happy halloween!!

another lazy weekend.. no plans as such.. all plans have been kept for next week when vip rents a car for his driving test - shopping for the house, returning the empties, going to the mall and wal-mart, camping in letchworth park and wine-tasting in the finger lakes :-)) woke up in the morning on saturday to watch premier league soccer.. then promptly went back to bed.. went to aldi's for food shopping. our weekly food restocking jaunts are quite fun, especially when we go to aldi. we usually already know what we need, and aldi is the kind of place that doesn't give you too much selection.. so our trips are more like viking raids.. smash and grab, loot and pillage.. then we pay at the counter, and share the spoils of war.. then we carry our respective huge loads back home, thank god its only a 5-10 minute walk (depending on how much we're carrying, and how high we are!!)

saturday was a warm day, kinda cloudy, but nice and warm.. we dared to venture out again in tshirts to play cricket.. the backyard looked beautiful, with the leaves fallen everywhere.

we got high in the evening and creative too.. vip and arul made mashed potato cutlets (aloo tikki) which were awesome, with chana masala and bread. then, perfectly sated, we watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 which nats had brought. i must encourage you all to go the site.. it's an amazing interactive experience!

hung out on the front porch checking out everyone walking past in their halloween costumes and stuff.. main street was crowded like crazy.. and it was damn windy too. we wanted to go on a walking expedition in the middle of the night, but then the combination of us being extremely high and it being extremely windy didn't really appeal too much.. ;-)) had some more milkshakes at night with nats and sank, and then watched Blair Witch Project.. but dozed off not too long into it.

finally a sunday to be thankful for in buffalo.. and not because of the weather either. the Buffalo Bills won! they steamrolled the Arizona Cardinals 38-14, with some excellent plays.. terence mcgee returning a kick for 87 yards.. willis mcgahee rushing 100+ yards for two TDs.. brian moorman punting repeatedly into the 20 mph wind to get excellent field position.. all round defensive excellence.. all in all, an early Thanksiving gift to us long-suffering buffalonians!

fun friday

the day actually worked out perfectly.. work was fine, a bit hectic.. there was no chance i would make it to the seminar and stay alive, so i came home and got my head down and added three more hours to the sleep total! went to class after that, and was treated to dr. baier in some poor form again, boring us to near-death.. his classes just aren't the same anymore.. *sigh* must be the impending winter.

smoked up and left for the concert.. missed Seven Day Faith.. bad luck i guess, but caught The Music, who actually impressed us quite a bit. dan had come along with us, and was quite put off by the name.. but we had to admit that they played good stuff. their vocalist looked like he grew up studying robert plant videos.. he had the hair, the look, the clothes, the accent and the patented screams down too.. and the british-based quartet had one helluva drummer too.. he could definitely walk into a lot of bigger bands if this project doesn't work out for him!

Incubus came on with a lot of hype.. and they lived it up in their opening few minutes.. brandon boyd has a very different vocal style that very few have, or can match.. and they were one of the first rock bands to use a turntable for effects (something that Nine Inch Nails started, and Linkin Park have taken to a new level!).. the lead guitarist had a semi-circular zoom pad with some 5 zoom units on it!! they played all their favourites, and their hyperactive drummer sprinkled in drum fillers everywhere, while boyd himself was carrying a bongo around to pelt! in fact for a percussion jugalbandhi.. the bassist exchanged his guitar for another drumkit, and the three then had a rollicking time! all in all incubus did not disappoint, and i was very happy with them, except that they didn't play '11 a.m.', which is one of my fave incubus songs.

went over to 87M.. they had a bonfire going in the slight drizzle, and it was really cool to smoke up and eat dinner outside, getting slightly wet and yet warm at the same time! it was like a bonanza for all the senses as they put the laptop and speakers out on the window sill.. they'd got the four-tubed pot from the dealer.. and that was an amazing experience too.. four of us in a circle, doing hurricane rounds..

around 3ish, vip n' i went on an expedition to the nearest gas station.. to get smokes, and milk, and twinkies, and whipped cream, and a hershey's bar!! the contents of our nightly shopping 'trips' (literally!!) always tend to be like this! we woke arul up for some entertainment.. the house was really quiet and eerie before that when we came home. suddenly we wanted to drink milkshakes.. so i took out the blender, and for the next half an hour proceeded with great caution in making three tall ones.. great caution because hand-eye coordinations were nowhere near their best! watched some more junk tv.. iron chef, documentaries, cartoons, before calling it quits around 5. i remember chatting on IM with a couple of pesky people who kept asking me things, and typing was such a pain then.. i don't even remember who i was talking to.. hmmm..

an assortment of flavours

yeah so life's taken a busy turn again.. which is good.. i prefer my days to be full.. doesn't give you time to ruminate then on how dreary life is, and what we should be doing instead, yada yada yada.. y'know how it goes! we'd gone to watch 'The Village' in north campus last night.. which was okay, nothing great. the story seemed very strongly based on the Amish lifestyle.. though i must say i really liked the cinematography and background score. the red capes of those 'who should not be named', the red berries and flowers and the mustard yellow of the 'protected ones' stood out very starkly against a sometimes severe monochromatic setting.

got home to find no food prepared.. damn! so nats, sank, vip and arul got to work on that, while i got to work on the engineering marvel seen in the previous post! we raided vip's lab for the pipes, fittings and other assorted odds and ends. nats and sank baked a cake too, that sadly did not live to see the light of day, perishing almost instantaneously in the dark night!!

took the 'Red Devil' to 87M for yet another live test run.. sid had made some great chicken.. awesome finger-lickin' good stuff.. then like the sultans we are.. we reclined with our hookah, and had some grapes - yes, this is the life!

and now it's friday morning 8.18 am, and here i am at work.. bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, and still-stoned, with a full day ahead again.. work till 12.. then a seminar on microfluidics from 1-3, then there's biomaterials class from 4-6.. after which is the UB Fall Fest! Seven Day Faith are opening for Incubus.. so that should be awesome, and after which we're having a bonfire at 87M.. it's gonna be a long, fun day!

benchmark? upped again!!

yup, you read right! we have raised the bar again! the hookah has been modified, and we stylised our 'genie in the bottle'©™!! the newer version is called 'devil in the bottle'©™!! the picture below will tell you why!!

it was tested, and came back once again top of its category! now two people can sit and smoke up as comfortably as they want!

a benchmark set

as the title so succinctly puts it, we have set the new benchmark in home-made smoking devices. 'genie in the bottle'©™ is the newest and definitely best addition to our product repertoire. we first tried it with a smaller gatorade bottle, saw that it worked, then comrade pierre smirnoff beckoned, and after a bit of engineering, 'genie in a bottle'©™ was born!

what else remains to say but that was the one of the most amazing, sense-satisfying, comfortable smoking experiences ever! we took it over to 87M for product testing, and again it scored the best reviews in its category. even T was impressed, and that is saying a lot!

one navi mumbai ka comfortably numb chemical engineer with a masters in environmental engineering and an educationally challenged kenyan iit-kgpian with biomaterials and mechanical engineering basics have got together in the cold wasteland that is buffalo to form what will go down in pot history as two of the most creative minds to ever work on the smoking experience!! the venture shall be called Brownie Corp.®, watch out for us on the Nasdaq soon enough! there you go, having shed the cloak of anonymity, we are now going public with our creations. the bar shall continuously be raised, as on the path of life, we seek the most ultimate smoking experience. walk, no, fly with us, and let us make the world a better place for you! ;-)) you just gotta smoke it to believe it!!

