Lord of the Weather

In a grizzly reminder that man is still at the mercy of the natural world, during the last two weeks Australia's southern states South Australia and Victoria experienced the worst heat conditions the country has ever seen.

Victoria sweltered for 4 consecutive days with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, with South Australia experiencing the heat over more than a week.
What's living in a a 43 degree temperature you'd ask, on a personal level it's like living inside an oven. You can feel your skin burn, your head ache, you breathe hot dry air, you lose so much moisture that you constantly feel dehydrated and restless. Nights are slightly less hot but not enough to get any shut-eye. Three consecutive days of that and you are at the end of your sanity.

At a metropolitan level, there arises other problems. Rail and tram lines expand way beyond their tolerance levels and buckle-up forcing the cancellation of public transport. The demand for electricity doubles over the capacity and causes blackouts, but worst of all Australia being the driest inhabited continent such conditions easily give way to massive bush fires.

The last few days have seen several storming fires raging across the state, taking many a people, animal and property with them. The death toll is over 100 and rising, with some townships completely reduced to ashes.

This includes the picture postcard town of Marysville I've blogged about here and here. I hear there's nothing standing in the whole town or its surrounds.

It's not about the bike

No it sure isn't. It's about courage, an unwavering determination and a fighting spirit.

Lance Armstrong grew up in a rugged town in Texas, without the love of a father or the comfort of a stable income. But he was surrounded by his mother's tireless caring which instilled in him the confidence and the fighting spirit that saw him through not just the record breaking 7 Tour de Frances' but also through the even more difficult cancer treatments.

I've spent my life racing my bike, from the back roads of Austin, Texas to the Champs-Elysees, and I always figured if I died an untimely death, it would be because some rancher in his Dodge 4x4 ran me head first into a ditch. Believe me, it could happen. Cyclists fight an ongoing war with guys in big trucks, and so many vehicles have hit me, so many times, in so many countries, I've lost count.

At the age of 25 Lance was the picture of health, and begining to look the picture of wealth. All troubles seemed to be behind him, but the feeling was short-lived for fate had other plans. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer which had already spread into his lungs, he was in stage 3, and there were only 3 stages.

I thought I knew what fear was, Until I heard the words 'You have cancer'. Real fear came with an unmistakable sensation: it was as though all my blood started flowing in the wrong direction. My previous fears, fear of not being liked, fear of being laughed at, fear of losing my money, suddenly seemed like small cowardices. Everything now stacked up differently: the anxieties of life- a flat tire, losing my career, a traffic jam- were reprioritized into need versus want, real problem as opposed to minor scare. A bumpy plane ride was a bumpy plane ride, it wasn't cancer.

Immediate surgery was needed followed by an intensive chemotherapy, but the tale took another twist, the cancer had spread to his brain, his chances were slim, as slim as 3%, this information was somehow withheld from him, and he believed he had a 20% chance, whereby he started researching the disease, trying to strategise how to beat it. The game plan!

Brain surgery was called for to remove the malignant tissue. Followed by months long Chemotherapy.

The question was, which would the chemo kill first: the cancer, or me? My life became one long IV drip, a sickening routine: If I wasn't in pain I was vomiting, and if I wasn't vomiting, I was thinking about what I had, and if I wasn't thinking about what I had, I was wondering when it was going to be over. That's chemo for you.

The sickness was in the details, in the nasty asides of the treatment. Cancer was a vague sense of unwellness, but chemo was an endless series of specific horrors, until I began to think the cure was as bad as or worse than, the disease. What a casual bystander associates with cancer- loss of hair, sickly pallor, a wasting away- are actually the side effects of the treatment. Chemo was a burning in my veins, a matter of being slowly eaten from the inside out by a destroying river of pollutants until I didn't have an eyelash to bat. Chemo was a continuous cough, hacking up black mysterious, tar like matter from deep in my chest. Chemo was a constant, doubling-over need to go to the bathroom.

Despite the odds stacked up against him, he made it. And the cancer made him a different man.

