The Folly of Wearing Neckties

by James Head

Every time I tie a tight and twisted tie
about my throat
I cannot help but laugh and cry
at such an action, such a rote,
for though I know that it's for a show
no longer to protect the coat
or shirt it still seems rather pert
for something once designed for dirt.

And so I use a handkerchief
when messily devouring beef;
Spaghetti sauce is often lost
and ruins silken cloths embossed,
and so I bring a baby's bib
should I decide to try a rib.
I roll up my sleeves and pin my cuffs
trying not to soil my ruff.

And it seems so absurd to me
that possibly - in a century -
humankind may live to see
a tissue (made not to be used through
normal means of wiping a face)
assume a prim and proper place
upon the necks of well dressed gents
who drape some dreary barber's capes
about their napes in order to collect
the wayward contents of their p(a)lates.

(The necktie was actually invented in Coratia as a means to stop food from falling on your shirt while eating...)

Surviving Terminal Three

I haven't written anything in a while and this one's been in the stir for a while and is still an incomplete drama, but should make for decent reading till I can get something more worthwhile up.

August 22

BA 179 touched down at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City at nine in the evening. So far, it had been an uncharacteristically uneventful journey if you discount the Spanish lesbian couple I met in Calcutta. Immigration and customs went smoothly, my bags were waiting for me at the carousel… everything was in its right place! I was amazed.

It was going to be a wait at JFK for my connecting to Syracuse so I decided to get a hotel, but in the vicinity, there were only rooms available at the Ramada Inn… for $217 a night. Right, cheap that I am (I don’t even bother to pay $3 for a baggage trolley), I made my way down to terminal 3 to try and find an earlier flight. This was quite a quest in itself, because Delta 3 is a labyrinth of wrong directions and closed doors. Eventually I managed to discover the Delta hideout after following an itinerant group of bumped off gypsies for half an hour.

There was no earlier flight. I would have to take the 1:15 pm flight the next afternoon. Without asking Ron to do the math, I figured that was a good 15-hour wait. I needed to set up camp for the night. After several nights spent at airports all over Europe I was quite accustomed to this, nothing to take pride in, but it did take one back to the ‘hunter-gatherer’ days. First, seek out abandoned luggage trolleys to hold your baggage, and then find good shelter close to a freshwater source and a toilet. Finally, before attempting to snatch some shuteye, it is advisable to secure your baggage with off-the-cuff anti-theft systems like grappling hooks, stray wires, whatever is at hand.

Unfortunately, the Delta Domestic Departures terminal is not built to host the needs of temporary hobos like myself. There were exactly two sets of waiting seats able to accommodate precisely nine people give or take a couple, literally. Another overnighter couple had annexed one bench and I lost my seat on the other when I went to use the facilities.

For a while, I just wandered around the now closed terminal, pushing my trolley, wishing Hann were around. Hann knew, through experience, how to hold on to territorial claims and was quite adept at finding lush green pastures. Eventually I decided to build my own shelter with the parts I had. I managed to smuggle myself behind enemy lines and steal a bunch of chairs from the check-in counters. The idea was to make a bed with six roller-chairs. It was a bad idea. I fell. Twice.

I was also getting a little hungry. Rations were running low. I had one bar of Dairy Milk, a KitKat, 2 bottles of Black Label, and a jar of chili-garlic spread. The terminal would open at 5, so I had to wait another six hours before more food would become available. Restraint was necessary.

I made a makeshift weight-holder using my trolley, backpack, and suitcase. I was not a comfortable arrangement, but I was not sleepy anyway, jet lag. I killed a couple of hours watching ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ that I had downloaded for Gupta and was still on my computer and watching people come and go. I had to get up and walk around every once in a while to stop my backside from falling asleep… it had been lethargically resting for the last 18 hours on the plane.

August 23

At 3:40 in the morning, I decided to give up on my attempts to get some sleep and started writing this, boredom being my sheer motivation. I have nothing else to add right now. I will continue to relate in real time if anything worthy of interest happens…

So after six cool-mints, ten hours, and $25 in excess baggage fines later I finally have my boarding pass… six hours before departure. I sit on the floor to charge my laptop and immediately security begins to ask my complexion a serious of arbitrary questions. Once it charges up a bit more, enough to watch a few episodes of ‘Entourage’, I will go through security.

