Brown Motion

The film directed by a young American director I had never heard of is a thought provoking journey.  It is a story of a scientist and his wife (also a lab rat) who research the human iris and its connection to the very existence of the human. It dives into the Socratic notion of 'I know one thing - that I don't know anything' to some extent I thought. While the couple are ardent believers in the Big Bang theory and have no interest in considering 'divine intervention' as a possibility, their foundational belief is shaken with observed incidents. It therefore also takes the viewer into the realm of understanding the idea behind Occam's Razor.  Not Gillette mind you - Occam. Some ideas resemble those observed in another almost flat book I once read called 'Flatland'.  You believe what you see and what you see may be limited to where you exist.  Therefore the belief system is only as good as much as the laws that your kind defined to support the the...

Sounds like a cheesy Hindi Movie Title.  Something to signify a strong rope.  Or a dude with a pet name like Hunky with a BFF called Dori.  But it is one of many curious and select words of a lexicon spoken only in SE Asia specifically India. 'Pet name' is another such set of words found only in India.  It is not literally meant to be the name of your pet which state side is construed largely in the category of four legged mammals with a tail.  Rather in India it is a name that members of your household will use to refer to you. A 'household' is also a strangely Indian phrase wherein the size of it can vary depending on the geographic location of it.  In rural India a household could literally mean a village full of relatives that may appear at a moment's notice (or without one) and gab all day long since there is nothing better to do. It is odd given there are (or I should say were) not many things to do that there can be things to talk abo...

When is a protest not a protest? When you are allowed to protest a protest? Incidentally no one is pro test(ing) what with lie detector tests, DUI test, air quality test, SMOG test, CAT, GRE, GMAT, SAT taking up all available time So what's with the protest?  These days civil liberty fanboys and girls have taken protesting to a whole new level.  Some protest to the point they shut down local transit.  Some who join the protesters are not even sure what they are protesting but tend to get free coffee for standing in line with a sign. Even the police in NY have gotten in the act.  They are protesting their city's mayor not protecting those that serve and protect.  Hence the protest. On the flip side the black community wants people to know that their lives matter.  Hence the protest. That somehow black lives have been taken at the hands of non black officers (read white) is making the case for a black and white protest - and please no black and...

Lot of good speakers are available on the management talk circuit.  They perhaps outnumber Hollywood glitterati - in fact some of them provide counsel to said glitterati.  Recently I attended one such event hosted by a well known American company that specializes in lecturing on Business Performance Enhancement. They have speakers on hand that were former business leaders and have a wealth of real life experiences to share with the eager crowd. Some of the topics covered today included TRUST or the effect of having this virtue in an organization and how it enhances collaboration and profitability while reducing cost and waste. What I did find ironic is that this was being delivered to an audience made of American management resources half of who must be divorced as a matter of statistical certainty. The word pre-nup (contract used as a way of avoiding either party in a divorce to get taken to the cleaners)  was coined in this same culture but yet we were...

A valley desi to the uninformed is an Indian ex-pat who has discovered their moksha or its digital /virtual equivalent in the San Jose / San Francisco area of Northern California. They have been coming in droves from the early years of the semi conductor industry's birth and eventual growth to near exponential explosion of things based on software.  Largely arriving to pursue higher education - aka Master's degrees from America's famous universities these natives of the Indian sub-continent (referred to by those still in India as their diaspora) have shown enterprise and guts to discover a new land, its idiosyncrasies and its work culture to sometimes adapt, at times not, but make a living and then some. As bell curves go the large majority have shown very similar profiles in terms of their socio - economic backgrounds back home to what their lifestyle choices are today. Here are some personal observations of those that fit squarely in the rounded middle of the aforem...

A sample of what and how we flew, rode, strolled, dined, drank, chilled and experienced...in a week...to wrap up 2014.. Awaiting takeoff in an Airbus at SFO on Christmas morning 2014 NASA facilities tour @ the KSC Cape Canaveral Unused Inventory - rocket garden KSC Serenity now - pond outside faux China - Epcot @ Disney World Marrakesh?  Not quite - Disney's Epcot Center - Orlando What is a Disney party without fireworks?  'Peace for mankind' themed display! Nature's own fireworks - Gulf of Mexico @ Clearwater, FL An atheist can still admire art - Sacred Heart Cathedral in Tampa FL Gaggle of random birds - Alligator Alley off I-75 on way to Miami Slumming @ a Miami resort Everglades National Park, Florida On the trail in Everglades NP Drugs in Style - and perhaps cheap - Art Deco District Miami My kinda place...

I mean to be blunt about what I saw in my recent visit to the state of Florida.  While it is inquiring human endeavor to extract the most out of nothing...as in the case of this state it does not alter the fact that it is largely a swamp.  While geologists and their kin might argue it as a slow moving river that meets the sea from a practical standpoint it is a hotbed for all things that like murky, damp environs to procreate (e.g. the mosquitoes). We were bit by one (or two or three) - the first in North America in two decades of living here (I do not consider Mexico as part of North America so the statement stands). While the Government certainly did use this piece of real estate wisely in couple ways it is in many ways like Las Vegas, Nevada where ideally no one need visit.  I mean there is nothing there that you will ever need for survival nor enrichment other than man made establishments that simply exist to help you part with your cash all the while enterta...

This year around Christ's birthday we decided to visit the opposite coast.   Being California residents it is a hard sell but we wanted to enjoy it with our daughter who had never been to the Sunshine state. So we spent a week doing the usual - cover as much terrain on land or water - and soak it in along with the abundant sun.  So we began a loop around the state by starting out at the eastern shore in Fort Lauderdale just north of Miami.   It is not as busy as Miami in terms of the population or the variety of food or sand under your feet.   But offers some beachfront cruising opportunities to gawk at spendy (an informal term I use to describe items that are priced purely based on intangible worth which is mostly anything that is not-functional) items and people. Sampled some very interesting chewy biscotti and a sort of French sounding pastry that was quite alright.  Food in any shape and form to me is not spendy - it is just nutrition in a...