3 degrees of separation from Obama

I was surprised to find out that my friend and, some time running buddy (he's really too fast for me now), Phil Boerner, has a close tie to President Obama. It turns out that Phil was Barack's roommate when they were in college together in the arly 80's. Of course Phil, in all his modesty, never mentioned this during the election but now the news is out.

Here is Phil's description of those days.

I think he should be able to parlay that relationship into a night in the Lincoln bedroom, or maybe not, perhaps Barack remembers Phil's banjo playing and just doesn't want to be reminded of those days.

Coffee Art

I have a friend, Peter, in the UK who is in the coffee shop business. When I was over there last week we met up and had a fine cup of coffee at one of his shops. This morning after receiving a particularly nice piece of art on my latte at Old Soul (thank you Meredith), I thought I would show him how our coffee looks here.


This caused Peter to respond with the following.



OK I admit it, that's nice. But that's just showing off.

Starlings

One of the blogs that I follow - The Friends of Charles Darwin blog - The Red Notebook - had a link today to a video of starlings and their amazing in flight acrobatics. I remember seeing such flocks of starlings as a child in England but I hadn't noticed such phenomenon since that time. However as the video shows they are still up to their tricks.



The funny thing, or perhaps not so funny, is that Google Ads in the USA throws up a banner ad along with this video for starling eradication services. One man's wonder is another man's pest.


While you are looking at starlings - check out this other video and marvel at how such a small bird can sway such a large tree.

India Photos

India is such an exotic and wonderful place. There was something interesting to photograph around every corner and, of course, I did take a lot of photographs. I have tried to filter out some of the best ones and they are collected here in my Smugmug album.

For those with more stamina, patience or interest, then we have more photos organized by city in the following albums: Calcutta, Varanasi, Jaipur.

I hope you like them.

India - October, 2009

In October of 2009 I made my second trip to India. This time to visit Calcutta, Varanasi and Jaipur.  Three cities that I hadn't visited before.  I flew into Calcutta or should I say Kolkata which is the new official name since 2001.  It was just out of Monsoon season, so the climate in Calcutta was supposed to be more bearable, nevertheless, it was still one hot and steamy place - I was a sweaty and damp individual for most of my stay there.

I was staying at the Lytton Hotel on Sudder Street, a modest but quite adequate hotel.  I got around by walking everywhere and on my first day I visited the Victoria Memorial, St Pauls Cathedral, and the Hooghly River.  

Victoria Memorial

The Victoria Memorial is a splendid building, built to commemorate the Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1901 but not completed until 20 years later.  I did not go inside but walked around the beautiful building in its nice park.  The view of the reflected Memorial in the adjacent lake is quite beautiful.

St Paul' Cathedral

Nearby the Victoria Memorial is another Imperial building, the most impressive St Paul's Cathedral; one of the first cathedrals built outside the UK in the old British Empire.

Calcutta City Streets

The city is indeed a seething mass of humanity.  The streets are bustling with cars, taxis, buses, trams, rickshaws.  And all aspects of human life in a big city are played out right there on the street - people sleeping, people bathing, barbers shaving customers, stalls selling all manner of goods, garbage piling up, scavenging dogs roaming everywhere.  It is certainly a feast for the senses.  The photos to follow show the more typical chaos, congestion and poverty of the city.

Next stop was the Mausoleum of John Charnock, an employee of the East India Company considered by some to be the founder of Calcutta.  Interestingly after his death, a mausoleum was created for him built from a rock that was particularly suited to tombstones and memorials.  Many years later when they were looking to name this particular type of rock it was given the name Charnocktite.  I have vague memories of Charnocktites from my Geology student days. 

The Ferry to Howrah

I then walked over to the river area and watched ferries cross back and forth between Calcutta and Howrah on the other side.  The river here is called the Hooghly.  It is actually the lower section of the Ganges which bifurcates on its way to the ocean with this branch becoming the Hooghly.

By the second day I was feeling a little more comfortable with all the heat, humidity and humanity.  By now I had learned the first lesson about photography in a humid climate - don't expect to use your camera for an hour or so until it has acclimatized to the surroundings. A cold camera in a humid climate is not much good - all the lenses were steamed up.

Marx and Engels

I again did a lot of walking around - interesting streets with all sorts of weird and wonderful things going on. It was nice to see Messrs Marx and Engels honored with a statue and a short distance away, Mr Lenin.  They have not been forgotten or eliminated as they have in much of the Soviet Union.

I took the ferry across the Hooghly (Ganges) in the morning to Howrah (the city on the other side from Calcutta).  I wanted to check out the Howrah Railway Station where I would get my train to Varanasi later on.  The Indian railway system is immense and a wonder to behold and the sheer size of the station was well worth getting to know before I had the pressure of a train to catch.

