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.

Was Jesus Black, Jewish, Italian, Californian, American Indian, Irish, or a Woman?

 

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Jersey City to New York City - PATH vs NYC Subway

Well, I haven't moved back to the city (yet), NO. Just talking about my first day of commute from Journal Square to Downtown Manhattan, FIDI (pronunced as Fie-Die, Financial District) as New Yorkers call it. I walk from my place to Journal Square & then take PATH.  I get off at World Financial Center (not WTC anymore) station & walk to my work at Wall Street (I had to mention that to let you know that I work at mighty Wall Street). It's not bad at all. The commute from Jersey city to NYC could be probably less than even being in Manhattan (If you live above midtown, far from Subway.. & you are close to Path in Jersey CIty coming to FIDI etc), or almost same as other Burroughs. You are not in the "City", but I am just talking commute here, which is cool. And there are benefits to living in Jersey too (gotta convince myself, U know).....

So lets do a quick PATH vs NYC Subway check... PATH's monthly pass is $54, $50 less when compared to NYC Subway Monthly Pass. You have to buy a $5 plastic card  called smartlink card from automated vending machine & then refill or recharge it at another machine. Kinda non-intuitive (I struggled like a dumbo for 10 mins) & lotta work  (I had to be "walked through" the whole process) for first time. But there was someone to tell/help which was good. The PATH looks cleaner & nicer too. There is no food & drinks allowed, which must help. I don't see any trash/garbage cans in PATH stations either, which is weird. People might bring stuff & you gotta have place to throw. Frequency & service is good, almost every 10 mins in peak hours. It runs 24 hrs as well. So, I like PATH. But unlike many people, I liked subway as well. You have to understand that there are so many lines & trains they have to run, with so many stations to manage. PATH just has 4 lines & 13 stations. And subway is so old as well. At least is 24 hrs unlike most of rest of the world I guess. LA, Boston, DC, London, Delhi, none of the places have 24 hrs metro service. It may not be very comfortable but it's absolutely convenient. So my verdict is, both are great public transport... Love NYC, Love JC!!