AyseDeniz Gokcin

AyseDeniz recently completed her Masters in Piano Performance at Royal Academy of Music in London with Merit, under the tutelage of Christopher Elton, receiving the Maud Hornsby Award and completing the LRAM Teaching Certificate. In 2009, she finished her Bachelors Degree at Eastman School of Music (Rochester NY) in the studio of Douglas Humpherys, where she received Howard Hanson and Clements Scholarships as well as the John Celentano Excellence in Chamber Music Award.

AyseDeniz made her concerto debut when she was nine, with Gordion Chamber Orchestra playing J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5. At thirteen, she had already performed as a soloist with various orchestras under conductors including Ibrahim Yazici, Fahrettin Kerimov, Antonio Pirolli, Cem Mansur, Engin Sakpinar, Ertug Korkmaz, Rengim Gokmen, Vladimir Sirenko, and Kirill Karabits.

Upon receiving an invitation from Nikolai Petrov, she has performed in Kremlin Palace (Moscow, Russia). She has also appeared in L’Eglise (Verbier, Switzerland); Duke’s Hall, Kings Place (London, UK); Central Park of Culture and Resort Open Air Hall, Lysenko Hall (Kiev, Ukraine);  ‘PepsiCo Hall’ Texas, ‘Kilbourn Hall’ New York, ‘Harris Hall’ Colorado, ‘Lehmann Hall’ California (USA); Bellapais Antique Monastry (Northern Cyprus) and most of the important art centers in Turkey, including the Sureyya Opera House during the 38th Istanbul International Music Festival.

She attended prestigious summer festivals including Verbier Academy; Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival and School, PianoTexas, Goslar Konzerterbeitswochen, Tel-Hai and Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, studying with renowned piano pedagogues such as Menahem Pressler, Jerome Lowenthal, Arie Vardi, Yoheved Kalpinsky, as well as Lang Lang. Having been invited by the world renowned Bach interpreter Rosalyn Tureck to Spain, AyseDeniz had the privilege to study with her for a semester during her last years.

AyseDeniz has appeared on various TV channels, radio stations and in magazines including CNN Turk, NTV, TRT, The Voice of Russia and Vogue Turkey. She is currently working on solo and recording projects, as well as giving concerts to raise money for charities around the world.

AWARDS

‘Maud Hornsby’ Award, RAM, London, UK — 2010
‘Howard Hanson’ Merit Scholarship, ESM, NY, USA — 2005 - 2009
‘John Celentano’ Excellence in Chamber Music Award, ESM, NY, USA — 2008
‘Celements’ Merit Scholarship, ESM, NY, USA — 2007
‘Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes’ Scholarship Invitation, Israel — 2007
‘10. Young Musicians Eurovision Grand Prix’ Representative for Turkey, Bergen, Norway — 2000
Ministry of Culture ‘Turkey Concert Tour’ Award, Ankara, Turkey — 2000
‘3. International Vladimir Horowitz Piano Competition’ 4th Prize, Kiev, Ukraine — 1999
‘Respect for Art’ Special Prize, Rotaract Club, Ankara, Turkey — 1998
Best Concerto Award, IBLA Grand Prize, Sicily, Italy — 1998
‘Rotary Young Talents Competition’ 1st Prize, Ankara, Turkey — 1994

 

More aysedeniz.org
          facebook.com 

MASS EFFECT 3 - OPERATION: BALLISTIC

Operation BALLISTIC (Jan 25th-27th)

Event Description: Recon has new estimates on the number of Reaper creatures, and the news is dire. Each of you must inflict as many casualties as possible, and we must destroy husk-creation mechanisms like Dragon’s Teeth. If we fail to accomplish this, we will be even more outnumbered in the coming days.

Individual Goal: Earn any gold weapon medal (Assault Rifle/Heavy Pistol/Shotgun/Sniper Rifle/Submachine Gun).

Reward: Commendation Pack

blog.bioware.com

January 23

Stockholm (Rinkeby, Kista), 23.01.2013

Skyrim Is Just Awesome (Boom De Yada/Fus Ro Da Da) Song

youtube.com/The1ToFear

Where the Hell is Matt?

Matt is a 36-year-old deadbeat from Westport, Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. He got lucky, landing a job as a game designer in Los Angeles at a young age, and figured he had everything pretty much figured out.

At 23, he moved to Brisbane, Australia, where it's a pretty typical thing for people to take off and travel the planet for a while before settling down. He thought that sounded amazing, and was also starting to realize that maybe videogames weren't the only thing that mattered. So in early 2003, he quit his job to go wandering around Southeast Asia until the money ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he was.

A few months into his trip, he and his friend, Brad Welch, were taking pictures on the streets of Hanoi when Brad said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do your stupid dance. I'll record it." Matt did it, and he thought it looked pretty funny, so he kept on doing it everywhere he went.