*waiting for applause to die down* once again, thank you, and please direct your technical and purchase enquiries to the comments section in this blog. also, here's a sneak peek into the next level we're moving to - one word, 'vaporiser'!!

where's the weekend?

holy crap, this week seems interminably long! when does it all end? when did it all begin? woke up at 12, and immediately knew it was a bad idea. the day only got progressively worse. Cell Surface Bio from 2.30 to 5 was one of the longest ordeals i've ever been through.. firstly dr. baier rehashed a lot of grade IX bio, then showed a couple of absolutely dreary videos, and topped it all off with an increasingly boring lecture on surface cleaning.. yaaawn! it was so warm in the class.. virtually impossible to keep my eyes open.. i think i went brain-dead.. no wait! that already happened a few years ago, sorry!

we'd planned to go watch 'The Village' at school at 9.. but by the time i finished cooking and had a couple of drinks, i was too whacked to leave my couch. we'll probably make it tomorrow.

this girl in class (sheryl?) was writing her diary during the half-time break today. that was really nice, cos not only was it a beautiful red diary, with a gold embroidered sleeve.. but also cos no one has a diary anymore! by the way, keeping a diary doesn't include blogging.. these mindless rehashes of daily narratives and random rambles in intellectual wonderland are not it. i was very impressed.

yaaawn

the eight hour shift was quite a long haul.. time just stopped after around five or six hours.. and sitting at the circulation desk became a mission! thank god kim came in at eleven. shelving also wasn't too hectic either, phew!

came home at four.. fried up some eggs, tossed in some bacon, put it all on toast, wolfed it down and hit the sack! nothing quite like an evening nap, after a full day's work, and a good meal over it. though the flip side is i'm gonna be up almost all night now.. i must say it's good to be working again; i'd best be getting used to what working all day feels like.

was watching 'Rock Star' in the evening.. both mark wahlberg and jennifer aniston did a good job in it, though the music left a lot to be desired. for a heavy metal band, the music was quite low-key! that movie reminded me a lot of Iron Maiden! now that's the kind of music that should have been on the soundtrack! check out the website, and every one of their 23 albums! yes, you read that right, 23!!

sank had gone to the public library yesterday, picked up a couple of westerns. i must say i thought i had lost the ability to read! or rather, read something that is not printed on glossy, colour pages, does not come on a monthly subscription and is not adorned with lingerie models, semi-naked women, electronic gadgets and semi-naked lingerie models, business plans, or newsmakers! hah! :-))

monday bleurgh

what a hopeless day monday is! especially at this time of the year, when fall is definitely over, and winter hasn't really kicked in as yet. got up around 11.. sank was ill so he didn't go in to work either. soon enough vip woke up and arul was back from school, so it was the boys at home on monday morning.. we made fried chicken for lunch, and then played cricket all afternoon.. then had that biomaterials class at 4.30.

i got probably what must be the least deserved 'A' in project abstract writing history!! then again, going by how i wrote it , no one should really be surprised either! the class itself was pretty interesting. we were discussing how there is legislation in place for registration of automobiles, but nothing similar for internal implants.. just by sheer volume you would think it would be so much easier! but then there you go, governments and insurance companies step in and make the waters even murkier. but you can imagine how much easier it would be for medical services if, say, an american man with a pacemaker goes to australia, and has a coronary; all the medics will have to do is pull out his driver's license, where he'd have his pacemaker number. they'd run it on the central database, pull out his complete implant history and other relevant complications etc, and go ahead and treat him. it does appear all this is some 10 years away still though.

was working from 6-8, then nats had called us over for a pasta dinner, which was as good as usual. had some 3 shots of rum and was great after that. you all remember the sea shanty from Robert Lewis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' i hope:
"Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil be done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.."

dropped by 87M cos the new stock was in.. and it was good stock too! went to T's place too. now T is this good, cute, 'butter won't melt in his mouth' looking kid.. but he's a good and proper pothead too.. and has some very quirky habits about smoking up.. but we don't give him too much grief. it's so much easier to take KT's case! even snoop jumps in then! and shashi i wont even start with. he doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, but he seems to have been charged with the divine duty of wrecking KT's thought processes and trips. he's really gonna get hit one day when he oversteps!!

came back home, and did some more of the medicinal shots.. i gotta say, the initial response we've been getting for our 'flu shot' has been awesome. there may really be a market for this! after that we woke arul.. and made shrimp masala, with sri lankan tea.. and i really wanna show you guys those pics here, but i'm posting this from work in the library, and i dont have the photos uploaded yet. as for work, don't even ask! it's 8 something right now.. and i'm on till 4.. and i slept at 4.. and my co-worker's not in either.. *sigh* it's gonna be a long haul..

Coffee

i look at you, looking at me, and you smile. it's amazing how time flies, but some things never change. your smile. the wisps of steam from the hot coffee swirl around your face. an aura of mystery envelopes it. again, another enigmatic smile, as you catch me staring deeply into your eyes. you look away, and say something banal. "how have you been?" i shrug my shoulders, my body language says it all. "what can happen to me? i'm awesome, as always" so much water has passed under the bridge. we stand on a different bridge now. even the river passing below is unknown to us. the conversation is sparse, cliched - it's at the point of being strained, but it's not. we've been through too much for that to happen. we can never be uncomfortable talking.

the sun breaks through some cottony cloud. the warm rays cast a benign glow on us. you know that as long as the sun shines everything's going to be alright. we listen to the humdrum of life going on around us, people rush past, people saunter past. its all about the past. you're only as good as your past allows you to be. the past means nothing if you don't learn from it. my past means nothing, for i have learned nothing. it's been a bittersweet discovery that i am what i am, and that's that - nothing changes.

again you catch me staring at you, holding the coffee mug with both hands, drawing strength from it. a sip, appreciating the goodness of the rich coffee beans, from the kenyan highlands. your eyes. i see myself in your eyes. i see my whole life flashing by in your eyes. you reach out your hand and touch mine. suddenly it seems all my life is focussed at the point your fingers rest on. nothing else exists, but that touch. every nerve in my body tingle as one, with a life of their own, and with regret. i sigh, and that breaks the spell. your eyes instantly alert, asking questions of me. i smile weakly, willing myself to say something, anything. i fail. i breathe deeply, inhaling the scent. the flowers in bloom, the aroma of the steaming coffee, and you. i hold both your hands. they are soft, feminine, exquisite. slim tapering fingers, with neat short nails, clear gloss on them. your left hand is slowly raised to return one of your stray, untamed ringlets behind your ear. the little gold stud there shines as it catches the light glinting off the railing on the sidewalk. like so many other moments before, this moment is gone too.

i stand, and come around to pull your chair. as you rise, you half turn, and i get a whiff of your floral scented shampoo. you smile to say thanks, and your pearly-whites flash. your arm brushes my shirt front, then you straighten my collar. time again stands still as you let your hands rest on my collar. i suddenly feel myself gripping the back of the chair. i tilt my head and feel the back of your hand against the day-old stubble on my cheek. that same feather touch. you step closer, i lean into you. those black-brown eyes are boring into mine, with a white-hot intensity. closer. and closer. i feel your breath, like a little cool gust on a hot, languid afternoon. i realise i'm still holding onto the chair. i also realise i've stopped breathing. in fact i also realise i don't want to breathe either. your up-turned nose touches mine, as your lips brush past. another brush. my dry lips feel like they've been baking in the sun. you're looking at me. i lose myself in your eyes.

it's a beautiful day to be out. it's gusty, but the sun is shining. i extract my arm from yours, to crack my knuckles, trying to restore circulation in my fingers still numb from gripping the chair. it seems the whole world is out today to celebrate the sun. we walk, almost aimlessly, my arm around you, your head on my shoulder. you look happy, secure. you laugh at one of my inane statements about life in general. its an honest laugh. from the inside. and we walk on, me rambling on, you listening and nodding, like we always used to do.

another weekend goes by

saturday dawned nice and bright - we decided it shouldn't be wasted, so we went off to play soccer and football. then came back home to watch the UB Bulls succumb to yet another heavy hammering, despite playing half-decently. i think it will take at least another five years before the program acquires some depth and resilience. until then it will take some infinite patience to support the boys.

the night turned into another pizza and alcohol fuelled night.. watching junk tv for most part. we're out of stock, and decided to stay clean for some time.. give the cells some time for growth and regeneration. besides, am still waiting for my paycheck, the bank account also needs a shot in the arm!

sunday was kinda warm.. the Buffalo Bills were kinda cold.. and they got whupped by the Baltimore Ravens - so what's new. i got severely drunk and pissed off watching those idiots.. am seriously considering switching fulltime to the Philadelphia Eagles.

as part of the week leading up to Halloween, there were loads of horror movies on tv.. we watched The Omen trilogy until 2 in the night.. and shook everyone's faith too while we were at it! there was a great documentary on Discovery about different types of volcanoes in northern america.. and the amazing brutal power they wield over us!

