Kerry's speech

I thought Kerry's speech was so-so. I heard part of it in the car on the way back home. Then watched the last bit on T.V. He was sweating and it probably meant he was putting a lot of effort into it. He seemed animated enough, but his hand gestures were totally out of tune with what he was saying. I got the feeling that he was rushing through his speech, that the 50 minutes alloted was too little. If it was, why didn't he start earlier? I know the networks had decided on just one hour of coverage, but if he had started speaking earlier, I'm sure they would have changed their minds.

I still haven't made up my mind. I like Bush, but I don't like the crowd around him, especially that pompous Vice President of his. Cheney comes across as this pope of moral arbitration and that turns me off.

I guess I will wait until after the debates to make my mind up. I remember Kerry debating Weld in the '96 Senate race and he did a good job. And back in '01 and '02 when other Democrats were hesitant to debate Bill O'Reilly on his program, I remember Kerry squaring up with him and answering his questions in a very calm, dignified and authoritative manner. Never got ruffled by O'Reilly's hectoring interviewing style. So I think he might be good in the debates with Bush.

Edwards fell flat

I thought John Edwards speech was below expectations last night. He seemed to be off. He didn't give the impression that he was comfortable and he did not wow me. After everything that I have read about him and his eloquence, I expected more from him. But he failed to deliver.

For me the highlight so far has been the speech given by Barack Obama. And of course Bill Clinton, but we know he can give a good speech.

I was surfing TV channels this morning and I watched CBN news this morning. CBN stands for Christian Broadcasting Network, and is a Pat Robertson baby. They interviewed the conservative types, and all of them were dissing Kerry. They pointed to his record in the Senate and brushed him off as an avowed liberal. The problem with Kerry is that he has a 20 year Senate record that he can't run away from. He has cast many hundreds of votes. Any one vote cited out of context can make him appear like a radical leftist. But Senate politics is more complicated than that. Senators routinely vote against bills they'd be better off supporting only to make a point. I myself am not swayed by these arguments. As we all know, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Kerry though has to give a real good speech tonight. I am not sure he can deliver. But didn't Bush surprise us all in 2000 by giving a decent speech?

More nuggets from the leadership class

KW substituted for the Colonel this past Monday. He couldn't make it b/c of a family emergency. Everyone has a different style of teaching, and K's was refreshingly different. She engaged the whole class in a discussion and before we knew it, the 3 hours was up.

Interesting things I picked up:

Words contribute just 7% to the importance of a sentence.

38% of it is the tone in which something is said.

The rest is body language.

The two most important factors that lead to project failures:

Lack of clear goals

Poor communication

The Democratic convention

Its the week of the Democratic convention. I guess everyone in blogosphere is probably blogging about it. I believe quite a few bloggers have been given press credentials this year. Almost every news site has blogs. Blogs rule!

Day one featured Bill Clinton in the starring role. I don't think there is anybody who matches his political skills in this country today. He was simply superb. In contrast Hillary came across as shrill and loud. She has a speaking style that turns me off. I wonder why Democrats greet her like a rock star. She comes across like she is lecturing rather than rallying the troops. She has got to do something about it if she has serious intentions of running for the presidency in '08 or '12.

Day two I think belonged to Barack Obama. He is a little known state senator from Illinois who is running for the U.S. Senate to fill a seat vacated by a retiring Republican Senator. His immigrant story and his centrist speech and the energy and passion with which he delivered it have made him an instant star in the Democratic party in my mind. He is due for big things if he carries on in this vein.

Edwards takes the stage today followed by Kerry tomorrow. Kerry it appears will have to make the speech of his life if he is to leave Boston with a jump in the polls.

Trouble around an unsaid word

W has been getting up at 4 am to go to work. She isn't a morning person and finds this a torture. Last Friday, she called me at work. During the course of the conversation, I said something that I vaguely recall, but which caused her great anger. She thought it was an insensitive remark and she was really upset when she got home. I thought I had engaged in a harmless conversation and instead it had turned out to be a huge deal. She says I questioned the necessity of her going to work at 4 am and wondered if it was really required. I don't know if I did. But even If I did, I wonder if she had to make it into a huge deal. Women just react to things so differently that it is very difficult to get it right everytime.

