Facebook mania

Cheers to me for writing a new post after a long break... My eyes were misted with the boom and bust created by Facebook and I had completely forgotten to scribble on my Blog! Facebook mania is the talk of the town right now.. But somehow I find myself slithering away from it these days. I thought may be I'm so accustomed to it now that I'm not even realizing how long I'm dawdling on it everyday. However the trend itself has reduced now. The rate of flow of messages and status updates has almost dwindled from what it was when FB just started exploding. All said and done it is indeed overwhelming to see what others are upto and be amused with those old gold faces from your secondary and higher secondary crawling into your pages now and then. And then comes the most interesting part.. "Friends of your Friends" - Wow!! What a mastermind that guy must have had! Nothing critical, nothing crucial.. it is simply interesting to read between their lines and enjoy knowing how those Friends of your Friends are like ;-) sirupillathanam! (childishness!)..

With my spanish-3 getting over, madness starts again.. Winter! dry cold! Not much outings! Boredom slowly creeping in! My Guitar is the only saviour.. Exploring more to compel you! LOL..

Here are two songs that I've uploaded on my Jukebox.. One is an old Tamil song in Rock-n-Roll genre. I love the way LR.Eshwari sings and I've tried the chords myself for the full song. And the other one is from the latest flick "Guzaarish". Sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, "Udi" is  a rocking song on screen with Hispanic-Arab mix style of playing Guitar, very tough to play.. I couldn't do much justice to it.. Adding to the beauty of it is Ash dancing in it.. Yes, I like Ash now-a-days :-P

Just be aware and not beware!

A rainy, misty week with a hue of mild sunshine in it, somehow nature seemed to be sad to me. Running into the morning mist to take a flu shot at the state's health and human services department, I was thoroughly enjoying my morning jog being engulfed into the mist.. concurrently stricken by the thought of how Mother nature fidgets in consequence of the deeds of its treacherous children.

It is supposed to be the beginning of Fall here. Summer has not been its usual self. There has been more of rain and humidity than heat this year. There's a busier-than-usual hurricane season projected in Atlantic ocean. Haiti, already devastated and Gulf of Mexico - with a giant oil slick can't handle another hurricane or any natural calamity at this moment. Rising ocean temperatures, ice caps and glaciers melting into salt-water oceans, rising sea levels, changing landscapes, flinching monsoons.. all caused by global warming, global dimming.. These bigger terms of science are still not striking clear enough on us to understand nature as part of our own sphere and NOT as an external or peripheral layer in the space around us, which is trying to threaten us since we have done something wrong. Unfortunately we are more scared than being aware these days. Nature by itself is a beautiful term known for its balancing sense. And we, the human beings are an integral part of it. Whilst we love the cool evening breeze and the magical morning mist, the ice capped mountains and the grassy green plains, let us also be at least aware of even the most diminutive effects that we could be creating on this earth. First and foremost! Not just knowing or being scared, but being aware will itself pave way for resolution.

These small and little things are not humongous tasks to be implemented by us. They are very much doable: 

Conserve power at home! Check the AC temperature inside the home. Be aware that human body is not capable of fighting greater differences in temperature inside and outside the home. Its not even good for health. Use pedestal fans instead of it. Do exercises to keep yourself fit enough to adjust your body temperature.

Reuse and Recycle! Tissue papers! they are not insignificant just because we use it for wiping dirt. Be aware that we could preserve forests by reusing paper at home, educational institutions and job.

Minimize the consumption of natural resources! Save Gas/Petroleum. Carpool or use public transport as much as possible.

Save battery power! Use phones only when it is required. Switch off your laptops or monitors while they are unused, don't keep the television or laptop running some channel while talking to a friend on phone, wash clothes in a lot, dry them outside if possible.

Save water! Don't let the water run while soaping the vessels. Have the same awareness at hotels and other public places as you would have at home wile washing hands. Use the drier to dry your hands instead of using paper towels.

Don't waste food and clothes! It is tough to prepare just enough for everyone when you throw a party, but make sure you don't dump the remaining food into the dumpster. Share it and eat it at a later part of the day. But watch out for the unnecessary number of coke bottles or plastic plates that you may order. Prepare fresh drinks, buy paper plates or at best use your own plates at home. Wear good clothes, but don't wait for it to be torn in order to donate them. Donate regularly any apparatus, tools, books, bags or items that you might have stopped using ages ago.

