text:
To move an airplane through the air, we have to use some kind of propulsion system to generate thrust. The most widely used form of propulsion system for modern aircraft is the gas turbine engine. Turbine engines come in a variety of forms.
This page shows computer drawings of four different variations of a gas turbine or jet engine. While each of the engines are different, they share some parts in common. Each of these engines have a combustion section (red), a compressor (cyan), a turbine (magenta) and an inlet and a nozzle (grey). The compressor, burner, and turbine are called the core of the engine, since all gas turbines have these components. The core is also referred to as the gas generator since the output of the core is hot exhaust gas. The gas is passed through a nozzle to produce thrust for the turbojet, while it is used to drive the turbine (green) of the turbofan and turboprop engines. Because the compressor and turbine are linked by the central shaft and rotate together, this group of parts is called the turbomachinery. The operation of the turbojet, afterburning turbojet, turbofan, and turboprop engines are described on separate pages.
Because of their high power output and high thermal efficiency, gas turbine engines are also used in a wide variety of applications not related to aeronautics. Connecting the main shaft of the engine to an electro-magnet will generate electrical power. Gas turbines can also be used to power ships, trucks and military tanks. In these applications, the main shaft is connected to a gear box (much like the turboprop) and the resulting power plant is called a turboshaft engine. In the late 1960's, turboshaft powered race cars competed at the Indy 500.
You can explore the design and operation of different turbine engine by using the interactive EngineSim Java applet. You can select the engine type and vary any of the parameters which affect thrust and fuel flow.
Jet Engines:


text:
VEACON SDK
=========
Veacon is a low-powered, low-cost iBeacon transmitter that can notify nearby devices of its presence. Veacons turn any physical location into a beacon transmitting data to iOS and Android devices. VeaconSDK provides the simplest way to you in order to connect your application to our veacon portal. For more information about Veacons please visit [veacon.com].

Current Version
----
1.2

Installation
-----------
Veacon SDK is provided as an Android Library project with all necessary dependencies and configurations. You can start using it by simply downloading [AAR file](https://github.com/Valensas/VeaconSDK_Android/tree/master/VeaconSampleProject/veacon-sdk). If your working IDE is Android Studio, you can Open Module Settings, Add New Module as JAR/AAR file and select the downloaded file. Finally, you should add the following line to your app level gradle file as a dependency:

```c
compile project(':veacon-sdk')
```
In our SDK, we use Gson to handle Json convertion tasks. If you already use Gson in your project, you don't need to do anything, but if you don't use, you need to add one of the versions of Gson in your app level gradle file as a dependency:

```c
compile 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.5'
```

After this process, add tools:replace="android:name" in your AndroidManifest as following example:

```c
<application tools:replace="android:name"
        android:name=".Application"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >

        <activity
            ...

    </application>
```

Requirements
-------
VeaconSDK requires devices that have Bluetooth 4.0 LE support and Android 4.3 (API level 18) or above. Other devices that below this specification are not supported by VeaconSDK.

In order to use VeaconSDK, you must have an account on [Veacon Portal]. After you create your account, you can get your secret key from portal.

Usage
------
VeaconSDK contains a singleton object to handle Veacon actions and two different interfaces for callback methods.
#### Initialization
In order to use Veacon SDK for Android, please create a class which extends Application. If you already have an Application class you should use it for the following configurations. Your basic configuration for VeaconSDK will be as following:
```c
package com.valensas.example;

import android.app.Application;

import com.veacon.sdk.VeaconHandler;
import com.veacon.sdk.VeaconSDK;

public class SampleApplication extends Application{

    // VeaconHandler is a singleton object to interact with veacon actions
    public static VeaconHandler handler;

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();

        // get VeaconHandler instance
        handler = VeaconSDK.getVeaconHandler();
        // initialize VeaconHandler with your Secret Key, application's context and the class which
        // will be opened after a user clicks on a notification and dismisses the shown message.
        handler.initialize(
                "XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX",
                getApplicationContext(),
                MainActivity.class);
        // The icon which will be displayed in the notification bar when a notification is received
        // as a result of a veacon
        handler.setNotificationIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
        // To see additional logs for Veacons, enable LoggingMode.
        handler.setLoggingMode(false);
        // This is necessary for the Veacon service to become enabled when the user restarts
        // his/her phone
        registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(handler);
    }
}
```
Now, your application is ready to receive Veacon signals. The only thing you need to do in order to receive signals is enabling the detection mode.

There are a couple of optional configurations you can use in your entire application. You can open or close the logging mode and you can implement listeners in order to receive custom actions you entered from the Veacon portal.
#### Logging Mode
Logging mode is used for debugging. When the logging mode enabled, each time application sees a Veacon change around it, Veacon Portal sends a custom event which contains information about the Veacon. By this way, you can simply debug your application without creating scenarios on Veacon Portal.

In order to enable Logging mode, modify your code as following:
```c
handler.setLoggingMode(true);
```
#### CustomActionListener
You can implement the CustomActionListener in order to get custom actions you entered as scenario from Veacon Portal. To do so, add the following code to your application:
```c
public class MainActivity extends Activity implements CustomActionListener
```
```c
handler.setCustomActionListener(this);
```
By implementing CustomActionListener, you need to write a new function to your application.

* public void customActionReceived(String key, HashMap data)

The following code simply handles the custom action comes from Logging Mode as an example.
```c
    @Override
    public void customActionReceived(String key, HashMap data) {
        if(key.equals("log")) {
            System.err.println((String) ((HashMap) data.get("entry")).get("proximity"));
        }
    }
```
#### VeaconStatusListener
You can implement the VeaconStatusListener in order to get info and error messages from the Veacon SDK:
```c
public class MainActivity extends Activity implements VeaconStatusListener
```
```c
handler.setVeaconStatusListener(this);
```
By implementing VeaconStatusListener, you need to write two new functions to your application.

* public void info(String detail)
* public void error(String detail)

The following code simply handles the errors and info by printing them.
```c
    @Override
    public void info(String detail) {
        System.out.println("DetailMessage: "+detail);
    }

    @Override
    public void error(String detail) {
        System.out.println("ErrorMessage: "+detail);
    }
```
#### Veacon Monitoring
In order to detect Veacons around your application, you need to start Veacon monitoring. Once you start monitoring, you will start to get actions that you defined in the Veacon Portal. If not, at least you will get logs if you enabled LoggingMode. To start or stop Veacon monitoring as an example we used a Switch to control monitoring. The following lines of code shows the simple process:
```c
    handler = SampleApplication.handler;

    monitoring = (Switch) findViewById(R.id.monitoring);

    if(handler.isMonitoringActive()){
        monitoring.setChecked(true);
    }else{
        monitoring.setChecked(false);
    }

    monitoring.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new CompoundButton.OnCheckedChangeListener() {
        @Override
        public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton compoundButton, boolean b) {
            if(b){
                startMonitoring();
            }else{
                stopMonitoring();
            }
        }
    });
```
```c
/*
    For Android SDK >= 24, on some devices GPS is required to find the Beacon device. Unfortunately, Android's
    Bluetooth Adapter cannot return an error about that. So it is highly recommended that, you should warn the user to open
    his/her GPS or you can do it for him/her using Google's location API.
    Detail: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29801368/how-to-show-enable-location-dialog-like-google-maps
 */
private void startMonitoring() {
    int result = Application.handler.startVeaconMonitoring();
    switch (result) {
        case VeaconSDK.MONITORING_STARTED_SUCCESSFULLY:
            break;
        case VeaconSDK.MONITORING_ALREADY_ACTIVE:
            break;
        case VeaconSDK.BLUETOOTH_CLOSED:
            // You can show an Alert Dialog to push user opening his/her bluetooth or
            // you can open it programmatically. BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter().enable()
            break;
        case VeaconSDK.BLUETOOTH_NOT_SUPPORTED:
            // You can disable all of your features based on Veacon SDK.
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}

private void stopMonitoring() {
    if (Application.handler.isMonitoringActive()) {
        Application.handler.stopVeaconMonitoring();
    }
}
```

Sample Project
----
You can find the sample project that is used to create this documentation under VeaconSampleProject folder in this repository.
License
----
See LICENSE file

[veacon.com]:http://veacon.com
[Veacon Portal]:http://portal.veacon.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sergio García Gómez (Torrelavega, Cantabria; 12 de octubre de 1992), conocido como Sergio García o El Niño, es un boxeador español profesional que debutó el 26 de mayo de 2012. Desde 2013 pertenece a la promotora MaravillaBox del exboxeador argentino Sergio Maravilla Martínez.

