Brown Motion

Funtastic year with many trips - spanning 3 continents - by air, rail, road and boat (also had a small parasailing in there). Was able to hit the fastest speed on land in the AVE train from Seville to Madrid (180 mph to be precise) and also the slowest waterway travel (14 knots somewhere along the Pacific coast on the way to Mexico). The family did many tours of duty and pleasure between Amruta's work trip to far corners of South India to Puja and Uday's east coast extravaganza on July 4th. Fireworks sitting at the Lincoln Memorial with Puja screaming at every large explosion - priceless. It was a year of watching Puja moving from grade 3 to 4 with her teacher's in awe of her desire to learn. For us it was a first to see her go to a couple night camp away from us and come back with stories to tell about camping and wild life viewing and hiking without mom and dad in tow. Our collective health held up well considering the spring allergies the little one faces but n

Not involving Tom (kinda - more on it later) but our family - on a large boat kind. This one was a six day event that set sail out of San Pedro (just south of Los Angeles) with a trip to dock at the southernmost tip of the Baja peninsula - that part of California which the Mexicans kept. So it was - LA, California to Cabo San Lucas, MEX (land's end) to Enseneda, MEX (along the west coast) and back to California. Having never attempted this form of travel we were a bit apprehensive of the experience but wanted to check that off for the books so to speak. We have been to Cabo many a year ago and had enjoyed our stay so the destination was somewhat of a known entity. PROs of sailing on a cruise ship might include - Endless buffet spreads whilst sailing away provided a degree of solace as traveling with a nine year old tends to involve much deliberation on food - availability, choice and convenience to obtain the same. Having a kitchen open at all times with some form of nutri

Do we need tickets to get through traffic - of course if you use a means of mass transit or public transport (as it is known in India and commonwealth nations). But this one is different. I got one - after 20 years of screaming down the American highways (I am a million mile member of the Interstate system) a local policeman on his beat nailed me apparently going at an unsafe rate of speed on city streets. Hence the ticket. The whole episode is a bit hilarious in my opinion since it is like a scripted play that mostly plays out the same way. I notice that on a downhill slope at a local street that I frequent my car has sped up - gravity and all. As I try to control this acceleration I also notice a bike (motorcycle) mounted officer of the law - as in guy with nothing better to do - eyeing me coming downhill. I slow down but he has already trapped me with his laser gun doing about 10 miles more than what some wise soul decided the safe speed should be. He then approches my veh

That is what the meteorologist said last night about today's temperatures. Heck I had to even triple check the spelling of this important sounding profession before I began the arduous task of venting about this profession -- again. Now remember when they say its going to be a hair warmer that the emphasis is on the hair and not the entire juxtaposition of the words 'hair warmer'. I was very confused since I first took it to mean that the temperature could get just warm enough to cause a delta from status quo in the keratin based growth in the mammillian world but not the body surface temperature itself. Ah but that is not what was meant...if anything was meant at all by the inane commentary about it being marginally warmer than yesterday i.e. 'hair' warmer. Let us not get into the hair itself as it can be - well a hairy experience - as in whose hair - what age - what color - how old etc... All in all it was a splendid day - a close to winter day but with

This term is oft used by economists and media to declare shopper behavior - esp stateside. You would think that with the preponderence of impluses we would be an impulse addicted nation. Perhaps it would not be too wrong to qualify us as such. A recent mini helicopter purchase on my part was such an impulse buy - the act of fulfilling a wish (typically a sudden one). I saw the salesman demonstrating the many fine qualities of this piece of miniature engineering genius at a crowded mall no less within the tight confines of available real estate. I decided to try this mind numbing activity by procuring a device myself. So what is this sudden brain chemistry altering activity that drives people to do what they do? Perhaps it is the act of our tired (or addicted) brains being at their most vulnerable seeking out a soothing experience. Many folks in the US tend to use shopping as a literal escape from their otherwise 'consuming' lifestyle. Stores have often used a variet