a friday fire

thought we'd get an early night in on thursday night.. but the History Channel (not arul, the tv channel) were showing 'Modern Marvels - Distilleries'.. from water and grain.. to mash, still, vat, barrel and bottl - the distilling of alcoholic spirits is a big business and near-sacred religion. its acolytes (us!!) eye the color, swirl the glass, inhale the bouquet, sip, then ponder their ambrosia. what's your pleasure? bourbon, scotch, rum, gin, vodka, or tequila? they traced the history of distilling from the 'one-man/one-still' tradition (awesome eh?!) to the Voldstead Act of 1920 that devastated American distilleries during the Prohibition (damned feds!) to the mega-sales and high-volume distillery of today (there's money to be made in alcohol i tell you!).

then at three in the morning the next show was 'Hooked - The History of Illegal Drugs'!! now this was yet another show worth watching! they went right back some 4,00 years ago to when the first documented use of marijuana, which was Lord Shiva's parties!! in fact, weed was widely accepted as an entertainment drug for long.. until the recession in the '30s, when the FBN (federal bureau of narcotics) under a wider political agenda had it labelled as a 'dangerous' drug, causing its users to engage in violent criminal acts, which is crap because as anyonoe who's ever smoked up knows, it's impossible to be pissed or angry when you're on weed, it's such a mellow trip.. and ever since then, weed's been illegal - damn! what garbage!

friday was a drag.. had an abstract for a term paper due.. posterior capsule opacification (PCO) in intraocular lenses (IOLs) (don't even bother asking me about what that is.. i still don't know!) so i woke up at 11.. ran an EndNote search and got a list of some 500 papers.. sifted through them and came down to around 40.. did a quick literature review and brought those down to a dozen.. then went to get those printed out.. after another scan through, wrote my piece, took a short nap, then went to class.. now this is how i always pictured grad school to be! those who know me well also know that 'optimisation' has been a keyword in my life.. so i never put in any more effort for schoolwork than is the absolutely necessary minimum!!

we'd planned to go watch 'The Terminal' in school in the evening, but before that we decided to drop by the liquor shop to stock up for the impending winter.. 1.5 L scotch (Ballantine's), 1.5 L vermouth (Martini & Rossi) and a bottle of japanese sake too.. and one glass of sake later, the movie plan went for a six! considering it was halloween eve and dussehra, we thought of having a bonfire! we got a few logs, some marshmallows and crackers to make smores and copious amounts of lighter fluid.. had the fire roaring around 8.. then drank some tea and sake.. called in a pizza.. and just talked.. it was awesome!

the boys from 87M also dropped by, with gandhi and some friends of his too.. so we were just chilling out in the secluded backyard.. it was awesome, no traffic noise, no loud frat party crowds, and best of all, no cops either! so we smoked up some pot, drank some more, and were out there until the fire finally faded out at around three-thirty!

Journey

Her lower lip is always a little pushed out in this sort of permanent pout, giving her a bit of an air of haughtiness. This is then enhanced by her nose, pretty enough as it is, with the tip a little up-turned. Her hair is a mass of curls spilling over like a mountain brook filling and overflowing a rock pool. Eyes always tell a story. Hers do more. They read like a novel sometimes, and other times they are dark pools that quietly swallow all the light like a pair of black holes in the depths of space.

Her hands cannot stay still. She buries her little fingers in her black ringlets, uncurling the locks one by one, then curling them again, round and round and round... And her lips remain slightly parted, creating an air of sensuality. She shows a few of her teeth, as the corners of her shapely mouth slowly stretch outward to give me a million-dollar smile. Teeth, a perfect row of teeth, like pearls laid out on pink velvet in a shop window. Occasionally her luscious tongue flashes out and licks her living lips. The tongue caresses them like the flow of molten lava. Hot and damp, and dangerously seductive.

Her eyebrows are high and arched, framing the almond-shaped eyes, the ones i cannot ever be mad at. Maybe mad for, but never mad at. They flit from side to side, looking into my eyes one second and into my heart the next, with a kind of languid sloth, belying the sharp mind whirring away incessantly behind their dark, chocolatey innocence.

She clears her throat, and a little voice tinkles out "What are you doing?". Words stick in my mouth at the husky undertone to the stream trickling it's way up from inside her, over her tongue and between her teeth and out in a slow-sweet gush over her lips. A hand slowly comes up, attached to a perfectly-sculpted alabaster arm, feeling for my hand, which feels like a dead lead weight. Her touch brings out a rash of goose pimples on the hitherto dead weight, which comes to life like the touch that resurrected it.

Her face tapers down to an exquisitely shaped chin, ending in a little dimple right at the end. Over the rise, and her neckline curves it's way sweetly downward into the unknown. The kind of unknown that is a pleasure to discover. Well-proportioned is a misnomer, as it hardly begins to describe the twists and turns on the road to heaven, y'know. The waist, oh the waist, it can blow your mind and leave you weak at the knees. Legs, oh my, legs. Not a Ruben, more Michelangelo.

She tosses her head to clear her wayward hair from her face. Again she touches me. Her skin is soft, like freshly kneaded pizza-dough. As for her complexion, peaches and cream is the term used, isn't it? Her fingers slowly run like a five-legged caterpillar up inside my jersey sleeve. They stroke my arm with a feather touch. An errant fingernail leaves a mark on my dry skin. She flashes me a smile. Like ice-cold water on parched earth, her smile seeps into my soul.

She closes her eyes. A sense of calm prevails in the aura around her. This is the kind of girl you always wished you'd meet, and she's the kind of girl who'd have slipped by you if you didn't have your eyes wide open looking for her. She casts another inquisitive glance in my direction. I am a lucky man. Not just lucky. Blessed. To have someone like this girl love me. She puts her book away, and hands me her glasses. She wants to nap. She unwinds slowly like an uncoiling boa, and stretches with a stifled yawn. For a split second i am treated to an unresricted view of a lithe and lissome body, my eyes goggle and my head goes into a little spin. She places her head upon my lap and all the ideas that were awash in my mind drain away.

She turns in her sleep. A small moan escapes her lips, more like a gasp. Her tongue flits out again. She is sleeping the sleep of the innocent. I like it that way; i promised her that all her worries would be mine too.

Her eyes slowly open, as she wakes and looks at me. And it is a look filled with countless dreams. It jumps onto me. Pulls my heartstrings. Places its yearning lips upon mine. Stretches its long hands and holds onto my arm. Yes, the look is a story in itself. It speaks of places to go, things to do, words to say, sounds to hear, aromas to smell, textures to feel. In her eyes i see a home calling out to us, our yet unborn children playing hide-n-seek, long walks on trails lit up by the spring sun and cold nights with steamed-up windows, unbounded joy and happiness rebounding off the walls of my mind.

Her eyelids start to droop again, in the lazy spirals of an eagle winging its way around its domain. Again, another look. A look of longing. A thirst unquenched for a million years. Wanting to be fulfilled, but still unsatiated. A want. A basic need. Desperate. Like seeing water being snatched away from you reach when all your life you walked through a desert to get to the life-giving water.

She moves over to come and sit next to me, her body fitting right next to mine like two pieces in a jig-saw puzzle. Embers glow within. They rekindle then as she says "I love you". An awakening. A gradual rising in the pit of my existence. A fire. Stoked and fed. Pushed and pulled. Rise and grow. Heat up and cool down. A tongue of flame mets with a sliver of ice and there is a great sizzle.

Swimming across the abyss having probed into the lower depths, and the sea is raging, and furious, and waves crash all over the place, making lights dance crazily, and the classical concerto turns into the heavy booming roar of a rock concert. The roar turns into an explosion. Bliss. Joy. And then a transluscent, glowing sheen covers the whole picture.

Life is a series of journeys. A journey is a series of adventures. An adventure is a series of incidents. An incident is a series of happenings. A happening is a combination of events, a co-incidental collusion betwen Fate and Time.

She and I. We are a coincidence. A twist of Fate, a thread in the coat-lining of Time, and a hefty dose of the Unknown. This Unknown is a fascinating thing. We cut it up but it grows. We throw it out and find it inside us again. We run hard but it stays right by our side. It is the glue that holds us and the rope that binds us. Unknown does not grow old, it just grows in size. He comes when you least expect him. She mends tears and heals wounds. Unknown is He, and Unknown is She. Unknown is alive.

