hoatzinaname

Black Shouldered Kite at San Juan Canyon

2011-04-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of videos of a black shouldered kite hunting over San Juan Canyon (Mid Peninsula in the SF Bay Area).

Video 1 (with SF skyline)

Video 2 (view of the bird's underside while flapping wings in stationary mode)

Post for comments from venkatesh.net

2010-11-13T08:05:00.001-08:00

This post is meant to receive feedback from visitors to http://www.venkatesh.net (my travel website)

Another trick question: Identify this flag

2010-06-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

No text to search for this time, but should be an interesting one to crack, hopefully!

Jordan Israel border crossing at Aqaba-Eilat

2010-05-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

After spending the day at Wadi Rum, we were at the beach in Aqaba looking across the "swimming pool" of the Gulf of Aqaba at the Israeli port of Eilat (where we were to take a flight to Tel Aviv later in the evening).

Since Israeli coast on the Gulf is only 12 km long, we could also see Egypt (not seen in pic) in the distance. On this side, Saudi Arabia is a mere 40 km. or so from Aqaba.

We also did get close to the 2nd tallest free standing flagpole in the world (having lost top spot to Turkmenistan in 2008). On closer look, the flag was missing the "star in the red triangle" which is the Jordanian flag. We learnt from one of the boat operators that this is the flag of the Arab Revolt (1916-1918). Which is a great conclusion to the day since we spent it at Wadi Rum visiting several sites associated with TE Lawrence and the Arab Revolt.

It was a deserted border crossing with just a small group of people. Our tour agent on the Jordan side walked with us till the exit talking on the cellphone to his Israeli counterpart who was waiting on the other side to pick us up.

Goodbye to Jordan and Welcome to Israel

On re-entering Israel from Aqaba, Jordan via the Yitzhak Rabin border crossing, we noticed the images of friendship posted on the walls as our bags were put through the X-Ray machines by the Israeli authorities.

First, this handshake between Rabin and Hussein applauded by Clinton in Aqaba.

Then this even more impressive gesture of Hussein lighting Rabin's cigarette at the Aqaba palace.

But there was this sobering reminder of belligerence with this flashback to 1967 in Jerusalem's Old City with the same Rabin (extreme right, with Dayan in the middle with his distinctive eye patch). This was taken during the Six Day War when Israel took control of East Jerusalem.

The border crossing was as smooth as waltzing through a supermarket aisle thanks to the tour agents on both sides (and of course, the above mentioned heads of state).

The questioning by the woman at the Israeli immigration counter was curious. I was asked my religion and I could not help but say "I guess you could say Hindu" which was totally unsatisfactory to her, of course. I was wondering if I should say "I am a Bright", but figured that this would only result in a needless delay, so I just said firmly "Hindu!". This satisfied her and she stamped the passport and waved me on.

As promised, the Israeli counterpart agent picked us up in her Jeep talking on the cellphone to her Jordanian counterpart to confirm the successful exchange. She then discussed plans for further exchanges for the day and the next and signed off with "Insha'Allah, of course!". What politics and diplomacy can only dream of achieving, business does easily.

A few minutes later, we were in Eilat and looking across the Red Sea at Aqaba and its gigantic flagpole. Click on any of the images to view full size.

At Mystery Location

2010-05-24T20:02:00.001-07:00

Took this picture on Sunday and thought that this would be a nice teaser for a Where is this? style post. Clicking on the pic to see a larger image and scanning for keywords and googling should yield the result in a few minutes.

Hope this is fun!

Answer: Al Manara Square, Ramallah, Palestine. The giveaway was the "Stars and Bucks" which would have quickly yielded the answer on a search engine.

Off to LA

2010-04-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

That is Louisiana...4 day trip to the swamps and Cajun/Zydeco music in NOLA...

Back on Tuesday...

Snowshoeing

2010-03-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

After giving up skiing several years ago, tried an alternative way to experience the Sierra Nevada winter. More satisfying as a hiking pastime with time to enjoy the scenery and not worry about being ferried up chair lifts and the like.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rama.venkatesh/LakeTahoeSnowshoeWeekend# (Photos)

Google Maps View of the Donner Summit Loop

View Donner Summit Snowshoe Loop in a larger map

Hiking Biking Venky

2009-04-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

Private joke for h2Toppers. Sorry!