That turned out to be a very good idea.

He put the video of his dancing adventures on his blog (back then people had things called "blogs"), and then in 2005 he found it on a new site called YouTube, where some kid had uploaded it, pretending to be him, and like a million people had already watched it. The kid was collecting donations and apparently got about $200 out of it. Good for him.

Matt briefly got micro-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not him. The other guy. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

In the midst of all that, Matt got an email from a chewing gum company called Stride. They asked if he'd be interested in making another dancing video for them. He asked if they'd pay for it. They said, "Yeah." He asked if he could go wherever he wanted. They said, "Pretty much." So he said, "Sure!"

That actually happened.

He made the video, and he got to bring his girlfriend, Melissa, with him to film it. It was awesome. And people liked it. The second video made Matt even more micro-famous, transitioning briefly into quasi-famous.

He mostly just danced in front of iconic landmarks, but along the way he went to a country called Rwanda, and since there aren't any landmarks in Rwanda that you'd want to dance in front of, instead he just went to a small village and danced with a bunch of kids. The kids joined him immediately and without hesitation. That ended up being the best thing that happened to him on the trip. The kids taught him that people are a whole lot more interesting than old landmarks and monuments.

Matt went back to Stride and told them he did it all wrong and they needed to send him around the planet again. They said, "Okay," and in 2008 he put out another video that showed thousands of people laughing, smiling, and goofing around together. It took him five years and three tries, but he finally got it right that time.

The internet exploded. Matt briefly went from quasi-famous to not-entirely-un-famous. Visa hired him to do his dance in a series of TV ads that air across Asia and the Middle East, which introduced him to a thing called "Business Class," and meant he didn't have to worry so much about money anymore. He settled down with Melissa in Seattle, Washington and bought a house.

Eventually Matt decided there was one thing left he wanted to say that the other videos hadn't quite said. He knew it was the sort of thing that was going to make a sponsor uneasy, and he kind of wanted to own his work anyway, so he decided to take what he'd earned from endorsements and invest it into another video.

In 2010, Matt started traveling again. He had to take a prolonged pit stop the following year when he and Melissa had a son. After that, leaving home for long stretches got even harder. But he hired a small team to help him finish and they eventually got it done.

Matt put his fourth video out in 2012. He's really proud of it and he hopes you like it too.

Matt thinks travel is important. It helps us learn what we're capable of, that the path laid in front of us isn't the only one we can choose, and that we don't need to be so afraid of each other all the time.

Matt used to think you were either good at something or bad at something and there wasn't much you could do to change it. He wishes he'd learned sooner that you can get better at most things just by doing them over and over again. It really is that simple.

Matt was a mediocre student and never went to college. When he got older, he was pleased to discover that no one cares.

Matt is left-handed.

Matt plays a lot of Scramble and Words With Friends. His screen name is BadDancer.

Matt has a little piece of extra cartilage sticking out on the rim of one ear and a little hole in the same place on the other ear. He's been informed that the extra piece of cartilage is called Darwin's Tubercle. Matt thinks this is pretty much the greatest name for anything ever.

Matt would like to see the Transportation Security Administration disbanded and replaced with a new system that doesn't train people to mindlessly obey pointless rules. He believes brief conversations with well-trained humans who make direct eye contact would be a better way to keep people safe without sacrificing their dignity and liberty.

Speaking of which, Matt has never lost a staring contest.

www.wherethehellismatt.com






youtube.com

Kathleen Taylor

Kathleen Taylor has a relationship with the Muse. Not in the figurative, watered-down way we colorfully speak of ordinary inspiration, but in the literal way of the ancient Greeks who knew nine goddesses, fathered by Zeus, who are the source of all creativity. This makes her songwriting process unusual. Kathleen bumps into songs the way other people run into old friends at the corner store: she might find one in the weeds at the end of her driveway, floating just above a well-worn couch, on a bike ride down a rutted road, or in the glowing eyes of a feral cat. The songs are seemingly handed to her fully formed like beautiful gifts.



To tell her story we’re going to go all the way back to an A-frame house in the Colorado Rockies where as a young child Kathleen pushed toys around a cold pine floor while her mother kept the record player turning with the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Odetta, Willie Nelson, and Simon and Garfunkel. While she was occupied with normal childhood pastimes, those voices and songs were finding their way inside her head and heart like the sweet smell of wood smoke blows through the cracks around a cabin door. But the Muse had only just begun to cultivate her. It would be many more years before she picked up an instrument.