She is still looking at me. Her lips still slightly parted. Her tongue's still flitting in and out like a pink honeybee among the white ivory tulips. Still smiling. Million-dollar smile. Million-watt smile. The darkness of loneliness is lit up. The dark clouds of a life without you are exploded, shattered and dispelled into millions and millions of little dots while you're there.

A shrill, long-drawn screech as the train brakes and pulls into the station. The flood of people slowly drain out like water in the bath down the plughole. The train is empty. We are still sitting up there, just the two of us, looking at each other.

I love you.

crazy scientist

one of the wildest and wackiest trips ever.. last night was hilarious! around 1ish we started our experiments, as described in the previous post. am very very pleased to announce that the trials were hugely successful.. we got an awesome product, with excellent medicinal properties, and a flavor that is amazing! we could even see the stuff packaged in pressurised aerosol containers, just point and press, and because of the minty fresh taste, a cooling hit is all yours anywhere you want it. no messy joints, pipes, bongs, and lighting etc.. nothing. just the aerosol container - perfect! and it leaves absolutely no sense of thirst, or sweet cravings after that! indeed, we have hit the jackpot here. and the best way of getting this on the open market is selling it as medicinal weed! we even started exploring the possibilities of using the smoke shots as carriers for other drugs that require a high diffusion rate into the bloodstream for effective treatment.

at which point arul came out.. and we decided to make a small video of what we end up doing almost every night! since the camera did not let us take longer than 35 second clips at a time.. we have some 12 such clips which have to be spliced together, but when done we shall have this hilarious home movie. we finally crashed after 5.. at which point we were so high and happy..

had to get up at 7.30 to show up for work.. woke up and reset the alarm on my cellphone three times before i finally got up at 7.51.. yaaaawn! i was still high, and damn sleepy too while i was sitting in a semi-dazed state in the library. luckily there was hardly any work to be done, so i was chilled out. didn't even have to do shelving today, phew!

got home and crashed for three hours straight.. woke up feeling much better. nats and i then sat and worked at splicing the 20 clips from last night to make into a whole movie. i must say it won't win any awards at cannes, but is definitely an amazing memory!

flu shots

yeah, am back again!! and much the better too, thanks to all for your best wishes :-)) here's the link of the day before i go any further: this is the DEA website, detailing with pictures all the possible drugs you can get your hands on!! oh yeah, nina, we're working on that holistic weed.. we'll publish a research paper on it soon ;-)) [that'll be a completely different take on weed for medicinal purposes!! :-))]

went to class today.. we had a guest lecture on biomaterials-centered infections.. in fact that's what got me thinking about how we could fight the viral macrophages brought around by flu by using weed smoke as a carrier for the medicinal drugs. fluid has long been known to be the best medium of inter-cellular transfer.. now we cannot induce liquid into the alveoli without drowning the poor patient (in this case me!!), so the next best fluid would be air/smoke. how about using smoke as a carrier then? essential oils such as cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, camphor and menthol have been used for centuries to clear congestion in the ENT passages. so if these vapours get carried piggy-back on weed smoke, they should clear the tracts on their way in.. and even in the lungs, there would be maximum efficient absorbance of these oils, and would act right at the source i.e the bloodstream!

there would be four stages in setting up this experiment:

1. soak a bud in the oil mixture for some time, giving it enough air to evaporate the excess. this should enable the oils to mix better with the weedsmoke as it burns.
2. use the regular buds, but the water through which we usually bubble the smoke (for cooling and purification) would have the oil added to it. when well-mixed, the oils would effervesce out of the solution and into the concentrated smoke.
3. the third would be a mixture of the above two runs, in case we realise that the concentrations produced are not high enough.
4. this would be the control - no oils, regular buds. this run will make sure a placebo effect is not taking place, beacause it is a well-documented fact that after the third hit, i won't really care whether i ever really had the flu at all in the first place!
   

right then, the theory sounds fine.. now to try it out :-)) think about it though.. next time flu season comes around, there will be none of the mad panic to rush to the doctor, and none of the current scenario whereby there is a shortage of flu shots! hehe, in fact the whole meaning of 'flu shots' will have changed!!

down

ladies and gentlemen, i regret to inform you that the impossible has happened. the indestructible, indefatigable, inebriated and insanely stoned superhero that was known to you all as saurabh.. is down. the flu virus doing the rounds caught him mid-flight from one trip to the next.. he landed hard, and is currently recuperating in the M*A*S*H 4077 tent, the hacking cough that racks his frame has reduced him to mere mortal status.. unable to eat, drink and smoke.. but 'tis not for long - he shall return with vigor and strength anew soon.

a friend of a friend wrote this amazing essay, drawing parallels between Calvin & Hobbes and Fight Club. now i know you will be thinking how preposterous the idea is.. but give the essay a shot! then come back here and comment about it!!

Pink Floyd ahoy!

so we'd heard that this aussie tribute band to floyd would be coming to town.. we didn't expect too much of them, and were slightly miffed with the $36 ticket prices too. then, as the date approached, and reports about the aussies started trickling in.. they were supposed to be the best floyd tribute album.. they were supposed to do a full lights n' sound show based on Pulse.. and so it was with quite some trepidation we made our way to Shea's to watch the show.

now let me make a declaration here. reliable sources, who were present today and when Roger Waters played in bangalore, have confirmed.. the Australian Pink Floyd Show won easily! those of you who could not make it, do watch the DVD trailer on the site for a taste. Shea's is a classic drama theater.. but for a few hours, the aussies transformed it into Earls Court, London on October 20, 1994.. when Pulse was originally recorded. this picture taken with my phone doesn't do the stage justice.. but here goes anyways.

they started by playing the full album set of Dark Side Of The Moon.. which was mindblowing.. then after the interval, they came back with a pick n' mix of old favourites.. 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Welcome To The Machine', 'Sorrow', 'Careful With That Axe Eugene', 'Another Brick In The Wall', 'Hey You' and the encore was 'Wish You Were Here' and 'Comfortably Numb'.. absolutely awesomely trippy!!

i cannot even begin to imagine how, in the past 8 days, i have managed to go to two absolutely mindblowing, life-changing concerts!! indeed, these are some of the best days of my life, and i have to be more thankful than anything else that i have been able to enjoy these days too!

happy birthday jason!!

18th october is jason's birthday!! happy birthday jase!! we'd gone over on sunday night to surprise him.. the girls had gotten a cake.. and a few shots of tequila and weed later.. we were all busy making merry despite it being a sunday night!! have a good one mate!

a sunday in fall

woke up to what was a great or horrible day, depending what you wanted to do with it - great for sleeping in, and horrible if you wanted to do anything outdoorsy. cold, dull, blustery.. and the one day i get for sleeping in, i don't remotely feel sleepy.. i guess i'll have to make up for it during the week!! ;-))

watched some NFL football today.. the Bills finally won, beating the Dolphins 20-13.. takeo spikes putting in an all-round performance. elsewhere, the Patriots held off the Seahawks to make their winning streak twenty! the Jets pulled off anamazing comeback to beat the Niners and go 5-0 too. the Eagles topped the Panthers.. and the Titans and Chiefs are offically not in any sort of race this year.

went out and played cricket, in what must the most hostile conditions ever, short of snow! then again, i guess we're gonna try that too once it starts. and now a piece of sad news.. the dead tree in our front yard, which stood steadfastly, was knocked over by the gale-force winds we have been having.. here it is with two different lighting views -
with street lights -

with flash at night -

vip had been clamoring for ages to have it beheaded (these savages na, what do i say?).. i felt that despite it being dead, it still stood strong, signifying so many things.. umm, none of which i can remember now! but it did survive abilash and i jumping on it during the RSF Reunion!!

buffalo wild weather

woke up to find that we had moved into a belt of some torrential rains and howling winds, to top it off the temperature was like two degrees celsius.. in fact the sound that woke me up was the windows being peppered by hail! well, the UB Bulls had a home game against conference leaders Miami (Ohio).. so we went to watch it, despite (or is it in spite of) the horrific weather conditions.. and we stayed right until the end, cold, wet and angry, watching mistake after mistake.. final score 7-25.. dammit! it takes a lot of patience to support a buffalo team.. take the Bills now - they will manage to completely win a game, shut the other team out all day, and contrive to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the dying minutes.. we're 0-4 this season, having lost three games by three points of less.. and in the fourth game we had defending champs, the Patriots, on a rack for most of the game!