As I turned my calendar page to the next day (I have one of those trivia ones with each page telling the story of some aircraft invention of its day) I came upon the Luyties 1908 Helicopter. The reason to mention this is that I have recently taken to flying a chopper. Not literally of course but with a radio controlled miniature much to the bewilderment of the family. Especially as I am trying to learn the controls and have it pass close for comfort near the loved ones' body parts. I must say its addictive. Esp if one has run out of ideas to blog or eat or while away the time some other way. I find myself spending a good chunk of an hour or two on the weekends testing my skills at holding the aircraft in one place. That is the coolest thing. It is spinning away but not going anywhere. Sort of reminds me of many a consulting assignment to be honest.

Many a story in the news from celebrity divorce to high ranking government official related leaks to other high profile shenanigans seems to be made public by so called 'person familiar with the matter'. What is the 'matter' exactly? And who is this person? Or is it persons? Or do we care? How familiar does one have to be to be that person? Somewhat or very? Who defines this familiarity? Is it legal? Are there guidelines of what makes someone familiar vs. non familiar? How grave does this matter have to be? Can it be solid or liquid to gas? I think mostly gas? It just cracks me up to see this language tagged on to make it sound official or somewhat borderline legit. Turns out the news item is worth crap or the whole headline is anyway a bunch of crock. Sound familiar? I am the person very familiar with such items and hence I am reporting that it is so. This matter deserves your attention and so please read it carefully. You are all morons being manip

Biden in surprise visit to Iraq - Was he surprised that he was in Iraq? Or was it Eyeraaak? Man - all he was trying to do was to visit his nana in New Hampshire and the airforce probably got the flight plan mixed up. Or maybe he kept saying Turkey and they decided to fly to Turkey but got their flight plans mixed up and landed in what was once Iraq. Market Multiples out of whack - this in connection with the equities market. Frankly to me the whole idea of a P/E is out of whack. How can one company be judged to be a better or higher price multiple than another? Who decides? Then top it off with accounting policies that are best left to the one that interpreted them all manners of cooking of the books is possible leaving the P/E a useless barometer to gage the health of any enterprise. Book Value is the best of the worst metrics to tell if something is going to be 'going concern' or not. In fact 'going concern' itself sounds ominous. Where is it going? Under

When it comes to peoples of the Espanya - no i-device addiction here. They seem to be content walking around a lot accompanied by smoking and networking by actually talking with each other. Whether on a train or on the streets or by a pub outside a University the folk seemed to be engaged in intense conversations unlike the keyboard addicts stateside. Food as I may have mentioned earlier was not all that great shakes as it tends to be mildly flavored and not really warm either. Paella which is a traditional rice and meat or seafood dish was enjoyable in some instances but again felt lacking in spice. Nonetheless the mingling and wandering led us to understand that people actually do spend their time relaxing quite a bit true to the cliche of having siestas and easy lifestyle. Late night wandering on work days seemed common as witnessed from our hotel balcony (that overlooked a busy cafe), frequented by natives and tourists alike into the wee hours. No mall shopping mania eithe

Concluded an eight day trip to Spain. Hit the three major metros and surrounds - starting in Barcelona to the southern city of Seville and then touching the capital Madrid on the way back. Phenomenally beautiful, modern and clean was my first impression compared to Paris, France. The 1992 Olympics did a lot to boost infrastructure development a benefit of which was the modern high speed rail system that we benefited from. Spotless, efficient, quiet and reaching speeds in excess of 300 km per hour this was very enjoyable travel from end to end. The local metro tubes also are fairly evolved - more in some cities than others and allow travelers to shunt between over ground and under ground options on a multi use pass. What was at times frustrating is to figure out if a multi use ticket would let us travel on another rail line going in some other direction out of the Centro Cuidad or city center. This all depends we learned on the rail company that operates a particular service. T

