tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83112298604415404272024-03-14T00:40:47.272-04:00Interstate 4242 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, universe and everything; that is, if you believe Douglas Adams. Riding along this mystical Interstate 42, capturing the landscape and chatting up with hitchhikers I hope to update this blog with a new article and/or photo once a week at the least; well, as long as I manage to find a roadside cafe.
Check the updates page for the latest news.Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-83415832004184154952015-04-07T00:43:00.001-04:002015-04-07T00:51:21.138-04:00What's in a name?<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>It has been a while since I updated this blog. My promise of writing about my Antarctica and Argentina trip never materialized. A lot has happened since then; I have been busy; procrastinate is my middle name; all excuses, but those posts are coming - some day. However, something happened to me a couple of days ago that has forced my hand. At least right now, when it is fresh in my mind, I think it is too good a story to let pass. So let’s leave Antarctica for later and focus on a name confusion that almost left me stranded 50 miles from my destination, middle of the night, with the phone battery dead and lugging two bags and a suitcase.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /><u>Destination</u>: A hostel in downtown San Francisco. I am here for a materials science conference but that hardly matters to this story.<br /><u>Date</u>: The night before Easter.<br /><u>Relevant names</u>: First - Arun, Kiran; Last - Sasikumar<br /><br />So, what’s in a name? Nothing much; just a means to waste everybody’s time or if you hate doing that, a means to get stranded in the middle of nowhere. I had booked a shuttle from the SFO airport to my hostel when I booked my flight tickets. It was an Orbitz voucher that I could have redeemed at the airport, provided I had a printout of the receipt. But well, being a footnote in a long confirmation email, that was one point I missed till it was too late.<br /><br />I landed a little before 9 pm and about half an hour later found the SuperShuttle stop outside the airport. I approached the friendly looking SuperShuttle employee near the stop and mentioned that I had forgotten the printout of my confirmation. That was fine, he said. All he needed was my name. I gave him my last name. He found it in his system without much delay. Just to confirm he read out my first name. It sounded about right. Something was off, but this was not the first time some one had totally killed the pronunciation. It ended with “run” and that was good enough for me. Next, he asked me for my destination. I started with the address, but as soon as I was done with the street name he cut me off. I suppose he was satisfied that I was the right customer.<br /><br />A few minutes later, a shuttle shows up. The employee points me towards it and along with 5 other passengers, I head out. The driver reads out everyone’s names. Once again, he kills my first name. Ends with “run”, same last name, no issues. And, off we go.<br /><br />Fortunately, I wasn’t tired and was paying attention to the road signs. My first indication that something was wrong was when I see signs for San Jose and San Francisco side by side and we followed the road south from the airport. All right, maybe we are taking a short detour to drop another passenger off, I thought. Fair enough! I waited for 5 more minutes and I realized that we were still heading south. Road signs for Half Moon Bay were becoming more and more prominent. Thankfully, I had been here twice before to know that Half Moon Bay was definitely south of SFO. Just to clarify, I asked the girl sitting next to me where we were heading. Away from SFO - definitely. I spent half a minute evaluating my options and then I informed the driver. I was apparently being taken to Sunnyvale, as another Mr. Sasikumar had made this reservation. Fortunately, everyone on the shuttle was patient enough to let the driver take me back to the airport.<br /><br />I later realized that being an Orbitz voucher and not a direct reservation on the SuperShuttle website, I was not even in their system. So yeah, all this was partly my fault. In my defense, though, if not for the namesake I would have known that my reservation was not valid before I was even on board the wrong shuttle. I would have asked if anything could be done without the printed voucher and they would have said no, I would have chastised myself for being an idiot and wasting 20 bucks, made a new reservation and just reached the hostel without any drama. No story there!<br /><br />Funny thing is, my last name is not really that common in India. At the least it is not a generic caste/community based name that a million people share. Still, if this happened in India I could have understood. I would think that the odds of this happening in the US is real slim. However, sometimes random coincidences can put you in a real pickle. As a side note, to put the randomness into perspective, the other passenger has my brother’s name. In any case, one thing is for sure now. I am never again going to assume people are mispronouncing my name.<br /><br />So, what’s in name? Just a means to waste everyone’s time in this case, but, for all you know, there could be a contract out on someone that shares your name, and for the sake of argument let us assume that the assassin is a racist who cannot distinguish between Indian faces. I suppose, you will be left wondering, for a split second, when you feel that bullet go right through your head.</span></div>
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Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-73321074068701264962014-01-10T02:21:00.000-05:002014-01-10T02:33:21.218-05:00Sorry, I accidentally cancelled your good visa!!!<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello everybody. I am finally back in the US and cosily settled in cold, cold Troy that is slowly recovering from the effects of the scarily named Polar Vortex. Antarctica trip was awesome. No, that just doesn’t quite cut it; English needs a better word. It was truly amazing. So many stories, so many great moments, quite a few adventures, and not least, the people, I just do not know where to start. I have documented most of the trip and after I finish sifting through the 2000 or so photographs I’ll update the blog. Right now, however, is a story of my reentry in the United States of America.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On 28th December 2013 I landed in Newark airport at 7.22 p.m on flight number 1970 operated by Copa Airlines from Panama City. The point of origin of the travel was Buenos Aires, Argentina. After a short wait in the immigration line I was called towards the immigration officer. I do not remember the counter number, however.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I handed over my passport and I-20 to the officer. The officer spent a minute or so perusing my passport, sifting through the pages and inspecting quite a few of the visa and immigration stamps in my passport, in particular the Tanzanian visa from 3 years ago, the Argentinian visa and the stamp from Esperanza Base, Antarctica. He then took a pen and scribbled something on my passport.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He immediately looked up, as apologetically as possible after what looked like a tiring day, and said, “sorry, I accidentally cancelled your good visa!!!”. I wasn’t sure how to respond and before I could say anything he asked, “do you plan on traveling outside the country anytime in the next 6 months?”. The visa would have anyway expired in June 2014 and I wasn’t planning to travel but instead focus on graduating as soon as possible. When I replied in the negative, he said “good” and then proceeded to write below his “cancelled” note that it was done in error. He wrote the date as well. At that point I was too tired to think about it and since he was not denying me entry I let it go. After the fingerprint scan and immigration stamp he apologized again and allowed me to leave.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I am on F1 visa and my I-20 graduation date is in May 2016 I can legally be in the United States. However, if I leave the country, upon return I’ll be denied entry unless I renew the visa. I hope to travel to Africa and India in August, and if so I’ll renew my visa at the Chennai Consulate. So as of now, fortunately, there is nothing to be concerned about, as confirmed by the International Students office at RPI.