Ann Hathaway Needs To Calm Down

So watched the Oscars last night, and ohhhh what a terrible hosting job. There were some nice moments, such as Kirk Douglas presenting Best Supporting Actress. However, Ann Hathaway was HORRIBLE. I mean, seriously she was really bad. James Franco look high on drugs during the whole thing, and Ann Hathaway probably should have had some drugs before the show, because she was so noticably nervous during the entire show, my wife mentioned, "What is she doing up there?"

No real suprises with the winners, and my wife was so unimpressed she went to bed half way through (ok ok, so maybe it had something to do with staying up all night watching the England-India match the night before). But I still think if it was any good, she might have actually tried to stay up.

Anyway, so just watching How I Met Your Mother and one of my wife's favorite shows Gossip Girl. Had some daal and a buffalo chicken quesadilla, and they were excellent.

As an aside, my wife's wonderful cooking is also available to follow on her new blog solely devoted to food, which you can see right here.

And now boys and girls, its time for

Victim of the week: New Mexico Drivers

I mean, I've lived in some pretty bad driving states. New Jersey blows. But nothing compares to New Mexico. I mean NOTHING. Cutting people off, turning into oncoming traffic, switching 4 lanes of traffic with no turn signal, going 65 MPH in a 30 MPH area, going through red lights. I think the basic road test in this state is if you have two hands and two feet they give you a drivers license. I mean, maybe most of these people are used to driving around in the desert where its nearly impossible to hit things, but MY GOD. Albuquerque is a city, YOU'RE NOT IN THE DESERT ANYMORE. LEARN TO DRIVE. My poor wife has a heart attack nearly everytime we get into our car, cus she's worried some dumbass driver is gonna hit us. Maybe instead of a Toyota, we should have purchased a tank instead. When we first came down here, I wasn't sure why so many people had some huge 4 door pick up trucks in such a flatlands type of area, but now i know why. They are afraid of getting massacred on the freeways. Sorry New Mexico, but before you hit me with your really bad drivers, you've been listed.

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And to continue my "I Hate Justin Beiber" videos, here is a hilarious video of Justin Beiber getting hit by a water bottle:

What a Match!

Last night, the wife (and I kinda) woke up at 1:30 am to watch the much anticipated England-India cricket match. Our favorite player, Sachin, scored a century, and then go out so I went back to bed, with India comfortably batting well and no real worries. Of course, I'm not an expert on cricket, but I felt pretty confident on my way to the sack that India had no worries against an inferior side. So, as I awoke at around 8:30 am, I came into the living room with my wife comfortably lying on the couch with her computer. But, to my surpise, India's bowling was not holding up to a real British assault. My wife thought all was lost, but India got some serious wickets and stormed back into it. It all came down to the final ball, and it ended in a draw.

After a heart-pounding affair, my wife and I will have our normal day. Haircut, Walmart and possibly a comic book store run are in the cards for me. Then Oscars tonight. We'll see if James Franco and Ann Hathaway can do a decent job hosting, although I think they're gonna blow. We'll find out though, thats for sure.

Pulled Shoulders, New Jackets, Zombies, and Santa Fe

Last night, despite an aching shoulder, the wife and I went shopping at TJ Maxx, Ross Clothing, and Sunflower Market, and I picked up a new pair of sunglasses and a cool new jacket. Now, I've been looking for a new light weight jacket for a while now, and I looked all over the place in Albuquerque for something that was realitively inexpensive and is climacool technology with no luck. Finally, we went to TJ Maxx and sure enough, it was sitting right there waiting for me. It just goes to show that you find things at a point when you're least looking for them. Oh well, I've got it now and I'm mucho happy. Priyam was laughing at me last night because after we got home from shopping, I was wearing the coat while watching TV inside the apartment. What? I like it and I didnt have a chance to wear it last night so what to do.

Anyway, after doing a little google research, I realized that somehow while I was sleeping two nights ago, I pulled my shoulder or my rotator cuff, which is why it hurt so badly yesterday. Luckily, it was feeling a tad better this morning, so fingers crossed. No big deal really, just sucked yesterday not being able to lift my arm past my waist.

