Jayaprakash Narayan, or JP as he was widely known, gave the historic call for Sampoorna Kranti or Total Revolution from Patna's Gandhi Maidan in 1974. However, Sampoorna Kranti is today known more as a Patna-Delhi train and JP's birthday, October 11, is revered more as cine star Amitabh Bachchan's date of birth by most of Patna's sophomores.

Ask Abhimanyu Kumar Singh, a Class XI student, what does he know about Sampoorna Kranti, and pat comes the reply, "It's an express train between Patna and Delhi." His classmate, albeit in another school, Mausam Shreshta offered a similar answer.

Even clues couldn't help Abhimanyu and Mausam come up with any knowledge about JP. Ironically, even college students TOI spoke to were no less ignorant.

"Sampoorna Kranti is a train but there is something more about it which I don't know," candidly confessed Brajesh, who is doing honours in History from a local college. "October 11 is the day when Big B was born," was how most of the city youths described the import of the day. Only a few could recall it also happened to be JP's birth anniversary, but only after they were given clues.

"Big B immediately hits your mind as his birthday is widely covered by the media," one of them thus explained his ignorance.

Student leader Ramashanker Sinha is not amused. "The state has been ruled by JP's disciples for so many years, but none of them bothered to do anything concrete for making the young ones understand the importance of the leader who is credited with ushering in a new era in Indian politics," Sinha said.

Agreed state's public health and engineering department (PHED) minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, himself a product of JP movement. "While the previous governments having JP's disciples at the helm did nothing to educate the young ones about JP and his ideas, even our government in the first three years of its rule has not been able to do much on this front," he said.

Choubey said there is a need to organise special programmes in schools and colleges at least four times in a year — on the birth and death anniversaries of JP; on March 18, the day he led a silent procession in Patna in 1974 and on June 5, when he coined the concept of Total Revolution the same year. "Our youngsters would thus know JP," he said.

Lets brief about this Gentleman~

Early life

Narayan was born in Sitabdiara village between Ballia District of UP and Saran District of Bihar. His father Harsudayal was a junior official in the canal department of the State government and was often touring the region. Jayaprakash, called Baul affectionately, was left with his grandmother to study in Sitabdiara. There was no high school in the village, so Jayaprakash was sent to Patna to study in the Collegiate School. He excelled in school. His essay, "The present state of Hindi in Bihar", won a best essay award. He entered the Patna College on a Government scholarship.

He joined "Bihar Vidyapeeth"[1]founded by Dr. Rajendra Prasad for motivating young meritorious youths and was among [2]the first students of eminent Gandhian Dr.Anugrah Narayan Sinha[3],a close collegue of M. K. Gandhi who later became [4]first Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister of Bihar. In October, 1920 Jayaprakash was married to Prabhavati Devi, a freedom fighter in her own right and a staunch disciple of Kasturba Gandhi. Prabhavati was the daughter of lawyer and nationalist Brij Kishore Prasad, one of the first Gandhians in Bihar and one who played a major role in Gandhi's campaign in Champaran. She often held opinions which were not in agreement with JP's views, but Narayan respected her independence. On Gandhiji's invitation, she stayed at his Sabarmati Ashram while Jayaprakash continued his studies.[5]

In 1922, Narayan went to the United States, where he worked to support his studies in political science, sociology and economics at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio State University.[6][7] He adopted Marxism while studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under sociologist Edward A. Ross; he was also deeply influenced by the writings of M. N. Roy. Financial constraints and his mother's health forced him to abandon his wish of earning a PhD. He became acquainted with Rajani Palme Dutt and other revolutionaries in London on his way back to India.

After returning to India, Narayan joined the Indian National Congress on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; M. K. Gandhi became his mentor in the Congress. During the Indian independence movement he was arrested, jailed, and tortured several times by the British. He won particular fame during the Quit India movement.

After being jailed in 1932 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and other national leaders. After his release, the Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as President and Narayan as General secretary.

During the Quit India Movement of 1942, when senior Congress leaders were arrested in the early stages, JP, Lohia and Basawon Singh (Sinha) were at the forefront of the agitations. Leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali were described as "the political children of Gandhi but recent students of Karl Marx."

