David Lindley played in Sacramento last night. Now, I have always admired his work - he has played with just about everyone in the music business over these last 30 years from Crosby, Stills and Nash, to Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, and Ry Cooder (check out the list on his web site - a vertiable who's who). However, it was his work with Jackson Browne that I really, really like. His accompaniment on Jackson Browne's Late for the Sky is just a beautiful thing and I have enjoyed listening to it for well over 30 years now.
Alas, last night's show did not quite live up to my, admittedly, high expectations. He is, no doubt, a very accomplished musician and the show was not bad by any standards, its just that I was expecting something more and I didn't quite get it. He played a lot of accoustic slide guitar (there's a limit to how much you can take of that) with a little bit of oud and bouzouki thrown in, and, alas, I didn't recognize any of the songs.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Presenting Data and Information
Today I attended Edward Tufte's course on Presenting Data and Information in San Francisco. Mr Tufte is a bit of a guru in the data visualization area and has produced several beautiful books on the subject - all very interesting and highly recommended.
One of the things that Mr. Tufte is well known for is his recognition of and analysis of Charles Joseph Minard's graphical presentation of Napoleon's march on Moscow in the War of 1812. The graphic was produced way back in 1869 and is quite a novel depiction of the tremendous loss of life in Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia. A great anti-war document.
On more recent presentations, Tufte came down pretty hard on the use of Microsoft Power Point which he sees as one of the evils of modern software. He quite rightly feels that Power Point makes it too easy to generate visually appealing presentations that are so often poorly reasoned and devoid of meaningful content. He has been quite a critic of NASA's reliance on Power Point presentations and has linked the reliance of NASA Engineers on poorly crafted Power Point presentations to the Columbia disaster.
One of the things that Mr. Tufte is well known for is his recognition of and analysis of Charles Joseph Minard's graphical presentation of Napoleon's march on Moscow in the War of 1812. The graphic was produced way back in 1869 and is quite a novel depiction of the tremendous loss of life in Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia. A great anti-war document.
On more recent presentations, Tufte came down pretty hard on the use of Microsoft Power Point which he sees as one of the evils of modern software. He quite rightly feels that Power Point makes it too easy to generate visually appealing presentations that are so often poorly reasoned and devoid of meaningful content. He has been quite a critic of NASA's reliance on Power Point presentations and has linked the reliance of NASA Engineers on poorly crafted Power Point presentations to the Columbia disaster.
A different way to the City
I went down to San Francisco for the day today (a work thing) and this time I tried a different route. I drove to Vallejo then took the ferry from there to San Francisco. It turned out quite well - for the 60 mile drive to Vallejo the traffic was pretty light, the parking in Vallejo was plentiful and free, and the 1 hour ferry ride to the city was relaxing and scenic and avoided all that rush hour traffic.
The return was equally convenient and enjoyable. I recommend it.
Friday, January 25, 2008
India Photographs.
I posted the photographs from my India trip on the web so if anyone wants to see what I got up to in India check them out.
There is an album for the Mumbai photos, then an album for the Delhi photos, and then another for the Taj Mahal and Agra.
Of course you would have to have some serious patience to wade through all of those albums, so there is an abridged "Best of India" album that will show the highlights.
There is an album for the Mumbai photos, then an album for the Delhi photos, and then another for the Taj Mahal and Agra.
Of course you would have to have some serious patience to wade through all of those albums, so there is an abridged "Best of India" album that will show the highlights.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Back in the UK...
Well I finally arrived back in the UK last Thursday, safely though a little delayed by the "incident" at Heathrow that afternoon (at least the 777 that I was on made it to the runway with full engine power).
The India trip was great - a little short but I got a good feel for Mumbai, Delhi and Agra and, these days, how much intensive sightseeing can I do without a break - 6 days was just about right.
Next time it will be Calcutta - Varanasi - Jaipur - that would be worth doing.
Now it is a restful week in, what looks like being, a wet and miserable weather week in the UK.
The India trip was great - a little short but I got a good feel for Mumbai, Delhi and Agra and, these days, how much intensive sightseeing can I do without a break - 6 days was just about right.
Next time it will be Calcutta - Varanasi - Jaipur - that would be worth doing.
Now it is a restful week in, what looks like being, a wet and miserable weather week in the UK.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
More Delhi Sightseeing
Today, Wednesday, was my last full day in Delhi. Tomorrow I fly to the UK.
