noodles

Due to proximity to the place where I work these days, noodles & co has become almost a staple food for me. I eat there atleast 3-4 meals a week. Some of my favorite dishes are:

• tomato basil bisque (this soup is a palatal delight!)
• indonesian peanut saute (very healthy and I asked to quadruple the cilantro in it)
• penne cavatappi

I love the concept that I can get the noodle dishes for various cuisines under one roof - the Asian, the Mediterranean, and the American !

Check out their menu on their website...the website-design is fairly creative.

a new windy city?

New York City has gusty winds over the weekends continuing onto Monday morning. Check this report here. Is NYC becoming the windy city, a title that Chicago had?

After I left from the movie hall, I asked my friend, who just arrived from India, to join me for dinner and he backed out stating that there were strong chilly winds outside. I was intrigued when he backed out in such a way. Little did I know that the winds were so bad. .... 40 MPH !

Damn ... I couldn't stand and I couldn't walk straight - on top of that - the overcoat wasn't helping. After picking up my take-away order from the Italian place, I wasn't inclined to get out of that warm cosy place. The earlier walk of a few hundred meters had put me in a shock about the possible shock. It was about 6F and strong winds on top of that. I started thinking - what happened? When I went inside the movie hall, it wasn't as bad. Suddenly the weather deteriorated?

Cloverfield was good but not as good as to tolerate this tormentation of the weather. There was a weather warning of winds - but nothing about the strong chill !

Anyways, next time it is windy, I will make sure not to step out without car. The walk back from the Italian place to my apt complex was dreadful with the forehead giving a sensation of frozen blood....

And No, I am not exaggerating. On return back to house, my other roomie, who went to leave back his friend, saw cars moving side to side or front to back, the stuff that appears in movies!

I hope there are no casualties due to this. My prayers with the homeless!

in a new york minute

the genus of human spirit v/s the over-engineered malice.

The latter was triumphant until the game changed in a new york minute :)
Yay ! - The Giants won !

bay area

celebrating the new year !

First weekend in NYC - shopped around for deals in the new year, had a brunch at bryant park, picked up some books and on the way back, met an interesting person on the Path train, who quickly became an acquaintance.

Second weekend in Seattle - The goal was to meet my friend(s) and spend some quality time with them. The walking tours of Seattle were great and are well described in another blog on Seattle.

Third weekend in the Bay area - long weekend. I got to catch up with my high school buddy in San Jose area, his other buddies in Mountain View, and then an undergrad acquaintance in Stanford. On top of this, I got to explore San Francisco further. The details on this visit to Bay area is here.

Last weekend - firm's QSM at Sheraton; later followed by an evening at Divine Bar in UWS, a fun dinner at Le Colonial in UES, and finally, some shaking-a-leg at Azza Lounge.

More details on the last weekend:

Sheraton doesn't have anything distinct from a hotels perspective for the mid-Manhattan area. The whole day we spent there was a good relief for me as I got to make some interesting observations and I got to network some more.

The promoters of Divine Bar West claims to be one of the city's most unique places. However, putting some ruby red lightings, orange walls, zebra barstools, and a rooftop may make it unique but all these inclusions do not make the place creative. The finger food (such as the Milano bruschetta) was good and the ambience was relaxing. However, those are basic requirements for making of a good lounges and do not make the lounges extra-ordinary. It's a great place for birthday dinner.

Le Colonial, an upscale authentic Vietnamese din, surprised me with fine dining at relatively affordable prices. The table had a champagne connoisseur, who ordered the 1996 vintage Brut - a champagne which is crisp and dry with a fine persistent sparkle. Apparently, Le Colonial is a chain in the major cities in the major US cities of NYC, Chicago, and SF (they covered all their bases - lol!)

We went into Azza with great expectations due to referral from the Le Colonial manager. We got a free entry. However, the place was relatively low key that night - a Friday night in a slowing down economy!

On Sat, the day began late and later, caught up with few friends in the neighborhood and later extended way past in the night almost till the morning. On Sunday, the day started late again - but caught up with friends at the La Maison Du Chocolat place at Rockefeller Center with some acquaintances for a quite Sunday evening after the skating rink in Central Park.

