Shuttle Atlantis - STS 132 last flight

Two days back I saw the Space shuttle Atlantis launch off for the last time. It was the grandest and most spectacular event i have ever seen in my life. What makes it even more special is i had the best seat that was possible for anybody from the public to have.

This is how i saw it from the place i was - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESk0mFt_-E4

Infact the view for me was better ,i had a Nikon binocular which had a 10-22X Zoom which i specifically purchased for this event and the shuttle was much larger in my view finder.

Being a Space Buff it had been a life long dream of mine to see a live shuttle launch and i FINALLY DID IT!!YooHooo... It was a glorious cloudless clear blue sky day with the best possible view and i simply could not have asked for anything better. I have got some spectacular launch shots(hey!! These are my best shots with my ability,i got lucky with my auto settings,love my D300) from my camera which i will post later on my Flickr link.


I feel like a million bucks!!

Grand slam on coon rapids

We had some fun over the weekend going to Grandslam.Here are a few videos of the same

Prani swinging a baseball bat and taking a few shots:




Prani dancing at the arcade parlor




Dashing cars



Me dancing

Margaret Moth

My photo links

I have travelled quite a bit in the last few months but had never taken the time to update the blog about the trips nor uploaded the photos.At least i have done one -Uploaded the photos.Once you enter the links there is small slideshow icon on the top which you can click for faster and better viewing.Definitely saves the hassle of clicking on each snap.

Ouray-Jan 2010-
I took an ice climbing trip to Ouray Colorado with Appu and Phil and had tremendous fun there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22540176@N02/sets/72157623442150886/

Puerto Rico -Nov 2009 - Did a 5 day puerto rico trip with Vinod and Athul and did a scuba certification. It was a fun trip with scuba diving,snorkelling,hiking in the rain forests,Ziplining in the forests,rapelling down waterfalls,getting stung by a jelly fish,the fantastic bio luminecence bay,the beautiful underwater marine life of the caribbean seas,a chartered plane just for us,mosquitoes,what not!!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/22540176@N02/sets/72157623563243784/

Yosemite -July 2009- This was last year with Jerku,Ramya and Appu. It was a total riot! Appu and myself climbed Half dome(up and down in like 8 hours),i had to climb with a sprained ankle which i had got while climbing mount hood a week before.Appu climbed 90% of the mountain because he was chasing to kill me as i had all the water.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22540176@N02/sets/72157623568039540/

Rainier It is..

(The ice chute on Kautz route -Photo plucked from IMG website)


My next climb is Rainier ..Kautz route - June 14-18, leave approved,got to intensify training.People say there is no such thing called over training for Rainier.This route is a more committed climb on mount rainier which stands at 14,411 feet.It will be a physical and mental hell fest.Would be interesting to put my ice climbing training in Ouray onto some real stuff and see how i would fare. 3 months to go!

Grief is a difficult emotion to handle.

10 Miles

I kinda owe this run to prashanth moorthy who happened to lend me water at 9.5 miles.I had to shout out to him for water halfway across the gym as i could feel myself getting dehydrated.He filled his entire bottle and gave it to me and said that i could return it the next day.Two sips of water did wonders for the last 0.5 miles.

I have realized that life is always directed by the pursuit of happiness and satisfaction.Thats the basic expectation from life.What happiness and satisfaction means is different for different people.

A video of quotes

Thanks to prani for pointing me to it.I dont know what quote would inspire you,but i sincerely hope atleast one does.

My favourite was

'You will never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore' - Columbus.

Failures

Sahale

I was searching for something and i accidentally came across this beautiful snap of mount sahale which Appu and myself climbed last september. The red line(you need to enlarge snap to see the line) shows the route we climbed. The arrow marks the point where i was hanging and was completely covered by clouds. The clouds cleared and i saw the 1000-1500 foot drop on the side and my blood froze.Thankfully i was tethered to a rope and in the capable hands of Alan

I stand.I stand alone.I can feel the water dripping on the back of my neck once every three or four seconds from a bundled matt of my uncombed hair.I have a light sweater.I did not foresee the rain.i wait.I can feel my sweater putting up a brave fight to do it's job of keeping me warm and dry.I can feel it weakening,slowly relenting to the combined forces of wind and water.I wait.I shift my attention to the surroundings.it's fall.I stoically look at the red hue turned tree.it's showing off it's brightest colours before it's demise.the forces have already reached my skin.my body sends a shiver down to do it's best to protect itself. I feel the falling raindrops strangely soothing on my face.I can feel it's impact and a tiny stinging feeling where it lands.the air is fresh but cold.I wait.I look to the sky.it's dark.too dark for this time of the day I think .I pull up my drenched sweater and look at the watch.I see the second hand ticking away.I gaze at it's movement for about 13 seconds.life is passing.I wait.

One of my life dreams!

To run rocky steps!I had to wait a long time in my life to do this.But finally i ran the rocky steps!A movie i totally love.



The actual videos from rocky 1 and 2








An edited photo of the famous street.

First snow this year!!

Some snaps and videos from Wisconsin dells

9.33 miles!my body simply refused to push.could not touch10 miles in one shot.kinda disappointed .but on the brighter side I ran faster keeping a constant 7 miles per hour.kinda fun to update this blog sitting in the gym!:)

Zombie pub crawl! (Some of these pics may appear gross,viewer discretion advised)

Attended the annual zombie pub crawl event and it was grossly fun!! I had a terrific time with the zombies let loose to feast on the humans. :) Few snaps here.I was simply amazed at the creativity of the people in dressing up.Its Halloween month!!!

Paranormal activity

I have heard it's healthy to be scared once in a while,to realize that ur body still does respond to fear.if u have not gone through this exercise in a long time please go and watch this movie.it's a beauty in film making.I felt a strange terror creeping over me while watching the movie.I could feel myself sqirming in my seat everytime it turned night in the movie.there is nothing horrific or gory in the movie,but the simplicity with which it's made and the way the story has been told makes u feel uneasy.it's very easy to forget that it's just a movie and not a real life drama while watching the movie.I could feel the entire theatre go through these emotions,gasping,screaming,holding their breath,waiting in anticipation.the emotion is all gone once u come out of the movie hall but hey that's why u go to movies, to teleport u to a different world where u feel and see things not possible in this dreary mundane day to day life of ours. If u like the emotion of fear watch the movie.:)

Lady snow is here!

Yoohoo it snowed yesterday for the first time in the season and I was all waiting to feel the first flurry flakes on my skin.winter -here it comes.

Nobel prize for peace??

Well, I will be damned!! Seriously no offense to Obama,i think he is a cool president but a nobel prize for peace 10 months into his presidency? I am at a loss for words,one of the most prestigious awards of mankind awarded with the projection of wishful thinking? Has it become a bloody political gimmick?Were the jury member's smoking Pot when they decided the winner?

I am sorry Mr.President,it's just not enough in my opinion!! My sympathies are with Mr.Gandhi!


Perhaps, if I am very lucky, the feeble efforts of my lifetime will someday be noticed, and may be, in some way they will be acknowledged as the greatest works of genius ever created by Man. - Jack Handey