Train departures at Howrah Station

In the afternoon I walked around the Park Street Cemetery.  This is a wonderfully peaceful cemetery in the middle of the city full of Raj era mausoleums and the most elaborate tombs all succumbing to decay and deterioration and the encroachment of the vegetation. There were so many British men and women buried there.  In those days it would have been a very far off place and who can imagine what it must have been like for them living and dying in India in the late 1700's.

Tombs in Park Street Cemetery

For the remainder of the day I walked the streets marveling at the rich variety of life that is everywhere in this city. 

I left Calcutta on Sunday evening and caught the overnight sleeper train to Varanasi.   Varanasi sits on the banks of the Ganges and is one of the most sacred of cities of the Hindu religion. It is a wonderfully exotic place where you can see all the most intimate rituals of the Hindu religion played out in public on the banks of the river. This might be the bathing ghats where Hindus come to bathe in the mornings and evenings, or the funeral ghats where their bodies are cremated, or the assorted weird and wonderful saddhus (holy men) that roam the streets.  The river itself is so polluted, yet people young and old bathe in it every day and of course the sacred cows cool off in it. 

I spent the first day there walking around the narrow streets and along the various ghats along the banks of the Ganges.  The cremation ghats were, of course, quite interesting in a macabre sort of way.  The cremations were a male affair with no women in attendance and nothing seemed very reverent about the process.  It often looked quite chaotic.

Cremation Ghats, Varanasi

The remaining ghats were also quite fascinating as they facilitated various other activities like bathing and boating.  The whole river bank area was full of amazing sights - the saddhus, the cows,  the temples, the brightly colored wooden boats - all human life was there.

Saddhu

A subsiding temple

The next day I went on an early morning boat trip down the river (it's the thing to do when in Varanasi).  In the early morning people are just starting their daily rituals of bathing in the river (pujas) and it is a great place to observe these activities while being rowed slowly up and down the river.  

Early morning bathing in the Ganges

One group of people were practicing Laughter Yoga which was new to me but it does exist and it was quite entertaining to watch and listen to.  Of course right next to where people were washing themselves in the river there were herds of cattle in the water.  Further along a corpse came floating along - bloated and discolored as it bobbed its way down river. No one took much notice, everything was taken in its stride and it all seemed quite normal in Varanasi.

The view from the River

As we returned our way backdown the river the burning ghats were starting their daily operations and I learned they can process a few hundred bodies a day.  That is quite remarkable as it does take some time to consume a body and it requires a fair amount of wood.  The fires have not gone out for thousands of years.

Varanasi Street Scene

After my boat ride I walked around the old town some more and then went further south to the Durga Temple and beyond that to a pontoon bridge across the Ganges.  The bridge is a temporary structure dismantled during the monsoon rains and re-erected after the river subsides.

On Wednesday I departed Varanasi for Jaipur.  I arrived in there in the evening, after a very long day of travel by train by way of Delhi. Jaipur is in Rajasthan to the west of Delhi and the north of Bombay.  It is known as the "Pink City". For the most part, it is not so much pink as a muddy brownish red, but that's probably for the better - pink's not my color.

Jaipur was the last city of this three city tour of India and, while interesting, it did not match the weirdness and wonderfully exotic flavor of Varanasi or the big city chaos of Calcutta.  However, it was a little cooler and a lot less humid, so that was most welcome. 

Jaipur City Gate

In Jaipur, I took my first rides on bicycle rickshaws. In Calcutta and Varanasi, I needed the speed of a taxi or a tuk-tuk (auto-rickshaw) just to get a little bit of cooling air flow, but in Jaipur the heat was not so much of a problem and the bicycle rickshaw made for a wonderful leisurely open air ride around town. (Leisurely may not be the right word considering the cacophony of horns and the chaotic unstructured traffic flow but it was certainly a slower paced mode of transport). However, I did feel a bit guilty sitting in the back of the rickshaw while some poor guy pedaled away, and I felt even more guilty when he had to get off and push the rickshaw (with me in it) up a hill. Still it beat walking and I had done a lot of walking in the past few days, and, in some small way, I felt I was providing someone with some form of income.

City Palace

The Albert Hall Museum

As usual I did a walking tour of the city. Starting at one of the city gates and moving through the various bazaars to the City Palace and the most elaborate Albert Hall Museum.  

Nahargarh Fort

I then walked up the hill to the Nahargarh Fort that overlooks the city.  There are more spectacular forts in Rajasthan but they are further afield, this one is just on the outskirts of Jaipur and is accessible by a footpath up the side of the hill.  It was a bit of a hike up the hill in the heat of the day but it was well worth it.  The fort, built by a maharajah in the 1730's, was one of three protective forts for Jaipur and its vicinity.  The interior of the fort though a little worn and in need of repair was quite decorative.  