Through security. First, I eat, good old Flaming Wok, or such… Chinese fast food places all look the same. Sleepy, so sleepy, and sick… sick from apathy and malnutrition, not to mention the head pounding dhickkao dhichkao music I have been subject to all night on the loud speakers. Please *insert supreme power of religious faith here*, will you not end it soon? Can you feel the sewage in my stream of consciousness bogging down my thinking?

After making pleasant conversation with a gentleman from the Emirates, and a short nap I find out that the 1:15 flight to Syracuse has been cancelled due to bad weather! In the summer – are you fucking kidding me? They give us the choice between taking a bus to Syracuse at 2 or taking the 5 pm flight, but no one has any idea if the $25 they charged me for excess baggage will be refunded if I take the bus. I met another chap from India going to SUNY-IT also in the same boat as me. If the 5 pm flight fails to arrive, I am quite fucked. The board says flight is on time, but there are still three long, excruciating hours to go and even then, things are not concrete.

I tried to call Ashlee to let her know what has happened so far, but the machine just ate up my dollar. Bhen chod, aaj to bad luck hi kharab hai… I had to call Amit with my UK roaming and asked him to let Ashlee know. I hope she got the message.

They just announced that the flight to Buffalo does not have a functioning toilet so passengers should use the toilet at the terminal before boarding. Is it any wonder why Delta is going bankrupt? I am slowly reaching boiling point. I might lose it anytime. Will this be a repeat of Chicago? They told us we are on our own if the 4:55 is cancelled. I hate flying. Worst-case scenario I think a bunch of us will cab it… there are enough irate customers here.

September 16

Eventually we did fly out... albeit at 10pm in the evening. The tornado had subsided. But my bags were lost, and they took four days to return them, without compensation. Never fly Delta ladies and gentlemen, never. Rather wishy-washy wrap up to the story, but I can't get back into the groove...

End of the world???

What the hell has happened to this site???

Three out of five of our members were supposed to have endless free hours ahead of them. but what is this?

Is this it...the end of this world???

We need a savior!

After a long time!

Hey everyone! Sorry for being away from this site for such a long time. I was back home in Nepal and I just came back yesterday. Right now, I am desperately fighting my jet lag and trying to stay awake in my orientation-leader-training-sessions.

My trip from Nepal to Hamilton has always been exciting, for some reason. And as you might have guessed, I have a story again.

My journey started off with a blast. The flight was overbooked. But thanks to the airport staffs I knew in Kathmandu, I was able to secure the best economy-class seat for myself. However, my excitement quickly disappeared when I realized that the guy who sat next to me had the habit of slurping his drinks. And he kept on taking drinks one after another. God that was irritating! But that was a minor case in front of what I had to hear at the arrivals. Apparently, due to some technical problems, the staffs in Kathmandu had to take 1500kg (approx. 3300 lbs, for Americans) of luggage out of the plane. But the staffs in Delhi told us that it would arrive in the very next flight in the evening and that it would be delivered to our address within 12 hrs. I made the mistake of blindly trusting them, and so, after leaving my contact details, I went out of the airport to find Maity, who had been waiting for me for 2 hrs.

Not surprisingly, I didn't get my luggage that day. Tried calling them several times, but in vain. The next day when I got hold of one of the employees, he thought I am an American and tried to talk to me in an American accent. Phrases like 'Yeah, man, see ya!' and 'No probs, man!' were commonly used. It was a nice try but it sounded odd after hearing an Indian accent first and besides, I don't think it was supposed to be such an informal conversation anyway.

