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Bubai
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Name: Bubai
Country: India
Gender: Male
Interests: reading, messing around in random programing languages, hiking, and cycling
Expertise: hope to master R one of these days.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
7/9/2002
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| | Portishead – Glory Box | | Waldeck – Addicted | | Propellerheads – Winning Style | | Crustation – Purple [Air Remix] | | Dublex Inc. – Nifty Night | | Pacha Massive – Don't Let Go | | Dorfmeister vs. MDLA – Boogie No More (Kraak & Smaak's Boogie Angst Remix) | | Astor Piazzolla – Adios Nonino | | Yonderboi – Papadam | | Astrud Gilberto – Berimbau | | Bitter:Sweet – The Mating Game | | Tosca – Züri (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Nordic Flavour Mix) | | Thievery Corporation – Liberation Front | | Visit Venus – Kinski Disko Fox Machine | | Counting Crows – Sullivan Street | | Boozoo Bajou – Yma | | Röyksopp – Remind Me | | Peace Orchestra – Who Am I | | Mr. Scruff – UG | | TM Juke – Grounded in Fargo | | Moloko – Day for Night | | Portishead – Threads | | The Cranberries – Linger | | Narcotango – Gente que si | | Morcheeba – Post Houmous | | The Karminsky Experience Inc. – Exploration | | Fila Brazillia – Soft Music Under Stars | | Amon Tobin – Yasawas | | The Dining Rooms – Found Footage | | Nicola Conte – Missione A Bombay | | PFL – Love Me | | Hird – Getting Closer | | A Forest Mighty Black – Rebirth | | Sofa Surfers – Love as a Theory | | Hird – I Love You My Hope | | Boozoo Bajou – Night Over Manaus | | dZihan & Kamien – Homebase | | Fila Brazillia – Pots & Pans | | Groove Armada – My Friend | | Jesse Cook – Breeze From Saintes Maries | | Waldeck – Tears Running Dry | | Bajofondo Tango Club – Perfume | | Tosca – Suzuki | | Bajofondo – Pulmon | | Parov Stelar – Kisskiss | | Flunk – Probably | | Gabin – Doo uap, doo uap, doo uap | | Daft Punk – Voyager | | DJ Shadow – Six Days | | Kailash Kher – Teri Deewani | | Yonderboi – Fairy of the Lake | | Faithless – Insomnia | | Fatboy Slim – Weapon of Choice | | The Cranberries – Still Can't... | | Gotan Project – Confianzas | | Astrud Gilberto – Who Needs Forever (Thievery Corporation remix) | | Thunderball – Angela's Lament | | Mark Farina – Dream Machine (DJ Fluid Mix) | | DJ Shadow – Fixed Income | | Ottmar Liebert – Surrender 2 Love | | De-Phazz – The Mambo Craze | | Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra – Black Stone Buleria | | DJ Shadow – Changeling | | Up, Bustle and Out – Lazy Daze | | Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now | | Spin Doctors – Two Princes | | A Forest Mighty Black – Everything (Freakniks remix) | | Röyksopp – Eple | | Jamiroquai – Cosmic Girl | | The Crystal Method – Weapons of Mad Distortion (Album Version) | | Pearl Jam – Release | | The Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm | | Thievery Corporation – A Gentle Dissolve | | Garbage – Push It | | The Cranberries – Zombie | | R.E.M. – Texarkana | | | |
| Lately I have been noticing that a fair share of the traffic that comes to my Xanga site is because of one specific post of mine - about my BSA foldman (http://bubai.xanga.com/605513042/bsa-foldman/). Biking is picking up in India - still slowly, but surely. I have in fact been wondering about doing a write up of my two years on my Foldman and lo and behold ... Tobias Tarun decided to post me a request for it. So here goes.
For the folks who want to move up to vedio on the BSA foldman check out this guy who manages to impress his family - or so i think and I realize that after a certain age it takes quite a bit to impress your family. So here is to you sir for doing this awesome piece of vediography for all of us foldman enthusiasts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeOEBM5hgc
My experience: Within a few weeks of my purchase I had my first puncture and when i took it to get it repaired the mechanic took a look at it and started charging me rs. 20 for a punctures (about 4 x the right price) and i also decided to learn how to repair my puncture. Within the next two months I had a dozen or more punctures which promptly dissapeared once i changed my funky brit tyre tubes that the foldman comes with, with the local desi tubes. Since then I have the more normal rate of punctures ... once every now and then - the original tubes of course i think are a little too sensitive for desi conditions.
The ride itself is quite good. I like the small bursts of acceleration i can manage on this, that helps me navigate through crazy Bannerghatta traffic at peak hours and keeps me flowing even when the traffic is not. Additionally, while the bike is not super light, I have no hassles simply lifting it up and moving the bike ride to the pavement as i get loads of dirty stares from folks stuck in traffic. Even now the ride is silky smooth, provided i keep it very lightly lubed. I have done minimal maintainence really - I have done two full services in the last year, and the last one was perhaps about 4-5 months over due.
