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Amsterdam, Flowers

Posted on November 10, 2012 by admin

The Flower District (Bloemenmarkt)
October 10, 2012

Yesterday it was the woman market, today it was the flower market. Flowers are preferable and much more beautiful. The sleaze factor is much less. And unlike the women market the flower market is a floating market! Here there are shops and shops of tulips and bulbs all lined up on boats along one of the canals. Of course other kinds of flowers are sold, but what you mostly see are tulips. Lots and lots of them! The Dutch must worship them. I fail to see the point of so many tulips, yet they are beautiful. Perhaps that is the point. After my walk through the flower district I stopped to eat and had a conversation with my waiter about the openness of Dutch society. In essence he told me that such things as prostitution and cannabis are restricted to certain areas of the city such as the red light district. One cannot openly smoke cannabis on the streets although it is okay to do it at home or in certain shops. Similarly girls have certain places where they can keep themselves, they can not solicit openly where ever they want. They have licenses and must get regular medical checks in order to keep their license. There is pressure from other parts of Europe to make cannabis legal for only Dutch citizens and illegal for tourists, but like my other informants he did not think that would work. He was happy with the openness of Dutch society, but he pointed out that making these things legal did not solve the problem of human vise. The Dutch still have to deal with organized crime and other problems that have arisen because of their openness. Openness simply shifts the problem to other to other areas of social life, which was the reason many of the window prostitutes and cannabis houses had to be shut down. Even though these activities are legal, they still have to be kept in check or they will take over.

Unfortunately this is my last day in Amsterdam. I should have allocated more days for this wonderful city. There was just no idea what a beautiful and lively city this is. And I have only scratched the surface. However, this just means I must return. Every great city needs more than one trip and this is a great city!

Amsterdam is the first city a new traveler to Europe or any foreign place should come. It is clean; it is prosperous; it is modern, yet it still has the feel of a European city; the streets are orderly; the people are healthy and fit; the population is well educated and every one speaks English. I have not seen a single homeless person. I wish I’d come here years ago. It’s so easy to be here and yet you still get a foreign experience. On top of that the city is unique with its canals. Amsterdam is a wonderful place. This is a place I would recommend to anyone, especially if it’s their first foreign trip.

Amsterdam, The Canals

Posted on November 10, 2012 by admin

The Canal Tour
October 10, 2012

Amsterdam is canal city par excellence! It is much better than even Venice and St. Petersburg. Yet I never knew this. Venice, no doubt, is a beautiful city, but it is a tourist trap and apart from tourism, the canal part of the city is dead. In St Petersburg the canals do not cover nearly as much of the city. But not so in Amsterdam. The canals run through every part of the city. So today I bought a canal pass and went traveling to see the city from this perspective. And like a city tour bus one can hop on and off the boat at numerous stops throughout the city. I have no words to describe the fun of this city. It does not appear to be old like Athens or Rome or even London, but it is unique and indescribably beautiful. Just see the photos.

Amsterdam Day 3

Posted on November 10, 2012 by admin

Oct 10, 2012

The Rijk Museum
This museum is under renovations, so most of its collection is not available. What they did show was from the 1600s, the so-called Dutch Golden Age. This covers the time of the Dutch East India Company. Although I remember from school some things about the Netherlands being a major colonial power, it was not until coming to the Netherlands that I actually realized the extent of Dutch power during this time. The Dutch East India Company preceded and even dwarfed the British East India Company, yet I never realized that this. The art I saw in this museum reflected this power and culture. There were some wonderful paintings of the Dutch in India. And of course I was able to see many Dutch Masters of that time including Rembrandt, Vermeer and Metsu. I need to do research on Dutch history in order to fully appreciate what I saw. What you do not see it the disconnect between the Dutch Golden Age and the modern Netherlands. This is a very together society!

