Trivia -7

Here comes Trivia - 7.

1. What planet is named after the Greek god who personified the sky?
2. What planet is the brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon?
3. Which planet is the hottest?
4. Which planet has the most moons?
5. What is a parsec?

Answers for Trivia-6
1.None. The nectarine is a smooth skinned variety of the peach.
2.The water buffalo
3.Little tongues.
4.Honey
5.Red Bell Peppers. Broccoli is second followed by Orange.

Big Sur 2009.. Finally around the corner

With today's run, I will have completed my training for Big Sur 2009 (April 26th), my first spring marathon and my first marathon in about 2 years. My last one was at San Francisco in 2007 about 30 days after Ayush was born, with a finish time of 5:15 -- So anything faster than that will make me happy.

Things that went well:

1. All my runs were in the morning. Though I'm not a morning person, I think morning runs are way better than noon or evening ones. For one, there are fewer reasons (fewer! But not zero) to ditch the run.

2. All my runs were on the road. Though I'm not sure if this really is an advantage.

3. Three runs a week program is really working for me. The key is to make all 3 runs hard ones. My first 19 mile run on this program was a resounding success. Rowing as cross training is also fabulous.

4. Spring = Pollen. Asthma abound, kept an inhaler ready. Nipped the asthma in the bud.

5. Having Suresh as my pacer for my 20 mile runs. For a 3:30 marathoner, running 20 miles at 9:30 min/mile pace is a breeze and that enthusiasm rubs off on you.

6. Got my weekly mileage high pretty early on. This really helped. Although my initial goal was to touch 40 miles a week, I came close at 36 miles a week.

Things that are causing me concern:

1. I haven't run that many hills. Plus my longest hill run was only 12 miles. Big Sur has rolling hills near mile 20.

2. My left knee is behaving like a jerk (knee jerk.. get it?).

On race day, my plan is simple. I will hang out with the 4:30 pace group as long as is possible and if anything unexpected pops up, I will just wing it from there. Bottom line, I really enjoyed this training schedule and I'm really really looking forward to running along the jagged edge of the western world.

Trivia-6

Here comes Food Trivia

1.What fruits were crossed to produce the nectarine?
2.What animals milk is used to make authentic Italian mozzarella cheese?
3.What is the literal meaning of the Italian word linguine?
4.What sticky sweetener was traditionally used as an antiseptic ointment for cuts and burns?
5.Among Broccoli, Orange and Red Bell Pepper.Which has the most Vitamin C content?

Here are the answers to Trivia-5

1.Switzerland
2.Mexico
3.Jamaica
4.Iran
5.Brazil

Unused mind got all of them right. Mindframes got 3/5, Brainwaves 2/5,Madmax 3/5.
Kudos to Unused mind !! . Actually,I realised that if you just move the cursor on those images, it gives out the names...

Trivia-5

This week's trivia is all about flags. Very simple. Just identify the country to which these flags belong to.


















Answers for last week Trivia

1.
Japan and China were already engaged in a war before the outbreak of World War II. China was also involved in a civil war and spent most of World War II dealing with internal conflicts and repelling the advances of the Japanese.

2.The Battle of Okinawa, which lasted from April 1, 1945 through June 21, 1945, was the last major battle of World War II. Fought on the island of Okinawa, it was part of an offensive leading up to the invasion of the main islands of Japan which was aborted when the Japanese surrendered in August, 1945. Counting civilians, more than 200,000 Japanese died during the Battle of Okinawa. About 15,900 U.S. soldiers were killed.

3. The Yalta Conference, a wartime meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin from February 4 to 11, 1945, is considered by many experts to mark the beginning of the Cold War. Among the issues discussed at the Yalta Conference were German war reparations, the division of Germany into zones of occupation, and the repatriation of all Soviet soldiers who had joined American and
British troops whether they were willing to return or not. It is believed that many of these soldiers were put to death upon their return to Soviet control.