A lo largo de su carrera, García ha sido campeón del WBC Silver de peso superwélter, campeón de Europa EBU y también ha logrado los Campeonatos de España, del WBC Hispano y del WBC International de la misma división.

Biografía y trayectoria profesional

Inicios
Comenzó en el boxeo de la mano de Víctor Iglesias, quien fue su descubridor y es su entrenador desde entonces. Ambos entrenan en las instalaciones del Gimnasio Kronk en su Torrelavega natal.

Su primera pelea profesional fue contra Celestino Chacón, en una velada que se celebró en Maliaño en mayo de 2012 y que supuso su primera victoria, concretamente por la vía del KO. Luego de haber superado 8 combates, de los cuales resultó ganador, fichó por la promotora que lleva la firma del excampeón argentino Sergio Gabriel Martínez.

Ascenso
En su décima pelea se enfrentó contra Raúl Asencio, por el título vacante de la WBC Mundo Hispano del peso superwélter. Aquella pelea supuso el primer título para el cántabro, al vencer por KO Técnico a su contrincante.

El 10 de junio de 2017, se enfrentó a Isaac Real en una pelea por el título WBC Silver de peso superwélter. A pesar de no ser el favorito en las apuestas, se impuso al catalán por decisión unánime. En su primera defensa del título, consiguió derrotar al italiano Felipe Moncelli en un combate celebrado en la bolera Severino Prieto de Torrelavega. Después de derrotar el 3 de febrero de 2018 al panameño Jeffrey Rosales, se proclamó campeón de Europa el 29 de septiembre de 2018 al derrotar al francés Máxime Beaussire. Su primera defensa de cinturón europeo, coincidió a la vez, con su primera pelea fuera de territorio español, peleando en el O2 Arena de Londres frente al británico Ted Chesseman. Los jueces le dieron una victoria por decisión unánime, con tablillas de 119-109, 119-109 y 115-114 a favor del cántabro. Meses después, repitió defensa exitosa frente al bielorruso Sergey Rabchanka, venciendo en su Torrelavega natal por decisión unánime. El año 2019 terminó para él midiéndose contra el francés Fouad El Massoudi, repitiendo defensa una vez más y saliendo victorioso ante la afición torrelaveguense por decisión unánime.

Títulos

 Campeón WBC Mundo Hispano
 Campeón España peso supewélter
 Campeón WBC International del peso superwélter
 Campeón WBC Silver del peso superwélter
 Campeón EBU peso superwélter

Récord profesional

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Perfil en BoxRec.com

Deportistas de Cantabria
Cántabros del siglo XX
Cántabros del siglo XXI
Nacidos en Torrelavega

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Ian Baucom will succeed Meredith Jung-En Woo as dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. He comes to UVA after 17 years in Duke University's department of English. Baucom, 47, currently serves as a professor and directs the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke. He will begin his term July 1.
Tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students will increase 4.3 percent for in-state undergraduate students, and 5.9 percent for out-of-state students. The increases support ongoing efforts to improve faculty and staff compensation, drive initiatives of the University's strategic plan and cover increases in UVA's contribution to the Virginia Retirement System. The total cost of attendance for a first-year Virginia resident will increase by $949 to $27,417, which includes tuition and fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books and travel expenditures.
Hajar Ahmed, a fourth-year student in politics; and Martin Davidson, a professor of leadership and organizational behavior in the Darden School of Business, are the recipients of the 2014 John T. Casteen III Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Leadership Award.
Ahmed, a member of the Most Passionate Pi Chapter of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority Inc. and vice president of the Multicultural Greek Council, led students beginning last year in the "Restore AccessUVa" campaign.
Davidson wrote the 2011 book The End of Diversity as We Know It: Why Diversity Efforts Fail and How Leveraging Difference Can Succeed and teaches leadership courses to MBA and executive students that examine issues related to diversity and managing differences.
Former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles (Law '67) announced that he will step down as director and CEO of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs at the end of the calendar year. Founded in 1975, the Miller Center has become the nation's leading institution for presidential studies. "For an institution with a close eye on the U.S. presidency, eight years make for an especially fitting tenure," says Baliles.
UVA astronomy professor Trinh Thuan has been named chevalier of the National Order of the French Legion of Honor, by decree of French President François Hollande. Napoleon Bonaparte established the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France, in 1802. Trinh, who attended French schools while growing up in Vietnam, has written many science books that are bestsellers in France. "Thuan is 'the French Carl Sagan,' to the extent that, in France, people recognize him and stop him on the street to discuss astro-philosophy," says Mike Skrutskie, chair of UVA's department of astronomy.


Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia, a foundation hosted inside a former and completely renovated historical tram depot in the Ticinese district, is without any doubts one of the most important places dedicated to photography in Milan. This art space – focusing on three main themes: History of photography, Masters of photography and Masters of fashion photography and portraits – combines educational purposes with the aim of furthering people's comprehension of photography through the exhibitions, which shows the works of the leading authors from the past to the present.
Magnum. La scelta della foto (Magnum. The choice of the picture) is a selection of contact sheets displayed along with the final images chosen for the print. The project prints are coming from Magnum Photo, the glorious agency characterized by the freedom of its members shooting according to their ideas and initiative. They are presented as a crucial tool of analysis and an irreplaceable teaching method; a way of laying bare the photographers, providing people the opportunity to see the gap between the act of shooting and the results of the camera shutter timing. As many great artists admit, looking at the contact sheets of other photographers allows us to understand better their working methods; their way of thinking and capturing the moment. Through the selection of these fascinating objects with notes and signs made by the artists while choosing the finals, the exhibition shows the 'documentaristic' power of images able to go beyond the reportage.
From the contact sheets by Ferdinando Scianna, which remind his first encounter with fashion photography – depicting the magnetic model Marpessa for a young duo of Italian fashion designers destined for a great future. It was 1987 and the designers were Dolce & Gabbana –, to the hypnotic portraits of the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher and Muhammad Ali by Peter Marlow and Thomas Hoepker, the show let us running down the memory of historical periods, with their atmosphere and icons.
The exhibition will run until June 17 along with the solo shows by the Magnum photographer Alex Webb (b. 1952, San Francisco) and the young Italian photographer Massimo Berruti (b. 1979, Rome), member of the French agency VU'.


Fear is the anti-mortar on the brick road of my life. It is the unbinding factor that consistently threatens to undo all of the hard work that put into life.
Today is the first day of 2013. This new year is going to be an exciting one for the Hidden History series. Book Two is more than half complete. The master plan is to publish in spring.


With plenty of sunshine-filled days and spectacular mountain surroundings, you might think hiking in Sedona is the only outdoor activity. While certainly popular, there's more than hiking in Sedona. Take advantage of all the popular outdoor Sedona recreation activities in the area: horseback rides, hot air balloon Sedona tours, Grand Canyon tours from Sedona, kayaking down the Verde River, swimming in Oak Creek, fishing and rock climbing the Sedona red rocks. Don't forget Sedona Jeep tours, mountain biking, trail rides, Sedona recreation areas, tours to Sedona, Arizona from Phoenix and other areas - and of course, hiking in Sedona.


