Colours Run

For some reason I have not been able to grasp the music that's prevelent these days. I think the bands that used to make music for the sake of music and not for making big bucks do not exist anymore. Today's music is very glamorized and commercialized. I really cannot focus on the music made in this decade.

But call it serendipity or whatever, around 6-8 months ago I found this band called Colours Run on last.fm that simply swept me off my feet! Yes, I fell in love with them instantly. Colours Run is from Manchester, England, and their music is very very nice, very different, and very British. They sound a lot like Coldplay, and their songs bring happiness to my soul. I was listening to one of their songs today and decided to tell the world about it :).

They have recently released their EP called The Sticks EP. It's available on iTunes and on CD baby, and it's for 10 bucks.

My favorite Colours Run song: "Beautiful Waste of Time".

Note: I am stuck in the 90s and I am proud of it.

Self Control, eh?

I have been resisiting temptation - big time!

I have gotten into this habit of getting on to Amazon, Deals of America and other such websites and looking at all the wonderful materialistic things available on this planet. I instantly fall in love with them, and decide to buy them right away. I even click "check out", but the moment I am asked to enter my credit card information, I say to myself - "Hmmm..do I really need it?". My inner self gives me a big NO. Then I ask my inner self to justify the negative answer, and the answer that follows is "I REALLY don't need it". That is when some sense prevails and I realize how stupid I am. I just don't allow the devil inside me to control my thought process anymore. I close the browser window, and then say to myself - "Boy, I REALLY didn't need it".

Six days have passed (in this monh, that is!) and I have not bought even a single item that would make the devil inside me dance with pleasure. I am just thinking that that the angel inside me deserves better treatment. No more tears, my angel, no more tears.

Some of the things that I have avoided in the last so many days are:

- Laser Printer.
- Music System.
- Music System.
- Electric Accoustic Guitar.
- Wireless Speakers.
- Under Cabinet CD Player.
- Numerous HDTVs.
- Furniture at IKEA (!).
- Useless yet attractive stuff on Deals of America.

The Missing Piece

My worst nightmare has come true.

I could not finish a puzzle a few days ago because there was a piece missing in the puzzle set.

See the missing piece?

This is what I have dreaded all my life. For some reason whenever I bought a jigsaw puzzle I got the feeling that it would have a piece missing. For so many years, however, this never happened, and my fear was overpowered by the manufacturer's superb quality checks.

But it happened. Two days ago, and now my fear has resurfaced. I will never be able to finish a jigsaw puzzle with full confidence. There will always be an element of suspense. There will always be tension.

The only soultion that comes to my mind is to count the number of pieces in the puzzle first, and if there are any pieces missing, repack the puzzle, send it back to the manufacturer and ask for a refund. But what if I am about to solve a one thousand piece puzzle? Is counting the number of pieces before starting to solve the puzzle really feasible? I don't think so. What if while counting I get bitten by an ant on the floor? I will lose count of all the pieces and will have to start all over again. So I guess I should just keep my finger crossed and hope for the best everytime.

"A Short Digression"

While posting my previous blog entry I somehow realized that I have a tendency of sometimes digressing from the original theme of my post. I usually do this by starting a new paragraph with the word "Digression -". Let me tell you how I got into this habit. It all started when I was doing my undergrad last semester project (in VC++ ;) ). I was reading the "RFC 1939" to get a clear understanding of what POP3 does. In that document, on the very first page is a paragraph that is titled "A short digression". I did not really know the meaning of the word digression, so I quickly looked it up in the dictionary. I then realized that we could stray from our main topic/theme by simply using the word "digression".

I have been consistently using that word in my projects/research paper/blog since then.

Mixed Doubles

I just finished watching "Mixed Doubles" on youtube. The title of the movie is self explanatory. I kind of had the impression that this movie would be very erotic and sleazy. But it really isn't. The movie is based on a very bold theme. Apparently, the protagonist is influenced by his friend who is married and lives in the United States. Basically, this film is an eye opener - tries to tell you that Indians are opening up to certain things that are traditionally forbidden in our culture, the things that have long been associated with the Americas and Europes of this planet. The way the movie ends is really strange, but yes, it does convey the message.

I am All Ears

Had to get one of these. Not because they are noise cancelling headphones and all that - just because they are headphones. I have tried and tried, but for some reason the left earplug in any earplugs that I have had just would not sit in my left ear for long - It always keeps falling out.

