Reality Equation

What Do You Mean, Happy New Year?

I got a bunch of Happy New Year emails, and it got me thinking. I quote (from an email I wrote to friends):

What am I saying really when I say, “Happy New Year”. Am I saying that I want the new year to be happy? That’s great, but really, I want you to be happy. In… the new year (but not in the middle of the year, gosh no). Or does it mean that I want you to be happy because it’s a new year. Because, you know, it’s new and shiny.

Nevermind, it makes sense now.

What doesn’t make sense, though, is to say, “Have a safe flight”. I mean, “fine, if you say so”. Maybe it’s just me, but I think you really ought to tell the pilot that. Or, more to the point, “fly well”.

See what I did there?

Happy New Year everyone!

Guitar+MacBook Music: Shaurya and I

One of the best parts of visiting family here in Essex, England, apart from the awesome food and conversation, is getting to jam with Shaurya. We used to jam as kids back in Nepal, and after at least three years of not having seen each other, we got to make some music again.

The way things worked back then was that Shaurya, Parag and I would usually play a variety of instruments (sometimes switching among them!) on a selection of The Beatles, CCR and Hendrix songs.

This time around, the only instrument we had was a guitar and our voices. But thanks to the amazing MacBook (with GarageBand 2), we also got  a piano and drums!

Videos of two of our cover jams:

The Beatles – Michelle

Coldplay – Don’t Panic

I’m flying out of the UK early tomorrow out of Gatwick, so it’ll be a while before we’ll be able to jam again. But these videos by themselves have made my UK trip more than worth it.

We’d love to have your comments and feedback. And thanks to all who’ve responded on YouTube, on Facebook and by email!

The Misanthrope with Keira Knightley

I find it’s usually a good idea to pick up a local publication—a newspaper, perhaps, or a magazine—from the destination when you’re traveling.

As I was taking the underground trains from Victoria station to Tottenham Hale, I picked up an abandoned copy of the day’s Metro daily and discovered that a production of ‘The Misanthrope’ was currently being shown at the Comedy Theater. Moreover, and really this is why I noticed, Keira Knightley was a part of the cast!

I was surprised, of course, by this immensely serendipitous order of things. Day one in the UK and already I find a way to be in the same room as Keira Knightley (fine, with five hundred other people, but still). Plus, Molière’s great, right? Right there I had resolved to make Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Molière’s classic ‘Le Misanthrope’ my first West End outing.

Although based on the original French comédie, Crimp’s version is set not in 17th century Paris but in modern-day London and makes plenty of allusions to such modern conveniences as cellphones, motorbikes and even YouTube. While protagonist Alceste retains his original name, Célimène becomes Jennifer (or Jenny the spoilt American superstar), just as other characters have been modified to suit the context.

I’ll say right now, before I get into the details, that I absolutely loved the play. And not just because I managed to get in (to the Royal Circle, no less) for just £15. The dialogue was witty, the acting terrific, and the quick meta-references and pseudo-anachronisms gave the production the extra kick that made it a smart, self-aware, self-mocking, hilarious and entertaining show. Plus, it’s really fun seeing Keira do an American accent; she slips a few times, especially when the dialogue moves really fast, but the accent itself is really funny. But as always, she’s ravishing and her acting’s fantastic.

Damian Lewis is amazing. The entire cast is brilliant, really, but Damian as Alceste absolutely shines. There’s something about the cynical, hyperbolic way in which he delivers his lines that gives him a somewhat comedic yet powerful presence on-stage. The sort of presence you’d expect from, for example, Dr. House. His stubborn disregard for social politesse is just as endearing as it is excessive, and you’ll find yourself rooting for the misunderstood hero of the drama until the very end.

The lines are particularly well-delivered, and I think credit is due to Thea Sharrock for the spot-on direction. Damian Lewis’ lines stand out, but since much of the dialogue was wordplay and, one quickly discovers, rhymed prose, everyone does a great job with delivery.

