Suspended Amitation

Telemarketing

2009-02-04T15:38:00.003+01:00

First of all, the number of phone calls you can receive at home from telemarketing agents on a normal working day are a lot more than you can imagine.

Today I got a particularly interesting call,

A female voice asks - "Sir, would you like to play with me today, its for free", just when I thought this was sounding interesting, she followed it up with, "I am calling on behalf of Euromillions"

Click...

Rear view mirror

2009-01-20T18:54:00.000+01:00

Women in the rear view mirror look prettier than they are.

At the end..

2008-12-30T11:38:00.001+01:00

If you live a long and healthy life, you will finally die...

Instruction Manuals

2008-12-30T11:37:00.001+01:00

I strongly believe that instruction manuals only kill the element of surprise....

Pigeons

2008-06-23T15:38:00.006+02:00

I almost killed a pigeon yesterday, it definitely hit the front of the car - but flew off, later that same afternoon, I was rolling into park at about 5 Km/h and actually flat smashed one pigeon on the road, I of course don't understand how it could not move away, even though to my fault, I should've braked. I can only take solace from the fact that it died on the spot! I also noticed since then that I am seeing a lot more pigeons as road kill at this time of the year, does anyone know what the reason could be? Or are pigeons just normal road kill and I only just started noticing it?

I walked up to my apartment switched on the PC - read about Jane Mcgrath dying. Jane Mcgrath was wife of the famous cricketer Glenn Mcgrath, who is also popularly known as "Pigeon".

Today I checked my favorite comic strip and this is what I got.

Coincidence?

Toujours avec la langue a Paris....

2008-05-26T19:05:00.004+02:00

The title of my blog has nothing to do with what I am going to write about, it's just an absurd title because of the absolutely absurd things I am going to write.

The wayfarers are back!!
What do you do, when you've lived your life in NYC, gone to bed with a young and beautiful Diane Keaton, violated Mia Farrow and then later her daughter, had your way with Scarlett Johansson at some point of time and the media never got wind of it, when you get tired you tour cities like London, Paris and Barcelona playing your clarinet, What do you when you've done all this?? You decide to take the sexiest blonde and the sexiest brunette alive and ask them to get hot and heavy with each other, you take a camera and shoot 'em... and in the process make a few millions? You SIR, are a legend!!
Have you ever wondered why the name of the people you like and love are the one's you take liberty to screw around with? The more familiar you get with someone the more botched up their name becomes. How often do couples foresake the use of their partner's name and settle for a lame honey or a darling, hasn't their been some research that once said that "One's own name is the sweetest thing that a person hears".. then why not call the people you are closest to with their names, I am sure they'd like it.

Ok over and out for the moment

Jackpot

2008-03-08T10:19:00.000+01:00

Everytime I go to an automated teller machine(ATM) - the bloody thing whirrs and jiggles and crunches around like it's counting 8500 Euros...even when I just asked for 20 or 50.... but at the end it only pumps out what I asked for.

When the hell am I going to win the jackpot it is counting up?? and if I am never going to win it and if no one else has either, then somebody must tell those bloody things to become more efficient and stop wasting their time counting all those extra notes and just do their bloody job and quietly slip out 1 note.

Bastards...

Men and women (again) in the future

2008-02-16T12:46:00.002+01:00

I thought of a scenario in the not so distant future, maybe 50-70 years ahead? It doesn't have too many gadgets or robots and flying cars. But what I see is that fewer people will need to submit themselves to societal institutions like marriages and families may look different. (Quick disclaimer: I am sure this has been written documented by someone, someplace else)

I see a state where men and women will choose to have their offspring outsourced - artificial insemination and surrogate mothering will become the norm. It will lead to commercialization of gene pools and probably lead to a more evolved human race.

I discussed this with some people and they are of the opinion that it would lead to more "disturbed" kids who do not know their parents - do not have good parenting, potential to lose the sole parent that they may have. But again these are things looked at in the current set up of our society. In the current set up, don't kids become orphans? Don't kids suffer from disturbances of parents separating?

I think the gradual change could lead to children being more independent sooner, under eager parenting of 1 dedicated parent who is keen to have the child. Society could have a better focus on coaches and teachers who will have a larger part in the upbringing of the new generation of outsourced children.

If the laws are created, a supplier parent could be known to the child and there could be an available set of siblings for the child from the supplier parent's other progeny.

I personally can't see too many problems with this sort of future state of affairs...

Just thinking out aloud... and I think this blog would rate as being too serious

Men and Women

2008-02-16T12:43:00.002+01:00

I think if women existed alone on this planet - they would've killed each other. If men existed alone on this planet, they would've killed themselves.

...

2008-02-02T18:49:00.000+01:00

Reggae rocks...

That's my shortest blog post.

New shit has come to light!

2007-10-29T21:53:00.000+01:00

Yup...new shit has come to light!!

Apparently anyone over 16 yrs of age should not wear white underwear, it reduces their mojo.... so the experts inform me.

The same experts who are very passionate about their white colored combs!!!

I know this blogpost will be understood by two people, but that's fine. Men beyond the age of 30 start giving a rat's ass!!!

Selfish me..

2007-10-23T23:12:00.001+02:00

If I like something, I buy a big stock because I know the manufacturers will invariably stop making it very soon It just happens with me all the time, though I think the 50 packs of fig flavored yoghurt are going to be impossible to finish before 3rd of November..

Anyway, the selfish me comes out when I like a bar or a restaurant, my natural reaction is to tell all my good friends with a slightly discerning taste to go and sample it. My fear is always around the fact that this would have a snowball effect where the place will be over crowded by people who have got to know of the place from my "good" friends and in doing so I have managed to damage the quality of the food/drink or the general ambiance of the establishment by making them serve more people than they bargained for.

This is when I really need to check myself and say maybe let me enjoy this place a few more times in it's serenity before I make myself responsible for overburdening the place with an influx of people.

Is there something you feel selfish about?

Perfect Stranger

2007-10-23T20:57:00.000+02:00

I've spent close to 4 years in Bruxelles and I have 1 stranger who is my most regular stranger. This is the stranger I see the most often, this person is not a bum or a beggar or a shop keeper or a cleaner or someone who I would see doing their daily chores in a regular place, cause those people I would term as acquaintances. Yeah, I know it's pretty lonely out here.

Coming back to the stranger, this is a japanese guy, I know he's japanese because he looks it, he doesn't look chinese or korean, I am convinced he is japanese. I first started sighting him in my first 3 months here and then I realized there was a sushi place close to where I lived and I thought maybe he worked there, maybe he did, but I never saw him there, not that I ever went inside the restaurant, not that I could afford sushi back then, but I just didn't see him around that restaurant pretty often, but I would see him walking on the streets somewhere close by or on the metro or walking through the park.

I moved apartments into a different neighborhood far away from the sushi restaurant but this japanese guy is still my most regularly 'bumped into' stranger. I know he doesn't recognize me, but it's ridiculous, how many times can you bump into the same individual and not realize that there is some connection that needs to be made, how many times can you just ignore the fact that you are bumping into the same person way too often. I can easily put the number of sightings of aforementioned japanese man at close to 100.

Do you have a similar "Stranger" experience in a city you live? Someone who you've never said hello to, never know where he/she lives, works, moves, walks, but generally keep bumping into this person??

Now this post was completely unedited and a verbal dump. But every single word on the blog is heartfelt and honest and 100% true and happening in my life. Should I buy him a cup of coffee next time I see him?

Sample....

2007-10-17T23:27:00.000+02:00

There are 2 classic tracks that I feel could be sampled by some new musicians. I don't think anyone's redone them, it would be challenging to not just lift the tune and over ride it... but actually work on these tracks.. Brilliant tracks.. both..

Fame - David Bowie
While my guitar gently weeps - Beatles

Upbringing

2007-10-17T23:23:00.000+02:00

I was a good boy brought up on Classic rock and the likes.. then one day I tripped up on Electronica.....

Sleeping alone

2007-10-11T22:38:00.001+02:00

I've had a spate of friends crashing at my place over the last few weeks. I enjoy the company and I like playing the host. It's the early morning rip roaring farts that I am denied to execute which I am very upset about...

The other day I woke up on a sat morning at 07:30 because I had let one slip out and reverberate, but my subconscious told me I had guests, so I had to wake up and suss things out...

Such is life...

The Problem...

2007-09-21T22:50:00.000+02:00

I've heard, seen and even had people come and speak to me about the guilt they feel about not being able to feel equally passionately towards their partners and they feel like beating themselves up about it. (I think, I just used the word feel a bit too much there)

Today a friend and I discussed this subject with a grossly opposing view. We agreed that when we didn't feel passionate about the people who felt passionately about us, we were terribly annoyed by their presence.

Fact no. 1) We are both hopelessly single, without being able to hold anything like a relationship down for more than 3 months.

Observation 1) The above fact should originate directly from our ridiculously selfish view of our world where we treat people who like us like dirt!!!

Sidejab... I had heard that people who have trouble holding down a relationship are given plants to take care of. I've taken care of 2 plants handed over to me by colleagues who got fired, the plants are doing fine... I am telling you I got problems with those real live things that talk back and move and insist that I should listen to classical piano pieces on a saturday morning.. when all I want is Gorillaz with my coffee!!!!

Bugger that... next blog is gonna talk about my "Condom Genie"

Security....

2007-09-19T21:49:00.001+02:00

3 friends and I went into a little clothes store in a tiny little village in the Netherlands. The alarm went off when we entered!!

I guess that's the cutting edge in security systems. Alert the staff of potential threat of shop lifters entering a shop, rather than make them run behind them after they've left.

Saboteur

2007-09-01T14:53:00.000+02:00

Facebook was trying very hard to sabotage my blog....but I am back!!

Postcards....

2007-07-25T18:56:00.001+02:00

About time I got this one up here... a must listen... a must buy!!!!

As much as you wish

2007-07-22T11:26:00.000+02:00

I have no problems in being cheated. As a matter of fact I call all my weekend breaks or vacations to any touristy place as my "Let's get cheated breaks". I like some places where the taxi driver or the tourist guide offers you his services at a price which is about 5-8 times the price a local would pay for it. (Actually a local would never avail of their services in their own country)

But, the words I cringe at the most though are "As much as you wish" - The conversation would go something like this:

Me: How much for this service/product (read: 730 Mts taxi drive, run of the mill tour of a site where all the explanations are in a language that is extinct or will be very soon, thus making it uncomprehensible to all visitors)

Provider: For you sir a special price, normally it would "75" but for you it is only "72.5" and if you like you can tip "As much as you wish"

This is when I stop enjoying the trip immediately, because I am under the spotlight and I also have to start thinking of an appropriate price to pay for being appreciative of a service that I am already paying 800% more for and somehow avoid at being abused at after receiving it.

In such a situation my roots betray me completely too. It is ingrained in us to haggle/bargain/drive down a price/short change people. I am sorry we are born that way!!

So I think and I think and weigh the pros and cons of the service and grade it on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is low and 5 is great and all that jazz. I even try and do a bit of math as my race is supposed to be good in that subject and try and count what a 10-15% tip would be like and finally I fork out enough money that I think would make the receiver feel elated with joy and make him decide to not work for the next 36 weeks and take his wife and kids and 2 little ponies on that promised vacation....(Note this is all happening, while I am supposed to be getting a whirlwind tour of a major historical monument and thus not allowing me to take any note of what is going on)

But alas, it's not to be... All I get is a stern look, the eyes suddenly going from friendly "I am gonna fuck you so royally" look to "You Mo Fo, I think you just tried to have sex with my 2 ponies". Then suddenly the emotion from the eyes pour into his mouth and turn into words and they come spewing out "Cheat!!Cheapskate!! Beggar!! You have wasted my whole life!! (note:I met this person 6.18 Mins a go). Please leave immediately or the anger that is boiling inside me will ask all the gods in the world to make sure that you have anal warts and you need to sit on a pole to earn your living"

I am telling you it's a no-win situation. Try it.

Sometimes those ladies in Amsterdam are sure a welcome change with their "50 Eur for a Suck and a Fuck!!"

Republishing Blog

2007-06-22T09:45:00.000+02:00

I am republishing my blog from 23rd April. Text Below!!!

What if someone thought of a way to harness all the gas that is released through farts? Wouldn't that be a wonderful source of "alternative" energy?I thought of this when 3 engineers were sitting in front of me after a heavy meal and discussing E= mc2 and my lowly accounting degree and the urgent need to pass gas brought forth only this brainwave of creating something that the engineers chew on for some time. Please spend a minute here to bring yourself up to date on some gaseous knowledge

Today 22nd June Scott Adams - Dilbert published this joke. I want to check with him, when he actually drew the strip?

What was that about great minds?? Or what was that about an idle mind ???

I forgot...

2007-06-18T15:13:00.000+02:00

...what I was thinking about. I've had a couple of flashes over the weekend of writing things which I thought were, witty, amusing, thought provoking etc. But now I've forgotten what they were. If that thought does ever pass me by again and I am not on a crowded freeway with rain pelting down on both sides and me trying to banish the thought of a full bladder for the remainder of the 1 hr journey time, then you shall find it published here on this blog.

BTW. I am thinking of making a list of recording artists/bands which I will never get to see in my life and what a great shame that is!!

1) Nirvana
2) Queen with Freddie Mercury
3) Pink Floyd (And no, I don't want any of you assholes who've seen them at Live Aid to leave me a sorry comment)

If I think of more, I'll post...write now I am going back to banishing thoughts of a full bladder!!!

Pain...

2007-06-12T14:52:00.000+02:00

However much medical sciences may evolve, I don't believe anything else feels better on muscle pain or bruises than a huge dollop of that mega blackening IODEX.

And no GSK did not pay me for this blog!!

I miss....

2007-06-09T23:30:00.000+02:00

....the days when I was small kid and could cry my eyes out, when my team lost a game of cricket!!! I am amazed that I can't do it anymore, because I feel the same amount of pain, remorse, agony, anger, frustration, pain at losing a game.

