Steve Jobs Resurrected!

On the eve of the iPhone 5 Launch!

Taxi Ride.. can be enjoyable!

As a tourist or traveler, I have often found myself being in strange places and areas that I would normally not pass through if I did live in that place. I am mostly traveling in a local cab at most times and I have to say that over the years I have begun to enjoy my trips in local cabs. Striking a friendly conversation with them drivers has served me well on multiple counts. Usually these cab drivers are localities and  are happy to be my local guide (free) - they have told me things and shown me places that I would not normally read about in a lonely planet booklet or a travel blog. A little discussion with them helps me get through the rather boring cab ride too especially when I am traveling alone. However, the primary reason for me to engage in these fleeting conversations is to give myself a better chance to not be taken for a 'ride' by the driver - really!

In Bangkok, I remember how my cab driver got excited to be conversing with a foreigner that he even sang a local song for me. He really was proud of his country and culture. Here in Noida, where I have been for a few days now, I am not a foreigner. Although I am only visiting, my skin color and features give away my origin pretty easily. I am only one of the billion Indians but I still have to be extra friendly with the cab drivers because I am in Noida (the land of the lawless). In one of my routine conversations with a driver, he told me how the local residents mock their own state(UP) to be an acronym for a local word(Ulta-Pulta) meaning Upside-Down. He even had a term for Noida -> No-Idea. Rofl! We ended up talking about everything from   state politics to the newly constructed Formula 1 Race track. Hmm..

What started as a ploy to save myself has now become enjoyable enough that I dump the luxury cab from my hotel each evening and instead use one of these cabs - free guided tour every evening!

how my brain works.

I have noticed that these days I am obsessed to know how my brain works...

And if you have wondered why there are so many posts about Steve Jobs on my blog - this is why..

Steve Jobs: The Biography

I just completed reading Walter Isaacson's  biography of Steve Jobs and the one word that comes to my mind when I think about the book is roller-coaster. The book captures the essence of Jobs' character impressively well - a commendable achievement given that the person he was writing about had a rather complex personality. As you appreciate the extensive research that serves as the foundation for the book, it reminds you that bringing tidbits of information about Jobs is almost like picking up pieces of history (in this case the computer industry) and recreating a story for the rest of us. My opinion about the book wavered everyday but what is also important is that the book got me to chuckle a little bit in the end. It finished with a line that had a unique combination of spirituality, humor, and philosophy wrapped well with one of Job's strong beliefs in product design. I particularly liked the line. The book also talked about a side of Jobs that was devoted to his family, something that people know little about. It provides the much needed balance to the otherwise aggressive and supremely focused portrayal of the executive.

If there was anything about the book I would change it would be the order of events - I would make them more chronological. I think it draws a more complete image in the reader's mind of a  personality. More things in life make sense when the whys and whens are also known as part of the story and eliminates emotions and reactions from being treated as an one-off knee jerk reaction. Not being chronological almost makes it "fragmented" - a theory that Jobs rallied against all his life. If I had to be picky and push for perfection I would also correct the typo on page five hundred and sixty five on the line that talks about the Macintosh. I would do it as a small symbolic tribute to Steve Jobs :)

But then again, Steve Jobs chose Walter Isaacson for his biography and overall I think its a good read!

Halloween 2011

Good food, costumes, games, movies, impersonations, new friends, art(pumpkin carving) and above all hanging out with some of the nicest people. Now that's called a Good Halloween!!

See below for my first shot at pumpkin carving. The inspiration came from above - Steve P Jobs!

Not bad eh...

Steve Jobs!

There are three people I idolize in my life and one of them passed away today!

Rest In Peace, Steve...

Movie Credits

Can you say that in English again please?

Are you a citizen of America?
Is this a game show?
Mamma Cass...

Bloopers and funny credits are a part of many movies (I enjoy them immensely) but I thought this one was hilarious. Oscar Nuñez, the part-time male stripper in the movie was ROFL material!