Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Mountains ..Switzerland


A town that sold mountains to the world St Moritz, the showiest of Switzerland’s Alpine resorts, is no ordinary ski town – it’s responsible for winter tourism as we know it today. By Mike MacEacheran There’s a story that makes it abundantly clear how a small band of English holidaymakers changed Switzerland forever. It involves a bet between hotelier Johannes Badrutt and an aristocratic group of merchants and landowners that took place on a damp September evening in St Moritz in 1864. As the vacationers sat around the fire at the Engadiner Kulm Hotel, dreading the prospect of returning to the foggy London winter, the Swiss manager saw a golden opportunity. Winter is so pleasant that on fine days you can even walk without a jacket “You holiday here in summer,” he challenged them over a bottle of Veltliner red wine. “Why not enjoy the mountains year-round? Winter is so pleasant that on fine days you can even walk without a jacket.” Lured by the promise of blemish-free skies against a backdrop of lofty peaks, the Englishmen were pleased to accept the wager; up until then, St Moritz had been a modest hiking destination in July and August. But if Badrutt’s promise proved false, the hotelier would pay for their journey and winter-long stay. How could they lose? Come mid-December, the group of men returned to Switzerland. Towards the end of their week-long journey, sat on a horse-pulled sledge and wrapped head-to-toe in furs, they negotiated the 2,284m Julier Pass, a two-day Alpine crossing that first linked Chur in the Rhine valley with the Engadine valley in southeastern Switzerland. But by the time of their arrival in St Moritz, the skies had cleared, they were sweating profusely, and a beaming Badrutt, jacket-less and with his shirt sleeves rolled up, was there to greet them. Click here to join World Malayali Club Word spread quickly of St Moritz’s dry and sunny ‘Champagne climate’ (Credit: Mike MacEacheran) The genius of the wager, of course, was that when Badrutt won the bet (the Englishmen stayed on as paying guests until March) word quickly spread throughout their homeland about St Moritz’s distinctive ‘Champagne climate’ – dry and sunny with a high degree of snow certainty. Year-round tourism had arrived in the Alps, and the village of St Moritz seemed newborn. There had long been the demand in summer, but winter – It was lunacy “Some people think it’s a legend, but it’s all true,” said Richard Leuenberger, general manager of the five-star Badrutt’s Palace, during my visit this past July. Opened by Johannes Badrutt’s son Caspar in 1896 to further reap the benefits of his father’s gamble, the hotel has become a byword for the resort town’s lavish excess. “Before the Badrutts there was little reason to come to St Moritz, or holiday in the Swiss mountains, in winter at all. There had long been the demand in summer, but winter? It was lunacy.” That the Badrutts almost single-handedly marketed this untapped winter wonderland is a little spurious. The first tourist office in Switzerland had been established in the same year as the bet, and there are tales of an Anglican priest, one Reverend Alfred Strettell, who came to preach the gospel in St Moritz in 1861 before returning to England to advocate the resort’s potential as a winter destination in open letters to British newspapers. By this time, other resorts in the Swiss regional cantons of Graubünden and Bern were also flush with business, with clinics in Davos, Arosa, Leysin and Grindelwald developed as winter sanctuaries to cure patients with tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. Click here to join World Malayali Club St Moritz was home to Switzerland’s first electric light and streetlight (Credit: Mike MacEacheran) But what Badrutt did was make the Swiss mountains accessible in a way that no one else had done before. In order to pay off the high cost of his ongoing investment at the Engadiner Kulm, he needed to keep the hotel open year-round, paving the way for a winter ice rink and regular curling tournaments played with stones first brought by early Scottish visitors. And by the 1880s, the number of English-speaking arrivals had increased to such an extent that a local newspaper – the Engadine Express Alpine Post – was published entirely in English. Still, Badrutt’s role as pioneer cannot be downplayed. “Before him there was only 75 beds in the village,” said Leuenberger, showing me around the Palace’s Great Hall, otherwise known as the ‘living room’ of St Moritz. “But because of Badrutt that number exploded to more than 2,000 over the next four decades.” To truly understand the town’s role in marketing mountains to the world, I set off to explore in the company of John Webster, a historian and guide who, having studied St Moritz for 27 years, knows the resort’s backstory best. Click here to join World Malayali Club Badrutt’s Palace hotel has been in operation since 1896 (Credit: Gisela Schober/Getty Images) “The concept of the winter holiday was born here – and I’ve never come across any claims to counter the argument,” he said, while looking out to the pyramid-like peaks of the Muottas Muragl. “From the late 19th Century on, St Moritz’s evolution and sphere of influence was relentless. There is a list of firsts in St Moritz that no one else has.” The concept of the winter holiday was born here Among those novelties was Switzerland’s first electric light and streetlight, both installed at the Engadiner Kulm in 1879. That same year, Badrutt brought flushing toilets into the Alps and built the first hydro-electric plant in the country. In tandem, winter sports found their place. Europe’s first curling tournament was held on frozen-over Lake St Moritz (now also the pitch and paddock for annual horse races, as well as ice polo and ice cricket tournaments). By 1882, the first European Ice-Skating Championships took place, then the first bobsleigh run and race were held in 1890. And all this was decades before downhill and slalom skiing became fashionable among the jet set. Click here to join World Malayali Club St Moritz provided a backdrop for the newly wealthy to mingle with the aristocracy (Credit: Norbert Eisele-Hein/Getty Images) The story of St Moritz is, in some ways, also a tale of social transformation. “The newly wealthy were able to mingle with the aristocracy for the first time,” said Webster, singling out the fairytale rooftops of eight five-star hotels (nine if you include Grace St Moritz, opening in summer 2018). “And in this period, these palace hotels served as great stages.” Evocations of the past include grainy photos of Hollywood stars like Gregory Peck tackling the notorious Cresta Run bobsleigh (fanatical rider Errol Flynn’s claim to fame was that he never once finished the course). Audrey Heburn would sit and have tea at Confiserie Hanselmann, a storied chocolate shop still doing a fine trade on Via Maistra. Click here to join World Malayali Club A bet between a Swiss hotelier and English holidaymakers led to St Moritz becoming a year-round destination (Credit: Diana Tonner Photos/Getty Images) But while the resort once reveled in Xanadu-like fantasy – outlandish stories of elephants and sea lions flown in for legendary parties at Badrutt’s Palace are all true – it remains equally bombastic in the face of fierce seasonal competition today. In particular, two recent game-changers include the Swiss resort town of Andermatt, plucked from obscurity by billionaire Egyptian property tycoon Samih Sawiris in 2013, and the Bürgenstock, a mega hotel and spa project nine years in the making that opened above Lake Lucerne this July. But there is still something that neither resort – nor St Moritz’s traditional rivals Gstaad and Zermatt – has. The Engadine Valley’s so-called ‘Champagne climate’. After all, St Moritz’s proud slogan, ‘300 days of sunshine a year’, is not only a cold, hard truth, but an undoubted wink to the past. Johannes Badrutt may be gone, but his impact will not be forgotten.
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Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Seattle Talent and Models: Crystal Martin Draws with Professional Illustrator...

