Thoughtography

Got lucky! Got Life!

2007-02-25T22:32:00.000-06:00

"Some thing's weired about this car! It's wobbling! There is no road grip at all! Did you feel it?" I asked Kandya.

We were on our way to Andalusia to ski on a cold Saturday morning. Snowstar Ski Resort is around 100 miles from our place, and we switched drivers when Kandy started complaining of burning eyes. I had not driven even a couple of miles when I started noticing that the car was going like snake on I74 Interstate.

Until I asked that question, my friends thought I was just goofing around on the road, to wake them up. Kandya started saying that he also had trouble controlling the car beyond 70 mph, and before he could complete his sentence, our car went totally out of control. From the right lane, it swayed to the right lane, and before I could do anything, the car was sliding perpendicular to the road. For fraction of seconds, we were able to see the traffic heading towards us.

That's when the whole life started flashing in front of my life. Nah, that did not happen! Probably because I was destined to live! In those last moments before the crash, my brain was busy processing millions of instructions. To apply or to not apply brakes, the direction in which I should be steering, safest place on road and how to avoid those two huge 16 wheelers behind us.

The car ended up in the ditch between the interstate, probably the safest place to be when you meet with an accident. Nobody got hurt, not even a scratch. There was a stunned silence for few seconds in the car, and then we were all back to our normal self, like nothing happened. Called 911, drove the car out of the ditch, sheriff arrived in few minutes, asked us to drive safe and it was all over.

Looking back, I realize anything could have happened at such high speed. Incidents like these are just reminders to value life. Not just ours, but also of people around us. Life, which we take for granted sometimes.

I, for one, know how incredibly lucky I got. We certainly got a lease of life. And I think I know why.

Skiing & Life

2007-02-13T00:35:00.000-06:00

They are so much alike! Everytime you fall, you learn a lesson, pick yourself up and you move on. The only difference is that in skiing, you have a hearty laugh every single time you fall! Wish we could do that in real life too...

Check out Kandya & Ponds honing their skiing skills :)

Vacation Update #1

2007-01-04T23:13:00.000-06:00

First of all, wish you all a very happy new year. You have 360 odd days more to keep your resolution. All the best!

We took Allegiant Air to Vegas for our vacation, and gosh, they have the most witty air hostesses on board.

Scene #1:
"Good morning, passengers. We are now inviting passengers requiring special assistance or those passengers with children of eight years or younger to begin boarding at this time. And Ladis, your housbnad acting like a eight-year-old will not qualify!"

Scene #2:
We make a bumpy landing on Las Vegas tarmac. After the plane stabilized, she announces, "Passengers, we want to assure you that everything is under control, and we have landed safely in Las Vegas. Our apologies for the hard landing. It wasn't the Captain's fault. It wasn't the plane's fault. It was the asphalt!"

Will post more soon :)

You can do it. We can help!

2006-12-10T18:54:00.000-06:00

...said U-Haul! I wasn't too sure. I have always been intimidated by those massive trucks. My hands literally start shaking each and every time I overtake a 16-wheeler on interstate. I just needed a 14' pickup truck to move stuff and although I have never driven anything more than a car in my whole life, I thought I will give it a shot. More so because there was no choice!

Went to the local U-Haul and picked up a truck. True to its name, the truck was massive, with alien-looking huge side view mirrors and absolutely no view of the rear. The mirrors were so huge, I had trouble in the beginning deciding whats actually in front and whats actually on the mirror. For few minutes I had difficulty staying in the lane for the steering was extremely sensitive. I was going so slow, even a pedestrian would have overtaken me.

But once I got used to the drive, it was fun. It did not take much time to load stuff onto the truck. Since it had snowed couple of days ago, the truck did get stuck at the loading point but managed to pull it out without hassle. While loading took 45 mins, we unloaded everything in 15 mins flat. Manisha kept telling me that I could do this for a living!

Certainly, you can also drive a truck :)

Driving in snow!

2006-12-04T19:13:00.000-06:00

You really have to drive on sleet to appreciate Calvin :)

Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/02/

Snow And Shadows

2006-12-03T00:30:00.000-06:00

First snowstorm of the year pretty much paralyzed Peoria,IL. Here is a glimpse of what happened...