I wanna say thanks to that 12 yr old girl who played in an all boys team this morning and tore the pages out of a scorebook and bawled her eyes out, I feel more alive today, I feel more me again.

More power to kids with passion for sport, more power to anyone with a passion great enough..for anything....that they could cry for it....

Black is the new WHITE!!

2007-06-09T23:24:00.000+02:00

I woke up a bit late last weekend owing to a "cocktail" of cocktails I had had from the previous nights/early morning festivities. I distinctly remember the cab pull over a block before my address and went on to empty out the contents of my stomach including that brilliant Martini with 3 olives which I had quaffed down at 0430.

I was late on a Saturday morning. Brush my teeth, shower, and breakfast; pack my kit bag to head to the important league game in Holland!!! I wasn't a spectator, I was playing. – "Damn where are my cricket whites??? SHIT!! They're still in the washer from the night before. I need to get them dry ASAP… what do I do?"

- A humongous light bulb went on in my head; it even made that "kling" sound! "Just bung it in the Microwave you dimwit!!"

In go the whites, these are the "quick dry" 100% nylon version whites, 2 mins should do the job. There they go. I turn away to go brush my teeth. The strong smell of burnt toast greets me in a bit!! Alarm bells are ringing.. I don't have a toaster!! I don't even have bread!! What the hell is burning? A cursory look in the direction of the kitchen reveals no smoke that could be responsible for the smell, "Must be the neighbour" I say to myself.
Feeling well refreshed after the mint rinse, I return to the kitchen to a debilitating smell of carbon!!! I open the doors and windows to the balcony before I go about looking for the source of the smell. "Oh darn it, just leave everything open and the smell should go away in a bit, lets get that bag packed to head out"

Open the microwave…. Where are my whites?? All I got is a lump of BLACK!! Charcoal BLACK!!! I know that Black is the new white and all that.. but my white cricket pants lay there in one ugly lump of BLACK!!!... I did venture to pick it up and bring it out with very high hopes of being able to salvage a pocket or something out of it. But of course the microwave had had a field day with it. I brought out a really old pair of whites from '98 and decided to look like Michael Jackson in white pants and a HUGE arse and play a game of cricket !!!

I recounted the story to my team mates and one of the lads said, "Were you hungover, 'cause that is exactly the kind of stuff people do, when they wake up hungover!!!" There is no wisdom that can come to you without experience you know!!!

Lesson of the day: Do not believe that you have had a brilliant idea when you're hungover and do not try to dry nylon clothes in a Microwave.

Big city life...

2007-06-09T23:19:00.000+02:00

I very strongly believe (yes I am at that (st)age in my life when I can "Strongly Believe")...that one cannot have any poetry in their soul if they've not spent a few years in a big city.

It's time to get lost again!!!! It's time to find the poetry in the soul...

.....

2007-05-20T20:26:00.000+02:00

I think I am secretly in love with Kate Winslet!!!

World's Busiest Person

2007-04-23T21:28:00.000+02:00

I recently got to know the world’s busiest person. He is a philosopher!! Ponder over this, the man’s job is to think!! So he is busy right now!!! As I write this down, and I don’t even have to bother to know what he is doing, I can always say, “Ya, that dude, he’s busy right now!!” Science has confirmed that the human brain is active at all times, so if we’re not performing any activity, the brain is still active with thinking, even while we’re asleep

So my philosopher friend, (more power to him) is by far the busiest brain I have ever come across, I used to think my boss was busy, because he always was thinking about his job, but that’s a forced kind of busy, whereas the philosopher dude cannot stop being busy!! What a predicament for the man!! And may I also mention what a diametrically opposite individual than me, I am barely able to think of my work even while I am at work.

Now look at the bright side for the man!!

He gets a call that he doesn’t want to take all he has to do is say “Hey, I am sorry, but I am busy”. Annoying person at the other end of the line, “Busy? Dude it’s 7.30 pm on a Sunday night, what are you busy doing?”

Philosopher dude, “Thinking!!” End of conversation!!

I wish I had that right too!!! Then I could go all Jack Nicholson on people. I could always be actively working on developing a new theory or a new law or a new index.

As a matter of fact I’ve got one that I am working on already!! And a whole lot of thought has already gone into this. I am open to suggestions to name it, but this law will identify “The amount of water that has to flow through your shower and into the drain before the guilt of wasting water overtakes the guilt of thinking about your French teacher in the shower”

P.s. Note that I have used words like "predicament" and "diametrically opposite" with the hope that they are used correctly and they make me sound cool enough to make theories.

Alternate energy source!!

2007-04-23T21:12:00.000+02:00

What if someone thought of a way to harness all the gas that is released through farts? Wouldn't that be a wonderful source of "alternative" energy?

I thought of this when 3 engineers were sitting in front of me after a heavy meal and discussing E= mc2 and my lowly accounting degree and the urgent need to pass gas brought forth only this brainwave of creating something that the engineers chew on for some time.

Please spend a minute here to bring yourself up to date on some gaseous knowledge

helter skelter

2007-04-23T18:51:00.000+02:00

It's been a crazy month, almost unexpectedly Moscow, Amsterdam, Cairo, Berlin, and then Seattle!! I don't think i've travelled as much in a space of 30 days ever before!!

Here's something for the fans of them boys... .This picture of Zoo station!!!! Berlin

A couple of recommendations. This movie is looking very promising, I hope it lives up to my expectations - Across the Universe

A classic revisited. I danced to this song a lot at a wedding recently, and I think I am hooked!!!! Here comes the rain again

I am tone deaf, I usually can't make out artists as long as they are famous and I like their music. Recently I heard a band called Imogen Heap
and I thought the singer sounded a lot like the lady who sang for Frou Frou
Then I did some research and realized they're actually the same. I am really impressed with my skills to spot the same voice!!!! Oh ya listen to the music!! Frou Frou and Imogen Heap are both good listening.

Comment Poster;-) the hiatus was a bit forced, the work computer I usually travel with does not let me get onto blogger for some god damned reason, and I am too technologically inept to be able to fix it. Here's one track i steer to after reading your blog!!- aptly titled Ruby

And last but not least, anyone who hits up on this blog must must must read the Indian Poopster from BK's Blog

OK enough hyperlinks!!!

Losing my religion

2007-03-25T23:44:00.000+02:00

The pilgrimage has been called off, because my religion that took a life is dead for me and the demigods have fallen from grace.

From Russia with Love

2007-03-25T20:50:00.000+02:00

Some notes to myself….

Day 0

I am not sure what I need to be more worried about when I get picked up by a designated chauffeur in Russia, the strong smell of vodka on his breath or the unbearable smell of gasoline floating inside the car that makes you think that 30 more seconds of inhaling those fumes you could immolate yourself. Then you are gruffly told that there is no need to wear seat belts, on your non compliance, the chauffeur will proceed to unhinge the seat belt (thinking that I can’t do it myself) and tie it to the back of the seat, from where it’s humanly impossible to reach for it again (unless of course you are an Indian god with 4 sets of arms).

Your spine feels like a wound up spring with all the tension from the 72 minute drive on wet roads with no ABS Brakes in a Volga GAZ 311005, all you want is to check in to the hotel and make it to the bar in 1 piece to get yourself a drink to take the edge off.

You are told your hotel room will cost 200$ for day 1 and the price will increase from Day 2 to 300 $ because of the high occupancy. I am too tired, too scared and too not bothered to question why high occupancy relates to high rates? Imagine the prospect of having to get out of the hotel again, flag down another cab and find another hotel. Quick check in, hand over passport and Credit Card for them to register you with the Local Police and max out your credit card.

Move to the bar -> Young man of 21 working at bar.. looks like his dog died this morning… Ask for beer, no acknowledgement, he has walked away from bar to the kitchen, comes out with new glass, why not stock glasses at the bar? Isn’t that what a bar is supposed to have – Alcohol and those little things to serve the alcohol in?. Barman still looks like he is grieving the death of his dog. His colleague appears a drop dead gorgeous blonde who stands 2 head lengths taller than him and me. She has got that look in her eye that she killed someone’s dog this morning.

Swig the beer down quickly to avoid being assassinated, work my way to restaurant with colleagues. Another hot blonde with assassin looks (no pun intended) offers to serve us. The concept of “service with a smile” has not reached this part of the world as yet. We ask for a table with a view of the city, a short and crisp response “NO”. We wait to be seated, while being seated a colleague mentions, “Before we order, could we get some water and bread?”, another short response, “Wait”!

We order 2 medium and 1 well done steak and plate of fresh Halibut, what we get is 2 burnt steaks which are the size of a medal and ready to crumble at the first prick of our forks, we also get 1 well done steak and fish fingers for the rest of the order. The dinner has cost us 200$. We decide to not order desserts, hop out of the hotel, walk across to the McDonalds and order ourselves a McFlurry.

Day 1

Long day today, early start at 6 in the a.m. The shower keeps going from hot to cold every 30 seconds, I decide to limit my shower time to 120 seconds, end on a high, when the water is still warm.

Visiting customers, it’s been one meeting after the other, snarling traffic, crashing cars a plenty, convoys of Black Mercedez being patrolled by huge Humvees on the roads. They are not politicians; they are just medium sized business owners. That’s Russia for you. It’s inching towards 14:00 and I am feeling hungry again. Gesture to my Russian colleague that we must eat something quick before I swallow my tongue, maybe some fast food will do as well. He assures me, we will eat soon, very soon, he is driving us straight to our food. He makes long call in Russian, sounds like he has just ordered to get some humans eliminated from this planet, with the definitive Russian “Da” which means yes.

20 Mins more of driving around crazy traffic, all I can see is Golden Arches around me, it’s a mirage!!! Suddenly colleague screeches to a halt in the middle of a busy intersection, orders us to leave car and walk across to the other side where we will find colleague 2. We sputter – “But, but, what about the food??”. He smiles – First smile I’ve seen since I landed, and drives off.

Our mothers are very heavily abused at in rough Russian. Don’t know if it was the fact that we couldn’t understand what the irate drivers shouted or the enormity of our hunger or the fear of being driven over, but we managed to stay focused and cross the street. Inside the car of colleague 2, we were hoping for Chicken Nuggets, Slices of Pizza, Quarter Pounders with Cheese, Milk Shakes and Cokes. What we got was dry bread, hot water with vegetables(also known as soup), dry piece of meat which would work very well as a shoe sole with cabbage leaves which were a few days older than my dog’s mother. The hunger pangs disappear in a jiffy.

Evening falls we settle for some local expertise to find a decent restaurant to have a square meal. This has gone off wonderfully well. Post dinner: The Russians are good at entertaining; they take us to the local hot spots. The women in Russia need to be given a lifetime achievement award for redefining the word “HOT”. If only they’d learn to smile once in a while.

Day 2 and Day 3 to follow soon…..

My latest talent

2007-03-14T19:29:00.000+01:00

The things that you can learn and develop in yourself by just having people who communicate with you from different time zones is amazing.

The latest thing that I am exploiting my talents in, is the art text messaging in my sleep with one eye half shut and the 1/4 of a brain that I was gifted with at birth - completely shut off.

A few of my friends live in the far east which means they are 7-8-9 hours ahead of me, quite a bit of my family is about 4 hours ahead of me, none of these people pay any heed to timezones, they believe it's bright and shining where they are therefore it's the same everywhere

Message from Sister: "What is a good site to post my pics, so that everyone can see"
Snoring me: "Well you could use Picasa, or Flickr, but that requires people to have to sign in, what could be a good idea is that you start your own blog, this would make it a good interface"
Reply from Sister: "How do i do that"
Message back from me: "I'm trying to catch the next flight out to your city, just hang tight"

Message from Friend who lives way too far: "Dude, would you like to get introduced to a 30 year old hot girl in your city?"
My response: "Why not? but are you sure she's 30 and still a girl and hot?"

This one takes the cake though:

Message from Mom: "Which is the 1st team that India will play against in the Cricket World Cup"
Groggy me at 0430 AM after having returned from a party at 0330 AM "I think it's Bangladesh on the 17th, you never liked cricket, watched cricket, why the question?"
Reply from Mom: "Crossword ... Haha"
:-/ I am still in a state of Shock

I am getting there, trust me I am...

Take that quote off

2007-03-14T19:18:00.000+01:00

As promised my 100% plagiarized post. I will keep adding on, as and when I remember memorable quotes. I want to post a similar one with lyrics and paragraphs from books too... but that requires a lot of effort, especially the books, where I need to read and type things out... anyway here goes

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Eddie: They're armed.
Soap: What was that? Armed? What do you mean armed? Armed with what?
Eddie: Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit!

Nick the Greek: Just get me a sample.
Tom: No can do.
Nick the Greek: What's that? Some place near Katmandu? Meet me halfway, mate.

Winston: Charles,why have we got that cage?
Charles: Uh,security.
Winston: That's right, that's right security. So what's the point in having it if we're not goin' fucking use it?
Charles: Well I would've used it but this is Willie and Willie lives here.
Winston: Yes but you didn't know it was Willie until you opened the door did you?
Willie: Chill Winston, it's me. Charlie knows it's me. What's the problem?
Winston: The problem is Willie is that Charles and yourself are not the quickest of cats at the best of times. So just do as I say and keep *the fucking cage locked!* What is that?
Willie: That's Gloria.
Winston: Yes I know that's Gloria, what's that?
Willie: Fertilizer.
Winston: You went out six hours to buy a money counter and you come back with a semi-conscious Gloria and a back of fertilizer. Alarm bells are ringing Willie.
Willie: We need fertilizer Winston.
Winston: Mmmhmm. We also need a money counter. This money's got to be out by Thursday, I'm buggered if I'm gonna count it. Just make sure if you do need to buy sodding fertilizer could be a bit more subtle.
Willie: What do you mean?
Winston: We grow copious amounts of ganja, yah. And you're carrying a wasted girl and a bag of fertilizer. You don't look like your average horti-fucking- culturalist! That's what I mean Willie.