I was tired of inhaling all the fumes in the open air auto-rickshaws, so I rented a car for the day. At 600 rupees per day for a car and driver that is just over US $15 - not a bad deal at all.
I took in a few temples - there are so many of them - I am just about templed out now. Still the relatively new Bahai faith Lotus Temple (below) was quite spectacular.
The similarly recent Hare Krishha temple (below), however, was not quite so inspiring. Still you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or a faith by its architecture, should you? Maybe you should.
Later in the day I went to the museums for Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi (no relation). The Mahatma Gandhi museum is in the house that he was staying in when he was assasinated in 1948. It was well worth the visit. There are a few of Gandhi's artifacts in the house, a modern multi-media exhibition on his life and then outlines of his last steps from the house out to the garden where he was assasinated by a Hindu radical.
The Indira Gandhi museum was not quite as peaceful, it being thronged with visitors, so many that you were really carried along by the crowd before you could really read any of the exhibits. The museum was also in the house where Indira lived at the time of here death and there was also a marker of her last steps in the garden to the spot where she was killed by members of her own security guard.
At the end of the day I visited the Red Fort in the old part of Delhi, another spectacular site, but I have seen so many in these in the last few days, that they are all blurring together. Besides after the Taj Mahal yesterday, its kind of hard for any of the other sites to really stand out. Temple overload I am afraid.
I was tired of inhaling all the fumes in the open air auto-rickshaws, so I rented a car for the day. At 600 rupees per day for a car and driver that is just over US $15 - not a bad deal at all.
I took in a few temples - there are so many of them - I am just about templed out now. Still the relatively new Bahai faith Lotus Temple (below) was quite spectacular.
The similarly recent Hare Krishha temple (below), however, was not quite so inspiring. Still you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or a faith by its architecture, should you? Maybe you should.
Later in the day I went to the museums for Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi (no relation). The Mahatma Gandhi museum is in the house that he was staying in when he was assasinated in 1948. It was well worth the visit. There are a few of Gandhi's artifacts in the house, a modern multi-media exhibition on his life and then outlines of his last steps from the house out to the garden where he was assasinated by a Hindu radical.
The Indira Gandhi museum was not quite as peaceful, it being thronged with visitors, so many that you were really carried along by the crowd before you could really read any of the exhibits. The museum was also in the house where Indira lived at the time of here death and there was also a marker of her last steps in the garden to the spot where she was killed by members of her own security guard.
At the end of the day I visited the Red Fort in the old part of Delhi, another spectacular site, but I have seen so many in these in the last few days, that they are all blurring together. Besides after the Taj Mahal yesterday, its kind of hard for any of the other sites to really stand out. Temple overload I am afraid.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Taj Mahal
Tuesday was an early start to catch the train to Agra. The Bhopal Radjhani Express got me into Agra before 9:00 and then it was a short auto-rickshaw ride to the Taj Mahal itself.
There's not much to say about the Taj Mahal - words, at least mine, can't do it justice. It is simply one of the most amazing buildings you can imagine.
Of course because of its stature it is quite popular and there are lots of people doing the tourist thing along with you. And of course, as you can see from the picture below, it is India and just outside the gates of the Taj, Indian life goes on with all its variety.
There's not much to say about the Taj Mahal - words, at least mine, can't do it justice. It is simply one of the most amazing buildings you can imagine.
Of course because of its stature it is quite popular and there are lots of people doing the tourist thing along with you. And of course, as you can see from the picture below, it is India and just outside the gates of the Taj, Indian life goes on with all its variety.
Delhi is closed on Monday
It just happens that most of the tourist type things are closed on Monday, so I couldn't do many of the typical tourist things - I will have to catch up with that later in the week.
Still there was plenty to do - a visit to the one place that was open, Humayun's Tomb was well worth it; a walk around the park where Nehru and various Gandhis (Mahatma, Indira and Rajiv) were cremated was quite peaceful compared to the bustle of the rest of the city; a ramble around the bazaar in the old part of the city; and lots of time spent inhaling petrol fumes in the back of an auto-rickshaw while weaving in and out of the chaotic traffic.
