Yes, I am referring to Beaujolais Nouveau, the annual “early” wine from the Beaujolais region in France, that is technically not to be sold before midnight on the 3rd Thursday each November.

Some interesting things about Beaujolais Nouveau:

• It is made by the process of Carbonic Maceration that keeps it fruity and low in tannins.  Essentially the juice is fermented while still inside the grape that is in turn in a carbon dioxide-rich environment.  Don’t be surprised to see some bubbles when you pour this wine into a glass
• It has the fastest “gait” for a wine from (gamay) grape to glass (G2G) with a decent “glugability” (what I gather is winespeak for how easy it is to drink this wine on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most easy and favorable to the wine).  This wine can go G2G in less than 6 weeks!
• It is perhaps the closest to a white wine that a red can ever get (clever marketing spin?)
• Served chilled, it is recommended as the “fun” wine that should be gulped rather than sipped (A cynic’s view could be: Gulp it in large quantities so that you can quickly reach an inebriated state where you do not need to worry about taste or sophistication)
• It is technically a primeur and not a noveau. “By French and European rules, a wine released during the period between its harvest and a date in the following spring, is termed primeur. A wine released during the period between its own and the following years harvest, is termed nouveau. Source: intowine“
• Per French law and tradition, the annual primeur is not to be sold anywhere before midnight on the 3rd Thursday each November.  However, don’t be surprised to see bottles stacked up in your neighborhood world market couple of weeks ahead of time.
• It used to be marketed (not sure, if anymore and if so, how) in the US as the perfect chilled table wine for your Thanks Giving Dinner.  Perhaps, messaging is now more through Social Media (as in this blog post).  In the interest of full disclosure, as much as I can wish au contraire I have no connection or affiliation to any winemakers, distributors or retailers of Beaujolais Nouveau.
• It is to be drunk as close to the label date as possible.  Definitely not one for your cellar!

Each year, arrival and availability of this wine begins with the proclamation: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!

My own introduction to the nouveau experience was in 2001 over a fondue dinner with friends in Stuttgart, Germany.

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Label for Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 from Georges Duboeuf:

image source: W.J.Deutsch & Sons

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Sources:
Alliance Francaise Brisbane – Beaujolais Nouveau Day
Beaujolais, Alternate Takes
Beaujolais Nouveau: History Behind the Third Thursday in November
Beaujolais Nouveau Wikipedia Entry
Gamay Grape Wikipedia Entry
Glugability Index
thumbshot image: pointsdactu.org

Last night as we were about to turn in, the lil one asks, “Is Moon in space or space is in Moon?”. To which I reply, “Moon is in space”. Pat comes her next question, “So no space in Moon?”. xD

Me wonders, if not a scientist, she just might grow up to write for sitcoms about astute nothings!  Now, not that there is anything wrong with that (is there?).

Image: NASA

Watch the “Did you know?” video (v4.0, 2009) from XPLANE and The Economist:

There is a reference in this video to a quote by futurist, Raymond Kurzweil:

What used to fit in a building now fits in your pocket,
What fits in your pocket now will fit inside a blood cell in 25 years

What then can fit within a blood cell can in turn be hardcoded into your DNA, only to be later worked in to the sub-atomic void at which point there is no differentiator in identity.  There might be spiritual paths to explore into these depths and realize the connected oneness.  Many such journeys of self-realization and enlightenment documented in mythology, religious scriptures, and by new age gurus.  Such divining is however not for everyone, at least not in a single life time, as sincere as the endeavor might be.

Perhaps, it is for this everyone the long winded path through technology (here, media convergence) where we eventually realize this connected oneness.  When that happens we won’t need transportation vehicles and communication tools to connect.  Pursuit of material objects will be irrelevant.  For what we sought, wanted to be, and where we wanted to go we would have found them all within. The big nothing!

Everything else is pure illusion, sarvam mAyam.

Image source: aejmc.org

On October 2nd 2009, two brave photography (and coffee) addicts set out to hike to North Dome in Yosemite for a sunset/moonlit view of the Half Dome. On our way we stopped at Starbucks in Oakdale, CA for some bean juice and was challenged in a taste test between Pike’s Place and the VIA (what?). We won and left with a few packets of Starbucks Via in our pockets.

This is what happened next…

Click here to see this video on the Starbucks “Share Your VIA Experience” page under the “Far Out | In the Wild” category.

We are waiting to hear back from Starbucks if our submission is going to be rewarded with some goodies!

Where: Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India

On a somewhat related note, this image is a reflection of how I feel myself, about all the online profiles I have, on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn, et cetera ...