Misery Loves Company

I spoke with a good friend after so many days. He is under a lot of pressure these days - he has his thesis proposal due and has to take his PhD qualifying exam by the end of spring. Well, he was just a little frustrated, and was wondering as to why life becomes more complicated and stressful with time. He says that it should be just the opposite. With education and experience, life should be a lot more nicer, easier, comfortable, and a lot less painful. But that is not the case. I did not disagree with him because each day brings a different kind of trauma. Sometimes I feel that every time I am involved in something, I am being tested. Everything is a challenge, and the misery that comes with those challenges just does not stop!

So, my childhood dream (well, it's not just mine) of having a huge mansion and an infinite number of cars (like all the sheikhs have) and an endless supply of money - would it ever come true? What about a random lawyer calling me up and telling me that a distant uncle or aunt just died and left me tons and tons of money - would that ever happen? Will I ever win a lottery? Will I marry the daughter of a business tycoon who would request me to take care of his business because it's becoming a little too much for him to handle or that he has seen it all and now wants to go on top of a mountain to medidate?

Well, all these questions have one common answer ---- NO.

My past experiences say that I will always have to slog like a donkey. I will always be the average Joe. I will spend my entire life dealing with family issues, and my future wife would also be from a middle class family, and we would both work our entire lives to make ends meet, to give our children good education, and blah blah blah.

I know how good my bad luck is. I rest my case, your honor.

Yay!!

I don't know if you know this already, but my Philips MCM530 music system has the ability to connect to my computer. I was able to connect it to my laptop just fine when I first bought it, but after a few months I started having problems with it. My music system would not connect to my laptop anymore.

However, things changed just a few minutes ago. I downloaded the software/drivers and decided to give it a shot once again, and voila! it worked - without any glitch whatsoever!

When the "USB" LED on the system stayed steady, I was thrilled (when there is a problem, it would either not light up at all or would blink).

The USB port on my computer seems to be working just fine.

After successfully establishing a connection, this is what I saw/see now on the little screen on my music system:

And I call this the "power house". It lets me control all the songs playing on my computer. I can play/pause/stop/rewind/forward and change tracks on my computer without having to touch the keyboard! With this in my hand, I can control my playlist even when I am in bed :):

By the way, I can also connect my MP3 player to the music system through the AUX ports at the back (just FYI!!).

And finally, this is what the entire setup looks like:

Crazy, innit?? :)

Here's a demo:

View From My Room

Shadow

That's me in the corner...that's me in the spot..light..

Take The Back Seat, Will You?

I don't know how I forgot to blog about this!

When I was in Baltimore I fell in love with this family run Indian restaurant that cooked awesome food! Their food was pretty cheap, considering the fact that they were based in a big city in the US. I must tell you that it was not a big restaurant, and it was not really set up like a typical restaurant, you know, lighting, ambience and all that jazz. Here's a picture for your viewing pleasure:

You see what I mean? It's pretty small - nice, and clean though. They have a few tables for those of us who would want to sit and eat there. But mostly people get their stuff packed.

However, the one thing that made me laugh non stop ( and my sister too) is something that you would just not expect to see inside a restaurant. It was in the "waiting area", and it was supposed to make your bum comfortable while you waited to get your stuff. See "it" for yourself:

Lol! Did you see that? It's a fucking back seat of a car!! Here, take a closer look:

Now why in the world would you want to "install" a car seat in your restaurant? Of course, you can always say "cost cutting", but hell, why would an Indian restaurant cut costs when it's running so well and making big bucks? Well, one thing I know is that Indian restaurants take their customers for granted. They know that their customers crave Indian food, and that they really don't give a flying fuck about the ambience and all that shit and crap.

Hence, the exploitation.

Hello Sexy!

I was on buy.com today, looking at some MP3 players that they have on great discounts. They have the President' s day sale. Well, it seems that there was a very high volume of traffic. Now, you know how when there is an error the website would show a general error page and say that there has been a problem and that you should wait for some time and all that jazz? Buy.com did the same thing, except that they had a very hot looking model on the error page. See it for yourself:

Now, somebody please explain this to me. I am totally stumped. If buy.com were a fashion website, it would have made more sense, but why would that website have a hot/sexy /cute/beautiful/whatever woman on its error page? Why do I get this feeling that this error page itself is an error? Is this a faux pas? Or a prank played by one of the horny programmers? Or a President's day joke?

What is it?

I upgraded my blog template and I hate it.

Motivation, Will You?

Okay, just put my dirty clothes in the washing machine.

So I was walking to the library yesterday when I saw this weird thing that is obviously a part of 1st National Bank's employee motivation program or whatever. Here, let me show you the picture first. Sorry about the bad quality, I took it with my camera phone.

It says "1st Class Service. Reserved for Employee of the Month".

