Graceland

Ah - the King's place ... finally.
Yep - on our road trip from Raleigh to Houston - this was a planned pit stop ... and boy were we glad we stopped!
My first impression on seeing the mansion from outside was "Thats all?!?" - I thought it was very small and had a sinking feeling that the $80 worth of tickets was not going to be well spent.
But thank god I was wrong :) ... Graceland is huuuuuge - appearances really are deceptive and its amazing to get a glimpse of how the King lived and how he spent his money :)
Some pics from the experience ...


I know its obvious that this is a closeup of the sleeves on one of the many outfits (jump suits) that the King adorned! But I would like to show off the fact that it was very tricky foto to compose - given the dim museum like lighting ... and without a tripod (vere have we heard that before) ... and I wanted the King's face in the background :)


One of the many rooms at Graceland ... loved the Peacock glass-work and the glass objects on the side.


The roof was mirrored - excellent opportunity for a picture me thought :) If we look funny its ONLY because of the headphones that we are wearing - came with the audio-tour!



The game room ... just loooooooved the ceiling on this one!



All the platinum records of the King ... in fact just a fraction of them!


Graceland!


One of Elvis' many cars ... kept in the Car Museum adjacent to Graceland


One of His guitars ... really loved the Ivory etching on the fret-board ... and the designs on the body as well (needless to say - very difficult cough cough foto to take in dim lighting!)


The King and I.


I think I'll make a Tee with the background - they had a lot of these pics throughout the place ... but none for sale in the million shops around! hmmm - I guess they need an MBA ;)

The trip brought back a lot of fond memories ... of school, college, engineering ... all the recordings (shhh), the dancing and general TP.

Graduation Day

13 May 2006 ... graduation Day ... there HAS to be a mention of this day ... nevermind the tardiness!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay its over! As you can see, D and I are happily throwing our caps in the air ... but we wouldn't have made it to the event despite the big money that we had to shell out for that cheapda gown! A big thanks to Navin (who drove 400 miles to attend the event), Sarat, and J who gave us moral support (and push) to go to the event! After attending Shaibal's graduation ceremony at Kelley, all the excitement of the ceremony had fizzled away ... we would rather have slept that morning :)



But we're glad we went for the ceremony - nevermind the fact that we were standing in the basement for 2 hours and had to wait for half a billion undergrad business school kids after us ... still was a happy event :) - as you can see from the smiling faces!





p.s. I have to add that the graduation gown for masters is a very peculiar one ... it has long sleeves which are closed at the end! very very peculiar!

Khoon Chala Translation

Its been a while since I posted the english translation for Roobaroo ... well that was pretty much a prose Xlation as I had stated - now its time to translate Khoon Chala - an equal favourite from the movie.
This song is so special ... everytime (and I mean each time) that I see this song, a chill runs down my spine and my hair stand on their ends!
A combination of
violent-visuals
angry-poetry
soft-music
and a dreamy voice ... a lethal combination!
And poetry this is - and I must admit that there is no way I could have translated this song like this - the following has been taken from the Rang De Basanti DVD.

kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
Our blood is raging ... It is flowing through the streets But It wont go in vain

aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
Our eyes are blodshot for a purpose ... A cause we will attain

badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
It fell from our bodies ... Embraced the earth

galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
Went winding through the streets. A river of courage ... it surged and swept

naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
It flowed to make a new beginning

khuli-si chhot lekar, badi-si tees lekar ahista ahista
From gaping wounds, and gashes large ... it oozed slowly and steadily

sawaalon ki ungli, jawaabon ki mutthi
While the pointing fingers, got fists in reply

sang lekar Khoon chala
yet, our blood was raging. It flowed not in vain but with a reason

kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
A cause we will attain

aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
Our eyes are blodshot for a reason. A cause we will attain

badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
It fell from our bodies ... Embraced the earth

galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
Went winding through the streets. A river of courage ... it surged and swept

naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
It flowed to make a new beginning ... Yet, our blood was raging

khoon chala
Yet, our blood was raging



It is very interesting to hear the directors comments on the song ... on how he had initially thought about the shots and how they turned out ... how he based the scene on the Mandal commission and how students pretty much brought down a government ... very captivating stuff.
Needless to say ... this is one of the best movies ever "."

A night in San Francisco

"Its a long drive but what the heck ... I'm here after more than 2 years and I'm going to make the best use of my time after work. Shut up - Clean up and leave ... its always fun to see San Francisco at night."
The pep-talk I gave myself ... the evening of July 20. It'd been a long day at work and I had to take the early morning flight back to Houston - I'd already spent the previous two evenings in the whereabouts of San Francisco - nevermind the 60+ min drive to SF from San Ramon! Something was dragging me back to the city - was it the convertible? nah - the Mustang was a "strictly OK" car ... a far cry from my TL! this was something else ...