Don't pollute the environment! Get vehicles inspected regularly, throw trash regularly into the common dumpsters. I have had neighbors who leave the trash outside their entrance and not throw it away for days together! Take responsibility to be aware and also to educate or share the knowledge with such people around. If they repeat it or they don't listen to you, don't hesitate to complaint.

If every individual can take care of what best he or she should do and should NOT do in his home and the surrounding environment and do a bit of possible service through knowledge-sharing, we can definitely set the nature back in its state of equilibrium.

The image here on the top has more suggestions. Pls do share any other useful tips that you know.

An indigenous art

"Uthra! evlavu naazhiya kuptundrukken.. variya illiya chappathi idardhukku!" - Mom used to bawl at nights in her thick voice.. I would be surfing the net while watching a favorite program on TV (the usual Airtel Super Singer.. God! why would they telecast it at 8PM in the night when mom wants to make chappathis!!??). Sheesh! I used to despise it so much when I had to make at least 25 chappathis for all of us in the family while my mom would roll them. I did not learn to roll them until after I went to Bangalore for work. "Hmm.. Its ok, I'll do the rolling part today again", she would initiate the process with her usual satiric comment, everytime indicating that I haven't grasped it yet! And then it would roll on along with the chappathis.. with chapters of My Life being stuffed in them.. "Whatever you will do, if you get married.. however you will learn the nuances of cooking! You know, I started cooking when I was 13 (only) and that too for 50 and 100 people at a time, the whole village would have to be fed on a lot of occasions.." blah blah blah! She is not a mom who would throw tantrums at me all the time, but she wouldn't spare me once I'm inside the kitchen with her. Not to deny that she is fun and very easy to get along with, except for snobs! Btw, all this drama was for receiving a sarcastic comment from my dad on the chappathis that we made!

When I come to think of it today, I wish I get an opportunity to make these wonderful "phula hua" chappathis specially for her, simply to show her how chappathis are actually made, unlike how she used to make.. hee hee!! It is in the needing and the rolling of the dough and has nothing much to be done once it comes on to the tawa. Needless to say.. mellow and melting inside the mouth.. here puffs my flawless chappathi! Its not even required to show it on the flame to get it puffed. Part of my gratitude goes to the room-mate at Bangalore who taught me how to roll a chappathi round and the rest goes to my husband's colleague who gave a demo of the puff. Even after his demo, it still took a while to conceive the mood and consistency of the dough and the synchronization of the mind, heart and hands during the process to evoke this indigenous art in me - The art of making soft and fluffy chappathis! "And I know that mom will only be proud of me" ;-)

Fitness craze!

I'm supposed to be on a summer break now.. Fall classes start next week.. I wanted to do a lot of things this week, but none of them materialized!! Thanks to Mohan sitting at office for more than 16 hours at office! Eahahahaahahaahaaa.. I ended up sitting at home and watching Mega serial on Sun TV!! It had been a long time since I heard those flaring and jarring "ahhhhhh..." chorus as BGM! I guess Radhika never gets old in any of them according to the scripts written..

And wait, this is my 50th post.. Clap for this scribbling, bibbling, nonstop nothing blog.. And thanks to the people who still follow it! You are just incredible!

There have been a lot of happenings recently around me. The one I can possibly discuss here is my weight-reduction program.. Fitness has become more of a terminology in the fashion industry. It has but a lot to do with achieving a sound body and mind. For women like me, actually the best way to reduce weight is jogging.. I had been doing it since couple of months now and I could find amazingly significant changes in specific portions of my body! It feels great to have a fat-free (almost!) body, easy to carry myself, being back to the same kind of sphere when I used to be like this until my college days.. Its the monotonous postures at work or during no work that we gain excess weight. And we can't burn it by simply doing a quarter mile walk or gymming half hour everyday.. That's not even a warm-up! Walking can help if it is at least a 3-mile effort per day. Gymming can help if it is done for an hour on treadmill everyday. But the easiest and the most enjoyable way is to jog! It's the initial phase which is tough and tricky to handle. But once we go into the swing, then the whole world is ours.. And it doesn't have to be 'n' miles.. I did just a mile or 2 per day in the vicinity of my apartment. In just a month, I could see such difference! Also Austin has really beautiful greenery around. If we can't do it here, we'll do it nowhere.. And it is only when we are young, when the body co-operates, we can habituate it. And btw, don't mix this up with my husband's Marathon programs. For him it is a sport.. But he did help me a lot in giving me the initial trigger.