4. Hitler was a vegetarian, teetotaler and non-smoker.

5. There were two Siegfried lines, both situated on border between France and Germany.They were lines of defensive forts and tank defences built by the Germans.
The first was built in 1916-1917, during the First World War. The second was built during the 1930s, opposite the French Maginot Line, which served the same purpose.

MADMAX GOT ALL OF THEM RIGHT 5/5 ...PRETTY GOOD !! You must be a real history buff...

Trivia-4

Do you know your history? This week's trivia is for the history buffs, especially about the WWII.

1.What two countries were already at war before the beginning of World War II?
2.What was the last major battle of World War II?
3.What meeting of world powers near the end of World War II is often said to mark the beginning of the Cold War?
4.Hitler was a vegetarian, teetotaler and non-smoker
Which of the above is true?
5.What was the siegfried line?

Answers to Trivia-3

1. The 9 avatars so far are Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (half-man, half-lion), Vamana (dwarf man), Parshurama (man with an axe), Rama (moral man), Krishna (philosophical man) and Buddha (spiritual man) respectively. The tenth avatar, Kalki is yet to manifest. From the sequence of the avatars itself, it is obvious that it represents the sequence of the origin of life.
Saumya & Madmax got all of them right.Kudos!


2. Traditionally, the authorship of the Maha-bha-rata is attributed to Vyasa. And there are versions , which say that Ganesha is supposed to have literally written it as dictated by Vyasa.
I guess both Vyasa & Ganesha can be right. Saumya, Madmax ,Brainwaves,Sdpal & Mano can be given credit for this. Mindframes , you almost got it right .


3.There are 7 Kandas

* Bala Kanda – Book of the Childhood (birth and training of the princes and marriage of the princes)
* Ayodhya Kanda – Book of Ayodhya (life in Ayodhya as a prince after marriage to Sita)
* Aranya Kanda – Book of the Forest (life in exile in the forest)
* Kishkindha Kanda – Book of Kishkindha (life in the kingdom of monkeys - on their search for the captured Seetha)[9]
* Sundara Kanda – Book of Auspiciousness (Hanumaan's journey to Lanka and his meeting with Seetha)
* Yuddha Kanda – Book of the War (battle between Raama's armies and Raavana's armies)
* Uttara Kanda – Book of the Afterword (Epilogue: Raama's life after returning to Ayodhya and Sita's second exile)
Mindframes scores this one.

4. Four Vedas

1. Rig-Veda (RV)
2. Yajur-Veda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS)
3. Sama-Veda (SV)
4. Atharva-Veda (AV)
Everyone got it right.


5. Advaita is about realising the self, i.e. the Atman, as the Brahman itself which is apparently manifested eternally and simultaneously into animate or inanimate.

In contrast with advaita (non-dualist), the most influential and widely followed philosophy expounded by Shankara, Madhva (who is also known as Madhvacharya) maintains that there is an eternal distinction between the individual self and the absolute.

I had written a blog about Advaita long back for your reference.
http://am-kicking.blogspot.com/2006/01/advaita.html

Credits go to Mano, Saumya,Mindframes though Sdpal was almost right ;-)

How to eat a sandwich?

When is the last time you ate a sandwich or a burrito or a wrap gracefully? By sandwich, I don't mean the bread/butter variety, but the variety where the first layer contains sprouts, followed by a layer of large leaves and twigs, and then a tree of something. A thin layer of cheese and the forest again on the other side! I am not one to comment on the taste, since I seem to reach out to this variety quite readily. But I do want to write about is the eating.


One bite into the infernal thing sends the taste buds reeling, and then when I pull away, a large leaf the size of 3 plates will want to get pulled out from between, and the flora above shifts sending the incumbents of the sandwich to scramble for safety. Something like a tectonic plate movement-earthquake-sort of thing. On my end, I can't let the stuff loose and in a moment of reining in the chaos will try to rearrange the thing.

