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The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best - Henry Van Dyke
Singing, the vocal production of musical tones, is so a part of mankind that its roots are lost in the distant past. Historians believe that singing existed even before the development of languages and that the voice is the most primeval of all instruments. There is no human culture, no matter how remote or isolated, that does not sing. However, with the onset of the mechanical age many Western cultures stopped singing and replaced their voices with "mechanical" voices – CDs, television, mobile devices, the internet. This has brought about a hardening of the voice, as well as the spirit, less social contact and the belief of most people that they "can't" sing. But there are only two conditions that have to be fulfilled in order to sing – the ability to talk and the ability to hear. If one can talk and hear themselves and others, they can sing.
Singing becomes a form of therapy – Placido Domingo
It has been scientifically proven that singing has a psycho-physical effect on all of us and can lead to*:
- relaxation and stress relief
- increased lung capacity
- better breathing
- more energy
- alleviating asthma
- improved posture
- less pain
- a more positive outlook on life
- a lower heart rate
- decreased blood pressure
- an improvement in the general health of the elderly
- better immunity.
For example, the University of Frankfurt proved that members of a certain choir had higher levels of immunoglobulin A and cortisol, which show better immunity, after they sang Mozart's Requiem compared to before singing it. Just listening to the music did not have the same effect.
* source
Create your own method…make up something that will work for you – Constantin Stanislavski
Having studied the classical method when at university, then taking up the Werbeck method almost a decade ago and now looking into the benefits of disciplines such as yoga and the Alexander method on the voice, as well as exploring the vocal methods of other cultures and traditions, like most activities, my exploration of singing is an ongoing and, I believe, lifelong one. If I find an exercise, piece of advice or method that has helped me, I pass it on to my pupils and choir. As such, although there is method to my madness, there is no "ultimate" method that I adhere to strictly. From yoga to appoggio to affirmations, I use everything that I have found to have a positive effect on my voice and share it with others.
Some of my beliefs are that:
- Everyone can sing. If a person can talk and hear, they can sing. Problems often appear when the mind and body are constricted – the voice also becomes constricted. Both physical, mental and vocal exercises are used to relax body and mind and free the voice.
- One should take a holistic approach to singing. The voice should never forced or expected to go beyond its capacities. Vocal work is done at a steady pace and progress is made gradually rather than in leaps and bounds. However, many report a positive difference in their voice after their first lesson or workshop. It's a matter of being made mindful.
- The entire body is a vocal instrument. Exercises are done to train the whole body, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, into becoming an instrument, along with the vocal organs.
- Visualisation is an important aspect of singing – from imagining that your forehead is melting like a burning candle to the wall singing to saying affirmations. The mind, more than any other organ or muscle, can either limit or broaden both your expectations and executions. In effect, your voice is a reflection of your state of mind and spirit.


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I Chase Waterfalls for My Health
The car slows as its tires slowly crunch over the gravel. After hours of driving the winding black ribbons of roads in the Westfjords of Iceland, we come across a tall precipice overlooking toy cars below, signaling that we must be close.
Doors slamming closed and its strength already radiates within your bones. Thunderous by name, Dynjandi is the most powerful waterfall in the fjords. A series of seven waterfalls in all, stretching to a height of 100 meters.
We draw closer to its center. To its core, to its heart. The air changes. The mood quiets, yet it is met with equal exhilaration. Inching closer, the thundering power blankets all other noise and the repetitious flow becomes mesmerizing. Eyes closed, the cool mist greets my face. The afternoon sun trying to make its presence known.
The morning was restless though. Sleepy eyes and still-shaky nerves from the aftermath of a difficult and precarious drive the night before. Those black ribbon roads had disappeared in the thick fog the previous night. Deprivation led to indecision if we should attempt to locate these falls.
All the uncertainty and drowsiness was lost when we stepped foot at its impressive base. The cascading water was the answer.
Of everything in our environment, waterfalls contain the highest amounts of negative ions with approximately 10,000-50, 000 unit/ cm^3. But there is nothing negative about them.
Ions are molecules that gained or lost an electrical charge. Negative and positive ions populate our surroundings but are odorless, tasteless and invisible.
Negative ions are created in nature as air molecules split apart due to sunlight, moving air and water. Hence why negative ions are so abundant near waterfalls.
These negative ions are more scarce in cities, which is where positive ions are found in ample amounts. Lack of ventilation, air-conditioning, electrical and computer equipment, and long dry spells remove negative ions from the air.
This is why a calmness arises when you step outside to greet Dynjandi or any other cascading flow of ions splitting. Negative ions have been shown to improve the body's immune system and resistance to disease. It is said to increase flow of oxygen to the brain leading to increased alertness and suppressing drowsiness. More mental energy results.
But why is this important? A study completed by Columbia University determined that by introducing a negative ion-rich environment to patients showed clinical remission of depressive and neurovegetative symptoms in a statistically significant number of patients compared to a low-density ion control group.
As far as application, this study suggests that negative ions provide a therapeutic method capable of suppressing hypersomnia, hyperphagia, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), nonseasonal atypical depression, and fatigue.
Waterfalls are invigorating. Rejuvenating. They help you become unstuck.
It helped me get unstuck from a veil of haziness that morning. When I feel stressed or lost, I consciously try to put myself by water. But imagine the benefits if we could make a deliberate change in our lives to return to waterfalls more often. To routinely try to harness that energy.
As for me, chasing waterfalls is something I take very seriously.
Malinda Meadows is an Ohio native who was letting grief blanket her life.
She found healing through traveling and nature. She discovered changes of location led to changes in her mindset. It helped her process grief and forge a new path with greater optimism and happiness. Realizing the benefit of deliberate change, she now leads a more balanced and mindful life inspired by simple changes.
She blogs regularly at malindainthesnow.com to help others find change, however small, outside their box in order to live a happier, healthier life.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Your Custom Text Here
Self-Portrait by Donna Lynch. [Image Description: One of a series of 12 self-portraits capturing the same face in different lighting, effects, and expressions. With minimal changes to the blurred environment or even to pose, the simple transformation of light and mood create portraits so disparate that they hardly seem like the same figure. All the images have an second artifice to them: a digital simulacrum of photographic noise that references the era of silver nitrate and alchemy.]
Art by Donna Lynch.
Michael Albright
Khairani Barokka
Lydia Flores
Torrin Greathouse
Jesse Rice-Evans
Raymond Luczak
Elliot T. Lyngreen
Samantha Knight
River Kozhar
Donna Lynch
Tamara Hattis
Helen Harley
Carl Bowlby
Student Artist: Kaitlyn Brennan
Eli Clare and Travis Chi Wing Lau
Emily K. Michael
© 2019 Deaf Poets Society All Rights Reserved


text:
Bespoke uPVC Conservatories
Before building a conservatory the key to success is good planning, design and construction. Getting the conservatory build correct is imperative so it is neither too hot or too cold during different months of the year. That is why it is important to use a professional, knowledgeable company with plenty of experience.
A 21st Century conservatory is designed for all year round use. With the extra need for living space it is important to be able to use the conservatory through all the seasons. Each conservatory is individually designed whether it is a new dining room, playroom, garden room or even an extension to your kitchen. With this in mind, there are many considerations that need to be taken into account to maximise your investment.
With the different shapes and styles available, they are designed and built using the latest energy efficient materials. Starting from the high specification floor and wall insulation right through to the latest roofing materials. All these aspects help to create a comfortable living environment.
We offer a free design service to create your ideal conservatory. We can also deal with any planning application and building regulations if required. We have a large showroom open 7 – days a week with 5 display Conservatories in Salisbury.> Click here to download the Conservatories Directory brochure
> Click here to download the Coloured PVC Conservatories brochure
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> Click here to download the Decorative Window Board brochure
> Click here to download the Self Cleaning Glass brochure
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text:
Optical Assistant
- Recruiter
- Inspired Selections
- Location
- High Wycombe
- Salary
- £18,000
- Posted
- 06 Jan 2019
- Closes
- 02 Feb 2019
- Ref
- Job Role
- Optical Assistant
- Sector
- Multiple Practice
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
A fantastic opportunity has arisen with this leading UK multiple, who are looking to add an Optical Assistant to their hugely successful practice.
You will need to be a strong team player, a real 'people person' and pride yourself in your punctuality and professionalism.
My client is looking for enthusiastic individuals who want to progress and develop in optics.
This practice is very well established and has a very strong local customer base. This is a busy store with quite a large team and due to continued success they are looking to add somebody to the team who can help support the team and grow with the practice
Responsibilities of the Optical Assistant
As a busy sales advisor you will spend your time on various aspects of meeting your customers' needs precisely and competently.
Your enthusiasm in dealing with our customers means you will have the opportunity to offer services across the groups range.
You will need to be able to comfortably dispense to all levels and use your optical knowledge in helping patients and fulfilling their needs.
Requirements of the Optical Assistant
At least 2 years of experience as an Optical Assistant ideally within a busy practice.
The ability to dispense to all levels. A friendly and personable demeanour and strong personal work ethic. A customer focused approach to your work and the ability to build a strong rapport with customers and colleagues alike.
Compensation of the Optical Assistant
Career development opportunities are available in a variety of positions, training, management etc.
We will listen to your individual requirements and endeavour to meet your needs.
Salary package is competitive and will be designed around you and your career


text: On this final episode of this iteration of the podcast, Jared, Lucas and Jonah talk all about the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universer, Avengers: Infinity War. We talk about what we liked, what we loved, and what we weren't crazy about. We hope you enjoy and we hope you'll join us in 3 months for Comic Book HQ!


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#MamaMuse: Jen Silverman
Name: Jennifer Silverman
Profession: Corporate Wellness Consultant
Location: NYC
Age: 33
Children: Max
How did you get started? When I was 25 years old, I decided to go to grad school. I wanted to do something I was passionate about – something meaningful, like my Mother, who is a Nurse Practitioner of Oncology. So, I enrolled in the Health Promotion Management Program at American University. Two years later, I had a Master's degree with a certificate in Nutrition Education. I worked full-time while I was in school, placing nurses at hospitals and other healthcare facilities. In my experience, I discovered the U.S. doesn't have a healthcare system – we have a 'sick care' system. I wanted to change that.