Hawah Mahal

One of the more impressive sight in Jaipur is the Hawah Mahal, known as the Palace of the Winds.  It is a five story building with a most beautiful pinkish facade.  It dates from 1799 so it must have been quite the construction project in its day.

Camel transportation

It was also interesting to find camels in Jaipur.  They are used as a mode of transportation there.

This brought my India trip to an end.  I caught the train back to Delhi and the next day flew back home.  My visit was short and I certainly crammed a lot into those few days but there is a lot more to see in this fabulously exotic country.  Hopefully on another trip in the not too distant future.

My New Passport

I just got my new Passport today, and I have a few complaints.

The old one was fairly plain vanilla and professional looking just like a passport should be. The new one is more like a picture book with each page depicting some scene designed to stir the heart of every American patriot. There are scenes with riverboats, sailing ships, trains, bison, eagles, cowboys, and other memorable sights, each paired with a nice little quote, but it just doesn't look like a serious document anymore.

Being a train fanatic, I do rather like the steam train on page 22 (see below) but I would as soon not have it in my passport.


My other complaints are that my passport number has changed from one that was easy to remember to something a bit more cryptic not so easy to memorize and, last but not least, the picture of the person inside is of this old guy who I hardly recognize. In the interests of vanity, I will not reproduce that photo here.

A letter to the President

Last Christmas my friend Jean, a teacher in a local school, requested contributions of various things that her children had a need for in the upcoming year. I don’t remember all the things she asked for but I do remember there were things like crayons, pencils, gloves. I opted for pencil sharpeners – they seemed practical. Now buying 40 pencil sharpeners was not an easy task, it seemed like all the big box stationary stores didn’t quite stock that many of the same kind. However in this internet age we have www.discountschoolsupplies.com who will gladly furnish you with any number of pencil sharpeners and deliver them to your door.

So I donated 40 pencil sharpeners and thought no more of it. After Christmas I got 40 cards from all the students thanking me for the nice present. It was all quite touching. Anyway I got over it and I again thought no more of it until the other week Jean gave me a copy of a letter that one of her children had written to President Obama. The point of the letter was a response to President Obama’s request for everyone to pitch in and work harder towards the common good (or something similar) and all her class had written to the President.

One of the children – Destiny is her name – mentioned me in her letter. How cool is that, she wrote to President Obama and mentioned Mr Steve who donated pensil shaprenrs (sic) to her class. Take a look at her letter below. Apparently Ms. Destiny doesn’t use her pensil shapenr for sharpening pencils but for saving laddy bugs (ladybirds).


Now before you readers in the UK get all critical about the spelling and the dire state of English Language instruction in American Schools just be aware that Ms. Destiny is quite young and in a “special needs” class so she deserves some slack. While you (can I still say we) can rightfully decry what the Americans have done to the English Language this should not be taken as a good example of that.

Wentworth Springs

I did a little camping trip this last weekend. Alvaro and his 4-wheeling friends were going to play on the Rubicon Trail so I decided to take my motorcycle out for a spin and join them at their campsite at the start of the trail in Wentworth Springs.

On the map the road to camp looked reasonable, and the word was that there was just a little bit of water to cross - no big deal. It was a great motorcycle road - well maintained, with great views of the Crystal Basin Wilderness area - absolutely spectacular. Alas when I arrived at the water crossing it looked a little more intimidating than I had expected. Had I been on my own, I would have turned around and returned home, but with an audience and a bit of egging on I decided to give it a try. Of course not being experienced in crossing streams on my motorcycle, I made it half way across and promptly fell over into the water. No harm done, just my pride and my iPhone which was in my pocket on my wet side.

The bike is too heavy for me to pick up on a flat pavement never mind a flowing stream so a bit of assistance was required - thanks guys for dragging me out of the water. Of course they took me over the stream so there was no point in turning back at that point so I pressed on to the camp, gaining a lot of experience with water and rough road on the way. Way more water than I was expecting.


The Rubicon Trail is an old trail through the Sierras that has become the domain of the 4-Wheel community. Hikers and back packers leave it well alone and seek solitude elsewhere. For the 4-Wheelers it is quite a challenging trail (as you can perhaps see from the photos) and it becomes a slow and technical crawl over bolders and slabs of granite. You can truly hike it faster than they can drive it.

A good time was had by all, and on the way out I nailed the stream crossing - it didn't look quite as intimidating on the way out, as you can see below.

Cuisine on the Trail

The food on our four wheeling trip to Utah was certainly worth a mention. We ate very well indeed. As I mentioned in the prior post, we were 9 vehicles so storage space was not an issue. Most vehicles had refrigerators so keeping food cool and fresh was also not a problem. We had a variety of cooking utensils from Dutch Ovens to pressure cookers up to seriously large grills so we had no limitations there.

