On our way to Austin...

On our way to Austin... Reached LAX and looking for a good breakfast place around... Der is a Mexican place, cold sw place and Mc D here... Not in a mood for the big burrito's as the day begins... Cold sw are not my choice ne time of the day! Left with The only choice Mc Donalds... Hoping to settle down for a nice hot chicken sw with the limited options available here, go and wait in the long queue... Never Thot I would wait in a Mc donalds line on a nice bright sunny Saturday morning that happens to be a long weekend as well... How does it always happen that the lines I am not in end up moving fast? Finally as I make it to the counter, I realize the fact that Mc D sells only mc muffins for bfast... Why does it seem like u have every thing at ur fingertips with the most coolest gadgets all around u and still find it almost impossible to find one not so out of the ordinary choice of bfast the moment u embark on a vacation trip for long weekend???

The LAX flight was decent, except for the fact that I had to sit far away from my wonderful wife with whom I want to spend as much time as possible and except for the little harsh landing which almost makes u think if this happens to b the first flight trip for the pilot on a commercial plane... Ok, tat was a liitle bit of an exaggeration, I must agree!

V r still waitin for r boarding call for r next flight to Austin... As I told my lovely lady after gettin down at LAX, there were only 2 things in front of my eyes all along on the flight - Flood lights & tennis court... Yepp, waitin to get to Austin and play some good tennis with my old buddy / tennis coach... The only thing I can wish and earn for now is y in the world did I hardly go for tennis when I spent a good 18 months in Orange county... Was i acting More of a rebel wen Giri used to call me for Tennis... to be frank, I really don't know and looking back now, it's a huge huge loss that I am now trying to overcome..

BTW, little did I realize that I have not been keepin a tab on the time factor and it's already 10:40am.., time for departure of my Austin flight! The boarding gate printed on my pass seems to be incorrect and I can now see the fine prints reading "subject to change"... Thankfully, we did board the flight and are now about 60 mins from reaching Austin!!!

Principato is Smoooth!!!

I had never heard of this wine till a friend suggested this one in a B'day party @Olive Garden... The wine belongs to a class of its own and is one of the better wines i have had in the recent times! The only sad part was the fact that this wine is exclusively made for this restaurant and not sold retail.

For all those curious wine lovers out there, here is how "Principato" is described as on the manufacturer website:

Principato, meaning “Princely Realm” or principality, is named for northeast Italy’s Tre Venezie, a region embracing the majesty of the snow-capped Dolomite Alps and the picturesque beauty of Italy’s romantic Lake District. For wine lovers, the Tre Venezie is also source of Principato, one of Italy's most popular and affordable wines. Introduced in 1978, today it encompasses a contemporary range of the most popular varietal wines and blends.

One Good thing leads to another...

Sometimes, its not about what you know and what you don't... Its about just applying the hard earned facts you already know of all along the way! Its the facts you talk about with all your friends but missed out on executing them in one's own life :-)


Things got to happen when they are bound to happen...Why else would i never touch a salad all thru' 07, 08 and 09 (Yes, i am referring to the year!) till now and then request my wonderful wife not to pack any lunch for the coming Monday... Did the guilt feeling in me wake up one fine moment since i ate the delicious "Double Crunch shrimp" few hours back at Applebees while i watched my friend have a Salad?
What ever it be, i am glad the moment of awakening happened atleast now than later.

As i have my favorite Chinese Chicken Salad for lunch, a ray of thought runs thru' my mind... I am good at restraining myself only when i establish a hard line of control! This would mean that i establish a lunch pattern for the next few days and set expectations for my brain not to wander around at lunch time as to what i should be ordering for lunch... As i continue to chew my salad, i let the controller in me know that i will stick to a Salad lunch for the next 41 business days! A break on weekends would ensure that i don't get fed up soon enough... I will have to wait and see if i can really stick to my plan this time.

Still Pic

I really like this one... S'th about this pic gets me to think that this is from a mafia movie!!! Like, the person in black t-shirt in the middle looks the dashing leader of the gang. The young lady behind almost looks as if is about to pull a pistol out as seen in movies...

Now back to reality, Only if i hadn't known who these people were. They are all very dear to me and few of the sweetest people in the world. The person in the middle is my wonderful dad and the young lady behind is my lovely wife!

What makes Prez. Bush the Smartest Guy on Earth!!!

The most conventional approach of a politician is to 'Do Your Job' and be on the hot seat .

Clinton screwed one girl, Bush screwed 2 countries and managed to get help from 2 other countries to do this!

Clinton not only ended up making Monica Lewinsky richer, but also got charged under perjury and was impeached!

Which other president can even dream of changing election results after they were announced?

Which other president can come back to power after a movie has been made and has been mocked upon for all his actions?

Which other president can get Washington to lie about WMD and go on a war to Iraq?

and a lot many more such stuff from a great man of our times!!!

