Weekend

I am desperate to go photographing: I went to Pride parade on Sunday. Complete waste of time though. Couldn’t get many shots as the stupid TV camera guy kept jumping in my shots. Not that there was much to shoot. Simply put, not my kind of event.

One of the few shot that I took and liked is on the left. A photographer trying to take picture though she was luckier than me. She was in the parade route unlike me who was shoved in the sidelines. I need to find good spots in bay area to take pictures where I haven’t been. I am bored...

They brought their own gavel!

As I was driving back today, I heard this piece of news (click on ‘Listen now’) on National Public Radio (NPR). Simply entertaining. The transcript of the report is below:

Today was supposed to be the day New York state government got back to work. The state senate has been paralyzed for two weeks. There was a failed legislative goo and a dispute over which party was in-charge. Governor David Paterson used his powers to compel state senators to meet today but as NPR’s Robert smith report the senators didn’t exactly corporate:

The political battle over who controls the New York’s state senate became more like a child’s game of calling dibs today. First, Democrats and Republicans plotted to see who can get to the podium first to hold the gavel and then they proceeded to ignore each other. This came after governor David Paterson had basically told both sides to grow up and show up in special session this afternoon.

David Paterson: “Over last couple of weeks, the senators conduct has been laughable but what’s going on around here these days is no joke and I don’t find it funny.”

Perhaps surreal is better term. Let’s recap. On June 8th Republicans tried to take over the state senate from the Democrats. Two Democrats defected to help the Republicans out and then one re-defected back. So long story short, the New York state senate became tied and for weeks no one has been able to figure out who is in-charge. Democratic state senator Eric Schneiderman told reporters this afternoon that negotiations broke down over who would run the special session.

Eric Schneiderman: “We don’t want this to be a circus and we are asking the Republicans to enter in an operating agreement. They have refused to do that. They are still focusing on the issue whether or not June 8th vote was valid and who is the president of senate?”

You see the Republicans had a plan. If the New York state senate’s special session was at 3 o’clock this afternoon, they were going to show up at 2 o’clock and try and hold their own session. That way they will be standing at the podium and at least visually in-charge. But at 12:30, the Democrats launched a sneak attack. They entered into senate chamber through a back hallway and locked the doors. State Democratic senators stood vigilant at podium then the senator Republicans got into the chamber and try to start their session ignoring the Democrats and ostensibly passing bills. They brought their own gavel. The Democrats started another legislative session with their gavel and started talking over the Republicans. Both sides claim to have passed bills even though no one has a majority. Governor David Paterson called it a farce and says he is disgusted.

David Paterson: “ I feel that they should be punished for what they have done, that they should stay here everyday, Saturdays, Sundays, July 4th and every other time until they remember they work for the people of the state of New York and not for themselves.”

The clock is ticking. On July 1st various taxes and labor agreements won’t go into effect if not approved by the state legislator and damage to senate’s reputation is already done. A poll released yesterday show a record number of people saying New York state is headed in a wrong direction: 63%. A majority called the senate a deadlock and an embarrassment, Robert Smith, NPR news, New York.

Simply hilarious! You know, at times radio is so much better than TV. I don’t think video recording of the event would have been as funny as this report. All they needed to do was to close the report by saying: “That ladies and gentlemen was the story called “Gavel struggle”, read for you by Robert Smith”.

Now I know why they say, ‘Reality is funnier than fiction’.

Please don’t…

As usual I am complaining. And today I am complaining about the Orkut users. Well honestly, it’s about the Orkut users I know, which means technically they are my “friends” though I am not sure how can I become friends with so less common sense. And may be I am out of line on few of them but they irritate me immensely so here they are:

- Please don’t comment on your wife’s album containing your baby’s pictures saying how amazing she (the baby) looks. I understand she means the world to you, but to the world you look dumb by doing so. 

- Please don’t change your name to phrases as “Never say never” or to symbols as “..” and expect me to guess who you are when you comment or scrap. Especially when  your profile picture is a rose and you are sending a friendship request asking me “Remember me?”. How on Earth am I suppose to guess who you are, forget about “remembering you”? 

- Please don’t post your baby’s picture as your profile picture. Some of us are trying to find an old friend whose name might be same as yours but we have no idea how his or her baby might look like. It’s really annoying to attempt guessing how your baby’s mom or dad looks like while staring at his or her picture. You can put a picture of your baby with you, if you do want to show off your baby.

