For my third anniversary with my girlfriend I created for her a series of puzzles to solve to finally reach a video of me singing for her.
While I'm not going to share the video with everyone, I thought I could let others try the puzzle too :)
So yup, the puzzle is over at http://thisisalanzblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/level-0-white-spaces/
The password to unlock level 0 is 'rawr'. (without the inverted commas). Enjoy!
Feel free to leave comments if you need hints!
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Monday, 21 October 2013
My relaxation technique
Once in a while, I have insomnia. I either can't go to sleep, or I'll wake up in the early morning and can't go back to sleep. Sometimes I'll try to fall asleep using some relaxation techniques, and this one is by far the most effective one. Hope it works for you! Don't try it out as you're reading otherwise you may fall asleep :p
Step 1) Establish a steady deep breathing pattern
There are two parts to this. First, your breaths should be belly-breaths. Meaning, you don't expand your chest, but expand your stomach when you inhale. You should inhale deep and let the air expand your stomach. You can google it but this method of breathing basically takes in more oxygen and helps you to relax better.
Next is to establish the steady pattern. Count to 4 on an inhale, and 2 on exhale. 4, 2, 4, 2. Do this for about 10 consecutive breathing cycles (in and out), and you can move on to the next step.
After you stop being consciously aware of the 4-2 cycles, it's ok to not be super strict (i.e. breathe in 4s, out 2s) but just try to maintain the deep breathing pattern which you have established, for the rest of the exercise.
Step 2) The Body Scan
Now, you're going to start paying special concentrated conscious attention to each and every single small part of your body, one at a time. I usually do it from head to toe, you can do it from bottom up too.
Focus on one particular muscle/area (e.g. forehead), and consciously try to complete relax it. And I mean COMPLETELY. Like just feel all the tension in that spot drain out like water, and let a relaxing calm pass over it. You can imagine your spirit leaving your body at that part, but it's important to totally absolutely relax it.
Once you have done one muscle, move on to the next. Don't rush! Don't skip small muscles! So this includes the tiny small eye muscles that connect your eyebrows, the sides of your temples, those behind your ears, your cheeks, your jaw, your upper and lower lip... move steadily but slowly and don't leave out any part, doing the same relaxation technique.
If you have difficulty relaxing a particular part, try tensing/flexing it really hard for 3s, then release it. And let the relaxed feeling emeate....
After you have relaxed/given up control of a particular muscle/part, you should try not to move it at all for the rest of this exercise.
Do this for your whole body, until you have relaxed all ten of your toes.
Step 3) The House... and Beyond
Imagine you are in a grand big house. Make it as exquisite and grand as you'd like. You are at the top of a spiral staircase, with beautiful wooden banisters and all. Slowly walk down the steps, counting each step. There are twenty steps in total. Take in the beauty of the stairs, and while doing all these, maintain the deep breathing, the motionlessness of your body.
Once you've reached the bottom, the front door is in front of you. Open the front door, and exit into.... the most beautiful and luxurious garden you've seen in your life. Butterflies are flitting everywhere, the smell of freshly mown grass hits your nose, and you walk through the wonders of nature, feeling absolutely carefree and delighted. You hear birds chirping; maybe some even fly to you. It's all up to you what to picture. Just imagine a scene of beauty and serenity.
You walk through the garden, and eventually reach a stream / waterfall. The lapping sounds of the gently falling water forms a nice soothing backdrop against the chirping birds and sounds of nature. You take in the wonderful scenery for a while ... you can imagine further whatever else you want to see.
After you are done with this serene walk, it's time to go back to your house.
You slowly plod back towards your grand big house. Visualize everything you've walked past earlier. Soak in the peace and calm of the moment.
You reach your house finally, and open the door. You see the flight of spiral stairs again. Wonderful ivory, fresh musk. You close the door, and begin walking up the stairs slowly, counting each step again. There are twenty steps in total.
When you reach the top, that's the end of this exercise.
Step 1) Establish a steady deep breathing pattern
There are two parts to this. First, your breaths should be belly-breaths. Meaning, you don't expand your chest, but expand your stomach when you inhale. You should inhale deep and let the air expand your stomach. You can google it but this method of breathing basically takes in more oxygen and helps you to relax better.
Next is to establish the steady pattern. Count to 4 on an inhale, and 2 on exhale. 4, 2, 4, 2. Do this for about 10 consecutive breathing cycles (in and out), and you can move on to the next step.