Initially a defender of physical force, Narayan was won over to Gandhi's position on nonviolence and advocated the use of satyagrahas to achieve the ideals of democratic socialism. Furthermore, he became deeply disillusioned with the practical experience of socialism in Nehru's India.

After independence and the death of Mahatma Gandhi, Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Basawon Singh (Sinha) led the CSP out of Congress to become the opposition Socialist Party, which later took the name Praja Socialist Party. Basawon Singh (Sinha) became the first leader of the opposition in the state and assembly of Bihar and Acharya Narendra Deva became the first leader of opposition in the state and assembly of U.P.

Sarvodaya

On April 19, 1954, Narayan announced in Gaya that he was dedicating his life (Jeevandan) to Vinoba Bhave's Sarvodaya movement and its Bhoodan campaign, which promoted distributing land to Harijans (untouchables). He gave up his land, set up an ashram in Hazaribagh, and worked towards uplifting the village.

In 1957, Narayan formally broke with the Praja Socialist Party in order to pursue lokniti [Polity of the people], as opposed to rajniti [Polity of the state]. By this time, Narayan had become convinced that lokniti should be non-partisan in order to build a consensus-based, classless, participatory democracy which he termed Sarvodaya. Narayan became an important figure in the India-wide network of Gandhian Sarvodaya workers.

In 1964, Narayan was vilified across the political spectrum for arguing in an article in the Hindustan Times that India had a responsibility to keep its promise to allow self-determination to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He hit back at critics in a second article, dismissing the Indian version of the "domino theory" which held that the rest of India's states would disintegrate if Kashmir were allowed its promised freedom. In his graceful if old-fashioned style, Narayan ridiculed the premise that "the states of India are held together by force and not by the sentiment of a common nationality. It is an assumption that makes a mockery of the Indian Nation and a tyrant of the Indian State".

Bihar Movement and Total Revolution

Narayan returned to prominence in State politics in the late 1960s. In 1974, he led the student's movement in the state of Bihar which gradually developed into a popular people's movement known as the Bihar movement. It was during this movement that JP gave a call for peaceful Total Revolution Together with V. M. Tarkunde, he founded the Citizens for Democracy in 1974 and the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 1976, both NGOs, to uphold and defend civil liberties.

Emergency

When Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court, Narayan called for Indira to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation which he termed Sampoorna kraanti [Total Revolution]. Instead she proclaimed a national Emergency on the midnight of June 25, 1975, immediately after Narayan had called for the PM's resignation and had asked the military and the police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders; JP, opposition leaders, and dissenting members of her own party (the 'Young Turks') were arrested on that day.

Narayan was kept as detenu at Chandigarh even after he had asked for a month's parole for mobilising relief in areas of Bihar gravely affected by flood. His health suddenly deteriorated on October 24, and he was released on November 12; diagnosis at Jaslok Hospital, Bombay, revealed kidney failure; he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life.

After Indira revoked the emergency on January 18, 1977 and announced elections, it was under JP's guidance that the Janata Party (a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the anti-Indira Gandhi opposition) was formed. The Janata Party was voted into power, and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre.

An evaluation

Narayan spent the first 25 years of independence as the patron saint of lost causes: the Praja Socialist Party, the Sarvodaya movement, even self-determination for Kashmir. His most enduring contribution to the life of the Republic was the movement he led to unseat Mrs Gandhi, which provoked the Emergency. As the eminence grise of the Janata Party, the first non-Congress party to run the central government, he can take credit for catalysing the political forces that set in train the Congress's political decline.

Narayan also wrote several books, notably Reconstruction of Indian Polity. He promoted Hindu revivalism, but was initially deeply critical of the form of revivalism promoted by the Sangh Parivar.

He died in October 1979; but a few months before that, in March 1979, his death was erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister to the parliament as he lay fighting for his life in Jaslok Hospital, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops. When he was told about the gaffe a few weeks later, he smiled.

In 1998, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social work. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965.

