New York City (Big Apple diaries)

My first ever visit to New York was in 2009. It was for my summer internship at a camp in upstate in New York. Although my workplace was in Fishkill, a town 60 miles away from New York City but I managed to  spent a huge chunk of my time in the Big Apple.


And I simply fell in love with NYC!

Hence I decided to go back to NYC in 2010 for my next internship too. Spending six months in and around the city helped me to understand the city better and know it like the back of my hand.


NYC is expensive. NYC is unsafe. NYC is monotonous.
If you have either of these misconceptions then please shun them away right now because NYC is the place to be. Its full of life, lights and people. It can be called a global village with people from every nook and corner of the world residing there. And new yorkers are one of the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met.

If you're travelling to NYC for the first time then accommodation turns out to be the biggest headache. Hotels in Manhattan and especially around Times Square and Central Park can be very expensive. But if you are willing to spend a tad more than your budget then there is a perfect place to put up in the heart of Times Square. HOTEL CARTER! Its a rare budget hotel in Times Square but not known to many. It is located behind Westin New York on the 43rd Street west. It has three types of room

• Single room
• Double room
• Triple room

With the prices ranging from from 99 - 120 usd ( 4,800 - 6,000 INR) per day.

And the best thing about the carter is you can accommodate extra person without any cost in your room. So you can stay with six other people in a triple bed room.

And I have always preferred staying at the Carter. It has a good service but there is no in-house restaurant or club. There is an Egyptian run deli as soon as you step out of the hotel and also a strip club name Cheetahs for those willing to try the naughtier side of New York.

If you're not travelling with your family or you're a back packer then the best options are the hostels in New York. It is a cheap way to stay in Manhattan for a single person or a group. The prices are between 20- 80 USD per night( 1000 -  4000 INR). You can book them from:

• www.hostels.com

Else there are more hotels uptown NYC and in other boroughs like Brooklyn which are also cheap. But you wont get the same essence and flavor you get in Times Square. In the next post I will try to discuss more on hotels and places to visit.

TO BE CONTINUED...

27... A myth or a curse?

Do we really want to die young? Is dying young, a way of immortalizing oneself? Is it a myth or curse?


Forever 27 club, Club 27 or Curse 27. It is known by many names. Are you still puzzled? Well if you are a musician then better take this seriously.

Brian Jones (Aerosmith), Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse are few of the numerous rockers that have succumbed at the age TWENTY SEVEN. The number has now become an icon in the history of rock and roll. There has been numerous debates, discussions and investigations on the subject but none has come to any rigid conclusions about the mysterious death of music personalities at the age of 27.


Ironically most of the deaths are also disputed as the cause is not unanimous or certain which adds to the mystery. In July 1969, the estranged Aerosmith co-founder Brian Jones was discovered motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool. By the time he was rescued it was too late. The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure" and included that his heart and liver were enlarged due to heavy drugs and alcohol abuse.

Surprisingly Mick Jagger and Keith Richard didn't attend his funeral. Many instruments and expensive items were stolen after his death including future projects (rumour). Later in 1993 it was reported that Jones was murdered by Frank Thorogood, a builder who was staying as Jones' guest during his murder. Thorogood also accepted it on his death bed. 2009, Sussex police decided to review the case for the first time. In Daily Mail on Sunday Scott Jones said that Thorogood killed Jones during a fight and the case was covered up senior police officials. The Sussex police finally decided to close the review and not to reopen it again. The police said that they couldn't gather evidence to prove the coroner's statement of "death by misadventure" wrong.

Jimi Hendrix died due to asphyxia but the death report and autopsy came under the scanner due to contradictory facts. 2009, Richard Wright wrote in a book that Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Mike Jeffrey who confessed it to Wright. In 2011, Bob Levine, an business associate of Wright quashed the allegations as marketing gimmick by Wright for the sale of his book.

The most mysterious of them have been Kurt Cobain's death. Official report stated that he was found with a shotgun laying on his chest, a deep head wound and a suicide note. It was termed as suicide. Later Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Courtney Love after Kurt's mysterious disappearance from rehabilitation said that it was a homicide. Based on Grant's theory several attempts have been made by authors, film-makers and reporters to uncover the unknown last few days of Kurt Cobain.

Film-maker Nick Broomfield's investigation led to El Duce, who claimed that Courtney Love offered him 50000 USD to kill Kurt Cobain . Surprisingly Duce died  few days later in a train accident before he could reveal the name of the killer.

No autopsy was performed for Jim Morrison which led to controversies about his death. A book also suggested that Jim Morrison was alive and the death was faked.

Suicide or Homicide? Drug Overdose or Accident? Fake or Real?

