Pointless Rumblings (Chapter -winter'08, Part-turmoil, Section-Waiting time before the cricket game starts) :D

I know i have tons of other stuff to do like go through and organize massive number of pictures from the last two camping trips (gosh !! one of the was in July.. i am really lazy!! like i didn't know that..hehehe). BTW the cricket game i am talking about is India vs England 4th ODI, a make or break one for England as far as the 7 match series is concerned (for those no cricket followers). Since i am on the topic of cricket would like to mention couple of things. Firstly i find Kevin Peterson (the English captain) a really optimistic fellow(after the 3rd consecutive ODI lose to India he said at least the margin of runs is going down from 158 to 54 to 16 in the last one...:D) Which is good as you don't loose your focus come what may. Secondly i came across the Guardian's sports blog (the UK one) and have become a instant fan of it because of the blogger's sense of humor and taking the sport as a sport not as a war ,of course when the game is finished(during the game its all fair if they become like Ozzy let loose on a flock of doves or bats for that matter..lol).

One of the piece from their ongoing India Tour Diary -"is it so wrong to keep players up late getting drunk" where the blogger tries to justify with an example of Ian Botham "....bludgeoned 122 from 55 balls with 15 fours and seven sixes, after being totally drunk the night before. It was especially brilliant as it had the desperation of a man with a terrible hangover, half wanting to succeed, half wanting to get out and go and have a lie down." is absolutely hilarious. :D. He goes on describing the some of those nagging travel experience you have in India where things starts to go wrong and then everything just falls in place in one of the most unusual way. Like when he got a lift from a guy named Siddhant on his motorbike because the taxi wasn't allowed to wait because of security reason. ("..Siddhant would particularly like to say "hello" to his girlfriend in Canada via this diary. I'm happy to oblige. She has chosen well. How many Indians walking out of a day-night international at, say, Edgbaston, and struggling to find a taxi back to the city centre, would be offered a free lift from a young Brummie on a motorbike with the comment: "It is my city, it is my gift''? I rest my case."). Its also very funny to see how at least some of the "Western Civilization people"(i always use these words with a snare..:D) see how ridiculously over blown their fear of security is in any other country apart from their own. ("Because England were in the adjoining hotel, police lined every yard of the route, except that England players never leave their hotel for officially-induced fear of attack from someone vaguely connected to the Axis of Evil.")

Another piece by Barney Roney(reminds me of "The Flintstones" ..hehe) "How do you get Yuvraj Singh early" made be crack with laughter specially when he mentions one of his dreams "Only yesterday morning I found myself waking up from an uneasy dream in which I was playing beach cricket with a stick of rhubarb while Nicolas Sarkozy whispered repeatedly in my ear "On doit rejêter Yuvraj tôt" only to open my eyes and find myself dressed in nothing but a pair of batting gloves and scrawling the words "You've Got To Get Yuvraj Early" on the wall with a bright red lipstick. I was so shaken up I had to get off the bus."

The most surprising (in a very funny sort of way )piece of them all was "Meet the Bolly Wags". It talks about the Bollywood GF's of the current Indian cricket team. Cricket has always has a history of attracting Bollywood actress's (Patudi and Sharmila Tagore being the most famous up till now). But take a look at the current line up and all you can say is there must be something behind girls falling for fame and money, at least till they last ..lol!!.

• Dhoni + Deepika Padukone (previously with Yuvraj Singh) - Do you see the move towards a much more famous and riches. :)
• Ishaant + Katrina Kaif - the current most promising 20 yr old pinup guy (who just signed for $900,000 in IPL and currently the most talked about guy in the cricket world, of course was not a reason) with a 24 yr old pin up actress
• Sreesanth + Lakshmi Rai (i have no clue who she is!, but she was linked with Dhoni before..hehehe) - don't need to say anything here , if you have gathered the trend you know she had to grab the next best available as the previous one went higher up.
  

Its has been the case since the beginning of mankind , hot, sexy and attractive women will fall for the rich and famous and vice verse (of course the women have it little bit harder as they have to look at least good up to some level :D). The above examples also prove my point that fame and money always makes a guy look nicer and cuter (nothing wrong in it , if we accept the fact), without those added stuff all these guys will be considered creepy by these girls.
Whatever people say in the talk shows, books or other media about this thing being not true and "NORMAL" people won't do the same but if we are honest enough we will agree that we would have done the same in their position and probably 10 times faster. For all those delusional people who believe it's all about "LOVE" well they are so far away from the truth that nothing i can say will make any difference.

The fact remains that it's all those people in between rich and poor, famous and nobody that talk about inner beauty and connection and all that emotional mambo jumbo.

