Sunday, January 31, 2010

Aldo Leopold's Books

These books will help you to know how much a modern man has parted himself from nature.This is like a window from the other side of the world....

The natural world- the real order where a human can interact with nature without destroying it ..... It tells about the precious things that exists in nature that money cant buy...

Discovery channel,National Geography and Animal Planet may act as a substitute as to how we see nature from our High Definition LCD TV with DTH.

But you want a breath of fresh air non polluted go to nature....

Instead of the fake mineral water bottle advertisement that it gets water from mountains why not go there once in a while and drink the mountain stream and see for yourself the meaning of nature....

Go where your heart Really takes you.......

Release the wild and natural inside you............



This special edition of the highly acclaimed A Sand County Almanac commemorates the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Aldo Leopold, one of the foremost conservationists of our century.


First published in 1949 and praised in The New York Times Book Review as "full of beauty and vigor and bite," A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land.


The volume includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside; another section that gathers together the informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled around the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; and a final section in which Leopold addresses more formally the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation.


As the forerunner of such important books as Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch's The Primal Place, this classic work remains as relevant today as it was forty years ago.

Aldo Leopold has contributed to A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There as an author. ALDO LEOPOLD (1887-1948) began his professional career in 1909 when he joined the U.S. Forest Service. In 1924 he became Associate Director of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and in 1933 the University of Wisconsin created a chair of game management for him. His travels in Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Oregon, Manitoba, and other destinations are reflected in his writing.




A Sand County Almanac
is a combination of natural history, scene painting with words, and philosophy. It is perhaps best known for the following quote, which defines his land ethic: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

The original publication format was issued by Oxford University Press in 1949. It incorporated a number of previously published essays that Leopold had been contributing to popular hunting and conservation magazines, along with a set of longer more philosophical essays.

The final format was assembled by Luna Leopold shortly after his father's death, but based closely on notes that presumably reflected Aldo Leopold's intentions. Subsequent editions have changed both the format and the content of the essays included in the original.

In a 1990 poll of the membership by the American Nature Study Society, A Sand County Almanac stand alone as the most venerated and impactful environmental books of the 20th century




A household icon of the environmental movement, Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) may be the most quoted conservationist in history.

A Sand County Almanac has sold millions of copies and Leopold's writings are venerated for their perceptions about land and how people might live in concert with the whole community of life. But who is the man behind the words?

How did he arrive at his profound and poetic insights, inspiring generations of environmentalists? Building on past scholarship and a fresh study of Leopold's unpublished archival materials, Julianne Lutz Newton retraces the intellectual journey generated by such passion and intelligence.

Aldo Leopold's Odyssey illuminates his lifelong quest for answers to a fundamental issue: how can people live prosperously on the land and keep it healthy, too? Leopold's journey took him from Iowa to Yale to the Southwest to Wisconsin, with fascinating stops along the way to probe the causes of early land settlement failures, contribute to the emerging science of ecology, and craft a new vision for land use.

More than a biography, this articulate volume is a guide to one man's intellectual growth, and an inspirational resource for anyone pondering the relationships between people and the land.

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong - A Song For All Occasion

"Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World Lyrics"



I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.



One Of My Personal Favorite:

Heard it a lot of times in many movies from childhood but not until I saw Harold & Kumar-Escape From Guantanamo Bay it came as the introduction song .... After getting that clue I traced it and found it in internet.


It never fails to carry me to the most memorable, the sweetest and kindest,loveliest and unforgettable incidents that had ever took place in my whole life
..........

As I call it Its a song for all seasons........

Hear it once and I assure you without fail Louis Armstrong with his mesmerizing voice will relive your present worries how ever bad it may be and for the briefest of moments in your life you will spend in heaven.


"The Shawshank Redemption" - Reminder Of A Good Friend Of Mine



When I was doing my under graduation a good friend of mine by the name 'Priyo Barath'(I am unsure whether I got his name correctly or not) told about his most favorite movie ever....
He insisted me to watch it but i never had the chance till our college days got over...


But after getting that movie I watched it with my Dad.....He too loved it. It was a very nice movie and I in turn insist any good soul reading my blog to watch it... The movie is totally worth it...


One of my most favorite lines in the movie as follows,


Andy Dufresne: "Yeah. The funny thing is - on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook".


The film was based on the novel by Stephen King (short story "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption")



Directed By : Frank Darabont

Main Cast




Awards : Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 13 nominations



The story is about an innocent guy being framed by practical evidence over the murder of his wife and the man she was having affair with.The true story beings as he enters Shawshank prison, the rest of the story being about the troubles he faces,his life new found friends....

