Saturday, April 18, 2009

Chp 236. Gifts from a loving sister


So my
sister who’s a lecturer in UK came and went, like a gust of kamikaze (yes, I just found out Kamikaze originally meant “wind” [or “divine wind” to be more precise] and not suicide squad or Japanese pilot trained in suicide missions).

She arrived at Mumbai 1:00 in the morning, and then left with my Mumbai sister for Mizoram a couple of hours later. So I am currently all alone here while my three sisters are happily reunited after a long time with my folks and nieces at home-sweet-home. Me, I can’t go home because of work

Anyhoo, she brought me a few authentic Arsenal goodies as usual, yay!

Warning: This post is about me becoming a child again

Here’s what she got me this time:


[click on pic for higher resolution]

[Those who are interested, can check out more Arsenal goodies here and here from her previous visits]

So with the new Arsenal key chain, I guess I won’t be needing my current key chain anymore – an authentic Barcelona key chain that she got for me from Camp Nou itself. Hence, I’m giving it away for free. The first Barca fan to comment here* can have it!

Yeah, some of you may be thinking it’s a cheap gimmick. But real Barca fans, just like real Arsenal fans, won’t mind. It’s not one of those cheap knock-offs you find on the roadside. Authentic Barca key chain straight from Camp Nou, FREE!

The cuddly Arsenal bear on the other hand, I’ll keep that away safely until I get a car of my own, and then it will be the first item adorning the dashboard of that car. And no, it doesn’t look gay.

For the Arsenal pen, I don’t need two of them, so I have decided to give one of them to Amos, one of my closest friends, my ex-roomie from Bangalore and another HARDCORE gunners fan. I thought of all the chicas who might want this pen and the chances of (possibly & hopefully) “scoring” had I given it to them… but then again, as a true football fan, women suddenly occupied the lower rung of a ladder (this is one of those “once in a blue moon” moments) Hence the person who deserves it the most would be Amos. Cheers bro!

As I type this, Arsenal is leading Chelsea 1-0 into the 30th minute of the FA Cup Semi Finals. Spoke to Amos just now too, and I will head home from office as soon as I post this to watch the rest of the match. Hope Arse wins! Hehehe.



And here is the gift I treasured the most, something that I’ve been asking my sister to get me for the past 2-3 years.



The complete collection of “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister” series! Wooohooo. One of my favorite all time British comedies, along with “Mind your language”, “Carry on…” series and “Allo Allo”, YM and YPM score extremely high on my list of satirical comedies that I can watch over and over again

The chemistry between James Hacker, Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley is purely magical and brilliant. The series is something that sooo applies here in our Indian system where we see frequent clashes between civil servants (bureaucracy) and the politicians. Having a few IAS and IRS friends who tell me over and over again about their frustrations with the politicos makes this series even more hilarious! War of the Babus. Lolz!


But Bummer.

I just found out I couldn’t watch any of them here in India. Two hours of “Google researching” later, I realized it’s because of this stupid Regional setting that prevented me from watching this £75 collector’s item on my DVD player and PC.

What a waste of good money. Eff you, Corporates. No wonder piracy is so prevalent.

I couldn’t watch it because we’re in India – DVD regional setting 5, whereas the DVD my sister got for me is viewable only at Region 2 [Europe, Japan, Middle East and South Africa]. My DVD player is not “region free”, and neither is my DVD drive.


[source: remoteselector.com ]

Find out if your DVD drive is region protected or not: remoteselector.com and install/run this software: Drive Region Info V2.2

Here is what I got:



But thanx to Google, I found this link: Mark Salloway’s Windows XP which told me to install DVD Genie 4.10 and PowerDVD [17MB]

I ran DVD Genie first, setting my region to 2, and when I ran PowerDVD after that, it got “confused” and assumed I’m in Region 2 so it played the DVD!

I guess this method is much better than changing your DVD regional settings physically, something that you can do only 4-5 times after which your drive will be permanently LOCKED to the last settings you’ve set.

Here is the warning I saw at every site I visited regarding this issue:

Patching your firmware with an unofficial or hacked version can potentially destroy your drive and render it useless. It will also invalidate your manufacturer’s warranty.


Seriously, corporates sux!

