ProcrastiBlog

You will probably not regret watching this. Via this post from John C. Dvorak.

A German medical intern here in Bangalore assures me that this behavior leads to bad outcomes. So there.

Goats chillin near Russell Market
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

Err, mutton?! And chickens. At Russell Market.

The list of my most viewed photos on Flickr is perplexing. Obviously some photos just have popular keywords that make people I don't know want to look at them. But why do so many people want to look at this picture? Are lots of people searching for "shoes bangalore"? (It's not even in the Top 50 for "shoes", which goes to show how odd Flickr users can be. (I include myself in that statement.) And why is this the most popular photo from my Savandurga set? I guess people love to hate poor little village boys.

OK, I'm throwing down. Please add a comment to this post explaining what kind of pictures you like and why. The upshot is I will try to accomodate audience interests. On the downside, you will have to prove you are not a robot.

P.S. I have a feeling this is going to end in much the same humiliation as the "first caller gets a $20 bill" contest on my WNYU AM radio show: The prize went unclaimed. I unilaterally cancelled the show shortly thereafter. :-(

[UPDATE 6/22/2006] Self-fulfilling prophecy? Thanks to my wife for providing me a statistically random sample...

Snacks in the MSR pantry
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

I forgot about the snacks! Every day between 5 and 6 (i.e., about an hour before dinner), they bring out snacks in the MSR pantry. Typically there are two kinds of juice (e.g., watermelon, mango, grape, pomegranate) or milkshakes (that's what they call them, but I don't think they have ice cream in them), a variety of sandwichs (Bombay*, fruit, chili and cheese), potato chips (which they just call chips, in spite of the English influence), and some kind of "salad" slathered in something like mayonnaise.

The sandwiches and chips come in little take-away boxes with 2 sandwiches and a handful of chips each. This is a silly system, since the chips are more popular than the sandwichs---everybody just digs through the boxes for a pile of chips and you end up having to search for them in various opened boxes with untouched sandwiches.

In addition to the evening snacks, the pantry is always stocked with half a dozen kinds of fruit, a similar selection of cookies, raw almonds, soft drinks, coconut water, and of course, coffee and tea. So basically, I sit around all day and eat delicious junk food. It's all so... un-American.

* I still haven't quite figured out what a Bombay sandwich is. It's grilled and it has a variety of vegetables inside it and it's somewhat spicy.

A survey of "sexually progressive, young Indians" in India Today magazine caused much merriment and despair amongst my single comrades from abroad. Some sample questions:

Do you think it is okay to have sex before marriage?
Yes 20%
No 79%

(7% of females responded Yes.)

Would you be willing to [live] with a person you love before marriage?
Yes 28%
No 70%

(16% of females responded Yes.)

Do you agree with the statement: It is not necessary to marry the person you date?
Yes 42%
No 54%

(58% of females responded No.)

Which type of marriage do you think is more successful: arranged or love?
Arranged 73%
Love 24%

On the street near my house. It's the first cat I've seen, believe it or not. I did not get a picture of it.

For those keeping score:

Animals I have seen and not photographed: cows, donkeys, lizards, chipmunks, and a cat.

Animals I have seen and photographed: horses, monkeys, and---oh, yeah---dogs.

I had a dream as I was falling asleep last night that I was playing frisbee and when I jumped to catch the disc I woke up with a strong sensation that I had just jumped face-first into a wall, which was actually my bed. Weird.

Rusty Bracket on Lamp Post
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

Many of the lamp posts in my neighborhood have these seemingly useless brackets with sharp, rusty corners mounted conveniently at forehead level. Luckily, I'm up to date on my tetanus shots.

MSRI lunch
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

My Indian diarrhea weight loss program is not working out as planned. I haven't had any major problems with the food, as it turns out. A spot of indigestion because it's pretty relentlessly spicy, but no creepy-crawlies in my gut that I've detected. They serve us a nice buffet lunch every day on the roof of MSR---I find myself going back for seconds and sweets pretty often (although sweets are usually some variation of rasgulla, which I haven't acquired a taste for yet; gulab jamun is more my speed (which is very Western of me, apparently)).

I also had vague intentions of trying to eat vegetarian when I came here, since it would be so easy to do (it is, in fact, usually easier than the alternative). But the meat here is so good! Mutton! (Which means goat!) The MSR lunch usually has 4-5 vegetarian dishes and one with meat, and the meat dish is often the tastiest. I am ashamed of myself.

The following words have triggered the Blocklist on my wiki in the last 24 hours: tramadol anal-porn meridia cialis asian-sex candid acyclovir adipex alprazolam carisoprodol celebrex diazepam phentermine propecia viagra xanax.

Question #1: How did "candid" get in there?

Question #2: Whither porn?

Question #3: How do you run a legitimate Wiki concerning prescription drugs?

Hot water heater in my guest house bathroom
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

It took me two weeks to figure out how to operate the hot water heater in my guest house. I guess it's a sign of my own prejudice, when there was no hot water I just thought, "This is India, you can't expect hot water every day." It turns out you (pretty much) can. There is a switch just outside the bathroom that turns on the heater. You flip this 20-30 minutes before you want to shower and you have hot water. It lasts just barely long enough to lather up and rinse, and does not include time for reverie, but it does consistently work. So, yay!

Monkeys doing strange things to each other under the Banyan Tree.
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

Also here and (to a lesser extent) here. Kedar, you are forgiven.

View of the River
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

New photo set: Savandurga climb

He volunteers at an orphanage. Evil.

Sleepy dog at the Bazaar
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

A new photo set: The dogs of Bangalore.

Just so you know, I haven't been blogging every single picture I take. Not every photo I take necessarily has universal appeal and I recognize that. Nevertheless, completists can subscribe to my Flickr RSS feed or bookmark http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisandhilleary.

Via Jeff Wells.

This counts neither as original political analysis, nor as particularly relevant to what I usually blog about, the this story is too funny not to link to. Harry Reid: a man who does not like to be bribed.

Why would the houseboy steal my nail clippers? Is he just trying to fuck with me?