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Yasa gaming forum

PuppyKhan — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:28:53 GMT

I setup a forum for the YASA: The Law Of The Steppe website at: http://yasa.nycmongol.com/forum/ Interested in gaming a steppe nomad character? Check it out.

Yossarian, and a dozen other cats and dogs

PuppyKhan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:54:24 GMT

About a week ago I did what can be characterized as an animal rescue. My aunt passed away (the same one who I got Dusty from) leaving behind 7 dogs, 6 puppies, and countless cats. Literally, no one was able to count them - estimates were over 40 originally. The pound picked up the dogs right away and were able to adopt out some of them, and most recently picked up 8 cats (most others ran off by that point, some died) leaving the pound with 4 dogs and 8 cats they did not think could be adopted out easy and wanted to put all 12 to sleep. So I loaded up the van with carriers I borrowed from friends and drove 1,000 miles to Nashville, TN to pick up all 12 of them. Despite all the warnings from the pound and my aunt's neighbors, the pets were friendly and well trained making the return trip remarkably uneventful, and I still have a clean van. I kept Yossarian here, and left the remainder in Cat's care at the farm in Maryland. 2 dogs and one other cat have been adopted so far, leaving 8 pets still in need of a home.

Meet Dusty

PuppyKhan — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:37:12 GMT

I just inherited a horse. Dusty is an 18 month old quarterhorse who belonged to my aunt Jeanne before she passed away. The first horse I ever rode was her horse Moony when I was 8. Now Dusty is my first horse to own. He's stabled at Heritage Harvest Farm (Jenna and Cat's place) in Maryland. I hope he likes mounted archery...

Happy Lunar New Year!

PuppyKhan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:31:52 GMT

Sar Shiniin Mend Hurgeye! I put together some greeting cards for Mongolian Tsagaan Sar (White Moon / New Year) greetings: http://www.nycmongol.com/postcards.html

Parade!

PuppyKhan — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:26:02 GMT

Its been 8 years since we last had a ticker tape parade down Broadway... 8 YEARS! Finally a local team won something (Giants took the Superbowl) so we got to have a parade. Best thing is my office is right on Broadway with windows that open, so we got to dump our (paper) trash on everyone. :P No one can litter like New Yorkers can litter. more photos: http://puppy.viahistoria.com/giants/

Think I'm gonna be sick...

PuppyKhan — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:23:20 GMT

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=484903 We will invade any country with oil at the drop of a hat, yet we ignore a verifiable act of genocide. Not a diplomatic tongue lashing, no "Axis of Evil" rhetoric, nada! Where's the so called moral majority when it's not an issue that will put more money in their corrupt pockets?

Japanese Belly Dancing

PuppyKhan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:19:56 GMT

So its just a few photos on someone's blog, but this definitely got my interest: 2006 Kamakura Beach Party: Belly Dancing http://patrickmccoy.typepad.com/lost_in_translation/2006/08/2006_kamakura_b.html And the event site has a thumbnail pic or two: http://www.brentoleary.com/pic.html

