Occulation

An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer.

 

On 18 June 2007, Venus and Moon came very close in a rare alignment between 8.59 to 9.55 pm PST. This rare phenomenon called "occulation" occurs many times a year since the Moon and Venus travel on the same plane. In the above photograph, taken by me, Venus, the tiny dot to the left of a few days old moon, is a lttle away from the darker brim of the Moon, later to be occulated.

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A page from my stamp album - Australia

The postal history of Australia dates back to 1 January 1901, when the six self-governing colonies of present day Australia formed the Commonwealth of Australia and the postal, telegraph and telephone services became the responsibility of the newly formed Commonwealth. However, prior to this formation, the six colonies have been issuing their stamps independently. These colonies included the Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and the New South Wales. New South Wales issued its first stamp in 1850.

The first stamp of Australia appeared on 2 January 1913 with the issue of one penny Kangaroo and Map. This was the first definitive stamp with the sole nomenclature “Australia”.

The earliest stamps of the Australia that I have are that with the profile of King George V, issued on 8 December 1913 (top left corner of the page from my stamp album above). These stamps continued for the next 23 years. The next king to appear was King George VI (second column of my album). When Queen Elizabeth II took over the reins of British monarchy, her profile appeared on the Australian stamps as well (numerous stamps on my album). With the introduction of the decimal system on 14th February 1966, the face value of stamps changed to cents as can be seen on some of the stamp above.

The last definitive stamp featuring the monarch appeared on 1 October 1971. Since then, the designs of all Australian definitive values have focused on fauna, flora, reptiles, butterflies, marine life, gemstones, paintings, handicrafts, visual arts, community and the like. From 1980, a stamp has been issued annually to commemorate the monarch's birthday. Australia's first commemorative stamp was issued on 9 May 1927 to mark the opening of the first Parliament House in Canberra. Australia's first airmail-designated stamp appeared on 20 May 1929. The first self-adhesive commemoratives appeared in 1993.

Till 1977, the portraits of only monarchs appeared on Australian stamps. However, since 1977, the profile and portraits of other celebrities also made their view to Australian stamps. One such stamp that I have is that of Henry Lawson in the bottom of third column from the left.

Related Link: Three Half Pence or One Half Pence (My Philatelic World)

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Celestial still life

Still Life with NGC 2170
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona  

Explanation: In this beautiful celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 shines at the upper left. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a compact red emission region, and streamers of obscuring dust against a backdrop of stars. Like the common household items still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars pictured here are also commonly found in this setting - a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros. The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be about 15 light-years across.

Originally posted at: Astronomy Picture of the Day

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Easy ways to make money online in Pakistan

By Syed Asghar Javed Shirazi

Year 2010 was big for Pakistan blogsphere. Able Pakistani bloggers did a wonderful job covering everything from WikiLeaks to fight against terrorism in addition to traditional raves and rants and hobby blogs in exponentially growing blogsphere. Walk around online and you can see prize winning blogs with a strong voice and reach out.

Many of the Pakistani bloggers are also making passive income through their blog work (AdSense, links backs, sponsored ads). But there are no meaningful examples of outright making money through blogging and Internet in Pakistan.Need is to go active for making money in local market.

Given my personal experience, I can’t agree to these old myths: Pakistan doesn’t have sound infrastructure, we have yet not developed online culture, corporate sector has yet not realized the importance of powerful online presence and more. Pakistan does have infrastructure including WiFi and broadband, Pakistani users base is one of the largest in the world (ask facebook) and a lot of local businesses are shifting online and looking for ways to create buzz in online world.

The only thing that seems lacking is that Pakistani bloggers, perhaps still shy, are not presenting themselves as available to work with corporate sector, marketers and advertisers. I suggest local bloggers should approach local businesses, including those who are doing business in global market, and tell them what they can do for them. I can assure you that they will find a lot of opportunities out there. That ‘seth’ culture where owner use to think what has been working good for m grandfather is working for me good’ has changed. Now CEOs look up to search engines to get new clients and customers. Given the unavailability PayPal, that limits Pakistani bloggers from working with foreign businesses, they have more reasons to explore local market.

After having worked with local TV channels, many NGOs, businesses and services, let me confess that it is easy to work with local businesses and easier to make money online in Pakistan. Make 2011, making money online year!

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RC Boats

The remote controlled gadgets are a source of immense fun and pleasure for hobbyists around the world as these provide a cheap hobby as a replacement of actual airplane and boat one would otherwise want to fly or drive. Like the RC airplanes, those wanting a venture into water love RC boats that have now become a thriving business worldwide.

Remember the RC boat competition in the move Stuart Little? Those were fun for the kids, but may be to small for hobbyists attaching adventure with their hobby. Weighing something between a kg to five or even more, these RC boats are fun to operate and have competitions with other enthusiasts. One can order complete boat kits to assemble or ready-to-run boats from vendors that can be conveniently found on the internet.