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is one thing, though, that rankles me. Of all the pages the officer had to stamp he chose the one from Antarctica. That was a souvenir, an unexpected stamp that is quite rare. I was hoping to keep that page pristine, free of any other stamp. Oh, well!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Hello everybody. Back here after a long while. Research has finally shown some positive signs and I am hoping to graduate soon. But I am not here to talk about research. Right now I am sitting in the den of Cruz del Sur, a nice homely hostel with a dog named Kren, in the town of Ushuaia in the Tierra del Fuego province of Argentina. In three days time I will be catching the expedition ship ‘Ushuaia’, crossing the Drake Passage, exploring the Weddell Sea and docking at various points on the Antarctic peninsula and the South Shetland islands.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Yes, Antarctica!!! I hear you ask the inevitable question, one I have heard several times over the last one year, when my friends and I started planning for the trip - why Antarctica? Honesty, I don’t know what else to say, other than, why not; and then point you to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton">Ernest Shackleton</a> and the ill-fated loss of Endurance followed by the daring rescue</span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition">Amundsen</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_Expedition">Scott’s</a> expedition to the South Pole; and, if the pleasure of travel and sense of wonder seeing new places doesn’t do it for you, then I’ll show you this photo. Actually, forget the rest. The photo alone should do.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Courtesy: <a href="http://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/">http://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Make no mistake, it is an expensive, most likely once-in-a-lifetime trip; and, a proper chronicle or diary is a must when it comes to these once-in-a-lifetime affairs. So with multiple follow-up posts that’s what I’ll do. Right now, I’ll sign off with the following photographs from the very windy Ushuaia.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One day, maybe I’ll climb some of these</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It must be wonderful living in such a cradle</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Looking at the southern most tip of the Andes</span></span></div>
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Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-46752177939121709772013-02-11T12:57:00.000-05:002013-02-11T19:06:11.582-05:00What's your excuse?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last weekend at Okemo we happened to see a boy skiing on a specially designed wheelchair. Yesterday at Stratton there was a girl on a single left ski using specially designed crutches. I will definitely think about that the next time I come up with a silly excuse to not do something.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other skiing news, thanks to Nemo and the fresh and thick coat of snow we were finally able to ski down two of the double-diamond expert only slopes at Stratton. Here’s a picture of the last section of Upper Down Easter and that’s not me posing for the pic. Just to brag, that slope is steeper than it looks :)</span></span></div>
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Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-35155383818846181292013-02-09T06:27:00.000-05:002013-02-11T19:10:00.856-05:00Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up - Batman Begins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Finally, a long overdue update. I have been meaning to be more regular but somewhere I lost the way. Work got in the way, I guess. Or maybe I was just plain lazy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"><u>Diary entry</u></span><span class="s2">: Jan 27th 2013</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I first thought of writing this in early December after my first ski trip this season. These thoughts have been, then, swirling inside my mind for the last few weeks. Never really got around to actually writing them down. Now, sitting in my car after skiing at Stratton for the 3rd time this season, I finally stopped procrastinating.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After starting my doctoral studies in the fall of 2009, thesis apart, nothing much has meant more to me than skiing. Personally I have found it the very epitome of the post's title. I used to be afraid of failure and as a consequence of trying new things, stepping outside my comfort zone. What if I embarrassed myself in front of scores of people? I used to over-think and later regret.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not anymore; not since my first ski trip when I could hardly handle an easy slope and had to be brought down on a sled, the ultimate embarrassment one can have at a ski resort. Even later, when I mustered courage to try again, slipping and losing balance every few meters when everyone around you are skiing down with immeasurable skill is highly demotivating. Some skiers or snowboarders used to go past me twice before I made it down.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet, like Sir Bruce's spider I kept riding up and falling down. I really don't know why, but I kept going and finally pushed through. I am hardly an expert now, far from it really, but I feel good about myself and I really enjoy skiing down with the wind on my face, negotiating the slope at the fastest speed I can control.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I still fall, especially when I take the next baby step toward working a tougher slope. I don't mind falling anymore. As an extension, I don't mind failing anymore. I don't mind making attempts to learn something new. I feel better for it. I couldn't have asked for a better life-changer than skiing.</span></span></div>
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Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-22408413954844456722012-02-29T23:59:00.001-05:002012-03-01T03:05:50.133-05:00An afternoon at the Gorge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s been a while, a month to be exact, since I even thought about updating the blog. Am I getting disinterested? God, no! Just that “pressure” has been getting to me.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[<i>For those who are interested, I have to calculate the local pressure in a spherically symmetric atomistic system that is both heterogenous and in thermal non-equilibrium; and, the freaking math does not add up. If you have got a clue, do let me know.</i>]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Anyway, I happened to visit a nearby gorge in a short afternoon stroll with the Photo Club last weekend. I haven’t been there before in spite of living close by for over 2 years. What a shame! Here are the pics.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0fKR4_Qg8E0/T079ceHKh_I/AAAAAAAABq4/nQLYLPmDFmI/s400/IMG_4997_2.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A "hermit" meditating near the mini-falls. No kidding! He was practicing some new-age meditation technique, shouting his lungs out.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VytvagGyxw0/T079elvxOZI/AAAAAAAABrA/ZZ_gnH-vQZ8/s400/IMG_4997_3.JPG" width="316" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">No doubt that was the last thing we expected to see; at least I haven't seen such randomness before in my 2 years here.</span></td></tr>
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<imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UX5H3Spr9ww/T079gg-kiyI/AAAAAAAABrI/prxQ1gsbl7U/s400/IMG_5005.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></div>