Bring it on Home

PuppyKhan — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:22:25 GMT

Well, I made it 40 days in a foreign country without getting arrested, deathly ill, pickpocketed, into any brawls, fired, dumped, written up in any newspapers, covered by TV news, lost, mistaken for a major musician, bumped into by someone I last saw 7,000 miles away, investigated by police/airport security/KGB, (long story... don't ask) accused of anything that could lead to such an investigation, chased by distraught parent/husband/boyfriend, entangled in local politics, or even homesick. A new record! Aside from a little rain, and some dramatic sights, a relatively uneventful trip. OK, so it was a lot of rain. It rained down death and destruction almost everywhere I went... but that was just the normal local weather, nothing to do with me. Really. I was stuck under a store awning during a downpour my last day in Mumbai and started talking to the locals taking the same shelter. I asked this girl why Indians don't like rain, and she said for her it reminds her of just how filthy the country is. I can see her point floating as a layer on top of any water on the ground. There are times in India where all you can see is a sea of people and trash. Sometimes its piled up in an unused lot, typically with dogs or goats eating through it, and often with poor people sifting for something useful. You can't really walk around to see the city because you spend most of your time looking down so you don't accidentally step in a puddle of sewage or the like. India is great in many ways but it really is filthy. Hmmm, didn't really write about my last week in India much. Did a few more clubs. Took the 4th off, and wandered around Pune. Finally got to one of the museums which was pretty cool after all. And the neighborhood around it is the old Pune and had some good shopping that never gets spoken of to foreigners. Actually I found things that the locals were surprised about and asked me where the stores were. Spent the last weekend in Mumbai. Saw different parts of the city than my first time there. The hotel and flight home was not worthy of 5 star or business class service one would expect. But I made it home all right. Its good to be home. I went straight from the airport to a steakhouse. Every day this week since I got home monday night, I've been eating things you just can't get in India whether it was something I missed having regularly or not. Steak, Shreaded pork, Grapes, Hamburger, Blueberries, Pizza, Bagel... you get the idea. Odd thing is that its been hotter in NY than in India. Early on in my trip it was pretty humid in Mumbai, and Delhi and Agra was anywhere from 95 to 120 while I was there, but mostly I was in cool 80 degree Pune. I came back to NY to mid 90s. Ug. Now its better, and think I went my first full day without any rain in about a month. Work is insane. Should have taken Tuesday off claiming jetlag, but I was well adjusted and went in. Meetings about my business in India, mad rush of problems that came up the week I came in, its been a dizzying week. The expense reports I just finally finished dealing with are scary. This is my first chance to write, and I'm putting other things off to do so. I should pick up the film from being developed tomorrow. 17 rolls... I need a digital camera. Well, I have a digital, I mean a digital SLR. I decided a new lense was more important for my trip, and think it was a good call. I'll know for sure when I see the Everest pictures. Now I get to catch up on Pennsic planning... Getting the household and the business ready is a daunting task for such short notice. Oh yeah, I don't have a way there yet. Need to go van shopping tomorrow.

In a Monsoon Mood

PuppyKhan — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:03:23 GMT

Its rather strange to be in a country where rain is considered to be unlucky. Perhaps its because they get so much of it. During the monsoons there are no big holidays or festivals, people don't plan weddings and home sales are always in a lull. Its been raining off and on daily for almost three weeks now. Occasionally heavy, but mostly a constant drizzle. Apparently this year the rains have been harder than normal. The papers have been headlining with the rainfall totals and death tolls all weekend. 18 dead in one day here in Pune with dams overflowing and structures collapsing, and some other areas are being hit far worse. So what are the local authorities doing about all this? They were too busy this weekend with shutting down clubs and bars to commit all their resources to emergency services. Religious extremists make very poor administrators, and this part of India is too much under their grip to function effectively. I just wonder how much the local economy is stiffled because of them randomly shutting down businesses around here. So what is there to do during the monsoons besides reflecting on the local sociopolitical atmosphere? Not much. With most of the transportation hubs being randomly flooded and closed down, I didn't plan to go anywhere. Just spent my time around the city all weekend. Friday, I went out to dinner with my local coworkers here, both the guys I'm supposed to be training and the other team we are in process of merging with. They are a fun bunch, would fit right in with everyone in NY. After dinner, I went to a club with one of them. It was nice to get out, and all the hype about the problems I would face were unfounded. A small club by NYC standards but decent place none the less which supposedly attracts people from as far as Mumbai - a good 3 hour drive away. Same bad music as American clubs plus a Bollywood song here and there, drinks were good, and so was the food. But they close by 1 am. Saturday it was raining in the morning as usual but it lightened up in the afternoon so I went to the other side of the city were the main shopping district is. (Turned out to be a few blocks from the hotel I was in but didn't realize) Walked MG road which is lined with stores, and hit a mall or two. Well, one was really a big department store and the other had maybe a dozen stores - all as pricey as NY or worse. There was a very different crowd then in the other parts of the city. Wealthier clothes, more frequent obesity. It is kind of amusing to go into a clothing store and see a Woman's section and Woman's Ethnic section equally as large. I completed most of the shopping I still needed to do that day, including a traditional outfit for myself. That night I decided to go back to the club alone. Got in no problem. Like any club anywhere, if you have a look they want, you get right in no problem. It was twice as packed as the night before. I got a drink and ordered dinner, and before I finished a plate of food, they were calling last call. The police had the joint shut down and emptied out before midnight because some religious group (whose members include many state officials) complained it offended them. After looking around and talking to some of the club kids, I found out every bar and club in the city was shutdown in a massive sweep. This was the same time that 18 people died on the poor side of town because of the rains. All the talk in the West about India fast becoming a modern developed democracy is simply not true. It is still under the grip of fanatic religious groups that stiffle freedoms and maintain an institutionalized racism. No need to invent new terms here, the caste system is a form of apartheid plain and simple. One newspaper had an article recently about the sanitation workers here, aparently they have to wade through the sewers and unclug stoppages by hand with no equipment and have regular deaths. The irony of the whole situation is that neither the prudishness nor caste system have any foundation in traditional Hinduism. Many people here believe the whole fear of sexuality is Muslim influence that Hindu leaders have adopted and imposed on their followers. Sunday the rains did not let up most of the day so I stayed close to my flat at a movie theater complex that also has a few stores (not much worth buying though) and resturants. Unfortunately the food court was all vegetarian, including the place labelled as an All American Diner. The Italian food was kinda scary, but at least had decent garlic bread. Ended up seeing Die Hard 4.0 (thats the title they use here) AND Ocean's 13. I was there all day basically. Every time I considered walking back, the rain got harder. Mildly amusing, both of them had the same line: "You are an analogue guy in a digital age." That was odd. The resturant downstairs had a DJ after dinner and had quite the dance floor going. So now I'm on my last week in India. This time next week, I'll be on a plane heading home. That is unless the rains shutdown the airports in Mumbai again. Pup

