Bye Bye Blogspot

Moved this blog to my own domain - http://talonx.deepinspace.net/. My tech blog was already there - http://code.deepinspace.net. Have imported all Blogger posts there.

Running Plan 2010

Have been following a getting-back-to-running-and-beyond plan for this year. Here it is
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tYddwvThoWTS_-E-lo2iNCQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html

It does not include the details, just the outline. The initial months are the toughest, and the most fun. That's when you have to go slow to build your aerobic base (A nice writeup on aerobic base building is here). The Garmin Forerunner 305 I bought recently has been helpful in this - beeping faithfully whenever I cross 155 bpm. This is also fun since the runs are slow and easy, and you don't feel worn out or breathless even on the long ones

I've found http://www.dailymile.com/ to be a good site to track progress. It does not have many features like other running log sites, but I like its look and ease of use. And it has Garmin integration.

Yes, I am back to running.

Running is primal.
Running is elemental.


Running is Tiring.
Running is Exhilarating.

Running is Painful.
Running is Ecstasy.

Running Makes you float.
Running is Part of your being.

Running is Pounding your body.
Running is Controlling your mind.

Running is Getting sweaty and filthy and covered in salt.
Running is Cleansing.

Running is A Solo effort.
Running is Dissolving yourself in the cheers of the crowd at the marathon.

Book Review: River of Gods

Another guest post at pustakam - http://pustakam.net/?p=1864. This is a book I had bought some years back and finally got around to reading.

I finally watched the new Star Trek movie last Saturday.

These were my expectations

• Less comic relief
  
• Less Hollywood 'science' and heroics
• Something along the standards of what Christopher Nolan did in The Dark Knight

I was expecting too much. The less said the better, but these were the things that jarred me (bulletpointing makes things clearer and more concise, so)

• A Turbo lift where buttons are pressed (whatever happened to the voice commands?)
• Tricorders that look like extra-slim cellphones. This is accentuated when the crew start speaking into the tricorder instead of doing the comm-badge-slap-and-speak thing.
• The new look comm badges. They do not look sleek. They look like misshapen blobs when seen from any distance greater than 30 cms.

This is what Carl Sagan had to say about Star Trek (in Broca's Brain) -

'In a future in which interstellar travel is common, the ships officers are embarrassingly Anglo-American.'

This is no longer the case with recent series and this movie, but the latter gets a thumbs down as far as female portrayal is concerned. The sole role of Lt. Uhura in this movie seems to be to fulfill the hot chick routine and kiss Spock from time to time.

Come to think of it, the only Star Trek series starring a female captain is ST:Voyager.

Overall, a distinctly odd Trekexperience.

My first guest post

My first guest post on another blog -

http://pustakam.net/?p=1021

It's a popular blog about books and bibliophiles - mostly written in Telugu, but sometimes in English also.

An untitled post.

I just realized that I buy very little science fiction these days, and read even less. Whatever I buy now are books I really want (rather than buy it because 'it's there' and going for a discount!). These are mostly authors like Gibson, Neal Asher, Robert Reed and the rising wave of Indian sf in English represented by works such as Priya Sarukkai Chabria's Generation 14 and Manjula Padmanabhan's Escape. The reason I read less sf is because I read other stuff more now, and there are only 24 hours in a day. I am rereading some of my favourite sf classics, and will probably write about them sometime.

Listened to an audiobook called 'Letting Go of God' by the delightful Julia Sweeney. It's also a TED lecture and available on Google video. She is simple, straightforward, sincere and a joy to listen to as she recounts her early religious upbringing and the events that led her to realize that there is no evidence for a creator, and no need for one.

On the running front, the ITBS is better. As I read that post now, I can't help but laugh at myself. 6 days to fix ITBS? :)). Got diagnosed with a stress fracture last week though, on my left leg, which will take atleast 2 months to heal. Of course - no running till then.

Tagged

It has been almost a month since my friend Arvind Mishra, an sf writer, tagged me in this post.

The meme is to choose ten sf books of your choice and just scribble down the fifth sentence on page 56 of all of them and then invite your friends in turn to guess the books where these extracts are selected from. And then declare the answers. (You can choose non-sf books also, but I have chosen only sf - these are among my most well-liked sf works of all time).

Warning : Answers are just below the list.

Here goes (some of the sentences are really vague!)

1. With a little skill and care there were few items that could not be tackled safely; the only things banned were hot soups and excessively crumbly pastries.

2. "If this is true, then the Straumers may have a chance."

3. The nervousness that Stormgren had first felt had long since passed away.

4. "I do not quite follow you."

5. "What?", Lvov tried to focus."

6. Their clothes were not particularly revealing, he noted regretfully, and not one had any sign of décolleté, although some dresses seemed to designed to emphasize the buttocks.

7. A quick punch was all it took.

8. "I helped to do it, even."

9. "This way is much better," Leroux said, touching her skin delicately, poking under her cheeks and chin, pulling back her hair to feel her temples.

10. "But that's the point: it's not right, Captain," Renner protested.