Maybe it has something to do with my constant dreaming of zombies lately. For some reason, for a bout a week now, I've had nightmares about a zombie apocolypse. Its not even the same nightmare, but different places and situations, but there are always zombies involved. So odd. No idea what a dream reference guide would say about that haha.

Anyway, off to Santa Fe for  work this morning, the GM at the hotel up there is being all aloof. So quick trip up and back for me. Hopefully it will be worthwhile. At least I don't have to waist gas and drive. Hehe.

Stupid Shoulder

At work and my bloody shoulder is killing me. I rolled it while sleeping last night, now it is KILLING ME. I should have taken some advil before I left this morning, but I did a little cleaning at the apartment before I left instead. Uff. Now I'm going to have to deal with this all day.

On the positive side, I get paid today and the wifey and I are going shopping after I get out of work and pick her up. I'm looking to get new sunglasses (cus I'm bored with my current ones) and some sort of zip up track jacket type thing that I can throw on when I'm going to run errands.

Somali pirates strike again!

Just reading the news again this morning, more Americans killed by Somali pirates. My first reaction was: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Why does anyone go near Somalia. EVER. Its a country with plenty of violence and a lot of desperate dangerous gun-wielding guys ready to kill anyone to get what they want. Then, after all the pirate attacks from past months, its hard not to feel people going anywhere near there are just plain dumb. Its like those hikers that were walking near the border of Iran not to long ago. I just wanted to yell at the TV: HELLO, ITS IRAN YOU DUMBASSES!

ANYWAY, now that I've gotten that little rant out of the way, I realize that because I was so busy with work yesterday that I wasn't able to post on my wall, which was a bummer. However, I will today include my weekly segment:

This week's victim is none other than Food Network's Alton Brown

The host of Iron Chef America and some other cooking shows on Food Network, which my wife and I watch quite a bit (The Network, not his shows), I can't stand this guy. He thinks he is so smart and funny, and makes horrible jokes on Iron Chef America and quoting Socrates and famous people left and right, you can tell this guy has a huge ego. Is he really that smart? Who knows, but there is no way for me to get past his ridiculous on-camera personality as this know-it-all food snob who tries to lecture the audience about how amazing and smart he is. On doing some quick research I'm not the only one. People who love to hate him even have a facebook group. I suppose everyone has a facebook group hating them, but this makes me feel validated. Mr.Brown, for everything you do, and act like, you've been listed.

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And with that, I've got to get back to work, but I'll leave you with Justin Beiber, another PILTH list victim getting shot and killed on tv show CSI.

Cricket in Canada?

So the cricket world cup has begun, and the wifey spent her first night awake, from 2 am to 10 am. The one thing I was amazed of is the fact that she didn't sleep at all on Saturday during the day. If I stayed up all night, I would have passed out after the match was over, but not her. She slept at night when I did, even though during dinner her eyes could not stay up, which was quite cute.

The cricket has, to be honest, been pretty mediocre so far. Sri Lanka vs Canada? Seriously? I mean its been two days technically, but damn. Canada is a waste of a cricket side. I would think that if the USA and Canada actually tried to train the serious athletes in their countries for cricket, they could crush some of these other nations, I mean, if they can throw a baseball at 101 mph, they could do this. But, cricket is not well known. ACTUALLY, cricket is a sport that if you asked a random American, I bet you they probably have never even heard of it. Thats no good. Its an interesting game, and certainly if people watch baseball, they would watch cricket if they were taught the rules.

But, thats something that will never happen sadly.

On another note, I get to spend two hours at the dentist today, SOOO EXCITED. Not sure you can really type sarcasm.

TGIF: Sachinky version

So today (well I say today, but its technically 1:30 am tomorrow) the wifey will watch the India vs. Bangladesh cricket match, and depending on how I feel I'll hopefully watch  as well. I slept on the coach last night (or reasons of stupidity, but that perhaps is for another time), and slept horribly. Back aches and neck cramps aside, hopefully I'll be able to take a quick nap or something and watch at least for a little while and then again in the morning or something. Not sure how it will all go down, but I know the wife will have no problems staying awake to make sure of an Indian victory.