Looks like another bubble in the making. This one is called the Startup bubble. Every Joe or Jack or Rueben or Venu I run into these days is either trying to startup something (that which was not working or something that did not exist) or going to school to learn to be an entrepreneur. This tells me analogous to the paradigm that if everyone on the street is buying gold the story is probably over, that we may be in a world with too many engines trying to fire all at once. This makes for a lot of noise and lot of smoke (if you have ever tried to fire up an old 100 cc 2 stroke) with not much going. There are schools now offering BS and MS programs in business leadership as well as entreprenuership. It must be some magic potion since I do not see how one starts up just to get started up with no consequence. While it is healthy to see many young and old souls take it on themselves to be their own boss I am not entirely sure if the world can run on too many cooks in the proverbia

Earth population hit 7 Billion recently. Give or take a few million. The question then is will every one of these resource hungry people have enough of the basic necessities to survive. There will always be inequality of distribution of resources as long as capitalism thrives. That said it is crucial to ensure that every living being does get access to affordable air, water and food so that that individual has a chance to provide their fair share of Gross Output to the system that provides. Again it is not a guarantee that the process will work but an attempt has to be made to be morally right. Now how does one go about solving for this? First we need to understand how much of the aforementioned supplies we have and based on daily consumption levels by region predict our tipping point. Terminal velocity in some parlance where once we reach that level there is no escape. We will be doomed. We will consume faster than we will have the resource to sustain. Air quality acro

As in me (and by way of unnecessary explanation not to be interpreted as 'one wonder' since there are many listed here). 1. When you need an UPdate why DOWNload? Perhaps Downdate? Although that would resemble a date gone terribly bad. Not the one with a pitt (not Brad neither the edible kind). 2. How can loved Ones actually mean more than One? Also what is it with media's fascination with the term 'loved ones'? What exactly is that? In the spirit of liberty and equality for all - What about the semi hated ones? In reality one only yaks about the disgusting and semi hated ones as opposed to the loved ones isn't it? Must have something to do with another ridiculous romantic notion of loved ones. 3. Certain cultures 'bless' the sneezers. Reality check - run away from sneezers and bless yourself you dolts. Some go far enough to indicate that God is blessing the sneezer. Jeez /Allah/Buddha/Bhagwan that is presumptuous on many fronts. 4. W

I was at a big brand advertising and marketing conference recently in the heart of the largest market in the world. Mid town Manhattan in New York city. Several prominent and established players in the world of marketing were rubbing shoulders with their peers trying to latch on to ideas of what makes a particular brand great. Coca Cola to Facebook to Google to Apple dominated the presentation landscape. While it turns out that these venues become a freebie opportunity to these already large brands to showcase their advertisements for a couple of hours in front of an audience already mesmerized by their success, they do little to actually teach the secret recipe of what truly drives that success for them. I suppose in hind sight there is no secret recipe as it is sheer luck that today's most powerful brands or entities have been able to attract and retain the right mix of people (I mean that is the Biggest Wildcard there is) to continuously grow and stay ahead of their compe

I think that is the wrong context to judge economic progress of a society. The world is more interconnected than ever before and gives an opportunity to those that did not know where Chennai or Columbus was on the map, to get a better understanding of the different societies that inhabit our planet. Yet individual nations should and are also becoming more self reliant on their respective organic growth to define currency of progress. To say that the US is a superpower and that India or China is amongst the emerging economies is to me a fallacy or skewed view of reality. The reality is that the people in each country have to deal with the hand they have been dealt with the croupier they got. In that sense while the US may have untold wealth and higher standards of living for its people crafted with its own struggle to build its infrastructures and fighting wars and shaping their government policy, it is not perfect. But decisions made since WW II have served the American publi