And for a change, I did a couple of bhajans this time. Chk them out on my jukebox.

No sollu..

"Vaazhkai oru sumai aanal No sollu" - nice lyrics.. Here I'm with one of Harris Jayaraj's hits.. The picturisation of the song is so cute. I love the way Tanisha jumps all thru' this song.. Shez another beauty from the legendary Mukherjee family. She doesn't look much like her sis Kajol, who is also my favorite. She has not done many roles after this movie Unnale Unnale.. I hope her career doesn't become short-lived. She's quite bubbly..

Mohan often says that all Harris Jayaraj's songs sound like one and the same.. and all of them sound like choir songs as well. But I kind of like many of them. Of course the rhythms are monotonous.. tunes are good though. 

Chk out my latest attempt on my jukebox.. And here's the original.. for Tanisha! She rocked in the movie..

Ban on Texting

Sharing my experiences here in cartoons.. I've been following someone on my blog who draws real good cartoons, very creative ones. I'm not that creative, but I can kind of draw. And I'm only an amateur in cartooning. So don't expect them to be perfect ;-) I have some funny ones in mind.. Hope I get to do them sooner.. 

The use of mobiles inside the classroom is very offensive and strictly prohibited here. Texting (Sending SMS on phones) while driving is also an offense. Fines could be as high as $500 for using phones while driving. It is true that students have much lesser restrictions here in terms of dressing or carrying oneself. They need not sit erect, respect a professor or keep staring at his lecture all the time, they can eat a snack or drink coke inside the class etc. but arriving to class late, absenteeism, distracting the lecture, usage of phones are absolutely discouraged. I've tried drawing what happened one day in my class, of course adding some masala to it ;-)

Maddy's magic..

Long time.. and I'm back with another mesmerizing number and a cool new template. When I was in the 2nd year of my college, Maddy's "Alaipaayuthe" (Saathiya) hit the theatres like a big bang. I watched it with my friends in the local Vidhya theatre in Tambaram. I used to watch movies in theatre during my school days much more! But this was the only movie that I watched during my college days. I was also then one of those fans in the young girls' club for Maddy! There are a lot of songs where he is so adorable. This song from the movie Run is one among his kind of songs. He can't get more romantic! Beautiful music and a splendid combo of Hariharan singing for Maddy in Vidyasagar's music!

Enjoy watching it here.. and my version is on my jukebox.

Whats goin on??

The frequency of my blogging is coming down drastically and I've been thinking what to do to boost it up. And there's nothing new happening either. It is the change in my class hours which has changed the lifestyle a bit. I (kind of) get up early, bathe, cook food, pack lunch for him, leave by 8.30 or 9 in the morning and get back home around 2-ish right in time for lunch. Assignments have multiplied numerously as we are already into the past imperfect kind of boring stuff in grammar. But there is variety of homework to be done. For each class hour, it looks like we have to practice an hour outside of the class! So I have 3 + 3 = 6 hours occupied thinking and talking español all the time! And then we go for a jog in the evening and come back home for dinner. Cut vegetables for next day, wash vessels.. But I did manage to do some interesting things in between my last post and this one. I watched two Tamil movies, Ravana and Kalavani. 

Ravana - more a commercial movie, typical Maniratnam set-up. I couldn't take the same ol' monotony in the first half, people with guns, heroine kidnapped by an anti-hero guy! One movie where he made viewers asking, "Ok, so?". I somehow felt I can't see Ash anymore on screen.. her actions and emotions are stereotypical! And I hate women crying even on screen! I liked the second half though. Kalavani was a great entertainer in a village backdrop with new "not yet uninteresting" faces, I'm yet to watch the last half hour. I was bored of washing vessels, so I'm writing this now! How I wish the dishwashers here can wash the vessels well by themselves.. Poor invention!!

Fireworks - 4th of July

4th of July - Independence Day here! It was as crowded as when I saw it last year.. The last same I remember playing with crackers is.. mm.. hard to recollect! Good ol' days.. And this is a different kind of fun. After quite a long time, my hubby himself took his tripod out for shooting the event. Colors and flames, Boom! came out the flowers and designs with symmetrical perfection! They all looked like a painting on the sky. On which platform do the makers design these crackers? Sunflowers, Angels, Birds, Elliptical orbits, Circular wheels, Phantoms, Concentric shapes, Stars and Sparklers.. let your imagination flow..