As graduation was nearing, I decided corporate wellness allowed me the unique opportunity to impact behaviors. After all, we spend a lot of time at work, well over forty hours a week. Why not help companies and organizations encourage their employees to engage in healthy behavior? Here I am. I travel a good amount, making a case for why eating healthy and exercising regularly will not only impact our health care costs, but improve our workforce morale and productivity. I preach to my clients, if we take the time to invest in our people, and ourselves, not only will we combat obesity but we'll empower people to take ownership of their health and well-being. There's nothing more powerful than watching people make positive changes, whether it's quitting smoking, losing weight, or running their first 5K, etc. My career and the people I interact with inspire me every day.
What's an average day like? I wake up at 6 a.m.. I make my coffee and check my work email for 30 to 45 minutes... Around 6:45am my son typically wakes up. My husband is also out the door around this time... I always exercise between 8/8:30am and 9:15/9:30am. It's one of my favorite times of the day. I can focus on me – not my clients, not my son, or my husband. It's my hour to be somewhat selfish, and I savor it.
After my workout, I have a quick shower and get back to work. Generally, I have 3 or 4 client calls during the day. During these discussions I share recommendations for wellness program planning or build a case for why healthy employees are happier and more productive. I don't go out to lunch. I'd rather take that extra time in the morning. At 5pm, Max's nanny leaves and I spend quality time being his mommy. We both love being outside, so we explore different parks in the city, search for puppies to play with and throw balls around. Max has a ton of energy! At 6:30/6:45pm we go inside so I can feed Max dinner, bath him and get him ready for bed. He goes to sleep around 7:30pm usually. That's when I get back to work.
What is your current fitness routine? I workout Monday through Friday either at Tone House (2 to 3 days a week) or at Equinox. Tone House is the hardest workout I've ever done and the most humbling. I've been going regularly for over a year and there are still many days when I struggle. It's very intense and a total body workout. Luckily, I'm surrounded by people who always inspire me to push myself more and never give up. On the days I got to Equinox, I climb the StairMaster for 30-60 minutes. Then I spend at least 15 minutes stretching. Every so often, I get on the treadmill and run or jog on an incline, or I makeup a sprint routine.
If I have time, I work out one day over the weekend. Otherwise, I am with my family. My husband is also super active (neither of us are very good at doing nothing) so we walk up to Central Park, or down to TriBeCa. We walk along the west side highway or the east river. Even in the rain and the cold, we're always happier when we're outside and we spend our weekends exploring the city as a family.
During your pregnancy what was your fitness routine? When I was pregnant I had much more time to exercise. I could do 60-90 minutes of cardio a day, 7 days a week. I ran or jogged in the morning and then did yoga at night. I jogged 3 miles the day I delivered Max. I was so accustomed to exercising, although I went slower (my sprints were more like jogs), staying active kept me sane and happy throughout the pregnancy.
During my first trimester I was still able to sprint on an 8.0. By my third trimester, I was sprinting at 5.5. I wanted to have a healthy pregnancy, and a healthy baby. On the days I was tired, I simply walked outside or on the treadmill on a 10.0 incline. I felt better when I was on my feet. Sitting was uncomfortable and lying down was unrealistic. Fortunately, I didn't have morning sickness or joint pain. That said, my acid reflux was awful!
I jogged three miles the day I delivered Max
What was the biggest obstacle you encountered getting back into your fitness routine post-baby? The biggest obstacle for me was comparing myself to other women. I had the energy and the motivation to run but my body was still healing and I had to take a month off, post-baby to recover. I would go outside or to the gym and see women pushing themselves harder, running faster and longer and I beat myself up because I couldn't keep up with them. It was very hard on me mentally. I had to remind myself that I had to put in the time and start building up my endurance and my strength. Essentially, I had to walk before I could run. I had to heal. And most importantly, I had to be a good mommy, work full time and find the time.
How do you find time to balance a family, career, and staying healthy? I was lucky. My husband understood how important it was for me to get back into my fitness routine, so he respected my decision to have our nanny come earlier each day so that I could work out. Plus, I knew how to eat properly because of my education. I am also very self-aware. I knew I wanted to go back to work full-time because I enjoyed working. My biggest role model, my mother, is the breadwinner in my family and she's the hardest working woman I know. She works long days at the hospital and still finds time to prepare healthy meals and exercise. If she can do it, so can I. I believe that if something is important to you, you find time for it. If it's not, you make excuses.
The U.S. is one of three countries in the world that does not guarantee paid maternity leave. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act qualified employees are allowed 12 weeks of unpaid leave, which most find not adequate enough when transitioning into motherhood. What are your views on this matter?
This is a tough question. I was in a unique situation where going back to work didn't mean leaving my baby every day. I work from home mostly so I was lucky. I could take a break and steal quality time with Max whenever I wanted. Moreover, my employer allowed me to cut back on traveling after I became a mother. I returned to work after 3 months.
What advice do you have for moms-to-be and new moms that you wish you would have known regarding a fitness regimen and overall health and wellness? Listen to your doctor, but also listen to yourself. Take advice from other mothers (if you choose) but don't compare yourself to them. Remember that our bodies are all so different, as are our pregnancies.
Also, remember that this is not the time to be vain or selfish. You will lose the body you spent countless days, years and months building after you deliver. Pregnancy is a time in your life when you're looking out for more than just you. You're growing a tiny human inside of you. Every morsel of food you ingest, the amount of sleep you allow yourself, and so forth, impacts your baby.
Be thoughtful. There are a lot of things in life we can't control, but this is one of those things we can choose to do the right way.


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Need to deepen your sitting practice?
There will be a half day (3 hour) session of sitting and walking meditation practice held at EBS on Saturday, July 4th from Noon till 3:00 pm. There is no cost, and there will be set 10 minute breaks before each hour (at 12:50 and 1:50) that will allow people to join the sit later or leave earlier if they have other commitments. Please contact Doug Holmes if you have any questions.
Back to All Events
Need to deepen your sitting practice?
Need to deepen your sitting practice?
Earlier Event: June 13Half-Day Meditation Retreat
Later Event: August 10The Four Noble Truths


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Thursday, October 31, 2002
A bucketful of blood and a roomful of eidolons to everyone out there. Google is celebrating too, in their own way. This is also, in my very humble opinion, to have cable and feast on the visiogenic reruns of such cult classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street (with all their sequels), Michael Jackson's voodoo fandangos (Thriller, Ghosts), countless documentaries about your favourite famous and unsung horrors... the list goes on. Surrender to the children of the night and enjoy their music. Trick or Treat!
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
We had dinner at the Levi's Keywest Seafood House in downtown Decatur yesterday evening. The menu included a tagline that marketed the place as the tackiest place to eat in in downtown Decatur. The place was also "webbed up" for Halloween. I had their fried calamari and it was delicious and filling, although I would personally prefer garlic and butter to their tangy Levi's sauce and horseradish sauce. When we walked out of the place, the dark road, the calm parking lot and the uncrowded nature of the road sent me straight back to those eating places on and off Koregaon Park back home in Pune.
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
In chapter 7 of his book Practical C Programming Steve Oualline describes the most fundamental problem any software developer has to deal with: Electronic archaelogy. In his own words:
Electronic archaeology is the art of digging through old code to discover amazing things (like how and why the code works).
Unfortunately, most programmers don't start a project at the design step. Instead, they are immediately thrust into the maintenance or revision stage and must face the worst possible job: understanding and modifying someone else's code.
I remember Software Engineering as being the most boring class I had as an undergraduate. While the course content had enough material for several trivia nights at the CMM Café it remained, like most of the stuff we learned, purely academic and non-pragmatic. You can consider yourself lucky if you are involved in a project right from its inception and design. In the most general case, you will end up nursing a Child from Hell and patching leaky holes (bullet wounds) in the codebase (soldier's body after war). This can be quite frustrating. Such an experience of pragmatism conflicting with principles can leave you a scarred schizophrenic developer.
The antidote: Prayer. Pray that the code you end up dealing with and modifying has been written in your favourite programming language. This is not the right time or place to learn a new language...the wrong way. But then, most people learn a new language the wrong way the first time. Undoing that and correcting their impressions takes a lifetime (what they refer to as 'years of experience' in your résumé).
Monday, October 28, 2002
Saw The Wild Bunch yesterday, Director's Cut again, but mercifully in 2.35:1 (my VHS experience was destroyed by some moron's insistence on pan-and-scan). A great example of the benefits of repeat viewing: this time around the things that caught my attention were: the 12/8 motif on the excellent soundtrack, the wonderful sound, the moral ambiguity, and once again, Peckinpah's pioneering mix of slow-motion sequences intercut with regular motion film (employed to devastating effect in the disturbing shootout scenes).
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Lunch at the Red Fort
Lal Qila
4805 lawrenceville hwy. suite 112, lilburn, ga 30047
tel:(770) 921-5598, fax: (770) 921-4743
driving directions
Brunch at Front Page News, a tavern with the look, feel and food of New Orleans. Situated in a small vritually unnoticeable pocket on Crescent Avenue, this is one place I really regret not visiting when I was living in Home Park, a pebble's throw (all laws of Physics considered) away. The special du jour was represented by wholesome, calorific Belgian Waffles which I had with Praline Sauce {for more on the contents of these and more items, check out their online dictionary}. The served portion looked moderate, but appearances were deceptive, and I spent the rest of the day in sweet sated glee.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Finally caught Boogie Nights on DVD.
Friday, October 25, 2002
I guess my eulogy for Arts & Letters Daily was thankfully premature. Chris just pointed me to their website today and they're back in business thanks in no small measure to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Just clicked through to my first article off the revived ALDaily: The Spectator's review of Milan Kundera's (bibliography) new novelette Ignorance. This is a good sequitur to Ken's take on Kundera's The Art of the Novel. The article ends by mentioning Kundera's fascination with the number seven.