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<imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xNA16cq4ao0/T079i-mOzCI/AAAAAAAABrQ/cLY_zkxdArA/s400/IMG_5006.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_pTuO1I1QMQ/T079kwOqCWI/AAAAAAAABrY/wDbKB4aJVAs/s400/IMG_5010.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Location: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=10074688120072974116&q=gorge+troy+ny&hl=en&ved=0CA8Q-gswAA&sa=X&ei=dy1PT9_nFJS28gbl0ZjnCQ" jsaction="app.showMoreInfo" jsprops="label:'A'" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;">Poestenkill <b>Gorge</b> Park</a>, Troy, NY</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, March is here and hopefully I'll keep y'all posted more often. Cheers and until next time.</span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-84227944822463609492012-01-30T00:32:00.001-05:002012-01-30T00:35:48.686-05:00Jugaad Ka Desh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhZ7y0qsTe4/TyYpXnjJWCI/AAAAAAAABqo/RYGxbDDrhWg/s1600/IMG_4906_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HhZ7y0qsTe4/TyYpXnjJWCI/AAAAAAAABqo/RYGxbDDrhWg/s400/IMG_4906_2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This happens only in India, rather, wonly yin yindia.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Location: Mumbai</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1"><span style="color: red;">jugaad</span></span><span class="s2"> n. an improvised or jury-rigged solution; inventiveness, ingenuity, cleverness.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-27740017797699128142012-01-27T01:59:00.005-05:002012-01-27T02:13:51.092-05:00Kodachadri - A photo journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hello folks. I’m finally back after a long hiatus. My Jan 7th promise didn't hold up. Couldn't help it. Let's just say it was a combination of dry eyes and general laziness. After ending 2011 with the LASIK procedure and welcoming 2012 with a glasses free life, all I hope for now is that the Mayans didn’t know <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon#Apocalypse">something</a> we don't.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, now back in Troy suffering through a depressingly mild winter and perennially planning to start a final sprint towards graduation, here’s my long overdue photo gallery of my India trip. Starting this new session of postings with the drive and hike up the enchanting Kodachadri located roughly 20kms from <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/zooming-out-in-total-perspective-vortex.html">Mookambika Temple</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One other thing, I won’t be posting every Sunday like clockwork anymore. However, I’ll update the blog <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/p/updates.html">as frequently as possible</a>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NT53fM2obVE/TyJHMXMnL8I/AAAAAAAABpU/3ALqnPhZYrY/s400/IMG_4652.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Driving up the narrow winding road from Kollur. It is possible to hike the entire 20km stretch, something I might have done if I were not with family.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The drive up - I would have kicked myself if I had left my camera back at the hotel.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The drive up - I would have kicked myself if I had left my camera back at the hotel.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-roA6KtKkILI/TyJHu4Sx_8I/AAAAAAAABps/g1OhRYErG5Y/s400/IMG_4684.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The drive up - I would have kicked myself if I had left my camera back at the hotel.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The drive up - I would have kicked myself if I had left my camera back at the hotel.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The final stretch - Hiking up to the Sarvajna Peetam (roughly translated, site of all knowledge) at the top.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S820VrPbASo/TyJIUc9QuQI/AAAAAAAABqE/68YqKxUYsAs/s400/IMG_4707.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The final stretch - Hiking up to the Sarvajna Peetam (roughly translated, site of all knowledge) at the top.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zmR-vHYj-I/TyJIgYb0_jI/AAAAAAAABqM/RQ9WlDYfiTM/s400/IMG_4716.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The final stretch - Hiking up to the Sarvajna Peetam (roughly translated, site of all knowledge) at the top.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A56s4PMWwV4/TyJIrV71GRI/AAAAAAAABqU/d82-Rj-q674/s400/IMG_4722.JPG" width="400" /></imageanchor="1"></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1">Sarvajna Peetam. After seeing how US’s short history has been <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/lost-symbol.html">well maintained</a>, polished and kept sparkling new in Virginia and DC</span>, I was left wondering if it was that we were not really interested in preserving our history in a manner that attracted tourists or was it that the old, beaten down site added to the allure of our long and rich history.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Mookambika from atop the hill.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you guys get a chance do visit the place. You don't have to be religious; it's just a beautiful sight.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cheers and until next time.</span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-80704798000115242242011-12-30T13:35:00.001-05:002011-12-30T14:03:25.722-05:00A spiced-up irony<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">A couple of days back I boarded Spice Jet for the first time in my life. As the plane taxied before take-off I did what I always do. I opened the in-flight magazine at a random page. This is what I saw and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Maran saab is going to be mighty pissed; someone’s surely losing his/her job.</span></div>
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Maran saab, do ask your editor if this was intentional.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wishing everyone a happy new year. I will be doing LASIK tomorrow; that is, unless I chicken out in the morning. Hopefully I can welcome 2012 with a glasses-free life. Unfortunately that also means that my laptop will be locked up for the next one week. So next update won't be till at least Jan 7th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Until then folks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cheers.</span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-36968736727448760532011-12-25T11:11:00.000-05:002012-01-19T09:50:00.897-05:00A mighty impressive spectacle from the least expected of places<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The site of the terrorist siege in the September of 2002 that took the lives of 29 devotees, a place of worship and, in my mind, a tourist site that warranted just a quick 2-hour stopover on a visit to Gandhinagar, Gujarat; that was all I thought of Akshardham Temple located 30km from Ahmedabad.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both my brother and I were visiting relatives in Ahmedabad with our parents and we decided to spend an afternoon at the temple. My brother was hardly eager initially. He was more keen on spending his time at a mall. But go we did, entering the temple premises at around 2 pm after a strict security screening.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Akshardham Temple at dusk. Image courtesy Wiki.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">We spent time in the temple museum, walked around the beautiful premises (cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside, so photography is a no-no), and watched a movie on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaminarayan">Nilkanth</a>’s </span>life. But, more on that in another post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">We bought tickets for the 7:15 water show. Inaugurated on April 3rd 2010 featuring fireballs and scenes of various hues on water fountains, the show was advertised as a scintillating experience with 4000 nozzles, 2000 lights, over 100 pumps and 12 fireball throwers. The 45-minute show depicts the story of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachiketa">Nachiketa</a>, </span>the child protagonist in an ancient Hindu fable.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I must add, the show did not disappoint. In fact, it was way better than expected - 45 minutes of a story narrated through a mighty impressive medium. In essence, a screen formed by water fountains is the target of projected laser that produces scintillating images. Though, some visual elements were difficult to understand without the narration, these instances were in the minority. Even my brother who was initially wanted to spend his time at a mall said this after the show, “7:15 to 8:00 , on 24th joins the league of the best moments of life till date”. To be honest, even if you do not understand Hindi, and hence the story would make no sense, the show alone makes these 45 minutes a worthwhile experience.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The organizers haven’t made a full-length video of the show, but here is a 2-minute trailer. It does not do full justice to the spectacle. If you do visit you won't be disappointed.</span></span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-18003077354202900852011-12-18T11:38:00.001-05:002011-12-18T11:45:04.410-05:00The price of freedom<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yorktown, Virginia is famous as the site where General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War on October 19th, 1781. The British defeat here is what effectively ended the war. The video is of a demo canon firing done by the Yorktown Historical Society museum.</span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/price-of-freedom.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-65417779632192294302011-12-16T20:46:00.000-05:002011-12-18T11:36:15.311-05:00A Balancing Act<div id="fb-root"></div>
