I'm not sure we'll be able to see much of the upcoming Vancouver Olympics here, but I certainly will try to follow them. One piece of news the cheered me up amidst the depressing world around us is that Johnny Weir, an amazing if odd figure skater, is likely to make the US team. When he is on, there is no one who makes it look so good, and is so wonderful to watch. So, please enjoy his performance for me, as I'm not optimistic about my ability to watch it here. Watching the last summer Olympics from here was quite frustrating (and the subject of one of my first blog posts I think), as the Web coverage available on the US wasn't allowed to me because of my Indian IP address. Oh well.
Another thing that made me feel a little better was to read that so many winter athletes have exercise induced asthma, like I do. This article in the NYTimes talked about how it is probably the dry air, not the cold air, that causes the problem. I agree, it's that cold blast of dry air at the rink that causes the problem, not the moist, equally cold air outside when it's snowing -- at least for me.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
National Handloom Fair in Bangalore, Early Jan 2010
The start of silk.
Silkworms emerging.
Crunching on mulberry leaves.
Products used in the production of silkworms and silk. These were shown outside the handloom fair, where a wide range of products from throughout India were shown.
Bamboo lighting.
Kashmiri embroidery.
Quilts.
Bags of all sorts.
Shawls and carpets.
More embroidered shawls.
More Kashmiri embroidery.
Cute outfits for little girls.
Jaipuri quilts.
A bag made of old saris and fabrics.
Yet another bag.
A pile of bags.If you can't tell, I LOVE these shows, even though I usually don't buy much. I used to go explore them with my Hungarian friend Betty, who is now back in Budapest. I still like going, but it's not quite as much fun alone.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Winter in Niagara Falls
We took a winter break trip back to Niagara Falls, where we experienced a range of weather patterns, baked and ate lots of holiday treats, and visited relatives and friends. A break from India for us and for readers of the blog. Going from a warm boom town in a rapidly developing country to a frigid rust belt decaying city in a country still showing strong effects of the recession.
First, the baking. Red velvet cake, which disappeared very quickly.
Before baking. Then the last piece.
Lots of cookies, but no pictures of those. In addition to baking, we made ravioli.
Kneading the dough. Then rolling it through the machine.
A trip to the mall, and photos with Santa:
An outing to the bowling alley on a Sunday afternoon: chicken wings on the bar, the Bills losing on the TV, and ads for beer.
Holiday tradition at my house: my mom doing a puzzle with the Christmas tree in the background.
Christmas lights on a house down the street:
Another of my favorite things: a trip to Wegmans, where I drooled over the assortment of apples, and bought bags of yummy honey-crisps.
More great produce:
Luscious citrus: 
Outside of the store, machines where consumers return their bottles on which deposits had been paid. 
We had snow, and then it rained, and we got out just before Niagara Falls got 3 feet of snow.
Playing in the backyard. My mom tried to make a little ice rink for Amartya, the way she made for me when I was little, but the rain destroyed it.
After a snowfall on Goat Island, near the Falls. 
Industry in Niagara Falls has shrunk, but large amounts of hydro power continues to be produced there, and then transmitted via wires supported by these huge towers.
One growing industry is the waste disposal business. This waste landfill hill is bigger every time I go home.
Shoppers take a break, with the resulting long check out line at the take out window of the Tim Horton's doughnut shop.
First, the baking. Red velvet cake, which disappeared very quickly.
Before baking. Then the last piece.
Lots of cookies, but no pictures of those. In addition to baking, we made ravioli.
Kneading the dough. Then rolling it through the machine.
A trip to the mall, and photos with Santa:
An outing to the bowling alley on a Sunday afternoon: chicken wings on the bar, the Bills losing on the TV, and ads for beer.
Holiday tradition at my house: my mom doing a puzzle with the Christmas tree in the background.
Christmas lights on a house down the street:
Another of my favorite things: a trip to Wegmans, where I drooled over the assortment of apples, and bought bags of yummy honey-crisps.
More great produce:
Luscious citrus: 
Outside of the store, machines where consumers return their bottles on which deposits had been paid. 
We had snow, and then it rained, and we got out just before Niagara Falls got 3 feet of snow.
Playing in the backyard. My mom tried to make a little ice rink for Amartya, the way she made for me when I was little, but the rain destroyed it.
After a snowfall on Goat Island, near the Falls. 
Industry in Niagara Falls has shrunk, but large amounts of hydro power continues to be produced there, and then transmitted via wires supported by these huge towers.
One growing industry is the waste disposal business. This waste landfill hill is bigger every time I go home.
Shoppers take a break, with the resulting long check out line at the take out window of the Tim Horton's doughnut shop.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Fabric and bangles
Beautiful silk and cotton pieces.
Scarves, shawls, and dupattas.
Bangles of all sorts.
All these shots are on the side streets off Commercial Street in Bangalore.
Kurtas, salwars, and churidars in stores
Salwars (loose-fitting pyjama-type pants), churidars (tight-fitting, legging-type pants), and duppattas (the scarves which usually match the pants)
Here are designer kurtas sold at a store run by the designer in the Esteem Mall.
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