So, it was a pretty quiet weekend, we got plenty done, cleaned. However, Priyam and I found a great TV on the BBC, a modern take on Sherlock Holmes cases called Sherlock. Although each season only has 3 episodes, it is excellent. If you can, definitely check it out.
Also this weekend Priyam and I completed the paperwork for her ROC, which took some doing, but we're pretty close to finishing it off. There are a few more things involved, but I have a good feeling everything will work out.
In other news, I REALLY CAN'T STAND people that try to force their way into involving themselves in one's business. Seriously, its super annoying. Usually it's because their life is boring and worthless, but its really getting on my nerves at the moment.
Well, its been my first blog post in a while (even longer without a Photoshop creation attached) but nothing huge has really happened. As the world turns so to speak.
I've just got into this new show by Lost creator JJ Abrams called Alcatraz. It definitely has a Lost feel (one of my favorite shows of course) but its a bit different as well. I've watched the past two weeks glued to the action. One thing I really like about it is some of the questions it leaves you with at the end of each episode (a la Lost). Now, unfortunately, its not as mind bending as lost is, which is sort of a let down. Its almost as if Fox told Abrams and the writers: We want you to create a Lost-like TV show, but we don't want it to be a thought provoking because we want dumb people to be able to watch it as well. So pros and cons. I'll keep watching, and I think its gotten a decent reception by most, so I doubt it will be canceled.
In other news, I have had some interesting thoughts recently. The first regards living in a house. I never have considered myself a homebody, but I've been starting to get the feeling that I really want to live in a house that Priyam and I can decorate. We can pick out furniture, paint walls, really expand our lifestyle (and possibly even get a puppy, which is one of my life goals oddly enough). Where has this come from? Who knows, maybe its effective advertising from IKEA or something. Whatever it is, its made me start looking at houses to rent in Albuquerque. The only issue is that we're not quite completely settled here with jobs we'll have for the next ten years and tons of friends etc so getting a house might be a bit ridiculous.
I've been listen to a bunch of music via Spotify at work to make the day go faster while designing email blasts, and Foster the People is a band that I've been particularly enjoying. Something about the beat or whatever makes me work better and faster. Who knows. But I thought I would share it on my blog, so enjoy.
Other than that, part 2 of Bag of Bones is tonight, which means we'll miss our How I Met Your Mother and *cough Gossip Girl cough*. Last night was excellent, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought i would for a made for TV movie. The cinematography was a bit strange at times, making it seem like it was a commercial for some medication with Pierce Brosnan running through a field, but overall it was good.
ALSO, as I have noticed I haven't added to to my people I love to hate list in a while, so here it goes:
Today's victim is: Manchester United and its fans
Now I've been meaning to add them for a long time, I just have never gotten around to it. Where do I begin. Well, I must first say that I'm not a huge fan of any of the EPL teams. I really like Liverpool and I enjoy watching Manchester City on TV, but wouldn't call myself a supporter. But the biggest thing is I root for however Manchester Utd is playing and hope they beat them. Why? Because they've won enough in the last few years thank you. Also, they have a team that is overconfident and way too cocky. If they tie or lose to anyone (Premier League or otherwise) the next day you'll see in the papers that Sir Alex Ferguson complained about the ref or Patrice Evra felt players were being racist towards him or Rio Ferdinand saying that the other team only won because they played dirty. Honestly, its because they're overrated. I look at their squad and see 2 or 3 genuine superstars and they scrape by with wins on most occasions. And its come back to haunt them with getting dumped out the of Champions League to the lads of FC Basle (not only did they knock out these idiots but they're Swiss! two thumbs up!) and were beaten in the League Cup to Crystal Palace.
But really I think the main reason I dislike them this much is there bandwagon fans. People from around the world love Utd. Why? Because they win so much. I guarantee if this team were in the bottom half of the table and were not major players in any competition, most of their fans would jump ship. YET, those very same fans will profess the love for the club and make fun of EVERYONE else who doesn't like the team. Its an absolute disgrace. So, to all of you who consider yourselves Red Devils, you've been listed.
Alas, the end of the weekend comes, and another weekend will soon be gone. Today was rather mellow. The wife and I went out and did a little shopping in the afternoon, and I did some laundry. Nothing fancy.
This evening, before watching The Next Iron Chef, I watched Drive with Ryan Gosling. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was very cool and the cinematography was excellent. Ryan Gosling exudes cool, and this movie was him in spades. The only negative was Carey Mulligan. I first saw her in the Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps and i didn't like her there either. Something about her acting style. She has this very always sad looking face, and has a very minimal acting style. I always have issues with actors who think sitting around and pouting is good acting, and the same applies here. However, the movie was so good that Mulligan's iffy performance could not ruin for me. On Netflix, I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.