hung out with nats at the burger king, then a smoke break with mal outside her studio.. got home to find that 'master pai' was in town from white plains, NY! not only that, he's an uncle too now.. so it's 'master uncle'! went with him to 55 tyler to help him pack whatever he had left.. then we got some beer.. ate, drank, smoked up and chilled out at home.. watched 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly'.. and crashed relatively early.. by our standards, 2 is early!

the Buffalo News usually are not very nice on their reviews of rock concerts, but this one for Metallica was a really honest and glowing tribute. as i read this one week later, again i am transported to the arena.. cymbals crashing, bass thumping, guitars whining and vocals roaring!! YEAH!!

and again!

managed to make it two wild nights in a row.. yeah maybe i ain't that old yet!! ;-)) this was promising to be a very busy weeknd.. loads of things to do, places to go etc. slept clear until lunchtime after thursday night's heroics! it was a very gloomy and dull friday afternoon.. so after throwing some eggs into a skillet to make a scramble.. was still feeling completely stoned, so promptly went back to a hibernatory position and woke up at 6!

went to north campus for the last day of the latino film fest.. watched an excellent "Road Trip" kinda movie.. mexican movie in spanish.. Dust To Dust about these two cousin brothers who cannot stand each other.. but are brought together by their love for their grandfather, and try to fulfil his dying wish.. very informal, and pretty funny.. and the women.. damn! next spring break in acapulco sounds like a very very awesome idea!

the fall fun fest was going on in school.. sank, vip, arul n' i hung around there for sometime.. checking out the 'local colour'.. i must say i am missing out on a lot staying stuck in the south campus!! we got up the rock climbing wall, which was a lot of fun actually.. i'm hooked now! then we did the totally trippy thing.. getting on the spinning merry-go-round.. twice!! we got off completely tripping.. i could re-feel the effects of last night's dope again!! watched the 'date auction for charity' in the student union.. now that was definitely worth hanging out there for!!

sank n' vip went to Spot Cafe with joe.. while arul n' i grabbed pizzas and came home.. then ash n' i went to Third Base.. it was kinda chilled out and quiet.. john, big nate, luke, bo.. but none of the girls :-(.. we knocked back a couple of shots.. and a few drinks.. and played darts.. sank n' vip joined us there.. we hung out till around 1ish.. then we moved on to 87M.

so the new 'stock' is in.. and man, it's amazing shit!! homegrown.. and it smells so beautiful you can trip just smelling it!! it has a vague sort of mango essence to it.. really great stuff, worth every dollar we paid for it!! came back home around 4.30.. really hungry, but unfortunately everything closes at 4 (that's probably the most late closing time in the country!!) threw in some crab, mushrooms, bacon and tomatoes in the skillet.. tossed them around with some spices.. and voila! another masterpiece! had waffles with whipped cream and jam for dessert too :-)) tried to stay awake to watch dexter's lab on cartoon network.. but was too whacked, so i crashed.

what a day (and night!)

yeah, today must have been one of the best, fullest days ever.. everything found itself a slot.. crawled groggily out of bed at half-7 to go to work.. was busy at work so didn't notice time fly past.. except for this one minute or so when the world came to a standstill, when this heavenly body in black wafted past the circulation desk.. mmm..

anyways, got off work at 3 and went to the lab.. for some indeterminate reason i felt like doing some real work.. and i did.. setting up a few test runs.. and prepping the setup in the white room.. will be back later to finish that up..

the latino film festival was on in north campus.. so we smoked up and went to watch a mexican movie in spanish "The Crime Of Padre Amaro".. pretty good movie too.. very intense, and thought provoking, as most foreign language films tend to be.. though that didn't stop us brownie boyz from passing sidey comments throughout the movie!!

nats and ash had made some awesome pulao.. shrimp and veg.. beautiful.. i had a couple of beers too. and was gooood! then we went to the gas station to pick up smokes, and dropped by at 87M.. smoked up there, and hung out.. then all the boys came back to our place.. and we conducted more experiments with our apparatus!! we have pretty much got it down to an art now.. what ratios, what bubble speed.. that just goes to prove stoned engineers can do anything they set their stoners' minds to!!

was really really tripped out last night.. completely wasted!! sitting up was an effort!! then the 87M boys left, and vip n' i went on a walk.. randomly walking down dark, quiet streets.. enjoying the silence, the weather.. good times, good times indeed.. had a very interesting idea.. but i need a handycam for that. next time we trip, we should take a video of it.. then the next time we smoke up, we should trip watching that video, and record this session.. and then repeat the same next time.. so we'd have like an infinite loop.. trip in trip in trip etc.. an ever-widening helix of chemically-induced hallucinations.. bending the whole concept of space-time.. creating an illusion of lack of being.. i can see the night sky, black and deep, spattered with whitish star-shaped blotches.. and i am hurtling through supernovae and constellations.. eerily comfortable, yet whizzing past galaxy after galaxy. if this made no sense to anyone, forget it.. in my mind's eye i see it very clearly!

came back up and set our culinary minds to work.. and whipped up something absulutely divine.. stir-fried spiced jumbo shrimp, and whipped cream on diced pineapple.. check it out! heavenly.. finally crashed around 5ish.. absolutely stoned!! it was like a coma or something, how i kept slipping in and out of reality.. like the line was non-existent.. like reality was non-existent.. like we were non-existent.. spirits wandering in the continuum of time.. okay, i'm losing it again.. see you later people!

c&h anyone?

finally i hit jackpot! i found the home site of calvin and hobbes! now how many of you knew that calvin was named after a sixteenth-century theologian who believed in predestination? and hobbes after a seventeenth-century philosopher with a dim view of human nature? well, it does show in their behaviour and mannerisms though! enjoy!!

fall has now kicked in with full vengeance.. it's dull, gloomy and quite chilly too.. perfect for sleeping in.. except that i have to go in to work at 8 on thursdays :-(( and that i have class in the afternoon.. bleurgh! as for lab, that has been sacrificed on the altar of my miseducation! but seriously, i have started making guest appearances more often in the lab these days! i go in.. rearrange my prisms.. splash some distilled water around.. say hi to the fish in the tank.. go into the white room... move stuff around again.. mess around with the IR microscope.. make chit-chat with the lab tech.. then leave.. beautiful! of course results are expected of me soon, but no point me playing a shot while the bowler is still in his run-up right? ;-))

i simply love the wednesday Cell Surface Bio class.. doug comes in too, and we spend the two and a half hours in glorious abandon checking out the med-student chicks in the class! oh how eagerly we await their graduation so that they can start practising! practise on me, practise on me!! finally had a decent conversation with ms. heather graham without tripping all over my tongue and gawking at her.. if all goes well, friday 6 p.m. i'll be sitting with her at Coffee Bean Cafe!! man, it's been a while since i last asked someone out.. kinda forgotten how it feels! i have this sneaky feeling that i'm also gonna remember how it feels asking out a girl with a 6 foot, 200 something pound boyfriend!! anyways.. again i seem to be playing the shot before the bowler has started the run-up!

talking sport.. the yanks whooped red sox ass again in game 2 of the american division final.. normally i can't stand baseball.. but yanks - red sox is new york vs. boston.. barcelona vs. real madrid.. juventus vs. ac milan.. and in the other conference, st. louis are winning too. smi.. it seems i am gonna take you up on that offer of the box seats your office has for the world series!!

finally, it's an absolutely great ego-booster seeing the comments column ticking over.. thank you very much everyone for stopping by and leaving a note.. comments, complaints, compliments.. whatever.. thank you again!

matrimonial ads!!

i got this from anamika's blog.. i think it's simply hilarious!! these are real indian newspaper matrimonial ads!! enjoy! (and yes, the grammar is at is, untouched!)

- Hello To Viewvers My Name is Somesha , I am single i dont have Famale,If any one whant to marrie to me u can visite to my home. I am not agood education but i working all field in bangalroe.. if u like me uwelcome to my heart... when ever u whant to meet pls viset my residentor send u letter.. Thanks yours Regards Somesha ~*~

- i want very simple girl. from brahmin educated family from orissa statehe is also know about RAMAYAN, GEETA BHAGABATA, and other homework

- Wants a woman who knows me better and can adjust with me forever. Shemay never create any difficulties in my life or her life by which theentire life can run smoothly. thank you

- She should be good looking and should have a service. She Shoulsd haveone brother and one sister. She should be educated.

