Brown Motion

Over the decades I have enjoyed many a twist on fast food in America.  The local common denominator remains meat and potato.  The way it is served is what makes it uniquely American.  As in a hamburger with fries. There are many multinational and domestic chain restaurants that offer a version of this combination.  The hamburger begins as minced beef, mixed with spices and flattened to a round disc, then grilled and sandwiched between a bun with an option to add veggies in between for more flavor, crunch or texture. The type of toppings and the type of beef and bread used tend to differentiate the finished product.  But there is another variable too.  Service.  Cost, ambience and efficiency all rolled into one.  Brands take great pride in distinguishing how its done different in what is clearly a competitive market. Some opt for more variety on their menu giving customers the ability to customize while some keep it simple.  Freshness i...

A recent documentary called 'Soul Food Junkies' caught my eye at the local library.  I had to at least try to see what was on it.  It was actually a good snapshot on the history of what is colloquially referred to as Soul Food.  Food from the south.  As in the southern United States where slavery was abundant only a while ago. The narrator and director is an African American called Byron Hurt who did a good job of taking the viewer on the origins of this cuisine and highlight both what was good or bad about it.  It showed the migration of food as part of the culture of the people who were imported to the American landscape from points in Africa.  The word Gumbo for example meant Okra in Senegal where they used it as part of their local diet.  Today it is a fixture of Louisiana cuisine. The bad was both literal (in terms of bad for your health) and racial (in that it was considered the food that was fed to the slaves so they could stay healthy and ...

It is an experience to be back in a school.  This time after work.  Learning a thing or two about how to design.  Design things, process, services whatever it takes.  Designing with a purpose. The curriculum is labeled Design Thinking.  I figured for a few hours a week I can try to learn this.  Think differently.  Formally.  From two industry veterans and part time professors and also through a network of attendees with varying background. I personally like the latter dynamic better.  Clearly the professor has to set the stage for a topic and pontificate on their prepared notes.  But then its open forum.  Interesting point of view from someone coming from Spain vs. Brazil.  Not for profit angle vs. the obvious get rich quick idea.  Changing some modern day paradigms one design at a time. Sometimes it seems what was old is new again.  Like this idea to cut down waste in our daily lives.  Some people are exp...

LOF.  That is the parlance used by auto mechanics in America when you take your car in for an oil change.  Lube refers to the bygone era when a bunch of mechanical moving parts in your conveyance needed lubing as in lubricating.  Grease and waxes and what not.  Nowadays not so much.  Everything is enclosed and hermetically sealed from the elements.  But this old phraseology remains with us in the days of electric mobility. As far as oil is concerned that is the one that needs replacing every 7,000 miles or so.  Esp for a petrol powered automobile that most Americans use.  That is a lot of distance to travel in many countries.  But for an average bay area commuter like me it means 100 round trips to work, which could translate into 3 months of time.  So net every three months I am faced with the prospect of getting this vital fluid swapped.  From the engine.  Of my trusty conveyance that transports me effortlessly to work and...

What is it about this question that likely gets asked hundreds of times every day by someone who meets another someone for the first time? Where are you from? 'Earth' would be a sarcastic response.  Especially if the asker is also from earth and they were standing on said earth at the time of the Q and A.  Alternately the askee would typically respond with an answer that conveys their place of birth.  Sometimes it also conveys the place that the askee grew up or did some key part of the growing. The asker is trying to categorize the newly introduced specimen into a frame.  Or perhaps it is idle chit chat and the asker does not give a cent what the askee responds.  That would also border on the rude. The said categorization is our human filing system.  'I am from Norway' would shed some light to the asker especially if they have an idea of what Norway is.  And the asker might have follow up questions to that response.  If the asker is clue...

Warning - some readers might find the narrative below somewhat macabre for their taste (no pun intended) and are urged to read the previous post for their (culinary) enjoyment. After writing about my likes for what constitutes food I thought I'd do the brain stretch for the morning and imagine what we might taste like to an alien form interested in consuming a new find. Like insects which number in the billions and have yet to make an appearance on the mainstream earth bound dinner plates, the aliens perhaps have been looking into humans as a novelty? Who knows if unbeknownst to our high tech they have been making regular visits and plucking some of us to suck on or grind or make a new bouillabaisse with?  Wonder what their Bourdain equivalent might be showing their kids on TV? In a galaxy far away children there are these bipeds who do bizarre things all day long.  They seem to wander from one point to another and back like clockwork on certain sun cycles and repeat ...

For many this phrase might conjure images of pets or seeing certain fauna in the wild.  Some in the air, land or water.  Dense jungles perhaps or a fancy safari on the continent. I am referring to the animals on a plate.  I was not born a carnivore.  Far from it.  Growing up in a middle class household in Bombay (now Mumbai) we were not much of food explorers or critics.  We just ate it as a requirement couple times a day and moved on.  As a child I could discern a dish that my mom made versus an aunt's twist on the same.  I spent equal parts surviving in a day care as I did at home so the day care lady had her own take on what constituted food.  All of the above was 100% non animal meat based diet. Then I got to meet a friend couple of my dads.  This family had their roots in the coastal part of the state and were fans of seafood.  I got introduced to my first prawn and fish on a plate at their place.  Then came another f...