SVG is a vector graphic image file extension that contains scalable images. This XML based file extension supports animation that can contains vector graphics, raster graphics, and text. It uses lossless data compression algorithm to contain data. It can be edited drawing software as well as text editors also.
We've converted 243,153,638 files with a total size of 1,861 TB.


text:
Arashiyama 1880s
Image No.
Kjeld Duits
A man is fishing while women in kimono cross the Togetsukyo bridge in Kyoto's Arashiyama.
The buddhist temple Horinji can be seen on the hillside at the far end of the bridge.
The Togetsukyo bridge (渡月橋, literally, bridge to the moon) received its poetic name after Emperor Kameyama (1249-1305) mentioned that the bridge appeared to stretch to the moon.
The first bridge at this point, apparently vermillion-colored, was constructed in 836. Located some 200 meters upstream from the current location, it was built to provide easy access to Horinji and therefore called Horinji Bridge.1
Over the years, the bridge was repeatedly damaged or destroyed by floods and war, but always rebuilt. The bridge in this image was destroyed by a flood in 1892 (Meiji 25). At the same location, a concrete bridge was completed in 1934 (Showa 9), which stands to this day.
The area around the bridge is famous for its blossoming cherry trees in spring and brilliant maple trees in autumn. The cherry trees were transplanted here from Yoshino, famed for its cherry blossom, by the same emperor who so lyrically named the bridge. At one time he lived in Tenryu-ji, only a short stroll away from Togetsukyo.2
For many hundreds of years until about 1948 (Showa 23), the river was used for transportation of people, goods like rice, barley, wheat and charcoal, and timber from as far away as Tamba.
Because the river connected to the Kamo River in Kyoto and Yodo Riverin Osaka, it afforded unlimited opportunities for fast transportation long before highways and railroads existed. Even construction materials for the massive Osaka Castle and several temples were transported down this river. After its narrow gorges were excavated around 1606, it became Kyoto's main artery of commerce .
Incidentally, the bridge marks the point where the Hozugawa (Hozu River) changes its name into the Katsuragawa (Katsura River).
see current map
1 High-definition Image Database of Old Photographs of Japan, Togetsukyo . Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
2 Imperial Japanese Government Railways. (1914). An Official Guide to Eastern Asia Vol. II: South Western Japan. Imperial Japanese Government Railways.
3 Quite a few sources claim that the bridge was built by the priest Dosho (道昭, 629-700), a disciple of Kobo Daishi. But he lived two centuries earlier, so unless there were two people with the same name, this raises some questions.
Updated December 10, 2021 3:16 PM
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld ( December 10, 2021 ). Arashiyama 1880s: Togetsukyo Bridge, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on January 17, 2022 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/133/togetsukyo-bridge
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Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage to increase our understanding of Japanese culture and society.
Finding, acquiring, scanning, restoring, researching and conserving these vintage images, and making the imagery and research freely available online, takes serious time, money and effort.
We do this without charging for access, selling user data, or running ads.
Your support helps to make this possible, and ensures that this important visual heritage of Japan will not be lost and forgotten.
If you can, please consider supporting Old Photos of Japan with a regular amount each month. Or become a volunteer.
BridgesScenic ViewsArashiyamaMeijiKozaburo Tamamura
Osaka 1880s
Dotonbori Canal
The Dotonbori canal and Ebisubashi bridge in Osaka's famed entertainment district. Wooden teahouses crowd the bank of the canal.
Arima 1890s
Hot Spring Village
Houses, onsen ryokan (spa inns) and white kura (traditional storehouses) are crammed together at Arima Onsen, the ancient hot water spa nearby Kobe. The Arimagawa river winds itself along the edge of the village.
Ebisubashi Bridge
Ebisubashi (Ebisu bridge) in Osaka, Japan. View towards Shinsaibashi and North Osaka. The large buildings on the horizon are the Buddhist temples Kita Mido and Minami Mido.
Kjeld Duits (Author)
Although commercialization and modernization have even infected this little paradise in the western mountains of Kyoto, it is amazing how similar this place looks today. I love visiting this area; I have visited it countless times and still discover something new and beautiful each time.
#000012 · April 1, 2008
Tom Swiss
Indeed, Arashiyama is lovely. The gardens at Tenryuji in the spring, when everything is blossoming…oh, my. In the beginning of December they do colored lights in the bamboo forest, it's crazy crowded but nice to see.
#000334 · December 9, 2008
Oh, I love those lights! Not the crowds, though. A recent newspaper article mentioned that Arashiyama has been regaining a lot of its popularity over the past few years. It had been loosing it to Kiyomizudera.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
HealthSmell
Loss Of Smell May Signal Dementia Risk, Study Says | Mind Body Green
Dementia research continues to work toward finding out more information about warning signs and causes. Now a new study from researchers at the University of California at San Francisco links the quality of our sense of smell (also known as olfaction) to dementia risk.
The link between olfaction and dementia.
In their study, which followed nearly 1,800 participants over 10 years, they found that having a consistent strong sense of smell was associated with less risk of dementia onset. The study also considered the relationship between the efficacy of other senses (like hearing and vision) and dementia but concluded that the association with smell was the strongest.
While all participants were dementia-free at the start of the study, by the end about 18% (328 people) had developed dementia. Of that group, only 83 still had a "good" sense of smell, versus 141 who had a poor sense of smell.
Scents like roses and lemons were used to assess the participants' sense of smell. Even a seemingly insignificant 10% decline in olfaction increased the risk of dementia by 19%.
Though the study detected a relationship between these factors, it did not conclude how they are connected. What researchers do know, however, is that the link may have to do with the specific areas of the brain that deteriorate with dementia.
"The olfactory bulb, which is critical for smell, is affected fairly early on in the course of the disease," explains Willa Brenowitz, Ph.D., the first author of the study. "It's thought that smell may be a preclinical indicator of dementia, while hearing and vision may have more of a role in promoting dementia."
How can this help treatment and further research?
While researchers assume the link with smell may be a warning sign, they note sensory impairment may actually play a role in the development of dementia after onset.
"Sensory impairments could be due to underlying neurodegeneration or the same disease processes as those affecting cognition, such as stroke," says Brenowitz "Alternatively, sensory impairments, particularly hearing and vision, may accelerate cognitive decline, either directly impacting cognition or indirectly by increasing social isolation, poor mobility and adverse mental health."
They also observed that participants who showed a decline in multiple sensory functions were more likely to develop dementia.
"Even mild or moderate sensory impairments across multiple domains were associated with an increased risk of dementia," explains senior author Kristine Yaffe, M.D., "indicating that people with poor multisensory function are a high-risk population that could be targeted prior to dementia onset for intervention."
While these correlations contribute to the body of knowledge of potential precursors to cognitive decline, there are many other factors at play (which the study acknowledges), including the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease of the participants and their overall health.
Since early diagnosis is one of the best ways to prevent further cognitive decline, studies such as this one are crucial for cataloging the wide varieties of potential risk indicators for the disease. When it comes to prevention, some foods and simple practices, like spending time with friends or regular exercise, may help stave off dementia.
Source: Loss Of Smell May Signal Dementia Risk, Study Says
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"Talent is an amalgam of high sensitivity; easy vulnerability; high sensory equipment (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting — intensely); a vivid imagination as well as a grip on reality; the desire to communicate one's own experience and sensations, to make one's self heard and seen."
— Uta Hagen
If we lose sight of pleasures and luxuries that intoxicate the senses in the most sensuous and beautiful and simplest of ways, then we`ve lost a lot.
— Savannah Page


Rhoda Lane - Large and Co.
Rhoda Lane is situated in Esquimalt just a stone's throw away from the famous Gorge Vale Golf Club. This six-lot subdivision is beautifully located along the Gorge Waterway. With three homes built right on the Gorge Waterway and the other three with direct access to the Gorge.


An Approved Deluxe Hotel by Tourist Department, Govt. of India. Hospitality desk, room service round the clock at your service, with plush interiors and modern facilities, your stay in our hotel give you a relaxing experience. Located in Pahar ganj, the heart of Delhi, this hotel is equipped with all the basic amenities and facilities to give the tourists or guests with a completely comfortable and pleasurable stay.
The varied facilities and excellent services that we offer include: reception services, well furnished rooms, delicious food at our restaurant and all kinds of soft drinks. Apart from our accommodation and fooding arrangements, we also provide the clients with our tour & travel services.