Pointless Rumblings (Chapter -winter'08, Part-turmoil, Section-nothing better to do) :P

PROLOGUE

Let me clarify the "Chapter -winter'08, Part-turmoil, Section-nothing better to do" thing before i go on with my actual objective for those incoherent readers :P ( now!! now!! don't pout!! you are reading my blog ..what else do you think my first expression will be :D) . It all started with the inspiration to put down few of the million pointless things that go around in my head day in and day out, and since i needed some kind of categorization to see if there is a psychopathic trend there (all those psychology cuties (girls only !!! i am 100% straight with no intention of straying from the path).if you do stumble upon this and see some eccentric pattern, please leave me a comment with your phone no. and email ID along with a min 2"X 2" picture (larger size pictures highly appreciated). Pictures are for "once in a blue moon" kind of situation when i have to decide between two or more!!!. Anyway back to explanation, Chapter- explains the weather and year (as you can by yourself see , no need for explanation); Part- explains my current mood/life condition (has to predominantly exist for more than 2 weeks to qualify) and Section- explains the current condition. I think i have found a categorization of which even Freud would have been proud of (boasting of course.. he would have found we a total nut job right away).

Chapter -winter'08, Part-turmoil, Section-nothing better to do

Life seriously has been in a turmoil this last month or so (come to think of it the whole of 2008 has been a turmoil and i have been suffering from an unprecedented form of feeling comprising of sadness and restlessness). I have also been suffering from sudden bouts of "no social contact syndrome". I am not anti social, on the contrary i thrive in social gatherings, if people can overlook my first expression of a creepy guy ..hehehe. It probably has something to do with the "sadness and restlessness" feeling i was talking about ( Cute female psychology student, don't u think i am the best character study for you next class project, leave a COMMENT NOW!!! :P).

And to top it all i have to go to work everyday 2Hrs commute to the south of the city (i live on the north side of the city). I always used to make fun of hordes of people commuting to the southern suburbs when they lived in the norther burbs or vice a verse , but now it has come to bite me on the ass and say "ahhh u thought you were smarter than us". Well i am not complaining about the commute and work, its OK. I just cut down on stupid TV stuff i used watch endlessly just to waste time and now i watch only the things i adore. Like couple of days back i watched "Godfather" for the umpteenth time. This movie which i can watch umpteen times more still gives me pure movie watching pleasure. Even though this movie has countless memorable quotes (come to think of it everything is famous) but the ones i like the best are :

• "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse- Don Corleone "- its ranked second most famous quotes , but the credit goes to Brando for making a simple line memorable.
• "Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever. - Michael Coleone"- this one is one of my favourites specially because of the conviction with which it is delivered by Pacino.
  

Well i can go on and on about all the other quotes as there are so many and it difficult to choose , but you get the point.

The other movie i just watched again is "A fish called Wanda". I don't know how many of you have seen or heard of it , but its one of my favourite comedy(i term it eccentric comedy- do you see a pattern emerging now ..lol!!). Kevin Kline richly deserved his Oscar.

These quotes lead me to the AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes. i generally agree with their rankings of the quotes apart from some major ones like (which should have been higher):

• "After all, tomorrow is another day!"-Scarlett O'hara from Gone With the Wind
  
• "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" - Dustin Hoffman from The Graduate
• "Bond, James Bond" from any Bond movie
  
• "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."-Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca.
  

Another thing i differ with their rankings is that of Humphrey Bogart. He is a damn good actor and is definitely in my top three its just that i prefer the smooth gentlemanly Cray Grant and soft spoken timid Jimmy Stewart before him. Of course i totally agree with their top three.
First being "Frankly my dear i don't give a damn" by Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, and third being the "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am" by Marlon Brando from The Waterfront.

Anyway..its past 12 AM and i need to go to sleep like a good little boy i am..lol!! will continue this Rumbling series ..

PS: i haven't abandoned the Fall trip series, just need some time to sort out the pics :(

Fall Camping Trip-"The Great Smokey Mountains": Day0

PROLOGUE

Its been quite a long time since i have written a blog. I haven't even completed the two series blog i started namely "the wilderness trip" and "books that shaped" me which is so typical of me as i start things with a lot of exuberance but i fail to keep it up all the way through. Well my life has been in quite a turmoil most of the previous month(details are too personal to mention in here).

One of the major reason for this delay is because previously i haven't written down the day to day happenings during my travel on the same day and have waited for to get all the pictures and videos sorted out. But this time around i have written my blog before turning in to sleep after a day of travel(and i think i like it and intend to do it all the time from now on).