Now that got me thinking. Is motivation that cheap? I mean, would an employee be motivated enought to meet his objectives or targets just to get a parking spot for himself/herself? Would I really be excited if my boss tells me that I will get my own parking spot if I perform well, or outperform others? Ummmmmm...I don't think so. On the other hand, would I be excited if my boss tells me that I will get a raise, a bonus, or perhaps a paid vacation if I perform well, or outperform others? Yes. Definitely.

And the other thing that came to my mind was that a reward should give you an advantage, not a disadvantage for God's sake. The next picture does not tell you much about the spot but let me tell you that the "reserved for employee of the month" spot is the farthest from the office entrance!

Now come on you guys, let some common sense prevail. Wouldn't the employee of the month want their car to be parked as close to the door as possible so that they could get in and get out easily, without having to walk so much in the freezing cold (now that's a real privelege, innit?)? Don't punish that guy for being smart and hard working. And seriously, in this case, no one would want to be the employee of the month - especially if they have to walk 200 feet to get into the office building when it's -25 degrees outside.

What do you think? Ha ha.

Details

Alright. So the Internet is up and running.

My friend is a father now. His daughter's name is Mayra - Mom and Dad basically combined their own names to come up with this one. So from now on, little Mayra can technically and officially call me uncle. Not that I like it, but it's okay. The next time I meet her though, I will tell her not to call me uncle.

The job's good so far. I have got very cool colleagues at my work place.

Iowa State is huge. You can never tell where the campus starts and where it ends. And the campus has some beautiful buildings. The place where I work is not in the main campus area, which basically means that reaching there is not really easy. Not that it's difficult, but I have to change buses to reach the College of Vet Med, and to do that I have to wait for 10 minutes everyday at Lincoln and Beach out in this freaking cold.

Yeah, I have been watching a lot of movies. I became a member of the Ames Public Library - not to read books, but to get DVDs and CDs. Just so you know, they also have music CDs, which I think is pretty cool, and their collection is not too bad either.

And of course, no soda. I do have a craving for it, but somehow I stop myself from buying that evil drink. But I have started drinking beer big time. Well, not big time, but during weekends. It's good fun. All bad things are fun.

I was in Beardshear Hall a few days ago, and I saw the strangest looking urinals in the restroom.

Now here's the thing. Any Indian would think that this is an "Indian Commode". But the only thing that would confuse them is the height of these "commodes". Well, honestly, that is what happened with me. When these urinals came in my line of vision, I said to myself, "Hey, Indian commode!". But after paying attention to it's height I realized that it's a urinal. And peeing in these urinals is way too awkward.

I bought the Xbox 360. Thank you, thank you.

And I played the most amazing game on it - GRAW2. And was disappointed. Because..I finished the single player game in less than 10 hours! Can you believe it? Man, video games are supposed to keep you busy for days, and even months. So not fair.

And last but not the least, I live near Downtown Ames, which has almost everything you could ask for. The biggest advantage is a grocery store just a few steps away. Now I can (and I have) get rid of my weekly mandatory trip to Wal-Mart. *awesome*.

It's sunday night and I have not done my laundry yet. Got to do it ASAP.

Whew!
The Internet in my apartment has still not been activated, and I have been dying to blog about so many things in life. So I decided to use my phone to do the needful, and as I type on the tiny little keyboard on my Treo, I get the feeling that it would not be a very pleasant experience (my thumbs hurt already).
I have changed my mind. I am going to be not at all descriptive, and would keep the typing to the minimal. But you should be expecting details about the following things in the near future:

-My friend recently became a father, and I became an uncle *applause*.
-The job's good so far.
-Iowa state university is huge.
-I have been watching a lot of movies lately.
-I proudly announce that I have not had soda since the last so many days. It's not healthy they say. So I drink only water.And beer.
-I saw some strangely shaped toilets in Beardshear Hall (got pictures,will post).
-I bought the 360.
-Finished GRAW2. In a few hours. Very disapppinted.
-I live near the downtown. Loving it!

Don't Be A Bad Boy!

Have you ever realized how rude and blunt some of your near and dear ones can be? Sometimes people dont realize that the way they talk and their "tone" can really make things worse - even if what they are saying is not a big deal. There is always a polite way of saying something, and if you cannot be polite - you can say it in a funny way so that the person at the receiving end does not feel disgusted and hurt.

Computer???Noooooooo........

The problem with switching on your computer is that it makes you stick to it forever. You hardly ever turn it off. You glue yourself to it. You would not have anything to do, but still you would sit in front of it, pretending to be busy doing something. If you are watching TV, you can atleast turn it off instantly and walk away. But your computer puts a spell on you - always. Have you ever turned on your computer, checked emails, and then turned it back off instantly? I am sure you have not.