I recently traveled across the continent - you know that dreaded 6 hour flight experience - it is all good if it ends in the promised 6 - from door to door so to speak; weather, man, machine and misc idiosyncrasies accounted for. Now when it comes to enjoying the 'already paid for' 6 hours, airlines are getting creative by wiring seats with personalized television - reality shows at 6,000 feet must feel different when you are under less pressure (< than atmospheric that is) - as well as food menu items that are priced higher (because you guessed it - you are high up) to charging for pillows and blankets and earpieces and extra legroom. Perhaps next will be rental dogs if you are really missing your pooch at your side. But not wanting to shell out any more per seat than I had to on one of my legs I most often try to spark a conversation with the human next to me assuming he or she has not already given up and spaced out. So it was this time when I encountered a young pe

Andy Rooney died at 92. He was funny. He seemed to be a practical dude that knew how to have fun and share it with those that wanted to listen. Some of his quotes that I really liked - Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong. He made some fine points over his lifetime like - Nothing in fine print is ever good news. He shared with us what he learned - I’ve learned…. That being kind is more important than being right. I’ve learned…. That you should never say no to a gift from a child. I’ve learned…. That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

Adult kids are moving back to their parents nest - for good! Latest headlines are another titillating saga of how the screwed up humans have found a new reason to whine instead of thanksgiving all over again. Before there was the anguish of the youth (kids and grand-kids) growing up and jumping on the capitalist bandwagon to explore borders beyond Columbus, Ohio or Manteca, California or Spokane, Washington. But now thanks to an unemployment picture resembling modern day depression there is no mountain to climb. So the gang that was expected to hike has instead pitched tents back in their own parent's yards. Damn it! Now the costs are soaring all over again from cable TV to phone bills to food to whatever (never mind the inflation) these weirdos need. They are also not available to explain some of the charges since they are busy social networking with some other mindless youth stuck in their own blackholes. You might think I am totally down on the current state of affa

Humans have developed an ability to distinguish types of love. The way they might love an apple vs their spouse (unless the latter is the apple of their eye),or say their mother or their automobile varies. It does so betwixt the different items and also day by day for a specific item. Think the date night, then fast fwd 10 or more years and compare that to family dinners after work. Feel the love? Then there is aspirations differing from the longing about a thing or person or place different from the form of love expressed for tangible and intangibles in the persons immediate sphere of influence. What's going on I say? Surely makes for a wonderful profession to make some good moolah off of those that can't handle the truth and feel like they will lose it and can afford a few hours with the doc. A lot of industries including bollywood and Hollywood have minted fortunes catering to this ailment / human condition. At the physiological level it is a complex chemical reac

This will be my 150th blog on cyberspace as I continue to OCCUPY more byte sized spaces. Cloud based occupation is competing with land based esp stateside as lots of people with nothing (time, education, money, jobs and or all of the above) decide to camp out in the middle of urban centers all across the country. And if the media is to be believed now the contagion has spread to the continent down under. Hmm. The western media is making a big deal of the oppressed occupants who are fighting for a voice (their agenda is murky and no specific demands exist) but if the world simply turned their attention to the likes of India I think this reality show was on prime time all the time. Just take a look at any major metro in India and you will see the same hapless occupants (without tents since it costs too damn much to get one in India and would get stolen by some other occupant). Jobless, Hopeless, Bums and Beggars have continued to occupy the city scape that is modern India and have

One thing I noticed happening with regular frequency during this whole Euro Zone crisis is how many times the leaders of the socialist nations have traveled back and forth across their borders. With no results to measure. It reminds me of the useless high end consulting crowd (stateside) that also does this same trick by traveling to and fro to their client sites each week and spin the same useless yarn again but with a new shirt and tie on. After all its perception in the eyes of the beholder. Cannot wear the same shirt or bra you see? As these clueless talking heads bob around the continent they get a chance to get away from their own manic or depressed or both populace - the Greeks are probably cheering and will continue to enjoy the entertainment they offer to the world as it yo yos out of control. Now what they could really do is book an oversize handicap toilet (the likes of which you see in any McDonalds in the US) where you could gather at least seven or eight people a

