Deepanjan Nag's Magnum Opus

  Willis Conover influenced me deeply in shaping my taste for jazz. His memory will forever be etched in my heart. It is my great misfortune that I never got to meet this legend.

If you don't add a stop loss... The losses won't stop.

 We'll miss you dearly.

Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm looking forward to tonight's UEFA European Championship 2024 Final. Ari and I support England although history and stats support Spain. Try as I might, I don't find soccer riveting. It's cricket all the way for me.

It shattered a billion dreams. But the defeat was a comprehensive one.

The final is tomorrow. India face Australia. Nervous.

Binge watching Desperate Housewives on Hulu. I'm loving it.

Covid was unfathomable for most of our generation. Social distancing was a ubiquitous oxymoron we had to embrace. Society was effectively suspended. When the pandemic finally began to recede, it left behind a trail of irreparable damage. Now that Covid is visible mainly in the rear-view mirror, one would imagine that we can finally heave a sigh of relief. Not so fast! Humans are up to their good-for-nothing shenanigans yet again. Russia launched a unilateral war against Ukraine while the UN went limp on the issue, Elon dilly-dallied with Twitter before finally buying it and doing everything he could to decimate it, and FTX, a hitherto reputable crypto-exchange, was reduced to a sham because of reckless and unethical practices by its owners. All this while the world faces a once-in-a-lifetime kind of inflation with recession looking very likely. The worst, I fear, is yet to come. It'll be a real shame if we have to look back at the Covid-era with nostalgia.

Got my 2nd dose of the vaccine yesterday. I hope mankind never has to endure the ravages of yet another pandemic.

I used to make fun of the legendary singer/compose because of his rustic style and apparent lack of complexity. And yet, here I am, listening to him and loving the sheer nostalgia. Some things are inexplicable. The heart often speaks an elusive language.

Finance is still a terrifying concept and I'll always remain a tyro. But I'm trying to be adventurous and dip my feet into leverage trading. The concepts are mind-boggling and the path is fraught with danger. I'm enjoying the ride for now.

Had to use Google Lens to know how to eat a Persimmon. I'm no fan of the fruit.  

Nothing revved me up like acoustics. This video from 1982 correctly predicts the revolution about to be ushered by CDs. Audiophiles never had it so good.

Now that I've got a taste of Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure, I'm off to the land of Amazon Web Services. This is the granddaddy of cloud platforms. I'm currently focussed on Lambda Functions. I've already covered EC2 previously and now also dabbling in S3, DynamoDB, and IAM. Amazon's infrastructure is impressive.

My stock of herbal tea is finally over today. But since it's impossible to get addicted to herbal or green tea, I'm not exactly rushing out to replenish my stock, though there are many health benefits to it. I think I'll just take a break before continuing.

There is something captivating about tram rides in Kolkata. It's amazing that this relic of British Raj is still on track, let alone plying. But Calcutta Transport Corporation (CTC) has long suffered from dereliction and the dwindling routes bears testimony to this neglect. The service is apparently on its last leg, though there have been rare hopes of revival from a few enthusiastic government officials. No city in the world is more apt for a tram-in-shambles ride than Kolkata. The two are in perfect harmony with the other. When the tram moves on the streets, it does so meekly, jostling for space to run through. It's almost apologetic for still occupying precious stretch in a city that is bursting at its seams from overpopulation and constant encroachment. Space is clearly at a premium here. People generally condescend when the tram musters the audacity to ring its bell asking for attention - perhaps because someone has conveniently parked his two-wheeler on its tracks and wal...

Rice, Brussels Sprouts, Spinach, Broccoli and Eggs for today and tomorrow. Very good for health but tastes bad.

I miss those days. The family would gather at the round table for dinner at a preset time. Baba would sit on my right and Ma on the left. Didi was bang opposite. Baba was the only one who helped himself to some extra green chillies.  Ma did the initial serving. Most days, among other things, we had fish - remaining true to our Bengali tradition. I was elated on the rare occasion when the humble egg played the usurper and replaced the fish. Our conversations would be many and varied. Didi and I rarely teased each other. Before TV came along to disrupt everything, it was the most profound moment of the day. We proverbially huddled together for a family-meet over food, discussing all that was worthy. The entry of the TV gave us a semblance of the shape of things to come. I synced our dinner time with the daily soaps. Soon enough, I was so caught in the weekly plots, I thought it best to sit away from the table, in front of the TV. No one protested. I now wish otherwise. Those p...

Since the PO was in no mood to deliver the bounced toothbrushes, Asha and Ari paid a visit to the hallowed office to retrieve the coveted objects yesterday. I hope they find it useful. I'm counting on Ari showing more enthusiasm now in doing the daily chore of brushing his teeth.

Now that I've renounced my renunciation of Blogger, at least one oddity has resurfaced - vanishing images! I'm appalled to see that even after all these years Google has failed to put this nagging issue behind them. Googling (ironically) for the problem, I found that the web is replete with people complaining about it. I'm not sure if the mystery will ever be solved if even the mighty Google is unable to fix it after all these years.