New Soul

Have you watched the Mac Air commercial? Nice song, ya? It's called New Soul, sung by Yael naim.

IA

My profile has been edited. I am not in Normal, IL aymore. I am not a student anymore.

Reached Ames, IA just two days ago. I have not been really able to admire the beauty of this town (I get this feeling that it's beautiful, that is why) simply because the entire town is covered with snow. The roads have not been cleared properly because it just doesn't stop snowing here. Nevertheless, the snow should melt and all the trees should come back to life in a few months (!).

Blidget, Anyone?

So really, I don't know what I did. I was on widgetbox.com a few minutes ago, and was just generally playing with all the widgets (digression - pay attention to the sentence "playing with all the widgets". What would happen if I turn the "w" in widgets upside down? Now I become a politically incorrect, perverted bastard who loves to have sex with little people). I was playing some really cool games there, when I saw a link that said "immediately turn your blog into a blidget". Now I do not know what in the world a fudging blidget is, so I decided to give it a shot. I did something - and it made something. I do not know how to describe it, but I guess it made my blog's widget and called it a blidget (without the log's - if you know what I mean).

Anyway, You can find the blidget here, and if for some strange reason you decide to install my "blidget" , you know where to go. But for God's sake, please don't think that I am trying to promote my blog or whatever. The blidget is a result of an experiment/accident, and I am just sharing the reults with you all.

Conviction

Decided today to check what Sam Fisher is up to and got to know that Double Agent's successor is going to be out this year in the second quarter (stale news, but I got to know about it just today). It is called Splinter Cell: Conviction, and is being made exclusively for the XBox 360 and Windows platforms.

Apparently, Anna is in trouble this time.

Those of you who have not played Double Agent, Fisher is now an escaped convict, and the government is desperately trying to catch him. In this installment Sam would not have his trademark goggles (he is on the run, so has limited resources) and his SC-20K rifle, which is sad. But he has sixth sense now, so he can smell any cop/guard following him, even if they are not visible to him. He also has a sub machine gun hidden under his hood.

The crowd in the immediate environment reacts to sam's actions. If he does something funny, somebody from the crowd may attack him, or call for help.

For details, read this article on Wikipedia.

http://passionateteachers.ning.com

Background - Previous blog post.

Ms. Kathuria has been kind enough to appreciate my post on her contributions to education. After interacting with her (read her comments on blogboard) I get this feeling that even I should do something for the kids, community, whoever or whatever. Of course, I understand that I should not expect anything in return. I don't want recognition - no awards, no nothing. I just want my efforts to bring some kind of relief/support to someone somewhere. But of course, "talent" is a pre-requisite, which I totally lack. Nevertheless, let me see what I can do.

Just so you know, Ms. Kathuria has also networked with various teachers like her and started a website here: http://passionateteachers.ning.com/. If you are a passionate teacher who is dedicated and wants to contribute to society, you may contact her here. I have also added her blog link under "Buddy Blogs" on this blog.

Video Games

Was watching "Game On: Video Games" on CNBC and got to know some very interesting facts.

- Did you know that Japan had to mint many new 100 yen coins because so many were inside Space Invader machines.

- The origin of Pac-Man: The team that created Pac-Man went to eat pizza at a nearby pizza joint (before Pac-man was created, that is). The moment the pizza was delivered, somebody took the first slice and the remaining part of the pizza inspired the team to create Pac-man.

- Did you know how Donkey Kong was given that name? According to the Japanese creator of this game, he wanted to name the game dumb monkey. Now Kong is the word for monkey in Japanese, and somebody had told the creator that in English, a dumb person is also called a donkey. He joined the two words and named the video game "Donkey Kong".

- Tetris was the first game introduced on the Game Boy.

- Sonic the hedgeHog helped Sega bounce back in the video games market. By 1992, Sega had captured 52% of the video games market.

-The Sony PlayStation (in the 90s) was outselling the top 5 PC makers combined.

Samosas!

Warning: Explicit Content ;)!

Was watching The Big Bang Theory last night and was enlightened about a tiny little hindi slang word that I was just not aware of. Here are a few dialogs from that episode that will help you understand what i am really referring to:

Dialog 1 (Raj's parents are voice chatting with him from New Delhi (lol!). They recently got a brand new broadband connection (lol again!):

Raj's mom: "Do you remember Lalita Gupta?"
Raj: "That little fat girl who used to kick me in the samosas and call me untouchable?"