So I hopped in the car ... vroom vroom (the Mustang does make a lot of noise - compensating for the lack of power?) ... drove into the setting sun
It was after 10 when I reached the Palace of Fine Arts at San Francisco ... the structure looked stunning at night (as always) but wait - tonight I had my camera with me ... heh heh.
The palace was really quiet (what do you expect after 10pm) - and not a soul in sight - kinda scary too - but I set about - finding trash cans and other resting places for the camera as I had OBVIOUSLY forgotten to get my tripod! (hey - I did buy one! honest.)
pretty pretty pretty ...







I know!
And then I noticed the drumming and the moving lights ... something or someone was moving inside the palace ... the sounds of the drums ... flash flash - thats sounds like the opening of the "Remember the Time" video (Michael Jackson's Dangerous album, in case you're struggling) ... but why are the lights moving ... and then I heard what sounded like laughter and clapping!
gulp.

I looked around ... expensive cars ... really really expensive houses ... boats in the distance What the heck! I'm sure this place is safe! So I mustered all my courage (and I mean all of it) and tiptoed towards the entrance of the palace ... now this side of the Palace is really dark but the drumming kept getting louder and faster (maybe the faster part I imagined but definitely louder!) Of course this walk was peppered with glances over my shoulder and my ready to run posture (hey - my camera looks expensive - nevermind that its 4 years old! ... and I'm red-blooded - watch movies and read the news!!)
Nothing happened ... I kept on ... and Now I was in the light of the Palace - I was breathing slower - the music was echoing everywhere and my mind was racing like crazy, trying to imagine what I might see at the turn - under the rotunda ... rituals maybe? (a la da-vinci code), illegal "stuff"? (too many movies!), a movie shoot(this is california for cryin' out loud!) ... Will they allow me in? Will they let me leave? Will I ever see daylight again? ...

I finally made the turn ... and froze!

From what my brain could process ... my eyes were transmitting images of about 20 people ... dancing - in a circle ... around a group of men in the centre ... the men in the centre were chanting something - no wait a minute - they're saying something - no they are laughing - they are playing drums ... and these dancing people - they are dancing with fire!!
what the ?!!?





Oh my god - they are dancing with fire ... they see me walk in with my camera - they're not stopping ... no cops ... no security guards approaching me either ... looks like I'm permitted to be here - hmm - so much for all that creative thinking!

The first few minutes were awkward - you know that feeling - when you accompany your friend to an unknown "friend of your friend's" party - the feeling that maybe you should not have come to the party uninvited - and heck you don't know anybody out here! But a couple of warm smiles and nods later I felt comfortable - these people didn't care - they were focused on having fun!

These people were having a ball (you'll see what I mean) - it was almost like a fire-dancer's casual meeting ... they were showing off their skills - and having so much fun. They were holding some kind of metallic ball and chain assembly - only the metallic ball was on fire! This one dude standing next to me - so unassuming and nonchalant - smiling and watching everyone else ... normal ... but once he picked up a couple of those fiery thingies - he transformed into one of the star performers!



Truly amazing experience. California is such a lovely place ... full of wonderful crazy stuff ... had the choice to move there but I guess without the friends, the bay would not have been any fun.
Getting back to the dance :) - I captured ((tried to)) some of the dances on video - but I must warn you - the video is a far far really far cry from the visual experience that night.



Buzzing with excitement and all wired up I bid adieu to the dancers and drummers who seemed like they were getting ready to wrap up themselves ... and continued my journey ...
On my way out I had to lie down on the ground with my face a few inches from the grass to take this picture - the tripod would have been perfect but well ... thats life! The Palace of Fine Arts is really a very pretty place to be ... definitely during the day and after this experience - at night too :)



dusted myself - made the walk back to the car - this time it was not so scary - I was still abuzz with all the excitement and fun that I had witnessed.

and then I caught her as a fleeting glimpse in the distance ... how could I come this close and not pay homage to the golden beauty herself!

decided to picture her from a different angle this time.

By now it was almost midnight and my senses (cmon - I'm sure theres at least one sensible one!) were beginning to prevail - It was a long drive back to the hotel and a long flight too ...
got in my car slamed on the gas
bumper to bumper the avenue's packed
Thanks Vanilla
Kept the rag-top down BTW ... so the hair can blow ... ... ...

Have always wanted to picture this bldg ... still don't know what it is - I'm guessing its the court-house in Frisco - pretty bldg - never got a chance before to pull over for a pic...

The music was playing really loud ... there was a nip in the air ... the rag top was pulled down ... and I was driving - and smiling ... at the whole experience - I may never know who those people were or our paths might cross again ... but I'd like to believe in the former ...

a special night in San Francisco - with the fire dancers!

