Basketball weekend

I'm pretty much hobbled and may have thrown my back out, but it was a good weekend for sports. I've had a slight reprieve in work that let me get back to the basketball court. Yesterday I played for 2 and 1/2 hours, but mostly with kids. It's hard to find adults that still play basketball in India.

Today was much different. I had heard a rumor that people play at 10am (painfully early for me, since I work a night shift), so I set an alarm and headed over to the court. Sure enough, there was a five-on-five game. I got to join in for the final two games. I have been playing / practicing a lot on my own, and it paid off. There were two teams - a group of late 30-somethings, and the some early 20-somethings that just graduated from the Karnataka state team (like a European national team). In the first game, the 30/40-somethings got blown out. But then I joined their team, and we went up 13 - 4, then won in a landslide! I shut down their best player. I had a great day.

I've lost a lot of weight in India - mostly muscle mass. I'm scrawny now. But I had forgotten how weighing less can translate into jumping higher. I jumped up to block a guy's shot, and he ducked, and I landed sitting on his back. I jumped over him! Amazing. Like I said, I had a great day performance-wise, at least for me.

After the game, the team threw me in a car and took me to a restaurant that one of the players owns. We sat on the patio and had some tapas and fresh-cut fruit. A very relaxing way to end two hard-played days of basketball.

Qutab Minar - Delhi

This pillar is enormous. It reminded me, conceptually, of what the tower of Babel would look like. It's 72 meters high and looks infinitely tall. It was built in 1192 - wow! Imagine the effort it must have taken. And it has survived earthquakes.

Here's a picture of the inscriptions on the side. So what is this thing? Most people assume that it's a minaret for a mosque, but it's not. The call to prayer - if given from the top of the tower - could never be heard from the bottom. Instead, it's an ENORMOUS sun dial. That's right - this was made to cast a shadow that becomes the hour hand for a gigantic clock.

This is the "iron pillar" that can never rust, and is at the same site. It has some assorted folklore associated with it, which I largely forget. I know that it's really important to India's national heritage. In any case, I really liked this picture.

Humayun's Tomb - Delhi

Does this look vaguely familiar? No, it's not the Taj Mahal. Humayun's Tomb predates the Taj significantly, and the Taj was modeled after it. Indian architecture does not mind copy-catting itself. In general, I was underwhelmed. The exterior is spectacular, but the inside is very plain, and fairly run-down.

This is my GQ picture. Totally posed, but hey - probably the best picture ever taken of me.


This is the inside of Humayun's Tomb. There's a great risen ceiling, but again, fairly plain. It's hard to tell from this picture, but it's extremely dark in the room with the actual tomb. On a busy day of seeing things in Delhi, this wasn't the highlight for me. My feelings about Humayun's Tomb make me worried about my inevitable trip to the Taj Mahal - I've heard that it's quite a let-down.

Maldives! Snorkeling pics

Oddly enough, I'm going farther and farther back in time with my pictures. These date back to February, but I'm putting them up anyway, because I just got them back. I dropped them off to be developed almost a month ago and basically forgot about them.

The pictures came out! I was shocked, as this was such a last-minute endeavor. My dive boat was ready to leave, and on impulse I ran back to the resort, found the gift shop, and bought a $35 (yes, they kill you that badly on the price) disposable camera. My best guess was that everything would be a blur. There's so much (lighting, focus, etc.) that goes into a photograph that I didn't expect too much from a disposable underwater picture. But - not bad!

Heh - beware the great white whale!

The moray eel was as thick as my leg and it had to be 15 feet long. I wanted to get closer for a better picture, but I figured there was a decent chance it could bite my hand off.

Ali Isa Khan Niazi's tomb - Delhi

This is actually right next to Humayun's tomb, and is part of the same complex. There's nothing particularly special about it, but I was in a great mood and the weather was gorgeous, so Bettina and I hung around and posed some goofy pictures on the terrace on the tomb's roof.

You might notice that all the stone is red. And the Red Fort was also, well... red. This is a kind of sandstone that only comes from western India. It had to be brought a long way to Delhi.

Red Fort - Delhi

The Red Fort is a walled complex, sure - but it's not really a fort. When I think of forts, I think of purely functional, military buildings. Like the one in Saint Augustine, Florida. But I think the most accurate description here is closer to "palace." The room I'm standing in (above) has a throne, and was for the king of the region to hold his court.

Bettina and I are sitting in the courtyard between some of the buildings. It's actually a very large complex.
This is on the corner of a wall in the most decorated, most exclusive part of the palace. It was an entertaining room for V-VIP's. It says, "If there is a heaven, it is here, it is here, it is here." Possibly sacrilegious, but I think it's a really nice saying.

Jama Masjid mosque - Delhi

Ok, here's the start of some of the Delhi pictures that I promised. Jama Masjid is a massive mosque in Delhi. My fav pic is the one below. If you look at the bottom right corner, you can make out the guy praying. I was the only white guy, the only non-Muslim, and the only one with a camera. To be honest, everyone was really rude. But I suppose they probably get a lot of obnoxious tourists running around their place of worship, and are a little tired of it.

These kids came up to me and asked me for 10 rupees. I told them no way, but I wasn't mean and didn't run them off. So then we just hung out and talked for a while. They really wanted their picture taken so they could see what it looked like.

It was pigeon-mania at the mosque. This man was sweeping with a whisk / broom and spooked some pigeons. Kind of a cool picture.