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.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Wright words
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!! #$%#$%$%#^#%#@%^@&**^%$$#, Anyway, tomorrow will be another day, and after all I really wish, really really wish, cricket was only a sport for me, or for that matter for the whole sub continent, but unfortunately it is not and it will never be.
John Wright, I thank you for all that you tried and all that you did for the Indian cricket team! May the best be with you.
"Life has never been dull in this position. It is something I'll consider: where to go from here. I think sometimes a period of reflection is good. There will be other challenges for me, I'm sure of that. I said this before. I've always felt that the passion of the Indian fans is very special and those are the people for who cricket plays a big part. I've always felt they deserve a good team. They understand that winning and losing can be part of the game but they deserve a good team to make them proud. During the tough times, that sort of kept me going.
On asked whether he will watch India in the coming years
Wright said "Like a hawk. "
On asked about his connection with India
Wright said, "My son and daughter support India. Of course I will follow India. They say that India touches you and that is correct in my case as well."
I could have wept if I would have heard this live. The boys owed him one last big one!! #$%#$%$%#^#%#@%^@&**^%$$#, 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.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Music...Movies.. Cricket
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
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
Monday, March 28, 2005
Washing away the blues
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.
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.
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Russian Acquaintance
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.
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..
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.
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.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Freedom of expression
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
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
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
A.M.B.G.
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.
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
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!!
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
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.
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.
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