Instant fame? Here cometh the comet 17P/Holmes

Its another full moon night which means the astrowolf in me has woken up and is baying for some night-sky watching. Actually, a full moon night is not a good time to watch the skies, but sometimes you don't have a choice. Added to this, the place I where stay has enough light pollution to discourage even the most ardent sky-watchers from looking up towards the heavens. I end up seeing a orange glow till late into the night. But there was some news this week that was positive enough to get my binoculars out.

A comet by name 17P/Holmes changed from a magnitude 17 to a magnitude 2 celestial object in a short span of a week. A quite unheard of phenomena in astronomy. So what's this magnitude thing? This is actually the scale of brightness based on which the stars and other sky objects are classified. The smaller the value of the magnitude the more the brightness. For example, the magnitude of our Sun is -26.7 and that of the moon is -12.7. Sirius or the Dog Star has a magnitude of -1.4. You get the point. In this case the brightening was enhanced by almost 400,000 times.

Astronomers are still pondering about this. Why should a comet that was faintly visible through a telescope suddenly brighten up so much that it could be seen with a naked eye? And with a pair of binoculars one could make out its tail and coma. Well, I am no scientist but I have an explanation for this. Its the 15-minute to fame thing. In a sky full of twinkling stars and other bright objects how can any John Star or John Comet make any place for itself? By becoming famous, of course. And how does one become famous? Through a lot of publicity in the right way (or sometimes the wrong way, too). Instant fame, that's the name of the game. Glitter in everyone's eyes. So Mr. 17P/Holmes who was just another Mr. 17P slash Holmes till last week, got tired of it and started to put some efforts into brightening up till he started got into everyone's eyes. But now everyone is talking about "the" 17P/Holmes. Quite an achievement, this. Mission accomplished. Maybe the comet took out a leaf from our earthlings' TV reality shows. Now everyone's talking about you till the time someone else upsets your applecart. I'd say one opportunity can be your ticket to fame. One missed opportunity means, wait for the next bus.

Putting my argument and speculation aside, if you have a chance, do watch the comet. Its visible in the skies even in areas where the light pollution is considerable. Its visible (Pic courtesy: Shigemi Numazawa) in the Perseus constellation a little left above Mars.

When its Amway, I'm away: Selling it to the wrong guy

The nine-days (or rather the nine-nights) of festival came to an end on a high note for me. It was fun to watch how different people celebrated it and how everyone had a time of their life. It was definitely much better than how it went for me last time (I was away working).

The only thing that left a bitter taste in my mouth though was a phone call that had me real fuming at the end of it. I am sure you might have heard of this multi-level marketing thing that's happening all across the globe. Yea, the same thing where you enroll yourself as a node and then evangelise the usage of that company's products to people who eventually become your nodes, pyramids, etc. Finally, you end up becoming some sort of a gem or metal (emerald, platinum, etc.) based on the number of people who are below you. This call was from one such aspiring gem (or metal).

People have to realize that not everyone has got the subtle art of sweet talking others into doing things which otherwise they wouldn't have dreamt of. In other words selling off things which the buyer would find no use of. I, for one, don't have this so called soft-skill. So why convince me to convince others? I get this call from this sweet voiced lady telling me about how to become a millionaire and eventually quit my present job. Perfect. What else would I love to do? But for me, since neither do I have a pleasing personality nor do I have a way with people (I've got the social skills and charisma rivaling only to that of a neanderthal to say the least) this is not my kinda job. I simply don't belong to that club of elite people who can make zillions by convincing ordinary folks into joining the organization and ask them keep using products which they don't want to.

I remember, a few months back, one of my friend who really went out of the way to be nice with me (he treated me out in a Malay restaurant on my birthday) and then cornered me into a situation (I sometimes cannot use the word "No" even if I am desperate.) where I had no choice but to attend a convention of like-minded individuals who belonged to such similar organization. He was gracious enough to give me a lift to the convention center. I entered this huge room in jeans and beach sandals only to find people dressed up to their neck in business formals. It was like being fully clothed on a nude beach. Trouble. I also heard a few sniggers from those business formals. Totally un-business formals like, I must say. And then I am asked to take a very uncomfortable chair right next to a lady who's cheering and clapping on everything the guy on the podium was talking about. So my cue was: clap when the lady claps and pretend as if you are listening, even if you are not. It was one of those tortuous 2.5 hours which tested my patience to the limit and then some. And all the while I was sticking out like a sore thumb. Unforgettable. The speaker was good, damn good, but I was simply disinterested and indifferent. Once the speeches and presentations were over, I had the "privilege" of meeting some of these individuals in Armanis and Men's Wearhouses. Everytime I met someone, I was invited to this even larger convention that would be held someplace else. I must say, to my own amazement, everytime I got invited, I managed to wriggle out of it. Everytime. I guess these presentations were actually helping me improve my soft skills. I was mastering the art of saying "No".