Its also been decided, based on the couch discomfort, that as soon as I can find something to replace that couch, I will do so. Ugh.

In addition, Priyam and I are addicted to this buffalo chicken dip, which she makes and got the recipe online/from my mom. Its excellent, and you can find a step by step guide here. Thats the wife's blog.We used the dip as quesadilla filling, its making my mouth water just thinking about it.

Hell in a Handbasket

Was reading the news this morning about all of these protests in Middle Eastern countries, and the first thought that came into my head was, excuse the expression: "The USA is screwed"
You know we are really dead meat when the country populace are rioting and protesting in the streets because they want a ruler ousted because they're backed by the American government. Hello terrorism support. One thing this great country has never been good at is backing dictators who are liked at the time but absolutely hated 30 years later. THEN, when they get ousted for whatever reason, we look like the bad guys because some Defense officials in the 70s were sitting around a table in a poorly lit room saying, "This guy sounds like a good guy to finance, compared to the alternatives." Psh, what a joke. The worst part is that its such a bad joke.

Anyway, on a happier note, one day (or so) away from the Cricket World Cup, where the Wifey is getting super pumped listening to India nationalistic music by the boat load. I like to watch her enthusiasm, because its how I feel when the FIFA World Cup comes around. I like her when she is so happy, so I don't mind the India song youtube marathon currently occuring in our apartment.

Hoo Haa India, Ayaa India!

So just got back home a little while ago from work and dinner. My wifey and I went to Ling's Buffet, a new chinese buffet place near Priyam's work on Montgomery Blvd. It was really interesting, you could really tell that the owners put quite a bit of money into the decoir of the place and the food was quite good as well, with the Thai BBQ being a major highlight.

Since then, my wonderful better half has been gearing up for the Cricket World Cup. I know what you Yanks must be thinking: CRICKET? WHATS THAT? Haha, I know, I know. Thats what I thought too, and I lived in Switzerland where I was subjecting to all sorts of new sports but the British contigent at my school. (Who knew people could get so riled up about professional darts, but thats a story for a different post) But, the more I watched with the wifetopher, the more I actually got into it, now its a pretty nice passtime. She's a huge fan of Sachin, considered the "God of Cricket", and he's a real talent, for those who don't know of cricket or don't like it, you HAVE to see this guy. He makes cricket fun for even non-cricket fans. As the World Cup is approaching, we'll be watching all the India matches. What makes me love my wife more is her crazy devotion to the match (Rules include: no talking, no getting up from watching, no nonsense, and you must root for India) I've learned some of these rules the hard way let me tell you. But its very enjoyable, and if you can, I would strongly advice taking a look at Sachin play cricket, whether its on TV or Youtube or what have you.

Thats all for now, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of posts as the world cup gets underway this weekend.

Eat It!

So today is planning on being a very busy day for me in terms of work, I've been working on a project that will create a marketing and sales program for each and all of the four hotels that are owned by the Singhs. Its been quite a bit of work, but it'll work well once we get it put together. So, big meeting today, all day, so I should get working on that. However, before I do that, I wanted to comment quickly on Justin Beiber getting snubbed at the Grammy awards. HAHA....EAT THAT SUCKER. YOU DESERVE IT CUS YOU SUCK AS AN ARTIST. That is all.

In the meantime, hopefully the wifey and I will be able to watch some of the Academy Award nominees movies this week and we still haven't gotten finished My Name is Khan (which I'm not sure if we really want to or not based on what she has said about the ending lol)

Off to work....hopefully I'll post more tomorrow when it calms down.