- I am a happy-go-lucky kind of person. Enjoys every moments of life. Ilove to make friendship. Becauese friendship is a first step of love. Iam looking for my dreamgirl who will love me more than i. Because i lovemyself a lot. If u think that is u then why to late come on ........hold my hand forever !!!

- i am simple boy.I have lot ofproblemin mylife because ofmylucknow iamlooking onegirlshe caremeandloveme lot lot lot

- i want a girl with no drinks if she wants she can wear jeans in housebut while steping out of house she should give recpect to our cast

- HYE I AM A GOOD LOKING GUY,WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TOLOUGH.I BELIEVE IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REALMESSENGER OF GOD. THE 3 THINGS I AM LOOKING FROM A GIRL ,THEY ARE 1.THEYMUST BELIEVE IN GOD.2. THEY HAVE TO LIKE MY PROFFESION AND THEY SHOULDNOT GET BORED WITH ME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM LOUGH.

- whatever she may be but she should feel that she is going to be someonebride and she must think of the future life if she is toolike this shewould bde called the lady of the lamp

- i love my patner i marriage the patner ok i search my patner and i lovethe patner ok thik hai the patner has a graduate ok

- HI IAM VERY COOL NUATHER OK MY HOBBY IS SEE T.V AND NEWS OK I HAVE 1 CARAND 1 BONWL OK MY MOTHER ALSO GOOD OK MY FARUET WORLD IS OK

- iam pradip my family histoy my two brother two sister and fater&mothersister complity marred

- iam very simpel and hanest. i have three sister one brother and parent.i am doing postal sarvice and tailor master my original resdence atkalahandi diste naw iam staing at rayagada dist.

- my name is farhan and i am unmarried. pleaes you marrige me pleaespleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes

- Iwant one girl who love me or my mother. she love me heartly or shehavea frank she's skin colour 'normal'not a black or not a whitey.IThink the main think is heart if your heart is beautiful then you arebeautiful. but iam not a handsome person or not a good looking. but myMom say that Iam a good person. My father already expired . iam''AEKLAUTA''. THE CHOICE IS YOUR. bye bye.

- iam kanan. i do owo businas.one sistar.he was marred.

- I AM LITTLE FAIR INDIAN COLOUR. I DON'T HAVE ANY HABIT.

- hello i am a good charactarised man. i want to run my life happily.idivorced my first wife.her charactor is not good'. i expect the goodminded and clean habits girl who may be in the same caste or other casteaccepted ...

- my colour is black,but my heart is white.i like social service

- i'm looking out for who lives in bombay, girl simple who trust me lotshould be roman catholic, LOVE ME ONLY.

- i would like a beautyfull girl. and i do not want her any treasure.because girl is the mahalakshmi.

- ssc failed three times and worked with privated ltd company which notpaying salary at present.

comments anyone??!!

post-metallica blues

so metallica's come and gone.. they still live on in the form of sore throats and a buzzing in the ears.. and of course blaring on the cd player.. apart from that we're still recovering from the excesses of the Metallica Fest.. did anyone notice how often i am having to use the phrase "recovering from the excesses" these days? hmm, something to think about there.

arul downloaded EA Sports newest offering "Cricket 2004".. and that has been occupying us these days! arul seems to have got the hang of it already and is racking up big totals and picking up wickets.. meanwhile vip and i have been manfully plodding on, struggling to make a game of it.

and now the big news!! i finally bought my air tickets to india!! am flying delta on jan 10th, and return to the US on feb 10th. so far the proposed itinerary is: mumbai - bangalore - kgp - kolkata - allahabad - kolkata - mumbai.. people in the respective cities.. beware! keep the beer chilled and the Royal Stag on ice!!

The Four Horsemen

Metallica! months and months of anticipation came down to this.. and now, some 12 hours after the show.. throats still hoarse, ears still ringing, necks still stiff and every muscle in the body sore.. the thought still registers bright - we watched Metallica live!! for one second during the show, my eyes welled up, when it suddenly hit me that really is Metallica, and this is me here.. one of the targets in my life achieved, another item in the "To Do In Life" list checked off. sank, arul, vip and i went together.. and we had great seats too, some 30-40 yards from stage, with ample elevation. they had set an amazing stage, with the whole thing rotating, and two main platforms, a bridge between both and equipment booths under that! tons and tons of lights, girders hanging off the icehockey rink's jumbotron, wild pyrotechnics and flamethrowers that spewed flames 20 feet into the air!

at exactly 9 pm, the lights went out! amid strains of ennio morricone's score for the movie "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" - 'Ecstasy Of Gold', and security torches flashing like a SWAT team.. four shadows clad in black made their way through the throngs and got on stage.. and exploded into 'Blackened', then 'Fuel'!! they looked good, sounded good and got everyone totally delirious! "Hello Buffallloooo.. are you alive? Are you feeling alive?" The crowd, as one, pumped their fists in the air to the thunderous cheer of "hey, hey, hey..."

they then went into 'The Four Horsemen', which was very poignant for many reasons - four members of Metallica, four members of Godsmack, four of us.. perfect! they stuck to their strengths, the older albums.. and they came, they rocked, and they f**kin' conquered!! james growling in his gravelly voice, lars beating the shit out of the drums, angelic-smiling kirk and his guitar - lost in his own personal heaven, and the australopithecine rob, bouncing around on bended knees, alternatingly wielding his bass like an axe and a machine gun!!

all the older albums got good coverage.. the 'Black' album was amply played.. some of the singles were 'No Remorse', 'Disposable Heroes', 'Fight Fire With Fire', 'Fade To Black', 'Enter Sandman'.. then 'No Leaf Clover' got a huge response.. but not as big as 'Sad But True', but even that was topped by 'Master Of Puppets'!! Then came a lull.. and silence.. punctuated by gunfire and a haunting voice, disembodied, calling out to his father.. (does anyone know the song yet?) before the whole stage erupted in lights, flames and explosions.. the scene was a battlefield.. and the song was.. (anyone? everyone?!).. yes, the song was 'One'.. and the explosions were so loud, that for a second you would have thought you were in the battlefield!!

after a short break, they started their encore with 'The Thing That Should Not Be', and they ended it all with the impressive, gut-wrenching, bloodcurdling screams of 'Seek N' Destroy'!! after an extended session of applause and adulation.. they finally left the building. Words fail me even now as to how i felt last night, so i shall leave it at that.

godsmack-ed!!

short and sweet, pure and powerful.. that was Godsmack for you in just 4 simple words! heavy basslines, metal-laden riffs and sully's powerful vocals.. an amazing mix. this is the third time i'm watching them live, and they only seem to get better and more professional as time passes. they kicked off with 'straight out of line', and moved on to 'awake' before the crowd could even catch its breath!

sully did an excellent job of warming up the house for metallica.. getting the crowd involved.. and of course, doing what they do best - playing kick-ass music! 'whatever', 'keep away', 'dead and broken', 'faceless', 'i stand alone' all got airtime.. all in all a good selection from all their albums.. though they didn't do anything off their acoustic album. Smackheads were hoping that they'd play a longer set than the 70 minutes they got.. though to compensate for that sully got onto a parallel drumkit and played out a duel on the drums with shannon driving everyone wild!!

aftermath

my friends, i know you want details of the metallica concert.. but i have just reached home, and am exhausted!! i need some time to recover.. stay tuned for more.

Metallica is upon us!!

09:38 - the day has dawned cloudy.. quite chilly too.. but then i'm still dazed and numb from last night's excesses.. rolled over and went back to sleep.

11:17 - adelphia's DNS servers seem to be down.. dunno what's up.. couldn't find any cigarettes, so made myself a drink. The Edge still playing Metallica 24/7.

12:42 - filled up the pipe and smoked up.. what a way to wake up, 'breakfast' in bed! The Edge have set up a huge screen at the HSBC for football fans to catch the Bills game at the Jets at 4pm.

14:38 - made a huge skillet of scrambled eggs and we all dug in.. am still nice and buzzed.. have just heard.. the gates open at 6 pm.

