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December 31 new desktop - time to go to philly?
Back in ATLI am back in Atlanta, it was hard to leave the pristine Sandy Bay islands. We made some good friends over the last couple of days in Roatan from all over the world - Canada, Gautemala, Italy, Texas, San Francisco.... pretty much everyone was going to stay for the new years, except us ofcourse! Last day we did a 110 ft el aguilla wreck deep dive which was really awesome. I ran out of air towards the end and had to use an alternate air source from one of the advanced divers. That was slightly scary and then a grouper with very angry eyes came chasing towards me.. but other than that everything went well. Evening we had a slight accident with a drunk driver hitting a board which fell directly on our friends, luckily we escaped without a scratch but one of the guys we really hurt. Overall the trip went very well, both Copan and Roatan were great places to visit. Diving is really a lot of fun, I am hoping I can continue this passion for diving for years to come. Maybe a trip to Barbados or Belize in the next 6 months would be a good thing, do the 4 more advanced dives that I need to do. Back in ATL, now I am looking forward to tonight... tho not so much. Its rainy and coudy and quite mucky...:-( I am back in Chicago on 2nd Jan.. I dont have a return for ATL yet.. December 27 A Big Hello from Roatan, Honduras - C.A.I am having a total blast here. Certain highlights of my trip till now -
1. My bag did not come in with me so we had to wait for the next flight and miss the one from Roatan - Bay Islands to Mainland (la cieba and then to san pedro sula) . That forced us to stay back in Roatan since there was no other flight till the next morning. That worked out great since we got to see the resort, decide on our dives on the way back and keep our bags and take only our carry ons to mainland trip.
2. Absolutely no one spoke English in Copan. But... there were a ton of Ex-Pats so Copan night life turned out to be really awesome. we met a lot of backpackers from US, Germany, Holland, Scotland.... and had a blast there.
3. Copan ruins were really well maintained and I learned a LOT about Mayan culture. We had a great guide and I got more information from him in the 3 hours that I chatted with him then from any book. I went to 2 other museums which had all the artifacts of the Mayan era. This was a great civilization which florished from 1500 bc to 800 AD. Their style of building was one over the other so we had to go to a lot of tunnels to see the previous rulers temples, tombs...
4. Went to this great Restautant called Hacienda San Lucas were we met Dona Fabia who had the status of Dona or 'Don' in Italian which was a local highly respected Hondurian family. They served us a traditional 5 course meal on top of the mountain overlooking the entire town of Copan and Ruins. This was probably the most beautiful place I have ever had a Chistmas dinner.
5. Took a bus from Copan to San Pedro, flight from San Pedro to La Cieba and then to Roatan yesterday. Evening went to the beach side of Roatan *as opposed to the coral side' called West Bay. Had dinner at an Keralite/Nepalese/Canadian fusion restaurant called Ooloonthoo which had a meal that matches any $$$ star indian fusion in Chicago. That was the highlight of the evening, totally unexpected.
6. We did our first 2 dives at 40 ft water on flower bay today which was really amazing. At first it was scary being thrown directly into water but then the practice of confined water dive last weekend kicked in and turned out just fine. No breathing problems, we are still being lead by a master diver who still makes us do some exercises but most of it is mainly swimming around the reef and looking at some sea creatures, schools of fish, crabs, lobsters... some really wierd kind of sea plants/weeds.