- Please don’t use your spouse’s profile as your own. You can create your own profile. You know it’s FREE. It doesn’t cost you anything. It’s weird leaving a scrap for you at your spouse’s profile. I understand that you two are two bodies and one soul and all that but for some unknown reason you still have two separate friend circles. I have not met your spouse. EVER. So please understand the weirdness of the situation from my point of view.

- Please don’t mix and match the location. Your current location is the location where you currently live and work. You can’t be in Allahabad and Washington, D.C. at the same time. They are practically half the globe away from each other!

- Please don’t put photos of celebrities as your profile picture. No matter how much you adore those celebrities, THEY ARE NOT YOU. Sooner you realize that, better it’s for you.

- Please don’t write your name in a language unknown to some of your friends. Be polite and write in  English. I feel unwelcomed by such gestures.

(from: http://www.know-insurance.co.uk/)

P.S.: Yes they all are real incidents.

My Monday Mornings…

 

Back

   Well hopefully. I took out my camera after a long time (six months!) yesterday. I have been itching to do so for past 2-3 months now. I have decided to shoot in RAW now. This means, I need a large memory card and a lot of post-processing time. However, its worth it. I went to Japanese Tea garden (Golden Gate Park) yesterday. I still can’t walk as much so I was restrained in the area I parked my car. However, Tea garden turned out to be fun. If you visit bay area, do visit Japanese tea garden. Its very calm place as you can see.

I am going to Stanford Commencement today. Few of my friends are graduating and asked me to take their pictures. Hopefully I will be up to the task.  

The Dog Ate My Homework 1.2.0

The newest way for getting out of the HW deadlines:

1. Click on this link and purchase the word file.

2. Rename the file to a more appropriate one.

3. Email the file to your professor as your HW.

Internet gets the blame and you get extra time to finish the HW. :)

Indian Muslims

Indian Muslims strikes back! It’s simply awesome.

The crude transcript of what Maulana Madani said to Musharraf is:

Maulana: “Musharraf Sahab, first of all I would like to congratulate you for starting the politics of Pakistan from India. Congratulations to you. Secondly, I would like to ask a question. The population of Muslims living in India are greater than total population of Pakistan, hopefully you know it.”

Musharraf responds, “Yes I know that.”

Maulana continues: “If you know that then you should also know that Indian muslim knows how to solve his problems. We don’t need your advice.” Musharraf nods. Applause from the audience.

Maulana: “Lastly, I want to say this: You ruled Pakistan for so many years and you are accepting that war/Jihad is being conducted from both sides of border. Whether it’s being conducted from both side or not but now we know that at least it’s being conducted from one side by your confession.” Audience laughs. Musharraf looks grumpy.

Maulana: “You can do whatever you want. In this civil society of India, more than 70% , I am being conservative otherwise more than 90%, of population supports Indian Muslims and are ready to fight for them. So please don’t try to alienate Indian Muslims by making any remark, whether it’s made in India or Pakistan. Please. Thank you.”

Pro-life

BBC reports: Shot abortion doctor buried in US. Apparently an anti-abortionist, or so called pro-life propagator, shot a doctor who used to perform abortions. How can anyone anyone can call him- or her-self pro-life and then go shoot someone? Is the life of an unborn baby more valuable than a living person? How can they call themselves pro-life?

And that’s not it! They had the audacity of staging an anti-abortion demonstration at his funeral! First they murder him and then when his family and friends grieve for him, they turn up with their pickets to demonstrate a political issue! How dare they? Do they even know the meaning of life that they are so determined to protect? How dare they show up at his funeral to protest?

Most of us have lost a loved one at some point in our life. Dealing with that kind of loss is one of the most difficult thing to do. At that time, instead of apologizing for being the cause of their grievance, how can they come over and protest? Am I the only one who finds this appalling?  

P.S.: 1. I know the news about shooting is old but the news of protest at his funeral simply disgusted me.

