C Y'ALL

alright people...

Many of you know that I'm going thru a very busy phase in life right now.. so won't be posting much.

And what's more, as of sometime next week you might find my website down for a few days.. thats coz I am in the middle of a major move.. finished moving about half a million worth of equipment today.. god, talk about tension.

The other half this week... including the PC in which this site that you're reading is hosted on. Which means I lose my IP address and then I gotta go change that to the new IP, if external, at the name servers.. or if internal then figure out an access to the friggin router and then open up a port to my PC for http... not much fun.

Well, so don't bombard me with emails if u find the site down sometime end of this week okie? It'll come back.





Till then..
see ya....

texture and color

Took this picture this morning. (click on it for bigger view)

Just a splash of sun on the barn...
with some color still on the dying leaves.

Stupidity Abounds

So this morning my car got hit by a pickup truck driven by an 82-yr old male driver. Complex explanations about the accident scenes are not important.. all that is important is that I was not at fault... according to me, two eye-witnesses and a police officer. But the other driver kept insisting that he was not at fault. The marks on his car and on my car show very clearly that he hit me, that he veered off his lane, confirmed by two independant eye-witnesses.. But still old man no agree. Well, hard luck to him, he's the one that got cited not me.

But that just proves what I mean about stupidity! It is EVERYWHERE!! It is scary!! God, to meet intelligent people is like a breath of fresh air. It is rare, that's why I want to keep in touch with them. And dumb people are too many so I want to stay away from them.

--- Wish I had the "Mobile Eye" on to see if I could have predicted that guy's obviously terrible driving behavior. Will write more about the Mobile Eye on some other post.. It's this latest research tool that I have and man, I think we can do wonders with it. Am rarin' to get some data.

Stupidity part 2 -
Ths article in the New York Times about the current case in Pennsylvania over teaching of Intelligent Design in public schools. Sorry to those who've read this, but I'm pasting the entire article here...

Witness Defends Broad Definition of Science

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: October 19, 2005, From www.NYT.com

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 18 - A leading architect of the intelligent-design movement defended his ideas in a federal courtroom on Tuesday and acknowledged that under his definition of a scientific theory, astrology would fit as neatly as intelligent design.

Prof. Michael J. Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University, is the first expert witness for the school board of Dover, Pa., which is requiring students to hear a statement about intelligent design in biology class.

Under sharp cross-examination by a lawyer for parents who have sued the school district, he said he was untroubled by the broadness of his definition of science and likened intelligent design to the Big Bang theory of the origins of the universe because both initially faced rejection from scientists who objected for religious and philosophical reasons.

"Intelligent design is certainly not the dominant view of the scientific community," Professor Behe testified in Federal District Court, "but I am very pleased with the progress we are making."

Intelligent design is the belief that living organisms are so complex that the best explanation is that they were created by an intelligent force of some kind. At issue in the lawsuit is whether the concept's introduction into biology class is an abridgment of the separation between church and state.

The board voted last year to require that students in ninth-grade biology listen to a four-paragraph statement saying that there are gaps and problems with the theory of evolution and that intelligent design is among the alternatives worth considering. The statement said that among the resources available in the school library for further study is an intelligent-design textbook, "Of Pandas and People."

In two days on the stand, Professor Behe has insisted that intelligent design is not the same as creationism, which supports the biblical view that God created the earth and its creatures fully formed. The Supreme Court has ruled that creationism is a religious belief and cannot be taught in public school.

The cross-examination of Professor Behe on Tuesday made it clear that intelligent-design proponents do not necessarily share the same definition of their own theory. Eric Rothschild, a lawyer representing the parents suing the school board, projected an excerpt from the "Pandas" textbook that said:

"Intelligent design means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency with their distinctive features already intact, fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks and wings, etc."

In that definition, Mr. Rothschild asked, couldn't the words "intelligent design" be replaced by "creationism" and still make sense? Professor Behe responded that that excerpt from the textbook was "somewhat problematic," and that it was not consistent with his definition of intelligent design.

Mr. Rothschild asked Professor Behe why then he had not objected to the passage since he was among the scientists who was listed as a reviewer of the book. Professor Behe said that although he had reviewed the textbook, he had reviewed only the section he himself had written, on blood clotting. Pressed further, he agreed that it was "not typical" for critical reviewers of scientific textbooks to review their own work.

Intelligent design, according to Professor Behe's definition, is a scientific theory that is able to accept some aspects of evolution, like change in organisms over time, but rejects the Darwinian theory of random natural selection. He said intelligent design "focuses exclusively on the proposed mechanism of how complex biological structures arose."

Scientific critics of intelligent design - and there are many - have said for years that its proponents never propose any positive arguments or proofs of their theory, but rest entirely on finding flaws in evolution.

In an attempt to pin Professor Behe down, Mr. Rothschild asked, "What is the mechanism that intelligent design is proposing?"