The following days of my journey also had something interesting lined up for me. London Heathrow welcomed me with one of the longest queues at the Immigration. Spent almost four full hours standing there. The day after, the Virgin Atlantic staffs there decided to charge me for carrying 1 kg of extra weight. I could do nothing but pay. The flight to JFK wasn't really smooth either. Frequent turbulence hits kept us awake. The best incident took place right before we landed at JFK. An air hostess was taking a glass of water to the passenger behind me. Just when she was about to pass me, the plane hit a major turbulence. And before I could react to the shock, I realized that I had to deal with another shock first. And this is not something I have ever heard or seen in real life or even in movies. She had lost her balance due to the turbulence and had literally landed on my laps. And before even trying to get up, she started giggling. Soon, the whole cabin burst into laughter. Her face was red. I must say that was an awkward moment. But I am happy that it was a cute young brunette and not a big fat guy. This incident reminded me of the Indian chewing gum ad I watched when in Nepal. I am sure many of you guys know what I am talking about.

Well! apart from that, nothing was really exciting. Came back and now I am trying to settle back at Hamilton after one full year's gap. Everything seems weird now.

Great Scott!

My much anticipated (well...maybe) first post. I thought I'd share a couple cartoons that I found on the Internets.

Since some American schools are now teaching Intelligent Design, perhaps we should explore contrasting theories in the other sciences too...

Your unborn child wants a philosopher's stone for Christmas.

Founding Fathers vs. Fox News - Round 1: Separation of Church and State

You can find more cartoons here.

Thriller here tonight

I don't know if any of you have seen these already but I saw them for the first time tonight and there are no words.

Sunlight will fall

I don't have any rants, any stories, or much of anything, really. The only reason I am posting is because I uploaded an album for someone and didn't want the link (nor the hour it took to upload the music) to go to waste. I figure you kids might be interested and if not, then oh well I suppose.

The album I uploaded is Chungking's latest album, Stay Up Forever. If you haven't heard of them...They're a British band (well, duo is more like it) with a female lead singer whose voice is very sultry, smooth, and quite unique. I would say Chungking's sound is in the category of trip-hop/electronica/chill-out. They've been compared to Goldfrapp, Morcheeba, and Portishead and I can agree with the first two but not Portishead, though, because I've never heard their music. Anyway, there's not much more I can say because you just have to listen to really understand. Thanks, youtube:

Chungking - Come With Me (From their 1st album, We Travel Fast)


Chungking - Love Is Here To Stay (From Stay Up Forever)

"Where There Is Faith, There Is No Fear!"

These words have been immortalized in the annals of movie lore as the tag line of perhaps the most monumental movie of our times, "Aap Ka Suroor".

Rant

I want to rant. It's been a long time since I've ranted. There are many things to rant about, starting with that damn HCL commercial. I want to punch that damn HCL employee and what kind of a company provides a helicopter to go overseas but doesn't provide transport to the helipad that's in the middle of the desert... and the HCL employee can't even afford a taxi and has to hitch a ride from none other than an investment banker who's driving an SUV without gas in the middle of nowehere. That's believable.



Having said that, the new Happy Dent commercial is easily one of the best ads I've seen on TV recently.



On the other hand I re-read "The Half Blood Prince" in anticipation of "Deathly Hallows"... so many questions, only one book to answer. Potter can't be the seventh horcrux can he? Less than 30 days to go!

Fairies, Claymores and Bagpipes

[I wrote this for Zorro on Doughnuts]...

First post after being a member for...I don't even remember. It was going to be on Japanese pop/rock, but Yohan's post on The Arctic Monkey's and my recent hike around Scotland and RockNess 2007 made me change my mind.

I haven't been able to find copies of all these songs because many of them I just heard live or in pubs and buses across Scotland, but you can find most of them on www.radioblogclub.com, a rather remarkable site.

Unlike their Irish neighbours, Scottish musicians have never really made a big impact in the rock and roll world. Perhaps the best known names would be Franz Ferdinand and now, KT Tunstall (who actually went to college with Snow Patrol and our good friend, Duncan)... and if you really push it, the Young brothers from AC/DC who were half Scottish. It so turns out that the tiny nation of Scotland has churned out some pretty popular music, many of which sounds too American or British to make us think that they'd be of Scottish pedigree. After all, what would we expect Scottish music to sound like? Screaming cats and bagpipes? Well, here's a small sampling, make up your own mind...

