Analyzing the Raptors Draft Picks

The Charlie Villanueva pick really surprised me. The other 3 picks were pretty solid. I was shocked that they didn't take Channing Frye. However, I later read reports that he refused to workout for the Raps. If that's true, then it would be a good decision, although I still think Rashad McCants would have been a better pick.

Villanueva is a big man and has some good post moves. He will definitely add size and rebounding to the Raps, but he has never played to his true potential and seems to have poor work ethic. All I can hope is that he gets his stuff together and become successful.

Graham is a good pick. Athletic and good on defense. Hopefully he'll add some toughness to the Raptors D.

I've also heard good things about Ukic. Toronto definitely need another guard coz Rafer Alston simply isn't cutting it.

How has the net changed your life?

I don't feel I'm exaggerating when I say that the internet has changed the way people live. Everything now is so connected. I reflect on this and come to the realization that I could almost live my life in front of the screen. I could work through tele-commuting , perform financial transactions online, shop online, access any kind of entertainment (music, movies, cartoons, comics..you get the idea), write my thoughts online, stay in touch with friends and family through email and messegner, and access a wealth of news and information on virtually every topic. It's kind of exciting and scary at the same time.

This brings several questions to mind. Does an online life take away from your real world life? I suppose nothing is good in excess. Will measures to protect privacy actually work or are we fighting a losing battle? People always assume that by working behind a computer they are completely anonymous. However, any technophile will tell you that in reality the opposite it is true. Will human kind outdo itself and eventually create robots and machines that will become smarter than us like in some of the sci-fi movies?

Moving on to other topics, I can't wait for The Fantastic 4. The previews looked awesome (and so does Jessica Alba). Some pretty cool flicks are out this summer. In case you haven't watched em already, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Batman Begins were good too. I also stumbled upon some Guju-English rap. Guju rap? I've seen a lot of cross-over music these past couple of years. Rock-hip hop mixes, indo rap and other themes you wouldn't normally expect. Cultural fusion at its best.

The Perfect Food

Ever searched in vain for that great tasting food outside of the region of its origin? I still haven't been able to locate that special pizza outside of Italy; the great tasting shawarmah or kebab outside of the Gulf; that delicious butter chicken outside of India.

Despite it's global popularity, the pizza in Italy is nothing like the pizza you get everywhere else. A scrumptious light thin crust; mild yet flavourful tomato sauce; cheese melted to perfection; sublimely smoked meats; garden fresh vegetables. That's what pizza is really like, not this heavy, overpacked and greasy version you get elsewhere.

The grilled meats available at most local cuisine restaurants in the Middle-East. A meat lovers utopia. Succulent meat pieces grilled to perfection, along with roasted onion and homous. Simple, yet so satisfying.

What can I say about butter chicken? A dish fit for royals; the aroma itself will fill your stomach. A rich gravy with juicy bits of chicken. Best enjoyed with butter naan or the likes.

Bon Appetit mes amis.

The Four Seasons

One of the best things about Canada is that you get to experience all four seasons distinctly. With summer comes the gorgeous rich, lush greenery, the clear blue skies ; in autumn you get to see the green leaves turning into a crisp reddish/golden-brown and experience the occasional drizzles; winter enables you to experience the incredible beauty of pristine white snow (and the incredible frustration of travelling in it); spring where you get to see the grass growing on the previous snow covered ground again and the leaves making a reapperance. It's absolutely breathtaking to observe these changes nature and it blew me away the first time I saw this all.

Well I noticed something else. I also change colour with the seasons. In summer, I get somewhat darker than normal, probably due to all the time spent outside in the sizzling sun. And in the winters, I get a cool lighter complexion, which is probably due to the fact that all my colour pigments and blood plasma freeze in the sub-zero temperatures.

On a more personal note, I hurt my heel bone and tweaked a muscle in my left arm while playing ball last night. I'm reduced to gingerly hopping around town on one leg which is kinda cool in an odd, twisted way.

Cybernetwork swamping

Anyone else feel swamped by all these "friend network" sites? I understand having one or two of em but come on.......an invitation to join a different one everyday? You must be kiddin me.

First it was friendster, then hi5, myspace and sms. Yeah I joined all of these, played with em for a week or two, before moving on to other stuff. I barely know one-quarter of the people on my friends list. Seriously whats the point of this? Yesterday I got an invitation from a friend inviting me to join zebo. Zebo? WTF is zebo? Browse your friends' shopping list? Screw you, I don't wanna browse my friends shopping lists. Just leave me alone.

The End of a Chapter

Another chapter in my life closes. I finally received that piece of overhyped paper. That paper that I had to slog for four long years to attain. I had great times, I had moments I'd rather forget, but I'll admit it was the experience of the lifetime.

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers,
We can, we can, we can, we can demolish 40 beers.
So come, so some, so come, so come, so come along with us,
For we don't give a damn for any old man who don't give a damn for us.