For rest of the story forgive me I cant tell anymore...

So please go get a copy of the DVD and please see it.

Lover's MP3 player designed for lovers


Lover's MP3 player designed for lovers

lovers-mp3-player-apart.jpg

You have to admit that this is kind of cute in a middle school "do you like me? check yes or no" sort of way. It's a heart-shaped MP3 player broken in two so you can wear one around your neck and your sweetie can wear the other around his/her neck. And everyone at recess will be, like, so jealous that each half features touch controls and can hold 1GB of music that says everything you ever thought and felt about each other.

lovers-mp3-player-whole.jpg

The coolest part about the players (other than the $38.99 price) is that when the two halves are reunited, time stands still and you and your prom date are swept up in a whimsical whirlwind of rainbows, flowers, and puppies.


Courtesy:

"Popgadget"


Official Website

http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/lovers_mp3_play.php




Erich Fromm: About Love

Erich Fromm:

Infantile love follows the principle: "I love because I am loved."
Mature love follows the principle: "I am loved because I love."
Immature love says: "I love you because I need you."
Mature love says: "I need you because I love you."
_______________________________________________________________

Infantile love follows the principle: "I love because I am loved."



Mature love follows the principle: "I am loved because I love."

Immature love says: "I love you because I need you."



Mature love says: "I need you because I love you."




"Quotes And Pics Of Love"


You call it madness, but I call it love.





Bible:

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

I Corinthians 13:4-8




Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being "drawn toward." Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and mutually beneficial relation with one's friends and enemies.





Barbara De Angelis:

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver".





Ann Landers:

"If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough".





Anais Nin:

"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings".







Alfred Tennyson:

"I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all".





LIFE - OLD AGE VS YOUNG AGE





Each age has its own truths, its experiences, its secrets.
E. Morin, French philosopher and sociologist, Method V


"Age can change the way we feel about our lives. Each age has its own experiences and ways of living and feeling life. Youth involves an intensity of positive feelings that aged people do not have".

"Maturity and old age involve new experiences, truths and reflections, opening the way to new values and to a deeper meditation about the meaning of our lives".

"DeVotchKa"

Devotchka:
The name Devotchka is a Russian term which means "Young Girl"
Members Of The Band:
  • Nick Urata
  • Tom Hagerman
  • Jeanie Schroder
  • Shawn King


  1. Nick Urata, who sings and plays theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, and trumpet;
  2. Tom Hagerman, who plays violin, accordion, and piano;
  3. Jeanie Schroder, who sings and plays sousaphone and double bass; and
  4. Shawn King, who plays percussion and trumpet.

The Lead singer of the band is Nick Urata, either alone his voice or the music never can be separated and enjoyed.

He has such a mesmerizing voice you must hear it for yourself and then only you will believe.

Together only the fusion brings harmony and peacefulness

First time I heard the song "How It Ends" in the video for 'Gears Of War' in "Youtube"

Loved it ever since.

One of my favorite band, never failed to impress me when ever I hear their numbers.

My personal favorites are
  • How It Ends
  • The Clockwise Witness
  • New World
Out of the world......


DeVotchKa Official Site

http://devotchka.net/

Saturday, January 30, 2010

"Outcry Of A Typical Citizen"

I begin my story with an actor and his movie....

A typical movie contains a hero who fights for his family or nation from villains, mafias, or terrorists(sometimes all at a same time).....A single movie has about five to six fight sequence... and before the movie ends the hero gets to bet up a minimum of hundred men.......... While watching a movie...When some sad scene comes when one of the family members of hero is hurt and we shed a tear.....
Nice movie....Right...

I, from my childhood have seen the news heard of how many Indian men die in the battle against terrorism everyday...

I came to a conclusion that at least one Indian soldier dies in five days.....

I may be wrong... But I believe the news I hear say this.........

But lets come to the heart of the problem....

As I said earlier for a movie we shed a tear..... But we don't care for a Brave Military Soldier giving his life while fighting in reality to save us...

Republic Day and Independence Day have turned to be a mere holiday than something to remember......

If those who dont believe me and tell that I am wrong go and ask a school kid why do they go to school on
Republic Day and Independence Day ....

The most probable answer you will get is...

They are going for candy....

They are going to perform in their school in an act or skit about freedom

Worst answer being they are going because of family and teachers threat that if they don't show up they wont get attendance.

