Sunday, October 22, 2006

Big Rock Candy Mountain

I watched the movie "O brother, where art thou" and i have fallen in love with it. I played the movie several times hopping to the songs and i have already listened to the "Big Rock Candy Mountain" at least ten times today.

"Big Rock Candy Mountain" is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise - a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne.The Land of Cockaigne was the medieval peasant’s dream, offering relief from backbreaking labor and the daily struggle for meager food. It was where,

"The houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing. Roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth"


 

Big Rock Candy Mountain

One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning
I'm headin for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 21, 2006

 

On the shores of Lake George! The winter is finally here ! The water is stark blue, something which i failed to notice when i went there in Summer. It was crowded with boats in summer and now the winter has forced them ashore. The shops and restaurants have all shut down and and the streets are empty.The bustle and commotion of summer have made way for the torpidity of winter. Soon, the leaves will all be gone. Snow storms and blizzards will take over this land. The beauty of spring and the heat of summer will all be memories. But the winter will bring with it its own adventures. I would love to go snowbiking and skiing.Spring and Summer were welcomed with cheers. Winter may always be an unwelcomed guest who overstays. Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 09, 2006


The Fall in Newton, NJ. That is nature at her colourful best.  Posted by Picasa

Visit to Swartswood State Park

This was taken during a visit to Swartswood State Park, New Jersey yesterday. It surprises me that the fall has arrived in NJ while the trees are still green up where i live (Schenectady, NY).

Thursday, October 05, 2006

The Horse Shoe Falls - NIAGARA

I took this video from the boat "Maid of the Mist" right from under the Horse Shoe falls which is the largest of the Niagara falls. The view from the boat is breath taking as it takes you close to the falls and makes you feel all its power. The clip is brief and is hazy due to the heavy mist near the fall. Enough water flows down the horse shoe falls to fill a million bath tubs every second. It was a truly great experience.

Monday, October 02, 2006

A typical week end swished past me and before i could even realise, it is the uphill climb - It is monday !! Weather played the spoil sport on saturday and i stayed indoors with my books. Sunday saw me watch two movies - "An Inconvenient Truth" at the Proctors and after reaching home , i watched Kevin Costner's "Dances with the Wolves". Simple story, well told. Inconvenient Truth, on the other hand is a poignant tale of a beautiful planet called Earth being eaten alive by a species called Homo Sapiens. It makes you walk out of the theatre with a heavy heart. But for the positive note on which the movie ends, the heaviness would have lingered on longer. Forget Al Gore, forget global warming, i have myself been witness to the slow and tragic death of a river that flows through my erst while neighbourhood. We used to swim in those waters long ago, now it is nothing but a sewage canal whose stench can be felt several yards away.
I am depressed :-(