Click on above Screencap of my recent post at
Now Public.
Read the Mumbai Mirror article here
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
'Teach Your Children'. Well......
Southern charm and manners are often touted as highly desirable
but I think this goes beyond all human decency since it involves
the greatest gift a human couple can possess - the gift of a child.
But rather than cherish, protect and shower love on their innocent
daughter, a couple in Galveston, Texas chose to train the toddler
via a 'daylong torture session in which the toddler was beaten with
belts, dunked in cold water and flung across a room so violently that
she died,' according to an AP news article.
This is something that not only sickened but reduced jurors
to sobs, and personally I can't even bring words to bear on how
badly I'm feeeling about this. Especially since somewhere in
Florida there's another little body, found murdered and awaiting
a proper funeral and burial.
but I think this goes beyond all human decency since it involves
the greatest gift a human couple can possess - the gift of a child.
But rather than cherish, protect and shower love on their innocent
daughter, a couple in Galveston, Texas chose to train the toddler
via a 'daylong torture session in which the toddler was beaten with
belts, dunked in cold water and flung across a room so violently that
she died,' according to an AP news article.
This is something that not only sickened but reduced jurors
to sobs, and personally I can't even bring words to bear on how
badly I'm feeeling about this. Especially since somewhere in
Florida there's another little body, found murdered and awaiting
a proper funeral and burial.
Galveston County Daily News on 'Baby Grace'
Fox News coverage of the Caylee Anthony case
Tags: Family | Health | Galveston | Human Behaviour
Monday, January 19, 2009
Backstage with Bono - Inaugural Day 2009
Message from Josh Peck at one.org
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Friday, January 16, 2009
Proud Mary is a Texan
Mary Margaret Wilson, that is- not the lady CCR
sang of way back in the '70s. Mary is the sister of
Chesley B. Sullenberger III,
sang of way back in the '70s. Mary is the sister of
Chesley B. Sullenberger III,
the quick-thinking savior of an entire Airbus-load of
passengers aboard Flight 1549 from LaGuardia NY
that 'landed' in the Hudson River yesterday.
The Herald Democrat Texoma quotes Mary's reaction to
seeing the news on TV : "And I thought to myself,
'That's something my brother could do."
Just like that. The man nicknamed 'Sully' has a sister who has no
doubts as to his skills and character, for she knows that he first
made headlines flying at the age of 15, even though it was a
crop duster he flew back then. "He would be the one person
who could land a plane in the water without any engines",
she said recalling her lack of nervousness while flying with him.
The people of Dennison, Texas are equally proud and we
should be hearing a lot more from them about this hero who
was raised in their town.
And you can be sure Sully's wife Lorrie
is as proud as Mary, as she keeps on burnin' with love
for Scully. I mean, Lorrie is no slouch either. Just go
check her out at Fit and Fabulous !
Updated Feb 2, 2009
http://www.mashget.com/topic/sully/
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Google is Nice....
...but Flickr is quicker if it's a particular picture you
want. I've made many useful connections with it, and
below are a few examples.
Flickr works as a great Search engine for folks who need
pics of all kinds, freely available under a Creative Commons
License. I granted these rights to my Flickr photos - since I
didn't consider them to be of much interest except to those
within my immediate circle. Then recently I received an email
from Schmap Guides informing me that a 10 year-old photo
of mine was being used for the New Orleans Sights and
Attractions section of their Guides, under the Creative
Commons License granted by me to all....a license that is
available to YOU, too !
click to enlarge
I was thankful, flattered and animated at the potential
that Flickr offers unskilled amateurs such as myself,
armed only with a little Vivitar DVC (minus tripod).
The exposure (no pun intended) courtesy of the Flickr
site is deeply appreciated. In this fast-paced, hi-tech
world of today, people are conducting searches not at
the desktop and laptop alone but also on the go, using
Blackberries and iPhones. Search results in turn are
now being created and released on the fly, and things
are certainly flying along and checking my Flickr stats
I discover, heyyyy... here's more pics of mine , this
time being used by BooRah, which bills itself as
'the ultimate, personalized review guide providing
consumers a smarter way to find great restaurants'.
click to enlarge
So Google all you want but do take a look at my photo
collection, leave a comment, Fave a pic, or simply Add
me as a Contact. This is Networking that works. Try it !
My Flickr Faves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/firozeshakir/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lecercle/sets/72157603867379617/
want. I've made many useful connections with it, and
below are a few examples.
