Why Does The Sky Turn Purple?

September 12, 2011 0 Comment

The other day I posted a rather smashing photo of a Chennai sunset which lit up the sky in purples, pinks, oranges and reds. I referred a question to my fellow blogger, Tom, about why the sky had all these amazing colours. Many thanks Tom for taking the time to answer it!

Blogstronomy: Why is the Sky Purple?http://blogstronomy.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-is-sky-purple.htmlQuestion posed by Peter, in this blog post. Of course, the more usual question is “why is the sky blue?”, but Peter, an ex-pat schoolmate of mine living in India, snapped theâ€¦

Absolutely Fabulous, Darling

September 11, 2011 2 Comments

Me? At a fashion show? Has the world gone stark raving mad? I’m a computers and football man upon whom fashion gave up a long ago as a lost cause. I would wear sweat pants to work if my boss would let me, so what business, you may wonder, do I have being at a… Continue reading →

The Name Is Pizza

September 8, 2011 9 Comments

One of my ongoing sources of torment, and virtually the only thing the sales team in my office can tease me about now that England have confirmed themselves as the number one cricketing nation in the world, is the English pronunciation of various Tamil names and phrases. The trouble stems from the fact that English,… Continue reading →

There Are 3D Artists And Then There’s Fredo

September 8, 2011 0 Comment

Forget stupid 3D TV’s and 3D films, these 3D pencil drawings pretty much jump out at you and sure beat anything Sony or LG can come up with not to mention they beat the pants off even my best stick man sketches. The guy is only 20 years old but it looks like he’s got himself a nice online income already by selling his prints on Deviant Art.

Artist’s amazing 3D images | The Sun |Newshttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3800012/Artists-amazing-3D-images.htmlA YOUNG artist is making a huge impression on the art world with his 3D drawings. The incredible pictures by Chilean etcher Fredo were drawn using only pencil and paper and seemâ€¦

Astrology Will Solve All Your Problems

September 7, 2011 0 Comment

Many people, both in India and around the world, have a very big interest in astrology and some go as far as dictating their lives based on the arbitrary and entirely predictable movement of the stars and planets. While in the west many people will read their horoscope out of passing curiosity, in India I… Continue reading →

No Photoshop, Just Pollution

September 7, 2011 0 Comment

This was the sunset over Chennai on Sunday evening, taken from my balcony. There was no post-production work done on this photo, it was just snapped with a simple compact digital camera. According to scientists, the reds, oranges and purples are caused by light being scattered by particles in the upper atmosphere, the more particles the more it gets scattered and the ‘blue’ lightwave is lost, leaving the reds and oranges. If there is a lot of pollution like aerosols and all the other crap that us humans produce we’re rewarded with some pretty spectacular sunsets. I’m willing to hear a more accurate and scientific answer though, (Tom, I’m looking at you here!).

Stupidity Or Talented

September 6, 2011 3 Comments

Some sections of society here in India seem to have a rather cavalier attitude towards life, bordering on a reckless disregard for their own lives. More often than not it tends to be young men from the poorer communities, but I’ve also seen young men on motorbikes weaving dangerously through traffic, skipping stop signs, playing… Continue reading →

The Hindu Gods

September 5, 2011 0 Comment

Took this snap in T-Nagar (an area within Chennai, just like Clapham is an area within London) on Friday evening. T-Nagar is actually quite commercial and there are several 4 and 5 star business hotels close by, but like so much of Chennai the residents who have lived here for generations, when T-Nagar was a small village outside the city, fiercely retain their tradition and culture. In this case the entire street was closed off and decked out with lights, light sculptures, a huge stage and devotional music blasting out the PA speakers. My poor friend has her apartment right in the middle of all of this!

Girl On Wire

September 3, 2011 0 Comment

When you never went to school or have got no place to call home, you’ve got to make money anyway you can and in India one of the ways families make money is by putting their daughter up on a tightrope and asking her to balance precariously 2 metres above ground with only the concrete… Continue reading →

A Ramadan Feast

September 2, 2011 0 Comment

On 31st August it was Ramadan (or Ramzan as it’s referred to here in India) when Muslims celebrate the ending of the month of fasting. Normally it’s not an an event of note for me except that this time I was lucky enough to be invited in to the home of a Muslim family and… Continue reading →