The year that was.. 2011

Can't believe that the year is over. It was okay.. nothing special, except MnD visit. or was there more?? Lets see as per my blog, what this year was about:

• Alcatraz and Drive on CA-1 to 17 mile Drive & Big Sur!!
• Maximum India @ Kennedy Center DC: Kailasha with Kailash Kher.. Symphony with Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan 
• Maximum India @ Kennedy Center DC: Ismat Apa Ke Naam with Naseerudin & Ratna Pathak Shah 
• Comedy Central Roast of Donald TRUMP... by Rahul~RT 
• India won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2012.... & cricket explained!! 
• Luray Caverns & Shenandoah National Park 
• Obama: Osama Bin Laden's DEAD 
• I just gave $25 to a roadside fraud... or person in need?? 
• Century 21 is horrible, really sucks... No End of World / Shackleford wins Preakness / Bloodworth 
• FLORIDA Vacation begins... New York to MIAMI Beach 
• Savannah, GA to Charleston, SC to Washington DC : End of Florida Vacation
• I am a New Yorker... 1 year in NYC!!
• I had hand surgery... MCP Joint RCL tear & subluxation
• Hand in 4 week cast / Dinner Cruise in Manhattan
• Moved to Jersey City... I am not a New Yorker??
• Visit to Amish Village... Memories of my Indian Village
• Happy / Sad | Rakhi / Shammi Kapoor
• Irene was here & she was not bad...
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!
• 4Peaks @ Adirondacks
• 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' review - My First Broadway Musical
• 10 years since 9/11
• My mother finally got her U.S. Tourist Visa!!!!!!!!!
• RIP Steve.. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died :-(
• Jagjit Singh, the Indian ghazal king is dead :-(
• My First American Wedding Experience
• MnD are 'here' in USA
• Dev Anand is Dead... RIP :-(
• MnD left.. back home to India
• MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2011!!!!

Hmmm.... this is lot (30=2.5/month), but still not all.... so, it was a wonderful year!!

War Horse & Don-2

Watched War Horse (6/10) and I don't think it's really great. Just okay.. Not bad, but not great either. Somehow, couldn't feel the emotions. No connection to chracters - the horse Joey, the boy Albert or anything else. The french girl story was the most emotional/touching.. and a scene od the british & german soldier saving the horse together. But not as great as I expected....

Don-2 (8/10) on the other hand was quite good. Great action/crime thriller. It was FUN. Good performaces, nice storyline, cool action, pretty cinematography & great dialogues. FYI: At the end scene, the car to pick don has Don 3 written... SO??

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2011!!!!

A very-very Merry Christmas (to all Christmas celebrators) & Happy Holidays (to everyone else). Holiday time of US has started with Christmas & goes untill New Years aka Dec 24th to Jan 1st, which is like more than a week. People ususally spend time with family & do things & have fun & all that. I am celebrating my Christmas in Boston with Tani & her parents and seeing/enjoyig with other friends in Boston too (It's going to be almsot 2 yrs since I left Boston and this is 2nd time I am going back. I think it's nice to visit, just staying there was becoming unlemurable.). Christmas last year was fun. I went to see the Christams tree at Rockefeller Center (which was really cool unlike this year) and then went to midnight mass at St Patricks (managed to get in, in half hour, without ticket). Let's see what goes on this year, excited & waiting... again, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

Misssion Impossible: Ghost Protocol & Girl with Dragon Tattoo

MI4 aka Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (7/10) is quite good. Good to see Tom Cruise back, good to see him in action,, good to see him in style.. so, it's basically his movie & he has doen very well. The movie is about Nuclear launch control device & codes have gone missing and Ethan has to track them down & stop them . The chase takes him to Kremlin, Dubai & India (where you see Anil kapur in his famed hollywood stint for almost 100-200 seconds, dancing around like a charming cobra, as an Indian biliionaire business tycoon should be.. also, somehow you see lot of tamil/telugu script written on sign boards all over in Mumbai, India). Movie is exciting & fun, performances are good.. especially by Simon Pegg & Jeremy Renner (this guy is really good). Great action & great fun what you expect from MI!!

The Girl with Dragon Tattoo (7/10) is exciting in some ways, interseting in other ways, vulgar & gory in some sense & maybe disappointing in others.. Great job by Rooney Mara as the dragon tattoo girl, the investigator & all that. Others are good too & the movie is captivating is ome senses. The portrayal of woman abuse is very clear message in story & comes across appropriately. I think I would like to watch th eother two upcoming movies of the Millenium Series..

Another day without water, second time..

Basically the water supply is gone for the day today from 8am in morning to 12 midnight. It's not as bad as last week when water was suddenly gone in the late evening until next afternoon. I practically had no water except half a jug for drinking. This time I have filled & stored a little more. Also, the steam heat here gets shut off if there is no water. So, it's going to be cold as well. I have never had it happen to me in USA, but as they say, there's always a first time. Although, this is second time. So.. wish me LUCK!!

Weekend with Sherlock, Harold & Kumar!!

Another nice weekend.. Why? Just had a god time meeting friends & hanging out & shopping & all that. Got stockings for Christmas, a nice rosy watch & many other things, JLT. Good mexican & vietnamese food (PHO 98) & Naked Pizza, homemade cookies etc etc. Sounds pretty festive, it was, it is. Watched 2 movies as well..

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (7/10) was pretty good. I would say as good as first one overall, sometimes better & sometimes not as much. It doesn't have the first time charm like previous but still has lots of action & stuff going on. Humor, action, adventure, drama & all that. Robert Downey Jr is a great actor & very good, so are others. Jared Haris as Prof Moriarty was good too. Seems they left scope for another one too.

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (6/10) was fun to watch. ALthough not as funny & iconic as previous two movies, it had its moments. Little more vulgar maybe & crude but still the pair of Harold & Kumar, cracks you up. NPH had a smaller part, would've been nice to have more of the hypocritical $%#@&. Seems they left a scope for another one too ;-)

A really nice weekend...

This was first weekend after MnD's departure back to India. I miss them, a lot. However, still the weekend was good. Starting from all the awesome food that my mom has left for me in fridge & some frozen too. To a wonderful dinner at Komegashi too (really great japanese food, not that much of a city skyline view except tip of the south if you are sitting at a good spot. but you can be seated right by the water & enjoying wonderful traditional japanese food). To a nice stroll in the city watching SantaCon (its not Santa conning people, it's more like a Santa Claus Convention aka people dressed as Santa Claus or Christmas themed & walking all over the city) & the famous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center (it was not very impressive, just a huge tree with lots o flights on it, no fancy decoration etc). And the movies: Delhi Belly (8/10 - great comedy & very good performances too. Imran is good, Shehnaz was much more lemurable, Vir & Vijay were great but Kunal Roy Kapur was total pleasant surprise).. & Horrible Bosses (6/10 - good comedy & decent fun, not mind blowing ROTFL kinds but good laughs & all that). It was nice, very nice!!