Flickr works as a great Search engine for folks who need
pics of all kinds, freely available under a Creative Commons
License. I granted these rights to my Flickr photos - since I
didn't consider them to be of much interest except to those
within my immediate circle. Then recently I received an email
from Schmap Guides informing me that a 10 year-old photo
of mine was being used for the New Orleans Sights and
Attractions section of their Guides, under the Creative
Commons License granted by me to all....a license that is
available to YOU, too !
click to enlarge
I was thankful, flattered and animated at the potential
that Flickr offers unskilled amateurs such as myself,
armed only with a little Vivitar DVC (minus tripod).
The exposure (no pun intended) courtesy of the Flickr
site is deeply appreciated. In this fast-paced, hi-tech
world of today, people are conducting searches not at
the desktop and laptop alone but also on the go, using
Blackberries and iPhones. Search results in turn are
now being created and released on the fly, and things
are certainly flying along and checking my Flickr stats
I discover, heyyyy... here's more pics of mine , this
time being used by BooRah, which bills itself as
'the ultimate, personalized review guide providing
consumers a smarter way to find great restaurants'.
click to enlarge
So Google all you want but do take a look at my photo
collection, leave a comment, Fave a pic, or simply Add
me as a Contact. This is Networking that works. Try it !
My Flickr Faves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/firozeshakir/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lecercle/sets/72157603867379617/
Friday, January 02, 2009
Purple Is for Pride
images info*
You may have heard of 'Purple Haze' and 'Purple Rain' affecting people
in many ways, some inspired to try to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix, while
others have sought to sing or dance like Prince, errr... the Artist Formerly
Known As...Before He Went Back To Being Known As.......Prince. I think....
But who knew the color Purple (movie association unintended) could move
people not only to sing and dance but take flight? This color symbolises so
much to so many, it's right up there with Red for Valentine's and Stop signs !
Yes, Purple Songs Can Fly, all the way into Space, just one facet of a
project engineered by a hospital in Houston, Texas.
One year ago today, the highly-esteemed New York Times visited the
Texas Children's Cancer Center and followed up with a great article on how
Songwriting and Recording in a Studio setting are proving to be an
immensely valuable therapeutic tool in the battle against Children's Cancer.
"“Just treatment is not enough,” Dr. Poplack said to the New York Times.
“We want to have a psychosocial impact so that the children are not only
cured, but healed as well.” He said breakthroughs over the last 50 years had
raised the survival rate of children with cancer to 75 percent from 10 percent.
Anita Kruse, who founded the Purple Songs Can Fly Project with her own
money saw her Mission Accomplished in 2003 as her song,
If We Can Fly to the Moon, written as a September 11th tribute, flew over
5 million miles around the earth with astronaut, John Herrington, on the
Endeavor Shuttle Mission.
Here are some links that I hope you will use because this is one effort that's
just too good not to be considered :
http://www.purplesongscanfly.org/
*images above are from this site
http://www.musicdiscoveries.com/ifwecan/flytothemoon.html
The New York Times article Jan 2008
In the mix, Sugarhill Recording Studios in Houston
Thursday, January 01, 2009
The Year 2008 for Me
Forgetting the lists of the Top Albums, Celebs,
Strange, Weird and Outrageous that they come
out with around this time, and instead taking a
closer look at
10 Things I will remember about 2008....
The Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
Hurricane IKE
Obama For President
Long Beach California
Las Vegas Nevada
One of my photos is now on on the official
Schmap Guide to New Orleans
Approaching 26,000 visitors to this Blog
Getting a new Toshiba Laptop
Joining Facebook
....and taking a flight after a gap of 10 years
In a very disturbed world where American Politics were
given a jolt by their first-ever Black appointee to the
Presidentship which then took a backseat to the
Terrorist attacks in Mumbai, after a devastating hit
to Texas by Hurricane Ike I took my first airline flight
in ten years and wound up in Long Beach California
and then Las Vegas,
reunited with childhood long-lost friends on Facebook and settled into using my first new Laptop PC which made me scramble to be productive once again on Flickr and here on Virtual Poona Where will all this take me in 2009 ? Hopefully to a more widespread audience, and better communications with those whom I would like to count as friends and family. Wish me luck!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
I'm Really Back. With Babelgum.
Happy Holidays ! Virtual Poona is still around....
Let's get back to the business of blogging I said to myself
today, fully recharged with a new laptop and an upgrade
to blazing DSL speed. No more excuses and complaints
about lost data and repeated trips to the repair shop, I said.