Narayan is sometimes referred to with the honorific title Lok nayak or 'guide of the people'.

A university (J P University in Chhapra, Bihar) and two Hospitals (L N J P Hospital in New Delhi and Jai Prabha Hospital in Patna) have been opened in his memory. The capital's largest and best-equipped trauma centre, the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, also honors his contributions.

Our politicians may devise ingenious ways of getting round the Constitution and violating its rules from time to time, but they do not like to see the open defiance of it by others. In that sense the Constitution has come to acquire a significant symbolic value among Indians. But the currents of populism run deep in the country's political life, and they too have their own moral compulsions. It would appear therefore that the people of India are destined to oscillate endlessly between the two poles of constitutionalism and populism without ever discarding the one or the other.

There are also plenty of Ambedkar, Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and JP in the piece. A very interesting read; take a look!

Link: via Law and other things.

but what annoys me more than losman's terrible peripheral vision and despicable timing is anything related to brady quinn.

to be honest, maybe i don't like quinn because so many girls are in love with him. whatever, don't judge me. but whatever the reason may be, i dislike him enough to not focus on:

1. that picture, and how bret michaels is a full-grown, hetero male who wears puka shell necklaces, eye-liner, and lip gloss AND definitely has had his lips done.

2. losman's beard and creep-stache. am i the only one who thinks he looks like the possessed dad from the original amityville horror?

and brady- buzz. your girlfriend. woof.

Atlanta vs Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers vs Matt Ryan. Both very young inexperienced, starting quarterbacks and Lambeau Field on the first weekend of October, it does not get any better than this. People were unsure of how Rodgers would play because of his shoulder injury, but in an attempt to beat Brett Favre's record setting streak of continuous starts, Rodger suited up and played. In the end, Matt Ryan was the quarterback who was leaving the field as a winner. This is the third week in a row that I have had to write about the Packers which is not a good thing. Hopefully they get the team back on track on their way to Seattle to visit former head coach Mike Holmgren.

San Diego vs Miami - So as I should have done when picking my picks for the week, the Chargers will now be known as the Padres. Hopefully this will give them a reason to start winning... Miami once again surprised the league with another upset victory. The Miami Dolphins are the team that everyone is going to overlook this season. Expect the Dolphins to finish at least .500 this season. They are that good. Or that average. However you want to look at it.

Buffalo vs Arizona - If any Buffalo Bills fans thought that JP Losman was a good quarterback hopefully this week proved something to you. The only good thing JP is good for is riding the bench and maybe giving the plays to the quarterback. On his first drive, JP lost a fumble and the Cardinals subsequently scored on the following drive. Hopefully, Trent Edwards can heal up over the bye week and come back in two weeks and start at quarterback. Concussions are so unpredictable so I'm sure we won't find out until next week whether he can play or not.

Pittsburgh vs Jacksonville - Once again, the Jaguars let me down. Their lack of a running game has imploded my fantasy teams all season long and until they find a decent tandem in the backfield, it's going to be a long season for the Jags.  Jones-Drew and Taylor must pick it up for Jacksonville's success. The Steelers are going to have another dominant year in their division and will end up making the playoffs once again.

So, as this will be my last blog before the NHL Season officially starts on Thursday, let me finish this by saying Go Wings... HEY HEY HOCKEYTOWN!

- Nathan

losman is a great backup qb. except when he's on the field.

i don't hate you, jp. i just wish you played in the CFL, or maybe for the dolphins. please spend this bye week doing some soul searching.

We went up to Queens Park at about 1530hrs for a play.  You can see the girls at the top of the climbing frame.

This was the first time CB has been to the top of the frame by herself.

___

Click on the photos for a larger image.

After lunch we watched Fudzwallop the clown.  This clown was excellent.  His jokes spanned the generations that were watching.

JP got to go up on stage to do a magic trick.

She made a rabbit appear out of an empty box. She did and excellent job, as you can see here she was successful in making the rabbit appear.

She was so impressed as she had never patted a rabbit before.

