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October 23, 2005
two really close games this weekend! sigh!!!
yeah!..two more really close games on tv...i cant take it anymore!...baaaa! pictured on the left is the seahawks-dallas game that just finished!..last 15 seconds! when seahawk babineaux picked of dallas qb drew bledsoe's throw and ran twenty five yards for the winning kick! (picture shows just after the pick)
caught in the adjacent photo (courtesy of al.com) is the ball coming out of tennesse full back's corey anderson's hand from a helmet hit by bama's roman harper later in the 4th quarter! a fumble right close to the goal line and called a touchback (bama's ball) when it rolled out of the end zone... a gift of god? or as they are saying locally that this being a season of destiny! there must be divine intervention here! its about time though!
take that phat phil!
two games, one in pro and the college when both the losing teams had control through out the game or played well enough for the win but one play, one big play at the right time, changed it!!!..unbelievable finishes!
Posted by ananth at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2005
the great pumpkin rising!
so hil and sams pumpkin bash was fun for the fifth year as usual! old faces, poor teachers! and bunch of kids! as usual the pumpkins were judged in various categories..which seem to be expanding!
and pumpkin seeds to be roasted after...yum!
Posted by ananth at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2005
ganesh kumaresh at kane hall, univ of washington
ganesh & kumaresh (carnatic violin duet) two brothers performed in an event organised by rasika at kane hall; this evening here; in the campus of the university of washington in seattle. they were accompanied by mannargudi easwaran in mridangam and s.v. ramani on ghatam (claypot)
the highlight of the evening was the main composition in shankarabharanam ( a thyagaraja krithi)! i just love, love shankarabharanam! and the way these two played with layers, steps and in duet was awesome. what followed after this was their own self composition; tailored to a violin duet as they explained; seemed brillant. traditionalists however would probably choke since it sounded very fusion. the rest of the concert was okay! the alapana in poorvi kalyani was so-so though i am kinda biased since i dont get good vibrations with this and sindhu bhairavi ragams!
the setlist for the evening was as follows:
1: ragam sriranjani : a papansam sivam composition
2: ragam nalinikanthi : a thyagaraja composition
3: ragam saramathi : a thyagaraja composition
4: ragam poorvi kalyani : alapana
5: ragam janaranjani : ragam pravagam (self composition)
6: ragam shankarabharanam : main composition (thyagaraja piece)
7: percussion time..mridamgam and ghatam!
8: ragam maand : mysore vasudeva chariyar composition
9: couple of bhajans & vocals
10: ragam sindhu bhairavi : a small krithi
11: mangalam
Posted by ananth at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)
college football close finishes > bad for heart, health
i am done! spent! exhausted! after watching for three hours and have it come down to the last minute. this craziness you get in very few sports and one of them is college football (american football) here in states! and then there are other teams who you root against, games which also go to the last second.
today was one such day!
am i glad there is sunday after this before the work week begins?
am i glad that its only in the fall and for 12 weekends or so!!!
am i glad that i am not a player?
am i glad that i am not one of the coaches?
...too much energy and too much heartback to see it swing the other way in the last millisecond or as time expires! yeah..i was out after the alabama mississipi game, from just watching it on tv! and there was bc-wake, penn state-michigan,wvu-louisville, lsu-florida, beavers-cal, usc-notre dame and ucla-wazzu to finish the evening! aay aayy yayee!..just too much ! high pulse rates, heart rates and blood pressure! no nails left to bite! and the chewing gum turns metallic.
as the season progress and it gets more critical for my team; i will walk away...just walk away on some fall saturdays!! walk away from tv, radio, cell phone and fellow fanatics.. just need to!
Posted by ananth at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
from east to west
after every such trip..it takes a month or more at times to come to grips with western life..this quietness and the orderliness! no beggars attentions, no vendors screaming! the desolate streets, sparse vehicle honks! and the absence of vibrant colors! pollution, population i crave strangely!
as the jet lag recedes, a post trip depression follows, stays around for a while. periods of introspection and retrospection; the immediate feel to pack bags and head back...mmmm
Posted by ananth at 03:01 AM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2005
where is the integrity? and the professionalism?
after the recent remodelling (including furnishing) experience for a room in my flat with contractors, carpenters, electricians and other tradesman; i am just exhausted, frustrated, angry and disillusioned on my fellow human beings here in navi mumbai (new bombay).
how they fool , dupe, decieve, cheat, lie, twist, trouble, con, disrespect and beguile you is just plain disgusting, repulsive and denigrating. yeah..i am using all synoymns of the same word; but its just that its left a deep mark!
people dont show up on time; sometimes they dont show up at all. the pre-sales is perpectually excellent; the post sale is always full of rude shocks and surprises!..the disrespect starts as soon as the sale is made; its all milk and honey during the pitch. they dont care a squat about anything; yeah..will drill nineteen holes and on the wall to hold a small jewel box!
you have the extremes..there is no middle ground...pay through your nose to get a good architect or interior contractor or be at the mercy of these unprofessional beings...mercy me! the head contractor never shows up; and even when he does; he just does a flyby...his employees..yeah if they can be dignified with that word; what you can say!..they bring their village into the work!..and they are all related..nephews, uncles, wives and brothers!