People think my comeback as a triumph, but in the begining, it was a disaster. When you have lived for an entire year terrified of dying, you feel like you deserve to spend the rest of your days on a permanent vacation. You can't, of course; you have to return to your family, your peers, and your profession. But a part of me didn't want my old life back

With the help of his friends and newly found wife, he fought the depression and did get back on the bike. His previous contract with the professional cycling team "Cofidis" was withdrawn while he was in hospital. They didn't beleive he was going to make any more money for them. As Lance puts it, "The rug was pulled from beneath my feet" ,and "they let me there to die"

They searched for months for a team who would be willing to risk signing in a weakened ex-biker, until a new organization, the US postal services team decided to sign him up. And he didn't let them down.

Lance Armstrong went on to win 7 Tour de la France Tournaments, considered one of the toughest sporting events in the world. He established the "Lance Armostrong Foundation" which continues to raise funds for cancer to date.

The LHC, Dark Energy, Black holes and us

I'm sure most of you have heard of this new experiment running at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. It's just one of those pieces of news that you have trouble avoiding with all the hyper media attention. Black holes and the possibility of the world ending as the scientists push the button for this gigantic machine to work!

Remember the Y2K bug? yeah almost forgotten by now, but at that time there was much speculation of the possibility of the world ending, with all the computers getting confused and unimaginable chaos to follow....... but you just woke up the next morning only to find that you are still alive and you still have to make your own cup of morning tea and go to work.

Same story.


So what's this thing about this LHC experiment?

Warning: Mild Science Content!

When I put on my scientific shoes, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments are one of the most exciting things to have ever happened, right there along with the man landing on the moon.
We might finally find the answer to the age old question of how did the Universe begin and
this might sound funny but what are we made of? and also was Einstein correct?

Now the possibility of answering these questions would get any scientist jumping up and down with excitement! And that is quite understandable for these were THE questions that kept these people awake at night for centuries. And the uncovering of these answers might open up a whole new dimension literally!


So what's the big deal you may ask, we can still go on living life without knowing these gobbledygook. That's where I put on my philosophical shoes.


It's true that we don't need to know how the world began or whether relativity is correct to go about our daily lives. And besides what's all this knowledge for? ok suppose we did prove that there was a big bang and the universe is expanding and we are made out of this elusive Higgs boson and that Einstein was correct! So what? We still have to take that crowded train to work, we still have to put up with the troublesome boss and we still have to eat through our mouths.

The pursuit of all this incomprehensible knowledge is just to quench the humans thirst for curiosity.


Or is it?


Since the beginning of time humans have had this curiosity, to know who's living in the next cave, to perfect the art of hunting and to find out what's up there in the heavens. This curiosity is what has brought us to where we are now.

Most of the time when discoveries are made we don't realize it's potential straight away, it takes time to find applications. So could these experiments at the LHC be one of those that hands us the key to unlocking a door, behind which lies endless possibilities???


Only time can tell!

A Bird's Tale

Reading Gallicissa's blog reminded me of an incident that took place about 3 years ago.

Setting: Sri Lanka, parent's home

It wasn't just once when birds searching for a place to make a nest to raise a family decided the best location for the new house was on a Ficus tree in our courtyard, inside the house. The parents-to-be would come into the house, inspect the location, the tree, all the branches and all the while talking with each other (trying to make a decision I guess) and then leave, after about 2 or 3 inspections, they would decide whether they are going to build the nest or not.

The first time someone decided that a high-up branch on the tree is the best spot were a couple of Kondayas (apologies for not knowing the real or scientific name of these birds, maybe Gallicissa can help!).

They built the nest and laid the eggs. There were 3 small eggs with brown spots. We could conveniently see into the nest from the second storey. We watched as the parents took turns in hatching the eggs, and going out in search of food. We watched as the eggs hatched and two teeny weeny pinky babies came out. The third one was a bit late, but eventually did manage to squeeze out. We watched as they grew feeding on whatever their parents brought home.

And then one fine day the little ones decided that it was time to stretch their wings. This was quite an exciting and anxious time, not only for the parents but even more for us, because just a few feet away from the foot of the tree was the fish pond. And then there was good old Bingo. Dogs are not generally interested in a bird for a meal, not even for an afternoon snack for that matter, but anyone fluttering around in 'his' house becomes his problem, so was a bit scary. And then there was the stealthy kitty cat, always choosing the most inappropriate times to show up.

