---

A moon eclipse can only occur at full moon when the sun, Earth and moon are perfectly aligned. When in the Earth's shadow, the moon sometimes appears red.

Somewhere along the way you make a decision ... you turn a corner and you are someone else.

In any huge Slavic Sikh (aka Punjabi, meaning hot five rivers,) wedding on Australian soil, it will be the Jeff's images that define the experience for our dearest family and friends.



I wish a falling star could fall forever
And sparkle through the clouds and stormy weather
And in the darkness of the night
The star would shine a glimmering light
And hover above our love

Please hold me close and whisper that you love me
And promise that your dreams are only of me
When you are near, everything’s clear
Earth is a beautiful heaven
Always I hope that we follow the star
And be forever floating above

I know a falling star can’t fall forever
But let’s never stop falling in love

When you are near, everything’s clear
Earth is a beautiful heaven
Always I hope that we shine like the star
And be forever floating above

I know a falling star can’t fall forever
And let’s never stop falling in love
No let’s never stop falling in love



Mehndi is supposed to symbolise the strength of love in a marriage
Anand Karaj: Blissful Union
Highest form of love, the love for the Divine

Una Notte a Napoli

---

Only Phillip Adams would write anything as succinct and bohemian as this snippet about the cage of Sydney over the APEC week when my exotic Indian honeymoon starts:
The cage in Sydney's CBD was not designed to keep APEC protesters out. No. It was there to keep the terrorists in ...

---

You may — or may not — have noticed that Media Dragon blogs less and less but cares about reading other blogs more and more …
The decline of the coverage of books isn’t new, benign, or necessary The health of a society is always best measured by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable citizens. The same test may be usefully applied to Media Dragon’s Cold River ;-) Goodbye to All That: I felt I had no time to waste; life was short and literature long

Virtual Media Dragon Ghetto Value is a function of scarcity
For every book that tickles public taste, captures the zeitgeist and hits the jackpot, there are thousands that do not appeal to contemporary readers, fail to find a sufficient audience and almost disappear. I've gotten some flak recently for not promoting Cold River more widely and more passionately! Despite the growing tide of positive publicity surrounding Cold River I cannot name names only point out the faces: of course ;-) Necessity is the mother of invention, the old saying goes. But boredom and the desire to experiment are powerful forces too Book launch by way of Facebook

Book readings are all part of a writer's promotional duties - so why are the majority so bad at it? A lot of writers, live, simply don't do their work justice, which is hardly surprising. In one sense at least, writing and performing are polar opposites: one is about as anti-social as a career can get, while the other is definitely, to some degree, about attention seeking. And just because you can write a voice well doesn't mean you can speak in it….
Here's to the CRAZY ones,
The misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers,
The round pegs in the square holes,
The ones who see things differently,
They're not fond of rules,

• Authors should be seen and not heard; [So the NYT finally did an article on Author blog tours, which if memory serves, some of us have been doing for a quite a long time... Media Dragon has been around since 2000 AD MM The Author Will Take Q.’s Now; What can we learn from how Apple does marketing? Other than it does it right? A Different Apple A Day ; Reminding the world to get a little CRAZY ]
• · Far from the fame and glamour of the Booker and bestsellers is a forgotten world of literary treasures How did we miss these?; The great essayist would be appalled by the writing, but applaud the democracy of the web Would Orwell have been a blogger?
• · The Rise of the Pyjamahadeen The Rise of the Media Dragons; Bat Boy Collapses in Checkout Lane! It’s probably safe to say that no other newspaper in the annals of journalism scored as many shocking scoops as The Weekly World News. The World’s Only Reliable Newspaper
• · · The invasion and abuse of the private lives of public figures, especially of politicians, is very far advanced. Czech out Bob Carr’s stories or even better Up close and personal; In dark times such as our own, a flurry of publications attests to the abiding importance of Hannah Arendt as a great theorist of totalitarianism Death, begins [its] reign of terror when life becomes the highest good.
• · · · Every week, Jozef Imrich presents the most timely, topical posts from the Web's most creative snippets ;-) The famed German beer-slinging brat-eating festival is nearly upon us. This year marks the 174th Oktoberfest and it will take place between September 22 and some Czech news: Bohemianova: Fascinating Facts; Racism comes in all ways, shapes, and forms, and you don't have to be part of the minority to experience it. The ones who see things differently.; Here's to the crazy ones.
• · · · · It's an Amazon blog, which means it's a publicity site for his new book, not a real blog. Greenspan's calculated, anodyne utterances on the economy have ... Greenspan tells all on his blog Alan Greenspan’s blog - No, seriously! ; FEC Determines That Blogs Count As Media Daily Kos Exonerated by FEC: So Far, “Political Blogs” Exempt from ... The Moderate Voice
• · · · · · As blogging becomes a common practice in our society and our interest for blogs increase, new business models are emerging. Blog Aggregators: a New Dimension for your Blogs ; It's always nice when things you believe are backed up by actual evidence, so I was particularly happy to read this morning that there is considerable reason to believe that children who drink with their parents are much less likely to drink irresponsibly THINK OF THE CHILDREN, GIVE THEM BOOZE

