Film Noir at Compton Lane

Last Tuesday something funny happened. I woke up at 4:00 am to take the trash out (why do I do that- another blog posting sometime). I opened the door and stepped out of the house and I noticed a car with two people coming quite fast on the street in front our house. As the car came screeching to a halt, I noticed two people in the car.

Although I was terribly foggy (sleepy), I suddenly thought of an old B/W mystery movie scene - the hero is in the wrong place at time, sees a car speeding and coming to a screeching halt. A dead body is thrown out while the hero, unnoticed, starts sweating. Out steps the villain who looks around to make sure that no one is around when suddenly the hero steps on something making some noise thereby starting the movie....

Anyhow, as the car screeched to a halt right in front of our house, outstepped a woman with something in her hand as she advanced towards me. I was 1) sleepy and 2) stunned to even react. Within a minute, I realized what was in her hand - it was the Tuesday morning Wall Street Journal. She literally handed me her newspaper and as she turned back, I heard a chuckle. Perhaps, this was the first time happened to her - deliver the newspaper at 4:00 am to some one.

Also, the same thing happened last Friday too ... this time though I was ready for her!

I absolutely love this one....

There was once a young man who wanted to become a great writer.He said " want to write stuff that the whole world will read, that people will react to on a truly emotional level and make them scream. He now works for microsoft,writing error messages

Wimbledon's in progress...

Given Nadal's performance at the French Open, I am betting that he will win Wimbledon against Federer this year. I am very much pro-Federer but Federer was outclassed at the French Open. Has a new era begun?

Good Joke

Marketing - The Joke

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her andpointing at you says, "He's fantastic in bed."That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, I hear you're fantastic in bed."That's Brand Recognition.

Daddy DayCare

For the last 10 days, my wife has been working long hours, quite literally long (8:00 am - 10 pm) and I have become a 'single parent' for these 10 days. Never imagined it would be so tough.

I am up by 6:30 am, get ready after having a cup of tea and also, get my son ready (which is a challenge in itself). My wifehas already left for work by then (7:30 am or so) for work. After that, I prepare my son's bag (milk, snacks, breakfast), dress him and put on his shoes. Then, I put on my shoes and prepare my laptop bag. While I getting ready, my son takes off his shoes (or poops) or does something else - which means an additional 20 mins. Somehow, I manage to put him the car seat and manage to leave by 7:50 am. The ride to his daycare involves 20 odd mins of traffic and by the time I get on to I-66 is its peak rush hour (8:15 am). I takes me an hour to get to work. I work until 5:00 pm and leave work (again on I66) to get to my son's daycare before 6:00 pm. As I have to leave early, I have been taking shorter lunch breaks.

I pick up son up and then take him to a grocery store or a similar place - an outing for him. We get home around 6:30ish and I let him loose for 15 mins or so while I prepare his food. Then, it's dinner time which can take anywhere between 15 mins to an hour (depending his mood). Then, it's bath time (45 mins - massage, bath, toweling, hair drying). Finally, the challenge is to feed him milk before making him sleep. If I am lucky, he sleeps immediately but usually he takes roughly 15 mins to sleep. Finally, when my son goes to sleep, it's 8:30 and I am exhausted.

I always appreciated how much effort my wife has to put in and will have to put in but this has given me even more respect for what mother's have to go through.

What i have learnt in these 10 days - PATIENCE. Oh, I can't wait for this Friday when my wife's long shift gets over...

Last King of Scotland

Whole heartedly recommend this Movie.

Forrest Whittaker is staggering as Idi Amin.

Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft.

The deal with Google is an acknowledgment of YAHOOS! incapacity to innovate. Threatened with a takeover, the best thing YAHOO could do was talk to Google. Of course, Google was more than willing to 'help'. What a lucky break for Google!

As for YAHOO, it has shown how dependent it will be on Google in the future for its revenue.

Funny Moments in Cricket.

This clip is really worth watching

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1180210/funny_cricket/

Obama vs McCain

This will be a good election. Two completeuly different candidates. One who wants more government involvement and the other who wants to reduce it, One wants to stay in Iraq and the other wants to withdraw.Same issues different approach. Dare I say socialism vs free market?

Obama thoughts remind me of India - Government sponsored healthcare, government backed bailouts from the sub prime mess, more protectionism. May be socialist is too strong an adjective but it does seem that way.

As the Economist states, American can choose between two qualified and decent candidates - essentially, a choice between gradual path socialism or keeping capitalism?

What will America choose in November will be an interesting to see?

Good Article

A great article on Indian Cricket (although a bit dated)


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7283996.stm

How to make butter chicken

A simple recipe to cook butter chicken. I tried it yesterday (my wife was mighty surprised that she got a break from cooking)

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1268414/how_to_make_butter_chicken_recipe/

Tips:

1) Too many tomatoes could make the chicken sweet (courtesy: my wife)

2) I used Butter Chicken Masala for more flavor

3) Half and Half can also be used instead of Yogurt (courtesy: my wife)

Time Flies

Wow.. Time Flies. I was planning to get more active since I finished school. Vacation was busier than when I was in school.

1) Week 1 (and part of Week 2): my son was sick
2) Week 3: Guests (for my graduation)
3) Week 4: Florida trip
4) Week 5: Guests again!!

where did the time go? Anyway, I'll write up something about our Florida trip (our first trip with a baby).