Just when I get it to resembling a sandwich again, I find that another bite makes the soggy stuff to start levitating towards the opposite end. You get the pictiure. The mouth on the southern end, the contents shifting and spilling out through the northern end. Almost like it wants to get away from being eaten. You see, when one is holding a largish object, gravitation exerts its influence as always, and the thing slopes downwards (around 12 degree incline is usual)

So, I rearrange the elements again and try a third time holding it at a perfect 180 degree angle, only to have the thing leaking on the sides and messing my arms.

The next item on my list is the height. I shall talk in term of units because I haven't yet reached the stage of measuring the thickness of bread. Let us assume we are making a sandwich - the bread on either side is 2 units each, making a height of 4 units. Then the stuffing adds another 8 units, making it a grand 12 units high.

Sometimes, I feel like a crocodile. I open my mouth so wide, I can feel the bones make a cracking noise. I then have to adjust the cheek bones, give them a loving pat, assure them that what I am putting them through is actually good for them in the long run and start afresh with renewed vigour and fraying enthusiasm.

By this time, I don't care about graceful eating anymore - in fact most times, I care neither about grace nor eating! I just let nature take its course. I pull and let the contents shift freely. I allow the sprouts to mingle and socialize with the tomato, while the pickles boss the mushrooms around as they spill onto the plate below. I eat whatever cares to remain within the sandwich - this is called wolfing down the sandwich. This activity is followed by cleaning up the spilled adventures with a spoon!

I feel full, and tell myself to go for soup the next time around.

BarberShop

As a sequel to Banian-Vs-Bunion and Sudoku-Vs-Soduku , here comes the BarberShop.

On hearing Barber Shop,most of us would imagine a shop where barbers work and one that you would be visiting every now and then. Did you know a Capella music style is called Barber Shop music. According to Wiki, here is the definition for that.

"Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1940s-present), is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: generally, the lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead."
You might have seen it in the sitcom "SCRUBS" where the legal adviser sings it with three more guys.

One of our neighbors,Mark, does that. Here is my version of his visit to our house and his discussion with Mindframes, with Mano in a cameo role.

Mark: Hi, How are you doing?
Mindframes: Fine. Thank you.
Mark: Just coming back after a barber shop reunion.
Mindframes: (Wondering if he needs the insight into Mark’s hairy trends) Must have been fun. What do you guys do there?
Mark: oh! We sing. It is amazing.
Mindframes: ( With a nervous laugh) Hmmm..I go to Mimi’s. We don’t sing there.
Mark: Really.. Never heard of them. If you don’t sing, what do you do there??
Mindframes: We just sit in a chair and maybe, read a magazine.
Mark: Wow!! I have never heard of people doing that in a reunion. Which society do you belong to?
Mindframes:No, I don’t belong to any society. But, I suspect they have some strong societies in India. In fact, their association even rebelled against a movie recently.

In walks Mano, who automatically assumes that these two are talking about the movie BarberShop

Mano: Which movie are u guys talking about? The 2002 one or the sequel?
Mindframes: I was talking about Billu Barber.
Mark: So, is that movie a musical. I have heard all Indian movies are musical.
Mindframes: No, it was originally a Malayalam movie, now remade in Hindi. I can understand Malayalam very well, you know,since I was born in Trivandrum.
Mano: No, it is a comedy movie. Though I would have preferred someone other than IceCube in the lead role. The sequel was even worse.
Mindframes:Yes, even I think Rajini was better than Shahurkh Khan.
Mano being the designated OPD, exits the scene , getting worried on seeing a slight change in Ayush’s expression.

Mark: ( Puzzled) Coming back to my original question, why don’t you guys sing ?
Mindframes: Well..atleast in Mimi’s , we have a strict rule of not singing as it results in head movement which might injure you.
Mark: How can anybody sing without moving their head? I think you should stop going to Mimi’s .You can join our group.
Mindframes: No, I am very personal about this. I like to do it alone.
Mark leaves the room in frustration…and Mindframes proceeds to Mimi’s to have a haircut leaving Survivor ROFL.