TV in India

PuppyKhan — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:19:57 GMT

I have been happily away from TV since I moved out of the hotel a week ago. When I was staying in the hotel the first week, I watched a lot of TV. Aside from the distinct lack of variety on most of the local channels, they have some decent news stations both local and international and an occasional channel showing foreign (re: American) films and TV shows. About the only interesting things I found were Alias reruns, an old Hong Kong Kung Fu flic dubbed into Hindi, (wish I remembered the title, had some good fantasy gaming source material in it) and the occasional model falling out of her clothes on Fashion TV - yes, the selection was that bad where the latter was one of the highlights. There's a TV in my flat but I never bothered getting batteries for the remote. Last night I went over to the other company flat where they have a cook to get some dinner. While I was there I tried watching some TV. The other guys there were watching Cricket as usual but they handed me the remote. I flipped around to see if there was anything besides sports or the usual Bollywood movies, retro channel of old Bollywood movies, entertainment coverage of what Bollywood star is getting married, and pop videos of hit songs from Bollywood movies. Saw the last 10 minutes of the movie Wolf, (worst part of the movie as I recall) tried the BBC but it had sports, tried CNN but they were covering Paris Hilton. Turned it over to the other guys and tried following Cricket for a few minutes, then just left. Don't miss TV much.

Coconut milk on the street

PuppyKhan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:29:00 GMT

Today after lunch I took a walk outside the office building and got fresh coconut milk right out of the coconut. Guy with a cart full of coconuts and a machete. Chops off the top and hands it to you with a straw. OK, so you can get these in Chinatown but here they are everywhere, and it was still nice and refreshing. And when you are done drinking, the guy chops in it half and takes a shaving off the side to use as a spoon to eat the meat inside.

A Few Disturbing Notes...