Magic of Rain

The wakeup call this morning was nice... I had planned to get up early to go to the car body shop for getting an estimate of the other party car from the minor accident few weeks back.
I woke up hearing the drizzling sound of rain and continued to stay on bed hoping that my alarm wouldn't buzz till i'm fully done with my sleep! I was partially right, the alarm did heed to my wishes till i got a call from this person.

Only after i stepped out of my home did i realize that the sweet sound of rain i kept hearing this morning was actually from the relaxation fountain in my bedroom :-):-) Rain had done its magic late night and had cleared of well before i woke up... I was sooo glad the rain gods had read my mind and let me capture those beautiful raindrops still hanging onto the tip of leaves under perfect photo shoot conditions!

 
 
 
 

Where do you go a year from today?

Its New Year once again! Time seems to fly by irrespective of how busy you are. Life is always on the fast lane even for couch potatoes...this is the fourth couch for me in the last one year:-)
This new year was a blast. We had been to a Mardi Gras Carnivale party with plenty of live entertainment, bands, dancing, circus etc.

I could have hardly imagined where i would be a year from now... I always wondered how it would be to go to a new place and start life afresh. Its been more than 7 months since we moved to Orange county. Orange county is great, just that i continue to miss some of my good old friends from Bay Area. Works keeps me more than hectic...I never knew i could do so much work all by myself!

When i think of it, the year 2007 has been quite eventful as such. Shanthi was finally with me in the US after all the dilly dallying with the TCS dilemma, we moving over to Orange county, my commencement of work at a client other than my long loved Gene, our up's (Getting EAD) and down's (H1 visa rejection) with visa and work status, Shanthi's first US job and all... and just around the turn of 2007 - 2008, i managed to make up my mind and buy my favorite Canon Camera and quickly followed it up with a BOSE speaker system! For all you know, i might be a contender for one of the better photographers by end of 2008:-)

Twenty Sieeeeex years is almost a lifetime!!!

As i hopelessly continued to chew the not so interesting lunch i get in my cafeteria, all my attention is on the news channel playing on the 52' TV mounted on the wall of our cafe.

The news on TV is about a person called Charles Chatman who was falsely accused of rape charges in 1981 by his neighbor... Guess what, he's being released now after 26 yrs because of some smart ass lawyer proving he hadn't committed the crime!

For the rest of my lunch, i was left wondering how it feels to be when you end up being in jail for 26 years for a crime you haven't committed at the most prime age of your life... What do you do if you were Charles?
Would Charles be motivated to actually commit such a crime inspired by Double Jeopardy?
Would Charles be thinking of finding another smart lawyer who could win him a couple of million dollars for the irreparable damage done to his life?

Maybe, a class in psychology might have been helpful. I realize by now that i have gulped thru' my lunch and its time to get back to work!

The Pacific Ocean at its best

Its awesome to have a date with pacific ocean on a warm sunny day...This is what we ended up doing recently.

Pacific ocean is a thing of beauty to watch especially with the sunset. This is one occassion when you feel you were a good photographer capable enough to freeze what is in front of your eyes:-)

An unwanted break!!!

Its been a looong while since i last updated this blog now. Lots n lots of things seem to have gone by and it would have been wonderful had i continued to jot them down... I guess , these are some actions from people like me which are better not explained!

Life hasn't been the same any more....Sooo many changes, all so wonderful. The pen is out now and with all floating things in my mind, these pages should reflect a lot more stuff going forward, or atleast i hope to.:-)

Obama Presidential Campaign - Vote for a Change!

Some Good One Liners

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.

A smart man covers his ass, a wise man leaves his pants on.

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

Alcohol is not the answer, it just makes you forget the question.

Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening.

Anything you lose automatically doubles in value.

Children in the dark make accidents, but accidents in the dark make children.

If everything seems to be going right, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on.

Awesome Tamil Rap 'Madai Thiranthu'

This is one of the best Tamil Rap songs i have heard till date...Two Thumbs up!!!

The way this video has been shot is also quite interesting, starts of in a barber shop with four people talking about the Illayaraja's song 'Madai Thiranthu' from Nizhalgal and ends with an Kalaignar like voice saying 'Kalai - Manithanaaga pirantha ovvoruvanum alli alli parugavendiya amirthamadaa athu'. The album is called Vallavan and is surely going to be a chartbuster.

My curiosity grew by leaps and bounds to listen to the original sound track 'Madai Thiranthu' after falling for this Remix song...I am now glued onto the original as well!

Short Span Attention Theater...

It took me a while to recognize him...Guess what, tats Jon Stewart 15 years ago hosting a show called Short Span Attention Theater on Comedy Channel...Jon has steadily climbed up the popularity charts and is considered to be the best among current breed of anchors.

Here's the Crossfire episode video below in which Jon appeared...Rather than cracking jokes for what he is known for, he criticized Crossfire and similar shows for partisan hackery and sensationalism.

Part of the transcript from this show...

STEWART: You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate. ... It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. ... You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

STEWART: You need to go to one. ... I'm here to confront you, because we need help from the media and they're hurting us. ... I watch your show every day. And it kills me. It's so -- oh, it's so painful to watch, because we need what you do. This is such a great opportunity you have here to actually get politicians off of their marketing and strategy.