Seattle Talent and Models: Crystal Martin Draws with Professional Illustrator...: Fun news! Our very own Crystal Martin was featured in another HiHo kids video! This time round Crystal got to draw her parents with professi...
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Seattle Talent and Models: A great, funny commercial for Keysight featuring 4...

Seattle Talent and Models: A great, funny commercial for Keysight featuring 4...: Congratulations to the following Seattle Talent and Seattle Artists Agency actors, Ren Wilson, Jason Bates, Danik Reznikov, Shreya Sharma, f...
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Thursday, October 19, 2017

tanawal: Poetry English blog

tanawal: Poetry English blog: Thursday, March 15, 2012 Reflections Wond'ring aloud how we feel today. Last night set the sunset, my hand in her hair. We are our own ...
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On openlibrary.org

On openlibrary.org
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Guide to the Max Shachtman Papers TAM 103 (R-7203)

Guide to the Max Shachtman Papers TAM 103 (R-7203)
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Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry)

roshan josh number2 recipe


* Around 600-700 grams of leg of lamb - chopped into bite-sized chunks.
* The usual chunks of frozen pulped garlic, ginger your freezer. (no chillie this time!)
* 2 teaspoons salt.
* 1 teaspoon haldi (turmeric)
* 3 teaspoons garam masala
* 2 teaspoons ground coriander
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 dessert spoons of plain natural yoghurt
* 1 teaspoon of red chillie powder
* 2 medium onions - finely chopped
* Three-quarters of a tin of peeled plum tomatoes

Ingredients for Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry)

This is a no-fuss method - involving just one pot and your skill and patience as a stirrer of a wooden spoon! First pour a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil into the pot and heat on high until very hot. Throw in the finely chopped onions and stir fry until the pieces start to go soft and translucent. Then throw in the frozen chunks of garlic and ginger and keep stir-frying. (make sure you zapped the frozen chunks for 10 seconds in the microwave first so that the ginger and garlic is not frozen any more!)