It was Tani's Birthday on Dec 9th, a very-very Happy Birthday to Tani!!

MnD left.. back home to India

MnD left today to India. After a stay of almost 7 weeks, they left. It was so nice to have them here, very-very nice. It was one of my best times of my life and specially of my stay in US. It was sooooo GOOD. MnD's love & affection & caring, hanging out every weekend or even more, movie every sunday & more and on top of everything - the love & caring. I am going to miss all of it ofcourse. But it's awesome that they were here & we had such a good time. The life moves back to normal/usual, so it will. The pictures, the videos & the memories will keep bring smile to my & MnD's face :)

MnD @ Liberty Science Center

My dad really been wanting to see Science Museum since he's been here. So as part of free BOA museums, I took MnD to Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ. It's basically right next to Liberty State Park ,which means its 10 mins drive from me. Lucky like we have been many times for my visits with MnD, we got free street parking right in front of museum. Or it's like $10 I think. I think Science museums are more for kids, so they can get first hand experience on lot of scientific phenomenas & principles. It's good for that. Kinda huge, or maybe not. Surprisingly, lot of animals etc - like turtles, frogs, snakes, fishes etc. Then lot about communications, some about diseases/medicine etc. It seems it's not very well organized. But there are some interesting & interactive activities which are cool. It was quite good for FREE!! Then I took MnD to the Liberty State Park where dad did some driving & he was quite good for just his second time. Then, back to home & watched Nanhe Jaisalmer (5/10). So basically, we continued the tradition of going out every weekend & Sunday Movie nights with MnD. Nice day & Nice weekend!!

Dev Anand is Dead... RIP :-(

Just after Shammi Kapur, the legendary Dev Anand passed away as well today :-( Such a super star, the real evergreen super hero. He was one of those actors who created his own style & people started imitating him & copying him. Tons of people are making money by just copying & imitating him. He's one of the senior most actors of bollywood with Dilip Kumar. Just makes you think how time doesn't wait for any body and you need to accomplish everything you want with urgency (why I say that, guess??). But anyways, he lived his life to fullest and will always-always be alive in our memories & our hearts.

Rest In Peace Dev Saab....

MnD in FIDI, Downtown NYC

MnD visited FIDI (Financial District in Downtown New York City) yesterday. First thing was the free ferry trip to Staten Island. I have done that too, more than once. And it's prettty cool I have to say. Good view, nice breeze & all that, for FREE. Then I walked them through the famous Wall Street of New York City and we reached NYSE, The New York Stock Exchange. Not only that, but I took them for a visit of NYSE Trading Floor. We walked on the trading floor, roamed around & took pictures and thenw e enjoyed the famous "Closing Bell" too. Pretty Cool!! Then we walked to the Trinity Church. After spending half an hour there, the next stop was the 911 Memorial. Currently, you need to get special entry passses from 911memorial.org. Then get there & get in. Not bad at all. The museum is still under construction. The two waterfalls are ready. I would like to go there again.. Then a visit to Century 21 aftter a long time, for a quick but short shopping spree cuz they gave me $10 after my last disastrous experience there. It was okay....

So the visit to FIDI, Downtown NYC was totally AWESOME!!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend....

This Thanksgiving was nice. Didn't do much though.. What did I do? What did we do?? Was at home all day. We had a nice lunch I think & normal dinner. No turkey, ofcourse. Did watch Parineeta (8/10), very nice movie. What else? Nothing I think.. Oh yeah, we didn't go out. I mean, we didn't go to Thanksgiving Parade as my dad was not up to it. So, we just watched it on TV. Although we did go for Black Friday Shopping to Best Buy & Target after midnight. It was my first time & it was cool to see huge lines & find people waiting since 5 pm in evening. FUN, I would say...

I worked (from home) on Friday, so nothing happened. Really nothing!! Except I did watch Your Highness (5/10). However Saturday was the real FUN-Day. We went on our road-trip aka long-drive to Bear Mountain. It's awesome. It's surprisingly nice to see/realize that there are so many nice natural places around NY/NJ, mountains, hikes, rocks, beaches, forests etc-etc. It's just cool. You don't really realize that when you are living in the city aka Manhattan. But anyways, Drive to Bear Mountain is nice, & so is Bear Mountain itself. Beautiful scenic view, nice trails, good hiking & all that stuff. There is State Line (something) on the way & that's nice too. A nice view of Hudson River & the town on the river. On our way back, we went to Rangnath Temple in Pamona. It's a nice temple with prasaadam (holy food) available round the clock. It's nice, calm & serene as well with lovely design/architecture & beautiful environment. Went to Macy's before returning & bought a nice Coat for Dad, with >60% discount. A very good day indeed!!

Sunday was slow & relaxing. Just awesome food again. I mean, awesome food is being made by MnD, mostly Mother, everyday. We did watch Aarakshan (7/10) on my dad's special demand. It's a nice movie with good concept & very good performances. Although, the execution seems to weaken in second half where movie loses its direction, and from grueling discussion of Reservation system in India, it becomes about Education & Private tuition & Coaching center & Poor basic education etc. Still not bad, but movie loses its rhythm, the note it set in beginning. Good overall. Although, my Thanksgiving weekend was great, just great overall. So, what do I say? Just THANKS.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011.. THANKS

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone.. No turkey for me, but still thankful to god, to my MnD (who are here with me), my sister (who doesn't have MnD with her these days) & myelf (just cuz I am awesome!!) and "everyone" else, for "everything wonderful" I have.. THANKS!!