Ken's Book Blog: Ken is a "constant reader in Arlington, Virginia" who "shares his opinions on his recent reading with the world"
Life is Elsewhere: Tom LeClair reviews Ignorance for BOOK Magazine.
Chris just pointed me to Doonesbury's take this week on the blogging phenomenon. For the convenience of couch browsers, here are the links to their dailydoses this week:
Monday : Oct 21, 2002
Tuesday : Oct 22, 2002
Wednesday: Oct 23, 2002
Thursday : Oct 24, 2002
Friday : Oct 25, 2002
It's a nice gentle spoof on blog content and the confusion of blogging newbies.
The last time Google celebrated a painter's birthday I could see a connection. This time it's Picasso, but the connection is still unclear (barring the fact that he was a great painter, of course). Information Retrieval is one of the domains that Google derives a lot of its core from. One of the important books in this area is Information Retrieval: Data Structures and Algorithms by Bill Frakes and Ricardo Baeza-Yates. The book uses Piet Mondrian's Composition in Brown and Gray on its cover. I am convinced that this, among other things, motivated Google's Mondrian tribute. With Picasso, I can't remember any such reference. Of course, this could all be a vain geeky exercise in conjecture and association.
We started watching Tootsie yesterday evening and there are good points to compare this with Mrs. Doubtfire, the like-themed Robin Williams vehicle. The transformation of Michael Dorsey to Dorothy Michaels is abrupt and the process employed is only detailed later. In the Williams film, however, the sequence of actions is reversed: I'm not sure which one works better, but Tootsie benefits from the potential reaction of surprise from the spectators as they see Dorothy Michaels for the first time, in New York traffic.
The cheesy "soapy" score mirrors the fact that Michael(s) is auditioning for (and later starring in) a soap opera. As for its viability outside the confines of the film -- sure, there are a lot of elevators in this country and overseas.
Pollack again rides his acting hobby horse by cameoing as Dorsey's agent, sharing some of the good lines in the film with Dustin Hoffman. Pollack's 1982 comedy got Jessica Lange a Supporting Actress (Actor: to be politically correct) Oscar.
The film ranked 82 in the AFI's list of the 100 funniest movies of all time.
I made another trip to Texas Sari Sapné -- this time only to ogle at their collection of tapes. For a Bollywood B-movie junkie like me, titles like "Raiszaada" (Govinda), "Dost" (Mithun), "Bees Saal Baad" (the Raj Kumar Kohli remake with Mithun and Dimple), "Kudrat ka Kanoon",
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Thanks to the efforts of Renu I finally have a rough copy of a lost (yet famous) song of the 80s by the late R D Burman from an Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit action vehicle called Hifazat. Starting off as an ode to the delectable batata vada the song employs all the 80s RDB trademarks: potentially unrelated phrases and oodles of electronica, mridangam and loops mixed together in a heady mix with conventional Bollywood violin sweeps and flourishes to burgeon into a duet about the unpredictability and inevitability of love. 'Nuff said.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Mom and Dad finally got onto Yahoo! Messenger and we had our first family messaging session today. It's strange how other friends of mine and their families have been doing this (in addition to voice chats and webcams and Internet telephony) for so long while my family have stayed in touch purely by email and phone calls. Still, better late than never. My folks found this cool (who wouldn't) and the only things that prevent us from staying online chatting away are the time zone differences and the ISP billing back home (unlike the T1 and DSL/Cable modem connections at school or work that we all are used to here). Seventh heaven right now. And the few thousand keystrokes exchanged today have also had a more positive impact on my work. Am picturing myself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies ...
I took time out in the evening to visit my guitar instructor Rick Burgess and he generously let me sit in for his Jazz Improvisation class for the evening. The song du soir was So What, the first cut off Miles Davis' 1959 jazz classic Kind of Blue. Everything he said made so much more sense now for some reason. Perhaps it's because I've been listening to a lot more jazz than before. Perhaps it's because I'm listening to the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings.
Back home, I finished off my viewing of Arjun. This was not the Eros/B4U DVD, but an old "DVD Video" version, reflected by the lack of subtitles, a sparse menu (Play Movie, Song 1 Song 2, Song 3, Song4 ... yes I can see these guys doing the menus for Hum Aapke Hain Koun...) and some icky pixellation. In summation, though, they used a good source print (which must be expected for a 1985 film!). Once I get some time, I'll be able to type out my (unwelcome ?) comments on the film.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Got Manoranjan (1974)/Anamika (1973)/Paraya Dhan (1971) (EMI/CDF 120174) out for a listen and found another example of HMV's typical use of bad master sources (read scratched disused vinyl) to create a CD {That they completely missed the point of the digital advantages offered by a CD is fairly obvious}: crackles and signs of feeble sound abound on Paraya Dhan (another example). I also have this on tape (a combo with Anamika) and don't remember hearing any such aural unpleasantries on that one. This implies a thickening of the plot and adds more fuel to the theory that posits a complete lack of musical acuity in the recording industry in general, and HMV in particular.
Monday, October 21, 2002
Just read a slashdot post about Mitch Kapor's Open Source Personal Information Manager (as part of the efforts of the Open Source Applications Foundation). Mitch uses a blog to provide news updates on this and other OSAF activities. Does this mean I'll finally have an alternative to Outlook? An extract from his blog post about this new PIM "... We are working with wxWindows/wxPython..." : Another reason to jubilate.
Some Led Zeppelin, a handful of Star Trek TNG episodes and some of the music I had acquired over the last couple of days made up my time for the most part. I also got through the second half of Pukar (watch this space for more). The movie for the evening was Louis Malle's My Dinner with André. This overlong conversational movie will interest those with a philosophical bent and who don't mind watching a 110 minute long movie about two people talking. Some of the things they talk about are interesting, as are the two characters, and there's some Satie at the end of the film, but I don't think I'm going to watch this film again from start to finish, just little bits at a time. My emotions for the most part were reflected by the staff at the restaurant, who from time to time, indicate (sans dialogue) that these characters have overstayed their welcome at the hotel.
Saturday, October 19, 2002
Spent the day introducing some friends to Sona Imports ending up making a few purchases myself (my desi music binge is taking over my life)
* Kaisi Yeh Judaai (a compilation of songs apparently dealing with the pangs of separation)
* Voices (a collection of songs sung by a host of Hindi film music legends)
* Maachis
* The Ever Versatile Kishore Kumar
I also had the opportunity to visit Texas Sari Sapné {there's a photograph and brief description here}. The inner room of the store houses a modest collection of well-priced music with some good deals on both old and new music. Their tape collection is one of the best I have seen in this city so far (of course, I refer only to Hindi film music). Interestingly, they have trays for Bengali, Tamil and Telugu music as well. And I lost some more greens here:)
* Gurudev and other hits of 1992
* Gang (and a bonus CD of Love Birds)
* Daayra (a very underrated score by the much-maligned Anand-Milind)
* Manoranjan/Anamika/Paraya Dhan
* Parichay/Khushboo/Kinara
Pukar: Pre-intermission.
Friday, October 18, 2002
My trip to the Indian store got me two more rental DVDs: Pukar, this positions the Big B in the struggle to liberate Goa from the Portuguese (the other historical Bachchan effort was the Manmohan Desai migraine inducer Mard; and Arjun. I also picked up a compilation of Dharmendra hits titled Hum Bewafa, which includes the often-forgotten Morricone-influenced RDB song Raju Chal Raju from Azaad.
The movie to end the week was the howlarious gore-fest Bad Taste, which makes it both clear and unclear how Peter Jackson ended up helming The Lord of the Rings. The latter is also the reason the tongue-in-cheek blood-and-guts tale of four dimwits taking on a bunch of aliens who have decided on humans as the vital ingredient for their intergalactic food chain even made it to DVD. Watch this over dinner.
Friday, October 18, 2002
This is the best thing I have read in a long time. Everyone living in the United States (and it would appear even abroad) has heard of AOL. Everywhere you go there's an AOL CD sporting a new version and offering you free hours: your mailbox, your trashcan, your landlord ... you get the picture. Two guys from California have decided to "make it clear to AOL that a lot of people actually do not want their CDs" and never "asked for" them in the first place. To back this mixed call for protection of the environment and one's privacy, they have been collecting CDs from AOL, and their subsidiaries Compuserve and Netscape. Their target is a million CDs. They then plan to drag the whole bundle over to the company's doorstep and, in their own words: "We're going to AOL and say, 'You've got mail". {slashdot post} {cnn article} {Official page for the No More AOL CDs Campaign}
Thanks to the efforts of my friends Ashish and Aniruddha I finally received a package of RD Burman goodies in my mailbox yesterday, straight from India. The contents:
* Drohi/Palay Khan (tape)
* RD Burman: The Prince of Melody (a two-cassette compilation of BMG/CBS-owned scores from lost movies like Saweray Wali Gaadi, Anand aur Anand, Jeeva, Zameen Aasmaan, and Hum Dono (starring two Rajesh Khannas, which in case you didn't figure it out already, is much worse than two Dev Anands).
* Samundar/Zabardast (CD) {I'm still missing the add-on track aise na thukrao, which made it to the film only when Jaya Prada demanded a song for herself. Consequently, the delicious suno sitamgar never made it to the big screen}
* Jagir/Shatru (CD) {Jagir is a desi mix of westerns and the Three Musketeers. Shatru is a Rajesh Khanna as a cop vehicle}
Onward to the listening room.
I finally got done with Devata yesterday (the disarming theme is still running through my head). The film isn't a complete mainstream disaster. There are a few examples of good framing. Thankfully, the film also includes moments that merit my renting movies like this (Faced with the alternative of renting DVDs of the new releases instead, I would still stick with my preferences. A known evil is way better than an unknown gem). All I need is some time to type out my thoughts.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
is still what people in Atlanta are saying. However, what started off as a cloudy dark bleak day blossomed into a bright blue sky peppered with little shards of cloud. The temperature's a little nippy for the South 65 degrees F (that's 18 degrees C). The weather forecast predicts a drop in temperature (ostensibly at night), but that's not set in stone. Weather bureaus and stock markets seem thrive on intelligent speculation.
