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December 19th, 2009
astronomy
[ami_ven]
 | 03:58 am - I read something about commets today, so...
I was born in the summer of 1986, and apparently, the nine months my mother was pregnant with me were the peak time to see Haley's Commet in the sky. She says this explains a lot about how I turned out.
So, was anyone else a Haley's Commet baby? Or born under any astronomical event?
EDIT: Um...I really didn't mean to start a debate on astrology. I really meant, was anyone born under major astronomical events, like commets, meteor showers, etc. Sorry!
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December 18th, 2009
anushsh
 | 07:15 am - She’s a rainbow ..
Love this song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards ( Rolling Stones)
She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
Have you seen her dressed in blue
See the sky in front of you
And her face is like a sail
Speck of white so fair and pale
Have you seen the lady fairer
She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
Have you seen her all in gold
Like a queen in days of old
She shoots colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen the lady fairer
She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She’s like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
She’s like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
.
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swatisani
 | 07:37 pm - One.
The year was 1991, early June. We wanted to feel alive, what better way than go hang-gliding? He would pick me up at 4.30 AM and we would ride on his bike to the outskirts of the city to this adventure camp where we learnt hang-gliding. Years have passed us by but every time I think of those days, I still get goose pimples – and hang gliding was just one of the things we did.  Fly Read the rest of this entry » Originally published at Swati Sani. Please leave any comments there.
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zoombiee
 | 06:22 pm - Idiotic Journalism
This is one of the worst articles I have ever read
http://news.rediff.com/column/2009/dec/18/an-avoidable-mess-over-telangana.htm
The writer does not know much about any of the topics she is discussing. She is simply presenting her point of view as though it is the epitome of correctness. Most of the new states she mentions are being fought for not on ethnic or liguistic basis. Telanaga people and Andhra people are of the same ethnicity and speak the same language. Same with Vidharba. The issues is that of political neglect and marginalization.
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tariquesani
 | 06:09 pm - Live Flickr Comments Importer
A quick note for those who follow my blog but not the SANIsoft blog. The Wordpress Plugin to import comments from your Flickr Photos into your Wordpress posts is now listed at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/live-flickr-comment-importer/ and the plugin home page is at http://www.sanisoft.com/blog/2009/12/15/wordpress-plugin-live-flickr-comment-importer/
Bug reports, feature request and patches most welcome
Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there.
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deponti
 | 04:42 pm - Sitting in Guwahati, in an internet parlour
Not being savvy enough to have the net on my mobile, I am sitting in a seedy internet parlour in Guwahati, having gorged on momos for lunch....had a lovely day visiting Dakshineswar in Kolkata yesterday...will be out of touch for the next two weeks as I visit Dibru-Shaikowa and Namdapha...back on the 31st.
I do'nt have the time to visit my friend's pages, so I hope all of you are doing fine...
And here's wishing many of you a very Merry Christmas in advance, if I don't get to a computer again!
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beast_666
 | 04:13 am - Of Celebrity manias and scandals...
I look back at my earlier posts and see all of them are what some might consider bitchy. Maybe I remind them of Nancy Grace or some other condescending a-hole of their choice. I'll accept that, and I'll proceed with one more rant of sorts.
Celebrities.
So, my issue with people in general, is their obsession with celebrity scandals. And the media hype surrounding these controversies. And the hypocrisy we (and I include myself in this category) choose to exhibit when we bitch about how much media frenzy exists regarding these incidents.
Case in point, Tiger Woods. So, he cheated on his wife. And had an affair. OK.. Many affairs. I get it. You are morally outraged. You are horrified at the prospect of a respected athlete (sure.. let's consider golf an athletic event for now..) straying from his path of virtue and fidelity to get some snatch. You are lamenting the death of the ideal role model for your kids, since one more once-respectable celebrity who maintained a low profile in his personal life, did something so shocking and sinful, he ought to be publicly humiliated and cast stones at..
Sure, I feel the rage. How dare a mere mortal, when we elevated him to the status of a demigod, betray the trust we placed in us? Does he not value our immense respect? Our sacred trust, something we do not offer to just about anyone? We feel betrayed. And lost. And hurt. Who will our kids look up to now?
And so on.. And that's just the sheeple talking. The general public, the layman, the "common man" if I may. The average non-celebrity who is so dissatisfied with his/her own mundane life, feels it is not exciting enough, who seems to be bitching the most about his/her idol's fall from grace..
And of course, there is the mass media, with its incessant coverage of whatever scandal seems to be getting the most viewer ratings at the moment. Whether it is Tom Cruise and his Scientology antics or Mackenzie Philips' incestuous relationships or Larry King or Bill Clinton banging their interns, Paris Hilton's escapades or Britney and her multitude of wacky antics... I could go on and on. The media seems to be almost parasitic when it comes to celeb culture.. No celebrity is left to themselves, whether it is someone who has actually accomplished something, or someone being notorious for pretty much nothing (balloon boy for instance..).