Eddie: Oh, and if Tom or anyone else for that matter feels like givin' them a bit of a kickin', I'm sure it won't do any harm.
Soap: Yeah, little bit of pain never hurt anybody. If you know what I mean. Also, I think knives are a good idea. Big, fuck-off shiny ones. Ones that look like they could skin a crocodile. Knives are good, because they don't make any noise, and the less noise they make, the more likely we are to use them. Shit 'em right up. Makes it look like we're serious. Guns for show, knives for a pro.
Tom: Soap, is there something we should know about you?
Bacon: I'm not sure what's more worrying. The job or your past.

Bacon: What's that?
Samoan Joe's Barman: It's a cocktail. You asked for a cocktail.
Bacon: No. I asked for a refreshing drink! I didn't expect a fucking rainforest? I could fall in love with an orangutan in that! Bring me a pint.
Samoan Joe's Barman: You want a pint, you go to the pub.
Bacon: This is a pub!
Samoan Joes Barman: It's a Samoan pub.

Snatch

Bullet Tooth Tony: So, you are obviously the big dick. The men on the side of ya are your balls. There are two types of balls. There are big brave balls, and there are little mincey faggot balls.
Vinny: These are your last words, so make them a prayer.
Bullet Tooth Tony: Now, dicks have drive and clarity of vision, but they are not clever. They smell pussy and they want a piece of the action. And you thought you smelled some good old pussy, and have brought your two small mincey faggot balls along for a good old time. But you've got your parties mangled up. There's no pussy here, just a dose that'll make you wish you were born a woman. Like a prick, you are having second thoughts. You are shrinking, and your two little balls are shrinking with you. And the fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun...
[Zoom in on the side of Sol's gun, which indeed has "REPLICA" etched on the side; zoom out, as they sneak peeks at the sides of their guns]
Bullet Tooth Tony: And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point five O"...
[Withdraws his gun and puts it on the table]
Bullet Tooth Tony: Written down the side of mine...
[They look, zoom in on the side of his gun, which indeed has "DESERT EAGLE .50" etched on the side]
Bullet Tooth Tony: Should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... Fuck off!

Cousin Avi: Is there gambling involved?
Doug the Head: It's a boxing match, Avi, a boxing match.
Cousin Avi: Did he have a case with him?
Doug the Head: Yes, he had a case.
Cousin Avi: And this schmuck is gambling? You're talking about Franky "I've got a problem with gambling" fucking Four Fingers Doug.

Doug the Head: Avi, I'm not telepathic.
Cousin Avi: Well you're plenty fucking stupid, I'll give you that. Do you know why they call him Franky "Four Fingers" Doug? Because he makes stupid bets with dangerous people, and when he doesn't pay up, they give him te chop, Doug. And I'm not talking about his fucking fore-skin either.

Franky Four Fingers: So the biblical scholars mis-translated the Hebrew word for "young woman" into the Greek word for "virgin," which was a pretty easy mistake to make, since there is only a subtle difference in the spelling. But back then it was the "virgin" that caught people's attention. It's not every day a virgin conceives and bears a son. So you keep that for a couple of hundred years, and the next thing you know, you have the Roman Catholic church.

Scent of a Woman

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Ooh, but I still smell her.
[inhales deeply through nose]
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Women! What can you say? Who made 'em? God must have been a fuckin' genius. The hair... They say the hair is everything, you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls... just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips... and when they touched, yours were like... that first swallow of wine... after you just crossed the desert. Tits. Hoo-ah! Big ones, little ones, nipples staring right out at ya, like secret searchlights. Mmm. Legs. I don't care if they're Greek columns... or secondhand Steinways. What's between 'em... passport to heaven. I need a drink. Yes, Mr Sims, there's only two syllables in this whole wide world worth hearing: pussy. Hah! Are you listenin' to me, son? I'm givin' ya pearls here.

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: When in doubt... fuck.

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Out of order, I show you out of order. You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are... executin' his soul! And why? Because he's not a Bairdman. Bairdmen. You hurt this boy, you're gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, FUCK YOU TOO!

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Clear them little bottles off. And when I get off the phone here, call up Hyman and tell him I want it wall to wall with John Daniels.
Charlie Simms: Don't you mean Jack Daniels?
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: He may be Jack to you son, but when you've known him as long as I have... that's a joke.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Jim Byrd: You're 32 years old, and you've achieved nothing. Jesus Christ was dead and alive again by 33. You better get crackin'.

Come and see...

2007-03-10T08:34:00.000+01:00

Dave Matthews performed last night, him, his voice, his guitar and his buddy Tim Reynolds on guitar. Acoustic Set.

If you get a chance to see them, do so... this was a small hall for about 1500 people, it was a really intimate environment, sound quality was brilliant and the show was mind blowing.

DM has a lot more variations and modulations to his voice than I could imagine and the whole idea of seeing, listening, experiencing something so stripped down was a brilliant experience.

It hardly ever happens that an artist I see in concert will play the songs I want to listen to, but this was 1 freak incident when he did and I was giddy with delight.

Enough said... I am still on a high... and ya it was a "Brilliant Night"

Friday Mar 9 2007
Ancienne Belgique

Bartender
Crash Into Me
Save Me
Grace Is Gone
So Damn Lucky
Satellite
Old Dirt Hill
Smooth Rider
Stay Or Leave
Crush
Oh
(Still Water)
Don’t Drink the Water
Tim Solo
Gravedigger
Little Thing
When The World Ends
#41
Lie In Our Graves
Dancing Nancies

__________________

Some Devil *
Sister
Warehouse
The Maker
Two Step

Show Notes:
Dave And Tim appear on all songs except where noted
* Dave Solo

(song name) indicates a partial song
indicates a segue into next song

What does a scanner see..??

2007-02-25T15:52:00.000+01:00

I am not a depressive/depressed/ready to kill myself/junkie/alcoholic..... but I really liked this quote from "A Scanner Darkly"
"What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I do, then I'm cursed and cursed again. I'll only wind up dead this way, knowing very little, and getting that little fragment wrong too."

I am actually going to make a list of my favorite movie and book quotes and put the most unoriginal, 100% plagiarized blog entry ever ... soon.. Atleast it will be good reading.

Going straight to hell

2007-02-25T15:38:00.000+01:00

I was watching A scanner darkly and there is this one scene where this guy is hallucinating an alien reading out all his sins. I took some time out today to recount my sins, while I was taking a super long Sunday morning shower.

It was crazy, I had all this water which was just pouring over my back and into the drain. There are people in the world who have to walk miles to get a bucket of water to share with a family of 23. I don't know if it's my fault that they have to walk that far or that they have massively unmanageable families and I am not sure if I stayed dirty and didn't shower for a week, would they actually get water on a tap in their shanty hut? But anyway it made me feel guilty and I thought that's a sin which I will go straight to hell for.

But hang on a second, what about the half eaten pizza that I threw away, I know people in my country are dying of hunger, damn, so could I have/should I have shipped my half eaten pizza to Bhikhu...somewhere..but he doesn't have food to eat, which would mean no house to live in.. where the hell do I ship the pizza to? I think I am going to hell for that too.

It would be good to do an inventory of all the things that potentially fall into a list of sins, list of things that are not approved by a holier being, list of things that people around you think are not right (those holier than thou a**holes we tend to know and laugh about) <- oops that's unacceptable behaviour too... Damn, I am going to hell...

And I need to stop thinking about my French teacher in the shower....

My Professional Career

2007-02-25T15:32:00.000+01:00

I think I have been in some sort of a job since 2000. I tried to recount all the work that I have done, documents made, presentations created, reports submitted, project plans drafted, emails received-sent.

I believe if I took all of it.. just professional stuff that I have done at my various jobs. I could fit it into a 60 GB hard drive.

Think about it, 6 yrs of work... it all fits into a 60 GB drive.

I think I need to start a restaurant...I am sure I'll need some massive storage space and deep freezers... at least my work will occupy more space...

This arrived...

2007-02-23T15:14:00.000+01:00

...in the mail today.....

Experiment....

2007-02-17T10:37:00.000+01:00

Don't worry you can try this at home as a matter of fact you SHOULD try it at home. Take 5, 1 meter long wires lay them out straight at abt 5 cm distance from each other on a flat floor or a table.

Do nothing now. Leave them there for a month.

At the end of a month they should have worked themselves into a nice bunch of intertwined wires which should take you about 30 minutes to get apart and also may make you want to bang your head against a wall repeatedly.

Listen to a good song here, appropriately titled "Wires"

Last Song...

2007-02-16T19:50:00.000+01:00

I was trying to drown the frustration today after my hair dresser had successfully clipped .7cm of my hair and charged me 2 weeks of grocery allowance for it by tuning into something that would make me forget everything that I was thinking of, something that would make everything around me disappear, something that would make me invisible to the world, this was also because he had waxed my hair to make me look like I was lining up to make love to Elton John.

At that instant my iPod played "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and I've never turned the volume up as high as I did today... and I let it play LOUD.. and I could feel everything around me disappear... I had a feeling that I was soaring... looking down at things and being able to smirk at it... it has probably been the most uplifting moment of my day.. maybe the week as well.

So taking of on my series of, "Last...".... what would be the last song that you would want to listen to before you move onto another world.... or let's not get that morose, let's make it more bearable.. the last song before you go deaf... OK.. It's your choice if you want to die or live as a deaf person..

While you're mulling over the songs... I'm listing a few of my "Last Songs"
Nice Dream
Time
Cry Freedom
and of course i'd re recommend "Subterranean Homesick Alien"

Oh and if you had to choose between living deaf or dying, what would you pick?

As you can see, I am quite pissed off about losing that ticker on my blog.

How technology fucked me over....

2007-02-16T19:42:00.000+01:00

I used to have a ticker on my blog... Last time I logged in there were about 988 hits.. of course 837 of them were from me, but yet, I was looking forward to the 1000 hits milestone.. I was going to put up a blog - "You are the 1000th person to visit this blog, click here to win a free gift" or something like that.. I was gonna pour myself a single malt and light up a cigar to celebrate...

Last night, I was fooling around on blogger and it asked me if I wanted to pick a template for my blog and I repicked the same template that I have always had... et voila.. my ticker has disappeared!!!

So that's how technology fucked me.... and oh ya... it also gave me free porn!!!

Man's Man...

2007-02-15T21:03:00.000+01:00

I heard this term a few years ago and they related it to John Wayne or the Marlboro Man... being the Man's man... I am taking a shot at listing some individuals who I think qualify. I know I will automatically qualify into the borderline category of not being sure of my sexual orientation...

OK....

and more...

2007-02-15T20:52:00.000+01:00

That last post was me trying to inject some variety in my textual blog.. and it was also a feeble attempt at being artistically inclined...

I could've taken better pics, but my camera is a bit prehistoric and you already seen my savings account!!!

I realized, the only reason I wake up each morning and go to work is because I like to dress up, but I hate ironing my shirts...

I felt the fear of turning 30 recently...

Another movie for the 20 somethings grappling with growing up....The Last Kiss or L'Ultimo Bacio

Ma vie...

2007-02-15T20:44:00.000+01:00

What I often swap my bed for....

My Saving's Account

Last night on earth

2007-02-08T22:09:00.000+01:00

Imagine it's your last night on earth. Who would you spend that night with?? The world has all the people that you have pined for, fantasized about, loved, cared for, secretly admired, touched yourself while thinking about them.... Who would you want to spend that last night in bed with?

If you are a man, who likes women, put in the name of a woman, if you are a man who likes men, put in the name of a man. If you are a woman with a liking for men, put in the name of a man and if you're a woman who likes women, put in the name of the woman (and the name of the man who can watch the two of you).

And ya, if you've made the effort and visited the blog, don't be lazy, leave a response. It's only the people who make themselves heard, who get what they ask for.

Hope...

2007-01-26T19:45:00.000+01:00

I was talking to a good friend today, talking about the ol' times, I went, "Dude, I am pretty sure that girl had the hots for me back then". He asked,"Why did she tell you that?", I said, "No, but come on, back in the days, I was the dude, I am sure she had the hots for me", he replied "Dude, that's what women do, they give you hope!! That's what they're good at!!!" - Somehow, I think truer words have not been spoken.

But that brings me to a conversation I had with a lady friend last weekend after a few drinks, I said, "So what do you think, that girl out there, should I get her a drink?", she replied, "I would never agree to let a guy buy me a drink". I told her,"That's wrong, because what you are doing is killing the guy's hopes, and us men live on hope"

Ok maybe I went too far with that generalization....

Anyway, end game, the girl I wanted to buy the drink for, rejected my offer, while my lady friend got 4 drinks from men that night and she gave her phone no. to one of them!!!

Birds

2007-01-26T14:00:00.000+01:00

Ever wondered why the male genitalia is sometimes referred to as a "Cock", whereas the female of the human species is called a "Chick"

All I know is... that they are "Birds of the same feather" - no pun intended.....

Now I know this is a horrible blog entry, but I was actually thinking of writing about the weather... so enjoy this "Cock and Chick" post...

They served a "Cock with wine" at the cafetaria.... and I steered clear of that counter. Ya call me homophobic if you wish....

Bad day at work...

2006-12-07T13:03:00.000+01:00

Today was a bad day at work....as you can see -->

What If...

2006-12-06T10:15:00.000+01:00

.. you had all the money in the world.. like if you won millions of dollars in a lottery, or a grand uncle who you never knew, left you an estate worth 32 krillion pounds...or something to that effect... What would you do with your life? I am not asking with the money!! but with your life!!!What would you want to do each morning when you wake up?
Write a book?
Start a band?
Start a charity?
Buy an island?
OR
Act like nothing happened and go to your day job and make sure that you screw up every deadline and make sure your boss gets no bonus or even worse gets fired in the bargain?
Leave me a note with the craziest things you could/would do...

Cheesy....

2006-11-24T16:52:00.000+01:00

...pick up line of the day.....

