CHIMNEYS OF LONDON

Hello World,

Long time. No see. I have been wanting to share this view since September 2015. I visited London back then and got an opportunity to roam around the city during the weekend. Among the hundreds of interesting things I saw, the London Chimneys stole my heart. I found them so interesting that I ended up taking around 1700 shots of the London Chimneys. So here is my account of London Chimneys and what I think about them. Scroll down to the end if you wish to skip the reading and check out the photos in a slide show [60 images].

Pretty much all the buildings in London have chimneys. There are so many kinds of chimneys and I think, I captured at least 30 different types. When I say Chimneys, I am referring to the chimney pots and cowls that are visible on the roof-tops of buildings.

I am not an expert on chimneys and therefore I am going to stick to just what I think about this, irrespective of its fit with what might be the fact. I however will not discount logic as I see it.

My View on London Chimneys

I see a case of centralised decentralisation in the chimney architecture [referring to their scheme and not the build]. Each room in a building gets a fireplace and so chimneys originate from different corners of the building across various levels. However, all the chimneys converge at one point on the roof. The rows of chimney pots and cowls on roof tops is the centralisation of decentralised placement of fireplaces.

From a material standpoint, having the chimneys along the walls of the building [inside] would have helped realise the capability with relatively shorter piping. From an operational standpoint, having the chimneys [the pots at top] at one place will help cleaning them less complicated. Having the chimney pots at one place to me indicates that the operational costs outweighed the material costs. While the initial investment got a bit bloated with more material and man hours, the customers have [supposedly] realized lower operational costs in maintaining those chimneys. 

On a different note, based on the limited London structures that I observed, those that belonged to the members of the royal family had lot of protrusions out of the building profiles. This included faces and borders protruding out of the building. However, the remainder of the buildings, those that of the ‘commons’ [anyone who ones real estate in London cannot be called so but let’s not get there now :)] have very conservative profiles. The protrusions/carvings/borders are towards the inside of the structures. Each side of the building will have almost flat-out profiles on all sides. Anything decorative will be a relief towards the inside of the building. The windows of such buildings stay a good 6-8 inches inside from the outer wall/plane.

Here is the slide show:

Click on the image below to open the album [60 images]

Usually, when we visit a new place, we travel there 'looking around.' In case of a travel to London, do 'look-up' when you navigate the city. The smoke vents from the past are still standing telling so much about heating requirements and how British architecture responded to them. I am presuming there are laws now that prohibit burning of charcoal/firewood for heating. The buildings use wall-mounted fluid based heating systems these days.

As strange as it sounds, I find the chimneys as a fascinating part of London. If you know anything about London chimneys, I waiting to hear. 

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WEST INDIES TO WIN T20 WORLD CUP 2016

Hello World,

I have reason to believe, West Indies has been fixed to win today’s t20 world cup. Also very soon, at least one key international tournament will be hosted by West Indies, featuring some top teams in international cricket.

I might be 70% right or 100% wrong with this claim, but I wish to stay connected with my rationale behind this belief. So for logical reasons, I am writing this post about 150 minutes prior to the start of the finals match. So my prediction will go for a toss as well. My concentration however is not on the outcome of the toss but the coin being used for it. So, let me explain why I think West Indies has been fixed win this tournament.

Image Source: http://9cric.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/229602_373675819410727_312404663_n.jpg

I recently watched the cricket documentary ‘Death of a Gentleman’ produced and directed by Sam Collins, Jarrod Kimber, Christopher Hird and Johnny Blank.

Among the many questions they raise, one of their observations stands out to me. They have observed events which seem to indicate the wealthy and influential cricket boards bully the not so rich or big boards within the international cricket market. The documentary gently points at West Indies being deliberately neglected as a punishment for their differences with the top dog cricket boards. The observations include West Indies not being included in many small-scale international tournaments and West Indies not being chosen for key international tournaments. owing to such organised sidelining, West Indies cricket had been facing troubles such as reduced funding for the development of the sport often on the grounds of no commercial opportunities within the grasp the West Indies cricket board.

All of a sudden, although I stay so far away from the televised cricketing drama, I have been noticing West Indies cricket team and cricketers being extensively publicised. If one were to pick the top 10 most happening cricketers, the list will feature West Indies players, most of them within the top 5. Advertisements and music videos have been using West Indian cricketers extensively. IPL advertisements sport them as the top entertainers. 

Now, I see West Indies in the final game of an international tournament. 

Therefore, I believe, West Indies is fixed to win this tournament and moving forward, key international cricket events will be held at West Indies. They seem to have agreed to the terms of the Big Three of international cricket or may be it is just their turn to enjoy some of the cricketing revenue. 

On a different note, thanks to the team that gave us the cricket documentary ‘Death of a Gentleman.’ It is that documentary that I use as the basis for my prediction, which, if I am not wrong, most of the audience already know as a probable outcome. For some weird reason, ordering this movie online was challenging for me and I had to order from a UK site. This might just be a case of e-commerce choices of the sellers but for some unknown reason, I wasn't able to make a paid download of this movie. I did order and receive the DVD which I watched with little amusement and a great satisfaction. [Someone, finally, had the courage to indicate the presence of ulterior financial motives behind what we watch as legitimate cricket matches on TV]

Televised cricket is sports entertainment. Let me know if my prediction is proved wrong. We never know how the betting scene fixes the outcomes of cricket matches.

West Indies women team has won the world cup. Now it is the men's team's turn to win the T20 world cup. Like I said, it's West Indies turn to gain prominence and host upcoming cricketing events.

Update as of 5th April, 2016:

As predicted, the West Indies team won the T20 world cup final. This is not the surprising fact.

How come two world cup finals were scheduled on the same day and the same country's team wins both the world cups. Also in June, a tri-nation series featuring South Africa, Australia and West Indies is scheduled to be held in West Indies. 

Right before the host nation gears for up for a big event, their team wins two major events on the same day. 

If this doesn't ring any bell, nothing will.

This is why I firmly believe, televised cricket is sports entertainment which means the show is made up [in parts or full, depends on many variables].

On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,