2. I am not taking sides in the debate of pro-life or pro-choice. Simply reacting to the outrageous news.

Taxes …

… and what all we do to save them? For example, Proctor and Gamble actually claimed that Pringles® are not potato chips. Really! They went to Britain’s Supreme Court of Judicature claiming that Pringles® are not potato chips even though they have 40% potato flour. Forget about it looking and tasting like a potato chip. But thankfully courts in Britain are not as crazy and they ruled against it. Guess,there is still hope for this world. At least it’s not entirely insane..

Stuck..

This song is stuck in my head since morning. And it’s not even my favorite song from the musical (Chicago). But I can’t get it out of my mind..

 

P.S.: 1. BTW, my favorite song from the musical is Mr. Cellophane. Second favorite being We both reached for the gun.

2. I am not sure if I mentioned this before. I am a great sucker for Musicals. I watch anything in name of musicals.

Just heard on TV...

If you love something, set it free
or cripple it so it doesn't get away.

Alan Shore

As I mentioned earlier, I have a crush on Alan Shore. Here are links to five video clips (embedding was disabled for these videos. Sorry for the inconvenience) from the series Boston Legal to explain you the reasons. But before you go through them, you need to know some back ground about the series. So here it goes:

Alan Shore is a fictional character in series Boston Legal. In the series, he is a lawyer with the firm called Crane, Poole & Schmidt. He is a brilliant lawyer and a compassionate human being. His best friend is Denny Crane, who was a very successful lawyer in his days and now suffers with mad cow disease and Alzheimer. He is a Republican to the core unlike Alan but surprisingly this rarely causes any problem between Alan and Denny. (Another reason I love the show).

The first clip is about his secretary's financial troubles when her credit card company charges ridiculous interest rates putting her $50,000 in debt. He deals with the  lawyer of the credit card company here. The credit card company lawyer is very perky and it’s quiet entertaining to watch Alan’s reaction to him. He simply can’t stand him. (Boston Legal, Season 2 episode-10: Legal Deficit).

The second video clip again involves his secretary. This time she refused to pay the income taxes to IRS as a “protest” against her money being used to finance the war she opposes. Alan Shore gives a great speech in this episode about how many ridiculous things have been passed through American constitution recently, in name of patriotism. (Boston Legal, Season 2 episode-19: Stick it).

The next clip is from one of my favorite episode of Boston Legal. Alan is trying this case in Texas.The case is about a convicted murder who is sentenced to death. The defendant confessed to murder. But new DNA evidence put someone else at the murder scene. A friend calls Alan to help represent the convicted murder. The passion of Alan Shore in this episode was amazing. He lost the case and his client was put to death. (Boston Legal, Season 1 episode-17: Death be not proud).

The fourth video clip is a case which Alan lost. It was a case about a girl who had a neurological disorder due to an accident which makes it impossible for her to smile. She is a good student and still one of the best private school refuses to admit her because of her illness. So Alan pulls up a stunt by calling the press at the school and gets her admitted in the school. Later he talks to the girl about fitting in. (Boston Legal, Season 2 episode-15: Smile).

The last video is a mixture of a lot of different things. Simply sit back and enjoy. (Boston Legal, Season 2 episode-13: Too much information).

Hope you like them as much as I do!

Homophobia

(This post has been brewing for a long time and hence is a bit longer than usual. And also it’s a bit haphazard.)

Last summer Californians were celebrating the court decision to strike down the same-sex marriage ban and almost every gay couple in California was rushing to get married. The pending Prop 8 ballot also didn’t diminish those spirits. Right about that time, while discussing politics with an older friend whom I respect, the gay right issue came up. To my surprise, she scoffed and said that she can’t understand why everyone (=gays) is making such a big deal about it? There are a lot more important things to worry about such as economy, housing crisis, the wars.

I didn’t answer her at that moment as I thought I might get carried away. But I did want to point the fact that she had answered her own question: why everyone is making such a big deal about it? If someone wants to marry someone, how does it affect anyone else? Let them. It makes them happy and it doesn’t harm anyone else. So why do they have to make such a big deal about it? There are so many other important issues to worry about. Let’s make a big deal about them.

