The Natural Navigator» sound

Gayathri Tiffin Room

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:38:18 +0000

My book is on the printing presses – this is very exciting and an excuse for a quick plug in my blog!

In the book I emphasise the importance of using our senses in natural navigation. I cover examples from the sound of birdsong to the smell of trampled fruit in London.

I stumbled across a kindred spirit on the Internet this morning in Sachin Somanna, the author of this article about Gayathri Tiffin Room. It certainly smells from here like one of the joys of the Indian city of Mysore:

“We do not need any directions to reach Gayathri Tiffin Room (or GTR as it is popularly known) because once we close in on Chamundipuram circle, the irresistible aroma of a Mysore Masala Dosa works like a natural navigator to this vegetarian restaurant that is located just a few meters from the circle. Although the restaurant looks rather plain on the outside, the packed crowd inside negates this observation. GTR is filled with foodies digging into some varying and rather tempting South-Indian cuisine.”

Obama Furious with Brits after SatNav Embarrassment

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:24:24 +0000

President Obama was visibly furious with his British escort team after his secure cavalcade accidentally drove into the tiny Devon village of Clovelly. The armour-plated vehicles were too wide for the narrow cobbled streets and became wedged. Locals of the picturesque, but sleepy fishing village were woken by the sound of police motorbikes and two helicopters overhead. One resident told us, ‘Mr Obama was clearly upset, but we gave him a nice cup of tea and some homemade biscuits and that seemed to settle him.’ Mrs Avril, from the tourist board thought that it was due to the lead driver following his SatNav, ‘One of the policemen seemed very irate, he ripped a gadget off his motorbike and was jumping up and down on it. I told him he should have realised that he was heading the wrong way just by looking at the sun! That upset him even more and he threatened to “find some class A gear in my cottage, if I didn’t keep my mouth shut.” Very rude he was.’

There is only expected to be a short delay to proceedings at the G20 Summit.

The Sound of Humidity

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:45:00 +0000

It has been an interesting week so far. The website went live a couple of weeks ago, but this week has been about raising awareness. I’ve emailed lots of close friends and lots of people I haven’t seen or spoken to in years. It is one of the nice surprises of launching a new venture, particularly if you’re bad at staying in touch like me, it helps reconnect you with old friends.

On a completely different subject, last night I was a little weary and was trying to find excuses so that I didn’t have to mow the lawn. It was sunny, but there were dark clouds on the horizon. Perhaps if I waited long enough it would become too wet to mow? Finally I fired the lawnmower up and got to work on our small patch of grass that sits between the rebellious chickens* and the house. Soon, to borrow the immortal words of Monty in the immortal film, ‘Withnail and I‘,

‘The sky was beginning to bruise.’

The rain clouds were gathering and the first rumble of thunder drowned out the lawnmower. Then something odd happened. Or might have happened. The air became noticeably more humid, nothing odd in that as a thunderstorm approached, no the odd thing was that I thought I could detect a change in sound. It was definitely as though the acoustics of the garden had changed, as if the air was absorbing the sounds and echoes of the lawnmower engine. Deadening them. Can a sudden change in humidity do that? Answers from physicists and others on a postcard please.

* One of the reasons for my weariness was that my wife and I had spent about an hour that day, spread over a dozen unsuccessful attempts, trying to corral our chickens into their new house.