Rabbit hole

Aha, fun days. Its nice getting some time to yourselves. And what's more fun than  reading ? A bit of writing. 

I went down a long rabbit hole recently. In a good way. I have always enjoyed reading, and comics and cartoons in that order. Earlier this year I read that The Tintin comics entered public domain this year. Not around the world, only the US copyright.

You see ,everything written or published by any author has a copyright, during which that work cannot be copied. The law works different in each country. But here is what google's ai summarized:

In the United States, the copyright on the original Tintin comics expires 95 years after publication. This means that the first versions of Tintin, which debuted in a Belgian newspaper in 1929, entered the public domain on January 1, 2025. Therefore, as of today (May 29, 2025), the US copyright on Tintin has already expired. 

Now does that mean one is now free to copy and use the character as one sees fit ? Beats me, I am not a lawyer.

But reading upon this news brought back memories. And a bit of time travel. You see, the Tintin comics were the first real cartoon/comic books I read. Uptil that point I only ever read the cartoons published in Indian newspapers. Most of which were political, although the Hindu published syndicated cartoons/comics from the West : Tarzan, Spiderman etc.

The school I used to attend to, one day finally decided to get brand new books; and these reignited my  love of reading. The complete works of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, many other thrillers and non-fictions, and the World Encyclopedia (remember those). It was the time before accessible , cheap internet, so folks had to find their stuff offline the hard way.

But among the acquisitions, was the complete color publication of The Tintin comics. This was soon to prove a famous among the school students. The simple, dark lines and many colors, and the humour from 60 years prior just resonated. Tintin , the young 20s something lad always found a way to travel around the world with his little dog, without having to answer questions at passport control, or booking a separate seat for his dog ! The Tintin world was a simplified but still rich snapshot in time.

My favourite book (maybe for most) was of course the Unicorn-Rackham works. Author George Remi, more famously known as Herge, found a way to get some time travel within the storyline. In the first book, the timeline shifts from the 1920s to 1670s, when captain Haddock recounts the travels of his ancestor, who was supposedly a capable captain in King Charles II's navy, the English navy. It features pirates, and wooden ships, and classic cutlass fights. I suppose pirates and sail ships have always stirred the imagination of the young reader. And of course: treasure. Cutting back to current times, the trio (musn't forget Snowy) decide to hunt for pirate Red Rackham's sunken treasure.

I came home and started reading and playing the story to my kid. And the little one got hooked.  There was a plethora of questions about pirates and life at sea at the time ; questions I was not really prepared for. 

"What's the larboard  ?"

"What's the booty?"

"Gunpowder?"

Man of man..the questions kept on coming. I had no choice but to bring in more books & movies on the topic.

We end up watching the live animated movie by Spielberg, after having watched the animations from the 90s.

..fast forward 2 days, we were now watching Treasure Island, the 1990 version starring a young Christian Bale as Hawkins.

The movie was fun but attracted more questions. Hawkins was clearly too young to be serving in a place like that, but times were different. And how does the treasure finding work ? Is it always "finders, keepers" ? Not in the real world, but law is different in adventure fiction.

Coming back to Tintin, it was fascinating reading how teachers were using the comics to teach world history. There is something about the clear drawings, and the colorful and caricaturized characters, the colorful, but still child-safe language, and references to all the cultures and countries depicted: someone actually took time and effort to work on them, and it is clearly visible. There are memes, and ai generated content ..etc..Tintin will live on in imagination and on the internet forever.

And that was quite a rabbit hole.

Optimistically nostalgic

Quarantine makes you do funny things. Lately, I have been feeling nostalgic , more  than usual. I think it is a collective phenomenon, I have been seen more posts on Twitter and facebook about others also on a nostalgic memory trip. It is clear now that we live in a much more complicated world today, and we all yearn to live in a little more simpler times.

There is no denying it, the 90s was the best decade to live in India. Especially late 90s, and early 2000s, the transition to the new century and new millennium. We made such a big hype and hoopla about it, the move into the new millennium. Year 2000 was supposed to usher in the futuristic years, it had a certain ring to it, and it promised changes, and a better life. As kids, we loved all of this, a phenomenon that only occurs once in a thousand years. We are gen-x, and we would grow up and shape the coming decades. There was so much optimism in the air back then.