It's almost as if the mass media needs the celebrities as a host, so it can suck its nourishments from them, so it can survive. One look at your average daily shows, and you see so many shows catering to celebrity gossip. Paparazzi following and harassing celebs. Talk show hosts talking about them, judging them, bringing about panels to discuss their scapegoat's behavior.. And so on. And of course, there are the late night funnymen, the comedians whose majority of the material seems to be poking fun of celebrity escapades.
Complain about this, and the media's excuse is that they cater to the public wants. They claim they show stuff that the average man wants to see. Cause it brings in viewers, who bring in the money from the admen. Tell this to the average man, and you would hear their excuse, that it's the media that bombards them with the images of these celebrities, show their glamorous lifestyles, then later judge them and showcase their personal lives, and their scandals. They say the media basically controls their view of the world.
In the end, it's a vicious circle, with neither one taking the responsibility. And I guess we all are to blame. So we find our lives boring and bland compared to the lives of the celebrities. We are dissatisfied with our incomes, our lifestyles, our inability to spend lots of money on pointless pursuits, and we are jealous of some of them. And we hate them secretly, though we admire some of them. And finally, when we find a chink in their shiny expensive armor, we vilify them. Push our collective judgmental knives deep into their sides.. Berate them, disgrace them, and basically complain about how they are not worthy of our respect.
Why do we not see that they too are ordinary people like us? Humans, with human wants and needs, human desires and weaknesses. They too feel the pressures and urges we people do. Just because we see them as heroes or champions, we expect them to be capable to resisting the pressure of their urges, and stick to the morals and ethics we dictate. They did not declare themselves role models for our kids. WE chose them to represent us. WE chose to see them as a reflections of ourselves, as we would wish to be. They are not perfect. They may just be better than us. In some ways. While being deficient in others..
So, let's think for a moment. WE are deifying or demonizing those select few common men and women and making them our heroes or villains. WE, as a collective society choose to pass judgment upon their actions, which we would probably have done too, if the situation was presented to us. Maybe not you, in particular, but someone else. The point is, it just happens. And we, as a society cannot cast a stone at them, cause, we as a collective whole, are NOT perfect. We are flawed too. Just cause we are not in the public eye does not mean we have the moral high ground.. So yeah, there are millions of washed out druggies like Amy Winehouse. There are millions of one-day marriages like Britney's. Lots of men and women have multiple affairs outside their marriages. Lots of men and women commit "sins" and mistakes. When we form a collective front to bitch about something, we are still morally bankrupt as a community. Whether everyone in the group has committed the mistake or not, you can NOT choose to judge without being judged.
And I still include myself among the guilty folk I've been talking about. I am complaining about myself too. I am guilty of judging them. And I hate myself for that aspect. I find my own tendency to judge someone else's private life, deplorable. I know I want to change, and I know I probably won't. Complaining about someone else makes my own faults seem distant for a moment. Maybe it's that momentary freedom from the feeling of guilt that I want. Maybe that's something we all want. It doesn't make it right. But atleast it explains it I guess?
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/annoyed.gif) bitchy
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prashanthks
 | 01:16 pm - A feeling of helplessness
Originally published at Mind over Matter. You can comment here or there. It is when you can’t do something that you really feel how little and how helpless you are. There are a lot of things that one wants to change and make a difference to, but one just can’t. It is not just global issues and burning issues, but you understand the perspective when you are put into a situation when you try to make sense out of little, seemingly ordinary issues in your day to day life.
  
I realized the importance of this after my surgery. The very minute after my knee surgery, my power of walking was taken away from me. Here I was, immobile and unable to do anything. I might have been able to move my hands, but what use it is without the legs? I can only reach those things that are around me, but I can’t go over to something that lies beyond my reach. Take for instance a simple example of washing my hands after food. You would know that most Indian food requires that you get your hands dirty. Once my hands are dirty and dripping with food matter, I need to go to the wash basin and wash it off. But how do I do that? Thankfully now, 2-3 days post the operation, I have been able to walk around with crutches, but still I can hold onto a crutch with dirty hands, can I? Notwithstanding dirtying the crutches, I risk slippage and injury. Another example is after I drink some coffee and I keep the glass by my side. I cannot walk over to the kitchen to put the glass in the sink, since I need both my hands to hold up the crutches. Either I walk, or I hold the tumbler. How am I then to take the tumbler to be cleaned? I have to be dependent on someone. Same goes for bringing some CDs, newpaper, or books from the other rooms.
