விழிகளில் ஒரு வானவில் !

It had been raining the whole day in San Diego but as always the Sun peeped out eventually. As it got brighter out side, I suddenly looked out and saw a beautiful  Rainbow :)) Cellphone fotos.

Rainbow seems to be hanging just outside my window :)

Here is a much better, professional foto from San Diego newspaper website:

சுற்றுதே சுற்றுதே பூமி !

Until all of you complain, there will be more star trail fotos :))

For Sri :)

Since Sri asked in the last post for a "Moon Trail" shot, here it is.
Today being பௌர்ணமி, the moon is very bright.
The bright dot chasing the Moon is Jupiter.

Sri, Thanks for asking, I have more to learn :))
Will try with a crescent Moon in the future!!

விண்வெளியில் வண்ணக்கோடுகள்

Warned you, more of the Star Trails fotos coming up ;)

To Sir, With Love

Every Friday night we try to watch a good movie with Swetha and Shreya. Now that we have Roku2, Swetha was searching for another movie in Netflix and stumbled upon "To Sir, With Love". Though I have seen this movie before, we watched it last Friday night. This is definitely one of those outstanding, inspiring, classic, feel good movies you can watch any number of times.

The story is about an engineer (looking for a job),  temporarily working as a teacher in a school. I don't want to give away the whole story. I would rather you watch the movie and enjoy it :)) I guarantee you, this movie will remind you of your school/college days, your friends that you said bye and some highly emotional times in your student  life!.

Sidney Poitier is "Dashingly Smart and Brilliant" in this movie ;)

Baby Blues

Thank God, Swetha and Shreya are not like this :))

கறுப்பு கம்பளியில் வைரங்கள்

The silver lining of the September 8th, San Diego blackout is that we all got unplugged :)). That led to all of us spending time together in the backyard, lying on the hammock and on blankets, gazing at the millions of stars lighting up the night sky. I pulled out the telescope and we ended up watching:

1) Craters of moon
2) Vashister and Arundathi (in Sabtharishi, aka Ursa Major)

                                          3) Double Cluster in Perseus

                                          4) Ring Nebula

                                          5) Andromeda Galaxy

The above fotos are from the web. These fotos are almost like what you can see with my telescope. Right now, I can't take fotos like this but soon, I am hoping to!!!

The star trails foto below is what I took during the blackout. It is my first attempt and I have a lot to experiment and learn. Be warned, you will get a good dose of these fotos :)

தேள் தேள் தேள் !!!

Have been trying to capture the constellation Scorpio for a long time and finally did it today :))

Scorpio (from Google, for reference):

Sagittarius (from Google, for reference)

 
Here is the real Scorpio lying over the neighborhood houses with Sagittarius
(aka the teapot) to its left.
 

Ursa Major (from Google, for reference):

The real Ursa Major (aka Big Bear aka சப்தரிஷி ) rising over our house:

Senorita I love U :))

SPB Concert on Aug. 7th, 2011, @Chennai.

தாவணிப் பூக்கள்

தாவணிப் பூக்கள் என்றதுமே
உங்கள் எண்ணங்கள்
சிறகேந்திப் பறந்தனவோ ;)

இந்த ஜூலை நன் நாளில்(4)
நான் கண் விரியப் பார்த்தது
வானில் மலர்ந்த இவ்வண்ணப் பூக்களே :))

Once Upon a Time in Chennai

I was spending some time today evening, cleaning out and disposing old papers and came across this, yellowed, withered, dog-eared paper with some Tamil writing on it.  I wrote this in '85 when I was working in CMC at Chennai.  I love Sujatha's Tamil novels and his style of new age writing.  I took a day out of my typical work life in CMC, did "ஈ அடிச்சான் காபி" of Sujatha's writing style and wrote this.

Enjoy!!!

திங்கள் கிழமை எப்பொழுதும் போல் விடிந்தது.
சூரியன் எப்பொழுதும் போல் எழுந்தான். வேலைக்குச் செல்பவர்கள்
எப்பொழுதும் போல் எலெக்ட்ரிக் ட்ரெயினை பிடிக்க ஓடிக்கொண்டிருந்தார்கள்.