First we have Snow Patrol, a band formed in University of Dundee where Duncan went to college. These guys are pretty much like any other american alternative band, but it's worth a listen to some of their stuff; "Run", "Chasing Cars", "Signal Fire", "You're All I Have" and "Spitting Games". You might have heard the first three songs in the disastrous Spiderman 3 movie.

Paolo Nutini is another up and coming musician with some smooth beats, semi-gruff voice, and catchy lyrics. Here are a few recommendations: "New Shoes", "Jenny Don't Be Hasty", and "Last Request".

I don't know if you remember an old jeans ad with the song "pressure, pressure, pressure", but that was The Zutons. They've done some great work with "Pressure Point", "Valerie", and "Oh Stacey". Although they supposedly formed in Liverpool, Duncan claims that they were initially led by 2 Glaswegians and a prat from Edinburgh.

Before our trip to Scotland, Pragyan and I were discussing what heavy rock bagpipes would sound like and the answer to our queries were the Peatbog Faeries - another group from Skye. I don't have any particular song to recommend but you can try, "Welcome to Dun Vegas", "Wacko King Hako", and "Scots on the Rocks".

If you want to know about the McGreggor massacre or some good old Scottish folk music, The Corries would be an appropriate choice. They do a lot of great traditional songs seeped in history and lore like "Portkey Kid", "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and other patriotic songs like "Flower of Scotland".

Another band with dubious origins, Alabama 3 was formed in Brixton, England, but again Duncan claims they're actually Scots, but as long as they make good music, it doesn't matter right? They're perhaps most famous for "Woke Up This Morning" which was used for the opening sequence for "The Sopranos". I'd also recommend, "Hello... I'm Johnny Cash", and "Peace in the Valley".

Box o' Bananas performed live at the King Haakon Pub in Kyle, Isle of Skye in Northern Scotland while we were there... it's hard to imagine this tiny island in the middle of nowhere have produced some of the biggest names in Scottish modern music and also hosts the annual Skye Music Festival. Coming back to the band, BoB combines a lot of traditional Scottish instruments [read: pipes] with high amp guitars and keyboards. They're great to listen to live, not to mention bloody funny. I couldn't find anything on www.radioblogclub.com, so good luck...

The first Aberfeldy song I heard was "Vegetarian Restaurant". To be honest I really haven't heard much from these guys, but I'm looking around for some more. Radioblogclub has a limited collection for these guys. Try "Tom Weir" and "Summer's Gone".

The Proclaimers are the quitessential Scottish band. The identical twins were voted "the most Scottish band" and are perhaps best known for their song "I'm Gonna Be [500 miles]"... you know, the one that goes, "and I will walk 500 miles, and I will walk 500 more..." These guys are from the little town of Fief just north of Edinburgh and people are suprised they haven't become British sellouts! You've probably already heard "Letter From America", "Sunshine on Leith" and "King of the Road".

Another Dundee Band, The View, has also produced some decent... although certain people seem to hate them. Also accused of being American sellouts, people have called them a cross between The Arctic Monkey's and The Proclaimers, and the worst new band! Make up your mind: "Wasted Little DJs", "Same Jeans", and "Face for the Radio".

Lastly I leave you with a surprise Isle of Skye master DJ: Mylo who along with KT Tunstall was probably the biggest hit of RockNess 2007. I'm sure there are many more great bands and musicians I've missed out, but these are all the guys I know about. Enjoy! Sorry I couldn't provide the songs, but they're all there on www.radioblogclub.com.

I'll write a normal post sometime soon. I wonder where everyone else has disappeared?

Half the time we're gone but we don't know where

So I graduated.

Now what?

Who are you?

I just realized that although it has been a while since we started conversing through this site, I have almost no idea who you all are. Might be a good idea if we all introduced ourselves to one another.

OK...since I brought this up...

Me - Pragyan Pradhan from Nepal, a student at Hamilton College, New York - currently chilling at LSE for a year - hopefully will get a BA degree in Math and Economics in 2008. Had wasted more than a year after high school doing nothing - now in a four year college - which means another year down the drain (compared to three-year colleges in Nepal). Plans after graduation - donno yet - will probably do something in business. What else...oh ya...I will be teaching Hindi next year with Maity. Now isn't that ironic? I have never had a single Hindi lesson in my lifetime.