The Chefs at work.

Of course, we also had the best of cooking implement of them all - the engine itself.

I had heard of cooking food on the manifold before, but had never tried it (not that it is appropriate for my daily drive car). The whole thing just sounds so unpredictable and it is perhaps not the most hygienic of conditions for food preparation. However, that proved not to be the case, and we had many several engine prepared meals. We wrapped pork ribs in foil and placed them around the engine in the morning and by the end of the day they were perfectly cooked. Tamales wrapped in moist paper towels and then in foil were ready by lunchtime. It was also great for warming things like burritos and the grilled cheese sandwiches were superb.

Careful placement is what it's all about.

Googling the topic of engine cooking when I got home shows that it is not that unusual – there are even books on the topic with cooking times measured in miles rather than minutes.

As far as the drinks went, not only could we keep the beers cold in the fridges, Andy made great Gin and Tonics at the end of the day. When Dan caught up with us (he had mechanical problems before the trip) he brought along an excellent espresso machine that made the most wonderful cappuccinos and espressos for our early morning caffeine fix. Check out the nice layered cappuccino below.

Mine was a double-shot cappucino with 2% milk

The Off-Road Trip to Utah

Last week I had the opportunity to do something that I never thought I would do – I went on an Off Road trip in Utah and drove all over the wilderness in a four wheel drive vehicle.

As somewhat of an environmentalist, I had never contemplated doing this, but when the opportunity came along (courtesy of my friend Alvaro), I though why not give it a try and see what it is all about. Now, after spending a week in Southern Utah, I have modified my feelings towards off-roading somewhat and I don’t see it in quite the same light as I did before. A four wheel drive vehicle enabled me to see places that I wouldn’t normally get the chance to explore since it can took me beyond the range of any normal bicycle or hiking trip, and, yes, it can be done responsibly (more or less). But of course the big factor in all this was that it was really a lot of fun – serious fun.


There were 9 vehicles on our trip (a mix of Toyota Land Cruisers and Land Rover Discoverys), originating from as far afield as Chicago, Albuquerque and Northern California. Of the nine vehicles I was the only ‘passenger’ – so there were 10 people in 9 vehicles – not the most economical way or efficient way to travel. However, I soon realized why that was - while sitting in the passenger seat is certainly enjoyable, actually driving the vehicle on the trail takes it to a whole different level.

We set off by driving some 1000 odd miles from Sacramento to Grand Junction Colorado – a nice 2 day drive across the “loneliest road in the US” (Highway 50 through Nevada) and, in a remarkable piece of timing, people from Chicago, California, Albuquerque and all arrived within 30 minutes of each other in Grand Junction.

The next day we set off to do Kokopelli’s Trail – a 140 mile trail from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah. It is actually a multi-use trail with four wheelers, mountain bikers and hikers sharing parts of the same trail. The start of the trail was quite congested with mountain bikers and the occasional trail runner, but as we got further along all but the hardiest of bikers fell away.

Kokopelli’s trail was a nice mixture of different trail conditions from spells on country roads, to stretches of dirt washboard, to relatively technical sections. It gave me a nice introduction to the sport/pastime. Thanks to Alvaro, I did get to try my hand behind the wheel of his Land Cruiser and had a great time negotiating the various obstacles. Actually, for the most part it seemed like the real skill was in ‘spotting’ someone through the more difficult areas – that is, from outside the vehicle, guiding the driver where to place the wheels. As a driver in those sections, I simply put my faith in the ‘spotter’ and obeyed his instructions and drove slowly….. very slowly.

All went well and we had no real incidents. Just the breakage of a drive shaft on one of the Land Cruisers half way up a hill. It didn’t seem to faze anyone, in fact they relished the challenge and the resourceful group had it replaced in a little over 30 mins.

Towards the end of Kokopelli’s Trail we entered the area around Moab, famous for its slick rock terrain. Here the trail followed a course over the bare rock and there was no well defined trail, except for the rubber tire marks on the rock (sorry about that). The Moab area seems to be the mountain bike/4-wheel capital of the world and it is covered with hundreds of trails. We took a fun little excursion on a trail called Fins and Things up and down some amazingly steep hills. I would not have imagined a vehicle could handle such steep inclines without tipping over. Check out these videos on U Tube of this trail to get a feel for the experience (1) (2).


After resupplying in Moab we took off again on another trail – an old Mormon Trail called the Hole in the Rock Trail. This trail ran from just outside Blanding, Utah to the Colorado River and was quite challenging in places. To think that it was crossed initially by a group of Mormon settlers in the latter part of the 19th Century with wagons and cattle and horses, albeit taking 6 months to our 2 days. They were certainly tougher in those days.

Here are some photos from the trip.