Bits n Bytes : Canon 350D

Canon 350D, which is also called the "Rebel", is apparently the best voted camera of the D-SLR type. For those of you who are interested in knowing more about this piece of beauty, check out the links below.

A very comprehensively written review is here

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/xt-350d.shtml

to know more about SLR technology read this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera

for Mirror Look-Up fundamentals check out
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/mirror-lock.shtml

This is a good forum for Canon 350D users, you can exchange views, ideas and tips here

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1031

These are some snaps I took with my "Rebel", these are locations in an around Trento, Italy.

An evening shot of the river Adige.

Tulips in the Spring.

Travelogue : The Castle of Neuschwanstein

On this Easter weekend along with some of my friends in Munich, I had gone to the Castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. The weather was not very sunny though, it was the regular grey day, with brief patches of sunshine now and then. We took a RegionalBahn from München Hbf, and the tourist crowd in the train set the right momentum from the word go.

Both the castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are located in close proximity to each other in the German village of Schwangau near the town of Füssen, in southwestern Bavaria, very close to the border with Austria. This region has a large number of Swans and hence the architecture of the castles, the legends of the past, emblems etc are heavily influenced by this bird.

The Neuschwanstein castle was constructed by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was named after the Swan Knight, Lohengrin, of Wagner's opera, and was designed by Christian Jank. The interior tapestries of the castle and wall paintings depict scenes from the operas of Richard Wagner, who was a close friend of the king. Ludwig II had a large number of hobbies during his youth, art and architecture were one of them and had made several friends in the artistic circles. The castle sits at the top of a hill, some 200 to 300 feet above the village. It is heated by a forced air, coal fired furnace in the basement. The bed in the King's bedroom features ornate carving that woodcarvers worked on for 3 years. The castle is fed with fresh water supply that is situated at a much higher altitude. It took about 17 years to build this castle and unfortunately the king lived there for about only 170 days, as he died an abrupt and mysterious death at the Starnberg See on the outskirts of München. Many of the interior rooms remain undecorated to this date; only 14 rooms were finished before Ludwig's death. The nearby Marienbrücke (Marie's Bridge), named after Marie of Prussia, provides a beautiful side view of Neuschwanstein.

This castle is claimed to be the inspiration for the Walt-Disney logo. This castle also featured in the Hollywood adaptation (starring Clint Eastwood) of the Alistair McLean´s novel "Where Eagles Dare".

Schloss Hohenschwangau (Castle of the High Swan County) was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia and their two sons.

for more information and photos check out

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/english/index.htm

My Diary : Second Home coming ....

We have an Easter break in the University, so I had come to Germany for a couple of days. Apart from meeting old friends I had to complete some administrative work which I had left in a hurry before leaving.

I travelled in a car along with some friends from Trento to Munich. All of us were going to different places in Germany, for different holidays. The route from Trento-Bolzano-Innsbruck-Munich is one of the best rides to take. We took a circuitous route between the Alps, across the tunnels, through the valleys and finally reached the plateaus of Bavaria. The Alpine valley of Innsbruck is a great visual treat. The autobahn runs across the diameter of the valley. Once you are on the other end of the valley, the autobahn ascends a steep climb. The view from that altitude is just amazing. I am told that the airport in Innsbruck is the toughest to navigate for the pilots, because the valley is surrounded by steep cliffs.

While entering Munich, the familiar skyline etched with the spires of the Frauenkirche, gave me a very nostalgic feeling. It was as if I was returning back home. Its strange feeling, to be so attached to the place where you have spent just almost an year of your life. I guess thats human psyche to get attached to places and things, out of no special reason.

Well at the moment I am having a good time with old friends, there are lots of stories being shared from either side, having pleasant meals. I must be blessed to have such great friends who are not only good at heart/character but are also too good at cooking. I am sure to put on some extra pounds owing to the delicacies of Asian and Mughalai cuisines.

On the Easter sale, I got a good offer for Canon EOS 350D. So at the moment its just - Click ! Click! Click!

Here are some specifications. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS-350D.

Books review : Dan Brown´s works

This weekend I completed reading Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown. This is the third book of the same author that I read in succession. After having read the Da Vinci Code, I could not resist reading Angels & Demons, and when I came across Digital Fortress, my mind said why not. While the earlier two books were very good, with elements of Thrill, Suspense and Conspiracy theories mixed up well, Digital Fortress doesnt stand in the same breadth. It may be owing to the fact that it was the first of the series written by the author, and Dan Brown seems to have bettered in the subsequent ones.

After having read these 3 books, a strange sense of deja vu prevailed on me. I think all the 3 follow a basic template in their story plots. Let me share some of these thoughts here.

• The male lead is a professor/academic/a scholar of some kind, who is either invloved in the chase or is referred to for helping in finding clues. (David Becker - Digital Fortress, Robert Langdon - Angels & Demons, Da Vinci Code)
• The female protoganist is beautiful, highly intelligent and a strong character of exceptional talent in a mathematics-related field of specialisation. (Susan Fletcher- Digital Fortress, Vittoria Vetra - Angels & Demons, Sophie Neveu - Da Vinci Code)
• There is always a prominent cripple, who is essential to the plot and this disability is used by the characters for carrying weapons etc. (Ensei Tankado - Digital Fortress, Maximillian Kohler - Angels & Demons, Sir Leigh Teabing - Da Vinci Code)
• The major killings in the story are carried out by a hired assassin/mercenary and he does this job with clinical dexterity and ruthless cold bloodednes.(Hulohot - Digital Fortress, Hassassin - Angels & Demons, Silas - Da Vinci Code)
• There is a chase sequence somewhere before the climax, with the hunter pursuing the protoganists.
• All the events in the story take place in a small time frame of around 24 hours, with the male protoganist doing the exhaustive field travails. The climax takes place on some events taking place on a deadline/timer ticking etc. (The pass key - Digital Fortress, the canister bomb - Angels & Demons)
• The mastermind behind the killings/events turns out to be a salient figure for most of the book, and supposedly against the motives behind the murders. (Strathmore - Digital Fortress, the Camerlengo - Angels & Demons, Sir Leigh Teabing - Da Vinci Code)

All said and done, I liked the books a lot. My personal favourite among them is Angels & Demons. The Da Vinci Code movie adaptation is being released next month, the trailers looks promising enough. Lets see how Tom Hanks does justice to Robert Langdon.