There is a choice by hull type as one is actually buying a boat, not a gadget. These small replicas function and wade through water exactly like an actual boat. The engines of these boats come with overdrives, (st)rudders and cooling kits to give them more thrust and maneuverability. In fact these boats are a scale down model of their full-size counterparts whether that's a sailboat, a powerboat, an ocean liner, or a battleship. Manufacturers pay more attention to the appearance and so that ir resembles to that one sees in the ports and oceans rather than other design features.

Those who want more adventure and have intentions to invade another friend’s EEC, have wide range of war ships, battle crafts and aircraft carriers or even submarines to choose from.

Try out these gadgets if you like to compete with your friends in a boat race from the safety of the shore. But remember, it isn’t easy to handle these gadgets unless one knows how to control the boat from the remote control gadget. I will talk of some preparatory tips before taking your boat into water in my coming post.  

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Hot Air Ballooning

Man has always wanted to fly like free birds and see the world from flying atop it. Since Leonardo da Vinci or perhaps even before his times, man would had this quest. Men died while jumping from the cliffs with actuating blades tied on their back with a hop to swing these like the birds and fly. But their efforts to fly did not cease till the Wright Brothers finally made the dream come true at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Although the first aircraft flew for just 12 seconds, it made the difference and brought in the airplanes.

But man still wanted something adventurous and indigenous. Something that he could make himself and then fly. Hence the hot air ballooning surfaced as a hobby, which has now almost become more than a sport and a thriving business. Today people of all ages, men and women soar above the rivers, mountains, deserts and jungles in these balloons and watch nature right from an open canopy, and flying very close to the birds they once longed to be.

How old or new is this hobby one would like to know. I once read that Napoleon had used hot air balloon to carry out reconnaissance. Of the recorded events, one Pilatre de Rozier is said to have sent a sheep into a hot air balloon on 19^th September 1783. Pilatre later died when tried to go up in his balloon which exploded mid air.

Today, hot air ballooning is a widespread hobby around the world, but for those who can afford it as it is one the most expensive hobbies. Not only being expensive, one has to have a grasp over the flying skills and techniques to pilot the balloon as winds and weather conditions can cause turbulences and quick descents which cloud be dangerous or even fatal.

Now many international competitions bring hobbyists from around the world with their multi-coloured and sometimes interesting and funny looking balloons to put their hobby and skills to compete each other. We will talk more about it in our future posts.

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Ramla's Journey of Hope

by Ramla Akhtar

I'm in Punjab. Making micro-documentaries. As part of the Hope Express project... which the team decided to convert into a short films/ mini documentaries project - rather than a train journey project. So I grabbed my brother's Sony Handy cam, and decided to film whatever inspires me on an unplanned journey.

I went to PakPattan from Aug 3-6, returned to Lahore and stayed a night at the beautiful and gifted fashion entrepreneur Maria B's. Met S A J Shirazi, a traveler n prolific blogger/ writer.

He pointed me to Thatta Ghulam da Dheroka, where the Thatta Khedona brand hand dolls originate from. I let go of an obsession to 'go up North' and hopped on a car, bus, rickshaw, van and finally a taxi to get here yesterday.

Back to Lahore today and wondering what next? Don't want to stay in one place for too long! Hope to settle in a new place in Lahore or go elsewhere - I have a mental plan to return to Karachi by August 18. Let's see where Allah takes me next between today & then!

My wonderfully caring hosts at PakPattan (Dastgir of Sabri Langar Khana) & Lahore (Afia & family) have made an uncertain journey very comfortable!

Alhamdolillah!

I miss going North, but right now, carrying the message of a benevolent transformation across to people, while watching the Face of God wherever I turn, seem to take precedence as an intent!

Allah does best!

Originally posted at: Dolls Village

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Butter Chicken with Naan (Kokab ka Dastarkhuwan)

Recipe:
Ingredients :
* Boneless chicken (thighs or breasts) - 400gms
* Butter - 2-3tbs
* Thinly sliced Onion - 1no
* Cinnamon - 1/4tsp
* Crushed garlic - 2tsp
* Crushed ginger - 2tsp
* Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
* Chilly powder - 1-2tsp
* Coriander powder - 1tbs
* Ground almonds - 1/2cup
* Sliced tomatoes - 225gms
* Tomato paste - 1tbs
* Yogurt - 1/2cup

Method of Preparation:

Clean, remove skin and cut the chicken into small pieces. Heat a pan and melt 3tbs butter. Add sliced onion and cinnamon and fry lightly. When onions are soft stir in the crushed garlic and ginger. Add turmeric, chilli and coriander powder and sauté on a medium flame. Add sliced chicken pieces and sauté stirring constantly until the chicken has turned white.

Add ground almonds, sliced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add yogurt and heat for sometime.

Originally posted at: Flickr (Samad Jee)

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Frying

Doctors do not subscribe to fried eatables for the fear of increasing cholesterol and adding grease to one’s body. But frying remains one of the easiest cooking in no time rather than formal cooking that takes more time and skills. But for easy and hurried cooking, frying something already stored in the freezer or even new coking can be done in minutes.

Frying is the form of cooking in the fats, like the vegetable oil or even butter. Frying is generally categorized into three forms as under:-

Deep frying which involves lot of oil or fat when heated up to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit usually in a deep fryer or a heavy saucepan on the stove (in which case temperature cannot be gauged). Deep frying is resorted to making the yummy French fries or even potatoes besides chicken, fish and shrimps. One can see these big deep fryers in fast food outlets used extensively for all types of fried cooking.