Not that it did not happen, it did. Changes did come, and life did get better, for most of us. But it also became faster. Without realizing it, we ushered in a new decade of being late, of getting busier. Despite all the technological advancements, people are always in a hurry, to get to places, to get more work done in the same 24 hour period. And that , for me is the big irony of the internet age.

Reminds me of that poem , Leisure , by W H Davies.

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

 

And these are precisely the kind of things I used to do as a child. Walk and run in wide open spaces, looking at sheep and cows, climb trees, smell the flowers. Enjoying the stars at night, listening to sounds of owls, crickets and frogs. I had a cycle, literally grew up on one, which I used to pedal everywhere. And had a bunch of friends to meet and hangout with almost everyday. By mid 90s, new channels started appearing on the TVs, and internet arrived by the late 90s. But these were all so expensive, and out of the budget of kids like ourselves. So we would go out to a café and send and email, but also meet the recipient later in the day, and tell them we had emailed them. So the next day, they would visit the café and read that email.

Waste of time ? Sure. Waste of money ? 100 %!! But it was fun. And we did all this knowing we needn’t worry too much about the future. A bright, and optimistic future where there would be no problems, and everyone was happy, and had time for each other. Something told us we could still enjoy the outdoors, and each other’s company well into our thirties. In fact, we all wanted to grow up so fast. Thirties was the age to be in !!

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The thirties suck. Unless you have a few good things to look forward to. Small pockets of joy to nurture yourself on, and small challenges to overcome. Watching movies about contagions is one thing, living through that hell is something far worse. The only thing one can have in these difficult time is hope.

If you can’t hope to go back, you can always hope for a better future.

 

 

 

Forrest Fenn's treasure

Its surprising what one can find online, when one has the time. I was ill for a day, and started going through youtube for things to keep my brain active. One thing lead to another, and I came across a video about Forrest Fenn's memoir and the treasure he has supposedly hidden in the rocky mountains of America. Also about the more than 350,000 people who have searched for the treasure so far, unsuccessfully.

I was hooked.

Now there is no way I could go up to those mountains in the US to look for the treasure, valued anywhere between 1 and 5 million USD. This story is remarkable in more than one way.

Forrest Fenn himself has an enviable career and past. He grew up near the mountains, and spent much of his childhood there, wandering the forests. He served in the air force, and travelled abroad on missions. Probably picked up some history while he was there. Retired, and became a collector, of all things, and setup an art gallery. How does one go from the airforce into art ? He earned his riches selling his art to Hollywood and the rich. There were cases registered against him for stolen art. He fought off cancer.

And he says his motive of hiding the treasure was to give people hope. And to get them outdoors, looking for the treasure.

Well, that definitely worked. Today, there are dozens of online groups and communities were enthusiasts meet and share information and their interpretation of the poem. What poem, you ask? Fenn left a poem in his memoir, which has 9 clues which leads to the exact spot the treasure is buried. The problem is, that poem itself can be interpreted in hundreds of ways, leading to thousands of spots across four states in the US. It all depends on one's local knowledge.

In the decade that followed his memoir, fans and treasure hunters have pestered and question him for more clues, a request he has till date denied. But he has maintained that all that one needs is the poem, a map, and a sandwich! Still, people go to great lengths to try and decipher the poem to some place off the beaten track.

Some people have already died.

While Fenn himself has accepted that a few have got to 200 feet of the treasure.

Its fun to see people using new gen technology, like google maps and google earth to chart hidden pathways. Then using weather and elevation maps to cross reference points. Everyone is disappointed when their predictions fail, but they return with renewed energy. Some have even spent tens of thousands of their own money to find the treasure. But they still persist.

It’s a story of sheer determination, of being outdoors, of trekking in the wild. Treasure hunting ! Without a map. Solving clues, deciphering maps. The stuff of kids movies.

