F.E.A.R.

Awesome game ... completed it last week - either its a fairly short game or my shooting skills have improved dramatically! I suspect it is the former ;)
The gameplay is really cool ... ghosts pop up every now and then ... and even though the volume on my speakers was pulled low (simply because I play at night and don't want to disturb D :P), I must admit that more than once, I could feel the chill run down my spine!
Seriously!
I can not imagine how it would be to play the game in 5.1 suround sound ... and loud!
Now I need to play this multiplayer - wonder how that would be.

Smokies Attacked!

6 6 6 ... and thereabouts ...
Still driving from Raleigh to Houston (we drove ... honest!), we simbly had to stop at the (great) Smoky Mountains. Heard, seen and read too much about it to drive by and not pay homage. While the Mountains are very pretty indeed, the following two pics are quite horrifying ...



The Balsam woolly adelgid (a bug for us engineer types) is pretty much eating away all the fir trees in these parts! All the white trees in the pics above - are dead! gone ... finito ... chole gacche - khallas! ... thanx to this bug! And if you're thinking that for once us homosapiens did not have a role in damaging nature ... think again. This stupid bug grows only in Europe and was "introduced" in the U.S. somewhere in the 1900's ... the poor trees had never been exposed to this creature and hence are defenseless! Dang it! And there are more of these immigrant bugs wreaking havoc - theres also the Hemlock Woolly adelgid.
Point to ponder - Wonder why these painful creatures have such difficult to remember names ... it might be easier to spread awareness if they were called "Balsam killer" or "Hemlock destroyer" or the likes ...
'Smokies terrorized by the Balsam killers' ... hmmm - me thinks that would hit the spot!

I pondered a bit on the shamelessness of man and whether we deserved to exist ... ... ... and then moved on ...


Moved on to capturing some of the fauna ... and flora in the mountains ... took my mind off things!










Apparently this log cabin is one of the oldest ever - very nice to see how they lived back then ... we took a walk in the woods behind and spotted a couple of deer ... but D was not too impressed with the cabin ... she insists that her place in Kittane is older and prettier! well ...

Outer Banks, the

26 May 2006 ... and thereabouts ...
Before we left North Carolina, we simply had to visit the Outer Banks ... with all its history, light-houses and fun :)
Our initial plans of visiting the place with friends fell thru ven Arvind and Preethu had to suddenly leave for Japan and then we panicked about packing ... long story short - t'was just D and I at the outer banks.
The Wright Memorial ... on a windy , sunny and wonderful day we visited the site of the Wright brothers - where they played, worked and on one particular day - flew a plane! Very well documented place ... and a must visit for any plane buff!

This memorial is on top of the hill where they tested their theories of flight. The story says that they moved from Virginia to Outer Banks in NC because the of the soft sand here - ideal cushion for all the tumbling and falling!



My mug shots with the brothers ... guess which one is who (the one on the right is me!)



Now this intersting rope-a-majig is a firemans rope - or at least how they carried rope which could be launched towards junta in trouble ... no entangling here! neat eh?


The outer banks is also the land of the lighthouses ... Lots of stories ... one of which is that of Blackbeard (the pirate) was beheaded here! But even better is the story of this lighthouse - the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
OK brace yourself ... "Due to the erosion of the shore, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse was moved from its original location at the edge of the ocean to safer ground 1600 feet inland. Despite some opposition, work progressed and the move was completed between 1999 and 2000 in a massive operation." (courtesy Wiki)
Can you believe it!!! This giant Lighthouse was MOVED! I could not believe it even after I climbed the million steps inside to reach the top :P - from where I could see the path of the move! Unbelievable ... things that we do. More info on this

Well after all the history, geography, engineering and aviation lessons it was time to party -besides flying kites by the beach and walking on sand-dunes we went jet-skiing. I must tell you this - as much as it is fun, it is really hard to maneuver the jet-ski at 40 miles/hour - esp in choppy waters ... my arms were aching after an hour of riding - but the experience was awesome - would jump at the next chance.
And oh, out here they call the creek (khadi) as "sounds"! Don't ask me why ... but all the watersports happen in the sounds and not in the ocean. This one time I was thrown off the jet and I was hoping at having the experience of swimming in the ocean ... visuals from many movies flashed everywhere ... music too ... heroic swimming ... turbulent waters ... some sharks in the distance ... a couple of jellyfish being chased by an ugly octopus ... the sound of giant whirlpools sucking in large boats ... men screaming kayaka kayaka ... glimpses of a mermaid ...
Heck no! the sounds is basically an inlet with 4 feet deep water! I was soooooo disappointed ... swamked back (pretentious swimming in shallow waters)to the jet and tried to forget the incident!