Dialog 2 (this is after Raj met Lalita Gupta. His parents are voice chatting with him again to know how it went):

Raj's mom: "You are wearing the boxers that we sent you, aren't you Rajesh?"
Raj: "Yes mummy."

Raj's Mom: "Because you know what happens to the samosas when you wear the tidy whities.."
Raj: "Can you please stop talking about my testicles?"

And there it was. I suddenly realized that testicles are (now?) called Samosas in hindi slang! I was dumbfounded, stupified, and laughed my lungs out! Samosas? Boy! Who would have though of that.

Did you guys know that Testicles are reffered to as Samosas? Please tell me I am not ignorant. Please tell me this is something new.

How could that word be not part of my dictionary? How did all my friends not use that word at all during daily life conversation? I thought I knew all the bad words, but I guess I was wrong! Did my ignorance/apathy/ennui discourage me from updating my already stunted vocabulary? Was I hanging around with the wrong people? (lol!)

I am sure the new generation kids from India came up with this word. However, I must admit that I found this word absolutely hilarious!!

War, and More

Last saturday we went to the Arlington National Cemetery in the DC area. More than 300,000 US soldiers KIA have been buried here. Well to be honest, we went there as tourists, probably wanting take pictures and all, but the moment you enter the site, you get a very different feeling. It is, well, not eerie, but silent, very silent. You see graves everywhere. Every tombstone has the name of the buried soldier, the war they fought in, and their birth and death date.

It's a very long walk inside the cemetery. You can either walk or take a bus ride. My sister wanted me not to take pictures inside as a mark of respect to the dead. I agreed. I got this picture from Wikipedia so that you all could get a glimpse.

At the end of the cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns - for those soldiers who could not be identified. The tomb is guarded all the times by a guard. During winter times, the guard changes every hour and during summer time, every half hour. It seems like guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns is a big honor. A short ceremony is conducted every hour (or half hour) when the guard changes, and both the relief commander and the oncoming guard are required for the "guard change" to take place. Read more about it here.

On our way back we stopped at John F. Kennedy's grave, which is also in the Arlington National Cemetery. Just so you know, you can see the Pentagon right across JFK's grave.

From the cemetery we went to the Iwo Jima Memorial, which is dedicated to all the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in wars since 1775. It is a beautiful (and extremely huge) statue based on the photo clicked by Joe Rosenthal when marines raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The statue looks very elegant and life-like. It has been so beautifully sculptured that you can actually see the creases on the soldiers' pants. And of course, it is huge. You have to see it to believe how huge it is. When you look at the soldiers you immediately understand how tough the battle was, and how desperately they were waiting to raise the flag, announce victory and end four days of dreadful combat.

My life as I know It

Well, in a few pictures, I have tried to depict what my daily routine is (these days, that is). What you see in this slide show is not at all exaggerated. Believe me, This is what I do everyday, and probably this is what I will be doing for the next 10 days or so.
Life is so much fun without having to work!

Blogboard

Sometimes I wish I had access to the Internet when I was still in high school.

Read this amazing article on hindustantimes.com about a Geography teacher in Delhi who has been maintaining a Geography blog "trying to get his students excited about his subject." I saw the blog and was amazed at the kind of things he has posted there. It has puzzles, some wonderful facts, assignments, videos, quotes, sample papers and last but not the least, "Geographic information". View the blog here.

This blog shows Mr. Suryaveer Singh's dedication, devotion, and enthusiasm in making sure that every kid in his school (and other schools too) gets everything in their brain. I am sure he realized that classroom teaching is not always useful especially for subjects like Geography, which sometimes may tend to get a little too boring. Another important point to consider is that Mr. Singh (and other teachers like him) perhaps also consider it their duty to educate the children of our country. They don't just make money - They teach, they enlighten, and encourage children to respect education and learn as much as possible. Achieving such a goal can be a big challenge, and what Mr. Singh and other teachers are doing is absolutely commendable. It is very important to understand the importance of technology, and to use it in an innovative and creative way.

Another teacher who is doing something along the same lines is Ms. Rashmi Kathuria. She is a math teacher in a school in Delhi, and blogs about imortant mathematical concepts. Her blog is very impressive, especially the way she explains everything in terms of the "real world". She cuts carrots to explain ellipses and all that(sorry Ms. Kathuria, I ain't a big math fan!). One slide show that was really impressive was the way she..ummm..well I've forgotten, but it's about how the tangent is equal to the "something else". Check her site, it's a slide show posted in November, and it's got something to do with a circle and tangent. It's a like a theorem or something.

Okay, so I decided not to sound so vague and stupid. I visited her blog and stole this video from there. I still don't know exactly what this is about, but it is pretty cool. In fact, it is terrific.