Karaoke kicks in!

Karaoke is a portmanteau of the Japanese kara 空 meaning "empty," and ōkesutora オーケストラ "orchestra" - It is a form of entertainment where amateur singers can sing along with recorded music (audio/video). It offers only the music track of a song minus the lead vocal. It is quite a popular thing today among kids, youngsters and other amateur singers. This is what I've tried this time for a couple of songs. Both are my very favorite numbers: The Aamir khan fame Pehla nasha sung by Udit Narayanam and Sadhna Sargam - I've done the lead for this, so it is an instrumental version. And the evergreen hit of Ilayaraja, Vaan megam sung by Chithra - I've strummed along with it on my Guitar and have sung it too. 

These kind of Karaokes aren't available for all the songs but we can find most of them on youtube. You can listen to them on my jukebox.

Rain-coaster rides!

I had been drafting this post about the bus rides here for so long that a really crazy rain had to push me towards completing this today. As a kid, it has always been pleasant and joyful to be hanging out when it rains. Not until I started working that I realized how inconvenient rains could be. And commuting in the trains and buses, getting stuck in traffic and wavering around in pools of muddy water on the roads used to be so painful that the whole day would be annoying at work for everyone. Be it any place, anywhere in any part of the world, rain is but a necessary pain.

My day was full of surprises. I checked my results online for the weekly test in my course and it showed a 101 on 100 this time! And I had to give a presentation in my class in Spanish. A very basic simple one, but first time ever speaking "only" Spanish. I came out after my class today to see it raining cats and dogs outside and I was totally unprepared for it. As I'm even writing this now, it is so freaking sunny outside!! It was supposed to rain last week and I was carrying my umbrella every other day. I just threw it off my bag yesterday and it rains today! I was stuck in the college campus after my class unable to cross over to the bus stop and it was crowded there too. In spite of the fact that people were standing in the shelter they were still getting drenched because it was very windy too. I took this bus that stops just outside my campus instead of my usual bus, as I don't have to walk any distance for it, and then made a transfer to my regular bus in between. The bus drivers were happy but the passengers were all annoyed as most of them were not prepared for a rainy day and were boarding the bus soaked wet. The bus hovered around the roads like a ship sailing on a sea. It was a 3" to 4" heavy rain due to some hurricane which is about occur somewhere in the northern Mexico. The bus was still sailing across like a queenship yacht ignorant of what its passengers were experiencing! But while I was waiting for the transfer a guy next to me was thanking God how good he felt after the burning sun the whole last week while he was working day long on roof-tops. He must be a laborer, couldn't make out though, as everyone looks alike in this country unless one is homeless! 


Even on such a rainy day, I found the bus overcrowded and people were standing inside the bus and the bus operator (there's no driver/conductor, there's only one operator who drives the bus) here does his duty so genuinely, helping a handicapped person to be seated properly. Every individual who is handicapped has a special seat in the bus, which simply offers seat-belts that can be tied to the wheelchair or the powerchair of the passenger. This has to be done by the bus operator. And the passenger enters the bus while the operator slides down a plane for him through a remote button to wheel himself inside. It is during the bus rides that we can meet reality here. Could we call it the other side of this country? On one hand this place may be technically so sound and offers every possible comfort for everyone here, but on the other hand holds every individual responsible for his or her own choice of actions, which is logically and judicially unquestionable. Life may seem to be very comfortable on one end but it would be pulling you from the other end. But yes that's reality, someone who was locked up in a jail for a while and could not manage to get a job for his whole life, someone who had to undergo a knee-repair for a broken cartilage, but didn't get it done as he couldn't meet the medical expenses for it.. people living in homeless shelters.. such people also exist here in this very place that others consider as heaven.


Finally when the rains were still lashing at my feet I got down from my bus, rushed to my car and continued my journey back home praying all the Gods for the safety of my co-drivers on the roads! Only to see an obstacle on the way.. This is the third or fourth time that I was driving while it was raining. But this rain was horrible. I could barely see anything even after turning on my headlights. While I just ramped up onto the freeway where I could hardly see my lane on the road, I had to jump immediately to the next lane on seeing a car parked happily right on the middle of the road for some reason.. My day was full of surprises! And rains ain't always cool.. But I managed to get back home escaping the fiery of rain-God. Smart moves everywhere!

