Somehow they always have a bad reputation about themselves. There is something about them, the attitude they wear, the way they carry themselves. Smug, and indifferent, they just march on with no respect of those whose shadows in which they tread. This Monday morning was no different. It came in and shook the house. Literally.
To paraphrase a friend, try starting your week with an Earthquake, things can only stabilize after that. I felt my 2nd ever earthquake this morning while sitting at my desk at work. At first, it felt innocuously like someone was running in the hallways, but slowly it dawned on me, and the people around me that we were in the midst of a grinding slip in the ground below us.
Someone asked me if it was scary. I wouldn't describe it as scary, however. It was an interesting feeling, the kind you get when you are half asleep and you try to stand on your wobbly legs. Only, you are still sitting down.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Chocolate
The world is in love with chocolate. Its a simple bean, ground, and mixed with some things, (for the pure of heart) some more, for the more adventurous. It was this love that I was chasing down, as I drove for nearly an hour to get to a warehouse filled with stalls of chocolate. Thirty thousand square feet of space and about 40 stalls of chocolate vendors. Many people would describe this as heaven.
The place itself was huge, and geeks that we were, we looked around and noticed how it would be an interesting place to detect location, especially with the crowd moving around as it did. (Never mind, don't try, you may not get it). A slow amble around the place, was soon replaced by a quick determination. We were on a mission. There was chocolate in the room, and we were here to taste it all.
There were Belgian chocolates, Swiss chocolates, truffles, caramels, fruity ones, and nutty ones. Some were pure, some were baked, some were roasted, some were powdered. There were flakes, and there were chunks. And there was a crowd trying to get at it all.
I had never come across such a variety, and it was indeed quite fun. Some flavors that still linger on my mind? Well the list isn't that long.
For the more traditional,
Even more traditional
Swiss chocolate, world renowned as it is, proved itself once more. The cup of hot cocoa that they served has etched itself in my memory, and may prevent me from ordering hot chocolate ever again. There was something in the lingering after taste that my brain cant process, and that puzzles the tongue.
Towards the end, we reached a point, that, and yes, I am ashamed to admit it, we could not get ourselves to have another sample. It was just too much for the system to handle. With that feeling, slightly light headed on cocoa and sugar, we headed out to the ocean.
The place itself was huge, and geeks that we were, we looked around and noticed how it would be an interesting place to detect location, especially with the crowd moving around as it did. (Never mind, don't try, you may not get it). A slow amble around the place, was soon replaced by a quick determination. We were on a mission. There was chocolate in the room, and we were here to taste it all.
There were Belgian chocolates, Swiss chocolates, truffles, caramels, fruity ones, and nutty ones. Some were pure, some were baked, some were roasted, some were powdered. There were flakes, and there were chunks. And there was a crowd trying to get at it all.
I had never come across such a variety, and it was indeed quite fun. Some flavors that still linger on my mind? Well the list isn't that long.
- Orange-mandarin.
- Guava.
- Red Cayenne Pepper.
- Ginger root and ginger oil.
For the more traditional,
- 100% dark cocoa.
- Sage.
- Rosemary.
- Tea.
- Chamomile and Honey.
Even more traditional
- Milk.
- Hazelnut.
- Almond.
- Peanut
- 50%, 70%
Swiss chocolate, world renowned as it is, proved itself once more. The cup of hot cocoa that they served has etched itself in my memory, and may prevent me from ordering hot chocolate ever again. There was something in the lingering after taste that my brain cant process, and that puzzles the tongue.
Towards the end, we reached a point, that, and yes, I am ashamed to admit it, we could not get ourselves to have another sample. It was just too much for the system to handle. With that feeling, slightly light headed on cocoa and sugar, we headed out to the ocean.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Spring Wonder
He woke with a start. Was that the birds he could hear? Birds chirping? Could that mean... could it really... was spring actually here?
Would this spring bring with it something new, something fresh?
Sometimes its just time to wonder.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Exploited.. Threatened... In Duress..
Sensationalism. Something the media seems to pine for. Today's news is no longer about accurate, honest reporting about the facts. Its more than that. Only the facts that would cause people to think, or protest, or just listen in awe are the ones being broadcast by the media. If its not sensational its not newsworthy. If something changed and the story lost its sensational attributes, silently drop it. Maybe nobody will notice. In most cases nobody does.
The world is in a crisis today. There is a systemic failure, and its mainly been caused by greed and laziness. Greed in New York, where bankers saw a quick way to make money, and pass the buck on to someone else who could repackage the bad, into something good and keep up the chain. Laziness in Detroit where the auto manufacturers refused to innovate, and improve their cars because they had the unions to hold them up. Cue the failure of NY, and the money disappears, this causes less spending, which then chokes the entire system. People start losing jobs, and the cycle continues. Someone needs to break the cycle, but nobody is brave enough, or has the resources to do so. The government may be trying, but there's only so much it can do. If you let capitalism rule the roost, add expect the fit to survive, you'll end up in a monopolistic world with the few guys smart enough to have planned for this surviving. One can argue, good for them, they had back ups and they knew how to make it through the worst of it. I agree with them, but its hard to voice such an opinion with the media adding its own spin, bias and lack of information to it all.
