Undergraduate Kitchen Misadventures or, why I don't have a future in the culinary arts

Now Playing: Garbage - Run Baby Run

I've been trying my hand in the kitchen for the past week or so - and surprisingly, the United Nations has not come a-knockin' at my door to accuse me of creating weapons of mass destruction. You think the billowing black smoke, noxious fumes and screaming civilians would tip someone off, but no - I've been left to brew my broths in peace. (Stir in the witches' spiel from Macbeth, with cackling to taste)

So here's what I've been serving up lately:

• Pasta with seafood sauce (marinara sauce, if you want to get all fancy on me) - this actually came out pretty well, even according to my mother. To be entirely fair, she only said it was good after i went, "how is it how is it tell me tell me its good right don't be mean tell me its good how is it how is it?" ad nauseum ad infinitum.
  
• Pancakes. with blueberries. Yes, I realise it's fairly conventional to add bits of fruit or whatever to pancake mix, but I just discovered this, so humour me, okay? :P
• Beef in black bean sauce - okay, I can't do Chinese food. At all. This was a total unmitigated disaster - a horrible charred mess. The beef took too long to cook, then it charred, and then the gravy disappeared and I was left standing in the shambles that was my kitchen with a smoke alarm going off. I shall stick to restaurant-made chinese food from now on - much easier that way. This week's experiment... Failure. (Anyone gets that reference, you get a blended hot chocolate from Second Cup, my treat :D)
  

Hey, even Nigella Lawson had to start somewhere, right? right?

Hem has decided to quit blogging (again!) - so mourn the passing of one of the better blogs on the block.

And that's it for me. Ta.

Ennui - or the lack thereof -

Now Playing: The Dandy Warhols - The Last High

So, Hem & Vince both redesigned their blogs recently, which prompted me to try and redesign my own slice of the information superhighway. Attempting to redo a website sans any real HTML knowledge? fun, fun, fun. The fact that you are looking at the same old, scratch that, classic, look, should clue you in to the fact that the redesign was unsucessful. I was going for a stark, b&w look, featuring Uryuu Ishida from Bleach. It kinda worked, but not quite - so until I get with the program and learn HTML, the tried and tested look will have to do.

Uryuu who, you ask? That would be this guy -

- just so you know. (All images from the bleach_icons lj community)

And now to present a scene from chez abacus -

Me: You know, I think there's something wrong with my memory! My ability to recall details is totally deteriorating. *shudder*
Brother: Hm. That is funny. I mean, normally, you can remember the most useless details. Something must be wrong with you. Really, really wrong.
Me: Why are you smiling like that?
Brother: No reason. (starts humming "How do you solve a problem like Maria")
Me: That'll teach me to look to you for reassurance! Kung Fu Kidney Jab Of Doom!
Brother: owww.
Me: Ahhh, now I feel better.

Anyway, summer is almost over, and this time, it went by too fast for my liking; none of the usual summer's end ennui, possibly because I actually kept busy this time. I actually worked, for the first time in my life, and it was a job I really enjoyed - being the Verbal Reasoning instructor for students taking the Princeton Review MCAT prep course. Teaching was, for me, a totally new experience - fun, but also entirely nervewracking. I managed to convince myself that every murmur and whisper in class was caused by there being something on my face (in a spectacular display of my customary self-absorption) - which meant I spent much of the class time in an agony of wondering what was wrong with my dress/disposition/face/whatever. Other than that, it was an entirely edifying experience - I now have oodles of respect for anyone who's in any kind of teaching position, and I'll never be able to talk in class ever again.

I finally bought the creative zen - blue, 5 GB - and have named it Fluffy.

Also, no takers for the Interpol concert. Why, oh why, did they have to play on a Wednesday?

Movies seen recently -

• Main Pyar Kyun Kiya: It's good for a David Dhawan movie - Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen are both funny, as is Arshad Warsi in a small role, but Katrina Kaif can't act. Gah.
• Kya Kool Hai Hum: Chock-full of what us Indians refer to as "non-veg" jokes, but still, the funniest movie I've seen in a long while. However, if you can't take really juvenile humour, this isn't the movie for you. Ritesh Deshmukh, Isha Koppikar & Anupam Kher are the standouts in an awesome comedic ensemble.
• Kisna: A good movie, but marred by the 3-hour rule that hindi movies seem to consider sancrosanct. If it had clocked in at two hours or so, it would have been a good movie, but it just kept going and going - like the energizer bunny, except in a bad way. The end result of too much of a good thing (ie - Vivek Oberoi) in this case, is mediocrity.
  

Now off. Ta!

Hearts of Foam and Other Trivial Things...

