Twisted weather

Pilger, NE, is about 60 from where I live. A little town about an hour's drive from me is in the news today because of the almost total devastation wrecked by twin tornados that ripped through yesterday evening. By my count, this is the third major tornado-carrying storm we've had in the last month. I cannot recall so many storms in such a short frame of time.

(Reed Timmer 2014)

Here a video of the twister as it wound it's way through Pilger.

TGIF: Songs to hum - 6

On Friday afternoons, after I am done teaching for the week, I sit in my office, put my feet up on my desk, lean back in my chair and softly hum songs to myself, unwinding and releasing the built-up tension of the week so far. Youtube is a good companion during these times and I have my own version of Chitrahaar, with the songs following some unfathomable pattern, changing per my mood and wishes.  (Previous TGIF posts are here).

Note:  The links may be broken as Youtube links tend to come and go.  I apologize in advance if that happens here.

Here is today's trip through Youtube:

1) My absolute favorite song of 2013 was Tum Hi Ho from Aashiqui 2, sung by Arijit Singh.  I did not see the movie but have seen/heard this song innumerable times.



2)  By the way, if you want to hear all the songs and also find out how Aashiqui 2 starts, begins, and ends you can watch this video of all the songs and some of the dialogues.

Splash or splat?

Acrophobia (heights) and Aquaphobia (drowning) are my two biggest fears.  Later this year, in a park near where I live, I may get a chance to conquer both of them at the same time.

I present to you, without any further comment - Verrückt in Kansas City :

(In case you are wondering about the chances of me ever being on that ride: No way, no how!)

2013: Year in Review - Pet peeve

As the years have progressed, movie directors have pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable to be shown/visualized on-screen.  But sometimes, just because you can film something does not mean it is "entertaining".

A common theme that has emerged in recent superhero movies (be it the Hollywood variety - The Avengers, Iron Man, etc. or even the Bollywood kind - Krrish 3, Dhoom 3, etc.) is the "battle" between the main characters.  Earlier, the destruction of cities and buildings and, by proxy, humans was reserved for natural disasters such as comets or meteorites crashing into the earth.

But not any more.  The zenith (or nadir, if you will) of these scenes was the final battle between Superman and General Zod in Man of Steel.  One of the most enduring legacies of Superman was his wish to protect human life at any cost.  Look at the following video and try to figure out how many lives were lost before the General was eliminated.  Oddly, it seems that the General's fatal mistake was to target a family.  As long as he was only destroying buildings (and the people within them) Superman appeared content to simply trade body blows with him.

What bothers me is that human lives appear to not have any value, especially if they are eliminated en masse.

(Note how much destruction has already been wrought on Metropolis by this point.  And it is not a vacant city as you can see from the cars that are moving on the roads and the people clearly still milling about).



P.S. And yes, I will admit that the entire premise of my favorite movie of the year was the destruction of everything human-made  in outer space but I will submit that the loss of human life was restricted to the astronauts at the start of the episode and was treated with great seriousness.

2013: Year in review - My favorite movie

The next few posts will discuss some of the things that caught my attention (mostly positive, some negative) in the year gone by.  I am leading off with my favorite movie of the year.

These were the top-10 grossing movies in Hollywood:
1. Iron Man 3
2. Despicable Me 2
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
4. Fast & Furious 6
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6. Monsters University
7. Man of Steel
8. Gravity
9. Frozen
10. Thor: The Dark World

Of the top 10, I saw 6.  Not a bad ratio for me.  The ones I missed were Despicable Me 2 (since I have not seen the first one), The Hobbit (No interest whatsoever after the ponderous Lord of the Rings trilogy left me cold, Monsters University (liked the original too much to ruin the memories), and Frozen (I am a Pixar snob, what can I say?  Though I may well end up watching this one.  (I will revisit the Top 10 in a separate post with some pet peeves and concerns).