The DMCA being the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. No, it is not a federal provision to protect people from inane boy bands and their facetiously titled albums of vacuous music. What the DMCA does is label the act of "circumventing" copyright protection systems as a crime. Since this largely corporate-backed, the anti-populist implications of the act are evident to the general public. They are immediately hilarious fodder for black comedy, but on closer examination you will find myriad issues to debate and ponder as well as challenge. Especially in the United States (aka the land of the 'free'). I just caught a post on slashdot about an article in The Register about a new RedHat kernel patch that cannot be explained to U.S. citizens or others in the U.S. because of DMCA restrictions. The "illegal" explanation is hosted at Thefreeworld.net, a site created specifically to deal with these DMCA issues.
If the suits think the DMCA is the right way, they need to think again. Any good intentions behind the act are clearly overshadowed by the far-reaching consequences of its dictates. I just ran a DMCA search on Google and interestingly enough the first link on the results page is to the Anti-DMCA website. Apparently, a lot of people and webpages seem to agree that the DMCA is evil. Remember Dmitri Sklyarov?
Braving the rain, we made a trip to the Embry Hills branch of the Dekalb County Library to pick up a hold that I have eagerly awaited: Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings, being the music from the five studio albums by the famous second Miles Davis quintet (with Herbie Hancock on piano) plus alternate takes and unreleased cuts. Rearranged in the order of sessions (as against the sequencing of the original albums), this is an essential set for lovers of jazz (especially post-bop modal jazz) complete with good packagingand liner notes packed with enough information to set the mind spinning.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
is what people in Atlanta are saying right now ... with a temperature of 54 fahrenheit (that's 12 celcius) coupled with incessant showers against a bleak cloudy sky. So much for the Fall break that students at Georgia Tech were looking forward to...unless they're out of town.
I visited the Atlanta Fulton Public Library yesterday evening and got myself a nice selection:
* Dot.con: The greatest story ever sold/John Cassidy {excerpt}
* Invention of morel; and other stories.../Adolfo Bioy Casares [Casares' obit] {This book is one of the unofficial influences on Last Year at Marienbad, which I had the pleasure of viewing on Sunday}
* I sing the Body Electric/Ray Bradbury {contents}
* Good Children Don't Kill/Louis Thomas
* We got rhythm: a Gershwin Songbook/André Previn and David Finck
Monday, October 14, 2002
The Indian restaurant of choice for a lunch buffet was Kohinoor, close to Galaxy Cinema on Jimmy Carter Blvd. Interesting range, although nothing ground-breaking. The TV sets were tuned to B4U running First Love Letter (the second Manisha Koirala-Vivek Mushran film). What more can one ask for? Buffet and a B-movie to boot:).
Later in the afternoon, we attended a classical guitar recital by Peter Fletcher at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Decatur. This time around (I had been to his recital last year) it wasn't free and there was a good overlap with the playlist last year. Still it was a pleasure to listen to staples like Sunburst and Leyenda. Of course, like some of the other members of audience, I would have loved to hear Cavatina (the theme from The Deer Hunter).
On our way back, we stopped by Urvashi, a VHS/DVD rental place that also sells CDs and tapes. This was a friend's recommendation and boy, was it a good one. Found four little rarities (predominantly RD Burman, of course) lying in their stacks:
* Bade Dilwala/Zehreela Insaan
* Ishk Ishk Ishk/Manpasand
* Chalti ka Naam Gaadi/Padosan
* Raton ka Raja/Madhosh
Back home, I caught the first half of Devata. For the remotely interested, here are the DVD details and back cover synopsis.
DVD Details: Eros Entertainment/B4U DVD-E 167 Running Time: 146 Minutes/Color. Dolby Digital 4 Channel/ NTSC Format
N. N. Sippy's DEVATA
Produced by N. B. Sippy
Directed by S. Ramanathan
Music R. D. Burman
Starring Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Danny Denzongpa, Rakesh Roshan, Sarika
Tony is a village orphan who finds shelter under the wings of a parish priest Fr. Fernandes, who brings him up as his own son in the way so love, truth and tolerance. But Tony has a terrible temper and he is roused by the acts of injustice. Tony enjoys the friendship of an intensely loyal friend, Police Inspector Lawrence.
Tony is in love with a native belle, Lily, whom he marries but loses her in child-birth. He now showers all his love and devotion on his child Mary, who grows up in the living image of her mother. She goes to college where she falls in love with a play boy and losses her virginity and refuses to marry her. Tony goes to the boys house to persuade him to marry his daughter but on his refusal to do so Tony forcefully asks him to marry, but boy is brought to the church, he is found dead. Tony is arrested and sentenced for life, Fr. Fernandes dies and his daughter also committed suicide. But Tony escapes from the clutches of the law and returns years later as Tarun Kumar Gupta, but Inspector suspects the identity now becomes his shadow. He finds his daughter alive and with a lovely daughter but can't address his own daughter can't hear the word "papa" from her lips, can't even fondle her in his arms in a fatherly manner.
Chapter Index
1. cc/titles
2. tony and lily
3. song 1 - chand curake laya...
4. love marriage
5. lily's death
6. song 2 - jab ek kaza...
7. homecoming
8. inspector lawrence
9. song 3 - main to taare...
10. caught red-handed
11. unwitting murder
12. song 4 - main waqt ka mujrim...
13. sorrowful parting
14. tony escapes
15. arrival of vip
16. lawrence suspects
17. song 5 - kuch aise kismat wale...
18. fatherly affection
19. tony or tarun
20. song 6 - gulmahar gar tumhara...
21. marriage alliance
22. emotional meeting
23. confusion at wedding
24. tony reveals the truth
Did that sound familiar? Try Victor Hugo's classic Les Miserables.
More about Devata later. On to the main feature of the evening ...
Last Year at Marienbad is a mindblowing 1961 film from Alain Resnais (he that also made Hiroshima mon amour). There is no human way possible to describe or critique this film completely. The film rips apart all notions of classical narrative (linear or otherwise), blurs the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality, time and space. Packed with luscious visuals encapsulating some of the best black and white framing I have seen, the film works off the rather simple premise of marital fidelity contrasting the unevenness and indecisiveness of the illicit relationship against symmetrical formal architecture, hedges set in geometrically symmetrical designs symmetrically aligning a perfect walk up to a perfect old-fashioned luxury hotel, opulent and symmetrical in every respect. Life and death are mere ideas cast into this filmic mix. Adding to this marvel of film are a game of 16 toothpicks/cards/matchsticks and theories on winning, compositions abounding in mirrors framing ambiguity to the point of despair and sequences that seem to presage movies as diverse as Reservoir Dogs. Besides, false realities are my favourite theme.
The film opened sans subtitles, which is the most irritating part about enterprises like this. The gothic organ music and the unintelligible French aural barrage seemed funereal... almost what the director must have intended. Perhaps I should watch this film without subtitles the next time. In fact, it's probably a better idea to do so...
Last Year at Marienbad: An Intertextual Meditation by Thomas Beltzer.
DVD review
Saturday, October 12, 2002
A movie...and another movie.
First up, a standard ghisa-pita (read: worn and tattered) Sanjay Dutt vehicle Sarphira from Khaitan Productions. This film has all the classic ingredients of a Bollywood B-movie: family strife, high-strung emotions, action, songs, terrible acting, deadbeat dialogue. The list is endless. As respite, here's the synopsis verbatim off the back of the DVD cover (which reminds me: this is a Baba Digital DVD, and they do a great botch job as one has come expect from them. Their runtime pan-and-scan algorithm to bring the cinemascope version of the film to the small screen deserves a patent.):
DVD Details: 150 minutes. Colour.
Khaitan Productions Sarphira with English subtitles (which, to borrow a phrase, constitute 'a hoot and a holler')
A mother's love is more valuable and sweeter than anything else in this world - but too much of it can completely ruin your child's life.
SARPHIRA - is the story of one such family. The father is a judge and following his footsteps is one son who becomes a lawyer and another son becomes a police investigator. But the son who is loved and pampered by the mother grows up to be a criminal. People call him SARPHIRA - But is he really so?
The movie for the night was Woody Allen's black-and-white ode to New York, Jazz, Jewish humour and sex jokes Manhattan. Don't get me wrong. The use of a diegetic neon sign for the title is very good (and something non-Allen-esque, since the credits of all Woody Allen films are presented the same way: the same white font against a stark black background with jazz music to accompany them). There are some good jokes too, but overall it's just a typical Woody Allen film without any of the bizarre strokes that he employed in Annie Hall.
Friday, October 11, 2002
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a rage.
Significant lines from our post-dinner movie for the week: The second version of Thomas Harris' chilling novel Red Dragon, this time retaining the name of the source novel. The last time they adapted this novel, Michael Mann was forced to retitle his flick Manhunter, thanks to producer Dino de Laurentiis' superstitious aversion for the word "dragon" after Year of the Dragon flopped. The original adaptation merely used the novel as a seed for a designer thriller. Trivia mongers will note that the exterior of Hannibal Lektor's (yes, that's how they spelt his name in that film) prison is the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. So on to the 2002 version. First off, it's technically a prequel, so all brickbats meant for prequels may apply here, except the source novels were always in sequence.
While Hannibal Lector rose in importance as the trilogy progressed, the focus of the novels also changed. We have three principals: Hannibal (H), the Investigator (I) being Will Graham or Clarice Starling and the psychopath (K) being William Dolarhyde or Jame Gumm. In this respect, here's how the relations of importance stand (a > b: means a is more important than b)
red dragon: K > I > H
the silence of the lambs: I > H > K
hannibal: H {Clearly no one else but Italy had any business being in this suck-up fest for Hannibal Lecter that also warped completely the character we knew as Clarice Starling. Character development is one thing, but desperate inexplicable character switches are a different ballgame}.