Hand over business card and subtly say
"That card doesn't say half the things that I can actually do, call me" ;-)

I would propose you do this when you bump into a ravishing nymph at yr local watering hole <- the chances of this happening are slightly worse than me winning the lottery when the jackpot is at 180 Millions, but in any case if that ever happens I am prepared.

What's yr favorite pick up line? Leave me a note, I desperately need new ones...

I wanna be...

2006-11-04T19:37:00.001+01:00

like the music i listen to.....

Spam!

2006-11-01T10:03:00.000+01:00

People around the world gets spam like "EEENlarge!!".. "Meet me round the corner for a s*ck and F*ck".."h$rneee 2nite???" "click h$r3 for 9 inches"... now I don't mind that.. but along with my rotten luck mentioned in the previous post.. i've run out of luck with my spam folder too....

I don't receive spam in my junk folder anymore. I get it direct in my inbox, I also get junk mail in my mailbox at home regularly, not signalling great sales or deals at the local thrift store... and it really rattles me to go through it..

The other day I received Junk mail at home, a thick fat envelope in nice caligraphy... and I was like "Wow, somebody seems to have invited me for some lavish affair".... It was a bunch of greeting cards created by "Artists who paint with their mouth or feet" with a sweet note saying, "These are for free, to promote the artists, but there is an empty invoice, you may fill in whatever amount you feel their artwork deserves and send it to......" - tugging with a big bulldozer at my pea sized conscience...

That's not the only junk I receive by the way.. very often it has to do with things like dolphins and seals and cute animals getting slaughtered and 3917 different species getting wiped out and how my 2 cents would change their lives...

I need to sign up for an enlargement!!!! (of my conscience!!! what did you think??)

Disoriented orientation

2006-10-30T18:58:00.000+01:00

Last week, people of a different sexual orientation than mine were made to think, by some friends of mine that I have the same sexual orientation as theirs and they have made more than their fair share of attempts to figure out if it is true or not.
In the same week I offered to buy a person a drink, who people of my sexual orientation usually would take a fancy to.. I was told that I was very kind, followed up by,"I am actually here looking for people of a different sexual orientation than yours!!!!" This after I had already forked out a little more than the budget deficit of a small island to buy that gin & tonic for this individual in focus!!!

I think, I need a stiff one ( a drink, I mean)......

Blow Out

2006-10-22T13:27:00.000+02:00

The title came from the radiohead track I was listening to while starting this post. Goes to show how little I am ready to exercise my brain these days. Some random thoughts will follow

I see so many TV Ads/movies - where the protagonist gets onto a flight to find the most spanking women on the planet take the seat next to him, in someway or the other these two people end up doing crazy things like saving lives (while having sex) or exchange sparkling pearly white smiles (while falling in love over 1 smart line in 30 seconds flat). I have done a fair amount of taking planes, trains and other modes of transport where even normal looking people could get a seat next to me, but no it usually tends to be men with a waist size in the 40s and a corresponding age with a bladder problem or else women travelling with a minimum of 2 grand kids with weak stomachs. Waiting for my luck to change

I often see people crying on the street or in subways and I wonder, what it must be that is making that person cry - Physical pain, emotional pain, loss, heartbreak and then I asked myself, what would make me cry in public all alone?? I don't think I've reached an answer. What would you cry for in public all alone?

I saw a few good movies recently- Science of sleep - Gondry's back crazier than before, why do I like it, it's the way he has worked to blend the subconscious state of mind of "Stephane" with his conscious state of mind, the nature of free wheeling dialogue of a shy human being who is tongue tied around the woman he likes.
The other one I really liked was Paris Je t'aime. Why? I don't know why, go to paris and figure out why the world says Paris je t'aime...
I wonder if I am just biased towards the French??

I just get this feeling that I've had about enough powerpoint and excel for a lifetime.

A peculiar smell

2006-08-08T15:10:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, a truck full of metallic materials stopped close to me. I got a huge whiff of that steely metallic smell and somehow all that came to my mind was honesty, hardwork, resolve.. in just a split second....

My dad ran a small manufacturing unit which used a lot of steel and he was a very hands on man... it is astonishing how the brain connects things

Stolen not stirred!

2006-08-02T16:16:00.000+02:00

Have you experienced the loss of a loved one.. an end to a relationship, a death of someone really close to you? You wake up the next morning and you have that feeling where you have lost everything. You have split seconds where you think-“Oh I’ll do this with this” or “I need to say this”, or just a thought about them and then you realize, “Oh they’re not there any longer”. I’ve been having that feeling since last weekend…

Now why am I getting all morbid again??? Becaus....
....I am hearing:
-Traffic on the streets,
-F*ck wits on the bus to work talking loud enough so that the anyone inclined to read a book or newspaper cannot go about his daily routine,
-Piped music in elevators and metro stops,
-People call out to me on the streets and I can’t pretend I didn’t hear them, so I have to respond. I have to make conversation again.

No more Radiohead and Pink Floyd laced highs. The odd unknown tune will not come up from nowhere to lift me higher

Some useless mucker futhing son of a bitch stole my iPod ….all 30GB of it.. in all it’s shining non scratched black glory!!! I am shattered beyond words!!

Thief!! thou shalt rot in MP3 Hell… may the Britneys, the Aguileras and the Ricky Martins descend upon you every night. Your wet dreams for the rest of your life will have Celine Dion breast feeding you to the tune of “My heart will go on”…

Movie Reco

2006-07-14T14:10:00.000+02:00

Don't know why I never put this up. A must watch movie "Breakfast on Pluto"
I truly think that Cillian Murphy is only gonna go up. A seriously good actor!

Passion Followers

2006-07-09T12:36:00.000+02:00

Two friends in NYC are following their passions... more power to them
Chee Malabar http://www.myspace.com/obliquebrown
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/obliquebrown
Shreddie http://www.borawake.com/

Questions

2006-07-02T09:48:00.000+02:00

I was posed some questions this weekend.

"Why are the planes flying so high?" -
Possible responses -
1. Because they couldn't find any tall buildings which they could whiz past and scare the inhabitants of.
2. I've lost the telephone no. of the pilot or could ask him to fly a bit low, maybe you're keen to hold on to the wing tip and do your trapeze act?
3. Do aircrafts in your part of the world fly low? Maybe they should have a technology upgrade because since I've known aircrafts they've atleast flown at 20000 feet above sea level
4. Probably because the passengers are too tired to keep waving out at the people on the ground by now.

"That hot air balloon (at a distance of 20 Kms from where we were), do you think it's privately owned or rented?"
Possible responses
1. Uhmm let me check ( squint my eye to try and see further into the distance) - it's privately owned as it has the sign of a Skull and 2 crossed bones below it.
2. Uhmm let me check (look at my watch) - it's 8 p.m., I am sure it's rented, you can only fly privately owned jets after this hour, not hot air balloons
3. Oh that one, actually that hot air balloon is stray, it has no owner and it likes it's nocturnal sojourns.

A snap shot of a host of questions thrown at me, and you thought my weekends were stress free? In any case, the actual responses that I managed were, "Uhmm, I don't know".

By the way these questions were not posed to me by a 4 yr old child but by "Full grown men" who lead a normal life and have normal jobs...

I would like to know your options for a good response to either of these questions. Leave me a note.. seriously. I love wittiness and I'd like to know that some people who read my blogs have some hidden wit. Come on all ye...

Sign off recommendation - C.R.A.Z.Y. - watch it with subtitles, if u don't understand French, actually it's Canadian French it does sound very different so the subtitles do help.

Song that gets me heady - I can see it now - Oasis. Highly instrumental, but I like the crescendo type tempo.

White out + Thom Yorke's dance video

2006-06-21T15:07:00.000+02:00

Yo, I uploaded the Thom Yorke videos as promised have a look. I love the dance. I am actually practicing those steps at home. Ask my neighbours from across the street who see me dance cause my curtain rod broke and I am too short and lazy to fix it, and ask my neighbour from downstairs who hears the loud music and my feet banging on the floor.

I visited an eye doctor recently because I get this white out (opposite of a black out) in my left eye, when I am at work and I don't want it to get worse, the doc checked everything and said I was fine and i had perfect vision. So I enquired, "What do I do? because I still keep getting these white outs in my left eye!", Doc says,"It's yr left eye, right? I said ya right, so he says left or right? So I said left.. Ok, he says, try and tilt yr head a bit to the left and work more with yr right eye"

I am still to get over the shock of the treatment he has prescribed, all my friends have had a laugh, but I am still trying to come to terms with it.

I want a good name for this post. Suggestions?

Steady consumption

2006-06-18T11:58:00.000+02:00

Just got off the phone with a friend and a genuine drinking partner after hearing a recounting of the previous nights escapades which I missed due to my illness mentioned in the previous blog.

There are places in the world, in a city that you inhabit where you go only to get drunk. I want to use a lot more words for drunk to try and communicate the concept -Sozzled, Shitfaced, smashed,fucked,influenced beyond degrees of conventional standards, bolloxed this list can go on and I want you all to give me the best word you'd like to use for drunk - any language will do!

Anyway, there are 3 places in the world that I adore,worship and hold close to my heart and would visit time and time again. A place where people connect because there is mutual respect as soon as you enter, with peoples thinking - "here comes a person who drinks for the joy, the love for the fluid, the integrity of the whole exercise"

A lot of people will connect with the legendary, the one and only Gokul's - Wikitravel says "Gokul behind the Taj is frequented by anyone who wants a inexpensive drink served quickly". But to us legions of fans, it is a place where you enter and you get a smile and a nod from the waiter (who had helped you throw up 2 months ago when the next morning you woke up and swore to give up drinking)and without a word your 2 dollar pitcher of beer with your favorite snacks is at your table - If you have had a legendary experience at this place that does not involve me, you are allowed to write about it.

Diamond beer bar - Those soft(no lights), the coldest chilliest beers on the busiest street of that city I thought I had gone to study in. Legend has it, they do serve the coldest beers you can ever find. To the trinity who spent many a weekends brooding over life,women known and unknown and future. I raise a large on to you!

Cabralliego - Don't let the website con you! It's an association of Spaniards, it is a club of sorts, I've never realized or bothered to find out what they do, but they run a resto/bar which serve 2 euro Rum(Bacardi), Vodka(Smirnoff), Whisky(JB) and 1 Euro Beers. Please see some pics. This is the kind of place you enter at 10 p.m. and find 10 families playing board games and ranting loudly. You sit down with a close group of friends and offer to buy a round and you come back with 7 Rums and 2 beers and you've not even spent 20 Euros! You sit and finish and before you finish another friend has volunteered for a round. At midnight you are well and truly buzzing and you try to reach for your cellphone to send a text message to 1 of yr ex girl friend or a current project and when you're done you look up, the 10 ranting families have suddenly disappeared and been replaced with 60 young beautiful spanish women, the restaurant/bar has turned into a night club with an MP3 DJ. Tables folded to make way for a dance floor, the bright flourescent lights turned off to let you go crazy, you do forget what text message you sent to whom in a matter of seconds. It's totally impossible to explain this phenomenon. The chosen few who have been there know about it. The rest of you who know me and have visited me and have not been taken there, I apologise. The rest who have been invited, time and time again to experience this and have not shown up - Shame on you.

Opps.. blog is getting too long.

If there is a bar in your town - where you go as religiously to kill yr slow moving brain cells as you would to your place of worship, leave me a note.

Health food to get you high

2006-06-17T07:53:00.000+02:00

Why hasn't someone thought of alcohol laced herbal teas?
Why hasn't someone thought of hybriding tomatos, cucumbers and other veggies with marijuana plants?
Why can't space cakes be space lettuce?

Why am I saying all this? I've been sick recently, sorry wrong word - I have been ill recently, sick I have been since I entered my teens ;-). Anyway, coming back to the point. I have had a sore throat that turned into a head cold and now it is a full blown stuffed nose, headache and chest congestion. I know this is too much detail, but it is important and see, I am the one who wises to keep his blogs short so that they get read.

I usually don't take medicines for small illnesses and treat them through home remedies so the 1st couple of days I kept making myself lemon and honey teas, then ended the day with 2 glasses of rum and warm water and lime in it. As the days passed and the weekend arrived I felt the need to get more inventive, more intensive in my treatment. You have to realize my sense of smell and therefore my sense of taste had been reduced to nil. So the treatment I resorted to was, lemon and honey tea with ginger and 2 parts rum. I alternated this with 2 parts whisky the second time. Not only did this make me feel much better(warm) but it fuddled and fuzzed me up so nice that the blocked nose and headache together could not keep me away from my sleep.

Try this recipe next time you're ill as it helps to get high when you're ill. It takes the pain of the illness away easier and you also feel you're doing the healthy thing. All ideas above come with a disclaimer that they were thought up by a brain which was 2 parts full of that mucky shit that is still being blown out of my nose.

Ciao

Things to watch

2006-06-10T10:03:00.000+02:00

When I started blogging, I used to end my blogs with some sort of a recommendation of movies to watch, artists to listen to etc. Some people told me I should keep at it.. so I thought this idle sat morning i'll put up some stuff that I have liked and think readers of this blog may like too. By the way I put up this cool "hit counter" on my blog to see how many people visit my blog and now I just go to my blog everyday and hit refresh a half dozen times and feel all cool when I surf back to my blog the next time - wow!! 120 people have visited my blog already!!

Anyhow.. I am sure i've mentioned Mitch Hedberg in one of my earlier blogs - may his soul rest in peace. One of the best comedians I've heard and seen on TV, tragic that he is dead, but his was the kind of dry, non racially laced, cleanhearted humor I love. I also like his monotonous way of talking. Pls see his quotes. His performances from Comedy Central can be found here 1 - 2 - 3. For his full repertoire surf to www.milkandcookies.com and search Mitch Hedberg.

The squid and the whale - A good movie that I enjoyed. I see that it has been listed as a top 10 movie recommendation from 2005 on a few movie publication sites.