Coool! Innit?
View more math videos/slide shows on her math blog right here.
I only wish our teachers had done something like this when we were in school. *Sigh*

Happy New Year!

I am glad I started 2008 on a pleasant and positive note. Well, what I mean to say is that I paid a visit to a local temple (which was long overdue) and prayed to God to keep everyone happy and peaceful. You might not believe it but I always do that. I have a tendency of praying for people I care about, and also everyone else in general (not muc hfor myself). I don't think I should be writing all this, but if you think I am bragging about myself then you can go fuck yourself.

I have always believed in God. I do not curse him during depressing/stressful times and feel that everything, whether good or bad, happens for a reason. My favorite quote, as some of you might know is "I will go down fighting!". If I want something, I will do my best to get/achieve it. If I fail to get it, then probably it was not meant for me and God has something else in store for me.

On 1st January 2008 my sister and I went to the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, a half hour drive from Baltimore, and since it was new year's day, it was crowded. We had to park our car around 500 feet away from the temple and walk to reach there. It was kind of cold and windy, and the weather that day somewhat reminded me of the midwest. Anyway, the temple is very beautiful, and I was surprized by the number of deities inside the temple. Actually the temple is not very big, but since there are so many deities, you end up spending a lot of time in there. We were lucky enough to observe "Venkateshwara Archana". There were a few families that were waiting near Lord Venkateshwara for some special pooja, and my sister and I noticed that the panditji gave prasada only to those families - not to everyone. I, however, shamelessly went to the panditji and asked him if we could get prasada too. He was kind of dumbfounded, probably was not expecting me to just walk up to him and ask for prasada so explicitly. He half stammered and said "yes, yes, let me get it for you" and gave me one banana (others got two! :D).

And just when we were waiting to exit the temple, I was pushed by a middle aged aunty who was perhaps in a hurry to go somewhere. It was typically something that used to happen on a frequent basis with me when I was in India. Auntyji made me feel at home. I did get pissed for a second, but then, I thought it's ok. I ignored.

I am glad I visited this temple on 1st January, now I am hoping to visit temples throughout the year.

Here's wishing all of you a very happy, healthy, and fun filled new year. I sincerely hope that all your wishes come true. To all the assholes around - stop bugging people and mind your own businesses. It's time to turn a new leaf. The rest of you can continue to be nice people.

Taney

My sister and I went to downtown Baltimore today for an outing. Well, we had a reason to go there - My sister had bought a Swatch that Was acting weird since the last so many days. Every morning it would stop at 8:45 AM! No idea why only 0845..

We got the watch replaced in no time. And just so you know, Swatch makes some amazing watches now - and by that I don't mean those trendy, colorful, kiddish watches that come to our minds when we think Swatch, but very nice, elegant, beautiful chronos. Most of them were $140.

Anyway, after our quick visit to the store, we started a tour of Pratt St., the most happening street in downtown Baltimore (I think). We could not stop ourselves from entering the USCGC Taney, a beautiful Coast Guard ship standing quietly at the harbor. By just looking at the ship you could tell that it is one of those deadly combat weapons that looks so calm and serene from the outside. The first glance would not tell you what it is capable of doing, you have to enter the ship and "read" and observe to understand how it survived so many years of combat and action.

Well, Taney is apparently the last survivor ship of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Once inside, My sister was totally overwhelmed by the design and "looks" of the ship. The passages were somewhat dingy, and very narrow, and the fact that there are actually so many people aboard a ship makes the passages all the more narrower. She also didn't like the bunk beds, because they were smaller than a twin size bed!

I thought that the most impressive thing on Taney was the automatic and semi automatic .5 caliber gun which could do (I think) 2600 rounds per minute. Of course, that is not really possible when there is human factor involved, but the gun looked pretty cool. It is an air cooled gun, which means that whoever is operating the gun has to make sure that they do not overheat the gun because air cooling can take time, and if the gun gets overheated during combat, chances of that person never getting to shoot again in their life are highly likely.

Taney was fun. Climbing up and down all the stairs on that ship was fun too. But really, you have to be inside such ships to understand what kind of a life naval soldiers lead. It can be interesting, it can be disgusting. Some of us may get excited and decide to join the navy, others may just run away and swear not to think of the Armed Forces as a career option ever.

Got a chance to watch R.E.M.'s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Dr. Sahab's 50 inch plasma TV. Pretty cool!!

Well, It's Over Now!

The New Age Super Mario Theme

I'm going down to South Park....

I recently told an interviewer that my favorite TV show is South Park. Can you believe that! Lol!