If I could add SoMe (Social Media) God into a pantheon this one below would be my candidate!

Playing the role of self-appointed guardian of automatic/mechanical watches within my tribe, I found myself unable to come up with convincing answers.  So I took it as an action item to find out what the expert opinion(s) is on this matter.  Below is what I found that was satisfying enough for me.  This Q&A is from the site Chronocentric.com and I quote it below as-is:

Why would I want a mechanical/automatic watch when quartz watches are more accurate?

Source: http://chronocentric.com/watches/buyersguide.shtml#whymechanical

“Simple. Quartz is clearly better on accuracy. But there are many other advantages and pleasures from wristwatch ownership beyond just measures of precision levels that are beyond the notice of many people.

Frankly, quartz watches and many other technologies don’t really do anything significant to better people’s lives. People with quartz watches are no more reliably on time than people with mechanical ones. People driving cars with manual or automatic transmissions still get where they are going equally well. People still enjoy music about as much as they used to, even though CDs play it more clearly that tape or LPs did. You are not likely to have any smarter thoughts simply because you wrote them down with a computer than with an ink pen. You can easily spend as much time playing golf or football on an accurate computer simulation game as on a real playing field, but the experience is not any more fulfilling at the end of the day. And you can certainly do a lap around the lake faster in a speedboat than in a rowboat, but what have you really accomplished?

The newer technologies often gain a level of efficiency that makes them… uninteresting. In many cases, the older ways and technologies were more than sufficient, and it is their minor failings that give variety and character to doing things that way. With the older ways, you usually have to be more aware of details, understand more of what you are doing, and take more time being involved in the process. That greater interaction makes the process more personal and enjoyable for some people.

With the newer ways, you can be pretty assured your quartz watch is on the right time, your car’s automatic transmission won’t miss downshift on the way home, your CD will play exactly the same as it did yesterday, your computer will catch and correct your typos and misspellings, your video game won’t stop in the middle because of rain or a player injured in a tackle, and you certainly won’t be bothered seeing much of the detail and wildlife on the lake at high speed from your motorboat. How boring.

Mechanical watch enthusiasts often compare the movements, the finishing, the level of adjustment, types of certifications, performance under different circumstances and other esoteric measures of mechanical timepieces.

Quartz watch enthusiasts compare… mostly accuracy measures.

So if efficiency is your main desire, then quartz is for you. If you are tired of efficiency and want something interesting instead, try a mechanical watch.”

For more information on accuracy, see http://chronocentric.com/watches/accuracy.shtml

In adding my own 2c to the above, a benefit that is not mentioned in the Chronocentric answer is the freedom from battery cells. Seen more from an End-Of-Life (EOL) perspective than a Total-Cost-of-Ownership (TCO) one. It is very likely that you may not find battery of a certain type for a quartz watch purchased in the early 80’s (or 90’s) assuming you remembered to remove its (dead) cell on time and that it has not leaked inside (all contrary claims by battery manufacturers aside, I still encounter cases of cell leakage inside the watch when battery not removed on time). Chances of a Quartz watch becoming obsolete within our own life time are an order of magnitude higher than that of a mechanical watch.

If you are a sentimental fool like me, you might still be able to restore and enjoy a mechanical watch from the 60’s, as I did an old Seiko 5 Automatic that was in the family. It has been running GREAT the last 5 years now. So I would go as far as saying if you are looking for a “real and lasting relationship” with your wrist watch or an heirloom (in working condition) to be passed on to the next generation then go for a mechanical timepiece! Doesn’t need to be a Patek Philippe, even Seikos will go the distance as I can attest.

What is the real reason(s) why mechanical versions — even of the same watch — are more expensive?

Source: http://chronocentric.com/watches/buyersguide.shtml#qtzvmech

“You will often find mechanical and automatic watches at a significantly higher price than a comparable quartz model. In some cases, a manufacturer will even offer the identical watch with your choice of a mechanical or quartz movement. The mechanical watch will be more expensive. Some people will tell you it is because the mechanical movements are highly refined, others that mechanical movements are very expensive and quartz very inexpensive. Most of that is baloney or exaggerations. Here are the real reasons why.