Unfortunately, there haven't been many things that have grabbed me like - Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind and Garden State etc did way back a couple years ago. But I keep my hopes alive that someday soon there is going to be a movie or a movie soundtrack that is going to really grab me. By the way the soundtrack for Wicker Park is great.

I am sorry if I have already blogged on all this before, but this is my blog innit? I'll blog about it again if I like, and now that I got my own hit counter... heheheh

Still trying to keep the blogs short and trying to get more tech savvy with all the hyperlinks and blah blah blah.

Today I wanna be dancing like Thom Yorke - Watch Video and Video2. I was actually trying to make my own video from the show, but my personal laptop burnt down.

Everything in it's right place...

2006-06-03T10:23:00.000+02:00

I saw Radiohead perform live...I was probably 15 when I actually went crazy about Radiohead, my dad then was really worried as I had scribbled the lyrics of "Creep" on our dining table, he sat me down next morning and asked me at breakfast if I had any issues in my life even though he felt I was very poetic. He was glad to know that it was just me trying to avoid the late night studying stress by listening to some music I liked and probably he was a bit crest fallen to learn that his son was not that poetically inclined...

In any case 13 years from that time... I saw Radiohead perform live..I have attempted a few times to write about the concert experience but I realize that my lack of ability to write down all the emotions I felt will never let me do justice to what I experienced. So I will not write anything.. I will though put a few links of well written reviews of their concert tour, those inclined can read, those not inclined should read and learn, those who don't know much about Radiohead, get a life!! Seriously.. these guys are probably the best bunch of rock musicians walking the planet and I believe they've still not gone commercial.......

What appeals to me about them? They write a lot of tragic songs, sad songs, morbid songs and when I listen to them, I get a giddy high, I chuckle inside my body and mind, I smile, I scream, it excites a weird sort of rage in me... their next album is going to rock your socks off... what else appeals to me about them? Not many people connect to them.. they are not for the masses and in my sick, perverted way I feel part of a group of people who can connect on a different plain... true blue Pink Floyd fans may connect to this sensation...

Recent review of their philly concert from a truly trusted music critic site.. will add more as I find..
Philly Concert

Peace out, working on keeping my blogs short...

Foulmouthed randomness

2006-05-23T22:35:00.000+02:00

I was on a flight recently and the guy next to me had serious foul breath and I think he was letting out odor from some other orifice as well... today I had 5 beers, 6 cigarettes, a falafel with double garlic and boarded a flight

I visited a city which I lived in for close to a year after almost 3 years.. it felt brilliant, it felt great!!! when I sat on the plane to come back, my MP3 player played "Subterrenean homesick alien"

That is a song by radiohead, if you don't like their music... try it, give it another and another shot.. they are brilliant... I saw them live too, haven't blogged about it, but will and will set the record straight that it was the best concert I have been to.

I like my MP3 player a lot

I attended a meeting today, the meeting room said, Smokers welcome - I did not smoke throughout the 7 hr meeting because I am not a smoker. There was a box of cigarettes kept in the middle of the meeting table and as a going away token we all got a carton of our preferred brand... please somebody tell me of a similar experience.

I want to name this blog entry "Foul mouthed randomness" - but will do so if I get atleast 50% of my readers to comment in the affirmative and say "Yes" it sounds like a good name.. so that means I need 3 of you to validate.. come on guys!!!

Update on 04/06/06 - I got my 3 comments on the title and as promised I have changed the title. I also want to thank the 97 other people who wrote in directly to my email to tell me it was a good title. Also, would like to clear some misconception. The guy with the foul breath was with me on a different flight, a week before I did the falafel loaded flight! - End of Update

I've realized people don't read long blogs, i'll blog more soon.

It gives me great pleasure....

2006-05-06T23:09:00.000+02:00

No!! Don't worry, I am not going to announce a big happening in my life.. but I am going to announce that probably i'll keep updating this post regularly as I wish to list things that bring me pleasure... AND!! don't worry I will keep it clean...

So.. to start things off, you will need to read the title, and that's how it will go everytime..basically read the title and then come down to read below

-> That I am a reasonably good cook
-> and I can cook up a highly satiating meal whenever required
-> that i can enjoy Pink Floyd on a sat night alone at home or even on a sunday morning with breakfast
-> that I would any day take a beer over a vodka
-> that I spend a better part of my income on live concerts than on the latest fashion
-> to know that i've not forgotten where I am coming from
-> to know that I can frustrate women as much as they frustrate me
TBC (To be continued.. but then this TBC line will drop down) - keep with it chaps..

morbid..maybe..scary..a bit..thought about it..never..

2006-04-23T12:13:00.000+02:00

A good friend passed away last year. Another friend told me a story of how some of the new age spamming programs fucked with another friends head. Picture this - someone close to you died, a friend, colleague, family, months after they are gone you are at work and your mailbox goes ping you've got an email from them. Actually it's not them but it's just one of those weird spam programs which asks you to join their friend's network or contact list or whatever the hell it maybe. What would it do to you? would it make a chill go down your spine?would you be able to smile about it later?

I have my friend who passed away last year on my messenger list and he usually shows up in the first few names which are offline. Today I contemplated deleting his name... and when I hovered my mouse over his name - guess what it says, "Right click to see ways you can interact with this person".

2 & 2 & 2

2006-03-31T18:20:00.000+02:00

It's been 2 years and 2 days.. i've survived it...i think i've enjoyed it... I still weigh the same and I still don't use an umbrella... and here's 2 fingers to whatever's in charge of the weather in this part of world....

The music's playing loud

2006-03-15T10:29:00.000+01:00

I finally broke down, burnt that hole in the pocket and got myself an MP3 player. (NO!! this is not an advertising site, the good folks at xyz inc. would have to pay me good money before I peddle their brand on my blog)

I realized that music is an integral part of my life, I wake up to music, I have music playing in the background at all times. The only times I don't listen to music is when I really really need to concentrate - which is about... uhmm never??!!??

The problem now is that I have these earplugs sticking to my sides and I keep getting tangled in wires running out of my jacket or trouser pockets. I am so not an accessories person, I am the kind of guy who would drop his sunglasses off his nose or choke on a scarf. Now imagine the mess I am in when I am trying to look all cool with this new marvel of science in my pocket and grooving to some cool tunes and I get a phone call or see a pretty girl or just a friend, so I try to wave out or reach out into my pocket to answer the phone, probably holding my sports kit or my work bag in one hand, winter clothes already hampering my movement. Seriously!!! not a pretty sight I tell you, not at all. Aren't accessories supposed to help you feel and look better, not that I use my latest acquisition as an accesory, it is a tool to help me satiate my voracious hunger for music, but yet don't they try to sell the cool aspect of this machine too? Why, why why can't I pass it off with the coolness they advertise it with???

But then, wasn't I the guy who used to harp about the fact "Uncool is Cool!!!"

Here's to the uncoolness as long as the music stays loud...
3 Uncool songs that I have rediscovered since the new acquisition from a band that has typified "Uncool is Cool" for me ever since the day I first heard "Creep"

Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/radiohead/subterraneanhomesickalien.html
Radiohead - Planet Telex
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/radiohead/planettelex.html
Radiohead - How can you be sure? http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/radiohead/howcanyoubesure.html

Can somebody pls teach me how to hyperlink - websites to normal text on a blog?? This bloody thing is just not f**king user friendly

Moving Movies

2006-01-16T13:44:00.000+01:00

Movies that I've watched in '06 . Lord of War, The Constant Gardener and Good Night & Good Luck. Strongly believe David Strathairn from GNGL may and should win an Oscar for his performance. If he does anyone who reads this before the awards are announced in March, should pay me 5 $ for my prediction skills.....

Cricket Speak...

2006-01-06T10:01:00.000+01:00

A few good hilarious remarks made towards the fag end of '05 and early '06

The first of course goes to an Indian - the Media manager or whatever they call him.. Capt. whatever.
"Greg Chappel had an injury to his finger while giving fielding practice to the team, the finger needed some fresh air" - Comment on Greg Chappel's "(in)famous" finger wagging at the Kolkata crowd

Second, to our sub continental brethren - "Sanath had a fall in his shower while trying to reach for his Shampoo and has dislocated his shoulder" - Ok, anything.. I mean really anything could have worked.. but what Shampoo does the bald Jayasuriya use?

Third, and one of my personal favorites, where Kiran More waxed eloquent on Dada's exemplary bowling skills and attributed that as a reason for his inclusion in the squad. Does anyone remember how many overs he bowled???

Travelling home...

2005-10-13T15:20:00.000+02:00

I travelled home… and that too when I went to the U.S. – funny eh?... It was a totally amazing time. From brush with celebrities on the streets who didn’t allow pictures, to some talented friends (potential stars) and millionaires with cash flow problems who I crashed with.

Starting it all off with gorgeous sunny days in rainy Seattle, flying over the city twice - once with my Bro and then with his flying instructor, which was 20 minutes of mind blowing aerobatics… I was warned not to throw up and funnily enough when we went into the 1st maneuver, I felt the most comfortable I have in a while - time to get the good ol’ brain checked maybe.

Saw Senor Santana at a Nike Store (yes he does wear Nikes) and the store staff asked me not to take a picture of him, he too declined, but signed autographs for us, before he got molested by some Latina on the street.

Great meals and super chill out times in Seattle, followed by the grandness, the noise and the compelling vibe of New York!! Have to confess, it was something different. From the Brownstones of Brooklyn to the madness of Manhattan. The place is something else.

10 things that I will remember from the trip:
1. Beggar holding sign “Parents killed by Ninjas, need money to learn Karate”
2. Shaking hands with Senor Carlos Santana
3. Seeing Heather Graham in NYC (I am pretty sure it was her) – if you’re a guy and don’t know who she is – get a life.
4. Bro doing some scary maneuvers in the air and 2 perfect landings + letting me control the aircraft for 30 minutes!!
5. Great meals in Seattle
6. BOBs and the industrial proportions of alcohol consumed on Fri night
7. Beer – err I mean water.. uhmm no it was actually beer. Finally I saw Stella again.. phewwww..
8. Chee Malabar’s discussions on the social set up in the U.S.
9. Being asked - “Logistics?? Is that something like Statistics??” – When I said I work in the logistics business.
10. Actually felt that I went home, even though I traveled further westward!

La-la

2005-10-13T15:13:00.000+02:00

0345 a.m. after a regular night out in town on a Friday, 3 of us grabbed by hunger pangs were stumbling along in our beer buzz, but after what seemed like 5kms of painful walking we saw light at the end of the tunnel when we saw “La-La” written on top of a half open “Showarma” store, some of you may know it as Doners, Kebabs, Pitas etc. etc.. for us though, that night, it was just pure and simple satisfying food… it was quite alarming that in Amsterdam, where you can find something to eat, drink, ehhmm "smoke" and "sleep with" - at any given time of the day, this hunt for food had really left us exhausted.

We quickly walked in, to be alarmed by the owner that he was shut – but if we wanted he could cook up something plain and simple like a showarma. We, the hungry dogs that we were, agreed!! Not that we wanted to eat anything else...

So the cooking started and we tried to make ourselves as comfortable on the horribly uncomfortably stacked up chairs around his little cooking counter/serving area – while a little kitten kept running around our legs.. all this while the man cooking started engaging us in some animated conversation – once he found out that we were from the motherland!!! He started off by singing Bollywood movie songs from the 60s and tried to recall names of movies from an era when our parents were yet not married.

One of us took the opportunity to also elaborate the meaning of the name of his “snack bar” – ‘La- La’ in Indian. Of course at hearing the word “Snack Bar”, the owner went livid – he said, “How dare you call this place a Snack Bar?? It is – ‘Grill Room La-La’ and duly pointed out the name in the local yellow pages.

A bit terrified by his outburst, but bolstered by the alcohol in our system, we all explained to him the meaning of the term “La-La” – “Usually a man with a big belly, who lends out money and cheats people”. He apparently did not take any offence to it at all and smiled back and said do you know why I call my “Grill Room” La-La?? We shrugged our shoulders and he turned out and sang “La la la la la la la la – Can’t get you out of my head” – as beaten up by our alcohol intake as we were, we still didn’t get the humour in that one, so he retorted ‘Oh La – La – La'.. and we were still going WTF???

The kitten by this time had run up on all our shoulders and of one our friends who claimed he is allergic to cats had the kitten clawing up his expensive shirt and he grimaced and said “Dude, take her off me” – I obliged by catching her collar and flinging her to the ground – OK disclaimer, I am all for animals and their ethical treatment, but cats shouldn’t be in “Grill Rooms” and they should not be climbing up customers shirts and anyway cats always fall on their feet, so no harm done.

But this ticked the owner off again and he tried to control his anger and explained to us that we need to show love to the cat and she would understand, saying this, he caught her with both hands and kissed her and also flung her to the ground - Only one thought going on in our head~ "Is he going to wash his hands or carry on cooking?" - the thought continues while the meat gets grilled, the fries get fried … after a minute or so he turns around and claps his hand 3 times in a way to suggest that his hands have been cleaned, our bewilderment with what we are witnessing keeps growing.

