of AnimeSydney_ was there together! If you have never seen Japanese sakura, you should defintelly check out Auburn next year in September. I know for sure that we will be there again.Sun, 30 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/the-walkcar/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/the-walkcar/Sun, 09 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/beware-of-flying-apples/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/beware-of-flying-apples/You know how much I love Apple and apples. I love the tech and I love eating all sorts of delicious fruit. What I don't like, is when apples start flying. Now that, my friends, is terrifying.Tue, 21 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/avenue-q-musical/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/avenue-q-musical/So far I have only been to one musical, that was "Mamma Mia" on Broadway NY in 2009. But yesterday I went to see Avenue Q at the Enmore Theatre. It was a great show, and I can say, I laughed so hard my cheeks were hurting.Fri, 17 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/das-upgrade/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/das-upgrade/Ever since coming back from Japan, I have been upgrading my life. I got a new apartment, a whole lot of great furniture, new job (upgraded version of old job), new clothes, a 5k iMac, and now some more shiny new things. For years now I have been longing for batter typing experience - a mechanical keyboard. But since I was going to Japan and then in Japan, I could never really get one, cause they are heavy and bulky. Fast track to the beginning of the month. My WoW Cataclysm gaming mouse, which served me well for 5 years, has started to show signs of death, it may not be dead yet, but definitely breathing its last breaths, so I started searching for a worthy replacement.Sun, 28 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/maldives-2015/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/maldives-2015/Ah the crystal clear azure sea, the white sand of the beach and the green trees, so beautiful, so tranquil - these are the Maldives.Wed, 29 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/united-arab-emirates-2015/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/united-arab-emirates-2015/Welcome to another exciting episode of: 'Vadim goes traveling around the world'. This time he is visiting the land of sand and oil - United Arab Emirates. What did our young traveler find in this distant Arabian land? Find out after the break.Sat, 18 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/photos/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/photos/Today Apple released updates for both their desktop and mobile operating systems which comes with a new Photos app.Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BF-%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BF-%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC/Стоп Хам (Stop a Douchebag) is a youth movement which fights against traffic rule violators and arrogance on the roads of Russia. They fight against people who park their cars in the middle of the road, sidewalks or even pedestrian crossings. They also fight against people who think they are the smartest and drive on the sidewalk to save time and go around a traffic jam. Why do they this? Well if its not them then who? Who is going to fix this mess that roads in Russia have become? There is a saying in Russian: "We only have 2 problems in this country: Idiots and Roads".Wed, 25 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/guess-whos-back/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/guess-whos-back/Almost a year has passed since I left beautiful Sydney. And now I am back, back to a new year of uni, new job, new apartment in Rhodes! But at the same time I can now see all my good old friends, eat all the amazing food I have been missing out on, and spend 3 times more than I should on daily necessities! Yay for Sydney!Wed, 18 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/sapporo-snow-festival/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/sapporo-snow-festival/Every year a bunch of snow sculptures are constructed in the Ōdōri park in Sapporo. This year is the 66th Sapporo snow festival and I had the opportunity to experience it first hand.Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/on-leaving-japan/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/on-leaving-japan/My 10 months in Japan is almost over and it is time to pack up and fly back to Sydney. What can I say, it's been a wild ride. A lot of events, celebrations, and great experiences overall. But now its time to say goodbye.Mon, 02 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/psycho-pass-movie-partial-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2015/psycho-pass-movie-partial-review/Set after the events of season 1 and 2 this movie brings a new arch to the Psycho Pass series with a new story while bringing back some familiar faces. If you haven't watched seasons 1 and 2, there is little to no point of watching the movie as it revolves around established ideas and characters. Though season 2 was not as well accepted as the original, it is still worth watching as it hold some key plot points which are discussed in the movie.Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/2014-retrospective/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/2014-retrospective/Wow, that went by rather quick. I remember how I was writing up the 2013 retrospective, as if it was yesterday. Why did the year fly by so quickly? Well I guess it is due to me being in Kagoshima, Japan! A new region to explore, a whole new bunch of Pokemon to catch! ... wait a minute, wrong world. Anyway, lets see what the most memorable events were this year.Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kyushu-christmas-trip/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kyushu-christmas-trip/This winter break being far away from home, far away from our families, Amy and I went on an adventure around Kyushu to see everything it has to offer. For our 6 day trip we, went to Nagasaki and the deserted island of Gunkanjima, Huis Ten Bosch theme park, Beppu city and the town of Yufuin. I'll try to write up as much as I can, but it is late and we are sleepy.Tue, 30 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/merry-kurisumasu/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/merry-kurisumasu/Another year, another Christmas. As I just realised, I skipped last years Christmas post, but that was due to the long post about my blog redesign, which is still beautiful as ever.Thu, 25 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/sakurajima-%E6%A1%9C%E5%B3%B6/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/sakurajima-%E6%A1%9C%E5%B3%B6/What are your first thoughts when you hear the words active volcano? Mine used to be: "run away as fast as I can". But ever since I came to Kagoshima these words have changed to something more calm. Thats right, even though Sakurajima volcano is active and erupts about 3 times a day, it is still fairly safe and there are even people living on the used-to-be island. In 1914 a great eruption happened, and thus Sakurajima was connected to the peninsula and lost its status as an island, but the name remains and literally means Cherry Blossom Island.Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-red-leaves-of-kirishima/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-red-leaves-of-kirishima/One day, I receive a message from our Turkish gaijin Burak saying that we are going to Kirishima. It was rather spontaneous, but I am not the kind of person to decline an invitation to a trip, especially if I have never been to the place before. The reason for this trip was simple: to see the beautiful red leaves that cover Japanese trees in Autumn. And so we hired a car and drove to the Kirishima Jingu (shrine). Another trip together with the Gaijin Gang.Sat, 22 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/senganen-flowers/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/senganen-flowers/Kagoshima city may be small in comparison to Tokyo or Osaka, but because of that you can enjoy traditional Japan much more, than if you were in a metropolis. Todays outing_was just that, a trip to the traditional gardens of senganen in the north of Kagoshima, where they are currently holding_a chrysanthemum festival.Sun, 09 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/saga-international-balloon-fiesta/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/saga-international-balloon-fiesta/This weekend there was a big balloon festival in Saga and of course I went there to check it out. Only problem was that there were no balloons.Mon, 03 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/fifa-2018-logo/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/fifa-2018-logo/In 2012 it was decided that the next big world football event - FIFA 2018, will be held in Russia! And last week the official logo was unveiled from a place far far away. If you think of Russia, what comes to mind? Snow, bears, vodka and AK-47? Maybe for some of you, but for educated people, Russia is a symbol of feudal culture, old and deep history, and of course the conquering of space in the modern age. So the announcement of the FIFA 2018 logo, was made from the International Space Station on the 29th of October.Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/poster-session/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/poster-session/Photos from the international students poster session at Kagoshima University.Thu, 23 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/shimabara-nagasaki/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/shimabara-nagasaki/This weekend I spent together with my good friend Tac, who is currently working as a English teacher in the city of Shimabara as part of the JET program. We went around the city, a nearby hot spring and Nagasaki city.Mon, 20 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/typhoons-in-japan/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/typhoons-in-japan/Another day another typhoon warning. And believe it or not, this is normal in Japan. Typhoon VongFong has made landfall onto Kyuushu at 9am this morning and is slowly making its way towards the rest of Japan. This is the 19th typhoon to affect Japan this year. Trust me, thats a lot.Mon, 13 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/cosplaying/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/cosplaying/Cosplay, its an art of dressing up as a character from a TV series, movie, game or any other form of media. You get to pretend to be your favourite character, maybe act out a scene or two from the show/game.Sun, 21 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/hiroshima-%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/hiroshima-%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6/Now I am heading to the city of Hiroshima, best known for its century old shrine and gate on the water (Miyajima Jinja) and of course the atomic bombing of 1945.Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kurokawa-onsen/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kurokawa-onsen/Summer holidays are not over, and neither are my travels. This time Amy and I set on an adventure to venture into the mountains of Kumamoto prefecture, into a small town called Kurokawa onsen. It took us 3 hours to get there by bus from Kumamoto station; it was a long ride, but totally worth it.Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/iphone-6-and-the-watch/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/iphone-6-and-the-watch/Yesterday Apple announced the new generation iPhone and they had one more thing to say. The new iPhone comes in 2 models the iPhone6 and the 6+ with 4.7' and 5.5' screens respectively. They got a spec bump over the previous generation and a new slimmer design. Thats pretty much it. For features Apple introduced Pay, a service which will replace all your credit cards and allow you to pay with your iPhone using NFC. That's awesome, but only available in the US for now.Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-hype-for-september-9th/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-hype-for-september-9th/We all knew it was coming, but we probably have no idea how little know, and what to expect. I am of course talking about the September 9th Apple Keynote. Every year Apple has held a Keynote around this time in September to introduce their new hardware, more specifically new iPhones. We (by we I mean all the denizens of the internet and beyond) were all guessing that this year won't be different. Oh boy, were we wrong. Well I can't say for a fact yet, but come September 10th 2-4am Japan time, and I will be able to say that we were.Fri, 05 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/magical-mirai-2014/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/magical-mirai-2014/Happy birthday Miku!! You have been with us for the past 7 years, singing amazing songs which we will remember forever. And of course good work with the concert yesterday. It was amazing!Sun, 31 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/korea/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/korea/For the past 5 days I have been traveling around Korea. We visited the port and beach town of Busan, the capital Seoul and took a tour to visit the_Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the border with North Korea.Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-problems-of-being-a-developer/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-problems-of-being-a-developer/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55AqvgWed, 27 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/comiket-86/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/comiket-86/Comiket is the worlds biggest anime convention. It is_different from cons in the West though, because comiket was originally established as a market place for comics (hence the name **Comi**c Mar**ket**) as apposed to western cons which are more to celebrate the love for anime and manga. These days comiket_held at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, a huge building close to Odaiba, and around 500,000 people visit each day during the 3 day period in summer and winter.Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/pikachus-everywhere/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/pikachus-everywhere/The rest of my trip to Tokyo this year included seeing, touching, hugging, eating and buying Pikachus. Im serious, I did everything imaginable to those pikachus.Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ibusuki/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ibusuki/The city of Ibusuki is famous in Kyushu for its hot onsen and of course rejuvenating sand baths. To get a hands on (or butts on in this case) experience, we decided to make the Iwasaki Hotel our main holiday destination.Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/summer-holidays-travel/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/summer-holidays-travel/Exams are over, semester is done, time to go outside and have fun in the beautiful weather, unless you have a typhoon coming (yes we are gonna get hit in the next few days). My parents are on the way to me now and we are going to start our fun summer vacation. Unlike previous years this holiday will be rather different. First the length: we are going to start traveling now and only finish on the 31st of August, so thats almost a month. And second is the location: I am living in Japan now!Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/angela-aki-live-in-kagoshima/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/angela-aki-live-in-kagoshima/Angela Aki is very popular Japanese singer and composer, who also plays piano and the guitar, and who sings a lot about love, home, dreams, and life. She is only 36 and has been well knows ever since her debut in 2006 in the Budoukan Hall, making history there as the first_artist to ever perform in the famous venue solo (with just her piano) -- no backup singers, band or opening act. So far she has released 8 albums and has been preforming all over Japan.Sat, 26 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-notebook-people-love/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-notebook-people-love/Apple just released a new ad showing their MacBook lineup. But not like other tech companies, they did not focus on the tech specs, or trying to explain how why their computer is superior to the competition, no. They just showed up how people, most likely young people, decorate their laptops with decals (vinyls, stickers). Simple message: our laptop is hip, our laptop is popular with teenagers and students, cause they can be creative.Wed, 23 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/getting-a-haircut-in-japan/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/getting-a-haircut-in-japan/A lot of things a very different in Japan compared to the West, such as their manners, the convenience of everything around you and of course the superb customer service. So when I decided to get a haircut, my first haircut in Japan, I was pleasantly surprised with the service.Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/new-russian-trams-sleek-and-scary/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/new-russian-trams-sleek-and-scary/The world is innovating, you can see signs of new futuristic technology everywhere. From smartphones and tablets to self driving cars and climate control cities. This thing you see is also a small glimpse of the future, the future of Russian transport, more specifically trams. It is called project АТОМ_and this tram is designed to be a new standard for all trams in Russia within the next 3 years. This project caught my eye, when someone on reddit linked to this guys livejornal blog where he explains how this home made (90% of parts made in Russia) is a breakthrough in Russian transport systems and when it gets implemented it will change the way people_use trams in big cities not only in Russia, but also all over the world.Sun, 13 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/7-little-kittens/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/7-little-kittens/The internet loves cats. Cat videos are like the backbone of all life on the internet. And you have probably seen a lot of cat videos in the past, but I doubt you have seen anything as cute as this. Cat SYNCH!Thu, 10 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kagerou-project/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kagerou-project/As the spring season of 2014 comes to a close, I would like to take some time and write about one of the (I would like to say best, but I can't) coolest anime of the season - Mekakucity Actors. Usually anime is based on manga, light novels, games, or is original story, but not Mekakucity (it was but not entirely), this anime was based of a series of Voclaloid songs_called Kagerou Project_(SPOILERS for the series, watch at own risk)_made by Jin and posted on_NicoNicoDouga. Though the original songs were adapted into a series of light novels and a manga, the story of the anime, same as the LN and mange took a turn in its own direction in places, showing of things that you could not see in the other media.Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E7%95%99%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E3%81%AB%E5%9B%B3%E6%9B%B8%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%A9%E8%B4%88%E5%91%88-nhk%E9%B9%BF%E5%85%90%E5%B3%B6/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E7%95%99%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E3%81%AB%E5%9B%B3%E6%9B%B8%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%A9%E8%B4%88%E5%91%88-nhk%E9%B9%BF%E5%85%90%E5%B3%B6/Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ruben-schade/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ruben-schade/I don't write about people, heck I don't even talk to people unless we have something in common. There are only a few people that have had a big influence on my life, I call them my sempais, my shishos, my senseis, my mentors. This post is kind of like a reply post, but also as a thank you post.Sun, 15 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E3%81%8D%E3%82%83%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E3%81%8D%E3%82%83%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC/It seems like I am only talking about music these days eh? I am just busy working on/learning how to create something awesome. This is the newest song by one of my favorite J-Pop idols: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Its called Kira Kira Killer, but its not about death, its about being struck with new ideas and about creativity.Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/psy-snoop-dogg-hangover/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/psy-snoop-dogg-hangover/So PSY has just released a new song called Hangover and as you can expect its about drinking. Its even more crazy then Gangnam Style_and Gentlemen_and it has Snoop Dogg! So far its up to 3 million views in just half a day, lets see what happens when the rest of the world wakes up!Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/tips-on-living-in-kagoshima/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/tips-on-living-in-kagoshima/So I've been in Kagoshima for a month and a half now, so I believe that I can give some tips for my kouhais, future UTS students coming to Kagoshima for exchange. Please note, this post will be updated numerous times throughout my ICS period. I also really envy my kouhais, cause I will make sure they get almost everything that I have bought here, as I won't be taking this stuff back to Australia, with the exception of my monitor and rice cooker.Wed, 04 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/south-park-the-stick-of-truth/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/south-park-the-stick-of-truth/They announced it at E3 2012, they showed a glimpse of it at EB Expo 2012, and now, almost 1 and a half year later, it is out! And wow what a game it is! So South Park The Stick of Truth is an RPG where you play as the new kid in town who just arrived and is trying to make friends with the local boys (and girls). During his adventures, sir Douchebag (thats the name you are given) must help the human kingdom, led by the Grand Wizard Cartman, take back from the Elves, led by High Elf Kyle, the ancient relic of immense power - the Stick of Truth. No spoiler version.Mon, 02 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/two-years-down-the-road/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/two-years-down-the-road/Wow, I can't believe that it has already been 2 years since I set up this blog and made my first post. It has been a long ride, and I can only look back the past with sweet memories of writing up these blog posts that mostly consist of my own opinions or just random cool stuff. Like for example last year instead of celebrating a year of blogging, I was too busy being excited for Armikrog! (which still hasn't come out)Fri, 30 May 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/how-many-countries-have-i-been-to/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/how-many-countries-have-i-been-to/Traveling sure is fun, isn't it? You get to see and experience the world where we live in and get to be a part of the vast diversity of cultures that people have created for themselves. Most people don't have the opportunity to explore the world, due to time or money constraints. I, on the other hand, had the time, and my family had the finances to support traveling to over 45 countries in our world. Ever since I was 3 years old, my parents would take me abroad, starting with nearby countries such as Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, etc.; but then expanding to places like Kenya, Brazil and even Australia.Wed, 28 May 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/appearing-naked-on-japanese-tv-check/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/appearing-naked-on-japanese-tv-check/Onsen (温泉) is the Japanese word for hot spring and public bath. These bath houses are a_very essential part of Japanese culture and there is even a fictional story about it (Thermae Romae). The reason I came to Japan was to experience_all of its cultural aspects, and so I find myself going to an event for foreign exchange students to learn about the culture of Onsen.Thu, 15 May 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/golden-week-in-kansai/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/golden-week-in-kansai/Golden Week is a holiday in Japan which consists of multiple celebrations such as Showa day, Constitution Memorial day, Greenery day, Children's day. It is the time of year, where pretty much all of Japan starts traveling around to visit places that they haven't been to, or places that they would want to visit again.Thu, 08 May 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/fukuroka-%E7%A6%8F%E3%83%AD%E5%B2%A1/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/fukuroka-%E7%A6%8F%E3%83%AD%E5%B2%A1/Now that Tac has arrived in Japan last week for the JET program, we can once again go out to anime shops and arcades together! And thats pretty much what we did this weekend. Not quite. It all started in Saga.Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%D1%81-%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%91%D0%BC-%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F-unk/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%D1%81-%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%91%D0%BC-%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F-unk/Дядя Валера! Хочу поздравить тебя с днём рождения! Желаю счастья, здоровья, всего наилучшего в жизни, удачи и успеха в бесконечной стройке дома. Так же надеюсь, что все в Украине наладится и мир восстановится. Надеюсь, что в ближайшие несколько лет нам удастся встретиться где-нибудь в этом мире, в Европе, Америке, Австралии или, например, Японии.Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/climbing-mt-takachihono-mine-%E9%AB%98%E5%8D%83%E7%A9%82%E5%B3%B0%E7%99%BB%E5%B1%B1/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/climbing-mt-takachihono-mine-%E9%AB%98%E5%8D%83%E7%A9%82%E5%B3%B0%E7%99%BB%E5%B1%B1/Today we went hiking in the mountains, walking up a mountain to be precise. In a car with 5 people we drove to Kirishima National Park_and climbed (walked) to the top of Takachihono-mine mountain. After waking up at 8am, gathering at about 8:45, a almost 2 hour drive to the mountain, our walk to the top began. Tip for anyone who wants to go up mountains in Japan, buy these sock things that cover your shoes that prevent pebbles from getting in, by the end of our descent my shoes were completely full with pebbles and that was really annoying a bit painful. Unfortunately it has been really cloudy the past few days in Kagoshima, so we didn't get any view from the mountain, but when we were going down, we got to see the crater of the volcano (the mountain used to be a volcano), which was at least something! We also visited a farm there, which is apparently really famous for their ice-cream, but we didn't have any, we just bought some souvenirs (food).Sat, 19 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/full-moon-over-kagoshima/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/full-moon-over-kagoshima/Today, on the 15th of April, most of world could witness the lunar eclipse. We managed to get some great shots of the full moon in yellow and red colors. It was another great event/gathering organized by our friend_Çağcan, thank you for organizing. Looking forward to spending the next 6 months with you, Calvin and other ryuugakusei who will only stay for another semester, and the next year with all the other newbies like me. Also cheers to Enchan for the tripod, without it I would not have been able to take such beautiful photos, which you can find right here:Tue, 15 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/brand-new-day-brand-new-life/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/brand-new-day-brand-new-life/素晴らしい日々よ感謝してまだまだいけるWed, 09 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/bus-stops-from-the-ussr/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/bus-stops-from-the-ussr/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz3cDp2Qb04Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/final-destination-kagoshima/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/final-destination-kagoshima/(Photo from the window of my plane, you can see Mt. Fuji)Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ghost-trick-by-capcom/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/ghost-trick-by-capcom/Capcom makes a lot of good games like Street Fighter and Super Street Fighter and Ultra Street Fighter, and .... well you get the gist. Nah, of course they have more good games and one of them is this puzzle detective game called _Ghost Trick.__It was recommended to me by my puzzle loving friend a while back and now I have finally finished it! It was a very interesting story with a nice plot twist at the end. I wouldn't call it the best puzzle game, but it is definitely worth the time. I will write up a mini review without spoilers, because what fun is it playing a puzzle game when the story has been spoiled for you.Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/preparations-for-japan-farewells/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/preparations-for-japan-farewells/Visa and plane tickets have been acquired, packing has been done, all my boxes have been moved to my friend Tac's and Alex's places, and now all the farewell lunches, dinners, and parties are now done.Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/telegram-instant-messenger/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/telegram-instant-messenger/There are a lot of instant messaging apps around like: WhatsApp, Line, WeeChat, Viber, Skype, FB Messenger, etc. But this app caught my attention because of the promise they make. The promise of privacy. Telegram_promises to provide the user with an encrypted messaging service that helps you protect your private information not only from the american government, but also from your friends. It has an option, similar to what Snapchat offers with its photos, a setting that will self destruct the message after a certain period of time, such as 5 seconds.Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E3%81%8D%E3%82%83%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85-live/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/%E3%81%8D%E3%82%83%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85%E3%81%B1%E3%81%BF%E3%82%85-live/Kyaaaaaaaryyyyyyyyy, one of the most 'unusual' J-Pop idols visited Sydney last weekend, and how better to celebrate your 6 month anniversary with your girlfriend, then by visiting this concert! It is the first time that Kyari visited Australia, and it seems that she rather likes it here! This one and a half hour concert featured all of her most popular songs, as well as some new and less famous ones. It was a very nice way to spend one of my last days in Sydney for 2014; together with my friends like Seb, Ruben, Clara, etc. I managed to take a lot of photos with Amy's iPhone and she posted them all up: here.Mon, 24 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/numbers-and-budgets/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/numbers-and-budgets/My new years resolution was to be more organised and get more control over my money. And the one thing that helped me achieve this goal was the App - Numbers.Tue, 18 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-6-sokha-beach/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-6-sokha-beach/(above image is from our previous hotel: Borei Angkor)Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-5-kampong-phulk-city-on-water/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-5-kampong-phulk-city-on-water/You know Venice right? A city which lives on water. The photo above is not from Venice, far from it, it is from a small city (housing 10,000 people) on the Tonle Sap Lake in Cmabodia. People have lived on this lake for generations and will continue doing so, but one thing that separates this town from any other town is that during summer all you can see are poles, thousands and thousands of poles (and I do not mean people from Poland). Then, during rainy season, the water goes up 9 meters and floods everything in sight. Thats why these people had to build houses on such huge pikes as a foundation for their homes. Its an amazing sight, which you wont be able to see anywhere in the world.Thu, 13 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-3-4-siem-reap/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-3-4-siem-reap/**Yesterday**, on the 3rd day we took a 1 hour flight from Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam to Siem Reap in the neighboring country of Cambodia. Once we arrived in Siem Reap and got to our  hotel, we were in for a little surprise. Apparently my dad's agent booked us rooms in the so called Privilege Floor of the hotel Borei Angkor. What this means is that we get our own reception on the floor, free minibar refills, a bathtub in our bathroom, complimentary champagne in our bedroom and free access to the Damnak Lounge where we can have free cocktails while watching the sunset. Well basically we are living in a 5 ☆ hotel with like extra service. Even my dad was like: "I did not pay _this_ much!" All the photos are on my flickr~Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-2-mekong-river/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-2-mekong-river/Today we had a boat tour of the Mekong river and various markets and factories on it. These included a candy factory, various rice plants and loading facilities, and other interesting places. Most of the day was just spent on the nice little boat, looking around at the houses and slums of the people living there and taking photos of pretty flowers.Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-1-saigon/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/day-1-saigon/The city of Saigon, or as it is currently known: Ho Chi Minh City is one of the largest cities in Vietnam and has a long history of occupation, war and freedom. Today we had our tour around the most famous parts of the city, such as the Independence Palace, Chinatown, and the War Remnants Museum (you can check my Foursquare for the exact locations of the places we visit).Sun, 09 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/a-new-journey/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/a-new-journey/From today till the 22nd of March, my family and me will be visiting the mysterious lands of Vietnam and Cambodia. We have decided to embark on this journey not only to experience the culture and traditions that these countries keep hidden, but also to relax and enjoy our long overdue vacation.Sat, 08 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/twitch-plays-pokemon/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/twitch-plays-pokemon/If you don't know what this is, I think it is time to climb from under the rock you have been hiding for the past 2 weeks and start watching & participating! This is not just Pokemon, oh no, this is much more. As Wikipedia put it, Twitch Plays Pokemon (TPP) is a social experiment, I'd say it has become a social phenomenon. Basically what TPP is, it is a stream of a Pokemon Blue game modified to accept the commands typed into the chat of the stream by the people who are watching, thus making them the players. As this idea is new and original, the concept became super popular and thus amassed over 70,000 people to play at a time (though it has died down and only 30,000 are playing at the moment, but still!).Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/preparations-for-japan-packing/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/preparations-for-japan-packing/Yesterday I started putting away all the figures that have made my shelves their home. Now they are back in their cramped up boxes and those boxes are in another box (Yo DAWG~). Now my shelves are so empty and soon my whole room will be as well. It is sad to leave the place that you called home for over 3 years now, but I must look ahead and welcome my new place in Japan!Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/birthday-1-11-you-can-not-unwrap/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/birthday-1-11-you-can-not-unwrap/Continuing on with my birthday celebrations from the 1st of February, I had 2 more parties. One with my friends from urbanest_on the 8th of February, exactly a week after my official birthday and then one more today with my friends Ruben and Clara, who couldn't make it to my birthday on the 1st. (And Seb was there too) We went to IKEA and had a lot of meatballs! So many that I didn't even have dinner. Ruben and Clara gave me the amazing Shinobu heroin book and the new Latvian euros, which they had ship from Latvia! Thank you so much! I did however have to go through 6 layers of wrapping...... again......Sun, 23 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-wind-rises-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/the-wind-rises-review/When thinking of the works of award winning director - Hayao Miyazaki you would normally think of his amazing fairy tale type movies like _My Neighbour Totoro_, _Spirited Away_ or _Howls Moving Castle.