Recently, a comedy host, one of my best sources for news these days, exposed the way a reputed news channel squandered away every opportunity it had to be a good reporter, and one which would have been respected and honored all over the world. Its all about the feel good factor, one would say. If you really want to spread the feel good factor, don't call it news, call it a soap opera, or a drama. Going by the ignorance is bliss philosophy doesn't really help, and now there are a whole lot of people with really messed up investments, and a lot of lost money, just because they followed the trusted sources that the anchors had. Have a look at the story:
Another favorite topic of the media, is the visa situation. A certain class of employees are hired from overseas under a temporary worker program. In most cases, such people are talented and highly educated. The argument being put forth by most people here is that such people take away the now scarce jobs from the locals. Its reached a point that some senators have issued letters to companies asking them to eliminate the foreigners before the locals. This might make sense, if you decide to ignore the macroeconomic scenarios. These foreigners are mainly Indians and Chinese. These guys [1] will work no end to make sure work gets done. They will make sure they pay off all their loans. They will save. They will spend as needed. They will make sure that the credit crunch doesn't hit credit cards. We'll let it slide that this was ignored.
This "request" by the senators got picked up by the Indian media, and immediately caused an outpouring of complaints by companies that work as consultants to send people to work the same jobs at less than half the cost. The ones that really exploit this program. They complained the loudest, and their voices were heard. The government also issued a statement that this was unjust and discriminatory. When, finally, one of the companies here, to whom this letter was written, refused to comply with the senators request, the story mysteriously disappeared from the news. Not one blog/news channel/website in India reported it, and left people thinking that there was an undue bias out there.
Why is it that we have such a powerful organ in the media, that works so unchecked, and wantonly creates stories out of nothing, with no concern for correcting false impressions that their stories create? Why can the media just go about and do this? Are we that gullible? Are we so inundated with the boredom of life that we need to have something sensational happen for us to pay attention? Where are the days of news being reported because its news, not because its a story? These are some of the many points that I ponder about when I accidentally reach a news channel these days.
The world is in a crisis today. There is a systemic failure, and its mainly been caused by greed and laziness. Greed in New York, where bankers saw a quick way to make money, and pass the buck on to someone else who could repackage the bad, into something good and keep up the chain. Laziness in Detroit where the auto manufacturers refused to innovate, and improve their cars because they had the unions to hold them up. Cue the failure of NY, and the money disappears, this causes less spending, which then chokes the entire system. People start losing jobs, and the cycle continues. Someone needs to break the cycle, but nobody is brave enough, or has the resources to do so. The government may be trying, but there's only so much it can do. If you let capitalism rule the roost, add expect the fit to survive, you'll end up in a monopolistic world with the few guys smart enough to have planned for this surviving. One can argue, good for them, they had back ups and they knew how to make it through the worst of it. I agree with them, but its hard to voice such an opinion with the media adding its own spin, bias and lack of information to it all.
Recently, a comedy host, one of my best sources for news these days, exposed the way a reputed news channel squandered away every opportunity it had to be a good reporter, and one which would have been respected and honored all over the world. Its all about the feel good factor, one would say. If you really want to spread the feel good factor, don't call it news, call it a soap opera, or a drama. Going by the ignorance is bliss philosophy doesn't really help, and now there are a whole lot of people with really messed up investments, and a lot of lost money, just because they followed the trusted sources that the anchors had. Have a look at the story:
Another favorite topic of the media, is the visa situation. A certain class of employees are hired from overseas under a temporary worker program. In most cases, such people are talented and highly educated. The argument being put forth by most people here is that such people take away the now scarce jobs from the locals. Its reached a point that some senators have issued letters to companies asking them to eliminate the foreigners before the locals. This might make sense, if you decide to ignore the macroeconomic scenarios. These foreigners are mainly Indians and Chinese. These guys [1] will work no end to make sure work gets done. They will make sure they pay off all their loans. They will save. They will spend as needed. They will make sure that the credit crunch doesn't hit credit cards. We'll let it slide that this was ignored.
This "request" by the senators got picked up by the Indian media, and immediately caused an outpouring of complaints by companies that work as consultants to send people to work the same jobs at less than half the cost. The ones that really exploit this program. They complained the loudest, and their voices were heard. The government also issued a statement that this was unjust and discriminatory. When, finally, one of the companies here, to whom this letter was written, refused to comply with the senators request, the story mysteriously disappeared from the news. Not one blog/news channel/website in India reported it, and left people thinking that there was an undue bias out there.
Why is it that we have such a powerful organ in the media, that works so unchecked, and wantonly creates stories out of nothing, with no concern for correcting false impressions that their stories create? Why can the media just go about and do this? Are we that gullible? Are we so inundated with the boredom of life that we need to have something sensational happen for us to pay attention? Where are the days of news being reported because its news, not because its a story? These are some of the many points that I ponder about when I accidentally reach a news channel these days.
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