Stir frying is the second form in which meat, fish or even vegetables are cooked in a skillet or a pan with a round bottom.  The item to be cooked is cut into small pieces and cooked in relatively lesser quantity of fat or so to say in extremely small amount of fat. The food is again cooked on a high temperature but for a very lesser period of time.

Pan frying is usually done in a frying pan and we all know how to fry an egg or an omelet, the easiest of the cooking and the frying thing. Pan frying is also called sautéing. Shami Kebabs are also pan fried in our country. I will share the recipe of making shami kebabs some other day.

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Chukar – the national bird of Pakistan

The Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) is a Eurasian upland game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Its native range in Asia from Pakistan and Kashmir, India and Afghanistan. It is closely related and similar to its western equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge. The Chukar is a rotund 32-35 cm long bird, with a light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings. Chukar prefers rocky, steep, and open hillsides and is abundantly available in Pakistan.

The Chukar is a resident breeder in dry, open, and often hilly country. In the wild, Chukar travel in groups of 5-40 birds called coveys. It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 8 to 20 eggs. Chukars will take a wide variety of seeds and some insects as food. When in captivity, they will lay 1 egg per day throughout the breeding season if the eggs are collected daily.

For hunters, Chakur is a very challenging bird because of its surgical upward flights and sudden disappearances in the bushes. I have accompanied some hunter friends of mine many a times, and found this highly agile bird to be very difficult to shoot. Once threatened, it hides itself into bushes and camouflages itself so securely and tightly that it is hard to get it out again.

Related Reading: Bird Watching in Pakistan (Pakistanpaedia)

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One Million Galaxies

 One Million Galaxies
Credit: 2MASS, T. H. Jarrett, J. Carpenter, & R. Hurt Explanation: Are the nearest galaxies distributed randomly? A plot of over one million of the brightest "extended sources" detected by the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) shows that they are not. The vast majority of these infrared extended sources are galaxies. Visible above is an incredible tapestry of structure that provides limits on how the universe formed and evolved. Many galaxies are gravitationally bound together to form clusters, which themselves are loosely bound into superclusters, which in turn are sometimes seen to align over even larger scale structures. In contrast, very bright stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy cause the vertical blue sash.

Original Post: Astronomy Picture of the Day

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Commemorative stamps of Pakistan - 100th Birthday of Jinnah

Day before yesterday, Pakistan observed the 134^th birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, born on 25^th December 1876 in Karachi. But when in 1976, we were celebrating the 100^th birthday of this great leader of British India and later Pakistan; the Pakistan Post issued a number of commemorative stamps on the occasion as shown above.

The stamps also included a Rs.10 commemorative stamp with outline of Jinnah embossed in golden colour. This special stamp was published at Da Carter SA, Paris (France). His photos also appeared on the RCD yearly anniversary commemorative stamps (the other portraits included Raza Shah of Iran and Kemal Attaturk of Turkey).

Jinnah was the main driving force that compelled the once mightiest empires of the world, the Great Britain, to give in and carve out from the British India a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. A graduate of the Lincoln's Inn, he become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar at Law. Jinnah entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress (the same time that Muslim League was also founded by Sir Agha Khan in 1906, but Jinnah was to join the League much later). In 1934, Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal persuaded Jinnah to assume the leadership of the Muslims. So Jinnah joined the All India Muslim League and from here he fought a tough battle with the British and the Hindus, and it was his powerful advocacy of the case of Pakistan and his remarkable strategy in the delicate negotiations that made him win a separate Muslim country for the Muslims of the United India then under the Great Britain.

Jinnah became Pakistan’s first governor general much to the annoyance of Lord Mountbatten, for which Pakistan had to pay very dearly in the division of boundary of Kashmir (a Muslim majority area), which till date remains a bitter bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Jinnah finally bade farewell to the newly born country on 11 September 1948 and was buried in his hometown, Karachi.

Related Reading on Jinnah:

Muhammad Ali Jinnah-The Founding Father of Pakistan (Pakistanpaedia) 

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Wikipedia)

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Commemorative stamps of Iran - visiting Pakistani Presidents

Iran and Pakistan have long friendly ties since independence of Pakistan in 1947. Iran was the first country to recognize the independent status of Pakistan upon its independence from the British India in 1947. The then Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pehalvi, was among the first few heads of the states to have visited Pakistan.

These friendly gestures were also reciprocated by the Pakistan presidents. Sikander Mirza, who ws the president of Pakistan in 1956 paid an official visit to Iran in 1956. The Iran Post issued a commemorative stamp (left) priced at 1 Riyal. In 1959, when President Muhammad Ayub Khan visited Iran, a commemorative stamp of 6 Riyal was issued (right).

Both stamps are from my stamp album.

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Barbecuing

Barbequing or simply the BBQ is my very favourite, for not only that I love eating barbecued chicken, kebabs and tikka, but because I barbeque myself whenever there is family get together or an occasion to celebrate. While the preparation that includes marinating of the chicken or meat or beef is done by my wife, skewering, making the coals ready and then actual barbequing is my specialty.

