Monday, December 29, 2008

Dead Indian Ringer


Watching Slumdog Millionaire tonight, Jill and I discovered Chris's long lost Indian sibling. This picture does not do it justice, but it is the only one I could find with a modicum of searching. Here he looks serious and fierce, very un-Kantosian, but when he smiles he could be Chris. His name is Madhur Mittal, and it is uncanny... 


(No conclusive evidence on the single dimple....)

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Break on Through

So, in honor of my first post – breaking into the ranks of realposter – I'm posting one of my favorite pictures from my travels in France in April, '07.

The jagged hole in the wall was very much unplanned by the 14th century builders of Avignon. There are no signs of a gate ever being mounted, no ruined guard shack, and no connecting street or alleyway. In fact, old maps of the city show that the hole opens onto what used to be grazing lands and drilling yards (so I recall, whatever its better this way...). In any case walking through it, I felt like Link sneaking around in dungeons looking for maps, keys, and rings which would unlock the secrets of Zelda's realm.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Random Encounters

1:23:43 AM screenedoutcoho: Do you know the Recycling Song?
1:23:45 AM Robby Ramdin (Autoreply): lovin life
1:24:06 AM Robby Ramdin: the one that goes recycle reduce reuse?
1:24:15 AM screenedoutcoho: who's this
1:24:23 AM Robby Ramdin: i was gonna ask the same question
1:24:26 AM Robby Ramdin: robby
1:25:05 AM screenedoutcoho: robby...?
1:25:24 AM Robby Ramdin: from rochester
1:25:26 AM Robby Ramdin: went to tufts
1:25:30 AM Robby Ramdin: who are you?
1:25:41 AM screenedoutcoho: you IMed me
1:26:11 AM Robby Ramdin: when?
1:26:19 AM screenedoutcoho: ....just now
1:26:26 AM Robby Ramdin:
1:23:43 AM screenedoutcoho: Do you know the Recycling Song?
1:23:45 AM Robby Ramdin (Autoreply): lovin life
1:24:06 AM Robby Ramdin: the one that goes recycle reduce reuse?
1:24:15 AM screenedoutcoho: who's this
1:24:23 AM Robby Ramdin: i was gonna ask the same question
1:24:26 AM Robby Ramdin: robby
1:25:05 AM screenedoutcoho: robby...?
1:25:24 AM Robby Ramdin: from rochester
1:25:26 AM Robby Ramdin: went to tufts
1:25:30 AM Robby Ramdin: who are you?
1:25:41 AM screenedoutcoho: you IMed me
1:26:11 AM Robby Ramdin: when?

1:26:35 AM Robby Ramdin: weird
1:26:59 AM screenedoutcoho:
screenedoutcoho
Fruit flies are yummy. Don't you agree?
stephbaltimore
who's this
screenedoutcoho
i was gonna ask the same question
screenedoutcoho
robby
stephbaltimore
robby...?
screenedoutcoho
from rochester
screenedoutcoho
went to tufts
screenedoutcoho
who are you?
stephbaltimore
you IMed me
screenedoutcoho
when?
stephbaltimore
....just now

1:27:22 AM Robby Ramdin: woah
1:27:30 AM Robby Ramdin: i am not stephbaltimore
1:27:36 AM Robby Ramdin: i am mfounder
1:28:03 AM screenedoutcoho: this keeps happening to me. ugh?
1:29:14 AM Robby Ramdin: i wonder why
1:29:23 AM Robby Ramdin: thats weird
1:29:33 AM Robby Ramdin: its like old phones when lines used to be crossed
1:29:51 AM screenedoutcoho: i'm googling it right now. apparently its some aim bot
1:30:41 AM Robby Ramdin: stephbaltimore is?
1:31:00 AM screenedoutcoho: no that's my name, screenedoutcoho is
1:31:05 AM Robby Ramdin: ohh
1:31:45 AM screenedoutcoho: i'm not sure how it happens, you're the first person that wasn't a complete jerk about the situation? i thought someone was playing a prank on me
1:31:50 AM screenedoutcoho: now i know its jsut some bot
1:31:58 AM Robby Ramdin: yeah
1:32:09 AM Robby Ramdin: cool idea by whoever set it up
1:32:17 AM Robby Ramdin: cute social experiment of sorts
1:32:29 AM screenedoutcoho: perhaps
1:32:33 AM screenedoutcoho: was making me paranoid
1:33:19 AM Robby Ramdin: woah the internet is so creepy
1:33:32 AM Robby Ramdin: its like we have this random conversation
1:34:04 AM Robby Ramdin: i google stephbaltimore
1:34:47 AM Robby Ramdin: and there are like infinity hits
1:35:07 AM Robby Ramdin: although i guess thats common enough of a name...
1:35:26 AM screenedoutcoho: that's my 'name'
1:35:35 AM screenedoutcoho: if you type "$optout" you can stop it from happening
1:35:40 AM Robby Ramdin: right
1:35:44 AM Robby Ramdin: ahh cool
1:35:46 AM Robby Ramdin: $optout
1:35:47 AM screenedoutcoho: OPERATOR: Are you sure you want to opt-out? If you do, you will *never* be contacted again on the account "mfounder". There is *no way* to opt back in and undo this. If you are sure, type "$optout 242F". Remember, this is permanent and irreversible!
1:36:34 AM Robby Ramdin: opting out
1:36:52 AM Robby Ramdin: nice to...meet you
1:37:16 AM Robby Ramdin: $optout 242F
1:37:16 AM screenedoutcoho: OPERATOR: You have opted out. The accout "mfounder" will *never* be contacted again. Good bye!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Perhaps a facelift is what we need to stimulate posting?

