Freemont Street in Las Vegas during Christmas

It was Christmas 2011. It was Las Vegas. It was Freemont. And it was this "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" played in the show. It felt awesome.



Here is the lyrics of the song by Don Mclean.

A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'

[Chorus]

Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'

[Chorus]

Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin'

[Chorus]

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil's only friend
And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin'

[Chorus]

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most-
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost-
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing

[Chorus]

Dancing Fountain at Bellagio

This is the famous dancing fountain of Bellajio Hotel in Las Vegas. This fountain dances to the tunes of song being played. Different songs are played each time. I will try to take some better video next time.

Things don't work in America too

America! We believe, has a strong system. Everything as per rule. I also used to believe the same.

It was 12 midnight yesterday. I was in the strip at Vegas with my friend. We decided to return by bus. We were at the bus stop, we didn't see any buses coming that way. Then we saw a notice which said "To know the next schedule text rideRTC 957 to 41411". I sent the text and immediately I got the following reply
"Next Scheduled Times 957
202-02:20 AM
202-03:20 AM
202-04:20 AM

Wow! I thought, what a system. We would otherwise be waiting for another 4:40 hrs in that chilly winter night. So we started walking home. It was 35 mins of walk. After we walked about 30 minutes, to our dismay we saw a bus pass us and pick up passenger waiting for it in a stop infront of us. You should have seen our faces.

Few minutes before we were praising the system. Now we concluded, America too fails. I hate to say this but America isn't perfect.

The death of Kim Jong Il and the status of Hope

Kim Jong II according to North Koreans was born on Mount Paekdu in 1942. But some other nations believe that he was born in Siberia in 1941. A controversy regarding the birth itself.

He was declared as the eventual successor when he was only 33. And when his father died in 1994, he became the president.
As a person he was an eloquent speaker, gourmet of food and had an aerophobia. All of this died on December 17, 2011 when he suffered from heart attack while riding a train. He had been a patient of cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for quite a while. His nation will now be ruled by Kim Jong Un.

While he equipped the nation with nuclear arsenal, he kept his people completely disconnected from outside world. He had a collection of 20,000 films on DVD while his fellow citizens were living one of the hardest lives on the planet. Forget about facebook, twitter, google, youtube and any thing you love in the internet. Yet they are forced to regard him as god.

Now his country plunged into 3 years of mourning, will the nation be moving towards the sunny day or a gloomy one we are yet to see. But his death has already made share markets of the east asia as its victim.

We pray that its the only victim. We pray that the North Koreans will be able to see what the outside world is like for real. We hope that no footballers will ever be forced to work in a coal mine just because they got defeated in the world cup. We hope that the nuclear arsenal gets deactivated and leads an example for rest of the world who now are competing in hoarding the nuclear power. We hope that his death will turn into the birth of new era of the better and safer world. We hope that Kim Jong Un hopes the same.

Apple with and without Steve Jobs

Now Steve Jobs gone, what would be the future of Apple?

In my view, Steve was just a technical artist yet the essence of the Apple. With and without him, what difference would there be?

This is my simple and personal answer to the question. An Apple with and without Steve Jobs.

Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame

Few months back, I found an article on some news site. It was about a subject a professor introduced in the University of South Carolina. And the subject was "SOCY 398D - LADY GAGA AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE FAME".

What a course it was for a sociology department. Well I am not a fan of Lady Gaga but I kind of liked this subject. Who doesn't want to be famous? What makes lady gaga so famous is her will power to do anything to be famous rather than her voice or her looks. She hasn't left any stone unturned to be famous. Her bizarre very bizarre dressing sense sometimes makes me laugh. So what? She is famous.
Kudos to the professor for his creativity. If you were wondering what the subject might contain, here is the content.

Part I – Analytical Framework: The Sociology of Popular Culture
    a) Sociological Perspectives of Music
    b) The Case of Pop & Rock
    c) The Sociology of Fame and Celebrity

Part II – Topic of Inquiry: An Introduction to Lady Gaga
    a) Life and Times
    b) The Music

Part III – Dimensions of Analysis: The Fame of Lady Gaga
    a) Business and Marketing
    b) Old/New Media: From Radio to Internet
    c) Fans and Live Concerts
    d) Gay Culture
    e) Religion and Politics
    f) Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
    g) New York

Here is the link to the course: Lady Gaga and the Sociology of fame

All you need to know about Canon Rebel T3i

If you want to see some of the pictures I took with Canon Rebel T3i click here http://majesticphotos.blogspot.com/

Otherwise,you may watch the following product review.





What are these buttons for? Here is the quick review of all the buttons that Rebel T3i has.

Tutorial in movie digital zoom. Some other readings for the tips:
http://oneslidephotography.com/beginners-guide-to-photography-still-life-photography-tips/

Nepal at a glance

Beautiful shots from Nepal. Most of the images here were taken from EverestUnsensored.org

NSA-UNLV Videos

These are the videos I prepared for NSA-UNLV. NSA-UNLV is an student organization of Nepalese students at University of Nevada Las Vegas.

