Pioneer KEH 4800

Specs can be found at the pioneer website.

The poem by W.H. Auden

I was watching Four Weddings and a Funeral last night and what struck me particularly this time around was the poem recited during the funeral. Apparently the name of the poem is Stop all the Clocks by W.H.Auden. I found the poem on another site and have listed it below.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

W. H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

The Temple

It was early in the morning and the priests had just begun cleaning the area around the idols. There was no one else around. How quiet is was, unlike on weekends when the crowds throng the place and the chatter never ends. A priest was chanting near an idol some verses that are read in the mornings. The walls echoed his chantings and for a moment, until the mind became aware of it, one was filled with its vibrations.

Serendipity

The meaning of the word Serendipity is of course explained in the movie but one is apt to forget it after the movie ends as one is not lucky enough to encounter such fortunate instances in real life. From the dictionary

ser·en·dip·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

The movie by far is a stretch of such fortunate accidents but goes slightly further. It was one of these movies that was released during the holiday season and sort of remained there. The utterly ridiculous happen and they are called miracles, fate and the like. Not even a "feel good" movie than anything else. One can watch it, I suppose, if not for anything else, just for the thrill of watching a movie for the first time or if one likes Kate Beckinsale.

Ben Hur

One of the things that seems to strike people when they see this movie is the depiction of Christ. The face of the Saviour isn't shown anywhere in the movie but His presence is depicted movingly in atleast one place when He gives water to the thirsty Judah Ben Hur even though the Roman soldiers have forbidden anyone to do this. One of the Roman soldiers notices this and come forward to strike the man and then Christ stands up to face him. Something about this person makes the soldier stop in his tracks. The face of the Christ is not shown to the viewers, only the back of His head. We are all too familiar with the stereotype, a man with smooth flowing hair, which is none too long and of course there is an organ playing in the background somewhere when he is present. I remember this scene particularly when I watched the movie many many years ago and I was deeply moved by it now and I was then.

The Matrix

I think the greatness about some movies lies in their sensitivity, in detail and purpose. The Matrix Trilogy can be classified under the same. There is nothing in the movie that is not there for a reason and everything that happens in the movie "fits". The philosophy "behind" the movie has, of course, been the subject of great discussion as can be seen by a number of web sites that have discussion forums on the topic. I was listening to NPR many months ago on the topic and was struck by a comment that the Matrix Trilogy were actually a culmination of public opinion over the past decade or so to have more religious feeling in movies.

Conservative philosophy in the US

I dont know how people who consider themselves conservative cannot sense the contradiction in their positions on abortion and the death penalty. If one feels that abortion should be banned no matter one would have thought that the same people wouldn't be proponents of the death penalty no matter what. However this doesn't appear to be the case. The conservative stand on birth control, abortion and the death penalty can be squared only if one sees that conservative people seem to be more driven by a distaste of promiscuity rather than on genuine concern for human life. It looks as though the whole moral "Christian" argument against abortion was brought in as an after-thought.

Bulb guide for car

This site lists the bulb that are used in cars. Searchable by model/year.

OBD-II tool

Apparently there is a OBD-II to RS-232 adapter and also software to view this on a PC. I got this from a post on saabnet.

How torque wrenches work

A decent soul on saabnet posted this http://home.jtan.com/~joe/KIAT/kiat_3.htm

Harpers Ferry

The Harpers Ferry National park is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers. It is also the intersection of three states, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The photos were taken with a phone camera from the Maryland Heights trail just before sunset.

On the way back down, just as the sun was setting, the tall trees were swaying in the light breeze and seemed to be whispering. If only we could understand what they were saying. The small town still retains some of the "olden days" charm for at dusk there was nowhere an electric light to be seen but in the distance(from the trails).


Presently we came across a rock by the side of the Potomac and sat there for some time absorbing the scene. The waters flowing by, the train moving across the bridge slowly and the light in the distance all seemed to come together into the sacredness of the sunset.

Movie: How I got into College

The movie with that name, along with others, captures, to me, the essence of the 80's in the US. The music soundtrack is simply brilliant. A list containing the name of the songs can be found here.

Views of Catoctin

The Catoctin Mountain Park is a national park situated in Maryland just north of Frederick. From MD-77 Cat rock is a 3 mile hike(both ways) with some steep climbs initially. Nothing too difficult. Some views from that trail.

Saab dashboard mod

This person is a very brave soul. He appears to have modded his Saab dashboard and put a computer in the car to monitor various stuff.