There will be light!

2006-11-13T21:13:00.000-06:00

There will be light!
Originally uploaded by Thoughtographer.

There will be light,
Long after you are gone!
And your fond memories will stay in my heart,
Long after you are gone!

Palace Lights

2006-06-12T03:33:00.000-05:00

PalaceLights
Originally uploaded by Thoughtographer.

27,000 light bulbs are used to create this magical and truly royal moment! Visit the palace between 7pm to 8pm on weekends to get a glimpse.

Music that is giving me goose bumps these days...

2006-05-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

1. Teri Deewani - Kailasa - Kailash Kher
Just Brilliant. Can a Sufi voice get any better than this? Music video is awesome & puzzling!

2. Tere Haath Mein - Fanna
Full of emotions! Voice over from Aamir is a treat.

3. Govardhana Giridhara - 'The Wind' Flute Fusion
Raga - Darbari Kanada
Perfect blend of carnatic classical music with western guitar and drums. It grows on me every time I listen to it.

Hail The Storm

2006-05-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

It rained cats, dogs and hailstones in Mysore yesterday. Stones as big as your eyeballs. Hardest rain, evvvver! Check out the campus snaps from Dileep here!

My addiction #3

2006-05-12T10:46:00.000-05:00

With courts like these, who wouldn't fall in love with Tennis?

Thadiyandamol Trip

2006-05-04T06:14:00.000-05:00

One of the most satisfying trekking/camping trip so far.
Four hours journey to reach the base of the hill.
Four hours of trekking reach the camping site, which was walk-in-the-clouds, literally. Camped overnite and scaled the peak next morning. Hillscape was changing every minute as the clouds kept moving constantly. Truly breathtaking!

More from Appu.

Mom's garden!

2005-10-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

Flower
Originally uploaded by Thoughtographer.

Couple of shots taken at my mom's garden. This place looks so beautiful in the morning. There are like 10 different kinds of flowers and the whole place will be full of flowers every morning. Sunshine reflecting on their dewdrops makes it dream like view.

New life, new post!

2005-10-05T00:33:00.000-05:00

Blogging after, ummm, eternity! Literally swamped at work, and had to wind up lot of things before I move out of US. Ofcourse not to forget all shopping spree and packing at last moment. Packing this time was an ordeal, took a solid 8 hours. Journey was pleasant, compared to my previous trip. Made it safe to India and here I am, at home, home sweet home. Feeling so damn lazy, but my sis is forcing me to put a message on the blogosphere. I guess I need someone to force me.

Anyway, here I am, safe and sound. I need to start calling lots of people and tell them that I am back in action, and also got all the goodies that they asked for. I am taking two days off from work, which will give me a four day weekend. I don't think I will come out of home for these four days. Just have good home cooked 'oota', play, watch movies and lots of sleep!

Catch ya all soon. I am here. Here for good :) And it feels so great (except for BLR Traffic :(.

Fire and the city!

2005-07-05T01:03:00.000-05:00

Independence Day Fireworks at Peoria.

Peoria downtow, before and after!

DSCN17521

DSCN18251

Fourth Of July

2005-07-04T00:30:00.000-05:00

DSCN17151
Originally uploaded by Thoughtographer.

US Independence Day Fireworks. Bang!

Few moments stolen from New York Trip

2005-06-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Misty Divide

Thick mist from Niyagara Falls divides US and Canada.

Rebuilding WTC

WTC Memorial Building relfects remains of downtown Manhattan, clearly missing WTC in the skyline.

SOL
Majestic SOL.

This could happen to you too..

2005-05-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

Someone stole my wallet, at office! I had left it in my backpack sometime in the afternoon, and was away from my desk till late evening. When I came back to my desk to pickup my backpack, wallet was gone.

It is interesting how technology changes your lifestyle and perspective over the years. Had I lost my wallet ten years ago, I would still be feeling sad because of monitory loss. But today I am feeling so damn frustrated not because I lost money, but because I have to go through the pains of canceling and reacquiring plastic money, I mean cards.

I had fairly good list of my card numbers, and it took me close to 30 mins to call up companies to get all my cards cancelled. It will take atleast two~three weeks before my life gets restored (get new credit cards, duplicate drivers license, new insurance card are the important ones, and then there are not so important ones like frequent flyer cards, AAA card, library card etc).