Those days are gone...

Yesterday, a friend of mine said to me, 'How can you drink this? It's disgusting.'

Maity and I, with three others, decided to go to a pub in the afternoon yesterday. It had been a while since I went to a pub. Without any second thought, I asked for a double black label with ice. Priya decided to take a sip from my glass, and that was when she said that to me.

I had my beer days, followed my gin/vodka/rum and now I have switched to whiskey. I also used to say at one point in life, 'geez, whiskey is damn bitter'. May be I am getting old, or I am just getting tired of mixed drinks. I like whiskey. Whiskey is good. What do ladies' know about a gentleman's drink anyway (sincere apologies to exceptions)?

Poor Maity was warned by the bartender for drinking whiskey without an ID. I almost got into trouble for giving him the drink.

What's worse than going to an expensive theater in London and not liking the play at all? - Drinking tons of expensive alcohol at a London pub and not getting drunk even a bit.

Introducing...

Friar Mite D’Asia the Rurr

Frair D’Asia hails from the marshes of Klean-tun, although ancient tales hint of a youth spent in myriad lands. Apprenticed in the dark arts of Comsigh at Hymlton, he quickly rose to become an apostle of the High Church of Muk. D’Asia revels in the excretion of information and always carries with him a nameless tome of apocryphal knowledge. He also has the distinction of being the only one to tame one of the Akura beasts of Nippon and together perfect the ways of Speidlimit. In his time at Hamilton, he developed a life long hatred for the barbaric Cake and swore to destroy all their kin with his powerful Majik of Youman. We wish him good luck on his quest.

[With sincere apologies to Y'Jinn the Scribe.]

How Can I Tell You?

EDIT: When I first wrote the post, a lot of my friends actually had no idea what I was talking about. And it was around 2pm (US EST), mind you. Kind of reminds me of 9/11 when I was in school and no one had a clue till fairly late.

I mean, I agree with the comments that if you don't know anybody who was affected (either directly or indirectly), you are quite removed from the situation so it's silly to get upset. But only to a certain extent. (And I do know of two people who go to VT...they were high school acquaintances, the sort of people you only talk to in class. Both are fine.) What happened yesterday is upsetting. What happens all over the world every damn day is upsetting. I know I would be lying if I said I did not feel at least a little affected by ridiculously horrible events I read about or see on the news every day. In that slight moment when you read/hear about something, one must be feeling something. I mean, are we really going to kid ourselves and say we are completely unaffected? Things do not and should not have to happen to our person or people we know in order for us to feel something, even if only to impassion our own lives or to spark inspection of the environment around us.

Three universities and a few other primary and secondary schools had to close today because of bomb threats. Stupid copycat shit. I mean, VA Tech already had cops crawling all over the campus because of two bomb threats in the previous weeks leading up to Monday, a shooting that occurred on campus in August of last year (by someone unrelated to the campus), and the shooting in the dorm that morning, and still, it happened. I can't even imagine...

Yesterday, the Chicago Sun Times kept claiming sources said the shooter was a Chinese student on a visa from Shanghai. They must feel stupid now. Bet those fact checkers will be fired. Immediately after news spread that the shooter was Asian, the racist shit I heard about was disgusting. Just because of one lone psychotic Asian guy. What about the Columbine shooting? And the clock tower shooting at the University of Texas, the guy who killed 24 people in Killeen, Texas, or Manson, Bundy, Dahmer...need I say more? They were all white. What does that say? Racial profiling makes no sense. People are pathetic.

And this whole thing about how guns don't kill people, people kill people is just stupid. People on the news were arguing that if students were allowed to carry concealed weapons, the shooter could've been stopped. So ludicrous. First of all, what were the chances that someone in that building carried a gun? Second of all, enabling more teenagers/young adults to carry guns is the worst, most careless idea ever. If anything, there should be gun control that is strict as hell. If that Asian guy didn't have access to guns, he most likely would not have killed so many people. I mean, say if he had just a knife or something. People kill people. But people without guns kill less people.


Original post:
I don't believe any of you reading this are in the States (though please correct me if I'm wrong) so you may or may not have heard.

