Memorable Outings USA- Part 2

 We had a car, and we drove. 

New York city and Niagara. Helped by a couple of cousins who lived up North, we managed a drive to New York City and saw its sights, including the WTC twin towers later destroyed in 9-11. We climbed to the top of one and shot pics too. Traffic in NY is as bad as Bangalore traffic. Liberty Island was also covered, and so was Wall Street.

We also managed Niagara Falls, and saw it from the Canadian side also. Maid of the Mist, a boat ride, also was a nice experience. The town had a lot of Tulips, for some reason. 

Another cross-country trip we made was via Dallas, and Arizona and New Mexico, to Los Angeles (L.A.). A friend showed us the sights including a shabby Hollywood (suburb), the studios-Universal was good, NBC studios so-so because we had seen CNN studios in Atlanta earlier. Disneyland in L.A. is smaller than the Florida one, but Knott's Berry Farm (another amusement park) was nice. We also went to see Spruce Goose, a big plane parked somewhere, and Queen Mary, a cruise liner converted into a Museum. Also a Sea Park with Sea Lions and Dolphins doing shows. 

On the way back, we went to San Antonio, where Anil's uncle lived, and enjoyed a trip to the Riverside Walk with him. We also went to Las Vegas for the first time, and enjoyed losing a little money-we didn't have much as students anyway. The place is electrifying, with Neon and glitter at night, and the casinos are unbelievable. Entertainment shows are great too- later, Alcazar in Pattaya came close.

The Art of the Selfie

 I was used to doing a click with a timer and cable, with the camera on a tripod in the past, when I learnt how to do this. But many years later, the art of the Selfie was something I took a long time to learn. I am still not too comfortable, but then I don't have to click all the time. Some selfies - 

A plane at Mayfair hotel, Bhubaneswar (above), and a long walk at Horton Plains Park, Sri Lanka.

Indore office, with family and with student's family.

Abha and Sheetal against a fantastic backdrop. Mumbai. 

Bangalore, KGA, with Muthu and Vasanti-below

Shraddha, above and Sirisha, below. Mumbai.

Driving Across the USA

I did it twice-once in 1986, and another time in 1990.

 Clemson Football (below) in my abode.

 Bryce Canyon (above) and South Dakota..

 Bonding with Roger Moore (above), and a map of South Carolina we found on an outing.

The first time, it was three of us, my brother Satish and friend Anil were with me. One of us slept at the back, while one of us drove and the second played RJ, changing the cassettes. We would listen to music through the drive (around 600 miles in a day). We took a break at San Antonio (Texas) at Anil's uncle's place, and then at Albuquerque, New Mexico, with some friends. The third or fourth day of driving, we reached Los Angeles. On the way, we stopped at the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest National park, and Las Vegas. Our car's radiator broke up near Las Vegas, and we had to go to a junkyard and replace it.

At L.A., we saw Knotts Berry Farm (an amusement park), with our friend Kiran, and also Disneyland, the NBC studios, Universal Studios etc. which then had the actual car that was used in the TV series Knightrider (it was called KITT, and it talked to the hero-a supercar). This was our first visit to L.A. and we were impressed.

The second time was a more circular trip, up to New York, across to Warren, Ohio (my cousins whom my parents had to meet were in these two places), and then to Detroit where a family friend resided. On the way, we also went up the Sears Tower in Chicago.

Then, it was real wilderness for hundreds of miles until we got to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota with the 4 Presidential faces carved into the mountain, and then to a highlight-the Yellowstone National Park. We rounded off the trip again with L.A. as our last stop (Kiran was there again to welcome us), and then back via Texas.

American Graffiti

Ron Green. He was like a pillar of support in understanding the U.S. university system, and much more. He was also a great friend, and his family had an open invitation to a few of us to go visit them anytime. Even after he had moved out of Clemson, we visited him at Johnson City, Tennessee.

Mike Stahl: My guide for the thesis. A couple of seminar courses I took with him were very useful to me in understanding the subject of strategy, and much more. I developed my thesis proposal too, during one of his courses. He was quick in his reactions, and also accepting you if you made sense.

Chuck McNichols: Taught a lot of the multivariate statistics that I still find useful, and which shaped my textbook later on, on Marketing Research.

Steve Cantrell: An easy-going statistics prof. (yes, there are some), with a Southern accent. He was also instrumental in reviving basic statistics which I had forgotten, mostly.

                                       University football stadium, with my wife and parents.

Leslie Price: A prof. At Lander, she was a great friend. Fun-loving, and sociable. We haven't met after 1991, but my wife and I are still friends with her on facebook, and know her kids through the virtual medium.

 One of our abodes at Clemson (above). A trip to New York (below).

 Las Vegas and Mount Rushmore (above).

 Boating at Table Rock Mountain. and below, a truck I drove from Clemson to Greenwood while moving to my new job.

Happiness or Long Life?

What is your goal? Is it to be happy or to live long? Or something else?

One must try and achieve whatever goal one has. If you want to be the owner of your own island, you have to try and generate wealth so you can own one. Like one of those Bond film villains who all seem to live on an island-could be just a correlation, and not causation! Also, Bond could come and destroy it all, so think carefully.

But the point is, if you want quick money, you can try and trade in something that has the potential to get you there (with the downside being that it may wipe out what you have got)- real estate, stocks, commodities, or any other legal methods of gambling (include Las Vegas trips, and lotteries).

If you want long life, you should not go out on the road, because given our traffic, anyone can kill you in a minute -it's dangerous out there. I can vouch for it-I nearly got killed a few months ago. But seriously, you may have to get into watching what you eat, and exercise (why do I see a frown on your face?) and so on.

If you want to be happy, all you need to do is smile a lot, read funny stuff (Wodehouse, Woody Allen, Bill Bryson, Dave Barry etc..) and generate smiles around you. Sounds easy? Then try it-but only if that's your life goal.

Now You See Me- Film Review

This film is pure magic. Literally and figuratively. It is so engrossing that I did not want to miss a scene. A car chase that seems pointless and stereotyped also turns out to be more than the eye can detect. In fact, the entire movie is full of deception that is hard to catch.

The story is of four magicians who hit the big time with shows in Las Vegas etc., thanks to a billionaire benefactor (played well by Michael Caine). They come up with a jaw-dropping illusion- looting the bank mentioned by an audience member- in Paris! This turns out to be a real robbery, but the magicians have a perfect alibi. They were in Las Vegas at the time! So they can't be booked for the crime.

They go on to perform two more stunts in live shows, one that empties their benefactor's bank account in favour of audience members. The benefator then turns to another magician who has exposed tricks of a guy called Shrike earlier (Morgan Freeman, excellent as always) to stop the Four Horsemen (the magicians) from doing their next trick.

There are run-ins with the FBI duo ( a guy and a girl-French, from Interpol) that keep the suspense up, and the magicians always come up trumps. The secret is revealed at the very end.

Not sure if Dhoom 3 was inspired by this, but could have been- partially. But this one is superbly edited and directed, and a must-see. In my view.

Pics from the Past

At home on a bike, with the wife suitably impressed. Gambling a fortune away (explains my present state) at Vegas, gallivanting on Liberty island, and exploring the four faces of Mount Rushmore with my dad.