Another week - another series of hilarious content that passes off as NEWS! 1. Madoff's (those crooks that wiped the slate clean for many a greedy dolt and MADE OFF) attempted suicide (failed miserably apparently - since they did not buy and follow the instructions in the SUICIDE FOR DUMMIES tome which was available on clearance (at 40% off) since they thought it was a rip off). Perhaps some other fellow bumpkins can take one on one lessons on how not to screw up during the most fantastic part of their lives at the last minute? Can we do a 61 minutes episode on this perhaps? 2. British Royals changed the rules on passing down the crown to include females. Ouch - now here we had Kate prepping with drugs to crank out a series of handsome lads and ding the taxpayers - but again all in vain. Or perhaps she realized the drug companies were doing false advertising? 3. Joblessness in America and a vapid Scott Pelly or Kelly or something is constantly wandering the nation pushin

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.

The whole idea that humanity needs to call out 'Diversity' in every sales pitch whether its for a Political Position; a Venture Capitalist seeking ideas' an Employer staffing employees shows how shallow as a race we all are. We are what we are - in all shapes and colors and sexual orientations. To evaluate either of these characteristics beyond the obvious (cannot hire a weak midget to load heavy sacks on a shop floor) to hire or to recruit for a role requiring core skills is fallacy. But we do not live in a world that always makes rational decisions. Hence the screwed up state of affairs everywhere you look. Apparently Finland got some high marks in some recent survey regarding women advancement - that is encouraging but again highlights what is wrong with perspective for the most part - the need to call these things out. It is no different than schools competing to show who is better than the other so people can rush to get their kids in those high ranking ones a

Reading 'The book of lists' by Umberto Eco triggered some thoughts on how humans have got themselves comfortable to living a fairly predictable and repetitive life. Think about it. We know our year has 365 or so 24 hour units broken in 52 weeks with the days numbered (pun intended). That we also have variety of gadgets to track this elliptical passage of earth around its sun. Depending on what part of the rock we occupy tend to have rituals and customs to engage socially and do the same thing again and again at specific time of the year. Entire industries are built on these patterns. From back to school shopping to Christmas or Diwali lights to pulling out buried rodents to check on weather forecasts - what is the point of that? Or is it like the swinging pendulum with no point holding it up - nothing? Is this orchestra playing for someone? Or is it merely an optical illusion? Are the characters on stage changing (although more are being added than removed every day

I could have labeled this 'The Rise and Fall of Empires' but due to an almost clinical aversion towards anything emperor-centric I am going to stick to a rather mundane noun. Besides this will encompass the true spirit of my monologue. So I got to think about my pet peeve again i.e. people on this rock. They come in all shapes and sizes; more personalities than there are documented stars in the known universe; smart to not so to outright retarded; energetic to egotistic to blase and everything in between. Statisticians and economists as well as politicians more so like to document and gab about how the people under their purview or influence are doing in terms of quality of life; wealth and health; education etc. during times of competition (or war) or when they are trying to win votes of some kind. This leads to analysis and commentary on how the society in question is doing and has done and what its prospects are going in to the next measure of time. As history tells

Muammar Ghadaffi was buried in a secret location. Osama got a burail at sea. No latitudes and longitude data available at time of burial - sorry! Such vapid headlines are all the rage in today's Facebook and News ADD obsessed world. First of all how many of the now approaching 7 Billion folks know who Ghadaffi was? Who amongst them want to know his current state (living or comatose or dead)? Of those who then want to know his whereabouts after he apparently left the land of the living. What possible reasons could the wanting to know have specifically? Leave candles? Leave unused ammo (its pointless now that the DUDE is gone) at his memorial? Could not wave iPads so perhaps wave gold plated handguns? Steal body parts and auction them on eBay? If either was true it would really amount to nothing spectacular other than affirm the spirit of democracy and capitalism. So I find the whole exercise ironic.

