Eminem

Have been listening to him for 12 years now. In my mind he's up there with Bach, Chopin and the likes.
Here is a humble tribute www.marshallmathers.com

But I only thought so far…

Having arrived at the destination, does the journey always seem more enjoyable?
I’m not sure if I’m alone in this regard. There must be countless people who have spent countless months to make that one thing happen. And countless years to make those many things happen. The sum of all that brings them to the life they have now. The life that was the dream. The new reality.
And the one question I imagine they all ask themselves is “Was it worth it?”. Maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t. The answer is not relevant.
What matters is that the dream is now a reality. And even though that sounds so good in the commercials, it is a little saddening. The dream is gone. The anticipation, the anxiety, the waiting, the hopelessness, the fear, the desperation, the challenge. All gone. And crazy as it may sound, I’m beginning to believe that I need those things to thrive. The past couple of months of normalcy after the storm did not bring about the feeling of exhilaration that I had always thought would be in store for me. I am bored now and need a new challenge. One that is worth the fight. One that is worth walking the edge.

It is disheartening when your dreams do not come true, but it’s downright torturous when you run out of dreams.

Vegas O.D

A hundred fountains shoot jets of water four hundred feet in the sky in the middle of an artificial lake. Of course the view of the dancing fountains is best enjoyed from the top of the Eiffel Tower. And you can get to that elevator by walking under a fake sky which is set to Dusk at any hour of the day. If you look southwards from up there, you'll see the world's brightest light shooting out the top of a 300 foot onyx pyramid. Two doors down you can take a half mile Gondola ride through the Canals around the venetian streets while being serenaded under another fake Sky.
You can ride a Roller Coaster which starts at 11oo feet high.
You can walk under a live Lion and a Lioness, stare White Tigers in the eye, taunt hungry Pirranhas, Swim on a fake beach with White Sands and Crashing Waves, Watch magicians make beautiful girls disappear on stage, See the Sirens battle and Sink a Pirate ship, watch a lake change colours from blue to red to bright orange, see Millions in cash changing hands across a poker table and having done all this you would have barely scratched the surface of what Sin City has to offer.

Excessive, Extravagant and completely Pointless. This City is perhaps a true representation of America's power and the biggest "Screw You" that the land of the brave has thrown at the world.

Viva Las Vegas!!!

A Dozen Chicken Breast sandwiches

Victor Jrs. has some of the best food in these parts. Their pizza is awesome, their garlic bread is out of this world and their salads rock. And even though their Tiramisu can't touch Olive Garden's by a mile long pole, it's still pretty decent. But the one segment that they truly rule is Sandwiches. Some of the best sandwiches in all of west L.A are to be had here. Which brings us to the case in hand.
About three weeks ago I ordered a chicken breast sandwich (with Provolone, The works and no tomatoes) and was so happy to devour that. Too happy actually because I mentioned it to Anthony. Now Anthony is a nice guy but he definitely has a sadistic streak (Just kidding AntMan.. you rock). So Anthony says "Dude! if you like it that much, I'll bet you a free lunch if you can eat the same sandwich for 12 days straight. For lunch."

Being who I am, I could not back out of this wager.. Hell, I can't back out of any wager. So I think to myself.. "I can't beat this guy at Chess. He's a hundred times better than me with a surfboard and I definitely can't touch his money at Poker. But Gawd!!! I CAN EAT!"
Bring it on!!

So we made ourselves an elaborate Chicken Counter with 12 boxes to be checked off each time I finish a chicken sandwich. (Later we even pinned up the receipts to it!) And after 12 days of eating the exact chicken sandwich for Lunch.. I finally beat Anthony at something :)

The good folks at Victor Jrs now know me by name and will probably attend my children's birthdays in the future.

Not Grande sir.. It's medium.

Small, Medium and Large Coffee... Damn!!! what a concept. My mind's going numb with this revelation.
The Starbucks in the office atrium has shut shop and has now been replaced by Peet's coffee and Tea.
Now, I'm not much of a 'Coffee' person. I like my Darjeeling brewed for a solid 15 minutes, but I had got into the Starbucks habit of late. A 'Tall' Vanilla Latte was a good breakfast substitute in most cases. And no matter how much you hate the big bad chain of designer coffee, they are convenient in that no matter which one you go into, you can order the same coffee with the same results. Works like magic.
Anyway, the results of an employee survey revealed that the Catering in the studio pretty much sucked. Management jumped on this opportunity to display their solidarity with the rest of us (or they were sick of the food too. no one knows). So the salad bar and the little grill-lunch-place have been swiftly replaced by a Fancy new shiny Wolfgang-Puck restaurant. (They don't call it a restaurant anymore.. forgot the 'fancy' name for it).
And in the whole catering-improvement initiative, somehow Starbucks got replaced with Peet's Coffee and tea.
Peet's is definitely more upscale. Designer Coffees and Teas dot the menu. (Xiao's blend iced tea is my current favourite). They've even managed to get themselves a nice round Oak Bar replete with leather bar-chairs and the works. Looks better than most starbucks (yeah, it looks better than the Starbucks at Barnes&Noble). Now for the bad part -
1) They shut shop at 5PM (our regular office hours end at 6)
2) They call their coffees fancy names and it's hard to figure out which is which
3) A medium cup of regular house blend coffee is now $2.27 which makes it more expensive than gas

and most importantly -
4) They serve small, medium and Large Coffee... which gets quite confusing after years of Tall, Grande and Venti

Goodbye Starbucks. I don't really miss you.. but what the hell.

Los Angeles Primer

My little L.A Survival Guide for Desis

1) You NEED sunblock. SPF30 or more. Even if you're Indian and have the skin-tone of an armadillo.
2) If you can't surf yet, Learn. It's one of the best things you'll ever do with your little miserable life.
3) Live close to the beach, or you won't find parking
4) Never. I repeat.. Never ever take the 405 to go anywhere. (Or the 101 for that matter)
5) Don't try the lunch buffet at any Indian restaurant. You might as well eat cardboard dipped in diet coke.
6) Don't go to 'Little India' in Artesia. There's nothing there.
7) Don't go postal if someone starts speaking spanish to you. It's not their fault that you look mexican.

That's for now.. more to come.

Made it to the top and all I got was a Water Bottle. (Its a nice bottle though)