Here is a quick checklist:
1. Keep a list of all your cards you usually carry (including Card Number, Customer Service etc) at two or three different places: Online & Offline.
2. Never ever keep PINs or Password or any such information in your wallet, and also don't keep those number online/offline. The only place to have this info is your memory cells!
3. In case you loose your wallet, immediately report credit card company without fail. Identity theft is much more serious in US than in India.
4. Lodge a complaint at local police office.

Private Screening of Kung Fu Hustle, just for me

2005-05-04T21:29:00.000-05:00

Got fried at office, and decided to take a break. I was planning to watch Kung Fu Hustle for some time, and thought this was the apt time. I got a big surprise when I got into the theatre after buying the ticket. I was the only one in the theatre. It was a weekday and this was a Chinese movie! On the other hand, this movie had got some really good review, so I wasn't expecting this. But then, what the heck...I get to seat wherever I please, and the whole theatre is for me! So, I just laid back, put my leg on the front chair, and enjoyed the movie.

My Movie Rating: 4/5
Strength:
- Awesome fights
- Decent Storyline
- Good background score, pretty good cinematography and special effects
- Humor of a kid, its like watching a cartoon (there are plenty of scenes which will make you say, 'what the heck?'

Weakness:
- Subtitles, as far as I can remember this is the first movie I saw with subtitles, in a theatre. That too, alone (gosh, too many records broken with this movie)
- I can't think of any other reason!

To summarize this movie in one line, its all about suppressed talent, waiting to burst out. Highly recommended for cartoon fans/Jackie Chan fans or for anyone who endorse the idea that movies don't have to be thought-provoking ALL THE TIME!

Fire Rain and Thunder

2005-05-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

Lot of things going on for past few weeks, and it also happens to be one of the reason for me being such an incommunicado.

First it was trip to Louisville for 'Thunder Over Louisville' Kentucky Derby Opening Festival. I am not a fan of horse race, but what attracted me to this event is this massive fireworks and airshow. Drive was fun, and the weather was awful. It was extremely cold, and we were sitting right next to the riverfront in Louisville from 2pm till the end of fireworks around 10 in the night. Airshow was sort of OK, but B2 Stealth Bomber was superb. This thing made such a silent entry, they had to make an announcement that B2 is in the sky! Otherwise, we were freezing in the cold and thinking it was all waste of time, and not worth all the trouble until the fireworks started. Man, what a show it was....literally rain of fire. I had taken my new Panasonic GS-250 DV Cam to shoot the firework, but when the show started, I realized that no camera can capture those moments. It was spectacular! I just kept my handycam pointing at sky, and watched the fireworks spellbound. Best fireworks I have seen till date.

Image Source: www.kdf.org

After that it was back to work with some tough deadlines to meet. Then it was my birthday. This time again, few close friends celebrated it in Pizza Hut. Looks like Pizza Hut is becoming a de facto for me as this was third year I was celebrating my b'day. Now all of you who are reading this, send my presents soon, if you haven't done so already!

I burnt whole of last weekend searching for a Video Editing Software. First I tried Adobe Premier Pro, most sophisticated of all editing tools, but it was way too expensive. So out of my list. After that I tried Pinnacle Studio & Power Director trial version. First one expired within 2 hours instead of 30 days. Later was not too impressive. Finally I tried Ulead Video Studio, and looks like I will stick with this. It has got all the basic features and is priced right. I will experiment for few more weeks, and may be post a detailed review.

Satellite view of my apartment!

2005-04-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

Google recently integrated Satellite pictures to their Maps sites, which means you can view traditional maps or satellite pic of the same area (US only). You can also view many US landmarks, monuments, etc from sky! Real cool stuff.

Here is satellite pic of my apartment.

Religion, tolerance & freedom of expression!

