Brown Motion

Bill Bryson wrote another book.  I just read it.  On the whole - 3 out of 5 stars.  While not quite as characteristically brisk and informative as the last few tomes he produced this one also takes on a slightly acerbic tone where he goes off on people for being stupid (sometimes deservedly) not all of which qualify. There are informative passages that allude to rise and fall of civilizations where Britain at one point circa late 19th century to early half of the 20th was the most prodigious inventor, birthplace of art and a happening place and saw this mantle slowly cede as other regions in the world moved up. The narrative is a loose smattering of his walks along an imaginary line he calls the Bryson line that connects the northernmost tip of the English island to its southernmost.  He makes his usual witty observations of life in the villages and farms along the way and sniffs out interesting research like the grave of the guy for whom the tallest mountain in...

As in this year when I entered the world of those that wear them - Spectacles that is.  I it appeared could not read the very thing that I need to read at this age - strength of the IBU PROFEN printed in 4 font on the pill bottle of the pill I was about to swallow.  Minus this confirmation I might only Spew Profanity then. Now this is an unusual situation see - figuratively speaking.  I never had to consume anything of import from any pill bottle until now, certainly not reading material, but with the onset of age related faculty malfunctions there is a likelihood to seek out what the chemists in the world have been making a living out of. Therefore the alternative reading and the glasses to do so.  I nasty quirk of these I also immediately discovered was that they fog.  The glasses (or in my case it is actually a very hard type of transparent plastic).  Esp when I am consuming a hot beverage that sort of tends to go well with my idea of reading. ...

I was led to believe that I was born about this time of year over four decades or so ago.  There is this moment in time when one gets to ponder what their life has been and that day is their birthday.  That if memory serves can be an interesting exercise esp not knowing what the future holds because - 1.  No one knows what is round the corner; 2.  What is round the corner or at an angle from the corner may or may not be as exciting or worthwhile as what already has been. Now I am told that I was extracted from my mother's womb by an aunt who specialized in such matters and assigned a name which in Sanskrit (language) translates to the "Dawning".  A lot of things true to that nomenclature are still dawning on me so all is well there. While it can be said that the first two decades I was growing up I was in India the latter couple plus to date were in America, where I continued growing except laterally.  I plan to address that as part of the coming fe...

Of all the multitudes of ways that people try to stay hyperconnected today, is the idea of forced alerting other humans when they have obtained new skills.  Networking websites then propogate this so called acquisition to anyone who happens to be connected through cyberspace with this individual. Now how on earth am I to vet the skill that someone claims to have acquired when all along I took them to be competing for 'suckiest human ever' award?  Notwithstanding, people will continue unabated to highlight their highlights in the rug over their head, as well as what they think needs highlighting like their newly acquired skills - juggling, project management, dog walking, snoring while awake, acquiring new skills (or made up ones for that matter), broadcasting said skills, etc.. Also their software settings are set to broadcast their beliefs immediately to the world wide web or those that partake any part of it, so that you may be impressed with this pleth...

If anyone can be amazing being deadpan it is Bill Murray, and it is true in this film about two souls lost in Japan.  The protagonist is a film personality of some repute back in Hollywood and in Tokyo to promote a Japanese whisky played by Bill Murray. He meets another young and relatively newlywed American, a New Yorker played by Scarlett Johansson.  Much better to look at when the film was made circa 2003, the Oscar winning screenplay (by a daughter of Francis Coppola) gave equal screen time to shots of her (almost) naked butt as much as her face.  No problem there. Bill Murray's character is frustrated (as it is in most movies he is in) with life as a married man and tries to escape it literally by coming to Japan to do this commercial.  But when there he encounters through a series of challenges, that he is looking for something less complicated than his currents state and that frustrates him more.  He finds some solace when he meets the Scarlett chara...

Many a trip to me is a pilgrimage of sorts - the religion being curiosity.  Some throw curveballs and are rather exhausting in their execution simply because the destination happens to be rather remote.  But making the most of the journey (to harp on an oft harped cliche) does add flavor to the experience. So here are some more of these exotically intoxicating and 'holier than thou' (you will figure out what I mean) adventures... We start in New Zealand on the north eastern coast of the south island (the country has two main islands - north and south) and travel along the eastern edge hugging the Pacific. Departure from PICTON NZ Through tunnels and down the coast to Christchurch  Few hours north from NZ, crossing the equator and you are in the tiny island country of Singapore.. Neat and tidy this once Victorian trading post and gateway to the riches of Asia is now a well oiled business machine.   Hanging out at the local D...