__They are all similar in the sense that they are set out in a somewhat realistic world with elements of magic and mystery and these become the predominant aspects of the story, which create the unforgettable feeling of a Studio Ghibli Movie. _The Wind Rises__(風立ちぬ), however differs from the tradition fantasy genre and is based on a true story of a Jiro Horikoshi, an aerospace engineer, who's dream was to create beautiful planes that would surpass the German designs in both speed and power. Even though the setting is in real life World War I and then World War II Japan, this touching story of a young boys dream, dedication to work, search for perfection, love and despair is one of the best works of Director Miyazaki. It really shows us, just how fragile a human life really is.Sun, 16 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/sochi-2014/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/sochi-2014/The 22nd winter Olympic Games have just begun in Sochi Russia! For any country hosting an Olympic Games is a great honor and Russia hasn't had a chance since the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow. Its been tough on Russia, they had to building all the venues and hotels from scratch, spending an amazing 51 billion dollars on infrastructure, new stadiums and hotels. But they managed to get all of it done on time (almost) and they Olympics have officially begun a few days ago with the amazing opening ceremony, which showcased the history of Russia with beautiful ballet and performances.Sun, 09 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/blumenkranz/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/blumenkranz/Blumenkranz - in german it means a wreath of flowers (ring of flowers) and that is what normal german speakers would think if they heard anyone say this word. Well if anime fas, who are watching the show _Kill La Kill__hears this word, they will undoubtedly think of the second best track from the OST (Original Sound Track) which bears the same name - Blumenkranz.Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/my-21st-such-madoka-much-ghibli-wow/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/my-21st-such-madoka-much-ghibli-wow/This year I have officially become an adult (in every country); I turned 21! Every year up until now I got to spend this special day with my 2 most special people - my mommy and my daddy, but this year we did not get the chance to meet up to celebrate it together, but nevertheless I had a great day with my friends - yay!Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/jlpt-n2/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/jlpt-n2/In Autumn of 2013 (March) I set myself a goal. That goal was to buy textbooks, study them thoroughly, take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and pass it. I am very grateful, that I realized this so early in the year and had more than enough time to prepare for the exam which was on the 1st of December.  And now I got my results back, and guess what - I PASSED!Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kites-at-centennial-park/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/kites-at-centennial-park/26th of January - Australia Day. Its a day of celebration, aussie BBQs and kites! Drawing Circle and the Japanese Australian Students Society (JASS) had a joint event at Centennial Park which was a sort of BBQ / drawing session and kite making workshop. Around 20 people came and overall it was a great joint event, even though it was rather cloudy (with a chance of meatballs).  But that didn't stop multiple groups of aussies gathering together with their family and friends to celebrate this day together.Mon, 27 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/eklasse-lv-and-the-fight-for-justice/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/eklasse-lv-and-the-fight-for-justice/Currently all schools in Latvia are required to use this online grading system called_E-klasse.lv_which is run by the company DAEC. When I was still in high school (almost 4 years ago), all the teachers had to put the students marks and grades into both a paper journal and into this online system, but as I have heard from my mother, now they are only using this online system. Of course this has its benefits and makes it easier for both students and their parents to access, but there are also obvious risks as well. Unlike UTS which uses a very complicated and secure system to store all the university students marks, e-klasse is not as big and I highly doubt it is as secure as what my university has to offer._Anyway, that is beside the point, what I want to tell you about is the absurd story that happened to one of our students (former student of Rigas 10th Secondary School) when he tried to improve the user experience when using this online grading tool.Wed, 22 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/steinsgate-fuka-ryouiki-no-deja-vu-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/steinsgate-fuka-ryouiki-no-deja-vu-review/Back in 2011 I wrote a review of _Steins;Gate_, a series that I really enjoyed watching and gave it a 10 straight away and I even said that it was the best time travel story told in anime. Now, 2 years later, 7 months after the movie came out in cinemas I ordered the Blu-Ray and today we had a screening with the anime clubs of UTS, USyd and UNSW. It was a grand event, around 50 people showed up to watch this awesome movie._Anyway to the review.Sun, 19 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/why-jamiejakov/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/why-jamiejakov/I have been asked this question multiple times, and would always give a tl;dr version. Now I can finally tell the story in full.Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/did-someone-say-ghibli/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2014/did-someone-say-ghibli/Remember in August I blogged that I got _Porco Rosso_? Well today my shipment of two more glorious Blu-Rays have arrived. This time its my second favorite Ghibli movie - _Princess Mononoke__and _The Cat Returns.__This was a present to myself for Christmas and New Years, and also for finishing last semester with good grades.Thu, 02 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/2013-retrospective/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/2013-retrospective/2013 is almost over, just a few hours left in this year, and I can say it was an amazing year. So much has happened in my life, so many things have changed and I continue to expand my skills and to improve on what I already have. Lets go over the events that happened so far.Tue, 31 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/new-logo-design-life/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/new-logo-design-life/I have had my blog for a year and a half now,_first post_being on the 20th of May 2012. In this time I have managed to change web hosts and themes. Now I believe is the perfect time to improve the design I have been using ever since I moved from wordpress.com to private web hosting - Wild Flower. Today, on the 25th of December, I would like to present my new blog theme_**Ring-O.**Tue, 24 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/everything-is-a-remix-even-ios/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/everything-is-a-remix-even-ios/Fri, 13 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/confessions-of-a-blogger/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/confessions-of-a-blogger/My friend Sebastian mentioned me in a tweet saying that I should also write up a post describing my blog life. After a week or so of contemplating, I decided why the hell not.Mon, 09 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/congratulations-and-farewell/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/congratulations-and-farewell/All good things come to an end. Like, for example, calling people up and making bookings, checking new residents in, and welcoming new staff to the team. There comes a time when we must part with the ones who have become and unforgettable part of this small group who help function the system that is urba**nest** Quay Street, the ones who we call family. Of course I am talking about our beloved Community Netwokers - Wilmer and Megan. They are finishing their degrees at university and they are either going back to their home countries or seeking other future prospects. Both of you will be greatly missed, you have truly become part of the family and we can not imagine life at urba**nest** without you.Sun, 24 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E5%8A%9B%E5%AE%B6museum/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E5%8A%9B%E5%AE%B6museum/So since the weather in Sydney hasn't been that great lately, I decided to go the [Powerhouse Museum](http://www.powerhousemuseum.com), which is so conveniently located only 5 minutes away from where I live. Last time I was there was when the Harry Potter exhibition was on in 2011, I think.Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/weekend-with-drawing-circle/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/weekend-with-drawing-circle/As you know I am the screenings director for Anime@UTS and an active member of JASS, but as of last year I also joined a newly formed club called: the Drawing Circle. As the name implies its a club of artistic people who love to draw, sketch, design and just make pretty things. Well I have quite a few friends there and so I decided to join as well, cause why not, however I haven't really gone to any events, aside from the joint Pokemon event with the anime club. So now that I am dating a girl who is pretty much an exec of that club (not really but kinda), I thought it would be nice to come to their events as well.Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/meet-my-new-ipad-air/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/meet-my-new-ipad-air/Every year Apple releases an update for their iPad lineup. This year they created something incredible, something that redefines how we use tablets (again) - the iPad Air. If before, the 9.7' iPads were heavy and bulky, so much that you would have to chose to take that or your laptop to uni or work, with the iPad Air that is no longer an issue. It is lighter and thiner. So much lighter, I might add, that I feel as if I am holding an iPad mini in my hand. The design of the back mimics the design of the mini and feels really nice in your hands. By making it lighter and thiner, holding the iPad Air in one hand feels comfortable and natural. Anyway I love it. I finally have an iPad that I can call my own, and I will be using it mainly for entertainment, but also sometimes for uni and stuff. I am pretty sure that my mom is very jealous of this device as her main complaint about her iPad (iRin) is that it is too heavy.Fri, 01 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/halloween-horror-screening/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/halloween-horror-screening/Tonight, just a few days before Halloween itself, Anime@UTS & JASS held its first ever horror movie screening! With around 40-60 people there, I would say that this event was a huge success.Tue, 29 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E5%A2%83%E7%9B%AE%E7%A7%BB%E5%8B%95%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E5%AD%90%E4%BE%9B%E5%A4%96%E5%9B%BD%E8%AA%9E/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E5%A2%83%E7%9B%AE%E7%A7%BB%E5%8B%95%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E5%AD%90%E4%BE%9B%E5%A4%96%E5%9B%BD%E8%AA%9E/**境目につての私の経験と考え**Thu, 24 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tsutsukakushi-tsukiko-figure/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tsutsukakushi-tsukiko-figure/Meet the newest member of my figure collection - Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko from the show_変態王子と笑わない猫. She is a cute little girl who wished to lose all of her emotions so that she wouldn't appear childish to her friends. Even though throughout the series she barely shows any signs of happiness or sadness, we can still see when she is angry or shy. They portray Tsukiko as a cat because the cat god was the one who fulfilled her wish and also because cats are a general symbol of cuteness in Japan, and Tsukiko is too damn cute!Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/pokemon-xy/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/pokemon-xy/It has been 16 years since the first Pokemon game came out in Japan in 1996, wow thats a long lifespan for a game! While some might say that the hype has died down over the course of time, other still believe that Pokemon is as popular as ever especially with the release of X&Y last Saturday which brings gamers the 6th generation and into a completely new region: Kalos and around 60 new cute little critters to catch.Mon, 14 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/animeuts-agm-2013/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/animeuts-agm-2013/Remember last year when I became the screenings director for the UTS anime club? Well that just happened again! On the 5th of October we had our AGM and elected a new team for 2014. Our beloved president Lexi_had to step down as he will be graduating next year, then our amazingly talented and hardworking secretary - Clara ended up leaving our ranks as well, and also our 2 photographers, treasurer and vice have been replaced._I can say thank you for your hard work, and I hope to see you around.Tue, 08 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/hardest-languages-to-learn/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/hardest-languages-to-learn/You know there over 180 countries in the world and most of them have their unique language. Have you ever wondered which would would be the hardest to master? Well I know 5 languages: Latvian, Russian, English, German and currently Japanese. Out of those I would have to say Russian is the hardest to learn (its my mother language though). Recently I stumbled upon this article which tries to answer the question of which language is the hardest, and I was very surprised by their top pic. Here is the link_so you can read about it yourself.Sat, 05 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/music-monday-based-shaft/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/music-monday-based-shaft/Each of their shows is filled with character development, engaging dialogue, thought provoking themes, deep plot, intelligent humor, symbolism (meanwhile at shaft).Mon, 23 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/stand-in-all-the-lines-buy-all-the-things/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/stand-in-all-the-lines-buy-all-the-things/This has been a very expensive week for me, but I can honestly say that it was worth it! GTA V, iPhone 5s and the Bower & Willkins P3 headphones are all mine, and I sure as hell am enjoying all of them. I'll talk about my purchases in chronological order, so first up I would like to start with one of the best games (and definitely the most anticipated) of the year -Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/jozin-z-bazin/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/jozin-z-bazin/Jožin z bažin videoSun, 15 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/happy-go-lucky/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/happy-go-lucky/_Sunday Movie Night_ is an event I organize at urbanest every week at 8pm. The movie I chose for this week was _Happy-Go-Lucky__because I came across this term at some point somewhere and thought that it was rather suiting for my own personality, and because apparently there is a movie with the same name and same theme, I chose it for the screening.Mon, 09 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/trello/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/trello/Today I'd like to talk about Trello. Trello is a cloud based organsation and collaboration software which can be used in creating personal plans and schedules as well as work on projects with a team. With an extremely easy to use interface and a vast set of features I say safely say that I will be using Trello in the future a lot!Sat, 07 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/passenger-let-her-go/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/passenger-let-her-go/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrATue, 03 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/1st-september/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/1st-september/1е сентября - международный день знаний, день, когда дети в первый раз идут в первый класс, день, когда ученики всех остальных классов вспоминают что каникулы кончились и что, блин… надо опять учиться.Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/happy-6th-birthday-miku/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/happy-6th-birthday-miku/Happy birthday to my favorite virtual idol Hatsune Miku! You were born exactly 6 years ago, but for all of us you will forever be 16 years old ^\_^ You can also read the congratulations from my friends Ruben and Clara on their blogs.Sat, 31 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/cherry-blossom-picnic-again/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/cherry-blossom-picnic-again/1 year ago my close friends Cindy and Sashin organized an event to see the cherry blossoms in Auburn (and I blogged about it). It was amazing, even though we were a bit late and most of the flowers have already finished blooming and had fallen, but we had lots of fun nevertheless. Well this year was even better!Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-last-of-us/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-last-of-us/This is so overdue! I should have finished _The Last Of Us_ before going back home to_Latvia, but at that time I was only about 60% into the game. So now, 15 hours of gameplay later, I am done! And I can clearly say that this title deserves to be called the best game of 2013 (we shall see what happens when Watch Dogs and GTAV come out). I will try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but at the same time I would like to cover all the parts of the game and at least mention the characters that played a vital role in the story.Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/outrage/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/outrage/One of the most famous parts of the japanese culture are the japanese gangsters or as they are called in the land of nippon: Yakuza (ヤクザ). Takeshi Kitano directed the film Outrage and its sequel Outrage Beyond, which portray the life of members of a large organized crime syndicate - Sanno-kai led by Grand Yakuza leader Sekiuchi. Takeshi Kitano not only directed both movies he also stared in both as one of the main characters - Otomo, boss of the Otomo clan. Since I have already started describing the plot, let me just say that this movie does not have one set main character, however the story revolves around the main Sanno-kai and the three small clans under the Chairmans (Grand Yakuza leaders) control - the Murase clan, the Ikemoto clan, and the Otomo clan.Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/so-no-lab-this-week/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/so-no-lab-this-week/So this week for out SEP (Software Engineering Practice) class we had to use this online software called Jazz. But since we have 150 students trying to register and access it at the same time, it crashed. So we are just sitting here and waiting for it to go back online to try and do our lab work... The second it goes back up, everyone tries to access it again aaaaand its down again.Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chu-chu-ruuu/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chu-chu-ruuu/So it seems that Thomas the Tank Engine is in Sydney Central station. My good friend Clara, blogged about it and she even had a video of the opening theme. Since we didn't really have this show on TV when I was a kid, or maybe we did I just haven't seen it, I can't relate that well to my friends who are nostalgic about this. I do however know the story and premise.Wed, 14 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/doctor-who-google-maps-easter-egg/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/doctor-who-google-maps-easter-egg/You have all probably heard of Dr. Who at some point or another, cause the show has been going for half a decade! This year in November the show is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Well since its Geek Week, Google Maps introduced an interesting easter egg into Google Maps. You can look inside the Tardis with street view!Wed, 14 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/smash-2013/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/smash-2013/SMASH! \- the Sydney Manga and Anime SHow is a convention happening every year in Sydney, and its goal is to celebrate the culture of Anime, Manga, Video games, and Cosplay. Saturday, August 10th 2013 at 9am the Sydney Exhibition Center Darling Harbour opened its doors for over 7000 pop culture fans from around Australia and even overseas. Aside from big companies like Madman and KingsComics_smaller circles and clubs were given stalls to sell their own merchandise; Anime@UTS was no exception. We had badges, post cards, phone charms, even panda hats.Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/commonwealth-bank-new-iphone-app/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/commonwealth-bank-new-iphone-app/Last week I was contacted by a marketing research organization on behalf of Commonwealth Bank_in regards to their iOS mobile banking app. Basically its a focus group where they showed up slides of the new software and asked us questions about how we feel when seeing these new features. It sounded like an interesting thing to do on a Thursday evening, especially cause they gave me $80!Fri, 09 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/more-ghibli-blu-rays/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/more-ghibli-blu-rays/I am collecting the Blu-rays for the Studio Ghibli movies. I love the studio and most of their movies, so I have set out to collect all of their BluRays! I mentioned in a post before as to how I started my collection, and now when Porco Rosso arrived I can blog about how my collection has grown.Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/kill-bill/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/kill-bill/Why have I not seen this movie up until now? Its a Quentin Tarantino movie, yet I have just watched it last week! Well, to be honest, I haven't seen any of his other movies, but I have heard very good things about them and some people even say that he is a genius when it comes to film making. There is no reason why it took me so long to watch Kill Bill, but I am grateful to German_for making me watch it (just like that: "we are watching this movie now, no buts!"). I will just give a brief overview of the show and wont get into much detail, so there will be no spoilers.Wed, 31 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/im-coming-home/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/im-coming-home/My holiday is over, its time to go back to Sydney, my current home, where my friends and loved ones are eagerly awaiting my return. It was fun, this month flew by very quickly. I got to see my parents and meet some of my high school friends as well as my best friend German (Herman - Гера). He left for Austria, I left for Australia.Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/super-hexagon-cleared/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/super-hexagon-cleared/I was introduced to this game by my friend Patrick. I remember that day well, it was before one of our club karaoke sessions, Pat came over and said something along these lines: "Hey Vadim, I know you love juBeat, here is a game that will test your skills even more. Its called Super Hexagon."Mon, 22 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/what-am-i-watching-summer-2013-edition/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/what-am-i-watching-summer-2013-edition/The summer 2013 anime season is already in week 3 so I might as well say what I am watching and give some recommendations, just like I did in 2012.Thu, 18 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-pixar-theory-they-are-all-connected/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-pixar-theory-they-are-all-connected/I went to my good friend_Clara’s_blog and saw an article about Pixar. Well Pixar being my favorite western animation studio (Shaft, KyoAni, Ghibli are still my top3 in japan) I just had to read it. It is a interesting theory by this guy - Jon Negoroni_but_its so crazy that it might even be true! Hey they even mention time travel to fit in Monsters Inc and Brave.Mon, 15 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/inspiring-quote-roosevelt/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/inspiring-quote-roosevelt/> "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/antichamber/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/antichamber/Today I finally finished this great game. Wow, just wow. I really love puzzle games and I can say this is a very high quality puzzle game. It makes you think out of the box (or should I say cube XD). I am talking of course about Antichamber.Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E6%97%A2%E5%AD%98%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2%E3%81%AB%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%BF%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%82%BD%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E6%97%A2%E5%AD%98%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2%E3%81%AB%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%BF%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%82%BD%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2/**UTS日本語授業の自由研究レポート：**Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/little-witch-academia-2-kickstarter/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/little-witch-academia-2-kickstarter/Kickstarter, kickstarter, kickstarter... This service is changing they way the world works - games, movies, tech and now even anime is using Kickstarter to gather funds for creating their projects. This time around we have Studio Trigger who brought us _Inferno Cop_ and _Little Witch Academia__and coming out with _Kill la Kill in Fall__has decided to use kickstarter as a platform to aquire funds for creating a sequel to Little Witch Academia.Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-today/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-today/The internet produces some weird videos at timesTue, 09 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/lido/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/lido/For lunch today my parents took me to Lido. Lido is a restaurant and a small amusement center located 10 minutes away from the center of Riga. Not only does it look like a building from the countryside of Latvia, but the food there is also traditional and specific to the more rural regions of Latvia. And of course it is extremely delicious!Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/jurmala/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/jurmala/ラトビアと言えばやっぱりユールマラだな〜 _Ja tu gribi kaut kur atpūsties tad brauc uz jūru, uz Jūrmalu! Солнце, пляж - отдыхай, плавай, загорай.Sat, 06 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/samsung-46f8500-tv/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/samsung-46f8500-tv/When I arrived back home and set foot in my house again after 3 years of being abroad, I could not help but notice the 12 year old TV in our living room. It was a Sony Trinitron and looked something like this, I dont have a picture of ours and we already gave it away. とにかく、it was old and outdated, a serious upgrade was required. Thankfully my dad was on my side on this one and so we set out to buy a new TV, yay!Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/summer-2013-anime/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/summer-2013-anime/2013 summer season of anime has officially started today with a marvelous new show by Kyoto Animation: _Free!_Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/farewell-cityrail/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/farewell-cityrail/CityRailSun, 30 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tadaima-im-home/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tadaima-im-home/After my crazy flight yesterday I am home, finally, after 3 years, I am home. Riga has barely changed in these past 3 year that I have been away. Some improvements here and there, we got new trams! (pics on Flickr, and link at the end of the post). There are so many things I have missed, like our beautiful and quiet parks, our gorgeous__Art Nouveau__style architecture, our clean fresh sea air, our delicious european food (+ potatoes) and of course our blazingly fast and reliable internet.Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been/(That is not my plane)Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/monsters-university/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/monsters-university/Hey, have you heard? There is a new movie out by Pixar called Monsters University! Yea that right its a prequel to Monsters Inc. Why am I telling you this? Well today is the day it got screened in Australia and I went to watch it with Saya.Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chatmonchy-bus-romance/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chatmonchy-bus-romance/Recently I listened to the song 'Bus romance' by Chatmonchy. Well this whole week I could not get this song out of my head. I found the music video (MV) for it on vimeo, lets hope it doesnt get taken down.Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wata-mote/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wata-mote/There was this one manga which wasn't really that popular in good old Japan, but then everything changed when the gaijin attached! The guys from_4chans /a/_just fell in love with this manga. People started buying multiple copies and thus dramatically improving its sales. It got so popular that they even started printing that its a huge hit on the western 2chan on the cover of it (as can be seen on the picture below). And this manga is of course Watashi ga Motenai no wa dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!_or Wata Mote for short.Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/visiting-the-capital/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/visiting-the-capital/I have been living in Australia for almost 3 years now, but I have never been to the capital! \*shock\* So I decided that now, right before exams, would be the perfect time to go visit this small city.Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/vivid-sydney/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/vivid-sydney/So on the 5th of June, I went to go look at the Vivid light show in Circular Quay and Darling Harbour.Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wwdc-ios7/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wwdc-ios7/Tonight at 3am Sydney time, Apple had their World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) where they announced many new changes to both their software and their devices. You can read the full coverage on 9to5mac.com. But I will just quickly mention what I love about it.Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD%E3%83%93%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%EF%BC%92%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%93/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD%E3%83%93%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%EF%BC%92%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%93/ユーロビジョンとは欧州で開催される毎年恒例の音楽コンテストである。 この大会は１９５６年以来毎年開催されており、欧州国だけではなく、オーストラリアや日本含めてヨーロッパ域外の国々放送されている。Sat, 08 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/armikrog/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/armikrog/YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXITED I AM!!!! This is like the sequel to one of my favorite childhood games: The Neverhood.Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/animeuts-ice-skating/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/animeuts-ice-skating/Second time going ice skating in 3 months, awesome! This time its with more great folk from the club.Sun, 26 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tenacious-d-in-sydney/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tenacious-d-in-sydney/The D is here!!! And they will rock your socks off!!Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/internet-explorer-10-commercial/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/internet-explorer-10-commercial/Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B9%E3%83%B3galaxy-s4%E3%83%8F%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B9%E3%83%B3galaxy-s4%E3%83%8F%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3/http://www.gizmodo.jp/2013/03/galaxy\_s\_iv\_10.htmlWed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/dprk/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/dprk/There has been a lot of new going around about the DPRK and a potential occurance of World War III lately. I don't know much about North Korea aside from jokes on the internet about Kim Jong Un like this one:Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wolf-children-screening-and-qa-with-the-director/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/wolf-children-screening-and-qa-with-the-director/Remember when I first blogged about how I got to see Wolf Children Ame and Yuki in Osaka in July? Well After that Madman had a screening of Wolf children in Sydney, sometime in September, I think, and thats when most of my friends from the anime club went to watch it together. Of course I was with them, and I can say that I cried more the second time I watched it, then the first. Anyway, fast forward to today and here we are again, at a madman screening of Wolf Children. But it is no ordinary screening when you just get to watch the movie.Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/psy-gentleman/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/psy-gentleman/You thought that Gangnam Style died and that no one will ever remember PSY again? Well think again! His new hit - Gentleman. Over 22 million views on YouTube in a day... woah... Lets see if it can reach a billion like GS did.  Also apparently this song has been featured on the news and radio, so its mainstream now and we should all stop listening to it.Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/kayaking-with-the-urbanest-team/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/kayaking-with-the-urbanest-team/Here at urbanest Quay Street we have 4 and 6 bedroom apartments where everyone gets their own en-suit room and you share the kitchen and living room area with your flatmates. Book now we only have a few rooms left!!! ....Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-internet-here-and-there/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/the-internet-here-and-there/The Internet... Its such a magnificent thing! I can not imagine living without it. Everything I do during the day revolves around using the internet in one way or another. May it be Skyping with my parents back home, or checking into a restaurant on Foursquare, or simply checking my Twitter feed and replying to chat messages in Line. Its amazing how much we can do on the web these days, and it makes our lives just a bit more colorful. But you know what annoys me more than anything? SLOW CONNECTION SPEED AND LOW BANDWIDTH!Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/this-is-%D1%85%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%88%D0%BE/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/this-is-%D1%85%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%88%D0%BE/This is Хорошо это программа которая обозревает вирусние видео на YouTube. Я на TiX наткнулся когда выходил еще 20й выпуск (сейчас уже вышел 203й), и мне сразу понравилось то что кто-то в рунете занимается этим (в английском интернете этим занимается Ray William Johnson со своей программой _\=3_). Ребята молодцы! Продолжайте в том-же духе, и пусть у вас будет все больше и больше подписчиков.Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/after-ever-after/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/after-ever-after/Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/anostyle-add-color-to-your-iphone/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/anostyle-add-color-to-your-iphone/I was reading 9to5mac this morning when I saw a rather interesting article about a golden colored iPhone. I checked out the website, and WOW was I amazed! Those colors look so pretty on both the iPhones and iPad Minis, its just amazing.Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/mmd-poker-face/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/mmd-poker-face/Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tokyo-magnitude-8-0-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/tokyo-magnitude-8-0-review/Last thing I fully watched was Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 so I decided to write up a small review about it._I was warned that it is that kind of series that will make you feel very emotional for the characters. I can say one thing.... IT WAS!Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/20th-birthday-time-to-go-skating/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/20th-birthday-time-to-go-skating/On the 1st of February at 11:38pm I turned 20. As usual my parents and I went traveling, this time to Melbourne and Fiji, thus I celebrated my birthday in a tropical style on Mana Island Fiji.Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-%E4%B8%AD%E4%BA%8C%E7%97%85%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82%E6%81%8B%E3%81%8C%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%81%84-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-%E4%B8%AD%E4%BA%8C%E7%97%85%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82%E6%81%8B%E3%81%8C%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%81%84-review/When I initially saw the preview for this show ([Chu2](http://myanimelist.net/anime/14741/Chuunibyou_demo_Koi_ga_Shitai!/ "MAL")) I though: "Hmmm Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) is making a action anime with super national battles?! Woah!" And then upon watching the first episode I realized: "nope, no action here, just cute girls doing cute things". But boooooy was I off the bat with that!Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%96%E3%83%AA%E3%81%8C%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B1%E3%81%84-collection-2/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%96%E3%83%AA%E3%81%8C%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B1%E3%81%84-collection-2/When I was in Japan in July of 2012, my friend Kosuke and I went to Tokyo for a few days (I blogged about it). We also visited the Ghibli museum in Mitaka. It was an awesome experience, but there is one thing I really regret not doing there. In the gift shop there were Soundtrack CDs (OSTs), DVDs and most importantly the new Ghibli collection BluRays! They were 7140円 a piece, which at the time I deemed to be too expensive for a BluRay at the time. But when I came back to Sydney, I realized that I seriously wanted them. Thats how I started my collection. First I got Nausicaa, then my amazing friend Frank gave me Totoro for Christmas and Laputa for my Birthday! It will take me a while to get all of the Ghibli BluRays, but I accomplish this goal I have set for myself. If anyone is interested, I order them from this website:_cdjapan.co.jpFri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/trip-to-melbourne-and-fiji-feb-2013/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/trip-to-melbourne-and-fiji-feb-2013/This year for my birthday my parents took me to Melbourne and then later on to Fiji. It was an amazing trip and I took a lot of gorgeous photos.Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/dlsr/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2013/dlsr/My dad was teasing me for a few months now, showing off the new telephoto lens he bought for a few thousand 4 months ago. Then at some point I told him that putting that amazing new lens on our 6 year old camera is like installing 64GB of RAM into a machine with pentium 3.... So apparently he listened to what I was saying and got me this baby for my birthday: Canon EOS650D! All the photos of our trip to Melbourne and Fiji will be taken using this new device. Stay tuned for some amazing photosFri, 25 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/line-the-best-messaging-app/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/line-the-best-messaging-app/Ever since the smartphone boom in Japan there was a constant search for the best messaging app. And then there came LINE.Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/i-wish-i-had-a-cat/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/i-wish-i-had-a-cat/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbUGwA_woCEWed, 26 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/merry-christmas/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/merry-christmas/I would like to wish all my friends, mates, pals, bros and buddies a very very Merry Christmas!!!Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/anime-sydney-xmas-party-recap/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/anime-sydney-xmas-party-recap/My good friend Tac (@Taccarin) put together a video highlighting the most memorable parts.Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/d-i-y-myspam/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/d-i-y-myspam/So one day I was browsing this bay where all the pirates chill and there was a rather interesting link, so I clicked it and what do I see!Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/eb-expo-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/eb-expo-2012/5-7 October is in Sydney Olympic Park there is an event. Not just any event. Its a game exposition! EB EXPO SYDNEY 2012 brought to you by EB Games Australia. My good friend Hussein and I wen there today, for a full day of adventure, fun and new experiences with new, unreleased games.Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/my-claris-cant-be-this-cute/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/my-claris-cant-be-this-cute/I made this as a music monday a few weeks ago. Copy pasta from the Anime@UTS website.Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/duo-gamer-ios-wireless-controller/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/duo-gamer-ios-wireless-controller/OMG now you people are gonna use their iPhones, iPod touches and iPad as portable consoles... And then complain why the graphics are worse than on a PS3.... Oh godTue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/animeuts-agm-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/animeuts-agm-2012/Yesterday, 29th of September was the day of the UTS Anime clubs Annual General Meeting. There we discussed the events of this year and plans for the future. But the main event was the election of the new executive team.Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/my-new-iphone-5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/my-new-iphone-5/You all know about the iPhone 5. You have probably heard how people are disappointed with it. Some of you might even think that its not that good. Some of you have read blog posts about how its easily scratchable and breakable. Some of you maybe even heard bad things about iOS6. Well let me tell you what I think. Let me tell you MY experience with the amazing new iPhone 5.Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/nya-%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%83/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/nya-%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%83/And today the internet brings you, Rock Cat:Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/iphone-5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/iphone-5/On the night of the 12-13th of September (Australia time) Apple held their iPhone event wher they not only introduced the new iPhone but refreshed the iPod nanos and touches as well.Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%D1%91%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B8/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%D1%91%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B8/С 30го Августа по 12 сентября в Сиднее проходит фестиваль русского кино. Когда мои друзья меня уведомили об этом мероприятии, я был весьма заинтересован.Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/cherry-blossom-picnic-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/cherry-blossom-picnic-2012/Today me and my friends from Anime@UTS went to see the cherry blossom in Auburn botanical gardens.Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/durarara-bds/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/durarara-bds/Well aparently the Blu-ray version of the awesome anime Durarara is out for purchase in Japan.Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/hatsune-miku-the-worlds-most-popular-virtual-idol/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/hatsune-miku-the-worlds-most-popular-virtual-idol/Hatsune Miku - the 16 year old blue haired twintailed virtual idol, the perfect otaku idol!  She is more that just popular. She has become a symbol. She is a star. She is a diva. She is a piece of computer software! (that we all adore)Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/dhalsim-troll-reset/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/dhalsim-troll-reset/A very trollish dhalsim reset. Hope I never fall for that one....Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/cockatoo-island-biennale-of-sydney/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/cockatoo-island-biennale-of-sydney/Today me and my good friends from the Anime@UTS club, Sebastian and Gina, went to Cockatoo island to see the contemporary visual arts exhibition.Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/world-of-warcaft-mists-of-pandaria-cinematic/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/world-of-warcaft-mists-of-pandaria-cinematic/Blizzard has just released the official cinematic for the upcoming World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. First impression: WOOOOOWWW that looks amazing, and funny!Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/bird-is-the-word/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/bird-is-the-word/Ever since I started living in Australia, I had some pretty cool/crazy stuff happen to me, but nothing compared to what went down yesterday._Imagine this, my friend Maria comes back from work at 6pm, opens her door (she lives on the 15th floor) and sees a_**Rainbow Lorikeet**_flying in her room.Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/embrace-the-remix/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/embrace-the-remix/Yesterday I saw this very interesting TED Talk about copyright and remixing. It was made to give the idea of why most copyright and patent laws are dumb and the Apple vs Samsung & Android case is a bit too muchSun, 12 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/stop-motion/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/stop-motion/Are you people familiar with the art of Stop Motion video?Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/curiosity/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/curiosity/Due to my busy life at uni I wasn't able to post this news when it actually happened, and I apologize for that.Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/gangnam-style/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/gangnam-style/This video has been all over the internets. Its a K-Pop song by the artist PSY called GANGNAM STYLE. One can say thats its almost as awesome as PON PON PON, on second thought no! Its not :P It resembles Party Rock Anthem more, with its own recognizable dance and stuff. Here is the vid, enjoy:Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/tatami-galaxy-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/tatami-galaxy-review/Tatami Galaxy (四畳半神話大系) - an anime worthy of being called a classic! It is hard to describe the genre for this particular anime, but I'm guessing it would fall under the random / life / mystery. Even though it was only 11 episodes long, it is definitely a must watch for all anime lovers.Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/date-with-miku/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/date-with-miku/Have you every wanted to go on a date with the 3D virtual idol Hatsune Miku?! Well now you can! As this guy demonstrates, by using a kinekt and some virtual reality glasses, he was able to go on a date with Miku and even managed to pat her. Here is the video:Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/room-upgrade/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/room-upgrade/Now that Im back from Japan and have taken out all the anime related stuff which i have acquired there I would like to present the current state of my room. (PS the BRS fig is not mine, I got it for David).Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/farewell-japan/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/farewell-japan/So these are my last few hours in glorious Japan. I will be leaving for the airport shortly.... But before leaving I went to Nipponbashi one last time. Played some Street Fighter, jubeat and most importantly got to see the Yuru Yuri exhibition. Im sure my friend Tac will be so jealous right now. And this is where I bid farewell to the land of Japan and get ready to go to the airport for my 4pm flight to Shanghai and then to Sydney.Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/trick-art/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/trick-art/Today was the last time in the next 2 years (probably) that I saw one of my best friends: Kosuke. We went to Osaka Dome_where there is a quite an interesting exhibition happening. In japanese they call it Trick Art, basically optical illusions.Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E5%A4%A7%E9%98%AA%E5%A4%A9%E7%A5%9E%E7%A5%AD/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E5%A4%A7%E9%98%AA%E5%A4%A9%E7%A5%9E%E7%A5%AD/Yesterday (25th of July) was the day of the Tanjin Matsuri in Osaka. My classmates and I decided to go there and have fun.Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%81%BF%E3%81%93%E3%81%A9%E3%82%82%E3%81%AE%E9%9B%A8%E3%81%A8%E9%9B%AA-no-spoilers/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%81%BF%E3%81%93%E3%81%A9%E3%82%82%E3%81%AE%E9%9B%A8%E3%81%A8%E9%9B%AA-no-spoilers/Today I went and watched_Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki_in TOHO cinemas Namba (Osaka). I am so lucky that I got to see this movie while being here, in Japan. This movie is from the creator of The Girl Who Leaped Through Time and Summer Wars, Director Mamoru Hosoda. Knowing that, you must imagine the hype over this new movie.Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/kyoto-2-0-%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8%E3%81%A8%E9%AF%A8/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/kyoto-2-0-%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8%E3%81%A8%E9%AF%A8/So today my friend Kosuke invited me over to Kyoto once again, this time to eat some real Japanese sushi. So 3 things happened: Street fighter competition, playing Street Fighter with Kosuke, and eating delicious sushi with Kosuke and his father.Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/oni-kara-demon-tutorial/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/oni-kara-demon-tutorial/In Super Street Fighter IV some special moves can be preformed by canceling of of normal moves. Some of them even allow certain characters to extend their model range, allowing them to grab opponents from further away, or to preform special moves with extended range.Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/recommended-summer-2012-anime/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/recommended-summer-2012-anime/Summer 2012 anime season has started and is already in full swing! The people at TheAkiba.com have compiled a nice list of "must watch" anime this season (with a description of why they like each series).Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/kyoto-%E7%A5%87%E5%9C%92%E7%A5%AD/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/kyoto-%E7%A5%87%E5%9C%92%E7%A5%AD/It was supposed to be just a normal sunday for me, until I decided to go hang out with my friend Kosuke in Kyoto. So I picked a random day (today, 15th of July, Sunday) decided on a time and went to Kyoto, where Kosuke was waiting for me. Little did i know what was in stall for me....Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E8%87%AA%E5%8B%95%E8%B2%A9%E5%A3%B2%E6%A9%9F-japanese-vending-machines/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/%E8%87%AA%E5%8B%95%E8%B2%A9%E5%A3%B2%E6%A9%9F-japanese-vending-machines/A marvel of japanese engineering and technology: the vending machine! These magnificent devices provide travelers with delicious thirst quenching nectar known as tea (or coffee).  Not only that, but in the land of the rising sun, these contraptions also hold cigarettes and alcohol. And the best part, that are everywhere!Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/gto-drama-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/gto-drama-2012/If you are even a bit into japanese TV or animation, you must have heard the tile Great Teacher Onizuka. It is a world famous series with a manga, which started in 1997, a japanese TV drama (TV series) which was broadcasted in 1998, and then a 43 episode anime which aired in 1999-2000. And now, in the summer of 2012 they have decided to remake the TV drama into a more modern version with a slight change in story. It is being broadcasted all over Japan on Fuji TV every tuesday at 10:15PM (literally its being aired as I am writing this, too bad I don't have a TV set in my room ).Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/welcome-to-nhk-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/welcome-to-nhk-review/So I just finished the anime Welcome to NHK (NHKにようこそ！). _It was as good as expected. However when I started watching, my expectations rose. The series is what I needed right now to show me what to look after and who not to become :SMon, 09 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/evo-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/evo-2012/It is that time 0f year, when all of us fighting game fans can rejoice and watch the worlds largest tournament - EVO! Held every year in beginning - mid July at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Nevada. This is like the olympics of fighting games! All the greatest players gather there and compete for the title of the worlds greatest fighter. The games that are featured this year are: Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade edition version 2012, Street Fighter X Tekken, Soul Calibur V, King of Fighters XIII, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Mortal Kombat 9.Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/yuru-yuri-physics-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%83-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%BE-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/yuru-yuri-physics-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%83-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%BE-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B5/So I was watching_Yuru Yuri ♪♪ and then this randomly appeared..... It reminded me a lot of my high school physics teacher Shepelev.Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/ghibli-museum/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/ghibli-museum/A must visit destination for everyone going to Tokyo!Thu, 05 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/akiba-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/akiba-2012/There was one sole gole today: go to Akihabara and buy buy buy!Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/tokyo-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/tokyo-2012/My friend Kosuke and I went to Tokyo for 3 days.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/beijing-day-3-4/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/beijing-day-3-4/**DAY 3:**Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/engrish-in-china/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/engrish-in-china/As you all might know, the english translations of signs in China are horrible, and sometimes hilarious. So here is a compilation of all the Engrish that I have seen during my trip to China (some of them are correct in English, but have mistakes in Japanese):Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/japan-osaka-gel-bananas/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/japan-osaka-gel-bananas/Im in Japaaaannnn yaaaaay!!! Met up with Kosuke and Tac at Nanba Station and we went around Nipponbashi.Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/xian-and-shaolin-monastery-days-5-6-7/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/xian-and-shaolin-monastery-days-5-6-7/**DAY 5:**Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/china-beijing-day-2-forbidden-city/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/china-beijing-day-2-forbidden-city/So the plan for day 2 was:Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/china2012-day1/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/china2012-day1/I have already written up a post about me walking around Beijing during the first day while waiting for my parents._So now, since I have normal internet again, I will continue the story.Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/lack-of-posts/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/lack-of-posts/Its been 3 days in to my China trip and im loving every moment! Sorry for the lack of post, blame it on the Chinese government, who blocked youtube and stuff.Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/walking-around-beijing/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/walking-around-beijing/After a good nights sleep and a solid breakfast (fried rice with bacon and fruit) i decided to wander around town cause my parents will obly arive at 3pm today.Sat, 23 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/reached-beijing/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/reached-beijing/After spending 14 hours in the plane, I'm in a cozy bed in a hotel in Beijing. Only to find Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Google, Foursquare (on my phone for some reason, even though the normal website works fine), YouTube and other awesome sites to be completelly blocked... Well i knew about it, but dang yo :(Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/chinajapan-trip-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/chinajapan-trip-2012/As some of you might know, I am leaving for China and then Japan starting today 22nd of June till the 29th of July.Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/urbanest-hoodie/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/urbanest-hoodie/On sale now! These awesome green urba**nest** hoodies are now officially on sale! For only 44.99$ you can be a proud owner of this fabulous jumper.Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/dick-figures/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/dick-figures/Cause ur awesome!Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/pokemon-on-my-mac/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/pokemon-on-my-mac/Because of all this talk about Pokemon in the Anime@UTS club lately, I fell into nostalgia mode and decided to replay some of the classics.Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/sakurasou-no-pet-na-kanojo-tv-anime/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/sakurasou-no-pet-na-kanojo-tv-anime/A week ago, when we went to Kinokuniya, me and Alex_went to the japanese section and I stumbled upon this manga and light novel called_Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. So I said: "hey Alex, wanna bet this will become and anime" and he was like: "everything becomes an anime these days".Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/prototype-2-complete/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/prototype-2-complete/Now that I am free from studying, exams and all this other stuff that had to be done, I finally finished Prototype 2. Generally the game was good, not as good as expected and definitely not as good as the first one.Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/apple-wwdc-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/apple-wwdc-2012/This is a little late. I was a bit busy these days with playing CoD and SSFIV:AE2012.Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/alioune-sensei-cannon-strikes-again/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/alioune-sensei-cannon-strikes-again/Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/steinsgate-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/steinsgate-review/Copying another old review of mine from Google+.Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/sydney-jazz-and-blues-festival-at-darling-harbour/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/sydney-jazz-and-blues-festival-at-darling-harbour/Photo by Rubenerd_(he has more good pics).Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/got-a-new-iphone-case/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/got-a-new-iphone-case/As some of you may know, my beloved Kirino case broke :( So I've been wanting to gate a replacement for some time now. today I finally found it. This beautiful toxic-orange case looks just awesome. And it also goes well with my shoes! Hey I just met you and this is crazy, my case is orange so call me maybe?Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/nausicaa_essay/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/nausicaa_essay/日本語の授業に好きな映画のエッセイを書かなければならなかったので、ナウシカについて書いてしまった。Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/rubber-band-ball/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/rubber-band-ball/My goal: make the worlds largest rubber band ball! (not really, but i want to see how big i can make it).Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/e3-2012/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/e3-2012/Its this time of year when the nice people over at the E3 gaming convention show us all the new stuff they have in store for us this/next year.Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/durarara-review/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/durarara-review/So when i finished watching Durarara!_this February, I wrote up a nice little review of the series on Google+._Well now that I have a blog, I decided to copy it here so that everyone can see.Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/orenotsumikigakonnanikawaiiwakeganai/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/orenotsumikigakonnanikawaiiwakeganai/俺のつみきがこんなに可愛いわけがないSun, 03 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/lutuna-juri-vs-acqua0316-cammy/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/lutuna-juri-vs-acqua0316-cammy/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffyw6qQmTZESat, 02 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/summer-2012-anime-list/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/summer-2012-anime-list/So here it is: the summer anime list.Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/leaked-iphone5/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/leaked-iphone5/Everybody is curious as to what the next iPhone will look like!Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/feels-like-family-i-lied-xd/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/feels-like-family-i-lied-xd/Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/japanese-app-update-first-blog-post/https://blog.brodsky.au/posts/2012/japanese-app-update-first-blog-post/When I woke up today I was in for a surprise.Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT