Vacation 3…

...lasted 15 days (from 3rd July 2005 to 18th July 2005). It was more a mixture of a conference and vacation. From the 3rd to the 8th I was in DC attending my first international conference. I had a great time there getting a nice perspective about the work in my field. I got to listen to some brilliant presentations and most interestingly got to see all the big names up close and personal. I also got a very disheartening truth-laid-bare perspective on the kind of work I had done.

Once I was done with the conference I went to Baltimore to meet up with golu and subbu (who had come down for the weekend from Texas) Me and subbu then went to NYC to meet up with prade and zubin and amongst the usual NYC sight seeing we managed to go to a Bryan Adams and Def Leppard concert with Kakkad and some friends. I had never listened to too much Def Leppard except for the usual popular songs but still have to admit they rocked harder than Bryan Adams. Nevertheless Bryan Adams is what he is and he was one of my favorite artists at one point of time. He put up an excellent show and it was gawd! Coming back to Leppard, in case you are unaware, DL’s drummer lost his left arm in an accident a few years back. He wanted to leave the band but the band didn’t let him encouraging him to keep playing with some additional help. The result is that he now uses a acoustic/electric drum kit. He has a standard bass pedal for the acoustic bass drum and the kit are three left pedals, one for the acoustic high-hat and two other for a bass and a snare sound both of which are electrically generated. All the cymbals were acoustic which he played with his right arm.
Why am I telling you all this? Cuz he drummed gawd! The man’s talent and the way he adapted himself are exceptional. Check this out for some pics of his kit.

So neway, concert was great. We went back to Baltimore and subbu left on Monday. I did nothing for a couple of days and took the bus back to NYC on Tuesday night to go hang with kakkad. Tuesday evening in NYC was fun ;).
Met rabbi and his gang from Cornell on wednesday. Had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant which was very good.
Met up with 2 school friends(Vivek and Karthik) I had not seen since 5 and 7 years respectively. It was good fun to catch up!
Princeton was next on the itinerary. Did nothing but relax at Zubin’s house on Thursday and Friday. Received Golu and Prade on Saturday and we all went kayaking which was freaking awesome to say the least. We also played some very nice music at Princeton which from my point of view rocked more than kayaking. 
Nothing significant elapsed after this and by the time I got back home via Baltimore, DC and Memphis!


BTW I opened up a restaurant in NYC. Its on 8th avenue between 53rd and 54th. Drop in if u r in the city and say you are a friend with this picture as proof. They’ll treat you nicely. In true IIT-spirit Ive decided to keep it open 24hrs!



PS: Panda made some very nice chicken curry for me when I was in Baltimore. This means that panda makes chicken not just for girls but for guys too. Hence panda is not CKD. ;)