I admit, Im have never been the most talented and brightest person in...anything,really.
Although, there was a point in my life where I was ONE OF the brightest kids in class, but
the THE ONE who's considered to be the cream of the crop.

I've failed in almost everything, especially in college, those were what I consider to be my "dark days".
I never really took college seriously, first because, initially, I didn't like my course, I never dreamed of
becoming an Engineer. I've always wanted to be a lawyer or a cartoon superhero(really!). I've always
wanted to be Atty. John Pierre Peciller by day, and a crime-busting, half vampire/half human superhero
named Slash (lamely patterned after Blade). I've daydreamed through highschool and went through
a terrible nightmare in college. Not only did I disappoint myself, worse, I have failed my parents who
thought I was going to have a different fate than they did.

It's too late now...

It's far too late now to make amends and redeem myself from the failure that I have become.
The Ultra rich lawyer who's envied by most has now become a basic wage earning engineer
who loathes working for Koreans. While the Blade wannabe has become nobody. Sometimes, I wake
up and think to myself, what would have happened had I taken my life more seriously? I hate this shit!
The worst feeling in the world is remorse (besides embarassment), because regret is not a time machine,
it can't undo things. No matter how sorry you are for screwing it up, there's not much you can do anymore,
It's over..and regret is something that won't ever go away, It will leave a lasting imprint on your life
and soon as your reminded of that thing you did, you'll feel shooting pains in your gut and chest and it
won't stop until your mind's preoccupied with something else.

Regret is an abstract punishment executed by your own conscience

Here I am now, hating my job, as always. Doing what I really don't wanna do and understand.
And there's no fighting this. This is where I put myself. Nah! THIS isn't how my dreams looked like.
It's different. I don't feel I belong here. But either way, Im here and it's too late to do something about it.

I've been thinking about it. There's only one way out and I'm still too scared to turn that knob.

I give up.

You know what I hate most about my job? It's the fact that I can't think

for myself or that there are a lot of people who would like to put their hands

on what I'm supposed to be doing because I'm apparently not doing a very

good job. Try imagining this, Im under the Innovation Group of Samsung

Phils. and I monitor the Productivity results of the entire company. That's my job,

to monitor the results and make sure, no abnormalities happen, otherwise I'll be

the one accountable for it. That's weird considering I dont produce the chips

myself or that I have no control over whether operators refuse to work and just

be useful to this company. If output is low, thats's my problem? Wait, why's that

again? And when I take my concern to the Engineers of the Production Line, they'd

say i'm just making things harder for them. What could be so hard about telling your

operators to do their job? That's why they're on the payroll, right?

The Misconception of Overtime

Productivity by definition the actual rate of output or production per unit of working

time. The productivity of a person, process, department or company.depends on how much

they produce in certain amount of time. Usually, when a boss sees his/her employee

work overtime, they immediately think, "Wow, sipag, He/She Deserves a Promotion!" Thats

what you would do if your stupid boss and you give no importance to time(at kung gusto

mo malugi ang kumpanya mo sa taas ng labor cost nyo, tanga!)

I once applied for this company, I think its Sun Cellular, (Tina & Ems might remember this one

cos I was with them), One of the questions asked was "How do I feel about working Overtime?"

And I wrote on that little application Form that, I think working overtime is unnecessary, PROVIDED

you finish all your tasks and duties at or before 5 PM. Surprise,Surprise, I didn't get the job since

this company thinks leaving at 5PM is equivalent to not going to work at all. Dumbass!

Productivity for Dummies

Im currently working on this "ultimate" manual on Productivity, so that when I resign, I'll be able

to pass on to the employee the concept of Productivity in layman's terms and so that I can also

give a copy to all the people at the Production Departments who refuses to understand what

Productivity is all about, they're certainly living in a different planet where the sun don't shine

and you can't tell time. I gave an "elementary" example regarding the concept of Working

Overtime, here's how it goes:

Operator A and Operator B are best friends and are part of the Process XXX

One day, Engineer Y asked them to both produce 10,000 units of Product123

for today.