The hunt is still on.

Deluge.

Cold. And wet. Not the best of seasons, but the cities here are better equiped and designed against such extreme weathers. When the majority of the planet is suffering droughts, it is fortunate that it rains here.

One part of the city NOT designed for rains is…the public transport. Specially the trains. Today morning too, there are cancellations and breakdowns, and thousands of commuters are stuck on the way.

Surprisingly, one of the best places online to keep upto date on Victoria's public transport system is Daniel Bowen's twitter feed.

Great quote: "Interchanging is a transport planner's dream, but a passenger's nightmare.

A few more months of this and the sun will shine again.

Closing thoughts: Here is the corrected map of Australia.

DST woes

Woke up too early today. Or thats what I thought. The clock shows 6:30 am.

But the phone says its only 5:30 am.

DST is off !

Great, so we now have one extra hour in the day.

Wondering what to do with it .

Maybe I can go back to sleep.

Annual Appraisal

 

My annual appraisal. Every year.

Ideas that won’t work in India - Free outdoor movies

Sometimes, a little outside perspective works. Specially if it is you are having the perspective change, instead of someone else giving it to you. When one travels to foreign countires, one sees ideas, projects and movements being executed so flawlessly, one wonders how and why didn’t we think of them in our place ?

I saw some Melburnians organizing and executing one such little idea here this summer. The Govt of Victoria, in collaboration with local partners, decided to put on a show for the people .  A real show. A movie. Movies itself is nothing new to Indians, but here are the key words which set the event apart.

Outdoor. And Free.

Instead of charging upfront and limiting entry, they organize the show outdoors under the summer sky. And keep it free. People have to bring their own blankets, food , and whomever they want, and dogs too. Of course there will be popcorn and drinks stall, but the idea is to get people to bring whatever they want to enjoy the evening.

This is another one of those things people here get around easily. People bring in their blankets and picnic boxes, some even bean bags and pillows. The venue is easily reachable via public transport, so most of them just walk in, but lots of cycles and skateboards and scooters were visible. So many ways to get around !

The show would start after sunset, so there  was enough time to get your favourite place. And although the event was free, they were considerate enough to provide portable public restrooms.

The movie I went to was Black Panther. I had seen it. But it was fun seeing it again in a community. All those little families sitting together in circles and groups, with their pets. Everyone brought their favourite food, lots of picnics !

It reminded me of that bioscope cinema scene of that movie, Swades. The act of meeting and attending socially was more fun than the movie itself. I am sure people would not have minded paying for the event. But keeping the venue open and free just made it that much more fun !

Australia’s public barbeques

 

In case you missed the signs so far, Australia loves its barbeques. Although the origin of barbequing is credited to other countries, no other country does it better than Australia. These guys love their slow cooked meat, so much that the government provides free outdoor grills for people to use. Well most are free, some are coin operated. They run on electricity, and are easy to use, and very popular with the crowd.

One of those things you don’t see in India. Or in most other countries, for that matter. There are websites to search for public barbeques, and there are lists curating the best places to bbq. Most of them are near beaches on protected forests.

There is something about cooking your own food at a public area. I guess its the earthiness of it all, cooking fresh food with good views to soak in. It is a great way to hangout with family and friends. We went BBQing again this weekend, and though we are seasone experts in the area, the experience continues to surprise me.

The earliest images of public park barbecues (as opposed to those in national parks) in the State Library are from Brush Farm in May 1976, at about the time Warringah council, among others, began investing heavily in its barbecues, creating a competitive asset with relatively little effort, says Caroline Ford, author of Sydney Beaches: A History. Like Randwick's clearing of Coogee beach in 1859, councils have always seen their public spaces as avenues to boost the local economy.