Then along came the Christmas crunch on my physical
and mental (financial goes without saying) resources and
I was delayed from updating this space yet again. And what
better way to return to you than to share the best of what
I've discovered in the past two months. So look out for the
best of the best in upcoming posts. Like HQ streaming videos
from Babelgum
on a wide range of subjects, many showcasing
absurdly talented artists and musicians.
Note: You will need to download the FREE Babelgum Player
but you will not be sorry for the quality entertainment at
your fingertips.
Let's get back to the business of blogging I said to myself
today, fully recharged with a new laptop and an upgrade
to blazing DSL speed. No more excuses and complaints
about lost data and repeated trips to the repair shop, I said.
Then along came the Christmas crunch on my physical
and mental (financial goes without saying) resources and
I was delayed from updating this space yet again. And what
better way to return to you than to share the best of what
I've discovered in the past two months. So look out for the
best of the best in upcoming posts. Like HQ streaming videos
from Babelgum
on a wide range of subjects, many showcasing
absurdly talented artists and musicians.
Note: You will need to download the FREE Babelgum Player
but you will not be sorry for the quality entertainment at
your fingertips.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Don't Worry, Ghee Happy
A few weeks ago I met an American lady who was about as buff as
could be, wearing Yoga pants and a T-shirt with an Indian image on it.
I decided to test her level of commitment but not wanting to belittle her
fitness regime I semi-casually asked if she was a Yoga instructor. No,
she said no, merely a student and lover of Indian culture. She then
correctly responded to my query by identifying the Hindu deity on the front
of her T-shirt as Lord Ganesa. Cool....and I wasn't about to press her with
any more questions because she obviously had genuine knowledge of
Indian 'stuff', and I probably would embarrass myself with my latent
ignorance of Hindu deities and feeble RAM capability.
Later I got to wondering about Tees with Indian motifs and their appeal to
Americans, something I often do since I was once involved in the business
of creating screen-printed T-shirts.
Flickr photo
Those were some great times in my life, and that creative thought
process still often rears its head at strange times and in surprising
places. Then I came across Ghee Happy on the web......
Calling itself 'The little book of Hindu deities' Ghee Happy the book
is at once amusing, informative and entertaining and below are the
sample pages at the Ghee Happy website.
But wait, that's not all. There's more ! Really ? Yes ! It's not only a link to
a book, but an enticing portal to an apparel collection for toddlers and
infants. Full of cute stuff that should appeal to children and parents alike.
Go see for yourself. Don't worry, Ghee Happy !
could be, wearing Yoga pants and a T-shirt with an Indian image on it.
I decided to test her level of commitment but not wanting to belittle her
fitness regime I semi-casually asked if she was a Yoga instructor. No,
she said no, merely a student and lover of Indian culture. She then
correctly responded to my query by identifying the Hindu deity on the front
of her T-shirt as Lord Ganesa. Cool....and I wasn't about to press her with
any more questions because she obviously had genuine knowledge of
Indian 'stuff', and I probably would embarrass myself with my latent
ignorance of Hindu deities and feeble RAM capability.
Later I got to wondering about Tees with Indian motifs and their appeal to
Americans, something I often do since I was once involved in the business
of creating screen-printed T-shirts.
Flickr photo
Those were some great times in my life, and that creative thought
process still often rears its head at strange times and in surprising
places. Then I came across Ghee Happy on the web......
Calling itself 'The little book of Hindu deities' Ghee Happy the book
is at once amusing, informative and entertaining and below are the
sample pages at the Ghee Happy website.
But wait, that's not all. There's more ! Really ? Yes ! It's not only a link to
a book, but an enticing portal to an apparel collection for toddlers and
infants. Full of cute stuff that should appeal to children and parents alike.
Go see for yourself. Don't worry, Ghee Happy !
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Spared by Hurricane Ike
This is dedicated to the ones I love who remembered me before,
during and after Hurricane Ike, when I lost my online services.
Thank you all !!
So you may ask if reports of my death are greatly exaggerated and I reply
wearily, yes, they are. I have been away from this Blog before the impending
disaster became a distinct possibility and then turned into grim reality for
thousands of people. Not all of those people were in the direct path of
Hurricane Ike which made landfall as a Category 2 storm but destroyed
lives and property with the intensity of a Category 4 storm. In many places
the damage equaled that of Hurricane Katrina and played out that way
for many of the people affected that I spoke to.