PuppyKhan — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:30:33 GMT

Overall, this trip is going great and I'm enjoying working in India, but there is the occasional downside to any situation. Sunday afternoon I've seemed to have stumble across a few at once. Museums: I've read that Pune is supposed to have all of 3 museums in the whole city, despite its long history. I had some time Sunday afternoon so I thought I would try to check out one or two of them. I went through something like 10 taxis before I found a single driver who knew of even one of them. (and it turned out to be closed, no less) Only 3 museums and 9 out of 10 taxi drivers haven't a clue about any of them?!? Does no one in this city have any culture at all? And Bollywood movies don't count as being cultured... Osho Ashram: This place wasn't on my agenda, but after I gave up on the museums I figured I'd at least see the place to learn what all the fuss is about. From what I've heard, it is at least a relaxing place and I may be able to grab a meditation class or at least a leisurely walk around on one of their tours. Now, I'm used to people being a little odd, even downright weird (if you are a friend of mine reading this, I am probably talking about you) and realized that a religious group can test the limits of normal be they a cult or not - theres rarely a difference with the devout followers. Nor am I one to really dismiss any group for having beliefs that may be a little outside the mainstream, by any standard of mainstream. But the attitude I got from everyone I met at this place was downright vile. I got more warmth from a fundamentalist bible belt street preacher after I told him satan was more pious than he. They had all the soul and compassion of an overtaxed bureaucracy. Near as I could figure, their obsession with materialism completely drained them of any form of spirituality this group may have once had, if they ever had any spirituality at all. When my a**hole sensor went off the charts on every person I met going in the door for something like 5 or 6 people in a row, I turned around and walked out. If you ever considered coming to Pune to visit this Ashram, don't. You will only be disappointed not matter what you are seeking. Beggers: OK, I rarely give money to beggars, or at least nowhere near as much as I would to street performers and the like, and I made a conscious decision not to give anything to any during my trip here. Its not to be cruel or selfish and I'm not insensitive to their plight, and its really tough with how often the beggar is a mother with an infant in her arms asking for a single rupee and you can see the shanty she lives in across the road, but there is only so much a single person can give and I would just rather put my money where it would do the most good overall. I always tip the waiters even if its not the norm, try to get out to spend my money on craftsmen or local businesses and street peddlers rather than chain conglomerates. I would rather promote self reliance than dependence, the common concern of those who don't want to encourage begging. There is also the sheer volume of it all. India has over a billion people and so many of them live in such poor conditions, and often right in the shadow of those whose lives are improving. While some may be doing quite well, life is still pretty rough for most Indians. If I gave to every beggar that approached me, I would be completely drained, both emotionally and financially, and not have made any major impact on anyone's life. But yesterday, while in a rickshaw waiting at a red light, I was approached by a boy who couldn't have been more than 10 years old on crutches with one leg amputated below the knee. Sometimes you just can't help it, I reached into my pocket and gave him the few rupees change I had on me. Its not all bad here, the trip I took to Ajanta to see the cave temples was amazing, and most of the people I meet here are a pleasure to become acquainted with. I just had a rough afternoon yesterday, and I'm still exhausted from it.

Nepal, Agra... A Week on Top of the World!

PuppyKhan — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:24:52 GMT

What's better than working in an exotic country? Taking a week vacation while I'm already here! How to describe the past week for me is quite difficult. In the past 10 days, I've been on 7 planes, 25 security checkpoints, 2 buses, countless rickshaws, 2 countries, 5 cities, 5 hotels, over a dozen temples, 2 forts, and that is not yet describing the highlights! I figured if I'm working in India, I should vacation in Nepal. I went to Kathmandu, that's what I gotta do. Walked around the old city, which has buildings as old as 800 years or more. The next day I took the Everest flight. That's right, I saw Mount Everest! With my own eyes, out the plane window. As soon as I landed, I got back on another plane and went to southern Nepal to Lumbini where Buddha was born. Spent a few days there - it is so much. A local monk gave me a tour of some of the monasteries. I then went back to Kathmandu for a few days and saw some of the sights around the city. When I returned to India, I took a bus from Delhi to Agra. Sure enough, the day I got to see the Taj Mahal, Friday, it was closed! But because it was closed I walked around back and took a boat across the river to see one of the best views. BTW - when this picture was taken, it was 44 degrees centigrade. I spent most of the day at the Red Fort in Agra which was the capital for the Mogul dynasty, Gorgeous fort, and a few of the other mausoleums in the area. The next morning I got inside the Taj Mahal - it is truly a breathtaking sight! Worth every exaggerated description you've heard. Next I took a bus back to Delhi and spent the night in Old Delhi, right next to the largest mosque in India. The whole area is one huge bazaar - a shoppers paradise full of silver, silks, spices, and car parts. (Don't knock the car parts bazaar - it was the only area I wasn't continuously harassed by salesmen, so I'd walk down that street for some peace) Oh, and really good eating! As I went back to Deli from Agra, the monsoons started so its been cooler out the past few days, if a little wet and humid. Now I'm back in Pune and working. Though today I move out of the hotel and into a company guest house. I got a few weeks of work ahead of me, but my head is still in the shadow of the Himalaya...

