slight change of fortune over the last few days. after almost 2 months, i feel totally like myself and for a change my doc agreed with me. dont have to see him again (-:
was on the floor reeling and laughing and wanting to puke all at the same time. ever heard about weasel coffee? trust me, you dont want to. as the name suggests...its coffee associated with a weasel and according to me coffee at its perfidious best. this coffee is actually made from beans that have been "regurgigated" (in layman's terms..pooed) by weasels in vietnam. its supposed to be a connoiseurs delight. i wonder what the hell they were smoking when they invented this. or maybe some american soldiers denied their daily caffeine during the war... (-:
either way...vietnam is apparently causing a coffee glut and bringing prices down. so dont be surprised to find vietnam coffee and weasel coffee added to the starbucks menu soon.
another thing that made me cry and laugh at the same time: fahrenheit 9/11. people leave the showing hall worried crazy that they are ruled by crazy ass loons and laughing about the whole thing. i guess most cant do much about it. there are times when i am happy that i dont have a vote here...i cannot be held responsible in any way for the mess created.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Thursday, June 17, 2004
master of my domain
ever lived alone? i mean alone alone? i am right now the master of well...a 2 bedroom apartment and without a room mate. have to get through summer this way. first few days, the empty room seemed to tease me. so i threw all my junk in there (robin ...if u are reading...ur rooms trash now..!!!)
then suddenly i realised...i am master of my domain. i cant recollect where the hell i got this catchy phrase from. (someone help). i think i heard this on some show or maybe one of george carlin's gems. either way...i am right now realising the fact that i partially control the destiny of a few square feet of real estate. its another matter that i pay through my nose to do it...but i wont realise it till ...maybe the end of the month, when the nose part comes into play. am making a list of things to do when i am alone: cook in the buff, maybe actually clean this damn dump, redecorate (haha..am losing my mind), invite strangers over, have a party and trash the place,....
heard the audio from the 9/11 commission. brought a chill to the spine. not that i am a very sensitive kind, but hearing a killer talking to his victims when he alone knows the crime to be brought upon them is ...well, fiendish. the first thing i remembered when i heard this tape was strangely thane in india. more specifically a sad bus stop that no longer exists. thats where i was when i heard the news.
wrote this blog over a few hours. kept the window open and typed in it on and off. might do this, much better than trying to cram in a day's memories in a few minutes.
btw...what do u get when you throw a grand piano on a) a army base b) mine
a) flat major b)a flat miner
then suddenly i realised...i am master of my domain. i cant recollect where the hell i got this catchy phrase from. (someone help). i think i heard this on some show or maybe one of george carlin's gems. either way...i am right now realising the fact that i partially control the destiny of a few square feet of real estate. its another matter that i pay through my nose to do it...but i wont realise it till ...maybe the end of the month, when the nose part comes into play. am making a list of things to do when i am alone: cook in the buff, maybe actually clean this damn dump, redecorate (haha..am losing my mind), invite strangers over, have a party and trash the place,....
heard the audio from the 9/11 commission. brought a chill to the spine. not that i am a very sensitive kind, but hearing a killer talking to his victims when he alone knows the crime to be brought upon them is ...well, fiendish. the first thing i remembered when i heard this tape was strangely thane in india. more specifically a sad bus stop that no longer exists. thats where i was when i heard the news.
wrote this blog over a few hours. kept the window open and typed in it on and off. might do this, much better than trying to cram in a day's memories in a few minutes.
btw...what do u get when you throw a grand piano on a) a army base b) mine
a) flat major b)a flat miner
Thursday, June 10, 2004
one month one day
thats the time since i last blogged. sorry to say this...but it hasnt been an easy ride. i will get back with details soon. in short....i havent been the luckiest guy. fell ill, took some time to recover. not ill enough to be bedridden, but ill enough to suspend activities like blogging.
i am not too sure my lucks gotten better, so wont comment on it right now. will wait till i tide over things and then write an account.