17.03 - made a brave attempt at watching the Bills lose again.. smoked up some more, had a few drinks, rolled up some and left on the epic journey that is to be Metallica tonight.

metallica eve

here we are, one day away from what should be one of the greatest days of our lives.. and how are we preparing for it? some are still sitting and writing code.. others are sleeping like they've sold all their horses.. yet others are going on with their lives.. and then there are those who've been high for the last few days, and plan to stay that way.. :-)) metallica's buffalo tour is covered by 103.3 The Edge.. check out the site!

woke up at 11.. to watch the latest round of 2006 World Cup soccer qualifiers.. had a couple of shots immediately after waking up and was immediately mellowed out again.. that stuff kicks all the garbage oxygen and other gases out of the lungs and fills it with sweet 'Delta THCs'.. and you get it in a condensed, concentrated cloud of dope.. amazing! after that i just had to grab a beer, and settled down comfortably to with college football.. watched Minnesota @ Michigan and U. Texas @ Okhlahoma U.. both absolutely excellent games..

in the evening we tried out a few more stunts with our paraphernalia.. got rid of the straw and tried using a metal tube instead.. which got rid of the polyethylene terephthalate we'd been smoking!! but the smoke bomb shots (known henceforth as 'S-bombs') are still too thick due to the slow rate of bubbling.. its killer knocking it back alone!! we tried freezing a readymade shot, but the stuff condensed to ice and no one was willing to chew on it.. so that got scrapped.. so we moved onto the bucket bomb (known henceforth as 'B-bombs').. this was just so simple and sweet.. took no effort and passed into the lungs so smoothly you didn't even feel it!!

it was adi's birthday tonight.. adi of 'baba rugmunching' fame.. he's turning 21, its about time too, considering how much he's already drunk and smoked!! they had a party over at his place.. loads of people had showed up.. kavin, reddy, raghu, 87M gang.. adi got severely ass-kicked and a full hair and facial beauty treatment with a fudge cake and eggs.. phew! we came back and smoked up a bit.. and then watched 'Stigmata'.. damn! that was not one of the wisest things we've ever done! right when your faith is at its weakest, and your mental faculties are pulling the shutters down is not the time to start hitting it, testing its boundaries! "How is your faith today, Father?".. heeeelp!!

the metallica concert is under 24 hours away.. The Edge have been playing Metallica A-Z since friday evening.. now it's time to hear the real deal..

No remorse No repent
We don't care what it meant
Another day Another death
Another sorrow Another breath

No Remorse - Metallica (Kill 'Em All)

2 days to go

every morning i wake up now the Metallica show inches closer and closer.. for those who think i'm overhyping this moment.. well, maybe i am.. but this was one of the reasons why i came to this country in the first place.. yet another chapter in the 'American Dream', a pretty sizeable and important chapter too!

woke up around lunchtime.. and thought about going to the lab.. and then let that remain a thought only! though i did have a few ideas with where to direct my efforts next week.. watched 'Tom n Jerry' on tv at lunchtime!! that was so cool! that has to be one of the most timeless cartoons of all time, and i don't think you can ever outgrow those two!!

went to class.. and was kinda listless.. restless.. couldn't wait to get out.. thank god i'll be done with my courses this sem.. cos this is getting very boring! 'Troy' was being screened in the Student Union auditorium, and we had decided to go for the night show at nine.. vip had to go to a prof's barbecue.. mal, hmm.. i have no idea why mal didn't come.. sank, nats, ash, arul and i went and shot some pool in the game room, then went for it.. i was completely buzzed by then thanks to a couple of beers and 'bong-hits' before i left home.. i was either potting every ball in sight, or rearranging everything on the table!!

'Troy' was good, the screnplay writers made a good effort to adhere to history.. and the war scenes were just as good as they were in Lord of The Rings.. and man, Achilles (Brad Pitt) kicked some serious ass.. Hector (Eric Bana) played a solid role too, as did Briseis (Rose Byrne = yummy!).. arul and i were completely tripping on the war scenes, comparing them to similar war moves in Age of Empires.. the 'knight rushes', 'pikemen charge', sacking the cities, burning the town-centres!! awesome stuff!

our bong went a step higher today.. i'd been thinking all day if there was a way of passing the smoke through the water instead of just pushing the water out from up-top.. that way not only would the smoke be cooled, it would be filtered out a fair bit too.. and after a major brainstorm.. we realised a simple answer.. just sticking a straw under the bowl would do it.. so that the smoke would bubble out right near the bottom of the bottle.. so we did it, and yes people.. we are just about ready to get a couple of patents out.. and i know how we can shortcut the FDA here by claiming 'substantial equivalency' and getting a '510(k) exemption' on this!! then we made a further modification - little pinholes on the length of the straw for diffuse bubbling, creating turbulence in the flow.. more bubbles mean more mixing.. only one small problem though, the smoke picked up a very bad odour going through the plastic straw since it was a very low MP plastic (LDPE).. i guess next step now is using medical grade silicone rubber.. and increasing contact time with the water, and also flavored, chilled water.. hmm..

got home pretty late, so we went to Jim's Steakout to pick up dinner.. subs and burritos.. watched 'M*A*S*H', got hungry for dessert, and had to take that 'chemical' taste out of the mouth, so went to 'On The Run' to get whipped cream, twinkies and a pepsi.. got back home, then saw this PBS special on how the Red Indians lost their land to gold-diggers, farmers and other settlers.. and all of General Custer's follies.. was really whacked, cos i slumped out on my couch around 4ish..

let the party begin!!

even though the Metallica Fest had already been initiated, it only just kicked into high gear today.. woke up somehow to get to work at 8.. did a straight shift till 3.. which was spiced up by fresh-looking undergrads enjoying the oddball warm day that we had today.. sigh, sights that shall not be repeated until next summer (unless we land up in florida during thanksgiving!!)

called up vip and we planned to go to lunch at Just Pizza.. but the pizzas looked kinda sad.. so decided to make an expedition to the nearest KFC.. the weather looked promising, and despite the numerous diversions on the mission (Wendy's, Subway, RadioShack, Dollar Tree, Tops), it was still worth the long walk there, and back too.. arul was back, so we got the game bucket, with 6 pcs. fried chicken and 6 honey-bbq wings, and a side of coleslaw too.. yummy!!

that's when we started the 'experiment of the day' - making a bong!! one 1 liter Gatorade bottle, the bowl from our pipe, and a hot skewer, and our bong was ready to go!! fill her up with water, light the pre-prepared bowl, and release the lower plug.. as all the water drains out, it sucks in all the smoke.. and when the water is drained, just open the top and take a long deep breath! beatiful!! good clean smoke.. doesn't hurt the throat.. and every milligram of THCs from the mixture is used up.. very efficient and the superfast hit results in an immediate superhigh too (henceforth to be known as SFSH - SuperFastSuperHigh)!! stay tuned for a picture-by-picture detail of how easy it is to do the above.. ;-))

after getting a couple of 'shots' each, we went out to play cricket.. which was such an amazing trip.. you could see the ball so well, and shots were getting timed to perfection, catches being plucked out of thin air, and balls being bowled to whatever line and length required too..

the boys from 87M dropped in after dinner.. so we had a few 'shots' again.. then watched the X-Prize documentary again.. made another one of the superb desserts too, and had got chocolate cake too to top it off.. a perfect end to a perfect day!!

back again

phew, finally a back to normal day.. yes, i have realised that quiet days are only good in single doses, once a week. had a Cell-Surface Biology exam at 2.30, but couldn't be really bothered to wake up to read for it, so i got some beauty sleep first.. the test itself was a bit tougher than expected, but it's all good.. after all, this is the field i am expecting to be in for the next few years of my life, so i better know something about it!!

made some 'winter-chaser' chicken for dinner.. winter chaser cos' after eating it you wouldn't feel winter's still ahead.. and it wasn't the 'red chilli' hot.. it was the 'garam masala' hot, which you only feel after some time.. more commonly known as 'afterburn'!!

went to 87M.. the new 'stock' is in!! just in time for the Metallica Fest too!! arul came along to get himself a winter jacket too, and they had an extra Nike one too, which i picked up.. they'd improvised a bong using basic fluid mechanics principles and a gatorade bottle (trust us engineers to come up with comething like that!!), so we had a couple of shots each, and man we were goood after that!! vip has a job interview tomorrow, so we didn't hang around long.