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A fun toy to play with at my aunt's place. No kidding, this is easy in principle, but bringing it alive is an art requiring masterful precision. This was at my grandma's place earlier and this toy used to keep me occupied whenever I visited. This was the one thing that helped me cope with the lack of internet :)</div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/balancing-act.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-30118196405290822962011-12-11T15:03:00.000-05:002011-12-15T03:44:52.038-05:00Zooming out in the Total Perspective Vortex<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="s1">Having lived inside a college campus with free wifi for over two years and also paying AT&T to be connected on the move, I seem to have lost some perspective. In my last week’s ‘train journey’ update I mentioned that I would be making one mid week update and at least two posts per week thereafter. Instant connectivity for the last couple of years seems to have spoilt me. I forgot that while on international roaming and with no other phone to bank on, it wouldn’t be straight forward to access the internet. As a result, though I have plenty of stories to tell and have already typed out many of them, I’ll be uploading them only whenever possible.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Still, when I do, I’ll be pre-dating the posts. Forgive me for this idiosyncrasy. Even the thought of not doing so irks my obsessive-compulsive tendencies :) . The two pre-dated posts can be found <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/reliving-train-journey.html">here</a> and <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/lost-symbol.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now, speaking of perspective, it is great to have regained some. Standing inside Mookambika temple “praying”*, my first thought was that of the Total Perspective Vortex mentioned in “The Restaurant at The End of The Universe”, the second book in the Hitchhiker series. I was standing there, eyes closed, zooming out of earth, then the solar system, then the Milky way and so on. I was lost in a sea of quickly receding stars fast replaced by new ones. I was stuck staring at an infinity of infinities, finally regaining a sense of proportion. In spite of how much I would like to believe and dream of making a difference in this world the simple truth remains that “I am but a tiny dot in this infinite universe”. I am no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaphod_Beeblebrox#Achievements">Zaphod Beeblebrox</a>, after all.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Image courtesy Google.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>* First, let me clarify. I am not really religious in the conventional sense. I don’t usually go to temples but I am known to pray. Pray what and to whom? I guess, the fact that I was thinking of the Total Perspective Vortex kind of explains it. I just have this habit of getting stuck in these philosophical dabbles within while at a place of worship or even while simply staring at a blank wall at home. Truth is, I do not believe in a physical entity called God. Instead I am amazed by the universe’s mystical unknown which one must strive to unlock through knowledge. In that respect you may call me a pantheist, an atheist or a Hindu.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now, is this sense of proportion a good thing? Douglas Adams doesn’t think so. here’s an excerpt from the book where he talks about it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">“The Total Perspective Vortex derives its picture of the whole Universe on the principle of extrapolated matter analyses.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">To explain - since every piece of matter in the Universe is in some way affected by every other piece of matter in the Universe, it is in theory possible to extrapolate the whole world of creation - every sun, every planet, their orbits, their composition and their economic and social history from, say, one small piece of fairy cake.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">The man who invented the Total Perspective Vortex did so basically in order to annoy his wife. Trin Tragulla - that was his name - was a dreamer, thinker, a speculative philosopher or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">And she would nag him incessantly about the utterly inordinate amount of time staring out into space, or mulling over the mechanics of safety pins, or doing spectrographic analyses of pieces of fairy cake. ‘Have some sense of proportion!’ she would say, sometimes as often as thirty-eight times in a single day. And so he built the Total Perspective Vortex - just to show her.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">And into one end he plugged the whole of reality as extrapolated from a piece of fairy cake, and into the other end he plugged his wife: so that when he turned it on she saw in one instant the whole infinity of creation and herself in relation to it.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: yellow;">To Trin Tragulla’s horror, the shock completely annihilated her brain; but to his satisfaction he realized that he had proved conclusively that if life is going to exist in a Universe of this size, then the one thing it cannot afford to have is a sense of proportion.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Douglas Adams employed the Vortex as a tool for dishing out punishments. But, I disagree. Perspective is a good thing, rather an important one for a civilization to survive. Take this story surrounding Mookambika temple, for instance.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>In ancient times Kolapura was a place where renowned sages used to meditate. A demon king named Mahishasura came across this enchanting place and made it his capital. He got Maya, the architect of demons to construct a beautiful city here. Invincible as he was, Mahishasura conquered three worlds and started tormenting the Gods and the sages. Then the sages and Lord Indra (the king of Gods invoked in the Vedas) requested the Trinity (thrimurthi - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) for help. The Trinity invoked goddess Adiparashakthi to destroy Mahishasura. All gods including the Trinity merged their divine potency in Devi. Thus Devi became an entity exemplifying all forms of divine powers. In the fierce battle that ensued Adiparashakthi (also known as Mookambika) killed Mahishasura.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Good overpowering evil. Image courtesy Google.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There are many such stories in Hindu scriptures where Gods battle and vanquish Demons. The Gods and Demons are more or less a symbolic representation of the internal philosophical battle between goodness and evil or lightness and darkness. It is the great inner strength that is invoked by each one of us to do good (by the prevalent moral standards) that is symbolized as the divine potency of the Gods.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Or, take the story of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala">Kerala</a>’s </span>creation. Legend goes that Parasurama, a warrior sage, threw his battle axe into the sea, as a result of which the land mass, that is now Kerala, arose from the sea. The axe here could very symbolize the battles raged to gain control over the land.</div>