The future is ours by design.

The Psychosis sets in...

I'm walking along College St. in the blistering thirty degrees, non-ozone filtered heat. My body feels sapped of the energy it is normally (in) famous for. I find myself walking alongside an ice-cream vendor. I stop him and get an ice cold popsicle. I lick it delicately. I feel my body temperature drop a few degrees.

I continue my journey towards the Galbraith Building. A group of pretty ladies walk by and wave at me. My body temperature shoots up (no pun intended) again. I look down towards my popsicle to save me from the heat. Alas, it's almost at it's end.

I finally reach Galbraith. I walk in. The cold air envelopes me. I stand still and let the sensation reinvigorate me. I walk towards the Camp 1 office. A sign says "Closed till 3 pm. Sorry for the inconvenience." This ardous journey, all in vain.

I struggle along in heat towards the subway. The journey was, as usual, long and boring. I finally reach my stop and get on the bus. The bus blasts past the first few stops at a 100 km/hr. Why can't all bus rides be like this I wonder.

A couple walk in. The girl is pretty. They sit right at the front of the bus. She's with someone; I decide to ogle no longer. I look out of the window. I see the lush green grass sparkling in the sunlight, the leaves on the trees swaying with the breeze and Asians cycling along the sidewalk (wtf?).

The girl then comes and sits right in front me. The guy follows shortly. She has piqued my interest. I wonder what she's upto.

The guy is busy yapping on his phone. The girl takes off her coat. She leans against him but then looks me straight in the eye. Yes, I'm getting my old magic back.

I finally reach home. Thoughts of getting back into an air-conditioned place fill my head. I step in and feel the cool air envelope me again. I drink an ice cold glass of water. I feel invincible.

I go into my room. It's warm. I check all the rooms in the house. My room is the only one which isn't cooling.

I need a hug.

Finally some love

Nerds make better lovers!

The New York Daily News, that bastion of journalistic credibility, has more.

Random Conversation

-Rene *Batting eyelids*: So D, have you slept with anyone before?
-Me: No.
-Rene: How come?
-Me: Cause I decided to save myself till marriage. That and the fact that I haven't found anyone who deserves to sleep with yours truly.
-Fred: He means to say he can't get any...

Pffft.

Funny...

The PhD comic comic strip offers a hilarious take on life at grad school.

This one is pretty funny if you have a background in Star Wars.

If you don't have the time to read all the previous strips, the following should give you the background needed to follow the above cartoon:

Slackerney is a really lazy grad student (notice his name?) who has finally graduated. Dr. Smith is his evil thesis advisor.

My photostream

Due to lack of creativity, post-graduation depression and/or writer's block, I haven't been able to come up with anything interesting to post recently. So I'll resort to shamelessly hustling my Flickr photostream. Enjoy!

p.s.: Make sure to view the images in the large size to fully appreciate the skills and talent of the photographer.

Toilet Terrorism

And you thought you were safe sitting on your throne ...

South Asians and Academics

The last four contestants on the recently concluded Scripps National Spelling Bee were desi. Talk about national dominance. I was contemplating doing grad school in the US but if the 12-13 yr old desis can spell better than me it might not be such a good idea (thank goodness I'm in a technical field? I don't think so).

Well it seems that many of the readers on Sepia Mutiny went through this whole spelling bee thing (some having never overcome the emotional scars they received from doing so). But in my good ol' Indian school, we never had spelling bees. I was a hardcore trivia geek though. I participated in many quiz contests, including one by that dude Derek O'Brein. I wonder if he's still around.

Ah, the good old high school days. How I've fallen from being a valedectorian to a guy happy enough to just pass. I like to blame the cold winters in this country for my relatively poor academic performance. I actually have a whole list of things to blame, but let's not go there. Not having an A average is further disconnecting me from my south-asian roots :P.

MSN wedding

A wedding...that special day when a man and woman choose to unite forever. That day when all your family and friends from all over the world get together to celebrate the event. Wouldn't have it any other way right? Right???

How to kill time?

I was bored out of my mind and was bitchin' about it when my friend suggested that I watch a Hindi movie. Bless her soul! I picked Mein Hoon Na. It's been like a year since I last watched a bollywood movie. That was last summer when I was visiting the Gulf and where I had nothing to do besides eat and sleep again (I could actually use one em shawarmahs right now). Channel V mostly showed those annoying film songs or some rock songs which were played out in T.O. like 6 months earlier. Anyways the movie had subtitles and everything so I actually understood the dialogues.

It was kinda cute I guess (do I sound gay saying that?). I hated the parts where they tried to rip off moves from the Matrix. It was like so fake. Amrita Rao is hot though. That's the criteria for me to watch a bollywood movie. The actress should be pretty. Cause the movie plots are not normally original or creative.

What a way to kill 3 hours straight.