Never Say Never? Psh

So, today, there are a few things I would like to rant on:

First, I was getting ready to go to work today and of course, it being Valentines Day, there were VDay commericals, but one that caught my eye was the commercial from Hooters: They were trying to say that taking your special someone to Hooters was a good Valentines Day gift. Huh? The ad was on ESPN, so its a mostly male audience, so I'm not sure what they were trying to prove. The old saying, Men don't go to Hooters for their wings holds very true. Men go to Hooters to stare at the women while they eat. So how would taking your girlfriend/date/wife to Hooters seem like a remotely good idea? Even if it was being advertised on a show such as the View, which has mostly a female audience, do the marketing people for Hooters REALLY think that women are gonna go: Ya know, that seems like a good idea. Psh. Maybe they're hoping for a big lesbian VDay crowd push.... (PS- I never really looked at it, but the Owl in the Hooters logo has a really dirty smile on its face)

Next, very quicky, clearly Walmart REALLY doesn't give a crap about the customer service. I mean, ITS REALLY BAD. It makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Plus, Priyam and I usually go to say Walmart then a relatively new supermarket chain called Sunflower Market, which is so bright and the employees go out of their way to help you, so it makes the comparison even worse.
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Now, its time for the People I Love to Hate's weekly addition: JUSTIN BEIBER

When I first heard of some kid internet sensation who was starting to get pretty popular, I wrote it off to a 15 minutes of fame type of deal. Unfortunately for me and the rest of the world, Usher saw the Youtube videos, and immediately brought the kid into his home and signed him to a deal. Now, Usher grew from a child star of sorts, so he knows all about getting the dumb teen girl crowd. Its where the money is. Period. I don't have a problem with that, because there are plenty of teen girl crush type characters out there. But the PROBLEM IS that Beiber is becoming some sort of global sensation. His music is weak at best, repetitive, and frankly just plan pathetic. However, people are calling him the best pop artist since sliced bread. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He's horrible. Not to mention he has some stupid movie about his rise to fame coming out called Never Say Never, so he's going on all these talk shows and other nonsense, and people treat him like this amazing person. JUST STOP! Hey Beiber, Never Say Never? You've been listed.
(I would put up a picture of him, but I don't want to hurl everytime I look at my blog)
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As an aside, my wife and I started watching Bollywood movie My Name is Khan, with SRK and Kajol, but it was too late so we couldnt get too far into it, so more on that tomorrow or Wednesday when we finish it off.

To Get Shot Out of A Cannon

So yesterday, I had to work during the morning, but I was pretty excited because we had tickets for the Albuquerque circus. Now, I was thinking it might be a little lame, just based on the fact of so many kids going there. But boy, was I mistaken. It was awesome: they had motorcycles running around in a cage, people jumping over other people on the high wire, tigers and elephants, even a human cannon ball, as witnessed below by yours truly:

It was really cool, and I felt horrible for doubting such a fun time! Priyam and I decided afterward that we were gonna try and find some fun things to do each weekend instead of being boringtophers.

Why have a mid-life crisis when your 45?

So I come into work today and one of the Howard Johnson front desk employees (and son of the owner) pulls up in a shiney Suzuki street bike. Now normally he drives a old green pick up truck or his dad's mercedes, so I was a little suprised. He's about 22 years old. Our conversation went as follows:

Me:  "Jay, when did you get a street bike?"

Jay:  "About 3 months ago. I saved up some money because I really wanted a motorcycle."

Me:  "But I mean, your dad lets you drive around that pimped out Mercedes and that truck isn't bad"

Jay:  " Well, women like motorcycles, not to mention, why have a mid-life crisis when your 45 and want a motorcycle, when you can have one now?"

Me: "I have no rebuttal"

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I just realized I understand why Indian kids don't mind living with their parents. The tradition of staying at home and "taking care" of the parents when they get old actually means having lots of discretionary income to spend on motorcycles, not to mention usually inheriting a business from the folks because many Indians enjoy owning their own companies. I'm kinda jealous....I want a lot of money to spend on stupid toys like motorcycles...

Big Smiles, and Crazy Dictators

Randomly, going around the internet I found this ridiculous article about the 7 craziest dictators of the modern era. The information (and links) that the article contains will make you laugh, cry, and scratch your head in amazement. Kudos to cracked.com for coming up with this article. Seriously, there are some screwed up people on this earth, and a bunch of them are in charge of countries. Hmm...maybe there is a connection....

Meanwhile, I'm a pretty good mood because I got paid yesterday, I decided to include this random picture of this dog smiling. That is all.

..And I just realized that those two thoughts together (dictators and smiling dogs) are very strange....