We plan to do 2 more dives tomorrow and then we will be certified in open water divers. We might another dive on friday morning... lets see. We are not supposed to dive 18 hours before we fly so we will stop then. I am re-reading 'god of small things' and make it a point to sit by the dock on one of those stretched out chairs facing the vast caribbean ocean and reading the book while I see the sunsets. Its an absolute exhilirating experience. December 22 Classes this spring
The Mature Bildungsroman: Novels of Experience and Wisdom (Winter 2007) Course Number: LALIMB Austen's Persuasion, Flaubert's Sentimental Education, Lampedusa's The Leopard , and Mann's Death in Venice: these European novels are classic examples of literature in the educational tradition. They are also shorter masterpieces, written in gorgeous, toned language and marked by a rarefied, ruminative atmosphere. Although they resound with the insight that understanding the world comes at the price of suffering and reappraisal, they also reflect their creators' mature awareness that sympathy with human frailty is the final source of wisdom. Please read Austen's Persuasion for the first class. Section 1 (07W1 ): [Gleacher Center] Thursdays, January 11–March 1, 6–8:30 pm The course is taught by Elisabeth Lenckos. Ms. Lenckos, an editor of All This Reading: The Literary World of Barbara Pym, is currently writing a book on Jane Austen's legacy and modern British women writers. She holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Michigan. She received the Graham School of General Studies 2006 Excellence in Teaching Award for the Humanities, Arts, and Sciences. December 15 Scuba lesson 5 - PADI open water Dive CourseLast lesson on the DVD Special dive table and computer procedures Special situations. Safety stops. Ascend under control. Using the RDP - no more than 5 min past your limit, make an 8 min stop. more than 5 min - 15 min stop is urged. dont dive for 24 hours. Altitude Diving - less pressure, nitrogen can form more easily. special conversion tables above 1000 ft. Deepest dive first. Diver conservatively. 5 min no-stop time remaining at all times. Basic Compass Navigation - lubber line - travel direction. magnetic north needle - points to north. bezel - alight to needle. heading references. Scuba lesson 4Dive flag - safety 2 types: 15 m/50 ft, boat should be 100-200 ft. Boaters may not see your flag. surface cautiously near your flag. Dive light - looking into cracks and reviewing colors. Slates - communication Spare Parks Kit: carry spares Log Book - certification card. Resume. document diver history. Health for Diving - avoid overexertion. Avoid alcohol, drugs, tobacco before diving. avoid dehydration, prescription meds. no spoking. dont dive with a cold. Have a physical exam - every 2 years. good average health. keep skills and knowledge sharp. scuba review program. Breathing Air at depth - slowly and deeply, dont hold breath. air is 79% nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. Contaminated air - problem with filtering system, can be odourless or tasteless. headaches can occur. Nitrogen Narcosis - intoxicating under pressure. avoid deep dives Decompression sickness - fatigue. how deep u go and how long u stay. deeper and longer = more nirtogen. nitorgen leaves without complications. bubbles in tissues. dydration, cold, age, age, injuries and being overweight. Recompresion chamber. Reduce risk by following safe timing and diving limits. Safety stops. Dive tables and Dive computer No Depression diving RDP- recreational dive planner - table or wheel format. Calculates amt of nitrogen in the body. computer has depth guage software. Repetitive diving After first drive - u have more nitrogen than normal, interval - body eliminates some nitrogen. if you dive within 6 ours use RDP for limits. Limit repetitive dives to 30 m or 100 ft. Hyperventilation - deep breaths. no more than 3-4 breaths. dont hyperventilate excessively. Roll back. Bouyancy control. December 13 Snowflake
Pictured above: Wilson A. Bentley. Snowflake. 1885–1931. Gelatin silver printing-out-paper print. 3" (7.6 cm) diam. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired in memory of John Parkinson III through the generosity of his friends. Wilson Bentley (American, 1865–1931) was a dairy farmer in Jericho, Vermont. In 1885, after several years of experimentation, he became the first person to photograph an individual snowflake. It was Bentley who popularized the idea that no two snowflakes are alike, and he spent the better part of his life proving that this was so. Of the 5,381 snow crystals he documented, indeed, each one is unique.
