cydonian

cydonian, 4 hours ago to random

With the bust and former home of Noor Inayat Khan: Tipu Sultan’s descendant, member of the French Resistance, and the only Indian to have been interred, tortured and killed in Dachau.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noor_Inayat_Khan

cydonian, 1 day ago to random

I have always said that as a person of Indian descent, the Koh-I-Noor on the Queen Mother(?)’s head angers me less than the priceless artifacts in the V&A. Here’s one such artifact: a tampura that’s beautifully painted on with a style that’s very close to what I know as the Nirmal school of art.

And yet, the description absolutely has no clue: doesn’t mention the Ganesha in the center (which is how you traditionally start a Nirmal painting), doesn’t mention who the king and queen on either side represent (are they royalty? Are they gods?), doesn’t talk about how intricately the painter and the instrument maker collaborated to make this, doesn’t say where it was made or how it was used.

Nothing beyond a clinical description of where and when it was stolen from, and only for onlookers to gawk at it and feel cultured.

cydonian, 4 days ago (edited 4 days ago) to magASEAN

Singaporean carrot cake at 10000m. Just may be the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. Beats the uncle at Mei Ling Street market by miles! #makanapatoday

skinnylatte, 4 days ago to random

When we first moved here, 45 made it impossible for foreign spouses to work. So my wife went back to school and today, she’s graduating with her Bachelors in Psychology. Next stop: grad school! (Thankful for California’s excellent public universities system, and resident tuition!)

Sabrena felt she got an excellent education at SF State, and is looking forward to start the clinical psychology masters program to be your friendly multilingual culturally relevant therapist in a few years

cydonian, 6 days ago to random

“He commended crew members for tending to passengers, even though most of them were bleeding or limping.

One stewardess was “holding her neck with blood oozing out, but she was still going around and helping people get medication”, he said.

“They need some medals because they were the heroes. 100 per cent,” he added.”https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/thrown-to-the-roof-and-then-to-the-floor-sq321-passengers-describe-chaos-on-turbulence-hit-flight

cydonian, 6 days ago to random

“When you put all of these stories together, a clear picture emerges. The Indian government has developed a repertoire of tactics for repressing criticism abroad, and is currently deploying all of them as part of a campaign of intimidation in the United States. Human rights activists, experts, and Indian American community organizers are aware of India’s efforts and speak of its campaign as an everyday concern for themselves and people they know.

Which means it’s probably working.” https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24160779/inside-indias-secret-campaign-to-threaten-and-harass-americans

cydonian, 8 days ago (edited 8 days ago) to random

Think a lot of liberals (both “pro” and against) Biden seem to be thinking that the election will be decided in the margins, with a little more turnout in MI, or WI or somewhere else.

My perception (granted, filtered down through NYT snapshots but also the recent YouGov polls) is that there’s more of pro-Trump pull than a push away from Biden. And it’s kind of solidifying now, with not too many things Biden can do to break the fever.

This feels like 2014 but for US; fascism is actually becoming popular.

No, I don’t think it’s just a matter of better media reporting or education. Think the airwaves are already blanketed out. I fear a huge majority of folk in the US have already deluded themselves into somehow thinking an actual insurrection, selling of state secrets, raping women, being all in on Putin, or lying aren’t showstoppers for presidency. Once you’ve gotten over that, anything is possible.

cydonian, 8 days ago to random

“Tournament staff travelling between the ten host cities found working in Ahmedabad trickiest. “Most other venues for India games were reasonably free from external interference,” said one. “Except Ahmedabad: everything was amped much more.” There, event managers came across an official whose identity remained a mystery, and whose approach was confrontational. “It was like: ‘Who are you? We don’t care who you are. What is the ICC? We will do what Mr Shah says. Mr Shah wants this or that. This is Ahmedabad.’””

https://wisden.com/stories/wisden-almanack-2024/modi-operandi-the-politicisation-of-indian-cricket-almanack

timrichards, 8 days ago to random

I'm thinking, for a change, of not buying a local SIM (or eSIM) for my upcoming trip to Switzerland. It's only ten days, so if I use data sparingly and stick only to wifi on some days, I should be able to use my Australian number on Telstra's $10/day international roaming day pass, and not spend much more than a new SIM. Hmmm worth a try I think.

#Travel

cydonian, 9 days ago to random

I not only lost 9 kgs in seven weeks of semaglutide + diet + exercise, but my hypertension levels have jumped down two categories down. That’s down from “OMG HOW ARE YOU WALKING ALIVE” level to “Oh you’re almost normal” sort of a level.

Yeah. Motherfucking just seven weeks. 7.

Don’t tell me modern medicine doesn’t work.

cydonian, 12 days ago to random

Didn’t realise the Indian crew of the Singapore ship that crashed into the bridge in Baltimore are still isolated on the ship, and will be for the foreseeable future. https://mothership.sg/2024/05/21-crew-singapore-flagged-ship-baltimore-bridge/

cydonian, 13 days ago to random

Another 80-years-old business in Holland Village closes down. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/living/holland-village-party-shop-khiam-teck-closing-june-390136

cydonian, 14 days ago to random

2023: the warmest year in the last 2000 years. https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/this-past-summers-heat-was-an-extreme-outlier-in-past-2000-years/

timrichards, 14 days ago to random

I ordered 3 of the exact same T-shirt from Target - and they're sending them as three separate parcels from three separate stores. Hmm OK, maybe not that efficient...

cydonian, 15 days ago to random

Belter from the motherlode to start your day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Um_Pkl8qiY

(Tollywood took a typical Telangana jātara and stylised it by focussing on the lead actor and not the various folk characters such as the puli vēshālu, the Pōtarāju or the Gańāchāri)

cydonian, 19 days ago to random

On Sepia Mutiny: the only website ever that banned me from commenting, but later ended up writing posts on something I wrote elsewhere. 😊https://www.thejuggernaut.com/sepia-mutiny-south-asian-american-internet-history

(I don’t recall why Sepia Mutiny banned me, but I suspect I may have posted a long rant at some point. Didn’t complain then, not complaining now. Just an amusing reminiscence)

cydonian, 19 days ago to random

World looking at an average of at least 1.5 C increase in temperature. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature

That doesn’t necessarily mean a uniform 1.5C increase across the world. It’ll be severely more in the equatorial regions, particularly in South East Asia, where we potentially have already seen an increase of ~3C in April/ May. https://social.vivaldi.net/@cydonian/112335789047432896

skinnylatte, 20 days ago to random

being from a country that's 31 miles at its widest, it'll never not surprise me that i can get in a vehicle and go many hours in one direction and still be in the same country

divya, 20 days ago to random

deleted_by_author

cydonian, 20 days ago to random

BBC Telugu asks: what would you ask PM Modi if you had the chance?

Me: 🤮🤢🤦🏻‍♂️

cydonian, 21 days ago to random

The game is afoot. Baneshan mangoes from India and R2E2 from Thailand.