I’d mostly seen this ancient pipe being used by people in Indian villages, but it appears that it is a trend gaining popularity among college students in urban areas today. Hookahs are widely being offered in cafes and restaurants in Indian cities, with the tobacco offered in an assortment of flavors. Students come in groups and sit for hours peacefully gurgling communal pipes in casual surroundings. Here’s a hookah menu hanging at a popular ‘dhaba’ restaurant on the outskirts of Bombay. (This place also served served ‘emu tikka’ btw).

Incidentally, one of my upcoming performances (20th November) will be at a restaurant in Pune called the Shisha Jazz Cafe, ‘shisha’ being a common term for the hookah in the Middle East. For reservations call 20-65200390.

No really. At Boosey & Hawkes, the classical music business behind Stravinsky and Prokofieff.

Getting pronunciation correct, especially when it comes to names of countries, religions and personal names is a basic sign of respect for a nation and it’s culture, and not an ‘exotic’ endeavour. I’m glad this is being discussed here. As for our politicians – anyone who claims to remotely have anything to do with foreign policy should stop critiquing Obama. Sometimes, just the pronouncing of a country’s name correctly, can evoke a gush of goodwill from that nations’ citizenry. A basic step in good ambassadorship.

Most folks in the US wouldn’t be aware of this, but it’s nearly time for us Canadians to elect our new PM – Oct. 14th actually. In June, CTV and the Globe & Mail did a survey which stated that Canadians preferred Obama over their own leaders. In an article out yesterday, the Vancouver Sun reports that it is a case of Obama-envy with 42% (a huge increase in margin!) of them choosing Obama, well ahead of the 29% that current Conservative PM Stephen Harper garnered. Ouch. Inspired by this solid enthusiam of Canadians for the US candidate, there’s a ”Barack Obama For PM” website with spiffy T-shirts, complete with igloo and maple leaf logos.

Well, I wouldn’t wish it to happen, but after the results of the last US election there’s always a nagging fear of history repeating itself. So if McCain wins, at least we know that Obama can always head over to Parliament Hill in Ottawa So to those among my friends who I know are thinking of re-locating to Barcelona, Amsterdam or Auckland if the Republicans win, perhaps you may not have to move that far after all!

Font fan that I am, I loved this clever video featuring them at a conference!

Napping is good. Here’s a how-to guide if you’re not familiar with it.

A study shows jazz improvisers brains in an ’altered state’, high on creativity with decreased inhibition when performing.

Have been trying to make some some moral decisions when buying seafood … it’s not easy and there have been many mishaps along the the way. Came across some info that helps one make the right eco-choice. Based on the zones you live in, here’s one that displays sustainable seafood choices. Also some great buying advice from Henry Lovejoy, president of the sustainable-seafood purveyor EcoFish. And here’s a scorecard of how the top 20 US retailers did when it came to seafood sustainability. Even the winner didn’t make the grade

Migraines translated into visual art here. Product of the human hand or that of an ape? Take the quiz. I didn’t fare too well

Pit your jazz listening skills against featured artists at JazzTimes.