2005-03-15T10:41:00.000-06:00

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
- Robert Frost

I was watching short movies on iFilm and came across Submission directed by Theo Van Gogh. Three minute clip from full length movie was certainly graphic and controversial. The movie criticizes the treatment of women under Islam. Only after some more reading on this movie did I find out that Theo was killed in Nov'04 by an Islam extremist. All this happened in Holland, supposed to be the most liberal and tolerant country in the world. What makes it more ironic is that the Screenwriter Ayaan Hirsi Ali herself was a Muslim woman. Aftermath of this incident is really shocking and disturbing. Yet another country losing its innocence.

So, where do you draw the line? Is there anything called freedom of expression, because you can never be sure of not offending someone while exercising that very basic right!

And more than that, is there any religion which calls for killing its non-beliervers?

Lesson learnt.

2005-03-04T17:11:00.000-06:00

During a converation, there comes a point when you are the only person talking. Thats cue for you to stop! - TSR

What am I listening to?

2005-03-03T10:43:00.000-06:00

My favs from latest Hindi OST releases:

1. Maine Dil Se Kaha - From Rog

Sung by KK with soothing music by Kreem (aka Keeravani). Awesome lyrics...listen to this:

Maine Dil Se Kaha Dhoondh Lana Khushi
Na Samajh Laaya Gum, To Yeh Gum Hi Sahi

2. Shayad Yahi Pyar Hai - From Lucky

Lata and Adnan paired for the first time to redefine romantic numbers! I play this song over and over, and still not bored of it.

3. Hum Hain Is Pal Yahan - From Kisna

Udit, Madhusree and Rahman. Magic! I wish Ghai could carry that on screen. sigh!

4. Koi Aisa Alam - From Karam

Sonu Nigam and Mahalaxmi Iyer croon to glory. Nice romantic number again.

5. Maahiya - Teri Kasam

Adnan again! Its those funky beats which grab your attention, I guess.

Million Dollar Movie!

2005-02-26T21:11:00.000-06:00

When Morgan Freeman finished the narration of the movie, and final credits started rolling, there was a stunned silence in the theatre and no body moved for few seconds. It took some time for me to realize I was watching the movie, and the movie is over.

Oh, what a movie! That was the exact expression I had after coming out of the theatre. Three main characters: Maggie Fitzgerald played by Hilary Swank, who at the age of 30 aspires to be a boxer, Frankie Dunn played by Clint Eastwood who is a trainer and manager with a guilt ridden past, and Eddie Dupris (nicknamed Scrap) played Morgan Freeman, a former boxer whom Frankie managed.

Maggie has no formal training but literally lives in the gym owned by Frankie, The Hit Pit. She wants Frankie to train her, but he wont train 'girlies'-'tough ain't enought'. Its Eddie who persuades Frankie into it, and in no time Maggie becomes a professional boxer. All this in the first half of the movie is so much fun to watch, escpecially the look in Maggie's eyes when she knocks out opponents in the first round itself. Second half of the movie covers Maggie's title fight, whether she makes it to the top or not, and the aftermatch. The whole movie is from Eddie's perspective, narrated with his own gruffy voice.

"There is magic in fighting battles beyond endurance. There is magic in risking evereything for a dream that no one can see but you!" says Eddie in the narration. Each character is etched so perfectly. Frankie is tough on the outside, but heart-broken because of his tainted past on the insite. Maggie is full of eagerness, discipline and more than anything wry wit. Its a magical moment everytime Maggie and Eddie are confronted. Listening to Frankie's deep throated voice-over narration is pure delight.

Simple storyline, straight-forward narration, no camera-tricks, and great direction by Eastwood. No body can paint emotions on screen like him. Few hours left for the Oscar night, and I am betting on three awards for 'Million Dollar Babby': Best Movie, Best Actor and Best Actress. I hope it wins!

Of Pop-ups, spywares and adwares!

2005-02-23T21:23:00.000-06:00

I have a love-hate relationship with Windows. I have been using Windows from 3.1 era, and more than anything, I am so used to it and may be that's why I love it. If you know this OS, you can survive almost anywhere in the cyberworld. OS of the common man!

I hate it because of all the nuisance it comes with. First there were pop-up (lets not talk about virus, shall we? ...they have league of their own), and then adwares, and then worst breed of them all.... spywares. I always make conscious effort not to click on those pop-ups seeking permission to sit on your PC, watch every move, catch every password, and promptly report them to an online server. If not for the Google Toolbar's Popup-Blocker, we would have had 10 pop-ups per window by now.