David Petraues

A story about David Petraues, charged with training the Iraqi Army and police in Newsweek a couple of weeks ago conveyed exactly the same point that the The Colonel was trying to make about leadership in my project leadership class the other night.

DP and The Colonel were classmates in West Point (thats what he said when I recounted the story).  DP led the 101st Airborne in last years war and his unit was in charge of Mosul. In the Army camp, they had a banner "What have you done to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis today?" that everyone saw the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. When there was a raid on a house, the commandoes informed the house occupants why they were there. When they left, a civilian team went back and reassured the occupants. The unit was widely considered to be the best and most successful during their tenure. The residents of the town actually named a street after the unit.

DP returned back to the US after his tour of duty. But the President called him back, gave him another star (he is now a three star general) and sent him back to train the Iraqi Army and build the security apparatus from scratch. His mission is considered vitally important to the success of this war. The faster he can get a quality security force manned by Iraqis in place, the faster the US can withdraw its forces.

DP's leadership philosophy is exactly what is being taught in my course. Provide a clear vision; provide people (in this case Iraqi security personnel) the training and the tools to succeed; give them the freedom to bloom and make tough choices with minimal control; delegate and finally appreciate and reward successes however small they may be.

An alternative vocation

Saw this story on the shortage of air controllers. I am sure it is quite a stressful job, but perhaps the beautiful environs of the Hawaii islands will soothe the nerves.

British Open

For the second year running, a unheralded American has won the British Open. I saw Todd Hamilton win the Honda Classic earlier this year and without a doubt his short game was stellar. He seems to excel in windy conditions where you have to tough it out. He is not the prettiest golfer on the golf course; I'd watch Ernie Els swing a million times, but not Hamilton. But he proved y'day that he had what it takes to win a major. I was actually pulling for him down the stretch. It is such a neat story; a guy struggling through the Asian tour, failing to qualify for the PGA Tour on numerous occassions and in his first year on the PGA Tour striking it big.

Phil Mickelson raised expectations only to deceive. For just a few minutes in the final round, as they made the turn, he was in the lead. Having made some long putts to save par throughout the day, he then missed a short par putt that was a gimme. You wonder sometimes whether he will have to wait for another 40 majors to win his next one.

DVD

I was reading an old issue of Newsweek this morning and came across an article about the guy who is credited with foreseeing the tremendous advantage that Digital Video Discs (DVD) would accrue to the entertainment industry. He brought together (he gets much of the credit, though his brash and unpredictable behavior according to the article also has led to his firing at various jobs) the entertainment industry, computer companies and electronics retailers so that they could agree on a common format. Now DVD's have replaced video tapes in much of the world.

On a tangential note, Bill Gates according to this article predicts that DVD's will be extinct in a decade. The alternative: intelligent TV's that can download just about anything from the internet.

Michael Moore

Michael Moore's latest film Fahrenheit 9/11 is the craze in London. My cousin proposed we go see the film, but instead we settled for the "Bowling for Columbine" documentary that he shot a couple of years ago in the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy in Colorado.
 
Moore tries valiantly to find the root cause of the gun problem in the U.S.  He blames in turn, self-styled government militias, welfare reform, the NRA, the ageless Dick Clark and uncaring American business  among others.
 
I don't know where the blame lies. I only know that America has become a very violent society. Dissent, discord and disagreements are part and parcel of any society.  But we seem to react (or over-react) to all of this in a manner inconsistent with what you would expect from the most developed, modern society in the world. Something doesn't gel and we need to address it if we can find what the problem is.
 
I had a conservative friend of mine attack Moore's film. He sent me this link. I was unimpressed with the website for what I perceived as a hatchet job to undermine Moore's film.
 
I don't buy Moore's analysis of the problem. But I do know a problem exists. In our haste to shoot the messenger, lets not lose sight of the fact that there is a message in the film. And we would be better off thinking about it and finding ways to address it.

