God wills it!

Just got back from Kingdom of Heaven. I don't even know how we ended up picking that movie - I got a call from Rockey saying we were going to watch it and I was like 'Uh... okay I guess'. The movie itself was alright. Really though, movies of the type just don't appeal to me. Didn't particularly like Gladiator, Passion of the Christ or Troy either.

Though it was interesting how it puts the whole conflict over Jerusalem in perspective, and I'd probably have liked the movie if they had focused more on that. Too controversial I guess. Can't inflame the Jihadists or Zionists by actually offering a balanced point of view now, can we?

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Now Playing: U2 - Out of Control (Live in NYC)

They don't want my money?

So UT sends me an e-mail saying my add bill for the summer is due. No big deal I think, all it takes is one EFT. I go over the UFCU website, log in and transfer enough money from savings to checking. Log on to UT Direct, go to the Tuition Bill page, enter the amount I owe, hit calculate total, select EFT, and proceed to click on Continue. Except there is no Continue button. Nowhere on the webpage. And I tend to think I'm fairly adept when it comes to this stuff so I refresh the web page, select everything on the page to look for a button whose image might not have loaded, look for a text link, and even go as far as running my mouse over the entire web page to see if there's a link I'm missing. Nothing. It's almost as if they don't want me to pay the add bill.

It seems to be there now though, so I'll go ahead and pay.

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Now Playing: U2 - City of Blinding Lights (Live)

The city of blinding lights

I know U2 were thinking of New York when they came up with the song, but really, that's what went through my mind when we left Dubai airport. All the new buildings and malls and everything else.... They say the traffic's a lot worse but you can't really tell at midnight.

The other thing that really hit me when we left the airport (and this was 11.45 pm) was just how HOT it was. I never thought 35C was this bad, and I have no idea how I got used to it all these years.

The lines at the airport were surprisingly good. I had barely begun bitching about Albers' spinout at Monte Carlo with Anish when my number came up in passport control line. Maybe it's just but the immigration officers seemed a lot better this time around too.

"Hello!" (surprising - they NEVER wish you at immigration counters anywhere in the world, much less Dubai. I was used to the perpetual 'cold stare')

"Hi, how are you?"

"Fine. Where are you flying in from?"

"London"

"Heathrow?"

"Yeah. Via Amsterdam."

"Visit visa?"

"No, residence."

"Oh ok."

And then she starts laughing all of a sudden and I figure she's looking at my old passport photo.

"Yes, that IS me."

That picture was taken when I was 9. No, you can't see it.

Heathrow immigration was funny too, when I flew in. These two girls were at the counter, and from the looks of it one of them was training the other in procedure.

"So where are you flying in from?"

"Houston via Amsterdam."

"And the purpose of your visit is?"

"Tourism."

"Where will you be staying?"

"With friends."

"Are you travelling with anyone?"

"Yeah, with parents. They're at the other counter over there."

"So why didn't you all come to the same counter? I could refuse you entry you know."

"Now that wouldn't be nice. I'd have to go all the way back to Houston, and trust me, it's not a fun flight. Besides, my visa was issued in LA and theirs in Dubai, and in the US they make an issue out of it."

"Well we're not as mean as they are over there."

"Then you'll let me in."

And that was that.

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Now Playing: U2 - Kite (Slane Castle)

London Blogging

So I landed at Heathrow a couple of days ago before passing out from exhaustion and jetlag. Heathrow may not be the best international airport I've been to, but it certainly beats the crap out of Bush Intercontinental in Houston. Immigration didn't take over 5 minutes at Heathrow, while at Bush I was stuck in a line for about 2 hours. Speaking of lines, the check in lines at Bush are just as bad. I'm just glad I had an e-ticket, it sped up the process a lot. Having to take off my shoes everytime I go through a security checkpoint is a pain too. Oh well, that's the US for you.

