The Sopranos

I'm only about 8 years late in joining the fan club, but the Sopranos is an awesome series, and L and I are hooked. I love the slick direction, the crisp dialogs (and the Italian accents), and the way all the characters are fleshed out.

iEconomics

I know you've had enough of iPhone and iPod related news, but this article offers a fascinating insight into the complexity of globalization and how the iPod is really much more than the sum of its parts.

(Picture cropped from a graffiti-styled white wall of the MOMA)

Stumbled upon something really cool...

The basic premise of this site is that our experience online, most often called "surfing" is more likely a stumbing experience. We search for something, click on the link, don't like it, go back, click on some other link...you get the picture.

StumbleUpon is a great site to discover new sites, tag them with a thumbs up or down. I've found some really cool sites this way, and what better way to pass your time than stumbling through websites? I love their Firefox extension, so a cool site is just a click away!

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Read this book in literally a day. It's a wonderful book with a view from the other side of the fence. Whoever is tired of the jingoism in American politics, and the paranoia surrounding terror, will not only relate; but also empathize with the protagonist Changez. It's a narrative storyline of a disillusioned Pakistani Princeton graduate, as he relates it to an American interviewer.

It's very easy to think that this story is autobiographical. This is how Mohsin Hamid (the author) answered this Q in his interview: "People often ask me if I am the book’s Pakistani protagonist. I wonder why they never ask if I am his American listener. After all, a novel can often be a divided man’s conversation with himself."

Some Photoshop fun

A solarized image using the Filter > Stylize > Solarize option in Photoshop Elements. The image looks too dark, so adjust the colors by using the Enhance > Auto Levels option. The end result is a cool, pop-artsy look.

Old San Juan

Old San Juan mesmerized me with the cobbled-stone alleys, the curio shops, and the vibrant colors on the walls. What fascinated me was that seemingly ordinary buildings and in fact even chain stores used these colors to create an effect of harmony and vibrancy. Of course, the city has done a great job in maintaining this effect, and it definitely is not a coincidence that the redeveloped section of Old San Juan where El Morro, and the galleries are, also have repeated this architectural style. The architecture in San Juan seemed to be a medley of Spanish and island architecture - no wonder it seemed like I was in Goa. Featured pic (the ubiquitous Burger King – San Juan style)

Puerto Rico!

I'll let the pictures do the talking for you. Watch this space for posts on our travel.

The Flintstones...

I really thought I was reading some kind of a bad, ignorant joke. A creationism museum has opened in the heart of Jesus country extolling a universe where creationism rules, and evolution, securalism and pure science are ridiculed. I was really appalled when I read this article. I feel sad for the parents and their kids who are planning a trip to this myopic universe. Up next - an exhibit showing how the earth is flat and how the sun revolves around it.

Five things you don’t know about me

Petty-Change tagged me, and since you already know that I can be a real slacker, I'm just going to link you to a very similar post that I had blogged about almost a year ago.

Shear Genius!

I don't consider myself a very logical person, but I'm always intrigued by paradoxes and oxymorons...though I will not be inclined to draw any derivations out of them - just something to tease the brain, and I'm happy. Here's one very interesting one:

A very dedicated barber shaves all men (and hirsute women) who do not shave themselves. Under this scenario, the question is "Does the barber shave himself?"

Check out the rather above-my-head explanation here.

I'm OK, you're OK.

http://www.wefeelfine.org has been harvesting human feelings from blogs. Basically, the system searches for "feelings" across the blogging world. In a time where personal emotions and feelings are open for all, this website seeks to take a 15000 ft. view of this phenomenon. The system is weighted on no. of total feelings. Why am I not surprised that Hawaii is the happiest state and Vegas the sexiest city in the US? I think it's a great concept...and maybe another idea for L's thesis!

I think what would be really cool is if they harvested personalities from blogs...it will be fun to see if New Yorkers are more aggressive than sleepy Cambridge. One of the creators, Sep Kamwar's bio is really impressive, and I agree with his mom whole-heartedly. Check out the section "Creators" to see what I mean.

Moo Moo!

There’s something about the web that continues to fascinate me…be it cool ideas, gimmicks or actual functional utilitarian websites. Personally, I use the web for literally everything I do in the offline world…heck, I even bought my house from a craigslist posting.