Among the Bollywood releases, I liked Kai Po Che!, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (not the ending, though, as it reinforced stereotypes that I think it is time Hindi movies got away from), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (even though it was too heavy-handed and syrupy), and Dhoom 3 (more on this and Krrish 3 in the afore-mentioned separate post).

But, by far, my favorite movie of the year was one that featured just two actors, one of whom is there for only about a third of the screentime.  Strap your seat belts and watch this extended preview first:


Some movies are meant to be seen on the big screen.  This one definitely was. Wow.  The movie combined my love of astronomy/outer-space with my fear of being adrift with no one but myself to pull off a rescue.  Sandra Bullock and George Cloony give Gravity the right amount of heft and their persona is so likable you start rooting for them within minutes.

If the movie is running in a nearby theater, go see it.  Don't worry about the 3D. The movie is a combination of an edge-of-the-seat thriller, how-dun-it with some spectacular visual effects and perfect acting.

I could tell you more but that would only spoil the fun.

Travel: Day 8 - Australia - Koalas, Kuranda, and Kool ways to travel

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

In January 2013, I taught Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entailed a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can see the previous posts in this thread here).

After getting a close look at the rainforest in the crane on the previous day, on Day 8 we took a more scenic path to (and through it) via the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

The skyrail is a series of gondolas that rise from the base station at Caravonica Terminal, located about 15 miles from Cairns, and traverses about 7.5km (4.7mi) over the rainforest with 2 stops along the way at Red Peak, Barron Falls, finally ending at Kuranda.  Along the way, we got a close look at Barron Gorge National Park.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The Skyrail system comprises of 114 gondolas that travel over a path that is held up by 33 towers, the tallest of which is 133 feet (40.5m) high.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).

Travel: Day 7 - Australia - Trails and Tribulations

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

In January 2013, I taught Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entailed a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can the previous posts in this thread here).

Apart from being a campus offering on-site classes, James Cook University has numerous satellite locations where research opportunities abound.  One of them is the Daintree Rainforest Observatory, managed by Site Manager Peter Byrnes.

About 140km (~ 90miles) north of Cairns, the Observatory is in a section of protected rainforest adjacent to the Daintree National Park. The Daintree rainforest lays claim to having the highest biodiversity of plant and animal species anywhere in Australia. The site is flanked to the west by coastal ranges rising to more than 1400m and by the Coral Sea to the east.  The proximity of the coral reef to a rainforest makes it a fairly unique situation.

We took the Captain Cook Highway out of Cairns, heading north in a van.This winding ocean road is as you would expect it to be - the treeline frequently opens up to reveal great vistas and lookouts along the way

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

 The drive is littered with small beaches that were inviting us to stop but had to be saved for some other (undecided) date in the future.

(Sandra 2013)

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).

Alien improbabilities..

The reason why an alien civilization has not reached the Earth (officially, that is) is actually quite simple (apart from the fact that we may really be the only planet with life as we know it):  The Earth is a tiny, tiny part of the entire Universe and happening upon it, even by accident, requires enormous luck and fortune.

Check out this video made by the American Museum of Natural History and you will truly appreciate how insignificant our place in the cosmos really is.  Carl Sagan would have simply smiled upon seeing this:

Hi NYC, I'm Sandy...

I'm a sucker for time-lapse photography...so I cannot pass up a chance to show you this one, taken during the past couple of days while Hurricane Sandy made it's way through the Big Apple.

Poetry in slow-motion

It's no secret that I believe Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all-time.  Or, at least, if there was/is a tennis player with a greater range of shots combined with grace in hitting the yellow ball, I'd like to have watched him/her play.  And I'd still think Roger could have held his own.

The secret to his success (as it is with most other successful sportspersons) is how focused he is on the ball at the moment of impact and beyond.  Check out this video:

And if that isn't enough for you, check him out in super-slow-motion....
 

Quiet, please

Reason number 1,456,687,432 why I am a bigger fan of Roger Federer than Rafael Nadal:  Their pace of play.

In the time it takes Nadal to serve between points, the viewer can surf other channels, catch up on the endings of all the NFL games and still not miss a single shot of the match.