......
......
......
......
......

Answers:

1. 2001 A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
2. A Fire upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
3. Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
4. Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
5. Vacuum Diagrams - Stephen Baxter (Short story - Gossamer)
6. Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov
7. Grass - Sherri S. Tepper
8. Distraction - Bruce Sterling
9. The Collected Stories of Greg Bear - Greg Bear (Short story - Sisters)
10. The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Healing

I want to share a link on why running the Pune international marathon is not a good idea - the author of the original message never says that, but I am saying it based on what he has mentioned.

http://groups.google.com/group/runnersforlife-bangalore/browse_thread/thread/6f78e943a7618f60#

I am undergoing physiotherapy sessions for my shin splint. My target of running 3 half marathons in a month is still unfulfilled, but the glow in which I was after finishing the Ultra is still there. Doctor's orders now are not to run for atleast 6 weeks, and after that "let's see".

It's only ice packs, lower leg exercises, foam rollers now. Feeling the goose pimples while watching running movies. Digging out distance running videos on Youtube. And waiting for the day when I can lace up my running shoes again.

Somebody said the best cure for running injuries is patience.

To Run Or Not To Run

My running season this year started with the Delhi Half Marathon. It was almost sabotaged by a viral infection. I was on antibiotics till the day of the run. But by then I was feeling much better thanks to the ENT specialist I paid a visit to. Nothing like getting advice from your doctor to 'definitely carry on running'. He wished me luck for the run, which boosted my morale a lot. I'm sure runners who have not been able to run due to injury or illness know what I mean. The weeks before that were sort of depressing, with uncertainty nagging at every point. I was not able to train for a couple of weeks.

The Delhi run went well. I clocked 02:11:28, my best time for 21k. One week after that I had the Bangalore Ultra Marathon. It had 25/50/75/100k editions, and more if you want to run. Yes, it was not the usual marathon (we have so less of them in India). Organized by Runners for Life, it was the most perfectly managed running event I have been in till now. The reason? The organizers were runners themselves. Unlike Mumbai (which is still the best organized among the 'normal' marathons in India) and Delhi, the focus was on runners' needs and fun rather than media attention and keeping the sponsors happy. The RFL guys really understand what running is about. I had a lot of fun, plus it was my longest run till date. I registered for the 25k, and ended up changing it to 50k. I did complete 50k, although I had to completely walk the last lap of 12.5k due to knee pain. Still, 50k - Whoo! The distance is still unfathomable for me. I cannot visualize it like I can for 21 (which is essentially 2 rounds around the Hussain Sagar lake, plus 2 k).

The target this month was (and still is) to complete 3 half marathons. One of them is over, one of turned out to be more, and the last one is next Sunday, here in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad 21k is still not very well organized even after all these years - but I hope this time they will do better. It's like running in your own backyard, so I'm not much bothered.

My problems started today when I went for a run in the morning to see how much I have healed post-Ultra. After 2k both my knees started paining to the point where I had to stop. It was not the usual kneecap pain - it was lateral - along the side of the knee. Some research later, it seems that I have another common running injury - ITBS - Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Have been trying out ice packs and some recommended stretching exercises. Let's see if it gets better in the 6 days left for the half marathon. If it doesn't, well, :(

My mantra right now is a marathon runner's words - Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. (Haruki Murakami quotes this in his book 'What I talk about when I talk about Running'.)

Morgen Ramble

It's 0903 hours, and the morning's still surprisingly quiet. I'm trying to get some things done before the mindless noise and pollution of Diwali starts hitting the senses. I've been nursing a viral infection for a week now, the worst effect of it being me not being able to run with 2 half marathons scheduled just 10 days from now. The old bod's going to be under some strain getting up to speed. Today morning I am feeling much better, but some new viruses have apparently decided to settle in and give me a runny nose. Considering the thumb rule that it's ok to run if the illness is above the neck, that's an improvement.

If you're into running, and in India, check this out -
http://www.runnersforlife.com/

Update : Paid a visit to an ENT specialist, which resulted in another lineup of antibiotics. He also gave me explicit permission to run (Yay! not that I would not have run anyway), provided it's not in the fog :D

On rewatching a movie

Every time you watch a seminal movie you have watched earlier, the experience is different. You already know what's coming in a particular scene. That gives you the liberty of focusing on things you never noticed in the earlier viewings.
You finally understand that mumbled dialogue.
You finally see how much attention has been paid to detail in the story. And how much attention has been paid to rendering that detail in the movie.
Or you can just focus on the soundtrack, and notice how it complements the story. Keeps the script on its toes.
You can savour the scenes you like again and again. Brace yourself for the thrill.
You can look forward to feeling the goose pimples again as he gets ready to jump from a Hong Kong highrise, and soar like a, yes, bat.
:D

Seminal (adj): Containing seeds of later development.
That's what it promises.

I won't write a review. I am sure there are a lot of them out there. I would suggest you read Samit Basu's thoughts for a wider perspective.

I just watched The Dark Knight.
.

Wondering about stuff

You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment - Anne Dillard.