MnD in Manhattan & Hugo 3D (8/10)

We finally went to visit Manhattan today.. me, MnD & Tani. After a nice & elaborat enorth indian thal/meal - paratha, palak paneer, aloo bhindi, dahi vada, arhar/toor daal, salad & kheer; we went out to  the city. Took PATH from Jersey City (to get 25% discount with PATH Smartlink Pass, you need to buy 10 trips for $15 or more) & then Subway to Central Park. Enjoyed the skating rink in Central park (just watching) and then the swing on children's park (I am very good with swing, very good!!). Took a walk to Columbus Circle where they have put two new elephant statues, seems  there are lot more all the way uptill 200 street or so. Then walk to & through Times Square (the second center of the world). My dad just loves Times Square, reminds me of my initial love for Times Sq. I think it has that charm, you see it first time & you are in awe, the lights, the buildings, the signs, the people, the place & everything is awesome. Although, after living just 3 blocks from there, for more than a year, walking through Times Sq every day with  all those tourists around & all that; you just get sick of it. I didn't :-)

The next stop was AMC Times Sq.. I had invitations for Hugo 3D Premiere in NYC, an upcoming movie directed by Martin Scorsese, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret written by Brian Selznick. Brian's partner is friend of my last Roommate's girlfriend. Anyways, it's a nice movie about this boy Hugo, who winds clocks ina station in Paris & is trying to fix this automaton, his father was trying to fix before his death. And thers is osmething weird about the old man at the Toy Store, George Melies. Surprisingly enough, half of it aka the story about George is true, inspiring!!.. So, that was all about my awesome weekend.. really awesome!!

Baby Girl for Abhishek & Aishwarya

Me & my mother had predicted this already. We were talking last week and bothof us said that it would be a girl.. & so it is. I am usually right with such predictions anyways. So, Amitabh Bachchan is grandfather to a new baby girl born to Abhishek & Aishwarya today. Congratulations to Bachchans!! (Share http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/fy/8at2EuS0TepVC1F8/story01.htm)

Coney Island & Traffic in Manhattan

So MnD & I visited Coney Island today. Dad wanted to see a beach & this seemed closest to Jersey City & most optimal, with nice beach, boardwalk & all that. It's really nice too. The boardwalk extends into sea and people were fishing and nice view of water all around. Sky & clouds looked beautiful. Weather was lil cold but nice. Must be great in summers!!

However from Jersey City, the best way as per Google Maps is to go through Manhattan. It's 17 miles & should take 31 mins one way. It tool an hour to get there & 2.5 hrs to come back. Yeah!! Whiel returning, we were stuck for 1.5 hrs in Manhattan itself from Brooklyn Bridge to Holland Tunnel. Sucks, huh?? Anyways, that's why I like to avoid driving in/through the city. Driving through city reminds of India a lot too, very unlike US. People honking, cutting, not driving in lane & all that. But anyways, we made it and got another experience... and, that's New York City!!

11.11.11

SO.. today is 11.11.11 - The special day. Palindrome & all that. I hear lot of stuff about today actually - Auspicious Day, Dooms Day & all that. I don't know. But I do know that I wanted this day to be special at some time. Years & Years ago, I wanted to have my baby born at this day. Really!! Well, that's not happening.. not that I know of!! & Years ago I thought I'll get married on this day. That's not happening for sure. What's happening is that I am writing a blog about all this. Which is COOL... You don't need special days to make days special in your life. They are just special, cuz they are SPECIAL!!

The new Batman - The Dark Knight Rises has been shooting around my work, aka Wall Street. My friend got pics with Christian Bale & Gary Oldman and saw Anne Hathaway & Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I saw Gary & Joseph too. They didn't let me take pics though cuz they were dressed at the time & were in "character". Anyways, I don't even care much. I am waiting for the movie though, very much!!... The week has been fine since return from DC Trip. Nothing special & nothing happening overall. The weather has been okay too except it's lil chilly today. Parents are enjoying there time here & All izzz Well!!

Happy 11.11.11... Happy Veterans Day!!

Bronx Zoo - $100 $avings

How?? Bank Of America has this Museums offer every first weekend of month, these list of museums are completely free to visit. I went with my parents and got in free at Bronx zoo instead of paying $30 each for the tickets. Also there is free street parking on Southern Boluevard over weekends, so I saved $10 for parking as well. At Bronx Zoo - They have lot of lemurs, polar bear, reptiles & frogs, monkey & birds exhibit and sea lions as well. The weather was warm & nice today and we really had fun at Bronx Zoo!!

Trip to Washington DC

I came back from my awesome & great FUN trip to Washington DC with my parents today. I drove from here (aka Jersey City) to Washington DC and back. I was the only one driving and it was totally fine actually. I took NJ Turnpike & I-95S toll road and drove 225 miles to DC in 3.5 hrs. Drove back toll free on I-95N & US-1N for 265 miles in 4.5 hrs... AWESOME!! & No tiredness or anything either.. Just AWESOME!! We were staying right in DC in China Town so everything was walking distance. So, this is what we saw/did:

• National Mall: Well this includes the area from Lincoln center to Capitol Hill and Washington Monument & World War II Memorial & The White House falls in it as well. It is kinda a lot of walking but all this can be done in half a day as we did. FYI - White House has a better view from the back, specially for pics.
• Capitol Hill: This gets a separate mention here because I did an inside tour of Capitol Hill (Thanks to Tani) and also got to sit at the visitor gallery in the Congress in Session. FYI: You can't take any backpacks or bigger bags, no food, drink or even water etc is not allowed.
• US Botanical Garden: It's right next to Capitol Hill, its ofcourse FREE like everything else there & its NICE. FYI: They have a nice audio tour where you can call a no# from phone, enter code given next to the plant or place u seeing and get lot more info.
• Smithsonian Natural History Museum: Now this is a really BIG Museum. You can wander here for days. It has dinosaur's fossils & skeletons, many other pre-historic skeletons of animals & humans, stones & rocks & minerals, Hope Diamond and LOT of other stuff. We almost completed it in half day. FYI: Start from the Dino exhibit because it's most interesting & entertaining. Most of the fun stuff is on the ground floor only.
• National Air & Space Museum: There are two Air & Space museums in the area, one is in DC at National Mall & other is in Chantilly, the Udvar Hazy Center. If you have to do one & you can manage to get out of city, do Udvar Hazy. It's bigger I think & has real space shuttle & a sky observatory to see 38 miles around & planes landing. It also has Enola Gay there & first passenger Concord  FYI: There's a $15 car parking at Udvar Hazy.
• ISCKON Baltimore: This is an Isckon Temple in Baltimore, Maryland called Kulin Gram. I always confuse this with the big Isckon Temple at Potomac, Maryland which has cows & bigger temple & fields & all that. But its still nice. FYI: It's just a small residential looking building on side of the road, so make sure you look for the board/sign outside at the location.

RA.ONE - 8/10

Yeah, that's my rating for this movie which I saw today in 3D. More details to come soon...

