Ideas, or the lack thereof

My site-meters gone crazy over the past few weeks. I wish I had a clue what was so interesting about my October 2005 Archives that people seem so attracted to it. October was one of the crazier months in my life in the past year (work and otherwise). But it was not the craziest. No sirree . Not by a stretch. Does the October archive have some special pixie dust that has given it all this page-views? I wish I had a clue. No, Technorati hasn't been very helpful either.

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What is it with Pakistan and the mass production of:

1. Squash players?

2. Fast-Medium bowlers?
3. Good pop/rock bands?

First there was Junoon, then Strings redux, and now Jaal/Jal. I heard a cover of Woh Lamhe at a CRY fundraiser concert last week. I got the CD of the album from a friend this week and have been hooked. The same things about Strings that appeal to me make their appearance here. More rock-sy and less pop, surely. Definitely better lyrics, especially on Aadat, filched shamelessly on some Mahesh Bhatt production. So was Lamhe, I hear.

Musically, there is a lot of influence from rock bands, but the sound is original. I think the original singer Atif had a slightly better voice, but the new vocalist manages to do a good job. I recommend Aadat, Bikhra/Aadat, Woh Lamhe, Rangon Mein and Panchhi. There are low bitrate MP3s on the band site so check them out!

This CD's been playing in my car, at home and on my work headphones all day(and night) long.

Where are the good Indian pop/rock bands? I haven't heard any new ones in a while.

A dash dashed

"Life's a journey, not a destination" , said Steve Tyler in Amazin'. After a rollercoaster ride with many gut-wrenching lows and a few really awesome highs, here I stand.

At the age 0f 26, I could say I'm not too unhappy with what I have. There are things that I wanted to do when I was 22. Less than 5 years later, a very important one has come to fruition.

Well, I blabber too much. Changes have occurred on the job front. To the outside world, these are cosmetic. For me, they matter. A lot.

The world's my oyster.

There she goes...

P1000619, originally uploaded by ajayvb.

My baby. My city.

American Gods

A review of Neil Gaiman's American Gods on the lit blog.

I'd say it's less of a review and more of a reaction to a reading of the book. If it makes some people curious about the book, mission accomplished.

Ubiquity

Where: Chicago O'Hare Airport. Concourse L.
When: An hour before departure. 15 minutes after check-in. 5 minutes into a realization of general fatigue after three days of catching up with friends and family.

So, there I am, looking for a shot of caffeine which might do me a world of good, prime me up for the wait for boarding and set me up for reading a book that has been middling so far. The Seattle-ite in me looks for the familiar - the same brand that comforts millions worldwide. From waking up in the morning to staying up at night - the long-tressed lady framed by a green circle is the oasis for this desert-trapped traveler.

Wait. Something's wrong. I've walked through the entire concourse. Passing my gate, down to the end, there's no sign of the place. Nor of any other place that would provide succour, except a sports bar that doesn't look like it serves my favorite poison. I pass a Hudson News, noticing that "The Da Vinci Code" is out in paperback. Mental note to buy the book later is made.

I re-trace my steps to the mouth of the spoke, wondering if Howard Schulz missed a trick somewhere. Is is possible that a whole concourse with 12 gates does not have a Starbucks? How could this happen? What happened to the Starbucks Coffee Company I knew in NYC, the one where I could cross a street to go from one of those to another? What is this world coming to, if you cannot have a cup of not-so-great (but not-too-bad) latte while waiting for your flight, which incidentally is now 20 minutes late?

Ah. There it is. Some construction work obscured my view, causing me to not notice the place the first time around. Sanity is restored. Caffeine shot (only my 3rd of the week,mind you. I'm no junkie. Maybe I'm still in denial) is ingested. With renewed vigor , the trials of Elizabeth and Darcy are returned to. As another acquaintance would've said - "Starbucks is everywhere. I'm going home and buying a few shares right away."