Alexander 6, V49.

A day without internet is not a day. It's a hell. This is the situation for today and I'm writing this as fast as possible just in case the service would be cut again. We have some rains here and the fuses are tripping now and then! What a design!
I like the rain really, but such a rain with hot breeze? No! It's suffocating and I feel myself barely breathing. My office's AC is not doing well as well although the temperature is set so low.

I'm still rebuilding my PC slowly and thinking about some future images. I had one heck of a weekend so I didn't take any pictures in this time period. The headache which still bites some portion of my head is growing me awry. However, I've been trying in the weekend to figure out a way to post HDR images on the web by using FJPG (Floating-point JPG), as you can read from the links I've posted in the previous post. Unfortunately my trial was not good as the freeware (PTconversion) did not work well with me and did not convert the HDR Radiance image into FJPG. The second method which consists of a plain open source program that uses command line to perform the action got me buffled with the many suffixes and commands that I must type! Command line prompts are not new to me really since I used to play games in good ol' DOS system! Yet, when reading the discription to this one I just don't know what I'm doing or reading!

The internet service had been sick for several days all over Kuwait, because of some marine cable, AGAIN. I guess we are supposed to be used to such excuses by now. Although it sounds so true since most of the Internet Service Providers here got stuck as well like my ISP, but personally, I'm sick of this excuse. As I said to a friend, seems they have two cups connected by a wire and not a cable there.

Also during the weekend, I was lucky enough to get the exact lyrics (sort of) for Denez Prigent's Ar Rannoù song! Thanks and praises go to Christian Souchon who guided me through it. For more about Brittany (Bretagne, Breizh) and the Breton culture, pleasevisit his website: http://chrsouchon.free.fr/barzhaz.htm

Here, again, I shall embed the song and its lyrics will follow. Please give some time to load. The translation can be found still in Christian's page:

C'HWEC'H mabig graet e koar,
Poellet gant galloud al loar
Ma n'ouzez-te, me a oar
C'hwec'h laouzaouenn er pradig
Meskañ er gaoter ra 'r c'horrig.
En e c'henou e vizig.

PEMP gouriz an douar
Pemp darn en goar
Pemp maen war hor c'hoar

PEVAR maen higolenn
Maen higolenn da Varzhin
Higolenn klezeier vlin.

TRI rann er bed-man a vez
Tri deroù ha tri diwezh
D'an den ha d'an derv ivez
Teir rouantelez Varzhin
Frouezh melen ha bleuñv lirzin.
Bugaligou o c'hoarzhiñ!

DAOU ejenn diouc'h eur gibi
O sachañ, o souetiñ.
Etrec'hit en estoni!

Heb rann AR Red hepken,
Ankou, tad an Anken,
Netra kent, netra ken."

Then the druid asks the child:

Daik, mab gwenn drouizh, ore
Daik petra fell dit-te?
Petra ganin me dit-te?

"Come on, fair child of the Druid,  listen!

What is your next wish?

What do you want me to sing?

The child answers:

"Kan din euz-a UNNEG rann, kén a oufvenn breman" (Sing to me the Eleven-series...)

Then the druid resumes his litany  from eleven down to seven

UNNEG beleg houarnezet
O toned eus-a Wened
Ganto c'hlezeier torret,
Hag o rochedoù gwadet
Prenn kalvez da vazh-loaeg
Eus-a dri c'hant o unneg.

DEK lestr tud gin eo gwelet
O toned eus an Naoned:
Gwa c'hwi, gwa c'hwi, tud Gwenned!

NAV dornig gwenn war daol leur
E kichen Tour Lezarmeur.
A nav mamm o keiniñ meur
O koroll nav c'horrigan
Bleuñveg o blev, gwisket gloan,
' Kelc'h ar feunteun, d'al loar-gann
Gwiz hag he nav forc'hell all
E toullig dor an hoc'h-zal,
O soroc'hal, o turc'hellat
O turc'hellat o soroc'hal
Torc'h, torc'h, torc'h d'ar wezenn aval!
An hoc'h kozh d'ho tiorren oll!

EIZH avel o ch'wibanat
Eizh tan gant an Tan-Tad
E miz Mae e menez kad.
Eizh onner wenn-kann-eon
O peuriñ en enez don,
Eizh onner wenn d'an Itron

SEIZH heol ha seizh loar
Seizh planedenn gant ar yar
Seizh elfenn gant bleud an aer

Thanks again to Christian. I can finally follow the song when listening! Breton is an interesting language indeed. Similar to Welsh in the tongue twists, but with some French elements to it. Beside French it also bears traces of Gaulish (distinct Celtic language) that was once spoken all over the French lands by the Gauls.

Add to Ar Rannoù (The Series), I might add another Breton song, Tri Martolod (Three Sailors) which was sang by Tri Yann. It is a funny song as well, and the lyrics are available already as far as I remember!

At the moment, I'm trying to think more about  layout for the webpage I'm going to make. Of course it's all would be simple. I'm not that creative when it comes to page making really. Now it is even more essential to avoid doing things in Flash, since I lost my software with the format (or it is there but not working until I re-install it). On the other hand, I'm trying to increase the work load with the transliteration to 3 verses a day. It is giving me a headache already!