Happy Halloween 2011, Union Sq. NYC

Burrrrrrffffff... First snowfall in NY/NJ

Its snowing heavily today, surprisingly for October. Started in morning & still snowing. Couple of inches of snow I guess. I had to go out to city & it was quite a walk, pants half wet & shoes all wet. Also.. it turns out that the PATH commute increases many folds, if its snowing. 25-30 min delays on all PATH trains. Anyways, MnD were very excited to see their first snowfall. Like I was when I saw my first snowfall. Taking videos & pics & all that. Exciting & Fun. But I told them that it's only exciting first time or first few times maybe.. And that too, only if it doesn't snows a lot. Or its just PAIN!!

I was gonna go watch Ra.One today but couldn't/didn't. Watching Rann (8/10) at home instead. Fantastic movie, great performances, excellent storyline.. and great direction. Ram Gopal Varma is a great director, seriously he is. Although he has done some terrible work (aka Aag & James?), he has done lot of terrific work as well. He is one of the greatest film makers of India who knows how to present a story, how to use camera, camera angle, camera motions etc. Such an excellent technician. I am really impressed, really!! The movie is about how redicuolus media has become these days, lying & cheating & everything. Where money should be medium & news should be the goal; we see that news is medium & money is goal. Look at this ridiculous video below, from India's most ridiculous news channel 'India TV'..

Happy Diwali.. Shubh Deepawali!!

So finally this year, I really celebrated Diwali. Atleast the most Diwali I have celebrated here, the way we used to in India. Basically, because my parents are here (like hear, not hair). Had lavish Indian lunch of chhole-puri (yum-yum). Had Gulab Jamun, Besan Laddoo & Gujhiya for sweets, home-made. We did evening Lakshmi-Ganesh puja & aarti etc, lit diyas all over house & all that. Didn't do firecrackers (patakhas), I didn't do that much in India either - lot of pollution & money wastage I think. We used to go to neighbors & friend's home to deliver Diwali Sweets & they'll bring in our home for us. We'll be loking if they got as anything good, or special or better than what mom made (which is impossible). Lot of FUN. We also watched Yamla Pagla Deewana (6/10) which is a decent fun masala movie. Had a good day, had a good Diwali. Happy Diwali to you, Shubh Deepawali!!

Fall Foliage near NY/NJ | Big Pocono State Park & Jim Thorpe PA

So I took my parents for viewing & enjoying Fall Foliage (which is almost near ending now). Considering I live NY/NJ, the best bet at this time of the year seemed to be Poconos. So we decided to go to Big Pocono State Park & Jim Thorpe. The Big Pocono State Park is around 2 hrs drive from my home, the last 1/3 part of which is through mountains & stuff, which is interesting & nice. The fall colors were still there, which was kinda nice. Then we reached on top of BPSP, which is on top of a mountain, I guess Camelback Mountain. There are 4 parking spots & a cafeteria/store (which was closed). Parking Spot 1 is the best spot, right on the top & in middle. You can see the view of all sides & do hiking/trekking around it or so. Pretty nice view & fun experience. Then we drove an hour to Jim Thorpe, which a nice small little town in the valley with a river flowing & all that. You can hike & bike along the river, looking at the river on your side & mountains all around you, which had beautiful Fall colors, & the nice gorge. It's quite pretty. There are some other nice spots with great view & all that, old historical buildings, railroad & rail ride etc (which I didn't get to do/see). It was definitely a nice day with lot of nice Natural site-seeing & FUN.

MnD are 'here' in USA

MnD = Mom & Dad. My Dad came up with this term/acronym when I first came to USA. He started using this in chats and I/we have stuck to it since then.

'here' = In USA, this is said as hear, like hearing & not hair. I need to remember that!!

Rest is all a simple story. After all the previous tussle with US Embassy in Delhi my mom finally got her visa earlier this month and my parents are here today. I am meeting them after more than 2.25 yrs. It's exciting, its emotional, its nice.. very nice. Glad I could do this for my parents. I am sure they are going to have a great time & so will I. Looking forward for lot of travelling & hanging out, lot of good home-cooked Indian food & lot of talking (arguing too maybe), lot of FUN!!

My First American Wedding Experience

To begin with, let me clarify: I was just attending the wedding yesterday, of my (& Tani's) friends Amy & Duncan. It was not my "american" wedding, or "my wedding" of any kind. Just my first experience with/in an American Wedding.. & it was AWESOME!! It really was...Wedding parties are usually fun, at least in India they are. In India, weddings are Big Social Event. It's all about show-off & having fun & all that. It could be a multi-day celebration, but that's changing now. Although I haven't attended a wedding in India for quite  a while now.. actually haven't been to India for more than 2 yrs for that matter. But anyways..

The wedding started with Wedding Vows (i.e. the real wedding ceremony stuff. BTW, this could be a tough phrase to say for an Indian as ity has both 'W' & 'V' which are said differently by Americans) were exchanged at Carlyle House, which is a really historic building (maybe pre-historic for American standards??). It's a beautiful old building, the weather was warm & nice and it went very well with occasional sound blasts by airplanes flying overhead. Short & sweet stuff. Then the party moved to the Ritz-Carlton at Pentagon City for the reception.The theme was 80,s which I really don't know much about. But no one really cares about the music much, once you are few drinks down, even the banging of kitchenware can be music (that's how heavy metal came to existence I guess). Although as far as I can remember, the music was fun & nice.. if I remember!! After the introductions of bridesmaids, groomsmen, groom & bride herself, it was time for a beautiful "first dance" by our beautiful couple, very well choreographed (with almost no steps to do, except one :-). Then some long & "emotional" speech by best man & maid of honor & some other things maybe which I don't remember. But the food & drinks were on table which was NICE (that's what made it lemurable). And then... The DANCING. OMG.. As far as I am concerned, I made the party rock n roll.. or something.. dunno.. but I had LOT OF FUN, lots of Dancing, with almost everyone who wanted to shake a leg, or two. It was pretty awesome. Along this time, there was wedding cake cutting, which I never got to eat & more Dancing.. more FUN. I just remember the Dancing. It was very joyful, festive with lots of wonderful & great people there. Amy & Duncan are surely fortunate to have so many wonderful friends who came to share there joy on there special day (and enjoy free food, drinks & dancing). We are so fortunate to have such friends who decided to make us a part of their special day (and get lots of gifts and on top of that get the video taken by me for free... yeah, I was the unofficial & unpaid video-grapher for the event). All in all, a wonderful day, a wonderful weekend, a wonderful time.