Kishore's best..

Up with one more old hindi number. This is one of my fav romantic melody.. One of Kishore kumar's best hits too. It is from the movie "Blackmail" - Dharmendra is the hero and heroine is Rakhee, the "Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein" fame actress.. Old is gold! Chk out my version uploaded on my jukebox.

Raja's melody

Yet another beautiful score by Ilayaraja after his come-back was this one. The movie was a huge hit too! One more movie for Vikram for proving himself. And in this one he had to prove it without delivering even a single dialog all through the movie! He won the Silver Lotus Award as the Best Actor in the 2004 National Film Awards (India). I liked Surya's performance in it though ;-) My version is on the jukebox. Enjoy! Here's the original song too.

Guzarish..

If it is Hariharan in Tamil for me, then it is Sonu Nigam in Hindi.. There's none to beat him in romantic and sad melodies.. He is good at other genres as well. But there's so much life in his voice when it comes to very expressive songs. There are so many of his songs that I completely enjoy even today. Ones that I remember right now are Tanhayee, Khamoshiyan gungunane lagi, Rabba mere rabba, Saathiya, Main Agar kahoon.. the list goes on.. One of them in his latest hit-list is Guzarish from the movie Ghajini. Although he has sung this along with Javed Ali, it is obvious why they wanted Sonu had to sing some parts of this song in between! Coz there's no other voice which could it so well.. 


And I love this song for Aamir is my fav hero as well.

My Guzarish is on my jukebox. Sonu's Guzarish is here..

Whistling enthusiast!

Ok.. Finally my husband agrees to at least whistle for me ;-) I've been persuading him to sing a song for me since a long time.. He sings really well, but just doesn't do it when we want!! Grr.. he's quite moody about it. But somehow I pulled him in this time and he has whistled a full song for me while I strummed it along. Its a very beautiful song with good electric guitar effects and one of Ilayaraja's best compositions.. I've uploaded our instrumental version in my jukebox. Peep in!

Queen of carnatic world in Austin

Wowwww... we were so contented to see her and listen her sing yesterday evening. The auditorium was overflowing with crowd. The IFA (India Fine Arts) organizer got a citation from the university police as the auditorium capacity was less than the crowd present inside! Beautiful light and sound arrangements, such grace on her face, she was looking so elegant. There was not a single soul inside which stopped shaking the head or tapping the hands for even one moment. And the way she kept the audience bound to her, she even humbly requested people not to leave for any pause in between! Bombay Jayashree.. her majestic self in Austin!

The door was closed for 3 hours and we were not expected to leave.. And she made it meaningful through her amazing brigas and her overwhelming vocal talent! She sang continously with not even a drop of water or nothing to rest herself. And even after 3 hours of it, she still looked like, "I'm ready for more!" Astounding performance.. 

Even the violinist Mr. Bhaskar and the Mridangist and the youngboy on Ganjeera were rocking. It was so mind blowing to see her simply challenging the instrumentalists around her, who also did their best to match her. Me and my husband, both of us are her great fans. Even in the cine world, she is famous for singing melodies in her base voice. We were really glad to see her performing in Austin. This was her first visit here after 15 yrs! And the next visit is planned after six yrs only! Me getting her autograph in the pic here.. This was the first time I met her too ;-)

Airtel super singer Junior 2010 - Grand finale - Alka wins the title!

Alka at her best!! No words to say.. She has crossed all our expectations! Dressed like a queen, she won her crown too! She did it..

Brilliant!! Here's the video of her grand performance at the grand finale!! No one would believe how young she is and if she is singing under the Juniors' category..

Namma ooru singari - Ninaithaale iniukkum

Here's one of my fav Rajnikanth number. Well, I'm not a great fan of him and his styles.. But there are a couple of his movies like Baasha, moondru mudichu and Aval oru thodarkathai, where I have felt that there's nobody who could have done it better. One of my all-time fav among those movies is Ninaithaale Inikkum.. especially this song and the sequences before and followed by it, where he falls in love with every other girl he meets and ends up being proposed by a mad woman, well played by Jayasudha. It is hilarious to watch him in this movie! And the pic here is the best scene, where he bets he can throw the cigarette on to his mouth without missing it down, ten times continuously! One of Balachander's best deliveries. In fact I enjoy Rajni more than the hero Kamal in this movie, although I regard Kamal one step ahead of the superstar. I've strummed and hummed this song, check it out on my jukebox..

