Halloween 08
October 29th, 2008
Big tooth — me
grumpy — Ashwini
surprised — V
sleepy — Adit
Possibly Related Posts:
Archive
Archive for October, 2008
Numbers
October 29th, 2008
- Inflation in Zimbabwe is at an astronomical level. One US dollar fetches 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars. One half liter of bottled water costs a ridiculous sum of US$ 19 which makes it 1.9 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. — From an article about Zimbabwe in the NewYorker.
- From late 15th century to mid 17th century, when Europeans arrived in North and South America, the diseases they brought along were responsible for 90% of deaths among native people. This was before they systematically started killing the natives. — From Sarah Vowell’s latest book, The Wordy Shipmates
- About 30% of people who are eligible for enrolling in a 401-k retirement plan, don’t make use of it. Only 60% of enrolled individuals put enough money to capture employer matching funds. Less than half of those, put away maximum possible amount allowed by the plan. Don’t know why so many people throw away free money. — From either Kiplinger or Money magazine.
Possibly Related Posts:
Protected: Happy Diwali
October 29th, 2008
Enter your password to view comments
Possibly Related Posts:
Good stuff
October 22nd, 2008
Here is an unequivocal endorsement for two outstanding products that I have been using and loving for the last couple of months:
- Fage yogurt: Pronounced as fayeh. This greek-style strained yogurt is much thicker than usual yogurt. Strained yogurt is similar to चक्का (chakka) but not quite that dry. I especially like “Fage with honey”. It reminds me of पंचामृत (panchaamroot: mixture of milk, yogurt, ghee, sugar and honey) eventhough it is missing a few components.
- Neutrogena foot cream: This “Norwegian formula” cream is just miraculous. It healed my badly cracked heels and kept them in good shape with just one application per day. No more torn socks from razor-sharp cracked dry skin. Lets see how it works out in the winter time. If my feet get worse, Neutrogena has the next level of cream for treating cracked heels. Hopefully, that will do the job.
Possibly Related Posts:
Moon mission
October 22nd, 2008
Congratulations to ISRO for successful launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned mission to the Moon. Pretty soon, Indian flag will be on the surface of the Moon as Chandrayaan-1 drops a probe upon reaching Moon.
Possibly Related Posts:
Planetarium
October 20th, 2008
Over the weekend, we went to the Children’s Museum in West Hartford, CT. On display, were some hands-on science exhibits for kids and also a small collection of rescued/donated pets that included some exotic animals such as Lynx, snakes, pythons, turtles and big lizards. They also have a planetarium as a part of the museum. That was the most exciting part of our day as it was the first time for our kids to visit a planetarium. We watched a show called “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket”. It was about two kids who make an imaginary rocket from a cardboard box and go for a trip around the solar system. The length of the show was about half an hour; just right and not too long. Ashwini knows all the planets by names & photos and Adit is just learning them, so, the show kept both of them interested till the end. I have so many good memories of my visits to the Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai while growing up and was pleased that the kids liked their first visit to a planetarium as well.
They have two other planetarium shows which will make us go back to the museum, as we bought an annual membership to it.
Possibly Related Posts:
Stargazing 10-18-08
October 18th, 2008
It was a quick half hour session with Adit calling me to come in every 5 minutes. A clear and cold night made everything look very beautiful. These sky conditions along with the good quality optics of William Optics Megrez 90 were responsible for excellent viewing with good contrast. Here is what I was able to catch:
Jupiter: All four moon visible; all were on the same side.
M22 and M28 from Saggitarius: It was my first time to see these two clusters. They can be found around lambda Saggitarius. M22 is a big and very dense, nice looking, globular star cluster. Very easy to spot. M28 is much smaller and fainter.
M57: “Ring nebula” a planetary nebula from Lyra.
M56: a globular star cluster from Lyra. It lies on the straight line between M57 and Alberio (beta-Cygnus), almost at the midpoint.
Alberio: Famous double star in Cygnus. Two bright colorful stars: Orange and blue.
M31 and M32: Andromeda and its companion galaxy.
NGC869 and NGC884: Double cluster in Perseus.
Possibly Related Posts:
Store signs
October 17th, 2008
OK! Time for some juvenile humor.
Recently, I came across a couple of store signs that made me think about ShivSena’s “store signs in Marathi” agitation from a few months ago. I can only imagine snickering people as they walked past these places, if they were in Maharashtra.
Possibly Related Posts:
Sugar maples
October 13th, 2008
 |
| From Fall colors 10/11/08 |
Leaves on Sugar Maples are at peak color in our area. Took these photos on Saturday. It was a clear day and the blue skies provided a nice contrasting background for the fiery reds of Maples. Photos in this album are just as they came off the memory card with no adjustments.
Possibly Related Posts:
Paul Krugman
October 13th, 2008
Paul Krugman is the winner of 2008 Nobel prize for economics. I read his column and blog on New York Times website and was always impressed with clarity of his writing and his thoughts on economic policy. Just last month, I learnt that he is not a reporter but, a professor of economics at Princeton University. This morning his Nobel prize was announced. Congratulations, Paul!
Possibly Related Posts:
Recent Comments