Then add all the quantities of ground spices and keep frying - the mixture should be dry-ish - and this is called "dry-frying" - or "pot-roasting". Fry for a few minutes until the heavenly aroma fills up your entire house - and then add the chunks of fresh leg of lamb. Keep stir-frying!


You should stir-fry for around 5 mins on high-ish heat until the meat has fully browned. Then throw in the tinned tomato. I forgot to mention that you should chop all the peeled-plum tomatoes into smallish/finer chunks first with a knife and fork. (Or else you could use pre-chopped tinned tomatoes if you like - but they are usually twice as expensive as the non-chopped ones!)


Stir it all about and let it cook for a few mins before adding a couple of large dollops of plain natural yoghurt. Stir it all in and then put the flame on high to bring it to a boil.


Then put the lid on and immediately transfer to the lowest possible flame burner and then go off and do something else for half and hour. Come back after half hour - take the lid off and give it a stir - and then put lid back on and let it simmer for another half hour. Repeat this for around one and half hours - and you will notice that the consistency of the mixture is a bit thicker - and the colour is bit redder/browner.


At this point it's done! Taste it in order to see if any more salt or chillie powder needs adding - and make sure that the lamb pieces are tender - not chewy! Then sprinkle on a generous handful of freshly chopped coriander leaf and stir it in. Let it rest with the lid on for 5 minutes and it's ready to serve!
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Miscellaneous Tanawal.blog


On openlibrary.org On openlibrary.org Posted by Kashif Subhani at 8:36 AM No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Guide to the Max Shachtman Papers TAM 103 (R-7203) Guide to the Max Shachtman Papers TAM 103 (R-7203) Posted by Kashif Subhani at 8:33 AM No comments: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry) roshan josh number2 recipe * Around 600-700 grams of leg of lamb - chopped into bite-sized chunks. * The usual chunks of frozen pulped garlic, ginger your freezer. (no chillie this time!) * 2 teaspoons salt. * 1 teaspoon haldi (turmeric) * 3 teaspoons garam masala * 2 teaspoons ground coriander * 2 teaspoons ground cumin * 2 dessert spoons of plain natural yoghurt * 1 teaspoon of red chillie powder * 2 medium onions - finely chopped * Three-quarters of a tin of peeled plum tomatoes Ingredients for Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry) This is a no-fuss method - involving just one pot and your skill and patience as a stirrer of a wooden spoon! First pour a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil into the pot and heat on high until very hot. Throw in the finely chopped onions and stir fry until the pieces start to go soft and translucent. Then throw in the frozen chunks of garlic and ginger and keep stir-frying. (make sure you zapped the frozen chunks for 10 seconds in the microwave first so that the ginger and garlic is not frozen any more!) Then add all the quantities of ground spices and keep frying - the mixture should be dry-ish - and this is called "dry-frying" - or "pot-roasting". Fry for a few minutes until the heavenly aroma fills up your entire house - and then add the chunks of fresh leg of lamb. Keep stir-frying! You should stir-fry for around 5 mins on high-ish heat until the meat has fully browned. Then throw in the tinned tomato. I forgot to mention that you should chop all the peeled-plum tomatoes into smallish/finer chunks first with a knife and fork. (Or else you could use pre-chopped tinned tomatoes if you like - but they are usually twice as expensive as the non-chopped ones!) Stir it all about and let it cook for a few mins before adding a couple of large dollops of plain natural yoghurt. Stir it all in and then put the flame on high to bring it to a boil. Then put the lid on and immediately transfer to the lowest possible flame burner and then go off and do something else for half and hour. Come back after half hour - take the lid off and give it a stir - and then put lid back on and let it simmer for another half hour. Repeat this for around one and half hours - and you will notice that the consistency of the mixture is a bit thicker - and the colour is bit redder/browner. At this point it's done! Taste it in order to see if any more salt or chillie powder needs adding - and make sure that the lamb pieces are tender - not chewy! Then sprinkle on a generous handful of freshly chopped coriander leaf and stir it in. Let it rest with the lid on for 5 minutes and it's ready to serve!
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tanawal: Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry)

tanawal: Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry): roshan josh number2 recipe * Around 600-700 grams of leg of lamb - chopped into bite-sized chunks. * The usual chunks of frozen pulped ga...
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tanawal: Fire and sword in the Caucasus

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Ciencia en Canoa, by Vanessa Restrepo Schild. : Researchers take major step forward in Artificial ...