Crazy, but thats how it goes....

Wow, I haven't posted since Sunday! Well, I suppose I'll have to make a big post to make up for the last two days then! First, the Super Bowl was great. Good food, good game (way to go Packers), and (best of all) my wife actually enjoyed american football. She's Indian of course, so american football isnt exactly something that she puts much effort into liking. However, I explained the rules and she kinda enjoyed it I think, so major steps there!

Yesterday I didn't post because I went to Santa Fe for the first time since we've been here, for work, and it was ok. I'm more excited to go with Sachinky in the next two weeks or so for more a holiday type trip. Going there for work certainly isn't relaxing and enjoying the sites.

Meanwhile, whenever I have time, before or after work, lunchtime etc I try to watch some Dexter: Season 4. I started watching the show a while ago, but with my computer out of comission for months, I couldn't really download the latest seasons, so I've been playing catch up. I have to give John Lithgow props for his role as the Trinity Killer, he's absolutely awesome in the part. I think thats one thing I like about the show: the casting. Each role is pretty well developed and each actor really fits their character. My only problem I guess is the family aspect to the show. Sometimes the storyline seems a bit...lacking. I figure they need some new ideas for the story, and it makes Dexter more frazzled which leads to more drama, but adding the kids just makes the show more annoying for me. Hopefully season 5 will improve in that regard...

Meanwhile, I'm behind on my PEOPLE I LOVE TO HATE segment, so without further ado:

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This week's PERSON I LOVE TO HATE is: Immigration Reform advocates

Sure its not one particular person, but my wife came here the hard, long way and it took forever. But guess what? She is a legal immigrant with a green card and everything. But you know what? Based on these jokers, my wife could have flown into Mexico City and we could have paid someone to sneak her across the border and she would have been here a long time ago! I could go on and on about these people, but I'd rather not, because blogspot would shut me down probably for improper posting.

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As a side note, I've been a relatively loyal reader of a professional comic book artist named Jeff, who writes daily on his blog, http://www.heromachine.com/, about everything from stupid superhero outfits in the 60s to who his readers think the best non-superhero powered superhero is (Batman clearly). However, on the site, he's also created an online superhero application where you can create your very own superhero. He has contests such as "Create your very own henchman character" and the winner gets some small prize like he'll draw a sketch of whatever you want etc. Well, recently, I entered one of the contests for the first time, and although I didn't win the Heromachine Henchman Character Contest, I actually got an honorable mention! Click on the link in the previous sentence to go directly the blog post with my pic, its the entry submitted by Mr.Chris (thats me!)

Super Bowl Sunday!

Packers vs. Steelers!

Pizza, homemade buffalo chicken dip, taquitos, boneless buffalo wings, beer and margaritas, football and the wife.

Super excited to pig out and watch football. Also interested to see 3 million dollar spot commercials. After listen to ESPN 101.7 the team all week, kinda just want the game to get underway already. Psh

Lets go Pack!

Super Bowl Time is Almost Here!

So, its the Friday before Super Bowl Sunday, and the wife and I are going to have a Super Bowl party (if you can qualify a party as being 2 people watching tv).  Priyam even emailed my mom for my favorite buffalo chicken dip recipe. I'm pretty excited, because not only do I have a job, but I don't have to work Sunday so I can laze around, enjoy the game and some food as well.

I usually am a big fan of the Super Bowl: football, interesting commercials, good food, and a big screen TV. This one should be particularly good with two historic teams: the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers going at it. The Glendening-Banerjee household is rooting for the Packers (I, because i don't like the Steelers and they've won too much, and Priyam because she saw Aaron Rodgers and thought he was pretty hot...)

Anyway, I think I will enjoy my weekend quite a bit, and the best part? I don't have to work...haha

ABQ and School Cancelations: A match made in heaven?

Thats what my wife is thinking today after her third day off from school. I can understand tuesday and wednesday, as the roads and the weather was pretty bad both days, but today the roads were clear and there wasnt any snow near the roads. It was blisteringly cold out (about 1 degree F when we left for work this morning) but thats NOTHING. When I was in 4th and 5th grade in New Jersey, the only days we had off were 2 feet of snow and ice on the roads, but it had to be both. If you told the powers that be on the school board to close school because it was cold, they would laugh in your face. But thats the northeast....and this is the southwest, where my wife also had a day off early in the school year because the school district was worried about ice on the roads (when it was 45 degrees outside).

