I have moved my blog.......

I have moved my blog to

http://ariblogga.wordpress.com

Just thought the platform had more options and more traffic.

See you there.

AriZona: Friday evening.....

AriZona: Friday evening.....http://aribloggga.wordpress.com

Credit Crunching - Around the world.......

Just as we read about it and may be even feeling the crisis around the world, some one some where is always trying to make their people happy. In tough economic times, nations have set priorities: infrastructure, jobs, drugs, health, dairy products ?

So what do you think about this:

SWITZERLAND:
Swiss voters have approved the creation of permanent, legalized heroin centers aimed at helping hard-core addicts learn to function in society. Rather than getting them off the drug, these centres will avoid 'cold turkey' by providing then carefully measured doses twice a day.
Somewhat surprisingly though, the same voters rejected the decriminalisation of marijuana in the same referendum. Huh!

MEXICO:
In the name of "happiness and a better quality of life", the Mayor of Mexico City (Marcelo Ebrard) plans to give out free erectile dysfunction pills to men over 70. As many as 100k are eligible for the program, at a cost of $4 million. This being the latest of Ebard's happiness injections after spending millions on an ice-skating rink and artificial beaches. Critics say, this is all a distraction from the real issues of drug, crime,pollution and transportation.
Respect to the elders !!! He seems like a good man.

ITALY:
The Italian Govt is putting $65million to purchase 200,000 wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padano cheese to donate to charity. With hundreds of small cheese makers in northern Italy losing money , "theres a need for market intervention, just as there was for bank", says the agriculture minister.

RUSSIA:
Vodka has been the staple drink for the Russians since the Czars, but the common Russian is cutting back amid the global financial crunch. Even though manufacturers slashed vodka producion 15% because of slumping demands, stores are saddled with some 22 million gallons of unsold spirits - six times their inventory a year ago. Alcohol poisoning fatalities are on the rise , reportedly as drinkers turn to cheap, homemade brews instead.

And....

SOUTH KOREA, in its latest bid to combat rising food costs and economic uncertainty, have signed a 99 year lease to farm oil palms and corn on more than 2.5 million acres of land in Madagascar!

The CHINESE are investing $4billion in the Philippines to grow crops.

SAUDI ARABIA has invested another $4billion in Indonesia to develop 1.25 million acres of farmland.

So what are the INDIANS doing?

Ofcourse waiting for the next Bollywood blockbuster after Ghajini the not-so-well-adapted version of Christopher Nolan's Memento, to fantasise about.

While the common ISRAELI and PALESTENIAN just wants it to get over ......
in the UK.....we are hoping the Pound (£) picks up value against the Euro, so that this summer we can once again flood the European coastline with our bare bodies and beer fuelled extremities.

And if the British wish comes true, hopefully we will see more people on this deserted beach in Portugal (picture above).

Friday evening.....

Its been a week of many random happenings, but like me in this world, mostly trivia.

Boiler broken down - no heating and hot water. 5 degrees (C) inside the house. Gets repaired, but breaks down within 45 minutes of the engineer's departure!!! Micro heater takes over, but can't cope - gives up - funny?
Proposal deadlines at work, client wants a meeting - how interesting! Talk about timing - both missed each other by 2 hours - who saved the collision? Random us mortals.How? Late nights, rushing through things, stressing and feeling like human faeces (known as something else).

And now its Friday evening - half of London's probably legless, i dont want to be. Wanted to blog HARD....but no food at home.
Next option - take away food. Not the best option - lets eat at Regency. Cant tell you more about it now.

Was flipping through The Mansion on the Hill:

'There are two reasons why a man does anything.
There's a good reason and there's the real reason.' John Pierpont Morgan (JP for the Investment Banker, huh!)

So why do I blog?

Life doesn't really suck....
I clicked this primate family on a trip to South India in May '07.

The Second Day.......Ansel Adams

"With more than half a century of camera work behind him, Ansel Adams stands as one of America’s greatest landscape photographers. His career is punctuated with countless elegant, handsomely composed, and technically flawless photographs of magnificent natural landscapes. No contemporary photographer equaled the lifetime contributions of Ansel Adams in bringing public recognition of the art of photography or taught so widely the techniques of black and white photography. His strength as an artist is largely attributed to his tireless investigation of the methods of photography, developing a careful darkroom technique of exposure and development he called the Zone System. Striking photographs of Yosemite and the surrounding the Sierra Nevada capturing the elusive visual myth and mood of these wild places became the wellspring of Ansel Adam’s consciousness and brought him widespread popular acclaim. His intimate understanding as well as passion for conservation of this pristine wilderness gave Ansel Adams the energy and tenacity needed to bring subjects to life for a wider public. His reputation has been firmly established by exhibitions in virtually every major American art museum, three Guggenheim Fellowships and a score of publications."

I had my first taste of Ansel Adam's work on a recent visit to the "Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities" exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum , Washington D.C., where the two artistes stood on common ground - O'Keeffe's paintings versus Adams' Photographs. It was an amazing experience and an inspiration. The above photograph is my tribute to Adams. I was visiting the Natural Bridge in Virginia on Christmas eve, and the creek was frozen in sections. These fallen leaves under the ice looked happy to be there, or were they crying to break free?!

The Beginning....

My desire to blog has been over ridden by the procrastination so typical of a regular guy....until today when I made an effort!

But what about this picture?

It speaks for my state of mind..... rusted, weighed down by the mediocrity of my environment, raring to go ...but where?

I hope to create visions, impressions, infusions and share thoughts and ideas..... give form and shape to a few good things that I am capable of, expose a few bad things that I am and showcase some colour that maybe part of me. Above all this is about my world - the way I see it, no pretences, nothing intellectual and definitely not superfluous.

A taste of things to come - travel that I live for, food that I crave for, drink that stimulates me, opinions that anger me, beauty that fascinates me...........and people that make this world!