The Red Light District of Amsterdam

Posted on November 9, 2012 by admin

No man should see a woman who is not his wife or girl friend naked. Today I walked through the red light district of Amsterdam and saw just that. I’d seen the Soho area of London and the Bourbon Street area of New Orleans with all their excesses, so I thought Amsterdam’s Red Light District would be about the same. I was wrong! Never did I expect to see naked women lined up in window after window on the public street personally beckoning each passerby to enter. These are the famous window prostitutes in the red light district of Amsterdam. Anyone strolling down the street can see these girls not more than a few feet away as they walk by these viewing doors. Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal, so here it was in all it’s naked glory. The pun is intended. What you see are rows of small glass doors along the street and behind each door is a naked woman who smiles at you and raises her hand inviting you to enter. If she’s busy with a client an inside curtain covers the door. In addition to these girls you can find rows of legal cannabis shops selling seeds and marihuana. There are also coffee/pot house that allow the smoking of marijuana. Compared to the US the Netherlands is a radical society. Compared to the rest of Europe the Netherlands is a liberal society. Europe in general is much more liberal than the US. Yet the Dutch approach to human vice is a work in progress and they are constantly refining the laws. I am told that in the last few years many of window prostitutes have been shutdown and many of the cannabis shops and cannabis-coffee houses have also been closed. It was getting out of control. Today Amsterdam’s red light district is primarily a tourist area with shops and cafes, but I found the feel of the place to be sleazy and even though it was interesting to see I felt relieved to leave the neighborhood. It’s an interesting place to visit…

Over the last few days I’ve spoken to a dozen or so Dutch residents about their social experiment. One lady at my hotel desk was happy that all these vices have been permitted. She was proud to be Dutch and to live in an open and highly liberal society. She saw the Netherlands as a model society for other countries. Another lady who worked in the museum bookstore was a little less happy about it, but still she agreed it was a good policy. She told me that countries adjacent to the Netherlands object to their liberal policies and that it causes tension, but overall it’s a good thing. I spoke with others who told me it was not a perfect system, but a better solution than banning these things outright. Some said prostitution and cannabis was mainly for tourism. Surprisingly no one objected to the openness of Dutch society and many mentioned education as the key. Without question the Dutch seem happy with their country and its liberal policies. They say such things are going to happen regardless of banning them, so why not accept it, regulate it and tax it and through education the vast majority of citizens will not pursue it. However legalization is not a final solution to the problem. The Dutch find that even though they have legalized it they still have to work to keep it from getting out of hand. This is why in recent years many of the window prostitutes have been shutdown. It’s like allowing a ‘junk drawer’ in your house. You still have to control the junk from spreading to other drawers and every so often you have to throw everything away and start over. Without a doubt this is a well educated and, in relative terms, an affluent society. The baseline here is way beyond the baseline of United States. It’s difficult to say how this model would work in United States which is a much larger society and one that is nowhere near as educated and disciplined as Dutch society.

Ravi Shankar in Concert

Posted on November 6, 2012 by admin

Long Beach California
November 4, 2012

Last night I attended a Ravi Shankar concert and by the way he appeared, probably the final concert of his career. He is 92 and looks every year of it. He was brought onto the stage in a wheelchair with some tubes connected to him. He looked old and ailing in the extreme. I’ve seen photographs of Monet and even old movie clips of Renoir in their final years and seeing Ravi Shankar last night reminded me of these two great masters. It was both a wonder and a shock to see him wheeled onto the stage. Ravi Shankar is one of my heroes and icons from my youth. Because of his association with the Beatles and because of my young age at the time, he is a person who played a key role in shaping views toward India and Hinduism along with my sense of art and beauty—my aesthetic.

The concert was divided into two parts, the first featuring his daughter, Anoushka, then after a short intermission, he was wheeled out for about an hour. We learned there had been a previous concert set up in March which had to be canceled due to ill health and so this was the make up concert.

He started off slowly and at first I thought, oh my God he’s going to die right in front of us, but it didn’t take more than a few string plucks to realize this man was still a master of his craft. In the hour before we had heard various ragas played to the accompaniment tabla and mridangam, yet, in my opinion at least, they lacked definition and the ability to evoke feeling. They were simply technically correct notes blended together with nice rhythms, but within seconds we began to hear musical shape and form come to life. Ravi Shankar bought life to the music. As he plucked the strings of his instrument I felt as if he was plucking some strings within my own heart. Emotion began to burst forth and my hair stood on end. He had my full attention. By the end of the hour his playing was at near full speed and had the vigor of a much younger man. The transformation was amazing. And then suddenly it was over, the music ended, old age reappeared, he was picked up, put back into his wheelchair and quietly wheeled off the stage, perhaps never to return in public. Here is a YouTube link that shows a few moments of what I saw last night: http://youtu.be/5fmLjt972a0

What is the quality of a performer, who even in old age, is able to evoke intense emotions? His music was direct. It had form and definition, and yet it was not highly embellished. It had intensity; it was simple, yet it was not simplistic. His music reminded me of the language of the Upanishads, simple and direct, compared to the highly complex and embellished language of later sanskrit literature. There is great power and beauty in simplicity. There was no doubt, I was in the presence of musical genius last night.

