Thursday, November 25, 2021
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Honorable Mention at NYState Archives Student Research Awards
My project on "Why the Choctaw language was used for communication in World War 1" won an Honorable Mention from the NY State Archives Student Research Awards.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Tutorial on how to draw Piglins
Piglins are pig- like mobs from the game of Minecraft. They inhabit a dimension called the Nether, in specific biomes. They love gold, and think all of it is theirs. They are equipped with either golden swords or crossbows, and will attack the player unless he or she is equipped with at least one golden piece of armor. Players can barter with them using gold ingots for items. The Piglin “inspects” the ingot for 6-8 seconds before dropping a random item. They also have other forms, such as the Hoglin. The Hoglin is a warthog-like mob. Piglins have a random chance to make a decision to hunt Hoglins. Hoglins do not attack piglins unless provoked. Hoglins and Piglins both have baby variants! The baby piglin is a passive mob, and will not attack the player. However, when a player tries to barter with a baby piglin, it steals the gold ingot and runs away. It still inspects the ingot also. Baby Piglins ride and play with baby Hoglins. If there are more baby Piglins that Hoglins, the Piglins may stack onto a hoglin.
In this tutorial, I provide step-by-step instructions on how to draw piglins.
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Sound of Happenings
By Agneya Dutta Pooleery (with some edits and suggestions by Haimonti Dutta)
If you listen carefully, there are many unusual sounds you can hear at my maternal grandparents house. They include loud birds, train horns, street hawkers advertising their wares, and much more.
The birds and animals in this area - a small coal mining town named Asansol in West Bengal -- can be really loud. First of all, there is a cuckoo (Listen here Cuckoo Song) which sings very loudly, both in the morning and at night. Maybe someone served him a Pepsi instead of a Coke and he is venting his frustration. When his friend joins in the “singing”, it certainly sounds like they have been arguing about who did / did not do the dishes properly after dinner. What we do know about these birds are that they are very persistent in their songs. Another bird, the tailor bird, goes “Tuit Tuit” usually in the afternoons. I counted him do that one hundred and six times one day, at which point I decided, he needed his oven fixed to bake his pizza. The person responsible for fixing it was arriving late and he was getting hungry. Poor bird. The seven sisters (jungle babblers) are a noisy bunch, too. Not only do they hang around in a group, and always seem to be quarrelling about something, their call appears to be a wheezy chatter with lot of harsh notes. Did I tell you, there is a cow living nearby who moos rather loudly? At first, I thought he was sympathizing with me, when I voiced my discontent on the inability to get a math fraction problem correct -- but then I realized he had a lot more to say. He moos so that everyone in the area knows that he is there, almost like a declaration when you least expect it. Then there are the street (pariah) dogs -- they bark. Most of the time they are quiet and asleep on the sidewalk, but when one of them barks, the rest of them joins in. It then becomes a maddening cacophony. I often used to get bewildered wondering what the cause of concern may be -- an unknown person in the neighborhood? A cat moving along stealthily on the fence? Ringing of the bell by the priest? Someone enticing them with food? I have no idea. As suddenly as they had started, they all come to an agreement, and settle down to another round of peaceful slumber.
As if the racket the animals made were not enough -- there are humans who add to the hum-drum. There is a street vendor who sings “aaaaaaayyyyyyyy!”(Listen Here Ayy man) every morning at around 11 am. We do not know what he sells. We are just familiar with the beautiful sing-song voice with which he advertises his goods as he walks down narrow streets. Then, the newspaper man. He goes around the town collecting old newspapers, presumably to make recyclable packets in which small quantities of groceries can be sold. The “Tina Loha” man. He shouts “Teeenaaaa Loooohhhha!” -- stretching out the words and making his presence felt a few more seconds than would have been otherwise possible. He collects scrap metal and tin for recycling. The "sheeeeeel kuutaaaai" man apparently goes from door to door asking whether a grinding stone (Bengali: Shil Nora) needs to be perfected. He will do the job right at your door step and you don't have to pay him tips for visiting your home. "Katla mach (Labeo Catla), Rui mach (Labeo Rohita), Ilish mach (Hilsa), Magur mach (catfish, locally called magur)" calls the fish seller giving you a wide choice of locally caught "fresh" fish. Oh, and the man with cymbals. He clashes the cymbals in glee and sings devotional songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. He comes every other day, I think (Listen Here HareKrishna).
You can also hear the train horn everyday. There are two train lines close to this house -- one on an old bridge and another a railroad crossing. The freight trains typically go on the bridge, while local and passenger trains travel between Asansol and Burnpur on the other line. Occasionally, if you hear very carefully, you can hear the long horn of the express trains that travel between Kolkata and Dhanbad late in the night around 9 pm. You can check to see if your watch is running correctly or not. Since the house is located close to the Grand Trunk Road, you can also hear bus horns, scooter and motorcycles horns and occasionally an advertisement of movies or other important announcements on auto rickshaws.