Impressions

London gave me the impression of being very laid back. W fell in love with the London, but I bet she'll feel differently when the weather is bad in the winter.

I'd love to work there for a couple of years. London School of Economics offers a one year MBA program. It would be great to do it there. I need to pull up my socks and really be serious about doing my MBA. It will cost a fortune though to do it at LSE. So that might be a deterrent, what with all the mortgage bills staring us in the face now.

The public transportation system made traveling within London a breeze. I was put off though by the steep admission prices at all the tourist spots. Even the tourist information office charged a fee for a map of the town we were visiting. That is usually free here in the States.

The best way to enjoy London is to walk around the city center. That is where all the attractions are anyway. It is just an exciting place with lots to offer. Much like San Francisco. Though SF lacks the wide array of public transportation alternatives that London has.

The trip home

7/11

A week had passed quickly without us noticing and it was time to return. The trip back home was smooth. We tried to get an earlier connection back into SFO, but failed. We got home around 12 midnight. There is nothing sweeter than being back home, though I must admit that this was a thoroughly restful vacation indeed.

British Museum

7/10

We had neglected to see the British Museum for want of time on Tuesday. So S and I took the tube back to London. W chose to stay home and visit the outlet mall again. Women take to malls like fish take to water.

We reached London around 10 and the museum around 11. We wandered through the various exhibits. The most prominent are the Elgin Marbles that were stolen from Greece. The Greek government has been demanding its return but to no avail. Actually half the stuff that appears in the Museum got there because it was stolen from former British colonies. But to see them all in one place is still amazing.

My cousin came and met us for lunch. We ate pizza. His friend works in the fashion industry and he had lunch with us as well.

After lunch we went back to the Museum and spent another hour there. We then took the tube and went back to South Kensington. We walked to the Royal Albert Hall and took a picture of the hall as well as Albert's statue that is bang opposite the hall on the other side of Hyde Park.

We rested in Hyde Park for a while and then walked back to the Science Museum and the adjacent Natural History Museum. My interest was lagging. All the information overload had led to a waning of my interest. We walked out and took a picture of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

We took the tube and headed back to Marble Arch. We shopped for a T-shirt for W in French Connection. Their T-shirts with FCUK written across the front fascinated her and she wanted one in her wardrobe. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we could not find her size.

We caught the tube back to Oxford and we were in time for dinner and some serious drinking. After all it was our last night in London and I let go. I tottered up to my room and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Stratford-upon-Avon

7/9

Shakespeare's birthplace beckoned us this day. The weather was great. A had made dosas that were absolutely delicious. We reached Stratford around 12 and strolled by the side of the river Avon that runs through the city. We went inside the Swan theatre and took a look at the list of plays slated for the summer.

We walked to the home that Shakespeare was supposedly born in. The admission price was 7 pounds. Not for the last time did we decide against going in. We took some pics and then got some coffee. We walked through some gardens next before stopping at a church. I wandered in and found a group from Florida playing inside. And for the love of God, the concert was free. We listened for a few minutes and then got back to the car.

We decided to drive back to Oxford through the countryside rather than the motorway. On the way we stopped at a Model village. This is a 1/9th replica of the town Burton-on-Water and is built from the local Costwold stone. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the town and checking the souveneir shops. As the clock struck 5, most of the shops closed for the day and we returned to the car for the drive back home. Driving through the countryside afforded us excellent views of verdant green fields. The scenerey was spectacular.

In Oxford, we got some Fish and Chips to take home. Refreshed, we sat down only to have U bully us into seeing the videotape of our trip. After a while it got boring.

We ate more dosas in the night for dinner capping another day of sightseeing.

Oxford

7/07

Another cousin S arrived from Liverpool. He is doing his masters and he took a break to come visit us. We met him at the bus station. He went back to my aunts to freshen up. W and I then strolled around Oxford. For someone expecting a campus that is separate from the rest of the town, Oxford is surprisingly in its layout. Departments, shopping complexes, houses and apartments are all on the same street.