He pulls the grilling pan out and urges us to taste the meat, singing praises of his cooking, letting us know that he has been in business for 23 years and he wouldn’t have lasted if it wasn’t for the quality, he also slips in a footnote – “I am more expensive than your regular grill room, showarma guys” - and this too after he had warned us right up front that it would be a simple meal, this was anything but simple, it was the most elaborate, "pussy petting", song singing, showarma making experience that I had ever seen - It almost reminded me of a cheap Bollywood flick

The meat is nicely stacked up alongside the fries and our salivating mouths are not helping us… so we timidly ask the guy “How much?” and he goes, “30 Euros” – 30 Euros, lets put things into perspective, a similar meal in a normal showarma place would have cost 8 Euros – 30 euros is a pair of jeans in Zara, 30 Euros is 4 pizzas in a decent Italian pizzeria, 30 Euros is a return ticket from Brussels to Amsterdam, 30 euros is almost what I paid that night for all the alcohol to get me so hammered that I went to La-La Grill Room..30 Euros, if you haven’t got it as yet is a hell of a lot of money especially when you don’t even get the Pita bread with it, we asked him for the bread and he said 1 euro per bread and we said, “Thank you very much, but NO thanks” and trundle along with our food in our hand, shocked out of our wits at how easily we were conned out of our money… 30 Euros, we were murmuring and then we thought back to the happenings at the “Grill Room La – La” and our explanation of the term La- La and we realized why he has aptly called his place “La-La”

Musical journey this summer

2005-08-14T13:24:00.000+02:00

Bands/Acts I saw this summer

Lemon Jelly
Alanis Morissette
Oasis
Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen
U2 - London and Amsterdam
Thievery Corporation
Kraftwerk
Chemical Brothers
Snoop Dogg
Athlete - London and Werchter
Garbage
Green Day - These boys blew my mind ... whoa!!
Elvis Costello
Feeder - Those who haven't heard them - start with their single "Feeling a Moment"
Keane
Foo Fighters
R.E.M
Sarah Bettens - of K's choice.. what a girl and a half.. sigh.. if only she wasn't gay.. hahah
Roisin Murphy - That's another lady you have to check out.. Kate Moss meets Tori Amos - but much better.. she was a revelation
Katie Tunstall - Another one to check out.
B.B. King

Of course I missed out on Live 8 - but seeing Pink Floyd perform live together was so heartwarming that it still gives me the goosebumps..

That's it check out time, till the fall touring starts again.. I do have to curb this concert spending of mine though...

How long...

2005-06-24T16:02:00.000+02:00

... to sing this song

I’ll be honest, I was only 10 yrs old and I didn’t know shit about international music, my only view to the western world of music was the Grammy awards night. When I first heard of U2 it was when they swept the Grammy awards with JT and I was like, “Damn man!! No one I know won a grammy this year”, I will have to get my hands on this new album to know this band if they are gonna win everything. I’ll be lying if I said I was in love with U2’s music from the word go. No!! It was a gradual growth in appreciation of their lyrics and The Edge’s guitaring. The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum were heard over and over again on audio cassettes, rewound, and all songs learnt by heart including the singing of the guitar solos till the cassette tape started getting jammed in the player. This is when I actually fell in love with U2 – Achtung Baby had just been released in India. Did the band actually plan to warn me? “Achtung, Achtung son, you’re just gonna become a U2 bitch for life” - There was no looking back for me after that.

18 years since I first heard of U2, I had the opportunity to see them live, in the flesh, in person, up close and personal. The opportunity of a lifetime, if I may say so. I really cannot explain how big a dream this has been, no seriously, this is unbelievable. I had a friend at the concert who too asked me, this is really happening right, U2 – live in front of us. U2 – live beside us? True, true it all happened.

Many hours since early January this year have been spent to scout for tickets, many, many hours. Some people are given tickets to a U2 concert and some people work their way to get them, - only the real hardcore fans realize the sweet success of getting tickets to sold out shows for the world’s biggest and best band, there is this sweet joy, that only can be felt when you get confirmed tickets in your hand, the smugness that only you can enjoy. Ya, I am getting all boastful, but that’s what real U2 fans are supposed to be like – with a huge huge chip on their shoulder!!

Disclaimer time again - This is going to be a long post, it’s been 18 years in the waiting hold and which is why the blog is titled so..

18th June, 32 degrees at 11 AM – London City, Twickenham Stadium, the house of English Rugby. I am standing there waiting for my tickets to realize a dream. 32 degrees, it’s pounding down, no tickets yet, they say they’re getting printed come back in an hour, I come back later, no tickets yet, I am pushing the panic button, bloody hell, where are my tickets, they’re asking me to relax, they’re gonna be here anytime, I can’t relax mate, I have been waiting for this day for way too long, I’m walking up and down in front of the box office, I am trying to threaten the guy on the other side, “What if I don’t get in on time and can’t get right up, what are you gonna do?” – he just says sorry and I feel more frustrated. I am listening to the various sound checks, “Love and Peace or Else”, “Who’s gonna ride your wild horses” – It’s gonna be a great show, if only I can get those tickets in my hands!! Finally 3.20 PM, they call out “Mr. Bhatt, your tickets, we apologize for the delay, may we ask you to walk all the way to the right and line up at gate F” – I was like gate F – I am on the way to get fucked with a capital “F”

I walk up to Gate F and rats, there is like a swarm of people ahead of me in a long serpentine line that had 25 folds in it. I am still thinking “F****D”!!!, We’re slowly being edged into an enclosure, a security guard walks up to us, has a look at our tickets and straps something onto our hands, it says “Inner circle – Concert 1” – Fucking hell, I know what that means, I am in the “Bomb Shelter”!!! the heat, the dust, the waiting, the frustrations of the day, the anger, the anxiety went poof in the air. I knew I was in, in where I expect to be, after 18 years of waiting.

Beers consumed, sausages devoured, we trundle into 2 levels of security checks right into the “bomb shelter”. Pushing and nudging a bit to get right smack in the center of the opening in the stage where the two ramps come down. Twin screens stand atop two enormous speaker towers and between them aluminium sleepers create a video wall that's at least 50 feet high. Athlete opened the show with Doves, I saw Athlete and think they were brilliant, good music, good lyrics and overall good performance, must be quite a kick for them to play to 700000 people.

9 hours had passed since I first reached the venue and the famous beats of the song that U2 marches into, go up loud in the air. That’s it the sons of rock and roll, walk up on stage, all wearing black. Quiet entrance, no smoke, no flash lights, and just 4 average heighted men in black clothes. They break into “Vertigo” and the crowd is reeling, or atleast I am reeling, my mind is spinning as if I really was at a place called vertigo…

They go through some real classics, ‘Electric Co.’, ‘I Will Follow’. Then Bono begins his showmanship, “Sexy London” he says while slowly getting the audience warmed up to ‘Elevation’. 70,000 people echoing oooh hoo hoo , ooh hoo hoo. Bono mouths out, “High, higher than the sun”, goes through the few lines, no other music, just the crowd singing along. The crowd expectantly and loudly goes “ELEVATION” towards the end of the first stanza, and Bono smiles, no music yet, he goes “Flirting, a little bit of flirting is alright in London Town right? Married man, flirting in London town”. The crowd goes wild, one more time still without the music, and finally, all hell breaks loose again! The crowd in a frenzy. E-LE-VA-TION!!!

Adam Clayton is standing 3 mts away from me, smiling down at the crowd, now he is smiling at someone at his eye level, damn that’s “The Edge” on the other side, 6 mts away from me, tearing away at his guitar and smiling back at Clayton. This is not happening.... could this be for real, I can’t zoom out enough on my camera to get a full body shot of these two guys, too close man too close… Bono is breaking into “New years day”, following it up with “Beautiful day” – damn you can say that again, that was one beautiful day and he closes with “Here comes the sun”. Next up, “I still haven’t found what I am looking for” – Bono runs down the ramp. The edge’s immaculate guitaring and the sun still shining bright. The crowd singing the song as Bono points his microphone out to the crowd. The song slowly segue’s into a sharp and very familiar guitar riff, “All I want is you” – Bono announces “We’re being broadcast live on BBC” – the audience is singing, bono is leading a choir of 70,000 crazy fans. I had to shut my mouth and listen and enjoy that feeling of the crowd singing along. I realize it’s been 9 songs and they’ve only sung 1 song from HTDAAB.

The lights start shining on what so far looked like a shining piece of aluminium screen, the band starts off City of Blinding Lights, moving into Miracle Drug – Bono reaches out to a silver balloon from the audience, stretches out far and picks it up, dedicates the song to the “doctors and the nurses of the world – especially the nurses”, the crowd is loving his sense of humor. He let’s go of the balloon. Next up is “Sometimes you can’t make it on your own”, he dedicates it, “This one’s for my dad, Bob, I miss him a lot”. Beautiful animation on the screen of a man walking and the other side of the screen projecting Bono walking across the stage. Brilliant stuff. Yes Bono has eyeballs and you can see them when he takes his patented sunglasses off for this special number.

There is a drumset set up 2 mts away from me. When it’s pointed out, I actually gave out a hoot and pumped my fist in the air (maybe like a U2 bitch sort of shreik) I knew what was gonna happen. “Love and Peace or Else” right there next to me with Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. and then Bono doing a drum solo. We had chosen the right side of the ramp to stay closer to. One of my favorite songs from the new album and the boys were really bringing it down. This was up close and personal. Bono got his “C(Islamic Crescent )oeX(Star of David)isT(The Cross)” white band and wore it and started banging those drums towards the end of the song and finally threw the drumsticks, I didn’t want to fight to catch it, but I did try. The song moved so beautifully into “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – Bono got into his sermonic mode, talking about religions to coexist, pulling the headband down over his eyes reaching out to the mic like a blind man, pretending to have been chained, he continued the rendition of SBS, the sun’s gone down you can see the brilliant light effects depicting a war, bombs dropping, jets flying off – ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ with snippets of ‘Hands that built America’, ‘Johnny comes marching home’ and ‘Please’. 85 mins into the concert and the band starts “Running to a Standstill” dedicated to men and women of Britain who have been fighting in difficult places in the world – brilliantly done and then a very abrupt start to “Pride (In the name of love), dedication to Martin Luther King, you can see the crowd going wild and if that was not enough, they break into “Where the streets have no name” with the African flags going down on the screen behind them. The real fireworks are coming on. The song that apparantely has kept U2 together, the song that has got them where they are, the song the band swears by – the song they say that’s made U2 what they are today . “One” with 35,0000 cellphones lighting up the whole stadium and Bono’s plea to join the “One” campaign. What a show these guys are putting up..

The band walks away from the stage at the end of the song, the crowd is going crazy… a short break and they are back and they are bigger than ever, the Popmart meets, ZooTV, meets Elevation extravaganza is on!! The slot machine on the big screen with leaders faces dropping off till you get a jackpot with the animation of the Zooropa album cover. Bono’s shadow figure cavorting on the big screens, and then suddenly he is on stage staring into a small camera and running through one of my favorite songs of all time “Zoostation” – this is what U2 is all about, the glamour, and the class, and the raw energy and this is what the man Bono is all about as well, the real showman, the guy who likes to show he’s a rock and roll renegade, he does not need to conform, he needs to rebel – the swagger in his walk, the sneer to the crowd, I am falling short of words, but this was it!!! this is what I wanted to see… Bono in his element. Brilliant effects with huge Z and the band members on the screen, no way to describe what they did with “Zoostation” and “The Fly”, they were really tearing it down here, ‘The Fly’ started with words and sentences flashing on the screen, if you’ve seen any Zoostation concert or Popmart, you’ll know what I am talking about, words become, sentences, become lies, fill in the blank spaces – disb lief, s ll your shirt, s ld your soul…. words and sentences throwing themselves on the screen. This was true U2, this was the bigger than life, spectacle one would expect of a band of U2’s size. The lights, the band, the atmosphere, the people, everything was seriously electric… Brilliantest shit I’ve ever seen… and that’s when they break into “Mysterious ways” – holy f**king shit… Bono is doing the belly dancer moves, he leans forward into the crowd, gestures to a girl, I am sure there were over a 100 hands going up and he says no , not you, that one, no no not you too, that one, you, ya you.. you’re the one, gestures security ‘bring her up’ – girl is on stage, Bono says, “take some pictures for us?” gives her one of those funky small video cameras, the girl is holding the camera and pointing it at the crowd, pointing it at bono, pointing it at the edge, the camera is upside down, Bono and the girl don’t know about the camera, TheEdge is gesturing at them to look up at the screen, to see what they’re doing, they don’t get the hint, once he has his hands free at the end of the song he helps the girl hold it right. The Edge is grinning and laughing away. The show is coming to an end, A slow acoustic rendition of “Yahweh” and they do a second edition of Vertigo and close the show with it, with a quick wave good bye and “The End” emblazoned on the screen, the show had come to an end. I have to say the end was disappointing – If you have 50 odd other songs to pick from, why play the same song twice in the same show, but I am not one to complain, the experience in itself was too overpowering and difficult to take in, in the 140 mins that U2 were on stage.

I am a happy fan, I am a good fan, I demand the best from U2 always and I don’t think this was the best they could do, I have heard and seen better concerts by them, but this was my first U2 – Live experience and I have to confess I was/I am a bit overwhelmed, I still sit and look at the pics and the videos I managed to capture. I am sure if they would have closed with ‘40’ or played ‘UTEOTW’ or ‘Bad’ – this concert would have been out of this world, but ya you can’t expect to get everything in one show, so I am waiting, waiting for the 13th of July, my second date with the boys who play rock and roll…. Amsterdam see you soon!!

I wore a suit....

2005-06-11T10:15:00.000+02:00

..... because I was going to see “The Boss” in concert – Live, Solo and Acoustic. The atmosphere was awkward, just how it is outside a board room, people pouring over some literature being handed out. Ushers leading people into the right seats.

Awkward silence, annoying chatter around the hall, expectant people waiting for proceedings to kick off. “The Boss” walks in, takes his place, holds the mic and gives out strict instructions in fluent French and Flemish, “This is an acoustic concert with a variety of songs from my repertoire, I would like to point out that the show can be enjoyed best in a silent surrounding and I would urge you to turn your mobile phones off and do not use any cameras”. The crowd of 15000 expectant fans break into an appreciative applause.

The man looked old when he walked on to stage, but the minute he strapped on the six string, it was magic unleashed, the man changed form and he looked like a man possessed and you could see the passion run through every raging vein of his from his forehead to his forearm.

The music was truly moving to say the least, actually the reason why I haven’t been able to post a blog on this concert is because I still haven’t completely been able to fathom all that I felt and experienced over those 2 hours on 30th May. The way he sang and played the piano and the guitar and the harmonica, the way he spoke between his songs, the way he eased the tension from one deep song to the other by just uttering a few words, which you could easily sense were not practiced and repeated just for concerts, even if they were, they were said with an air of non chalance that made you feel comfortable with it.