Sweet.

The Devi sold-out!

No this is not about goddess worship … well … in a strange kind of way it is! Thanks to Sarat for pointing out Virgin Comics and their latest avatar where they have roped in the likes of Shekhar Kapur, Deepak Chopra and John Woo to create a unique brand of comics – yes comic-books. The first releases have been from the Devi , Sadhu and Snake-woman stables.

This weekend I tried getting the books themselves and lo behold! – the Devi is sold-out! Hmm … that is good. I hope these books become a hit ... esp. in India. But hey, I managed to get a copy of the first issues of Snake-Woman (Shekar Kapur) and Sadhu (Deepak Chopra) and I must say that I was quite impressed by the story telling and the art-work.
But before I go into a dissertation, and while we are on the topic of art-work, I MUST mention this or my head will explode! The art-work in some of these books is absolutely stunning and that is just the beginning … I am eager eager super eager to lay my hands upon the fist issue of Ramayan Reborn – While I’m a bigger fan of the Mahabharata epic, the sneak previews of this book are mind-blowing – not just the art-work. They have the free sneak-preview of some of the books online - including a 17MB pdf


And before I drift away, I must mention the two guys responsible for all this (and more) – Sharad Devarajan and Suresh Seetharaman – yep these are the guys who started Gotham comics – both dudes with BFA’s from the US and very impressive experiences … I MUST meet these guys someday – and who knows … maybe even work at Gotham – how cool would that be!
Getting back to the books – The Sadhu is set in colonial times – another way of saying that would be – “when the British ruled over India!” … and about a British-soldier – James – and I won’t spoil the story … go buy it – its only 2.99 in issue! The Snake-woman, as all of the Nagina/Nagin fans would quickly understand is about Sreedevi – oops I mean a snake-woman! Nice story telling there!

Can you tell that I am excited :)

arkansas river 

A long time ago

Kihim beach - circa 1995 - Sarat, Lalit and myself ( L to R) ... posing with the ball while Gujju took the picture with a point-and-shoot (analog) camera ... nice ... very nice.

A long time ago ... or was it? Time is such a cheat. Your mind decides on a time and simply sticks there ... you never go too far away from there.
1992-1997 does that to me ... seems just a few years ago but its almost 10 years gone at best and 15 years on the other side! Unfreakinbelievable!!!
9th grade thru 3-4th year of engineering ... the formative years as they say ... Still can remember the times like it was 2-3 years ago - wonder when my mind will shift to a relatively newer time-period ... sometimes I wish it never does. But then I'm sure our kids would get bored to death listening to all our stories ... I'm sure D is already fed up ... so is Dipti, Sally, Magi, Aparna and other wives ... or its just a matter of time I guess! ;)

Is it due to the fact that most of my friends I've known since I was 8? 20 years is a long time and we have grown up together ... and stayed together - am not sure if this is common - but I sure am glad that it happened to us ... and That deserves a separate post!

Missing … Everything but the Girl

Cities in the rearview ... The trees are tall … and green - the engine screams –it wants me to know that its working hard – trying to keep up. The summer smell – fresh fresh mountain air – bikers biking (they must be crazy?) … these curves – they never end. I see the blue sky – at the cusp of crimson … the ragtop pulled down - I’m loving the wind howling around me
I'm walking down your street again and past your door
But you don't live there any more
It's years since you've been there
But now you've disappeared somewhere like outer space
You've found some better place
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss you
I push the knob – L O U D – disturbs the peace of the mountains … do excuse me while I drown the sound of machine and fly … and I’m missing you.
Signs of La Honda are blurred, and those with white boards with numbers on them – maybe I should pay attention to the signs – but I’m ecstatic to be back on your back … rolling and gliding on your curves … the horses in the mustang respond nicely – could I please go faster … please … please … and the white board acknowledges … sweet – ROAR.
Back on the train
I ask why did I come again?
Can I confess I've been hanging around your old address?
The years have proved to offer nothing since you moved
You're long gone
But I can't move on
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss youI catch a glimpse of the ocean but the mountains quickly step in – I stop breathing as the clouds suddenly cover us – jealous of the mountains? maybe … the lights kick in but it doesn’t matter – we’re flying now … and I miss you.
Its chilly but I don’t notice … I’m in the clouds … almost crying … you see me as you drive back towards civilization – crazy man … maybe … but I don’t care – I wanna scream – above the winds and the song in the air – I miss you.
Hills everywhere – blocked by the ocean … or is it the other way around? I don’t care – I hear the water but the clouds are jealous … I imagine clear blue skies drowning into the water on a sunny afternoon – not so long ago … or was it a dream … I miss you … Its chilly … and eerie … I feel the water everywhere but I can not see it … the lights are useless … And I miss you.
I ask why did I come again?
Can I confess I've been hanging around your old address?
And I miss you D.