Mr. Behe said: "It does not propose a mechanism in the sense of a step-by-step description of how these structures arose." He added that "the word 'mechanism' can be used broadly" and said the mechanism was "intelligent activity."

Mr. Rothschild concluded, "Sounds pretty tautological, Professor Behe."

"No, I don't think so," he responded. He likened the process to seeing the sphinx in Egypt, or the stone heads on Easter Island, and concluding that someone must have designed them.

Listening from the front row of the courtroom, a school board members said he found Professor Behe's testimony reaffirming. "Doesn't it sound like he knows what he's talking about?" said the Rev. Ed Rowand, a board member and church pastor.

Mr. Rowand said the "core of the issue" is, "Do we have the academic freedom to tell our children there are other points of view besides Darwin's?"

STUPIDITY Galore... what can I say?
First of all, looks like this loser is very very important since he gets to review his own chapter in a book. WHAT?? WOW!!! Man, may I review my next publication myself, please, please??

Also, he himself admits that Astrology can be considered a science, since it fits under his definition of "Science". Wow, don't the warning bells go off as soon as you hear that? He admits Astrology and I.D. are in the same category... so now let's teach astrology in schools.. Linda Goodman-required reading!!

Lemme try and put succintly what he said so that the tautology is obvious..
He just said that
--- The mechanism that intelligent design is proposing is intelligent activity.
hmmmmmmm .. confusing or duhhhhh ??
Its like this example I always remember
- Define tautology. Answer: Tautology is that which is tautological.
Hehehe.. more confused??

OK, if you cannot convince, confuse..
and that seems to be working fine for these ID proponents.
What did that church pastor say at the end?

"Doesn't it sound like he knows what he's talking about?"

Sound like?? SOUND like?? SOUND like???????

Ohhhh.. Now I get it!!!

Everything is Illuminated...

Now I assume (hopefully not wrongly) that the readers of this weblog have, in one way or the other, a certain common factor with me in terms of likes and dislikes. So in this site, I am presumptous enough to suggest to my readers books, movies and music that they'd most probably enjoy. Hope I'm right. If you don't enjoy then then you can shove it up where the sun don't shine and don't bother reading this.. like many have done. Yes, that means you. Good. Go away!!

:D

phew.. that started as an attack. Sorry, not meant for you guys. The people whom it was targeted towards know themselves, so the other innocent ones can relax.

But I was talking about a movie.. Everything is Illuminated.. Watched this on Friday and had a great time. The movie, stand-alone, is superb.. but without getting into the profoundly philosopical and social implications of the movie.. and just trying to keep it simple (that's me).. here's what I loved. The thesaurus-influenced substitution of english words by Alex (the translator, guide and writer) into his vocabulary. Well, all of them are not accurate but pretty (hilariously) close. "Officious Seeing Eye Bitch"... HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHA

Anyway, watch the movie. Movie good.

Brevity is good. Make yourself understood in 2 words, if possible, rather than 4. :D

Also tried "chimichangas" .. all my exposure to mexican food was at "Bueno e Sano" so I feel educated now. :). Plus, the name is so musical and reminds me of "Mary Poppins"... Chim chimney chim chimney chim chim chimmy.. and then ended up havng long conversations which just made me feel so useless. How did I end up not ever learning music? maannnn, dude.. that sux dude...

:)

Oh well.

The sun shone (shined?) for an hour today. Almost slept thru it tho. Should have gone up to Puffers to get a shot of the foliage, for comparison.

Went to a very interesting barbeque (yup, in mid october), with some very interesting folks. I think i'm realising that anyone else who's not an engineer is really interesting to me. East Asian Languages. Linguistics. Film.

Happy Dasai

So today is Dasai.. or rather it was.. well, Wednesday was Dasai.

For those not in the know, ;), Dasai (Dussehra/Vijaya Dashami) is a Hindu festival. It is celebrated in different manners all over India/Nepal (and other Hindu communities in other countries). In the hindu epic Ramayana, this day marks the occasion when (Lord) Rama defeats King (of the Demons) Ravana. It is a day to celebrate the triumph of Good over Evil.

This festival is celebrated in many different ways; some call it Durga Puja and worship the Goddess Durga and in South India the practise is to worship the Goddesses Laksmi or Saraswati.

In Nepal and parts of India with an ethnic Nepali population, the festival is called Dashain or just Dasai. It is a day for the families to congregate at the eldest member's house where the elders bless the youngers with 'tika' (a mixture of rice, yogurt and vermilion) on the forehead and with 'jamara' (yellow grass/barley shoots grown specially for this purpose, ten days prior to today) behind the ears. It is an occasion for the whole family, near and far to meet and to receieve blessing from the elsers. And then there is a great big feast and... oh well, essentially a lot of partying. :)

So that was Wednesday - which here, in Amherst, was this rainy, damp, dreary, dreadful, depressing day .. alliteration not intended. Means a lot to be home on such occasions.