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karimi1.blogspot.com: غزل 143- سال‌ها دل طلب جام جم از ما می‌کرد

karimi1.blogspot.com: غزل 143- سال‌ها دل طلب جام جم از ما می‌کرد: نستعلیق علامه قزوینی شرح نوشتاری شرح صوتی سال‌ها دل طلب جام جم از ما می‌کرد وان چه خود داشت ز بیگانه تمنا می‌کرد...
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Sunday, October 8, 2017

Defence strategists


ThePrint A warrior-scholar’s reflection on national security, strategic culture Pooja Bhatt 2 days ago Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam and the cover of his book Wider Horizons Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam and the cover of his book Wider Horizons AVM Arjun Subramaniam’s book is an inspiration for young officers to delve deeper into issues of security at an intellectual level, beyond physical war-fighting How do soldiers perceive security and strategy? It is a crucial question to ask in a realm where concepts such as ‘national security’ and ‘strategic culture’ have long been the purview of the political leadership, bureaucrats-cum-strategists and scholars. The parlance of security has been two-pronged — one, based on geostrategic realities in great power rivalries and the other, as a quest for theoretical understanding of security. One angle that is often overlooked is the reflection of those who are on the forefront of guarding the nation — soldiers — whose mandate is often seen as the protection of the country. The 21st century has seen changes in the modes and paradigms of warfare. Defence structures in India have also undergone a transition at an institutional level with planned development and force modernisation to keep up with technological advancements and vagaries of war-fighting. However, war-fighting is multidimensional and requires a multipronged approach. AVM Arjun Subramaniam’s latest book is a warrior-scholar’s reflection of issues on national security and strategic culture. Wider Horizons is a collection of more than 40 small essays that he wrote between 2010 and 2017. Besides outlining the importance and evolution of airpower, the book focuses on topics as diverse as terrorism, non-alignment, nuclear deterrence and statecraft. Subramaniam has bravely indulged in comparing Deng Xiaoping with Kautilya for their strategic farsightedness, intellectual brilliance and military innovativeness. History reminds us of our pasts and helps us to be well prepared for the future. Human history is replete with battles and bloodshed and there is a need to avoid conflicts in future. Military history examines with more than the behaviour of political and military leaderships during wars. It carefully tries to understand the human emotions such as greed, fear and honour that are attached to fighting, winning and losing the war. There has been an immense focus on studying military history in the US, the UK and other countries in Europe. Keeping this in mind, the author has extrapolated his personal experiences regarding the lack of interest in military history in India. Inadequate archives and declassified primary information leaves researchers to rely on autobiographies and biographies for conducting their academic work. History based upon facts not only provides a better perspective on how we fought our wars in the past but also on how to avoid them in future by not repeating the same mistakes. The book works at several levels. It is a guide and inspiration for young officers to delve deeper into issues of security at an intellectual level beyond physical war-fighting. At the same time, it is a primer for non-warriors on practical concepts such as aspects of airpower, air operations and contemporary warfare from a fighter’s vantage point. Airpower can act as a tool of statecraft if understood properly and used judiciously. Having an extensive career as a fighter-pilot with over 3,000 hours of flying India’s frontline fighters as Mirage-2000 and MiG-21, he intricately understands the employment of airpower with significant command and its role in the complex fourth generation warfare. Perfection can be only achieved when one is open to self-criticism as much as self-appreciation. Subramaniam is well aware of this and has not minced words where he felt was necessary. He has made pointed remarks in his book, for example, on the lack of transparency and inclusiveness between different stakeholders in the development of critical technologies for national security. At the same time, he factually ‘clears the air’, under a chapter with a similar name, when his seniors or colleagues were made targets wrongfully by the Chinese media. The author narrated his experiences in the book for the younger audience and junior officers with élan and sophistication. His personal anecdotes offer several important life lessons. He encourages youngsters to acquire knowledge and accept criticism for their holistic growth. A prolific writer, Subramaniam advises more officers to take up military writing. He believes that an insider’s viewpoint can add to their skill sets and also enrich the discourse of military history. Metaphorically, Wider Horizons is an apt title for the book. It goes beyond the regular military jargon and establishes the importance of military, especially the Air Force and airpower in the wider canvas of the current geopolitical context and sensitivities. The book ends with a poem written by his daughter on ‘the mighty Su-30’, which adds a personal tribute to air warriors. Pooja Bhatt is a research scholar at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. ‘Wider Horizons by Air Vice-Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (retd) has been published by KW Publishers’
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