An attachment with a long history, our fondness for a meal cooked outdoors speaks of deep Australian connections between nature and culture. Nineteenth century stock workers, travelling, camping and yarning around a nightly campfire, are oft-touted as the origins of our barbecue culture, but that is a convenient, if romantic, story we like to tell ourselves, says Richard White, historian and author. Still, he says, imagined connections to a bush or even prehistoric past give us all a break from modern living - albeit in safely contained primitive experiences on regulated "fires" in places where our ancestors would never have made camp. Add the outdoor cooking-friendly climate, a fear of bush fires, an awareness of protecting the environment and a deep sense of shared ownership of beaches and their parks - not to mention a palate that has largely been shaped by the abundance of cheap, good meat - and formalised, taxpayer-funded barbecues make reasonable, if privileged, sense. But perhaps the most important factor in their popularity is the very element that makes the idea of the "Australian barbecue" hard to pin down. Post-World War II immigrants, mostly southern European, did more for normalising alfresco cooking and eating than swag men ever did.

So the next time you want to hangout, and have no place to go, head to the nearest public BBQ. Just remember to clean up properly after you are done, for the next guys in line. And thank the country for providing this extra-ordinary service. Its truly a national treasure.

 

 

What was before USB ?

 

 

I recently had to upgrade to USB Type C. Due to a new phone. Which got me thinking, we are already at type C ? I feel it was only yesterday that computer users started adopting USB standard in the first place. So what was before  USB ?

 

Well, someone already made a video about it.

 

Portarlington Trip

 

Have you heard of Portarlington ? Its a little coastal township in the Port of Phillip Bay, right at the entrance to the sea.  A short ferry ride away from Docklands, Melbourne, the place has amazing views of the bay, and is the perfect place for a short holiday. It reminded me of those picturesque British coastlines often seen in movies. A village by the sea. And thats where we went for a holiday during a long weekend.

 

 

Hiked the 1.3 km Rambler’s walk. Best part is that all the attractions are within walking distance of the port, and we saw a lot of visitors walking and cycling across the coasts. What continues to surprise me is that these idyllic holiday points are within a few hours travel from the city, yet the place itself is like stuck in time. It looks and feels as if one has gone back in time to a quieter , calmer time.

Tourists, mostly families visit the place in groups, yet they are mindful of the cleanliness of the place. There is no rubbish on the ground, and no crowds rushing in a hurry. The vehicles drive slowly, giving way to hikers and cyclists, and children have a blast in the children’s park. There are public grilling areas free for use, people can bring in the foods they want to cook and eat. And everyone is expected to clean up afterwards. There are affordable eateries across the street, nothing is over priced.It is a historic town, and they do have their own museums and churches to show. But there is no graffitti defacing public property.  The free restrooms are clean, and there are fountains providing drinking water.

 

We in India still have centuries to go before we can reach this level of maturity. And love for nature, things old and new.

Summer’s back !

 

Something funny happened this week. It got hot. Temperature went about 20 degrees ! That means, summer is back ! Also rained ! Through the night. Just the way it should be.

I am still getting used to reverse climate trend here in Australia. Its like an exclusive club, the rest of the world are missing out on .

So here’s to summer holiday !

 

One more revolution

 

 

 

Ariyamo ?

Fallout was exhausting. In a good way.

Caught the latest instalment of the Mission Impossible movie series at a cinema in Melbourne.  With new death defying stunts and editing, this is without and doubt the most impossible one of the series. There is so much action in it that it was just exhausting watching Cruize do all his stunts. In a good way. Did I mention he is 56 ?

This is only the second MI movie I have watched in a cinema. The first one was MI2, back when John Woo's style of slow motion action-choreography was all the rage. For fallout, they have chosen very fast, sometimes sped-up action, in bright lights. Its nice to see every director bring his own style to the franchise, but of course, in the MI series, it is not the director who is the star. It is the star himself.

Mission Impossible: Fallout is a testament to the miracle that is Tom Cruise Cruise is among Hollywood's last surviving superstars. And yet look at what this man is willing to endure to entertain us. He jumps from helicopters, fights hand to hand and rides bikes against the traffic without a helmet. Side note: The last one is not really an unbelievable stunt because it is very common in India. I have done it occasionally, on short stretches. :) The movie also features a now staple sequence of the famous Tom Cruize run, where he covers miles in a few minutes, running through cars and jumping from buildings. But sadly, there was no wire-drop sequence. That climax which involves sticking bombs helicopters and snowy mountain clips is so suspenseful.