I think the trick is make the product/service have its own dedicated following – a niche market that intrigues geeks, non-techies and soccer moms alike. Here’s one I came across – it’s called moo.com and it specializes in creating mini-cards from the user’s flickr stream, or other uploaded images. Now there’s an entire community out there trading moo-cards. How cool is that?

Another very interesting site is webkinz.com that bridges the gap between offline and online play-time for kids – a cross between tamagotchi and neopets I suppose.

This brings me to another idea for content on my blog – every week, I will feature a website (I’ll lean towards the small, indie websites) and talk about its concept, its people and maybe even a sneak interview with an insider. Watch this space!

This is so hilarious!

I'm back...

I'm back after a long hiatus, and Ayesha and I are collaborating on this blog called "Sab Kuch Chaltaa Hain" about our experiences (as an outsider) and hers (as a die-hard insider) in India.

Happy Holidays!

Line Rider

Line Rider is an amazing piece of Flash gaming. People have gone to crazy lengths to make the rider a skier who could win in the winter Olympics! Check this out:



- Trackback from Pogue's post.

Revenge of the auto rickshaw

TucTuc, a CNG-powered autorickshaw service is the quintessential rickshaw with a twist - it comes in different designs, and is used in Brighton, UK as a tourist vehicle (and attraction)!

Incidentally, the picture on the left is the "Burberry" TucTuc which is being repainted because Burberry filed a lawsuit against the TucTuc'ers.

Sheer madness

From the NY Times...

"The Best Buy store in West Patterson, N.J., had almost 2,000 people in line for Friday's 5 a.m. opening, many of whom had lined up starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday. ''They had turkey sandwiches,'' said a Best Buy district service manager."

I really feel sad for these losers for having missed a wonderful opportunity to have dinner with family. A blogger called Black Friday a "pagan shopping holiday". I call it insanity.

Update: For those unfamiliar with this phenomenon, "Black Friday" is the day after Thanksgiving when retailers in the US offer huge discounts at throwaway prices.

A full dosage of culture

This Saturday, we attended the South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival in DC. The festival was really well organized, well attended and we got to experience quite a feast of good movies, book readings and panel discussions. Plus, there was some star power in the form of Nagesh Kukunoor and Kiran Desai. “Dor” and “Punching at the Sun” were screened as part of the festival, followed by a Q&A. I quite liked “Dor”, and I think his style of writing/direction makes you feel buoyant and cheerful about life; and makes you believe in the innate goodness of humankind. L was even slightly disappointed that the movie had such a feel-good ending; but I was quite happy with it. He even asked Nagesh the same question, and he answered “Why not? I want my audiences to leave the theater with a good, warm fuzzy feeling”. He’s really a great guy – so creative and so unassuming. No airs, no fake accents, just sincere movie making.

“Punching at the Sun” is this year’s entry at the Sundance festival about an inner-city neighborhood in Queens and a teen’s coming-of-age story. Left me wanting for more; but I think the director Tanuj Chopra had me quite entertained in the Q&A. When asked a serious question about the teen’s father and how his character was not developed, and whether that was intentional, he started saying how it was an expression of his basic theme etc. Then he just gave up and said “Oh, actually, he just didn’t show up in the last few weeks of shooting!”

The other notables were Devyani Saltzman(Deepa Mehta’s daughter) who’s written a memoir, Tarun Tejapal (really dynamic journalist and founder of Tehelka.com with a colorful personality), and Samrat Upadhyay, whose reading reminded me a lot of “The Glass Palace”.

Randomness

Can you come up with random things about yourself? By random, I mean eccentric or quirky – something random enough that it’s not an essential characteristic, but it’s still you. It’s actually a difficult Q, and I had to think hard to come up with mine. Maybe I’m not weird enough. Uff – normal is so boring.

1. I had 2 imaginary friends with really weird names. I was 9-10 by the time I realized it was probably time to let go of their friendship.
2. I press the toothpaste in the center; not from the end, and it drives L insane.
3. The clothes in my closet are arranged by color – from whites, warms to cool shades.
4. The toilet paper roll has to unwind from the top; it really upsets me if it’s unwinding from under.

And no…I don’t solve Sudoko on toilet paper!