I knew probably 9-10 songs out of the 24 he played, but it was the ones that I didn’t know too well, that really struck a chord somewhere, the way he spoke of his music, his family, his life, I am sure it moved a lot of people and not just me. Goosebumps must have been felt by all in the audience at some point of time or the other.

The average age of the concert goer at this one must have been over 35, which would have made me one of the younger fans of “The Boss”, but I was suprized at the energy and enthusiasm of some of the die hard fans, who sang along and even gave out loud shrieks of approval even when he played songs, that were not often heard. A sure sign, the arena was full of only die hard fans.

“The Boss”, being the boss, had to have things his way or no way… he played the songs that he had picked and towards the end they allowed the people with seats right in the front to stand up and approach the stage, The boss, walked up and sang and high fived with the audience, in true Springsteen fashion, gave out one last warning to putting the stamp that says “I am the Boss”, he said, “If you don’t stop using those flash cameras of yours, I swear I am going to kill you”, which immediately commanded the respect a man of his stature deserves.

I am still coming to grips with what I had experienced that evening. A great concert, a great moving experience, a great man, with great skills, a great man with great amounts of passion.

Every cent spent on getting the tickets and all the emails sent out to this really sweet ticket agent to manage tickets for a sold out show was worth it.

This is going to be something I can only cherish and not share as easily I would have liked to, because I am no boss, who can say what he feels, express what he thinks and do it with an amazing amount of musical and lyrical power that would leave anyone floored. I am just an ordinary guy, waiting for more enlightenment from the “The Boss”.

By the way, I did actually wear a suit to the concert and that was only cos I had to go straight from work to the concert :-)

On a different note, can someone please tell me how I can upload pics or small movie files on to the blog so that people who may be interested to see my last two concert experiences can see them.

Tomorrow afternoon this time I will be queuing up to enter Twickenham stadium and meet the only real sons of Rock & Roll - Paul, Dave, Larry and Adam – Also known as U2. Watch this space!!!!!!!!

Don't believe the truth

2005-06-05T10:19:00.000+02:00

It was a couple of months ago when, while getting ready to go to work,on a tip off from a friend I logged onto a concert tickets website and booked 3 tickets for an Oasis concert. Honestly, I have never followed this band, I do know most of their famous hits, but have never bought an album.

Closer to the concert date, I had acquired Oasis' latest offering - "Don't believe the truth", surprized as I was to see that Liam and Noel are still together!! I think hardcore Oasis fans may not like the album, but I think it's brilliant, it's quite a back to basics album with brilliant guitaring and personally I would rate it as a good Rock album - from the bad boys of Britpop.

Day of the concert, I heard their latest album a couple of times, hooked onto the Oasis radio on their website and basically got myself ready for my first ever Oasis concert.

3 beers consumed, I walk into the small amphitheatre called "Ancienne Belgique" and see the Union Jack flying all over and a lot of beer breath around me. The loudspeaker is playing "Helter Skelter" from the beatles and the crowd is getting into the tense anticipation state. Suddenly the lights go down and the loudspeaker shouts out the opening chords of "F*cking in the bushes" and Liam takes center stage.

To put things into perspective - The concert arena might have held 10000 people max. It is small, but it was packed to the gills and I am sure in true brit style all the concert goers had consumed a few pints of lager before coming in. The minute the lights on stage came on and Liam uttered his first few words, the so far quiet and expectant crowd, went crazy.. beer glasses flying around - not empty, I mean full beer glasses!! the girl next to me was on all 4 fours and trying to find something on the floor, I asked her if I could help, she said she had lost her lense from her left eye - I didn't bother to respond. Liam had gone into verse 2 of "Turn up the Sun" and I was in my first mosh pit in 14 years of concert going!

I was being jostled and pushed and somehow I didn't mind, I was actually enjoying it, it fitted in with the music and the atmosphere.

Liam is an arrogant performer. No thank yous from him to the crownd and when Noel sang, he quietly walked off the stage (was it a sign that he wants to give his brother a bigger spot under light or is it that he is so disinterested in the project that he comes on only when required??)

They ran through all their greatest hits, "Champagne Supernova". "Wonderwall", "Morning Glory", "Don't look back in anger", "Stop, crying your heart out" - It was a brilliant concert in terms of energy and the sounds. The band does not consist of performers unfortunately, they come there, do their job and leave, of course towards the end Liam walked right up to the tip of the stage and gestured to the crowd to come up to the front - and everyong including me obeyed - it was crazy, the number of people pushing to get to the front and then the man stood their for 5 mins in one serious Madame Tussauds position while the crowd went crazy.

Liam is a great guy to shoot with a digicam without a flash when he's performing because he stands there in that half curved position, head tilted slightly to the left, mouth stuck to the mic and arms folded tight behind his back.

Net - Net, it was a brilliant concert experience for me, moshing, crowd surfing included. I am an oasis rookie, but this concert changed my perspective on them. They might still not compare to the biggest bands and will never ever get their status of the early and mid nineties as the best thing since to come out of the UK since the beatles. But what they did on stage last night, kept me charged and up and jumping and smiling for hours after. Thanks Jan, for asking me to buy these tickets!!

More updates on the Boss concert coming up soon.

The Lawn Mower!!

2005-04-26T23:29:00.000+02:00

A person who goes by the initials of VB recently posted a comment on my blog, it read "start practising the ducky walk since on the court tomorrow your ass is grass (and I'm the lawn mower)"

"The Ducky walk" is a ritual performed by the loser in the games of squash played every alternate tuesday. My friend, the anonymous comment poster VB, has had that pleasure off late - of doing the ducky walk that is, while I have had the pleasure of watching him do it, after having the pleasure of beating him in the game, he taught me to play. I will refrain from giving out scorelines out of respect for my coach and now regular squash partner.

Today though we changed our bets for the game, if I lost I was to post it on my blog and disgrace myself, but if I won??? As usual "comment poster VB" had gone into oblivion of what if there could be another result? Well I have decided to stick to the deal and post something on my blog about today's goings on on the squash court, but I shall let Mr. Comment Poster give out the results of the day, those of you who know him from the initials, can email him. His email id is firstname.secondname@gmail.com

Please ask "Who was the lawn mower and whose ass was grass". Also please ask how was the Lawn Mower in games 4-5 and unfinished game 6 and why is the grass not being able to grow even if there is ample rain and ample sunshine in Belgium.

This important midweek blog update was brought to you courtesy of AB Lawn Mowers and associates. Good night and god bless.

Wright words

2005-04-17T20:10:00.000+02:00

The outgoing coach of Indian cricket, John Wright said today in an interview

"Life has never been dull in this position. It is something I'll consider: where to go from here. I think sometimes a period of reflection is good. There will be other challenges for me, I'm sure of that. I said this before. I've always felt that the passion of the Indian fans is very special and those are the people for who cricket plays a big part. I've always felt they deserve a good team. They understand that winning and losing can be part of the game but they deserve a good team to make them proud. During the tough times, that sort of kept me going.

On asked whether he will watch India in the coming years
Wright said "Like a hawk. "

On asked about his connection with India
Wright said, "My son and daughter support India. Of course I will follow India. They say that India touches you and that is correct in my case as well."

I could have wept if I would have heard this live. The boys owed him one last big one!! #$%#$%$%#^#%#@%^@&**^%$$#, Anyway, tomorrow will be another day, and after all I really wish, really really wish, cricket was only a sport for me, or for that matter for the whole sub continent, but unfortunately it is not and it will never be.

John Wright, I thank you for all that you tried and all that you did for the Indian cricket team! May the best be with you.

Music...Movies.. Cricket

2005-04-10T14:13:00.001+02:00

Saw Lemon Jelly perform live, never thought 2 DJs and a guitar could do this to me. Coupled with fantastic animation projections.. Great concert.. Beautiful, just beautiful, like a million dollars. check out --> www.lemonjelly.ky

Oasis sold out in Brussels in 21 minutes. Someone managed to wangle tickets at 0730 in between the shaving and the tooth brushing, the shirt ironing and the hair gelling.

Looking forward to tick off on Alanis, Bruce Springsteen, Oasis, Keane, Green Day, REM, Athlete, Foo Fighters, Chemical Brothers, Thievery Corporation before this Belgian summer is over. --> www.rockwerchter.be

Saw Maria Full of Grace, don't know what I walked away with from the movie, it left me quite depressed for a while, besides the fact that I was really impressed that I understood every dialogue by reading the french subtitles.
Finally saw "Lost in Translation", I am amazed at how well the lack of dialogue has been handled in the movie, the awkward attraction between the characters and the final goodbye is brilliant, totally brilliant, love you Ms. Coppola, and of course now I am a big Scarlet Johannson fan. Another movie of her's to watch is "Ghost World" 5 Thumbs up on that. Saw Alfie, great soundtrack, great camera work, editing.. a lot of stuff I actually enjoyed about the movie, including Jude Law and his "player" ways, but at the end it didn't completely satisfy me, god knows what was missing...

The boys in blue did it again, well I guess earlier in the week it was 1 guy in a green uniform who did it to them, but today it was them and only them who were responsible for their fall from grace, or was that actually a fall from grace? They've been so happy in their mediocrity for ages as a fellow cricket fan very rightly pointed out, that there has to be some sort of big jostle up in the Indian cricketing fraternity starting from the policy and decision makers to the selectors to the players. A rethink of priorities and ideas on how team India, which on paper is probably the 2nd best side in the world, will somehow make it to the quarter finals of the world cup in 2007.
Atleast, today if we had a Vinod Kambli in the team he would have cried watching the goings on - on and off the field, and struck a chord with the millions of cricket lovers in India, or actually not, the Indian cricket fan has been turned into the truest of cynics all thanks to 11 guys who make millions to destroy the hopes and passion of the millions of people who support them. Well anyway the frustration that I feel following this game on a website can only be subsided by a good round of squash and pounding my Nepali friend to pulp. If the Pakistanis pound the Indians, then this Indian can surely pound a Nepali, after all, all is fair in love and war... and frustration...
Gosh I did get emotional and went off the handle there...

Till later.. Adios Amigos

Washing away the blues

2005-03-28T11:10:00.000+02:00

My laundry lot had an interesting new addition today. During my spring clean over the weekend, I found the famous "Blue" T-shirt with the tricolor brushed on the front and INDIA emblazoned on top of it. I gave it a sad look, before chucking it in the machine with my other colored clothes, just in case it let go of it's colors(is that a pun?well if it is, it is intended). I was talking to another cricket fanatic friend of mine who said "Indians have shown their true colors again", I sort of sneered, I still felt sad. It's so easy for the Indian cricket team to choke and sputter and that is always typified with them showing their "true colors". I nodded and hesitantly said, "Ya, that's true, they indeed have shown their true colors again".

So I ask myself, what are the true colors of the Indian cricket team? Choking ever so often to inexperienced, sub standard teams that visit the country? Or for once standing up and saying, we are definitely the 2nd best cricketing nation in the world and we are here to kick some big time arse!

My alarm for the laundry cycle has just gone off. So, while I still use the laundromat to wash away the "blues" and wish that my Indian Blue cricket t-shirt has not let go off it's colors, I truly wish the Indian team would really let go off their "typical" true colors and help me wash away the blues I feel ever so often when I see them play.

The Russian Acquaintance

2005-03-25T19:02:00.000+01:00

There is a Russian guy I know for the last 9 months. We see each other daily as we commute together.

We met one rainy wet day, if you're in Brussels, you would end up using that phrase "We met one rainy wet day" very often. I had crouched over to look at these slugs crawling across the pavement and he towered over me and said, "What are those", I replied "I think they are called slugs", he went,"Slaags, is that what you call them?" then turned away and kept repeating, "slaags, slaags, slaags.....".

As I already mentioned, I do see him daily, so in his efforts to move from acquaintance to friend, he tried to pick up the conversation thread again, he came real close and shouted "Where are the SLAAGS MAN", it was one of those rare bright and shiny days and I looked at him after a tiring day and said, "hopefully, the slugs atleast know where they are today" and trudged along, I could hear him go, while he nodded his head "Slaags, slaags slaags...".

This continued for a few months, he would ask me, the whereabouts and howabouts of the "Slaags", he asked if I ate "slaags", or if i liked "slaags" and I would give him some answer to quench his thirst for "Slaag" knowledge.

This went on till one day our mode of transport decide to show up late, I fumbled for things in my bag to read, rather to look occupied, to my utter dismay, there was nothing, so I tried to take out my cellphone and pretend I was thumbing a text message to someone. I could feel him creep up close to me. Suddenly, "Dudee!!do you speak french?", I look up say, "un peu"("a bit" in french) just to ward him off, that I am not good to help you with any translation, but good enough to understand any abuses you may want to hurl at me because I don't know the god damn where abouts of the "slaags". He smiled and said, "Good" and then went on to explain how he started to learn french after 2 years of living in Brussels as some passport authority told him it was a shame he had made no efforts to learn the language of a country he lived in. Suddenly, I realized that this Russian had a bit of depth to him, and isn't only interested in the lives of slugs.

I started saying Hi to him more often, and he would respond with a "Dude!!" or a "Hey DudO!!", man I was glad, we had been able to put the slugs behind us.

It would be perfect if I stopped here, but the fact of the matter is that we still commute together and potentially I could be working on the same office floor as his in a week!! Now that calls for some more words on this man!!

After our initial "slugfest" was over, I had decided to open up a bit to his loud enquiries into my past and future. I really don't mind answering questions about myself, while I hate asking people inquisitive questions about their lives - like "why are you not working in your own country?", "do you really like this crappy city?","So you like the west more than the east?"(questions posed to me by you know who!!??!!). Anyway, I found his line of questioning and especially his response to my answers quite ridiculous (maybe it's just my lack of cultural understanding) but I relegated the russian to the acquaintance status, right when he thought he was moving into friend status.