A scene from the movie here..

Super singer Junior 2010 Srikanth

I'm not sure if this little super star deserves the Super singer title. All reality shows are usually a big hulla gulla about their contestants just for the sake of TRP ratings. However as audience we still take all that hype for our favorite singer. But this little boy is definitely a prodigy! He is definitely not the best among the five, but he is too much for his age! And the path that he has traversed from the beginning of the show to the finals, specially after being pushed to the wild card and then pulled back into the finals by the public has given more credits to his popularity than his voice or expressions. On the whole he is a good package. I'd love Alka to win the show but I'm sure this little one has the capability to draw more votes. But the last few perfomances he gave are really convincing even if he would win it. This is a small video about his journey from the recent episode. And the pic here is his best expression that I enjoy whenever he sings ;-)

I'm going away.. Me voy!!

I'm not going away anywhere!! I've just come back. Its been more than ten days that I wrote a post. That is quite a long time!! Spanish lessons are more intensive this time. It is not like the courses that I did previously. This instructor is up to a lot of activities inside the class as well as outside :-(

The good thing is that there's a lot to learn than what I expected. There's so much to it when we learn a language. Culture, people, tradition, art, music, history, geography.. the list is pretty long. He is so fast and doesn't let even one moment of the class go worthless. Textbook, games, quizzes, assignments, presentations.. he is full of energy! And he talks a lot about Mexico, being our neighbor country. What I like most about him is that he  comes to the class like a typical hispanic guy with a hat and all those ruff n tuff clothes that they were..  I sometimes wonder if he leaves his horse and gun in the parking lot while coming to the class!! One more thing that I like is that he has three kids ;-) Ha ha.. just kidding.. He makes the maximum use of Google maps, images and Youtube!! yeahh.. sounds fun, no?? But he has three kids in deed!! He showed us his family pics too while teaching us how to call the family members in Spanish..

This is one of the songs that he showed us in the class and I really liked it. As such Spanish music uses a lot of Guitar in different styles. One of their most popular styles of playing Guitar that I like is the flamenco, originating from Spain. This one that we saw in the class is a famous Mexican song by Julieta Venegas. She breaks up with her boy friend and sings this song.. "Me voy" - meaning "I'm going away" -  I tried playing it and thought of sharing it with everyone.. It's quite tough to sing in a foreign language, play music along with it! I had a tough time getting the lines!! Followed by it I recorded a Bollywood song too "Bheege honth tere", which uses similar chords done in "Me voy". Enjoy it on my Jukebox!

Watch the song too.. "Me voy" - The video is very funny!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v92OsaD40w

Surprise gift

It looks cool, isn't it?? This is the new surprise Mohan gave me.. He bought two of this froggy online, one for him and one for me! And do you know what it is? An MP3 Player!! Yippee.. It has all the usual cool features but with a difference. Like its mouth that you see here, the big black thing is the LCD. To adjust the volume, you have to turn its left eye on top towards left or right. To scroll through the menu or play next/previous track, twist its right eye on top.  Its fun! A usual device with some innovations.. It has a mic, so I have to try recording on it once. This has the option of adjusting the equalizers also. The surround sound is WOW, awesome!! My songs sound much better on it.. It has the jack for earphone on top of its head between the eyes. And the USB port lies straight underneath, yes it can be charged via computer, so no batteries are required and btw it is so small a thing, not even the length of a AAA battery ;-)

Its memory capacity is only 1GB, but it can be pretty handy while travelling or jogging. You can simply tuck it inside your palm or your pant pocket. And it costs hardly anything.

NEXTAR MP3

- Music Player

- LCD Display

- Folder Navigation

- Voice Recorder

- SRS WOW Surround sound

- Removable storage device

- Built-in rechargeable Li-Polymer battery

- Customized settings

It would be of great help while travelling to my Spanish classes from tomorrow..