With Federer, blink a couple of times and you may have already missed the latest exhibition of shot-making from the maestro.

Check out this split-screen video.  Roger Federer wins a game in the time it takes Nadal to get ready to serve the next point.  Roger's video begins with him serving at love-all.  Nadal's video begins with him hitting the winning shot of a point.

Surf's up: Random musings - 7

a)  So, last night the result of an NFL game was determined by the shoddiness of replacement referees.  Ho-hum.  The debacle could have been avoided had any of the Green Bay Packer defenders followed the first rule of defending Hail Mary passes - KNOCK THE BALL DOWN!

Take a look at the replay - no less than three Green Bay defenders had the chance to ice the game by simply batting the ball away.



Yet, all of them went for glory and tried to intercept the ball.    See for yourself.

Serves you right.  You don't have my sympathies.

b)  VVS Laxman retired a few weeks ago and it hasn't sunk in yet.  I am still not in the mood to write my eulogy but am getting ready for it.  Until then, here are two must-read articles about the good guy of Indian cricket.

First, Peter Roebuck is no longer here to write about VVS, but when he did (in the aftermath of 281) it was fantastic.  Poetry in prose.

As Laxman took guard he found himself surrounded by the din of the crowd and the biting resolution of his gum-chewing, green-capped opponents near at hand. Habitually, he cuts an impressive and impassive figure upon which hostility falls like raindrops upon a bear. He stood his ground.

Laxman was about to play the innings of a lifetime, one of the greatest knocks the game has known. His effort has not shrunk in retrospect for it was not a mere protest against fate but rather a purposeful pursuit of an impossible dream.

Second, check out Siddhartha Vadyanathan's piece, not so much for what he wrote but for some of the videos link to in the comments section.

c)  If you are a famous sportsperson, maybe even the best ever in your sport, winning a match is not the end of your day's work.  Here's Roger Federer's grueling post-match interview schedule.  I used to wish I could play like him.  Now I don't, for I do not want to have to do all the additional things that come with that gift.

d)  Roger Federer is the Most Interesting Man in the World.  Stay thirsty, my friends.

e)  Very rarely do I burst out laughing when I read a straight-forward sports article about how someone can help Tiger Woods get his game back on track.  But this one did.  Johnny Miller is soooo modest, it makes me blush to hear about all the great things he has to say about....himself.

Bonus: Here's Johnny's unvarnished thoughts from a different article:

The drive I hit on the last hole at Oakmont in 1973 at the U.S. Open was special. I'd hit every green that day, and my average birdie putt was about 10 to 12 feet. To this day, I've never seen a major championship round of that precision, with tee shots and iron shots, by anyone. That sounds like bragging, but I've seen a lot of rounds. 

f) If you have a few minutes, take a look at some of the photographs submitted to National Geographic for the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012.  Which is your favorite one?

g)  And finally, one last look as VVS walks off into the sunset.  A big part of cricket's allure died that day.

(Copyright 2011, AFP)

Light at the speed of light

Are we on the verge of the next hyper-leap in scientific possibility?  It sure seems that way.  The possibilities are endless...if we don't end our world in December, that is.

Watch the whole video.  it is worth your time.

Crash landing

Just watch this video and pay close attention to what happens.  You will not be disappointed.

(Note:  keep the volume low, especially if you are at work).

Backhanded complement

When Roger Federer was ruling the roost, his backhand was a fairly simple stroke, harking back to gentler times of serve-and-volley tennis.  While he was quite capable of the top-spin version, he much preferred to set up points by slicing it back with varying levels of spin and then running around it to unleash his forehand, once described by John McEnroe as the "greatest shot in tennis".

Beauty and the beasts

If you wonder whether the Earth is still worth fighting for when the (inevitable) destruction is at hand, here's a reminder of all the wonderful things we may lose when we do so:

Run, Forrest, run!

