Next time you’re in the Queen’s Road/Miller’s Road area and feel like a steak, try Millers 46. The atmosphere is relaxed and the wild west cowboy theme is reflected in the attire of the waiters and the menu too! Besides a variety of steaks, they also have burgers, pastas, grilled fish, and sandwiches. And the desserts are pretty good too, from whatever we had ordered.

The Millers Mixed Starter platter which has chicken wings, mushroom caps, chicken lollipops and french fries are a nice way to start off. And if you’re feeling extremely indulgent, try the Cheese Fries. They’re sprinkled with chilli flakes and topped with melted cheese - actually it’s a whole meal in itself!

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Few days back Amulya Gopalkrishnan (NDTV) sent me an invite for a small interview about metroblogging, indeed the word seen spreading out side blogosphere. Then came the call from Pavitra Jayaraman ( NDTV,Bangalore) and we decided to meet at NDTV Bangalore office late noon today.

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Karnataka police unearthed thousand of pirated copies of the latest book of the potter series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as reported in the recent news. The books were being printed in Bangalore and supplied to all other metro’s…

Surprisingly the authorities seem to have woken up only for Potter, there are hundreds of books pirated and kept for sale on almost every major road in Bangalore along side the pirated DVD and VCD’s. The piracy for others seem to have not felt that important looking at the potter mania, there is a strong possibility of the printing press which is involved in this might as well instrumental in pirating other authors and best selling titles too!!

On a positive note, this brings great news for all those who feel IP (intellectual property) is important and needs at most protection and governance…

When I reached the Sub Registrar’s office, I could see that there was a huge crowd not only inside but also outside the office. Some of them were gathered near the groundnut vendor while the others were at the entrance of the building getting some typing work done from some people there who had settled down on a comfortable table that had a typewriter on it. The only thing that confirmed it was the Sub Registrars office was the board put up on the building. Like the bank guy had said, it was right behind & yeah I didn’t know about it.
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Dodda Alada Mara is a giant Banyan tree in the village of Ramohalli, approximately 28 kilometers west of Bangalore. This 400 year old sprawling tree covers about 3 acres. The main tree has over the years spread out widely with several aerial roots and though is a single tree, it looks like many different trees now.

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The Askary Awards are awarded to encourage the youth and promote the art of photography. Photographers below the age of 35 years from the State of Karnataka, India are eligible to apply for the awards.

A portfolio of minimum 4 photographs on any subject in color or black and white with a resume should be sent to the Convener. Applications can be made any time of the year. Entries for the current year should reach the Convener, before 04th August 2007. Entries received after this date will be considered for the next year. Awards are presented in August every year.

LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES IS 4TH AUGUST 2007.

Here is the Entry Form: http://www.askaryawards.com/entry_form.htm

You may Contact following numbers for submission of entries,
Mr. MS Harish: 9448268553, Mr. H.Satish: 9448687595, Mr. AS Prakash: 9880286638

Prize distribution will be held on 6TH AUGUST 2007 at YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, HOBBY HALL, 3RD FLOOR, STATE YOUTH CENTRE, NEXT TO RBI, NRUPATHUNGA ROAD, BANGALORE - 1.

This picture shows an empty site in the Frazer Town area. It’s an empty site with tonnes of debris and building refuse. Use the car in the picture as a reference to get an idea of how big the problem is. The height of the mound of debris is probably eight feet - maybe more.

How did this happen ?

Over the years, the site has been a very convenient dumping ground for excavated soil, building debris and just about anything that people want to get rid of. Including broken pots and wash basins.

A good example of what happens to a vacant site if the owner is not in town, or not in touch with the “work-in-progress”. If you’re looking for a dumping ground in Bangalore, you don’t have to look beyond your nose

Theatrical adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone’ will be staged by the Chennai based theatre group Evam, in partnership with Madras Players.

Date: Saturday, July 21
Time: 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm
Venue: Chowdaiah Memorial Hall.

Tickets can be blocked at www.evam.in or call 98865-27471/098402-22363. Tickets also available at Landmark, Crossword, Alliance Francaise, and at the venue on the day of the show.

More details here.

Sultanpet is on the Nandi Hills route and about 50-60 kms away towards the North. Instead of the left diversion to Nandi Hills, you need to take a right and continue along the road. There is also the Bhoga Nandeshwari temple there. And a little ahead is Sultanpet where there is a famous cemetery - all from the time of Tipu Sultan.

While on a drive to that area, we found a a few potters here hard at work early morning and spend some time around their work area and the adjacent building where they stored the pots. Apparently, their pots go to both Bangalore and places in Andhra Pradesh.

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It’s nice to see corporates being good citizens of the city. I snapped these pictures of a praiseworthy joint initiative between the Bangalore Traffic Police and a software company to educate road users about the dangers of speeding and not using helmets.

The idea was to catch one’s attention by slogans which have rhyming words in them:

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