That happened when she left Colorado for college in Gainesville, Florida, taking up guitar with no specific aspirations, just out of a desire to play covers of her favorite songs. Then one day her guitar teacher sent her home with a daunting assignment: to write an original song. Sitting down in her living room that night, it didn’t take long to notice the song was already floating around her and all she had to do was put it on paper. In 2006 that song, “Gainesville Today,” became the sublime centerpiece in Kathleen’s first CD Songs for Mothra, a demo album dedicated to her mother who had recently passed away, with solo performances of 11 original tunes and one cover (arguably the definitive version of Townes Van Zandt’s “Brother Flower”). The album quickly became a popular, word-of-mouth and internet phenomena – even garnering airplay on several radio stations. This is all the more impressive when considering that she had never performed in front of an audience before the CD was recorded. That would change…



Encouraged by that success, she and the Muse embarked upon a full-fledged studio album project in 2008 enlisting the help of producer Michael Hynes and some of the world-class musicians who make Austin, Texas home. Reviews for Defy the World were effusive. Critics loved the lush and diverse instrumentation, contagious melodies, clever lyrics, and, of course, her singing voice. It’s an album that appeals in equal parts to your head, heart, ears and feet. As an interesting side note, the title of the album came from a century-old advertisement for Defy the World Brand Cold Packed Tomatoes, part of a mountainous hoard of Victorian trade cards, postcards, photos, advertisements, and greeting cards Kathleen and her fiancé collect and trade as a passion and a side business. All the retro cover art for her CDs as well as other promotional materials on posters and the Internet are adapted from this amazing stockpile.



For her latest studio album, Kathleen and the Muse headed north to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2010 to work with Jason Rubal for a more intimate and focused sound that is diverse yet cohesive as a concept album: there’s a mixture of solo acoustic, full band rockabilly, and a touch of nostalgic country (all labels must be used very loosely with Kathleen, however). Her trademark finger-picking on a beloved Martin guitar is front and center on each song. She is joined by a group of extraordinary session musicians, most notably Roy Nash, one of the most gifted bassists you will ever hear, and Dave Hadley whose ethereal work on the pedal steel guitar infuses pure magic into the mix. The songs are full of life, populated with nature and brimming with age-old wisdom and childlike wonderment. Her world is a place where bugs and plants can teach us everything we need to know; where love is means, an end, a promise, a long shot, and a glass of wine. And there are the people we meet along the way – drifters, grifters, ghosts, and cowboys – but not one of them is exactly who you’d expect. They are like reflections in a funhouse mirror: look closely and they start looking a whole lot like you.



But before you recognize the quality of the lyrics, you will be won over by her voice. Kathleen’s singing is skilled but unaffected, deeply expressive without being ostentatious. It mines the wealth of the singer-songwriter tradition without imitating it, and is identifiable as being true to the most talented and authentic artists of the past without having a single direct comparison. For a country that celebrates – if not worships – all that is trendy, superficial, pitch-corrected and ostentatious, it’s ironic that the term Americana has come to be a catch-all for the exact opposite: that which is genuine and rooted in tradition. Kathleen is the quintessential Americana artist. There is not a single gimmick here; not one bit of the premeditated vocal acrobatics that pass for talent nowadays. What you get is one of the most remarkable, natural voices you’ve ever heard, showcased perfectly in the melodies and lyrics of her songwriting. These are the songs you’ve always wanted to hear, a gift from the Muse to you, by way of the remarkable talent of Kathleen Taylor.

See also kathleentaylormusic.com
              facebook.com

MASS EFFECT 3 - OPERATION: GERONIMO

Operation: GERONIMO (Jan 18th-20th)

Event Description: Reaper units are identifying and targeting our team medics. To counter, we are increasing training in battlefield medicine for all N7 soldiers, regardless of specialty. By ensuring each soldier can deliver emergency care, we will confuse and frustrate the Reapers into abandoning their strategy.

Individual Goal: Earn any first aid medal on any map at any difficulty.

Reward: Commendation Pack

blog.bioware.com

MASS EFFECT 3 - OPERATION: GENESIS

Operation GENESIS (Jan 11th-13th)

Event Description: Casualties and battle fatigue have worn down some of our best units. We are cycling out soldiers whose tours of duty have been hyperextended and substituting fresh troops from human colonies. Experienced commanders are expected to stay on duty, maintain unit cohesion, and hold new recruits to N7 standards.

Individual Goal: Extract twice, once as a base male human and once as a base female human (Adept, Engineer, Infiltrator, Sentinel, Soldier, or Vanguard classes) on any map at any difficulty.

Reward: Commendation Pack

blog.bioware.com

DEFCON (Everybody Dies) - Gameplay

Download the fully playable DEMO: introversion.co.uk/defcon
System Requirements: any PC

Troche zapomniany (chociaz wciaz doskonaly) kawalek kodu od Introversion Software, autorow Uplinka czy Darwinii. Mimo dosc makabrycznej tematyki warto sprobowac, szczegolnie ze demo, ktore mozna pobrac ze strony producenta (link powyzej) jest w pelni grywalne.
Polecam.