There are some things you can hide on the silver screen and some that you cannot.  One thing you cannot hide is how you run.  At least for a long distance, in a long shot.

For years, in my mind, the champion runner was Amitabh Bachchan. No one ran better or more impressively than him.  Check it out:



(The dude also got shot in the back quite a few times, didn't he?  I guess he couldn't outrun a bullet).

In Hollywood, the undisputed leader is Tom Cruise.  I have yet to see a movie of his where there isn't at least one scene of him running.  It's almost as bad as Paresh Rawal and eating scenes or Sridevi and monochrome saris in a song.  Here's a compilation of Tom Cruise running and running.



For what it's worth, I still think Amitabh is the better-looking runner.

Surf's up: Random musings - 6

Trolling through the web I often come across things that I file away for future (posting) reference. Here are some of the ones that still seem interesting enough to pass on to you.

a) An oldie, but a goldie. Do you want to know why Test cricket is dying (i.e. why spectators are not turning up to watch it any more?)? Well, look no further - it's the spectators who are to blame.

b)  Who says cricket is a batsman's game?  Here's some food for thought - Over 2,000 players have played Test cricket.  As of December 2011, a debutant has taken 5 wickets in an inning on 143 occasions.  In contrast, in spite of many more opportunities, only 93 debutants have scored a 100.

c) I can't really say much more than repeat the title of the link: High Speed Liquid and Bubble Photographs by Heinz Maier.  Wow!

d) Tring, tring.  Click clack.  Ka-ching.  Some of the sounds your kids will never hear in their lifetime.

e)  Which batsman and bowler has the highest rating - ever - in the history of Test cricket?  Check out #3 on the bowler's list.  He was the first bowler who scared me even though I was just watching him bowl on TV. The #1 on the Batting list is not a surprise, but see where Sachin Tendulkar's highest-ever rating places him on the all-time list.

f)  I know a picture is worth a 1000 words, but this picture being worth $4.3 million is simply ludicrous.  Why, oh why, is it worth that much?

g) I don't think I will ever have the guts to take this ride.  But, it does not stop me from living it vicariously.



h) And if you liked the previous one, you may like this one, too:



i) And, finally, I was debating whether to end with this picture, or this picture, or this picture or this picture.  But instead I settled for the one reproduced below.  I hope it is of Laxman tying his shoelaces for future battles, not of him getting ready to hang up his boots (more on that in a different post).

(Associated Press - 2012, via CricInfo)

Surf's up: Random musings - 5

Trolling through the web I often come across things that I file away for future (posting) reference. Here are some of the ones that still seem interesting enough to pass on to you.

a)  The shirts worn by the Australian Test cricket players has new design, probably to help them sweat less or something like that.  All I know is that it makes it seem like they are wearing sports bras under their shits.  Not a good look for them.  Fail!

AFP via CricInfo 2010

b)  Of late, soundbites from MS Dhoni have started to take on a fairly simplistic note, probably mindful of his ever-burgeoning public image.  But there was a time, not so long ago, when the man would speak from his heart and speak eloquently enough about his life.  Here's an interview from 2008, a few months after he had become India captain and well before he became the media-created behemoth he is today.

c)  While on MSD, have you ever seen a batsman "walk" for an LBW.  Take a look at MSD's reaction from about the 1:50 mark of this video.  Who knew that in a few years from then, he'd be captaining Murali to IPL (cough) glory.

 

d)  I was directed to the video in the previous point from the subject of this musing.  For those of us who cannot stand the television coverage of today (aptly described as a bunch of commercials interrupted by a few seconds of cricket), our best recourse to "watching" a game remains online text portals such as CricInfo's outstanding ball-by-ball commentary.  Another frequently visited website is The Guardian's Over By Over (OBO).  To whet your appetite, here's an OBO of the 2011 World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India.  Almost as good as some of my match day analyses.  *sigh*

Beefing up one's obituary

Ignore the fact that he is selling some random brand of beer.  You will become a little more intelligent simply by listening to the Most Interesting Man in the World.