Sunday, March 4, 2012

ಪ್ರೀತಿ etc.

Interesting ದಿನ!
ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಹಲ ಮುಖಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ದಿನ.
ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಮುನ್ನ heartbreak  ಆದ ಗೆಳತಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ದೀರ್ಘ ಸಂವಾದ.
ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಅಣಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಗೆಳತಿಯೋರ್ವಳ dilemma.
ಇವುಗಳ ನಡುವೆ "ಹುಡ್ಗೀರು ಮೆಂಟ್ಲು ಸಾರ್" ಅಂತ ತನ್ನ ಕಥೆ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದ ಆಟೋ ಚಾಲಕ.

ಕೊನೆಗೆ, ನಿದಿರೆಗೊರಗುವ ಮುನ್ನ ರವಿ ಬೆಳಗೆರೆ ಅವರ ಉಡುಗೊರೆ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ತೆರೆದಾಗ ಕಂಡ ಮೊದಲ ಸಾಲು:
ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳು ಬೇಡುವುದು ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನಲ್ಲ. ನಂಬುಗೆಯನ್ನು!
ದಿವ್ಯ ಮೌನ !
ಮನದಲ್ಲೊಂದು ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಶಾಂತಿ.
ಒಂದು ನಂಬಿಕೆ.
Good Night

Saturday, March 26, 2011

A cause to support

It's election again in Channapatna!
Grr... it's the 3rd one in 3 years.
Thanks to operation "kamala" the candidates chosen in the past elections have changed their parties after being elected.
Left with no choice, I opted for section 49-O in the previous election. Alas! 49-O without the proposed amendments and lack of awareness is as good as a toothless tiger.
But, this time I'm going out to vote. I'm going out because I see a worthy candidate to root for - Jai Kissan. [yes! his name is Jai kissasn!]

Below is the election manifesto of independent candidate S R Jai Kissan

[Click on image for a larger view]



Sunday, January 9, 2011

Work vs Fun

I love playing with data.
Just give me lots of data and a plotter tool and I wouldn't bother you for days :)
Yesterday I Stumbled on Google ngram viewer and presto! I was like a kid with a new paint kit.
This tool plots the occurrence of words/phrases in books over years. Played with it for hours seeing various trends of word usage.
One particular graph was very interesting :  Occurrence of words "work" and "fun"
Here it  is:

The occurrence of word "fun" almost died out around the beginning of the 19th century! Those my friend are the years of industrial revolutions. Does that mean people stopped thinking about fun after industrial revolution ..... me wonders!?

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Call of the Druk

It's time again for the ride of the year.

This time it is the call of the Druk, to the land of the Thunder Dragon - Bhutan.
I will be riding with Vandit Kalia [An avid tourer, diver, founder of DiveIndia - http://www.diveindia.com ]


Tentative Itinerary :
[Entirely Vandit's hard work who has toured extensively across the land of Druk]


25th - Fly Bangalore-Kolkata-Bagdogra. Arrive in Phuentsholing by the evening.
26th - head to Thimpu, assemble bikes and go for a short afternoon ride;27th - explore Thimpu
28th - ride to Punakha
29th - spend a day exploring Punakha and the dzong
30th - head to Phobjikha
1st - explore Phobjikha
2nd - ride to Trongsa
3rd - ride to Jakar
4th - explore the Bumthang area; cycle to Ura in the evening
5th - (drive to Mongar?)
6th - Mongar to Trashiganj
7th - drive back to Paro
8th - explore Paro / Haa Valley
9th - explore around Paro (Tiger Hill Monastery?)
10th - head back to NJP
11th - fly out


Will keep tweeting [subject to network avilability]
Twitter handle : frnzi


Wish me good luck :)


Jogay - Let's go!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Of Mosquitoes, Tweets, Su-kam Inverters and Targeted Advertising

Last Sunday I was at my hometown. Thanks to the power cut policies of Karnataka govt, Power went off at 11pm.. buzzzz came in swarm of mosquitoes... and I tweeted :
Aur ek khoon bhari raat. Power cut + mosquitoes 
And here comes the reply from Su-Kam Inverters :
khoon bhari raat hi banate rahoge ya kucch aur option bhi dhundoge powercut ke liye
That's some real good use of social media for targeted advertising...
Impressed.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Dr. Thammu Achaya and The Origins of Idli

