deponti

The Nandi hills trip was wonderful...but from this video, you can get an idea of how it was for birding....






It was utterly beautiful, and we did manage to see a wide variety of birds, and though I don't have the images to back that statement up, I have...plenty of fellow-birders to testify to it!

I'd posted about my first photograph of the

SIRKEER MALKOHA

...and on the way back from Maidanahalli, we saw first one, and then, high up on the rocks, two near each other.

In an interesing switch, I got this FS (Foozly Shot) of the Malkoha taking off from the rock:




(I still like the image a lot.)


then I got this video of the bird in its habitat, where it's doing nothing but sitting quietly!






Photo with action, video with none...that's the way wildlife and birding goes, sometimes!

I went to the

Indian Institute of Science

campus

to attend the

5th International Canopy Conference

....there were demonstrations of

tree-climbing

( all about today's tree-climbing )



It's a question of, er, getting the...hang of it!







Here's Edward, running around the branches of the tree and then letting himself down to the ground with the greatest of ease:




It will be many births before I can become a creature of the canopy like that....!

When I was young, the musical "Sound of Music" captivated my romantic heart, and I soon knew all the songs by heart, even the less known ones:





Lyrics:


(Maria)
Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked miserable past
I must have had a moment of truth

For here you are
Standing there
Loving me
Whether or not you should

So somewhere in my youth
Or childhood
I must have done something good

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

(Captin)
Here you are standing here
Loving me
Whether or not you should

(Maria)
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

(Together)
Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could

(Maria)
So some where in my youth....

(Captain)
or childhood

(Maria)
I must have done something

(together)
Something good



My heart is overjoyed for kadambarid.

Though the bird sightings on our Saturday trip were very sparse, I was thrilled to have a good sighting of the

SIRKEER MALKOHA




I have seen this bird once before, at Turahalli, for a very brief few seconds; this time, it was right out in the open, and right next to the road! We all got out for a few shots, and I also took this video of the bird preening:








Immediately afterwards, we saw two BLUE-FACED MALKOHAS, but they vanished in the tangled shrubbery before we could even get a proper look! That's the way birding goes....

One of my great favourites by

Mohammed Rafi

is this wonderful song:





A beautiful woman is really like a work of art...a "joy to behold", as the poet says.

I think that in this video,

Waheeda Rehman

looks extremely beautiful. It's not the beauty of cosmetics..it's the beauty of feature.

But the lovely part is that every woman *looks* beautiful to someone who loves her...lucky, indeed, is the woman who has someone tell her that she's beautiful. When she listens to those words, she does, indeed, feel that she is beautiful..even if realism may step in later!

I wonder, though, what it must be to be truly beautiful by anyone's reckoning (say, like Diana was)...and then have age catch up on you, and see the physical beauty disappear. It would be wonderful if the inner fire were never to go...but there ARE women who are beautiful only on the outside, and indeed, are riddled with complexes as a result of their physical beauty...they constantly harp about it, are insecure with it....how sad that such a gift, instead of being a plus, becomes a minus!

Oh...by the way...the language of this song is actually Urdu, not Hindi; I have to get a proper translation for the words (eg. "kaikashA") that I don't know...give me time, asakiyume!

And inspirethoughts...if you can translate....that would be great!

The more I love someone, the more nicknames that person has...

Here's the "Fuzzy-Head Airlines" taking off or landing...



That quilt was made by one of DnA's friends from college.






The quilt in the photo above was made for her by murthys_r_us.... M is a super-expert quilter at this time, and she manages a baby, household and a very demanding, highly-skilled job as well!

Now we present a highly-skilled, intellectual conversation between dad and daughter, while Mother is shovelling in more calories to run off later:





I hope everyone noticed the serious tenor of the discussion.

Here

is the list of songs that the Symphony Orchestra played on Art Hill, on the evening of the 17th.


Here's a view of Art Hill, with the Art Museum in the background, and the crowd collected in front of the tent in which the orchestra is playing:




Behind the tent, as the orchestra plays, the paddleboats on Des Peres creek float in like fireflies, attracted to the music:





( a little more of the evening )


I wish I could have done a better job of capturing them in photographs:

First: There's some problem and my photos taken on the 30D are not downloading, so these pics are from my trusty MLC2, and it was VERY low-light, remember...so forgive the grains in the pics...!

I found, on the net, that

Mark Glenshaw





is a self-confessed GHOF (Great Horned Owl Follower)...and I emailed him, and on Sunday evening, we met up at Forest Park, and as the sun set, he took me across the park for what turned out to be a wonderful evening of sighting and observing the


GREAT HORNED OWL couple that he has been observing over the years.


( Charles and Sarah .... )


I left the place with Mark, and left Forest Park to the care of the Great Horned Owl:

While listening to children's songs, I came across this one:




And since it made me laugh a lot..here it is, for you, too!