Barbecuing is synonymous to highly seasoned meat or chicken or beef grilled over burning hot coals. Usually fats are not removed from the meat or beef as these melt over the red hot coals and add more grease to the meat to cook tenderly and crisply. Although in absence of integral fats, oil is applied on the meat with a cloth tied on the end of stick and by dipping it into the oil can and then applying it on the meat.

BBQ is essentially an outdoor activity, in the home lawns or out there in open when on a picnic, hiking or camping. When close to the house, gas or electricity can also be used as an alternative to coals or wood. But the real taste comes when it is done on coals or wood as the internal aroma of the coal and wood gets immersed into the meat which gives a flavour which can be have when BBQ is done on gas or electricity.

In Pakistan, BBQ is very famous and barbequed tikkas and kebabs of meat, chicken and beef are a must dish of all festivities, especially marriage dinners. Even in restaurants, this is the most ordered dish.

Once in Iran, I also had barbequed fish, something that had a taste of its very own kind I haven’t been able to forget till date. I will share more of it some day.

I will add some recipes of BBQ in my future posts.

Related Link: Barbeque (Wikipedia)

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Hobby Types – Mountaineering

Although mountaineering is a popular sport, it is a popular hobby too. It starts from the basic hobbies like the hiking and trekking, which to me are the basic prerequisites for taking bigger leaps and adventures like mountain climbing. Mountaineering entails the stretching of one’s physical endurance to its extremes as the hobby may entail dangers at a place when one is all by oneself. It is hobby of one’s skills, determination, and endurance by using only a pair of spiked boots, a rope and a hammer to hammer nails into the mountain to make a lifeline for one self both upwards and downwards.

One can say mountaineering for people who want a extreme hobby – a hobby that involves danger, courage, hair-raising moments of one’s life and a sense of great achievement when atop the pinnacle. The hobby is extremely popular in youngsters, which then make them professional mountain climbers. And one should not be amazed to see females too into this deadly and adventurous hobby despite their relatively softer physiques. But they overcome the physical barriers by exercising hard and cling to the rope with determination and courage.

From plain and rugged mountains to icy slopes and steep vertical climbs, one has to tackle some of the most difficult terrains of the world. When going up even slip can cost one’s life or limbs. In fact beside many other factors, mountaineering is a test of one’s concentration – if the concentration is lost even for a second, the results can be disastrous and fatal.

Before undertaking mountaineering as a hobby, one must read a lot about rocks, rock formation, basics of knot fastening as a nylon rope is all that one hangs on and become the only life saving object high up there. There cannot be any short cuts as one has to have a firm grip on the rope and rope must be well fastened both to the individual and t the mountain itself.

Recently rock climbing has also become a popular hobby. The hobby starts from the indoors on a vertical artificial climb and then takes the more adventure seekers to high up on the vertical sides of the mountains. This is fascinating, awesome and very dangerously adventurous.

Pakistan is mountaineers haven – a country which has some of the most challenging mountains of the world. It has many peaks that fall in the exclusive 8,000+ meters category, like the K-2, Nanga Parbat and the Raka Poshi. Mountaineers from all over the world come to Pakistan to climb still many virgin peaks that abound in the Karakoram, the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and the Suleiman ranges. I recommend the hobbyists to meet each other in mountains of Pakistan for adventure, challenge and fun.

We will continue to talk about various aspects of mountaineering in our future posts.

Related Link: Meet me in the mountains (Pakistanpaedia)

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Hobby Types – Hiking

Those who love nature, hiking is their first choice. In fact from the love of hiking, one creates a love for mountaineering and even skiing. It is also one of the most popular outdoor hobbies around the world. Hiking does not necessarily involve climbing mountains, as some may think that way, but it is usually a strenuous walk with special hiking boots as one would often encounter rough terrain, which normal joggers cannot sustain. Normally hiking is undertaken on difficult and rough terrain to add the tinge of adventure in one’s hobby.

Hiking is often a day long strenuous physical exercise amid raw nature. Thus beside improving one’s health and physical fitness, hiking also brings one close to the nature. Hiking can also be coupled with camping, if one intends staying a night out. And when staying a night out on a beach or a lakeside, it may also trigger a love of fishing or astronomy or simply the sky gazing.

As I said before, one enjoys more if the terrain gets tougher. Therefore hikers normally choose dense jungles, forests, heavily bushed areas, semi mountainous terrain, cross country undulations or even places where one has to wade through knee deep streams. Bushwalking is walking through dense vegetation and may even require chopping tools to clear way ahead. When hiking is undertaken in mountainous terrain or highlands, it becomes trekking. A long distance trail is called thru-hiking.

Due to closeness of nature, hikers normally develop a love and affection for nature and environment. It is for this reason that avid hikers usually join hands against pollution and littering of country side and raise voice to help keep the nature and environment clean and free of pollution.