Pittsburg

10 May 2006 ... and therabouts ...
Shaibal's Graduation was over - it was time to head back for our own ... but we were in the vicinity of the famous Pittsburg Temple ... well we were about 7 hours away but still ... after having come so far - we had to visit this famous temple. From what I am told this was one of the first temples (if not the first) in the US ... built back in the 70's - wow! - what a time that must have been - most Indians in the area back then would have been the "truly" intelligent kinds ... not the have-degree-will-goto-us types
There were these B/W picture of a groups of people (bell-bottoms and all!) at the temple site (back the 70's) ... and I wondered how many of those would have been the IIT/IIM/PhD types (Not that IIT'ians and IIM'ites are demi-gods or something but at least back then they represented the intellectual cream of the country ... IMO)
While the temple itself is very pretty, both D and I found the Venkateshwara idol extremely pleasing ... maybe we were travelling "off-season" but the temple was empty ... and very very peaceful. Felt very nice to see the tall idol ... very soothing ... like how temples are supposed to be - brought back memories of countless hours with Sarat, Brij and Gujju sitting at the "balcony" of the sector 10 Venkateshwara temple ... before it was completed and became super famous! serene times those ...
we moved on!

Pittsburg City - very pretty indeed - would love to go back someday and explore all the things that the city has to offer ... this shot was taken from a museum of sorts on top of the hill ... there was this trolley/cable car thingie (u can see it in the bottom of the pic) for better viewing as well ... next time maybe

Next stop was Palace Of Gold - to experience a fraction of the beauty of this place (and better pictures), you can take the virtual tour here.
Now this place was prolly built at the peak of the ISKCON org and you can see the amazing display of beauty and extravagance(?) - This palace is etched in gold, and rare stones and all the stained-glass work has been done by the devotees of Shri Prabhupada.
The drive to the palace is exquisite - in that it is remniscent of roads in India - winding, steep, narrow, rugged and at times single-laned roads! And the fact that the palace is on top of a hill compounds the driving and viewing pleasure. A must drive!
A big thanks to Arvind & Preethu for telling us about this wonderful place. This place even has an ashram/guest-house of sorts ... would love to stay there for a couple of days.




And altho we had planned to stop over @DC for a couple of days, we drove back home instead - lest we miss our own graduation :)

Graceland

Ah - the King's place ... finally.
Yep - on our road trip from Raleigh to Houston - this was a planned pit stop ... and boy were we glad we stopped!
My first impression on seeing the mansion from outside was "Thats all?!?" - I thought it was very small and had a sinking feeling that the $80 worth of tickets was not going to be well spent.
But thank god I was wrong :) ... Graceland is huuuuuge - appearances really are deceptive and its amazing to get a glimpse of how the King lived and how he spent his money :)
Some pics from the experience ...


I know its obvious that this is a closeup of the sleeves on one of the many outfits (jump suits) that the King adorned! But I would like to show off the fact that it was very tricky foto to compose - given the dim museum like lighting ... and without a tripod (vere have we heard that before) ... and I wanted the King's face in the background :)


One of the many rooms at Graceland ... loved the Peacock glass-work and the glass objects on the side.


The roof was mirrored - excellent opportunity for a picture me thought :) If we look funny its ONLY because of the headphones that we are wearing - came with the audio-tour!



The game room ... just loooooooved the ceiling on this one!



All the platinum records of the King ... in fact just a fraction of them!


Graceland!


One of Elvis' many cars ... kept in the Car Museum adjacent to Graceland


One of His guitars ... really loved the Ivory etching on the fret-board ... and the designs on the body as well (needless to say - very difficult cough cough foto to take in dim lighting!)


The King and I.


I think I'll make a Tee with the background - they had a lot of these pics throughout the place ... but none for sale in the million shops around! hmmm - I guess they need an MBA ;)

The trip brought back a lot of fond memories ... of school, college, engineering ... all the recordings (shhh), the dancing and general TP.