December 12 Edward Hicks's Last Peaceable KingdomI just added a new desktop using this painting: Edward
Hicks (1790 – 1849), Peaceable Kingdom, executed in 1849, oil on
canvas, 24 3/32 x 30 5/8 inches, $3,000,000 - 4,000,000. © Christie’s
Images Ltd. 2006. NEW YORK.- Christie’s is proud to announce that the last Peaceable Kingdom painted by Edward Hicks will lead the Americana sales this January. The Peaceable Kingdom stands as an iconic and celebrated image of American art. As the last in this important series of paintings, this masterpiece has extraordinary significance to collectors, institutions and art historians the world over and is estimated at $3-4 million. That the present work is being offered by a descendant of the artist further underscores its cultural and historic importance. Christie’s currently holds the world auction record for Edward Hicks, achieved in 1999 for a Peaceable Kingdom from the artist’s Middle Kingdom era which realized $4,732,500. “We are honored to offer Hicks’s Last Peaceable Kingdom. It is a powerful and moving picture that conveys the artist's peace with a subject that dominated his life. That this canvas was made for the artist's daughter and was handed down through ge...More HEPHAISTOS
December 10 Honduras - InformationHere is some details: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ho.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras We are going to: 1. Roatan - http://www.puravidaresort.com/ 2. San Pedro - http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/saphn 3. Copan - I dont know yet Plan is to fly into Roatan on 23, fly to San Pedro immediately, then stay there for a night. Go next morning (24) to Copan. Come back to San pedro on 26th Dec and then go to Roatan on 26. In Roatan till 30 and fly back on 30th. Details on my Scuba Diving classes: http://www.seasports.com/ins_fun.htm#Open The course i am doing is: Open Water Scuba Diver The book I am reading: To catch up culturally and get a taste of the trials that went underway in Roatan's deeper past to its present status, you may enjoy reading "Loss of Innocence: An Ethnography of Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Hondruas" by Carolyn L. Phd. Olsen December 08 Scuba Divers are 'under' achieversSection 3- The Dive environment Boat Diving and basic emergency handling. Temp, visibility, bottom composition, aquatic life. Thermocline - 60 deg to 43 deg. Check depth guage to avoid exceding you planned depth. Dont try to swim against the current, use right techniques to avoid it. swim perpendicular to it. avoid long swims. do it on the bottom is you have to swim against current. Learn to recognize unsensitive bottoms you can rest on. Tropical salt water - waves, surfs, tides, corals, boats, deep water, marine life, remote locations. Check out a local orientations. Advance planning, preparation, last minute preparation, pre dive preparation. Procedures for unresponsive diver. Evaluating dive conditions. Scuba divers have much more fun than other people!Section 2 Adapting to the under water world Respiration, Dive Equpment, buddy system. Seeing and hearing underwater: loosing colors - red, orange, yellow, blue. Sound travels 4 times faster in water. chill faster under water. end dive if u begin to shiver. Motion in water - density resists motion. swim slowly, no rapid jerky movements. keep horizontal in water. pace yourself. body can only use the air that reaches the lungs. shallow breathing bad, deep breathing is the way to breathe underwater. Overexertion - labored breathing, suffocation. stop everything, breathe deeply and rest. Airway control and breathing goals - Always breathe slowly, deeply and continuously. Strive to develop good breathing techniques underwater. Exposure suits - body suit inside a wet suit. wet suits - insulated by neoprene layer. Dry suits - insulating undergarment. Suit may reduce hurt from organisms. Exposure accessories: boots, gloves, wet suit hood. jackets with attached hoods. Wet suit will make you float. thats why you need a BCD integrated weight system or weight blocks to sink down. Alternate air source - Buddy hose, alternate inflater regulator. Dive knive - emergency and convenience. Underwater accessories like watches. Timers. Depth guages. Bottom timer. Compass. lubber line, index markers. Submersible pressure Guage, instrument console. Dive computer. Communication - 25 signals. Whistle on your BCD inflator. Agree on course, time limits, entry and exit points, review communications, returning air pressure, emergency procedures, dive objective. BWRAF - Begin, weights, Release-review, Air, Final Okay Pre-dive safety check. Entering the water - giant stride Snorkel and breathing - breathe past the water by letting air bubble through and then breathe. surface snorkling Inhaling without your mask. Mask replacement. Add about 2 kgs to compensate for the weight of air when you dive. Ascend no faster than 18 m / 60 ft per minute Deep water exit - hand the wight at the pool side. slide out of your scuba system, kick before you enter the boat. Scuba Diving - Lesson 1So it looks like I am going to be doing some hard core diving in Honduras and I signed up for this course for certfication for next weekend. I was taking it very lightly till they made me pay 250 bucks for this and now i am really serious. I am supposed to watch a 4 hour DVD and finish reading a manual with quizzes, understand the divers chart and solve some problems. I just finished section 1 of the DVD, here are some notes: Scuba - Section 1 Buoyancy - Positive, negative, neutral - wt agst water BCD- Buoyancy control device Air pressure - at sea level - 1 bar/ ATA Water pressure - 2 bar/ ata (10m/22ft) pressure, volume, density pressure goes down, air volume goes up. descent add air, ascent reduce air. Body air spaces: Squeeze equalization - wiggle jaw, swallow no forceful equalization. never ascend quickly, dont dive if u have cold. exhale through nose so mask doesnt suck in. Breathe continuously and never hold your breath. Reverse block - dont dive with congestion. slow your ascent aand descend a meter. air compresses under pressure it becomes more dense. 