Sharrock’s modern-day production of Crimp’s modern-day “The Misanthrope” is excellent: witty, contemporary, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. I’m glad I got to see it. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend going!

Now Playing at Comedy Theater on Panton Street, London SW1Y 4DN, until 13th March 2010. More information and tickets on the official The Misanthrope website.

As for how I got in to the Royal Circle for £15, there’s no trick or loophole. Once tickets run out, West End theaters usually sell ’standing tickets’ for a fraction of the total cost. You get to see the play; the only catch is you have to do it standing up.

UK Trip Report: To Harlow, Essex

So here I am, in the UK. In England. In a little town called Harlow in the Essex county. There’s quite a bit of snow (London standards, not very much for Amherst) and I haven’t been out and about a whole lot.

I thought I’d start things off a quite trip report, with pictures and captions laid out  in chronological order.

I met Nicole (another intern at Hampshire College) at Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT, and was surprised to learn that she was taking the same flight to Atlanta (and flying on to California). I was progressively less surprised each time we met another one of the dozen or so Hampshire students at the airport. Was a bit of a party, really.

I was really excited to get on an MD88. I’m sure Delta are phasing these out pretty quickly. Soon we’ll talk about these McDonnell Douglas aircraft in the past tense. Maybe even in the plus-que-parfait! (Oh no!)

But these aircraft are old. It showed. On board flight 1804 en route to Atlanta (ATL), photo by Nicole:

I was apprehensive about my transatlantic flight on Delta’s 777. Memories of my flight with United flight from Sydney earlier in the year with no seat-back entertainment and the five-hour cross-country SFO to IAD flight with no food service (at all, zip!) gave me little reason to believe Delta’s service would deliver. It was my first time flying Delta, but the reviews weren’t encouraging.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad.

There were personal entertainment systems on coach seat backs (about 20 movies, a dozen TV show episodes, music and games), the flight attendants weren’t grumpy at all (on the contrary, they seemed rather cheery) and the food wasn’t particularly bad. They served us dinner and drinks as soon as we took off, then drinks at various intervals, and break fast prior to landing.

Chicken teriyaki dinner:

At around 8am, which was late to begin with given we were supposed to land an hour earlier, the captain tells us that thanks to snow (and quite a lot of it it seemed), the airport was actually closed (yikes!) and that we’d probably have to divert to some other airport. (I later learned that Luton was closed the entire day that day, and it would have had to be Heathrow).

Soon we get word that we will probably be able to land at Gatwick after an hour, when the airport reopened. “We have just about enough fuel to hold on for that amount of time”, the captain assured us.

Finally at 9am or so we touched landed on the blinding whiteness that was Gatwick Airport at 9am on Friday.

Made my way towards passport control at Gatwick:

Took a shuttle to the North terminal, where the trains are:

Decided I was hungry, and bought a croissant and a latte for £2.95 (”le petit dej: un croissant et un café,” read the sign; funny that the first thing I order in the UK happened to be in French):

Eventually reached Victoria Plaza. Decided I wanted lunch and, seeing Oporto (the portuguese-theme Aussie chicken Burger chain from Bondi beach), went for a hot and spicy burger. Previous to this, I bought a cheap Virgin Mobile cellphone for £19.95 (with £10 credit) and set it up as enjoyed meat on bread:

Onwards I traveled, reaching Tottenham Hale station, from where I could take the Northern Express East Anglia line:

Got off at the Harlow Town station. Was past noon by then. Some photos of the station:

More from Essex in the days to come.

Entendu: Final Presentation

I presented a pre-release alpha version of my app Entendu to my UMass iPhone class today. Here’s a video:

I previously posted a video of my presenting a development plan to the class about a month ago.

In 15 Years: Obesity in the US

I poster I made for a class on social messaging, using CDC data comparing obesity rates of adults (20-74 yrs) in the US between 1975 and 2005:

The font sizes (in points) are in scale relative to the percentages they represent. Click on the poster to view a larger version.