Pakistan is an ideal place for the hikers as its varying terrain. From deserts dunes to rugged and barren mountains slopes, farmlands with broken grounds, vast stretches of barren lands with no water and a soul to be seen, and of course valleys amid towering mountains. I will introduce to my readers the many hiking and trekking adventures that can be undertaken as individuals or as part of groups in my future posts.

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3 Very Large Objects In Space Flying To Earth - Canada ufo | Examiner.com

E.T. does not need to phone home anymore, someone, or something is on it’s way to earth.

SETI Astrophysicist Craig Kasnov ( not to be confused with Craig Kasnoff ) has announced the approach to the Earth of 3 very large, very fast moving objects.  The length of the "flying saucers" is in the range of tens of kilometers.  Landing, according to calculations of scientists, should be in mid-December 2012. Date coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar.

A few very large objects rapidly approaching the Earth - says SETI astrophysicist Craig Kasnov.  Don’t take his word for it you can check it out for yourself.  He recommends to go to the site http://www.sky-map.org/ and enter the coordinates of the giant UFO:

19 25 12 -89 46 03 - the first large object
16 19 35 -88 43 10 - a cylindrical object
02 26 39 -89 43 13 - the object as a circle

The project participants are assured that the facilities are absolutely real, and the American space agency NASA is trying to conceal important information.  

None of these objects can be seen from the northern hemisphere. The second set of numbers in each line tells us that the "object" or "objects" is/are coming in from very deep in the southern hemisphere sky.

In any case, the only thing we can do now - wait for it - says Kasnov. - Soon celestial objects will be visible in a good telescope.

Keep your eyes on the skies… the truth is out there.

Original Post by Andrew Wozny at:

3 Very Large Objects In Space Flying To Earth - Canada ufo Examiner.com

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Astronomy – the dream above

When lying down on a moonless night in the open at night, one is awe stricken by the bright tiny dots studded on the dark sky, glittering mysteriously. A sudden shooting star makes us wonder what that was, was it really a star or something else? This makes one wonder where these stars, how far away from us are and one of the most common questions does anyone lives up there? Are we being watched? Well ask me and I would say yes, because such an enormous world could not have been created just us to watch and get awe stricken.

Ever wondered that our earth is the third planet of a solar system that revolves round a bright star we call sun, which is smellier to those tiny stars we watch above in the sky. And going a little further, our solar system is part of a galaxy consisting of some 200 billion stars or may be a more. And that is not the end, if you may think, since our galaxy is only a part of some 30 or more galaxies called a Local Group. And certainly if it is part of a local group, there have to be more groups elsewhere to. And that’s right, as our Local Group is part of a local super-cluster of over hundred galaxies. This cluster is known as Virgo Super-cluster. And don’t be amazed when I tell you that there are millions of such super-clusters that constitute our universe.

This is the vastness of the Universe the God created from a big bang. Now imagine the vastness of the universe from the fact that after the sun, which is the closest star to our earth, the nest star is 110 light years away from us. Ever wondered what a light year is? I cannot give you the exact measurement, but you can make a guess. The light travels 186,000 miles in second, so basing our calculations on this multiply it with 60 to know how much light travels in a minute, then multiply it with another 60 to know light travel distance in 60 minutes or one hour. Continue to multiply it with 24 to make light travel in a day, then multiply it with 365 for its travel in a year. That is one light year. Multiply it with 110 and that is the distance our next star s located at.

See it mathematically:

186,000 x 60 x 60 x 24 x 365 x 110 = the closet star after the sun

This is astronomy – the science that deals with the study of celestial objects (that includes planets, comets, galaxies, star clusters, nebula beside stars). Astronomy also deals with the phenomena that originate outside the earth’s atmosphere, like the cosmic background radiation.  It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe.

And needless to say the complexities and richness of its various facets makes astronomy one of the most liked hobbies around the world. The Hubble Telescope has recently sent back photographs of galaxies located at unknown distances in the universe. This is what the hobbyists try to find – a journey into the unknown. Every day, new stars and constellations are found by novice astronomers around the world. If you area sky gazer, take a journey into the un-measurable world of astronomy – you will love it.

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Churail in Dolls Village

by Ramla Akhtar

The lives of the residents of this village changed 15 years when a German art teacher took up her student Amjad's invite and visited his village: Thatta Ghulam da Dheroka.

An enterprising spirit, she asked the villagers about their craft. The women showed her hand-made rag dolls. The art teacher, Dr Senta Siller, told the villagers she could teach them to make refined hand-made dolls.

Thus spun off a social enterprise in this 200-house strong village that has changed the way of life and living here. Women have a school. The village has a road. They experimented with alternative energy very early on, and now are undertaking community energy & food projects.

The women from this conservative village now go on study tours with the Germans. The villagers have learned about sanitation, childcare, and eco-friendly living. Cleanliness is rewarded here.

Above all, these changes were brought within the system, without breaking down the structure violently.

The whole village participates in the making of the dolls, which represent the four provinces of Pakistan. The original doll is called, "Churail."

Originally posted at: Dolls Village

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Baking

Baking is a type of cooking which involves cooking in a pre-heated oven. Generally the oven temperature is maintained at temperatures ranging between 150 – 235 degrees Celsius, or 300 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Housewives usually resort to baking for making homemade cookies, pastries, cakes casseroles and various forms of breads and loaves.