20 m/66 ft = 3 Atmosphere/Bar deeper u dive, faster you lose air. Mask Snorkel - tube with a mouth piece, large bore. 43 cm. saves tank air when u r on surface swimming. Rinse with fresh water. Fins - large surface area. full foot fins or open healed fins. pocket comes to the point before ankle meets your foot. BCD, Scuba tank and regulatror. BCD - adjust density. Jacket stype BCD. Feather large diameter for adding and releasing air. Over pressure relief valve. wt integrated BCD. Adjust for proper fit. Scuba tank - valve controls air pressure - yoke valve, din valve - handles higher pressure. O ring in face of yoke or on regulator. Have it filled with pure dry breathing air. not pure oxygen. Make sure they dont tuble, lay it down. valve should open and close smoothly. dont over tighten it. never drain your cyliner completely. Regulator - match tank air to surrounding air pressure. demand valves. first stage, second stage. it has a SPG - contents guage - tells u how much air you have. Alternate air source - share air. Hose for coupling with BCD. Longer hose to connect with suit. after use rinse with fresh water. dont touch the purge button. needs annual servicing. SPG - tells you how much air you have before you dive. simple guages or digital. Buddy system - never dive alone. check each others gear. time limits and air. assist in emergency. Confined water dive one: Assembling your scuba equipment. - wet bcd, set it on the tank. lock down the tank belt. check O-ring on valve for regulator. open valve after connecting. make sure there is no leak. check the guage. Make sure nothing protrudes or dangles. Extra second stage - hold buddy's arm. Equipment diassemble. December 05 H o w t o Catch a LI ONOk this is silly but it cracked me up!
H o w t o Catch a LI ON Imtiaz Dharkar's *Never Trust the Daffodils**Never Trust the Daffodils* He distrusts daffodils and is especially wary of crocuses. Traitors of hope, he says, they promise spring and callously deceive you into optimism. He has learned to question the ordinariness of things, never to stroll in with his hands in his pockets, whistling. He has learned the hard way to be pleasantly surprised when the frost forgets to come up from behind and bite. He turns his back, moves on. Green shoots break through the winter clods of earth. Against his better judgement, his shoulders feel the touch of spring. Edward Hopper, Hotel Window, 1955.Just changed my desktop to this with a black background. This angle gives me as an audience the feeling of looking at something through a peephole at someone who looks very confident outside but is so lonely by herself in this hotel room, its almost pityful. NEW YORK.- Today at Sotheby’s before a crowded salesroom, Edward Hopper’s Hotel Window, a classic example of Hopper’s evocative exploration of the theme of isolation in American urban life in the 20th Century from 1955, sold for $26,896,000, soaring well above the presale estimate of $10/15 million and setting a record for the artist at auction. An artist’s record was also achieved in today’s auction with Norman Rockwell’s Breaking Home Ties, one of the artist’s most beloved and recognizable images, which commanded $15,416,000, more than doubling the high estimate (est. $4/6 million) and also setting an artist record. Dara Mitchell, Director of Sotheby’s American Paintings Department said, “Today’s sale demonstrates an extremely buoyant market for the best American art, with great strength at the high end. The sold total of $82 million was well above the presale estimate of $44/65 million. Major records were set for Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell. Despite the strong competit...More December 03 Darfur DiariesI have been stuck on one page of the website that I cant seem to get rid of even though I have read it about 20-25 times already. I have to admit, I had a huge crush on Aisha Bain, which was the reason I initially went to the website. I saw her on CSPAN Book TV after the ACC championship game where she was talking about her documentary on Darfur. I slowly got sucked into her reading and the passionate telling of their episodes by Jen and Adam. I am all set to but this book but I wanted to put an excerpt from this page: "Tajadin was about seventeen years old. His eyes were filled with a deep intensity and silent rage. He sat rigidly on a woven mat. We asked if he had something he wanted to say to the camera. He did. He spoke about what happened in Kornoi… “I was a student in El Fashir High School. I came home to Kornoi because I had a vacation. The Antonovs had started bombing and the janjaweed were killing people. I didn’t find a way back to school.”
