Celebrating Sin

As they say, 'Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'.

We went to vegas over the July 4 weekend. Firstly, I find it so surprising that Americans call their Independance day just July-4. It is almost as if by doing that they defrock it off all its importance, all their patriotism, all feelings. Somehow, coming from a country which got its independance only a few decades back, and which is still struggling with its destiny, you are starkly reminded of the "Happy Independance Day" even before the "Good Morning" on August 15. Somehow, it seems like a more natural and a more meaningful way of being gratified by one's independance, than wearing your national flag as your undergarments.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had been to Vegas over the "July 4" weekend. It had been a long and tiring week at work, and here I was, starting my vacation, with not a sparkle but a 20 Kg weight in my eyes. The Vegas air port itself, was a culture shock -- slot machines as soon as you get down from the flight. I was amazed about how desparate people could get over gambling - especially considering the fact that most end up losing money most of the time!

So, we took a shuttle to the hotel (err, a hostel - a hotel would be a fort in comparison), and we found these "booklets" on the seats - something like a city guide. And what a way to make it - on the cover a seductively posed woman with diaphanous apparel -- Cosmopolitan would be a "family" magazine in comparison. We were obviously curious about what lay ahead of us!

After dumping our luggage, we started out tour of the famous Las Vegas Strip, with the hotels - Stratosphere, Circus Circus, Sahara, Alladin, Bellagio, MGM Grand, New York-New York (sic) and lots more. And as you enter most of them -- rows after rows of slot machines, people playing cards, and unique shows called the Cirque de Soleil, which according to me was the best thing around! It is a grand mix of circus and aesthetic choreography! I had been highly recommended this, and even though the charges were steep, I would believe that was money well spent.

We went for a particular show called Zumanity, at New York-New York [I believe that the conscious repetition can be attributed to copyright issues, but I couldn't be sure!] - a very beautifully portrayed union of the sexes. Even though it seems to lean towards the lascivious, I would say that the choreography was in great aesthetic taste - far removed from what people would expect it to be.

However, the way the various hotels have been designed is definitely spell-binding. So, whereas we had a complete microcosm of New York at NY-NY [with a Brooklyn Bridge and a Statue of Liberty!], you had a live tiger in MGM [it actually was walking on the glass portico above us!], you had a completely medieval theme in Alladin, with the ceiling brilliantly blue, with clouds to add to the effect! Everything was so immaculate, so well-designed! It definitely seemed like the place for people who believed in "What is money for? To throw away and get back something good in return." [Quoting verbatim a lady I overheard in a shop].

The next day we went to watch Grand Canyon -- one of the most equisite pieces of natural beauty in the world [I will write about this in some other post], the driver was talking about how he believed that Vegas was the best place on the planet, I just got thinking, how the hell did his children go to school with pimps distributing flyers of saleable girls openly in the streets, and free "Yellow Pages" available every 100 metres! Or perhaps, he had left them to fend for themselves by now...

MIT Weblog Survey 2005

<Tag>Me</Tag>

Well I was tagged long ago, but as usual have been lazy and busy. Well, I am a CS student, ain't I? And most CS students swear by Perl, so here goes!

Three names I go by:

1. $nick1 = "$1$2" if ($name =~ /(\w)\w*\s(\w)\w*\s\w*/) [If that sounds too cryptic, it simply is the initials of the first and middle name]
2. $nick2 = "$1" if ($name =~ /\w*\s\w*\s(\w*)/) [or simply my surname]
3. $nick3 = "kpowerinfinity" (simple!)

Note: Nobody calls me by my name!

Three screen names:

1. $id1 = "$1$2$3" if ($name =~ /(\w)\w*\s(\w\w)\w*\s(\w*)/) [first letter of first name, first two letters of middle name and last name conjoined together]
2. $id2 = "$nick1$surname" [Okay, if you don't like shortcuts $surname = "$1" if ($name =~ /\w*\s\w*\s(\w*)/)]
3. $id3 = "k_power_infinity"

Three things I like about myself:

1. Practical and focussed
2. Am usually in an equilibrium and not a delirium :P
3. Strong reasoning engine which makes up for lack of memory space in my processor.

Three things I don't like about myself:

1. My Shape
2. My poor memory
3. In many cases my equilibrium crosses into phlegmatism (the word probably should have been phlegm but I don't like that because of its "other" meaning)

Three things that scare me:

1. Judgement Day
2. Thought of losing loved ones
3. Bollywood Comedies

Three Essentials:

1. Money
2. Money
3. Money

Three things I like in opposite sex:

1. Vivaciousness [among the ones I have met]
2. Their time management skills [the older ones]
3. Hourglass [let's be honest!]

Three things I want to do badly right now:

1. Bring my internship to a deserving end
2. Get in shape
3. Find out the right answer to the question below

Three careers I am considering right now:

1. Research
2. Become a Software Engineer
3. Entrepreneurship [Will somebody please give me the idea of the next millenium?]

Three places I want to go on vacation:

1. Kashmir
2. Kerala
3. Kolkata [believe it or not its my home town, but well, going to Kolkata is like a vacation now after staying out for so long]

Three kids names I like:

1. Naah ! haven't thought about it!

Three things to do before dying:

1. Appear on the cover of TIME
2. Buy a personal Jet
3. Stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan [even as a guest would do :P]

Three winners who have to take this quiz:

Why only 3 ... let's have a full-on party guys!

1. Sid
2. Shaggy
3. Chirayu
4. Dipanjan
5. Lenin
6. BS
7. Mehak
8. Deep Blue Sea
9. Dipika
10. Princess Riz

5 guys and 5 girls - looks good :-)