Thanksgiving Break

Ah! What a trip it was. I went to Minneapolis and Chicago in my thanksgiving break, not to see these places, but to meet a friend who is very dear to my heart. I went to Minneapolis on Wednesday 11/21, the day when 2.5 million people travelled in the US. Chicago airport was full of news channel people, trying to cover the weather (it was raining just a little bit), flight delays, the trauma and all that jazz. Luckily my flight was on time. I reached Minneapolis in 55 minutes (athough the flight duration was 1:30 hours), and boy, was I disappointed. Looking at Minneapolis made me feel like I was going from Bloomington, IL to Bloomington, IL. Downtown Minneapolis has some huge buildings, but that's it. Nothing exciting. The highest building probably would have no more than 50 floors. Anyway, I reached the airport, and took the "light rail" to Downtown. I reached Downtown at around 4:20. Roamed around a little and bumped into this beautiful Indian restaurant called "Bombay Bistro", but unfortunately it was closed, and was to reopen at 5. I waited for some time (I was damn hungry) and went in when it opened. I started with aloo tikki, and I really cannot tell you how orgasmic it was! I have not eaten such an amazing Indian dish in the US in the 2 years that I have been here. It tasted exactly like the tikki you would get from a roadside vendor in Delhi (except that they added a little sophistication to it - you know, ceramic plate instead of a pattal, sides of 3 chutneys and all that, and a spoon that had some beautiful design on it). After finishing my tikki, I had malai kofta and nan, and to tell you the truth, It was fantastic! So rich, so smooth (the gravy), so yummy! I felt like I was eating in a restaurant in Delhi!

After finishing my dinner, I decided to pee. I went to the bathroom where another Indian guy was already present to give me company. He looked at me, waited for like 15 seconds, and then said,"India?". I said,"haanji". Then he goes,"kahan se?", and I go, "Dilli". Well, that was just the start. Turned out that this guy was my neighbour in Shalimar Bagh. His brother still runs an apparel store there. He introduced himself as Teetu (He was in his 40s btw!). I told him my name, and we exited the bathroom smiling. In the restaurant Teetu loudly tells all the waiters, "arey ye to mere padosi nikle!". I kept smiling. Then a lady came wearing a chef''s dress. I told her that the food was simply amazing, and that I had never eaten such good food in the US before. She smiled and said thank you. I wished all of them good night, took a cab and reached Richfield.

Seeing Joshi after two and a half years was funny. At first, I felt that that he has gained a lot of weight. He was also wearing those big shoes with big heels. In short, he looked big. Or huge. Immediately after seeing him, I started making fun of him (like the good old days). And he could not stop laughing.

We were in Minneapolis for 2 days, and then we went to Chicago for another 2 days. I have always liked Chicago, and the city brings a smile to my face everytime I go there. Joshi liked it too. A lot. I hope.

We roamed on the streets during daytime, and drank in our motel in the nights. Talked a lot about all the people we know - when, how, what they are doing, who got married, who is about to and all that usual crap. Joshi is still confused about America and its culture. He thinks I have become very sophisticated, but I corrected him. I am still the same old...just a little polished ;).

End of the World

1987:

It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine).

2007:

I am gonna DJ at the end of the world.

Thanks R.E.M.

Kaapi - Update

I think I am slowly getting addicted to coffee. Getting a medium BK regular on my way to work is slowly becoming a routine now. I think I should buy a small coffee maker and keep it in my office.

Kaapi

Was reading "Critical Chain" today and got bored to death. More than that - felt sleepy, and did sleep in the library for half an hour (Yes, I did! Can you imagine?). Woke up and decided to smell the coffee - ya literally. Got myself a medium BK coffee and I was up and running in no time! This is probably the first time in so many years that coffee has actually worked for me, otherwise it always makes me drowsy :) !

Feast

My carpet had the time of its life yesterday. It got every good thing in life it could possibly ask for.

Cigarettes (the ashtray fell - thanks to me ),
Tea (the mug fell - Thanks Ban),
Chicken (Thanks Ban for dropping that tiny little piece of chicken wings),
and Beer (the bottle just slipped out of my hand (One too many you think? ;))).

Then we all laughed.

Gotta get a carpet cleaner real quick!..lol!!

A Small World, Or Is It?

I have to tell you this. Vinay's childhood buddy came home a few days ago. I was generally chatting with him when he asked me where I was from. I told him Delhi. So he goes - where in Delhi? And I go - Laxmi Nagar. He then told me that he used to go there a lot when he was a kid ( he is from Hyderabad, btw). Being a Delhite I told him that many people confuse Laxmi Bai Nagar with Laxmi Nagar. But he was pretty sure that it was Laxmi Nagar and he immediately called his Mom to confirm. He talked to her, hung up, turned to me, and said " Krishan Kunj" in Laxmi Nagar. And I go "wow"..that's just a few metres away from my home!