நான் தி. நகர் பஸ் நிலையத்திற்குச் சென்றேன். நீங்கள் தி.ந.ப. நிலையத்தை
பார்த்ததுண்டா? பார்த்திருக்கிறவர்கள் அடுத்த பாராவுக்கு செல்லவும்.
பார்க்காதவர்கள் கேட்கவும். இந்த ப. நிலையம் ஒரு காலத்தில் மிகவும்
சிறியதாக இருந்தது. இப்போதோ, வெவ்வேறு வழிகளில் பாரிமுனை 

செல்லும் 9, 10, 11, 11ஏ, திருவல்லிக்கேணி செல்லும் 12, 13, அண்ணா சதுக்கம் செல்லும்  13பி, பட்டினப்பாக்கம் செல்லும் 12ஏ,  கே.கே நகர் செல்லும் 12 ஜி எல்லாம் நின்று கொண்டிருந்தன.

முகப்பில் நின்று முதலில் வெளியே வந்த 11-இல் தொற்றிக்கொண்டேன். வழக்கமாக, அதே நேரத்தில், அதே பஸ்-இல், தோளில் வெள்ளை கோட்டுடன் வரும் மெடிக்கல் படிக்கும் பெண் என்னைப்பார்த்து சிரிப்பது (அல்லது புன்னகைப்பது) போல் இருந்தது! எதற்காக?  என் முகத்தில் ஏதேனும் பவுடர் திட்டோ?

பஸ் பனகல் பார்க்-ஐ கடந்து, ஜி. என். செட்டி ரோட்டில் விரைந்து,
அண்ணா சாலையை  83 டிகிரியில் வெட்டி, அண்ணா

                                               க  ஊ  ர்  ந்  து
                                      வா                             கீ
                                து                                          ழே
மேம்பாலத்தில் மெ                                                       இறங்கியதும்
என்னை  விடுவித்துகொண்டேன்.

ஆபீஸ்-இல் நுழைந்ததும் ஐ. டி. எம். -இல் பிரிண்டர் ரிப்பேர் என்றார் 

தேவராஜ். டூல் கிட்-ஐ  < ச்சே! என்ன கனம் >  எடுத்துக்கொண்டு லிப்ட்-இல் நுழைந்து, கீழே வந்து, ஆட்டோ பிடித்து ஐ. டி. எம்.சென்றேன்.

உள்ளே நுழைந்து, "குட் மார்னிங் ஹென்றி" என்றேன். ஹென்றி பதில் சொல்ல வில்லை. ஹென்றி, அந்த கம்ப்யூட்டர்-க்கு நான் வைத்த பெயர்.  இதனை இணைப்பதற்கு எத்தனை  மூளைகள் எத்தனை படித்து, எத்தனை கண் விழித்து, எத்தனை பாஸ் செய்து, எத்தனை இணைத்திருக்கவேண்டும்.

சி.பி.யு. கன்சோல்-இல் ஒரு ப்ரோக்ராம் என்டர் செய்து, பிரிண்டர் அருகே  சென்று, ஸ்டார்ட்  பட்டன்-ஐத் தட்டினேன்.

                                     டட்டர  டட்டர   டட்டர  டட் 

என்று ஒரு லைன் அடித்து விட்டு, "பிரிண்ட் செக்"  என்று சிவப்பு நிறத்தில் எச்சரித்தது. 36 ஆவது பொசிஷன் என்னை பார்த்து சிரித்தது.

ஹேமரும், காயிலும் ஒழுங்காக உள்ளனவா என்று டெஸ்ட் செய்து விட்டு, 36 ஆவது காயிலைபிரித்தெடுத்து, புதிய காயிலை இணைத்து, இன்சுலேஷன்  டேப் சுற்றி, மீண்டும் டெஸ்ட் செய்து, ஒ.கே. யூ கேன் டேக் தி சிஸ்டம் என்று ஆபரேடரிடம் சொல்லிவிட்டு, ஆட்டோ பிடுத்து ஆபீஸ் வந்தேன்.

Big Telescope @ Big Bear

When we were checking out the details of various hiking trails in Big Bear Discovery Center, Swetha spotted a sign indicating there would be star gazing with professional telescopes that night at 8pm.  All of us got excited and decided to check it out.