Abve is a picture of Humayum's tomb - I hadn't heard of Humayum before, but apparently he was one of the early Mughul emperors whose wife built this rather elaborate tomb for him. The whole idea reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal which will be revealed tomorrow on my trip to Agra.
And here is a photo of the auto-rickshaw I hired for part of the day. There are thousands of these vehicles in Delhi and, apart from their pollution issues, they are quite efficient people movers - you would be surprised how many people you can fit in them.
Still there was plenty to do - a visit to the one place that was open, Humayun's Tomb was well worth it; a walk around the park where Nehru and various Gandhis (Mahatma, Indira and Rajiv) were cremated was quite peaceful compared to the bustle of the rest of the city; a ramble around the bazaar in the old part of the city; and lots of time spent inhaling petrol fumes in the back of an auto-rickshaw while weaving in and out of the chaotic traffic.
Abve is a picture of Humayum's tomb - I hadn't heard of Humayum before, but apparently he was one of the early Mughul emperors whose wife built this rather elaborate tomb for him. The whole idea reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal which will be revealed tomorrow on my trip to Agra.
And here is a photo of the auto-rickshaw I hired for part of the day. There are thousands of these vehicles in Delhi and, apart from their pollution issues, they are quite efficient people movers - you would be surprised how many people you can fit in them.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Mumbai to Delhi
I just arrived in Delhi after the overnight train from Mumbai.
I traveled on the rather exotically named Mumbai Rajdhani Express. It was quite a nice experience. The station, of course, was heaving mass of people - but once I figured out the platform it was all straightforward enough - there was a list of reservations for the train showing each passengers name and which compartment and carriage they were in. The train left exactly on time. Apparently the express trains at least have a good reputation for punctuality.
Everything was quite comfortable, we were fed and evening meal, and then breakfast the next morning. The big choice here seems to be Veg or Non Veg - for airlines, trains whatever. I have been sticking with the Veg choice and it has all been quite nice. Some of the Non-Veg looks a bit dicey! Here is me enjoying the delights of Indian Railway cuisine.
Delhi train station was a bit of a rude awakening this morning. Everyone warns you about the tricksters who try and hijack you on the way to your hotel, and sure enough they were in force and quite persistant too. You end up almost being rude to all these folks that are ostensibly trying to help you, but really all they want to do is redirect you to the travel agencies or hotels that they are in cahoots with. Its a shame that you have to run the gauntlet of these folks, but I suppose everyone has to make a living where they can.
The driving over here is amazing - kind of free form, with lots of use of the horn and scant attention to many of the normal conventions. Basically, if there is room to fit your car in with say an inch on either side, then they go for it. No one gets too excited however, and I have never seen any actual contact between vehicles. Everyone is constantly mindful of what is going on all around them and when necessary they take the appropriate just-in-time evasive action.
I traveled on the rather exotically named Mumbai Rajdhani Express. It was quite a nice experience. The station, of course, was heaving mass of people - but once I figured out the platform it was all straightforward enough - there was a list of reservations for the train showing each passengers name and which compartment and carriage they were in. The train left exactly on time. Apparently the express trains at least have a good reputation for punctuality.
Everything was quite comfortable, we were fed and evening meal, and then breakfast the next morning. The big choice here seems to be Veg or Non Veg - for airlines, trains whatever. I have been sticking with the Veg choice and it has all been quite nice. Some of the Non-Veg looks a bit dicey! Here is me enjoying the delights of Indian Railway cuisine.
Delhi train station was a bit of a rude awakening this morning. Everyone warns you about the tricksters who try and hijack you on the way to your hotel, and sure enough they were in force and quite persistant too. You end up almost being rude to all these folks that are ostensibly trying to help you, but really all they want to do is redirect you to the travel agencies or hotels that they are in cahoots with. Its a shame that you have to run the gauntlet of these folks, but I suppose everyone has to make a living where they can.
The driving over here is amazing - kind of free form, with lots of use of the horn and scant attention to many of the normal conventions. Basically, if there is room to fit your car in with say an inch on either side, then they go for it. No one gets too excited however, and I have never seen any actual contact between vehicles. Everyone is constantly mindful of what is going on all around them and when necessary they take the appropriate just-in-time evasive action.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Mumbai sightseeing
The weather is not too hot here, though it is certainly quite humid. Nevertheless, after an hour or so of walking around I was just a bit sticky so I went back to the hotel and to hire a driver to take me around the city. A much more sensible idea. These are the highlights:
Tomorrow its more Mumbai and then on by overnight train to Delhi.