But with all the existing homophobia around the world, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. Talking about Homophobia, this invitation was sent few days back on the Stanford Indian Association(SIA) group (Click to enlarge). I saw it. I closed it. Next time I opened my mail, there was a reply on the group. It asked if this is a queer list? And that’s when I noticed the box on left hand side declaring Trikone is a non-profit support & advocacy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals & Transgender South Asians. This isn’t the first time that a non-profit organization has organized an event in Bay area and have sent an invitation to Indian group in Stanford. But then they were child care organization. (We love kids.That’s why we have a lot of them.) LGBT supporting organization shouldn’t send their invitation to our group. But wait, don’t we as community maintain a status that homosexuals don’t exist in India?

But then I shouldn’t be too harsh on homophobic desis. Not long ago, I was one of them. Though not as bad. At least I hope so. I remember my first trip back to India (in 2005). (I know I am digressing but I need to tell this antidote). Actually, it happened when I was boarding my flight back to states. As usual the flight was supposed to take off late in the night (or early in morning). I was waiting in the boarding area,trying to keep myself awake. I was too sleepy to read so I was simply looking around. That’s when I spotted two hunks really good looking guys sitting nearby. And then they announced the boarding. As I was taking my seat, to my delight I again spotted them. They had the seats right in front of me. I couldn’t believe my luck. That never happens to me. A moment later I realized, that really never happens to me. They sat down and started kissing. Each other. I couldn’t believe my luck. Well jokes aside, I remember the way my jaw (and my stomach) dropped down. It took me several moments to compose myself. I felt completely  numb and had no idea what I was doing. The shock was a bit too much for me to handle. (Also: Ouch). So I think I should not be the one making judgments about other people’s homophobia.

What I am trying to say is that I completely understand the utter shock one gets when one realizes someone, he or she knows, is homosexual. It’s not an easy thing to deal especially for desis. We all grew in a very conservative society where talking about one’s sexuality is forbidden. Homosexuality is unimaginable. Most of my Indian friends think homosexuality is unnatural. Other than that, it doesn’t deserve their attention.

Trouble is, whether we like or not, homosexuals are a part of our society. Approximately 10% of population in any country is gay. In India, gay men get married and have children. However, 90% of those married gay men still continue to have sexual relationship with other men. What do you know, we don’t have homosexuals  after all. We just have cheating husbands. But then how does it matter. As long as they get married and have kids, everything is fine. That’s what matters in our society, isn’t it? Getting married and having kids. Quality of life, emotional satisfaction, HAPPINESS: who cares about that? You MUST be happy if you are married and have kids.

But again, I digress. I was talking about homophobia. The great part about being a human is that you grow everyday. Well at least I did. I grew out of my homophobia. It was a gradual change though. A lot of factors helped in that change. Having non-homophobic friends helped. Reading about the issues helped. And getting to know few homosexuals also helped. Although being asked out by few of them didn’t. Or may be that helped too. But that’s another story.

Again, my point being, don’t judge anyone before you get to know them. It wouldn’t hurt you to open your mind just a bit. You might end up gaining a wonderful friend. Or may be you will be able to save an existing friendship. You never know..

Doordarshan

Okay, yet another video clip. But not as impersonal as last few. I honestly never understood this video. As a kid I used to think that may be it’s an adult thing. That is, only adults can understand it and not the other adult thing. But now as an adult also I don’t get it.

Okay, down to specific questions: how do you spread the light of freedom? And what exactly is light of freedom? Does running with a torch helps in spreading the so-called light of freedom? And why does Sunil Gavaskar has to run in the rain?

Anyone?

Oh God!

I am speechless. Read this:

Essentials of journalism: Get facts. Get opinions. Get counter-opinions. Question everything.
Now here are (or what appear to be) the facts:
A seven-year-old girl is found dead inside a politician's car.
There are blood stains on her underwear.
Post-mortem report suggests 'smothering' as cause of death.
Police find out the child was also being treated for congenital heart disease.
Cop goes on record to suggest the girl died of a stroke, because of the heart disease. Explains away her presence in the politician's car by saying she must have felt sick and so crawled into the car to sleep.

- (from Annie’s blog)

And most probably nothing will happen, yet again. I can’t think of any other “democracy” where something like this won’t become a public outrage except for the world’s largest one.

