Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 6:31PM Just realized that you can put your kids on the TV stand or a stool and use the Samsung LCD TV as the perfect background for portrait photos!!
Why didn't I think of this before?
ps. if you angle it, somehow the TV surface doesn't bounce the flash.
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Jr., little one, photoblog, photography Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:24PM Jr. and the little one both get a "ragam quiz" every night at bedtime. They can guess ~20 ragams from either a song I hum, the aarohanam-avarohanam or phrases or swarams I hum or sing.
Sometimes just play from iPhone for the quiz(usually GNB, MS, MLV, TN Seshagopalan, Ariyakudi from the music collection or the latest Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Priya Sisters, Ranjani-Gayathri straight from Youtube favorites).
They guess reasonably well, considering they have been at this for two three months already.
Every now and then, they pick a favorite and listen to the whole song till they memorize it and imitate it. While San thinks this is border line blasphemy, I encourage it. After all every kid is not going to be a super singer and the whole idea is to imitate and learn and this is my way of spending some quality time with them and having some fun.
The most important thing in learning, is learning how to learn! (if that has not been copyrighted, I am doing it right now)
So, here are the little Narayanan girls, doing their version of Vinayaka. They thought this was a rehearsal and did not know that the camcorder was on.
Don't know if the paati's will be pleased, what with the little one's novel concept of "variable thAlam" where she suddenly goes into a vigorous hand slapping to give herself some more energy to sing and Jr.'s attempts to sustain notes to try and get some semblance of a steady timing.
If they do improve over the years with lots of practice and training, they might look back at this and go "god, we have come a long way".. and if their interest in music dies out after some time, they might still look at this and go "we did try, didn't we"..
Getting these two to sit next to each other and sing in unison was in itself a workout for Daddy Narayanan. If they happen to sing this in tune and tempo eventually, will post that video as well...
For now the girls are a "work in progress"!
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Monday, December 14, 2009 at 9:19PM Jr. sang on stage at her music school annual day over the weekend.
First time she is singing on stage. The kids were all giggles at first, but eventually settled down, got serious and started singing in unison.
It was a chance for them to show all the parents what they have learned, get to sing with a team, realize practice makes perfect and be exposed to stage fright. Although the intensity of the practice was initially making me go "Why all the strain. can it not wait a few years?", came round to the realization that this was a great experience for the kids.
Can already picture the beaming face of all grandmas in India right now, when they get to see this video!
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 10:02PM Today when I picked up Jr. from school, she had a certificate.
It said something to the effect of "Congratulations on your birthday, etc. etc." and looked like a formal certificate with lots of colors on it!
Jr. said "are you proud of me, I earned that certificate"
Me: What do you mean "you earned it". You just had another birthday. You didn't work for it!
Jr. : Lived to be a year older, didn't I? (and makes a "duh" face, if you know what I mean)
Me : you lived to be a year older because your mom and me are still spoon feeding you, your breakfast and dinner and stuffing your leftover lunch in your mouth in the evening. If anything we should get the certificate.
Jr. : You are not fair. You are saying that because I got a certificate and I really earned it.
Me : !!!!!!!!!!!
Can understand people in gang infested neighborhoods feeling a sense of achievement for having lived longer and survived. But why would a seven year old living in a nice house with parents who spend 30 minutes a day with morning cereal and going to a nice school feel she earned a "birthday" certificate?
Beats me!
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Jr., birthday, certificate, things kids say Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 11:13PM The hand did take a turn for the worse and limited activity for most of the day. After a lot of rest, got up this evening and tried taking photos. Options were restricted to indoor and that meant, the Christmas lights came out!
Like they say in Tamil "Yaam Petra Inbam" ... (the happiness I received, should be passed on, no?)
The camera modification
The setup on the dining table
A few shots which are better efforts than the previous one's posted earlier
Jr. is an amazing model. After getting hit by the flash a few times, she suggested that the picture be of the side of her face. It was a great idea.
Also, a tip. If you happen to try this at home, remember that 1000+ Christmas lights generate a lot of heat, when you pile them up in a heap. You are guaranteed to get your hands burnt if you unplug the lights and try to grab them off the table. It is NOT recommended under any circumstances, especially when you are recovering an already broken hand.
My kids asked me "how can you be so smart and stupid at the same time?"
How? How?
or should I be asking myself "Why?"
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