The Gateway to India - the archway built to honor the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary back in 1911. It is quite an impressive archway on the shore of the bay, but it was undergoing a bit of renovation during my visit, making it a bit of a construction site.
The Victoria Terminus Building - the railway terminus built in the late 1800's which is a spectacular piece of architecture. Inside it is crowded and chaotic, but from the outside it looks beautifully calm - not at all like a railway station.
The Gandh Museum - a museum devoted to the life of Gandhi in a house where he used to stay. Interesting photographs and bits of history from the life of Gandhi including a letter to Herr Hitler asking him to give some thought to preventing World War II.
The Dhobi Ghats - a huge laundry where hundreds, perhaps thousands of men beat and pummel laundry in outdoor troughs and then hang it out to dry. Apparently if you send out your laundry in Mumbai, there's a good chance it gets manually processed here.
Tomorrow its more Mumbai and then on by overnight train to Delhi.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Mumbai
Well I made it to Mumbai after quite a long day and a half of traveling.
Taipei was cool, overcast and quite unremarkable but it was a chance to stretch the legs and have the bags x-rayed one more time. I was only there for a couple of hours.
Kuala Lumpur was hot and sticky and perhaps the most notable thing about it was the airport itself - quite a modern wonder - spacious, clean, well laid out, a real contrast to the chaos of LAX. Apparently it was voted the best airport in the world in 2005 and 2006. Certainly one of the nicest I have seen.
I had about 6 hrs to kill in KL so I took the express train into the city to take a look around. However, when I got there the train station was not quite in the city center and things didn't appear that enticing. The Petronas Towers were still a ways off, and I was just too weary to do anything strenuous like walking, so I simply returned back to the airport. It passed the time.
Mumbai was quite the contrast- a scruffy airport terminal, throngs of people, streets busy with traffic (even at midnight when I arrived). The sights, sounds and smells were were an assault on the senses - ramshackle housing, poorly maintained roads, people sleeping on the side of the street, little black taxis, everywhere (literally hundreds and hundreds of them - all of the Fiats) and then as we approached the center signs of the colonial past with wonderful old Victorian era buildings and then lots of signs of the new Indian wealth with many modern tower blocks.
I had arranged for a pick up from the airport to my hotel so I didn't have to deal with too much. I just met the driver and he delivered one weary traveler to the hotel.
Taipei was cool, overcast and quite unremarkable but it was a chance to stretch the legs and have the bags x-rayed one more time. I was only there for a couple of hours.
Kuala Lumpur was hot and sticky and perhaps the most notable thing about it was the airport itself - quite a modern wonder - spacious, clean, well laid out, a real contrast to the chaos of LAX. Apparently it was voted the best airport in the world in 2005 and 2006. Certainly one of the nicest I have seen.
I had about 6 hrs to kill in KL so I took the express train into the city to take a look around. However, when I got there the train station was not quite in the city center and things didn't appear that enticing. The Petronas Towers were still a ways off, and I was just too weary to do anything strenuous like walking, so I simply returned back to the airport. It passed the time.
Mumbai was quite the contrast- a scruffy airport terminal, throngs of people, streets busy with traffic (even at midnight when I arrived). The sights, sounds and smells were were an assault on the senses - ramshackle housing, poorly maintained roads, people sleeping on the side of the street, little black taxis, everywhere (literally hundreds and hundreds of them - all of the Fiats) and then as we approached the center signs of the colonial past with wonderful old Victorian era buildings and then lots of signs of the new Indian wealth with many modern tower blocks.
I had arranged for a pick up from the airport to my hotel so I didn't have to deal with too much. I just met the driver and he delivered one weary traveler to the hotel.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Off to England, the Long Way Round
This evening I set off on a trip back to England, but this time I am going the other way round. I have bought myself a round the world ticket so I am off for a week in the UK with a little side trip to India on the way.
It has been something that was pulled together quite quickly, but it is amazing how much you can do in an evening on the internet. The round the world ticket sites have nice web applications that let you point and click your way around the world building a ticket as you go. At the end, however, it turned out to be not quite so automated, at least not in my case, as I was led to a travel agent (remember those folks) who manually re-built and priced the ticket – Sacramento – LA – Taipei– Kuala Lumpur – Mumbai – Delhi – London – Los Angeles – Sacramento.