No, I am not feeling bad about this, not am I asking for pity. There are certain things that have to be done and there are certain things that are not in one’s control and one has to learn to accept that. I never felt bad for even one instant at my crippled state. I know that sustaining this pain for a few weeks, will in the long run be better for me as my legs would have fully healed without any risk of worsening the condition sometime in the future. But then, I occasionally think about the larger picture. I think about issues pertaining to my country and pertaining to the world.
Daily I read about how corrupt our politicians are and how they put their own interests in front of the interests of the nation and the interests of the public. Daily, I read about the problems that India faces with its neighbours and the border issues, and how our politicians seem to do nothing about it. Maybe they have other serious personal issues to attend to. China pointing a finger at our own PM visiting our own state – Arunachal Pradesh. Will your blood not boil, if one day you are out in your lawn and your neighbour asks you to not sit in your lawn and go back inside the house? Pakistan and other neighbours abetting terrorism against India and causing misery and death to poor innocent Indian citizens. What does our government do in return?, plead with them to stop doing and spend an amount to the tune of Rs. 21 crores on someone who killed more than 150 Indians and killed the peace of 1000s of Indian families. I wonder if the government, which usually gives compensation to the victims of such tragedies(it’s like you make a mistake and then pay the victim to shut up about it), even gave a total compensation equal to the amount that they are spending in keep Kasab alive and healthy. If that isn’t adding insult to injury, then I don’t know what is.
The last straw today was reading about the Hopenhagen summit. USA and its overly healthy citizens, who love to drive flashy cars and SUVs and custom bikes, are thinking about reducing their carbon emissions by 4%(yes, that is four f*****g percentage) and in turn they want nations like India and China to promise that they will reduce their carbon emissions by 40-50% by 2025. I am lost for expletives. All the foul words that I know are getting garbled as they exit my mouth, I am that irritated. Of course, these developed nations and super powers are the ones calling the shots. They can do whatever they want and if the poorer(in terms of both money and governance) nations don’t cooperate, then they will face sanctions from the super powers. Basically that means we will not be allowed to make shirts for the US citizens. I say, let them make their own $100 tees(instead of buying our $10 tees) and let us keep our rich crop of Alphonso mangos and increase internal consumption instead.
Seeing and reading about what is happening to India and what India is being subjected to, I cant help but contain a feeling of helplessness. Other than hurling expletives, what else can I do to make a difference? When I think about my own self and my own issues, I can think of various solutions. I can keep a bunch of tissues next to my bed to wipe my hands with, before I hobble over to the wash basin and wash my hands with water. That is of course an option. If I want to carry things to and from my bed, then I can keep a small sling bag with me which I can use to carry things like papers, books and other things.
But what do I do about the larger issues that don’t deal directly with me. Issues that need the cooperation of others and issues that are completely out of my control? Other than just cribbing about it, what else can I do? I can just express my helplessness and nothing more.
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December 17th, 2009
purely_narcotic
 | 10:35 pm - Either/Or
There is the pretentious:
You know how the saying goes, when men open car doors for women either the woman is new or the car is. And when neither holds true but the man runs to the car, it's amusing but reeks of over-eagerness(even if offset by pseudo-charm, no brownie points will be earned).
I was at the bus stop today standing right below the sign that read 754. Seeing the bus approaching the Hispanic ladies jumped off the bench and started running towards the sign. One particularly tiny lady bags in hand et al managed to shove me aside and stand next to this tall lanky man wearing a wide-brimmed hat who was standing to my right. I threw a that's-not-done-bitch look at the woman and waited for the door of the bus to open, which to my delight had stopped right in front of me. At this point the tall man with the hat extended his hand and politely said, 'After you, Ma'am.' I turned to thank him, he tipped his hat, the Hispanic lady grumbled and mumbled and waited. It's been a while since I unabashedly grinned at a stranger on the bus.
Pretentious, meet chivalry.
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kqaquizzes
[arulster]
 | 09:41 pm - Go Ogle 2010
Come back here on 1st Jan for
GO OGLE 2010
The toughest quiz in the world.
1600hrs-2359 hours
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killapop
 | 06:57 pm - hic
The Capital has taken to me nicely. I feel snug. although my normal intake of eggs has been adversely affected by the late awakening of roadside food - the lazy wankers!!!
Current Location: India, New Delhi
Current Mood: chipper
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anushsh
| 09:05 am - Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos), Kaziranga
Location of the sighting: Central range, Kaziranga National Park ( map )
A female Kalij Pheasant just ran across the trail and I was feeling bad that I didn’t get to see this bird properly. But out driver ensured that a male would follow it shortly. And after waiting for a while, a male Kalij Pheasant appeared on the trail. It looked around and quickly headed to the other side of the road where the female just went in.