Others think this is a good government holiday and we get to take a day off from work and watch the
Republic Day or Independence Day special movie which is to be broadcast-ed on television.

Sad but many may completely disagree with me but those who disagree please go and see and ask the students they are the ones who must know what truly Independence means....





"The Price Of War"



We all know that the aim or the final expected result of a war is peace....

Peace being such wonderful thing is sad to believe that its price is war....

I wish we can have peace without killing so many soldiers on both sides without loosing so many civilian lives.....

Peace being said that its worth all the blood shed......

But why cant we all agree to be civilized and just be kind and grateful to each other....

Why cant we learn to share and have mutual agreements.......

I for one wish to see a country united by love,peace and joy...

A fight between brothers just destroys the whole family....

But no matter how much pain does our kin makes they all are our family....

We fail to see it... Misunderstandings happens only when you stop seeing others as a friend..

I wish things were easy..... I wish two country can come to an conclusion rather then fight it for a thousand year...

If we keep on fighting among each other we are the only losers...

We are too blinded to see the fact....

War is simply old men talking and young men dying....

Those in the battlefield may once in a point of their duty might shed a tear and wish for peace...

But their duty is simply to wish alone....They can only dream of a peaceful nation...

But then again you can say its easy to say but hard to do.....

Hope I can buy peace by ordering in Ebay and give to the nations for free....

Friday, January 29, 2010

My Mom - The Truly Gifted But Unrewarded

I am going to take you guys into a small peek-a-boo tour into the life my mom was living from the day i started going to school and before i was born.......

Its a lengthy one just like my mom's typical day so don't run off seeing the content...


She wakes up around five in the morning without an alarm and starts her day or i must tell she starts my whole families day.............

Sweeps the floor cleans the cook ware and wipes the kitchen floor crystal clear....

Starts preparing breakfast and lunch simultaneously for both me and my dad....

After we leave she takes her breakfast, takes care of Grandma, cleans our plate and cookwares.... ya da ya da ya da....

As the noon approaches she washes our clothes watches T.V., takes her lunch and takes a nap in between her chores....

Evening as we return home she manages to make us some snacks if possible....

Then her routine preparation of dinner starts........

She goes to bed by ten thirty and i think she couldn't fall asleep till its eleven........ because of her body pain......

The next day it starts all over again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I started typing this blog on her everyday activities i feel tired this soon...........

I wonder where she gets that energy to all those work and still manages to smile as i return home......

On a hard days works you will find me angry as a bull.......

I spend eight hours of my life in my college or do a work and get tired and frustrated.....

If nobody appreciates the work I do i feel sad....

But my mom works minimum of 18 hours a day including Saturdays and Sundays and any holiday 365 days a year.

When she makes chicken curry she keeps less for her and more for me.... not only this but she gives up anything readily for me.....


I or if any body in my family gets sick my mom tends to take good care of them...

I haven't seen her get sick at all....

She complains some times her pains in arms,shoulder, and back but then she blames it on her aging and starts her work again...

But if at all one fate full day she is sick then its chaos only in my house....

And nobody appreciates it or anything she does.........

I began to realize there is some magic ...

So i ask her about her secret and she replies"I don't bother doing any of these chores - all I do want is my family to be happy and united - my hard work is worth it"

She finally asks me: Aren't you happy son?
I reply with tears: Yes mom Happy as i can be!

Then she leaves me stating some work she gotta do and tells me to clean my room.

We talk about many a hero who does this and that.But how many of us truly see the hero inside our very own home who sacrifices herself for the welfare of her family.

I feel ashamed that I never always keep a smiling face to her and some times I show my anger to her and when ever she asks me to go to store,I say - You never let me be free always asking me to work!!

I felt very bad when ever i realized this so i decided to help her out however and whenever its possible.

It gives me peace now.....

No other person, nor money,gold or any other precious thing can be substituted in her place

She is far too priceless...

Because when some one is spending their time and life for us its not a small thing to forget..... i don't think even the richest man on the world can buy time or happiness....
I believe this is the sacrifice that all moms, millions of them around the world are doing everyday just to keep their family together with happiness... and she never expects any appreciation.....

I don't believe in keeping a single day as mothers day and wishing her will compensate anything.... everyday should be considered as a mothers day.

God bless my mom and all those moms around the world who takes pain everyday to run a family.....

Please manage to say thanks to mom its not formal its to tell her how much you appreciate her hard work ....

Praise her cooking no matter how it is........

Take her outside and keep her happy in all the way you can....

