Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Sparkling Tower


As can be surmised from the infrequent posting on here, I haven't had much time (or energy) to post much. So here's more filler for ya :)

This shot is obviously of the Eiffel Tower (the real one, not the one in Vegas). We took a short trip there last December and this is one of my favorite shots from our few days in Paris...it pays off to have a pocket tripod even when you're too cold to really setup equipment! The lights are actually strobe lights which flash on the hour during the evenings. I don't know if they're on throughout the year or just during the holidays, but they're quite a sight, near or far. This is a time lapse shot of 1/2 second.

Anyways, enjoy this until I can find time to write something insightful :)

Posted by Hello

Friday, November 19, 2004

Place in History

For all of us Seinfeld fans, here's a reason to go the Smithsonian.

That is all.

Oh...I know I've been relatively quiet (except for my outburst of earlier this week) since before the election. I've actually been rather consumed with work and an elections analysis which Young India is going to be publishing in the near future. Too late for an elections analysis, you say? Well, safe to say that most of the publication does not focus on the election results themsleves, rather it is focused on where to go from here. This is just a teaser, I'll provide links to the online version of the publication once it's ready for public consumption.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Walk quickly and look away

Ok, so I vowed not to write about Quixtar and multi-level marketing any more, but you know what?

Fuck 'em!

Fuck 'em all!

Before I move on, let me just say that I'm rarely driven to ranting in this space. Also, I never thought I'd see the day where I wish that Indians I walk by would just walk quickly and look away from me. But fuck it. All this desi-pride? Fuck it.

My wife and I were at Wal-mart last night (again). We've found it's just simpler to go later since it's less crowded and generally less insane. So cut to the repeated possibility/fear/annoyance of being accosted by the lame networking of Quixtar wanna-be's.

Since I last wrote about this subject, I've had near-accostings (yes, I can make up words, thank you). I'll be looking at something simple like light bulbs and some random Indian dude will ask me which bulb is good. Huh? Which bulb is good?!? The one that should fucking go off in your head every time you ask dumbfuck questions trying to get a conversation going! Or I'll be looking at shampoo and another Indian dumbass will ask me what type of shampoo I'm looking for. The one I can squeeze in your eyes to make you cry while I yell at you fool! Or I'll just be standing around and somebody walks by, slows down, and says Hi from 20 feet away.

If you haven't surmised yet, we had another encounter last night. This time, my wife had to deal with the pain of shooing these gnats away. Every technique one can use to nicely indicate to someone that you're not interested was used. None of them worked. None. My wife only got away from this woman by giving her email address. Even then, the woman and her husband started following up and "shopping" in the same areas that we were. And now I'm sure she'll have to deal with multiple emails from this woman asking to meet up for coffee, chai, chaat, gup-shup, whatever. But it has to be at our house and only for 15 minutes. Thank God (err Yahoo!) for "Block"

By the way, this is not a comment about Quixtar the company. I personally believe it's all a sham, but this rant isn't about the company or the likelihood of making money. It's about the "networking" that goes on in the attempts to drum up business and downstream sign-ups. I don't know if the Quixtar materials recommend this sort of annoying behavior or if it's just something bred into brown people in the Bay Area...all I know is that it ain't helping the cause. More saddening is that I'm unwilling to even smile at another Indian while shopping.

White? You get a smile. Black? You get a smile. Filipino? You get a smile. Hispanic? You get a smile. Indian which a child a tow? You get a smile and your child gets a silly face.

Mid-to-Late 30's Indian either alone or with your wife looking around for the next gullible desi? As Tupac would say...Fuck you and yo muthfuckin mama!

Call me a racist, if you will, but this is what it's come to! I'm sick and tired of having to deal with this shit every time I need socks or soap!