But what kept distracting me constantly was watching Tom do the stunts. I remember speaking multiple times to myself that he is actually doing it himself ! I could visualize the protective wires from which he dangled, and how certain sequences were sped up to make it seem impossible. It sometimes annoying how these thoughts creep up, distracting one from watching the scenes on screen.

There's also Henry Cavill showing us that he can do more than just be Superman. I hear they had to digitally remove his moustache from his scenes in Justice League, and that might have contributed to that movies debacle. Its good to see that his acting and his moustache was justified in Fallout.

Fallout also has a lot of emotionally relevant scenes, where Ethan’s personal life from the previous movies is woven into the narrative. I felt and found it too…what’s the term…filmy. Having grown up on diet of rubbish Bollywood action movies, I could not digest it a big budget Hollywood production. What, the villain wants revenge, so he brings Hunt’s ex-wife to the location of the final bombing? So that he can personally destroy Hunt emotionally ?  Bah! Humbug!!. I found Luther’s exposition particularly cheesy, the one where he says Hunt only cared about two women in his life. Oh yeah ? What about Nyah from the second movie, who he definitely falls for ?  The point of that storyline was to remind the audience that Hunt was still human, and has his own problems, balancing personal and professional life. But, it was way to cheesy. Tom really cannot play such emotional scenes so close to the camera.

Also, is Hunt and his team the only member’s of the IMF ? We have seen six movies so far, and Hunt was disavowed in half of them. In the last 3, there was no other agent or team sent on a mission. They need to address the question of how big of an organization the IMF really is.

And why was Alec Baldwin’s character killed ? Such a fine actor.

And the final sequence of the movie is in Kashmir, India ? But there is not even a single India/Pakistani character/actor anywhere in the entire movie. All those scenes were shot in New Zealand, because they could not get permission to shoot in India.

Also, that scene from the trailer where he ramps a truck into another truck on what appears as an Indian road, that’s not in the movie. Minor offence.

At times the dialogues in the movie reminded me of my experiences from my own profession! Hunt improvises a lot, like we do in software projects, hehe. Wink, wink. When he says “I am working on it”, or “yet to figure that out”, I felt it was just how an Indian software company executes projects :)

Fallout deserves praise in every department. Its nice to see a franchise still holding strong, adding something new , while still retaining what made the original such a hit.

The 21st Football-Acting Games

The Football-acting games is slowly and thankfully winding to its end. And what a spectacular show it was. Some of the best actors from international football teams have put up show a show, they leave actual actors in the dust ! As some might have expected, the top teams, the sure-shot winners have all been knocked out. And out there playing is a new breed of younger actors at the height of their games.

And I still don't get what the fuss is all about. For decades now, its not about how many goals a team can score. But how easily they can convince the referee of a foul play by the opposing team. How easily they can get a free-kick. Or a penalty strike. I am not a fan of the sport, but it has been hard ignoring it since 1997, when Roberto Carlos took that so-famous and un-expected goal from a free kick, 35 metres away from the post. Players have since figured out that with the newer , rounder and lighter footballs, it is better to just control it from a free kick and guide it into the box, then actually sweating it out on the field. Its a game of physics. And acting.

And while India is known for its movie industry, there seems to be a severe lack of actors on the field. While some actors have started playing cricket in the ICL, that is still cricket. India can only have a real shot at FIFA if they decide to take the acting games seriously, and focus on their craft (of acting), instead of actual sports. Or somehow come up with the money to host the games. You see, the host nation continue to receive and automatic berth.

Learn tumble diving from Neymar. Cry like Messi. And look good like that other Portugal player.

It was funny reading all the football analysis in leading Indian dailies. Young reporters giving sound advice like, this guy should have taken that side. The manager of that team chose the wrong midfielder. For a country which has never qualified for a FIFA cup, India sure has a lot of opinion about how masters should play their game.