Marco Schuler's artworks have created a whole new environment in our space in the Hochbrückenstrasse. When entering the office, one is greeted by fabulous creatures and ghosts. A sea monster is crawling over our pink office floor and two small sculptures, looking like researchers, are exploring the heights of our bookshelves.
Marco Schuler's artistic touch brought these mysterious creatures to life. With a lot of humor and drollness, he washes away the dust and dryness of the sometimes brittle history of art and resuscitates the empty shells of classical proportions. All the while adding new characters from pop-culture or children's stories that made their way into the artist's imagination.


text:
From Video
New Music Video – UHN – Doc B. Wildman (2015)
1upyo
Doc Music
doc wildman
1upyo – Connected written, arranged, and performed by Doc B. Wildman
live music video
Bye Time
jambands
KnowGoodRecords
New Doc B. Wildman Video
Problem Solverz
Time Twister
D'Angelo Announces the Release of his New Album, Black Messiah. Watch a teaser video!
D'Angelo has announced the release of his new album, Black Messiah, the long-awaited followup to his epic album Voodoo, released nearly 15 years ago. Black Messiah credited to D'Angelo and the Vanguard. The album will debut this Sunday at a New York City listening session. Thank you Consequence of Sound for pointing me towards the short teaser video for Black Messiah. Watch it below:
Consequence of Sound also found photos of the packaged album on Twitter.
Phish – UMass Student Union Ballroom (SUB) – 2/17/1990 – REMASTERED – Sick video!
Phish – UMass Student Union Ballroom (SUB) – 2/17/1990 – REMASTERED
Thank you PositronicDesign for sharing this amazing footage. He or she shared their thoughts on youtube:
On the occasion of it's 22nd Anniversary. Extremely rare, never-before posted footage. Full concert by Phish at the UMass Amherst Student Union Ballroom. Produced by David Caputo of Positronic Design, The SEO Company in association with The Weekly News and UMass Radical Student Union and Social Thought and Political Economy Department (STPEC). Filmed with permission of the band. Amazing AC/DC Bag. Whole show was great. Room was electric. Widespread Panic and Gene Matthews opened up.
Original video completely remastered with high-quality synched audio by Clinton Vadnais.
Live Concerts
mike gordon
Watch Muse Live From Wembley Stadium – June 16, 2007
Muse – H.A.A.R.P. Live From Wembley Stadium 2007
Click to Purchase H.A.A.R.P. Live From Wembley Stadium 2007
No CopyRight Infringement Intended. All rights reserved to original owner (Muse)
00:00:08 : Dance Of The Knights
00:01:50 : Knights Of Cydonia
00:08:20 : Hysteria
00:12:30 : Supermassive Black Hole
00:16:40 : Map Of The Problematique
00:21:50 : Butterflies And Hurricanes
00:28:00 : Hoodoo
00:31:30 : Apocalypse Please
00:36:20 : Feeling Good
00:40:10 : Invincible
00:45:50 : Starlight
00:50:10 : Improv
00:51:00 : Time Is Running Out
00:55:10 : New Born
01:04:40 : Soldier's Poem
01:07:00 : Unintended
01:11:50 : Blackout
01:16:20 : Plug In Baby
01:21:20 : Stockholm Syndrome
01:29:20 : Take A Bow
01:30:00 : Credit's Song: Blackout (Orchestral)
Matthew Bellamy
Take a journey through Compton narrated by Kendrick Lamar, plus hear Kendrick on a new track by Punch.
Kendrick Lamar and Reebok join forces with acclaimed director Anthony Mandler to take you on a journey through Kendricks' hometown – Compton. The video celebrates the limitless potential of youth and is narrated by Kendrick through a powerful verse titled "Kendrick Lamar – I am" — his own personal ode to Compton.
Kendrick Lamar also lends the hook to "25″ by Punch, the rap alias of TDE president Terrence Henderson.
Listen to our 42 Track Kendrick Lamar Features Playlist.
Anthony Mandler
K.dot
This legendary performance begins with Kurt Cobain coming on stage in a wheelchair, a reference to his recent stays in rehab to beat his drug addiction. NME reports that Dave Grohl was convinced that Nirvana's headline appearance at Reading Festival in 1992 would end their career.
"Kurt had been in and out of rehab…People weren't even sure if we were going to show up."
Grohl added that even he wasn't confident that the band would be able to pull the gig off.
"We rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn't good. I really thought, 'This will be a disaster, this will be the end of our career for sure.' And then it turned out to be a wonderful show, and it healed us for a little while."
Live at Reading was released on CD/DVD on November 2, 2009.
1-the rose (intro) 00:00
2-Breed 01:30
3-Drain You 04:40
4-Aneurysm 08:35
5-School 13:10
6-Sliver 16:22
7-In Bloom 18:37
8-Come As You Are 23:10
9-Lithium 26:45
10-About a Girl 31:57
11-Tourette's 35:05
12-Polly 37:01
13-Lounge Act 39:50
14-more than feeling (cover) 42:50
15-Smells Like Teen Spirit 43:28
16-On a Plain 48:45
17-Negative Creep 51:44
18-Been a Son 54:40
19-All Apologies 58:00
20-Blew 01:01:30
21-Dumb 01:06:52
22-Stay Away 01:09:37
23-Spank Thru 01:13:08
24-Love Buzz 01:16:14
25-smoke on the water (cover) 01:20:10
26-The Money Will Roll Right In 01:21:11
27-D-7 01:23:25
28-Territorial Pissings 01:27:10
29-the star spangled banner 01:29:28
legendary performance
Timbaland Leaks "UFO" The New Single From Tink Featuring André 3000
Timbaland Decided to play Tink's New Single Featuring André 3000 "UFO" (FULL SONG)
for More Visit the Timbaland Official Fan Site Textbook Timbo
André 3000
Naked Guy Stormed Phish 5 years ago today – Live video – 12/05/09 – Charlottesville, VA
Is his junk out? Watch and find out in this Compilation of THE EPIC APPEARANCE OF NAKED GUY during the show in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday 12/05/09


You are here: Home / News / CAS Coauthors Kennerly and Geraths publish article for National Communication Assoc.
Our very own Michele Kennerly and Cory Geraths have just published an article "Pinvention: Updating the Commonplace Book for the Digital Age" in Communication Teacher, a quarterly publication from the National Communication Association. We congratulate them on this achievement and their fine work!
Historically, commonplace books served as tools for rhetorical inspiration, invention, and collaboration. Full of assorted notes, scrapbooked images, and countless other artifacts, such volumes allowed rhetors to assimilate social knowledge, assemble arguments, and achieve copiousness in the service of their own rhetorical situations. We advocate a return to and re-vision of the commonplace book. The social networking platform Pinterest can function as a digital space for displaying the results of invention, and we detail how—by creating various boards and "pinning" different newspaper articles, images, videos, and other artifacts—students can construct digital commonplace books that are collaborative and generative.


let alone one with biosignature gases?
Examples studied shown in Fig.
flet o f satellites observing bright stars for other Earths.
Transmission spectrum data, with data sets and visits indicated separately.