Graduation Day

13 May 2006 ... graduation Day ... there HAS to be a mention of this day ... nevermind the tardiness!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay its over! As you can see, D and I are happily throwing our caps in the air ... but we wouldn't have made it to the event despite the big money that we had to shell out for that cheapda gown! A big thanks to Navin (who drove 400 miles to attend the event), Sarat, and J who gave us moral support (and push) to go to the event! After attending Shaibal's graduation ceremony at Kelley, all the excitement of the ceremony had fizzled away ... we would rather have slept that morning :)



But we're glad we went for the ceremony - nevermind the fact that we were standing in the basement for 2 hours and had to wait for half a billion undergrad business school kids after us ... still was a happy event :) - as you can see from the smiling faces!





p.s. I have to add that the graduation gown for masters is a very peculiar one ... it has long sleeves which are closed at the end! very very peculiar!

Khoon Chala Translation

Its been a while since I posted the english translation for Roobaroo ... well that was pretty much a prose Xlation as I had stated - now its time to translate Khoon Chala - an equal favourite from the movie.
This song is so special ... everytime (and I mean each time) that I see this song, a chill runs down my spine and my hair stand on their ends!
A combination of
violent-visuals
angry-poetry
soft-music
and a dreamy voice ... a lethal combination!
And poetry this is - and I must admit that there is no way I could have translated this song like this - the following has been taken from the Rang De Basanti DVD.

kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
Our blood is raging ... It is flowing through the streets But It wont go in vain

aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
Our eyes are blodshot for a purpose ... A cause we will attain

badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
It fell from our bodies ... Embraced the earth

galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
Went winding through the streets. A river of courage ... it surged and swept

naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
It flowed to make a new beginning

khuli-si chhot lekar, badi-si tees lekar ahista ahista
From gaping wounds, and gashes large ... it oozed slowly and steadily

sawaalon ki ungli, jawaabon ki mutthi
While the pointing fingers, got fists in reply

sang lekar Khoon chala
yet, our blood was raging. It flowed not in vain but with a reason

kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
A cause we will attain

aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
Our eyes are blodshot for a reason. A cause we will attain

badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
It fell from our bodies ... Embraced the earth

galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
Went winding through the streets. A river of courage ... it surged and swept

naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
It flowed to make a new beginning ... Yet, our blood was raging

khoon chala
Yet, our blood was raging



It is very interesting to hear the directors comments on the song ... on how he had initially thought about the shots and how they turned out ... how he based the scene on the Mandal commission and how students pretty much brought down a government ... very captivating stuff.
Needless to say ... this is one of the best movies ever "."

A night in San Francisco

"Its a long drive but what the heck ... I'm here after more than 2 years and I'm going to make the best use of my time after work. Shut up - Clean up and leave ... its always fun to see San Francisco at night."
The pep-talk I gave myself ... the evening of July 20. It'd been a long day at work and I had to take the early morning flight back to Houston - I'd already spent the previous two evenings in the whereabouts of San Francisco - nevermind the 60+ min drive to SF from San Ramon! Something was dragging me back to the city - was it the convertible? nah - the Mustang was a "strictly OK" car ... a far cry from my TL! this was something else ...

So I hopped in the car ... vroom vroom (the Mustang does make a lot of noise - compensating for the lack of power?) ... drove into the setting sun
It was after 10 when I reached the Palace of Fine Arts at San Francisco ... the structure looked stunning at night (as always) but wait - tonight I had my camera with me ... heh heh.
The palace was really quiet (what do you expect after 10pm) - and not a soul in sight - kinda scary too - but I set about - finding trash cans and other resting places for the camera as I had OBVIOUSLY forgotten to get my tripod! (hey - I did buy one! honest.)
pretty pretty pretty ...







I know!
And then I noticed the drumming and the moving lights ... something or someone was moving inside the palace ... the sounds of the drums ... flash flash - thats sounds like the opening of the "Remember the Time" video (Michael Jackson's Dangerous album, in case you're struggling) ... but why are the lights moving ... and then I heard what sounded like laughter and clapping!
gulp.