My wife is very good at baking and every now and then we can smell that typical aroma of freshly baked cakes when coming home. My younger son is fond of chocolate cakes, so mostly she bakes chocolate related items in her kitchen. The above photo is that of a freshly baked chocolate cake by my wife on my birthday, which vanished within minutes after blowing off the candles and singing the Happy Birthday to Daddy.

Baking is both simple and complicated. Simple for those who know it and love to bake, and obviously complicated and difficult for people like me who are good at eating baked items rather than venturing to bake even the simplest recipe. However, baking is not purely a ladies domain like other cooking techniques and types. Men are also very good at baking; rather some of the best bakers are men, who make mouth watering baked items.

While one can find confectionary in abundance in the bakeries and the super stores, there is no comparable to homemade cookies and cakes. It is the freshness of the baked items at home that gives it an upper edge over the readymade confectionary available on the shelves. Moreso, the homemade cookies and cakes cost almost half the price of the similar kind when purchased. Since kids love baked items, mothers prefer to bake at home, both to add their love into her baking and also avoid extra expenditure.

There is a growing trend in young girls to attend baking classes to learn baking. Besides, baking books and magazines are available in abundance that helps the beginners or even the experts to try simple to very difficult recipes.

Baking is lot of fun and I must say adventurous as one never knows what comes out of the oven when trying a new recipe. Try baking if you haven’t so far – it is interesting and challenging. 

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My Floral Photography

I love to take photographs f nature, flowers, flora and fauna. Since my wife is a profound floral lover, she is busy round the year planting some of the best plants and flowers available in town. Once fully bloom, these provide me an excellenet opportunity to shoot these beautiful flowers. I am sharing some of my best photographs that were also picked up by the Explore on Flickr.

I will continue to share more photographs in my future posts.
Photos: Jalalspages (Flickr)

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Photography as a hobby

Whether one says it loud or not, one wants to be photographed. Ever seen people wanting to be “shot” if you take out camera and point at a group of people standing? Well most often than not you would find even the serious ones trying to say cheese silently so that they appear good in a photograph they would probably never see. It is often true for the tourists who take shots of people and often experience this feeling. I think everyone wants to be seen and captured no matter who is shooting and why. This allows a photographer, novice or professional, to find willing subjects at no cost, and no obligation of course.

When once asked why people photograph, Seth Resnick, an experienced and pro photographer replied, “You don’t make pictures for the average person. You make pictures for yourself.” And I think he is right in saying so. We photograph from our angle and our lens as it suits and pleases us.

Photography has been and is one of the widely adopted hobby by people of any age basically as a pastime and preserve moments of joy at family reunions, outdoor activities and while camping and fishing. Photography was once a very expensive hobby as first the cameras were very expensive to buy, and secondly buy and developing films required additional costs. Therefore hobbyists were very selective in shooting and in the process focused only on friends and families.

The yesterdays of photography, limited to its cost effects, made few good photographers as only people with money could afford the hobby. But today, with the availability of cameras in one’s cellular phone, the hobby is widespread. People, who would have otherwise never taken a shot in their entire life, are now able to photograph their families and friends and even make videos of the events.

The easy availability of a photography gadget in one’s hand has also allowed many people to go beyond shooting people and photograph nature, events and anything worth watching and seeing. And the good thing about photography today is that one doesn’t necessarily need a print out as the results can be seen instantly on the cell phone or a digital camera and can be viewed on a computer screen.

I have been photographing for quite a while now but haven’t leaped into the world of the professionals. I photograph as a pleasing pastime and hobby and love to share my photographs with friends and others. The digitization of photography has injected more fun into the hobby as one can take countless number f shots of a same subject or event and select the best result after sifting from the scores. The photograph above was taken by me awhile ago and is also shared at Flickr and part of the Explore.

The various software available, like the Photoshop and many others, allow adding extra effects and tones to make an otherwise poorly shot photo into a masterpiece.  I am sharing some of my photos here but my best selection is shared at Flickr, which provides a forum for all photography lovers to share their work for others to see and get feedback to improve upon.

I will continue to share basics of photography, tips for good photography and share others views and input on photography, which may serve as inspiration for the beginners or those wanting to get more out of their cameras.

My Novice Photography: Jalalspages (Flickr)

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The Fine Art of Blogging

Before the world of internet, expression of one’s inner voice and persuasion of literary stride was an unthinkable for most of the people. Only those who could afford to publish their literary work were listened to by the world. The cheapest forum was the newspapers, magazines and tabloids, but access to these was very limited since the editors had a choice to accept and reject.

Then came the internet as we know it today. It was easily accessible and provided a limited platform to the writers to use it to express their work. It was not till the beginning of the 90s, when the blogging thing appeared and it came with such a bang that today more than anything it is the most favourite of all ages. Even children have a flare for blogging and are adding their young inquisitive thoughts to the World Wide Web.