After an early and very spicy dinner at the Himalayan restaurant, reached the discovery center. An amateur astronomer, Tim Bagerly was setting up couple of big telescopes. Had a good conversation with Tim and got plenty of tips from him since I want to move up to one of the automated telescopes.

One of the telescopes was a monster 16" telescope. Couple of families with children and another young couple from Orange county enjoyed outstanding views of the crescent moon, Saturn and its moons.

After spending an hour, we headed back to our cabin by the lake. This turned out to be a perfect anniversary day/night -  starting the morning by the lake, spending time at Big Bear village, excellent lunch at  a Mom and Pop restaurant Saucy Mama's, hiking the trail by the lake, desserts at Sugar Pine Bakery, afternoon tea by the lake, spicy dinner at the Himalayan and capping it all off with views of Moon's craters and Saturn.

The Secret inTheir Eyes

Couple of weeks ago while clicking away the remote, came across this movie. While I am picky about watching only selected US made movies,  I always fall for foreign language movies since usually the story happens in a country or locale, I haven't visited yet. For this movie, I had no idea about the actors, the story, the language or the country of origin. This turned out to be a movie from Argentina and I was glad it had sub-titles :)

The story is about a retired criminal investigator who wants to write a novel about an unsolved murder he handled 25 years ago. In the process of digging out more, he ends up solving the mystery. With plenty of twists ans turns, interlaced with the hero's love story, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie. The ending is typical for these kind of movies but more than the story, what impressed me the most is the very cool demeanor & natural acting of the hero and others. The direction was superb and hooked me in for the entire length of the movie.

While writing this post today, I learned that this movie won the 2010 Oscar for the best foreign language movie. I patted myself on the back for deciding to watch this movie on the spur of the moment :)

Netflix has the movie. Check it out and enjoy :))

Spontaneous Sunday

Once the Boston RedSox schedule was announced in March, I started looking forward to their LA visit to play against the Angels. The last game of the series happened to be on my B'day weekend and a spontaneous decision was made yesterday night to go for this game.

The Angels stadium was 1 hr+ drive north of San Diego and we left around 10:30. As we approached the stadium, it started raining and Sheila started complaining that this is not the perfect San Diego weather :)  The girls and I wanted to be close to the action and I had bought "Field" tickets just 10 rows from the field between home plate and 1st base.

As we entered the stadium, it was raining and Sheila was livid with anger that there is no roof over our head :) She was yelling at me: "...next time, before you buy the tickets, you have to tell me where we are going to sit..." :) I had paid extra $$ to be close to the action and she wanted to sit under a pavilion, far away from the field :))

 The girls are ready with their signs!!

Kevin Youkilis' unique stance, holding the bat horizontal above his head. "Big Papi" Ortiz on deck. We watched the first innings in soaking rain, covering our heads with whatever we have :) 
Luckily, the rain stopped by 2nd innings.

In the stadium, there were more RedSox fans than Angels fans. This is not a surprise since RedSox have fans all over the world from the oldest to the youngest, including this little boy!!

Ex-San Diego hitter Adrian Gonzalez drove in couple of runs with this hit. By this time,  all the rain clouds had passed away and it turned out to be Sunny & Hot. Sheila started complaining again: "...hey, it is getting too hot now.." :)

The game is just a small part of the whole electrifying atmosphere in the stadium, with guys selling Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Pizza, Snacks, Drinks and Ice cream ( yes, in the rain!!! ). And...watching people...always...interesting ;)

We were delighted to watch Carl Crawford, the 142 million $$$ man, hit his first home run of  his first season with the RedSox.

Cheering Carl's home run hit!
Whenever, Youk came to bat we were all chanting and yelling "youk...youk...youk.." and for Ortiz,  "papi...papi...papi".  Swetha and Shreya (of course, and I) were thrilled to watch our favorite RedSox players up close and personal.

John Lackey, the starting pitcher did an outstanding job, pitching 8 scoreless innings :)

RedSox won 7-0, sweeping the Angels, winning all the 4 games @ LA.

After the win.