Riding a bike after a 17 year break. Rented one last weekend at Stanford for a 10 mile ride around the Palo Alto hills. Just as driving in the US requires a mirror shift, braking the bike has a similar shift. The rear brakes are on your left hand. My wrist muscles remembered the Indian experience and took a while to get comfortable. (April 18)

A different sort of hiking trail that skirts the Pacific Ocean, a walking equivalent to the Pacific Coast Highway. (April 25)

End of the Cherry Tree

2009-04-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

After 10 years of having this tree serve as a landmark, we lost it to massive cold winds that swept the area Tuesday. Fortunately, traffic is quiet on this street and there was room to pass by.

We had to wait till the morning for the winds to die down and daybreak before we got someone to remove and annihilate it.

Not too sorry to see it go. The two weeks of its flowering every year cost us months of sweeping off its substantial leaves debris every fall/winter.

Obama Inauguration Speech

2009-01-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

Surprised to see no discussion on one of the key parts of the speech where the 44th President of the US rattled off the names of religious groups (the 3 biblical ones and Hindus, but no mention of Buddhists or Sikhs or Jains) with the addition of "non-believers". Is this a first? Have previous presidents acknowledged this group?

The group themselves would prefer a more positive sounding phrase to describe themselves, but it is a start to include them. It is one of the aims of the Brights to be recognized as a group with a positive worldview and not be excluded from civic participation just because they do not check any box with the name of a religion next to it.

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

2009-01-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

Having lived in the Bay Area for a dozen years, one would have (wrongly!) thought that one knew everything about it. Well, never heard of this place (it being quite close to home!). Seems very popular with the kids.

Searching for hidden clues in the Pietersen-Moores saga

2009-01-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

One can almost hear Pietersen's inner thoughts "I wish he wouldn't do this everytime I initiate a serious conversation! I am getting sick of this!"

KP's inner thoughts (continued): "I may not be king, but I do feel that I am entitled to my crown, however small it may be. I wish they will let me wear this on the field. That will show that brat, Yuvraj, who is the better cricketer. I am sure it will make him quake a little bit."

Everest Base Camp-Kala Patthar Trek

2008-12-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

A significant milestone.

Ansel Adams Wilderness

2008-09-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

Could be the hardest thing we've ever done. 6 days in the Sierra high elevations carrying a heavy pack on your back.

Spicer Reservoir Kayaking

2008-08-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Take the load off your back and pack it in a kayak instead. Discover that the roof of your car is hardly any stronger than a piece of plastic as the weight of a kayak rests on it. You just hope it will pop right back out!

Desolation Wilderness : Lake Aloha

2008-07-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

Not quite Lake Tahoe! And not in Hawaii either despite the Aloha name.

Trinity Alps - Dead Falls Lakes (July 4th weekend, 2008)

2008-07-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

Close encounter with a California summer fire in the mountains. Climbed the same peak twice within 24 hours.

Getting on Google's blacklist

2007-05-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Interesting piece on Google's supplemental list...

On a related issue, I found that Gmail had relegated Google Earth's monthly newsletter to my Spam folder today. Wonder why?

One thing is for sure, their algorithms are impartial.

Los Angeles Freeways

2007-01-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

Driving through what must surely be the "freeway capital of the world" (and in my case, after a gap of almost a decade), one notices things.

Like:

...as many exits are links to other freeways as they are to city streets
...several of these interchanges contain as many as 7 lanes or more and significantly more complex than those in other big cities
...the carpool lanes seems to be 24x7 and contain breaks for exit/entry, but no barricades (heard that Toronto has those)

The message is quite clear. Whereever you are from, your traffic situation cannot compare with this. It is a good thing that I managed to get in and out of the place during the weekend.

But LA types think that the Bay Area freeways are confusing. That doesn't make sense to me at all. The unique geography of the San Francisco Bay Area prevents the kind of criss crossing freeway configuration that you see in LA. The massive bay itself requires bridges to cross. Had it been land, we'd have had freeways from Berkeley to SantaCruz, San Francisco to Fremont and so on. And then there are the mountains on all sides limiting the scope for freeways. LA does have its mountains too but they are in isolated pockets leaving massive swathes of flatland to play with.