Anyway, our Tech head – the one and only Vulturo said he will rip all the DVDs for me so that I can burn them on a DVD and watch them from the cool comfort of home – Great surround sound system + bean bag + wearing just my boxers + port wine from my previous Goa trip + undisturbed tranquility.


Apart from this, my sis got me this exotic Scorpion Vodka! There’s a real scorpion (dead of course) inside!!!



This is weird! And of course I’m sure many of you are thinking, “There are worms in a tequila so this is possible.” Well, let me ask you this: Have YOU seen the infamous tequila worm with your OWN eyes? Isn’t it amazing that you always know someone who has seen the worm, but it has never been you? Well here is the low down on this – your friend is probably (99.9%) lying if he or she says she’s seen the worm, especially in the tequilas that we get here in India. Too tired to explain about this here, please google.

Anyhoo, the bottle of Scorpion Vodka led me to their homepage: www.edible.com and I discovered a lot of interesting products ranging from green crocodile curry to monkey-picked tea leaves! There’s also an oven-baked tarantula, chocolate covered giant ants, thai curry crickets, giant hornet dipped in honey and many more, each costing around £3

The scorpion vodka comes under the category “APHRODISIAC”! lolz. Now where shall I go after I drink this bottle *EVIL GRIN*

Jokes apart, I don’t think I’ll have the guts to drink this. Better left as a showcase on my table, what say?

Cheers!

* Barca key chain - Terms and Conditions apply Do know that I am giving it away for free, meaning I will be paying for postage/courier. Hence, Mumbai people are preferred over other locations… (ie, if anybody’s interested at all. lolz.)


44 comments:

  1. wtf! You actually had a Barcelona keychain with you? TRAITOR!! You dont deserve to own ANY Arsenal goodies. Plis send them ALL to me. Speaking abt Sending.. How am I to get this Arsenal Pen you have graciously gifted me?
    as i type this its 1-1 between Arsenal and Chelsea :( .Fabianski has been terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Kima : かわいい (Cute), Kaze means wind indeed. Most of those guys were just regular university students though so I am not sure about the divinity party. Nice gifts. I hate region coded DVDs as well so I have made my TV's DVD player region free as well. Oh and if you have liked Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister you should watch "The New Statesman" as well I am sure you would love it. Ask your sister for it the next time around she arrives from the UK.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have loved a gift like that... if only i wasnt a bigger fan of reds...

    lets see who gets it...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow..van vannei ve. Congrats ! :-)

    Hetah pawh hian Snake Wine te pawh a awm. Ka in chhin tawh, tak tha taka ni.

    By the way, I'm a BIG Big fan of Barcelona...SO ..?:-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, I confess I skipped all the Arsenal bits, i.e. the major part of the post, because I'm a ignoramus at games.

    But 3 sisters, wow, you are one lucky man. Wish you could have gone home for the family reunion.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You guys need a decent GK and one more solid Centre-back - we played pretty shit and atill managed to beat you :)

    Just do us a favour and turn over Pool and the FILTHY Mancs!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bro, lucky you, Arsenal booo :). I woder wen are you going to let go of your love for some fancy label of alcohol content drinks eh!. Dvd regiin free kha awm thin kha mawle. Tak2 in Khang thilpek hlu tak tak te kha ruahthamloh hlimthla, nun a hriat reng tlak a nih kha mawle. Duhsaktu duhsakna tluka thil hlu a awm nem le. Unaunu neih ve hi ka chak leh thin :). Lucky guy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chelsea 2-1; I didn't want to say this but to a neutral it must have looked like Men against boys. You have a chance to grow up though; Arsene's tomorrow never comes, or so it seems. We may have the right to say a few things, but we know it is GUUS to restrain ourselves, so we do now.

    Enjoy the kit, whatever! It's Arsenal's, isn't it? What are you going to use them for anyway?

    LOL

    ReplyDelete
  9. When I first read the free key chain offer the first thought that came to me was "what are the terms and conditions", and sure enough on a closer look I noticed the asterisk and on scrolling down there it was, the T&C. Great publicity gimmick, I'd say :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dude, you are one lucky guy. My graduate student poverty is forcing me to buy plain white shirts only. :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Mos: lolz... Of course if I had an Arse key chain then, I would have proudly sported it. But since I didn't have that, I accepted the next best thing. I would have proudly sported a Liverpool key chain too in the absence of an Arse key chain. Any key chain, except for a Manure Key chain of course! I would rather die first, than carry a Manure key chain.