Thanks Amy & Duncan Van Buskirk... and Heartily Congratulations!!!!

Jagjit Singh, the Indian ghazal king is dead :-(

Another death of a master of his craft, after the last one. Jagjit Singh, the Indian ghazal king & maestro died yesterday. He made me really like ghazals, or lets just say that I only liked 'his ghazals'. I read this song hothon se chhulo tum in my dad's youth diary and heard it few times too & loved it. Then later I heard some his other ghazals in movies & loved almost all of them. He had such a melody in his voice, such compassion & such music. With in a week, this is another BIG loss for all of us!!

On a different note, Netflix has taken a full U-turn about split & Qwikster spin-off. They are not going to split the company, make 2 accounts & all that. That was a stupid idea to begin with anyways, glad they realized that. They are still going to keep the price raise, that sucks. But I am still subscribed to both Blu-ray & Streaming!!

It's Amitabh Bachchan's birthday today - Happy-Happy B'day Amit jee, the Big B!!

A weekend in Boston... waiting for lovely FallS

I was in Boston this weekend, after almost 2 yrs.. & I had a good time. It was nice. The people who know me & my opinion about Boston may find it surprising that I enjoyed Boston. Although, I did enjoy Boston earlier too, sometimes. I guess its always been about people, & that part was very good this time round. Met some old friends and new people as well, both was lot of fun. Also visited Rhode Island for few hours, it was okay too. The weather was nice all this weekend too. Kinda chilly on Friday night but very nice all Saturday & Sunday. I was told that it was one of the warmest Oct 9 in Boston area, with record breaking 84 F. Although its almost impossible to predict. Cold then humid then colder then rain then cold then rainier then.... UGH. Wish the weather is good for next 2 months, Wish for lovely FallSeason & pre-winters!!

RIP Steve.. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died :-(

Steve Job's dead.. & I never got to meet him.. never got to say thanks to him. to tell him that how his speech below inspired me.. motivated me.. & raised my respect for him to highest levels. Before this, I thought of him as just another Technology master/guru of Silicon Valley, the Apple co-founder, who was great businessman & a sharp/smart guy of course. A guy who has created such royalty with his brand that he can afford to charge ridiculous amounts of money for his products & people will blindly buy it. An arrogant & obnoxious & proud person maybe. & so I never bought or owned an Apple product, for that same reason. Did I ever doubt quality & superiority of Apple products, not really..

But Steve Jobs is not just Apple co-founder, the leader of a technology giant. He was an innovator, a thinker, a scientist, a leader, a true visionary. He changed the way people look at personal computers, even though he was not the first person to invent GUI in computers. He changed the way people use portable music players, even though he didn't invent mp3 players. He changed the way people use phones, even though he was not the first to come up with a touch screen phone device. He changed the way people look at hand held tablets, even though many including me thought it was a stupid idea. Why would anyone want another device to hang on to when we have smart-phones & net-books. Why?? But.. what do we know? He was the visionary behind all this. He was the one who either knew it will work or definitely was the one who was ready to take that chance/risk of bringing it to people & it worked. Worked very well I guess.... He was a genius of User Experience & User Interface. He converted existing ordinary/mediocre/popular ideas/devices into a new invention by his excellent UE/UI enhancements & innovations and made these things just unbelievably awesome. He changed the the way we use any of these devices. He changed the World!!

Today, he's dead. But he accomplished so much in his life. He lived the life of "Steve Jobs". Regardless of all the challenges & difficulties, he did SO much. But he's still alive & will be for years to come.. in our hands, in our pockets, in our bags, on our desks, in our offices, in our living rooms, bedrooms, homes and everywhere around us. He'll be always alive in our hearts.... RestInPeace Steve, RestInPeace :-|

Not that it's anything important.. but I think I'll buy some Apple products now. Just as my tribute to Steve Jobs & support for his brain-child Apple..

My mother finally got her U.S. Tourist Visa!!!!!!!!!

After rejection twice, my mother finally got her U.S. Tourist Visa. So glad & happy!! What did we do different?? I contacted my area congressmen (Jerrold Nadler & Albio Sires) & they sent a query/recommendation letter to US Consulate in New Delhi. Sires' office asked me to send them my mother's documents & all that and I did that too. My mother went for interview today with all the required documents & letters. But they didn't even have a look (probably they had it with them). Just asked 2-3 simple questions unlike previous times & the visa was granted. COOL & AWESOME!! Heartfelt & cordial thanks to Congressman Nadler & Sires and everyone else who helped :)

my mom's favorite song..

Occupy Wall Street Movement | 2.5 Men S9-II

There is occupy Wall Street movement going on these days. I work at Wall Street, at one of the financial firms? Not really a financial firm but something like that, I guess.But I am not the one who makes markets move or stuff impacted & all that. I don't. I just do my job, which is probably as insignificant as.... ummm, can't think of other insignificant jobs. Anyways, I saw that people wanted to sit at Wall Street so its all blocked now with barricades.I can't walk easily to just get my lunch & stuff. Protesters are sitting at Liberty Square, across Broadway St now. I hear people are quitting jobs & going to stay till December or so. Sounds HARDCORE. Many people are there just for FUN though, atleast it seems so. Music, food, drinking & partying.. That's "PROTEST". I don't know much so won't comment. It's a free country & everyone should have right to peacefully protest & raise there voice. Good thing... I might go & sit there sometime, I might!!

Also saw Pilots protesting today at Wall Street. They were actually let in, inside the barricades. I guess it was one day thing. I hear Pilots are very badly paid in U.S. Surprising for me but it's true I hear. That's probably not good. Happy Pilots are important for all of us. Hopefully they are all protesting for & requesting for the right things. I mean, not asking TOO MUCH. LOL... on me!! I seem to not know details of any of these things. Just been so busy. Another excuse?? Not really. What's going on with you & what do U think????

BTW.. After my last review, I saw 2nd episode of 2.5 men season premier & it was not really good. Ashton started playing the same dumb guy he does and the same old stuff. No innovation, no fun. It's not a bad or horrible show, but definitely not as good as it used to be with Charlie Sheen!!

Just another weekend again.. Amadeus/Munnabhai-2/Two and a Half Men S9 Premier

Yeah, so just another weekend like last one. Nothing exciting or special has happened yet. Was mostly relaxing & not doing nothing much. However did go to Lincoln Park yesterday & it's SO BORING. It just sucks. It's like in middle of industrial area with nothing to it. Half of it seems unsafe to visit even in the day time. Maybe okay to go with big group & play games etc. But otherwise it's just BAD. Except that, Here's what I watched at home on my awesome TV..