San Francisco's hipster status lives on.  The trend may be noticed in the foods or what constitutes nutrition that people are putting down their hatch, or their sense of style the latter manifest now in the way they get around. From 'Limes' to 'Birds' there are a slew of what was a kids get around toy is now primary transportation again, type movement (no pun intended) afoot. 'Limes' scooter trying to stand out! Some of these contraptions are scattered around the street or sidewalk like an errant child would choose to do ... Just a random 'BIRD' Scary Black 'Bird' Scooter operated by someone deaf to the world Or being driven around silently (did I mention that these are all electric?) with people wearing headphones to block all ambient sound. For those that like what Churchill said - why stand when you can sit - they can opt to do it with Ford - electric bikes.. Requires the movers and shakers to actually used ass...

I have become a formal student.  Again.  In the evenings.  I am taking a course on 'Design Implementation - taking an idea to market'. In the course of my varied career I have had the privilege of sorting out different types of problems.  Some had to do with information technology.  Some were process design or re-design.  I also taught students early in my career.  At times I counseled some senior leaders in a business on perspective.  Fresh set of eyes or something like that. Now I am curious about the formality of design.  How does one design?  An object, a service or a process.  What are the goals of design?  What cues do you pay attention to?  What makes it worthwhile? All of the above I realized could also be summed in a quote I read during my time as an engineer taking Total Quality classes - What problem are you trying to solve?  It is harder than it sounds.  Can take days to define and define well...

As history goes there are many outlandish and intriguing stories.  Some times facts stranger than fiction.  One particular theme I have noticed in reading history written by famous authors on various continents, some autobiographical is that prominent personalities too had their foibles. Calvin Coolidge was famously known to only work four hours a day on average as the President of the United States says  Bill Bryson in his history book for the stories from 'One Summer -    America, 1927' and therefore so titled.  He liked to nap or stare out the window at passing cars on Penn Avenue.  A historian from his time penned - no President ever slept so much.  Of course we will have to wait for history to tell us what Trump's schedule is.  Some have commented that he sleeps very little and is eager to get back to Tweeting. Winston Churchill tells George VI, his king at the time of the second war that he likes to nap at 4 pm everyday and when as...

This past year I have been hooked on watching TED videos.  TED is now a staggering global platform for spreading ideas related originally to Technology, Entertainment and Design and  now much more from the humanities to history, arts and other subjects.  As a non profit now owned by a guy born in Pakistan to American parents it is an amazing tool that allows people from all walks of life to find a voice. Our kid, a speech writer and competitor at many local and state meets draws inspiration from the TED content, and presented at a local chapter.  It also serves to boost self confidence. All that became my inspiration to check out this vast treasure of diverse ideas and perspectives that was a click of a mouse away. I want to list a few stories that were memorable, and likely the readership might have already stumbled on but are worth mentioning - Chimamanda from Nigeria spoke about the problem of stereotype - https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_...

I love reading and watching Anthony Bourdain.  He is a TV personality, former chef and food lover who had an enviable job of touring the world documenting life lived by locals and the food they ate. Out of his years of doing so for a variety of media companies he brought a lot of joy and education to a screen near me.  So thank you Tony. He also has an easy going manner about him not like a stuffed up film star, although one could argue he is a star in his own right.  His language is simple and factual and the stories he tells of the people of the world are at once relatable and feel unscripted. One of the remarks about eating a smelly and spiky fruit in Asia called Durian he quotes - it was like eating custard in a toilet .. I like it.  Having grown up with jackfruit (also spiky and slippery and sweet when ripe fruit native to S.E. Asia) myself and loving it I admire him for trying a significantly worse smelling fruit than jackfruit. The analogy though abou...

California loves to regulate.  They pay law makers gobs of money to sit on a chair and have at it.  Some of what they invent may be well intentioned but largely bureaucracy never made anyone happy. California also likes to invent other things.  Like Auto Pilot and Smart Phones.  Again a lot of wonderful has come from this agrarian belt that now thrives more from the silicon in the sand than other elements.  But there are also duds - like the incessant flow of electrons betwixt people who subscribe to some cult or another called Social Media. This week saw a couple of new laws take shape.  Better regulation to monitor self driving vehicles.  Automated toll collection for eligible transport.  And cancer warning on coffee. Never mind the guns but warn those idiots hopping on their third frappuccino that they are likely next on the pink ribbon list.  By the way the auto pilot on the cars was invented strictly to address hopped up caffeine ...

Today is April 1.  It is also Easter Sunday. What better time than today to discuss what may have been.  As in where did Jesus come from?  More importantly where did Jesus go?  And then where did he come back from?  What is the meaning of the word 'Easter'? Such vexing questions are answered in the recent archeological digs in Beijing.  Now for those uneducated about what that is - it is the capital of China a large country in Asia.  Formerly called Peking it is where today's culinary delight like Peking Duck was born.  Not the actual duck which perished long ago but the name of the dish. Now my readings of the archeological findings suggest that Easter comes from the fact that Jesus in fact was reborn on this Sunday (there was a Wi Fi enabled clock that was found in the digs showing the day stuck on Sunday 0/0/0000)  as well as some holy DNA found near a cave in Beijing (not to mention that there are still some holes in the theory). ...