Shankar Tucker

I love talent and this kid is very talented.  Shankar Tucker is an American who was named Shankar because of a hindu guru that his parents follow.  He was tricked into playing the clarinet by his grandfather and soon came to love it.  He went to India and adopted his clarinet to Hindustani music under a flute master named Hariprasad Chaurasia in Mumbai.  Now he is slowly gaining fame with his youtube channel The Shrutibox.  The music here is amazing and when I first came across it I listened to "O re Piya" and couldn't figure out who Shankar Tucker was, but when i saw the subsequent videos I figured out it was the clarinetist and I had to look him up.  He plays with such feeling.  I love it!  You can tell he loves it and I end up loving it because of all the passion that was put into each adaptation or original songs.

I will definitely be paying attention to him from now on.

Pakistan's Military apparently hates civilians

After her first term as Prime Minister Benazir wrote a book about her time as Prime Minister.  She went on to serve another term and came back to Pakistan from exile to run a third when she was assassinated.

This is an interesting article especially knowing the history of Pakistan.  If you have netflix there is an interesting documentary following the Bhutto family who are very important to Pakistan's history.  If you watch it you will get a sense of some of Pakistan's history.  Its only been around for over half a century (65 years according to the article).  But its seen a lot of violence and turbulence.  It is very politically unstable and this makes it hard for the United States to work with them.  Pakistan is a very important strategic alliance for the United States to help achieve peace in the Middle East.  Pakistan itself could use the support of the United States to increase foreign investment if the country settles down.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Indra Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto at a peace talks meeting .  Zulfikar was the first of the Bhuttos to run for Prime Minister of Pakistan.  Benazir Bhutto pictured here getting involved in politics at a very early age as Zulfikar's hostess during the peace talks with India.

Growing up I listened to a song that made it seem hopeful that Pakistan will become peaceful eventually, but with recent history and the instability that the military is creating there it doesn't seem like peace is feasible in the near future.  The song is about hope that Benazir Bhutto (first and youngest female prime minister in Pakistan) bringing prosperity to Pakistan and that her reign lasts for a long time.  Alas, she was assassinated for standing up to the military as a leader in the Pakistan People's Party.

Benazir Bhutto in Lahore Airport thanking God for allowing her to return to Pakistan from her exile in Dubai.  She returned to run as Prime Minister for the third time under the Pakistan People's Party (a party started by Zulfikar).

Here is an idea...cut funding to the military.  Their head is too big and needs to be deflated.  They need to realize that they are working for the people not ruling them.

Face the Wall!

Here is a really cool wall I found.  I don't know if it is made to look retro or it is just a very old ad for Coca-Cola?

Sai Baba

I have been watching the Story of India (on Netflix).  If you haven't seen it its really a wonderful show that talks about India's history starting from the early migration of man from Africa.  I am on episode 3 and am fascinated and captivated by the stories told.  I want to know more.  In that quest to seek more information about India I am going to try to track down books about Indian History after I graduate.  Another part of Indian religious history I want to know more about is Sai Baba.  He is an elusive and enigmatic figure in Indian religion.  I say Indian religion mainly because he wasn't really a leader for any particular religion.  He, as many leaders in India, encouraged religious equality and reverence for ideas and morals displayed by all religions.

You will be hearing more about Indian history and Sai Baba as I learn more about both.

BBC's efforts to restore lost Doctor who episodes

If you know me I am a big fan of Doctor Who at least the new series.  I really really want to watch all of the old episodes, but most of them are lost because they reused film strips because it was expensive at the time.  Which is why I am excited about two things:

1. They are trying to track down old recordings of the doctor who episodes and in a CNN article it mentions that they have found two recently.
2. Old tv signals are being bounced back from deep space with TV signals from half a century ago.  These include some doctor who episodes.  Radio astronomer Dr. Venn and BBC are working to recover these signals. 

This is very exciting.  Hopefully by my lifetime we will recover all the episodes and we will be able to watch them all.  In honor of Doctor Who here are all the doctors:

What i do every weekend

I spend a lot of time at comedyworx. Its fun watching improv.

Friendship

I really like this article: http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/11/fing-female-friendships-how-do-they-work/#more-47762

I don't really have one best friend.  I just have good friends.  I am the one in the article that has friends that I have different interests with.  I have a friend that I sit and watch girly things with and who understands me the best, one with whom I can be chill and not worry about anything, one with whom I can be wild and crazy, one with whom I can have interesting conversations, one with whom I take holidays on a whim, one whom I rarely see, but with whom I can be completely honest and she will be the same with me, one with whom I can be crafty and one with whom I am a blood sister and who has known me my whole life.

I guess my sister is the only person I would really give the "best friend" title to if I had to give it to anyone.

I hate to be around people who expect me to act a certain way or point blank expect anything from me.  I am who I am.  I am not planning on changing.  I have my own expectations.  I don't need anyone else's to add on to that.  My friends understand that work and school are for expectations.  The rest of our lives are for living and not caring about how others feel (apart from your family and significant others of course).

My only expectation of my friends is for them to not have expectations from me.