Back to Red Dragon. First off, let me say I wasn't as disappointed as I was prepared to be. The movie is entertaining. As a keen reader of the trilogy and a fan of the original (with all its overt designer chic and flaws), I did have some reservations. Then there were some other complaints that are purely those of a film goer: for instance, what in the name of all that is sacred was Harvey Keitel doing there? It's one of the worst written and helplessly rendered performances I have seen from an actor as established as Mr. Keitel. Although the dialogue (directly) derives its meat from the source novel, the talented[sic] director of such powerful works of film as the Rush Hour series and The Family Man, Brett Ratner makes evident his inability to mature beyond the standard mindless thriller action flick. It's quite painful to see Keitel struggle with inept dialogue and characterisation. It's also sickening to watch Edward Norton perform so ably on screen, yet fail to capture the Will Graham of the book -- a profiler struggling to control a very horrifying gift -- he can empathize with the fiends he is profiling. In the book, Graham's thoughts are easily presented in the print medium as he walks through the crime scenes. In the film, he mutters and mumbles (a la Sly Stallone) into a pocket recorder. Sorry, I refuse to buy this. IMHO, it adds an element of cockiness to the character of Graham, which was absent in the book.
There are the obvious liberties that the film takes in adapting the book to the screen. The dead body in Dolarhyde's destroyed house is that of Ralph Mandy, the man who threatens his only healthy relationship in this life, that with Reba McClane. In the book, he's just an off-screen (or off-print) minor character -- a gas station attendant. Also glossed over is the tension in the married life of the Grahams when Graham is forced to return to his job as profiler. The makers also add a pre-credit sequence based on material hinted at in the books detailing Hannibal's capture by Agent Graham. It's a little interesting to see Hopkins with a ponytail, but that is but a brief moment. Hopkins chews as much scenery as he is afforded (which thankfully isn't overly too much, but more than in the book), while Ralph Fiennes gets to chew a Blake painting. Fiennes comes out with the best performance in the film (which is something I would expect. Dolarhyde is the focus of the novel, making this an author-backed role). Everything with him in it has an edgy menace that is unsettling. Anything Hannibal says now is like the one-liners that Bond muttered through the late pale entries in the Bond saga -- expected, humourous yet vacuous. Danny Elfman's music echoes all his work with Tim Burton.
Technically, the film is a joy: The well-lit interiors and compositions of Dolarhyde's house, the opening credits (which although not groundbreaking are adequate), the sound. All in all, recommended for a once-view. Not the movie event it's made out to be, although like Hannibal, it's ruling the box office right now.
The previews included one for the second LOTR film, a reminder of how strange the choice of Peter Jackson (who made the wonderful Bad Taste and Braindead) was for the first film (which went on to rock the Box Office and the Oscars).
Personal note: Need to watch LOTR I on DVD and catch The Two Towers when it comes out ... a visual spectacle is guaranteed for all.
Related: Red Dragon rocks the UK box office
Friday, October 11, 2002
Ms. Manisha Koirala {remember the little tale of lost love?} apologized to the Bombay High Court to going over their heads to the Shiv Sena about her tiff with Nair. As a coda, the judge decided that the 'objectionable' scenes were integral to the film and deserved to stay. Guess it's a field day for people who harbour desires to ogle at overweight out-of-shape actresses with issues. And then there was Agni Varsha...
Splashed over the front pages of the electronic editions of the leading Indian newspapers (and tabloids) is the news of commercial Hindi cinema's biggest icon Amitabh Bachchan turning 60. {TOI: swinging sixty, TOI: a journey in photos, Rediff: Everybody wants him to be Amitabh Bachchan, The Hindu: Amitabh turns 60}. Look closely at the article on Rediff titled you don't know where you stand with him and you'll notice it's by everyone's favourite desi Waldo Lydecker (don't know what I'm talking about?) turned screenwriter turned director Khalid Moham(m)ed. Forced by the failure of his directorial début Fiza {Planet Bollywood's review} to retreat into the shadows, Mr. M also lost his cynicism (guess his words weren't a very delectable dish), besides vanishing from the general print circles (apart from being the editor of Filmfare)
To celebrate this occasion, little wife Jaya Bachchan has released a coffee-table book titled To Be Or Not To Be {aah the corn}, with contributions by every member of the Bachchan family and a long interview (catch the link above) and analysis of the Big B's career by Khalid Mohamed.
and what better gift could he ask for than to see his son Abhishek (as an actor, a pale copy of his father, minus any visible potential) get engaged into the Kapoor family (to Karisma Kapoor). The biggest film family in Bollywood unites with the biggest superstar of Bollywood ... what can we expect? Stay tuned for an undocumented episode of Star Trek: Where No Talent Has Gone Before.
This event also merits a mention on Rick McGinnis' MovieBlog, which refers to him as the Burt Lancaster of Bollywood. An interesting comparison there. I'd have to study Mr. Lancaster's career more closely to even begin to comment on that, but the variety of roles he has essayed to success both in the mainstream and non-mainstream sections) may prove to be a useful indicator.
October 18, 2002: Sensational 60
Incidentally, Madame Rekha (the big B's unofficial extra-marital flame) celebrated her birthday yesterday. Not many people noticed, I guess...
On a sad note, veteran actress Dina Pathak passed away at the age of 82 late today IST. I'll always remember her as the elusive Mrs. Srivastav squeezing herself into the kitchen of the Sharmas through an open window in Gol Maal. {filmfare tribute: requires a free registration}
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Commemorating John Lennon's birthday and his commitment ('Give Peace a Chance') to peace, Yoko initiated a new prize at the UN. The first recipients were Palestinian visual artist Khalil Rabah and Israeli artist Zvi Goldstein.
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Today is John Lennon's 62nd birthday. As an ironic coincidence, his killer Mark David Chapman was denied parole yet again.
Welcome to India
Chris just pointed me to Welcome to India, a desi spoof on Welcome to Atlanta by Ludacris, by two Indian students studying in the US. The page also both the song and the lyrics to help you follow this South-Indian laugh riot. What they miss in clever rhymes and timing, they make up for with outrageous lyrics. kundi, by the way, is the Malayalam word that would translate to booty, the ubiquitous muse of most rap and hip-hop. The word means something completely different in Hindia. If you know what, you must have already figured out why some scenes in Hindi cinema send Keralites rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. 'Nuff said.
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
After everyone disbanded, Chris and I drove to one of the outlets of Donatos Pizza (which for those not in the know, as I was, happens to be owned by McDonald's). We reached the place around 9:30pm and they had closed their indoor service early for lack of customers. We were forced to order a takeout (the coupon we had was a minor consolation), but had sodas on the house as consolation. Their Mariachi Chicken Pizza, which is what we ordered, is quite interesting: It's topped with sliced chicken breast with jalapeno peppers, sliced tomatoes, provolone, their own Mariachi Spice and a sprinkling of cheddar with sour cream on the side. Quite an interesting combination, and it made for a good change from the run-of-the-mill one-taste-fits-all pizzas dished out by Tech neighbours Papa Johns.
The meeting earlier today set me thinking about writing poetry. My cynicism makes for a poor match for the sensibilities required to write poetry (as Chris was kind enough to bluntly point this out:). However, I managed to strike gold with some atrocious verse, which I am glad to present below. Feel free to dismiss them as tripe, or pause to ponder deep hidden meanings.
A constant whirring
as the detergent unites with
the water washing over
ceramic and steel
supported on erect nodules
on a wirebasket
stoic as the waves of the centrifuge
raise a cleansing hell
The dripping continues
like the tinkling keys of a piano
cleansing cadences
sweeping suds
Clearly I'm going nowhere with this
Uniform and variegated
the garrulous packaging
of morning cereal
sharing the ubiquitous shopping cart
with a member of the cleaning mafia
shaped like a buxon belle
with a handle to boot
If only the cashier would hurry up
Chris introduced me to Arts and Letters Daily {veritas odit moras}, an intellectual's filter to news and articles on the Internet, run from
Arts & Letters Daily
University Business, LLC
135 Madison Ave., 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016.
Today, however, is a sad day. Chris just told me that they died. Here's the message off the main page:
The magazine Lingua Franca and its parent company University Business LLC filed for bankruptcy earlier this year (Trustee, Robert L. Geltzer, of Tendler, Biggins & Geltzer, 1556 Third Avenue, Suite 505, New York, NY 101128). We understand that the assets of University Business, including this Website, are to be auctioned in New York City on October 24, 2002. For further information, we suggest contacting the Trustee.
Since the filing, Arts & Letters Daily has been kept afloat by the goodwill of its editors, Tran Huu Dung and Denis Dutton, and it is now time for them to move on. They will continue to supply content on other similar sites with which they are associated: SciTech Daily Review; Denis Dutton�s Philosophy & Literature site; Business Daily Review. Human Nature Review has fine science reporting, Arts Journal is our favorite for arts news, and Google News is invaluable for newspapers and magazines..
Another Internet staple bites the dust. The madness continues ...
Monday, October 07, 2002
That's the question that has plagued a few bloggers, as Wired magazine reports. PageRank is DEAD is the credo on Webmaster World.
Sunday, October 06, 2002
My final day in Boston is marked only by a scenic drive back to the airport. I have now seen the Charles River from either end. What is also interesting is that on the way to the airport, just before the tunnel, the old Boston settlements fall to your left, while the new modern constructions fall to your right. The tunnel ride is quite interesting, but I'm sure for people who drive to and from the airport will find that the thrill has gone a long time ago.
It's funny how return journeys seem longer. My cold meant that my ears took a beating as the air pressure changed during landing: pinching my nose and directing a blow out fixed that problem with a pair of welcome 'pops'. And I also suffered momentarily from what they refer to in Pune as ardhee-sheeshi, a condition where a headache is localised only to one half of your head. Luckily, by the time I got off the plane, I was much better, but still tired enough to drop off periodically on the train home.
The coda for the evening after dinner was de Sica's classic neo-realist The Bicycle Thief. It's a moving film, and the influence on the great Indian film directors like Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt is quite evident.