W was really tired and totally disinterested as I pointed out the sights. We called a halt to our stroll and repaired to a coffee shop and indulged in some people watching.

In the evening, we went to an outlet mall nearby and W bought a shirt for herself.

We came back home and opened up a champagne bottle. A made bhajji's and we had a good time. In the night, after U had hit the sack W, S, A and I talked into the wee hours of the morning cracking up often usually at U's expense.

We went to bed around 2 and had to get up at 8 to make the trip to Stratford-upon-Avon the next day.

Roman bath

7/06

We took a day trip to Bath and Bristol. Bath has a Roman bath museum. Supposedly this was a site of a Roman town in the 1'st century and the roman bath is evidence of it. Nothing spectacular. The architecture of the buildings and the gardens that dotted the riverwalk that ran along the river Avon that runs through the city were breathtaking. I was turned off though by the fact that we had to pay to go into the gardens. The rain came pouring down, so it made it hard to appreciate the history of this city. W and I were a little sick of all the sightseeing. In the evening, the skies opened up and we had to take cover in a coffee shop. Got a taste of cornish pastry. They taste much like samosas.

From Bath we moved onto Bristol and drove through the city center. We drove to the suspension bridge that sits on top of a hill and has good views of the city. From there we moved onto U and A's friends house. The friend turned out to be a student of my mom in college. He also was a close friend of W's uncle who lives in Atlanta. Small world. He plied us with the hottest dish that I have ever eaten. I had to eat it with yoghurt to dull the spice. I paid the price next morning.

We drove back in pouring rain. U is not a steady driver. He wanders across lanes. But we made it back safely.

Tower Bridge

7/05

W was tired and woke up late. We got going by 11 and went straight to St Paul's cathedral. It was closed for the morning and we waited till it opened. We shouldn't have bothered. It was undergoing renovations and the price of admission was 7 pounds. There was scaffolding inside that covered the carvings on the wall. I didn't understand why they wanted to charge us admission. Felt like they were ripping tourists.

We walked up the Millenium bridge that crosses the Thames. I believe the first time they unveiled it, the bridge shook and almost came down. It had to be redesigned before they opened it to the public. On the other side of the bridge is Tate Modern, a museum containing displays of contemporary art. We spent some time there and then walked on the Queen's path that runs along the Thames. On the way we crossed the Shakespeare Globe Theatre that has been renovated recently. We went past London Bridge, picked up lunch, and made our way to the Tower of London. On the way we got great photographs of the Tower Bridge. W was so tired, she decided she couldn't walk anymore and sat down on a bench. I moved on, but when I got to the Tower of London, the huge lines of crowds and its steep admission price dissuaded me from entering. Instead I walked on the bridge and retraced my steps back to where W was resting. On the way, I turned around and saw that the bridge was opening to let a yatch through. Got a nice pic.

We took the tube and got off at South Kensington. We went to the Natural History Museum. Superb building. You can spend hours in the courtyard just admiring the building from outside. We spent some time there and then made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

You cannot cover the museums in one day. You have to see each section at a time and then take a break and come back another day. Tight on time, we couldn't afford to do that. Instead we picked some sections and walked through some exhibits.

Harrods beckoned next and I guess W was most excited about it. Harrods is owned by the man whose son was dating Princess Diana at the time of her death in Paris. There is a memorial dedicated to them on the ground floor of the massive store. It was crammed with tourists. We walked around and went to the food hall that has exquisite displays of anything you would ever want to treat your palate to. Bought some souveneirs and they were expensive too. W thought it was worth it.

W was really tired. We had coffee and then took the tube back to my cousins. We had to return to Oxford to my aunts later. My cousin cooked us dinner and dropped us off at the bus station. We took the bus and returned back to Oxford in time for bed.

London Eye

7/04

We left the apartment at 10 (taking advantage of lower fares on the tube system after 9:30). We stopped at Covent Garden and walked to Trafalgar Square. We took a tour of the National Gallery that is on one side of the square. If you stand at the entrance of the Gallery and look down at the Square, you can take in a view of the Houses of Parliament, The Mall that leads to Buckingham Palace and the various embassies that surround the square.