    Will send the pen with the first person I know who's coming to B'lore.


    @ Odzer: I will definitely check out "The New Statesman". Thanks for the tip-off.

    The divine part, I read about it somewhere, something to do with a wind that protected the Japs from the marauding Mongol hordes.

    Here's what Bhas replied on twitter: "@Mizohican: the japs called the storm which sunk or blew off course ghengis khan's armada which was to invade japan kamikaze,or divine wind"


    @ Shikari: Reds are one of my fav teams too. But in terms of being a fan, I'm a loyal Gunners, for more than 10 years now :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. @ Sekibuhchhuak: hehehe... You have any idea how many checkings the key chain will go through if I send it to China? :)


    @ Banno: Lucky indeed, but sometimes its a bit difficult maturing, if you know what I mean. The main criticism I get is that I'm spoilt, and I try very hard to get rid of this image... :-(


    @ Conrad: Ah finally, a Blues fan :) Thank God you're not a Manure fan!!! Yeah, Fabianski sucked big time and our main defense are out injured - I have to agree you guys really deserved that victory. Let Almunia and the others come back, and we'll see then :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. @ Vana: Thank you bro, yeah its indeed fortunate of me to have such amazing sisters. About the DVD player, my friends told me that we should have asked for a region free player that are available everywhere when we bought our new DVD player (barely a month ago). Aaaargh, if only I knew back then! :-(


    @ incognito: It was indeed a match between men and boys. And the men won, and that too a truly deserving win. Trust me, when you hear an Arsenal fan says this, it's indeed a deserving win :) And yes, I have noticed the sarcasm in your comment :-P


    @ Aduhi: I'm in Advertising. Do you think I'll ever miss out on the Terms and Conditions? lolzzz.


    @ Vikram: awweee... now you're filling me with guilt, bro. But then, back when I was a graduate, I couldn't afford the things I have now either :) Work hard and the rewards are a plenty :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. LOL!!!
    How cute... :)
    Only sisters can think of such nice and thoughtful gifts! :P

    ReplyDelete
  15. @ Kima : Oh yeah, suicide is not such a big deal in Japan as it is made out to be in the rest of the world. I mean if you want to bump yourself off, it is not so frowned upon. Although I think the western barbarians sort of misunderstand that culture to the extent that they still think that Japan has Samurai's going around waving their swords. So well "the divine winds" may have saved Japan from the Mongols. The boys who had to go on the suicide missions were not under many illusions and some of them have written rather bitter last letters about their own government. Here is an interesting link "http://www.geocities.jp/kamikazes_site_e/isyo.html". Oh and I hope you do a blog about the eating of the scorpion. Till date the most interesting thing I have had with my drinks is marinated and dried sting ray. Oh and then there was the horse meat sashimi...

    ReplyDelete
  16. I remember not being able to play the Lord of the Rings DVDs on my computer. I think I should try this!

    ReplyDelete
  17. @ Pixie: hehehe... here's to all the sisters around the globe. Cheers! :-)


    @ Odzer: Haven't had anything that "exotic" but tomorrow being my birthday, I am extremely tempted to try this out. lolz. I read an interesting article about why the Japanese progressed ahead of others, and it is because of the fear of failure. "Harakiri" was just a way of dealing with that failure, and suicide as such is not practiced contrary to popular beliefs. In fact, the Kamikaze pilots drove their planes to the battleships, ONLY after they were shot down or out of ammunition. They didn't blindly dove down just like that. And thanx for that mail :-)


    @ Claytonia Vices: Do let me know if it works. Information resource pool, you see, so that it may help other people googling for this query later.

    ReplyDelete
  18. ka rilru ah "Gunners gunned down" tih zu awm tlat a. Ka nu poh hi Arsenal over top. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!! :)

    May you grow wiser and more mature as the years catch up on you!!! :P :P

    Hope you had a great day! :-)

    How did you celebrate?