Read lot many books over the last one month. the ones that struck me as being superb:
1. Fahrenheit 451: superb, awesome...if you haven't read this, i take the pleasure of being the one who introduced you to a good book. This one makes a lot of sense today. I feel the message is not against censorship by the government, but rather self-censorship by people in order to be politically correct and so that everyone is happy. share your thoughts.
2. galapagos: pretty good read. liked the satire.
3. life of pi: brilliant...but some parts of it were kind of stretched out. but yann martel does a good job of keeping us glued to the book.
saw quite a few decent movies too: one was catch-22. not as great as the book, but i loved the effect of the opening scene. something that the book couldnt do. another was "y tu mama tambien". HOT. saw the rated version, cant imagine what the unrated one is like. but i liked the presentation. so different from hollywood. an easy narrative style of presenting. liked it.
i am not too sure my lucks gotten better, so wont comment on it right now. will wait till i tide over things and then write an account.
Read lot many books over the last one month. the ones that struck me as being superb:
1. Fahrenheit 451: superb, awesome...if you haven't read this, i take the pleasure of being the one who introduced you to a good book. This one makes a lot of sense today. I feel the message is not against censorship by the government, but rather self-censorship by people in order to be politically correct and so that everyone is happy. share your thoughts.
2. galapagos: pretty good read. liked the satire.
3. life of pi: brilliant...but some parts of it were kind of stretched out. but yann martel does a good job of keeping us glued to the book.
saw quite a few decent movies too: one was catch-22. not as great as the book, but i loved the effect of the opening scene. something that the book couldnt do. another was "y tu mama tambien". HOT. saw the rated version, cant imagine what the unrated one is like. but i liked the presentation. so different from hollywood. an easy narrative style of presenting. liked it.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
MOAW
the mother of all weeks just passed by. two sponsor reports, 2 finals. i survived. just. one final was ok, the other was an exercise in sadism. the instructor's sadism that is.
i seem to be on a campus discovery inititative of late. today, went roaming around the ultra cool Krannert Center for Performing arts here in Urbana. If u dont know what it is, check out their website....www.kcpa.uiuc.edu.
Was given a guided tour of the place. here are some cool things that i never knew about krannert center. before anything...i love this place and have seen some great performances here. one more reason why uiuc can be fun (-:
1. krannert was built at a cost of more than 20 million dollars with money from Krannert. it was designed by a u of i alum who also designed portions of the lincoln center. The place was completed in 1969 (whats with that year anyway....moonshot, krannert, woodstock...hmmm...coincidence or something to do with the number)
2. there are spiral staircases around 10 stories high. climbing them is a pain but worth it. nice dizzying view of the stage from up there.
3. most of the halls here have pits. unlike other places, the stage is really sturdy above the pits because they are on screw lifts instead of the leaky hydraulic lifts.
4. got to use a follow spot. these things can be really nasty to focus. the old ones come with these carbon rods that are intensely bright by burn out in 45 minutes. one good reason to have an intermission!! the newer ones come with electric stuff and can get nasty hot. they have these heavy duty fans to keep them cool
5. the heating and ventilating out here is a massive undertaking. each of the halls has its own heating and coooling subsystem.
6. the roofs: most are plaster based like in other places. but instead of patchworks to improve the acoustics (like at the met), these are continuous and provide one of the best listening experiences.
7. safety: sucks. one of these days someone is going to drop something or themseleves from above the stages and wop.... most of the lighting has to be focused after lowering oneself into a precarious position 3 or 4 storeys above the stage. not nice.
8. rappeling: some spots can and are used for rapeling(-:
9. props, costumes: name it ...they got it
10. steinways: there are loads of pianos. there are 3 concert grand newyork steinways. lots of dough!
thats all i remember. nice trip that lasted at least 2 hours.
i seem to be on a campus discovery inititative of late. today, went roaming around the ultra cool Krannert Center for Performing arts here in Urbana. If u dont know what it is, check out their website....www.kcpa.uiuc.edu.