Thanks a million to anushsh for sending me this wonderful jugalbandi concert...

bAnsuri (large bamboo flute )

and

jaltarang

(I don't know the equivalent in English...click on the link to know more about this very difficult musical instrument which is like a xylophone but played with bowls of water)






Listen to as much as you want or leave it on while you do something else...it's just over an hour long.

The first rAg is AbhOgi, a south Indian rAgA adopted by north Indian musicians, then comes mAlkauns (Karnatic equivalent=hindOLam), and then a small piece in pahAdi, which is not precisely a classical rAgA, but which comes from the mountains (pahAd=mountain), and is unmistakable.

I've been collecting songs for The Biddles, aka GD...and here's one of her father's childhood favourites that I like too...

This is John Denver's rendition:




This one's a long recreation of the various sounds, with some text interpolationsm by the group which originally performed it.... Peter, Paul and Mary:




And one by someone else:





And this one's by Chris Westfall:





And of course...the lyrics....



When I was just a wee little lad full of health and joy
My father homeward came one night and gave to me a toy
A wonder to behold, it was, with many colors bright
And the moment I laid eyes on it it became my heart's delight

Chorus:
It went "zip" when it moved and "bop" when it stopped
And "whirr" when it stood still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.


The first time that I picked it up, I had a big surprise
For right on its bottom were two big buttons that looked like big green eyes.
I first pushed one and then the other, and then I twisted its lid
And when I set it down again, this is what it did:

Chorus:

It went "zip" when it moved and "bop" when it stopped
And "whirr" when it stood still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.


It first marched left and then marched right
And then marched under a chair
And when I looked where it had gone, it wasn't even there:
I started to sob and my daddy laughed, for he knew that I would find,
When I turned around, my marvelous toy, chugging from behind.

Chorus:

It went "zip" when it moved and "bop" when it stopped
And "whirr" when it stood still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.


Well, the years have gone by too quickly, it seems,
I have my own little boy
And yesterday I gave to him my marvelous little toy.
His eyes nearly popped right out of his head
And he gave a squeal of glee,
Neither one of us knows just what it is,
but he loves it, just like me.


It still goes "zip" when it moves and "bop" when it stops
And "whirr" when it stands still
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.

A more detailed post about the incredibly beautiful Lake Tahoe area in California will need more time than I have right now...but here are a few photographs of the

STELLER'S JAY (thank you, yathin!





It's a very common bird around this area....




and we saw them at both Emerald Bay, and then at Eagle Falls Trail...





They would come and go in flashes of beautiful blue....





Don't feel "Jay" of me....I'm trying my level best to share all of it with you!


...and don't you agree these are good birding pics for the MLC2 (SX10)?

Update: here's a video of the Jay hopping over the bridge across Eagle Falls, taken on 190809...alas, what a harsh call the bird has!

Through the day, I am generally alone with The Biddles, as we call GD. Conversation is, of course, of a high intellectual standard. She and I discuss disestablishmentarianism, and go from aardvarks to zygotes...she was one of the latter recently, so she has a lot to say about it.

But this leaves me weary and rather over-stimulated, and I look forward to DnA's return home. Ah, I think to myself, how nice it will be to have everyday, simple conversation...what did you do at work? What's happening in the outside world?

So then, A comes back and indulges in the following very meaningful monologue:





You can hear me complaining that even poor GD is not getting a chance to get a word in edgeways!

So...conversational IQ levels go down sharply, along with the sun, these days...

I was listening to his beautiful, sad song from "Dil Ek Mandir":





Is it the harmonium which is used in the song, or is it the accordion? And can someone tell me why the harmonium was banned on All India Radio for a long time?

It's so difficult to get lightning on a camera...because it's as fast as lightning...! But here's an image that's amazing, see it


here


Well, first you have to watch some stupid ad...

And you can't REALLY see the lightning knock the man's hat off...

So many of the songs I look for on YouTube say, "removed due to terms of usage violation", or "embedding disabled by request"....but finally, I got my "badminton song" (MGR, Saroja Devi), where the rhythm is that of the badminton ball being "pock"ed by the players...






No, it's not the one above, go below the playing image and move the cursor, and double click on the "video 2 of 35"...that's the one. (from paNakkAra kudumbam)

(There are a total of 35 songs there...no. 29 is another beautiful song from "ChandrOdayam", for example. I don't like all the songs, though!


Surprisingly, it plays only once, and if I try to replay it, it says this video is unavailable! So I have to reload it....