I looked around ... expensive cars ... really really expensive houses ... boats in the distance What the heck! I'm sure this place is safe! So I mustered all my courage (and I mean all of it) and tiptoed towards the entrance of the palace ... now this side of the Palace is really dark but the drumming kept getting louder and faster (maybe the faster part I imagined but definitely louder!) Of course this walk was peppered with glances over my shoulder and my ready to run posture (hey - my camera looks expensive - nevermind that its 4 years old! ... and I'm red-blooded - watch movies and read the news!!)
Nothing happened ... I kept on ... and Now I was in the light of the Palace - I was breathing slower - the music was echoing everywhere and my mind was racing like crazy, trying to imagine what I might see at the turn - under the rotunda ... rituals maybe? (a la da-vinci code), illegal "stuff"? (too many movies!), a movie shoot(this is california for cryin' out loud!) ... Will they allow me in? Will they let me leave? Will I ever see daylight again? ...

I finally made the turn ... and froze!

From what my brain could process ... my eyes were transmitting images of about 20 people ... dancing - in a circle ... around a group of men in the centre ... the men in the centre were chanting something - no wait a minute - they're saying something - no they are laughing - they are playing drums ... and these dancing people - they are dancing with fire!!
what the ?!!?





Oh my god - they are dancing with fire ... they see me walk in with my camera - they're not stopping ... no cops ... no security guards approaching me either ... looks like I'm permitted to be here - hmm - so much for all that creative thinking!

The first few minutes were awkward - you know that feeling - when you accompany your friend to an unknown "friend of your friend's" party - the feeling that maybe you should not have come to the party uninvited - and heck you don't know anybody out here! But a couple of warm smiles and nods later I felt comfortable - these people didn't care - they were focused on having fun!

These people were having a ball (you'll see what I mean) - it was almost like a fire-dancer's casual meeting ... they were showing off their skills - and having so much fun. They were holding some kind of metallic ball and chain assembly - only the metallic ball was on fire! This one dude standing next to me - so unassuming and nonchalant - smiling and watching everyone else ... normal ... but once he picked up a couple of those fiery thingies - he transformed into one of the star performers!



Truly amazing experience. California is such a lovely place ... full of wonderful crazy stuff ... had the choice to move there but I guess without the friends, the bay would not have been any fun.
Getting back to the dance :) - I captured ((tried to)) some of the dances on video - but I must warn you - the video is a far far really far cry from the visual experience that night.



Buzzing with excitement and all wired up I bid adieu to the dancers and drummers who seemed like they were getting ready to wrap up themselves ... and continued my journey ...
On my way out I had to lie down on the ground with my face a few inches from the grass to take this picture - the tripod would have been perfect but well ... thats life! The Palace of Fine Arts is really a very pretty place to be ... definitely during the day and after this experience - at night too :)



dusted myself - made the walk back to the car - this time it was not so scary - I was still abuzz with all the excitement and fun that I had witnessed.

and then I caught her as a fleeting glimpse in the distance ... how could I come this close and not pay homage to the golden beauty herself!

decided to picture her from a different angle this time.

By now it was almost midnight and my senses (cmon - I'm sure theres at least one sensible one!) were beginning to prevail - It was a long drive back to the hotel and a long flight too ...
got in my car slamed on the gas
bumper to bumper the avenue's packed
Thanks Vanilla
Kept the rag-top down BTW ... so the hair can blow ... ... ...

Have always wanted to picture this bldg ... still don't know what it is - I'm guessing its the court-house in Frisco - pretty bldg - never got a chance before to pull over for a pic...

The music was playing really loud ... there was a nip in the air ... the rag top was pulled down ... and I was driving - and smiling ... at the whole experience - I may never know who those people were or our paths might cross again ... but I'd like to believe in the former ...

a special night in San Francisco - with the fire dancers!

Sweet.

The Devi sold-out!

No this is not about goddess worship … well … in a strange kind of way it is! Thanks to Sarat for pointing out Virgin Comics and their latest avatar where they have roped in the likes of Shekhar Kapur, Deepak Chopra and John Woo to create a unique brand of comics – yes comic-books. The first releases have been from the Devi , Sadhu and Snake-woman stables.