And then there are the names. 101 is Ventura freeway in some sections and Hollywood freeway in others. And the same Hollywood freeway is numbered 170 in another section. Bay Area freeways have names too (mostly named after people) but no one seems to pay much attention to them.

Federer in Tamil Nadu! Playing cricket too!!

2007-01-11T17:27:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well, don't know how I missed this one but I am sure glad that I eventually caught this one. Really made my day. The FedEx and Rafa in my home state within the span of a month. But for totally different reasons.

http://www.funenclave.com/other-sports/federer-unicef-tour-updated-4119.html
http://www.cricket.mailliw.com/tag/roger_federer
http://in.rediff.com/sports/2006/dec/23roger.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/24/stories/2006122406830400.htm

Nadal in Madras!

2007-01-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

Missed Chennai Open last year due to the injury that kept him out of the Australian Open '06 as well. Can't wait to see Nadal compete with Roger for AO '07 and more importantly Roland Garros '07.

How to eat Thai food

2007-01-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

Thai Satay restaurant, San Mateo, CA. Menu card with fervent plea to patrons to pay attention to proper use of cutlery while eating Thai Food. Fork in left hand, Spoon in right. Eat with spoon to ensure that the wonderful sauces don't spill off. Unlike Western method of eating with fork with concave side pointing down. But that will only work with food that can be skewered. Otherwise, one will have to use the concave side to scoop food.

Of course, our cutlery pack only had a fork and knife. No spoon.

Mexico

2006-11-15T22:50:00.000-08:00

Long overdue completion of this unforgettable ride through some parts of Mexico.

Click on the title for all the details.

Mexico Trip (Day 0) : San Francisco to Mexico City

2006-10-29T10:00:00.001-08:00

Day 0

The reality that we are finally, really bound for Mexico only dawned on me when we eventually made our way to the AeroMexico counter in Phoenix airport on Saturday evening at 9pm (back in West Coast time since Arizona does not do daylight savings) after a 3 hour wait in Salt Lake City for a connecting plane. The AeroMexico counter was straight out of Sahar airport in Mumbai. Huge towers of baggage waiting in an irregular line with no one at the counter. Our flight to Mexico City (actually 2 separate flights sharing the same flight number AE451 bound for Guadalajara and after immigrating into Mexico there, take a totally different plane to the capital) was scheduled for a 1 am departure and we had to wait another 30 minutes before the queue started moving.

Miraculously, the AeroMexico ground crew honoured our claim that our flight was being paid for through Delta miles and gave us our boarding passes. We had to take a circuitous path to our gate via a totally different security gate which confused us totally but we eventually made our way to the security gate. Yet another indication that we were crossing a cultural boundary occurred when the security guard shooed us away and asked us to wait in the lobby along with the other AE451 folks until called. We started hearing more Spanish and less English from this point onward.

Another hour later, we were eventually squeezed through the security gate (some anxiety about our toothpaste tube being larger than 3 oz., but it fizzled out quickly). The MD87 plane (never heard of this model before, will Australians ever fly this?) has two engines right at the tail and our row 25 seats were adjacent to the engines. The roar and shake of the plane was more like that of a rickety bus than a plane. We could barely manage an hour of sleep before we descended into a brilliantly bejewelled Guadalajara (memories of the 86 World Cup). The announcements were bilingual but we could barely make out what was being said in the thickly accented English. We mistakenly set our clocks 2 hours forward instead of just the 1 hour.

Then followed the most casual immigration procedure we´ve ever been subjected to. Having got a head start by exiting the plane from its rear end (right below the tail!), we promptly lost our lead as those passengers transiting to Mexico City were given a special boarding pass by a waiting official. But we were not prepared to be told to go upstairs to a separate immigration queue. We walked up the stairs only to find an empty desk in a dark landing. Not knowing what to do, we simply walked past the corner towards what seemed to be departure gates.

An official yelled at us from below to stop. He rapidly came up the stairs, took his position behind the dark desk and indicated that we were to go through him. We handed our passports, green cards and arrival forms to him. Without even looking at passports or green cards, he simply stamped the arrival forms and signed it and sent us on our way. We walked a few steps and then checked the form and could not make out how many days we were allowed to stay in Mexico. We walked back to him and he gruffly said Trenta dias! Thirty days! and scribbled again over what he already had written earlier. We had no choice but to accept this and move on.