The words:


parakkum..panthu parakkum...athu paranthOdi varum thoothu...
sirikkum...azhagu sirikku...athu siritthOdi varum mAthu.. (2)

Odum unnai nadum...unnai en sontham enru koorum...
thirumbum...ennai nerungum..unthan bathil kondu vanthu pOdum... (parakkum)

(m)

ithu thAn antha nilavO..enru mugam pArkkum vaNNa panthu...
illai..ithu mullai...enru pOrAdum kaNNil vanDu

(f)

varuvAr..inru varuvAr...enru manathOdu sollum panthu
varattum...avar varattum...enru vazhi pArkkum kAthal cheNdu....(parakkum)

(f)

muthal nAL iravu thaniyE ennai azhaitthOdi varum thenral
ivar thAn konjam gavani, enru izhitthOdi varum kaNgaL

(m)

arugil...miga arugil..kaNdu aNai meeri varum veLLam
adangum..anru adangum..inru alai pAynthu varum uLLam... (parakkum)


(m and f)

aha haaa....

*************


Rough translation (yes, the video has a translation but I think mine is better than that)

The (badminton) ball will fly, it's a messenger that flies...
The beauty will smile, she's a woman who comes smiling!

(the ball) will fly, search for you, and declare you to be mine..
(it will) turn, approach me, and deliver your reply

(m)

"Is this that same moon (above)?" the colourful ball will look at your face and wonder);
"No, this is the mullai flower!" the blackbeetles of your eyes will argue.

(f)

"He'll come...today..." the ball will whisper in my mind:
"Let him come...let him come", will whisper the little bouquet of love.

(m)

Nearby...very close...the flood will overflow the banks;
Today, it may subside, that day, my heart will overflow like the waves!

***********



mohanvee you know where the Hindi version of this is, can you post the link to that, too, please? The youtube link that you have provided in

this post

doesn't work....

Watch this video:





One of the members on my NTP group asked, " did the leopard also have to face an "Ethical conflict"(should it, or should it not, eat something so defenseless? Did it choose an 'ethical' route like an human would have donem or was it just not hungry?" And let me add, did the little baby just arouse maternal instincts in the leopard?

In my Ethics class in my Philosophy course, we were taught that ethics belonged to human beings alone, and animals did not have a concept of "right" and "wrong". But I am wondering (not particularly after the above video, but in general...do animals have any such "cannot do" code of behaviour?

The behaviour of the leopard is remarkable *because* the "natural" thing for it to do would have been to make a meal of the little baboon. A male lion can kill one of its own cubs casually; I have myself seen a crow being killed by the rest of the group; cats can eat their own young, and often do. So...what is "right" and "wrong", and do animals feel it?

I have seen pet dogs learn such behaviour; when a dog passes water on the carpet, it certainly puts its tail between its legs and slinks off to a corner, ashamed. Pet do know what is "right" behaviour...they know it's "wrong" to take eatables off the coffee table, for example...but in this case, are we not imposing OUR morality on them?

A very knotty issue....I would like to hear all your thoughts about this...

I wanted to get the song, "kaNNan varuvAn kathai solluvAn" from the movie "PanchavarNa kiLi", on the net. No luck. All I get are interminably boring conversations between some vague music fans..when I try the YouTube, I got this:

this video has been removed due to terms of use violation .

This is the case with many, many songs. Why are we incapable of uploading our songs properly to YouTube, and posting the lyrics neatly somewhere online?

I can't even get the lyrics for this song anywhere. (If anyone would write them for me I would be full of grate.)

We write code for the rest of the world, but our personal housekeeping is shoddy, to say the least!

I was on American Airlines Flight 1716, from Los Angeles to St Louis, non-stop, on the 13th of July, 2009.

The flight was scheduled to land at St Louis at 10pm local time; about an hour before that, I heard the announcement on the PA system, "We have a medical 'situation' on board...if there is a medical person on board, please identify yourself."

I didn't get up from my seat, knowing that there was very little I could do to help. But I was sitting in 9A in Economy....just behind the Business Class section...and I neither saw the ill passenger being brought up to the front of the plane, or any medical person going up. So, I thought, the ill passenger must have been in Business Class...or it could be a member of the crew or even the pilot, as happened


recently on a Continental Airlines flight .


Some time later, we started making a descent, and that was surprising, because we were nowhere near the scheduled time for landing. Also, as we came down, I looked at the airport lights...this was not St Louis (I can identify the St Louis airport at any time of day or night)!



( what happened next.... )


So...American Airlines...what REALLY happened on Flight 1716? I have emailed Ameircan Airlines, provided them with a link to this post, and asked for an answer....let's see what happens!

PS. When I googled for "American Airlines Flight 1716" and clicked on the FlightStats link, I got this bald message:


AA 1716 Flight Status
Flight: (AA) American Airlines 1716
Departure Date: Mon Jul 13, 2009
Status: Diverted to (MCI) Kansas City International Airport

It doesn't say that the flight finally made it to St Louis, and of course, no reason is given for the diversion. But a FlightStat site wouldn't do that anyway.