Brown Motion

It is time for America to get into a garment to be used only once in a lifetime and beg for candy.  Aka Halloween.  Said garment is identified as a costume and can be time consuming to procure and wear depending on the level of enthusiasm of the beggar.  Usually children; some adults who still milk this tradition hiding behind a mask. This time as before I have oft wondered about the idea of costumes.  I get when you are on stage in a play or a movie that costumes are integral to the framing of the story. You need Stallone to have lot of ketchup marking the spots he is bleeding and the shirt needs to be ripped enough to show his ripped rib cage else we cannot believe he just fought like a badass. But today when I read about the Pope appointing a first ever black American as Cardinal I was struck by the same question.  Especially as I read the story with some graphics and photos of the two. The Catholic religion as any other preaches the virtue of being human....

Praha aka Prague, the capital of Czech Republic was a brief stop in our summer vacation this year.  It was a tumultuous year to say the least with some family emergencies and such but we made the most of it during our stay in the wonderful Bohemian environs. Situated on the banks of the Vltava River it is a scenic and historic center of Europe.  It sits squarely in the cross road of western and eastern part of the continent.  It was our gateway for some more travels east.  National Pilsner brand welcomes international travelers at the Vaclav Havel Airport on the outskirts of the city. Underground Metro easily gets people from A to B.  Sometimes the time spent traveling underground on fast moving escalators to the deep seated platforms and back is the same as the actual train travel time. A local pastry in the form of a tube called Trdelnik.  IMHO a scam designed for tourists to shell out a few bucks, it is somewhat tasteless and ...

During the course of the first Word War and after, a bunch of Europeans fled to America.  Among them were Portuguese.  Some of them traveled over time all the way west and landed in California.  Specifically around the bay area of San Francisco. To sign praises of their lord Jesus a branch of devout Jesuits built a church.  That was 100 years ago.  During this centennial year of 2019 we visited this Portuguese church in the Little Portugal neighborhood of eastern San Jose, California. Impressive as it is it offers a place for quiet reflection and is a sea of calm in an otherwise busy highway intersection bordered by working class communities.  Below are some scenes from this wonderful building and its surrounds. Named for the five (holy) wounds Jesus suffered during crucifixion the Latin  Cinco Chagas  is the phrase used to name this church. Beginning with the view of a stained glass from the outside as you walk toward the south facing ma...

There are distinct architectural styles to a place and a large city is no exception.  The culture of the place shapes the city or state or country for that matter.  Here are some observations from places visited and how they differ. European cities largely tend to have a common theme - that of a large public square in which citizens gather to socialize, shop, eat and just have fun.  These squares are oft referred to as plazas and served as a central place in history for mass gatherings for political rallies and other non Facebook enabled events. Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain Often these plazas take the form of palace grounds or cathedral courtyards to allow people to come and admire, gawk or vicariously enjoy the grand life. Shores of Barcelona, Spain Some times the space is designed for a specific purpose like an expo and then used as a public gathering place for future. Plaza Espana - for World Expo in Seville, Spain Cities big and small also have...

In Oakland.  Not exactly the type of town we would venture into.  Largely because of the cliches and the news about what goes on there.  There are some parts one could wander into and not return or so we thought.  It is true in part. But today with our offspring off at a competition the Saturday lay before us like a large chasm waiting to be filled.  With something.  So the better half and I decided to loiter in Oakland.  No particular plan but hit a few things we had heard in passing mentions as a must see. Why not?  So we went to Lake Merritt.  Named for a former surgeon and one time mayor of the City of Oakland circa early 19th century.  He cleaned up what was once a sewer for the city and created a space that now houses a man made lake with drainage to the bay. Gazebo at the north end of the lake The circumference we googled was 3.5 miles which was an important metric before deciding to leave the safety of the automobile o...