Airtel Super Singer Junior 2010 - Alka Ajith

Look at the panel of judges invited to choose the one Junior in Wild card round, who would compete with the kids who failed to make it to the Finals. All of them are my all-time favorite singers.. Sowmya, Srinivas, Unni Menon, Madhu Balakrishnan, Anupama.. Wow!! That's a splendid mix of all genres there! And I was so happy to see Priyanka getting through  to the next round again. People in India are watching the show a few episodes ahead of me. So I always tell my folks in India not to tell me what is actually happening and who is winning, otherwise there's no thrill in watching it the whole week. I have quite a bunch of my favorite voices there.. Alka, Nithyasree, Priyanka, Oviya, Vishnu Charan.. They are so good at this age, it is amazing to hear them sing so well. But I'm sure Alka is going to steal it away.. Having come from a non-Tamil background, her diction is so good and she seems to sing in many other languages too. Beautiful voice! Have a look at one of her performances where she got a standing ovation from great singers like Chithra, Mano and Subha. But don't forget to peep into my Jukebox as well ;-)

Benefits of growing plants

Growing plants in pots and containers is a great delight and there's a lot of flexibility in handling them. Containers provide a basic platform in garden locations without soil such as patios, paved courtyards, and roof areas. They may offer the only means of gardening for individuals living in flats or apartments with limited space. Most importantly, containers can sustain a range of plants that may struggle or fail in local soil and conditions. For example, in climates like winter where a lime or curry leaf struggles to live, these can be grown successfully in containers, so long as they are located in shade and protected against extreme cold and frost.

A collection of pots can be chosen to exhibit a variety of plants and be arranged according to mood or situation. Plants can be relocated according to contrasting colour, height, and shape. Those which have started flowering can be moved to a more prominent location.

Plants housed in containers need an organic potting mixture since they will not usually obtain enough nutrients from ordinary garden soil. In addition to plant nutrients, organic mixtures provide water and air for the roots.

Some pots live adequately in smaller pots while most varieties with longer roots require larger and deeper vessels. All plant containers require holes in their base to facilitate drainage. It is good to place a shallow layer of gravel on the base of containers before filling them with potting mix. This ensures an adequate drainage that prevents the mix becoming waterlogged and subsequently drowning the roots. In warm, dry conditions, potted plants usually require a regular watering system or fairly constant attention. In cooler weather, the main risk is over watering and eventually drowning the roots.

Most potted plants will benefit from a location that receives plenty of sunlight and a good circulation of fresh air. During the peak of summer, try to secure some shade relief for sensitive plants. Particularly in the tropics and sub-tropical regions try to be alert for any weather forecasts of severe rain, hail, or wind. In these situations, smaller containers can be carried indoors, while any that are too large or heavy need to be secured and protected as much as possible.

Recycling old unused materials for gardening is also a great possibility. Buckets, a watering can, a hollow tree stump, toilet bowls, a spare tyre, even a bathtub or ironing board and more creative things can be used for exhibiting plants or help in efficient gardening.

Beautiful side of Austin

One more of my favorite walkway, I happen to visit this area of Austin quite often. This morning, I took a 45-minute walk for the first time on Jollyville Rd and Morado Circle.. went through the Misting Falls and came out of Floral Park back on Jollyville. The Morado Circle has winding roads and absolutely stunning views as the road bends down at the feet of the mountains. One of the most beautiful sides of Austin! A great place to drive around too..

Ye Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum... Barton Springs!!

Barton Springs - A magical place for walkers and runners! It is probably one of the best times we enjoy being together!! Every Saturday morning, Mohan used to go for his Marathon practice there on the 13 mile track covering Barton Springs and Town Lake touching i-35, Lamar and Mopac in a loop-like circle around the River Colorado. He usually starts off from the Town lake, along with his team of runners and take the full loop around 13.6 miles or whatever that makes a half marathon. After that he would come home, eat a full meal and sleep in the afternoon or watch a movie. That is yet another blissful time for him and for me as well.. I'd be on my own writing a blog or reading a book, like what I'm doing now ;-)

This morning we had been for a longggg walk in that same loop and covered a 7 mile stretch. This is the third time I'm going with him there for a walk and it was lovely! The weather was pretty good in the morning after a cold front last night. There was no sign of any sun and I usually enjoy the place particularly for one spot where people come there with their kids to feed the birds and the riverside ducks/swans/turtles. We had been there twice before and swore that the next time we go, we take some food for them. So today we went there with a packet of rusks. And birds and turtles just swarmed around us for their day's food. What a serene place and how nice it is to sit there with birds all around you! It was truly joyful.. one of the best hang-outs in Austin if you like being in peace with nature.