Was given a guided tour of the place. here are some cool things that i never knew about krannert center. before anything...i love this place and have seen some great performances here. one more reason why uiuc can be fun (-:
1. krannert was built at a cost of more than 20 million dollars with money from Krannert. it was designed by a u of i alum who also designed portions of the lincoln center. The place was completed in 1969 (whats with that year anyway....moonshot, krannert, woodstock...hmmm...coincidence or something to do with the number)
2. there are spiral staircases around 10 stories high. climbing them is a pain but worth it. nice dizzying view of the stage from up there.
3. most of the halls here have pits. unlike other places, the stage is really sturdy above the pits because they are on screw lifts instead of the leaky hydraulic lifts.
4. got to use a follow spot. these things can be really nasty to focus. the old ones come with these carbon rods that are intensely bright by burn out in 45 minutes. one good reason to have an intermission!! the newer ones come with electric stuff and can get nasty hot. they have these heavy duty fans to keep them cool
5. the heating and ventilating out here is a massive undertaking. each of the halls has its own heating and coooling subsystem.
6. the roofs: most are plaster based like in other places. but instead of patchworks to improve the acoustics (like at the met), these are continuous and provide one of the best listening experiences.
7. safety: sucks. one of these days someone is going to drop something or themseleves from above the stages and wop.... most of the lighting has to be focused after lowering oneself into a precarious position 3 or 4 storeys above the stage. not nice.
8. rappeling: some spots can and are used for rapeling(-:
9. props, costumes: name it ...they got it
10. steinways: there are loads of pianos. there are 3 concert grand newyork steinways. lots of dough!
thats all i remember. nice trip that lasted at least 2 hours.
Sunday, May 02, 2004
man...have i been busy (this understatement is my excuse to all those who were supposed to hear from me over the weekend but didnt)
i have been in front of my pc enough hours to give me a backache and the computer overheating. the thing just turned itself off last night.
btw...i have become one of those internet radio freeloaders. netscape, yahoo to name 2 threw me out. yahoo said i have listened to as many as i could in a month. netscape...said cool it..enough of led zep for the day. damn. first kazaa..then such restrictions...how the hell are poor indian graduate students like me going to listen to any music.
listening to: led zep, led zep and more led zep. this is month two of my fascination with this kickass group. favs...all their blues songs...levee breaks, gallows pole and their metal sounding numbers. guys...u got to listen to this.
Lastly...isnt ur day made when a cute girl smiles at u. well...she made me survive this rotten rotten weekend.
i have been in front of my pc enough hours to give me a backache and the computer overheating. the thing just turned itself off last night.
btw...i have become one of those internet radio freeloaders. netscape, yahoo to name 2 threw me out. yahoo said i have listened to as many as i could in a month. netscape...said cool it..enough of led zep for the day. damn. first kazaa..then such restrictions...how the hell are poor indian graduate students like me going to listen to any music.
listening to: led zep, led zep and more led zep. this is month two of my fascination with this kickass group. favs...all their blues songs...levee breaks, gallows pole and their metal sounding numbers. guys...u got to listen to this.
Lastly...isnt ur day made when a cute girl smiles at u. well...she made me survive this rotten rotten weekend.
Friday, April 30, 2004
iraq
a short digest of news reported today:
1. we turn over power to a former baathist general who marches in his original uniform. just picture this after WWII in germany.
2. the photos of soldiers harrassing prisoners. hmm...this is going to define this war. vietnam had baby killers...this one...lady soldiers making fun of naked iraqis. man...i have a feeling this war was started for and by late nite comedians.
3. macedonia...police here staged a firefight and shot 12 pakistani illegal immigrants. these guys were not just shot by mistake...they were lured into a trap. Why?? well...they wanted to curry favor with Uncle Sam. I wonder whether Macedonia was mentioned by the president as one of his "allies".