December 02 Vancouver Art Gallery Presents Paint - Young ArtistsElizabeth
McIntosh, Untitled (Red, Blue and Purple), 2005-2006, oil on canvas,
72" x 90", Courtesy of the artist and Diaz Contemporary, Toronto.
Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Gallery. This is my new desktop over a purple background. VANCOUVER, BC.- The Vancouver Art Gallery is placing its province’s young painters front and centre in the exhibition PAINT on view through February 27, 2007. A new generation of British Columbia artists is vigorously pursuing painting. PAINT examines this revival through the work of these emerging artists and the painters preceding them since the 1960s. More than 100 works are presented, including paintings from the Gallery’s permanent collection and regional museums, as well as works created specifically for the exhibition. “The Vancouver Art Gallery is committed to showcasing the work of Canada’s most promising artists,” said Kathleen Bartels, director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. “Our city’s art scene is world renowned and it’s our pleasure to celebrate its emerging talent during our 75th anniversary year.”...More Wierd Sleep ScheduleI am back from India. Its been a real crazy 3 weeks, I did have some free time in the middle but I was totally hooked on to Indian Television. Only the music channels and they have a lot of those: Music-India, Z-Music, MTV, Vtv, One-Music... cant even remember half of those - I just flipped from one to the other. I still havent settled in to my normal sleep routine, I am beginning to think I never had one. Right now its sleep at 8-9 pm depending on the time zone I am in (EST or CST) and then up at 4-5 am. I begin tossing around 3 am and then around 4 or 5 I give up trying. Last two days while I was in Chicago I used to get up and go for a workout. That would last till 6 and then I am off to work. Yesterday was crazy, the snow storm really hit around the area I am at in chicago and I could barely see anything, the wind and the snow were right on my face. The 6 block walk which I do everyday became a trek and I was so tired by the end of it. Ofcourse I didnt dare go out for my usual mid morning 10 am starbucks round ... I am so attached to that walk, it really helps me set my priorities at work! My trip this time was focused on organizing my sisters wedding celebration in Fariyas, Khandala which is a hill station about 3 hours from Bombay. I took charge of the project management there, mom-dad had decided on the overall plan and location and I had to take it from there. As usual I created logistical spreadsheets for the rooms, agendas for the attendees, bag tags for the people arriving by bus. Long word documents delegating responsibilities...it was a nightmare since I was joining in midway and as always no one really cared about the agendas so getting your plan across was really difficult. Any how the 3 day event went really successful, here is the skeleton agenda: Friday, November 17, 2006 10:00 am: Bus departs for Fariyas, in Lonavala 01:00 pm: Lunch at Fariyas in Lonavala 02:00–5:00 pm: Relax 05:00–6:00 pm:Mehendi Program 06:00-8:00 pm: Ice breakers, antakshari 08:00-9:00 pm: Rehearsed Dances 08:00-10:00 pm: Dinner 9:00-11:00 pm: DJ and Dance
Saturday, November 18, 2006 08:30 am: Breakfast 11:00 am: Religious Ceremony at Fariyas 01:00 pm: Lunch 04:00 pm: Visit Lonavala 07:00–11:00 pm: Dinner with Mumbai guests
Sunday, November 19, 2006 08:30 am: Breakfast 10:00 am: Bus departs for Mumbai city 01:00 pm: Lunch at Khar Gymkhana
Pick-up & Drop-Off points: As soon as we get your arrival details, we will decide points in Mumbai where you can be picked up and dropped off.
Why Lonavala? Popularly known as the jewel of Sahyadri Mountains, Lonavala is a popular getaway in the state of Maharashtra , situated at an altitude of 625 m above sea level. The peaceful town environment and the panoramic view of the lush green surroundings was an instant choice, away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai city.
Location & Access: By Road: Fariyas in Lonavala is 97 km from the South-East of Mumbai; By Air: The nearest airport is in Pune, which is 70 km from Lonavala. By Rail: Lonavala is on the main railway line between Mumbai and Pune. All express trains plying between the two cities stop here |
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