Anne Dillard is an American writer. This is the first time that I had heard of her, when I came across the above quote in this blog entry about how to write well.

Here are a few things that have made me wonder recently. Not astonished or feeling the sense of wonder that any SF reader would feel, but plain wondering about something. I feel that Anne Dillard meant it in the former sense.

• The paper coffee cups in my office have the following printed on the bottom - 'Empty Cup' manufactured by 'Imaginative Flexipacks Ltd, New Delhi'. Why make it explicit that the contents of the cup are not the cup maker's responsibility? So that no liabilities arise for him if the content in the cup is undrinkable? But what if hot coffee spills on your lap - whose fault is it then, yours or 'Imaginative Flexipacks' for not making the cup spill proof?
  

• I got a Holi ecard from a person whose acquaintance I had made over the internet some weeks back. He happens to be a good science fiction writer, among other things. The text on the ecard was this -
  
  May your life be coloured with the colours of joy, friendship, fun, love and happiness.
  

Its true not only for this card, but when you read these words after removing all biases like 'Yes I've seen this before, its a cliche', and really see what the words mean, its a completely different and wonderful realization. No I am not getting old and sentimental.

• Nicholas Boothman, in his book How to Make People like you in 90 Seconds or Less, says that parents the world over hold their child in the same position - on the crook of their left arm, and the right hand covering the child, holding it close to one's heart, which is supposedly on the left side of the body. I wonder what left handed parents do?

Indian SF stories

Dr. Arvind Mishra writes about the first SF stories in India.

It would be a good idea to construct a timeline for this subject. A database that would have a comprehensive list of such stories in regional Indian languages for those early years. Articles get published every now and then on this - it would be great if the data in them could be aggregated.

The Man from Earth

Why is the movie 'The Man from Earth' named liked it is? If you can figure it out after watching it you are smarter than I am.

It is about a university professor who claims to be 14000 years old, practically immortal. The movie picks up when he's about to leave his job for another so that people don't start wondering why he does not grow old. The rest of the movie is made up of the conversation between him and his colleagues at his farewell party.

There is no passion, no great revelations, a cliched view of world history, a single attempt at jolting Christian audiences. It's a very short movie. Not in length but in content. Minimalist is the word.

I liked K-Pax better. If you're thinking what these two movies have in common, it's the nature of the ending.

Book Fair acquisitions

Picked up the following at the annual Hyderabad Book Fair -

• The Penguin History of Early India - Romila Thapar
  
• Indian Muslims - Where have they gone wrong? - Rafiq Zakaria
• Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
• Mostly Magic - A collection of children's stories - yet another of those books which you have to buy just because they are so beautifully made.
• Batman - Knightfall - Dennis O'Neil
• The John Varley Reader
• DAW 30th Anniversary Science Fiction anthology
• Early Novels in India - Meenakshi Mukherjee
• Intersections - The Sycamore Hill (SF) Anthology
• The Martian Tales Trilogy - Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Mind Map Book - Tom and Barry Buzan
• Asimov's New Guide to Science
• India : Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan
• India by Al-Biruni - Ed Qeyamuddin Ahmed

Fruitful visits, I would say :D.

After watching Star Trek Voyager Seasons 1 - 4 continously over a period of weeks...

...I've decided that the album I'm going to release if I ever become a DJ would have tracks with the following names

• Energize!
• How do you know that? We Are Borg!
• Akuchi Moya - the midnight remix
• Warp 8, Mr Paris.
• Modular bipolar cellular protobionic alphanumeric hemispherical cortical encapsulator. In other words, your head.
• M-Class (M-Class, M-Class, M-Class goes the chorus)
  
• Ridged forehead fetish
  

Indian Science Fiction, this week

To start with, the Indian Association of Science Fiction Studies' annual conference starts tomorrow, 9th and goes on to the next day 10th, in Pondicherry, India.

Tehelka has a story on Indian science fiction in regional languages. The same issue also mentions writer Vandana Singh's upcoming book, The Woman Who Thought She was a Planet.

A snippet from the UK Times Online where Brian Aldiss shares a little bit of history explaining why Salman Rushdie's Grimus was withdrawn from the nominations for a science fiction award (which one, I wonder?).

Personally, I got a copy of an old Hindi movie called 'Wahan Ke Log'. The title literally translates as 'The People from There'. Haven't watched it yet, but the cover says 'Were they really from Mars?', complete with saucer shaped UFOs and a dial-and-button console.

All of you have a nice weekend, too.

Mindmapping Books

Mind Mapping is a visual modelling concept where related ideas and tasks are arranged around a central idea.

I often come across people talking about using mindmaps for the books they read. It makes more sense for non fiction books of course, and is a great way to summarize the book. The summarization can be done to any level of detail - the more fine grained you are, the more nodes your mind map will have.

I tried it on a book I read recently - Edward Luce's In Spite of the Gods. I did not have the patience to go to a very fine level of detail, so it's very very brief. Nevertheless, creating one is a good way to keep the central ideas of the book in focus.