• Amadeus (9/10): Really good movie!! Very well made & great performances storyline is great to. It's a movie about Antonio Salieri & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Amazing part was How Salieri loved & hated Mozart and it was portrayed amazingly by F. Murray Abraham's performance. he did a great job in portraying the struggle of the character. The crazy Mozart was excellently presented by Tom Hulce. The music was definitely beautiful and so was cinematography. Also the way it represents that hwo huge artistic talent may have to suffer and not achieve real greatness until death.
• Munnabhai-2 (8/10): The Sequel to Munnabhai MBBS, also called Lage Raho Munnabhai, is one of my favorite movies. Munnabhai is stuck with Gandhi & Gandhigiri giving message of honesty & integrity to all of us. Rajkumar Hirani really knows how to convey great messages in simplest forms, great director & great movie.
• Two and a Half Men: I am not a big fan of this show but its alright. This ninth season premier killed Chalie Sheen & Brought Ashton Kutcher and I wanted to check that. Episode was boring until Ashton came in. But after his entry, it was funny & nice. He's not Kelso kinda dumb guy or neither Charlie kinda womanizer. But it would be interesting to see how this goes.

Thats it from me. What do you think of above? Anything else to share??

Qwikster: The New Old Netflix

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote a letter to me & blogged this yesterday explaining why this DVD vs streaming split happened. It has been making me mad how they increased the prices by splitting services in two. But I eventually decided to keep both because nothing can beat Netflix DVD/Blu-ray collection & I Blu-ray is AWESOME on my Awesome HD TV. Although lately the netflix's disk shipping has been very slow & disappointing. Netflix streaming is pretty awesome & convenient too as I can just play & watch on my PS3 anytime I want. So, both are good. But as per last night, the old netflix of disk shipping will be renamed to Qwikster and the Streaming service will be called Netflix. Qwikster will include video games & will remain pretty much same except new website & little more hassle for user. Seems like an attempt to divorce the DVD business by branding it separately & letting it live or die. Netflix streaming is supposed to have lot more great things coming, soon. So, i'll stick to both & wait & watch what happens next. I still love/hate NETFLIX/QWIKSTER.

Just another week-end.. & just how we worry too much!!

Another nice one.. This was quite an uneventful week/weekend I guess. Just went to work, came back home and didn't do anything else much. Can't remember, so probably surely didn't. Doesn't it sucks how time just passes in our life. I mean, we worry each & every day, bother ourselves with one thing or other and  when you look back there is not even much you can remember. But we sure did worry about dozen of things on that day, pissed/angry/mad/sad/excited and everything else. But can't remember anything right now, just nothing. That's why we should worry less, I guess. Atleast not about the unimportant things. Worry about important things which are in our control, not about things which are not in our control or we can't do anything about...

Although all that reminds me of four things - 1) How I have to pay more than $2000 for my hand surgery even after having health insurance. This is the "co-insurance". The total cost just for the surgery is 12000+. Should write a separate blog about this. 2) I lost my nice cap & sunglasses y'day. Just while walking out from home, dropped it from my hand, JLT. 3) Went to & walked through the Highline Park in NYC taking pictures of park & the city. Guess I am finally getting hang of taking pictures than just getting taken pictures of. 4) I watched The Expendables (6/10) & Marigold (5/10): The first is a decent action movie with big ensemble cast & nice action etc on a thin plot. The second is another example of a good movie done wrong. It has a good plot & I would say god actors. But very bad screenplay, poor dialogues and horrible direction. It was not painful to watch but not as fun as it could've been. So, that's all I remember of just another weekend. Rest... All izz Well!!

10 years since 9/11

U remember what was going on with U that day/time? I remember I was in India in the train going to village I think, or coming back and I heard that plae crashed into some very tall building of America in New York, the World Trade Center. Kinda couldn't believe it. 19 Terrorists had deployed the most horrible plan killing 2977 people. I moved to NYC last year and went to Ground Zero WTC site on 9/11 last year. I was there last night as well. And then went to Liberty State Park 9/11 Memorial this morning. Feel sad for all who died in the plane, the people who died  in WTC Buildings, the people who decided to die to save the plane collision in Pennsylvania, they had a tough choice to make. All these innocent people died that day. Innocent people died in 2001 Parliament attack in New Delhi or Attackers in Mumbai or just few days ago in New Delhi. What's wrong with these people? What's wrong whith this world?? UGH... May god bless the soul of people who had to give there lif and peace to there soul & there family may survive this terrible pain. May there be peace in this world & everybody's heart.. AMEN!! (feel free to share your experience/opinion)

'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' review - My First Broadway Musical

( I watched, not I did.. LOL) So YAY!! Thanks to Tani - who bought the wonderful tickets, I finally (click here to know more) saw my first Broadway Musical & it was AWESOME. The story is about a young man J. Pierpoint Finch who lands his hand on a book telling him all secret to corporate success... umm you know what, click here to read story/synopisis. I'll tell you that I really enjoyed it. Maybe also because I enjoy watching singing & dancing thing since I grew up with Bollywood movies; and this had  Daniel Radcliffe, the Harry Potter (If you don't know Harry, there is no point in me telling U. Just think Daniel as a somewhat famous British 'child' actor) as Finch, who was very good at singing, dancing, acting and specially at American Accent. This boy needs to watchout, he's very talented but needs to pick right roles and all that. He's lil short & not any Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. But lot of energy & talent. Hope he doesn't becomes Michael J Fox. John Larroquette & Rose Hemmingway were good too and so was most of the cast actually. Also it has a funny satirical story on corporate & business world, office politics etc. Performances are excellent; songs, music & dancing is great. Total FUN.. Also got some very good pictures of most of the  main cast, including Daniel Radcliffe as well. It was just nice.. I just LOVED it!! (My score would be - 8/10)

Bombing in New Delhi by Terrorists & then Earthquake

There was bombing near New Delhi High Court killing 11 & injuring more than 77 people. Why do these damn terrorists try to injure & hurt & kill innocent people.. WHY?? What will killing people on the street is going to give you, just other than bad name/fame & possibility of getting killed/eliminated very soon. Why can't people live just peacefully with love & caring or just minding there own business.. WHY?? & My dear Dilli was not only rocked by a bomb blast but also an earthquake later in the day with not much damage I think. I just wonder, what's going on? The nature is trying to hurt us, but been kind to spare us it seems. And we are making it just worse by fighting each other rather than holding hands joined together & work for Peace & Happiness. WHY??

