Here’s one that I should have added a while ago — my friend Melih’s blog. He redesigned it a while back (it looks terrific) and its regularly updated. Don’t let its visage betray the sincerity and honesty of Melih’s writing though – he’s a lot more daring than I. Having Melih out here in San Francisco has been one of the real treasures for me, and I think you’ll be able to see why.
…..that is kinda nice. So after driving a rental car (Chevy HHR) for a couple weeks, I had to just go and check a new car. My head said to go get a Japanese car (hey what can I say, I’m from an Indian family) but my heart was keen to try a German car. Hopefully this is just a phase. I looked at the used car listings online for a while, before closing in on the Volkswagen Jetta — all the while completely cognizant of how cliche it is for me to get one. You know. The young working graduate degreed professional in a coastal (read: liberal) city who drinks coffee from a French press, wears topsiders, wears an NPR t-shirt, carries a Mac in his Timbuk2 messenger bag with an iPhone in one hand while the other carries farmer’s market apples in a canvas bag bought in Europe, all the while listening to indie music through those ubiquitous white earbuds. Sigh. My friend John, a real car guru who drives a VW GTI, told me “one can go car shopping and suddenly end up in Honda or Toyota. One does not buy a Volkswagen accidentally.”
Anyway, on to the wheels. It’s a 2006 Jetta GLI with Autobahn package (whatever that means) with 48,600 miles on it. Same engine as the Audi A4 (2.0L turbo), sunroof, etc. Certified pre-owned, with two year warranty. I’m having them install an iPod integration kit too.
One justification is that if I had bought a cheap car now, I would have probably upgraded in a few years. This is a car that I’d gladly drive until the engine creaks to a halt. Or maybe I’m just being self-indulgent and embarking on the destructive path of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. After all, now four of the five members of Joseph’s team drive Jetta. Either way, it’s done.
Now — who wants a drive?
What a simply delightful sound! Jónsi, the lead singer of Sigur Rós, is coming out with a solo effort and here’s the first single, “Go Do.” And he’s singing in English!
This music makes me happy.
Go sing too loud
Make your voice break – Sing it out
Go scream do shout
Make an earthquake…You wish fire would die and turn colder
You wish your love could see you grow older
We should always know that we can do anythingGo drum do go out
Make your hands ache – Play it out
Go march through crowds
Make your day break…You wish silence released noise in tremors
You wish I know it surrender to summer
We should always know that we can do everythingGo do you´ll know how to
Just let yourself fall into landslideGo do you´ll know how to
Just let yourself give into low tideGo do!
Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake – Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break – Let them growLet them grow (Endless summers)
Let them grow (Endless summers)(Go do endless summers)
You will survive we´ll never stop wonders
You and sunrise will never fall underYou will survive we´ll never stop wonders
You and sunrise will never fall under
We should always know that we can do anythingGo do!
A while back, I posed a question about what songs you like that have a characteristic of something that suddenly appears in the song but somehow completes it — an unexpected but welcomed element. I wrote then about the song Fake Empire by The National:
What I love about this song is how the horn section surfaces towards the end — though it’s at first unexpected, it fits perfectly and really elevates the song.
In a recent interview with Matt Berninger, the lead singer for The National, he talks about how dramatically songs can change for good and bad in the mastering process, and says:
But the other side of the coin is the song “Fake Empire”. It wasn’t ’til the very end of the process that we added the whole fanfare, the horns at the end, which turned a sleepy little simple song into something more exciting. That whole moment at the end of “Fake Empire” makes that song in many ways. It’s an average song without that. We’re right in the place where those kinds of things happen.
Kinda neat to read that, because that’s just what I felt about it too.
Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be not just a shining day for the Saints, but for the Bay Area too. After weeks of rainy days, the sun came out and warmed the bay up. I went up to the City for the day, first to visit Alcatraz with Nishu and a pair of her relatives visiting town. Her cousin was in town for a conference (the International Solid State Circuits Conference, the same one I attended back in 2007 in my first trip to San Francisco), and he brought his wife along too. If it was raining, we were going to check out the Legion of Honor museum, but it was so nice that day we decided to hit Alcatraz instead.
With our honed just-in-time logistical skills, Nishu and I picked them up and made it just as the ferry was about to set off. It was a warm day out on the water with the sun shining. I didn’t realize that Alcatraz has became a national park, or much about it’s history after prison operations ended. In the 1960s a group of Native Americans occupied Alcatraz claiming it to be old Indian land, and stayed out there for some time.