Now Playing: Parineeta - Piyu Bole

So, I went to the Hot & Spicy Food Festival at the Harbourfront centre yesterday with Julia, Linda, Mimmie & Stephanie. The food was great - I had a nice and spicy jerk chicken roti - and the International Marketplace they have there is always a great place to browse. Anyway, we got seats in front of the CIBC stage, and waited for the live entertainment to begin, & the first artist to perform was this beat poet whose name escapes me utterly. At any rate, she was pretty good, although very angry - "You think I'm Pavlov's Dog/ Well just ring that bell, motherf***er!" Anyway, one of her (other) songs had the lyric, "If my heart was made of foam, it would shatter..." - and so I remark to Steph and Julia, "Argh, that metaphor doesn't hold up! Foam can't shatter!!!" to which they replied, "What foam? She said 'bone'!" - and suddenly the song made a lot more sense. :D

OMG INTERPOL IS IN TORONTO FOR A CONCERT SEPTEMBER 28TH WHO WANTS TO GO WITH ME??? Okay, I love this band, and I really want to go see them - but I really think I'm the only person who listens to their music (that I know), and I don't want to go by myself! :'( So leave me a comment if you're up for a night of awesome indie rock. :D

If anyone has a copy of the song "Ek Pal ki Zindagi" (literally, life lasts only for a moment) from the movie D, please, please let me know. D is an awesome movie describing the rise to uber-don status of the eponymous Deshu ("D for Deshu" - as the opening monologue puts it) . D is meant to be the prologue to Ram Gopal Varma's 2002 film Company, in which Ajay Devgan played mob boss Mallik. I guess Ajay Devgan wasn't available to do the prequel, so they got a new actor, and renamed the character. In any case, it's not a perfect movie by any means - the very fact that it is a prequel removes most of the dramatic tension surrounding Deshu's fate - but it is very well done.

A scene that really impressed me came near the beginning, when Deshu (played by Randeep Hooda) has just returned to Bombay from Dubai because of the death of his mother. At this point, I need to explain that the trains in India generally don't have doors that open and close at each station, and also that trains that run within the city of Bombay itself and the immediate suburbs, stopping at every stop, are called local trains. So, Deshu's riding a local train at night; the compartment is mostly empty - and then, of a sudden, he hears a sudden scream behind him, startling him as much as it does the audience. He goes to investigate, and sees some rough looking guys, but no direct signs of a struggle, nor of the screamer. The camera pans over everyone in the compartment, all looking as though nothing at all had happened, and back to Deshu, who slowly realizes he's not going to get any answers... and he walks back to his old spot.

Also watched recently:

• Parineeta - well made, well acted, but the ridiculous wall-breaking scene at the end was a jarringly sour note in an otherwise note-perfect film.
• Bunty aur Babli - entertaining, but not very rewatchable, I'd think. I did crack up when Rani Mukherjee's Babli said of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan's characters, "tum shakal se rishtedar lagte ho!" ("From your faces, you seem to be related") Also of note - the Taj Mahal Sale bit was a total riot - the actor playing the "American" was absolutely hilarious!
  
• Morning Raga - the only redeeming factor was Shabana Azmi's performance as a Carnatic singer traumatized by the deaths of her son and her best friend in an accident - and even that was diminished by the all too obvious fact that Shabana Azmi does not look remotely south Indian, which is what her character is supposed to be. Nevertheless, the performance was note perfect, down to the way she had her hair done, and the way she wore her sari.
• Elaan - if a movie has John Abraham, Arjun Rampal and Rahul Khanna, and I still don't like it? it's a really, really stupid movie.
  

And now off. Have a great long weekend!

PS - got a haircut. now i look like the cookie monster. :S Atleast Megha will be happy. :D

Edited to add -

Your brain: 40% interpersonal, 80% visual, 180% verbal, and 100% mathematical!

Congratulations on being 400% smart! Actually, on my test, everyone is. The above score breaks down what kind of thinking you most enjoy doing. A score above 100% means you use that kind of thinking more than average, and a score below 100% means you use it less. It says nothing about how good you are at any one, just how interested you are in each, relatively. A substantial difference in scores between two people means, conclusively, that they are different kinds of thinkers. Matching Summary: Each of us has different tastes. Still, I offer the following advice, which I think is obvious: Don't date someone if your interpersonal percentages differ by more than 80%. Don't be friends with someone if your verbal percentages differ by more than 100%. Don't have sex with someone if their math percentage is over 200%.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 28% on interpersonal You scored higher than 39% on visual You scored higher than 92% on verbal You scored higher than 69% on mathematical

Link: The 4-Variable IQ Test written by chriscoyne on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Okay, so my interpersonal & visual skills suck - dude, I knew that much already! :D

Act of horrific violence averted! Acts of terrific euphoria committed!

Now Playing: Yuki Kajiura - A Song of Storm and Fire

[Warning: Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]

Got my hands on the book last night at 10, evaded my brother who was clearly dying to talk about it, ensconsced myself in a comfy chair & read till 1 am this morning.

