Being my extremely innovative self, I'm proposing having intermissions in blogging as well. As if Google Adsense wasn't enough..! This post is going to be all about promoting Insomnium.
.............................. I N S O M N I U M ........................
In case you didn't close the window (which I know you didn't as you just love Insomnium and hate to admit it as it makes me feel good about myself :P), I caught you with my classic joke. As Sheldon says, "BAZZINGA"!
So now that the ever-so-funny prank is over, let me resume from where I left off last time.
The first week I was here, I couldn't help but admire the greenery all around. So many freaking trees. It makes up for the global warming caused by the obscene size of the cars (?) people drive around here. Actually, I'll deviate a bit here since this is to be some kind of intermission.
I don't quite believe in this 'global warming'. I'm heavily influenced by the capitalistic nature of US, wherein the hype created upon some new tragedy to me is more to do with the green bills (read money) than anything else. I don't know why I'm like this, but then that is me, and Insomnium is just awesome, and nothing else matters in life, does it :P? [muahaha, u wish u cud kill me don'ya?]
So, what I feel is, like some people who oppose the whole global warming thingy, that the 'polar ice caps' melting, the sea level increasing has been happening all the while the earth has existed. We just never noticed it because we didn't have the technology and devices to measure all this a century back. And its just that some people have such great insight into making this a new technology called 'Go Green', where green stands for the US $ bill. Sure, our fossil fuels are getting over slowly and the ozone layer is finally seeking a divorce with Earth for farting so badly, but what is this new green technology doing about it? You were asked to celebrate 'Earth Hour' and switch off your lights to show you 'truly' realize this impending disaster, but what happened after that? You got back to your normal life and stopped thinking about it till your read this (ok a little exaggeration at times..)? The best thing that came out of it was some cool photography, showing the lights slowly go off and come on. That is about it!
Bloody hell, over here, frugality in switching off lights manually doesn't exist. You need sensor networks to do all this stuff for you. Its just become a new industry to fool more people! The progress is so slim, yet new products claiming all sorts of stuff keep coming out.
I admit, there are some nice things, like increased recycling importance in manufacturing that have become more prevalent, but what is the magnitude of money that has gone into research in this direction? All just because people in the developed countries fear that their place will become another Chennai (i'm so dead, all you chennai folks are gonna thrash me for this :| ).
Anyways, this was quite a long intermission and my Insomnium playlist has just gotten over, so adios, stay metal, promote bands like Insomnium instead of worry about your weather becoming a little warmer.
Nov 22, 2009
Nov 17, 2009
Part 1 - Lessons from Amrika
This is the first in a series of posts of my learning's from this country (which will continue until they deport me) very similar to how Borat expressed his views in the movie with the longest name ever... so uhm... boratically.
First thing you will notice when you land in an airport, anywhere en route, is that it isn't India. You won't find people when you need them, you'll need to figure of things yourself, rather than just ask the nearest person. And all this will make sense when you try to call home. They charge you 1$ for 2minutes if I remember right, and at Frankfurt, it gets worse. You need to get a calling card which is the shittiest thing ever for what its worth.
Once you step out of the airport, if its your first time abroad, you'll be startled by the cleanliness and the wide roads and the size of the four-wheelers that more often than not, carry just one person. What the hell are they talking about global warming for? Shops are powered all the time, as though electricity is ubiquitous. Oh wait, in this part of the world, it is :-/
As computers love binary and excel at such computations, an Indian in Amrika will excel at multiplying by 50. But after a while, you tend to realize that it isn't all that costly for the amount you can make over here, with a part-time job, if you're lucky to get one that is.
The transportation system and the amount of planning that has gone into a city is just :-O
The number of people jogging is insane, its like some race to be fit and makes you feel completely out of shape :-x.. and every jogger has a few wires attached to some apple product.
After a few months of graduate skool (its kewl 2 type school dis way), you will figure out just why very few Amrikans choose the graduate path. With the amount of distraction they have, its quite impossible to focus on academics. The beauty that you see around during the Fall is just unbelievable. The colorful flora and the oh-so-many-hot girls make for a deadly eye straining combo. Hence, it is highly advised to bring an extra pair of spectacles or contact lenses with a higher power index when you come here. If your hostel life wasn't enough to make you miss Mummy's cooking (like atish's mess), then living abroad definitely will. I'm really glad I took some lessons in culinary before coming. Not only is my capsicum curry the talk of Madison, I've actually started to like cooking :-~~
You also learn that some guys are really good at cooking, and its good to learn new recipes now and then.
And graduate life isn't really as hard as others tell it is. At least if you're in Computer Science, where life is always easy and binary. Don't have your hopes set too high for funding before you come, like me, else you'll feel pretty bad after a while :-/ You're bound to meet some characters when you come here, and that adds to all the fun :-D
Okay, time to watch big bang theory now :D Geeky humor is something graduate students can associate to really well! More on the weather, wal-mart, etc next time around.
First thing you will notice when you land in an airport, anywhere en route, is that it isn't India. You won't find people when you need them, you'll need to figure of things yourself, rather than just ask the nearest person. And all this will make sense when you try to call home. They charge you 1$ for 2minutes if I remember right, and at Frankfurt, it gets worse. You need to get a calling card which is the shittiest thing ever for what its worth.
Once you step out of the airport, if its your first time abroad, you'll be startled by the cleanliness and the wide roads and the size of the four-wheelers that more often than not, carry just one person. What the hell are they talking about global warming for? Shops are powered all the time, as though electricity is ubiquitous. Oh wait, in this part of the world, it is :-/
As computers love binary and excel at such computations, an Indian in Amrika will excel at multiplying by 50. But after a while, you tend to realize that it isn't all that costly for the amount you can make over here, with a part-time job, if you're lucky to get one that is.
The transportation system and the amount of planning that has gone into a city is just :-O
The number of people jogging is insane, its like some race to be fit and makes you feel completely out of shape :-x.. and every jogger has a few wires attached to some apple product.
After a few months of graduate skool (its kewl 2 type school dis way), you will figure out just why very few Amrikans choose the graduate path. With the amount of distraction they have, its quite impossible to focus on academics. The beauty that you see around during the Fall is just unbelievable. The colorful flora and the oh-so-many-hot girls make for a deadly eye straining combo. Hence, it is highly advised to bring an extra pair of spectacles or contact lenses with a higher power index when you come here. If your hostel life wasn't enough to make you miss Mummy's cooking (like atish's mess), then living abroad definitely will. I'm really glad I took some lessons in culinary before coming. Not only is my capsicum curry the talk of Madison, I've actually started to like cooking :-~~
You also learn that some guys are really good at cooking, and its good to learn new recipes now and then.
And graduate life isn't really as hard as others tell it is. At least if you're in Computer Science, where life is always easy and binary. Don't have your hopes set too high for funding before you come, like me, else you'll feel pretty bad after a while :-/ You're bound to meet some characters when you come here, and that adds to all the fun :-D
Okay, time to watch big bang theory now :D Geeky humor is something graduate students can associate to really well! More on the weather, wal-mart, etc next time around.
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