Brown Motion

As we did.  Through this blog.  When we visited its campus.  It was part of the weekend foodie outing.  Nice day to be out.  And about.  For us it was about exploring the gastronomic angles the old city in the east bay had to offer. So BART in and stroll.  Walk, Sip, Repeat. Below are what we saw and you will see in and around the U C Berkeley campus.  Largely ringed by homeless dudes and buildings that are a 100 years old the campus sits amidst eucalyptus groves and old growth redwood on the slopes of the hills that straddle two counties. Period structures - standing the test of time We started with catching some flying (the chef tossed them into the product) falafel (a fried ball made from chickpea and millet batter) inserted in a pita (bread) pocket containing lettuce and dressed with yogurt sauce along with tangy cucumber, radish and chili paste. Ballers at Work Then we wandered across the street to get Poked (as in e...

A movie about European rule in Africa.  A movie about grit and smarts winning over a divisive ruler to get what is rightfully yours. This is a story that I did not know about but enjoyed it in the form of a movie directed by a Ghanian British director and starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. David plays the protagonist Sereste Khama, a man studying law in England but heir apparent to the throne of Bechuanaland in Southern Africa.  The story is set around 1947 - 50 era.  The Brits with their divide and rule strategy continue to feed the empires treasury with control over several African protectorates including Bechuanaland. The story is about finding love where the black prince marries a commoner white English girl facing criticism and risk of being ostracized.  Together they persevere and outwit and outmaneuver several attempts by both the British and his own family (who sees this as a slap to their culture) to finally win the locals hearts and install Se...

A book.  A film.  A story.  We humans are always looking for a beginning, a middle and a conclusion.  That is just how we are coded.  All neatly tied up in the 'end'. Loose strings are not our thing.  Or is it? I just 'finished' reading the latest installment by Dan Brown.  Book is called 'Origin'.  A thought provoking tale as always in the genre that he tends to work in - a thriller set amidst the debate between creation and evolution lobbies.  While to me the tale ended in a not so climactic manner but somewhat predictably is another matter but it did raise the desire to blog. The question of all time for all mankind and the need to find an answer.  Where did it all begin and where will it all end? To me the reality tends to be something akin to a mobius strip.  There is no starting point or end point on its zero Gaussian curvature.  The author tries to also highlight this by using the analogy of a infinite passagewa...

What is Bitcoin?  The readership may have seen more and more media coverage of this strange sounding term in the lexicon of modern day finance. I am going to make a modest attempt at laying down the basics as I see it.  Bitcoin is a new found way to exchange value.  What does that mean? Let's start at the very beginning.  When Adam and Eve first met on a corner of 1st and 2nd street they realized that one had what the other wanted.  Say Adam had two apples.  Eve could use one.  On the other hand Eve had two scarves and Adam was cold and could use one.  Well they solved that problem quickly by exchanging an apple for a scarf.  Each had something of value to the other and a value exchange took place without any inter-mediation. Fast forward and the population explosion took place and now many folk had distinct things that they could exchange with one another for its relative value.  This became the barter system. Of course it also...

In one definition of the phrase it describes a long term strategy.  The root of this could be found in the game of golf or perhaps in football (played as an American sport).  To be able to hit or throw long as opposed to the shorter drives. To play said long game requires a unique quality in an individual.  Some may call it vision.  Or foresight.  The ability to play the long game or be in it for the long game is often not just being a visionary but to execute on that vision to make it reality. There are individuals in all walks of life that one could think had that.  Scientists and polyglots like Da Vinci or Ben Franklin who invented and were architects of amazing art and public policy respectively to Gandhi and Mandela who could envision a world free of colonial imperialism through non violence to recent barons like John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie who while amassing tremendous wealth also gave us modern industry and were linchpins for the indust...

One could reflect or pontificate on all manners of things or places or food that one might enjoy in a big city like NY. But as I got to thinking about the arts - the broader space that defines art in all its diversity I realized I have enjoyed a lot of characters that came from or are originally residents of NY. Below are a few in no particular order - 1.  Woody Allen - Film making, Directing and Acting - A prolific personality not born in a family in the movie industry but yet managed to develop his own  style of filmmaking that won him several Oscars.   Going strong at 80 some years of age the wit is amazing.  Personally I have not seen his earlier works but my favorites are Blue Jasmine, Fading Gigolo where he only acted and Midnight in Paris. 2.  Anthony Bourdain - Former Chef and TV series producer - Born into relative comfort but one who mostly squandered his early years according to his own admission is a popular Emmy win...

With the influenza viruses making an appearance in gusto and all that there are many colleagues and acquaintances that have updated their status to being bedridden.  Our child's running partner is bedridden due to an injury of some sort. That got me thinking.  Uh oh!  No please bear with me.  The word 'bedridden' might suggest getting rid of the said bed.  On the contrary it requires said patient to patiently stay on it. The bedees in this case should revolt.  This is rid-iculous.  Ask for a lexiconic change from bedridden to bedhugger.  Start a gochangeme campaign.  Twit about it.  Speaking of patients why are they called that?  Is it because you have to be while waiting for the person in the white coat to make an appearance to examine you in a little room that gives you the shivers because it is always too cold? Or is it because it tries your patience as the all knowing doctor finally concludes what is in fact wrong with ...

Have you heard the name John Grunsfeld? How about Thomas Francis? Perhaps Simcha Blass? No, No and No? I am sure some of the readership has heard of perhaps one or more of these but I can assure you that the vast majority has not.  When you put it in perspective of what the current world population finds attractive and memorable it is a shame. John was a NASA scientist and astronaut - the only one to have made three space walks to repair the best telescope mankind has produced.  The Hubble Space Telescope.  It flies around the earth at an elevation of 300 miles and has been doing so for 27 years.  John's work on the telescope is giving humanity a glimpse into our beginnings and an understanding of our universe like we have never seen before. Thomas was one of the co-inventors of the flu vaccine which today accounts for healthy children and adults all over the globe saving lives in many cases and boosting global productivity.  If not for its inventio...

Sounds like some sort of modern day declaration? To me it does. It represents an earnest shift from what mattered to what is now de rigueur.   As in the vanity.  People always had an ego and to stoke it attempted to achieve a superlative.  Today the ease of access to what is considered superlative is in itself superlative. 5,000 Facebook friends to 50,000 Twitter followers?  I mean the very notion of anyone being followed today is spilling into the formal culture and what were sacrosanct institutions now ask for my Twitter handle in an application form.   Are you serious? I for one am not able to get a handle on that. I am a reluctant technologist and still grapple with (the notion of) a hashtag.  The first thought that pops in my head on hearing that word is a leftover doobie. Call me silly but this whole thing with people constantly chattering on mobile devices with or without tags does sound dubious.  And to think that there w...