Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tuberculosis in India...
kills someone every minute. Do you know anybody coughing with phlegm for three weeks, chest pain, and appetite loss (that eliminates my symptoms)? Get simple phlegm testing as the disease is completely and freely curable.
9:38 PM
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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Only in India (continued)
-Kribs passes out...Kingsley regains consciousness.
-Indian women now have equal opportunity to work same lousy hours as men.
-Indian Archbishop may succeed Roman Catholic Pope. Booth-capturing?
-To pee or not to pee?
12:23 PM
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
WOW...look at these racks! One is even lightly covered in velvet!!
In the bastion of conservative sarees and dupattas known as Chennai, India, I'm of course talking about the deer that wander fearlessly from the inner-city Guindy Park into the neighboring streets. While the streets have always been a food source for cows and dogs, nobody threatens the occasional deer who join right in. Here in the US, leash laws restrict free-running dogs because they're known to frighten and kill deer. Many Americans also enjoy venison (deer meat) for its low cholesterol leanness, so as a carnivore, I'm very surprised to see tame deer. These deer weren't even bothered by the music and reverie of a passing funeral procession.
 
11:53 AM
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Monday, March 28, 2005
Rochester, NY (and much of the US) has a fertilization problem
No, we're not modeling our partner in World Super Powers (India) with her cows wandering the streets and crapping wherever they want. I'm not even alluding to those simple citizens who relieve themselves on the side of the road. According to the non-profit Center for Watershed Protection, the problem is nutriants put on our lawns at a rate 10-times greater than farmers enrich their crops. Our stupidity about the planet and our children's future is only outweighed by our vanity over green lawns. For now, the US still has functional rivers and canals that we haven't filled with garbage, so rain runoff is carrying the fertilizer to lakes and seashores. The resulting algae bloom is disasterous to marine life, food sources and recreation. Wake up before you're fighting with your neighbors over clean water. In fact, boycott Scotts and put a mulching blade on your mower.
11:39 PM
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Sunday, March 27, 2005
Summer...Winter in Rochester, NY
 
4:15 PM
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Saturday, March 26, 2005
Rochester, NY, Red Wings baseball opener, April 9
I wonder if I'll be in Rochester enjoying the start of a new season and new food concessions:
barbecue chicken dinner every Sunday
Buffalo-popcorn style chicken on Tuesdays
Mittsy's Pizza Kitchen
Starbucks Coffee
or back in Chennai, India, where I wonder if they play any real sports (driving, queueing, and flicking don't count).
12:06 PM
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Friday, March 25, 2005
A little baseball help for my Indian friends
The pitcher's (bowler's) job is to throw the ball thru the strike zone. That zone is as wide as the plate at the batter's feet while varying in height between the batter's knees and his arm pits. That's right: pits. There is no shame in baseball, just like "there's no crying in baseball". In baseball, there's spitting and patting/encouraging each other on the ass. In baseball, there's a lot of verbalization AKA taunting. Like most games, it's about control and mastering your opponent. Back to the lesson at hand, the batter below is frozen by the heater (overwhelmed by the fastball passing his left knee into the catcher's glove for a strike). 3 strikes and the batter is out. 3 outs and team is out for the inning, allowing the other team to bat their half of the inning. 9 innings to a game unless the score is tied. Easy.
The batter's job is to hit the ball away from the other team, advancing himself and team mates thru the 3 bases and home plate to score runs. Below you'll see the batter putting all his power into bringing the runner from third base to home. Notice that the runner has already taken a lead towards home as he taunts the pitcher ;^)
11:21 AM
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Thursday, March 24, 2005
With last year's World Series Championship in their trophy case...
the Boston Red Sox are also in Spring Training at Ft. Myers, Florida where I visited my parents. I discovered the folks not interested and all games sold out, so the parents lent me their new Jag X-3.0 and I drove to the ballpark in hopes of finding a "scalper". Several offered $21 tickets for $40 and I bit the bullet. I got to see Boston play against crush the St. Louis Cardinals, their opponent from last year's Series. I had a great seat in Section 204 of the City of Palms Park, tho I was in the midst of a Sea of Red (Cardinal fans). I really enjoyed the pop of the ball, the crack of the bat, the beer and both sausage sandwiches ;^)
After the game, some of the Boston players were being madeover by the "Fab Five" from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. So much for Reality TV, Red Sox Johnny Damon did not get his long hair cut. I haven't had this much fun since I took co-worker Karthik to a Tampa Bay Bucs football game.
 