Saturday, October 05, 2002
hawa yeh prabhati ...
Friday, October 04, 2002
... but it's still a great city!
I finally met Renu and Neeraj, ex-RMIMers and friends on the Pancham group. We met online a few months ago and have since exchanged loads of information and music. They have been great hosts and their music collection is to die for (ClichéMeter running wild).
Dinner tonight has been at The Kebab Factory ("Indian [cuisine] with a twist", said Neeraj and that's a very apt description). Great place set smack in the wonderfully quaint and chain store-free Cambridge downtown. The kabaabs are great and there are enough intriguing menu items that encourage repeat visits. R and N have been faithful patrons and I benefitted from the star treatment.
The evening was also punctuated by a surprise run-in with Ketan, another member of the Pancham group, who had been kind enough to provide me with a tape recording of the missing qawaali from Sholay.
Post-dinner, we spent a long (and I mean long: try 5 am as bed time) night listening to and discussing RDB's music -- especially rarities I had never heard before. What better way to wind up a week.
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Yes, I'm flying to Logan Airport, Boston. That marks another entry in my rather small list of places visited in the United States. Of course, I can claim a larger list of airports visited (thank god for flight stops). Since it's US Airways, Pittsburgh (which was my stop the last time I flew US Airways) was the first city that came to mind, and I was right.
Have been running a terrible cold for the last couple of days and the sad thing is it's not even raining. With a heavy head and aching throat, I made another trip to Sona Imports. Got a handful, but the lack of any new rarities is a little depressing.
* Shraddhanjali to Pancham
* Mahaan/Giraftaar
* {coming soon}
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Thanks to the Spragues and the Emory Library I have fresh reading:
* Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema/Nasreen Munni Kabir
* The Essential Mystery: The Major Filmmakers of Indian Art Cinema/John W. Hood


text:
Monsterhearts is a tabletop roleplaying game by Avery Alder (buriedwithoutceremony.com). It's truly excellent, and one of my favorite games. Because I really love it, I made a bunch of content for it, and a lot of my experiments have been good enough to share!
The Doppleganger Skin
The Doppleganger is all about self-loathing, hero worship, and the vicious cycle that those two traits lead to. The Doppleganger can become the very people they idolize, and in doing so discover that they're not a hero: they're just a person like you.
The Ghost Skin (tLBP Version)
The Ghost is one of the official core skins, but it didn't really go about its themes or mechanics in a way I personally found fulfilling, so I redesigned it to suit my needs. This version of the Ghost focuses on how, despite trying to be caring and empathetic, helping people is still a move in the social environment and hierarchy. It uses Conditions in a novel way, and tries to fight the tendency toward passivity and inaction that the original Ghost has difficulty with.
The Witching Hour of New Year's Eve
A Monsterhearts quick-start scenario about a New Year's Eve party hosted by a central character named Darren that all the players have their own complicated relationships with. For 3 or 4 players and an MC.
The Ice Queen Skin
This is a reskinning of Orion Canning's Skin The Firestarter, altered by Rebecca Gold and laid out by me. Where the Firestarter is consumed by their fickle hatreds, the Ice Queen is cold and indifferent in a way that's almost intoxicating.
The Fledgling Skin
A collaboration with Rebecca Gold. We like Vampires, but media has a bunch of depictions of vampires that don't really line up with the official Vampire skin. The Fledgling is a young vampire, not yet in control of the powers they now have or the new urges they're feeling. They deal with the high of power and the lows of need in a different way than the addiction cycles of The Ghoul or The Infernal.
I also have contributed to a lot of Monsterhearts content, either in playtesting or in layout work. Among these are The Firestarter, The Demi-God, The Janus, and The Hoax, most of which are not yet available.


text:
I feel lately that I have been doing nothing but interviewing candidates, bouncing around the US and the UK meeting person after person, finding new talent to come support our growth. There is an argument that says I shouldn't be doing this, I have Leads for all divisions, but to me it is critical to help the team with a sanity check and make sure everyone is the right fit.
Of particular importance to me are our Sales and Client Services teams. These individuals are our
; the whole experience a lot of our clients have with us as a company is with these people. Not only must they be nothing short of outstanding at what they do, they must also share our core beliefs, and embody those when they meet prospects and clients.
That is an undefinable 'X', nothing that you can communicate to a recruiter, yet is something you know within 60 seconds of meeting anyone. But none of us are perfect, particularly when picking sales people who are trained to convince, and so we back each other up and have multiple interviews before making the decision.
Your mum!
I had a candidate recently ask a lot of questions about our culture and beliefs. I explained our core beliefs, and they then asked a GREAT question:
"Would you let your mum buy a solution from Chango?"
Now my mum doesn't work in marketing, and doesn't really understand what I do, but I understand his point immediately. He was shocked that my resounding and immediate response was 'yes'! With equal passion he said he would not have let his mother buy what they sold at his previous employer, that it was riddled with problems and much, much worse.
This question defines our integrity, and is an example I will use time and time again in interviews to come.
It's real!
Another recent hire came in to help support our Platform Sales team. I had naturally explained our systems during the interview process, (although I didn't lift the skirt completely until they were onboard and signed of course).
So in a demo yesterday I was surprised to hear him exclaim that we actually have a real system! This is an individual though who has been a part of many younger companies, and has been tricked more than once. He explained that he assumed we had 75% of what was described, and if it was more it would have been a bonus, but he assumed everything else was vaporware.
After the demo he was shocked. Having looked at the other major DSPs and DMPs in the industry, he wasn't aware that he was joining a company that has quietly built something that in many areas is more than 12 months ahead of all them. This wasn't a bullshit system, this was really real, and really solving real marketing problems, really :)
Knocking down his 75% thinking defines our attitudes to honesty and innovation.
You're smart!
Finally, another recent hire invited me in to meet with a particular advertiser with whom he had a major, long-standing relationship. She asked us to go in with her and deliver an educational session about view-through, agency< > vendor relationships, and more. There was to be no pitch.
After we left, her reaction was that we really knew what we were talking about, that we had lots of smart people and that we had this great, open attitude to training and teaching - to our clients and to the industry.
This was cemented for me when I spoke at SES NY last week and 3 marketers came up to me with printed versions of our white papers and articles, each saying they had learnt something from our work.
Ensuring we have smart people is fundamental to our success.
So within 3 weeks, these 3 new hires came in, looked around, and helped remind us all that no matter how we grow (700% YOY), no matter how many people come join us, we believe what we believe, and we don't compromise on what defines us - honesty, integrity, innovation, raw smarts,


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Pink Pleasure WandIf you don't already own this one, I would highly recommend it! I don't really think you can go wrong with this one. While there's nothing extraordinary that stands out about it, its simplicity is definitely not a drawback.
Body-safe, ergonomic, cute
Head of toy could be more flared, NONE
No other toy quite hits my G-spot like this one does. I prefer the double-bulbed end, and instead of thrusting, I've found it's more enjoyable if I continuously twist it back and forth. This was actually my second glass piece, and I think beginners and more advanced users alike could appreciate the subtle texture and gentle curve of this wand. It is glass, though, so gentle thrusting is necessary, especially if you are using this with a partner (which I highly, HIGHLY recommend!). Temperature play is a great possibility with this toy since it is glass, and it holds its temperature long enough for a decent amount of fun.
Material / Texture
The textured treasure is a glass toy with absolutely no taste or smell. It has no imperfections or seams and makes for extremely easy cleanup since it is also waterproof, and it can be sanitized. The texture is almost completely smooth, aside from five round nubs running between the two ends, and two more nubs at the flared base of the toy. I am not big on textured toys and the texture on this one doesn't bother me, but it is noticeable.
Design / Shape / Size
I love the design of this toy! It has become my favorite glass toy thus far. It's simple but effective with just enough texture and flare to excite me without overstimulating me. The size is perfect as well- I thought it might be a little bit on the small side, but glass toys seem to require a gentler touch, and I've found that I prefer them to be a little bit thinner than my other toys. I think most people who have any experience with internal sex toys will enjoy this one, though I wouldn't recommend it as a beginner toy only because I don't think glass is a good starting point.
I have few complaints about this toy, as I said it is one of my favorites. If I could change anything, however, it would be that the bumps would be a little less raised or smaller in size, but I'm just not a huge fan of that particular texture. The size and shape of this toy are perfect though!
Care and Maintenance
This toy is ridiculously easy to care for, granted you don't bang it around or drop it. Unfortunately it's not one I would recommend traveling with. It can be cleaned with simple soap and water, an antibacterial toy spray, or it can be sanitized by being put in water that is brought to a boil. Glass is compatible with any lube, though I prefer some good ole water-based Astroglide with this one.
The packaging was simple; a black box with a clear cutout area that you could see the toy through. Definitely not discreet since you could see the toy and there was also a picture of it on the box. Unfortunately it can't really be used for storage and it came with no information or a storage pouch.
Personal comments
This is a staple in my toy box and I use it very often. I would recommend this to pretty much anyone.
Similar products
Follow-up commentary 2 months after original review
This is still one of my very favorites! I have found that it's fun for my partner, too and being able to sanitize it, is so nice.
This content is the opinion of the submitting contributor and is not endorsed by EdenFantasys.com
Thanks for sharing. I have the Deep Water G and the texture definitely takes some getting used to.
Nice review, thanks
Great review! Looks just like the Deep Water G!
Thank you for sharing your first review.
Great first review. Looks like a fun toy.
I love this. It does remind me of the deep water g, which is one of my favorite toys. Wishlisted. Thanks for this!
Sounds like a nice toy!
Congrats on your first review
Thank you
Good review, thanks.
Thanks for the review!
good start at reviewing.
welcome bug thanks for the review
Thank you for your review!
Thanks for the review! Great job for your first!
How pretty! Good job!
Thanks for the review!