Through the Gateway to India

PuppyKhan — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:33:20 GMT

So I spent the weekend in Mumbai, saw some sights including the Gateway to India and Elephanta Island, got in some shopping, (haggling is real tough in India) and found some incredible places to eat and drink. Even got out to the beach one night. I've now washed my hands in all three major oceans. On Monday I drove out to Pune and started work. The local team here is real nice and shows a lot of potential. Don't think they were quite ready to see me representing corporate America...

Landed in Mumbai / Bombay

PuppyKhan — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:32:03 GMT

Namaste! Well, I'm here! In India! Landed safely after a 24 hour total travel time, including a 3 hour delay on the runway before takeoff. Saw the Eiffel Tower out a window when we took off from the layover in Paris. First time flying Business class... its nice. So much leg room I could not reach the chair in front of me, 4 square meals (and I don't just mean the shape of the airline food) free food at the executive lounge, and to think I ate a big meal before I went through security. Well, I did want to have one last burger. India is hot and humid... joy :( So far I see palm trees, the airport (view from my room) and a full moon. Tomorrow I'll be out around town. I have the weekend before I go to Pune and start work.

Going to India!

PuppyKhan — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:14:49 GMT

I can't wait, I leaving for India next week. I'm actually getting paid to travel now, this will be so great. I fly into Mumbai (Bombay) on a Friday and spend the weekend. Then on Monday I drive to Pune and work for a week. Then I take a week vacation and travel around. I'm thinking Agra and Kathmandu. Then I go back to Pune and work for another 3 weeks, but still have weekends to travel around. Then I spend one last weekend in Mumbai before returning home in July. The only rough part is a layover in Paris where I can't get off the plane...

Grindhouse

PuppyKhan — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 18:01:38 GMT

Wow... what a great movie. Cheese, action, sex, violence, gore, violence, gore, violence, gore..... Oh, and vertigo too! Not for the feint of heart, but definitely for any action thriller buff out there. Loved it. Can't wait to see it again! -Pup PS - the phoney trailers alone are hysterical!

300 insulting Persian civilization?

PuppyKhan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:00:46 GMT

OK, so I haven't posted anything in a while. This is a good a reason as any to dust off the soap box. Just found this article today: "Iranian official lashes out at Hollywood movie "300" for insulting Persian civilization" http://english.people.com.cn/200703/12/eng20070312_356565.html Now, I saw the movie on friday. I even kept my expectations low knowing it was weak on history. But I was still very disappointed with it. My first review was replying to friends text message: So much style, so little else. And that stands as a fair summation. But after reading this little blurb I wish to revisit my thoughts on the movie. It definitely had style. That was the main point of the movie and it sure lived up to it. The fantastic elements were well placed and not too abusive of the actual story. The action was OK. It was meant as an action flic showing how bad ass the Spartans were supposed to be, especially the group who held that pass. But they were too busy posing to let the action really flow. They would stop the movie at every possible moment to show some still life because it looked good in a comic book. Seems the director forgot he was making a movie and not a standie. Actually, it reminded me of those photo albums posted as videos on youtube. When they did let the action flow, it was pretty enjoyable, but all that damned posing really took away from it. And that was the good part of the film. The narrative parts were just awful. And the attempt at a plot was totally derailed at the poor quality of the flat characters. Actually, they tried to demean anyone who wasn't a Spartan warrior. OK, so they wanted to show how great Spartans were, but they tried to emphasize that by making everyone else corrupt and evil, and not just the politicians. According to the film, women were evil, clergy were evil, diplomats were evil... I felt like I was watching Michael Douglas in Falling Down going around beating up on every stereotype he could find. Especially when they tried to make a case for eugenics. Of course this movie insulted Persians. They were so busy insulting everyone else, they couldn't skip out on the bad guys. Oddly, they held back on the Persians because they needed to make them look like a tough enough advasary to show just how great the Spartan warriors were. The derrogaty view of Persia in this film is probably not too much worse than that of a modern Muslim's view of their heathen past. (Grandstanding politicians aside) The insults to Greek culture are far greater in this film. The attacks on their religeon, and democracy in general far surpassed the insults to Persia. I thought the film was about a C. It had its moments, but overall I was very disappointed. So much style, so little else.