All in all, the new year has begun well. I am not sure if a similar momentum will continue in the direction of pure hedonism as the efforts will now be focussed in the direction of pursuits for a larger cause.

dining in the city ...

My professional life takes me to different cities and to many places within the cities I visit.

My base office New York has been fun in the socializing dimension ever since I joined. I regretfully missed out on the Waldorf Astoria holiday party recently due to my latest project (the first one out of town and a significant one for me). Here are some quick review notes on some of the places in the city that I've been to:

Marquis - at Times Square

This place is run alike any other Marriott flagship property - professionally !
The decor was pretty up to date. ....though I would still love to have some NYC taste to it.

We were mostly in the ballroom for our event. As I had done some quickie research in advance, I knew that they had New York's only revolving restaurant and lounge - The View. I decided to visit it for dinner. Food wasn't as great but the revolving view is refreshing.

It's a tourist magnet ! Consider it as a New York hour for the tourists. Yea baby, 58 min/ revolution. The range of people I could interact with were not only from throughout US but also from Europe.

Service was satisfactory and one of my friends admired the signature drink the bartender provided ( the Floradora). I realised that this was a good place to come and kick back after the vexations of a long work day or after shopping in Manhattan !


Hilton , 1335 Avenues of Americas-
The ballroom in the middle east part of the city was plain vanilla. It wasn't as well-decorated as the Marquis one. However, the place was much more spacious vis-a-vis the Marriott Marquis.

The facade needs renovation as it projects an old image, and lacks the energy that must radiate with a Hilton at New York. It consumes a prime chunk of real estate piece and hence, shouldn't be an eye-sore!

I didn't get a chance to explore their restaurant as I was busy networking. btw, I got to know that we had a band and I got to meet our band's manager at this place.


Gansevoort , Meatpacking district -
Exceptional rooftop bar that I adore in the meatpacking district. I liked the energy exuberated by the place and the kind of crowd it attracted. Sweeping views will leave any visitor with a lasting impression of the New York City Skyline.

Surprisingly, during my second visit to this place, I ran into Conan O'Brien at the entrance :). This was when we had a social event at the Garden of the Ono for financial services practitioners. Ono was a dimly lit, sleek, sophisticated, and Asian-inspired wonder world.

I love the outdoors more (both the rooftop and the Garden) and hence, would recommend this place only for the summer or early fall ! Visit the place well dressed - trendy, hip, and fun ! Suits or work clothes are fine too...

Trinity Place - financial district area
A financial district restaurant/bar with a difference. The service was great. Finger food was tasty. We had a whole room booked for us and we were about 20 people. I couldn't spend too much time here as I had to join some friend's bday party for sake-bombing (as their DD)!

Zanzibar -

Tell the waitress I'll come back to Zanzibar.... Billy Joel in his album 52nd Street, the first ever album on a Compact Disc (CD) in Japan in the early 80s.

This drove me to this classy midtown eastern place for an evening social despite of hectic schedule that workday.

The structure of the building is old but the decor is creative to make it look trendy hip. There is a total of 4 rooms to hang out at.
1 st room - huge circular fireplace ( anybody wanna make some smokes?)
2nd room - Suede chairs with tiny red ottomans to eat.
3rd room - large bar with a DJ
4th room - sarfari afica theme room to lounge.
We had booked the whole of the 2nd room for about 20 people.

An acquaintance liked their vodka gimlets....It's a good happy hour place as the food wasn't great. Also, I despised the service quality. Apparently, cost pressures have led the joint-owner to employ curt, non-service-oriented employees.

Mesa -

Cramped! is what I remember the first thing about the seating arrangement we were provided for our dinner place. We were about 12 and accordingly, reservations were made. Not only did they not do any reservations or planning (as we had to wait more than my tolerance limit) but also we were given a place of 8 and asked to fit in 12. It was awful !

The food was not great - didn't have many healthy or vegetarian options. I had a starter of a pumpkin soup and main course again had some pumpkin element. Their desert platter is a must-taste.

Rio Di Zio Tribeca Churrascaria - Tribeca/SoHo

Ambience:
Decor is bright and trendy. Liqor serving is good. One of my colleagues enjoyed the frosted beer glasses they had. Red wine choice was good.