Operator A : "Pare, alas singko na, tapos ko na un sampung libo ensayamada ko"

Operator B : "Sige, pare, di pa ko tapos e, I-OOT ko na lang to hanggang alas otso"

Operator A : "O cge, una na ko"

Operator B : "OK, pa-kiss"

Operator A : Tsup!

HEHEHE! ; )

The Question is, who do you think is more productive? Operator A or B?

The Formula for Labor Productivity is far too complicated to be understood in one sitting.

But anyway. here it is:

PPM = (Before Standard Work Time / Operating Worktime) x (460mins/Rep.Model Standard Time)

PPM is otherwise known as Productivity per man, it determines how much 1 person is able to produce

for a single day

460 mins is a constant, it's equivalent to a "fair day" or 8 hours minus 20 minutes breaktime(10 mins

in the morning and 10 mins in the afternoon)

Before Standard worktime is basically time for the person to produce a certain number of items given the

standard time set for different models of the product

Finally, Operation worktime is the worktime the person used up for producing the goods plus additional

time required to produce the goods, othewise known as overtime.

Therefore, if you still remember your lessons on ratio and proportion, or fraction, or division,

you would know that as the Denominator increases(Operation Worktime), the Quotient decreases

That's right! Theyre inversely proportional.

But here's a very basic explanation:

OPERATOR A : 10,000 units/ 8 hours = 1250 units/hr

OPERATOR B : 10,000 units /11hours = 909 units/hr

which basically means that Operator B is a sloth compared to the cheetah like efficiency of Operator A

Therefore, A's more Efficient, and over-all more Productive than B.

For those companies or bosses who refuses to accept this fact. Go live in pluto!

Last Saturday, our company was literally shook by an earthquake. I wasn't able to
watch the news, so i have no idea how strong it was on the richter scale. But it was
pretty strong, the cabinet standing behind me, was shaking so hard, i thought it was
going to fall on top of me. Its funny because i wasn't alarmed, unlike the people
on the 3rd floor, who felt it more (our office is on the 2nd floor of the 3rd building)

Instinct.

I read this mail once, on what to do in case an earthquake happens. According
to search and rescue experts that it's actually more fatal if you hide under your desk or
something that cant withstand the crashing force of falling debris. The probability of dying
because you got crashed like a bug under your desk, is bigger than having a huge debris
fall ontop of you.Crazy right? Since i was a kid, i was taught that it was the best thing to do.
E mali nman pla.Syet!hehehe...So here's what you do instead, you should lie either right next
to your desk or somewhere durable, so when an object falls from the top, you will be within
this space they call the "triangle of life", which experts say is the safest space during an earthquake
So, next time you feel those tremors, dont be a pussy and hide under your desk or your mom's skirt
(or your boss' desk, if your job description is secretary/whore..hehehe)

"God Bless you all, bitches!"

Yesterday(Sunday) i watched a marathon series on Channel V. The show was called "The Bad Girls Club".
I was hooked, because could not believe Girls are capable of that much anger and violence.
I particularly liked that one episode with this girl named Ripsi, and how she takes a shot of vodka
every morning because she said that she read somewhere, that in order for you to get rid of your hangover,
you need to drink what you drank the night before. She said it sobers her up.She was nuts.
She emptied this whole bottle of tequila with this other girl named Zarah and when they got drunk,
they did Yoga, and Ripsi, could not even stand on her own two feet, let alone do yoga poses,
she was all over the place. Then it got scary because whe started attacking her roommates, and boy was
she drunk and violent.Cray to the Z(hehehe).
Another character to watch out for is this woman with the huge nose named Aimee. Oh man! She's
dropping the F Bombs all over the place when whe's pissed, and she also has trust issues, not to mention
that she would contradict herself.She also talks like a jew from New Jersey but she'd actually a catholic
woman from Philly.Hmmmm.....