If I told this to my Michigan-based parent's 11 year old neighbor, he would be very VERY unhappy. Probably would ask his mom to move to New Mexico. I can't say I would blame him. Standing in a snowdrift while waiting for the bus in the middle of Feb during a 10 degree blizzard is a  memory that still chills me to the bone 15 years later.

But, if it gets my wife a day off from work, I suppose she'll be happy, and that makes me happy. So be it.

Just about to get off from work, and probably out to dinner for some chinese or soup 'n salad.

PILTHL: The Begining

Well, feeling better I suppose, still some minor symptoms of sickness, but mostly over it by now... In my first post, I mentioned I would have a People I Love to Hate List, and usually I'll be posting on Mondays, but because I was massively sick, I posted on Monday and plum forgot, and yesterday I was busy at work and still not feeling great so thats what happened there. But without further ado, I commense with my first 3 people I love to hate (mondays I'll be posting only one).
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People I Love to Hate Victims of the Week:

Calista Flockhart

I've seen a few different shows with this seriously flat-chested actress and I have to say that every show she is in, she is absolutely the worst character and actor on the screen. My wife loves Ally McBeal and Brothers and Sisters, both shows where Flockhart plays prominent roles. Neither show she is any good. Ally McBeal is literally named after her character, and all she is in it is a whiny, complaining, selfish egotistical moron who becomes a lawyer just cus her boyfriend becomes one. Seriously? But, to be fair, I figured, maybe its just the writing, maybe her character is supposed to be like that, and she's acting pretty well. I THOUGHT WRONG. After seeing her in Brothers and Sisters, she is THE. EXACT. SAME. WAY. Her character is different, the writers weren't on Ally McBeal, and frankly if you listen to her lines, you notice that they really aren't selfish or ridiculous, but somehow Mrs. Han Solo really makes the characters she plays more lothsome. How she is able to get jobs in Hollywood is beyond me. Oh wait, thats right, she barely gets jobs, I forgot. Consider yourself listed Ms.McBeal.

Next up is the famous Manning Family (Peyton and Eli) of American football fame.

Why do I have such a distaste for football's number 1 family? Because they're stupid, overhyped daddy's boys who can't take a hit and blame everyone else when they fail. Take Peyton Manning: after every playoff loss (and after their most recent to the New York Jets, they're starting to pile up) he blames everyone but himself. Listen to his press conferences, and you can see what I mean. If he throws an interception he'll blame to offensive line and his recievers. If the team loses, he blames the defense. But, honestly, at least he has some serious talent, there is no denying that whatsoever. The guy is one of the best QBs I've ever seen. THEN THERE IS ELI MANNING. Medoicre at Ole Miss, drafting high at the NFL Draft, but it was mostly because people felt he had similar mechanics to his brother. (which i suppose he does). But here's what gets me: He doesnt want to play for the Chargers, so he gets his dad (former quarterback Archie Manning, to somehow get him moved to the Giants.) How many other players do you know of that have that luxury? Pretty sure not many. How about you suck it up and play for the team? Plus, if you look at the guy, you can tell he really is an idiot. Nowhere near as talented as his brother, and everyone knows it but isn't willing to say it. I am. You're both listed.

Last but not least on my People I Love to Hate List is Sarah Palin 

This one should be pretty obvious, so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. Its the Tea Party, its her dumb expressions that low IQed individuals think are quaint, its the whole idea of her being able to be vice president, let alone president. Most of you know what I'm talking about, so I won't go much further. I'm very worried about where the Tea Party goes from here, but I do know that they're gaining momentum, which is a very scary proposition for the US. I've already told Priyam, if a tea party leader ever becomes prez or vice-prez, we are moving out of the country. Period.

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Thats all for my first three People I Love to Hate entries, off to work, freezing weather (its like 9 degrees F) here, but gotta work, what can I do.