To be perfectly honest, Blogger.com doesn't have much in terms of layout templates to choose from, but I feel like there are 3rd party designers that work exclusively on making blog templates...thoughts?

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The object of my affection

I've decided that my culinary upbringing has warped my taste buds and palette and has rendered me a pariah in the right-of-center professional world I spend most of my time in nowadays.

You see, barring a few school lunches and pizza birthday parties, I spent the first seventeen years of my life eating Indian food. The combination of being a vegetarian and being raised in a household where spaghetti and lo mein were deemed identical twins had really limited the development of my palette. My grandma boasts that my first solid food was hot pepper chutney; I cringe at the thought of a little baby being offered something that high on the Scoville Meter. Indian food, while delicious, isn't exactly the best example of subleties in cooking. The flavors hit you instantaneously. The spices are strong (dare I say pungent?) , the creamy curries and cheeses are indulgent, and if you've ever had gulab jamun or any other indian sweet, you'll soon realize that we don't skimp on the sugar either. No high fructose corn syrup here.

Once college came along, I was introduced to a whole new world of flavors. I tasted my first serving of mashed potatoes, stuffing and other traditional fare. The weird thing about it was that despite being able to taste the nuances in tastes and flavors in all of these foods, I couldn't get myself to appreciate it. My id was pushing me towards dousing everything in tabasco sauce or crushed red peppers. It was uncontrollable. I wouldn't stop until those beautiful tears of hot-sauce induced joy were running down my cheeks, my mouth burning. My favorite beer was a Corona with Lime, not as much for the beer than for the delectable citric acidy goodness of the lime. Instead of walking in on me having sex or worse, my freshman roommate once opened the door to find me taking shots of buffalo sauce. Now that's when I knew I had hit rock bottom.

Since then I've worked to regulate my urges for spicy food. I only ask Boloco for extra hot sauce on the side every other order. I try to participate with co-workers when we order dinner, choosing a baked potato (despite secretly longing for the extra spicy burrito at Cactus Club). I've come to the realization that spicy food, like anything, is an addiction. It's part genetic, part environment, and part will power. And you know what? I'm fine with that. And to that end, I WILL go to Brick Lane in NYC and I WILL eat their super hot curry and I want all of you to be there!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Oh silly conservatives..

Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee on Gay Marriage

Barfights for the idk

So the night started with Pete's gracious invitation to me to be his plus one at Harmonix' holiday party. To spice things up, they were giving out chokers and wristbands with little flashing LEDs on them. Being the champ I am, I took as many as I could get my hands on, and wore them on my neck, wrist, and waist. They also had little decorative sticks that are best described as incense sticks with tinsel-like adornments. Naturally I grabbed as many of these as I could find and wedged them into my fly, creating an out of control pubic hair look.

After we left the Harmonix party, we made our way to Phoenix Landing in Central Square where we met up with Chris, Jake, and Dave. My massively blinking self was quite a hit with the ladies, causing all sorts of trouble. I began wooing them (successfully) in the following form:

Some girl walks up and makes some comment on the flashing things.
I say some ridiculous things about where I got them or why I'm wearing them.
Robby: Hey do you mind if I ask you a personal question?
Girl: Ummm....ok...
Robby: When was the last time you trimmed your pubes?
Girl looks a little taken aback and there is either a short pause or some attempt by the girl to say the right thing.
Robby, pointing at tinsel-ridden groin area: Cause this is 3 months baby

In general a charming little routine...

So after some time, I do the same thing: I ask a girl if she mind if I ask her a personal question, I ask about her pubes. This girl decided that was not OK, freaked out, and hit my glass, breaking it on the floor and spilling my Jagerbomb. She storms off.

A couple minutes later, some guy, who turns out to be her boyfriend, enters the bar and punches Pete in the face, then Jake, then Chris, before he is restrained by the bouncers. The bouncers ask us to leave, and we comply willingly.

The only part of this story I find disturbing is how the girlfriend failed to describe or the boyfriend failed to find the short brown guy in the loud shirt, lit up like a Christmas tree, wearing a red feather boa.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Top Ten Reasons We Haven't Been Blogging

10. We work too much.

9. It turns out that Chris is illiterate and we don't want to embarrass him.

8. Nate actually got caught blogging at work, got castrated and fired, and told everyone that's what will happen to them too.

7. Robby asked Steve to join, at which point rampant homophobia overshadowed our lust for writing.

6. Robby's angry, impulsive posts have intimidated people.

5. Harsha hasn't enabled Pete or Alex with posting privileges.

4. Chris is the only one with anything funny to say.

3. ?????

2. We get in too many bar fights.

1. "1 Comments"

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

fail

I would put this in a comment box, but there are no posts to comment on.