Day 1 - Sept.26,2008

I almost got run over by the train yesterday. This happened at the railroad at PNR along

Pasay Road, Arnaiz Ave. I guess it was stupidity on my part that I didnt look

on both sides before crossing the railroad; but what's more stupid is that the train was too slow

that it didn't even get near me before I could cross safely. I even heard someone yell out "ANAK

KA NG TANGA!" Screw him. The Old Rusty PNR Train is moving at 5m/s, and for a train that's pretty

slow. I was stepping at 2m/s, the train was at least 15 meters away from me and I need to cross

the railroad which was 8 meters wide. I forgot how you compute this in Physics back in college,

but I know that the train won't hit me, and it didn't. Im alive after all, right?

Sayang.

Los cambia por cualquier modelo HK o JP, sobre todo si son dorados, con la única condición que esten nuevos. Sus figuras todas estan en su caja original sin abrir.

Dejen un mensaje en este tema con su correo electrónico para mas datos.

WaMu's failure is the largest bank failure in United States history!

Just around 9 pm Eastern time, the U.S. Government seized Washington Mutual and sold $1.9 billion in assets to JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase also purchased Bear Stearns last March, and said it would sell $8 billion in stock to raise money.

If the above is all Greek to you (Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, just a college student who is interested in politics): WaMu, under control of the U.S. Government, sold off some the company to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion. It's pretty much an EPIC FAIL for WaMu, and our economy may be in trouble.

BUT if you have money in an account at WaMu, your money is 100% SAFE (it is FDIC insured). Even if you have investments in WaMu, your money is still SAFE.

:/

I always find it funny why they're referred to as Justice of Peace because I have a vision of a man/woman upholding erm, peace in a long robe.

Something like this:

Ok, ignore me.

Anyway.

As I have pretty much decided on the bridal shop and the pre-wedding photographer, I thought I'd do some research on the JP for the solemnisation ceremony. It's interesting to note how many brides-to-be ask to see a picture of said JP.

Now, I find that really strange. Why is it important how the JP looks like? To ensure that the JP you choose does not look like a Shrek reincarnate? To ensure that said Shrek reincarnate not spoil your wedding pictures?

Very very strange.

Of course, requirements such as being able to speak GOOD English is important because you do not want to burst out giggling during the solemnisation ceremony due to a mispronounced word because I will so totally do that if that happens! Or being able to switch effortlessly between English and Mandarin so that Mandarin-speaking guests will be able to follow the ceremony. Those requirements, I totally can understand because they are important to me too.

But how the JP looks like?! So weird lah.

In the midst of my research, I came across a Professor Yu Shi Ming. He was strongly recommended by a couple of brides on wedding forums. I then noted that he is the Head of Department at NUS' Department of Real Estate which coincidentally, is where the boy did his undergraduate studies.

Excitedly, I texted him this piece of news to ask if he knows Prof Yu.

His reply : Yeah, my old lecturer.

(Psst. Am not sure if he meant "old lecturer" as in his ex-lecturer or old as in old in age. Hmmm)

I wrote back: Is he nice? He's a JP leh. Can ask him to do the solemnisation for us! Tee hee hee.

Then no reply.  Tsk. Maybe he's just busy.

I just thought it'd be quite cute for his ex-lecturer to solemnise his ex-student's wedding eh? Then again, I had better make sure that the boy was a good student in his class first.

:D

This is one of the gardens we visited.  A beautiful garden.  The girls loved rolling around on the bindii free grass.

In Queens Park there is a formal garden.  You can see it on the google map here.

We took this photo of all the girls in Queens Park.

I took this photo of CB in Queens Park.

Thanks to my dearest, I can now post on a BLOG, being such a lucky fella, having the wife doing all the setup and for me just to simply type and post. I'll even get all the photos touch up by her before posting ;) surely not.

For most of the reader out that who don't know me. This will be a little corner about myself, my believe, my work, my challenges and my other blah blah blah.

Just that how grateful I am to have married such a wonderful lady (lady meau), most importantly married to someone who Love GOD and love me as well. This will be my first post of many to come, I will and can be quite personal, please go easy on me, as this is just another Chapter in my life.

This is JP, reporting in... from my comfortable home computer.

GOD bless you all

Photo added by imeau

imeau: Let us welcome my Very Important Person as the guest writer to this blog!
Yeaha!!! Be nice yeah?