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<span class="s1">The point I am trying to make is that all these stories are not meant to be taken literally. They are in some cases symbolisms hinting at a deeper philosophy and in other cases, history embellished with legends/myths which are remembered for eons. When people blindly follow their forefathers without listening to these stories with the right perspective, stop thinking for themselves and do not try to improve the selves by connecting these symbolisms and then thinking further, that’s when culture stagnates and societies crumble.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">For advancing a civilization, egos have to be buried and questions have to be asked of the self and its relation to the outside world. Looking at it this way, it is no surprise, that in spite of all its riches, the Indian subcontinent regressed culturally and got subdued by colonial forces a few centuries ago. Do we have the conviction to do that? Let’s see where we, as a country, stand in 10-15 years time.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Cheers.</span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/zooming-out-in-total-perspective-vortex.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-41624487726401440952011-12-09T02:54:00.000-05:002011-12-15T02:59:04.211-05:00The lost symbol<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here’s a mid week update; it’s about time, I guess. Right now, perched in a middle seat somewhere above the Atlantic, I can finally start penning this post after a week of insane workload. Hopefully, I’ll be able to come up with at least two updates per week for the next month.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">I had written about the Virginia part of the Thanksgiving road trip in my last <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/11/troy-story.html">post</a></span>. After this trip I learnt one thing; and, you have to give this to the US - they have preserved their relatively short history very well. What’s more; go to any historical town and one can find many symbolisms around, some intended and others not. This makes these places a haven for conspiracy theorists and Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” has renewed the appeal of these conspiracies. This post I’ll be talking about an unintended symbolism; no harm in adding one more conspiracy theory to the mix.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Being the <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/washington-dc/">center of the free world</a></span>, as some politicians and journalists like to call it, it is not surprising that Washington DC is awash with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry">Freemason</a> symbolism.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I like about the city’s design is how the Washington monument is at the center with the entrances to the Lincoln memorial, Jefferson memorial, the White House and the Capitol building all facing the Washington monument. At the same time, the statues of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt all face the Washington monument.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, there is one memorial that stands out in being different - the Martin Luther King memorial. Here’s a photo.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2AKAYVctLT8/TumnQFXfXdI/AAAAAAAABoA/_Y8nwqSBsfw/s1600/IMG_4403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2AKAYVctLT8/TumnQFXfXdI/AAAAAAAABoA/_Y8nwqSBsfw/s400/IMG_4403.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Martin Luther King does not face the Washington monument. In fact, it looks like he is standing hand folded scoffing at the Washington monument. Take what you will from that. To be honest, it was hardly intended but when you add one more fact into the mix, things get a little interesting. The memorial was designed and sculpted by Chinese architect Lei Yixin, and according to the incomparable Sandeep ‘Morgan’ Ram Mohan, MLK may be facing a Mao statue in China.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Cheers, and please, I am hardly serious in this post.</span></span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/12/lost-symbol.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-17672811325562845862011-12-04T13:49:00.000-05:002011-12-15T03:43:29.815-05:00Reliving a train journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am travelling to India in a week and have a lot of work to complete before I go. So I won't be writing much today. However, I'll try to make up for this quick post today by posting a mid-week update and then two posts per week thereafter. <br /> <br />Recently, there was a post on The NRI written as a train travelers’ guide to the country. The post can be found <a href="http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2011/11/indian-train-travel-guide-sleeper-class/">here</a></span>. The points made in the post are in fact things each and everyone of us can connect with; in particular the “five minutes of hope” that all Indian males aged 17-29 practice religiously just before boarding the train.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The post made me nostalgic about train journeys back home. In comparison, Amtrak is so dull. There’s one memory that comes to my mind when I think of a train. This is something you can never do on Amtrak - standing by the door, holding the hand rails, facing out and enjoying the strong wind blowing on your face.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Maybe I am being nostalgic here, having missed this part of a train journey for over 2 years now, but to be honest, the freedom and exhilaration of being able to lean out of a moving train stands out in comparison with skydiving. One more week and I can relive this nostalgia. Have I built it up too much in my mind? Hope not.</span></span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-90335567963334020342011-11-27T22:53:00.000-05:002011-11-28T11:03:56.705-05:00A Troy Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Contrary to my expectations during the last update I couldn’t drive down Clinton Road this Thanksgiving; but, I will do that sometime. However, with a Troy - Danbury - DC - Richmond - Jamestown - Yorktown - Danbury - Troy eventful four-day road trip spanning six states I could possibly call this story scouting trip a success. In time I’ll write about all that, but today this post is about a simple Civil War story dedicated to all the beautiful maidens of Troy</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is well said [NOT] that “you can take a trip out of Troy but you cannot take Troy out of a trip”. Eight hours down south in Richmond, Virginia I was reminded of Troy’s place in US history while at the Virginia Historical Society museum. My friends and I were perusing the American Civil War section when one of my friends chanced upon this story. In the context of the Civil War this is probably an inconsequential event. Yet, it is an interesting reminder of how everyone, even non-fighting women far removed from the battle fronts, contributed to the respective causes on either side intentionally or unintentionally. Here you go.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lt. George H. Thomas, a Union general during the Civil War (1861-1865), is generally held in high esteem by historians for his successful record in the war. Lt. Thomas led the Union forces to a decisive victory over the Confederates at the Battle of Mill Springs. His defensive line that held off repeated attacks from a numerically superior opponent and the subsequent counterattacks that held the Confederate army at bay until nightfall during the Battle of Chickamagua earned him the title of the “Rock of Chickamagua”. He is a hero, no doubt. However, it is a shame that he has failed to achieve as much historical acclaim as some of his contemporaries, such as Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, due to a variety of reasons that included a disinterest in advancing his legacy by publishing memoirs and an uncomfortable relationship with Gen. Grant.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now what has all this got to do with Troy? Nothing much; just that in the November of 1852 Lt. Thomas married Frances Kellogg of Troy, NY. Now, the good lieutenant was a Virginian and had a close personal relationship with Gen. Robert Lee, who was later the number one man in the Confederate army. Yet, as the Civil War broke out in 1861 he turned down an offer to serve in the Virginia state militia and reported back to active duty with the U.S. army. It is probably the influence of his Northern-born wife that led to his choice.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His siding with the Union instead of the South angered his family. They turned his portrait against the wall, destroyed his letters and refused to accept the money he sent in spite of the economic hardship in the South after the war. His sisters disowned him strongly believing that it was the influence of his Northern wife that contributed to his “desertion”.