4Peaks @ Adirondacks-dacks-dacks

That's where I celebrated my Birthday Weekend.. and it was AWESOME, but better (Thanks!!). I was at 4Peaks in Adirondacks-dacks-dacks. It's a privately owned 700 acre land with 7 back-country cabins/camps. We stayed at Sugar Camp there, which is very secluded with no one around for quarter mile. We had a beautiful & big log cabin in middle of a small field, surrounded by woods. There's a well/water-pump & privy right outside. There's a screened porch, wooden chairs outside, hammock (which was broken with a down tree this time), a brook flowing right next to camp too. Just beautiful surrounding.. The cabin is nice too, its kinda old, built in 1974.. but beautiful & pretty & very comfort-full. There's a nice full size bed with pillows & blanket (you do need your own linens), wooden fire-place, dining table, rocking chairs, full kitchen with oven & all kitchenware as well. there's also another small room with smaller bed for kids I guess. You can hear the brook outside in night & see the starts in dark. Nights & dark could be scary as there is no electricity (just gas lamps, gas stove, gas oven & gas fridge too). We did our own cooking all 3 days/nights & enjoyed the serenity & awesomeness. So it's a really nice setup.

4Peaks has 4 mountains, one brook and lots of deep woods & wilderness. We did hiking to two mountains - Rattlesnake & Lookout. The First trail ended right in our camp, just amazing. The hiking was not like any other, but real hardcore & more like walking in the real woods. No real trails/path but following the ribbon markings or being on your own (like when we got lost off of  a trail & had to just follow our gut feeling for half an hour until we landed on our destination.. such a relief). The view2 from top of the mountains is as nice as the hike. Also there's Ausable river just a mile away for swimming & hangout, beautiful & nice. We sat with our feet in shallow water, getting fish pedicure for free. It was just SO NICE. Went to Lake Placid on the way back. IT's beautiful but kinda very touristy. just had lunch there & drove back. The drive to Adirondacks-dacks-dacks is not very scenic except the parts close to Lake Placid etc. But still it was lot of fun.

Martin the owner is cool, but kinda weird too. He seems unfriendly in person & kinda obnoxious thinking you don't know anything about living in wilderness and all that. But he truly tries to take care of you & make sure get the best customer service & experience possible. Following his advice on  what to do is good too. His website looks weird too, kinda like brochure & very old school but maybe that's his style. The place is nice & you'll have a good time if you are looking for an "off the grid" experience.

Now some of you might be thinking that why anyone will spend 400-500 bucks to be stuck in middle of woods with no electricity, internet, phone service; and where you have to cook & clean by yourself, bath in open & use a privy. Why would someone do that? Well, because many of us like it. If you don't you don't have to worry about it. If you do, then go & DO THIS!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Wow.. so I turned 28. Yeah, that's the magic number. 28. I don't know what to say/feel. I am not where I would have wanted to at age 28. Still not a successful businessman, big superstar, famous social activist, great leader & many-many other things I wanted. And shortened another year from my life. Sucks, huh?? Sometimes I don't understand why people celebrate birthdays. Is it really a happy day? Isn't it just sad day which just lets your reflect all you have not accomplished till date & how your life is getting shorter... how you don't have enough/lesser time left... how things are not as good as you wanted... & how they may not get any better.. & how you have just less of your life left!!

Or I could look at it this way: I just turned 28 & I have lived more than a year in New York City now, many peoples wish.. successfully working with a great job at Wall Street, many people's dream.. have a great & blooming business in hand.. great experience/learning in all the awesome things I have learned in all these years.. some really great friends and special people in my life.. and last but not the least, a great year of new accomplishments & achievemenets to look forward to. I already have some great things starting right in this month which will go a long way forward in fulfilling my dreams, goals & aspirations. With all the awesome experience and love I have collected in past 28 years and specially in last one year, I am definitely goingt to make this a special year & looking forward for many-many more special & amazing years ahead. With that, all I have to say is...

Irene was here & she was not bad...

This is not my girl or friend, this is Hurricane Irene ofcourse. People were heavily panicking & all that. Putting tapes & boards on window glass, buying grocery/ration for days/weeks, buying tons of water, infact all the flash lights were sold out at home depot. Stuff closed early Saturday & was closed until today. BUT.. it wasn't that bad, & that's good. I walked out yesterday afternoon & it was windy but not bad. It did rain with wind all saturday night & mild flooding, but all ok. I hear some places lost power, internet, cable etc & flooding etc too but all was fine here in Jersey City and there was no extensive damage. BTW, few people were complaining that they were disappointed with Irene, how it wasn't as bad as they expected. REALLY? So, you wanted it to cause serious damage & devastation  Be thankful that it wasn't as bad & we are all safe & fine. Like Earthquake pretty much.... I honestly ended up having good time at home though - Thank God!!

The cast & Pin removed from my Hand | Warrior 2011 Movie - 8/10

So... after the injury & surgery, I had a cast on until today. Today the cast was taken off & the hand is free. Feels much better to not have cast on. Now I need Therapy for few weeks to get range of motion & strength back, hope all goes really well. Poor hand  looks like a Prisoner of War...

Also I watched Warrior with an advanced pre-screening again. Such an awesome movie. I'll easily give it 8/10, I would've given 9 but the plot is not exceptional. But definitely one of the best action movies related to boxing/fighting kinda stuff. For a change, there is no "bad guy". Both the fighters are not just male lead actors but also brothers. Brothers separated after parent's divorce, with an estranged relationship with their father. One guy is an ex ultimate fighter of lower caliber changed to High School Math teacher; and other is an ex-soldier & war hero. One is fighting for saving his house & family and other for helping his dead friend's family. Both have noble cause & good reason to fight. Both are kinda underdogs. But they come through challenges & emerge is Winner Warriors. The fighting & action sequences of mixed martial arts are very well choreographed and well done. The performances by all the lead actors - Tom Hardy & Joel Edgerton are great and Nick Nolte as drunkard old father, Jennifer Morrison as a struggling wife of struggling family, Kevin Dunn as the school Pricipal are just great. It's quite tight & crisp movie which is very enjoyable & lot of FUN. Go watch it!!

Earthquake in New York.... Hurricane Irene coming!!