As for the Next Iron Chef, its pretty obvious that they want a female iron chef. However, Anne Burrell who I thought they had fast tracked for the job, actually was eliminated tonight. SOOOO we'll see. However, more on that tomorrow...
Today, finally, after months and months of complaining about the weather, its started to get cooler in Albuquerque. It was decent earlier in the day, so hopefully the cold comes sooner rather than later. Albuquerque's weather is strange, because just as I say this, it might be 95 degrees outside tomorrow and be hotter than hell. So who knows. Here's to hoping.
In other news, all the best sports are getting underway once again. I've been watching soccer on my computer (English Premier League mainly) which has been awesome. Whenever I tweet about matches on Twitter, I get asked what team to I support. Honestly, I've been following Arsenal quite a bit lately, but I haven't historically had a favorite English team. I just love the drama of it all. Also excited about my first amateur soccer match this weekend. As an update, I joined a soccer team recently who I've been practicing with, and its been really good to go out there and play again competitively after so long. Our team is marginal, with maybe 3 or 4 players (including myself of course) having real talent, but its fun to just get out there. Plus the exercise always helps.
In addition, the NFL starts up again tonight (with college football already underway last weekend). Its amazing how football crazed the USA is. Listening to ESPN on my way to work, it seems like for the past 4 weeks, that is all anyone on the radio has been talking about. I like football, but I prefer soccer (mainly because I play it and watched a lot more of it in high school). I do follow college football quite a bit more because of the University of Michigan. My dad probably would let me hear it if I didn't.
Anyway, the great thing about having a strong and fast laptop is that I can watch a show my wife wants to watch (Project Runway) while using my computer to keep an eye on sports (the NFL game tonight). Its a wonderful way to make sure the wifey is happy without bugging her with sports she gets annoyed by. Win-win.
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I'll finish this blog post with a great article about a poor Swedish moose. Enjoy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14842999
So as I write this, the Dallas Mavericks have won the NBA Finals and are NBA Champions. I was rooting for the Mavs, as I really had a problem with LeBron's arrogance this whole series. Honestly, most people hate him for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers etc, but I never really did. He left his hometown team for reasons he felt were right. My biggest problem was how annoying and overconfident he was the whole time. Whether it was him making fun of Dirk for being sick or pounding his chest before he even won the game, I felt like he just wasn't ready. His performance in the 4th quarter during the series showed it.
Congrats to one of my favorite players, Jason Kidd, for winning the championship the the New Jersey Nets couldn't give you.
P.S. This NBA Finals was very compelling television.
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.
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!)
So its Saturday, and hopefully Priyam and I can do something fun today, I miss Boba Tea, so I think we'll get some drinks in the morning, go to Verizon to handle a minor billing issue, and Priyam will probably get her haircut. Who knows what else we'll do, probably go see a movie or something as well.
Meanwhile, while reading my news and blogs this morning, I can upon this ridiculous article. Now, I love football (soccer for all you yanks), and I try to watch as many live matches as I can. Its tough in the states to watch, because of the lack of matches put on tv. Priyam got me Fox Soccer Channel for christmas though, so I've been enjoying that quite a bit. But, back to topic, I learned about Hamburg based club St.Pauli not too long ago, who in the Bundisliga is considered sort of a dark horse, but I saw this article, and it sort of takes things to a whole new level:
German side St Pauli have always done things differently but even the The Pirates of the League have to draw the line somewhere and the Bundesliga club have asked the owners of one of their executive boxes to stop strippers performing during matches.
The problem arose after executives from Susi's Show Bar, situated on Hamburg's main red-light drag, the Reeperbahn, forked out around £60,000 for a private box at the Millerntor-Stadion and promptly installed a pole and mirror.
A toy train that delivers hotdogs and personal beer pump just isn't enough for some people. Off the Ball can't help but wonder what Andy Gray and Richard Keys would say about the situation.
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Now that is a soccer match, my favorite about that is the idea of the front office executives allowing the strippers in their box prior to and after the match, just not during. Classic.
...and I'm still wide awake. Flipping through Friday's late night TV programming is making me wonder if I should cancel my DISH Network service all together. You know when the best thing on TV is the random infomercials about the best ab workout known to man, you should just turn the damn thing off.
Ever get that feeling like your exhausted but you know there is no hope you'll fall asleep if you got up the energy to close your eyes? Yeah, that's where I am right now...And its reallllly annoying...
(side note, yes, for those of you were paying attention, my bedtime is usually about 10 pm, what I'm old, sue me)