1. Cost to Manufacture: The high quality quartz movements used in better luxury watches are slightly cheaper to make than their mechanical counterparts, though the difference is not that great. Keep in mind that cost of the movement in most luxury watches accounts for only a small portion of the final retail price — less than 5%.
2. Warranty Service: Since there is almost nothing to go wrong with a quartz movement, warranty claims for quartz watches are very small. Mechanical movements are more likely to incur an in-warranty service, so that cost is factored into the price.
3. Distribution: Mechanical movement watches are sold in much smaller quantities, so have less economies of scale in the distribution system. While collectors and enthusiasts often prefer mechanical watches, the general public still predominantly buys quartz. So mechanical watches do not turn over in inventory as fast as quartz, causing the manufacturer and dealers to have a somewhat slower return on their investment in stocking them.
4. Exclusivity: As with virtually all jewelry — and don’t kid yourself, any wristwatch over US $200 is mainly jewelry — there are premiums you pay for certain above average features. Precious metals, synthetic sapphire crystals, mechanical movements, advanced timekeeping modes (complications) and precious stones all are at significant premiums over their mere cost.”

Here’s another perspective on the Mechanical/Automatic vs. Quartz debate: http://www.timecafe.com/Mechanical_Quartz.htm

Image: IWC Portuguese ChronoAutomatic Steel Blue Mens Watch IW371417 on Amazon.com

pArtha nyAbagam Illayo (PNI) literally means “don’t you remember seeing (this one)?” in Tamil. When this song must have come out and in the years thereafter, not many in the South of India would have “remembered” seeing this one as Sway with Me (Dean Martin, 1954) or Quien Sera (1953). The latter being the original mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz that has been the “inspiration” for countless renditions in various languages ever since. (Reference: wikpedia).

PNI is from the movie, Puthiya Paravai, which in turn is the Tamil version of the Hollywood movie, Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958).  Listen to PNI sung in Tamil by P.Susheela:

Some thoughts on the making of this song. Wonder what the compulsion must have been to use this tune and in this picturisation. Was Sway with Me very popular back then in the clubs (say, what?) of South of India or among the privileged or with the Anglo-Indians or AIR? Giving the benefit of the doubt to music director ‘MSV’, suppose he did not seek any external Mambo inspirations, could it be that the film’s director was a fan of Dean Martin or just a clever opportunist who just wanted to milk a “free” tune to the maximum? Or, could it be that even in the “dark ages” of information (or, the lackthereof) hit-making powers of access, re-purposing, and selective distribution of premium content was already well understood? Wonder (again) what ROI calculator Dada Mirasi must have used for this “localization” project?

Now, on the two video snippets below. The Tamil audio track has been replaced in these two, with English and Spanish respectively. Me thinks:

• ‘Sowcar’ Janaki (actress in the picturization) is so hip she can’t sway below her waist
• Sivaji (actor) is smokin’ haat!!
• Sivaji does the “smitten” from subtle Hollywood (0:49) to over-the-top Kollywood (1:45)
• Case of “Eee adichchAn kApi” (read, blatant plagiarisation) @ 1:03-1:10 in the English remix below? It goes “I can hear the sound of Violins, long before .. it begins” in English.  In the Tamil number, this section is just instrumental interlude.  Is it just coincidence then that we see the guys on the violins even though the Tamil picturization does not seem to require it?

Sway with Me (Dean Martin, 1954):

Quien Sera (Pablo Beltrán Ruiz, 1953):

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For some details on the personalization I am referring to in this video, you can clearly see stuff pulled from my Facebook profile at 0:23 (Think English message), 0:29 (Name), 0:47-0:49 (Career Info), 0:50-0:54 (Photos from My Albums). See below:

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Dil tadap tadap ke will conclude my trilogy of posts on Salilda songs inspired by western music. Here, the inspiration was the Polish folk song – Szla dzieweczka do gajeczka. Some information on the original:

“The song is a very popular folk-song that originated in the Silesian (South-Western) part of Poland i.e., from the regions of Slask Gorny (High Silesia), Cieszyn and Opole regions. The ethnographer Juliusz Roger identifies it as coming from Rybnik, which is near the Czech border. That is where the famous Polish jazz pianist, Adam Makowicz, and the famous Polish composer, Henryk Gorecki, come from. It has been very popular throughout Poland for many years, for various celebratory occasions like namesday, youth gatherings etc. It has been recorded by the professional Folk Song & Dance Ensemble, ‘Slask’ produced by Polskie Nagrania, by the Lira Ensemble of Chicago and by popular singers like Maryla Rodowicz and popular Polish dance bands.  As far as the pronunciation, it goes something like this…