Route 1 - part 1


Route 1 - part 2


Lyrics of song "Missing" by 'Everything but the Girl' from album - "Amplified Heart"
Video clips recorded on 20 July 2006, while driving in a Mustang Convertible, on Route 1, California

My God

My God - Have been wrestling with this thought for I can not remember how long …
Was having tea with D yesterday … casual chat … conversation wandered on the discovery of what look like lakes on Titan and how the topography of Titan looks a lot like that of erstwhile Earth. Quite obviously, we speculated about life on Titan and that not all life does not have to be carbon based and that there may be life-forms which may be at ease at 290 degrees below 0 Farenheit. The human body is not (most definitely) the optimal design for most situations!

And as usual I went into my zip-zap-zoo-hoom phase-out mode … for the uninitiated it’s the mode when I look at the large(r) picture ... really really large picture ... and then all my problems become inconsequential … I see myself in my chair and then I begin zooming out - home, city, country, planet, solar system, milky way, andromeda galaxy (don’t ask why), all the galaxies , the universe … pitch black … and then I say – “The universe is infinitely gigantic but still we cling on to our religion, our god and our problems as if they were the most important thing in the world – when really we are just on Earth which is one infinitesimal fraction in the grand scheme of things. Our Gods, our holy books, our religions and their leaders, our wars (for peace) … they all presume that there is nothing beyond Earth.” And then I told D that all these crazy fanatics fighting and bickering over god & religion today – if they just took a minute to think about the size of the universe and how small we really are – they would probably drop their weapons and make the best use of their remaining time (one would hope). But maybe I’m fooling myself … I don’t know.

The simple fact that religious books mention Gods talking only about us humans (on Earth) and worse – about specific countries (India, Egypt, Israel etc.) let alone cities within each, are a clear indication of our dreadful narrow-mindedness. We are expected to believe that God is bothered only about a piece of rock on the third rock from the sun! Surely we must be mad to even propose such blasphemy – let alone be fanatic about it. But guess what … I look around and that’s a lot of what I see … senseless … a horrible waste of life … and time! And oh – we pamper ourselves by calling ourselves “intelligent life”.

A couple of quotes
“If we are alone in the universe, what a terrible waste of space” – Carl Sagan
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." – Calvin

And oh – if you don’t forward this to 10 people, then the gods of lightning (of planet Earth) will strike you and you will go to hell (which I’m guessing is a burning-raft in the Bermuda Triangle, since no one has lived to tell!).
Amen.

Standards – Masters (MS/MBA), Golf, Engineering

Monday morning – the usual niceties – “How was your weekend”, “I hope next weekend is not as hot as this one”, “God! I hate Mondays”, “My handicap is …” … and as usual everyone smiles and nods acknowledging and NOBODY listens.
How mechanical and how boring. (And before I forget where I was going with all this), so much is simply taken for granted - Everybody (almost) gels their hair, gets an engineering degree (in no particular sequence), learns how to play Golf (sporty!), does an MBA, looks smart, drinks wine (culture I say), has an opinion on cheese (even the smell of it!), comments on Iraq and of course is a self appointed “Weather expert”.
So my point is (finally!) if you’re anyways expected to do all these things then does it even make sense to do it?

The other munday I overheard a couple talking about their weekend and how it was perfect for playing Golf and how they had handicapped themselves (or whatever it is that golf playing “sportsmen” suffer from!) … and I'm thinking – I could have had that same conversation without ever having lifted a single club(of golf)! Nobody ever asks me whether I play golf or not – its expected that all of mankind does it … just like breathing in and out. Same with drinking beer, getting an MBA (in no particular order), or knowing the weather.
Then why even spend time doing all these things. There seems to be no value – perceived or otherwise – and no excitement either! I remember a conversation not so long ago where we were discussing on how a Ph.D will be the norm – it will be the Masters Degree of today - not too much into the future. We’re all about standards – and I’m not sure if I like it.
Might as well start my training on fly-by-flapping-really-fast.

Women & International – how they gravitate towards their kind

Enter a room – could be a presentation, could be a meeting, could even be a snooze fest! Doesn’t matter!
The women automatically seat themselves in the proximity of other women and the international dude usually sits next to one of his comrades. If he can’t find one then he will sit by the next best option – another international entity!
What about Men you ask? – well they just want to sit next to the women – international or not!
Is it just me or does everyone notice this.