The biggest question still remains why? Why 27?

A Mail story stated "The idea stars such as Amy Winehouse all die at the same age isn't true"

Other research shows that musicians in their 20's or 30's are two or three times more likely to die than normal people. But the death count of young musicians were much higher before the 1980's when drug abuse and living-on-the-edge lifestyle was more prevalent. 

Professor Barnett of Queensland University of Technology conducted a mathematical analysis on the number 27 and came to the conclusion that there was no peak in the risk of death at this age.

Some numerological and astrological studies suggest that 27 is a key number as it adds upto to three. It also marks the Saturn's return and major transformation in life. The sun also rotates 27 degree on its axis, and the moon's lunar cycle. 

In December  2011, a British Medical Journal concluded that the dying of famous musicians at the age of 27 was co-incidental, and the risk of death from their lifestyle was increased, but not limited to the age of 27.

Though it still remains a mystery to many but one resemblance can be observed in most of the cases about how the musicians perished in order to cope with their larger than life avatar. Drugs, alcohol and violence builds insecurities and vulnerability in them. Dying at 27 maybe a co-incidence but the end was self brought.

Biryani tales...

Hyderabadi, Lucknowi, Calcutta, Kacchi, Moradabadi and Bhatkali! Indians and their romance with biryani have been legendary. It exists in different forms with different names in all the four corners of the country. 


From the common man to the bureaucrats, having biryani is like treating oneself and most of the times biryani calls for celebrating an occasion. So whats the legend behind this famous dish?

modern day Biryan

Some say biryani originated in Persia. The word biryani is derived from 'Birian', which means 'Fried before cooking' in Farsi. Traditionally it was cooked with rice and the leg of a goat. After originating in Persia it was brought to India  by the Persians during the Mughal rule or by the Arabic traders in Calicut. 


Another legend says that it was the food of the nomads of West Asia who would dig a pit in the ground and put a container full of rice, meat and spices in it and cover it. To their astonishment appetizing flavour would seep from the ground by evening as the biryani got cooked. 


While few believe that biryani came to India with Timor the Lame's invasion. The last legend says that Mumtaz Mahal (wife of Shah Jahan) concocted this dish in her dreams and then cooked it to feed the emperor's army.

Hyderabad famous for its biryanis

But all these legends come to one conclusion that Biryani evolved due to the Mughals. It came to the southern part of India after Aurangzeb's invasion of the south and giving birth to the famous Hyderabadi biryani. Soon it spread to the Nawab and Nizams of the Carnatic region and Mysore. The Nizam's kitchen boasted of 49 kinds of biryani. They also hired vegetarian Hindus as book-keepers thus giving rise to the Tahiri Biriyani.

Awadhi biryani

Lucknow also known Awadh has been a place of Mughal patronage and the awadhi biryani's aroma salivates anyone's taste buds. In 1856, Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, was exiled to the Kolkata suburb of Metiaburj. He brought his personal chef along with him as he was particular about his food. That is how Kolkata or Calcutta got introduced to biryani. Due to recession potatoes were used by the chef instead of meat. Hence it gave birth to the famous Calcutta biryani which has both potatoes and meat in it.

Metaibruz, the birthplace of Calcutta biryani

Happy eating folks!


claim token YVEU9357XAYJ 

Journey of Association Football

Inflation of animal Bladder... 17th century

Blackburn Olympic: Winner of 1883 F.A. Cup football

Leigh Roose playing for Stoke City

Uppingham team. They played 15-a-side

Blackburn Olympic defeating Old Etonian

England against Scotland in 1877

Origin of football

The origin of football can be traced back to the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. They played ball games, some of which involved the use of feet.


The famous Greek team game known as Episkyros or Phaininda was mentioned by Greek playwright, Antiphanes (338 - 311) BC and later referred to by the Christian theologian, Clement of Alexandria (150 - 215 AD). Many believe that the Roman game Harpastum have been adapted from it. The Roman politician Cicero once described how a man was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into the barber's shop.


In China, there is documented evidence of an activity resembling football in the Chinese military manual Zhan Guo Ce compiled between 3rd century to 1st century BC. It describes a practice known as Cuju( meaning kicking ball). Cuju was standardized and rules were established during the Han Dynasty rule (206 BC - 220 AD). The game later spread to Japan and Korea.


The origin of modern football can be traced back to the 12th century in Engalnd according to William Fitz Stephen in 1170.




Please visit :


www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Fhistory.htm


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcio_Fiorentino

Introduction

Music, food, travel and football is the most common link between different cultures, generations and people. Happy reading!


P.S. I am a die-hard Liverpool fan and Blues is my favourite genre. Hence it's called Blues and Reds.