So the little birdies took to the sky...... or more towards the ground. They would fly as far as their little wings would carry them........like a few centimeters at a time. Then they would sit on a low hanging branch of a plant, sometimes on a fern just over the edge of the pond (gulp!) and rest for about an hour before finally gathering up the strength to do it all again! The bird parents were behaving like any normal Sri Lankan parent would when their little ones first start moving around.......screaming, or rather chirping at high frequency and running behind the little ones excited and nervous at the same time. And whenever it seems that the babies were having trouble getting back to the nest, the mother or the father would demonstrate how it should be done, over and over again until the little birdie made the attempt.

This drama went on for a few days, quite nerve wracking for us knowing the potential dangers lurking in the vicinity. Fortunately everything went according to plan. Once the babies had had enough training the parents led them out to see the wide world. They flew up to the window, sat there for what seemed like ages, and finally made the move. The younger sibling, who seemed a bit smaller and backward than the others took a few more hours in mustering up the strength, but he (or she) too finally joined the others. The parents were heard making quite a racket outside for a while.

A couple of days later I spotted three Kondayas on the bird's eye chili tree (their favourite fruit, I think) and I knew it was them because one seemed a bit smaller than the other two. And they seemed to be happy, and it was really nice to see them doing well in bird society!

However not all bird's tales have a fairytale ending.

A few months later (or was it a year.....not sure) a couple of kondayas came in to inspect the ficus tree (Deja vu). I'm not sure if it were the same couple, for birds don't have facial features where we humans can distinguish between Tom, Dick and Harry (or maybe more likely chirp, choop and cheep). Anyhow, they built the nest again, and this time there were 2 little eggs. The eggs hatched and two little kondayas came out.

But this time the story took an unexpected turn, the bird mother was most tragically murdered.... the suspect was caught red handed (or feather mouthed) licking its paws and lying on its side quite content with the deed. The cat didn't get any lunch from me that day, he didn't seem to need any either....well, that's what he was born to do I guess.

The bird father had his hands full bringing up two children on his own. The elder one seemed a bit rebellious, for he left the house and straight into the wide world while the father was away gathering food. The father returned to find only the younger child on a plant in the courtyard, so he rushed outside chirping away to look for his other child.
The next day the younger one was seen sitting on the window grill looking into the unknown world out there. He looked quite vulnerable without the mother to guide him out.

Later on the day I was just outside that window, filling in the bird bath under the frangipani tree, when the little guy suddenly decided to make a dash for the nearest frangipani branch. Awwww...

As I watched the little bird sitting on the branch, I could see past him another pair of eyes watching intently. Kurulugoya! (again sorry I only know the names of these birds in layman's terms). It was such a helpless moment....I knew what's going to happen, and I knew I can't do anything about it, but I wanted to do something to save this innocent fellow, but there was nothing I could do....I can't shoo away the little guy for he could hardly fly, I can't stop the predator bird I didn't have enough time to cover ground...And all of these within a fraction of a second. So I watched helplessly as the big bird whizzed in.... like a missile, eyes focused on its target.

Swooooosh!!

Gone!

Spam News

I'm doing some experiments today and taking some measurements. In between each set of measurements I have to keep an interval of about an hour for the machine to cool down before I take the next set of readings. I need to take about 5 sets of readings which means it's going to take 5+ hours of the day, and in between those readings what do I do?

First hour or two I managed to finish off tit-bits of other unfinished work, play a game of sudoku, arrange my desktop folders etc. Then I opened my junk mail folder to sort through the junk and to see if some non-junk mail has been wrongly accused by the mail authorities. Fortunately there wasn't any, however one mail title caught my eye

"Afghan bomber kills Bush"
This sudden suppressed laugh/murmer escaped me. Seems the spammers are being creative nowadays. They are probably begining to realize that the old fashioned 'remedies for bodily defects', 'designer wear at low prices', 'free tickets to watch Oprah', 'Winning a lottery ticket in some remote land' and of course 'the death of an unknown relative who left you a million dollars' is now a bit too known to their victims.