Powerpoint Presenter Tutorial

What’s it with the powerpoint presenter? They drive 30 ton trucks with 24 cylinders (to work everyday and NO they are not truck drivers!) but still can’t use a powerpoint presenter. We want to believe that the presenter is a remote control and the huge white screen is the TV – they (we) point the presenter towards the screen and then ... click click – no reponse ... “Oh shit this is just a screen!” Scramble scramble ... point the clicker towards the computer and click click click … “Oh shit I pressed the right click – how do I go back?” And then the famous “It’s so hard to go one slide back with these presenters” followed by some incomprehensible laughter and sheepish grins!
Dumbass!
You just need to go to the Powerpoint options screen and uncheck the ‘Show Menu on Right-click’ option! its that simple! And then all these presenters would really work! really.

Apples & Oranges

Why do they use the term “Apples and Oranges” to point out totally different, if not opposite entities?!
Its been used enuff – need something fresh – something really good that will drive home the point. Besides, apples and oranges are not that different!
“Dubya and Intelligence” or “war for peace and peace” or “honda and toyota” or “superman and batman” or even “God and Religion”
I’m open to more options :)

To Accent or Not

Funny – having grown up in India, when you come to the US you obviously try and adopt the American accent so that the natives (no no not the American Indians but the other immigrants) can understand what you’re saying. A lot of fun has been made (not that it has stopped or anything) about the “funny” Indian accent or the jorry Chinese accent or the clik clik African accents! It makes sense – the average American has never been outside of his piece of rock to understand the different accents let alone know that there are more countries than the number of contiguous US states – but then I digress …
Point is – we (Desi, Chinese etc. – mostly the 3rd world types) take efforts to “pick-up” the American accent (never mind that we get made fun of nevertheless – at home and here) in order to facilitate comprehensible communication. So you would think that the problem lies in our accent since the US can not understand it. But no!
They don’t understand the British accent, the Scottish accent or even the Australian accent and none of the above mentioned people ever try to change their accents! They just repeat what they said in the same manner – only a lil louder and sometimes a tad bit almost mockingly slower - and lo behold! – everyone in the room understands! And I’m not even going into Italy, French or the rest of Europe!
Now I’m not crying foul or racial injustice or anything like that – I’m just thinking whether I need to take efforts to modify my accent! After all I did learn to speak and spell much better than ...

Rocket Science

Was in some training last week and not surprisingly, the instructor kept insisting that what we were learning was NOT “Rocket Science”. Not to take anything away from rocket science but I’m thinking – why all the fuss about rocket science being so hard to comprehend! Surely after all these decades, I think we know more about rocket science than nanobiology or stem-cell research or even why the average-american knows so little geography!
And after Star-trek/Star-Wars/Shaktimaan I’m sure the average person understands enough rocket science today to engage in a healthy debate with NASA scientists – and even win some of them! (thats solely due to Shaktimaan!)
I think its time we move on and let go of rocket science as the uber mysterious and brain-cracking phenomenon - we need to upgrade to newer analogies. I vote for the printer. Yes that seemingly harmless device on that table next to you. I firmly believe that this alien technology is more complex than rocket science. So from today I'm going to say - "Surely you can understand this topic - its not like understanding the printer" ooooooooo
More opinions are always welcome.

Hi-tech or Lo-tech?

OK - I need help on this interesting debate with D & Gujju last night. The point in question was – “Would our kids label us as technology illiterate?” – So yes we are talking at least 15-20 years into the future!
I strongly believe that we (our generation) would bridge the gap between generations as far as using technology is concerned. I’m sure we will NEVER be as up-to-date as our teenage kids (whenever that happens) but we will at least be in the same ballpark – and that is to say that we will be a few steps ahead of our parents’ generation. D & Gujju however do not agree and hence the long debate and hence the need to bring this thing out in the open -

My justifications –
1. The power of collective learning today is much much MUCH higher and faster. Dissemination of information has never been faster. Sure our parents had the telephone, radio and television which was a big upgrade over snail mail but that is belittled by the power of instantaneous exchange of information today. The speed of collective learning is the main difference.
2. Our lifestyles are much more experiential than that of our parents – a big thanks to our parents who ensured that we do not have to worry about survival – we always had the slack to try things out … and we do.
3. The internet is the electricity of yore. We rode the internet wave when it began and hence have adapted to lots of changes – and really fast.

D & Gujju’s defense -
1. Relatively speaking we have advanced only as much as our parents did as compared to our grandparents.
2. We may end up using the new technology but will not understand it – we will always rely on our kids to help us out and hence we shall always be the proverbial illiterates for them!
3. Our priorities will shift and we will not have the time and/or inclination to keep up with new technology. The internet will be eclipsed by some new innovation(s) and we would not fully appreciate it.

D & Gujju vs. me – it’s a no-brainer! I held my ground for a while before being buried in a huge heap of arguments – escape was not an option! (If you know the argumentative capabilities of Sarat, D or Gujju you surely know what I mean!) But then I still believe that I am right – we will somehow stay abreast of technology – or at least I will.