The most beautiful sound though is that of people blowing the conch shell in the evening. A lamp is lit by the Tulsi plant followed by a long forlorn “puuuuaaaaah” declaring one’s devotion to the gods. Every once in a while, several houses in the neighborhood will blow the conch shell together at about the same time -- then you can be almost certain there is a festival being celebrated.
As I continue my day, I keep my ear out for these sounds. Not all the time do you hear them, but they makeup part of my day. When I read books and play games, and hear these sounds, I am reminded of the people and life as it goes on in this small town. I make lots of memories, and I know I shall remember them when I return to the U.S after my summer vacation.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Virtual Cupcake Wars for Valentine's Day
Here is my entry for Country Parkway's Virtual Cupcake war for Valentine's Day. Entitled "The Marsh 'N M Cakes" they are red velvet cupcakes decorated with M&M's and Marshmellows.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Frederick Douglass -- A Biography
Frederick Douglass was an African American -- an eminent leader of the Abolitionist movement who worked inexhaustibly to end slavery.
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February 1818. The exact date of his birth is not known, although he celebrated his birthday as Feb. 14th, since his mother called him, her “Little Valentine”. He was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people. He was a leader in the abolitionist movement, which hoped to end slavery.
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. He was of mixed race -- his father being almost certainly White and his mother Native American and African. At the age of six, he moved to the Wye House Plantation, where he worked for Aaron Anthony. After Anthony died in 1826, he was given to Thomas Auld, who sent him to his brother, Hugh Auld. Hugh’s wife Sophia had a fondness for him and fed, clothed and educated him. But, Hugh thought that if slaves were educated, they would want to be free. This discouraged his wife’s education plans for Douglass. In 1833, Thomas took him back from Hugh. He was a mean man. Recalling his treatment in his autobiography, Douglass notes "A great many times have we poor creatures been nearly perishing with hunger, when food in abundance lay mouldering in the safe and smoke-house, and our pious mistress was aware of the fact; and yet that mistress and her husband would kneel every morning, and pray that God would bless them in basket and store!” He sent Douglass for a year to Edward Covey's house to be "broken". Edward had a reputation as an “slave-breaker” and whipped Douglass regularly, often once every week. The sixteen year-old Douglass finally rebelled against his master and the beatings and fought back. This historic incident is described in Douglass’s autobiography where he says, “you shall see how a slave was made a man.” On January 1, 1834 he was hired to work for William Freeland. In the plantation, he read the New Testament and started teaching other slaves to read and write, but they were soon discovered and the congregation broken up. He tried to escape from William Freeland’s farm several times, but failed.
In 1837, Douglass met Anna Murray, and fell in love with her. She helped him escape by giving him some of her money, dressed and with papers as a sailor. He traveled on the Baltimore-Delaware railroad, crossed the Susquehanna River eventually reaching New York City to freedom.
Douglass married Anna Murray, a free black woman and they moved to New Bedford, MA. He began attending meetings of the abolitionist movement there and was introduced to the writings of abolitionist and journalist, William Lloyd Garrison. In an abolitionist meeting at Nantucket, Douglass shared his story of slavery with extreme elegance and eloquence. Following this incident, Garrison encouraged Douglass to be a leader in the Abolitionist movement and he traveled the next fifteen years of his life talking about slavery and the need for abolition.
Not only did Douglass fight to end slavery, he also fought to give women equal rights, specifically the right to vote (suffrage). He supported Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Douglass was present and supported the launch of the American feminist movement in 1848 at Seneca Falls, in the presence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
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| A sculpture of Frederick Douglass and Susan B Anthony entitled "Let's Have Tea" at Susan B Anthony Square in Rochester, NY |
In 1845, Douglass published a book called “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” written as an abolitionist horror story. It played an important role in fueling the American Abolitionist movement of the 19th century. Douglass published two more autobiographies “My Bondage and My Freedom” in 1855, and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” in 1881 which contain more details about the initial publication and talk about his transition from bondage to liberty. His works were important in spreading the anti-slavery sentiment. He also established an anti-slavery newspaper called the North Star. It developed into one of the most influential African American anti-slavery publication of the time and circulated until 1860.
In his new biography, “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom”, David W. Blight discusses the life of this great American. His protest against the whippings of Edward Covey and a miraculous escape to freedom makes him “a model of “manhood,” of self-assertion in defiance of death” [1]. His work for the abolitionist movement and support of women's suffrage makes him a crusader and intellectual. He will be remembered by Americans as a prophet of freedom.
References
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-prophetic-pragmatism-of-frederick-douglass
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/full-text/chapter-ix/
Friday, February 12, 2021
The Laughter Library
Friday, January 15, 2021
Tree Frog Adventures