    Would totally appreciate that glass of wine... :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. The gunners goods - I bet they are manufactured in downtown China

    "£75 collector’s item"?? - long live the_pirate_bay_dot_org & unlimited institutional broadband

    Scorpion booze bottle reminds me of a scene in Zorro movie

    Chhamanator-in misual-a a sawi ang deuhin...I'l wish u later

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats, Kima! I lawmzawng chu i UK sis chuan a hre hle mai...lolz..Birthday chibai ka buk nghal a che! Ngalfimin dam nang che :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dude shut and sing glory glory MAN UNITED.....muhuahuahuahua

    ReplyDelete
  23. @ Zorami: Tiang rilru chu neih loh tur :-P Thanx for the wishes last nite :-)

    @ Pixie: hehehehe... wishes here too. I wanted to say you were a bit early last nite, but I had to rush home to make it in time for my... thats right... my party *GRIN*

    @ Opa Hmar: lolzzzz. And yeah, TPB roxxx! Its bcoz of evil corporates like this that TBP will live forever. Cheers!

    @ Maruat: hehe nia hei keimah te in ka awm a... lunglen thlak ang reng ve deuh :)

    @ Anonymous: hahaha...

    Corny corny Man united,
    Sorry sorry Man united,
    Horny horny Man united,
    As the reds go bankrupt on on on!

    Like that? :D

    ReplyDelete
  24. ka fapa nen in b'day a in ang anih hi, ani chu Man U fan a nia. Hman deuh khan London atangin ManU stuff ka hawn sak, a chhuang khawp mai. Happy Birth day!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Belated happy birthday !!

    Btw, kamikaze was also the term used for the suicide pilots in WWII.

    The original term (meaning divine wind) was when a wind destroyed Kublai Khan's chinese navy which was had just arrived for an invasion and was still moored - 12th century i think.

    - Mizopa

    ReplyDelete
  26. a very happy b'day. 48 a mi? since u claimed that u r 47 lst yr :) 'many happy returns'

    lalrimtuii

    ReplyDelete
  27. @ Lalrimtuii: Yes, 48 :D Thanx for the lovely wishes all the way from Down Under, Pi Rimtuii.


    @ Mizopa: Thanx for the info. Yes Kamikaze was the name given, but I always thought that was the original name until I googled the other day. There are cocktails and burgers called Kamikaze too :) Thanx for the wish!


    @ dr_feelgood: Wow! i fapa chu min lo wish sak ve dawn nia. A va coincidence ve. Thanx for the wish too!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Whoa!!! Scorpion vodka? first time I heard about it. So what did you do with the scorpion??

    ReplyDelete
  29. hehehehe... kan chhuar ah tarmawi a tan ka dah. Ka in ngam ta lo a nih ber mai hi :D

    ReplyDelete
  30. Ka chhiar chhuak vek lo na a. You've got a nice bunch of gifts, given that you're a big big fan of Arsenal :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hmm, ka tan chuan chung thil lei mai mai chu harsa tawp a ni. Kei ni ang sulumits retsambew ve mai mai tan chuan i thil pho lan te chu nalh in duh hle mah i la, tih dan tur a awm lo, hausak ngak pawh mai teh ang.
    Heng thil Carpet Cleaning Sydney pawh hi a awm a nia, thil tha chu a ni mahse mi leitur a tan ka han hual vel mai mai a.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I would love if i will get that gift. Anyone would love to get tha price.

    lets see who gets it...
    helium balloons

    ReplyDelete
  33. This is the best gift anyone could ever had. Really a cute gift. He's the lucky one.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Dude, you are one lucky guy. My friends only bought me one t-shirt for me and that was also too faded.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Agreed with pixie.

    Only sisters would think of such wonderful gift. Really lovable.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Only girls can think of such beautiful gifts.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I think this was one of the finest gift anyone would ever had.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I see arsenal merchandise. I love the picture. I'm the gunner's fans too.

    Cheers,
    flood pictures

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wow, great summary.
    Pls send some more info

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hmm, i did not know all that. Thank you for such article.
    Regards,
    End Of Lease Cleaning Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  41. We purchase baby clothes at MyMiracleBaby.com, They are awesome, great quality! Great Services! They are giving $5 OFF your

    purchase of $30.00 more! with Coupon Code: SAVING05


    Big sister gifts

    ReplyDelete