While on the quest of the origins of Gobi Manchurian I hit upon this old "The Hindu" article which talks about the origins of Idli. Surprisingly, this - pride of South India - is not South Indian uhm well it is not even Indian!
The Gastronome scientist- Thammu Achaya digs out, your favourite Idli came to India all the way from Indonesia somewhere around 8th to 12th century AD.
Here is the verbatim extract of the Idli section of the article:
[ Image taken from wikimedia commons : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idli_Sambar.JPG ]

"In Box 19 of his Indian Food: A Historical Companion, on the snacks of the South, he first points out that while early Tamil Sangam literature talks of Dosai, reference to Idli comes only after 920 AD. Even as late as the 17th century, the Indian Idli missed three elements of its modern version — use of rice grits, fermentation overnight and steaming of the batter. Steaming is an ancient Chinese method and Xuan Zang, the Chinese traveller to India in the 7th century, says that India did not have a steaming vessel. Apparently, cooks who accompanied the Hindu kings of Indonesia during their visits home during the 8th to 12th centuries AD brought fermentation techniques with them, as also perhaps steaming methods and vessels."

Interesting, isn't it?!
More interesting to me was knowing about Dr. Thammu Achaya - The Food Scientist, Historian, Painter, Musician.. whew the renaissance man :)

More about Thammu saar:
Thammu Achaya — tribute to a gastronome scientist- The Hindu article
An obituary from Indian Academy of Sciences [PDF]
Food, his story - an Indian Express article

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Where is the Rabbit?


They always said there is a rabbit up there...
I see only craters there :(
Who took my rabbit?


Some info for the shutterbugs:
Camera : Lumix TZ-7
Mode : Manual, Infinite Burst, Center point light metering, Point Focus.
Focal Length (35mm eq): ~535mm (extended zoom) X 4x digi zoom

Postprocessing: Burn Shadows, Sepia filter
Software - Picasa


Thursday, December 31, 2009

Rain on 31st Dec

Never seen rain on Dec 31st...
Seems like mother earth wants to take a shower and start afresh...
Rain on 31st, originally uploaded by fslobo.
Location: Sony world Junction, Koranagala, Bangalore

ತೊಳೆಯಲು ವರುಷದ ಕೊಳೆ,
ಸುರಿಯುತಿದೆ ತುಂತುರು ಮಳೆ.
ಹೊಸ ವರುಷವ ಹೊಸ ಹರುಷದಿ ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸಲು ಸಿದ್ಧಗೊಳ್ಳುತಿದೆ ಇಳೆ.


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

ಕಥೆಯು ಮುಗಿದೇ ಹೋದರೂ.......

vishnuvardhan

ನೂರು ಜನರು ಬಂದರೂ ನೂರು ಜನರು ಹೋದರೂ ಬರನು ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬ ಈ ಪರಿ.
"ನನ್ನ್ ಕರಿಬೇಡಿ ಮೇಷ್ಟ್ರೇ. ನಾನ್ ಬರೋಲ್ಲಾ".... ಅಂಥ ಹೇಳಿ ಹೊರಟೆ ಹೊದ್ಯಲ್ಲೋ ರಾಮಾಚಾರಿ.......


ಕಥೆಯು ಮುಗಿದೇ ಹೋದರೂ.......
............ಮುಗಿಯದಿರಲಿ ಬಂಧನ

Monday, December 28, 2009

Ghost!


Ghost!, originally uploaded by fslobo.

THIS PICTURE IS NOT MORPHED IN ANY WAY. IT IS COPIED AS IS FROM THE CAMERA.
The official BSA TFN Ghost spotted in the plantations of Coorg guest house. The official ghost was responsible for protecting the souls of TFNers during their tour. You must forward this ghost picture to atleast 5 TFNers to renew your soul protection plan. Failure to do so will terminate the plan and the Ghost Inc. is not responsible for the consequences.

Take your pick


Take your pick, originally uploaded by fslobo.

A road side shop near KR Market.
Maacch, loongu, bladeoo, chakoo en beku?

Friday, December 11, 2009

Happy Birthday....

After 27 years of existence, when I look back... It feels wonderful. Life has been beautiful.
But, suddenly today, a certain grief engulfs my mind. Hazy images of unknown people hover around.
27 years ago, many of us shared a small piece of history - We were born on this day.
But.... All couldn't make it to today.

Hunger, Infanticide, Diseases, Road accidents, Earthquakes, Human trafficking, Substance abuse, Terrorism, Wars, Famines, Floods, Depression, Suicide..... They took a toll on many of us.

Some were taken away,
Some lost their way,
Some couldn't take it
And some just couldn't make it.....