Van Gogh

Posted on November 3, 2012 by admin

I never realized how short a life Van Gogh had. He was born in 1853. That’s the same year as me minus a century, and he abruptly passed away from gunshot wounds in 1890. I was still a kid then. He committed suicide. What a loss to the world. I’ve seen many of his paintings in museums throughout the world, but here, for the first time, I saw the mother lode of all Van Gogh. It’s such a shame the Van Gogh museum does not allow photography. Only an unenlightened institution restricts this. I learn best from what I have seen, so my photo collection is important to me.

I never realized how versatile and prolific a painter Van Gogh was. I must have seen a hundred of his works today. Without question he is my favorite artists. His use of color and shape are so unique that he cannot be compared to anyone else. His strength is that he never formally studied art. He was self-taught, so he was thinking outside of the box from the beginning. Sometimes going to school and following the standard course is not always best. Certainly not for a Van Gogh.

The Paint Tube, Day two in Amsterdam

Posted on November 1, 2012 by admin

Impressionism at the Hermitage, Amsterdam
October 10, 2012

The Impressionist’s exhibition in the Hermitage Amsterdam was actually a special showing from the St. Petersburg’s Hermitage collection. Many of the paintings had Russian titles attached to the frame that I could read! The time I’d spent learning Russian letters was paying off! I have seen many exhibitions of Impressionism over the years, but this was special because it displayed approved French Academy paintings alongside the rejected impressionistic ones. This was unique and gave a clear idea of what French audiences were seeing in the late 1800s. In those days the French Academy of Arts had specific rules for what kinds of paintings could be publicly shown in it’s salons. The subject matter had to be of a certain motive, the colors had to be a certain way, the clarity of the forms had to be of a certain quality, there could be no visible brush strokes, and so forth. It was a highly regulated affair. There was even a panel of judges to screen the paintings each year and determine which ones could be shown. The ones which were deemed unfit were marked with a large R, rejected. And as expected it was important for artists to get their paintings approved by the Academy so they could get support from patrons and collectors. During the 1850s more and more paintings were being rejected. By 1860 more than 3500 of the 6000 painting submitted were marked R. Something was definitely changing in the world of French art during those years. In fact such a large number of paintings were rejected that Napoleon lll had to allow a separate exhibition for some of these rejected paintings! Once this began, independent showings of more of these rejected painting also started. The Academy was losing control of art in France. In fact, this unauthorized art drew a lot of attention, most of it critical, but some of it highly positive. The question arises why were so many paintings showing up against the rules of the Academy? There were many reasons, but one of the simplest and most powerful was a new technological development, the paint tube! With the advent of the paint tube artist’s paints could be mixed in the studio and taken into the field without drying out, which meant artists could now paint outside using new subject matter and in different light conditions. Before this most art was studio-art. This was not an overnight development, but gradually new kinds of painting styles with new subject matters and lighting conditions evolved into new styles of art, including Impressionism. Consequently, the kinds of paintings presented to the Academy reflected these new developments. It seems amazing that something as simple a paint tube could play a significant role in creating a new kind of art. The exhibition in Amsterdam that I saw compared the approved works alongside the rejected works. There were landscape paintings of the approved Academy artists alongside landscape painters like Pissarro and even Monet, the rejected artists of that day.

One of the big problems with this exhibition and the museum in general is that it did not allow photos, and so it is impossible to remember the details of which artist was contrasted with which artist.

One of the things I learned seeing this exhibition is how artistic tastes change from one generation to the other. What for one generation was rejected art became masterpieces for a future generation. It was also amazing to see how a tiny and insignificant technological change, something as simple as a paint tube, contributed substantially to a whole new artistic genre. I find it interesting that today we are able to accept both art forms as masterpieces. Seeing this exhibition I could look at both walls, the approved Academy paintings and the rejected Salon paintings, and see beauty in both. The current generation always stands on the shoulders of the past generations. Our culture is enriched by both walls of this exhibition.