Firefighters battle a trash fire at Waste Management in Minquadale.
Several area fire companies extinguished a garbage fire at Waste Management on Marsh Lane in Minquadale early Wednesday evening.
The wind-whipped fire, reported about 5:45 p.m., was declared under control about 8:15 p.m. at the landfill off U.S. 13 on Marsh Lane.
Multiple tanker trucks were called to the scene adjacent to the New Castle County Cpl. Paul J. Sweeney Public Safety Building.


text:
Glitz and Glamour in Singapore
Today's review is of the book Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
As an urban desi, reading Chetan Bhagat is relateable. Terrible, and a waste of time, but relateable. If only because the mothers are as dramatic as my own and the grammar as vernacular as mine.
Having said that, it's simultaneously several worlds away from me: supernatural occurrences, romance with professors' daughters, abusive Army dads… They exist, somewhere, but aren't representative of Indian society as a whole. I think this is probably how Singaporeans feel about Crazy Rich Asians.
Rachel Chu is a Chinese-American professor at NYU. Her boyfriend, Nick, invites her to Singapore to attend his friend's wedding, and meet his family.
What Nick fails to mention is that his friend, Colin, is the most eligible bachelor in Singapore and is marrying a fashion icon; his (Nick's) family is one of the richest in the country and he is the sole heir; and that his mother is controlling and disapproves of his relationship with a Chinese girl of humble origins. Shenangians ensue.
There are several subplots, and they serve to highlight certain aspects of this particular section of Singaporean society- an obsession with wealth and status, a need to maintain family appearances, and difficulties being accepted by the wealthy and influential families when you are not wealthy and influential yourself. There's a lot of name dropping and money counting, but the family dynamics should be familiar to most- Aunties gonna Aunty, right?
This gets a 3/5 from me for being as substantial and healthy as a large piece of cotton candy.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, bes, book-to-movie, chick lit, fiction on October 11, 2018 by aliensarewatching. Leave a comment
This is my review of One Day, by David Nicholls.
Nicholls is a well-known screenwriter, and wrote the screenplay for Starter for 10 (and the novel on which it was based), which is a charming indie-ish comedy about quizzing. One Day has also been adapted for the big screen, but does not translate nearly as well.
One Day is a stereotypical romance novel, except it's not. Nicholls seems to revel in de-romanticizing relationships and situations.
The story is almost simplistic. Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley are two university graduates who meet by chance on the day of their graduation. Despite a brief attempt at romance, they decide to remain friends. The book follows them and their relationship over nearly 20 years, from 1988 to 2006.
By necessity, the whole novel is made up of a series of vignettes from Dexter and Emma's lives over the years, always on St Swithin's Day (don't worry, no-one knows what that is). It's fairly obvious what the outcome is going to be- the DexAndEm EmAndDex best-friendship is clearly a cover- but the journey is long and winding and riddled with obstacles. Emma is stuck in a dead-end job despite her academic brilliance; Dexter's career is threatened by his alcoholism; both have serious relationships.
What I liked was the brutal insight into romantic cliches. Like turning on a tubelight behind an Instagram-filtered selfie (poor analogy, but you know what I mean.) Picture this: a man and woman lie together in bed on the morning after their graduation party. In Nicholls' version, the man has just realized that the woman is not as good-looking in the light of day. The woman is terribly nervous, and terribly pleased that she has caught the eye of this handsome, popular boy. Awkwardness ensues. Another interesting observation is that the poor, plain Emma must become well off and attractive before she finds love.
What I didn't like was the overwhelming clichedness. We only see the characters' personalities via dialogue, served in witty anecdotes. Each of which is repeated in two points of view. It gets tedious, but it's still a very light, quick read.
3/5 from me. Read Love Story by Erich Segal if you want the original, classic version of this story.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, book review, book-to-movie, romance on July 31, 2017 by aliensarewatching. Leave a comment
Queen of the Court
This is a review of Queen of the Court, Serena Williams's autobiography, penned with Daniel Paisner. She gives us rare insights into her childhood, training regimen, among other curious details in the life of a champion. The book was published in 2009, when she had "only" 11 Grand Slams to her name. Today she holds a record whopping 23!
When I picked the book up, the first thing that occurred to me was that I knew very little about what Serena Williams is made of; what kind of person is she? Is she as tortured as Agassi was, as hard on herself as Nadal, or as perfectly naturally athletic like Roger Federer? What is it about her, the sinew and guts, that make her the Queen of the court?
Legend has it that Serena and sister, Venus Williams, were born because of some happenstance by which their father was watching the 1978 French Open on TV. The announcer mentioned that the player, Virginia Ruzici, had just earned $40,000 during one week of tournament play, more than Serena's father earned all year. He was stunned and inspired. The story goes that he went up their mother and said, "We need to make two more kids and make them into tennis superstars." And the rest, as they say, is history.
They made tennis their life. The older Williams girls were trained along with the young potential protégées. In their household, every little game was about tennis, and every day, needless to say, was spent hitting balls, or practicing form, or watching a game. This tennis regimen involved a lot of homework for the parents, especially their dad, who was their coach in the formative years. For him, training the girls included learning the game, the tricks involved, game play, coaching methods and juggling his day job with the tennis-life. The focus with which the girls were brought up, and the up keep of that spirit – with love and respect for the game – is commendable to say the very least.
The Williamses' dedication to the sport, bordering on religion, is almost unthinkable, given that they literally practiced in courts while next door there raged gun violence. They hopped from public court to public court, with an old car loaded with balls, racquets and brooms to clean the court (of dry leaves, if they're lucky, and drug paraphernalia, if not). The girls themselves were driven and passionate, with abundant conviction and confidence, from the beginning, that they would be tennis stars one day. Their father kept the improbability of that away from them, though.
As a child, Serena sees herself as the spoilt brat in the family; the youngest one who is spoiled with love and affection, the one who hides under the shadow of the big sisters, and the one that gets away with all sorts of mischief. One such mischievous act got her career as a professional tennis player started. When Serena was 8, her sister Venus entered a professional 10-and-under tournament, as per her father-coach's plan. Serena, who always wanted what Venus had (and who believed she was ready!), demanded that she be allowed to play too. Her father felt she was not ready yet, and so turned a deaf ear to her. Come tournament day, the family travelled together as usual, and Serena was tagging along with Venus and her father. When they reached the courts, however, Serena slipped away. Her father noticed, only a little later, that she had wandered off. He asked one of the referees if he'd seen Serena (who was a known face, there, being dark skinned and being a part of the Venus entourage and all). "She's playing her match, out back in court number.." he said. Apparently, Serena had taken the liberty to enter the tournament by herself! And she proved her father's fears wrong.
This spunky young lady, though, is besotted with self-doubt. But, due to the criticism of the nay-sayers, who had pinned her down to forever be no more than "Venus's little sister", or despite it, she rose through the ranks and held her own. She suffered through injury, the loss of a sister to gun violence, vicious hatred and racism on and off the court, and still came at the top of her game.
Although the book was a quick read, it dwells on many aspects of Serena's life, from childhood to adulthood. It touches upon many facets too, from family to training to sponsorships to fashion. It also has some family pictures and some entries from her journal, which make the memoir all the more personal and stirring. (Although I would have liked very much if the textese were corrected.)
But the book didn't fully satisfy the curiosity that I picked it out with. Now I know what she wrote in her little Match Book, one that she leafs through during matches, like, "U will not be afraid. It is not in your vocabulary. It is not in your nature. It is not in U, period. NO FEAR!!!" I also know how much she loved fashion and thrived on the looks she created for each tournament. I know, too, that she was moved by her visit to Africa (a Roots-esque visit, I'd say). But I don't know how she really battled her poor self-image, how she remained efficient even as her haters grew louder, and I don't know the little details of her practice and cross training, or diet, and I am fully blindsided on her childhood outside of the tennis courts, which, I reckon, made her into the tough lady we see on court.
Also, since the book was written in 2009, I had no way of learning about her journey since (duh), which has only been more inspiring than not.
In 2017, she won the Australian Open when she was in the first trimester of her pregnancy. What wouldn't I give to know what she wrote in her Match Book for the finals? Here's a picture of the Queen at the 2017 Australian Open –
