Name This Flower

So who can name this flower from our garden?? Winner will get a prime spot on our weblog and a link to their weblog. So send your entries in by posting comments.

Oldest Textile Mills Closes

Mount Vernon Mills announced today that the longest continuously running textile mill in UnitedStates was closing its doors for ever.

The old mill was constructed in 1844, and originally cleaned, spun, wove, bleached and dyed cotton. During the Civil War, the mill manufactured Confederate uniform and tent material and was used as an armory for Confederate troops.

Although this would seem as a shocking development, this has been going on for a long time. Infact Mount Vernon had a major layoff in 1981 when it laid off more than half its workforce.

This means that the township officials will need to think in a hurry how to attract newer business. The story of Tallahassee is likely to play itself out in many other cities, and begs for strong leaders to emerge who think strategically and plan for the future. Its calls for a different kind of civic leadership, leadership that worries less about the immediate future, but about how the town would grow 10-15-20 years from now.

More about Mount Vernon Mills here.

Gorgeous Spring Flowers

Spring 2005, originally uploaded by pavansut.

Took some pictures of the flowers in our garden with the Nikon D70 we recently purchased. It was early in the morning, around 7 am or so, and the light was just perfect for some gorgeous photos.

Joshi Family Meets Baby Sanjana

sanjana, originally uploaded by pavansut.

Our friends T Balaguru and Savitha were recently blessed with a baby daughter, Sanjana. Here is Sanjana in my arms with Madhu and little Jaya looking on.

Cinderella Man's Delivers A PR Punch

Could you have asked for a better PR opportunity? Cinderella Man opened to lack luster audience despite a purportedly smashing performance by Russell Crowe. So, the producers must be thanking their stars that their Star Mr. Crowe decided to throw a phone in a fit of rage. The media interest in Mr. Crowe is naturally very high and the buzz around the movie is only going to get better.

When ever an incident like this happens, the public sitsup and takes notice. The bad boy image is propagated, the news item becomes hot, and people's interest in the movie is piqued.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the next week box office figures for Cinderella Man take off. Yes, Mr. Crowe just delivered a nice one-two punch, that may cost him a few thousand dollars in fines, but may end up enriching him by millions!~

Pentagon Announces Closing of Camp Snoopy

Venerable magazine "The Onion" reports that Pentagon has announced closure of camp Snoopy.

"..Camp Snoopy is a relic of America's Cold War past. Everything in the facility—from the Petting Zoo to the Extreme Trampoline to the Pepsi Ripsaw Roller Coaster—was conceived at a time when America's primary military threat was the Soviet Union. After careful evaluation, we determined that the only thing Camp Snoopy was enabling our soldiers to fight was boredom."

Read more about the base closure here...

Restaurant Serves Food On Toilet Seats

Marketing experts will tell you that if you are to start a new business, you need to have a key point of differentiation. Well, this restaurant in Taiwan has taken the advice very seriously, and designed the restaurant concept around not plates and forks, but toilets!!! Now thats an appetising thought!

Not that the customers seem to be minding. Apparently, the restaurant is doing great business. Click here for the full story.

Nicole Kidman Looses Web Buzz Log To Aishwarya Rai

Now it may come as a total surprise to some, but for us the devoted fans of the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai its no surprise that Ash beats Nicole consistently in the Buzz Log on the web. This from Yahoo Buzz Log today...

But it's the lovely Aishwarya Rai who draws the fans to the Search box. She ascended 86% yesterday alone and consistently settles herself in our top searches (beating out Nicole Kidman in popularity) .

Go Ash Go!

Flights to India to get cheaper

Flights to India from New York/Newark are likely to get cheaper relatively soon with the entry of several new carriers on these routes. Delta, for example announced that it will be starting a non-stop flight between New York and New Delhi, and Continental has started a flight between New Delhi and Chicago. Delta already has a flight between New York and Chennai.

The Indian Government recently approved two other carriers, Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines to run flights between US and India. This below comes from the Times of India...

Senior government officials told The Times of India that Jet Airways has been granted the approval to start a daily flight from Mumbai to Newark (via Brussels) in the 2005 summer schedule.

With these new entries, the price of the ticket is bound to come down significantly. Right now, if you buy a ticket from a consolidator, the ticket prices range from USD 800 during off season to USD 1500 during peak season. A 10-15% price drop would mean a significant savings for travellers on this already busy route.

Jersey Boy Competes in Beauty & Geek Reality Show

Flemington NJ hometown boy Richard is one of the seven contestants in the WB television show romparama reality show, the "Beauty & the Geek". Richard, who is graduating from Brandaeis University has been paired up with Mindy, a sorority girl from Missouri.

See what I told you? This is how they get you. Now being from New Jersey I have to watch the show.

Dammit Richard! You better win!

Stinky Flower Set To Bloom Again

Illustration: Kandis Elliott

The stinky flower growing in the green house of University of Wisconsin at Madison, called Titan arum, is ready to bloom again, and spread its stench. This rare plant blooms only every so often, so its bloomins is quite an event. For example, the picture above is that of the same flowe which last bloomed in June 2001.

Four years ago, Fayyaz and his colleagues were witness to a huge titan arum blossom that grew in the university's Botany Greenhouse to a size of 8.5 feet, just 3.5 inches shy of the then-world record set in 1932. The current world record, set in 2003 at the Bonn Botanic Garden in Germany, stands just an inch short of nine feet.

Originally a native of Indonesia, this stinky flower which is also called corpse flower, has the scientific name of Amorphophallus titanum. The blooming of this phalic flower that stinks caused quite a furor in 2001 with some 20000 people turning out to see it. So this year, UW-Madison is getting prepared for a similar onslaught of visitors again and if you want to volunteer, please visit the UW website.

There is also a beautiful quick time video of the 2001 bloom. If you can't visit the green house, at least you can view the next best thing - right in your living room. Read the instructions carefully, and wait for the full file download before you watch the bloom.

Hendrickson Farm, Lawrenceville NJ

Hendrickson Farm, Lawrenceville NJ, originally uploaded by pavansut.

Here is a picture of the Hendrickson Farm in Lawrenceville NJ. The farm is a stones throw away from where we live, and is on my way to work. I have often thought of stopping in and meeting the family that owns it and runs it, but haven't done so so far. My dream is to one day own a farm like this, although its easier said than done.

Thief Checks Gas With Lighter - Burns Himself

A thief in New York burnt himself when he tried to check the gas he was stealing with his cigarette lighter. Chalk it up to experience, but I bet this thief is not going to steal gas gain, or if he does, he will bring a flash light with him.

The sheriff's department says he was transferring the fuel from the truck to a gas can when he used a lighter to see how full the container had become. That sparked a fire that caused minor burns to his face and hands.

Here is the link for the full story

Natalie Glebova, 2005 Miss Universe

No, we are not above partisanship when it comes to Miss Universe, so sad we are the Amrita Thapar did not win the Miss Universe title this year. Was it the 'intelectual question' or was it the 'bathing suit' that tripped her up?



But thats OK! We will clap for Miss Glebova, who happens to hail from - no not Soviet er Russia, but from the frozen territories of Canada. Play the drum roll. New Miss Universe 2005 is