Below you can compare two landscape paintings, one by an approved academy artist, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and another by the rejected Impressionist, Pissarro. Both lived in the same city and at the same time.

The Enigma that is Houston

Posted on October 9, 2012 by admin

September 2012
Houston Texas

Houston like Dallas is an enigma. On the one hand it’s this meat and potatoes, the good old boys, all American Republican, George Bush/Sarah Palin kind of place, and yet it has this incredibly first class art gallery and other museums. It is also the home of America’s space program at the Johnson space Center. A year ago I was invited to perform a wedding here, and since I’d not been before I agreed and decided to stay for an extra day. So I did and I’m happy to report I’ve had a wonderful time in republican land. The Museum of Fine Arts is one of the best galleries I’ve seen anywhere in terms of its layout and organization and even it’s collection. While not to be compared with the British Museum or the Metropolitan Museum in New York or any super gallery, Houston is good. I had a wonderful time in that gallery. There is no greater excitement than to walk into a gallery and find a piece of art that I’ve only seen in photos and to suddenly have it appear as if alive. This is what happened yesterday when I saw Gustave Caillebotte’s “The Orange Trees” and Kees Van Dongen’s “The Corn Poppy”. I had no idea these works were housed here in Houston. I just assumed that I would have to see these works in Europe. So this is the enigma called Houston.

Today I visited the Johnson space Center. Again, an impressive place! The theme park part of the center is trashy, overly commercialized, and tacky in the worst sense, but behind the scenes I found the real deal. This is the nerve center for the American space program. For someone like myself, a child growing up in the 1960s, to see the place where it all happened, the Gemini and the Apollo programs, was exciting. I saw the mission control that we’ve seen on television so many times; I saw the training facility for all of the astronauts; I saw the space shuttle, and I even saw one of the Saturn five rocket’s that put a man on the moon. This rocket is laid down horizontally and spans the length of a football field. It’s massive and awe-inspiring to think that thing actually rocketed itself up into space with some men at the very the apex. It is almost inconceivable to think that such a thing was possible.

But perhaps the most impressive part of the visit was the few words of welcome given to our tour group by a one young employee at the center. This young man, who was obviously technically attuned with what was going on at this place, had a vision in his head of man’s role as a species in this universe and our quest for knowledge and even space exploration as a means of spiritual attainment. I was deeply impressed by this young spokesman for NASA. There is obviously a lot of talent assembled in Houston. This also is the enigma that is Houston.

At this time of the year the weather in Houston is terrible beyond words. Its hot and sticky sticky humid. This is not a place anyone under any circumstances at this time of year. Moreover it is car culture on steroids. It is the bane of America too have no decent public transportation system and this place is king. It is truly a concrete jungle. The people, however, are friendly. They have that southern hospitality.

And finally, Walmart has completely taken over here to the extent that I found it difficult to buy food. I’d been looking for a regular grocery store with a nice deli where I can buy different preparations, but the best I could do was Walmart. I’ve asked many people where did they buy their food and the answer is always Walmart. Walmart seems to have completely dominated and probably killed the grocery industry. I’m sure there are smaller grocery stores around or perhaps there are ethnically based ones, but I haven’t been able to find one. There seems to have been a massive penetration into the grocery industry by Walmart so they have killed off the competition. This is what will probably occur in the rest of the country soon. And I don’t even want to begin to talk about the number of fast food restaurants here and the general obesity of the people. This is not a place I would like to live.

Amsterdam, First Impressions

Posted on October 9, 2012 by admin

October 9, 2012

My hotel is in a first class area of town near the museums. Everything is fine except I am cold! It’s hardly frozen in the winter sense, but still I am just not suited for even a little cold. My body thermostat is set up for heat, glorious California heat, not this. I’m sorry, but hell is not hot, it’s cold. I have taken an oath to only live in a place where I can see palm trees, but that does not include travel, so here I am. Shivering.

I arrived in Amsterdam safely and without problem. The flight was smooth and I was able to sleep, so the journey did not seem too long. My first impression of the Netherlands as I gazed upon it from heaven during the landing is that it is emerald green, water soaked, and adorned by unlimited numbers of greenhouses. I have never seen so many greenhouses! The airport is clean, efficient and comprehensive, with a full complement of taxis, trains, and buses and rickshas. I took a shuttle bus directly to my hotel from the airport. It was cheap. Driving into the city from the airport I noticed again that everything is clean, neat and orderly. The population is primarily white. The people look healthy and there are bicycles everywhere. I mean, really, bicycles, bicycles, bicycles! There are even special lanes on all the roads just for bicycles. There are so many bicycles they are dangerous. They’ll run you down in a second. As everywhere, bicycle riders think they own the land.