After you stop being consciously aware of the 4-2 cycles, it's ok to not be super strict (i.e. breathe in 4s, out 2s) but just try to maintain the deep breathing pattern which you have established, for the rest of the exercise.
Step 2) The Body Scan
Now, you're going to start paying special concentrated conscious attention to each and every single small part of your body, one at a time. I usually do it from head to toe, you can do it from bottom up too.
Focus on one particular muscle/area (e.g. forehead), and consciously try to complete relax it. And I mean COMPLETELY. Like just feel all the tension in that spot drain out like water, and let a relaxing calm pass over it. You can imagine your spirit leaving your body at that part, but it's important to totally absolutely relax it.
Once you have done one muscle, move on to the next. Don't rush! Don't skip small muscles! So this includes the tiny small eye muscles that connect your eyebrows, the sides of your temples, those behind your ears, your cheeks, your jaw, your upper and lower lip... move steadily but slowly and don't leave out any part, doing the same relaxation technique.
If you have difficulty relaxing a particular part, try tensing/flexing it really hard for 3s, then release it. And let the relaxed feeling emeate....
After you have relaxed/given up control of a particular muscle/part, you should try not to move it at all for the rest of this exercise.
Do this for your whole body, until you have relaxed all ten of your toes.
Step 3) The House... and Beyond
Imagine you are in a grand big house. Make it as exquisite and grand as you'd like. You are at the top of a spiral staircase, with beautiful wooden banisters and all. Slowly walk down the steps, counting each step. There are twenty steps in total. Take in the beauty of the stairs, and while doing all these, maintain the deep breathing, the motionlessness of your body.
Once you've reached the bottom, the front door is in front of you. Open the front door, and exit into.... the most beautiful and luxurious garden you've seen in your life. Butterflies are flitting everywhere, the smell of freshly mown grass hits your nose, and you walk through the wonders of nature, feeling absolutely carefree and delighted. You hear birds chirping; maybe some even fly to you. It's all up to you what to picture. Just imagine a scene of beauty and serenity.
You walk through the garden, and eventually reach a stream / waterfall. The lapping sounds of the gently falling water forms a nice soothing backdrop against the chirping birds and sounds of nature. You take in the wonderful scenery for a while ... you can imagine further whatever else you want to see.
After you are done with this serene walk, it's time to go back to your house.
You slowly plod back towards your grand big house. Visualize everything you've walked past earlier. Soak in the peace and calm of the moment.
You reach your house finally, and open the door. You see the flight of spiral stairs again. Wonderful ivory, fresh musk. You close the door, and begin walking up the stairs slowly, counting each step again. There are twenty steps in total.
When you reach the top, that's the end of this exercise.
Making of Modern Family - PL4880G edition
The idea came randomly.
We were discussing how we could present our Positive Psychology project, and someone threw up the idea of a Modern Family kind of theme. I latched on it immediately, and we explained to the rest what it was, and I happened to have some episodes on my laptop so we watched a few scenes for the sake of those who had not watched it before.
Ideas began forming in my mind, and I volunteered to write the script for the 'episode'.
Inspiration came from Ryan Higa and Modern Family itself - I ripped off quite a few used ideas. For instance, the opening scene of PL4880G edition was the opening scene of Season 1's pilot episode, albeit much shorter. The whole 'going into the room to check out on son and girlfriend' plot was also taken from Modern Family, though it was daughter and boyfriend there. The last 'pun/blackout' scene was clearly inspired by some of Ryan Higa's puns, with some of my own slipped in.
The characters were also inspired by Modern Family of course - a controlling mother, a thinks-he-is-cool Dad (the name Chill is a reference to Phil), and three siblings (though the genders are slightly different).
It was a great process producing this short film. The filming process was a real bitch, taking up well over 6 hours (though I guess that's really short for film standards) and multiple takes. We compromised a little on quality towards the last hour which was rather unfortunate, as it meant some jokes being cut out or accidentally left out.
I learnt quite a bit editing the film too. I learnt the importance of 'B rolls', the name given for those random scene shots like some cars passing by... a shot of the house ... a shot of birds running around.. some random calefare cycling.. basically filler shots. These filler shots help to make transitions a lot less awkward and jarring.
I also learnt the importance of multiple takes from different angles - they help a lot when you want to cut from one shot to another, to reduce the 'jumpiness' of the jump. We didn't have the luxury of having multiple takes from different angles so I had to make do with amateurish transition effects to reduce the jumpiness.
Here's the finished product!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCegYKMjXJo
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