And then they claim “India is shining”. Really? Does progress just means doing economically well? Doesn’t it apply to social aspect of the society too? I think we as a society are stagnant. We are at least a century behind rest of the world. And worse: there is no effort being made to progress in that regard. The literate section of our society (use of literate instead of educated is intentional) can’t be bothered by such issues. They don’t have time for such stupid things; they are too busy making money. Hell, 50% of them don’t even read newspaper. What’s the use of being literate? But again, if they did read newspaper they will no longer be “just literate”. They might just become educated. And even the educated section of our society isn’t vocal enough. If they do feel enraged by such issues, they don’t express it. They don’t express it loudly. They don’t express it publicly. And unless we express that rage, we will never progress.

P.S.: This whole episode reminds me of a song from movie Pyaasa. The first ever song written about the plight of prostitutes. The song was:

“Jinhe naaz hai Hind par wo kaha hain?
Kaha hain, kaha hain, kaha hain?”

(Where are the people who are proud of India?
Where are they? Where are they? Where are they?)

My life

I know it’s been a while since I wrote something meaningful here. All I have posted recently are videos, forwarded/junk mails and stuff. But if you are stuck in your room for past 2 months with nothing to do but except watching Buffy, the vampire slayer or read Harry Potter or sleeping, you don’t get much to write. Unless, of course, you want me to write about Buffy or Harry Potter or my recent dreams/night mares. Somehow I figured, no one wants to know about any of those. Hence all those videos and forwarded/junk mails and stuff.

I know I wanted a break for a long time now but this is too long a break. I need to work now. I am craving to go back to work. I am craving to go back to Karate. I am craving to take my camera and go out for a day. I am bored of being bored. I simply want my life back now…

Success

Ooops…

This was shot for recruitment purpose but guess it doesn’t look very encouraging.

P.S.: 1. Yes, this is Stanford and they are from Stanford Kenpo Karate club.

2. I miss Kenpo :(

Testing

I am testing the Window writer. It seems pretty cool, that is, if it doesn’t mess with the blog.

I took this picture in Disney land last summer. Since I can’t walk these days (will tell about that in next few days), so I don’t have any new photos to post.

Enjoy this one till next time…

Update: I like Windows Writer. I can now embed the photos with the text which is pretty cool. I am thinking of starting a travel journal, that is, if I could ever leave my house again. :(

‘Pain Pain go away, Little Richie wants to play.”

Seriously

Got this in mail today:

I am Mr.Andrew Wong,I have a obscured business suggestion for you of $24,500,000USD.SEND REPLY TO MY PRIVATE E-MAIL:mrwong09_hk@yahoo.com.hk I will update you with further information as soon as I hear positive from you.Regards,Mr. Andrew Wong

(Emphasis is mine)
Seriously, how dumb does these spammers think we are?

Adding fuel to fire...

..American solider trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. Don't we already have enough trouble? Why add more fuel to already blazing. self sustaining fire?

The Best Job Ever

Watch this



All I want is to visit the island once in my life. Someday, Somehow...

P.S.: If you are hungry for more pictures, try this.

Time piece porn

Honestly. Haven't seen such a great collection of unusual time pieces. My favorite includes were the Math clocks. Call me a geek but they are brilliant.

Honorable mentions goes to:

(Design: Dale Mathis)

(Design: Buro Vormkrijgers)

Did you know?

Rama-Chandra is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Although born a prince on Earth in ancient times, the power of Vishnu flows through Rama, something which his blue skin tone suggests. In the Indian epic Ramayana, Rama vanquished the demon king Ravana for abducting Rama's consort Sita.

He met Wonder Woman after Cronus, a Titan of Myth, and his progeny the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes ransacked Olympus and attempted to destroy the Hindu gods. The Hecatonchire known as Oblivion trapped Rama and Wonder Woman in a dream realm where the two were united in wedded bliss. The false memories of this illusion were shattered when Diana defeated Oblivion, but Rama supposedly remained infatuated.

A certain attraction between Rama and Wonder Woman was evident, but nothing ultimately came of it since the character was not used by subsequent writers.

(from: Wikipedia)

I have always been a big fan of super-heros of all shapes and sizes but unfortunately I never got to read Wonder Woman series. I regret it now. May be if I knew, Rama-chandra, the super-hero, I might have had more faith in him. :)


(from: Artwork from the interior of Wonder Woman vol.2 #151. Art by Matthew Clark.)

Hmmm...

Doctors practice.

Doctors practice on us.

Doctors practice medicine on us.

No wonder I feel like a lab rat.