Food options:
It's a steakhouse - so its a big meathouse ... ! Salad bar was awesome ! Delicious vegetarian specialties abound and they even have sushi (which is actually really good). The main course barely had healthy options. I am a vegetarian and the chef could make up a primavera pasta for me.

Misc comments:
This was my first time at a Brazilian steakhouse. The cooked meat is brought in full to the table and you are asked if you wanted a slice of it. I got to know a new system of cards (green or red) by which you would indicate the server about whether you are full or not.


My flight's announcement's been made and I have to leave. I will write the rest at a later date.

100th anniversary for the Times Square ball-drop event

Details of the ball are in this video here

It was indeed exciting to check out the ball at the Macy's store in Herald Square before it was up there on Times Square for the New Years' eve. I plan to check out the whole event from my firm's office at Broadway. A noteworthy aspect about the ball is that it is GREEN i.e., it is made with some 9.5k energy efficient bulbs. I bet Philips had an agenda to advertise for free by entering in this feature. This is also a true indication of where NYC wants to project itself as a pioneer and leader in energy efficiency.

Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year's Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. This original Ball, constructed of iron and wood and adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. In 1920, a 400 pound ball made entirely of iron replaced the original. The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907.

This year, the temperature is expected to be around 25 to 35 and the fog isn't going to be there. Hence, I am expecting a good visibility from the office - which is about 7 streets away.


Silence before the storm - the silent Broadway before the madhouse... (around 2 pm) !

The celebration was scheduled to include countdowns with entertainment gurus Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest, who will be joined by New Year's Eve legend Dick Clark, and performances by Kid Rock, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood and The Bravery. In addition, the USO Troupe of Metropolitan New York will perform and a "salute to armed forces" was planned.

About a million revelers are expected to pack the streets of the city for this event. Also new to this year's celebration is that confetti (about a ton of it) dropped when the clock strikes midnight will include wishes for the New Year written by people around the world.

I am all excited to check it out at midnight.... though I wont be a part of the madhouse downstairs on the streets !

To see what I see, you can go to earthcams here.

community service in the city

I felt that I should contribute to the city where I work. Of course, I pay taxes. However, I had this yearning to offer my efforts as well.

Along came an email from one of the volunteering groups in the firm for publicolor volunteering. It was a good opportunity to achieve further honing of my painting skill and also, contributing in some form to the community. Besides, I had never been to that part of the city - a school in Bronx, where every incoming person is asked to pass through metal detectors.

During the effort, I could come across a few teenagers, who appeared eager to learn more about the world. I gave them my contact details if they needed further guidance beyond what we discussed about pursuing dreams despite of difficulties. One of the stories was particularly heart rendering - it was of a sister in a group of three sisters. She was being denied education by her mom as her mom didn't have any money to support her education. Her fees were free but didn't have money for books etc. Fortunately, someone in the group could guide her during the discussion about the resources to tap in order to get that kind of help. She was delighted and I felt happy that I could facilitate that discussion.

Publicolor was started by Ruth Lande Shuman, an industrial designer and is managed by Deven Parekh, a partner in Insight Venture Partners. I found the concept of publicolor unique and creative.

movie review: charlie wilson's war

I had waited for this movie for long, alike American Gangster. Both the movies that I waited for had lived upto my expectations. In fact, they had surpassed my expectations.

Acting:
10/10
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts at their best... .Julia didn't have much of a role - but did perform it well.

The most surprising one for me was Phillip Seymour Hoffman - yea, Gust from CIA !

Story:
N/A - it's a true story - hence, I have another parameter to evaluate....the screenplay !

Screenplay was very well adapted. Just to evaluate this aspect, I ran to the Barnes and Noble on last Friday (between my shopping and going out that night) and read most of the book. The screenplay seemed a bit rushed - but indicative of the way things were progressing in Charlie Wilson's life - quickly ! I would rate screenplay at 8/10.

I hope the writer's strike doesn't lead to a drought period of my newly found hobby of movies.
May be I can continue that hobby with foreign films - that implies more variety and exploration.

art lovers galore !

Check out the presentation of MoMA's online exhibits. I must tell you - they never stop to reach beyond expectations....

For instance, while making decision regarding whether I must visit MoMA for Puryear's exhibit, I checked out the online exhibit and the full-screen version was simply marvellous; and no, I am not talking about the linear exhibit but the clusters which are shown when you want to check out the work based on medium, chronology, etc.