Bodyworlds 3

Now that’s a superb exhibit - Bodyworlds. The installment in houston is called Bodyworlds 3. Seemingly gross and gory but not even remotely so. Like someone said – its almost like having X-Rays vision to view the insides of the human body (and even that of one horse, goat and fowl!)– only everyone can do this at BodyWorlds. Being able to see the insides of the human body – the intricate design and complex patterns all in such a simple design – superb. Interesting to know that the process of plastination (thats what they call the process of preserving the bodies) take 10-12 months!

Highly recommended – DO NOT miss a chance to view this exhibit when in vicinity! Thank You Gunther Von Hagen!

The Joys of listening to music with Sleeve Notes

The other day (which was a while ago) , we were listening to Ten Summoner’s tales at Arvind’s place. Now anybody who is a sting fan and has heard “Nothing Like the Sun” will agree that Nothing … was Sting’s best work till date. No to take anything away from Ten Summoner’s … but that is a totally different discussion altogether.

The point here is that we were listening to the CD and I had the sleeve notes in my hand – the subtle hint is that we were listening to “An Audio CD” sleeve notes and all and NOT mp3’s on the computer. Now I don’t know if it was the sublime dinner or the sweet sound of 5.1 speakers but the music had a very different (and nice) feeling. And I suspect that was because I was reading the sleeve notes (yes the lyric sheets and more that we lesser mortals in India never enjoyed – lest someone had a “Thomson Original” recording from Dubai or from any of the myriad of United States and their colonies!)
The joy of listening to music was truly enhanced - and I was totally loving it.
Brought back sweet memories of "Realize" “Liberation”, “Nothing like the Sun”, “Dangerous”, “But Seriously …”, “Use Your Illusion 1 & 2”, “Metallica”, “Ten”, “No Need to Argue …”, "Shakti" … … … some of my all-time favorite albums … sleeve notes and all!

So I’m thinking – should I step back into the expensive world of audio CD’s for listening to new albums or stick to the MP3 universe … biiiiiig dilemma!

My new Rang De Basanti Poster

Oh yes – how could I not show off on this one – I have this poster of one of my all-time favorite movies … and that’s not all – this vinyl poster is 10’ x 5’ – yes you read that right – its 10 feet by 5 feet!!!
Psssst – and I got it for 7 bucks!
Of course now I need to figure out the wall on which this poster shall go – I suspect that wall will materialize only when we have a media room in a house ;) ... that day shall come my friend.

TL

Well well … its been a while now and so much has happened – Have been wanting to write for some time now but never could decide where to start. I guess a new car is always a good place to start a conversation :). Yep we finally bought what I always wanted – Acura TL – sweet looking Anthracite colored & black leather covered bag of wheels this mean machine – with that dontudaremesswithme styling – love it – drives like a charm.
Was toying with the option of the Civic Si – but the price vs. comfort factor AND the fact that D would not be comfortable with a stick shift ANNND of course the fact that I have been ooohing and ahhhing at every TL on the road for the past lets say … 4 years? Especially with the new meaner look after 2004 – what else can I say … it was a no brainer (not so much actually).

Learnt a lot about car buying ( a lot of it after we finalized the deal ;) ). Some very - interesting websites with negotiation simulations – very nice. Called upon all the experienced folks for advise – Gujju, Bangali, Jim and a bunch of other folks … All in the one week that D was working and I was at home – the whole idea was to “try” and get a car before I started work so that both of us could drive to work. Its another story altogether that D took the car on her own, every June 26 2006 and June 28 2006 after that!! Yep D takes the bus now. But hey she was monumental in us getting the TL – and besides I had picked her brain enough with the word TL

Getting back to the TL what more can I say … here she is. (she? Hmmm … we gotta name her … but that’s another post altogether)

Indian Ocean

Amidst all this chaos, managed to squeeze in time for the Indian Ocean concert last night - and man it doesn't get better than this :) Not only were we entertained for 3+ hours, we spend time actually talking to the band-menmbers, autographing CD's, taking pictures (we forgot our camera - :P) ... sweet stuff.
How I wish we could have similar experiences in India ... I guess thats never going to happen - unless of course you're one of the organizers/sponsors yada yada yada ... or there's a 150 odd audience in the concert! (like thats ever going to happen!)
Back to Indian Ocean - these dudes are amazing musicians ... 4-piece band - very tight performance and super entertaining to watch - will not miss the next show.
And yes - it helps soooo much to finally have faces to the voices ... its added a whole new dimension to the listening experience ... and I will reserve the rest for a later post!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhh!