I dedicate this day to you all..... "Rest in Peace"
and Happy Birthday!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

My smoke free diwali

This is what happens when you mix insomnia, loneliness, Diwali eve, a Camera and a Torch :
Celebrating the festival of lights by playing with light

Light Play, originally uploaded by fslobo.



P1030019, originally uploaded by fslobo.




Light Scribe, originally uploaded by fslobo.



Light Attack!, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Where am I?

Track me live [well almost]
My current trip - Call of the Druk
My blabberings on the current trip : twitter.com/frnzi

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Through the Ghats - September ride plan

Was planning for this for lonnng. The initial plan was riding from Kanyakumari to Goa along the coast. But, A recent ride on NH7 made me feel this would be totall madness in that traffic and humidity. So, switched to ghats. So here is the plan.

My big Solo ride in September :

Sep 15: Leave bangalore by bus
Sep 16 : reach Kanyakumari. Start riding [ok i am not watching the sunset here. I'll caome back again riding to see that :)]. Kanyakumari->Nagarcoil->Th
uckaly->Neyyar Dam [70 km]
Sep 17 : Neyyar->Thenmala[80km]->Pathnamtitta[55 km ] - 135 km
Sep 18 : Pathnamtitta -> somehwere near Mundayakkam - 100 km some climbs
Sep 19 : Mundayakkam -> Idukki dam - approx 70 km
Sep 20 : Idukki -> Devikollam (just before Munnar) 100 km
Sep 21 : Devikollam -> Marayoor -> Chinnar Scantuary (some 50km downhill) -> Udumalpet->Pollachi->Coimbatore - 150km
Sep 22 : Cmb -> Ooty via Coonoor - 70 km
Sep 23,24,25 : Join Devakishor and PremSagar and do some hiking, birding, cycling etc..
Sep 26 : Ooty->Devarshola estates->Sultanbattery-> Iruppu- 150 km [ Need more info on alternate routes here ]
Sep 27 : Iruppu to Madikeri - 100km
Sep 28 : Madikeri to Sakleshpur - 100km
Sep 29 : Saklehpur to Kuduremukha [probably stay at bhagavatti nature camp ] 120 km
Sep 30 : Kuduremukha to Agumbe 110 km
Oct 1 : Someshwara ghat descent -> Hebri-> Haladi ->Kundapur-> Movadi - There is no road plotted on google maps. I've heard of a route here.
Oct 2 : Stay at Grandma's house in Movadi
Oct 3 : back to bangalore

It would be great if someone has GPS tracks of Pathnamtitta->idukki->Munnar and Agumbe->Hebri->Haladi-Kundapur route

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Interesting Day

Last day of Saturday of the month. It's got to be interesting coz it is the "Critical Mass" day. It was much more interesting this Saturday, coz it was the Euro Asia Film Festa- A film festival organized by Bangalore University Dept. of Foreign Language.
The film festival was a whole day event and the Korean movie was the last one.. so had to shuttle between Festa-CM-Festa.
So, here's a brief report.

Movie#1
Grave of the Fireflies [ 火垂るの墓 ,Hotaru no Haka ]
Language : Japanese
Genre : Animation/Drama/War
Reached late, missed the begining. Cute Setsuko's character grabbed my attention instantly. A story of sibblings Seita and Setsuko in post war Japan. Amazing movie!! The eye for detail transcended in each frame. The cute voice of Setsuko is gonna haunt me for a loong loong time... Couldn't stop crying at the end. Go watch it.







Movie # 2
Lola rennt [ In English - Run Lola Run ]
Language : Germany
Genre : Thriller, Parallel Story Lines
The name said it all..... Runnnn...
Lola runs... to save Manni her boyfriend. She runs, runs and runs all she has is 20 minutes. She messes is up. So goes back and runs again and again until things get settled. Great movie. Wicked, Funny, Interesting.


Movie # 3
Aaghaata
Language : Kannada
Genre: Drama
Story of Usha, a village girl nad the men who enter her life. Director Sures Hebblikar tries to bring awareness about several issues like Dowry, suppression of girl child, Literacy campaigns, concern about environment etc. The problem with this movie - it tries to tell lot of things in a short time and looses. Definately not a movie to be shown after the slick and fast Run Lolita Run. They couls have done with a better Kannada movie.