and no safety to speak..and no one cares! the contractor doesnt!.. gloves, headgear, masks, footwear! why do we need that..?..we break walls, cut tiles or apply plaster? dont even look at the electric connections for the tools!..disaster just waiting to happen..just dont look! who has time for safety or safety education?..if this nephew becomes invalid; get the second nephew or call another one from the same village draft.
pictured here is kallu, one of the workers as he is laying wall tiles with cement as the glue. really nice tiles but very poor worksmanship and poor finish. what i can expect from this chap...hmmmm.. a simply out of control character, no work ethic, no professionalism (leave this aside..cant expect it), no timeliness, has no common sense and will not listen to any offered, has no regard for safety, reckless and will take shortcuts and requires constant supervision!
laugh..laugh thats all i can do!..to save me from a nervous breakdown! laugh on each incident on each new day!..twenty five days i had it! not again!
as i brush aside these experiences and stub some lessons learnt deep in my neurons; i swear; i will not let these beings spoil my time in this planet. they will get their karma i am sure. after all what you sow is what you reap!..
Posted by ananth at 04:24 AM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2005
split air conditioners musings
are vogue now in india. nobody is going for the window airconditioner any more. its hard to sell any second hand ones! you would be lucky to get Rs 3000 (US$75) for it.
these split airconditioners basically consist of two units; one huge ass external piece that is about 45-60Kgs (depending on the capacity) housing the compressor unit; and the other; an internal one that is anywhere from 2 ft to 3 ft long but slim. the external piece sits outside on a ledge/platform or if need be mounted on wall brackets; the internal unit is hung of a drilled on base plate.
split airconditioners go for anywhere from Rs 20,000 (US$500) to Rs 45,000 (US$1100). korean LG (from Rs 23,000 (US$600)) seems to be the most preferred and cheap brand while japanese Daikin seems to one of the more top end ones. installation is another Rs 1500/- (US$37) while the L Shaped brackets required for wall mounting come for Rs 1500/- (US$37).
some of the problems with installing these in existing old buildings in mumbai/navi mumbai is:
1: power capacity: there is limit of 5KW per flat. putting one of these AC's will basically mean that you cant run any other major appliance in the house including the hot water geyser. you can only run one of these kind of AC at a time..basically only one room...if you have more than one AC in the house; better get everyone into the one room if you they want to enjoy the conditioning at tbe same time.
2: these kind of split AC's require 32 amps starting current. this is nowhere mentioned in the catalogue. only the running current is mentioned which is 10.4 amps or so which is fine under the circumstances.. this shock you get only when you buy the damn unit. the sales engineer will not tell you this and you are in for a rude surprise. tt is practically illegal to draw so much current..illegal for the society or from the electric company.
3: where you do mount the big external unit especially if you are in the ground floor? you can't do it at the balcony level since the heat dissipiated needs to be away from the window and it doesn't make sense to keep it there. it will also jut out 2/3 feet approximately and in same cases; this blocks the walkway/driveway. if you keep it above your balcony; it spoils the beauty of the building especially if there are no ledges provided for this and many societies have known to raise a stink about this. if you take it way about 10 ft to keep in the outside ledge above the stairs; its far away and you have to pay for cabling..(about Rs 800 (US$20)/metre)! and you have account for maintenance of this as well...every year quarter or so!
4: where do you install the internal unit?..lot of folks including the sales engineer feel that it should be installed right above the window on the inside..in that way it makes it easier to drill the hole on the wall and take the cable(s) out behind it..but is this the most efficient place?..you are right above the window..the window better be insulated well!!!!
Posted by ananth at 03:24 AM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2005
sentimental and practical
when you refurnish the house; sometimes you are left with relics; relics in the rightful sense because they have served their purpose well or should i say; they have more than done their dharma; what do you do?..do you throw them out and get a new replacement or do you re-strengthen them?
old is gold, the elders of the house chime in. wood was good in those days, they reminisce! shake their heads at the various ply's and cardboards that dominate the scene now. treat all street carpenters with contempt (would agree here after the recent experience :)) where would you get such wood today? got it custom made for two hundred rupees on those days! now you have add to two zeroes to this amount! and you still wouldnt get something like this. hmmmm! yes i hear these everytime i start refurbishing the family establishment.
a cost benefit analysis however with what was available in the market as a replacement coupled with sentimentality did me in!..yes! replace the legs of the bookcase and the 'showcase' (yeah..we had two of them); plop a new back board and get new glass cut for the sliding door and do away with the scratched one in the front! paint shelves to match the walls! viola!
yeah..surprisingly as well; there are no decent looking and high capacity bookcases available in new bombay!..atleast in the six or so furniture stores we checked.....most of them were small or were open..(cant with so much dust around)..and i definitely didnt want to employ some carpenter to do it..to make a new one!..no thank you..had enough of those! its six hours to refurbish!..and that itself is a lot! and couple of cups of tea!
Posted by ananth at 07:24 AM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2005
harry potter, half blood prince (spoiler warning)
so i finish this book in a marathon session on the flight from melbourne to mumbai! blasting at delicious singapore airlines food..
what i dont understand is the way she killed dumbledore at this juncture! could have saved him till the last book! and for dumbledore to save harry the way he did in the end didnt make sense at all. cant harry have defended himself from the deatheaters or malfoy or snape ?
Posted by ananth at 03:09 AM | Comments (0)