Blue Hills Beckon

Welcome to "Blue Hills Beckon", basically a custard of technology, nature, and me.

The tempting sun

I won't say anything more to the title. As the last post of this month, I would like to sign off with two photographs which managed to grasp my attention enough that I was tempted to post it here.

Path once followed

I'm sorry to all my readers for I havn't made one good post in a long time. I mean I havn't really been writing from my heart these days, and let me tell you the reason, the truth.

Well, it may sound as an excuse but for the past one month, I've been overtly busy in my school work, tution work, mounting homework and rest of the junk work that bugs a 15 year old in Indian Schools(meaning endless studies).

So I would like to apologise for that. And yes, I will continue writing(obviously). But there's some good news. I'm working on a book. And in periodic installments, I plan to release parts of it, and hopefully there will be someone interested to read it once it completes, which might take some while.

The first glitter of the sun rays

- What NASA has to say about this eclipse is:

"On Wednesday, 2009 July 22, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the path crosses Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and curves southeast through the Pacific Ocean where the maximum duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean."


- Well, to watch the LIVE VIDEO STREAMING Online, here are the links:-

http://www.live-eclipse.org/

http://www.solar-eclipse-live.info/


The diamond ring


- For watching it with your own eyes, you'll need the timings which are:

Location

Start Time

End Time

Maximum Eclipse at

India

05:54

07:18:11

06:21:00

Bangladesh

05:59:16

08:04:39

06:58:14

Japan

09:55:39

12:30:19

11:13:00

Singapore

08:40:52

09:43:56

09:11:26

Indonesia

16:20:18

18:50:14

17:40:54

China

08:33:45

10:54:09

09:41:59


Source: http://www.techdreams.org/general/total-solar-eclipse-on-july-22nd-2009-%E2%80%93-the-most-powerful-eclipse-of-the-year-2009/2658-20090625

ENJOY!


Well, this is the first movie review I'm doing, and it starts with a good one too.

I'm sure all of you have read Harry Potter(who hasn't!). Well then you must have watched the movies too. And just to remind you, all of them were fantastic. Well, such isn't the case with the sixth installment in the Harry Potter movie series.

On the whole, the movie is quite disappointing as it leaves you craving for the inner aspects that made the original book by J.K. Rowling so famous. It lacks out on that front only, as on the effects, music and graphics side, it's outstanding. The acting was really good, especially the part where Harry was under the Felix Potion effect. Ron and Hermione were great. I presume many came just to watch her......

The one-liners were strong and managed to keep the crowd going. Overall, the movie gets a 3 and 1/2 star from me!

Help, I'll fall............

It's been quite a while since I've posted some really cool and not-seen-before pictures. Well, today's just that day. Up on the menu we have:

The Once-Upon-A-Time Room

Tuscany, heaven for eyes

The first picture is an excellent example of Macro-Photography taken in the Kaziranga. The others, well I got them from this months' ThinkDigit DVD which is an excellent tech-mag.

"All of us fall sick. And at such times, nothing can be more agonizing that your own body!"

I presume some of my readers must be wondering what have I been doing the past 10 days(I mean no post).

Very + Sorry = Please forgive me for that!

But the past few days havn't been good for me. I think some of you may also remember that I injured my hand very bad. Well that was external, now fate had some different trick up it's sleeve for me. It wanted me to taste something internal, literally.

Indeed it seems I have become "Minister for Disease" ain't it! This time, there's something wrong with my stomach. All hell broke loose when I woke up at 6am. After than I think I went to the toilet 9, no 10 times!

You might just be thinking if I have anything left in my body at all. Well, thankfully, I still can feel my weight, which seems to have gone down by several kilograms! But wait, I think there's still something left inside, and I feel it coming.....

I need to go.....again.....

Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No! It's a UFO!!

"Is it or isn't it? Look closely at these pictures and video to make up your own mind. But Denna Smith, a writer in the U.S., says she knows what she saw. She believes that the circle she caught on camera floating in the sky above the Kings Dominion theme park in Virginia is a space ship."

Apparently, Ms Smith, the one who took the video says that she believes what she saw and also, there is some ring of evidence that this is true.

Aliens watch out, we are looking

"Her video is similar to two other recorded incidents, he said - one from Florida in 1999, and one from Fort Belvoir, also in Virginia, in the 1950s."

Dear readers. This is a guest post by "Bill Hawthorne" who runs maacenter.org, a noble site dedicated to a nobler cause.

Green Living: Improving Health Today and Tomorrow

Much attention has been paid in recent years to what seems to be a growing environmental conscience in the United States. Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our….health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

How Does Environmental Policy Affect Public Health?

There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing Peritoneal mesothelioma (associated with asbestos exposure) and leukemia (traced to benzene and heavy-metal exposure). Dr. Valerie Rusch among many other doctors who specialize in this area understand that these are substances that can be directly traced to antiquated pre-regulation equipment in industries whose environmental hazards are even more inherent.

Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

--June 30, 2009 Written by Bill Hawthorne with the maacenter

http://maacenter.org

You! Stop staring at me!

Well, I think you all hate the heat(who doesn't). And if the temperatures soar to as high as 44C(yes, scream!!!), then it's hard not to complain and moan about it. Well, such was the weather in New Delhi, India for the past one month. But since yesterday, relief came to the rescue!

Yes, it rained cats and dogs(not literally) yesterday for nearly 20 minutes, good enough to make the mercury take a dive deep down in the thermometer.

Today, I have three more pictures to share. The first two are from Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India, while the third picture is something very cute that I stumbled upon when I was searching for pictures to put in my E.V.S. project!

I'd like to bestow the title - 'Lone shelter'

Catch me if you can!

The last picture is of a Ring-Tailed Lemur, which I stumbled upon while searching for pictures for my project. Turned out very fruitful didn't it!