On the journey

Today is the super bowl (NFL Football finale) game between Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. I am eagerly waiting for the game to start at 6 PM, after all super bowl is the biggest day in America’s sporting culture. I don’t want to get into much details about the game, as people outside United States are less familiar with the game; or they wonder why it’s called Football when it’s played with hands (I still don’t understand that). Immediately after the game, the winning team boasts new caps and T shirts stating Super Bowl Champs. At first I was surprised how fast they print those, immediately after the game. Later I came to know that those winners gear are printed in advance for both teams. Same with the local newspaper.

There are two sets of boxes, the ones with eventual winners are opened after the game while the other boxes are never opened. I still don’t know what they do with those newspapers with incorrect news of the winner (perhaps send out for recycling), but this morning I came to know about those unopened boxes of T shirts and caps. Check out the video on the fate of those losers gear from MSNBC Network.

I was glad to know that those losers gear are not trashed but used for noble causes. Not champs in USA, but champs elsewhere

Picture Source: Screen shot taken from nfl.com

Finally my coveted vacation has arrived; I am leaving for Nepal tomorrow. I doubt I will have enough time to blog during my brief visit, but after I return back I am sure I will have a lot to share, including my “reverse cultural shock”.

Till then, I am posting an animation that I created using ArcGLOBE software. This video shows my flight plan to Nepal, not anything special. Due to lack of geo-referenced images, I had to capture screenshot of images from Google Earth and then geo-reference them again, resolution of those are very poor. You can generate something like this very easily if you have Google Earth Pro account.

Enjoy the background song “Louisiana Bayou” by ‘Dave Matthews Band’.

The only time I watch television is to view sports or watch news, so I am not into reality TV shows. However, this season I got into two different shows: American Idol and Indian Idol. The first show caught my attention because one of the contestants (Sanjaya Malakar) was making some buzz. Nepalese also have Malakar as a family name so I assumed him to be a Nepali, which he wasn’t. Anyways, after viewing couple of episodes I got addicted to the show and completed the entire season.

Now, a new name was making waves in Indian Idol: Prashant Tamang. He is definitely from Nepalese origin, dwelling in the beautiful hills of Darjeeling. It was a great respite to see that he really has some talents (much more than Sanjaya Malakar), as he was the reason that I got into that show. I was watching the clips of Indian Idol online when I saw one of his performances where he was depicting as Gurkha (Like Actor Pran did in one of the Bolywood movie). Gurkha in India is coined to a watchman unlike in Britain where Gurkha’s represent brave Victoria Cross winners. I was really sad with what he portrayed; I know majority of watchmen working in India are Nepalese but Indians have misconception of what Gurkha’s are really about. Some of my friends who did their college in India were derogatorily referred to as Gurkha (not a brave soldier but watchmen at their house). A close source to Prashant suggested that he was not inclined on doing that act but the Channel (Sony) pressed him. I don’t think Sony Channel intentionally asked him to perform that to harass Nepalese community voting for him, but it should be made clear to them that we are not proud of being labeled just as a watchman.

Coming back to musical aspect of the show, like I mentioned earlier Prashant really has some talents and I have to confess my bias towards him. But still, I don’t think he is the best among the remaining ten finalists. Though I would like him to win, I would also like to encourage all other finalist. May the best one win the Indian Idol III.

Isn’t it funny, a single name motivates you to watch the whole show and ultimately the whole season?

I found this video from my roommate (when I was in Illinois). He got this video from his sister who did her Master’s from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Bangkok. Though I have never been able to figure out what those lyrics mean, it’s a very fun and catchy song to listen. And, the backdrop of Nepal makes this video more interesting.

It’s been weeks that I’m running short of motivation to depict my penmanship. I haven’t traveled anywhere in past month nor have done any thing exciting, besides my household chores, maybe that’s the reason I’m lacking creative ideas to put into words.

I was checking news and found out about the youtube war between the democratic candidates for the 2008 presidential campaign. Although none of the candidates claim their group to be responsible for uploading the videos, they certainly are being significantly affected by it. One good thing though is the videos in youtube will arouse more interest in younger generation, who normally don’t pay much attention to a political campaign.

The first video, the most popular of all, is of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The second video is of Sen. Barack Obama.

The third video is of Sen. John Edwards.