Restaurants

I've been told by many folks that Atlanta is a town where you can get a terrific variety of restaurant food. I've heard such statements from people who are from any city that I'm headed to live at. When I was going to live at Boston, this is what I heard. And I agreed with it. When I headed to California, I heard the same. And I agreed with it. In fact, California took things to a different level, especially in terms of Asian Cuisine, which I am partial towards. Before heading to Atlanta, I heard similar such proclamations. So far, I have been rather disappointed. There is no dearth of restaurants here and no scarcity of variety. But I have to admit that the food I've had so far (Thai, Chinese, American, Seafood) has not been up to the standards that I've been exposed to having lived in Boston and San Jose/San Francisco. I suppose it's early days yet and I will have a chance to sample many other places before I leave back for North Carolina, and I certainly hope that I get to experience what so many Atlantans boast of.

There's much turmoil over the ratification of President Bush's Judicial nominations. I have to say that this women, Owen, is quite interesting. She obviously is very opinionated and isn't afraid to voice these opinions. At the same time, she claims to be completely objective as a judge and interprets the law from a strictly disinterested perpective. I suppose I can see why the democrats have a problem with that. Part of me salutes her for her candour, but the other is wary of how objective she can be. Either way, I am certainly not against her nomination. She's very well accomplished and should make for quite an interesting Justice.

First Weekend in Hotlanta

Apparently, Atlanta has a nickname - Hotlanta. Why this is the case, I have no idea. Is it because summers here are very warm? Is it because it's a 'hot' city, as in a happening and fun city to live in? Or is it some marketing ploy that is being used by city developers to attract visitors and residents? Ever since I've been taking Marketing classes in business school, I've realized that this country is truly one of marketing genius. But then again, it could be that some wise-ass weather reporter on a very warm and sunny day many years ago commented on how Atlanta was Hotlanta and the name just stuck. Who knows?

I watched an interesting movie called Spanglish over the weekend, starring Adam Sandler and this Iberian Goddess called Paz Vega. Oh, it also starred Tea Leoni. (As you can see, I'm not a big Tea Leoni fan). :). I'm not going to spoil the movie for any of you by telling you the story, but it was a very down-to-earth movie on good old fashioned values, and what's important in life. The movie made me think about life in general, and was generally quite engaging. (Major Caveat: Although I didn't take the movie for the actors or actresses, I must admit that I spent much time ogling at Paz Vega). At least I'm an honest Joe, right?

:)

Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith

I watched the final installment of the Star Wars saga yesterday. I was not disappointed. For someone who has been an avid fan of the galaxy far, far away, it served up everything: spectacular special effects, the final pieces to the puzzle of Darth Vader's creation, who the evil emperor was, and oodles of light sabre action; not to mention some total kick-ass action from my favorite personality from the series, Yoda.

One of the cool things about spending the summer in Atlanta was the chance to hang out with my buddy from the U of C, Bimmermeister. It was with him and his lovely companion that we went out for the 10pm show of the movie. There was a line at the theatre specifically for the Star Wars movie. We had tons of time to observe a slew of Star Wars fans dressed in miscellaneous costumes prancing around in front of the theatre, brandishing light sabres. It was quite the scene. There was even a 'Darth Vader', very realistic looking, and rather scary.

On another note, I went into the office to get some work done today. It was dead quiet. No one was there, unlike in the previous companies that I worked at, where there were always folks in on the weekend putting in some hours. In any case, the lack of people in the office made for an awfully spooky atmosphere, in which I was scared &**&less many a time by various creaks and groans. Whoever said that I don't have an active imagination.

Star Wars

The latest and last of the Star Wars movies has been released and I am glad to hear that people like it, including the critics. The previous movie was a complete wash-out. The dialogues were really corny and the entire romance thing between Amidala and Anakin was a sham. The only saving grace (and many people disagree with me on this) of the previous movie was the light saber sequence with Count Dooku and Yoda. From what I've read, this movie is simliar in acting calibre, but there's something more compelling about the dramatic aspect and the atmosphere of this movie. As a result, I cannot wait to see it. It doesn't help that I'm quite the fan as well (of the series I mean).

I will wait for the Boss to return from her little trip to the motherland and watch it with her.

Everybody Loves Raymond

Yesterday, I watched the finale of Everybody Loves Raymond. There have been a few sit-coms that I have truly enjoyed over the last years - shows that have made me laugh even when I have been in the darkest of moods (and some of you know how dark those can be). They are Seinfeld, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends, probably in that order. I have watched the season finales of all four of them now, and I can unequivocally say that Everybody Loves Raymond had the best (and most emotionally satisfying) finales of the four. It combined a mix of emotion, laughs and drama in a tight web that did not fail to captivate me through its 22 minutes of running time.

Salut to you, Ray and the rest of the gang. It was an awesome show and an awesome way to end things.

Back in the writing groove

So I'm penning down some thoughts after a long sojourn. I use the word sojourn loosely. It's been another whirlwind two terms and before I knew it, I was done with the first year of school. I still can't believe that I'm half an MBA. Lots of thoughts run through my head:

Am I smarter than before? Certainly doesn't seem like it!
Do I know a lot more than I did before? To a certain extent, but I don't know how best to quantify this.
Do I know a lot more people than before? Yes, definitely. And I have made some pretty good friends.
Is an MBA worth it? Well, sometimes I answer this positively and sometimes I answer it extremely negatively. I guess it's still rather early days to tell. I'll comment on this later on towards the end of the course as well.

So I am headed to work for a leading agricultural equipment manufacturer for the summer. I am sure that I will get a chance to try out my gamut of new acquired skills there.