So here are some tips to all of you Quixtar/BWW folks when stalking the over-crowded paths at Wal-mart. And no, I'm not just mad at the idea of Quixtar and people running their own business. I'm mad at them thinking that every person needs to be saved with the Quixtar method of getting rich and moreover, saved in the most conniving, annoying, foolhardy way possible:
  1. If you see a desi walking nearby, the chances are highly likely that he or she is already part of Quixtar, is in the process of becoming a Quixtar-ian, or much more likely, has been propositioned/confronted and has run out of ways to say "not interested" in a nice way. Given these facts...just keep walking.
  2. Don't try to break the ice by mentioning how nice my wife's "Hair Lights" look or how I have a British accent. Understand this: They're Highlights and I'm not British. Just keep walking.
  3. Just because I answer your dumb question about whatever I'm looking at, doesn't mean I want to talk to you. Yes, I like to be nice and I try to be nice, but here's a hint...anytime you get one word answers, that's an indication that the person doesn't care to talk more. Another hint: Any time someone looks away while giving one word answers, that's an indication that the person is ready to grab the nearest item and bash you on the head with it. Given these actions, just keep walking.
  4. If someone you're talking to says "Sorry, I'm not interested" it means just that. I don't care to learn more. I don't care to meet up for coffee. I don't care to talk about a great business opportunity. I don't care! Just keep walking.
  5. If I make up some lame story about why I don't have a phone number, just walk away. I'm doing it to try and be nice. I'd really just love to wear a t-shirt that says "Fuck Quixtar-ians", but I'd get thrown out of Wal-mart. Instead, I have to make up lame excuses about why I don't want to meet up with you. Just deal with it and keep walking.

I could go on and on with this, but I think you all get the idea. Please, just move on and let us live in peace. I don't want to save 30% on my toiletries. I don't want to make my money work for me. I don't want to sign up for a business where I need to stalk shoppers at the local discount store just to ring up some business.

I just want socks.

Please, let me buy my socks in peace.

More importantly, please let me feel comfortable smiling at desis I pass in the store. I don't like walking quickly and looking away. I did enough of that in college when I didn't want to associate with the Indians on campus. I'm past that stage in life and am happy to have friends both Indian and non-Indian. It's as simple as that. Can you please help me out?

Please?

Good. Now go fuck off!!

Monday, November 08, 2004

Tempering the arugment

After my flurry of posts leading up the election it's been almost a week since the eventful day and this is my first post since then! Rather than just rant or speculate I wanted to give the results some time to sink in before saying anything. Why? Mainly because I wasn't really sure what to think. But the thing is, I still don't know what to think. But in the past week, I must say that I've been tempering my concerns, mainly because I think the power of democracy, freely available information, and a robust political dialogue will prevent the nation from lurching far to the right like many people fear.

So let's leave the discussion about the nation moving right and evangelicals taking over. For right now, the fundamental hope I have is that parties demostrate to the public why they exist. Specifically for the Democratic Party, the leadership needs to communicate to the nation as whole (not just it's "base") what they stand for and where they will lead the nation. The argument that they must counter the GOP is not good enough to regain or maintain leadership positions.

Half of the argument for voting for Kerry was that he's not Bush. Well, it clearly wasn't enough. And the argument cannot come down to a single candidate. The argument must be focused on the party as a whole. Afterall, if people cannot believe in the fundamental platform, why should thye believe in candidates who come and go? The GOP is setting itself up for long term leadership and the Democratic Party should do the same. True, one should not simply vote by party affiliation, but I think a lot of voting comes down to believing in the overall set of ideas a party brings to the table. The specific candidate must then show what more he or she brings to the table to enhace that platform and policy ideas of the party in general.

Anyways, it's a tough task. Just ask leaders of the Indian National Congress. The Democratic Party is in a similar situation to that which the INC found itself after a resounding loss to the BJP in the 90's. It took the INC a decade to recover from that and communicate its identity in a believable manner. The INC chose to stay ground on its platform (which I believe was the right way to go), but it still took a long time to find the right way to relay that platform message.

I'm interested to see where the Democratic Party goes from here. I believe they should stand firm on overall principles, but in doing so, they must demostrate that those principals are closer to the heart of the American public and the concerns of every person. The GOP has taken to that role and message quite well, and it will be a challenge to take that back.

More soon...