---

Things will be like heaven in 2007.
Harry Holleywood



How did it get to be September so quickly? It is first day of spring and Sydney looks like a bride ... So I am again sticking my neck out ... Ach, this exotic Wedding day is not to be forgotten The past and future of a radical price: A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out – Slavic proverb

Live Love of Monsoon Wedding Underrated I LOVE YOU: The Huge Indian Wedding in September
Emo Philips said: When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked for forgiveness …

Engagement in Bronte Park, sangeet in Iceberg, hens party at Mykanos, ancient bohemian Bucks party at Iceberg, henna at Matriville and wedding all over the places down under … The big fat Indian wedding is headed towards the largest island in the world.

Elephants, swans, and a very fancy and exotic wedding that will surprise guests is all on offer ;-)

At an exotic, Sikh Indian wedding, the wedding ambiance is set a week before the wedding. Just ask Steve, Patrick, Christopher or Kevin ;-) Jenny or Wendy ... Julie, Begonia, Masiji or Pabiji ... There are various rituals, which are followed before and after the wedding. Shagun or engagement is the first ceremony to mark the beginning of the wedding celebration. On this occasion the two families exchange gifts to conform the engagement. Among the pre wedding rituals engagement is the occasion where both the families meet and the bride's father takes care of all the ceremonial activities on this day. Various auspicious items are required on this day that includes coconut, dry dates, sugar and money and these are sent to the groom's family. It is also called the Tilak ceremony, which is performed by a bhaiji or preacher from the Gurudwara who first reads the hymn, offers a date to the groom and applies tilak on his forehead, marking the engagement. After the tilak ceremony, the groom's father sends gifts of clothes, sugar, coconut, rice, jewelry and henna to the bride. Similarly the bride's father also offers gifts to the groom and his family members. Another important pre wedding ritual involves the bangle ceremony or the choora ceremony, which is held at the bride's place where the maternal uncle and aunt of the bride put white and red bangles on the bride's wrists. Light ornaments of beaten silver and gold called kalira are tied to the bangles.

Maiya is a pre wedding Sikh custom followed by the bride and the groom where both are not allowed to leave their house for few days before the wedding. Gana is another such ritual where an auspicious red thread is tied to the right wrist of the groom and the left wrist of the bride. It is regarded as a good omen for the bride and the groom and it protects them from ill omen. Vatna is a ritual celebrated a few days before the wedding ceremony where vatna a scented powder consisting of barley flour, turmeric and mustard oil is applied to their bodies to be followed by a ritual bath. On the eve of the wedding, mehndi ceremony is celebrated when henna is applied on the hands and feet of the bride. Gharoli is another such pre wedding ritual, which is celebrated in the morning of the wedding day at groom's place in which the groom's sister-in law accompanied by other female relatives go to a nearby well or Gurudwara to fill an earthen pitcher or gharoli with water which is later used to bath the bridegroom.

The main day wedding ritual or ceremony includes Milni ceremony, which is celebrated at the groom's place where his sisters tie a sehera or floral veil to the boy's forehead and a garland of currency notes adorn his neck. On reaching the bride's house the milni ceremony is held with the elders of both families embracing and wishing each other. Shabads are sung and the ardaas recited as the procession enters the Gurudwara breakfast is served to the guests.

On the main wedding function the bride and the groom sit together to attend the Guru Granth Sahib Kirtan. The groom drapes a chunni draped by the bride's father one end held by groom, which is usually red, pink and orange in color around his neck, the other end of which is held by the bride throughout the ceremony. The bhaiji of the Gurudwara recites the hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib, which are then sung and the bride and groom circle the Guru Granth Sahib. The bridegroom walks ahead of the bride with a sword in his hand. Relatives and friends garland the newly wedded couple and the marriage ceremony concludes with a grand feast.

Among the post wedding rituals the vidaai or doli ceremony marks the end of the wedding celebration. It is a very emotional affair for the bride's family as she departs from her parent's house she throws back handful of rice over her shoulder, thereby wishing prosperity for her parents and family she leaves behind to start a new life with new dreams and aspirations.

• George Sand... On fire with desire There is only one true happiness in life: to love and be loved; Wedding day is not to be forgotten Exotic Locations under Mount Everest Five Rivers [Billu at Parravilla While many families decamp to exotic locations for the ceremony, others prefer urban venues for the enormous parties; Think what a strange thing a wedding dress is. In a style utterly unsuited to any other use, it is fashioned at vast cost and, once the tears are shed and the vows uttered, consigned to dark imprisonment for life among the attic mothballs. Six weddings and a dress; As far as I'm concerned, there was never any question that the wedding favor would be a mix CD RSVP - So many choices ]