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In short, without the fair maiden from Troy, the Union forces may not have had such a reliable general to count on in some decisive battles. This is probably inconsequential since Lt. Thomas may have sided with the Union anyway because of his dislike of slavery. Yet, as the saying goes, there is always a woman behind a successful man and thus her role in the fight against slavery, which the Civil War eventually turned to, is worth repeated mentions.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, sticking to the same theme that you cannot take Troy out of a trip here’s a question for my RPI readers. The picture below was taken outside a museum near the archaeology dig of the original Jamestown settlement. Does the name ring a bell? It’s quite obvious but I’ll write about it in my next update, as well.</span></span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-14648528472651039072011-11-20T22:31:00.000-05:002011-11-21T14:56:08.762-05:00Horrors of Philly<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Over a month ago I had visited a friend in Philadelphia. The trip was a very short one but rather memorable indeed. Last week I had written about a smile inducing <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/11/kids-say-darndest-things.html">comment</a> </span>made by my friend’s daughter. Following up from that post, this time I’ll be writing about a somewhat creepy side to this historic city. Yes, this is the city where Edgar Allen Poe penned some of his scariest works. Yes, M. Night Shyamalan filmed The Sixth Sense here as well. As I learnt from my friend that day and then later from Uncle Google, if you are looking for a ghost in the US, then this is probably the right place to be. True to this reputation, there are plenty of sites in Philly to go ghost hunting.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let’s start with the James Martin School. This is an erstwhile hospital and nursing home. The most popular sighting in this school is that of a face in the attic window; and there are plenty of accounts as to the owner of this face - a mental patient who jumped out of the window committing suicide, or a boy stuck in the dark attic unable to find his way out for decades, or of a patient who slit his/her wrist up in the attic; take your pick.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then, there is the site of the Byberry mental hospital which is haunted by the different patients mistreated here. Prior to 2008 there were reports of screams from the basements and the catacombs were creepy enough for people who had gone in to run out crying. Here’s an excerpt from a visitor’s report - <i>“The place I'm talking about isn't haunted by ghosts or goblins, its haunted with stories, memories, and eeriness. To look into what was once a great utilitarian structure, but now is and great industrial ruin, terrifies you. It makes you scared, worried, and frightened. Not knowing what or who is behind each door, each hallway, each turn can torment your mind. It gets inside you”. </i>The hospital was shut down in 1990 for poor living conditions and later in 2008 it was sold to a contractor who demolished all the buildings. An office complex and a few retirement homes stand there now, but people still complain about a negative vibe that’s associated with the place.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then, there is the popular ghost hunting site of Fort Mifflin. There are 3 ghosts here. A “screaming woman” in the ruins of the commander’s house and 2 civil war soldiers, one without a face. There are in fact many more such sites. For the lack of time I could visit none of them. As a matter of fact, though I heard about the ones above from my hosts I didn’t visit them either.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">One place, however, I did go to - the Eastern State Penitentiary. Opened in 1829, it was hailed as a new type of prison. Here, solitary confinement was not just an occasional punishment, but was the prisoners’ primary state. The idea behind this facility was to force the incorrigibles to look inside themselves and find God. Each cell had a toilet, a table, a bunk and the Bible and it was here the prisoners spent all but one hour of their day. Interaction between inmates was forbidden and even when they did leave their cells for an hour a day, a black hood was placed over their heads. </span><span class="s2">Inmates lived a life of complete solitude that has driven many a sane man to madness.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The gargoyle at the entrance</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A cell block</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A typical cell</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A typical cell</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Solitary confinement was not the only punishment. Inmates desperate for human interaction, would tap on pipes or whisper through vents. When caught, the penalty was brutal ranging from being dunked in a bath of ice-cold water and then hung from a wall for the night to the “Iron Gag” for which an iron collar was clamped onto the tongues of the inmates and then chained to their wrists which were strapped behind their backs. For the latter, even the slightest movement would tear their tongues. Many a men have died in the resultant bleeding.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unsurprisingly, Eastern state Penitentiary is one of the most haunted Philadelphia locations. The most famous sighting is that of a prisoner who killed 27 people in an attempted escape. Another popular paranormal episode is that of a locksmith who was doing restoration work in one of the cell blocks. The <a href="http://crime.about.com/od/prison/a/easternstate.htm">tale</a> goes thus: <i>“He was working to remove a 140-year-old lock from the cell door when a massive force overcame him so powerfully he was unable to move. Some believe when he removed the key it opened a gateway to the horrific past and offered the spirits caught behind its bars a pathway out. The man spoke of experiencing an out-of-body state as he was drawn toward the negative energy which burst through the cell. Anguished faces appeared on the cell wall, hundreds of distorted forms swirled around the cellblock and one dominating form seemed to beckon the locksmith to him. The man's experience was so vivid, years after he would shudder in fear when he talked about it”.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The prison system of solitary confinement was abandoned in 1913. A famous prisoner of Eastern State after the relaxed rules was Al Capone. He was given a special cell away from the cellblocks where the other prisoners were kept. The image below shows his cell. Compare that to the cells of the other prisoners shown before. In spite of his relatively cosy treatment, Capone himself has reportedly said that the spirit of James “Jimmy” Clark, one of the men murdered in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre used to haunt him. Reports from other prisoners seem to indicate that they heard Capone constantly screaming and begging with an unseen entity to be left alone.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Al Capone’s cell</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the years took its toll on the structure and faced with costly repairs, Eastern State was officially closed down in 1971. Now, opened to the public the state makes good use of its haunted reputation by hosting a haunted house called “Terror Behind the Walls” every Halloween. It is supposedly very scary, but I was a week or two too early to check it out myself.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">In any case, I’ll be going to Philly again over the next year and a half. It would be fun to check these sites out. But before that I need to take the <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/10/road-less-travelled.html">road less travelled</a></span>. Hopefully, next week I’ll have some photos and stories from Clinton Road, NJ.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Until then, cheers and have a blast.</span></span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/11/horrors-of-philly.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-85924310175914015982011-11-13T16:03:00.000-05:002011-11-14T04:13:59.982-05:00Kids Say The Darndest Things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A month back I was in Philly. It was a day trip to visit a friend and I did not have time to explore the city. There was not much point either since it was Columbus day and most museums were closed. Nevertheless, my friend decided to show me the Liberty Bell and a couple of other places in the short time we had.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Driving around the city, at some point the GPS lost its signal and my friend happened to comment, <i>“I think I am lost”</i>. Suddenly a sweet voice responded from the back of the car. It was her daughter strapped into her child restraint seat. <i>“Mommy, you are not lost. I can still see you”</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Now, if that did not put a smile to your face you must have a heart of stone. Next week, I’ll write about the Philly trip in detail. Until then, cheers and have a blast. Wait, what's that I hear? You have more such stories? Do share it with us in the comments section.</span></span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-36998855607640381442011-11-06T23:30:00.000-05:002011-11-08T00:15:28.393-05:00Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Growing up near the equator I had never really experienced the true meaning of change. To me then, any change was like the process of evolution; it took time. Nature is so complex that it would have a slow response to change, always; or so I thought. Then, Troy happened and I finally got to see four full seasons. Here are a few campus shots capturing the same. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last winter was one of the roughest we have had</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This contrast shows nature at its best. Pity we are exploiting it at a level that may possibly bring upon us nature’s full fury. Have we crossed the tipping point? Will we go the dinosaurs’ way?</span></span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/11/spring-summer-fall-winter-and-spring.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-32887937057280763522011-10-30T23:00:00.000-04:002011-10-31T03:50:43.644-04:00The road less travelled<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, this week I am cheating; sort of at least. The post this time is about a place I haven’t been to yet. It’s more like a build up to, hopefully, my thanksgiving weekend upload. Oh boy, am I taking this road in a couple of weeks?</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Connecting Newfoundland and West Milford in New Jersey runs the 10-mile stretch of Clinton Road. What’s special about the road? Watch this.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The video is a segment from a Travel Channel series on the</span><span class="s1" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="s1" style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Most Terrifying Places in America”</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The road has been associated with paranormal activities for over a century. Stories of the phantom truck, weird animals, satanic rituals and frozen dead bodies have had plenty of people scared. Some of the above stories are true, like the serial killer “Iceman” using the roadside for dumping his victims. Reports of KKK activity also have some substance. Everything else is so unbelievable and severely exaggerated that the trip could end up to be damp squib.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In any case, the general endorsement is that it is a scary, creepy, isolated road. The road essentially winds through a desolate woodland in the middle of nowhere. There are no connecting roads or homes along the road. So what do you expect, especially at night? It is said that you essentially have a spine-tingly feeling while driving down this road raising the hair along the nape of your neck. This one, I have to check out.</span></div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-77778665272535135052011-10-23T22:37:00.000-04:002011-10-24T00:58:23.772-04:00Straight out of LOST<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="s1">Here, are a couple of photos taken along the golf rink ocean course in Half Moon Bay, California. I must confess, I haven’t seen any episode of LOST, but the title of this post was how my uncle described the above scene to me. I wouldn’t be surprised at all, since the presence of those pillars on a beach is indeed mysterious. Searching on the internet I could find no answers. What are they? What purpose were they sought to serve? For once, Google failed me.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I asked my uncle. The pillars formed the foundation of a building, the construction of which was stopped due to stability concerns. The Pacific is indeed rough and the site was prone to extreme erosion of rocks, as is obvious now. The construction was stalled, the pillars remained and now constitute the main attraction on a beach that I guess is hardly popular with casual tourists, given the failure of Google to find any answers.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Once again, I apologize for the delay in updating the blog; was busy the whole weekend with a cricket tournament we were organizing for fundraising as part of the Troy/Albany chapter of <a href="http://www.aidindia.org/main/">AID</a>. </span>And, then earlier tonight, we had the last league match of the intramural soccer tournament at RPI; which, we won 9-0. Had to gloat :)</div>
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Cheers and until next time.</div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/10/straight-out-of-lost.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-28024089567792537472011-10-16T22:39:00.000-04:002011-10-17T01:49:06.810-04:00If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The title of the post is a quote attributed to Carl Sagan. Creating the universe may be impossible, save for the schizophrenic few, but we can always do the next best thing - marvel at the mysteries of the universe before us and indulge in some apple picking in an orchard nearby. Ya, you can use them to make pies, if you want to, but if you are like me and find cooking a chore, then the marveling part alone should entice you. Yet, it took me two years to take a bite.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apple picking is an activity that is highly popular here, in the northeastern United States. Every Fall, orchards are open to public and consumers can pick their own apples from the sprawling fields. Yes, this is essentially a method of purchasing apples, given that you pay pay per pound in most places, but, it is widely seen as a social activity and a popular dating ritual.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A popular fall pastime, maybe, but for the last two seasons whenever I received club emails talking about apple picking trips, I never understood the fuss; they are just apples for heaven’s sake. How can apples be anyone’s idea of a time well spent. Yes, apples have touched the lives of many - from Norse mythology to the Newtonian legend, from the Garden of Eden to Steve Jobs’ legacy; but, apple picking? Are you kidding me? I would rather struggle up a mountain than dance around trees.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I must admit I was wrong. This time, when RPI’s photography club sent their email out, I thought I would check what the fuss was all about, if only to get away from my godforsaken thesis. With a camera in hand and the changing fall colors in the background, the orchard really is a paradise. Here are a few pics from yesterday afternoon. They don’t do full justice to the serenity of a pristine, clean and picturesque landscape.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Would I go again? Just to clarify. I would still rather struggle up a mountain than go apple picking. But, for a bored afternoon, an apple orchard is a great place to be with your camera in tow. Moreover, the sky was gloomy yesterday. I would like to capture the landscape under blue skies.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Until next time.</span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/10/if-you-want-to-make-apple-pie-from.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-28832075821354605572011-10-09T00:53:00.001-04:002011-10-14T00:21:17.813-04:00Does this ring a bell?<div id="fb-root">
