Run 4 Fun

For a departure I am posting some music on this blog. Indian classical music follows a very strict pattern of ascending and descending nodes. There are different families of Ragas in Indian Classical Music. Ideally, there are Ragas for every season, occasion and even for different times of the day. For example certain Ragas are morning Ragas while evening Ragas are sung late in the evening. Preparation of the Ear: The legend has it that in old times (even today in some schools) the Gurus (Teachers) used to ask their students to just listen to music for extended periods of time (even years) to make them understand finery of Indian classical music. Only after the preparation of the ear, certain Gurus will start teaching their students singing or playing an intrument. This piece is played by Pt. Ravi Shankar on Sitar. Please leave your feedback if you like it.

Yesterday, the BCRR holiday bash was a total BLAST. We started with BCRR trivia and a game of Bingo. Surprisingly, all the draws for Bingo winners were won by BCRR beautiful ladies except Mark Fraser. Guys, I smell something fishy here :-) A big round of applause for April Murphy for putting together all those fun events. DJ was simply awesome. Who would have thought that after ~12-21 mile long run in the morning so many people will be on their toes dancing for almost two hours. I took some pictures/video which are posted below.

Today, many folks from Tornados running club joined us ( BCRR ) for a fun run together. After the run, we all met at the watering hole on Rice University campus i.e. Valhalla . Both clubs chipped in some money to offer free beer which was very well received by thirsty runners and non-runners alike. Fortunately, I happened to be with my camera and I took some picture. To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-) Today, I witnessed a very long line at the Valhalla which I tried to capture in the following video.

Sue and Allen hosted a wonderful party after the HMSA 25k race. Here are some of the photos I took, :-) To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Here are some pictures I took near BCRR headquarters during HMSA 25k race (Better late than never) To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Here are some pictures from BCRR Halloween Party. To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Yesterday (10/22/08), some folks from Tornados running club joined us for a fun Wednesday evening run. It was great to see healthy camaraderie among both club members. As per Tornados reputation of being fast runners, they soon disappeared from the sight and were found early at Valhalla :) A big thanks for Tornados club for putting a $100 tab at Valhalla. By the time everyone reached Valhalla it was raining heavily and everyone had to pack inside Valhalla. Few folks looked out from Valhalla and looked back with a big smile on their faces saying, "Ah, I can't go out in this rain. I have to drink another beer." Soon, $100 were exhausted and Eddie was nowhere to be found for another $100 on tab. Later in the evening, J. P. Frederickson and Steve showed some neat card tricks followed by few rounds of friendly poker game. As usual I took some pictures which are here, :-) To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click dow...

Today (Oct 8, 2008) Chuck and Cheryl hosted a great birthday splash party at their place. We had plenty of beer, snacks, pizza and a nice pool to cater to our needs. Towards the end of the party couple of crazy runners (Cheryl, Dany, Monica, Gracilla, Rebecca and me) tried out some Salsa, swing and what not :-) I think everyone had awesome time and I took a few photos to make it more memorable. Once again a big round of applause to Chuck and Cheryl for hosting a wonderful party. To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

I will post the write up sometime later this week. Here are pictures as usual :-) To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Dear Friends, I believe you all must be safe and sound. I hope Ike didn't cause many troubles to fellow runners. For me personally it wasn't too bad as I got back power yesterday evening. I took some pictures near my place on Saturday and I am posting them here. I know these aren't the pictures of runners or BCRR but anyways :-)

Virgo is the Sixth sign of the Zodiac. It heralds the end of Summer and nearing of the harvest. The origin of its name has become lost over time but among European and Middle Eastern mythology, Virgo has always been a symbol of fertility and a representation of the production of crops. Even in prehistoric times, this Zodiac Sign was perceived as both a mother and a virgin. Okay, enough with this stuff... :-) The bottom line is that today Valhalla was closed for renovations and the great Virgos of BCRR organized a wonderful party at Memorial Park. I had to choose between work and the party and I am glad that I made a better choice. I met lots of new BCRR members and a few Hashers who are always fun to talk to. I also took some pictures which are here as usual, :-) To download/print any pictures, please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy ...

Yesterday night I had lots of fun at Valhalla. It also happened to be my birthday but being a poor graduate student I didn't put a free tab there. May be on my next birthday, :) I met a few new people at Valhalla yesterday. Elizabeth was fun to talk with and I hope to see her around more. And, here is the business as usual aka Pictures. To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Eddie did a wonderful job in organizing Marathon viewing party at Fox Grills near Galleria.  Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya set a new Olympic record of 2:06:32. I took a few pictures from my cellphone. The quality of the pictures is little inferior but they do convey the mood at the party, :-)

Eddie celebrated his birthday by buying beer for thirsty runners at the gate of Heaven aka Valhalla. We all wish Eddie a very happy birthday. Here are some of the pictures I took (business as usual) :-) To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Valhalla had lots of people tonight. Rob Walters bought beer to celebrate his birthday. Here are some of the pictures I took. To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Here are the pictures from the Happy hour at Mezzanine lounge. To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)

Last Wednesday Valhalla was rocking. There were so many people and the core group people stayed till almost midnight. I took some pictures last Wednesday and here is the slideshow!!! To download/print any pictures please click the text you are reading, click on the picture, and click download button (Slideshow, Share, download & print buttons are located on top-left corner of the page). It is as easy as it sounds :-)