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Blogging about our travels together is a fantastic way to remember the great times we've had and all the amazing things we've seen, but there's nothing like a dedicated book to make those memories come to life again. I chose Artifact Uprising to publish this collection of photos from our Banff and Jasper trip taken in the summer of 2013. I actually had this soft cover photo book put together and saved in my account through the Artifact Uprising website, but delayed on publishing it because of the cost. Finally, I gave in and decided to go with what I consider to be the photo book company with the most modern designs & features. Happily, I was very pleased with the product that I received. So much so that I'm looking forward to publishing a hardcover book of our travels for 2014, with chapters for each destination. What those pages will contain is yet unknown. I find that very exciting.
There's something so satisfying about the tactile experience of flipping through a beautiful book filled with personal images. It's a bit like looking through a window to the past. These are the days we treasure. These are the days that I want us to remember.


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Beach wedding venues provide couples with the ultimate dream - a ceremony with the ocean waves crashing behind you and sand in your toes. These romantic beach wedding venues have an inherently laid-back vibe, and are great locations for destination weddings and intimate events. Start the search for your beach wedding venue!
Weddings Surftides offers a unique, intimate oceanfront location, with private function rooms for the reception following your ceremony on the beach. Reception packages are available and our staff will work with you create your perfect Oregon Coast wedding. · - Oceanfront Location · - Reception... (Beach Weddings Lincoln City)
Salishan Resort is a hotel wedding venue located in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. John D. Gray, who was the founder of this property, paid close attention to the environment while he was designing and constructing the homes and golf course. Eventually, the resort was completed in 1965 and opened its doors... (Hotel Weddings Gleneden Beach)
Eola Hills Wine Cellars is an rustic winery wedding venue located in Rickreall, Oregon. This unique location boasts a beautiful outdoor garden, two distinct venue spaces, an attentive staff, and extraordinary wines. Eola Hills Wine Cellars' experienced and talented coordinators ensures a couple's... (Winery Weddings Rickreall)
Eola Hills Legacy Estate Vineyard is a country winery and wedding venue in Salem, Oregon. Legacy Estate is the newest and largest property of Eola Hills, with over 72 acres of sunkissed vineyards at your back. This property is an unequaled location for a secluded, nature-inspired wedding ceremony... (Winery Weddings Salem)
A charming wedding venue in Albany, Oregon, Flinn Block Hall is a gorgeous indoor event space for our amazing story. Located in the beautifully restored Flinn Block Building in Albany's downtown historic district, this venue is newly renovated for a modern feel. Facilities and Capacity Flinn Block... (Banquet Halls Albany)
Abbey Road Farm is a wedding venue in Carlton, Oregon. This rustic farm venue, owned by Daniel and Sandi Wilkens, was created with the purpose of bringing people together to enjoy beautiful farmland, great food, delicious wine and wonderful hospitality. This venue uses sustainable energy, and... (Barn & Farm Weddings Carlton)
Beacon Hill Winery & Vineyard is a winery wedding venue located in Gaston, Oregon. stunning buildings, jaw-dropping scenery, and fine wines, there are a great deal of features that make Beacon Hill Winery & Vineyard an ideal venue for your splendid day of celebration. Facilities and... (Winery Weddings Gaston)
A historical venue in Oregon Wine Country, The Old Schoolhouse is an event space located at the heart of the Willamette Valley wine region in Newberg, Oregon. Built in 1928 and filled with unbelievable views of hills and orchards, you and your guests will love the indoor and outdoor ceremony and... (Historic Weddings Newberg)
Wildwood Vineyard is an outdoor and barn wedding venue located in Newberg, Oregon. Surrounded by rolling hills and gorgeous scenic views, the vineyard is the ideal setting for wedding ceremonies, receptions, and more. The historic property has housed many wonderful memories throughout the years and... (Winery Weddings Newberg)
A serene and magical wedding venue in Silverton, Oregon, the Oregon Garden Resort showcases 20 speciality gardens that will make the perfect backdrop from your ceremony and reception. Located on 80 acres of botanical gardens, this venue features gorgeous waters, whimsical forests, a barn, gazebo and... (Hotel Weddings Silverton)
A breathtaking wedding venue just minutes outside the heart of Portland in Hillsboro, Oregon, Scholls Valley Lodge is set on top of a hill with stunning views in every direction. Enjoy your rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception at a venue situated on over four acres of manicured lawns and natural... (Barn & Farm Weddings Hillsboro)
A treasured and timeless wedding venue in Hillsboro, Oregon, Walters Cultural Arts Center combines creativity and culture for a beautiful wedding day. Located in the heart of Hillsboro's historic downtown, this venue started as a church, but has expanded to include beautiful celebrations of love and... (Historic Weddings Hillsboro)
The Barn at Countryside is a barn wedding venue located in Aurora, Oregon. This unique destination offers couples the opportunity to host a wedding that takes advantage of sprawling country landscapes as well as an open and contemporary canvas which they can design to suit their theme. Their goal is... (Barn & Farm Weddings Aurora)
A sophisticated and elegant wedding venue in Willamette Valley, Oregon, The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club provides indoor and outdoor locations for a beautiful ceremony and/or reception. Located among lush green rolling farmland in the wine country, The Reserve is an incredible golf retreat, perfect... (Country Club Weddings Beaverton)
Jenkins Estate is a wedding venue located in Beaverton, Oregon. Beautifully situated on the outskirts of Portland, the venue is nestled amongst vast rolling hills, wooded areas, and luscious lawn space. Couples can escape the noise and bustle of the big city and enjoy each other's company in this... (Banquet Halls Beaverton)
A rustic and beautiful wedding ceremony and reception venue based in Portland, Postlewait's Country Weddings provides true country elegance for your memorable day. As lifetime farmers, Postlewait's is a loving family-operated venue determined to make your day perfect. Located in the heart of... (Banquet Halls Canby)
McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse is a winery wedding venue located in Hillsboro, Oregon. Steeped in local history, the winery is beautifully nestled in the heart of Oregon's high-tech corridor. Couples and their guests can enjoy strolling with the picturesque property, visiting the on-site... (Winery Weddings Hillsboro)
An all-in-one wedding venue in Portland, Rock Creek Country Club does everything from catering to flowers, music, decor and much more! Private surroundings, spectacular views and excellent service are just a few of the benefits this venue has to offer.Facilities and Capacity With Rock Creek Country... (Country Club Weddings Portland)
Looking for the perfect, unique wedding site that will be remembered all your life? You have found it! Let us provide to you and the one you love the perfect venue and setting for your outdoor wedding ceremony and reception! Choose your own personal wedding site from three separate and distinct... (Park & Outdoor Weddings North Plains)
A scenic wedding ceremony and reception venue in Portland, Arrowhead Golf Club provides spacious wedding facilities for your special day. Arrowhead makes every effort to accommodate each unique couple and their budget, vision and wedding dreams. You and your guests will enjoy the relaxing and... (Country Club Weddings Molalla)
A scenic wedding ceremony and reception venue just outside Portland, The Oregon Golf Club is a Scottish-style clubhouse that serves as an awe-inspiring setting for your special day. Delivering truly unforgettable events that reflect your personal style, they are dedicated to creating lasting... (Country Club Weddings West Linn)
An elegant wedding ceremony and reception venue in Portland, Ainsworth House & Gardens provides an idyllic setting for small and medium-sized weddings throughout the year. Built in 1851, and originally sitting on 18 acres of land, the Ainsworth House has existed for over 160 years. With both indoor... (Mansion Weddings Oregon City)
A timeless wedding venue located in Portland, Oregon, Gray Gables Estate provides many event spaces so you can throw the perfect wedding of your dreams. Gray Gables hosts one wedding per day so you will have the whole space to yourselves to enjoy with friends and family.Facilities and Capacity With... (Historic Weddings Portland)
An artistic ceremony and reception venue in Portland, Artful Venues at the Portland Art Museum will enhance your wedding with details only this cultural landmark can provide. Located in the heart of Portland's downtown Park Blocks, The Portland Art Museum offers multiple elegant event rooms,... (Museum Weddings Portland)
A historic and exquisite ceremony and reception venue in Portland, The Elysian Ballroom is the perfect setting for your unforgettable wedding day. With gorgeous architecture intertwined with history, couples can find elegance in the cathedral-style, renaissance ballroom. With gold chandeliers and a... (Historic Weddings Portland)
A historic Victorian ballroom in downtown Portland, Oregon, Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom is the perfect spot for your wedding and reception. Built in 1901, this picturesque setting has distinctive architecture with high cathedral style walls, original ornate chandeliers and restored hardwood floors.... (Banquet Halls Portland)


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If you're a fan of fresh juicy watermelon flavor, you need to try Seedless Sour by Salty Man E-Liquid. Featuring natural, pure fruit flavors it will leave you with the feeling of enjoying a sour gummy bear candy. Seedless Sour by Salty Man E-Liquid is so potent and vibrant you'll feel energized and enjoy vaping all day.
Mint by Solace Salts E-Liquid is a powerful product that brings with it intensely smooth draws. As a nicotine salt product, Mint is most ideal when used with non-sub ohm devices. When paired with pod style units, with a low wattage output, this product produces idyllic inhalations. The cool, slightly creamy essence of mint within this e-liquid is refreshing and satisfying. Each exhale still yields impressive clouds to ultimately create sublime vaping sessions.
Do you remember that delicious strawberry-flavored milk that came in a plastic bottle? Pink Milk by Salty Man E-Liquid infused rich and creamy strawberry milk flavoring that will make you feel like the smooth beverage is rushing down your throat with every draw. The combination of sweet and creamy gives a decadent taste without leaving any bitter aftertastes making a gratifying sensation each draw.
Do you want to have a taste of Hawaii in your e-juice? Then this is the flavor that you're looking for. Hawaiian POG by Salt Naked 100 E-Liquid offers that distinct tropical taste to your eager taste buds. It has a smooth, refreshing, and delicious blend of fresh fruits that are very reminiscent of the island tropics.