One of Serena's Post-it mantra for success: "Hold serve, hold serve, hold serve. Focus, focus, focus. Be confident, be confident, be confident. Hold serve, hold, hold. Move up. Attack. Kill. Smile."
For someone who plays tennis, Queen of the Court is a must read. 5/5. For the rest, who hope to learn how to hit a top-spin, the book is no good. For a tennis or sports fan, the book is worth a slow weekend. 3/5.
She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Queen, Killer Queen)
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, autobiography, book review, memoir, non fiction, tennis on June 19, 2017 by SD. Leave a comment
This is my review of Bossypants by Tina Fey, narrated by Tina Fey.
All right, yes, audiobooks are cheating. But Tina Fey's a comedienne, so her narration is likely to be better than her prose, right?
Bossypants is a memoir of Tina Fey's life and career (up until a few years ago). She starts off talking about her childhood and early career. This part was quite amusing, because she no doubt had several anecdotes to choose from, and it is evident from the narration that she is a very talented at comedy. One of my favourite quotes: "Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes."
It's nearly impossible to go wrong with topics like this. Nearly every girl has memories of awkward adolescence. And the terrible first job, where you're simultaneously incompetent and also infinitely superior to your coworkers. It stops being relatable when she begins her stint at SNL, though. Instead of juicy showbiz tales, she focuses on her (in)famous role as Sarah Palin and walking the fine line between humour and mockery. The section on starting off 30Rock is also disappointing.
The best part about this book is the complete lack of preachy-advice-for-young women. Fey acknowledges her relatively privileged upbringing and television success without seeming self deprecating or resorting to false modesty. She is talented, definitely, and spent years honing her skills in touring improv groups before hitting the bigtime. Her family life is also refreshingly ordinary, and she expresses genuine appreciation and respect for many of her colleagues. All in all, this is a very readable book, unlike other certain other memoirs *cough*.
3/5 from me, listen to the audiobook for amusing narration that doesn't require (or provoke) too much thought.
What I particularly disliked was a section towards the end that seemed like a stream of consciousness discourse on the topic of whether or not she should have another child (she eventually did, Wikipedia says). I realize that motherhood is a life-altering event, and work-life balance, the biological clock, and childcare are all major issues for working women. However, as someone who cannot relate (and honestly, was just there for the comedy), this seemed like an almost awkwardly personal commentary. I would suggest just skipping it if you can.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, Comedy, Humor, memoir on May 24, 2017 by aliensarewatching. Leave a comment
The art of translation
Translations have the ability to ruin or enrich a piece of literature. In this review, I look at two books that were translated to English. Chemmeen, written in Malayalam by T. S. Pillai, was translated by Anita Nair, and One Part Woman, written in Tamil by Perumal Murugan, was translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan.
The problems of translation are many, and I don't pretend to know all of them. But, even to a novice, many of those problems become evident when it's a translation of a nuanced story. Likewise, the beauty of a good translation is evident when a reader is moved by the literature, an artwork by itself, despite the translation. To be able to accomplish the latter requires responsible and dedicated translation, which, I'm afraid, is rare to find.
One Part Woman was written in Tamil under the title Maathorubagan. The book kicked up a storm when it was published. A section of the society demanded that it be banned. But fortunately, in an unfortunately flawed judgment, the courts allowed the book to be published.
The book, One Part Woman, is about a couple, Kali and Ponna, who are deeply in love with each other. The tenderness in their relationship is touchingly written; allowing me to forget that this is a translation! Their attempts at conceiving a child go in vain, and they are hounded by the social sanction of being childless. But then there comes relief – a chariot festival, where consensual sex between any man and woman, married or unmarried, is allowed; all for the benefit of the barren women. According to this tradition, the acts committed on the occasion of the festival are sacred and fully sanctioned by God. But will it push Kali and Ponna's relationship too far if she participates in it?
The tale is harrowing because of how human it is. It examines, with nuance and lyricism, the ways in which society manipulates our choices, emotions, relationships. By the end of the thin book, I was exhausted and moved. The story is exceptional, goosebumps-worthy. It made me wonder how exquisite the Tamil version would be. But thankfully, the translation is excellent in that simple English is used to tell the tale without any jarring pitstops.
The Tamil book, Maathorubagan
And then there is Chemmeen, an epic story, and a regrettable translation. Chemmeen is more famous as one of the best Malayalam movies, than it is as a Malayalam book. The story is gold! However, the intricately woven themes and the strong characters have to be rescued by the reader against the tide of the grammatical errors that steal the treasure – the story. The flat tone used, with a mechanical translation, was highly off putting.
"It was bone-chillingly damp. Then one morning the sun rose in a clear sky. The boats were launched. There was a good catch. The boats came back to shore and brisk trade happened."
"A few days later a huge quarrel erupted on the shore. All the fisherwomen who sold their fish in the east ganged up against Karuthamma and abused her."
Lines that may have sounded poetic in Malayalam lay diminished in this translation.
Apart from my grievance about the translation, the story is beautiful. It's a classic. It examines the lives of a community of fisherfolk in Kerala, their interpersonal relationships based on status, class and religion. It is essentially a love story, though. All the characters are built expertly, except Pareekutty, who remains slightly mysterious and romantic till the end. The protagonists of the love story, Karuthamma, Pareekutty and Palani, are honorable, loving, flawed, passionate people. Even though Karuthamma loves Pareekutty, she marries Palani. She does so because, among other myriad reasons, Pareekutty is not from her religion, because her father asks her to do so, because that's her duty to the community, as a fisherwoman. As you can see, from this very short snippet of the story, multiple themes are intertwined in the story. And the story itself has many twists and turns. What happens to Palani, Karuthamma and Pareekutty? Do Palani and Karuthamma live as a happily married couple? Or do Karuthamma and Pareekutty get together? The richness of the story merits every high praise. But, as for the translation, the lesser said the better.
A still from the 1965 Malayalam movie, Chemmeen
Chemmeen and One Part Woman share some similar themes, but Chemmeen, I'd say, is more layered and complex, and is a better drama; a classic! One Part Woman, though, has won me over with its simple, yet nuanced, story.
TS Pillai's Chemmeen deserves a 4.5/5 for being such an epic story, but I'd rate it at 3/5 due to (despite) the disappointing translation by Anita Nair. Don't read it if you cannot stand a beautiful story being lost due to the ineptitude of the literature.
Perumal Murugan's One Part Woman fully deserves a 4/5, for its story and the translation that does it justice. Read it if you enjoy heartwarming lyrical love stories.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, 4/5, book review, book-to-movie, fiction, India, Indian writer, Malayalam, Tamil, Tragedy, Translation on April 23, 2017 by SD. Leave a comment
Between the epic and the everyday
The book, Theatres of Democracy, by Shiv Visvanathan, edited by Chandan Gowda, is an anthology of the best articles written by the giant among sociologists in India today. Shiv Visvanathan is a much sought after writer for Dailies and Magazines, commenting on sparrows, protest marches and what not. His penmanship is well known, what with his observations of the mundane and stellar evoking reaction from intellectuals, politicians, common citizens alike.
The genius of the essays lay not in the essays themselves, but in the wholesome tapestry they make, of the world, and India in particular. Most of his essays mock at our realities, subtly, definitely, but without sting. For instance –
A stray dog running across the Republic Day parade seemed more symbolic of freedom than all the panoply of tanks and soldiers. (The Red For Ritual)
But, as a sociologist, he does not refrain from speaking the truth without dressing it up either. For instance –
Jayalalitha is the most Hobbesian figure in Indian politics, the sovereign as empress, the politician as a cult figure… As the cult of Jayalalitha engulfs Tamil Nadu, she exudes a power, contemptuous of citizenship. She reveals the way in which democracy as a cult becomes… dangerous. (The Cult of Jayalalitha)
..Political theory in India has lost its moorings and become utterly flat-footed vis-a-vis globalization… The real challenge before us is to invent a new lifeworld for politics to understand riots, disasters, droughts, waste, genocide and hospitality. (The Failure of Political Theory)
The essays are political, but unburdened by any need to be partisan. They border on the prophetic, but are bound by the limits set by the intellectual, researcher, and teacher.