Heaven for little girls

Originally uploaded by EclipseAu

While we were in Toowoomba for the Carnival of Flowers, we found this little shop called "Fairies on the Downs". The fairy in charge on Sunday the 21st was excellent with the girls. She gave them fairy wish glitter to throw around when making a wish and put the fairy bubble machine on.

Hello Hello! Major apologies for the unexpected and unnecessarily-extended hiatus. Not to make excuses, but adjusting to post-college, full-time job life made me sideline Brewnette…until now. I’m back and ready to talk beer, bars and Boston once again.

In thinking about what the proper comeback post should be, I reflected a lot on my (almost over) summer. It was full of adjustments like not being a college student, having a real job, making new friends and trying to find some sort of balance between it all. Perhaps one of the biggest changes was moving to Jamaica Plain (a little neighborhood oasis that’s still in Boston proper) and getting to know this eccentric and oh-so-loveable new town of mine. So I suppose I’ll highlight a few of my favorite JP haunts that have made my transition so smooth.

Costello’s Tavern is what I lovingly refer to as “my neighborhood hole in the wall.” It’s the perfect JP place to play darts (not a skill I have or want) or to watch a game with your friends, which is exactly what I did all through the Celtics path to basketball glory (finally)! They have a decent selection of Harpoon and Sam beers, always carrying the regular and seasonal varieties on tap, as well as the other staples of a great local bar – cheap light beer and Guinness. And the beer is cheap (at least by Boston’s standards). At $4 for a good beer (read: UFO), it certainly makes a good case for staying in JP instead of trekking downtown. Also, the food is really good. My bf goes back over and over again for the steak tips meal (it’s huge, delicious and completely affordable). Costello’s is that kind of bar you hope a new town has and I am a grateful and happy patron.

Another favorite is the way-too-cool-for-me Alchemist Lounge. The Alchemist offers a dimly lit bar area and quiet lounge-y restaurant room. It often hosts DJs and bands, and it hold Jeopardy tournaments and maybe ever Rock Band/Guitar Hero competitions. While I still haven’t been to one, Alchemist hosts a Jazz brunch every Sunday morning. It’s a little bit of a trendy Boston bar, mixed with the eccentricity of JP. More good food and awesome (and always changing) draft and bottled beer selection. Last time I was there, a honey beer (with a name I cannot recall) kept my interest. The all black-attired staff ranges from mildly friendly to constantly pissed off, but I don’t particularly mind, as I know that I am not as hip as they are. And I know this is a blog about beer, but this place has amazing sangria and some of the best mojitos I’ve ever experienced. Not as affordable as Costello’s but worth a visit.

On a rainy night, the bf and I stumbled past Fat Ram's Pumpkin Tattoo parlor (real name – I could NOT make that up) and into Brendan Behan Pub and immediately fell in love. We were instantly brought back to O’Donoghue’s, a Dublin pub we loved and frequented in our tenure in the Land of Eire. Inside the tiny, dark bar were “Regulars” on bar stools at the end of the bar, a crowd of young hipsters in the corner talking about their skinny jeans and androgynous haircuts, and us, sliding onto a bench and stool around a short table. The vast beer selection was spelled out in chalk on the wall next to the old fish tank. I tried the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat (eh) and he had some Guinness. Adding to our nostalgia was the Irish memorabilia strewn over the walls. I may have said this too many times for it to be believable but this was one of the closest pubs Boston has to those that Ireland has mastered. Oh, and it’s completely dog-friendly.

So that’s my brief recap of the JP bars I have taken as my own. I hope I have done them justice as I enjoy each for very different reasons. Lots more to come…taking time off means lots of ammunition for upcoming posts. Thanks for tuning in and CHEERS!

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It's DOG FRIENDLY. Haha.

Most of the venues we short-listed are hotels and hotels usually dun allow pets. + it's against the law to bring pets in to F&B areas I think.
Indulgz was one of the venues I would wanna try out, cuz it's a small establishment. I spoke briefly to Christin, and she's very nice and helpful. I think she's the lady boss, therefore she's very accommodating since there isn't anyone else she has to report to. Pretty flexible.
But, they dun allow dogs too.