__________
1153. and Alexander wondered: how is it so?
1154. did you not say that you have some knowledge?
1155. and Birbuár said: yes, indeed, here is what I know,
1156. you are in Uhir Daynur, a wide land that was forgotten,
1157. our ancestors told us before, we were up, and now we are down,
1158. I cannot say what does that mean with my knowledge,
1159. but I never heard of Caqobia that you came from,
1160. nor I do know why this is called Uhir Daynur,
1161. but I know something about the Charnagút,
1162. a sword of the hero of the reddish hair
1163. and Alexander exclaimed: why the Charnagút is important?
1164. so Birbuár answered: I am not sure of this importance,
1165. but I read something about it in the old books of my father,
1166. it is said to be the key to something I cannot remember,
1167. and it is the guide through the Uhir Daynur,
1168. to reach the place of the eternal rest
1169. and Alexander said: weird phrases,
1170. that only time would explain to me,
1171. but now I remembered many things to ask,
1172. tell me O good Birbuár,
1173. where is your sun, and how you get light?
1174. and why some people have a shadow,
1175. while others do not have anything?
1176. then Birbuár smiled and said: you are indeed a stranger!

Alexander 6, V34.

One more day in my vacation! Well, a one-week vacation and I'm exhausting myself working out around the house doing stuff, and probably right after this I would be going to fix the plants in my room. It was an exhaustive day yesterday when I worked on cleaning my room (yeah, right... cleaning?). However, I spent the morning roaming around in the traffic rush with people going to their work places or some others been there just for some breakfast... It was a cool feeling really. You see everyone busy in the rush and trying to speed up and come over other drivers so much that you'd think it is some arcade game, while you calmly drive because simply, nothing matters to you for now. Well, except of the fact I've been back to my bed for sleeping instead of my lazyboy, and that made my back sore for real.
After grabbing something for breakfast I drove to some company headquarter named Silsan (weird name really even for an Arabic speaker I tell you...).I was greatly disappointed actually when the guy told me that they don't go to Miskan island, because it is prohibited for the time being. Why? I don't know really. I asked him if it is turned now to some military post or something like that, but he didn't give a clear answer. Well, one wish now flew into thin air I guess. I might take this little vacation of mine to go on to Failaka island again, with my car of course and spend something around 37KD just for few hours there.

Anyway, been working on some images taken last Thursday, and the panorama I did take that day turned out to be, not that good, but I might work on it somehow to make something good out of it. Meanwhile, I've worked on 2 images, and got 3 versions out of one of them... well, just for fun actually:

Done by Photomatix without any editing. As you can see the hose is still there.

More colored version after editing in Photoshop. Not many people liked this version though!

Cloning in HDR stage and blending a cold hue then tone-mapping by Photomatix.

Trying to make a mysterious blend here with something of "aliens" or "visitors" effect.

And something totally different. Trying to make a night view from the morning by adding a cool hue.

Tried to fix the distortion here but I couldn't, so I left it out like that.

Maybe these two images were the best I did take from the seaside back in Thursday. Now I have to think of organizing my time a bit and work on my friend's report and on my transliteration. I will try this time to double work on the transliteration process and work out more than 2 verses a day. Would that work with my mood? I can't tell till I try...

One song I really liked for some long time ago (I think back in 2003), and still trying to get the lyrics for this song. It's in Breton and sang by Denez Prigent in a rap style, but the song itself is a folk song and as I read some where, it is sang by group of farmers when they work in the fields. The song itself dates back to the time before the introduction of christianity into France. The song's title is "Ar Rannoú" which means The Series (of numbers). In general, the idea of the song is a druid talking to a child (probably his own?) and the conversation is turned into a song about numbers and their significance in the Breton culture. Interesting really, but unfortunately I couldn't get a translation at all, either in French or English. I couldn't get the lyrics in Breton even! Just thought of sharing it with you here, and hope you like it...

__________
793. the thing was flaming with fire and ugly
794. its face could not be known from his back
795. and with thunder-like voice he shouted at Alexander
796. "who gave you a permission to eat my plants O low one?"
797. but Alexander was taken by the surprise and terror
798. and he started to stutter trying to answer the stranger
799. but with some trials he was able to speak to the stranger
800. "I am sorry, but I am a stranger from these lands" he said
801. and then a weird sound was out from the creature
802. like if he was wondering about what Alexander said
803. thus the thing said: a stranger in Uhir Daynur?
804. I never knew someone would get in or out of this,
805. unless by a grave into the ground in Uhir Daynur
806. then Alexander tried to identify himself to the stranger
807. thus he said: I am Alexander, the son of Pilippánút,
808. I am the king of Caqobia and Geltan,
809. and the king of Zimúrá and Bulughman
810. but the stranger was humming in a weird way
811. and this he said to Alexander: what are you talking about?
812. who is king and who are those people?
813. are you trying to deceive me O low one?
814. and Alexander went silent and did not know what to say
815. but then he thought of something and said to the stranger
816. "is there a chance to tell you my story so you will pardon me?"