The range of subjects that the 91 essays touch is vast; individuals, political parties, public policy, our constitution, the federal system, dissent, nationalism, science, sports, media, are some of the stars that dot the galaxy of his essays, which provide one with an additional ray of light to capture the beauty and madness of contemporary times with.
But, the brilliance and wit are sometimes too short and too strong when he talks about the past, leaving the reader to fall back on false nostalgia, such as when he describes the Middle Class, currently abundantly corruptible. Surely he's being overly romantic? Also, some of the essays did not look the reader in the eye, when they abandoned reasoned argument by subsiding instead under the weight of emotion (like when discussing Modi, who he has not forgotten or forgiven for whatever transpired in Gujarat, and whose 'cult' he finds inimical to democracy). Where did the academic go?
In a post-truth society, his academic and friendly voice is a salve to understand and analyze the dialectics of the world we live in. I had said in the beginning of the review that it's not the essays themselves that make the book powerful, it is in the way they are bound together; for us to ultimately piece together the fact that we live in a mindless and ritualistic world that blossoms with life nevertheless.
Read it recklessly, as it may please you, leafing through the essays that you fancy. Or read it methodically, page to page, with a pencil to underline what fascinates and engages you. To a person who enjoys analyzing contemporary times with nuance, this book is a gift from a commentator par excellence.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, book review, Essays, India, Indian Culture, Indian writer, non fiction, Sociology on January 16, 2017 by SD. Leave a comment
Greek mythology for the mortals
This is a review of the Percy Jackson books, by Rick Riordan.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a set of 5 fantastic books based on Greek Mythology, which one will learn is no myth, but reality set in The USA today. The Greek mythology is fun. Obviously. After all, many human years ago it was part of a religion which, anthropologists like Malinowski believed, held societies together. Despite being as larger than life, the inspiration that the books draw from Greek Mythology is just right.
Percy Jackson is a dyslexic 12 year old when we meet him. He cannot seem to keep a seat in a school for longer than a year, because he always causes some inexplicable problems that get him expelled. He and his lone friend, Grover, join the school trip in which Percy is attacked by the former math teacher, Mrs Dodds, current monstrous bird-like thing that tries to kill Percy. With the help of his Latin teacher, Chiron, who lends him a ballpoint-pen-turned-sword at the right moment, Percy valorously, and to his own surprise, defeats the monster. However, after he does, noone around him seems to remember a Mrs Dodd, never mind the attack that Percy survived. We soon learn that the memories of the mortals (humans) was altered by the Mist (a spell of sorts that alters memories and imagery). As one can guess, Grover and Chiron, are not human – and were, in fact, protecting Percy from the monsters. After this incident and a bunch near-fatal meetings with more monsters, he, his mother and Grover drive to the Half-blood Hill, where other children like Percy live.
At camp, Percy learns that he is the son of Poseidon, the god of seas; one of the Big Three (the other two being Zeus and Hades), and a "mistake" in the sense that despite the gods' oaths not to sire children with humans, Poseidon did (although Zeus did it first, but his child almost, sort of, did not really survive). Our protagonist is hence no more a dyslexic and lost little lad, but one of the most powerful 12 year olds alive.
The books of the pentalogy are strung together by the doings of the gods, some prophecies and the heroism of Percy and co. They track Percy's adventures as he first tries to stop a war from occurring, then tries to restore the health of the camp which loses its protective properties due to sabotage of its border forces. In the third book, Percy and his friends try to safeguard other half-bloods, and in the bargain, he loses and gains friends. In the fourth part, Percy and friends try to safeguard the camp, which they believe is compromised due to a labyrinth underneath. The last part is the culmination of the series, where the games played by Kronos (the Titan lord – very important and dangerous) is drawn to the close as he attempts to destroy Olympus (which is situated in New York, by the way), the house of the gods.
The series is short and fast paced. It has no unnecessary descriptions of scenery, for instance. It throws up some perfunctory surprises and twists to keep it going; some enrich the reading, some turn things upside down, and some are very predictable. You'd enjoy the series like I did, if you like the idea of gods roaming in running clothes, driving a Maserati, a Harley Davidson, wearing beach wear and the like. There's almost never a dull moment. The funniest bit for me was when Percy and his friend (and daughter of Athena), Annabeth, try to enter the Underworld, Hades's abode. Watch out for the three-headed dog, Cerebus.
What I felt was a bummer was the repetitive nature of the adventures, and the lack of maturity of the characters despite the years. Percy is perceptually confused and surprised at his own abilities. I had to keep reminding myself that he's only a little boy (um, who saves the world!). Also, he's too noble. Bah. That apart, as a Potterhead, I came across somethings that sounded too familiar. In Percy Jackson, as in Harry Potter, there's a prophesy which might fit the protagonist (including the apparent confusion about the subject of the prophesy – Harry or Neville; Percy or ). The villain of the story is almost dead, but not quite, and is trying to rise once again. This guy first tries to steal an instrument that will hasten his resurrection (philosopher's stone, the golden fleece) before he goes full mental and uses the services of his cowardly loyal followers. In one of the books, there's a maze with monsters littered all over it (remind you of the third task in the triwizard tournament?).
While the books were good company, their brilliance dulled towards the end (the final book tries too hard to be funny, and is condensible to half its length). But to be fair, the monsters and other creatures throughout the series are entertaining and slightly adorable scary. For instance, there's a cow-like sea creature which says 'Moo'.
For making a comedy out of those witless gods, here's to you, Rick Riordan!
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, book review, book-to-movie, fantasy, fiction, Humor, young adult on December 16, 2016 by SD. Leave a comment
Tehelka: fearless journalism
This is a review of The Best of Tehelka, which is a compilation of some of the best works by Tehelka, between June 2000 and December 2001.
Tehelka was one of India's best known investigative journals in 2000. Their most famous scoops were the match-fixing scandal in 2000 and the Operation West End. The match-fixing scandal revealed, from the horse's mouth, how cricket matches were fixed. Operation west end exposed the corruption in defence procurement in India (which continues to this day).
I was too young and ignorant to know the impact of these scandals while they were being exposed. But today, I get them. In India, we've surpassed the size and filth of the scandals then, with the creative decadence of politicians and capitalists today. Nevertheless, the template for corruption and power play has remained more or less the same.
The scandals usually involved high profile people like cricketers, including those who are adored greatly even today (and who'd rather not be reminded of the scandal(s)), politicians, some of whom continue to wield considerable power even to this day, proving that Indian electorate has a short memory span, or is wanting in ethics. The scandals also ended with the sordid suppression of the whistle-blower.
Tehelka withstood the ire of the underbelly of Indian power as they battled slander for a whole year. They courted arrest. Needless to mention, David gave in against Goliath. They soon closed shop. But, after two years, Indian civil society rose up to the occasion, and decided to revive the magazine. Today, it survives, and continues to battle many court cases as highly influential politicians and parties would prefer it closed. Power fears fearlessness.
The book that I'm reviewing is a set of essays, poems, articles that were published on Tehelka. The most famous among them are the very articles that brought the scams out to the public.The essays, interviews and poems in the book are funny ('I don't know anyone who has met God' by Khushwant Singh), shocking (False Notes, Charu Soni), controversial (The Elusive 'Holy Cow', DN Jha), and chilling (The Lagaan Team, Shoma Choudhury).
The style is different in each piece, and most are refreshing. Although I enjoyed most of the articles, they took some work – a little bit of wikipedia-research to understand context and figure out the ugliness or stupidity of the times, and the corresponding climaxes.
What I appreciated most about this compilation is the diversity. The compilation is also chaotic, which I thought was in keeping with the creativity of the magazine. What I didn't like much was my own inability to fully understand some of these works. I'd have really appreciated if they had put in a sentence or two as post-script for the noobs like myself.
The most famous contributions by Tehelka left me feeling bad for us. For, I don't know of a magazine today that is capable of such fearless journalism as Tehelka was. Tehelka's sting operations set off a large set of ethical questions in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, that didn't help infuse virtue into our polity or journalism.
I would recommend the book if you have been a news-junkie. I would recommend it if you like real life horror stories. I would also recommend it if you like bold satire.