I initially had regrets on buying the bike. It wasn't exactly cheap, and the tube was a pain, and I have found that in traffic it is not a speedster but a cruiser - meaning be prepared to get overtaken by other bikers. The bursts of speed are really busrts ... of course i might have lung capacity limits (i am a pretty small guy) but then I have ridden regular size bikes for the last 10-11 years before this and this does feel slower. Additionally, the bike is made of steel not lightweight aluminium and so i do puff after climbing a set of stairs with it and not exactly something you'll be throwing onto the back of your pick-up. Also, I realized that I really dont need a bike which folds since I really haven't had the need to fold my bike that frequently. However, over time I have come to appreciate the bike for a number of things:
a) Its a silky smooth ride and its been maintaining this since the day i brought wiht only minimal maintaince.
b) The cycle does fold - so its gotten be out a few jams when i just folded it into an auto and went home
c) Maintaince is minimal, and extremely rewarding in terms of the quality of ride
d) I have done a few 10 k bikes rides on it and enjoyed it quite a bit
The negatives:
i) I am not sure if the rear break has a design flaw or if its not been set up right. For about 6-7 months I regularly had to deal with break pads that kept touching the wheel. I actually unhooked the brakes and drove it into the repair shop, but the guys there were swell and have fixed it and it seems to be doing well over the past two months.
ii) The steering rod folds, and after repeated use it ends up with quite a bit of play in it.This is the result of a loose nut, as well as alignment issue in the fork that had come up. Again the folks at Relaince Cycles (no relation to Ambani's Reliance) did a great job fixing this.
Aside of this I really have no serious complaints. I cycle about 3-4 kms to work, and perhaps another 6 or so to the gym and about 7 or 8 to do my shopping. I dont own a car (or a TV ... yeah .. i am weird). and I am quite dependent on the bike really. One a few occasions I have 10 km + rides and I have really enjoyed those.
My synopsis. The foldman is a good product and does all the things its advertized to do. If you are good to it, i.e. take it for servicing every 6-8 months, then you get really fantastic rides off of it. I'd say go for it. However, I have really not used any of the other competiting products out there and so I am not qualified to make a relative statement here.
Tarun: in terms of your needs I think the foldman does more than adequately. The only concern I have is about folding the bike and carrying it inside the bus? Most buses in the US that I rode had cycle racks and you don't need a fold man there. Most buses in India are so unfriendly to cyclists that I wouldn't want to take my cycle on it even if there was space. Hopefully, you have access to a service that'll let you take your bike on, but I really dont see that happening on the buses down here in Bangalore.
Happy Riding.
Pics of my Foldman - 2 years post ownership. [I'll put up pics here over the weekend]
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| I signed a deal today ... the mangi chef "the souza" offered to make me creme brulee if i started to blog again. now it almost feels like a decade since i had a good creme brulee and no one i know has the ability to make creme brulee at the drop of hat ... so here is to you chef the souza ... for you bring me salivating to my xanga post you mean mangi creme brulee dangling charmstress.
if she is mangi then after spending two years of being in bangalore i now am begining to realize how much of a bangi I am *not*. This is not going to descend into a castigation of the city ... which has much to castigate and perhaps as many if not more reason to croon over ... but rather about the ability of social relations to generate creativity as opposed to individual inner thought to generate creativity. At some level i really would have continued to find excuses to not write here even though i quite clearly want to continue ... but for the creme brulee. In some sense for me then blogging had partly been to keep people who meant a lot to me updated about my life, and partly to simply write in partial, though never complete anonymity. However, overtime quite a few people who used to read me, and who i used to read have simply ceased to be on xanga (not you Michael!) - life, events, wants, distaste, time, simply draws people away to what appears to be more meaningful ... living a life ... but isn't blogging here a part of living a life?
anyhow ... going deeper into this ... i think a lot of stunning brilliant and creative work has emerged from people who have dedicated their lives solely to their work. however, appreciation, clearly a social activity, has to lie at the heart of such deeply isolating levels of commitment to ones work. I have by now seen simply brilliant folks grow impatient and loose it and have their own deep interest falter and waver after years of effort and it hurts to see ... but then again there are those who roll around, laugh about, and continue with their spontaneous creativity, as if they were still 15 or maybe 25 ... in their endless experience gathering and creativity sharing lives. Many are also socially active, even if it means being committed to their immediate family, but input into life from domains other than their creativity i think need to exist ....
i think i discovered my necessary spice for writing .... food ... and on this instance ... creme brulee ... fitting no? no fuel no creative locomotion ... ;) ave dhe shouzah!
