Why it is called the Rhinocerous Beetle

Even on the last day at my home nature doesn't fail to please me. I found this rhinocerous beetle which I snapped immediately.

Here's another pic.



And in this one, the bug looks very similar to the animal it takes its "first" name from. Click the pics to view them full-sized.

Last days at my current home

That portion of the earth used to be mine.

My new buyer will take possession of my home in October. Luckily I found a place in the colony just a stone's throw away from my home. Whether I'll get to live in an independent home again, only time will tell.

Chaithu is a teen now

Just took this pic of him on his 12'th birthday this morning before he boarded his school bus.



He also gets his first mobile phone today.

Metallica in India, this October

The Thrash-metal giant whose fans number in the thousands or maybe even millions in India is on tour and will be visiting us in October. As things stand they will be performing in Delhi on the 28'th of October and then at Palace Grounds, Bangalore on the 30'th. Tickets are being sold at www.dnanetworks.com and www.ticketgenie.com. Get them before they are gone. Am I going? Donno but have never been a fan of Metallica like some of my friends are. Maybe I'll change my mind later.

Happy Onam!

Close to her 70's, waking up at 4:30 AM and arduously working on the "Pookalam" is something that my mother deserves to be commended for, when I can't do the same at my age. She was actually asking me to come and take a picture but I could do so only at around mid-day. The "Pookalam" was fairly fresh.

And here are the next gen beside Amma's Pookalam.

To all my readers, wish you a very Happy Onam!

The Hindu's poor standards

For several years now "The Hindu" has been publishing gory pictures in full colour in its daily publication and today is no surprise. To wake up early morning to see blood-splattered images of torn bodies (there is a decapitated torso of a human in today's pic) is just disgustingly sickening. There are kids that read the newspapers everyday and I wonder if there is any such standards in publishing such pictures. Today's picture is on the frontpage. Oddly when Osama Bin Laden was killed, pictures did not appear on the front page. The Hindu also published a note near the photographs of the dead Osama and his aides saying that due to the gory nature of the pictures, they were being printed in Black and White and that is how they were published. Not that I wanted to view Osama's pics in colour but when leading T.V channels are following standards by either morphing or hiding gore and cautioning viewers with viewer-discretion and such, why can't a leading newspaper like the "The Hindu" also follow suit.

Chameleon hues to drive away the Monday blues

Who would have thought of sighting this beautiful creature on Monday morning. My neighbour Showkath's driver got it from Somamangalam in a box. When we let it out it was not trying to make a dash into the garden or run for its life. Instead it was carefully observing its new environment with its awesome eyes and moving in almost slow-motion fashion. The eyes work independently of each other giving the creature an almost 270 to 300 degree viewing angle. Like a telephoto zoom the eyes can also be zoomed out or zoomed in. It was constantly at it. I'll post the videos later. Here's another close-up. Click on all the images to view them big sized.

Trying to make it turn red we ambitiously even put him on a plant flowering red flowers but our new neighbour didn't oblige. Earlier we had put him on a shrub with yellow flowers and then there was magic. Notice the eye socket and body color change yellow.

The creature attracted a small crowd and it had us entertained for almost an hour.

We saw it last in my garden. Wonder where it is now. Was keeping it a pet, an opportunity lost?