Go MoMA Go !

shopping season!

Target misses its targets ! Check this article.

What do the soft sales of the retail giants mean for me?
Come Dec 27th and Jan 2nd and I can get goods much cheaper - most of the retail industry has already started their run towards slashing prices. I saw Wal-Mart as the fastest one to do that. Just about 3 weeks ago, I reached to their store for returning a Canon SD 1000 as the prices elsewhere had dipped quite a bit after that and I was still in the 30 days warranty period. They said that the prices had dipped in their stores too - a whooping $80 on a $267 product !

I started researching with curiosity to find out in hours that the health of most of the retail giants is suffering. Consumers are spending less fearing a downturn. The heat is being felt everywhere and especially, in my part of the country - New York !

I would prefer buying when such opportunities arise - its a mindset game. I dont buy based on hype - but based on need and patience ! I learned that from the markets when I was still in my teens. This mindset has helped me in every phase of my life.

noisy city?

Finally, I found someone who shares similar views. NYC is very noisy and irritatingly so.

When I moved here, non-nyc friends and acquaintances used to ask me with envy - "hows nyc treating you? you go to wall st everyday - isn't that something?...bla bla bla"

In reply, when I used to mention that the toughest part of my day was landing at the WTC station and facing the construction, they used to feel that I was being a baby or a spoilsport. However, that's a fact.

Check out Henry Bean's latest movie on noise casting Tim Robbins and this associated article. NYC is super-noisy and so was Mumbai - my hometown. However, in the years at Pune, St Louis, and Pittsburgh, I got used to quieter better quality of life than the metros. I would eagerly wait for the movie's release.

Change of address online

As a non-immigrant resident alien, I have to inform the govt whenever I change my address. Usually, it used to be an effort which involved sending a postal mail with the form filled out.

The feds have developed a good tool which has the self-service dimension. An online change of address eliminates the need of a data-entry personnel and also, saves money for the user as postage cost is saved. That personnel can be retrained for a higher paying job, say a database admin for the new system in place.

Here's the link for the change of address online.

movie reviews

I haven't been able to write for a while as my schedule was hectic. I'd made notes though - in the last 2 months. Today, I could put them together and post it.

Good luck chuck

I went in thinking it would be a good comedy - I guess Dane Cook needs to learn what comedy is. I mentioned that Jessica Alba wasn't a good actor at the movie theatre and folks looked at me as if I am stupid - a gentleman even came near me and mentioned - "who's come here to see her acting, mate? We thought we would see something more than the dolphin-printed undies. We did see a dozen other nude chics - (with a dissenting pause) but we wanted to see Jessica Alba in that form"

ahh - that was it. The movie lost total respect.

Ratings
Acting: 3/10 - Jessica made a great attempt to show her acting. However, Dane Cook was horrible - esp when he smothers her
Script: 4.5/10 - Need to have more creativity than this.

+ No idea
- Lotssa them


The Brave One

The title didn't suit the movie content. I could understand that the lead character becomes brave one after her boyfriend's killed in The Central Park. However, I felt that it wasn't the best fit for the movie.

Movie shows brutal violent act at the beginning. Thereafter, Jodie Foster recovers from her trauma, overcomes her fear and transfoms into a different person, who does not fear anyone. She crosses the line of killing someone accidentally and gets away with it in the noise of the city.

This movie was on a similar line as that of Death Sentence, except for the fact that in Death Sentence there are two rounds of attrocious behavior against the lead actor and in this one, there is just one round.

Ratings
Acting: 7/10 - Jodie Foster has tried to bring in her stoic and done so well. The love-making scenes between her and Naveen Andrews are kindda weird as the age difference appears to be significant (though it is just 7 years in real life). I guess the 40s does that to an individual !

Script: 7/10 - Transitions are fairly smooth. Folks can relate to it easily. NYC is a soft target from violence perspective and an easy-to-buy concept (though reality is different now - the crime has lowered compared to earlier days). The twist at the end with the cop coming in on time wasn't expected. The comments about Jodie's features by the young kid were misplaced (c'mon she's 46 years old for God's sake)!