I don't know how, but some spyware got installed on my PC this week. First I started getting a new toolbar on my IE, and then every time I searched for something using Google, I started getting 5 more additional search results popping up simultaneously. I spent more time closing those windows than browsing. I scanned the Installed Programs, and weeded out few of them(I was surprised to find them there in first place), and things became bad to worst. My IE started crashing with an exception the moment I started it. I went thru Registry and cleaned up few entries in \Run and \RunOnce, but in vain.

I decided to ditch IE and give FireFox a try, considering the fact that it holds 10% of the market share. I installed and used it for few hours, and I must admit that it had pretty good first impression on me. But there was a problem. Two of my intranet applications just refused to run on FireFox, and I had to run them every day. I was in no mood to live with two browsers.

I decided to fix the root cause by empowering myself with an anti-spyware. I was just searching for one, and came across Microsoft's own offering. It was still in BETA, but then who other than Microsoft know about their product's loopholes better? On second thought, I take that statement back. They don't! Nevertheless, I installed it, and took me half an hour to get to scan the whole PC. It works just like an anti-virus software, scans memory, hard-disk (deep down the folder structure), registry and compares every element with its signature database to come out with list of spywares on your system, with degree of their severity. It found close to 50 entries on mine, and after a bit of tinkering, I killed them all. Finally my dear IE is back on track. I am happy!

PS: I can't stop thinking about you, Firefox!

A Googler gets fired for blogging!

2005-02-15T13:56:00.000-06:00

I guess Time Magazine wasn't kidding when they wrote that blogging could get you fired! Mark Gen, a Google Employee got fired this month just because company thought he was putting sensitive information over his blog 99zeros. Incidentally, Blogger is owned by Google! What an irony!

On the flip side, Mark has become a celeb overnight in the blogging community, and he is making effective use of Google's own AdSense program to make dough out of the traffic to his site. Interesting read.

What can blogging do to you?

2005-02-04T18:31:00.000-06:00

Of all other things, blogging can get you fired! Even worse, you could irritate Pentagon! And hey, listen to this.... majority of the bloggers are women. Read this very interesting article published in TIME: 10 Things We Learned About Blogs.

Paddy fields of Coimbatore

2005-02-04T01:46:00.000-06:00

Never coy with Coimbatore

On our way to Siruvani Falls near Coimbatore. Beautiful paddy fields stretching as far as you could see. Another pan snap with four stitches!

Share The Shore

2005-02-02T22:06:00.000-06:00

Share The Shore

Lake Superior, as the name suggests is the worlds largest fresh water lake in the world. Minesota North Shore is considered most scenic routes on the edge of this great lake. We drove close to 80 miles on Route 61 from Duluth to catch fall colors during Fall 2004. Hit this place on our way back in the morning at about 9am.

I am getting addicted!

2005-02-01T20:41:00.000-06:00

BigDipper at Snowstar Ski

What else can it be? Snowstar Ski is more than 100 miles away from my place, and I religiously drive there every weekend. I ski from morning till night (they close at 9pm). I ski so much that I can barely move my legs or arms. I look forward for every weekend like never before! If it isn't addiction, what else can it be :)

My Skiing Adventure

2005-01-18T21:45:00.000-06:00

Map of Snowstar Ski Resort at Taylor Ridge, IL

Panoramic View of St.Louis Gateway Arch

2004-09-15T21:31:00.000-05:00

Panoramic view of St.Louis Arch

One of my early experiments with Panoramic Photography. I used Nikon Coolpix 3700 to take five shots of this breathtaking monument at different angle, and stitched them together to create a single snap. You can still makeout the crossover of different layers due to imbalance in contrast and brightness.

This stainless steel structure rises to an astonishing 630 feet from ground level. It also boasts of an unique tram system to take people all the way to the top for a view of St. Louis downtown and the river.

Thoughtography?

2004-09-01T18:31:00.000-05:00

Had tough time figuring out a name for my blogspot! And no, I did not invent this word too. Basically I did a lot of search looking for a word that reflected the essence of what I intend to do 'Put my thoughts, in an electronic version'. After few hours of research, this word is the closest I could get.