I'm also thinking of ROM themes, cracking my brains on these. Picking on Darling's brain too. Haha.

I heard that it's not that easy to book a JP, cuz they have pre-bookings especially for popular dates. But I guess it's still early for us too anyway.
However, if you have any suggestions for good JP, do let me know = )
Open to suggestions for ROM themes too!

The Blue Jays lead the MLB in ERA with 3.55 and complete games (13). Ace Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett have been carrying the work load combining to pitch 437.1 innings and a combined 412 strikeouts. Unfortunately, their records have not really shown that with Halladay being 18-11 and Burnett 18-10. Still, the long innings these two pitch have helped to craft a very young bullpen still getting the hang of things. The only big name in the 'pen is B.J. Ryan and has converted 30/34 save opportunities with 57 K - a solid season coming off Tommy John surgery. So, if you have pitching, you should be able to win games, right?

Well, let's look at fielding, which was a problem for the Jays last year. After bringing in a slew of NL players in the offseason, the Jays are 6th in fielding percentage at .986. The defense is good, the pitching is fantastic. And the have a great offense already don't they? With Rios and Wells? Not exactly...

Here is the struggle for Toronto: Offense. You can't win games if you can't get runs. Halladay doesn't get you 5 runs for throwing a complete game, so the offense has needed to step up. Unfortunately, it has a little too late. Toronto is batting .265 on the season, good for 14th in the majors. A big problem has been missing ad that is a big bat in the lineup. Without Frank Thomas to protect young Rios and Wells, there have only been 117 homers hit out by Jays players: 25th in MLB.

Let's focus a little bit more specifically on the offense. Believe it or not, there is not one Blue Jay that has 20 HR. The closest is Alex Rios with 17. Pitiful. Unacceptable in this day and age of the long ball. GM Ricciardi MUST address this in the offseason. If it means giving up a young pitcher or two, do it. You have got to manufacture runs. Keep in mind though, the Blue Jays have been bitte by the injury bug a lot this year, which they have the last two years. Only 3 players have played over 106 games (Overbay, Rios, Scutaro). Rios has been the money man for the Jays though, leaving me wondering if the Rios for Lincecum deal would have went through in the offseason if the Jays could do anything offensively. Rios has hit the most home runs, hits, doubles, and stolen bases. He can't do everything though. He has got to have help. OF Vernon Wells just has never been the same since that huge deal a couple years ago.

There has been hope though! The last 30 days, the Jays are 4th in batting average, 4th in hits and the top 10 for most hitting categories in the MLB. They can do it. As much as I hate saying wait until next year, Jays fans, we are going to have to. Ricciardi will lose the big Burnett salary and hopefully can bring in some serious hitters, while keeping the main core of pitching together (Halladay, Marcum, McGowan, Litsch). Perhaps maybe bringing in a good arm or two for the bullpen. Maybe the slogan next year will be "Not the Rays, it's the Jays!" Boston continues to get old, and the Yankees are a complete mess. It could very well be the Rays and Jays becoming the new Boston and New York. Now, wouldn't that be something?

-Ray

(zie: http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/prinsjesdag_2008/1937573/___Nederland_staat_er_goed_voor___.html?p=2,1)

Well, we decided to go for a drive on sunday. We headed out to Laidley originally, but once we got there we decided to head over to Gatton.

Apex Lake was our destination. There was a monorail bike for the kids to ride, a little playground and heaps of Ducks, Geese, Ibises an other birds to feed. Once we started feeding them, more came from out of nowhere. JP fed one goose her finger, he must have thought it was tasty as he didn't let it go for about 5 seconds. CB was scared of the geese, probably because of the loud honking noises.

We were going to have a barbie lunch but as we drove past it looked as if there were only wood bbq's there.

We headed up the road and had a countery at the Gatton View Hotel. A decent meal for about the same as it would cost to go to KFC or Maccas.

They even had colouring books to keep the kids amused.

We had a great afternoon. Even NP got a ride on the rockin animal toy.