Critical Mass
Time was already 2:30 so had to rush to reach Critical Mass. Gobbled up some food at Festa. Then again got some take-away from KFC and rushed home. Wasted some time after food and ended up late at Cubbon Park - CM start point. Luckily the mass had not moved :)
Started off around 5pm. Rode throughVidhana soudha, Infantry road, Minsk Square, Kumble Circle, MG Road, Trinity Circle, HAL Airport Rd, Domlur, 100 ft road, KFC.
It was fun riding with around 50 riders. Tried Corking for the first time, and it was fun ;)
Everyone dispersed at Indiranagar KFC. Started riding back with Satya, Arjun, Mayank, Yogun et al. Was good getting to know all these riders - Socializing on a bicycle :)
[Pic: My poster for CM]
Time was 18:30 so rushed back to festa. The Korean movie had to start by 1830. But, for some reason the french movie had just started when I reached.

Movie #4
Le Diner de Cons [ The Dinner of Idiots ]
Language : French
Genre : Comedy
Though I missed the begining, it took less than a minute to realize this was the "inspiration" for the Hindi movie Bheja Fry.
Jacques Villeret's portrayal of François Pignon was hilarious. This is played by Vinay Pathak in the Hindi version. Go watch it to lighten up your mood. Don't blame me if you fall off from the chair laughing :)


Movie#5
Welcome to Dongmakgol - 웰컴투 동막골
Language : Korean
Genre : War, Comedy
The last movie of the day and the movie I've been waiting for. It was worth waiting .
Set in the Korean war of 1950, it is a story of 3 North Korean, 2 South Korean and an American allied soldier who end up in an isolated village called Dongmakgol. The inhabitants of Dongmakgol are totally isolated from the modern world they don't have any clue about weapons, airplanes etc. Circumstances lead the soldiers to work in the village as farmers where these hostile soldiers bond to become best pals who eventually save the village from an army attack. Actress Kang Hye-jeong stole the show in the role of Yeo-il - a crazy village girl.

After a great feast of some really good movies, I rode back home at around 11pm.

Yaaaaawn \o/ that was a loong interesting day.
Good Night.

PS:
Movie I missed while on Critical Mass - Todo sobre mi madre [All About My Mother] - A Spanish drama dealing with AIDS, faith, transvestittism and existentialism.

Monday, February 23, 2009

When i conquered bangalore


When i conquered bangalore, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Taken on a fine Sunday morning [22nd Feb] while heading to Metty's engagement.
Location : Nrupatunga Road [ where RBI/St. Martha's hospital are located]
The road was closed for motorists as some construction work was goin on..
I usually take this road while comin to office and it is always jampacked. Needles to say I enjoyed the riding on the empty road... was funn...

Flickr

This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Liseurely ride to Airport junction

Saturday.... Came back from Korean classes. Had nothing better do. The withdrawal from TFN and postponement of Oslo travel was making me sad. Moreover it's been really looong time since I did a long ride on my cycle. My legs were itching to ride. Considered riding to Nandi. But, it was too late - around 3PM. Browsed a little on Google earth/Wikimapia, found no good place to ride. Finally made up my mind to go to Devanahalli. Started off at 4pm from Rajajnagar. There was no specific destination. Just thought of riding as long as possible before 6PM and return.

Need not say it was a great ride. Thanks to the new Jersey and shorts picked up from Wheelsports. I must say it was worth every penny spent [3k for Jersey+Shorts]. 
Initially had some problems with breathing until I left the city. It was smooth after that. Man! how polluted our city is getting?

Took several small breaks all along for juice, bananas, to stretch..... Maintained a good pace ~21 kmph. Reached the airport junction @6pm. Decided to return as it was getting dark.  Hit a roadside tea shop for some kaapi. Met some curious folks from Ananthpur who had stopped for a sip. God! needles to say I am tired of explaining  to people why a cycle costs 26k. huh... Then the scary part - Test Rides. I was scared, but had to oblige. Laid out strict conditions - No riding on highway, no changing gears, not to use the front brakes [last thing I wanted to see was someone slamming the front disc brakes and crashing :) ] Thank God only 2guys took the test ride.

Left the airport junction at 6:15. There were very less climbs on return route, was mostly downhill but, traffic was sickening. Started feeling tired near Jakkur. Took a small break near Sahkarnagar. Gobbled up some biscuits and continued... Started Spinning for Cool off from Mekhri Circle.

Reached home at around 8:30... 

Aaah! what more can one ask from life when you can just do what you love :)

Ride Stats
Total time : approx 4hrs
Time on wheels : 3:05:01
Distance : 68.84 km
Avg : 22.3 kmph
Max : 47.8 kmph
Calories : 1201

Odo reading - 329 km .... way to go.....