This morning, an Asian man opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus and killed over 30 people, including himself. Information is still coming in but what is known for certain is that there was a shooting in a dorm and then two hours later, the man went to a classroom on the other side of campus and shot the majority of the victims there. There has been no official confirmation on whether the guy was a student or what. However, rumor has it the guy was a student and snapped when he found out his girlfriend cheated on him. I got that from a friend who has a friend who has a lot of friends who attend VA Tech. If that is the motivation for this, it makes things that much worse because it's such a stupid, senseless thing to kill people over. But then again, what exactly is worth killing someone over?

Wax philosophical

As you may or may not know, Hamilton is pretty much a tundra. It's a school on a hill and it snows from sometime in October (usually) to the end of April. In fact, it's snowing quite hard right now as I type. That's an understatement, actually. It's more like a blizzard. Coincidentally, the accepted student open house is today. I wonder how many will decide not to come because of this.

I, for one, however, wish it would snow harder. Another snow day is more than fine by me. I need more time to write my (insert choice expletive here) thesis. It will be a pain to dig my car out of the snow later but I think it's worth it. Besides, I need the exercise.

What kind of f*ckery is this?

So I typed this fairly long post earlier but I stepped away for a bit, came back, and found that my browser hates me and ate my post. I'm too lazy to re-type it all so I will just write about something else.

When I was commenting in the previous post and was asked where I was from, it reminded me of the most frequent responses I'd get after I said "New Jersey."

Top 5:

5. North or South? (Representin' South Jerz! South Jersey > North Jersey)

4. Isn't that NYC's landfill? Haha (You've got it backwards, buddy! Though North Jersey does stink, what with all the factories up there.)

3. Ah, the Garden State. Why's it called that? (We've got a lot of farm land and generate a lot of flora and produce.)

2. Joisey??! Hahaha Where's your accent?? (There is no accent!)

DRUMROLL - And the number one response I get is...

1. *stare for a second* No, I mean really, where are you from? (Like it's impossible that I come from NJ! But really, if you want to ask me which ethnicity I am, just "grow some balls" and ask!)

I can say with 99.99% confidence that every time I get the #1 response, it has come from a white person. Don't mean to be racist but it's true. When I was younger, I would be clueless and just kept repeating myself until he/she elaborated with, "So were you born here?" And there's also: "Oh, NJ. So how long have you lived here (or there, depending on where I am)?" Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact age when I realized these were thinly veiled indicators of ignorance. Now, depending on how I'm asked, where I am, who I'm speaking to, and my mood, I give different answers. Sometimes I tell the truth, sometimes I make shit up and give some very random answers, and sometimes I would be a complete asshole and say "Earth" or something like it. It has become quite amusing, really, seeing people's responses to my ridiculous answers.

The title of this post is quite fitting. If you may not have noticed, all of my posts have titles that come from either a movie, song, and tv show, or may be a hackneyed quote/phrase. Anyway, this one is no different. It's a line from the lyrics in a song by Amy Winehouse, a British soul/jazz/r&b singer, called "Me & Mr. Jones." She says fuckery. How can you resist?

Amy Winehouse - Me & Mr. Jones

Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good

EDIT: So Hamilton has this music festival type thing every year near the end of the school year called Mayday. I think this started in 2004. Anyway, last year, they brought The New Pornographers and some other people I can't remember. This year, they're bringing Asobi Seksu!!! I'm so excited!! (Well, actually, the headliner is Citizen Cope but I've never heard of him 'til now. Checked him out on myspace and I must admit I'm not a fan.) If you've never heard of Asobi Seksu, they're a shoegazing indie/pop rock band from NYC whose name means "playful sex" in Japanese. The lead singer, Yuki Chikudate, sings in both English and Japanese against a background of lush guitars to create this surreal, dreamy sound. It's hard to explain so you'll just have to listen to find out what I'm talking about.

Asobi Seksu - Thursday

Asobi Seksu - Lions and Tigers

To GWB fans!

no offense!









let's see what 2008 has in store for the world.

Savvy?

