Pictures and such....

Give a man a fish.. he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man how to fish.. he'll sit in a boat all day drinkin' beer.



That is pretty much how I spent all of saturday! :)

The others were singing and dancing and swimming and tanning and all I did was fish! :)

Caught one too.. but let it go (undersized). You shoulda seen the size of the one that got away!!! :D.. hehehe

--- Click here for pictures ---

--- And more from Bastien's Camera ---

--- And some more from Kasturi's camera ---

Was good fun. Reddy organized renting a boat and all that stuff.. and we all just kinda ended up there.. was a good day for boating and fishing and drinking..

This reminds me that I should put up some of the bonfire pictures.. maybe my next post.

Google talks.... baby words right now though

http://www.google.com/talk/

That's where you can download the latest offering from Google. Google Talk (Beta).

Of course, I HAD to download it to check it out and play with it. But no play right now coz I realized that not many of the people I know are on gmail!! You have to have a gmail account if you want to have GTalk.

Anyway - GoogleTalk Interface seems so nice and clean, as compared to MSN messenger especially (Yahoo is not thaat bad.) However it is a little tooo clean for people like me who just want to explore all the settings and options and capabilities and tweaks in the application.

So no verdict yet on call quality and all that..
Wish they incorporate the PC to Mobile SMS soon.. that'll be cool.

ps - One odd thing. Click on "Help" and it takes you to the Google Jobs page!!! Hmmmm..
No, they don't need Human Factors Engineers! :(

pps - If you want a gmail account Google's doing something new now. If you have a US-based, SMS capable, mobile phone, you can sign up for a gmail account by going to this page. Just enter your phone number in there and they'll send you an SMS with an invitation code.
Or just send me a msg and I'll send u an invitation.

MoBlogging

Blog from your cellphone. Wow.
Sunset, clouds: outside the lab.

Upgrading Yahoo Messenger - no good for me so far

Yahoo! is good and free. All know that. So I really shouldn't be complaining so much that I cannot find customer service. --oops-- free services rendered doesn't make you a customer so how can there be customer service? But still, there should be some place you can write to Yahoo! about bugs or issues with their applications. I've spent a lot of time looking for an apt place to inform Yahoo! that the new version of their IM program, Yahoo! Messenger With Voice, is missing bits and pieces. This version no longer supports text messaging for a bunch of mobile service providers (in India mainly)... these providers were all supported by Yahoo! Messenger 6.0. Boohoo.. so either I quit texting phones back home and use the Yahoo! Messenger Voice capability.. or stick to version 6.0 and eschew the oh-so-wonderful world of free PC to PC voice communication.. Yeah, I know Yahoo! 6.0 has it too, but not as good, and not compatible with Yahoo! 7.0.

PC to mobile SMS is one of the best features offered by the YahooIM and hopefully they'll fix this issue. Else I'll have to spend 20 cents per sms from my phone! :(

So whom do I complain to?? Lifehacker maybe??

ps - Isn't it irritating to have to type Yahoo! instead of just Yahoo .. :)

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - The Black Crowes

July 29 2005
Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
Mansfield, MA
--------
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
&
The Black Crowes

OK - Finally my Tom Petty post. I'm just gonna put up the Tom Petty set-list, since i really do not recall the Black Crowes list... and its too late in the morning for me to be writing a blow-by-blow account of the concert. So forgive me for this uncharacteristically dry accout (or non-account) of this particular concert...

So this was the Tom Petty set list. Was amazing!! A dream set.. well, I guess I could have asked for a lot more, but am not complaining. Specially since he played a Wilbury's number.. dedicating it to the Wilbury's -"Wherever they may be travelin' tonight". - that gave me goosebumps - And he did this great version of knocking on heaven's door. And then the roarin' regulars, the all time hits, which had the 15,000 audience screamin along!! And irregulars like Honeybee.. that song took me straight back to chandigarh, believe it or not.. hehe

Well, here's the list

LISTEN TO HER HEART
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS
BREAKDOWN
DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT
FREE FALLIN'
I WON'T BACK DOWN
MARY JANE
I'M CRYIN'
HANDLE WITH CARE
KNOCKIN' ON HEAVENS DOOR
HONEY BEE
ANGEL DREAM
MELINDA
LEARNIN' TO FLY
DON'T COME AROUND HERE
REFUGEE
RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM
Encore: -------------
YOU WRECK ME
GLORIA
AMERICAN GIRL

---------------------

All in all, it was a fantastic experience... ridiculously expensive alcohol, overpriced merchandise, terrible time getting out of the parking lot in the evening, two mcDonald's meals in a row.. But aaaaah, Tom Petty and The Black Crowes.. Worth it all.

Here's a pic... yaya, i was really far away!



and another 'artistic' one..;)

half hearted

i'm not really in the mood for this post.. but what the heck. i know one day i'll have to.. might as well do something rite now.

a week now at this place. its still small. doesnt seem to grow yet. neither grows nor grows on me. oh well. lets give it more days. I guess there's something about a place where u cannot bang nails into walls to hang up your stuff but have to use "landlord-supplied" hooks and stuff. I mean that's the whole problem i have with landlords and any authority. As soon as they say i cannot do something it pisses me off. damned control freaks.

also - remember, always go with your gut feeling and don't depend on others' suggestions or advice for anything - however well-meant it is. if that advice doesnt pan out correctly it'll just create bad blood. which sux. i hate bad blood. but sometimes there has to be bad blood. people are different.

