My Early Morning Nemesis

During my stint at the Columbia dorms, I had an early morning nemesis....actually I had two....but i'll describe the first one here.

So i'm in peaceful dreamland....zoned out completely....counting the zzz's....
It's Saturday after all.

And suddenly..."BLAAAAWWWWWRRRNNNNNNN"

Jolted awake.

What might that be you ask? That, is the horn of the "Norwegian Dawn"....a ginormous cruise liner which unassumingly sails down the Hudson River before docking at Pier 88 in Midtown Manhattan. My dorm is located on said river and at this area, it's not very wide.

After the rude awakening, I find a river facing window and look out groggily to see the cruise liner fit in very uncomfortably amongst barges and patrol boats.

Anyway...so this was at leasst a monthly ritual....and yesterday...at the Fleet Week, I saw the Norwegian Dawn docked at Pier 88. And lo and behold, the moment I set my eyes on it, it let out another long "BLAAAWWWRRNNNN"....hahahaha!

Here's a picture for you...

Graduation Round-up

Yes, I got my degree!! The pictures are here. The stories are below.

SEAS Class Day - 16th May 2006

The day dawned rainy and gloomy. It was like a cosmic joke. I had butterflies in my stomach and a frown on my face. The ceremony was supposed to be in the afternoon so we held out hope that the skies would clear up eventually. (Did I mention that the parental units made it to the city finally!!! :-) yeah...). Friends stepped in to bring some much needed cheer....and by the time I reached my dorm room to get dressed, I was back to my enthu self. Got ready, took pictures with my buddies Han and Pranay and headed over to the South Field Lawns at Columbia.

Thankfully, during the whole assemnly and procession, the skies were clear!! My dear friends were tuned in to the live broadcast of the ceremony and kept sending me messages over the phone about it. They were sooo adorable!!! :-) Then, just before I got up to go on stage, the skies opened and it started raining....yeah ....i know.....cosmic joke part 2. I apparently ran across stage cos my audience barely registered my presence there. Heh!! Anyway, what do you know....it stopped raining the moment I reached my seat again. If it wasnt for my audience's congratulatory messages and hugs, I would have killed someone. :-) But all in all...It was a very fun ceremony. Caught up with all my CS buddies (...except Han 1....ass went to China).

There was a celebration later at night with a handful of my buddies which led into a late night animal imitation session....dont ask! But....all in all....good times!!! :-)

Columbia University's 252nd Commencement Ceremony

It was a beautiful day! Sunny and warm....hoards of families and students. The SEAS students were handed Rappers to clap with...which was hilarious and so cute!! Zvi Galil, our dean...was worshipped by chants of "Zvi, Zvi, Zvi"....he was ultra coool. Beautiful ceremony and they actually played "Beautiful Day" by U2 immediately after it. :-) I was engulfed by a sense of pride and thankfulness while being conferred the Ivy-League degree. Amazing journey.

The LOOOT!!

The things that make working yourself insane worth it...
- a shiny new iPod Nano gifted by the CS dept at CU.
- some bling from the parental units
- $$$$ from the parental units
- $$$ from my sweet zootopes
- a mystery gift from my best friends....which will be unvealed later today.
- a future gift from my brother....he just doesnt know it yet....ha!

So...

So now the question is....2 months of free time...what all can I fit in? :-) ;-) There will be road trips...oh yes there will....

Love,
Master Amri

Forbidden Love

After months of waiting to see it, I finally watched Brokeback Mountain. I literally just finished watching it and I have tears down my face. It is such a beautiful movie.

As I fumble on my keyboard in the dark, I am surrounded by the intense sadness of a love lost...torn apart by society and personal inhibitions. I dont want to banalize the intensity of the relationship shared by the two men in the movie by describing it more.

But I will say that Ang Lee has directed the movie spectacularly! And of course Jake Gyllenhal and Heath Ledger are a treat to watch. This is the first time that I've enjoyed a movie more than the book it's based on.

Song of the night: "The Wings" by Gustavo Santaolalla on repeat mode.