We had a quick bite to eat in the dock area then started heading up hill towards the prison yard. The whole island is smaller than what the movies make it seem to be. There are some support buildings scattered around, more often in pieces than not. But still, the views around the Bay were just stunning. What a stark contrast it must have been to be imprisoned on this island with so much vibrant life all around you.
There was a whole audio tour about the history of the prison and famous escape attempts, but we wanted to get outside. There is also a lot of natural life on the island — it’s a Bay rookery for water fowl, and flowers too.
And with that, it was back on the ferry towards the pier.
We got back to the somewhat shady parking lot we snagged near the pier, and I got them over Van Ness where they picked up a rental car. It was Super Bowl time! I realized I was near Nob Hill, where my friend Nevin has an apartment and gave him a ring. I even found a parking spot less than a block away. The party was in full swing 20 minutes before kickoff, and even Chrissy and Dave were there. Nevin and his roommates were terrific hosts with great food throughout the evening.
It was a fun game to watch, even though I was rooting for the Colts. Personally felt the commercials were a total bust this year. But the atmosphere was great and a lot of new people and faces to meet. Not a bad way to spend Superbowl Sunday.
New music on the street! Joseph recommended their new album Odd Blood to me on Monday, and I just bought it that night off Amazon for $4. I had never heard of Yeasayer before, but I had a lot of fun exploring this album. It’s kinda like you if you took Animal Collective, mixed in the pop of Passion Pit, then added a dash of — dare I say it? — Radiohead (see the song ‘Strange Reunions’ for the last reference. The first track is one of the most bizarre opening tracks I’ve ever heard, but thankfully it doesn’t set the tone for the rest of the album.
Here’s a track called Love Me Girl.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Other standouts for me include I Remember, Rome (for a funky swing feel), and Madder Red.
Last weekend Troy suggested we head up to Point Reyes National Seashore, a park area north of the Bay Area near Stinson Beach. Though our group’s numbers started to fall precipitously the days leading up to it, I wanted to go no matter what — I was feeling a strong urge to take a mental break. So Sunday morning Troy, Karla, and I headed up in the morning to Point Reyes, taking a leisurely drive that got us to the small town of Point Reyes Station by lunch. Just a few blocks is all, but with some undeniable charm. And a tricked out US Post Office.
I don’t really remember what we talked about on the drive up, but it was nice.
For lunch we sat outside in the patio area of a cafe, enjoying the warm sunlight and treating ourselves to some local brews.
Of course, as many of my friends know one can never really truly get away from one’s research, leading to amusing moments like this:
But this is why I love my friends. :) We enjoyed an impeccably fresh butternut squash ginger soup, followed by pizzas with just-picked mushrooms in a real wood fired oven (like the one Mary’s family has!). The menu even called out the exact kind of flour they were using.
After our immensely enjoyable lunch, we headed towards the seashore. The creeping of gray clouds did not deter us from taking a hike to the beach.
The fog drifting in softened the horizon and the corners of the cliff faces, giving my photos the feel of landscape art. At least to me, anyway.
A nice day all in all. Looking forward to going back later in the spring. There is just so much the Bay Area has to offer like this…must stay vigilant to enjoy it all!
I’d like to announce a new addition to the blogroll today — Backspace Prologue by my friend, roommate, and “professional coffee shop hopper” Troy Brant. He will use Backspace Prologue to share his experiences in developing and writing iPhone and iPad apps, but also about general issues and key trends in programming in this new paradigm as well. As some of you might know, Troy will be having a book released later this year and an extremely polished and functional iPhone app in the days (weeks? months? nudge nudge) to come. Check out Backspace Prologue — I’ve already warned Troy that you can’t start off a blog with such epic posts, because people will just keep expecting even more from you. Present company excluded, of course. :)
Bonus fun fact — one of the most visited parts of Troy’s website is http://troybrant.net/reg/, a student course scheduler and planner that Troy wrote for a Georgia Tech class project while a student there. Thousands of Tech students go there every year to help them plan their semesters. I wish someone had done this for our school!
The view from my hotel room window:
The bar at the top floor was pretty swank, with an outdoor hot tub. Was a little too cold outside though.
There was a lot of construction in preparation for the World Expo. All the sidewalks were being torn up.
Not much to show this trip. More later though, for sure.
In the aftermath of my car crash incident, Nader took an opportunity to dramatize it by way of intertwining its events with an on-going narrative of him delivering the $125 he owes to our friend (and my colleague) Chrissy for booking the ski lodge the weekend before. He gave me the money, in an envelope stuffed full of cash (ESFoC), to deliver to Chrissy the night before that ominous day….