First SXSW and now the Shakori Hills Festival !
God - how I hate school ... can't wait for it to get over!
(pssst - daddy warned me against going back to school ;) )
On the bright(er) side - this MBA is going to be over in a couple of (gruelling)weeks!
Amen to that.

Treat for your eyes

Another illustration of how much highly overrated sight is! I know that many of these illusions are the "oh i've seen that one before" types - but highly enjoyable nevertheless ... and nice to hve them all well arranged and explanined in one place :)
board here

(thank you fosfor for the plug)

one of my alltime favourites - the rotating snake (nothings moving - really!)

Now thats a wonderful site

Ladies and Gentlemen - the Karsh Kale web-site seems to have had a major upgrade and I have to admit that it is one of the best designed web-sites I have ever seen!
(no bias over here - the man makes god like music, but I'm sure he doesn't make his web-site!)
Even Preethu would be proud!

Manoj's Time to Dream

Manoj Night Shyamalan’s “Time to Dream” commercial for American Express - D showed me this interesting video by namma Shyamalan ungle. One can see him talk about his work on the American Express web-site.
What is more interesting is the following excerpt from WSJ - MNS makes a good point on the movie experience in theatres. (Brij would concur too :))

Questions for . . . M. Night Shyamalan
Filmmaker Plays All the Parts
In American Express TV Spot
By SUZANNE VRANICA
March 8, 2006; Page B8

Sunday night's Academy Awards broadcast featured a slew of glitzy awards. But one marketer went to new lengths to stand out. American Express Co. ran a two-minute spot written, directed and starring M. Night Shyamalan, the director of psychological thrillers such as "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs."
Below, Mr. Shyamalan talks below about why he decided to try his hand at commercial making and why consumers won't see the ad running in movie theaters. Separately, John Hayes, chief marketing officer of American Express, talks about how marketers are under the gun to make their ads more entertaining thanks to commercial clutter.
WSJ: Directors usually start out doing commercials as a way to break into the film business. You're already a successful writer/director -- so why do commercials?
Mr. Shyamalan: I don't really do commercials. This was a perfect situation for the thing I was looking for. I have an author's type of relationship with the audience. You have to connect with them in different ways. For me, going on Jay Leno is not just the only way. I have done Leno but a certain amount of this doesn't always strengthen the relationship with the audience. I didn't get a big fat check and I am giving the money to charity. It has nothing to do with money. I would never do anything for money.
WSJ: The America Express ad you created doesn't seem to sell very hard. Why?
Mr. Shyamalan: For me, it was more about the lady in Minnesota who has seen three or four of my movies but isn't aware of who I am.
WSJ: The continued consolidation in Hollywood is likely to result in fewer movies being made. Do you see yourself launching an advertising-production company to make up for the lack of work? For example, film director Spike Lee film launched an ad firm.
Mr. Shyamalan: No, that is just not my thing. And I am all for less movies being made because that leads to greater quality. Even if it's one of mine that doesn't get chosen, that's OK.
WSJ: Madison Avenue often enlists celebrities for its ads. As a result, there are tons of diva-like moments behind the scenes during production of ads. Did you have any diva moments on the shoot?
Mr. Shyamalan: I said to them before I signed on "you need to know right away there are certain levels of integrity that I have and that is going to make this difficult." The one thing I requested was they can't play this ad in movie theaters. Movie theaters are a sacred place. We don't go to the movies to be sold anything. I want the theater to be a pure experience. My diva thing was protecting cinema. But the point is American Express was very responsive to that.
WSJ: Celebrities have always wanted to do ads for brands like Nike and Gap. Why do American Express ads?
Mr. Shyamalan: I really respect the "My Card" campaign that has used Ellen DeGeneres, Robert DeNiro and Kate Winslet. The spots are fantastic. I like the three of those people more after seeing the spots and that is unusual. The ad celebrated what was individual about those people like Ellen's free spiritedness. The ads remind us why we dig those people. I feel more connected to them.
WSJ: You wrote the commercial, directed it and starred in it. Did having such a big role factor into your decision to do the spot?
Mr. Shyamalan: American Express was very gracious in allowing me to have complete control of it. I just made a mini movie for them.
WSJ: Do you have a DVR?
Mr. Shyamalan: Yes, my agent gave me one. But I don't watch TV. My wife watches TV.
WSJ: The rapidly-changing media landscape has prompted America Express to try new types of ads -- from two-minute spots to mini-movies online. We are seeing just as much experimentation in Hollywood. You've been a very vocal critic of the recent simultaneous release in both theaters and DVD of the film "Bubble." Why?
Mr. Shyamalan: That's a long story that I don't really want to get into, but the short answer is the experience of seeing a movie in a theater is what I do. I make movies to be seen in a communal place where people sit together. When we watch something communally with strangers something happens to us. That is the art form that I do and it's different from watching at home on DVD. It's a wildly different experience. It's a higher standard. That is why you can't take the best two hours on TV and put it in theaters. It will fail. It's a higher standard and different standard. It's a different art form.