All this is not new to me. I have had invites and being cornered into such meetings and conventions at least half a dozen times in as many years. It seems to be a popular pastime for people with whom I interact in my line of work. I haven't been able to come out convinced at any point in time. Goes to prove that its just not my cup of tea.

So, in future, if someone comes to me selling Amway or whatever, it'll be time for me to pack my bags and head in the opposite direction. Good luck to all of you who have joined, and who'd like to join, but take my word for it I'm not your man. I'm a self-confessed social retard and for this crime, when I retire, I would try to live off what little I end up saving instead of regretting the lost opportunities you so nicely presented to me. And yes, I have read that amazing book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. It never worked (for me). I lose more friends than I make (social retard, remember?). So leggo of me.

From an am to a pro.. To Wii or not to Wii

Finally! After several agonizing but entertaining man hours (not to mention 3 days of sprained lower back) and several dead batteries later, I was able to achieve the status of a pro in tennis yesterday. In case you are wondering what I mean by dead batteries and a pro status, let me explain. I am talking about Wii Tennis on the Nintendo Wii. My Wii fitness age has also come down. Another super achievement. From a senile 64 (I didn't know that I was in such a bad physical shape. Scary!) to an amazing 32. I hope I can make it to 21 soon. The sprained back which I mentioned earlier was due to the fact that I tried some of those forehand shots with full vigor as if I was playing against Nadal. My fault completely. And another reason could have been that my back muscles never had to work this much ever. But that aside, the hours of fun the Wii's provided is almost the same as my other favorite, Railroad Tycoon 3. Super console.

Its been one whole month since I had this toy with me and I am not bored of it till date. That in itself speaks of volumes about this console. Usually, my attention span for anything that's new does not usually go beyond 2 hours starting from the time of purchase. At the time when I bought this game from Best Buy, I was not very sure about my decision and I was still wondering which one I should invest in. The choice was between XBox 360 or Nintendo Wii in that order. The PS3 was simply out of my budget. I had almost picked up the XBox. But the Wii was looking interesting from the reviews I had read. Also since I was moving (I was shopping while almost on my way to the airport), it was a less bulkier box to pick. The guy at the counter also promised that it would be money well spent on the Wii. If not I could always return it. But he was sure that I was not gonna return it. So I went ahead and bought it (patting myself that for the first time in my life I had bought something that had not crossed my budget). He was right. I'm not gonna return it. Money well spent. Every hour of Wii has been extremely rewarding. The Nunchuk remote is cool too! And I needn't vouch for it. Other gaming officionados have written pages and pages about it. I don't want to add any further.

So if you have a limited budget and you are not into gaming consoles like I am (I mean if you are not a hardcore gaming fan) and not an outdoor sportsperson like I am, nor an extrovert like I am, then I guess its the Wii for you. Trust me, everyone in your family will love it and you might have a hard time getting your hands on the Wii remote. Wii have come to play :)