As I continue to kick items off my bucket list in terms of trains traveled (and some spotted) on this planet, and not so much the destination visited I thought I'd start listing them in some order more to serve as a documentary for me since I have begun to realize that the hard disc upstairs is getting full and might throw an unexpected error one of these days. So hopefully in chronological order of where I've been are some views of this planet shot at varying velocity through clear or murky glass and at times without.  Some above ground, some under, some at sea level and some much higher, some in scorching and humid weather while some near freezing. Most journeys these days have been on trains with electric locomotives, sometimes diesel-electrics but not with steam.  When they invented good cameras, the steam train had died.   I would need to find some exclusive journeys to take just to get on a steam train one of these days (like the restored Flying Scotsman that ju...

America is in the midst of a variety of ball fevers.  As in Football and Powerball. 1.  The '50th' Super Bowl (American Football's crowning match) coming to town early FEB and 2.  The Powerball lottery (now estimated to payout $1.5 Billion before taxes and relatives) with the winner announcement imminent or so it seems Both events are top of mind for the nation even as the POTUS aka Obama was waxing on his annual report card in front of the nation last night.  More so the California crowd who at best seems suspicious of whoever is going to lead our highest office come 2017 is planning a mental escape dreaming of either or both of the above mentioned ball events.  What with the 50th event happening right in the heart of Silicon Valley (typically not known for its Hollywood like extravaganzas) at the newly minted Levis Football stadium (named in honor of the sponsors - the late SF, California resident and businessman Levi Strauss who gave the world blue deni...

I have some Telgu acquaintances that rub off their local language on me, especially given their preponderance in my neighborhood her in the valley.  They start any discussion with a fellow gulti (endearing term to refer to this sub sect of Indian community used by a non Telgu) by uttering 'Cheapu' loosely translated like slang to mean 'Tell me' or more specifically 'vomit what is on your mind'. With the rain falling daily it is becoming pointless exercise to discuss the phenomenon on American media and so now the chatter is about the third time is the charm capture of Mexican drug lord or kingpin known as 'El Chapo'. So it was funny to imagine a gulti inspector interrogating this wanted man in prison where he might be excused for starting his line of questioning as 'Chepu Chapo'. Just finished watching a movie that was fairly well made about the subject of drug trafficking and how the US government agencies try to fight the unfortunate sit...

Almost done reading said book and vicariously traveling with Monisha Rajesh, author and protagonist in this tale of her visiting the land of her heritage - India, using the rails to get around. Lot of narrative is poignant and well written and brings back very recent memories of my own backpacking adventure this past summer, largely restricted to the south of India.  In the book she attempts to cross the entire sub continent using the rails and most importantly using crucial help from some well placed resources she can tap into along with a male companion from the UK (which is her home) to ward off evil. I too had the advantage of getting help from a retired Air Force vet - father of a friend -  in Chennai - who had time and internet connectivity on hand that helped book rail reservations in advance for me.  Monisha faces the immediate craziness of arranging for travel by rail and has to resort to her god father also in Chennai, India to come to her aid.  Not de...

Written by a Brit nobleman, derivative of Viscounts (royalty of sorts) and a genetic offshoot of Edward Lutyens (architect that helped design New Delhi) author Matt Ridley takes on a bold discussion on the origins and/or subsequent evolution of all things natural and not. In the author's words -  Darwinism is “the special theory of evolution”. But there is a general theory of evolution, too, and it applies to society, money, technology, language, law, culture, music, violence, history, education, politics, God, morality. Author is a right wing libertarian, a contradiction of sorts but I suspect he is on to something.  In other essays and recent writings I have often heard sentiment that aligns with my own thinking that we seem to assign tremendous value to rigid hierarchical structures and somehow are arrogant enough to think that what we design and invent matters to the point that we assign the singular importance to one person or make role models. Whether its the thre...

Falafel is like a Mediterranean Wada.  For the Anglic community it can be described as a deep fried mouthful of ground beans (usually chickpea aka garbanzo aka Kabuli Chana) mixed with some herbs and spices to create a fluffy yet crisp ball of palate pleasing goodness.  Think hush puppies from the other side of the planet. We met with some friends on a cold and cloudy Saturday to try a place in the Silicon Valley that touted to make great falafels and pita (flat bread native to the Mediterranean) along with some varieties of food native to that region of the world. I chose to get Shawarma, where the spice seasoned meat (chicken, lamb, beef or whatever the chef can get their hand on) spins on a spit against hot flames for a long period of time till it gets shaved off and served in a bread or over rice. My version was ensconced in a flat bread - the pita - made on site- with pickled radish, carrot and other veggies, along with a sour cream and chickpea and sesame seed ba...