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First of all, pardon the bad lousy pun, but towards the end of a workday, I'm not exactly terribly inventive.. Current Mood:
 calmI know.. I know.. It's been a week since I posted the previous entry, and honestly, my brain's already started to do the obligatory defrag-and-clear-out-the-unused-icons thingy. So, I better start writing all I can remember, before I forget most of them.  And for a casual visitor or a tourist, the subway system is the best way to get around the city. All you need is a Subway Map, the ability to read maps, and a Metro pass. Now, the maps are available, free of cost, at most places, including airports, restaurants, motels, etc. As for the Metro Passes, they are rather inexpensive, the unlimited ride-daily passes working out to around $8 a day. Not bad at all, considering a ride on the bus is $2.25 (currently), with you requiring to carry the exact change *in quarters*. Now, unless you enjoy walking around the place, pockets jingling with loose change, buying a Metro Card, which allows you to swipe your way into the subway stations or the buses makes a lot of sense.  Now, the best part about the system is that you don't need to pull out your card and flash it to the driver/officer/guard or anyone else. There's no punching holes in the card, no tearing stubs off.. Just swipe at one place and you're all set. VERY Convenient. Now, for the subway stations.. You can find a subway station at pretty much any part of the town. Most often at the intersections of roads, some very close to the famous landmarks or the busy areas. Now, once inside the station, you see throngs of people milling around, waiting for their rides. A large cross section of the populace, varying in age, race, economic status.. Torn sneakers to Gucci shoes (does Gucci make shoes?), Salvation Army gear to Armani suits (ok.. Maybe not Armani.. But I can't tell a jacket from a coat.. So don't judge me..).. You get the idea..  The trains are not too long apart, and you can catch the train you are waiting for, within a few minutes. The trains run all through the night too.. So if you are working or partying late.. No problem.. You still can get across the city any time. As for the stations, as you can expect, they are all not exactly pristine and sparkling clean.. You do have the assorted trash thrown on the tracks, the spit stains on the walls, assorted rodents running around the corridors, darting between people's feet, eliciting screams from the ones not used to them, the assorted ads and promo posters on the walls, the rank smell of sweat and urine, and of course, the graffiti on the walls. But still, in the end, there is still a sense of order, and it is not altogether totally unpleasant. Some of the subway stations have artistic murals, mosaic creations on their walls (the 81st St one , below the Natural History Museum, for example), which bring about a sense of art amidst the grime and chaos.  And there is always the often-exhilarating thundering noise, the vibrations, The blur of tonnes of metal shells carrying people inside, and the rush of air whenever a train rushes by the station. I guess you can get used to that after a while, but it still gives a tiny surge of adrenaline. It did to me, anyway.  And of course, there are the performers. The homeless artists performing in the stations, the lone blind man playing a sad note on his saxophone, or a couple of men drumming on the subway train,an occasional old guy singing the blues, a cap or a box or a makeshift container on the ground near their feet, hoping some passers by might drop some money there, or at least pause for a few minutes and listen to them.It is kinda sad if you pause to think about them, but in the end, you need to move on, I guess..  The 42nd St station, below Times Square, among certain other key subway stations, has a spot , which, every weekend, has amateur/semi-professional/small time artists or bands performing for the people. Whenever there is a performer, there are lots of people who pause and listen to them for a few minutes. The music can range anywhere from jazz to rock and instrumental pieces. And every saturday, sometime late afternoons, The Meetles, a Beatles cover band show up, play a few of The Beatles' classic numbers, to a growing crowd of fans, to some good applause. And they are pretty good too! I guess you could call some of them a New York landmark. Heh.  I guess I had more to talk about the subways, but I can't remember what, at the moment. Guess I'll start working on my next post soon.. Current Mood:
 blahWicked witch foretold that the Princess would die, when the needle hurt a finger. Good King decided to save the princess and cut off her fingers… All of these are from The Times of India, 26 October 09: Two zebras are talking and one asks the other, "Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" The other replies, "Well I don't Current Mood:
 busy Tiger in Flehmen pose Tigers to identify his territory, the male marks trees by spraying of urine and anal gland secretions, as well as marking trails with scat. Males show what is called called the Flehmen response. In the Flehmen response, animals draw back their lips in a manner that makes them appear to be “grimacing”. The action, which is adopted when examining scents left by other animals either of the same species or of prey, helps expose the vomeronasal organ and draws scent molecules back toward it. This behavior allows animals to detect scents, for example from urine, of other members of their species or clues to the presence of prey. Flehming allows the animals to determine several factors, including the presence or absence of estrus, the physiological state of the animal, and how long ago the animal passed by. Read more in the embedded book Amur Tiger Originally published at http://tariquesani.net/blog/. Please leave any comments there. I always do this -- I go through old entries on this journal and it never fails to overwhelm me. My life has been touched by so many people. I've made so many friends. It's crazy! It's good! Current Mood:
 nostalgicMy blog has moved.. again. currently it is here: http://arrbee.wordpress.com. This is a request to the planet admins of the planets where the earlier blog was syndicated, to please update the feed to the following: |
swatisani
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amused