But the games occasionally bring back memories. I was in college during the 2002 world cup. And got to observe the symptoms of football fever from close distance. The whole college was divided. Mainly into Argentina and Brazil fans. But also the occasional Portugal, or Germany fan. And as every evening, students would descend, without invitation, into homes of those who had television sets. Again, everybody had loud opinions. And it was the actors who won matches.  The dramatic dives would be laughed at during slow motion replays. How could the referee not call out that acting ?

We used to watch the match on grainy CRT televisions. It was summer, and hot and humid. And being Kerala, there were frequent power cuts. These usually resulted in a train of curses to the KSEB. There were no smart phones, so goals and movements were transmitted via short text messages to those who where travelling. I think there was some betting going on too, but I didn't see anyone losing money. After the matches, there were frequent replays, and excited news readers would relive the games through diction. And the next day, boy the next day, the newspaper would have a second round of explanation. With extra sheets for the games, football-watching-experts would dissect the match carefully, mansplaining how the match could not have ended any other way. Boys would get hold of different newspapers, and be sure to read every article essaying the matches. Sigh.

Now with only a few more games remaining, only the best actors/players are left in the game. The top contenders all being knocked out, it will be fun to watch rookies running the show. We Indians continue to watch it from the sidelines, as the greatest masters of the sport act it out.

I predict an England vs France final. :)

The BSBs are all grown up

Youtube just suggested me a new trending video, thought I would like it.

And I did. It was Jimmy Fallon and BSB performing 'I Want it that Way' with classroom toys.

I was instantly transported to the nineties again.

Over two decades later, the Backstreet Boys keep coming back. They are probably the only pop-artists from that era still releasing music and performing together, from what I hear, to sold out audiences. All grown up, with kids of their own, they can no longer be called a boy-band. It was a little painful for me watching the average 42 year olds dancing on stage. Still crying "babe, babe" into the mike like some teenager would do. But on the other hand, rock bands from the 70s are still peforming their best songs, so why not them.

In wise hindsight, its clear that they were more a product of rigorous marketing, than guys with actual talent. They could sing ,for sure. But they didn't have anything special in their voices. Somebody else wrote their songs. And somebody else produced the music. They just sang. What they had for them, was their looks. And that was what was marketed to the teenage audience of the time. I am sure everything from their costumes to make-up was planned and executed in advance. Each of the boys had a persona, a character they constantly played. Some of them played cute, while AJ and Kevin played and looked like mature ,bad guys. All the hats , and goggle and accessories, they were all part of that persona. Listening to their music, it was impossible to say who sang which part, because they all sounded the same. They played the characters of young boys in love, and that was the product.

But still, their songs have aged well, IMHO. Compared to the awful crap being released nowadays, BSB's music was slower and cleaner. It was designed for repeated radio play. This was before the internet hit us so strong, so people used to still buy music on CDs or listened to FM radio. Their music was also heavily pirated. I lost the pirated audio tape I had from their hit album Millenium. I used to wonder who in India would be sane enough to pay 125 rupees for an original disc of 7 songs, when music produced in India was selling for 30 to 50 rupees.

Over the years, I kept hearing of the band breaking up, someone going solo, but in the end they all stayed together. Some of their recent music has had a change of style ,and cannot compete with contemporary artists. A decade ago I had assumed they would disband in a few years and retire for good. And I think its high time they did retire, because again, they are  no longer boys. But it seems they still have an audience. We have aged along with them. And for us , who cannot digest conteporary hip-hop and dance music, BSB is the brand to follow.

I like it that way.

Trip to Phillip Island

 

Man, I’ve been busy. With all the work in office, calls and meetings and gym and yoga and what not, how many hours does one get for oneself ? I wonder how these Auzzies manage to do it. Now one of the reasons we had considered and decided to move here to Australia is to have fun. Enough of this ‘work yourself to death’ mentality they spread in India.  Have fun. See the world. Have some time for oneself.