CARLSON: Is this really Jon Stewart? What is this, anyway?

STEWART: Yes, it's someone who watches your show and cannot take it anymore.

CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?

STEWART: If I think they are.


Few weeks later, CNN axed Carlson as well as canceled the show Crossfire.

9066 Internment : Let History better not Repeat itself!

If given a chance to erase some of the doings from US History, Executive Order 9066 would probably be one of them (or)
I am at least inclined to believe it to be this way!

This internment was approved on 19'th Feb, 1942 by Franklin Roosevelt allowing Military commanders to exclude people of Japanese ancestry from California, Washington and Oregon. Its scary to even think of what these Japanese Americans who were citizens had to undergo on this land. More than 120,000 men, women and children were evacuated, confined in isolated, fenced and guarded internment camps!

The only solace to this incident was when Ronald Reagan apologized for this internment on behalf of US Government in 1988. Reagan agreed to the fact that these actions were based on racial prejudice and war hysteria.

My question being, what is the guarantee that History DOES NOT Repeat itself? After all this is the same country that reelected a president who went on war for fuel and had a vice president who almost hunted down his own friend!!!

Madurai Uppu Kandam Chicken kootu...

You know what...Some of the finest dishes have the most simple and basic ingredients is what i seem to realize more and more:-)
I got to have this awesome Chicken dish at Nanda's place and it just blew me off! Hats off to this recipe style and some great cooking by Nanda!

Now to mix n match, this dish can be treated as an spiced version of Mexican 'Sizzling Chicken Fajita' or even the Ethiopian 'Ye Doro Tibs'. Each of these dishes are in a class of its own. Trust me, If you haven't relished on these dishes yet, you don't know how good Chicken can taste!!!

An Old Lal'etan Scene...

Not sure which movie this is from...This is what Lal'etan tells Jagathi in response to Srinivasan to prove he is from states - Funny stuff!

"How many kilometers from washington DC to Miami beach..?"
"ha!ha!ha! I am the answer...Kilometres and Kilometres.. in these days of degenerating decency of Miami beach to Washington DC when diplomacy and duplicity become interchangeable from complicated America to America!!"
"You talk too much...I kick your face and get out...You talking nonsense in the house of my wife mother and father!! Uncle him send out..outhouse..go..go away.."
"Go away stupid....In this house of my wife and daughter, you will not see any minute of the today....
get out house...Erangippodaaa"

Launching Comedy Time!!!

Here is a collection of few good Comedies from Tamil Cinema...Sit back, Relax, Have Fun and Let me know your Inputs on this site!

http://CineComedy.blogspot.com/

Is Ignorance Really a Bliss?

We had a little debate if Ignorance is really a Bliss as we move forward in life... I continue to look at this with amazement.

There have been lot of instances where i wish i could have been a little more ignorant... I would have felt more like a child than like a man and i guess, it helps being a child at times lookin at things in awe and not with words that substantiate every stance!

There are umpteen other instances where i wish i had been a lot less ignorant that could have done a world of good... or does this stem from the belief in my mind tat experiences make a man which in other words mean, exposing yourself to a learning process that makes you more infallible!

Gautham'n Kili SappuChaaram!

Does Kollywood feed the press or Does the press feed Kollywood...I guess its the symbiosis of Press and Kollywood that ends up making you the prey!

Lets Look at the scenario...There is a beautiful movie made in Hollywood called 'Derailed'. Not many get to know of this movie including me and i don't spend a dime to watch it. On my way to India, I do end up watching this movie on Singapore Airlines flight while i casually browse thru' different channels and get completely engrossed in one of the first scenes of this movie. A few years later, a hotshot director from Kollywood gets inspired by this script and makes an Tamil version of this movie. To my surprise, the press is gung ho about this movie and this is what one of the leading cine review websites wrote:

"A seasoned stylist director has come out with an emotional thriller drama that is path breaking and gutsy within the commercial format... This is one of the best films that Kollywood has dished out in recent times. What makes the film so interestingly relevant is the fact that such a tragedy could strike anyone in the pulsating day to day city life."

Inspite of the n different failed attempts to break my mindset tat Kollywood cannot raise above the low standards they have set for themselves, i decide to take a chance once again to be a critic. May be, its not appropriate on my part to expect sooo much from a Kollywood movie. May be, it wasn't appropriate to watch the Original version and then watch the Kollywood version. May be, its just not right to expect Kollywood to change!

My 2 cents, Its a great thing that Kollywood is open enough to experimenting unusual story lines...but to do full justice to such a script, Kollywood needs to Cut -The-Crap as well.

The Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates death battle

This is a real funny animation...You have to ignore the occasional hard language though!

Just Another Day...

This Valentine's Day was supposed to be very very special...After all, I found my soul mate and officially, this is our first V Day together!
However, circumstances haven't been kind enough... I will be spending this day like just another day as i continue to hold my breath for the day my soul mate will b rite next to me!


I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.
~Author Unknown