I have also been making travel arrangements within India on the train and for those I have e-tickets. I am going from Mumbai to Delhi by overnight sleeper, and then from Delhi to Agra (the Taj Mahal) and back in the same day. The Indian Railways reservation system is internet enabled and I have got my tickets with reserved seating/sleeping. Despite what you see on the travel programs, all the long distance trains are assigned seating so there is no overcrowding problem. I even think it will be relatively luxurious. In doing this I discovered a great train travel website - The Man in Seat 61 - everything you want to know about train travel anywhere in the world.
So there will be a lot of flying in the next few days and something is bound to go wrong with all those connections. In fact something already has gone wrong. As I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, the phone rang and it was United Airlines telling me that my first flight down to LA was cancelled. They didn't have much else to offer other than get to the airport right now for a flight leaving in a couple of hours. Not a good start but I did manage to get to the airport and I am just about to board.
So, I have always wanted to see India, and have kept putting it off for a time when I could have lots of time to do it properly – well that hasn’t happened yet, so I am taking the other approach and taking advantage of a very brief trip while I can.
Stay tuned for posts along the way.
It has been something that was pulled together quite quickly, but it is amazing how much you can do in an evening on the internet. The round the world ticket sites have nice web applications that let you point and click your way around the world building a ticket as you go. At the end, however, it turned out to be not quite so automated, at least not in my case, as I was led to a travel agent (remember those folks) who manually re-built and priced the ticket – Sacramento – LA – Taipei– Kuala Lumpur – Mumbai – Delhi – London – Los Angeles – Sacramento.
I have also been making travel arrangements within India on the train and for those I have e-tickets. I am going from Mumbai to Delhi by overnight sleeper, and then from Delhi to Agra (the Taj Mahal) and back in the same day. The Indian Railways reservation system is internet enabled and I have got my tickets with reserved seating/sleeping. Despite what you see on the travel programs, all the long distance trains are assigned seating so there is no overcrowding problem. I even think it will be relatively luxurious. In doing this I discovered a great train travel website - The Man in Seat 61 - everything you want to know about train travel anywhere in the world.
So there will be a lot of flying in the next few days and something is bound to go wrong with all those connections. In fact something already has gone wrong. As I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, the phone rang and it was United Airlines telling me that my first flight down to LA was cancelled. They didn't have much else to offer other than get to the airport right now for a flight leaving in a couple of hours. Not a good start but I did manage to get to the airport and I am just about to board.
So, I have always wanted to see India, and have kept putting it off for a time when I could have lots of time to do it properly – well that hasn’t happened yet, so I am taking the other approach and taking advantage of a very brief trip while I can.
Stay tuned for posts along the way.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The Resolution Run
While my New Year's Resolution was to give up a little on the obsessive running and take things easy, it didn't stop me from running on New Year's Day in, what else but, the Resolution Run in Auburn.
While Sacramento was a little chilly, Auburn had its head out of the clouds and it was warm and sunny - a great running day. The course, a 10 miler down from the Auburn Dam Overlook into and around the canyon of the American River was gorgeous, though a little muddy (but I must admit I like slopping through the mud).
Here we all are at the start.
While Sacramento was a little chilly, Auburn had its head out of the clouds and it was warm and sunny - a great running day. The course, a 10 miler down from the Auburn Dam Overlook into and around the canyon of the American River was gorgeous, though a little muddy (but I must admit I like slopping through the mud).
Here we all are at the start.
New Year's Eve....
Another year has gone by so very, very fast and we are celebrating (or should it be mourning) the passing of 2007 as we move into 2008. I am not sure I am happy about this accelerating passage of time with age, but c'est la vie, I suppose.
Last night, New Year's Eve, was spent celebrating with all the usual suspects (most of them ex-pat Brits who worked with me at ExLog back in the 70's and 80's).
A grand time was had by all as can be see below. Thanks to George and Elaine for hosting the event.
Last night, New Year's Eve, was spent celebrating with all the usual suspects (most of them ex-pat Brits who worked with me at ExLog back in the 70's and 80's).
A grand time was had by all as can be see below. Thanks to George and Elaine for hosting the event.
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