We ate lunch at Leicester Square. We moped around looking for a ticket to one of the plays, but finally decided against it. We walked through the mall, through St James' Park. Took a detour and walked to Westminister. We ended up on Westminister bridge and decided to buy a ticket and get on the Eye. The Eye is a giant ferris wheel that has fascinating view of the London skyline. It was set up in 2000 to commemorate the Millenium. Londoners have stories about how the project was badly managed. But in the end, judging by the crowds that had gathered, it is a money making machine. The weather was perfect. After a wait of 45 minutes or so, we finally got our chance. W was afraid at first. She isn't too thrilled about heights, but I persuaded her and she relented. We took some great pictures. The ride lasted 30 minutes.

We walked back to Parliament and decided against going into the rotunda of the House of Commons. The line was too long. Big Ben tolled away endlessly every 15 minutes reminding me of the time I listened to the BBC growing up in India. We went to Westminister Abbey that was the site of Princess Diana's funeral. It was closed. But we wouldn't have ventured in anyway because of its steep admission price. The one frustrating thing about London was that every tourist spot charged a ton for admission. We were content to just see the sights from the outside.

We walked back through St James' Park and made our way to Buckingham Palace. The skies threatened to open up, but after a short light drizzle, the sun broke through again. We walked up Constitution Hill and made our way to Hyde Park. W was tiring and so was I. All the walking had led to some serious exercise. Just as we were deciding to call it a day, we saw a sign to the Speaker's corner in Hyde Park. Supposedly every Sunday, anybody with something to say about anything can come here and speak his or her mind. The phrase "Get off your soapbox" originated here. We walked up to the spot and stumbled upon Marble Arch.

We took the tube back after what was a hectic day. We took my cousin and his flatmate out to dinner at an Indian curry house. My cousin tells me that the most popular dish in England is Chiken Tikka Masala. We ordered fish curry, but it was unimpressive.

Watched the remaining of Bowling of Columbine. W vowed never to shop at Wal-mart again after learning that they sell gun ammunition.

Madame Tussaud's

7/03

We drove to London and stayed for a couple of nights at my cousin's place in Central London. It was very conveniently located, just a few minutes away from the tube station.

U dropped us off at Madame Tussaud's. The ticket price shocked us at first, but it was worth the price, I think, though W disagreed. I have pictures of Simon Cowell and Morgan Freeman, and their wax figures look very much like the original. The Chamber of Horror scared W and she passed through it screaming. All in all, we had a good time there.

After a couple of hours, we went to St Regent's park and strolled through it. Fascinating views, green lush grass, gardens full of flowers, all a very pleasing sight to the eye. We made our way back to our cousin's and passed our first test of navigating the tube system. A few passersby helped us and we got back in time for dinner.

We went out to a Tapas bar. Dinner was dominated by discussion about the Iraq war and what is considered American arrogance by much of Europe. I was on one side supporting the war in Iraq and my cousin was fiercely against it. It was striking to see his disdain for American foreign policy.

Micheal Moore is a very popular figure in England. My cousin had a tape of his movie Bowling for Columbine and we went back to his place and watched it. I will write a separate piece about it.

Before we went to bed, we met my cousin's flatmate. She is in the risk management business and travels all over the world on business. Must be a fun job.

The flight

7/02

P dropped us at the airport. I was expecting crowds, it being the beginning of a long weekend, but the traffic was surprisingly and refreshingly slow. We got to the gate well in advance. Our flight to LA was on a United partner airline, Mesa Airlines. Our flight attendant looked not a shade older than 18. She seemed totally disinterested in serving us. She tripped over her announcements and giggled in reaction. Totally unprofessional.

We got to LA and then the ground crew stopped us from disembarking b/c of what they said was a FAA/TSA order. My heart sank. We just had 50 minutes between flights and sitting there, I felt sure we'd miss our connection. A fellow lady passenger provided us some entertainment by repeatedly asking the flight crew if we were in danger. The captain putting on his straightest face, said no.