So thanks to the Queen’s birthday, we got a long weekend to indulge in this time. Went on trip to Phillip island. Its a small part of the country, isolated in the sea, but now connected via bridge to Melbourne. The whole place is one big reservation basically.  Like a huge national park, for birds, animals. And maybe even trees. Theres hundreds of miles of coastline, beautifully preserved , clean of all those rubbish and eyesore usually seen on (Indian) beaches.  And the weather , don’t get me started on the weather. Even in the winter, the place gets a lot of sun, and its perfect for hiking ! Or in our case, lazily dragging feat through the sand.

The place is about 140 kms away from Melbourne, so under 2 hours of driving time. Tour operators run day services to the place, so no worries if you can’t drive. There are some hotels, but I think most people just stay on Airbnb if one needs to stay overnight. For some reason, there are huge surf shops, everyone is driving huge cars into the beach. There is a Koala reservation centre half way through, but all the one we saw were sleeping high in the trees. Also, they don’t let you hold and cuddle these creatures like they do in the zoo. The southern and western coasts of the island lie within the Phillip Island Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance in supporting significant populations of fairy penguins, short-tailed shearwaters and Pacific gulls. In addition, there is a wildlife park where wallabies and kangaroos roam freely amongst the visitors and can be fed by hand. Seal Rocks, at the western end of the island, hosts the largest colony of fur seals in Australia (up to 16,000). In recent years, other than local population of critically endangered endemic Burrunan dolphins or migratory killer whales, southern right whales and humpback whales are starting to show recoveries in the area long after commercial and illegal hunts by the Soviet Union with the help of Japan in 1970s, and the numbers using the area as nursery are growing rapidly, allowing a rise in hopes to establish commercial whale watching activities in the vicinity of the island.

But the real highlight of the place is the penguin parade. Every evening, a bunch of ~1000 penguins waddle up from the deep blue ocean, into their burrows on the island. They have been continusly studied since the sixties, so by now, they are used to being stared at. Again, they can’t be watched from close quarters, due to it being in the evening, and because the burrow area is restricted to visitors. It is amazing how the staff have taken care not to disturb these gentle creatures in any way, opting to let them enjoy life in the wide open.

We also went trekking to Pinnacles, its a 2 hour return hike at the southern most tip of the island. Blue, pristine waters. High in the air on the cliffs. The feeling cannot be easily explained.

Again, the way these sites have been preserved it astonishing. Auzzies really know mother nature, and have steps in place to preservce ancient sites like these. And visitors happily comply. Most of the hiking areas and beaches are free, and see millions of tourists annually. But there was no litter to be seen on the beach. Neither in the water. With only a few sign boards asking visitors to keep the place clean, they have managed to enforce a cleanliness lockdown.

 

Happy to have moved here. And there are still more places to explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Lounges at Melbourne T2 !

 

For a long time, the tourist city of Melbourne was notorius for not having a general access lounge in its international terminal (or even domestic, for that matter.) except those for business class travellers. Well starting April 2018, they have opened multiple new lounges, and one by Plaza Premium. Looks to me they actually rearranged the ones they actually had, the AMEX lounge in T2 is now Plaza Premium.

Its a little watered down than what is generally expected from PP. But theres also another AMEX, apart from Etihad and Emirates lounges. They are all conveniently housed one level down from the international departure gates. With a selected range of foods, an open bar, and juices, they are visibly focussing on larger population of travellers. There were four dishes on offer, apart from the salad and cold cuts, and coffee and snacks. But if you walk through the path to the restrooms, you enter another section equally spacious, and with an identical buffet.

There are enough charging pods and wifi for everyone !

 

 

 

Happy Journey !

Reading the Martian, and book experiments

 

I’ve been travelling in Sydney trains for a few months now. I spend about 40 mins travelling one way, so its more than an hour of commute each day. Though the distances covered is larger than those I covered in Bangalore in the same time, or any Indian city, I would venture. And good thing about my commute, there are always seats ! Even during the rush hour, you could find seats to slid into. So I figured the best way to spend time on these commutes would be to listen to podcasts, or just read a plain old book when the batteries die down.