This weekend I tried getting the books themselves and lo behold! – the Devi is sold-out! Hmm … that is good. I hope these books become a hit ... esp. in India. But hey, I managed to get a copy of the first issues of Snake-Woman (Shekar Kapur) and Sadhu (Deepak Chopra) and I must say that I was quite impressed by the story telling and the art-work.
But before I go into a dissertation, and while we are on the topic of art-work, I MUST mention this or my head will explode! The art-work in some of these books is absolutely stunning and that is just the beginning … I am eager eager super eager to lay my hands upon the fist issue of Ramayan Reborn – While I’m a bigger fan of the Mahabharata epic, the sneak previews of this book are mind-blowing – not just the art-work. They have the free sneak-preview of some of the books online - including a 17MB pdf


And before I drift away, I must mention the two guys responsible for all this (and more) – Sharad Devarajan and Suresh Seetharaman – yep these are the guys who started Gotham comics – both dudes with BFA’s from the US and very impressive experiences … I MUST meet these guys someday – and who knows … maybe even work at Gotham – how cool would that be!
Getting back to the books – The Sadhu is set in colonial times – another way of saying that would be – “when the British ruled over India!” … and about a British-soldier – James – and I won’t spoil the story … go buy it – its only 2.99 in issue! The Snake-woman, as all of the Nagina/Nagin fans would quickly understand is about Sreedevi – oops I mean a snake-woman! Nice story telling there!

Can you tell that I am excited :)

A long time ago

Kihim beach - circa 1995 - Sarat, Lalit and myself ( L to R) ... posing with the ball while Gujju took the picture with a point-and-shoot (analog) camera ... nice ... very nice.

A long time ago ... or was it? Time is such a cheat. Your mind decides on a time and simply sticks there ... you never go too far away from there.
1992-1997 does that to me ... seems just a few years ago but its almost 10 years gone at best and 15 years on the other side! Unfreakinbelievable!!!
9th grade thru 3-4th year of engineering ... the formative years as they say ... Still can remember the times like it was 2-3 years ago - wonder when my mind will shift to a relatively newer time-period ... sometimes I wish it never does. But then I'm sure our kids would get bored to death listening to all our stories ... I'm sure D is already fed up ... so is Dipti, Sally, Magi, Aparna and other wives ... or its just a matter of time I guess! ;)

Is it due to the fact that most of my friends I've known since I was 8? 20 years is a long time and we have grown up together ... and stayed together - am not sure if this is common - but I sure am glad that it happened to us ... and That deserves a separate post!

Missing … Everything but the Girl

Cities in the rearview ... The trees are tall … and green - the engine screams –it wants me to know that its working hard – trying to keep up. The summer smell – fresh fresh mountain air – bikers biking (they must be crazy?) … these curves – they never end. I see the blue sky – at the cusp of crimson … the ragtop pulled down - I’m loving the wind howling around me
I'm walking down your street again and past your door
But you don't live there any more
It's years since you've been there
But now you've disappeared somewhere like outer space
You've found some better place
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss you
I push the knob – L O U D – disturbs the peace of the mountains … do excuse me while I drown the sound of machine and fly … and I’m missing you.
Signs of La Honda are blurred, and those with white boards with numbers on them – maybe I should pay attention to the signs – but I’m ecstatic to be back on your back … rolling and gliding on your curves … the horses in the mustang respond nicely – could I please go faster … please … please … and the white board acknowledges … sweet – ROAR.
Back on the train
I ask why did I come again?
Can I confess I've been hanging around your old address?
The years have proved to offer nothing since you moved
You're long gone
But I can't move on
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss you - like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss youI catch a glimpse of the ocean but the mountains quickly step in – I stop breathing as the clouds suddenly cover us – jealous of the mountains? maybe … the lights kick in but it doesn’t matter – we’re flying now … and I miss you.
Its chilly but I don’t notice … I’m in the clouds … almost crying … you see me as you drive back towards civilization – crazy man … maybe … but I don’t care – I wanna scream – above the winds and the song in the air – I miss you.
Hills everywhere – blocked by the ocean … or is it the other way around? I don’t care – I hear the water but the clouds are jealous … I imagine clear blue skies drowning into the water on a sunny afternoon – not so long ago … or was it a dream … I miss you … Its chilly … and eerie … I feel the water everywhere but I can not see it … the lights are useless … And I miss you.
I ask why did I come again?
Can I confess I've been hanging around your old address?
And I miss you D.