With the advent of email and Facebook and jillions of other device and services does e-greeting someone have the same effect as a face to face interaction? This question could be asked broadly of any type of interaction whether business or otherwise. Are greetors now hiding behind the technology curtain and pretending to offer their congratulations and commiserations or feelings of joy and despair to the greetee? What began as Hallmark innovation (writing some so called poignant quotes and verses in a sharp looking paper stock with a stock image of a lord or piece of jewelery or a nature moment) to reach people and therefore temporarily boost the share prices of the card maker, the postal service, and allied industry has now gone fully electronic. I am not sure of this ritualistic tradition myself. Perhaps I am an outlier. But when you get right down to it what is going on? This Diwali season was no different as I saw emails from people that once were in my close social cir

What is with Round Robin? Do Robins like round things? Or are they round? Is there a roundabout way of going at this one? Perhaps I am trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? Peronsally I prefer a dodecagon. Holy cow - that is a smelly one - not sure of the holy part. What about pentecostal ministries - were their trignometrists in the original clan? or was it in reference to multi coast congregation? What happens if you hit someone rectangularly in the eye? Perhaps you could take out both eyes that way depending on your perspective.

Another rant on the business of weather forecasting. Why do we need people to show us the weather on TV? Are we getting stupider? (if you caught the grammatical error then perhaps not). Back to the fallacy of the whole idea of a weatherman or woman doing a show and tell in front of a blue screen with a clicker in one hand. 1. Most of the viewing public are not farmers and so do not really care for jetstreams and their inevitable flows and speeds that could affect that tomato plant in the backyard (that is if you were stupid enough to plant something like that instead of procuring a very cheaply available inorganic product from the local grocers' produce section). 2. Same with cloud formations (that no one really understands or cares about) but sound highly erudite. Another way to show off their pompous weather (limited) vocabulary. Whether their was an on shore or off shore breeze and that somehow affected the environment are you likely to - a. jump off a bridge? or b

It is hilarious as an outside observer to watch Equity Market gyrations (greed and egos clashing daily) and specifically some big name brands swing from exuberant valuations to a has been entity now showing in the obit columns in a matter of hours. I am of course dwelling on the recent crash and burn stories like those of Solar Power business called FIRST SOLAR and a Video Content Streaming business called NETFLIX. I mean in the latter case the CEO was Fortune magazine cover boy and in the solar space our own president recently funded (days before its filing) a now bankrupt company in the bay area. Today Netflix is being written off by many a Wall St pundit as dead - with a capital D. First Solar in the absence of government subsidy seems to be going the same way - to hell with the sun and its source of energy - we will keep burning the burnable stuff cause its cheap. Then there is the story of a company with ROASTERS in its name. It is a New England based coffee company that

Or any other variant of the 'afi' name tree. None of the nitwits except perhaps his own mother really knew what he was called. That said now the question on the table for all the moronic financial publications that are obsessed with ranking wealthy dudes and dudettes is - Was Khadafi the richest egotistic dude that ever lived? Some are ranking his wealth at USD 200B. Now whether that means anything is a separate debate (for profound thoughts read my discourse on value of money) but as far as we are playing the game this dead dude and many others in the uncivilized world might well be rich beyond the wildest dreams of the civilized (those that are counting the wealth supposedly). That is to say the entire planet is full of these enigmas since there is truly no such thing as a civilized world - you get Tim McVeighs and Norwegian whackos and Osamas and Hitlers all over the land (anyone check the oceans recently?) since they all spread from some of the same genetic procreator

I recently read a curious capitalist question the worth of social media - its technology, its economic and social implications. Anecdotally he observed that the jury is out on what benefit it brings to the larger society on the planet while making some in Silicon Valley very rich in quick order. That led to a bigger question for me - is any and all human evolution from the moment Homo Erectus got erect and started walking to discovering fire to the wheel to Bill Ford's industrial revolution to the Jobs' iWorld gadgetry worth something? Alternately are organisms lower on the evolution scale better off than Homo Sapiens Sapiens? Is it worth all the green house gas; the starvation and poverty; the trillion dollar wars; the tsunami devastations; and on and on. I do not intend to sound a pessimistic note but merely put the universe in (holistic) context. I benefit from all that our modern science has to offer every living day and am happy relative to my human counterparts in