So they are coming up with new ideas to get those people to click! And of course who can resist "Afghan bomber kills Bush" I have to give credit to those spammies, that title looks very tempting!

Once in a blue moon

The blue moon from NASA

I've wondered about this expression once, sometime back. Blue moon? why blue? were there any instances where the moon appeared blue?

Today, I came across the answer in an unexpected manner. I was reading through a Physics book called "Absorption and scattering of light by small particles", which is quite nicely written I have to say.

Anyhow, the part about the blue moon....I think we are quite familiar with the reddening effect at sunrise and sunset, which is partly the result of light scattering from airborn particles. Ok I'll spare the scientific details......

Similarly there's a 'bluing' effect, but for this to take place the airborn particles must be within a narrow range of particle sizes, which is very hard to come by, hence the term 'once in a blue moon'.

However, there have been instances recorded in history where the sun and moon were observed to be blue, specially after the giant eruptions of the volcano Krakatoa and following huge forest fires in Canada.

If you'd like a more scientific explanation see here & here.

The Elephant Man

Joseph Merrick was born with severe deformities in his body, which made him earn the nickname "The elephant man". After the death of his mother at an early age, he ended up in a sideshow attraction as a "freak", where he was discovered by Dr. Fredrick Treves (later knighted) as a 'priceless specimen' of human deformities.

Initially Dr. Treves made it a good opportunity for himself to have access to this anatomical marvel, and let Merrick stay in the isolated patient's room in the London hospital. However, gradually as Merrick started warming up towards Treves and the nurses, the human within started to emerge.

Merrick's life was far from 'normal'. Often people were freaked out at his sight, and not many would feel comfortable in his presence. He was often the subject of ridicule, and several opportunists made it a way of earning cash by taking people to see the 'freak'.

Inspite of all odds, Merrick went on to make a lot of friends at high places including the then Queen of England, Queen Victoria.

The film brings to life this unique character from history. Even though it was shot in 1980, the film is in black and white emphasising the rugged and colourless England in the late 1800's. John Hurt plays the main role (of course who the actor behind the heavy make-up is anyone's guess) while a young Anthony Hopkins plays the part of Dr. Treves, which I thought wasn't a remarkable performance (maybe I shouldn't compare with his later works).

But a good one to watch! Makes you wonder about the nature of humans.

Have a break, Have a Kit-Kat!

For those of you wondering whether I'm dead....... not so soon! For the last month or so I've been living in the micro world or rather the nano world! Yes it's a very exciting place!! Where atoms and electrons mingle together and where vapour particles deposit forming beautiful patterns, ............well, at least in my imagination!

And for some weird reason all the equipment that I use seem to be behaving themselves very well! hmm........that's a first!

Anyway, after a very 'occupied' couple of weeks, it's Friday ahead of a long weekend, with fine weather (outside; not in the lab) And my supervisor is nowhere to be seen!

I need a break to get back to real life! (before the boss appears back at his desk!)

Good, I'm going to grab "Anna Karenina" which I've been trying to read for more than a month , and slip out of here!

Maybe snap up a Kit-Kat on my way!

1:18 to Lilydale

I got on to a train to come back to Uni, after some small business in the city. It wasn't rush hour so I easily found an empty seat at the front of the compartment. Just a few feet away from me were two middle aged men engaged in conversation, apparently friends who bumped into each other on this very train.

With one of these men were a young lad of about 20 years of age. Despite his healthy appearance one could easily see that something wasn't quite right with him. He had a very distant look in his brown eyes, which betrayed his good looks. He was holding a bottle of Coke and standing near his companion despite the numerous empty seats around him. "Why don't you take a seat?" asked the man to which the boy replied "I'm alright here" in a loud voice, but did sit down next to him even before finishing the sentence.

Then his companion's friend addressed the boy and asked him how he was, to which he replied "alright" and straightaway inquired back

Boy: When's your birthday?

Man: August Xth (didn't quite catch the date)

Boy: Which year??

Man: 1951

Boy: You were born on a Saturday

Man: That's right

The man probably knew about this boy's speciality that he didn't show any surprise..

Boy: Your next birthday is going to be a Thursday

By now, he had gained the attention of the whole compartment. Apart from those who had their ipods stuck in their ears (too bad!!)