Storyline was on lines with vengeance and reminded me of recent movie Death Sentence.

+ Jodie's acting
- Could've been better. Appeared to be a hurried production

The Kingdom

I walked in thinking Jamie Foxx would be horrible at acting. However, he was above my lowered expectations. I guess action roles suit him. Good package overall with appropriate musical score in the background. The message about revenge at the end was a mystery. Was it intended to be a satire? Was it an opening for sequel?

Ratings
Acting: 7.5/10 - The Saudi officer who dies at the end had a good acting. I dont know the actor's name though.
Script: 8.5/10 - Intelligent script though needed some more credibility towards the end. Cross-cultural issues have been brought up well when the US investigators are working with the local police/investigators.

+ Music, Action
- Minor flaws here and there.

The Heartbreak kid
You wouldn't miss anything if you haven't seen it. This remake's promo scenes is all the movie's got to offer. A typical romantic-comedy's bachelor's fascination with greener grass on the other side, fear of committment, etc are depicted in the movie. Grossness has been played with teenage fascination.

Ratings
Acting: N/A
Script: 3/10. Lack of reflection on soul and psychology of Eddie (as compared to the original movie)


Shoot 'em up
Total bang bang movie. Monica Belucci has delivered a terrible performance besides appearsing old.

Ratings
Acting: N/A - doesn't matter.
Script: N/A - doesn't matter.

+ Shooting moments. Creative scenes.
- N/A


The Seeker
I wouldn't comment much on this. I saw this movie as a time-killer while spending time with a friend at a mall. It is a children movie and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it. Script is poorly written as the element of suspense is not well-maintained.

agree to disagree....

I was surprised to know that there were peaceful protests against Sonia Gandhi at NY. This time, they gave it a different pitch rather than her origin. Clearly, it was motivated by the extremist groups. This time they took the Mahatma issue - that Sonia is not a Gandhi...lol ! If you ask Why - the answers were those of a silly teenager, who wants to fight with you for the heck of it.

An interesting article about the issue if Sonia Gandhi must lead the nation's ruling party despite of foreign origin is discussed here: Sonia Gandhi is Indian by choice. This came out in 1999, long before she would become the next leader.

I agree on the point of the view of the extremists that this may send out wrong signals in the world - such as we need a non-Indian to rule India.

The fallacy of the argument is that Sonia is an Indian. In 1983, when Rajiv was to become Prime Minister (against his natural wish), she had to get an Indian passport and become Indian. Later, she started wearing saree, speaking Hindi, and took various steps to get accepted. What else do you want in an Indian bahu? She is trying to learn about culture of her sasural and embrace it by adopting it fully. Similar to her, I have met a lady here at my workplace - she is a non-Indian who married an Indian. They are an extremely progressive couple, I must say. She is making every effort to be as Indian as possible - such as learning Hindi despite of challenging work schedule, get married in India as per Indian ritual, etc.

So, someone twisted the argument that Sonia was not born in India and hence, not supposed to represent India. That's an interesting twist - just to make a point. Even though she was not born in India, she spent 20 years (1983 to 2003) to reach where she reached. She is legally Indian, she has Indian kids, and she is Indian by behavior as well !

Narrow minded folks dont seem to get that. Manuism still persists. Caste system still persists. East v/s West and North v/s South still persists in India. Those who oppose her existence on grounds of place of birth are as discriminatory as the folks who gave 1/3rd voting rights to the Americans of African American descent. Extending this logic further, quite a few north Indians are not Indians as quite a few have their origins amongst the Aryans, who were clearly not Indians.

The whole issue is politically motivated. Those who support this issue against Sonia are either loyal folks to extremist parties or folks who envy that a waitress can have such a position just due to her getting married to the right person.

However, I agree with the fact that she was inexperienced to politics when she gave her first speech in 1999. However, that is rarely used as a pitching point. I am amused why that is not the single most important point held as a propaganda against her by opponents. I guess they will alienate some of the young voters - lol ! Also, her Hindi has become far better.

I guess, being educated - most of Indians agree to disagree - except for a few - who end up misrepresenting India on foreign soil. Such a display of intolerance is counter-productive. As India, we have to display diversity and inclusion. Mahatma never fought for such causes such as religion (Sonia is a Roman Catholic and it was held against her by the protesters).