after that when we got home, we were full, stoned and happy.. and no one was remotely sleepy either.. so we put on the floyd and were talking.. the best thing was the conversation was entirely random, yet logical in progression!! arul was cribbing about the cold and not getting enough sleep on the bus, so we were telling him how his night-outs have just started, since winter is just around the corner, and in one month's time, when the assignments and submissions start piling up, life will be so sad.. in stark contrast, TAs have it really easy, since they have just 3 courses, a hefty paycheck, plus the tuition waiver.. then we compared how much TAs get paid compared to the placement scene back in IIT, and probably only a handful of guys make more money per annum, the big ones being Schlumberger and McKinsey.. this friend of ours is with Schlum now.. she had her orientation in Kuala Lumpur, then was in Assam, and is currently in Edinburgh.. what a life!

well, her boyfriend is doing his MS in the US, working on helicopter rotor technology, so then arul recalled this thing he saw on discovery channel about joint war exercises conducted by the americans and the european union, in which the french kicked everyones' asses with these mysterious attack helicopters that were more divebomber than chopper.. vip was then imagining what it would be like being a general conducting these games.. from which we naturally compared it to Age Of Empires.. so arul was then regaling us with AOE tales from his wing.. after which we got hungry (naturally!), and whipped up another one of our mindblowing desserts!! yeah, we were tripping on the flow of that conversation for quite some time after that..

anyways, long day ahead tomorrow.. working from 8-3, and vip has his interview around 11 - hopefully we shall be enjoying the company of half-naked girls tomorrow night to celebrate something big!! (eh vip?! how about it? mademoiselle's when we're stoned?!) whatever it is, Third Base is definitely on tomorrow!

nice quiet day

yeah, it's good to have a few days where absolutely nothing happens too.. give the ol' bodies some time to heal and repair damage etc.. an extra shift opened up at work, so i jumped at the chance to mint some more moolah.. was in the library from 12 to 8.. and it was ok cos' people kept coming and going, then i kept meeting people online too, besides there was online scrabble to fill up the other quiet moments.. it's almost minimum wage, but it's minimum effort too, and that pretty much clinched it for me!!

FIFA announced their shortlist for Player of the Year - it should be interesting this year, since the last season had all sorts of unfancied winners - Porto for Champs' League and Greece for Euro 2004.. will FIFA have the balls to make a small club player the player of the year? let's see..

so, in going with today's nice, quiet day theme.. i have nothing else to report.. see you all later!! :-))

dull dreary monday

woke up to find that winter had sneaked in overnight.. it was clouded over, chilly and the freezing wind was creeping in through any windows left open - damned buffalo, spring goes straight to fall, then winter is here, and soon snow.. glorious, blasted snow.

had an exam today for Polymeric Biomaterials.. so i dragged my sleepy butt out of bed to read.. and during and immediately after the exam i wondered why i even bothered! it was so freaking easy and straightforward, i really should have slept some more.

finally got over to 122 to do my laundry - two whole loads too.. watched 'Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind' while that was running.. pretty good, offbeat movie, with some very dry humor. had a couple of beers to keep the cold at bay.. definitely prefer Molson to Budweiser nowadays..

vip n' arul made rajmaha-chawal, and we watched 'LAX'.. Heather Locklear has definitely aged well.. then our regulars, 'Iron Chef' and 'M*A*S*H'.. one thing has to be said about the onset of winter though.. getting into bed has never been a more inviting experience, unless of course it's Laetitia Casta inviting me!! ;-)) (if you've seen the pic linked, i'll settle for the hammock and beach!)

still dazed

wow, it's gonna take at least a couple of days to get over saturday night's exertions.. was all dazed and confused today, not in the least thanks to people who kept on coming in to the room to ask what i was upto when i was obviously trying to sleep! anyways, no harm no foul..

saw this clip on Blogger News:

Still, a bunch of bloggers with cameras are having fun with it so here goes: Ask your readers to think of three photos they'd like to see posted to your blog. (Things around your house or whatever.) When you have enough requests, post them!

so i'll get into the spirit of things too - what three things would you guys like to most see? i'll give it, say, a few days for you to drop a line.. how does that sound to all you folks?

woke up finally at 12 to watch the Bills-Patriots go head to head on NFL Sunday.. we were playing at home, yet another full house.. and we played excellently for most of the game, made some huge plays, holding the Pats to 17-17, before in the last 5 minutes we spectacularly self-destructed, as we are so wont to do this season, and lost 31-17.. we must be one of the better teams in the league and yet are 0-3.. it just doesn't make sense how we always manage to steal defeat from the jaws of victory.. *sigh*

natasha came over at night and made some excellent pasta.. and we all sat together and watched some junk tv.. as we almost always do! then when everyone went off to bed, the original night-animals (vip n' me) were up watching 'Twister', and a great documentary on one of the teams for the 'X-Prize'.

for those who haven't heard about it, the 'X-Prize' is a competition for non-governmental research groups, for the first team to make an aircraft that can go up at least 100km. up into the atmosphere, carrying three people, and return safely too.. twice in two weeks.. the idea being that these craft will make commercial space travel more of a reality.. as i write this news has just filtered through that Burt Rutan's Mojave Aerospace Ventures Team has won the prize.. read about the first and second flights here.. Richard Branson's Virgin Group has also signed a contract with Rutan licensing this technology for a commercial fleet - the name? Virgin Galactic!!

one saturday in buffalo

what a freaking crazy day!! started off like any other saturday, around 11 am.. lounged around in the afternoon, watching some college football on tv.. then went to watch the UB Bulls play against Univ. of Cent. Florida at our home stadium. we haven't been at our best this season, but at home in front of a sparse crowd of around 12,000, the Bulls ignited.. crashing tackles, searing runs, more crashing tackles, devious play-calls, incisive kicking, yet more crashing tackles.. and before you knew it the game ended 48-20!! probably a franchise highest for the Bulls since we entered top division football a few years back. it was a great day to be a Bull in the stadium!! :-))

ash and i then stopped off at Third Base on our way back home.. it had been almost two months since we enetered that hallowed door..met Nate there, fit and fine.. we kncked back a couple of shots, had a drink, played pool, and caught up with Nate as he was telling us about what all had been happening - Kelly is fine again after her surgery, and working too (it's been a while honey!!), 'Big Nate' had his gall bladder removed and is slowly starting to drink again (he's still as big and bad as before!), Yuengling Lager is on tap now at Third Base!! (sank, now you gotta drink with us dude!!)

nice and buzzed, we got home, had a couple more to drink, then went with vip to 122 for their housewarming party.. it was alive and kicking, with the whole archi. dept. landing there.. the food was awesome.. good work girls!! alcohol was free flowing, weed was free flying, and we were free falling!! they've decked out the attic pretty well, with the bar and all.. so after spending a few hours there.. we moved on to 87M for the next round.. had a huge freaking joint there, the size of a baseball bat!! after that, the hit felt like we'd been knocked on our doped heads by one too!!

at 3 am, on the way back from there, we decided that by principle you have to pass through third base to get to home, so we landed up at Third Base! it was way too crowded though, and we weren't in the mood to pay cover for entry at that point in the night. so, we came back home, opened up a few beers.. and officially inaugurated the 'Metallica Fest 2004'!! we finally crashed around six in the morning, thoroughly drunk, stoned, tired and all partied-out.. whew!

so Metallica is coming to town in exactly one week.. sunday night, 10th October!! and Godsmack is opening for them too.. we decided that this week ahead shall be spent listening to only these two bands.. and starting thursday night, we'll start the pre-party.. and that stupor should last us until sunday night.. perfect plan!!

break on through

yay, it's friday.. got off to the perfect start too.. woke at noon, lazed around cleaning up the room, sorting out the laundry and all.. then went and chilled out in class too - did my best to sound and look fascinated whenever the prof looked at me and started describing complex organic chemistry..

came home and had a couple of drinks, cooked mincemeat for dinner.. it came out pretty decent too.. then watched 'The Doors', which has to be one of my favourite movies.. at which point we were tripping on them, so we played some Doors too.. then the boys of 87M showed up, so our dope requirements were taken care of too! watched M*A*S*H, and some documentary on Jenna Jameson, then went off to sleep a happy man :-))