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can afford to procrastinate no more. The deadline is fast approaching. Earlier, each time stared at the blank screen of my would-be thesis, I would end up working on a new blog post. Not this time. This weekend, I finally managed to finish a major chunk of my candidacy report. On the flip side, though, I haven’t got time to work on this week’s post. So it’s a short one this time, just one photograph in fact.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Does this photograph ring a bell? It’s an easy one. Think LA. Think Movies. Shoot away in the comments box. </span>I’ll update the post with the answer on Thursday.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Apologies for the delay. Today was one of the rare day’s when I felt good about my research and wanted to fully utilize it. Now, the photograph; the answer is already down there among the comments.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It is the aqueduct immortalized by Terminator 2. Watch it again <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZ7aX_AyBU">here</a>. </span>One final thing, remember the place where the truck jumps into the canal. The above pic was shot from roughly the same location.</div>
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</div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-3390649015621802872011-10-02T21:55:00.000-04:002011-10-03T10:27:30.022-04:00New Orleans Slideshow<div id="fb-root"></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">New Orleans, Louisiana</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dec 31st 2010 - Jan 3rd 2011</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">It’s been close to ten months now since the NOLA trip. A lot has transpired over that period - a few ski trips, hikes and a <a href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/07/taking-leap-of-faith.html">leap of faith</a></span>. Yet, those three days in New Orleans are still fresh in my mind. No doubt this post is long overdue. The trip was decided on a whim, and with minimal planning I set off from the dull university town of Troy in the wee mornings of 31st December 2010.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">New Orleans was catastrophically impacted by Hurricane Katrina which has been described as “the worst engineering disaster in the world since Chernobyl”. Though many of the residents had evacuated by the time the hurricane approached at the end of August 2005, and flood walls and levees had been constructed by the US Army Engineer Corps, the flood protection system failed catastrophically resulting in countless deaths. Many are still unaccounted for.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">The damage to the city can still be seen. But as society is known to do, the city recovered and is still very much a party town. The city ‘takes almost any occasion for an excuse for a parade, a party, and live music, and in New Orleans most events often have a touch of Mardi Gras year round’. Like they say, “New Orleanians are either planning a party, enjoying one or recovering from one” [<a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/New_Orleans#b">Source</a>]</span>. That makes NOLA a great place to welcome the New Year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">New Orleans is a vibrant city, colorful and a true melting pot. Here’s a slideshow of some of the pictures I took. The background score was made while fiddling around with Apple’s Garage Band. If it sounds, in part, to anything you have heard before, blame Apple :)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">This was my first attempt at something like this. It took longer than my usual posts but working on it helped me perk up after a rough week. Do let me know what you think and if it’s a good idea or not to make travelogues in this form.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">Cheers and have a wonderful week.</span></span></div>
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<div class="fb-comments" data-href="http://interstate42.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-orleans-slideshow.html" data-num-posts="2" data-width="500"></div>Kirklopshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09990483502034575746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311229860441540427.post-54763051119154830772011-09-25T20:00:00.000-04:002011-09-26T03:05:50.516-04:00Photo Gallery: Into the wild<div id="fb-root">
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the August of 2009, I had been on a safari to the Selous Game Reserve in central Tanzania. I had then written about the trip in detail. The posts can be found at the following links.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://cyclopsincognito.blogspot.com/2009/08/safari-to-selous-game-reserve.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Part 1: The long drive to Selous (pronounced “Seloo”)</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://cyclopsincognito.blogspot.com/2009/08/safari-to-selous-game-reserve_07.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Part 2: The Boat Trip</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://cyclopsincognito.blogspot.com/2009/08/safari-to-selous-game-reserve_3590.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Part 3: Jungle Safari</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="s1">However, many of my photographs from that trip as well as all my travels since had been languishing in my hard drive. I finally spent some time, this weekend, to sort all of them out and to upload the best ones both at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.198051756934490.49707.187167981356201">Interstate 42 Facebook page</a> </span>and in my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/sets/72157627754259724/">Flickr photo stream</a>. You can follow the links and enjoy the photos.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week’s post is a subset of the above collection; an “Into the Wild” photo gallery.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895285244/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwe35xmhh20/ToAKSp8cvPI/AAAAAAAABjc/SofTKmqPbRQ/s400/Golden+Weaver.JPG" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">African Golden Weaver<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895308002/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yB7Mw8E7V68/ToAKw5AurLI/AAAAAAAABjg/uaHAAzba7vA/s1600/Great+Nile+Croc+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The Great Nile Crocodile: They are the largest crocodiles in Africa. They prey both within its natural habitat (where it is the apex predator) and out of its normal range. Outside its natural habitat, they rely on rapid unpredictable attacks on almost any other animal equal or smaller in size. Other Nile crocodiles and adult hippos are their only threat in the water. Out of water, however, the Nile crocodile is at a disadvantage. They can only rely on their limbs to chase the prey. So, most hunting on land is done at night by lying in ambush.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895322244/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uijOZQFBclE/ToAKCJUP0NI/AAAAAAAABjY/LEbmlAwNnmw/s400/Giraffes.JPG" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giraffes: The national animal of Tanzania.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895299668/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6xLi5fFb--8/ToALS_l4keI/AAAAAAAABjk/nkm1IIef9MI/s400/Malachite+Kingfisher+2.JPG" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Malachite Kingfisher: This is a small kingfisher, only, 13 cm in length.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895292040/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vYA_PpooSME/ToALkFC2EMI/AAAAAAAABjo/98uzXqoQIM4/s400/White+fronted+bee+eaters+in+flight.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">White fronted bee eaters in flight: This was a lucky shot. I would have preferred if the birds were more in focus, though.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirans1987/3895301686/in/set-72157627754259724/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kx8-T0gJAxQ/ToAJr8JRhoI/AAAAAAAABjU/HOEGrOQ2fCc/s400/African+Pied+Wagtail.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">African Pied Wagtail: Its natural habitats are “subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers and intermittent freshwater marshes” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Pied_Wagtail">[Source]</a>. </span>They feed on insects and tadpoles. An interesting fact about this species of birds is that human association has not threatened the species’ survival. In fact, they have even benefited from the construction of dams.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">That's it for now.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Cheers.</span><br />
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