Route 1 - part 1


Route 1 - part 2


Lyrics of song "Missing" by 'Everything but the Girl' from album - "Amplified Heart"
Video clips recorded on 20 July 2006, while driving in a Mustang Convertible, on Route 1, California

My God

My God - Have been wrestling with this thought for I can not remember how long …
Was having tea with D yesterday … casual chat … conversation wandered on the discovery of what look like lakes on Titan and how the topography of Titan looks a lot like that of erstwhile Earth. Quite obviously, we speculated about life on Titan and that not all life does not have to be carbon based and that there may be life-forms which may be at ease at 290 degrees below 0 Farenheit. The human body is not (most definitely) the optimal design for most situations!

And as usual I went into my zip-zap-zoo-hoom phase-out mode … for the uninitiated it’s the mode when I look at the large(r) picture ... really really large picture ... and then all my problems become inconsequential … I see myself in my chair and then I begin zooming out - home, city, country, planet, solar system, milky way, andromeda galaxy (don’t ask why), all the galaxies , the universe … pitch black … and then I say – “The universe is infinitely gigantic but still we cling on to our religion, our god and our problems as if they were the most important thing in the world – when really we are just on Earth which is one infinitesimal fraction in the grand scheme of things. Our Gods, our holy books, our religions and their leaders, our wars (for peace) … they all presume that there is nothing beyond Earth.” And then I told D that all these crazy fanatics fighting and bickering over god & religion today – if they just took a minute to think about the size of the universe and how small we really are – they would probably drop their weapons and make the best use of their remaining time (one would hope). But maybe I’m fooling myself … I don’t know.

The simple fact that religious books mention Gods talking only about us humans (on Earth) and worse – about specific countries (India, Egypt, Israel etc.) let alone cities within each, are a clear indication of our dreadful narrow-mindedness. We are expected to believe that God is bothered only about a piece of rock on the third rock from the sun! Surely we must be mad to even propose such blasphemy – let alone be fanatic about it. But guess what … I look around and that’s a lot of what I see … senseless … a horrible waste of life … and time! And oh – we pamper ourselves by calling ourselves “intelligent life”.

A couple of quotes
“If we are alone in the universe, what a terrible waste of space” – Carl Sagan
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." – Calvin

And oh – if you don’t forward this to 10 people, then the gods of lightning (of planet Earth) will strike you and you will go to hell (which I’m guessing is a burning-raft in the Bermuda Triangle, since no one has lived to tell!).
Amen.

Standards – Masters (MS/MBA), Golf, Engineering

Monday morning – the usual niceties – “How was your weekend”, “I hope next weekend is not as hot as this one”, “God! I hate Mondays”, “My handicap is …” … and as usual everyone smiles and nods acknowledging and NOBODY listens.
How mechanical and how boring. (And before I forget where I was going with all this), so much is simply taken for granted - Everybody (almost) gels their hair, gets an engineering degree (in no particular sequence), learns how to play Golf (sporty!), does an MBA, looks smart, drinks wine (culture I say), has an opinion on cheese (even the smell of it!), comments on Iraq and of course is a self appointed “Weather expert”.
So my point is (finally!) if you’re anyways expected to do all these things then does it even make sense to do it?

The other munday I overheard a couple talking about their weekend and how it was perfect for playing Golf and how they had handicapped themselves (or whatever it is that golf playing “sportsmen” suffer from!) … and I'm thinking – I could have had that same conversation without ever having lifted a single club(of golf)! Nobody ever asks me whether I play golf or not – its expected that all of mankind does it … just like breathing in and out. Same with drinking beer, getting an MBA (in no particular order), or knowing the weather.
Then why even spend time doing all these things. There seems to be no value – perceived or otherwise – and no excitement either! I remember a conversation not so long ago where we were discussing on how a Ph.D will be the norm – it will be the Masters Degree of today - not too much into the future. We’re all about standards – and I’m not sure if I like it.
Might as well start my training on fly-by-flapping-really-fast.

Women & International – how they gravitate towards their kind

Enter a room – could be a presentation, could be a meeting, could even be a snooze fest! Doesn’t matter!
The women automatically seat themselves in the proximity of other women and the international dude usually sits next to one of his comrades. If he can’t find one then he will sit by the next best option – another international entity!
What about Men you ask? – well they just want to sit next to the women – international or not!
Is it just me or does everyone notice this.