Any country is able to control its economic destiny through a multitude of policy and regulation. Most of all if it has a productive workforce that is generally enlightened and happy this should not be a big deal. However we live in an imperfect world. Thence there is never a 'Ram Rajya' (utopian existence) in practice. What every country ideally also strives to achieve is a balance between what it spends and what it earns in order to service its own debts, maintain public services and run the government. Not as easy as it sounds. Partly a mystery that many an economist has put their minds to and proposed theses that sometimes echo in the halls of B schools - Adam Smith's Invisible Hand idea to Samuelson's Marcro Economic models et al. It should be noted that ironically Samuelson (a brilliant mind that had lasting impact on the science of Economics himself was born in Gary, Indiana which for many years ranked as the WORST place to live in the entire Unites 50 S

Having money is something. But not just any money. Iraqi Dinars are useless as are Libyan or whatever they use there. Unless they peddle black market dollars which have a lot of value, even in Iraq. Then again if you ask the rest of the world the dollars are actually worth less than what they indicate. Reason is there is no reserve against which they are being issued - as in printed. We can run the press all night long and print more but if there is no real value to back it up then it is merely paper. Expensive paper at that. Consider the currency of any country really and it is valued using a vague algorithm established after WW II called the basket of currencies and the USD as the reserve. Used to be pegged to the value of physical gold but then dropped. To me the inherent model should really be in terms of ranking each country's capacity to produce goods and services i.e. GDP which can then determine if and what they can afford to buy from another country or set th

He hit the ball out of the park - what if no one was there at the game? Euro bloc is showing strength - uh its a block? When rubber meets the road - it smells? Take one for the team - how many takes are there in this movie? Came through in a pinch - did not have to resort to heavier tactics? It was a question of not 'if' but 'when' - then what? By the seat of his pants - what about all those belts?

I have travelled number of times across the country's borders and found humor in the whole process (if not you could lose whatever is left of your mind after the mind numbing 12 hour flight you just came off of) Ever wonder why they call it Border Inspection? Who is inspecting whose borders? This is a fun activity that happens on a road trip. Mostly it is like going through a toll booth but with a much sinister looking person inside the booth. What about customs check? Is it a cultural dance party as soon as you land in a foreign country that explains their customs? Or better yet a local food buffet so you can understand their religious practices et al? Agricultural Inspection? Some like to call it Produce Check - I did not produce anything on the flight - honest - other than perhaps some methane from the bad plane food I ate. And no I do not have live chicken in my bag. Perhaps one (a newbie to air travel) can think of it as an opportunity to inspect the host country

Traveling on an American rail operation whether local commuter or long distance you will notice folks that are much more prim and proper than anywhere else in the world. They always seem to be dressed better (like they were about to interview for a job right on the train) and have more makeup than you can find in a Macy's beauty salon. Those that have not yet tended to themselves continue with their face modifying activity right in front of the crowds. I like to sometimes stare at these individuals just for fun. Makes them a bit agitated. Everything from hair straightening to eyebrow and eyelash fixing devices come out - not to mention all the bizzare lip colors that get copiously applied while staring into a 3 inch round mirror. Then all the stupid lip samcking and eventual digging in to their oversize leather container that could double for aid to Ethiopia, these characters straighten up and fixate on some phone yakking. Very unlike what I was able to see elsewhere in t

When it comes to Europe a distinction has to be made in how one views transit options compared to other countries. Here for example it is about as much efficient to travel on trains (long distance) as it is to fly. The distance between 2 points in Europe is not significant compared to what travel would be in the USA or India or Australia. We will ignore Africa and South America for now since for one I have yet to lay foot on those continents. That said Europe is easy to do on train. Most countries connect each other through a standardized high speed network that costs more or less like a plane ticket would. The crowds that travel are from all walks of society including backpackers and business men. There are of course no undocumented and unticketed passengers here. Language can be an issue in non English speaking countries as well as form of tender used to purchase tickets. US credit is not good at machines in Europe since they use CHIP based plastic to do their transactions

