Recently my good friend Terrywhatlee had a post on Great Danes and it was only then I even came to know that Scooby-Doo is a Great Dane. Though I have been a great dog lover, never ever did I cared to know about the various breeds and things like that.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to see for the first time in my life a Great Dane in person, while I was visiting Montauk Point, the eastern tip of Long Island. I wasn't sure whether it was Great Dane. I needed to know. My curiosity got the better of me and I walked towards the owner and asked him. He was polite and he said that it is indeed Great Dane. He also told me how friendly she is, especially how much she likes to spend time with children at home.
Since then I have been finding it very difficult to stop reading about Great Danes. Myself and Amrapali are very fond of dogs and plan to own one. Amrapali did have a dog as a kid, whereas I never had that opportunity.
It is quite expensive to own a dog. More than the money, it is more about responsibility of having a dog as a member of your home. Though the emotional reasons and the responsibilities of owning a dog is important, a good idea about the costs is also essential. There is no point in overlooking this fact. I found an article which gives an estimate of costs involved in having a dog. I am sure there are plenty of sources which have estimates. But this one is a good start.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Saif Ali Khan: A Revelation
I recently watched Dil Chata Hai. It is a very ordinary movie and was all hype. In fact my reason for wanting to see the movie was Saif Ali Khan.
If I have seen somebody grow up on screen as an actor it has to be Saif. I first got a glimpse of this change in him when I saw Parineeta (thanks to Priya and Arvind). It was one of those passionate love story, well made. Had good music too. Saif played a very well crafted role. Later I also saw Hum Tum, a role for which he got National Award.
Later I also watched him in Salaam Namaste and finally DCH.
Probably he is telling to himself in Rajni style (Baadsha) "Evalo paathirupom" (Have seen it all) and to come to think of it, he probably has. Son of Tiger Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore and early entry in to Hindi film industry. Falls in love with a much elder woman, marries her against all opposition, both from family and public, does really bad movies with even badly made roles, is a father of a daughter, gets divorce from his wife ...
He reminds me a lot of a room-mate of mine in his "har katein". May be I see this person in him. But then I do think Saif is one of the best in Hindi cinema. He makes Amir and Akshaye look mere actors in this movie.
But I should admit there was one particular scene in DCH that was really amazing. This is the scene where the train leaves with Preeti Zinta still on the platform. The look of her through the glass door of the train, says it all in that movie about the relationship that she is yearning for from Amir. It is impossible to love somebody and not show it off in some form or the other.
If I have seen somebody grow up on screen as an actor it has to be Saif. I first got a glimpse of this change in him when I saw Parineeta (thanks to Priya and Arvind). It was one of those passionate love story, well made. Had good music too. Saif played a very well crafted role. Later I also saw Hum Tum, a role for which he got National Award.
Later I also watched him in Salaam Namaste and finally DCH.
Probably he is telling to himself in Rajni style (Baadsha) "Evalo paathirupom" (Have seen it all) and to come to think of it, he probably has. Son of Tiger Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore and early entry in to Hindi film industry. Falls in love with a much elder woman, marries her against all opposition, both from family and public, does really bad movies with even badly made roles, is a father of a daughter, gets divorce from his wife ...
He reminds me a lot of a room-mate of mine in his "har katein". May be I see this person in him. But then I do think Saif is one of the best in Hindi cinema. He makes Amir and Akshaye look mere actors in this movie.
But I should admit there was one particular scene in DCH that was really amazing. This is the scene where the train leaves with Preeti Zinta still on the platform. The look of her through the glass door of the train, says it all in that movie about the relationship that she is yearning for from Amir. It is impossible to love somebody and not show it off in some form or the other.
Friday, June 23, 2006
How things come to this point?
This morning as I was checking for the something at the website of Research Laboratories for Electronics I saw the news item that Rahul Sarpeshkar has been awarded a tenure. Though I was initially thinking about why the term 'awarded' is being used (after all he has earned it, didn't he?), I moved on to check his group page. I have known that he works on biology-electronics, but what I didn't know was that he was Carver Meads' student.
As somebody who has gone through graduate school to complete a Ph.D these things about being somebody's student and all, interests me a lot. Moreover, Carver Mead is somebody whom Iadmire a lot as a scientist. He is in that list that I have of people, who have greatly impacted me through their scientific contributions and innovators, which includes among others Robert Noyce, Richard Feynman, Don Knuth, CT Sah.
When I was doing my research to buy a digital SLR camera, I wanted to buy Sigma just because they had Foveon CMOS image sensors. Foveon is one of the many companies that Carver Mead had helped start or run through his scientific innovations. I didn't go for a Sigma for other reasons.
Now what does Carver Mead has to do with this post?