Mango by Solace Salts E-Liquid takes the tropically sweet, slightly tart essence of a mango and contains it within a 15mL bottle. Mango is tastily fruity during the initial moments of inhale, then users will experience a mouth filling sweetness that is appealing and satisfying. Once the draw is exhaled, the vapor that is unfurled is dense and gratifying. Mango is a nicotine salt e-liquid, so in order to vaporize it most ideally, a low wattage, non-sub ohm device should be implemented.
Ol' Fashion Tobacco by Salty Man E-Liquid is a traditional nod within the realm of cutting edge nicotine salt vaping. This flavor takes its inspiration directly from the crisp, spicy, and subtly nutty notes within tobacco. It has the added benefit of being engineered into a nicotine sale e-liquid. Every draw is smooth and has a total fullness of flavor that is unmatched by conventional methods. Once exhaled, the clean vapor is intense and satisfying in its own right.
Banana Pudding by Salty Man E-Liquid's name was perfectly chosen. The flavor so completely captures a bowl of banana pudding that a mouthful of the vapor borders on feeling like a mouthful of a sweet dessert. It's sugary and savory, but won't leave a sticky aftertaste in the mouth. While the banana essence is full, so too is the vapor that comes as the result of an exhale. As a nicotine salt, banana pudding should be paired with a pod or cartridge style unit with low wattage output.
Amazing Mango by Salt Naked 100 E-Liquid features delicious mango, tangy peach and delightful cream blend with a refreshing, sweet and creamy combination perfect as an all day and into the night vape. Reminiscent of a smoothie blend, Amazing Mango, curves your craving with its authentic fruit flavoring. As you inhale that succulent mango juice comes across the tongue with a tropical tang. The authentic zesty flavors and soothing aroma will leave you comfortable to take on the go and happy to vape and share with friends. Amazing Mango is nothing short of amazing with an aftertaste that is just as spectacular.
El Jefe by Solace Salts E-Liquid takes traditional tobacco flavor and formulates it into a nicotine salt vaping liquid. Every inhale starts with an unmistakable testament to tobacco that is concluded with a caramel sweetness. The combination makes this flavor a slam dunk across the board. The singular flavor experience in a draw also provides vapers with a massive cloud payoff upon exhale. Because it is a nicotine salt product, El Jefe is best when used with a non-sub ohm, low wattage device.
Kacti Kooler by Salty Man E-Liquid is a refreshing nicotine salt take on citrus sodas. Short of drinking a literal soda, this flavor is crisp, sweet, and packed with a slightly tangy essence. Within the core of this e-liquid, it marries an invigorating orange clean taste with the tropical vibrancy of a pineapple. As a whole, every draw is smooth, mouthwatering, and intensely cloud filled. Because Kacti Kooler is a nicotine salt, it needs to be used with a non-sub ohm device.
7 Pound Up Cake by Salty Man E-Liquid perfectly harmonizes deep south pound cakes that utilize lemon-lime soda as their flavor back bone. The sweet and rich flavor is appetizing in a way that borders on sinful. Vapers will love the taste of this nicotine salt e-liquid while simultaneously enjoying the smoothness is provides in each draw. As a nicotine salt product, when used with a pod or cartridge vaporizer, users will get the most out of this e-liquid.
Have you ever noticed that juice always tastes a little bit better when it comes out of a box? Juice Box by Salty Man E-Liquids put a new spin on the lunchbox snack time essential, infusing huge amounts of natural tasting fruit flavors, with each draw you'll feel like you're drinking your favorite juice box apple juice. Crisp, freshly picked apples are blended into a smooth vapor that you will fall in love with.
Just like how cars are fueled with gasoline, vape mods are filled with e-liquid. E-liquid is used in vape mods and vape pens that typically are only for use with certain vape atomizers. This liquid forms a solution for nicotine and the flavoring for a vaping device. The liquid also creates the vapor for users to inhale and exhale that mimics traditional methods of nicotine consumption.
E-liquid is typically composed of a base of ingredients to create a smooth flavor. These base ingredients consist of PG (Propylene Glycol), VG (Vegetable Glycerin), or both. More common e-liquid brands use a mix of 70% VG/30% PG to 50% VG/50% PG. These VG/PG ratios also include the natural flavors which are primarily PG-based. Liquid nicotine is also in some e-liquids, but many users can find e-liquid with or without nicotine as well as e-liquid with or without VG or PG.
Propylene Glycol is more commonly found in food products as a non-toxic flavoring carrier for food coloring and an additive in some types of medicines.
Vegetable Glycerin is an odorless liquid produced by some plant oils—usually soy, palm oil, or coconut oil—and can typically be found in many household products such as toothpaste. Recent discoveries of nicotine salt use in e-liquid has proved that nicotine salts also function as a substitute for liquid nicotine and can be found in some specialty e-liquid lines.
Nicotine Salt is the natural state of nicotine found in the leaves of tobacco. This nicotine is extracted and fused into a VG/PG mix of e-liquid that creates a smooth throat sensation and carries the absorption rate of regular tobacco. Thus, nicotine salt e-liquid is accessible for higher nicotine strengths than other traditional e-liquids. Because of this reason, the nicotine salt e-liquid is absorbed at a much more efficient rate than the usual e-liquid and is highly recommended that users only vape at a much lower wattage to avoid excessive intake of nicotine.
The more common freebase nicotine is essentially pure nicotine and produces a harsher nicotine throat sensation. Thus, these types of nicotine are offered at lower strengths such as 3mg, 6mg, and 12mg compared to nicotine salts.
Choosing e-liquid for you is just as important as choosing the right vape mod. Some users only prefer one e-liquid that the love to vape and continue to purchase it for years and others prefer wide variety of e-liquids to avoid vaper's tongue (the way in which your tongue becomes desensitized to flavors over a timespan), combine flavors with beverages or the current weather, or to expand their palette to similar flavors they experience in their world. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the right e-liquid.
The flavor in an e-liquid is arguably the most important aspect of picking an e-liquid. If you are new in purchasing e-liquid, purchase a flavor that you love in a dessert or snack such as Cinnamon Roll by Kilo White Series E-Liquid or Blue Cotton Candy by Carnival Juice Roll-Upz E-Liquid. Both of these flavors are familiar with their actual counterparts and are enjoyed by a variety of people. If desserts and snacks are not ideal, why not try something fruity such as Strawberry Kiwi by Air Factory E-Liquid or Hawaiian POG by Naked 100 E-Liquid for a natural flavor experience.
The second most important aspect is the amount of nicotine in your e-liquid. If you are transitioning to vaping from traditional methods, new users are recommended to vape at the level in which they previously consumed nicotine for a similar experience and work their way to lower nicotine levels to find the perfect content for them. Nicotine salt e-liquid is the best place to start. Try the Brain Freeze by Salt Naked 100 E-Liquid or Banana Pudding by Salty Man E-Liquid for an amazing experience on your vaping journey and a more efficient way to consume nicotine than using traditional e-liquid. The levels for nicotine salts are usually between 30-50mg. For traditional e-liquid, the levels range from 0-12mg and rarely higher. Remember to use lower wattage controls for nicotine salts e-liquid and traditional e-liquid over 12mg.
The ratio of PG to VG is completely based upon the preference of the user. PG is similar to water in weight and is absorbed in sub-ohm tank atomizers and rebuildable tank atomizers much easier than VG. Also, PG creates the throat sensation similar to traditional methods, and thus is usually recommended for newer vapers to have a balanced 50/50 ratio of PG/VG. VG is much thicker and is responsible for producing large clouds in higher ratios. VG is also very smooth on the throat for users who do not like throat sensations while vaping. To summarize, if you are looking for a throat experience while vaping, try an e-liquid like Really Berry by Salt Naked 100 E-Liquid as it is a 50/50 blend of VG/PG or Go Nanas by Naked 100 E-Liquid for giant clouds at a 70/30 VG/PG blend.
It's true—the cheaper the e-liquid usually correlates with poor quality flavor and nicotine. Users can tell whether or not their e-juice is cheaper by color. A deep yellow hue on e-liquid flavors such as a pure strawberry or candy flavor results in poor quality by aeration of the nicotine or the aging of nicotine. Also, cheaper e-liquid contains cheaper flavorings and can result in a perfume-like taste instead of a natural flavor. Always pay for top quality e-liquid at GotVape.
Vapers are always surprised by new flavors that they never experienced before or even disliked the flavor in its original form. Unicorn Milk by Cuttwood E-Liquid rose in popularity as the star of strawberry milkshake e-liquids and tastes better than an actual milkshake! Even if you aren't into fruits, you will be surprised by how natural the flavors are in Hawaiian POG by Naked 100 E-Liquid. The blend of guava, orange, and passion fruit swirl to create a fruity experience better than actual fruit!
Aim to be a flavor purist when trying new flavors to get the best flavor out of your e-liquids. When changing flavors for the first time, be sure to take apart your vape atomizer completely and give it a good rinse. Also, change your cotton or sub-ohm coils too. Imagine this as drinking lemonade from a cup that just had a milkshake inside. Vapers will experience awkward blends of both flavors and be disgusted by the combination of the leftover e-liquid on the cotton or the glass tank of sub-ohm tanks.
If you want the best flavor from your e-liquid, try using advanced rebuildable tank atomizers (RTAs) or rebuildable atomizers (RDAs) instead of sub-ohm tanks. These atomizers allow the user to place their own advanced coils for the best possible flavor experience in vaping that you cannot receive in a sub-ohm tank. The Griffin 25mm RTA Tank by Geek Vape is a great RTA for users switching from sub-ohm tanks with a large e-liquid capacity for amazing flavor all day long. The Hell Hound RDA by Wulf Mods will provide the best flavor experience as compared to an RTA as the vapor reaches your tongue much faster and the airflow holes are closer to the coil, providing massive cloud production as well.


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cut scene from mummy on the orient express
This is a scene from a fairly early draft and is set just after Captain Quell cuffs the Doctor and before he has a change of heart, which in the final draft was about thirty seconds!
There was a whole other plotline involving the Doctor in the cab of the train that didn't really move the plot forward, which is ultimately true of this entire scene.
But more Perkins is always fun!