Kalij Pheasants are generally forest dwelling birds and are found in the foothills of the Himalayas and there are various sub-species too. They are omnivorous eating almost anything from bamboo seeds to small snakes and lizards.
Original Entry
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December 16th, 2009
prashanthks
| 08:42 pm - Day to Day updates of ACL Reconstruction Surgery
Originally published at Mind over Matter. You can comment here or there. This will be a post of how I have been improving over the days following the ACL reconstruction surgery. What struck me was when the many doctors that I met, who said that this was a minor surgery and that I will be able to bend my knees the very next day after the operation and that I would use crutches for 3 weeks and then I should be back to normal. 3 weeks sounded like such a short period, but the amount of mobility is severely restricted in this period and one just cannot do without the support of others. I will keep updating this post on a daily basis on the progress that my leg is showing towards recovery, so that this can be used as a benchmark for those undergoing this kind of a surgery, or who plan to undergo such a surgery and want to know the repercussions and limitation prior to going ahead with the surgery.
All events start from Friday the 11th of December, 2009, when I admitted myself to the hospital.
Day 0: (Friday) The day of admission. I could walk around with just a small limp. The limp was mainly due to a ligament stub stuck between my bones, otherwise, barring strenuous activities, I would just about do anything else and be my own independent self.
Day 1: (Saturday) Day of Operation. I was sedated and felt the need to sleep all afternoon. Early evening, the anesthesia began to wear off and was replaced by a severe pain in my leg. The pain was almost unbearable, but I fought off the need to take painkillers until night for when it was scheduled. Consuming food was tough as there was a vomiting tendency and an IV injection was given to take care of that. Sleep was the best medicine for the pain and I would have slept 20 hours that day.
The leg itself was immovable and just dead weight. Was taught a few stiffening and pressing exercises and the Physio was impressed with the strength in my legs. He thought I was a jogger. Still didn’t have the strength to lift it off the bed myself. Took measurements for crutches and I got myself a pair.
Urination and Motions would have to be done by the bed. 
Day 2: (Sunday) Post Operation Day 1. I could easily flex my toes today. Woohoo. There was some strength in my leg and I could manage to strain a few muscles on my leg. Otherwise it was still dead weight. Towards noon I could manage to hold up my leg in the air once it was lifted by the strong and secure hands of two physios. Some more exercises followed. Urination and Motions still by the bed and I restricted myself as much as I could. Ate like crazy though, now that there was no more vomiting sensation. Had enough of the pain killers and got the IV line removed.
Learnt to walk around a few feet using the crutches. I was mobile again, barely. At least that meant no more bed pans. Woohoo.
Day 3: (Monday) POD 2 and day of discharge. Strained all my muscles on my forehead and managed to lift my leg a few inches off the ground myself. Feel asleep the next minute after all the effort. Physio came twice that day and put me through my exercise routine and also walked around a bit. I saw the corridor of the hospital for the first time. I was made to fold my legs at the knee, by my own effort for some range of motion and by the physio for the rest. Yes, I could now bend my knee.
Got back home to some pain in the legs thanks to two rounds of physio. Maybe I should have carried back the pain killers. By night, the leg was dead weight again and I needed support to even slightly adjust it on the bed.
Day 4: (Tuesday) First morning at home. Was able to lift my leg more easily and could really feel it having gotten stronger. Did all exercises a couple of time before the physio came in the evening. A new physio and a new perspective. He was impressed with the amount of strength in my legs. Among the new exercises was some more lifting exercises and continuing with the bending and walking.
Day 5: (Wednesday) Mornings are the best for my knee as it gains all its strength back after a good night’s sleep. Walked around more easily and more confidently. The dressing was changed to a fresh one. Did a few rounds of exercises too for the day. Physio came in the evening and taught a few more exercises. He was confident to let me support a little more weight on my legs. It seems I was at 50% weight bearing and 95% flexibility at the knee. One week ahead of schedule as it stands. Woohoo.
Day 6: (Thursday) Woke up with a severe pain in the leg. Reminded me of the day of operation. Nevertheless, hobbled over to brush teeth and got back to the bed to relax. My back is having a severe pain thanks to sitting up 12 hours straight. Mornings round of exercises went off well and my knee bends even more easily now. Evening session with the physiotherapist lasted under 15 minutes. He was very impressed with the progress. One more new bending exercise learnt. Leg is now taking more than 50% body weight.
I need to start learning how to climb stairs. Will have to remember to ask the physio tomorrow.
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ti22
 | 07:44 pm - dynamic copyright
Copyright ©
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if(curyear.getFullYear()=="2006")
{
document.write(curyear.getFullYear());
}
else
{
document.write("2006 - " +curyear.getFullYear());
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Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams. All rights reserved.
Current Location: India, Bangalore
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/goth_boy/sleepy.gif) blank
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