Actually it goes back to Rahul and I found in his Ph.D thesis, digging deep into which I found a person Sanjoy Mahajan, whose webpage has a lot of interesting stuff. Check the one image explanation of the war in Iraq there.
Most importantly check the physics teaching aid and related articles. Especially this one which talks about something that most Teaching Assistants in graduate schools might find very helpful.
My reason for the title of this post, is that how we start looking for something and finally due to this search and all those things, end up finally somewhere which we had no clue about in the first place.
As somebody who has gone through graduate school to complete a Ph.D these things about being somebody's student and all, interests me a lot. Moreover, Carver Mead is somebody whom Iadmire a lot as a scientist. He is in that list that I have of people, who have greatly impacted me through their scientific contributions and innovators, which includes among others Robert Noyce, Richard Feynman, Don Knuth, CT Sah.
When I was doing my research to buy a digital SLR camera, I wanted to buy Sigma just because they had Foveon CMOS image sensors. Foveon is one of the many companies that Carver Mead had helped start or run through his scientific innovations. I didn't go for a Sigma for other reasons.
Now what does Carver Mead has to do with this post?
Actually it goes back to Rahul and I found in his Ph.D thesis, digging deep into which I found a person Sanjoy Mahajan, whose webpage has a lot of interesting stuff. Check the one image explanation of the war in Iraq there.
Most importantly check the physics teaching aid and related articles. Especially this one which talks about something that most Teaching Assistants in graduate schools might find very helpful.
My reason for the title of this post, is that how we start looking for something and finally due to this search and all those things, end up finally somewhere which we had no clue about in the first place.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Perhaps, it is someone else
Just finished watching the episode The Watchman of Malgudi Days. The title of this post is the last dialogue in this episode about a watchman who guards an old temple tank. The old watchman is reprimanded by the local judge after a spate of suicides. Later that night a girl wants to commit suicide after not getting a college scholarship which was her ticket to freedom from marriage and children. A prospective groom is coming to see her the next day. She says that she doesn't want to be a burden to her step mother, wants to become a doctor.
The watchman asks her to go home and live a happy life and bear kids for her husband. She rebuffs him as to what he knows about her misery or misery per se. He tells her of his losing almost his entire family, his wife and 7 daughters, save for the youngest daughter, to plague and says that she is too young to even understand misery.
He leaves her near the temple tank and goes to sleep. The next day morning, he notices only the letter near the steps. His friend tells him probably that girl left for home. He says that sometimes the body takes months to come up and feels that he couldn't save that particular girl from committing suicide.
Many years later a husband and wife and their three kids come to the temple and the old watchman, much older now, looks through his broken glass and identifies the woman as the same girl whom he had persuaded to go home that night. Even after knowing that it was the same watchman who had saved her, she fails to recognize him, prompting him to say "Perhaps, it is someone else".
A very poignant story that I have read/seen in recent times.
The watchman asks her to go home and live a happy life and bear kids for her husband. She rebuffs him as to what he knows about her misery or misery per se. He tells her of his losing almost his entire family, his wife and 7 daughters, save for the youngest daughter, to plague and says that she is too young to even understand misery.
He leaves her near the temple tank and goes to sleep. The next day morning, he notices only the letter near the steps. His friend tells him probably that girl left for home. He says that sometimes the body takes months to come up and feels that he couldn't save that particular girl from committing suicide.
Many years later a husband and wife and their three kids come to the temple and the old watchman, much older now, looks through his broken glass and identifies the woman as the same girl whom he had persuaded to go home that night. Even after knowing that it was the same watchman who had saved her, she fails to recognize him, prompting him to say "Perhaps, it is someone else".
A very poignant story that I have read/seen in recent times.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Dolby Digital - India Link
These days I am reading a lot about AV Receivers, Speakers and various sound formats. The forum at Audioholics gives lot of valuable information. Apart from that I also checked the famed Dolby website and there I found an interesting link to India. Ray Dolby worked for two years as an UN advisor for the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO).
The demo file in Dolby website is amazing. After listening to that piece Amrapali said
Pyaas Kuchh Aur Bhii Bha.Dakaa Dii Jhalak Dikhalaake
Tujhako Paradaa Rukh\-E\-Roshan Se Hataanaa Hogaa
This is a Asha-Talat duet from Lala Rukh set to Kaifi Azmi's lyrics by Khaiyyam.
The demo file in Dolby website is amazing. After listening to that piece Amrapali said
Pyaas Kuchh Aur Bhii Bha.Dakaa Dii Jhalak Dikhalaake
Tujhako Paradaa Rukh\-E\-Roshan Se Hataanaa Hogaa
This is a Asha-Talat duet from Lala Rukh set to Kaifi Azmi's lyrics by Khaiyyam.
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