In Saudi Arabia, if a male and female - unrelated - are seen together, just hanging out or at a restuarant or something, they can be arrested by the religious police.
In school we were discouraged from having friendships which could be interpreted as "easy familiarity" with the opposite sex.
In college - (remember i was in chandigarh) - talking to a woman- let alone going on a date was - "Hooo jeee, daiya re daiya, aaj kal ke bachhe, besharam.. blah blah blah"..
So anyways.. all this is something i've always believed to be crap. Pure, unadulterated, fresh, fly infested, steaming pile of bullshit. But now, at this day and age - my age and the general 'age' - i have to endure this crap. hide and seek and mind games over phone calls, just to chat with a friend who happens to be of the wrong sex?? just coz others will not like it or misinterpret it and all that crap. fuk that shit. if you cannot handle your boyfriend/girlfriend having another female/male friend then that spells D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R in huge fuckin letters. wake up.

sorry - just venting.

so last week, before i officially left my old place i finally organized that long-planned, always discussed, always postponed bonfire at 24 merrick. damn that was good.. so good that it took a nasty neighbour and two police cruisers to end the party! :D... fire, booze, guitars, music... resulted in hoarse throats, hangovers and some simultaenously undercooked+burnt bhutta/makai/corn!! if its possible.

pictures + tom petty stuff maybe tomorrow

maybe pics of my new place too.

maybe the location of the WMDs.

---------
note my change of address please.

24 Merrick Circle
261 Belchertown Road, Apt B,
Amherst, MA - 01002

beginnings and changes

2nd night here - my new home.
1st blog from here.

phew.... done (almost) with this moving crap.. ewww
Muchos muchos gracias to all who helped out. You guys are the best!

have tons to write abt.. in later posts but.. (including Tom Petty Concert) heheheheheh

tch tch.. my poll flopped

I posted the "Where Should I live" poll on August 3rd, 8am.
It is now August 5th, 3pm.

My counter shows 110 visitors to my website in this time frame, out of which 30 were returning visitors.

And only 4 people voted for an apartment choice!!! :( And I'm pretty there was a repeat by someone, so it was only three that voted. tch tch.. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a majority, but no, the four votes are equally split.. 50-50. Man, think about it, what if you were playing "Who wants to be a Zillionaire" and your only life line was the Audience. And then the audience's vote turns out to be evenly split!!! cheee cheee..

I thought I'd skip the decision making process and leave it for the majority vote, but you guys have to make me utilize the grey cells huh! What, u feel I don't use them enough? No man, I'm trying to preserve them. hehe

Anyway, its all good - Thank You to those who voted. Those who didn't... sala gadhas.. ek ek ko dekh lunga!! I've gone with the 2nd choice - the one with a smaller room. Just coz I don't want landlords hanging around nearby. :D .

----
interesting article coming up:

And the song that changed the world is...
Fri Aug 5,10:41 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Bob Dylan's song "Like a Rolling Stone" topped a poll Friday to find the 100 songs, movies, TV shows and books that "changed the world" in the opinion of musicians, actors and industry experts.

Dylan's 1965 single beat Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" into second place in the survey for "Uncut" magazine.

Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Robert Downey Jr, Rolling Stone Keith Richards and Lou Reed were among those who gave their views for the poll.

"I absolutely remember where I was when I first heard it. It got me through adolescence," rocker Patti Smith said of the winning song.

:D.. the complete article is here.

Another one:

Calling All Luddites
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: August 3, 2005, New York Times

I've been thinking of running for high office on a one-issue platform: I promise, if elected, that within four years America will have cellphone service as good as Ghana's. If re-elected, I promise that in eight years America will have cellphone service as good as Japan's, provided Japan agrees not to forge ahead on wireless technology. My campaign bumper sticker: "Can You Hear Me Now?"

I began thinking about this after watching the Japanese use cellphones and laptops to get on the Internet from speeding bullet trains and subways deep underground. But the last straw was when I couldn't get cellphone service while visiting I.B.M.'s headquarters in Armonk, N.Y.

But don't worry - Congress is on the case. It dropped everything last week to pass a bill to protect gun makers from shooting victims' lawsuits. The fact that the U.S. has fallen to 16th in the world in broadband connectivity aroused no interest. Look, I don't even like cellphones, but this is not about gadgets. The world is moving to an Internet-based platform for commerce, education, innovation and entertainment. Wealth and productivity will go to those countries or companies that get more of their innovators, educators, students, workers and suppliers connected to this platform via computers, phones and P.D.A.'s.

The complete article is here.


have a good weekend folks.. and wish me luck with heavy lifting and packing and all those crappy crappy things associated with moving. bleeeeeeeeeeargh.

ps - What? you wanted tom petty reviews and photos? You should've voted in my poll!!!! Oh well.. I'll put them up sometime next week. Now stop bugging me about them. :D

decisions, decisions... bleargh

So I am officially homeless now.. have been since monday.

No man, I'm not that guy you saw sleeping on the bench in front of Antonio's... it's not that bad yet!!

But it is just so damned impossible to find and decide upon a house/room/apartment.. I think i've looked at over 40 places since the 1st of July. And man, I've realised that people live shittily in Amherst. It's just sad! I dont think I am being unreasonable with my expectatons for housing.. clean, large enough, near enough, affordable enough, sane enough housemates, sane enough landlord... I'm not asking for the impossible!!!

Anyway, I think I've whittled down my options to a manageable number now.. I'll still look around for a couple of days more, but this damn thing is taking up too much time and leaving me sleepless.. why else would I be blogging this at 8:00AM !!

Oh well, help me decide... and if you do, I swear I'll have Tom Petty concert reviews and photographs for you!! :D..

Where should I live? My choices-
	Cheapest place. 5 miles. cons - 5 more housemates, maybe undergrads.
	Little more expensive - +$45. 3 miles. cons- small room.
	More expensive - +$65. 1 mile. cons - landlady (old lady) lives downstairs.
	Morer expensiver - + $70. 1 mile. cons - crazy(?) landlord - 4 more housemates - only 1 car parking.
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