For myself, I was forced to heed the official Evacuation notice by the local
authorities and so two days before the storm I was in a Sugarland Texas,
in a safe place with my niece and nephew and their loved ones. The
invitation for a single person like me with few resources was deeply touching
and reassuring. As it turned out, we spent that Thur. evening and all day
Friday having fun just hanging out chatting, eating and
watching non-stop TV coverage of hurried preparations and Evacuations
of areas as far away as Louisiana, roughly a 6-hour drive. No, I tried to stay
awake till 12:30 a.m. on that fateful day but dozed off and woke at 3:00 a.m.
or so to discover that the lights were gone and it was windy, rainy and warm.
It stayed that way through late afternoon until the sun came out and we
all started cleaning up the branches and leaves,
as if trying to erase the memory of how close we had been to Ike.
A Hurricane had passed through and I had slept through it all ! At the time
I was really disappointed to find nothing serious had happened, little realizing
that miles away the destruction and aftermath had been so catastrophic.
I got back home to find my digs and my car
same as it ever was with the exception of bird droppings, but others a few
feet behind my apartment were not so lucky. At least eight cars were damaged
when a carport smashed into them.
My next-door neighbor's father and his daughters in Hitchcock survived,
had their power restored, lost it again and then lost their house and everything
in a fire that started when a huge power surge occurred a week after the storm.
Another neighbor who is disabled and recovering from a previous motorcycle
accident and has over 200 pins and a steel plate in his leg is alive, but his Ike
troubles have only just begun. His Accident and Medical Insurance will run out
and eventually so will his wife's. She lost her job due to Ike.
The official Search for survivors and the counting of the Missing has been
given up by FEMA and the Police in most places. Military choppers and some
Rescue Boats comb the areas but not for victims. Their mission now is to
ensure the area is safe for residents to return and pick up the pieces.
Here's a link to the Chron.com ongoing compilation of Press and Amateur
videoclips, many just a few seconds long because they were taken under the
most hazardous and deadly conditions.
Previous Hurricane-related here
during and after Hurricane Ike, when I lost my online services.
Thank you all !!
So you may ask if reports of my death are greatly exaggerated and I reply
wearily, yes, they are. I have been away from this Blog before the impending
disaster became a distinct possibility and then turned into grim reality for
thousands of people. Not all of those people were in the direct path of
Hurricane Ike which made landfall as a Category 2 storm but destroyed
lives and property with the intensity of a Category 4 storm. In many places
the damage equaled that of Hurricane Katrina and played out that way
for many of the people affected that I spoke to.
For myself, I was forced to heed the official Evacuation notice by the local
authorities and so two days before the storm I was in a Sugarland Texas,
in a safe place with my niece and nephew and their loved ones. The
invitation for a single person like me with few resources was deeply touching
and reassuring. As it turned out, we spent that Thur. evening and all day
Friday having fun just hanging out chatting, eating and
watching non-stop TV coverage of hurried preparations and Evacuations
of areas as far away as Louisiana, roughly a 6-hour drive. No, I tried to stay
awake till 12:30 a.m. on that fateful day but dozed off and woke at 3:00 a.m.
or so to discover that the lights were gone and it was windy, rainy and warm.
It stayed that way through late afternoon until the sun came out and we
all started cleaning up the branches and leaves,
as if trying to erase the memory of how close we had been to Ike.
A Hurricane had passed through and I had slept through it all ! At the time
I was really disappointed to find nothing serious had happened, little realizing
that miles away the destruction and aftermath had been so catastrophic.
I got back home to find my digs and my car
same as it ever was with the exception of bird droppings, but others a few
feet behind my apartment were not so lucky. At least eight cars were damaged
when a carport smashed into them.
My next-door neighbor's father and his daughters in Hitchcock survived,
had their power restored, lost it again and then lost their house and everything
in a fire that started when a huge power surge occurred a week after the storm.
Another neighbor who is disabled and recovering from a previous motorcycle
accident and has over 200 pins and a steel plate in his leg is alive, but his Ike
troubles have only just begun. His Accident and Medical Insurance will run out
and eventually so will his wife's. She lost her job due to Ike.
The official Search for survivors and the counting of the Missing has been
given up by FEMA and the Police in most places. Military choppers and some
Rescue Boats comb the areas but not for victims. Their mission now is to
ensure the area is safe for residents to return and pick up the pieces.
Here's a link to the Chron.com ongoing compilation of Press and Amateur
videoclips, many just a few seconds long because they were taken under the
most hazardous and deadly conditions.
Previous Hurricane-related here
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