All in all, I was sad that NYC had to see this difference in opinion in India. The protesters could've done this in India. However, they wanted to wash the dirty linen in public. Such a shame !

movie mania !

This summer, I am witnessing most of the movies without a significant theme ! At times, I miss friends to watch movie with.

The Bourne Ultimatum

High Octane movie ! The best part of the movie that I liked was: "Do you know why are you doing this?" I guess most of the folks who are employed by their employers for passionate and potentially dangerous work must ask this question to themselves.

The legacy continues well. The action scene in Morocco is well-thought-of. While watching the movie, I could imagine that the script-writer must've trotted the globe quite a bit.

script: 8/10
acting: 9/10 - can do better.



HotRod 1/10. (1 is for ability to get funds for the movie)
I dont know why this movie was even made. Whoever funded it !


Ratatouille, Underdog
A concept for kids. I could not sit in the movie for more than 30 mins.
script: n/a
acting: n/a


No Reservations
Catherine Zeta Jones plays the role of a pragmatist-on-the-verge-of-paranoia role. She's perfectionist and hates it when things dont go her way. Her master (or the owner of the restaurant) pays for her therapy ! That's the degree of insanity shown in this movie. In many ways, I could relate her to Bee. Alike Bee, she was stiff with her neighbor - something oblique and a bit weird. How can you chuck out a potential partner from the pool of your neighbours?


script: 5/10
acting: 7/10

Next up:
American gangster !

movie-marathon!

Simpsons the movie

Absolutely entertaining.
Creative script-writing : by popular standards. I would give it 8.5/10.
There's no acting involved....thus, n/a for that rating

Hairspray

Total entertainment (musical) package with a social message.
Acting: 9.5/10
Script: 9/10

Good recreation of the 70s!

I know who killed me
Sex and Violence are the primary props used by the producer.

Script: 7/10. Lacked flow - storyline is not well-executed. I guess that in a bid to shorten the reel-time, the movie-makers made an abrupt transition from the FBI tracked victim to an independent person who is trying to take the bad-guy down. Lilo needs to improve a lot w.r.t. acting.
Acting: 6/10

I pronounce you Chuck and Larry
One might perceive from the trailer that this movie has an interesting topic. However, the end was meaningless. I guess the script-writer got tired and had a lazy ending.

script: 4/10
acting: 5.5/10 - there wasn't much required to perform, anyways.
Sense of humor was fairly primitive.

License to Wed
dont watch - unless you have issues in your relation and want to correlate to this story.
It aint worth watching...
script: 4/10
acting: 6/10 (I didn't want to be mean) - Robin Williams has lost his charm.

Next in queue:
Bourne Ultimatum
Death Sentence
Harry Potter (whichever part has come out) (waiting to watch it in a iMAX 3D movie hall)

spooky linkedin

Linkedin gave me a pointer to an old acquaintance who barely had anything in common except for undergrad. It came as a surprise to me because I never provided my undergrad to linkedin.

Search has evolved to a degree that algorithms are able to relate to you contextually. The biggest conquest comes from the fact that algorithms ensure that it is

Now, that's what I call spooky !

smoking ban inside

Club-crawling in NYC clubs could be a clean experience with smoking ban inside the clubs. This alongwith the outrageous prices of tobacco products discourages smokers heavily.

In a way, that's a right way to go. Hurray !

movie-marathon

Last weekend, I was on a movie-marathon:

Live Free or Die hard, Knocked Up, and Evan Almighty.

Live Free or Die Hard: 6.5/10

Bruce Willis must retire now... He is made for this role - however, he is getting old and the effects are not as good.

Knocked Up: 7/10

It was a neat movie from the perspective of a new generation of US. Californians can relate more to the movie as the movie is shown based out of California. Some people found it funny. However, I found the movie weird. May be I wasn't in a mood to watch it at that time.

Story line was unique: 8.5/10
Acting was natural: 8/10
Appeal to audience in general: 5/10
Last one is due to specific instances of unnecessary nudity and verbiage which was fairly unnecessary.

Evan Almighty: 4.5/10
Jim Carrey - we missed you? The new Evan in form of Almighty is not good enough in his acting. Story line was incoherent. Special effects were satisfactory.