Most of the bloggers start blog as a hobby, but the concept of making money now seems to be overtaking blogging for mere pleasure sake or sharing one’s thoughts with others. Today more and more bloggers are interested in how to make money rather than using it for their literary pursuits. Perhaps one of the most favourite question being asked from the SEOs and the “successful” bloggers is how to make money. Although there are many companies that assist the bloggers in doing so, it remains still a million dollar question as everyone has one’s own strategy in this regard.

As per different surveys taken to know why people blog, one of the analysis I found worth quoting. As per the survey, a majority (about 49-50%) blog for personal pleasure and pass time, while the remaining 50% is spread over making money and to promote business, either own or that of the employer.

Blogging in general remains explorative, as more and more bloggers join in the blogging community each day to explore their writing skills and polish their literary techniques. The platform provided by many free service providers, like the Blogger of the Google, can be used to one’s convenience from the comfort of one’s home or work place. Blogging is also challenging as it provides a contesting place as people read blogs and leave imprints, both negative and positive. I once read a blog by Peggy Payne, the Peggy Payne’s Boldness Blog, in which she describes her blog as “a conversation designed to encourage creativity, spunkiness, and audacity of the most profound, delightful and deeply fulfilling sort.” And how aptly has she described the fine art of blogging which served as inspiration for me and I am sure for countless novices vying to express their voice through blogging forum.

 There are many ways to fine tune one’s blog and we will talk of these in our coming posts. A friend of mine has a blog with a beautiful caption, which is now the caption of my post. Yes the Fine Art of Blogging by my friend Shirazi is a wonderful platform to fine tune one’s blog. I will post excerpts from this blog in future, but for the time being, if you have time, have hop over to his blog and enjoy a professional’s input to better your blogging skills.

Related Reading:

History of Blogging (Wikipedia)

Fine Art of Blogging

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Hobby Types – Outdoors

While indoors hobbies like collecting stamps. coins, dolls, postcards and matchbox covers and cooking and scale modeling attract people as individuals or those not wanting to venture outside and wander into wilderness and suffer the rigours of the weather. But those who love adventure no matter how severe the weather or the terrain is, there can be no comparison in indulging into outdoor hobbies with those inside. Although some of the indoor hobbies also allow investments, outdoor hobbyists not only enjoy the nature more closely but also improve their health, physique beside attracting and making lot of like minded people and friends.

There is a long list of outdoor hobbies and some are really challenging. Bungee jumping for instance is both fun and adventure, requiring a very high standard of physical fitness and a fearless heart. For those who want to gaze far beyond the horizon into the sky above, astronomy is one of the most likeable outdoor hobbies. Coupled with camping, both hobbies provide an excellent combination of adventure and sky gazing.  The recent occurrence of the lunar eclipse attracted a large number of sky gazers around the world to spend hours in watching the moon to change its colour till it become red when fully eclipsed. Sky and bird watching also bring the hobbyists close to the nature and watch the awesome changing cloud formations and watching majestic birds flying overhead. Adding taste to camping is the love of fishing in a nearby lake. Those who go out camping, bird watching or fishing, usually take their cameras along to catch some memorable moments while adding skills and colours to their hobby of photography.

Hot air ballooning is another most favoured outdoor hobby for those who love birds and want to hover over the land and watch the world from an elevated platform. Over the years, this hobby has become an international event and hobbyists from around the world now participate in these competitions to prove their skills and satisfy their love of flying.

Mountaineering is yet another outdoor hobby which coupled with trekking, skiing and hiking makes it one of the widespread choices of hobbyists around the world. The hobby usually starts from hiking and trekking and then takes one to the cliffs and vertical climbs either for the love of skiing or the quest to conquer the virgin peaks.

The motorcycle and car racing is for those who dare to handle machines to their extreme design limits. To this drag car racing has also been added recently. Despite the hazards of the fatal-accident prone hobby, those who dare still go to test their machines and driving skills inside race tracks or in the deserts of Africa and Sahara. Likewise e boat racing is yet another challenging pastime out there in the sea or rivers. For powerless machine lovers cycling is the easiest but a challenge that brings about physical strength of the hobbyists.

And as if that is the end of the list. There is so much more to it that we will discuss each in coming days.

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Hobby Types – Cooking

Man cannot live without food and eating. But it is not the food one eats that matters, it is how the food is really cooked that matters the most. That is why so much care is taken by housewives and chefs around the world to cook meals and food for the people you really love and care about. Cooking thus is one of the most favourite hobbies the world over. Exclusive TV channels for teaching cooking and preparing new dishes throng the cable world, besides lot of magazines available on bookstalls related to cooking.

Cooking cannot produce delicious and yummy foods unless one puts one’s heart into one’s cooking. That is what makes cooking as a widespread hobby around the world. Cooking encompasses all types of methods and tools, combination of different ingredients to induce aromatic flavor and taste into one’s cooking. Besides, even with the same amount of ingredients, the taste would be different as the method and modalities differ from people to people. And of course unless the heart is there, the taste would be pathetic and ordinary.

One always loves the food cooked by one’s mother as there is no substitute to northerly’s love which she puts into the food she cooks for her off springs. And the same goes for the food cooked by a loving wife for her husband and the rest of the family. One can straightaway feel the difference in taste and know the mood of his mother or wife.