Halloween Parade

PuppyKhan — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 23:30:35 GMT

The Village Halloween Parade just so completely rocks! Elvira and Kiss on floats, some guy dressed as a peach with a sign "I'm Peach Bush!", ran into a bunch of friends, Izzy won a costume contest, drank all night... Wild time.

Published!

PuppyKhan — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:47:49 GMT

I just found out that I will have an article printed in the Winter 2006 issue of Primitive Archer! I wrote about entering the UB Naadam competition for archey in Mongolia last year, and included a ton of pictures. I think they gave me about 8 pages. Kick Ass!

Posted to my office intranet

PuppyKhan — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 21:16:23 GMT

Subject: Luigi Vacation Content: I will be out of the office from 8/7 through 8/18. I will be away from phones, email, or any other means of work related contact for that time and surrounding weekends. I shall be in the far off realm of Medieval wars and all night parties, commute to the battlefield, lunch breaks at belly dancing practice, and relax the afternoon away under a shady tree. For the next 2 weeks, Wall street leads to the seige and the only market I'll be tracking are commodities carried by camel along the Silk Road. ............................................................................ .... ** This message will expire from Intranet News Page at the end of 08/20/06 **

Mead update

PuppyKhan — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 03:54:51 GMT

I started filtering my mead to bottle it. My plain mead was supposed to be a first attempt at dry, but rather it has a nice sweet taste. I like it, its not the low quality I was hoping to give away without caring much, I'll be hoarding this one. The Rose petal came out dry as expected but a bit more bitter than I hoped, tried some wine finisher to smooth it out. Need to run it by some friends with a real dry taste. The experiment, my Steppeland mead, is well balanced as intended. (one out of three was on target) I used a few untested period Mongolian ingredients and the experiment is going very well. Haven't started on the two sherries yet.

Yurts, bows and Merchanting at Pennsic

PuppyKhan — Thu, 18 May 2006 22:50:45 GMT

I updated my business website: http://www.NYCMongol.com I added new inventory including Gers (Yurts) and Bows. And I'll be merchanting at Pennsic for the first time. Will be a busy war! Puppy

Strange things my friends have been telling me lately

PuppyKhan — Tue, 02 May 2006 20:20:03 GMT

A fellow student in my photography class said to me last night, "You are like the big brother I never wanted" My boss took his 2 sons to work the other day. They played with "Stinky Paul" our sales guy most of the day and I barely said hello to them, but when they got home and their father asked them what the best part of the whole day was, his youngest son answered, "When Luigi took us to the bathroom..." "Why?" "Because he has long hair!"

Sticky Situation

PuppyKhan — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 00:43:57 GMT

I needed to repair my bow for an archery demo I'm doing tomorrow and finally decided to experiment with natural fish bladder glue. (The stuff a composite bow is really made with) Did I mention this was my first time? The directions I went by vaguely mentioned straining it so I folded up some cheese cloth and poured it through. Most of the glue stuck to the cloth and I had to squeeze it out then scrape it off my fingers to use it. What a mess. Felt like I was in kindergarten all over again. Next time I'll know better...