Driving the point home vs. driving at home

Looks like the boffins of the McLaren Mercedes F1 Team read my blog last week. And may have been mighty upset with my views about F1 racing. Or it might be just sheer coincidence. Considering the number of people who read my blog (the count is 3 as of last time I checked, I, me and myself.) I think it might have been the latter. I switch on the TV and what do I see? McLaren team came up with a footage which compared a roadcar (Merc C-Class), a souped up roadcar (an AMG modified C-Class), a rally car (yet another Merc) and an F1 car to actually show how an F1 car is different from the normal cars we drive. The road car was driven by a lady who's a professional driver, the souped up version of the roadcar by the same guy who drives the safety car in front of the F1s when the safety flag is up. The rally car was driven by a professional race driver. Of course the F1 car was to be driven by Fernando Alonso. And the venue was the Silverstone Racetrack. The home of the McLaren. Did I mention that all the cars were either Mercedes or McLaren Mercedes or AMGs? Naturally! Top of the line in their categories. So what was the end result? The F1 car won the race by a full 15 seconds. This after starting a full 30 seconds after the first car drove off and then taking the mandatory pit stop too while the other drivers were sweating it out among themselves. The roadcar was beaten by a full 48 seconds. Awesome! And to drive the point home (on second thoughts, I think they did read my blog), Mr. Alonso said that sometimes people don't get the idea as to how powerful an F1 car is. Point noted, Mr. Alonso, with due apologies. My bad. F1 is serious racing and not just driving in circles. And if I had been one of the drivers, I'd have arrived at the finish line just about the time these drivers would be having their dessert after having a 3-course meal. After finishing the race, of course. Slowpoke.

Well, being a slowpoke is the order of the day here. Let me give an example. I commute to work by car. The total distance one way is 11 kilometers. Now on a normal work day, if I start at around 8:30 am, the average time I take to travel these 11 km is 35 minutes. Doing some math based on my school Physics formula which says speed is equal to the distance upon time, this works out to an average speed of just about 19 kmph. No, don't get me wrong. I'm not driving a 1940 vintage which has a habit of breaking down, its just that I'm driving in a city where the smallest of errand can turn out to be a massive exercise in patience and self-control. Its also a great memory class on how to cope up with bumper to bumper traffic at every red light without forgetting where you wanted to go in the first place. The traffic's unreal! There's a joke here that we are supposed to be wearing the seatbelts (mandatory as per the law) just in case someone dings your car or you bump into someone, your seatbelt will keep you tied down in the car and you won't get out stark raving mad and chase the perpetrator of the evil deed with a carjack or some such lethal weapon. Safety restraint system (SRS). So imagining myself performing well on a test track is a bit far-fetched. I wish I knew how to ride a bike. I could weave in and out of traffic just like that if I did ride a bike. My average speed might come upto 25 kmph. That's lightning speed for me. Unfortunately, that's one art I could never ever master. Maybe some day.

Ah! Here's October. Time to think.

Another month comes in bringing the thought that 2007 is passing by. Time flew for me this year. Lots of things happened during this time and they've left me with mixed feelings but richer in experience. After 3 years of hard work and not so much fun, I left my previous job and got into a new one. And ever since then, things have happened at such a breakneck speed that it took me a while to realize that I need to slow down and think. Yea, 'think'. That's an effort for me. Using my gray cells. But just as couch potatoes need some physical activity once in a while, so do people like me who treasure their brains and never use them. I need to jog it mentally once in a while.

So as a starting point, I picked up this book of puzzles published by Mensa. And that was the mistake I committed. It was the mental equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest in my regular Sunday gym gear (which consists of a track suit and a pair of sports shoes both of which I have never ever used for the purpose they were bought). It was devastating. The puzzles remained puzzles. And to be honest, when I tried to cheat, the solutions in the last page were incomprehensible too. Doh! Homer Simpson would be proud of me.

But I did not lose heart. I picked up my daily newspaper and started to do the daily crossword. Another big mistake. I pride myself to be an acrostics enthusiast but I hadn't tried one in ages. I am now eagerly waiting for tomorrow's paper for the crossword's solution. I am clueless and I haven't filled even a single cell.

Now I need to figure out where to start. Probably I should start where it all started. Right about the time when I got this silly thought that I need to slow down and start using my grey (or is it gray) cells. I should just stop thinking about it. In fact I should stop thinking. I will just watch the Formula I Shanghai Grand Prix where the cars will just keep going in circles till the time someone feels enough is enough and waves a flag (a flag that reminds me of a crossword. Aargh!) to say the race is over and some chap is declared a winner. Well, as the last year's champ Fernando Alonso commented, even the winners are declared off the track. So what's the use of watching the race to see who wins? Non sequitur. Logically speaking its highly illogical. I will just go to sleep. Now that's a good thought! Looks like my head's not lost its edge after all. Before I close, a change of topic. Check out the lines of the new Infiniti Q37 coupe. Jeez! whattacar! Cool design. The caption says "Intensity captured. Patience rewarded". Nice.