Housewives, cooks and chefs around the world innovate their styles to produce mouth watering dishes for their loved ones. Each country and region has its own taste and style depending on the indigenous aesthetics, types of agricultural produce, economic and religious considerations and constraints. One really has to adapt to the food of an area one is moving to. For example foods of Pakistan and India are very rich in spices and are often termed as “hot” by majority of the people around the world visiting these two countries as use of red chilies is very restricted in foods around the world.

The traditional cooking is often labeled as continental, oriental, Asian, Arabic, Mexican and Italian, beside others. One can find restaurants which specialize in a particular type of cooking or cooking belonging to a region. But whatever is the style or type, cooking is the way to express one’s love and affection for the loved ones.

We will talk of types of cooking, cooking methods and some recipes in the following posts. Till then bon appétit.

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Collecting Antique Dolls

I once thought dolls and small girls go together well. But that was too naïve of me, as I later found out that like collecting stamp, coins, postcards, buttons and many other things, collecting dolls is also a very likeable hobby and is certainly not restricted to girls and teenagers.  As for me, I do not know anything except the Barbies that throng the show cases of stores and rooms of daughters of friends. But as I started knowing about this hobby, I was amazed about its vastness.

While there are many types of dolls, antique dolls are something special and different. To collect these dolls, you have to have a taste for these as these porcelain made dolls would look quite different and lifeless. But those who like them find them fascinating and charming. These dolls are otherwise a worthwhile investment as these fetch a good price in auctions. I have seen some dolls with price tag of over $ 1,000 and much more.

The Antique Dolls have an exclusive collectors’ community and are therefore not easy to find, just like other dolls. Special auctions are perhaps the best place to buy these dolls, provided you want to invest and have a pocket full of green bills. Likewise there are special dealers who deal in the antique dolls. If you are not into collecting antique dolls, you will have to do a little research and spend some time on the net to find where and how to get these antique dolls to add to your existing collection.

The antique stores and garage sale are the places to find these exclusive dolls. And one last place – ask your grandma when she is cleaning her junkyard and help her to do so. You may find some relics hidden in some wooden treasure box she hadn’t opened for decades.

Antique Dolls Photos Courtesy: Porcelain Dolls (Dolan Gallery)

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Bird Watching

Nature around us is to powerful and compelling that it takes us out in jungles and wilderness to witness its truth and grandeur. Birds are Nature’s sweetest Vuvuzelas which attract bird lovers around the globe to walk into dense jungles to find them and enjoy their melodious sounds. Along with many other hobbies, bird watching is one of the most widespread hobbies around the world.

Man has always wanted to fly by getting inspiration from the birds flying high in the sky. And this attracted the man to the birds and appreciate it ability to fly. The varying verities and their beautiful cloak attracted people to watch them and appreciate their beauty. This quest further when the quest to find newer and newer species. Since bird watching can only be done in complete silence and stillness, only those who love the peace and tranquility start to bird watch as birds would disappear in a jiffy if these sense even the slightest movement on ground or listen to a faintest sound not familiar to them. The best thing about the hobby of birding is that one doesn’t require a special gear for watching bird. At best one may need a pair of binoculars and water proof boots if one is thinking of venturing into the water.

And when one ventures into it, it is whole lot mysterious, surprising, informative and soul satisfying. One may never know what kind of bird one may find on a particular birding day. The small digital cameras with zooming facility come handy in taking photographs of the unknown species and adding the photos to one’s own database.

For beginners, bird watching, which also called birding, is simply the observation of birds with naked eye or through binoculars. One starts to learn to quickly recognize what group a bird belongs to. This can be done by becoming familiar with the general shape, color, and behavior of birds, and by keeping a running tally of what kinds of birds are generally seen in ones locality or area at given time of the year. As one learns the basics, then bird watching becomes a study of birds and identifying the birds even by listening the bird calls.

No matter how birding is practiced, bird watching is mainly an outdoor recreational activity for personal pleasure and social reasons. The bird watching differs from the ornithology, which is the study of birds using more specific scientific methods and is the job of professionals called ornithologists.

Pakistan is one of the lucky countries where each year hundreds and thousands of migratory birds arrive from the cold regions of Siberia, CARs and Europe to find comparatively warm waters to spend their winters. These birds start to arrive in early November and stay here till March-April, when they start their homeward journey. This provides an excellent time for the bird watchers to satisfy their birding hobby and watch some of the beautiful birds of the world.

I am myself witness to such a site in Sind desert where I found countless migratory birds resting on the green waters of an artificial lake near Sandh and Gabbar. When my jeep engine broke the silence of otherwise calm that prevailed in that remote desert lake, suddenly the entire lot took off and it turned the bright sunny day into almost total darkness as the sky was filled with those majestic birds, specially the black swans, and my favourite.

Besides black swans, Houbara Bustards, Flamingos, Swans and many other species of birds like the Marbled Teal, White-headed Duck, Eurasian Spoonbill, and Dalmatian Pelican throng the wetlands in Pakistan.

My next post will encompass details on bird watching sites and wetlands that attract migratory birds each year.

Related Reading: Come November – the guests season starts (JahoJalal)

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