Still operating an hour ahead of ourselves we parked near our gate. The shops at the airport slowly started opening for business at pre-dawn. The hip looking CD shop owner played some sitar vadan and sanskrit bhajan CD for the entire duration of the CD. We could not make any sense of the departure announcements as they seemed to speak in future tense of estimated departure times which had already passed. We were convinced that the Aviacsa plane that was bound for Mexico City (simply called Mexico inside the country) was holding up our gate because of its delayed departure. It eventually pulled out of the gate, but to our dismay, pulled back in. Our gate was moved to a free spot down the hallway.

We eventually took off in the morning light. An hour later, we descended into a colourful smog bowl splendidly framed against the twin mountains of Popocateptl and Iztaccihuatl (Popo and Izta to locals). We could even make out the Museum of Anthropology from the air and that is where we would spend this Sunday afternoon for a quick crash course on pre-Columbian history of Mexico that would set the stage for the entire trip that would take us from Mexico City to Cancun via Puebla, Oaxaca, Tuxtla Guitierrez, San Cristobal de los casas, Palenque and Merida.

Bruckner 7th (Davies Symphony Hall, Jan. 23, 2003)

2003-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

Bruckner 7th (Davies Symphony Hall, Jan. 23, 2003)

The performance of Bruckner symphony is a major event that is worth travelling miles for. I'd be perfectly happy to listen to a Haydn or Mozart symphony on my CD Player and not miss hearing it in a symphony hall. The same cannot be said of a Mahler or Bruckner symphony where the hall experience is simply extraordinarily different and overwhelming.

The Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco has a reputation for bad acoustics (I was told this during a guided tour of the SF Opera House which is across the street). I haven't noticed anything particularly odd but the joke goes that if you write a review of any concert there you had better specify your seat number as well. Because someone in a different seat would have had a totally different experience.

The SF Symphony Box office offers 40 center terrace tickets for most performances and these go on sale 2 hours prior to the performance. The cost of a ticket is about half that of the cheapest ticket that you could buy in advance. Of course, this requires one to be at the hall an hour prior to the window opening but it is well worth it. These seats are almost within hand shaking distance of the timpani player and allows one to watch the conductor's expressions which help a lot in getting a better understanding of the music.

Unfortunately my trek turned out to be in vain. The center terrace seating was not available for that afternoon as the first half of the evening featured an all-male chorus who would be occupying those seats. The calendar display listed a Mozart work but the playbill indicated an all Bruckner evening with the short Trosterin Musik (Music the Comforter) and Helgoland, considered his last completed work. This was an unexpected bonus and I did not mind giving up the center terrace for the vocal talent. Fortunately, tickets were still available for the side terrace which are as close to the orchestra (but much pricier).

The all male chorus was something new and I did not quite know what to expect. It had the Bruckner stamp alright.

I am a late entrant to the Bruckner club and have known his works for about a year only. Apart from the unique musical style, I also find his personality and his unique life events very engrossing. The delayed recognition of his worth, his odd personality quirks, difficulties in finding a mate, the fiasco of the 3rd symphony premiere, his meetings with Wagner, numeromania, piety, the version problem that still feed many academic theses etc. all contribute to the aura.

What I find unique about his symphonies is his style of closing a theme with a full stop and after a pause beginning another as if the previous theme did not exist at all. Some may carp at this refusal to create bridge passages, but their error is in assuming that he could not do what he chose not to. There are just too many examples but the most striking is the scherzo of the Fifth where he begins with a fast version of the opening theme of the second movement, then come to a full stop and begin something totally different. This may be a bit bewildering at first but once you get a grasp of his methods and how he ties it all together at the end, it is well worth the while.

It was a thrill to actually see the Wagner tubas in a live performance. Closer examination of the closing sequence of the first movement and the slow movement reveals what is probably a very conscious tribute to the composer of the Ring. Much is made of the choice of using the cymbal clash in the second movement. This performance did feature the clash.

KDFC, the classical music station of the SF Bay Area, played the entire concert last night and I was happy to catch a part of it.