Both in 2005 and now we have watched  RedSox play as a family and have won both the times. So, Swetha, Shreya and I have decided to drag Sheila with us to all the future RedSox games, rain or shine, snow or Sun :) :) :)

The fun part is, Sheila was relating the game to Cricket. Whenever foul balls went outside she screamed "Sixer...Sixer" :). When a player got thrown out at a base she was yelling "Run Out" :))

We are all looking forward to the RedSox-Angels playoff games in Oct. :))

A Reliable Wife

I am sure I got your attention with the title :) It is the title of a fiction I read recently. I love reading books and always pick up a new book before going on vacations to read during long flights. Picked up this book without knowing anything about the author and based on the synopsis on the back cover:

         He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for a "reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman."She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and kill hm, slowly and carefully, leaving herself a wealthy widow. What Catherine Land did not realize was the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own.

This happens to be the author's first fiction. While books by unknown authors have turned out to be boring, I couldn't put down this book easily. Read it on the flight to Philly  & back and in D & G's house whenever we were not roaming outside.

Didn't want to give away the plot except the story happens in 1900s Wisconsin and St. Louis :)

Enjoy - if you end up reading the book.

Off The Beaten Path

While on vacation, I enjoy striking a chat with locals and strangers I meet. People share a slice of their lives with me. Sometimes, this leads to strange connections, coincidences and common interests. I also love the small towns which are tucked away from the big cities and touristy spots.

HAMAKUA:
On our driving trip to Hilo, we stopped by in a small town called "HAMAKUA" to have a snack and pickup our picnic lunches to eat at the waterfalls. This is a very small town with Mom & Pop shops. It looked as if this town was stuck at 1950s and never changed. Loved the antique look of it. This town also reminded me of the many coastal New England small towns we used to visit from Boston.

The owner opened this shop 4 years ago and is absolutely enjoying making and selling fudges and ice cream and
having customers from all over the world.

This Sandwich shop lady just had her grandson born and was proudly showing the photo of her grandson to all the
customers and her friends visiting her at the shop. This lady told Swetha and Shreya that a Mom sacrifices
a lot for their kids and advised them never to fight with Sheila :) The shop has a beautiful mural on one side.

A Guy sitting outside a shop:

A middle aged white guy was sitting out side enjoying the Sun. When I passed him first I smiled at him and he smiled back. On our way back, he stopped us and asked if we are all from India. He told that his wife is from Kerala and he enjoys visiting India. When I asked him what work he does, he told that he is working as a hiking guide to tourists. What a way to work, have fun and enjoy the beauty of the Big Island everyday!!!

A Japanese Couple at the Luau:
When we attended the Luau @ the Hilton, we all were dressed up for the event in flashy, colorful attire.  Sitting right across from me at the dinner table was a middle aged Japanese couple, dressed in normal, simple dress. After few minutes of conversation, he told me that he has visited Mumbai and Delhi. When I asked him if he was visiting as a tourist or for business, he said he visited for business. He then handed m his business card and said he is the Chairman of an Airport Construction Company in Kansai.!!! Can't help noticing how humble and simple he was.  He asked me to visit him  when we visit Japan :) and I ended up inviting him to San Diego. After the Tsunami, I sent him an email inquiring about his family, friends and company. He replied that his family is not affected as they are all living in Osaka but few folks he knows were affected by the Tsunami.

PUNALU'U Bakery:

When I told my friend at work that I am  visiting Big Island, he asked me to stop at the Punalu'u Bakery which is at the southern most tip of the big Island. He especially recommended the Coconut Bun which is similar to the தேங்காய் பன் we get  back home. After visiting the Volcano National Park, we drove another 2 hours and stopped by the bakery @ 4:59:59 pm. As we parked the car, some one said, "they are closing the shop". Sheila ran in to the shop and pushed through the door as they were closing. We were the last customer that day and were able to enjoy the தேங்காய் பன் :)). Apparently, this is a famous bakery and so many folks came after the shop was closed and were disappointed.

Retired Guy on Bike:
While going for a morning walk at the beach with Sheila, met a retired guy on a bike. While chatting up with him, he mentioned he is from Connecticut but lives in Big Island for 5 months from Jan. to May. Hmmm. That sounds like a good retirement plan for me. Looking forward to it :) :) :)

வா வெண்ணிலா !!!

Tomorrow is the Perigee of the Moon. Happens once in 18 / 19 years. Looks like it is going to be rainy and cloudy tomorrow. So spent the Friday night outside hanging out with my telescope and the moon :)