Anyway i did promise myself to finish both the series of blogs before 2008 ends(giving myself lot of time and keeping it real, that's the new me these days(don't know yet whether it for good or worse).

SMOKIES DAY 0

I decided to visit my sister in St. Louis on Friday (October 24th) evening before driving to the Smokies on Saturday. My plan was to leave early morning on Saturday and reach by afternoon and visit the Ripley's Aquarium before setting up tent in the evening. But Friday not being a very lucky/happy day for me because of the cancellation of a very nice job offer due to government cut backs on funding for their space programs(this reminds me i have to check up the details of Chandrayaan I, the Indian moon rocket after i get back).

"I am overjoyed at the successful launch and progress of the Moon orbiter and am really looking forward to Chandrayaan II to launch a Russian made rover on moon surface and then to have an Indian astronaut sent to moon. Its good to see that the space mission in India is going so good , which makes the third party design work given by NASA to small companies makes a very distinct and realistic possibility of similar thing happening in INDIA."

So i spent an evening with my sister and Nirvik dining at a very nice restaurant close to their house. As my visits to their place each time ends up experimenting with different kind of foods that they haven't tried so this time we ordered some prosciutto covered figs in cheese as appetizers and a big bowl of lobster bisque (which was good but still quite naturally the best one i ever had was in Nova Scotia ). We tried the Riesling 2007 wine which was really good (little bit pricey though for $29 , but it was in a restaurant so ..kind OK) even though it was a screw cap wine :D. My sister and Nirvik really liked the semi sweet and fruity flavor of the wine and i think that wine with bits of smoked ham,green apple and Gruyere cheese tit bits will be a great meal starter.
As an entree we ordered BBQ ribs (St Louis style :D), trout with white beans in garlic butter sauce (its one of the best fish i ever had )and chicken pot roast.I have always liked the western kind of fish rather than the indian variety which i can't withstand.

The drive from St Louis to Elkmont campground in Smokey Mountains(Tennessee) was 442 miles. I drove at about 10 MPH above the sped limit over the entire length was able to make quite good time, stopping for only gas and at Walmart to get some propane tanks for my cooking stove and steel tent pegs (the southern accent of the people over there always makes me laugh, don't know why-no disrespect to anyone though). The day drive was a trip full of nostalgic moments. During the drive from St. Louis to Smokies i passed through Nashville and i crossed the Hotel Preston where me and Miss CM spent a night(actually 4-5 hrs) because of the flight fiasco from Florida to Chicago during our spring break trip to Miami. While driving from Nashville to Smokies i passed the hotel we stayed at on my 2005 spring break trip there (Smokies was just a day halt in a week long road trip, my first ever in US). Before entering the Elkmont campground i drove around the little river road, which brought back (and i think i stopped over at the right place, approximately) where me and Victor Broto jumped off in the below zero spring mountain river water on our own accord :D (i didn't knew swimming then as well). I think all my roaming around in the Smokies will keep reminding me of the 2005 trip.

Anyway i reached my camping site by 8:30 PM and set up the tent within 30 minutes ( with everything done almost properly this time). I am getting good at this . This time around i have brought lots of comforters/blankets to make my bed as comfortable as possible. Didn't cook at night but will start off the morning with some heated up soup or tea and cake:D. The camera bag has become really heavy with my new addition of 105mm Macro lens and a 70-300mm lens along with the rest of the lot. I need 3 more lens,another camera body and a nice sturdy tripod/mono pod to be almost happy with my equipment (of course there are small attachments you keep needing as you progress :D). After setting up the bed i looked over all my previously printed out details and maps of the Smokies(these days i like to do my home work before...do you see my nature changing? do you? :D) and decide to go to Oconaluftee.

Somebody said that they have seen some bears on the camp ground entrance. I hope i am able to get a picture of one of them(not a 400 lb ,10 feet near me kind of thing though). Last time i saw a black bear was in Apostle Island campground,Wisconsin but couldn't take a picture then (it was past dusk, so was pretty dark as well). That trip is memorable for another reason than that though, and boy was it a funny one in retrospect...heheheh :D.

BTW i found out now for sure that even the less visited state parks in Canada have better facilities than the best and most visited National Parks in US( don't know whether it's the people or the government..hehehe).

Anyway will go to sleep now , but have to remember to pick up some firewood, soap and hand sanitizer.

good night!!
bunes noches!!
good nuit!!

to me!
and hope the bears don't come knocking on my tent .. :D

setting up tent at Elkmont Campground (Smokies)-took me about 30 mins

inside my tent talking arranging things and talking to myself i guess..heheheeh