Some ten minutes later, all passengers going to London and Hawaii were asked to disembark. There were 5 of us and we were thoroughly searched again. W's backpack was searched meticulously. 20 minutes later we were allowed to go catch our connection. We ran upto the gate, though we need not have hurried, b/c a flight from Las Vegas was also delayed and had passengers connecting to London.

Much to our consternation, we were assigned seats in the middle row, though we had asked for window seats. Made getting up and going to the toilet an absolute misery.

We took off a half hour late but because the wind was behind us, we actually reached London a half hour early. Customs was easy, though for a moment the customs officer had a perplexed look about him, when he asked us where we were from. I replied, San Jose and added California after a few seconds delay, which was enough to crease the poor man's forehead.

We waited for my U and A, and after a half hour had passed, I worried if they had gotten our arrival date wrong. I called and left a message, and waited some more. They arrived a short while later having been caught in a traffic snarl on the M25.

W and I thought we would head back home and rest, but U and A had other plans and asked us if we were in the mood to visit Windsor Castle, since it was nearby. So we began sightseeing barely an hour after we reached London.

Windsor Castle is the Queen's weekend retreat, much like Camp David is to the President. The Queen was in the house (noted by a particular flag that is flown atop the castle to signify her presence) but she hardly ever ventures out into the public eye. We toured the castle and took a few photographs. Brilliant architecture. We went to Hearst Castle last year and Windsor Castle is any day better than Hearst.

U & A had a dinner party to attend and we tagged along. By the time we got home it was already 12 midnight, and we had been on the go for a full 24 hours.

Eclipse

Great IDE. I absolutely love the features that it has. It makes development so much easier. I heard that one of its architects is a member of the famous "Gang of Four" who wrote the Design Patterns book. You can learn more about eclipse at this site. I found another blogger who blogs about eclipse and has several interesting tid-bits. A colleague of mine who attended JavaOne 2004 said that Eclipse was featured almost everywhere.

Ann Coulter

I just read one of her columns. The best that you can say about her is that she is pretty and quite hot. Her writing is just the opposite - cold, mean and thoughtless. She sees the world through blinds and in one dimension. I wish the world were as simple to deduce as she makes it out to be. In her warped worldview, the liberals are to blame for almost every ill in this world. I am sure that if her garbage is not picked up on time, she will be ready to pounce on the liberals for that as well. Reading her column, it is apparent that it is the product of a person whose ideas are rudderless. The words don't carry any weight. They are shorn of wisdom.They are just words put together to form a sentence that is meaningless drivel.

Off to the UK

We are travelling to UK this week. I wish I had planned this much better. I am leaving it up to my uncle who lives in Oxford to do much of the planning for me and I don't know if that is a good idea. I am looking forward to the trip and all those clipped British accents. I'll blog about it when I come back. My only concern at the moment is the short layover we have in LAX. I hope we have enough time to make it to our connection to Heathrow. Otherwise we may have to spend the night in LA.

Scott Peterson trial

I wonder whether people think Scott Peterson is guilty. All the circumstantial evidence seems to point to him. He had a really bad day yesterday when the prosecution got a lady acquaintance of him to testify to his allegedly ribald behavior. He allegedly boasted about his sexual conquests to this lady and asked her to set him up with a friend of hers claiming he was unmarried. And this was a month or two before his wife was murdered. I don't think at this point that his high profile lawyer Mark Geragos will be able to keep him out of the slammer. I think he is headed there for sure.

I was just thinking that if ever I am called up for the jury (which is not possible now b/c a jury has already been seated..but if ever) then the post above will surely disqualify me. Won't it?

Saddam on trial

Great spectacle! I caught glimpses of this tyrant ranting insanely on TV. I think he has lost it. He is probably more fit to be in a mental institution. His defense of his invasion of Kuwait was laughable. And to think that this guy will be on our TV screens throughout his trial, whenever that might be, is a daunting thought.