Jun 12 2010

QBP Videos

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,VideosChrisM @ 2:41 am

So, as I mentioned in a tweet, Irina and I were invited to the Queen’s Birthday Party (organised by the British Embassy) on the 10th of June at the Radisson Hotel here in Astana. This was the first QBP since the new ambassador here in Kazakhstan took over.

A short summary would be no speeches (apparently the correct tradition for celebrating HRH’s birthday), a good local band that played a wide variety of covers, free good food (fish and chips in cones again, as well as a buffet (curries, beef kebabs, potato wedges 🙂 ) and free drink. I’ll leave the details of my mishap on the way home until another day.

The following videos were supposed to be uploaded on the night, but I was too drunk TBH. They were then supposed to be transferred via Qik, but once again the program got very tempremental. So, I reverted to YouTube.

I’ve not yet had a chance to actually watch all the videos, but I wanted to post these up tonight, as I’m away from the PC tomorrow for half the day, then giving a lesson and running an English Talking club in the afternoon and evening, then hopefully off to watch the England vs. USA football match during the night.
So it was now or at some random point in the future for embedding these clips.

Oh, and Irina took some proper photos with a real camera, so I’ll try ad post those up soon as well.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Jun 10 2010

At Queens Birthday Party in As…

Category: TweetsChrisM @ 9:57 pm

At Queens Birthday Party in Astana. Ira’s mum baby sitting. Fish’n’chips, beer and voluntary dancing. Videos will be Qiked later. Happiness

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,


May 15 2010

Assorted Anna Birthday Pictures

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 2:09 am

I will need to double check later, but I think this post is the last of the pictures from the 21st of February. I will try and get a move on, and post the rest of the UK pictures (none of the other days had quite so many shots taken, you’ll be glad to know 🙂 ) sometime soon.

Tags: , ,


May 15 2010

Stretched Car

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 1:43 am

Still on the 21st of February, (though now getting to the end of photos and videos from Anna’s birthday) here we have the ride/push-along car you saw in an earlier video, although this time you see it in extended mode, where a seat is added, and it looks more like a toy car than a zimmer frame 🙂

Anna Driving The Living Room Circuit

Anna Driving The Living Room Circuit

Final Lap

Final Lap

Tags: , , ,


May 07 2010

Compilation Of Videos From B-Day Party

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,VideosChrisM @ 7:25 pm

As all the videos were taking up the whole front page on this blog, and contained a few dud, four second long accidental recordings, I decided to compile them into a couple of posts instead.
It was a family friend’s birthday party at the Attila restaurant in Astana, and there was food, drink, dancers, music and an MC, as usual.
Oh, the titling of Qik videos (on the site) is totally screwed up again, most of the videos have the title from the previous clip, and virtually all of them lost these (wrong) titles when tweeted. Combine that with the jerky 320×240 video, and you can see why I’m still looking for an alternative Windows Mobile based live video streaming app…

Shots from outside the Attila (as in Attila The Hun) restaurant, here in Astana…

Irina’s Dad toasting the Yuri Constantinovich – the birthday boy 🙂

People dancing

Golka! (People chant this at weddings to encourage the bride and groom to kiss, a little bit like when the priest/vicar says “the groom may now kiss the bride” during a wedding ceremony). This was a reference to when Yuri and his wife got married many years ago.

Here we had an example of Korean dancing from some local enthusiasts (Yuri has Korean heritage, Kazakhstan has a wide mix of nationalities making up it’s population)

His Mum toasts Yuri

Tags: , , , , , , ,


May 03 2010

Dylan And Amelia

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 10:19 pm

Once more from the 21st of February, here we have John’s son and daughter-in-law’s children, Dylan And Amelia. They came to help celebrate Anna’s first birthday, and it was nice for her to have some company a little closer to her own age…

Anna, Amelia And Dylan

Anna, Amelia And Dylan

Tags: ,


May 03 2010

Birthday Cake

Category: Anna's Photos,PicturesChrisM @ 10:18 pm

As I didn’t publish a video of Anna’s cake before it had the candle blown out, and was cut up, I wanted to write a quick post and put this picture up. I can just about remember when an accurate number of candles on my birthday cake didn’t set off fire alarms 🙂

Anna's Birthday Cake

Anna's Birthday Cake

A little later (after the bubble machine), we all went back indoors, Anna had a seat in the living room, and the cake was enjoyed 🙂

Someone Mentioned Cake?

Someone Mentioned Cake?

This Is ALL Mine, Yes?

This Is ALL Mine, Yes?

Cameras Everywhere, I Just Want To Eat The Cake

Cameras Everywhere, I Just Want To Eat The Cake

About To Discover Wax Isn't Tasty...

About To Discover Wax Isn't Tasty...

But The Cake Is!

But The Cake Is!

Anna's First Birthday Cake Experience

Anna's First Birthday Cake Experience

Going, Going, Gone!

Going, Going, Gone!

When The Cake Ran Out, The Hat Was Next

When The Cake Ran Out, The Hat Was Next

Tags: ,


May 03 2010

Gwen Gets A Hat

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 6:56 pm

Another of Anna’s birthday shots, here we have Gwen being told that not being a homo sapien was no excuse for skipping out on wearing a party hat. She allowed a few snaps to be taken, then removed it. Much like some of the humans in the house!

Gwen Hopes Biscuit Treats Are The Reward...

Gwen Hopes Biscuit Treats Are The Reward...

When Can I Chew It Off?

When Can I Chew It Off?

By this time during our stay, Gwen had learned that Anna didn’t always know how strong she was, or that pulling fur hurt, so Gwen often backed off a little if Anna seemed very energetic. I think our cats should be very grateful to Gwen, as Anna did seem to start to comprehend that little animals should be approached with a bit more care and attention (& less shouting) than previously!

Tags: ,


May 03 2010

Anna’s Birthday Present Pictures

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 6:55 pm

Yes, still on the 21st of February, which was Anna’s first birthday. Unless you include the day she was born. Which would make this year her second birthday. Which would most likely cause confusion. when Anna became one year old, we tried to grab a few photos, as well as videos, of Anna opening her presents.

Tags: ,


Apr 27 2010

Anna’s Birthday Cake

Category: Anna's VideosChrisM @ 5:46 pm

Not much to say with this video, as you may have guessed from the title, it features Anna on her birthday, about to taste her first ever birthday cake. The rest of the year, we’re pretty careful about sugar (and salt) levels in the food she eats (a little more difficult here in Kazakhstan, as the selection is narrower), but for that one day, pretty much anything was allowed 🙂
Anyway, here she is, sat in her highchair (this one is a little seat that you can attach to most normal “adult’s” chairs, and worked out pretty well), having already blown out her candles…

Tags: , , , ,


« Previous PageNext Page »