I would say he is a bit of a conversational and social retard, not in the terms that he talks less or doesn't interact much. On the contrary, he overdoes it. I was at an expat bar for an after work drinks thingy, I saw the Russian there and managed to stay at the other end of the bar and engaged myself in animated conversations with people around me. The Russian was with a few other men and was downing vodka in true, for lack of a better term "Russian style". A couple of hours had passed and I hear this very familiar voice, albeit a bit slurry this time, "Heeey, you are sooo beeauoootiful, you are the most beeeauoootiful sing I have seen this naait"(sorry I am trying to communicate the slur and the accent to create the right impact), I really jumped out of my pants there..It was the Russian, but phew.. thankfully, he was saying it to some lady who was standing right behind me. She was making a valiant effort to not spray that sip of her drink she had just taken in, all over my Russian acquaintance. I decided to slip away, before I was in anyway summoned to help him solve this latest situation in his life. I have to confess, I have at times made such statements, but have done so, probably, to women who I have known for a while and who are comfortable to hear it from me and probably under lesser influence of alcohol. But ya my Russian acquaintance had said it to a total stranger, that's real bravado and a glaring example of his social and conversational skills

I respect my "Russian Acquiantance's continued efforts to know more people and become part of the "western decadence" as he likes to call it. Hope there are enough slugs around Brussels for him to make more friends.

Here's till Tuesday morning, when I see him again.

Dimaag ki..

2005-03-25T18:38:00.000+01:00

Dimaag ki.. loosely translated means "The brain's", but those two words are usually followed up with a variety of vernacular colloquial words to signify people's state of mind - from being stupefied, to being amused, to being annoyed etc. etc.. I am using it as a heading for my blog only because I want to put down a lot of things on this blog which made my mind feel happy/elated/angry/annoyed/flummoxed/smug and the list goes on.

So it's spring time here in Brussels, it was 9 degrees, raining and grey - I don't mind the weather, but so much for spring :-s (I keep telling people, I as an Indian inherently will always love the rain because that's the only weather worth anything in India and it will really take me a long time to get out of that indian frame of mind, oh the number of love songs written with rain as a backdrop) - The nonchalant state of my brain :)

Saw I "heart Huckabees, not sure what I walked away with from that movie. It had it's moments but it didn't take me in like my previous vehemently recommended "Garden State". Yet I am gonna watch it a couple of times to get a hang of it - The flummoxed state of my brain.

My previous post on this blog spoke of blogging being a possibility of truly "free" expression through the written word. Read this, how the leading newspaper in India has forced a blogger to shut down his blog, the blog that was shut down http://mediaah.blogspot.com/ and the blog that still carries the content from the previous blog (run by another blogger)http://mediaha.blogspot.com/? I got this from Amit Varma's blog http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/(good reading) - The angry state of my brain.

U2 got inducted into the R&RHOF - Amazing speeches and amazing performance to one of my all time favorite songs if performed live - Until the end of the world. Bono serenades Catherine Zeta in the Audience, pops a bottle champagne from someone's table. Great stuff. Read speeches here http://u2log.com/archive/2005/03/rebels_without_a_pause.php - The "There is hope in the world" state of my mind.

I had written to a friend last week, 4th day of second test match between India and Pakistan - "Key lies with Kumble", the man took 7 wickets to make India win the test - The smug state of my mind.

Carrying on with that topic. In my limited knowledge of cricket, I feel this is by far the least experienced and one of the weakest Pakistani sides to have toured India, on the other hand, this is by far the best composed Indian team in years. Unfortunately, the Indian media has blamed the pitches way too long. I feel sad that India is not 2-0 in this series and has not been able to wipe out the Pakistan team in less than 4 days. Something is wrong somewhere. The Indian cricket team has miles to go before they can claim to be number 2 in the world. - The WTF state of my mind.

Came back from my 5 days of skiing, the 3rd ski season I have seen in this life time, the sun was pounding down and we had some fresh powder towards the end of the 5 days. So it was perfect ski conditions. I came back sun burnt as hell but the feeling of going down those slopes at speeds of 70 - 80 Km/h (ya i clocked 83Km/h on the speedometer),forgetting things like fear of broken bones and doctor's fees(Viva swiss insurance schemes)! Skiing is my closest contact to any sort of extreme activity. It's a great sport, hope I can pursue it for years - The ecstatic state of my mind.

I am trying to put up pictures on this god damn blog. Now I don't want to sign up with some 50 thousand different photo sharing websites like picassa and hello and flickr. Can anyone who is a little less technologically retarded than me, point me to the right direction? - The frustrated state of my mind.

The guys at nomadlife have asked me to sign up with them. They can't offer me a url with more than 14 characters and I want to stick to this suspendedamitation brand, can someone convince me why I should join nomadlife, and I wonder what they are gonna do one day with the network they are building? - The pensive state of my mind.

Don't mean to be making "Dimaag ki kadhi" (Curry out of your brains), so am gonna say over n out for a bit..Happy easter and enjoy your long weekends.

Freedom of expression

2005-03-05T19:55:00.000+01:00

This is by far one of the most easy, unedited and unmonitored form of expressing through the written word. A lot of people do use the medium very effectively to communicate exactly what they feel and think. A lot of people even use it to chronicle their lives, however boring that maybe.

I have wanted to write a lot of things that I usually think of, but i have to confess, I do hold myself back, even more than I would while talking to people. The spoken word, is said, and it goes away, people can remember it if they wish to, but there is no proof of it. On the other hand, this blog could stay on the www forever, even if I die, people could find it.

For a guy who is at the stage, where I am in life, the totally unbridled freedom of expression and thought may not go down too well. I mean come on, I am just starting my life, trying to find my feet in the real world, a job, a new set of friends in a different country, probably a Masters sometime in the future.

Imagine if people were to do a reference check about me on the internet and find some really earth shattering information (maybe one of those alcohol induced sessions of genius writing that I may belch out) - see now that is already bordering on a negative comment about me, it could be misconstrued that I drink copious amounts of alcohol or depend on alcohol to feel a moment of genius to write something noteworthy.. Oh well!!

Seriously, I don't know where this blog is heading, but I need to head out of here because I am really tempted to let out one of those really rip roaring belches which signify total defiance of anyone else's presence and express myself really really openly.. but on hindsight, it might not be a great idea.

Enjoy yr saturday nights everyone, wherever you are.

Actuallly a leaving note for all Indian's reading this,i'm hoping for miracles for Narain Karthikeyan!Something makes me want to back him. And seriously don't Indian politicians have more important things to attend to, than pass legislations if Indian sports people can wear the Indian tricolors as part of their sport uniform! If I was the sportsperson I would wear the tricolor and defy authority, what are they going to do? Take away my citizenship? Imagine, India without it's cricket team as indian citizens.. hahahahahah

A.M.B.G.

2005-02-22T21:06:00.000+01:00

A.M.B.G.
I remember my examination papers in high school ended with the four letters A.M.D.G. We, students had made up a longer version of the acronym - “All may do good”, we thought the teachers wanted to give us a blessing through 4 randomly placed alphabets. We went on with this for a while, some of us even made other not so intelligent vernacular versions of the same like “Aa maaro dahyo gadhedo” (this is my well behaved donkey!!!??!!)

Our myths about those 4 alphabets were dispelled later on by our latin speaking school principal who informed us that A.M.D.G., stood for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which meant - To the greater glory of god. Trust a priest to provide us with enlightenment!!

Now you might wonder why have I gone and written about A.M.D.G. and named my blog A.M.B.G. Don’t worry no typos or loss of memory..

This blog is “To the greater glory of Brussels”, (Ad Majorem Brussels Gloriam - Yo!Diego thanks for pointing this out!!) my school principal might cringe if he heard or read this, but then, these are the few pleasures that being out of school can afford you, like uhhm… freedom of thought and speech?

The last weekend was dedicated to rediscover Brussels for the 2nd or 3rd time, this time though I had a perfect ally, my equally inquisitive and big time food lover, sis – in – law, which made the gallivanting that much more interesting. I definitely don’t think I have completely discovered the city, but these one off walks off the beaten path often land you in a new part of the city and you come back happy with the knowledge that “I saw something new about the city that I have come to call home”. Oh by the way for people who didn’t know, Brussels is home for me now, at least for the time being :-)

Actually it’s not only the fact that I discover a new part of Brussels but also a new character - something different and deeper in degrees!!

I am not trying to say Brussels is different or Brussels is great or Brussels is the best, no no no, not at all, Brussels is ordinary, very very ordinary. It has restaurants, it has bars, it has architecture, it has a central square, it has Sunday markets, it has the rich and it has the bums. It has a very ordinary transport system, it has an ugly central station and it is generally not an awe inspiring or breathtaking city

In today’s well developed, organized world, when you come to a capital city and see a block lined with 2 fries stores, a mom and pop convenience store, a funeral home, a flower store, a medical store, a hair dresser, a patisserie, an internet parlor, a night shop and a laundromat squeezed along beautiful (your conventional concept of beautiful may not apply here!) unsymmetrical houses with different heights angles and designs. You sit up and say “What??” and you make a little funny face where your lip and cheek twitch to a side and your eyes are half closed in disbelief. That’s Brussels for you!! In it’s unpredictability lies it’s beauty, something a normal traveler may get upset by, something a normal tourist may consider an eyesore is in a way an identity that you can only learn to accept and appreciate with the passage of time.

Ok, I guess the people who had a touristy inclination towards Brussels would have shut their browsers right about now.

So moving on to the people who want to read on to be nice to me or are really jobless or actually want to read what I am writing.

How many places in the world would you find chocolates, beers, fries and waffles as standard fare available at every nook and corner! I mean it, really every nook and corner!! Where in the world can you stand on the street and eat freshly cooked escargots (Snails), where else in the world will you have difficulty finding a McDonald’s? Ya Brussels probably has 2 of them. Where else can you find more than 20 establishments selling beer at 10 am in one square on a weekend but no “coffee to go”!! How many classic, almost touristy bars have a pet cat, which often goes and sits on tables and purrs along supportively to your beer sipping, while the waitress picks a fight with you? How many capital cities in the world have a forest surrounding 3/4ths of the city? And how many of those would have a restaurant right in the middle of that forest?

I remember reading somewhere that Belgium has more Michelin Stars per capita than France - the land of “cuisine”. This points out that the Belgians like their food and Brussels is a classic example with more than 2000 different eating establishments for a population of about a million. I can go on and on about what you can eat and drink in Brussels and where, but that would definitely merit another blog altogether, have a look at my sis-in-law’s blog from her weekend trip. http://seattlefoodies.blogspot.com/2005/02/brussels-for-foodies.html

I guess, I have gone on enough about Brussels now, time to sign out. Those of you who know me, pay me a visit and rest assured of the best beer sampling tour ever. Those who don't know me go visit Brussels anyway.

Following off from my last blog www.blurredrandomness.blogspot.com, the soundtrack of Garden State won the Grammy for the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture!! Yay, there was merit in that recommendation!! Ok that was me blowing my ugly trumpet, that ain't gonna win any awards. Moving forward I think I am going to park my blogs on www.suspendedamitation.blogspot.com from now on. See you here once in a while.

Blurred Randomness

2005-02-22T21:03:00.000+01:00

Blurred Randomness
Events of the week - Sania Mirza lost to Serena, though she did make it to round 2 of the AO.. Damn and the media in India has made her the blue eyed girl of the country.. Jeez!! I have no great or small achievements to boast about, but if I was in the business of attracting media attention I would never be happy with comments like "Loses the match but wins hearts!!" - I know our ex Prime minister did say "Cup hi nahin, dil bhi jitiye". WTF mate!! Why don't the Hewitt's or the Ponting's of the world care about winning hearts? Hewitt gets dumped by his Belgian tennis playing girl, what does he do? He wins some more tournaments, makes some more money and starts dating a real hottie. Ponting and his band of merry men, go to any new country - sledge the living daylights out of the opposition, bludgeon them and keep smiling. The world still loves them man!! If you're rich and/or powerful the world will love you anyway. So go all out, win all you can, the hearts will follow....

Natalie Portman has recently won my heart. Extremely good performances in 2 very good movies of 2004 - Garden State and Closer. That girl is gonna win an award soon, or maybe she won't cos she already won my heart :-)

U2 comes out with their tour dates finally next week. Keep your eyes peeled out people!!

That's as much of "blurred randomness" I can dish out for the night. Hope it's warm wherever the hell you're reading this.

Wish me luck in whatever I am attempting and some bigger entity somewhere will give you one of those cool smiles!!

I think I will stick with my ritual of signing off with a recommendation. Relating to Garden State once again. Awesome, awesome soundtrack - my favorite track "One of these things" by Nick Drake. A find from the Album - Zero 7, some good tracks from them. All you ppl with T1 and ADSL connections try and listen to them.

That's it from fritesland!!

Succumbed

2005-02-22T21:02:00.000+01:00

Succumbed!
I have to confess, the recent barrage of "read my blog", "I started my own blog", "did you read his blog","blogging is so cool" finally got to me. I have buckled and succumbed to the blogging wave - ya and you thought only the tidal wave in south east asia had victims?(I think that's a rude thing to say!)

So as a new comer to this world of blogging this is just a start and it may not be a great blog 'cause I don't know why I am writing this, just like how one ends up taking the first few drags from a cigarette at a tender age only to end up coughing their lungs out, I guess this time round I will end up spilling my guts out. Peer pressure has gotten to me once again!!

Alright, so the heating in my house has suddenly gone off, as has my landlord for his weekend break! (don't worry i am used to this schedule,it gives me a reason to use the my totally unused oven to keep me warm!!). As my fingers have now almost gone numb, i'll end with a quick note or rather a recommendation of something I really enjoyed. Watch this move "Garden State" by Zach Braff http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstate/ . By far one of the better movies I have seen in a long time, and i have to confess, the straw that broke the camel's back was Zach Braff's blog!!

May good music lift everyone's soul.

I hope I never read this blog as I am sure I will be embarrased.