Hitchhiking Life

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen. - DNA
Ramblings of a guy who is taking life as it comes.
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Friday, December 16, 2005

Tech Talk

A lot of interesting things have been happening in the tech arena. Microsoft unvieled its Freemont Project in response to Google's Base Project. Though both claim to take on Craigslist, it seems obvious that they plan to take on each other. I like Craigslist though. Clean, easy and minimal.

Then there was Yahoo's acquisition of Del.icio.us. The folksonomy thing really seems to have caught the imagination of large corporations. It will be interesting to see how Google responds to this new challenge.

Read an interesting article on Mitchell Baker "Chief Lizard Wrangler", the Mozilla Foundation. This is one Trapeze artist you gotta hang on to.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Color accent

The S2 IS has an interesting feature called COLOR ACCENT. When you focus on an object, it lets you select colors from the ambience. When you hit the button, the camera extracts just that color from the ambience, keeping the surroundings in black and white. Cool huh???? Notice the blue in the bottle in contrast with the black and white background.

Rolling Thunder

Thats me on a Harley-Davidson. Had been to Smithfield, an hours drive from Durham. Saw a Harley showroom there. Couldnt resist taking some snaps of this legendary bike. There were several Harley's parked outside and I started shooting from the hip. Then Kevin walked in. I didnt know it at the time but he's the Chairman of the local Harley Club (Rolling Thunder, I think). He asked me where I was from and what I was doing here. I asked him how much does a Harley cost? He smiled and said "These can cost you as much as a decent house". I guess that means something upwards of 50,000$$$. But I guess there are cheaper ones too. He asked me if I would like a snap on his Harley, and I graciously accepted. He turned the ignition on for me. Belive me when I say the bike did sound like thunder. Well here I am . . . . .

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Mezcan con Gusano

Hmm ever had a bottle of firewater with a worm in it? Thats what I ended up doing, not by choice though. I went to our local ABC Liquor Store with the aim of getting some Tequilla for myself. I have been a Tequilla fan for quite some time now. If you want to feel your digestive tract in 3-D Tequilla is just the drink for you. When you gulp a shot of this firewater you can feel your gustatory tract in relief as the liquid makes it ways to your belly. You are immobilised for a while and then suddenly realise that there is a dash of salt with lime squeezed in tucked between your thumb and index fingers, ready to be licked when you catch your breath.
Well liquor stores here are an entirely different affair with the finest collections of alchohol from around the globe. This is in contrast to India liquor stores where one cannot enter, but has to contend himself with getting ones desired brand through the teller like slithole at the counter. I walked into the store and made my way to the Tequilla section. There were more than 20 brands of Tequilla there. Being a moderate drinker and dollar concious Indian, I found the smallest bottle with a very moderate price tag. It read "Mezcal con Gusano". Ignorant of Mexican liquor, I thought that it was some variety of Tequilla, since it was under the Tequilla section. I promptly picked it up and made my way home.
Upon reaching home I promptly opened it, sliced some lemons, prepared myself a shot and gulped it in. The effect was exactly the same as the effect Tequilla has on a persons digestive tract, but the flavor was very different from anything I ever had before. It had a "smoked" taste to it, which made it really exotic. I started reading the fine print on the bottle and to my horror saw these words printed - "100% Agave, Regional de Oaxaca, WITH AGAVE WORM". I peeked into the bottle and sure enough there was a fat white critter in it.
One shot of it put me out of action for a whole 12 hours. The next day I ran some searches on the booze and was surprised to find that what I had drunk wasnt even Tequilla. Its called "The worm drink" in North America and in Mexico goes by the name Mezcal. In North America it shares the same shelfspace with Tequilla but in reality is a completely different drink. Here are two interesting links explaining the drink to the uninitiated.

Why is there a worm in my Tequilla?
Mezcal: The other spirit of Mexico
So, did I drink any more of it? Sure!!! after all if the Aztecs had it for thousands of years and now the Mexicans live on it, how can it be of any harm to me? After all I am a human being too :-)