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May 31, 2006
public libraries - why so much on the edifice?
so both vancouver and seattle central public libraries are unique buildings, architecturally brilliant or weird if you will. rem koolhas designed the building on the right, the seattle central public library opened in 2004. moshe safdie architected the vancouver central library edifice in 1995 with looks, the likes of the roman coliseum.
the question is why spend so much on the building itself..when public libraries across the nation are facing severe funding shortage. there is a difference if private money is used.. with public funds however, when schools are housed in trailers or temprorary buildings or public school teachers getting paid squat..why blow public money like this? why dont other city programs that are in dire need of funds get this money?..
materials are getting digitized, google and search engines provide access to varied sources within seconds...are libraries relevant?> cant a simple warehouse design be sufficient?
ben however argues that its required...to attract new patrons..to attract tourists, give the city a landmark..provide character to the downtown.
160 million dollars for the one in seattle while the one in vancouver costs approximately 95 million dollars. you decide?..money well spent?
Posted by ananth at 07:40 PM
May 29, 2006
just how?
so mike had a patient today...apparantly she delivered a kid..but had no idea that she was pregnant. she and her boyfriend both called the ambulance when they saw a baby coming out...unreal? in america?..in this day and age?..how can you not know you are pregnant?..hello weight gain! to start with?
25 years old, mike diagnoses her as having hypo-mania, a mild bipolar syndrome and in his one session with her..apparantly she says she has no idea of the pregnancy till delivery today!..and she is putting up the baby up for adoption...the boyfriend on a phone conversation claims the same...no idea..so easy..
mike shrugs!..cant do anything..lan and i jump on him..bern says that maybe the patients mental problem makes this thinking understanble. what stops this from happening again though?..keep producing and giving them up?..where is the freaking accountability?> should the state do something?..these two walk away with nothing..they produced a kid by mistake, throw it for adoption! hey we continue on as if nothing has happened..
lan jumps in saying chemical sterilization; mike says that mental people have their rights..we say maybe a panel decides..a panel of psychologists, deem some one mental and then sterilize them..if they cant take of themselves, they shouldnt be bringing another person in tne world. mike screams that there could be evil collusion between panel psycholgists to deem someone insane..sure mike! big smirk!
mike counters more saying that mental patients could become unmental later in life and maybe they want to have kids at that time. valid point? the couch discussion on this goes on late into the night..back and forth, sidetrips..accountability, patient rights, state rights and costs, (grand)parental family involvement, foster homes, sterilization to population issues, lan and i feel that ryker's old suggestion about putting something in the water has some merit..sterilize everyone..that you must take a pill if you want to have a kid..in that way bringing about some control to the system that feels so wacked out at the moment.
Posted by ananth at 08:55 PM
May 28, 2006
three days in richmond and vancouver, british columbia
three days of eating, three pounds gained, a memorial day trip up north results in adventures in chinese vegetarian cuisine!..i am stuck with two voracious meat eaters with high metabolism, and schedule set to eat, to mall and to eat again...
the animals stare at me!..some still have their eyes left like the one above. duck, crab, fish, shrimp, pork, chicken and beef..they all come steamed, fried, baked, stir-fry, raw and boiled, all colors, in small plates and in boiling hot soups at authentic chinese restaurants..richmond looks like a chinese town. i am left to navigate these animal heavy menus picking the non-animal lo-meins, the chow meins, the tofu and beancurd dishes.
tofu in a hot watery soup, i choose red bean flavours as shown above, its delicious! cold noodle salads, the steamed sponge cakes, the red bean stuffed & steamed buns, the green onion pancakes, donuts with salted soy milk are all worth to die for. the bok choys, chinese brocoli and a couple of weird looking vegetables...i pass.
Posted by ananth at 08:39 PM
May 27, 2006
english pah!
so i said i was looking for a half-shirt. and i had to face howls of laughter..that too falling in the floor kind, the holding the stomach kind..
what do you understand by an half shirt?..what is a shirt?..there is full sleeve shirt and there is half sleeve shirt and these are often shortened to full shirt and half shirt atleast in the english i speak.
apparantly not..lan and bern seem to think that half shirt refers to the one below :)...
what i want in their lingo is a T-Shirt. and the T-Shirt i refer to is called the Polo..and the T-Shirt without a collar is referred to as sweatshirt.
go-figure!..and the howls of laughter still continue! now its turned to the finger pointing and guffawing kind..
Posted by ananth at 09:22 PM
May 21, 2006
scrabble evenings
debating chinese politics in global affairs, organized religions and da vinci code, we sit playing scrabble around the centre table. today i get all the right letters, X, K what not! lan also gives me easy access to triple word scores..sure enough, both mike and lan lag way behind!
societal losers coming floating into the conversation as it drifts, digresses and turns, so do mike's daily patients for his psychology rotation..the guy who stole his neighbours lawn mover, the schzophrenic, other varied depressive folks and what does mike do...he pushes pills! name a condition and there is a pill or a combination...you got to give it says he....his nonchalance about the whole thing we make fun of....label him a pill pusher!
Posted by ananth at 10:35 PM
May 13, 2006
u srinivas at kane hall
u srinivas dueted with his brother at kane hall [university of washington campus, seattle, wa] with murugabhoopathy in mridangam and s v ramani in ghatam. the concert lasted nearly three hours being stretch by audience requests in the end. the setlist is as below:
1: varnam - charukesi - lalgudi jayaraman
2: sri mahaganapathim - abogi - n.s. ramachandran
3: jagadananda kara - nattai - tyaagaraja
4: bantureethi - hamsanadham - tygaraja
5: hemavathi - long alaapanai
6: jagadhodharana - kapi - purandara dasa
7: venkatesanilayam - sindhu bhairavi - purandara dasa
8: sai bhajan - mand
9: thillana
10: chinnanchiru kiliye - ragamalika - subramania bharati
11: raghu vamsa sudha - kathana kuthuhalam - patnam subramanium iyer
Posted by ananth at 11:18 PM
May 08, 2006
rambling in berkshire, england
yellow fields, rapeseeds i am told brighten the landscape this cloudy day! inviting as they seem to beckon to walk among them, but the smell..is it fertilizer? overpowers and hastens the stroll.
lonely paths go in all directions and it seems that i can spend all day rambling wherever directionless. horses graze in the pastures and the only people i meet on the trails seem really sad and stony. hmmmmmmmm!
Posted by ananth at 03:21 PM