Oh.My.God

I'M GRADUATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have still not found time to write a proper blog entry ...shocking....I know!!

But...the next time I tune in....I will have a Master of Science in Computer Science from Columbia University.

What can I say now? HELL YESSSSSSSSSSS!

Excuse the excitement....

Love,
Amrita Rajagopal

Hi Again!

So finals are done. I'm stuck in grading and emotional hells right now. So even though there's lots to talk about....I cant bring myself to. But I will leave you with a hilarious but very good video which my friend CK found.

The Evolution of Dance!

Concentration Camp

(Phrase borrowed from Ragure...)

This 6-day Concentration Camp is powered by:

1. Nescafe Instant Coffee
2. Amrita's Best of Led Zeppelin mix
3. Led Zeppelin - 1
4. Led Zeppelin - 2
5. Led Zeppelin - Houses of The Holy
6. Graham Crackers
7. Led Zeppelin - Coda
8. Led Zeppelin - Presence
9. Led Zeppelin - Early Days
10. Led Zeppelin - Latter Days
11. Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door
12. Advil
13. Giant hugs from Tiglu
14. Led Zeppelin - 3
15. Led Zeppelin - 4
16. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
17. Wonderful phonecalls from my friends and family (hint to those who dont call me)
18. Extreme

Over & Out....hope y'all survive without my coolness for the next 6 days....

-Ammu :-)

May Movie Madness

Tribeca state of mind

The extravaganza began with Tropfest on Friday night. As part of the Tribeca Film Festival, this year USA had a mini version of the Australian short film festival. So they screened (for free!!, with free popcorn as well) 16 short films. 8 Tropfest classics and 8 finalists from this year. They were all pretty entertaining. The best part of the whole evening was that the films were screened outdoors on a giant screen, by the Hudson River, overlooking Statue of Liberty and Jersey City on one side and the World Financial Center Towers on the other. Fantastic experience. We froze in the cold...but it was sooo worth it.

At the same venue, The Hip-Hop Project was screened the next night. I was expecting more from that movie frankly. But it was still interesting.

Cutest.Creatures.EVER!

Saturday night...after watching the hip-hop project, we desperately needed a lughter fix. Saw Ice Age 2. It was adorably hilarious. That's the best way to sum it up. We laughed our heads off. Seeing a woolly mammoth dangling upside down from a tree, a sloth leading a cheer ....these two scenes brought me to tears of mirth. Love. Love. Love that movie.

"Black Friday"

(Bollywood movie, Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Special preview screening on Monday at Columbia)

If you were addicted or haunted by the melody of "Bandeh" (by Indian Ocean) before....wait till you see it in the movie itself. Oh. My. God...I was spellbound. No one could move long after the lights came on.

"Black Friday" is a brilliant movie. And thankfully for Anurag Kashyap, it's finally being released in June. It's intense, very intense....gripping...and this was just the release version of <3 hours

Anurag Kashyap is the coolest dude ever....he's so unassuming and down to earth. He was modest enough to be nervous while answering questions. He even casually admitted that most of the scenes in themovie were shot gorilla style and without permissions. Super cool.It's hard to believe that such a chilled out character gave us scripts like Satya and Paanch!

Carry On Please

Thank God for British humor! I love the Carry On series...really silly humor...but sooo good. So thanks to Netflix, I saw Carry On Matron this morning. Funny. Funny. Funny stuff.

Tee Hee Hee...

I am VERY excited about the release of Mission Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code. I also want to watch Akeelah and the Bee, Thank you for smoking and Water.

Yes, in case you're wondering...I am also trying to study for my finals! :P

-Amrita

Songs of the day:
-Album "Brothers in Arms" by Sire Straits
-"Sounds of Silence" by S & G...did you know that the G is a Columbia graduate? awesome!
-Gangster OST
-Album "Nervermind" by Nirvana

To The Max

Wishing you maximum happiness as you celebrate your birthday.

And I present to thee ...the one and only...

...

The Original of The Species

....

The First Pink Helmet!!























Love ya,
~Amri :-)