How to avoid missing your flight.

Did you miss your flight?

Recently when I was on a trip to San Francisco, I missed my flight(Virgin America) to Las Vegas. I was staying in a hotel(Roadway Inn) in downtown. I checked out of the hotel 2 hours before the flight. As per our GPS it was supposed to take only 20 minutes to reach the airport. As we (I was with my friend) were driving the traffic got so bad that we were driving in circles. Most of the streets in San Francisco were one way unlike the ones in Vegas. When we reached the airport it was only ten minutes left for the flight to depart. The counters for boarding pass were already closed. We were given another standby boarding pass for the next day.

We were driving a rented car which we had already returned. Now, we approached South West Airlines to see if they could send us on the same day at reasonable price. We were hoping that some seats would be empty and they might offer us some good deal. Instead they asked for $240 for one way trip to Vegas. I had my round way ticket from Vegas to San Francisco for $100. Now $240 was too much to pay. So we took a BART from the airport and reached the downtown and walked to the same hotel. Luckily they had an empty room for us. We had our flight at 7AM next day. So we asked the hotel staff to wake us up at 4. They also contacted a pick up van for us.

Next day, exactly at 4 we were woken up. The pick up van picked us up at 4:30. We reached the airport without any hassle.

From what I went through, I have few suggestions:

1)If you have a rented car, return the car earlier.
2)Ask your hotel staff to wake you up if your flight is at early morning.
3)Your hotel might have a pick up van themselves. Even if they don't have they are in a contact with pick up services from airport. So ask them to arrange a pick up van for you. Tell them your flight and departure time. Pick up van will set the pick up time accordingly.
4)Sometimes, your pick up van might also get stuck in a traffic jam. So if a BART station is near by, always go for it.
5)Always print your boarding pass before you arrive at the airport. Airlines allow you to print your boarding pass from 24 hours before the flight. You just have to visit their site.

Melting of Himalaya Glacier.

Global warming is causing the glaciers to melt. With the rise of temperature there is change in ecology. Rivers are drying. There is less water for drinking and irrigation. It all implies that poor people are getting poorer.

Few Images from San Francisco

Hungry at Pier 39? This is definitely a place to eat. Pier 39 or Fisherman's wharf is definitely a place you shouldn't miss if you are at San Francisco as a tourist.

Oh my god! This is not just a school of fishes. Its an army of fishes.

Hey buddy! Did you see Nemo? Yes I did. He is busy shooting the film "Finding Nemo Part 2".

Jelly Fish! I don't know why you shouldn't be categorized into plants.

The swift take off! Hope pilots learn from this fish. I had a chance to actually touch it at Aquarium of the Bay.

Did you know that once a tortoise lays its egg, it hatches into female if the temperature is hot and into male if the temperature is cold? With global warming, guys will have a lot of options to choose from.

I guess sea + eagle = seagle. My country doesn't have any seagle. You know why? Because my country doesn't have any sea.

Golden gate bridge from below. But why do they call it golden? I thought gold was yellowish in color.

The infamous Alcatraz Prison! I wonder if any prisoner ever escaped it.

San Francisco as seen from Coit tower. Not from the top of the tower but from the bottom of the tower. The tower was already closed by the time we reached there. If you are visiting the tower, make sure you go early enough.

Beautiful Glow.

Famous Lombard Street. DMV should consider this place for some driving tests.

Early morning view of Golden Gate Bridge.

Napa Valley. If you have some time you should visit this place. Its peaceful and calm. And have some wine testing too. I guess you would enjoy more if you go there during summer. Vines would look perfect.

Sunset at Half Moon Bay.

From left to right, Mizaru: who sees no evil; Kikazaru: who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, who speaks no evil. Missing in the picture is the 4th one Shizaru who does no evil.

Its the famous china town of San Francisco. Is there any country in the world where there is no china town?

Near market street.

Automated Reasoning

This was a slide on automated reasoning that I along with my friends Dhruv, Mayank,Madhuresh and Mohit created for our Artificial Intelligence class. I converted into a video in 2007. Sorry! Conversion was poor. It was my first trial.

Few videos from San Francisco

Some of the videos I took at San Francisco

This one is the famous golden gate bridge.


These ones are at Aquarium of the Bay.



I took it from Gold and Blue cruise ship.

Applying for PHD in computer science?

If you are like me, you will find it very useful.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf

Writing Statement of Purpose (SOP) for Grad Schools

Hope following links will be useful to you.

• http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/gradapp/stmtpurpose.htm
• http://www.cs.umd.edu/Grad/sop.html
• http://accepted.typepad.com/admissions_almanac/2005/01/how_not_to_writ.html