Why is it that service on airline routes to/from/within the US just plain sucks? Whether you're travelling short Austin-Houston hops on Continental, long Houston-Seattle routes via Southwest or intercontinental flights like Houston-Amsterdam on KLM, it sucks. Well, the Emirates flight to New York from Dubai is an exception but that's Emirates, so they don't count. I used to love flying you know. I just need to get enough miles on KLM to get a free upgrade to business class once and then I dump them. Damn I miss flying business class.

And now I'm in London. I'll say one thing about this place - it's frelling expensive. Everything costs about twice as much as it does in the US, on average. And because I've been spending most of my time sleeping during the day (thank you jetlag!), I haven't exactly been around the city. I did notice that there seems to be an obsession with Indian food here. Tomorrow (well, later today) we're going to Southampton. Hopefully that'll be interesting. And the Monaco GP is this weekend! I'm actually going to watch some F1 after a whole year!

That covers it for now I think. Before I forget, my grades were out last night. 4.0 two semesters in a row! Goodbye CS, hello business! I'm going to be a damn capitalist I am.

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Now Playing: U2 - Walk On (Slane Castle)

The Goal is Soul

Beautiful goal.

But really, watch some U2 concerts. They have to be the best band I've seen live. Get your hands on the Slane Castle (Go Home) DVD if you can... it's really worth it.

I haven't really had time to blog because for one thing, I haven't had that much to say really. That, and I've been really busy.

I guess this marks the end of the spring semester for me. Grades aren't officially out yet, but I'm done with finals and that's that. Not such a great semester in terms of classes on the whole. History was probably the biggest mistake I made. Then again, I got lucky with Government, which is usually a pretty difficult class at UT.

Moving out is a real pain too. You never realize exactly how much crap you actually have until you have to pack it all up in crates and trash bags. Manish is probably stark raving mad too, the poor guy is the only one with a car we're all using. (Well, was, since Dan has a car now)

Now I'm in Houston. Got here yesterday actually. I'll be here for a few more days and then I fly to London. I don't know what I'll do in London really... any ideas? Personally if I could, I'd probably go to a few Ministry of Sound events. Following that I head down to Dubai. Yes Pace you old sod, you had better start getting ready to have your arse handed to you at squash. And then I'll be going to Bombay for a bit to meet up with a bunch of random people. Very random indeed. Including a random person who goes by the alias 'h3lios'. How long has it been, a year?

And I almost forgot - F1 weekends! Us Ferrari fans are going to be watching the USGP and Canadian GP at my place. Pizza included. Feel free to join in. We don't discriminate between McLaren and Williams fans. We despise you all equally.

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Now Playing: Tiesto - Euphoria

And another one bites the dust

Or as the borg would say, got assimilated.

Please welcome the artist formerly (?) known as Narc to the blogosphere.

Welcome. You are yet another speck of dust in the infinite exapanse that is Us.

Edit: I added a few more links to the sidebar, including blogs run by Dayaan, Chris and Aeris.

Edit 2: Added Jen's journal too, and reorganized the sidebar.

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Now Playing: CoLD SToRAGE - Body Plus

Essay tests are the bane of mankind

Just thought I should mention that too.

Yes, I realize I haven't really blogged lately. I'm sure the lot of you are dying to read about what goes on in my (actually rather routine) life, or random political and/or philosophical rants I keep coming up with. I don't do those as often as the terminally incoherent Rishi, or the typing-impaired 'Omen', but when I do they make a lot more sense than anything either of those two geniuses can come up with.

Sorry, had to. Just trading barbs, it's all in fun.

But really, a lot's happened. More if and when I get around to it.

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Now Playing: U2 - Mysterious Ways (Slane Castle)

Random fact of the night

Simkins, now the only all-male dorm at UT, has a condom vending machine. Just thought I should mention that.

Well, it's not just a condom vending machine, it does Coke, Dr. Pepper, Snickers and other stuff too, but yeah, condoms. In an all male dorm.

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Now Playing: U2 - City of Blinding Lights