Szla dzieweczka: shwah jeh-vehtch-ka
do laseczka: duh lah-sech-kah
do zielonego: duh zhyeh-loh-neh-go
nadeszla tam mysliweczka: nah-desh-wah tahm mih-shlee-vetch-kah
bardzo szwarnego: bahr-dzoh schwahr-neh-goh
O moj mily mysliweczku: Oh mooy mee-lyh mih-shlee-vetch-koo
dalabym ci chleba z maslem: dah-wah-bim chee hleh-bah z mahs-wem
alem juz zjadla: a-lehm yoosh zyad-wah”

Above is information from the website, itwofs.com – chronicles of plagiarism in indian film music.  Research done by Karthik S, site-owner of itwofs.com, supported by his Q&A on this topic with Ms. Wanda Wilk, Director of Polish Music Center at the University of Southern California.  Visit itwofs.com if you ever come across a non-Indian tune that feel (you) have heard somewhere in some Bollywood movie.  Chances are the connection you are looking for has already been documented on this site.  If not, you are welcome to send your entry for the benefit of others (like me!).

Now, here is a remixed version that I created of the Hindi video with the Polish folk song (sourced from itwofs.com). Enjoy Szla dzieweczka do gajeczka (Polish original) as soundtrack for the Madhumati video:

Also, the “original” Hindi version of Dil tadap tadap ke (Madhumati, 1958):

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I had long made a mental note to find out the inspiration for the song Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke from the Hindi movie Do Bigha Zameen (1953).  I had heard in the past that this song was inspired by some famous Soviet Red Army marching tune.  Besides “being” in this movie song, I had heard this (supposedly Soviet) tune used in one of the episodes of Nukkad, a briefly popular teleserial on Doordarshan in the 80’s.  Episode was one where a Nukkad character has to keep bi-cyling in a circle for as long as he can, for some cause (don’t remember what), and this tune is used by the crowd as an inspiration to keep him going.

Watch Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke:

Continuing from my previous post on Salilda, I was determined to find out which Soviet Red Army marching tune this one was.  My search terms included different combinations of “Do Bigha Zameen”, “Do Bigha Zamin”, “Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke”, “Russian Song”, “Russian Army Song”, “Soviet Red Army Marching Tune”, “Salil Chowdhury” but I did not get very far with any of these.  Nor did I find what I was looking for.  No thanks Google!

I did however get a reference to the Russian site – Soviet Music – that has an online library of songs from the Soviet era.  I tried to listen to as many songs – available as mp3’s – in the catalog but somewhere must have missed what I was looking for.  I then tried to look for the Soviet tune by humming and searching on sites such as midomi and shazam but no closer (was I) and definitely no cigars either!

Tired but not discouraged, I decided to send a mail to the site owner of Soviet Music.  So I did, send him a mail with a link to the Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke video on YouTube.  Cometh response, the very next day

“I tried, but I cannot recognize that song. — Lake”.

Not what I was hoping to hear but the helpful tone of Lake’s e-mail encouraged me to look harder, perhaps, more closely .. the clue that was right in front of me all the time, viz., the video response posted by IndianBirdy, YT user, to the original Dharti Kahe song.  This video has a desi kid (presumably learning music) playing this tune on a bansuri.  Great!  May be, this will help isolate the tune from the Hindi lyrics so that ears not accustomed to Hindi music might be able to correlate with more familiar, native music.

So I sent one more mail to Lake with the bansuri link and prompt came his response:

“I’m not sure but maybe this one – http://www.sovmusic.ru/download.php?fname=polpol2“.

As I clicked the link and listened to the track start of with the sound of a horse trot, I knew it .. this is it!  Eureka, Voila, Wah re Wah, Nethi Adi, machAn – Bulls Eye!!! Can’t really explain the sense of exhilaration that this seemingly inconsequential and insignificant quest gave me at the end.  The likes of Christopher Columbus and Rocky Balboa might have identified with my state of mind .. India, India or Adrienne, Adrienne as the latter went!

Anti-climactically, it turns out what I was looking for is an extremely popular song, Polyushko Polye, that has versions and renditions in several languages.  duh! Below is one such version from the Russian Red Army Choir.

O Field, My Field (Polyushko Polye)

Once the key search term – Polyushko Polye – was established, it wasn’t hard to find different flavors of this song on YouTube. Below is a compiled playlist of the ones that I liked. Enjoy (the female track and the balalaika versions are very good):

Now that all the pieces have started to fit, even midomi returned meaningful results upon humming the original Russian version.  Before you click on any of the midomi results links remember these are friendly voices not intended to scare anyone ;=)

I also found this lone post linking the two songs and venturing to say how communist leanings of Salilda could have provided him access to Soviet culture way-back-when and the result is Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke!

Spasiba, Lake / Salilda / Soviet Music!