Like everything in Europe my room is tiny and by tiny, I mean tiny. I have a queen size bed with a foot and half on three sides and that’s the room. Take a regular American bathtub divide it into thirds and one of those thirds is my bathtub. There’s hardly room for my duck. And this is a four-star hotel? The Patels of America would love to get away with this. They could triple their rooms in a second. But this is the way of Europe. Apart from the small size my hotel accommodations are excellent and the hotel staff are accommodating and helpful. I would return to this place.

As I was checking in I asked the lady at the desk to show me a map of the city and mark off the important areas I should visit. With no hesitation she circled the flower district, the museum district, the port area, the city center, and the red light district. The red light district? I asked what she meant by that. You mean girls? Yes, and there are trendy shops and cafes there as well. You should definitely go there. That is the first my hotel staff has recommended the girls. Prostitution is apparently legal in this country. Later, I turned on the television in my room to find that porn is primetime TV. That too is apparently the norm for this place. I haven’t yet seen it, but I hear that marijuana is also legal. I’ve been told I should sample the brownies. And yet I see no evidence of a degraded society. In fact this is the most together place I’ve yet to see. In the United States untold millions of dollars, no, billions of dollars are spent annually prohibiting marijuana, prostitution and so forth, and still the problem persists and even expands. But here, so it seems, is a society that has decriminalized and even made these things legal, and I am sure regulates, taxes and makes a good income from filth, fun and other dubious human pursuits. I’d like to know if this system works. Tomorrow I’m going to talk to the Dutch about this. I’ll start with the hotel staff.

I’ll report back tomorrow.

My First Mac

Posted on October 4, 2012 by admin

September 2012 Riverside California

I had an office on the main floor of the big building in Bahulaban, New Vrindavan, just above the kitchens and right off from the main eating hall. In those days, Haridham and I were working on Matsya, a project to catalog old Sanskrit books and palm leaf manuscripts that were being photographed in India. This is where I had my first computer experience. There was devotee named Bhavishat who had lent us a large CPM based computer using a 12 inch floppy drive! So in those days I was learning my computer acumen on a machine that only allowed text typing from a command line on a black-and-white screen. The machine was hooked up to a dot matrix printer that sounded like a tommy gun as it printed. I had little interest in, and definitely no passion for this computer or any other machine.

And then the Mac entered my life.

On the floor above us were the accounting and general business offices where Dulal Chandra, who was the main business manager, had his office. To this day I can still remember the call, something exciting was taking place in Dulal’s office and I should come up immediately. It was something I should not miss. So Haridham and I ran up to his office and, there, nestled amidst the managers of New Vrindavan, was the first Macintosh computer, a 128K machine. Kuladri, the community president, was giving a demonstration drawing pictures on the screen with a hand held device he called a mouse, and he was doing it in color! I was stunned, amazed and enthralled. And to top it off this mouse could even expand boxes, open windows and programs and even select text. I saw proportional fonts on a screen for the first time, and instead of a 12 inch floppy drive it had a tiny 3 inch slot for a cassette disk. And then to top it off the machine could speak! “Welcome to Macintosh” and then it proceeded to type whatever Kuladri typed. It was nothing less than magic. My heart was pounding with excitement. It was love at first sight. I had to have one and at that moment I became an Apple devotee. Yet, there was a problem. The machine was so in demand that everyone had to have one. They were completely unavailable, and this is the way it’s been for almost every Apple computer since then. It was a year before I could get my hands on the next Macintosh, called the Fat Mac, a 512K machine. Believe it or not I paid over $2700 including tax for this machine, an incredible sum money in those days. I bought it in an Apple Store in downtown Pittsburgh and since that time I’ve never been without an Apple computer. In fact, I can say I’m still unsullied. I’ve never, to this day, even turned on a PC machine. Yet I don’t even want to think how much money I’ve spent on Apple computers over the years. My first hard drive that eventually connected to my Fat Mac was a 10 MB drive that cost over $800!!!