 
8:31 AM
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Spring Training baseball in Florida
It's not just for the pros. The lure of success and big money has colleges getting a jump on the season via the Gene Cusic Classic with 150 teams participating thruout March. I was able to take my dad to see his college team (St. Lawrence University) for whom he played 55 years ago. While my dad calls computers "toys", the marvels of the Web provided us with schedules, directions to the various parks, and rosters. The weather was great and these young men play on very nice fields, but these are Division 3 teams, smaller schools playing non-scholarship baseball, so the spectators were few in number. I'm depressed over how young and fit these kids look ;^(
 
11:12 AM
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
All the South Indians living in Dubai (UAE) should deliver a message:
"Don't fuck with Amma (Mother Nature), some of her children are tsunamis".
Building man-made islands 3 meters above sea level can be dangerous to your health. Especially when those islands are held together by plastic sheeting ;^(
8:10 AM
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Tuesday, March 08, 2005
News Flash: Indians heading to America...
South America, that is. On his current visit to India, Venezuelan President Chavez urged the export of Indian IT and biotech sectors to his oil-rich country. While some may see this as pandemic IBD (Indian Brain Drain), I see a brighter side that would enrich the lives of many Indian friends.
I think South Indians might be very comfortable in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, where the weather is similar to Chennai's tropical 85°F year-round. And Indians could relate to Caracas traffic or a few points of the Highway Code:
- Waving your hand out of the window means:
a) I'm stopping (flap hand downwards)
b) I'm turning (hand outstretched) or
c) I've had a long a fruitful life and I'd like to take a minute of
it to stop here while I contemplate just how
thrilling it's truly been (any of the above).
- Give way signs: "My car is bigger than yours"
- Hooting for no good reason and at length: no problem, especially if it
sounds like something from a Space Invaders arcade machine.
- Lane division: White lines are for poofs.
- Red lights: bit like white lines. If they're isn't a car coming, why stop?
If there is, go anyway.
An Indian's comfort away from the motherland might be finalized by New Year in Caracas:
"the Caraqueños start firing their fireworks many days before
the anointed time. The sound is fantastically loud, amplified by
the echoes of the narrow valley. The arsenal includes such pleasant
little devices as tumba-ranchos ("shanty-topplers") and mata-chavez
("Chavez-killers", in reference to the controversial president of
the República Bolivariana de Venezuela). By the time the magic hour
was reached, I could have sworn I heard dynamite sticks and
gunfire going off. I could feel the shock waves from the noise in
my body, and car-alarms all around were being trigged. Hundreds of
terrified, howling dogs added to the mayhem."
11:18 AM
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Monday, March 07, 2005
Only in India?
"Plastered Pachyderms Still Terrorizing India
GAUHATI, INDIA — Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India’s remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and guzzling local rice beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires.
With an estimated 5,000 elephants, Assam state has the largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants in India, said M.C. Malakar, Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden.
The big herds, faced with shrinking forest cover and human encroachment of their corridors, venture into human settlements looking for food and beer, and often attack those who try to stop them.
Rice beer is a major attraction. Workers in tea plantations in Assam make rice beer at home and store it in drums.
“There are many instances of wild elephants guzzling the brew and returning for more,” a local official said.
Wild elephants have killed at least 22 people so far this year in the state, wildlife authorities say. A rapidly shrinking habitat is the main reason for elephants killing more than 600 people in the past 15 years, the authorities say."
** as reported by **
1:27 PM
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Thursday, March 03, 2005
Looking about 2km across Mumbai (Bombay) Backbay
From Marine Drive, just opposite Not Just Jazz By The Bay.
The sea breeze doesn't seem to dissipate the smog much, but air pollution is worse in other parts of Mumbai. At sunset, you can see the blue, petrol smog in your headlights.
BTW, kudos again to Vernon & Charmaine (friends and tourguides) for sharing Mumbai. In this area, they drove me across "Mumbai's longest flyover" (overpass) that skirted a Muslim section of the city and gave me a great rooftop view of mosque minarets.
 
8:20 AM
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Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Looking west from Mumbai (Bombay) towards Oman (Arabian peninsula)
Same shot: one zoomed 9.6X, one not. The glare nicely hides India's ever-present garbage.
 
12:14 PM
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005
So many Indians tell me they want that new experience, the goosebumps, etc.
I'm not sure why they want to see my car with an immitation, white ragtop. But they're welcome to shovel my walkway anytime.
 
5:27 PM
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