Aap Jaisa Koi.. The old bar number

Item songs have evolved from being an ordeal in olden days to a beautiful package these days. But even in those days there were actresses like Helen, Bindu, Aruna Irani and others who really rocked the stages. I have quite a lot of songs piled up in that genre. One of the bar numbers that I enjoy all time is "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the movie Qurbani. Zeenath Amman, one of those types, who played item girl being a heroine, was a great hit those days. This song is really good if played with drums. Anyways I've tried my best. I tried it already a couple of weeks back. But it didn't turn out well, so had to push it off and try it later. Check it out on my Jukebox. 

And check out the video of the song too.. You won't regret it ;-)

Converting FLAC files to MP3 - SWITCH SOUND FILE CONVERTER

This is a new software (SWITCH SOUND FILE CONVERTER) that I found which was really useful. I tried recording a song in FLAC format, to avoid extra jarring , vibrating or echoing noises because of the strumming of Guitar. This option is available on most of the latest sound recorders on PC/Laptop. It is a loss less CD quality output. But the problem was that the output files are over 25 MB per song. It is too big a file to upload the song on an online forum that we use. After a long search I found a converter online which supports Windows7 as well.  It handles most of the file formats for conversion. And it comes with a cool Recorder software too, which has its own music library. I personally liked it. We can try it for home recordings.

http://www.nch.com.au/switch/

Pal Pal Har Pal

Bueno, this was my first experiment after coming here! I had a friend from my college days in Chennai who had a beautiful voice for light music and was so keen in pursuing her suit in music. She used to keep calling me out for performances, somewhere or the other and wanted to never let go off her interests even for years after we passed out of college. I've seen that same fire in my neighbor here at Austin, a good friend of mine. She sings very beautifully and I wanted to record a song with her voice and my Guitar in the background. I had been thinking of doing this for a long time, but our schedules were so conflicting. Now that we both are available, I hope to do this more often.

This is one of my favorite Guitar numbers in Bollywood movies. Its a remake of an old English song, "Theme for a Dream".. It so happened that we ended up recording it with both of our voices. This is our first try.. no practice, no preparations, no time(!), recording quality is also not great.. We wish to improve in the coming ventures.

Click below for Pal pal pal har pal.. or find it on my jukebox! You can listen to it and leave your comments.

http://www.box.net/shared/i35p60t7zt

Nostalgic..

The last two posts were based on how boring life can be at times! For a change I wanted to tell how interesting life used to be ;-)

Its been a week since I played a new song on my Guitar and all of a sudden I felt nostalgic when I heard one online. I was inspired to watch the title of Varanam Aayiram again for it where Surya plays a series of songs on Guitar.. Movie songs are real motivations for me to learn and teach as well. Ahem, I'm sure one or the other of my college friends is going to leave a sarcastic comment after getting to know that I'm teaching Guitar lessons here. Trust me, I'm doing it because I'm liking it.. and I'm not holding to any of those revenges from my college days.. definitely not ;-)

I learned playing Guitar for the first time when I was in the second year of my college, "only" to play a song on the stage in the women's auditions held every year as an Inter-departmental cultural activity. It was supposed to be a cool thing when any team walks up there on the stage with a Guitar and we would be very sure, they are going to take away the first place. That made me say one day, "we will also sing along with a Guitar! I'll learn it! Next auditions we are doing it!" And I went for the classes for six months, came back with all spirits for playing on stage.  We did the old Tamil melody "Kodai kaala kaatrey" - And I remember how hyped our whole team felt! We of course did not win ;-) due to some conspiracies which usually happen in all auditions.. But our team evolved as one of those tough competitors thereafter.. And we also became one of those "hyped" teams yeahh.. Unforgettable moments!

Its certainly nostalgic when we get reminded of the incidents from our college days. School had been equally fun for me, but since it was a girls' convent, it was a different kind of an experience. It will take a lifetime to write about it.. I'm sure everyone has something or the other to cherish from the past.

Hmm.. I've uploaded my version of the song that I was talking about on my Jukebox here!

Have fun feeling nostalgic..