So I'm taking a Comparative Literature/English course called The Detective Story this semester. Yesterday, my professor mentioned an article he read online about a professor at MIT who coaches kids how to "ace" the new writing portion of the SAT and uses this to lend credence to his argument that standardized writing assessments are only harming students' writing abilities. It's quite disturbing, really.

Rumor has it that Johnny Depp will be in Sin City 2. Depp was originally slated to play Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro's role) but couldn't fit it into his schedule. This new role will supposedly be much more substantial. I, for one, am excited over this news. Johnny Depp can do no wrong. Well, aside from Secret Window, From Hell, The Astronaut's Wife...those are the only ones that pop out at the moment. Never watch those movies. If you have already, well, I feel your pain.

Maybe this song can help assuage that. I came across this song from Sneaky Sound System, an Australian band, on one of my bookmarked music blogs and fell in love with it. It's hella catchy/danceable, as in it's pretty much club music. If while listening to this song, not even one part of your body is impelled to move to the beat, then you are just no fun. Besides, this is not your regular crappy vocal overlapped with synth beats kind of dance song. It's more like a cross between The Sounds, Blondie, synth beats, and just a pinch of Kate Bush-like vocals. Give it a listen. ("You can think I'm wrong, but that's no reason to quit thinking." - House)

Sneaky Sound System - I Love It

Speaking of which, there's an all new House tonight. About damn time, I'd say. Here's another quality quote from the great philosopher, House: "Perseverance does not equal worthiness. Next time you want to get my attention, wear something fun. Low-riding jeans are hot."

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want!” [1]

There is a lot to talk about for this bored meeting.

First on the agenda is the induction of one Allison “Chouball” Chou into this blog. A few more names and we will be like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Let me tell you a bit about Chou. Never believe a word of what she says. Half the lies she says aren’t true. What else do you expect from a former employee of a sketchy New York tax firm? Her favoured drink is double vodka on the rocks with a dash of tangerine. She drives a space age Honda Civic and owns a DVD of “Miami Vice”. We look forward to hearing more of her apocryphal stories…

Jae, Amit, Shraddha, and Noah were visiting for the last couple of weeks. It was great fun. Noah and I went to watch Patrick Stewart as Prospero in a superb RSC production of “The Tempest”. All through the show, I was always expecting him to say, “Engage”, but it never came. Later Amit, Noah, and I went to watch Monty Python’s “Spamalot”. Although we had crappy seats, it was a very enjoyable show, but not in the same league as T. However, the best play I’ve seen in the West End is still “The Woman in Black”, which I went to watch twice, once with Kunj and once with Elena.

My Economics teacher is expecting a child in a couple of weeks. They’ve named her Helena, which brings me to the movie “DOA: Dead or Alive” – don’t watch it. We also got around to watching “300”. Quite an intense movie; lot’s of blood and gore but it’s not “Sin City”.

Jae and I went on a Beatles trip to Liverpool. It was an excellent trip, complete with singing along at a live performance (Paul Caspa) at the famous The Cavern Pub. Back in London we went down to Abbey Road and tried hard to duplicate the album cover, but we were too spazzed out to get it right!

St. Patrick’s Day was another experience. We went to watch the parade and the live performances at Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square and topped off the day with a couple of pints of Guinness at The Blue Posts pub. Which isn’t anything special since we got drunk ten nights in a row. We love our party hats.

Wimbledon was a very disappointing outing. Not only were we lost but it also started to rain and the construction kept us out of the grounds. The museum was cool with some stunning AV demos, but for six quid that’s the least you’d expect. All other pictures, at least the good ones are on Facebook.

My plans for Spain and Portugal went down the drain when I told the Finnish embassy to “F*ck off” and cancelled my visa. I can’t imagine why any one would want to go to Finland and on top of that they people at the embassy don’t want you to go either. Gets my vote for worst embassy in the world. I hate Finland. So I’m stuck here in London. Maybe I’ll still go to Morocco and Scotland, but as of now, I’m too pissed off to think straight.

To top things off we have the sad demise of the Indian Cricket Team. 'Tis a sad day when Ireland makes it past the league stage and India doesn't. I will not sulk, not even when Arsenal is beaten by Everton.

[1]: The Rolling Stones. Seems to capture our thoughts.