... to make up for miserable today I guess tomorrow some of us will get together for dinner. Hamro afnu dasai party.

---------------------
Watched "Serenity" today. Was good, for a spaghetti western style sci-fi star trek type of a movie. Was actually really entertaining coz I didn't go in expecting too much. Always a plus!! No expectations is a good thing, everything then becomes a pleasant surprise.

Birthday gifts.. difficult choices...
-iPod Nano? What if it breaks (like how its been happening all over)? Bring it back from Bombay to return/replace?
-iPod Video? ... i don't know......
-suggestions? a gift for a really picky dude.. and by picky i mean PICKY!!!

Tuesday nights...

Tonight was the 4th.. maybe 5th Tuesday night that we managed to make it to Noho for bowling. I still suck at the game, but at least have managed to double my scores in the past 2 weeks. Spinning is the way to go man... dude...

Its fun coz we have more people every week. The more the merrier.

And then we all went to the Iron Horse for Salsa and that's when life started to suck big time...

Yeah... life's a bitch sometimes.

One stupid politician messing with religious/cultural beliefs...

From Statesman News Service

DARJEELING, Oct. 9. - It's a politically correct puja, at the cost of the gods! The Dareeling Gorkha Hill Council has decided to conduct its annual Durga Puja this year at Chowrasta, with a difference. They have replaced Durga's idol with a stone.
This, according to the organisers, affirms the "tribal roots" of the Hills people which in turn would strengthen - or so one is being asked to believe - the case for the Hills to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Incidentally, the state government is reported to have handed over a draft of their Sixth Schedule proposal to Mr Subash Ghisingh. The report could not, however, be verified officially.)
But the "political" decision to replace god with stone - which actually began with Vishwakarma Puja this year - has left the people confused, and some quite disturbed.
No matter what the propriety of a public body organising Durga Puja ought to be, the DGHC has been heavily involved in religious activities over the years, setting many a trend for the masses in the Hills.
Discontinuing with the "normal practice" of celebrating Durga Puja with a 10-handed-Durga idol, Mr Ghisingh had started the practice of having an 18-handed idol, several years ago. When it was first introduced at the Chowrasta community puja, it was a novelty that attracted crowds. But politics remained in the shadows.
Mr Ghisingh's one-time closest lieutenant, CK Pradhan, who fell out with his boss, before being shot dead in broad daylight in Kalimpong three years ago, had issued a diktat too against "idol worship".
Today morning, Mr Ghisingh arrived at Chowrasta hours after the shila was unveiled. A thin crowd was present, reflecting the dampened enthusiasm this year for the politically embroiled puja. Although DGHC staff had made preparations at the bandstand where the puja has been organised like yesteryears, the GNLF leader made a cursory darshan from a distance and left. In fact, he spent more time looking at the musical water fountain under construction at the Brabourne Park, adjoining Chowrasta.
A local resident, upset over the "usurpation" of Durga, quipped, "In the North-east, tribals did not have to give up Christianity, or any other religion, to secure Sixth Schedule status for themselves."

what to do? we are like that only!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggghhhh

solitude, loneliness... just semantics?

Letting go is a tricky thing. You think you have, and then you realise that maybe you haven't.

one way or the other, I inflict hurt.
I am cold to you coz I don't want to hurt you anymore.
But by being cold towards you I hurt you.
By protecting you from hurt, I end up hurting you.
I'm not blind yet.
I do notice that flash in the eye when I say something.. or when I do not.
Should I stop caring and let it all go to pieces, or should I cradle gingerly what I have (or do not have).
Does it even matter? to me? to you?
Should it?

Irony can be misconstrued. the irony..
people and their states of mind being judged, a verdict passed in a single sentence... Ah.
But what? I read too much into it? Yes.. I do. That is why I'm anti-social.

Delicacy and tact.
its not very difficult is it?
that was a rhetorical question.
i care about me inficting hurt, but i should care about me not being hurt...
Who's more important?
Note to self: - Learn, live and learn and stay away. You do not have to let people drag you out and rub your nose into what you do not need to know or want to see. -
Don't make me the buffer between your dates.
Coz that does hurt.
brash and callous, presumptous.. is it revenge?

this... all this... is not for you. nor for you, nor you... nor you.
But again, it is for you, you all.

the question is, should I even care?

all it gives you is grief.

8th Grade
a friend tells me -
"You meet to create memories, you depart to cherish them."
At that time. I thought that was poetic, profound, and so true. But then I hadn't encountered, let alone learned, the wonderfully useful armour of cynicism.
Memories will be the death of me. So don't weave them. if you do have them, put them into the "once bitten twice shy" categories. Call it experience.

this was for one.
this is for all.

Loneliness. not so good.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.