Early Monday Morning, Saket packed up the aforementioned ESFoC and began his arduous commute from Menlo Park to Cupertino, by way of Interstate 280. What he did not expect was that danger lurked behind every Jersey Barrier – and that fate had it out for him that day.
At approximatley 0800 (I think – I’m actually just making this time up completely), a dark and sinister SUV began to skulk northbound on I-280, seeking unsuspecting victims. Little did Saket know… that HE would be that victim.
At approximately 0830, the dark SUV leapt over a Jersey Barrier, defying the laws of gravity and common sense, and began a furious nose-dive toward Saket’s vehicle. This is specifically counter to the purported design objective of the Jersey Barrier – which should deflect such SUVs back into their own lanes. But these barriers were never designed to stop *predators*.
Over the concrete, with total disregard for human life and $125, the SUV spun out and landed on Saket’s hood, wrenching solid steel and bending aluminum and fibreglass sheeting (it’s a Mazda). The SUV’s massive jaws tore into the soft, supple underbelly of Saket’s front passenger differential couple, mangled the engine block, and snapped his axle in half. Saket’s Mazda responded with the fury of a dying animal, forcefully chomping back at the SUV, and staggering forward in its death throes, lunged for the heart. The Mazda scoured the underside of the assailant. The rain poured down torrentially.
Amazingly, the passenger compartment of the Mazda did not flinch. Through the windshield, Saket’s coldforged eyes pierced the very soul of his attacker.
The SUV had expected an easy feast, not a fierce battle against a determined opponent. Rebuffed, it staggered off to the right shoulder of the northbound interstate to graze in the grass. It would taste no more steel that day.
Sirens blared. The rain continued to fall. (I assume. I wasn’t there. But this makes it sound better).
The firetrucks arrived and shut down the interstate, delaying and infuriating thousands of southbound commuters. And the emergency crews approached the tattered remains of Saket’s Mazda. They prepared for the worst -
- but lo, Saket stepped out in to the roadway, unscathed, and clutching the Envelope Stuffed Full of Cash. He had been saved. By Japanese automotive engineering.
“Damn you, destiny!” he bellowed into the mists. ”This money must get to Chrissy!” Destiny would hear none of it. Saket shook the ESFoC toward the sky in futile rage. But Destiny was dead-set on preventing the ESFoC from reaching her. And so, the Firemen and the Ambulances arrived, and the Trucks removed the carcass of the Mazda from Interstate 280, and interned it in a Camp for Broken Automobiles, saying that it was a Danger to Itself and Society and could not be allowed back on the public roadways…
And to preclude any chance that the money would make it to its rightful recipient, Apple corporation decided to send Saket overseas. But before he was shipped out, Saket managed to make one critical telephone call. To me. ”The money…” he gasped. ”It … must… be… delivered…”
And so, I trekked to Menlo Park, in the cold and the wet and the rain, and I found Saket doubled over at the foot of his bed. The Envelope Stuffed Full of Cash was at his side. ”Nader…” he said, “There is pasta on the stove… somebody must eat it.”
You have to give the man credit for determination. There was no time to eat the pasta – the men from Apple were coming to take him away…
But he would not be dissuaded. He stuffed at least 15 raviolis full of boiling cheese in his mouth, desperately eating what might be his last meal for weeks.
The phone rang. Saket could barely answer, for his scalded tongue.
On the line was the Man from the corporation. He had come to take Saket away. I knew that the ESFoC would never survive an international flight. I have tried this before, and it always gets confiscated by the D.E.A….
Improvising a solution, I stuffed the envelope into my jacket pocket and snuck out the side door; I hobbled my way towards my Toyota. I heard a trunk slam and as I lumbered off into the foggy night, I looked back to see the silhouette of the black limo car. The man from Apple drove away with Saket. I fear I may never see him again.
Thanks Nader :)
Honestly, it’s just been a tiring few weeks. After getting back from China, I kept crashing between 5 and 6pm everyday (right during key meetings), which didn’t use to happen before. Jet lag maybe? I’ve been dealing with the totaled car and insurance company information on the side, and being extra loaded at work. Bright spots was celebrating with Melih and Micky last Friday night, and getting out to Point Reyes last weekend as a mental break from the grind. But this past week has been fourteen to sixteen hour days. I’m getting back on my diet and hit the gym for two days before getting stuck in the lab. And I think I fought off any colds going around the office…until maybe now.
I’ll be catching up with a few posts that will trickle in over these next few days then we’ll be back on track. Thanks.