The people who were bent over books were peeping over their books, the ones who were just staring out the window were glancing in this direction.....all the while pretending that they are not really looking at him..

Boy: The year after next, it'll be a Tuesday

And with that his distant eyes wandered off to something on the compartment wall....

There was a few seconds of total silence, with only the continous rumble of the train. The man got up to get down at the next station.

Man: You are doing very well boy

Boy: Yeah, I'm going to graduate next year

Man: That's excellent!!

With that, he said his good byes and got off...

The boy kept on staring at something else on the wall which attracted his attention....

Oh!! I'm also supposed to get down here!!!

I grabbed my stuff and got off before the doors could close.

The Adventure of English

Ever wondered why English is so complicated?

This is the fascinating story about how a tribal language in a remote corner of Europe came to be spread throughout the world; across Asia, Europe, Africa and America.

The story begins in the far north of what is now known as Netherland, and travels to England around 500 AD. From there on the language of English slowly takes form, but the journey is far from being smooth.


The constant invasions from foreign armies pushes the use of the language to its limits. Sometimes wiping out English speaking communities and sometimes supressing the use of the English language by the order of the foreign king.

Despite the hindrances the language of English survives, adapting to different conditions, borrowing words and expressions from the foreign invaders and thereby making it stronger and more flexible.

During the early Viking attacks, words like "ill" entered the English vocabulary creating a synonym for the existing "sick". During the Norman conquest thousands of French words took to English, but were mostly confined to the high society. Therefore the "cows" the farmers worked with became "Beef" at the rich man's table (Boef in French).

Throughout the ages English which has its roots in German had borrowed words in their thousands from Latin, French, Spanish, Gaelic and many more. Adding to its versatility as well as complexity.

After the renaissance (which is also a French word) and the developments during the industrial revolution Britian begins to form its empire across the world.......... and so does the language.

But the journey is far from over; not only does English travel to new countries and continents like Australia and America, where they take on a unique dialect of its own, but in the unsuspecting depths of India, one of the earliest relatives of the English language is discovered.......Sanskrit.


Some interesting words borrowed from the Dutch


This story is most fascinating, entertaining and sometimes astounding. Tracking the evolution of the English language through some of the most prominent times in history, and discovering the impacts it had on the language, from the Anglo Saxon tribes to Sheakspear, Wordsworth and Burns.

This work of magic was created and presented by Melvyn Bragg from the BBC. And is one of the most incredible documentries I've ever encountered. There is also a book in the same name also written by Bragg.

In loving memory

After being a part of our family for more than 11 years, Bingo passed away yesterday.




Bindu looking sad over Bingo's grave...



Photos courtesy of my bro

Life goes on......

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
- Mahatma Gandhi



Woke up to the disheartening news that some innocent people were the victims of a cruel war in which they played no part in…one they didn’t want in the first place….which only exists because of a few greedy individuals who want to hang on to every inch of land they could get. It’s not fair…...for those who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and had to pay the ultimate price…..it’s not fair for their loved ones to have to go through the rest of their lives trying to get over it……

And at the same time, here in another part of the world, a person on morning TV was winging about having to pay an extra dollar for a coffee at the airport ………….!!!&^##!*!

It’s a funny place…this world……..some people are worried about which restaurant they are going to tonight and what they are going to wear…when some others are wondering whether they will be able to find a couple of bucks to feed their children …at least this one meal for the day…………………..
Some people are worried about the new furniture they are hoping to buy and whether it will blend in with the existing interior………..whereas some others are very grateful to have found a canvas shelter in the refugee camp along with hundreds of others………..on the gravel bed…….

But I guess that the world has been like that since the beginning of time…….even in ancient times there were wars, where innocent people were killed for no fault of theirs….…. Empires have risen and empires have fallen….. from the Roman empire to the British.
There will always be wars even in the far future…….people fighting over things that sometimes doesn’t even mean anything! …. like the Jammu-Kashmir border struggle. Both countries have massive land masses but after more than half a century, are still fighting for a small piece of land in the cold mountain tops… that is neither arable nor habitable.