The jury has reached a verdict. On the charge of being the best book in the series, we find the defendant, Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, totally and utterly guilty! It is moving and utterly absorbing - and I cannot wait for the next (and unfortunately, the last) one in the series. Rowling has got the hang of it again - after Goblet of Fire, which was pretty good, but not stellar, and the utterly meh Order of the Phoenix, this is an utterly welcome changed.

And now on to points plot-related. I am willing to bet good money that R.A.B. = Regulus Black - Sirius' brother, who joined the Death Eaters & subsequently betrayed them and was killed by Voldy. The Horcruxes, therefore, are probably right under Harry's nose at 12 Grimmauld Place!!!

Snape is a triple-agent. Come on, Dumbledore would never plead for his life! And remember Snape was arguing with Dumbledore that he didn't want to do it anymore, and Dumbledore told him to stick to the plan, since he'd agreed... And why would Snape react so violently to Harry calling him a coward unless he was a good guy??? I can't wait for the movie version of this book - Rickman is going to blow us all away.

Harry & Ginny? Cute, but not as cute as Ron & Hermione. The end of the book does turn into a bit of a let's-pair-everyone-up-fest, but it's still cute. Oh, and Sensitive!Draco??? Comedy gold, and better than stepping-on-people's-faces!Draco. And, and, and the fake-ron-death-scene??? Best red herring ever! and, and, and, there was no Voldemort!!! Same as in book 3!

*explodes*

In other news - Blackadder the Third is of the very, very funny. Especially hilarious was my Mum watching, and not being able to recognize Hugh Laurie -

Me (pointing to Prince George, HL's character): So, does this guy look familiar?
Mum: No...
Me: Try again! Concentrate!
Mum: Not ringing any bells...
Me: Argh! It's the guy from House!!!
Mum: Oh... Can you imagine that?
Me: Ugh. Nevermind.
Mum: You sure it's the same guy?
Me: Yes.
Mum: Wow.

And atleast Derek agrees with me that this weather is awful. Solidarity, comrade! Hem, we had air-conditioning everywhere in the UAE - not the case here, where people have to pay their own electricity bills.

Re - the accent - et tu, Hem? Nyan Caesar pole veeyum! :P

Ciao!

To commit an act of horrific violence? Or not?

Now Playing: Black-Eyed Peas - Don't Phunk With My Heart

[Warning - Spoilers for Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix]

So, my brother sits not five feet away, reading Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. He is reading at an excruciatingly slow pace. I don't know - maybe we're stuck in a localized time dilation - the point remains, my patience is wearing ever thinner as the clock ticks on. So - do I knock him over the head with a conveniently placed plant pot, grab the book and run? I mean, I'm a fast reader, I could definitely finish the book before the cops came for me. It'd be totally worth it, right?

On a more serious, less murderous note - I am studiously avoiding any hint of spoilers for this book even to the point of avoiding msn conversations with fellow Pottermaniacs. Why? When Order of the Phoenix came out, everyone knew that Rowling was going to kill off a character. So, I'm talking to Rishi - who declares, point blank, that Sirius Black will be the one to die. Is he talking out his rear end? yup. Unfortunately, the idea stuck in my head to the point that I wasn't even surprised when Sirius eventually bought the farm. DAMN YOU, RISHI!!! :D So this time, there will be no speculation for me.

If you're here and you do not share in the Pottermania, you may want to look Mary & Derek up. Way back when (Biome1, i think?) , there was much debate over whether Pottermania was bigger than Beatlemania (I said HELL yes!) , and whether the HP books were indeed worthy of all the hype (again, I said yes). For dissenting opinions, you'll want to talk to them.

It has finally rained in Toronto. This past week, we have been baking (fine, not literally!) with temperatures reaching 35 degrees. It has been pointed out to me that I should be less affected by this sort of weather, given that I come from what is, after all, a tropical country, and that I've spent most of my life to date in a desert country. Logically, I suppose that makes sense - but since when have I been logical? Acclimatized or not, all I know is that I cannot function in this sort of weather. I stumble, I slouch, I wilt - and the situation is made especially funny when I see people like Stephen who walk about in long sleeved, button-down BLACK shirt ensembles - and still remain unaffected by the heat. They're cyborgs, I tells ya!

The Emmy nominations were announced this past week - and Veronica Mars was ignored! C'mon, not even a writing nod? Or music? Atleast Hugh Laurie was nominated for House, and "3 Stories" got a nod for writing. It would have been awesome if Robert Sean Leonard got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor though.

Personal Rant - Okay, people. I do NOT have a British accent. It's Indian by way of Dubai, with a hint of Canadian thrown in!!! not, not, not, NOT British! GAH! (okay. done now.)

Okay, done now.

PS - Update on Brother's HP6 progress - still not done. [Homer Simpson] Urge to kill rising... [/Homer Simpson]

... till next time.