This is not for the light hearted. It is for the seasoned scandal-weary Indian news-reader.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 3/5, book review, Essays, India, Indian writer, Journalism, non fiction on October 25, 2016 by SD. Leave a comment
The Indian Economy, in the 90s
This is a review of books by former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Bimal Jalan, India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century and The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects.
These books offer a great ring side view of the working of the Indian economy. They are, however, dated. To be fair, these are old books, published in the 90s. Nevertheless, they are still relevant to some extent.
For instance, in Problems and Prospects, Bimal Jalan speaks of corruption and how to deal with it, by differentiating the supply and demand for the same, supply being the side of the transaction where people are willing to bribe, and demand being the side where people want, demand, bribes. He puts forth a model to stop both sides of this transaction. His suggestions have, hearteningly, been implemented under the Prevention of Corruption Act, where the bribe taker is heavily penalized (although this has been pushed a tad bit too far by penalizing even lack of action which may result in indirect benefit to unrelated persons causing a loss to the exchequer; it penalizes complicity in corruption, which many believe is doing more harm than good, by making bureaucrats slow and averse to doing risky things, thus compounding the problems of red tapism). He also says that the whistle-blowers should be protected and incentivized for their courage. This seems to be a logical way of thinking about corruption.
Some observations by Jalan made me laugh, mirthlessly. Like, "Indian democracy is schizophrenic" by which he means that although we romanticize democracy (freedom liberty equality!), we're deeply suspicious of how it works (everyone's corrupt!). Hence our civil society is weak, parliamentary representatives are not motivated to work for the people and seek to gratify self-interests. General will is all but thrown out the window. But this is changing, as we have seen with "people's movements" and a burgeoning civil society that increasingly dictates policy. This is a great shift in our democracy that people haven't taken much notice of!
In his book, India's Economic Policy, he talks about the weight of Public Sector Enterprises and the losses they incur to the exchequer, and recommends that the state shake them off. This has been a popular demand in India, and the recent governments have taken cognizance of it as they have initiated strategic sales of many of the state concerns.
India's Economic Policy reads like a journal of the Indian Economy in the 90s, as we were bubbling with hope and trepidation after the giant LPG reforms of 1991.
Some of the issues that are still very relevant, that I picked up, are
Making the party whip less powerful – and making the Indian democracy a true representation of people's interests, as opposed to being a minion of party interests.
Separating policy making from policy implementation (ie., the politician and bureaucrat should have more sharper differentiation of functions, and the latter should be allowed to tailor policy to suit the needs of the grassroots)
Decentralize, because overcentralization of schemes and programmes has made them inefficient.
The good news is that most of these reforms are in the pipeline, have been implemented already, or have been tried and discarded. I would still recommend it to someone who's trying to understand the Indian economy from its roots and shoots. I'd rate Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects higher than India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, for its relevance today and the future.
Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects – 3/5
India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-first Century – 2/5
Bimal Jalan's books are like a reading of the history of the Indian Economy, and the story of her evolution. They're good. Easy reading, if you're conversant with basic economics and have a rough understanding of issues related to the Indian economy. But to understand the economy as it is today, policy, problems, I'd suggest (highly recommend) reading the Indian Economic Surveys. The Economic Survey is cooler – with references to Bob Dylan music, dry and witty sarcasm, it is a giant authoritative perspective of the economy today.
Posted in Book Review and tagged 2/5, 3/5, economics, India, Indian writer on October 11, 2016 by SD. Leave a comment
Infinite injustice
This is my review of The Algebra of Infinite Justice by Arundhati Roy.
In her fight for rights, Arundhati Roy is compelling. Her book of essays (8 of them) makes her sadness, pleas, anger, and righteousness crush you a little with each paragraph that lays bare the injustices perpetuated by protectors and guarantors of freedoms and livelihoods.
In the essay, The Greater Common Good, which she wrote during the Narmada Bachao Andolan, she blasts the lid off the scam and scandal behind the worst planned damned dam in the world. She exposes the scam through numbers that tellingly don't add up. On recognition of the shoddy engineering and planning, the World Bank (the happiest lenders in town, when they have lending targets to meet, that is) was shamed into withdrawing funding. Nothing can be "for the greater good" if it displaces and destroys millions of tribals. And especially nothing good will come of Big Dams, a concept that's been abandoned for scientific and economic reasons, but still pushed for in third world countries like India (because it's a great way to grease the wheels…).
In her essay Power Politics, she says that capitalism works because there are greedy givers and moneyed takers. And lost in these vicious transactions are the have-nots, in line to be swallowed into the belly of the monster. Her sarcasm, dry and twisted (twisted is the world, she'd tell you), is a little difficult to digest. She is extraordinarily bold in her accusations, but some of her broad accusations are flawed. Markets are decried so much that I was beginning to think her suspicion for market economies was ideological. The State's promotion of privatisation is not always bad, Roy. It's just bad if it's business-friendliness, not liberal and (then) privatised. It's the difference between the State supporting an Ambani and allowing a Silicon Valley to grow. One of them reeks of corruption. But the other is transparent, accountable to consumers, and responsible to its stakeholders (who are in the thousands, and hence also provides for shared welfare). It is no good throwing missiles (she hates those from the bottom of her big heart) at them. Take the case of social capitalists, for instance. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but it's not really one, as proven by social capitalists themselves. Schools (that are run at a no-loss, no-profit basis) are an example. Nevertheless, Roy is right in this essay. She describes a disgusting nexus between bureaucracy and greedy capitalists – in building a dam that helps no-one, but manages to destroy millions of people's houses and large forests. A dam that is likely to be built by a textile trader and a garbage incinerator (go figure!).
Another essay that I found poignant was The End of Imagination. Nuclear weapons' Disarmament has become a joke, and nuclear weaponisation has become a dance that the powerful perform; around the pyre that they will create, of people and countries that they will inevitably destroy. "No, nuclear missiles are created to prevent such destruction", they'll tell you. Arundhati Roy allows you to laugh at them. Sadly.
The essays are powerful, exposing the great lies told to us today, that we are confused by. How can a dam be good for us if it displaces a million people? It is for the Greater Good. Of course. Of course. Naturally…
Roy hits you hard across the face and tells you not to believe them. That, I think, is what makes her a powerful writer. Waking up your readers from a slumber (intoxicated and hallucinating) is no joke. With the tools of grassroots work, and relentless pursuit of truth, she helps us with a point of view wholly different from what we've been fed by the drunken mainstream media. She's good. But she also leaves you unsettled. She tells us to fight for specific causes in specific ways (like joining the NBA). But is that feasible for lay people like me? Moreover, will that not result in insufficient change? Should we not work upstream? How can we institutionalize participatory democracy? These are some unanswered questions. Perhaps one will be angry enough to figure them out oneself.
To work upstream is to abandon the shelter of grassroots, and to foray into the unknown elite groups, of bureaucracy and politics. It is arduous. Also, horrible as it is, the truth is that well meaning men and women who enter politics and the bureaucracy are converted into leeches and leprechauns, blood sucking and bribe seeking. Perhaps Roy has seen too many of that ilk. Hence the disillusionment. Hence the well placed anger.
Quick epilogue to the essays:
Since the NBA's struggle, the World Bank withdrew from the project. Despite that, the project went ahead. The Supreme Court, however, ordered that the implementation of the dam project, especially the resettlement and rehabilitation of people, should be done in a participative and democratic manner. This end of the struggle has been held as a way forward for many more specific struggles to be waged in specific ways.
Nuclear disarmament is still a dream, and dream it will remain for generations to come. However, there have been significant agreements signed between the more powerful nuclear armed countries (US, Russia) to not expand the nuclear arsenal but only to modernize it (make it more potent, powerful). This is a joke, to be honest. They already have enough missiles to obliterate the earth and the moon. Now the buzzwords are non-proliferation of nuclear technology.
Posted in Book Review, Opinion and tagged 3/5, book review, India, Indian writer, non fiction, Politics on June 27, 2016 by SD. Leave a comment