It’s a funny place …this world…..one has to put an effort into keeping oneself sane……. Accepting that getting all worked up with issues that one has to face on a personal level isn’t really the end of the world.

Making a difference: The Horizon Lanka Foundation

I used to visit the popular Sri Lankan blog forum Kottu on an ad-hoc basis up until recently. But some very inspiring blogs that started appearing on the blog roll some months ago, made me visit it more regularly. These blogs are not from well trained authors or prolific writers, but from a group of determined youth, who someday just might come to be known as such.

The Horizon Lanka Foundation founded by Mr. Nandasiri Wanninayaka, has been around for a few years now. It started in Mahavilachchiya and have now expanded to several other areas of the country which we regard as 'rural'. But there's nothing rural about the young minds of these villages, who exhibit the courage and the spirit that could help them go all the way to achieve their dreams.

The work done by the Academy is very impressive, and not to be outdone the effort put in by the students is heart warming. You can find some blogs of these inspiring young minds in the Kottu blog roll.

Great work!

A Breath of Fresh Air

The music of Yanni is a fresh breath of air during a hectic day at work, so I always keep a set of earphones close by ready to plug in and listen to a healing piece of music, to relax a bit before I set off again.

The complete compositions from his latest album "Ethnicity" can be listened to over his web site using either Windows Media Player or Real Player. As for the rest of his albums you can only listen to the samples.

My favourites from Ethnicity are "Playing by heart", "Rites of Passage" and "Never too late", not that I don't like the others!

Interview with an IT professional

Debbie Timmins of ACS interviewed Vishuddhi about IT in general, if anyone is interested the interview can be found on her blog.

Just 2 and a hlaf days to go!!!

Countdown

Nine days more to go.......

The Passing Away of a Pioneer

Vidya Jothi Emeritus Professor V K Samaranayaka had passed away in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a pioneer in the IT industry in Sri Lanka, and an intellectual that we as Sri Lankans can be proud of.

Even though I hadn't had the honour of attending his lectures at University, it was through his work that myself and thousands of other students past and present benefitted immensely. And generations to come will benefit into the future.

It was a life well lived!

Ali-gata Pera

Came across this by chance yesterday.

Ever wondered where "Ali-gata pera" (in Sinhalese) got its name from? It surely doesn't have any connection with Elephants..?!

Well....... due to their rough green skin and since its shape is close to that of a 'Pear' it's also known as "Alligator Pear"!
:)

The things I miss (from SL) Part 1

• My parents


• My brother (wasn't expecting to miss that!)


• Bingo, Bindu and Bussy


• Bumping into an old friend on the road (never happens here!)


• King coconuts!


• Mom's cooking


• Warm weather


• Relatives/Neighbours/Friends paying visits


• Driving (driving is too prim and proper here, very boring)


• Kola kanda with jaggery in the morning


• Down to earth living


• Birds and squirrels singing as the dawn breaks (and also when they spot our Bussy hiding in the bushes)
• Listening to some real news on tv (and not about Paris Hilton! ugh!)

23 days to go......

The grass is always greener on the other side..

When I was in Sri Lanka I always used to wish the country was located a few latitudes further up from the equator, so that it wouldn't be so hot and humid all year round!

When I was growing up, I wished that we had the four seasons so that I could see all the flowers bloom in the spring, the sun shine in the summer, leaves redden and fall in the autumn and cold days in the winter with some snow!! Well, I got over that once I grew up, but I still wished that it wasn't so hot there.

Now, I've been in Australia for almost one year and have experienced the four seasons, it's not as wonderful as it sounds in the books. It's pretty difficult to distinguish between the season changes in the first place, there's no clear cut boundary between spring & summer, summer & autumn etc.

And I can't think of more than a couple of days where I actually enjoyed the weather, it's either too cold that I would start shivering from head to toe or either too hot that I simply have to take at least 5-6 baths a day!

Just a couple of months ago - in the summer temperatures soared past 42 Celsius. It was like living inside an oven! you can literally feel your skin burning! Now it's winter (just starting) and daytime temperatures hang around 10-12 Celsius, and it's like living inside a fridge! Nights are even worse!

How I long for a beautiful tropical climate like that of Sri Lanka!!!