I’ve been also running a crazy experiment of sorts. After I finish reading a book, I leave it on the seat. There. Abandoned. For the next commuter on that seat. You see, the building I live in has a library of abandoned books. Books which their owners throw out when its too much cargo when they move out. So its a free library ! I’ve read and left about four books on the trains so far. Just finished reading Andy Weir’s The Martian. This novel was turned into the hit 2015 movie by Ridley Scott. The movie was Ridley’s best work in this decade, in between all those Alien duds.

I could see why the book was a hit, its a story of survival in the harshest conditions. Its a fight against nature, and the cosmos itself. Its a story of the whole earth uniting to save one man stranded on a distant planet. But I also could not see why the book was such a hit. Its nerdy. Its full of long jargon, longer, meticulus calculations, and technological exposition. Engineers and scientists would love this kind of thing, but anybody else would find it..hmm…boring. Repititive.

I didn’t !

I loved it. Most of it. But then even I got bored of all those calculations, error variance, and best estimates. There is a lot more of the story happening in the book, which got cut out of the movie. And that was good, because there is no way a 2 hour movie could capture this much techno-babble.

We all know what happened to the stranded fictional astronaut Mark Watney. He is eventually rescured after 500 days alone on planet Mars. But the book goes into great detail to explain all the problems he and the NASA team faced along the way. There is a journal entry for most of the 561 sols he spend on the planet. There are other subplots not discussed in the movie.

Like the incident during the drilling of the second rover’s rood. Mark accidently shorts out the electronics on the pathfinder, and loses his ability to communicate with earth.  This is not shown in the movie. But in the book, Mark has no choice but communicate one way using stones arranged in morse code on the route he follows across Mars.

Or when the rover tumbles into the crater.

But I still had questions, which I hoped would be answere in the books, but was left disspointed.

For starters, Mark is extermely optimistic. Like, he is the most optimistic literary character I have read till date. He beats Robinson Crusoe hands down. Its unnatural , the guy simply does not give up. He does talk to himself a lot, but he voices his optimism clearly. I wanted to know the why he was so. Wanted to know about his childhood, his college days. Was he in the forces ? Does he belive in a god ? What pulls him to earth ? Was it his family ? Speaking of family, neither the book nor the movie tries to shed light, what kind of family did he grow up in ? Does he have siblings ? A girlfriend ? His best friend ?

Another question, this is more of a tease. The story mentions that Mark travels more than 3oo days travelling across Mars in rovers. He was carrying all the equipment to keep him alive, but he was not carryin a porta-toilet or something. So, where did he poop ? How ? And how did he cook the food he brought along ?

But what I find most astonishing is the passage of time. 500 days is almost 2 years. He spends a lof of that time travelling, and completing all sorts of tasks. Its easy to say 100 days of travel. But Mars has a barren crust, its the same shade of red everywhere. 100 days of travelling through it is not at all easy, with no one to talk to, and having to be alert all the time. At some point, one will at least think of giving it all up. But not Mark.

Anyway, despite all of this, the book is still a good read. The epilogue in the movie is missing in the book. It ends with Mark’s rescue from the planet. Science, technology, humany ingenuity and persistence, this is what the story is about.

Now that I finished reading it, I am going to leave it on the train tomorrow. For someone else to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter in the city

Brrr…Chilling out there. Today the whole city was covered in a thick layer of mist. Only the bottom few storeys of each high-rise was visible. Checked the temperature; 5 degrees! Haven't seen these temperatures outside for the last...well..many years. That was when I was in Europe, where it went below zero in the winter. 5 degrees is what they call spring time. I started recalling the tricks we used to use during those frigid European winters, heaters on, warm fluids. Even the fill-the-warm-water-bottle-under-bed hack.

It is good to be away from the heat, though we still do get some sun, but its not that harsh. That was really missing in Europe, the winters there are long and dark. Even at peak noon, the sky just turns a little light blue. And for the rest of the day, it remains dark. Street lights are on all day. In office all the blinds were down, otherwise you just wouldn't feel like working. I used to carry a torch to use near my apartments back then.

So this is what a Melbourne winter feels like. I think I am going to enjoy the next few months.

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