Well, some of you might have heard that already that yesterday there was an earthquake in East Coast U.S. affecting Virginia, Washington DC, New York and even North Carlina & Boston areas. I didn't feel anything, guess I am used to 'rocking the world'. I think it's good I didn't feel it i.e. it was not bad enough.  No serious/considerable damage, it was quite lemurable.. oops, I mean bearable. But people at work said they did. Some buildings around here were evacuated in Downtown NYC, not ours. I was at Chipotle getting my lunch, no affect/reaction there, just get your food in loud/crowded environment. Last time I did see/feel something was in India during the great earthquake of 2001 in Bhuj, Gujarat. I was at Mother Dairy booth in New Delhi, buying milk & I see this high rise building swaying. The guy said nothing happened but then we heard news of earthquake in Bhuj. Nature is strong, very powerful. Even with all advancement & technology, we cannot control natural calamities. Katrina & other hurricanes, earthquake in Japan & all of that. I hear that there is a Hurricane Irene coming here. Good Luck, to all of U.S.!!

My Dad's reaction/response:....

Yaa bete,
Saw public reaction... People are gathered here n there. THANX GOD, it's not of higher scale. May GOD bless and save people of America.
AAYUSHMAAN bhao bete. Take care.
 Your loving DaD
....... (OPEE)

Jai Sri Krishna.. Happy Janmashtmi!!

Sri Krishna's B'day again.. Full day fruity fast until midnight & then b'day celebrations at the temple... chatting... chanting I mean. all the lovely bhajans, singing & then swaying krishna's cradle. wow... reminds me of my younger days in India. Going out with parents or sometimes without, to have fun by myself or friends. Decorations all over in streets, lights, people dressed, celebrations in all the temples around & everywhere. The waiting in long lines for Krishna Darshan i.e. to see Krishna Idol. Saw similar madness at Govinda Temple in Journal Square, Jersey City. It was interesting/nice.... Haathi-Ghoda Paalki, Jai Kanhaiya Laal Ki!!

Captain America | Fright Night

Captain America is good movie. Another not just super hero movie but more than that. Captain America  (reminded me of Tiranga) seems like a real man, a man with more than average or more than above-average powers but still human. A guy who hates bullies (guess who's the world's Big Bully now?), Nice!! A thin, weak & bullied guy turns into this super hero who decides to fight against Nazi' special division head Red Skull. After a stint with singing & dancing on stage, LOL. Good performances by Chris Evans as Captain & others as well. Good to show Japanese Americans & African Americans fighting with White Americans. I would give it 8/10.

And ofcourse I had to watch another movie Fright Night, to recover cost for expensive ticket. Fright Night was surprisingly interesting too - 7/10. I like Colin Ferrel, good performance as next door Vampire. Anton as next door human & David as fake Vampire Slayer/Expert were good too. It's a so called horror comedy & I guess I like the genre. Although I didn't watch it in 3D cuz I think 3D is becoming a scam to just mint more money from us, I H it.. Anyways, nice weekend overall!!

Happy Independence Day India!!

Today is Indian Independence Day. India was liberated from British Rule in 1947, on this day. It's been 64 great years of Independence. I hope we understand the true meaning of it, & the sacrifices many-many people made to make this happen. I hope we are able to take our independent great country on our shoulders to greater heights of success & prosperity. And we all have to chip in, every single person counts. So let's do our bit & make it happen.... JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT!!!

Last year, I went to the NYC Indian Independence Day Parade; this year maybe Jersey or Washington DC (Press Statement byHillary Clinton for today). Preity Zinta was the Flag Carrier plus Sridevi (like anyone cares about her.. actually ppl do) was a guest too. Was kinda cool. I hear they do it third Sunday of August, so maybe next Sunday... Today reminds me of childhood too. There is no fancy parade like January 26 Republic Day Parade on Independence Day. Only flag hosting etc. As a kid, we used to have flag hosting in the school in morning & rest of the day off. That was the high of the day, plus getting the pack of sweets 'boondi or boondi laddoo'. Which I never liked, but would try to get as many as I can, just to boast about it. LOL, sweet memories...... Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians & to our great nation of India - VANDE MAATRAM!!!!

Happy / Sad | Rakhi / Shammi Kapoor

HAPPY: Today was Raksha Bandhan, rakhi festival. Happy Raksha Bandhan to my sweet sister!!

SAD: Shammi Kapoor, the great Indian actor died today. OMG, so sad. So many memories, of Chitrahaar on Wednesday nights & YAAHOOOOOO. It became my favorite song. And his dancing style, like monkey or junkey, dunno.. but Awesome. He was a great actor, a fun actor. I loved him. Many of us.. all of us will miss him. But he'll always be there & live in our hearts.... Rest In Peace!!

Visit to Amish Village... Memories of my Indian Village

So, I had an opportunity to visit Amish Village in Lancaster County, PA. This was my first time at an Amish Village/Property. It does reminds me of my village in childhood a little, just richer. they don't use electricity but use the electrical equipments by making it Air/Gas operated. They live in handmade houses with almost all the usual luxuries you'll expect: like nice bed, fridge, gas stove, fireplace, nice kitchenware etc. They don't have A/C though. They don't have lots of clothes, as they wear plain clothes & have 3-4 pairs to change. Women have to pin there dresses like all over, kinda funny/ridiculous/hard. They are not allowed art & stuff on wall but allowed calendar. So they can have 10 calendars in a room with fancy pics/portraits etc. Our tour guide didn't seem to b a supporter at all & was bitching & bickering about them a lot, LOL. They ride horses & buggies and have goats, chickens etc too. They run there own schools where they teach English, German, Maths, Religion etc. The school we went to, teacher didn't know german herself. I hear there are 250,000 Amish people living in U.S. now, big number. They are a closed community which believes in working hard & helping each other out and following there culture. BTW, the tours are not run by Amish People but others, cuz they are not suposed to....

When I was a kid, we didn't have electricity in our village so no electric appliances etc. Wooden fire stoves were used for cooking. We had cattle we took for grazing. Oxes fro ploughing land. And it all ran fine & seemed fine. Now, it's all changed. We have all modern equipments etc & grew with time. I think that's good except we don't do as much farming etc.... Anyways, weekend was fine. Still unpacking etc going on & will go on for a while. I got A/C off of craigslist & bough bunch of other small things from C-Town, CH Martin, Target etc. Still need to shop more & this unpacking will go on for a while. Wish me LUCK!!... & U too, for w/e U may need it.