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| me: hello madam
Spiffing Partner: oh hey ki haal chaal tussi dilli vich?
me: ekdum sandvich
Spiffing Partner: :D bura waala tha but i;ll let it pass without starting to puke plans? kal milo
me: hmm .. so anyone ever do the hello madam hello madam number by any malik for you?
Spiffing Partner: overhead transmission.... samajh hee nahin aaya
me: kal iz problem ... mommy is wanting to do things ... and evening frand is getting married. there is a song by anu malik. he has many songs this one begins hello
madam hello madam
Spiffing Partner: so why type any when you mean anu, you oaf????
me: oh jeez ...i did?!! well any malik has to be anu malik no
Spiffing Partner: sheeeesh
me: quite apart frm the fact that u is next to y on the keyboard he has to be the most famous malik ever uselessly though
Spiffing Partner: "y is next to u" sounds like a question in sms-ish
me: so the second line of the brilliant song is i am your adam i am your adam yes that be so ... smsish has taken over sunday lunch wat u r doing?
Spiffing Partner: spending it with you of course what are you feeding me? na-re-ga?
me: hmm i was thinking ta-mu-ra but ... we can do something more interesting ... someone posted
comments on my only EOID blog post my only and possibly last bit to the cause(!)... Blah Blah
me: aha his efficiency wage theory?! well ... given the way his career is going i am not surprised
me: okie ,... i have beaten anu malik to some horrible lyrics
Spiffing Partner: so that can be a possible plan
me: what a tamaachaa, baby come on aa jaa
Spiffing Partner: otherwise we could rope in see pee for a get together...
me: oh yeh
Spiffing Partner: wow
me: hell ya. more balanced admi but perhaps a little bland ..
Spiffing Partner: hmm
me: but ... still i haven't seen him in ages.. maybe even this lifetime.
Spiffing Partner: su and see... bland plus laal mirch, and she also fits in with the ongoing tamaacha theme
me: wa wa ekdum freud should take a bow
Spiffing Partner: wow
its unbelievable, the sort of crap you and i can churn out on chat
me: yeah yeah .. do you save any of it ... ?
Spiffing Partner: all of it, honey
me: i think i am going to put this one up ...
change u r nam
Spiffing Partner: it's a book in the making for like minded sould
souls but it will also be sold
me: yeah .. it''l be well sold is what you were thinking
Spiffing Partner: marwari genes will tell, after all
me: ekdum ...
Spiffing Partner: abe gandu, sunday plan final kar na be
me: laffter challenge ... try not laffing as you read this
okie .. so ... um seepee is better than crazycouple in my book but
both fun nevertheless
Spiffing Partner: ok.. agreed
me: will the twain meet?
Spiffing Partner: no
me: perhaps best.
Spiffing Partner: what's seepee done to deserve that?
me: it will only be a reflection on us
Spiffing Partner: heh... true | | |
| 2008 will go down in my memory as the one in which terrorism finaly found the common man outside of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Mumbai's attacks were perhaps the worst of the lot and are systematically different from the preceedings ones that took place in Jaipur, Ahemdabad, Delhi and even Bangalore. These were co-ordinated bomb blasts while Mumbai's attacks so far appear to be the work of group people number between 10 and 30 who have will fully gone and decided to spray people in crowded places with sub-machine fire - much more deliberate and much more deadly than random bomb blasts. At the end of the day I'd like to say: 1. Michael thank you for writing in to check if I am doing ok - I am safe and I wasn't even in Mumbai when all this happened and have been watching all the news on my laptop with my mother and friends. I was at the airport a day before all this happened and there was a taxi bomb that struck the departure area where we were so in some sense in the time dimension at least this wasn;t far off. 2. I have been astonished and surprised to learn that we do have commandos who seem to know what they are doing and there seem to a whole range of these guys out there (the NSG folks, the Army and the Navy Commandos) who can deploy on a very short notice. And its been extremely inspiring to see the Mumbai police handle terrorists in the first 10-12 hours of the entire experience. Hats off to folks who go in with outdated weaponary to combat well armed terrorists simply because they signed up for that job and there is no one else around to do the job better at that point in time. It really was a shame to hear about demise of Hemant Karakare and hist team trying to break the terrorists holed up outside VT. 3. I was ashamed to see the reactions that we have on hundereds of online forums that range from simply demented thinking and are not going to help anyone. I guess it is heartening to know that when things like this happen people at large are moved and want to respond ... here is a recording that i thought was extremely well done and gave a real sense of what the hostages who were released must have gone through http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7754190.stm - i'd skip reading the text and simply stream the phone conversation that is up on the website. 4. At the end of the day this doesn't look like the activity of any aggreived community trying to make things equal for them. As Sherlock Holmes would probably ask - what is the motive? and how has the motive? I have no ideas and that is precisely what confounds me and I hope the "intelligence" folks are able to find out quickly and prevent these from happening again. | | |
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