Buy her stuff's she likes........ Rather then asking her to buy you one...........

Because she is too precious.........


This Blog Is Dedicated To My Beloved Mom!!!!

"The True Back Bone Of My Family"




Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)




I first read about Aldo Leopold in the 'National Geographic' book my dad purchased.........When I was a school kid.....

The page started with the title "A Durable Scale Of Values"

The quote that caught my very first attention as I browsed through the following pages as follows....

"Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher “standard of living“ is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free."


Boyd Gibbons,"Aldo Leopold: A Durable Scale of Values,” National Geographic, vol. 160, no. 5 (November 1981):





"Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left…you cannot love game and hate predators…The land is one organism".


"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace. To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside. If one has cut, split, hauled, and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the week end in town astride a radiator".



"There are woods that are plain to look at, but not to look into…The taste for country displays the same diversity in aesthetic competence among individuals as the taste for opera, or oils".


"Getting up too early is a vice habitual in horned owls, stars, geese, and freight trains. Some hunters acquire it from geese, and some coffee pots from hunters. It is strange that of all the multitudes of creatures who must rise in the morning at some time, only these few should have discovered the most pleasant and least useful time for doing it".


One hundred and twenty acres, according to the County Clerk, is the extent of my worldly domain. But the County Clerk is a sleepy fellow…at daybreak I am the sole owner of all the acres I can walk over. It is not only the boundaries that disappear, but also the thought of being bounded.


Aldo Leopold Wilderness



"Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher “standard of living” is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free".



Entrance to the Aldo Leopold Commemorative Trail

We shall never achieve harmony with land, any more than we shall achieve justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations the important thing is not to achieve, but to strive…


Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac(New York: Oxford University Press, 1968)

"If the quotes itself were gold I bet his whole book is Priceless"

Difference between A car launch and a truck launch


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Truck launch…….


"CMBT"


Close to a walkable distance of 15 to 20 minutes to my house is CMBT one of Asia's largest bus terminus....

I still remember at 2003 when it was opened for public I went there by night with my school mate...
Enjoyed the sight so much..Night is the best time to see CMBT in all its glory...
But I never had that sight again....

Since the day it opened construction work has been going on till now ..... Its 2010 now 7 years work is still in progress ... But its only for the betterment of the society only so I got nothing to complaint..

I am impressed with how the authorities are doing to keep the place clean,neat and presentable...

I couldn't expect more without doing my part....right!!!

The problem that I face is the spitting on the pathway by the public..

Dropping bus ticket receipts as soon as they get down from the bus on the floor itself ..

Dust bins are kept at many corners but nobody has any patience to carry the load of a piece of paper.

For God sake my only request to public is rather complaining about the authorities not cleaning please do your part by not spitting.

Touch your heart and tell even you don't like to clean your own spit have a heart for others also just because they are workers you cant expect them to clean every mess you do.

Please change yourself do your part to keep Chennai clean...

Any body can complaint but it takes courage for one to correct himself and act in such a way to solve the problem we face.....

Sony Ericsson - W800i



Cool phone out of the world ...........

May not be such great for others but its my first phone bought with my own money gives me pride and joy as i have it.........

2.0 Megapixel camera, Walkman series.....

Blue-tooth and infrared......

Good mobile..........

I used to drop it frequently still works fine.........

I don't think its available any more in the market.

"Life In Chennai - On A Typical Rainy Day"




I took pictures as it rained heavily..... 2009

What a sight.

Though i had a tough time managing my camera not to be filled with water.........









Arihant Majestic Towers -16 storey complex...ONE OF THE PRIDES OF CHENNAI CITY ITSLEF........And my personal favorite







Corporation was trying to drain the rain water from the road.....



With the "Bulldozer".... (Right)






But I truly appreciate the hard work some public service people were without rain coats but still worked even in hard traffic and rain god bless their souls..


They are the true public service person






I bet this would not have happened if the city got well prepared for rain.....

But whom to blame even if you blame what is going to happen......





Every year before rain season starts "THE HINDU" quotes about the problem but nobody seems to be bothered well i too got used to rainy days, slippery roads, drainage holes covered with water you never know where your next step will end you up..... in a hospital or in home........

















http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article53480.ece


Well you gotta think of it like as if you were "INDIANA JONES" and skip,hop and go........





Oh the irony........ Tickles me to death
Well lets hope Chennai has a bright future by 2010 rain fall..........

And I don't have to flush water inside my kitchen to the road with a bucket for every rainy day.