I have had the pleasure and privilege to travel on variety of public transport (or 'transit' as it is referred to stateside) options on several continents. Here are my obvious and not so obvious observations of the occupants in transit - India - 1. There is predictability and cadence to the local trains that ply the Mumbai suburban network and operate at 400% of capacity most of the time - to get a sense for what 400% means - there are so many people hanging on a rush hour train that tens of them do not make it - as in get terminated before the terminus - killed in common parlance. Most working class uses this as the cheapest and fastest way to move around the metro. In a pinch even the upper echelons will jump in the first class car (or bogie as the English would have us say) and take their chances of surviving till the destination. Most that ply this form of transit are sweating like the floods on the Ganges - no chance for any Spice (Old or New) to work its magic h

Tanning Beds Pocket Squares Neck Ties Belts Botox Organic Food in a package Pills (any number of them) Gels (any number of them) Foams (in spite of the TSA there are way too many of these) Brown Sugar (or other color variations but white will suit fine) Sea Salt (even better Rock Salt or anything that can be added in front of Salt) Fountain Pens (dry cleaning etc will follow) Multi blade razors Marriage (everyday I keep getting surprised as to what constitutes one) Divorce Lawyers (read quote above) Pets (read quote above above) Burials (probably do not need that cash anymore anyway)!

Certain words and phrases in colloquial English language have got muddled together from math or numbers - Ground Zero Hole in One T(ea) Square Ice Cube College Quad High Five AsiNine Octomom Weird Hex None of this would qualify for a modern day Nursery Rhyme like 'One Two..' but what the heck

Saw this classic again after many years. A cast of five oscar winners was not the best part. It was a great story. Although an old film it had as much excitement as a newer tech and CG made movie might. Some real life lessons to be learned here - 1. You always have a choice 2. Choose Life 3. Status quo might be good but not knowing can be worse 4. Think 5. Respect even the young - don't assume 6. There is always 1 capitalist for 1 socialist on this earth (this one is my interpretation of the dialog between the reverend and the priest). I do wish that there was one quip from Leslie before he got killed by the wave. I mean it was 'Serious'.

We now live in a world (at least here in the US of A) where anything that sells is selling for a discount. Homes - cars - trousers - even vitamins and meds. It is the perpetual world of 'America on Sale'. So the question becomes why bother pricing anything? Why not just bid out any commodity or service to the highest bidder all the time? Think about it - some dude walks into the GAP and produces a coupon for 15% off because he got an email that asked him to come in and get the 15% off. Another bloke walks in and has no coupon. Now why would you give one person a coupon and not the other? Is the other person less deserving? Since he knows he did not get it will he get pissed off and not buy? Most likely, if the commodity is something like a GAP shirt. You can go into another retailer who is allowing you to text a code to a number and get yourself a coupon and a very similar shirting experience at less price. Net - GAP lost a customer. So what is this stupidity of

You all learned logic that goes if a = b and b = c blah blah so, I figured it out JUST in TIME - know how - Just in Case Case in Point Point in Time therefore Just in Time. Just my Point of View no less (in time). Now I will go and make some hens jealous. It is cocktail time!

also spelled as In-laws Here are some other gems from my upstairs junkyard... Mai Tai - what one native might need after mingling with a variety of either Cash and Carry - A dude appointed by the US gov (Kashkari) to manage trillions of dollars of disbursement to the disturbed - not necessarily in that order - the dollars are gone so is he (perhaps a new episode could be titled 'Where is KashKari?') Can someone come in Dead First? or Alive Last? Never heard of it - wonder why? Perhaps someone can go out Dead First? Too complex. Physical impossibility - Case in Point.