FosFor

Thank you Brij for pointing mw towards this neat web-site - fosfor - Have spent quite a while out there and have found some very interesting stuff! Some of which are
The PhysX Ageia (why do they make the names so hard to spell AND type!) - the next generation of video gaming processors - physics processors.
Cubism - amazing photoshopped pics with simple shapes!
The PC installation within a car - Yep! thats right - a PC within the ford focus.
The New Cry2 Engine showing off some serious graphics!

and many other fun gadgets/coolstuff/Designs yada yada yada ...
Have fun fosforing :)

Not Ctrl-Tab!

Every application (that I know) uses Ctrl-Tab to switch between open files. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to switch between sheets in Excel (Microsoft Excel for the uninitiated!) (and don’t ask me why I didn’t Google it!) – and lo behold the other day I was given the ultimate gyaan – its Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown for Excel!!!
Of course – why should Microsoft comply with the rest of the world? (or even themselves!)

Hamara Bajaj

"Humara Kal Humara Aaj Humara Bajaj" - One of my favourite ads. Really loved this rendition of the ad - recorded it sometime in 2003.

Flash Flash

Cool flash based games which are quite addictive if I may say so! The penguin bashing game is one of my alltime favourites – I know it sounds gross but I don’t know what makes it so cool :)
StickCricket – I hear that this one is quite famous out there - so nuff said!
Onto more interesting stuff ...
I was reading about how they hack into Xboxes, stick a computer into a car, run windows XP on a Mac! and similar stuff - wondering where all this will end up? and then I bumped into this really cool game made in Flash! Unfrikkinbelievable stuff … Almost Unreal tournament like and runs off your browser – if you’re thinking what I’m thinking then you’re right – that’s what I was doing in class the other day ;)
I love technology and everything associated with it.

Fevicol hai na?

Ah the joys of watching Fevicol , feviqwik and M-Seal (how could you live without one of those!) ads bring back so many fond memories …
Thank you Pidilite for giving me the opportunity to live those times again - the awesome ads-

Sales vs. Marketing

I've always given a longwinded answer when someone popped the question - "What is the difference between Sales & Marketing".
Thank you Ron Wages from MEMSCAP - you summarized it so succinctly in class -
"Sales - sell what you can make.
Marketing - Make what you can sell."

The NCSU Saree Exhibition

NCSU Gallery of Art and Design is hosting a Saree Exhibition till May. Preethu helped Lynn and Zoe with actually wrapping the sarees on the mannequins. Awesome collection of sarees and other Desi stuff … nice museumish lighting … unfortunately taking pics without a tripod becomes extremely difficult!
Interesting to see other cultures’ take on sarees and their points of views … makes us realize how much we take things for granted … and also of how little we know!
Some pics from sometime ago ...

I look at this saree and say - hmm nice design while Lynn is at a loss of words trying to imagine how they must have manually woven the saree with the designs interspersed in-between!


Now I have seen the Kashmiri/Sindh embroidery a thousand times, but when Lynn mentioned that she still hadn't found out why all the stuff from this region had this symbol somewhere in the embroidery, I didn't know what to say!


One of my favourites -

NFS Most Wanted Black Edition

Have been sneaking cycles to play NFS Most-Wanted Black Edition
And what can I say about the game … SUPERB.
It overcomes the major problem with NFS UG2 and its previous installments and gives the player a clear understanding of his progress in the game … and the story-line is damn good. As usual the graphics in the game are M-I-N-D B-L-O-W-I-N-G … unfrakkinbelievable stuff … the reflection of world details off the car, the raindrops on your windshield, the cars themselves … I could go on and on!
Fortunately for the game I had to upgrade my video card and I settled (cough cough) for an ATI Radeon 9600XT with 256MB on-board – if you’re feeling jealous then you were supposed to – if not, then you're probably an investment banker - go get a life!

Enough showing off – back to the game – as usual you do spend a lot of time pimping your ride and the experience is sublime as ever! I’m currently riding a pimped up GTI which handles 160MPH with ease  Unfortunately I don’t see myself playing the game much for the next 45 days at least … boo-hoo!

Spring In our parking lot

Our parking lot always announces spring in style!
These pics are about three weeks old ... hey!

Midtown Comics

NYC – the greatest city on the planet – is also where I bumped into this innocuous little (not really) store in the vicinity of Times Square - Midtown Comics - A store devoted to comics and everything associated with it – busts, posters, collectibles, out-of-print-issues (really old ones), memorablia and much much more …
Next time I know where I am going to spend my afternoons in NYC :D