One Small World.

Broom Broom!!

My room is getting dirtier each day, and things are really going out of control. Gone are the days when my room used to be super clean - when I used to put efforts to make sure that everything was at the right place. But now, things are where they just land. I just sit on my chair and keep tossing things here and there, thinking that they would land at their usual place. If I don't toss 'em, I make new places for them ;).

One of the reasons why it's getting dirtier is because I have so many things in my small room. Also, I have kept my toys (yes, toys!!) and shot glasses where I can easily keep my books or other such things. The carpet has not been vacuumed in 4 months, and the trash bin is overflowing with, well, trash.

But something has to be done. I have to turn a new leaf (lol!)..maybe not. I will try to clean up my room again, and if I fail, then I actually don't care ;).

My New Phone

Just decided to show off my new Palm Treo 755p:

Only in America

Watched Canadian Bacon last night after a long long time. Can't really believe that Michael Moore wrote, produced, and directed this funny movie about how the US of A always wants to pick up a fight with any nation for no reason at all. Well, the movie is very good, with a grand finale that made and would always make me smile. I am not talking about the final plot or the final scene or whatever, but the credit lines, simply because "Only in America" by R.E.M. is played in the background when credits move from top to bottom. This song kind of has always "encouraged" me to take things easy because anything and everything is possible in America :). Moreover, it's so easy to play this song on the guitar :).

Congratulations Saakshi and Prashant :)!

Big Ol' Larry's Truck Yard....WOOOOOOO-EEEEEE!!!!!

From Crackle: Truck Sale!

Cool Cool..

I wonder why air conditioning is more powerful in bathrooms than in rooms and lobbies of a building...

Electrolyte

"Your eyes are burning holes through me.
I'm gasoline.
I'm burnin' clean.
Twentieth Century go to sleep
You're plasticine.
That is obscene.
That is obscene.
You are the star tonight.
Your sun electric, outta sight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Elecrolite. You're outa sight.
If I ever want to fly.
Mulholland Drive.
I am alive.
Hollywood is under me.
I'm Martin Sheen
I'm Steve McQueen
I'm Jimmy Dean
You are the star tonight.
Your sun electric, outta sight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Elecrolite.
You're outta sight.
(Instrumental)
If you want to fly.
Mulholland Drive.
Up in the sky.
Stand on a cliff and look down there.
Don't be scared, you are alive.
You are alive.
You are the star tonight.
Your sun electric, outta sight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Elecrolite.
You're outa sight.
Twentieth century go and sleep
Really deep
We won't blink
You're eyes are burnin' holes through me.
I'm not scared
I'm outa here.
I'm not scared.
I'm outa here."

The most orgasmic song ever.

Thanks Tweety!

Are You Talking To ME????

Dancing Queen!!

My friend Preeti, Dancing to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"..

iPhone!!

This is the funniest review I have ever read about a product. This one is about the new Apple iPhone on http://www.cnet.com/:

"This phone does nothing special that we haven't seen so far except look pretty. I was watching landscape movies on a touchscreen phone 5 years ago (P800). If you have ever dated a pretty girl you probably found out they don't do as much, what they do-they don't do well, and they are high maintenance. Yes, all your friends go, wow, she's hot, but ultimately when you need her to pull you out of the shower because you slipped on her oil treatment residue and broke your leg, she can't, because she's too skinny and only ate a salad for lunch...and dinner--probably breakfast too.This phone probably has several problems but everyone is so starstruck they don't notice:

1. Battery life will be a problem-running edge and/or possibly wifi, with a large touch screen will devour the battery (probably why they kept it at 2.5G). My BlackJack comes with a spare out of the box-because Samsung KNOWS one battery won't last for the day-hopefully Apple does the same or begins using Alien technology we are unaware of.

2. It can't replace your current iPod unless you are content with the content of your nano. iTunes through Cingular will certainly cost something extra so keeping your library fresh will be burdensome and it will add to the long-term price of the purchase and you are still carrying around two devices.

3. Get the fingerprint cloth ready because you will be wiping this thing down constantly. Imagine what the screen will look like after playing a game. I could go on but these plus more will certainly be mentioned as we get more specs.Remember these are "previews" and not "reviews".

A phone you don't have in hand can't be a 10 or 9 or 8 or 7 or 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1. It gets the benefit of the doubt for now with a 6. That is, unless all you care about is pretty - if that's how you roll, have fun at the clinic."