Read this and u know why we are where we are. Folks, in this war we have lost their hearts and our minds.
Reading: Paris 1919, Guns of August. WWI books. Coincidence. But the first few pages of Guns of August scared the shit out of me. Reminded me of a few characters currently ruling certain parts of this crazy world. Paris 1919 is more like a textbook, but very detailed and nicely written.
1. we turn over power to a former baathist general who marches in his original uniform. just picture this after WWII in germany.
2. the photos of soldiers harrassing prisoners. hmm...this is going to define this war. vietnam had baby killers...this one...lady soldiers making fun of naked iraqis. man...i have a feeling this war was started for and by late nite comedians.
3. macedonia...police here staged a firefight and shot 12 pakistani illegal immigrants. these guys were not just shot by mistake...they were lured into a trap. Why?? well...they wanted to curry favor with Uncle Sam. I wonder whether Macedonia was mentioned by the president as one of his "allies".
Read this and u know why we are where we are. Folks, in this war we have lost their hearts and our minds.
Reading: Paris 1919, Guns of August. WWI books. Coincidence. But the first few pages of Guns of August scared the shit out of me. Reminded me of a few characters currently ruling certain parts of this crazy world. Paris 1919 is more like a textbook, but very detailed and nicely written.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
my masters work might produce 2 papers. at least one got confirmed. good.
phd work: starting to look ominous. too much to know before i start. lets see how it goes
went to the main stacks of the library here. got completely lost till i found an elevator to get me out of there. this place rocks. 11 levels , all deserted. no sense of order anywhere. books lying on the floor. looks more like my apartment than an univ building. best part is the moving space saving shelves. the safety features on these are sketchy and non intuitive. i really believe it is possible for someone to get stuck between these (-:
another cool feature of use: there are small cubicles with doors that lock from the inside on all of these deserted floors. possible to sit here and go unnoticed for ages (-:
and the whole place is creepy. challenging someone to spend the night on one of the upper levels alone with scarce light will be a cool dare!
quote for the day: Medicine makes people ill, mathematics make them sad and theology makes them sinful.--attributed to martin luther
phd work: starting to look ominous. too much to know before i start. lets see how it goes
went to the main stacks of the library here. got completely lost till i found an elevator to get me out of there. this place rocks. 11 levels , all deserted. no sense of order anywhere. books lying on the floor. looks more like my apartment than an univ building. best part is the moving space saving shelves. the safety features on these are sketchy and non intuitive. i really believe it is possible for someone to get stuck between these (-:
another cool feature of use: there are small cubicles with doors that lock from the inside on all of these deserted floors. possible to sit here and go unnoticed for ages (-:
and the whole place is creepy. challenging someone to spend the night on one of the upper levels alone with scarce light will be a cool dare!
quote for the day: Medicine makes people ill, mathematics make them sad and theology makes them sinful.--attributed to martin luther
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
day 2
masters over. phd work begins. this promises to give me sleepless nights. more than the ms work.
btw ....heres a nice one i heard today:
"whats the speed limit of sex"
--68...at 69 u turn around
btw ....heres a nice one i heard today:
"whats the speed limit of sex"
--68...at 69 u turn around
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
day 1
submitted my masters thesis today. so exhausted that i dont even feel like enjoying it. lessons learnt:
1. never ever try to fight the university bureaucracy. submit. resistance is useless
2. never underestimate humankind's potential to stay without sleep.
read an interesting quote today: if it aint broke, fix it till it is!! thats me (-:
submitted my masters thesis today. so exhausted that i dont even feel like enjoying it. lessons learnt:
1. never ever try to fight the university bureaucracy. submit. resistance is useless
2. never underestimate humankind's potential to stay without sleep.
read an interesting quote today: if it aint broke, fix it till it is!! thats me (-:
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