Fantasy Football Break #1

I apologize, but this is a random post for some Fantasy Football opponents back in the U.S. I will sporadically do this over the course of the NFL season.

And if you haven't seen this YouTube video yet, you are missing out.

Do you know what a "nationwide bandh" is?

I know I certainly didn't but apparently it's a big deal. Chalk this one up to a "cultural experience" for me.

So yesterday I'm burning through my day trying to get the never ending list of to-do's done and then I get an email stating I should work from home on Thursday. Naturally curious I start asking some colleagues what the 411 is. I had heard talk on Monday about a potential "holiday" on Thursday but didn't think too much about it.

Welp, turns out there is a bit of a dispute about diesel prices being raised here in country and one of the political parties is none too pleased about it and has declared a nationwide bandh, which is ultimately a stoppage of work, daily life, etc.

Being a naive American, and even more naive HR professional, when I hear strike I think of individuals with signs shouting about not being paid enough or concerned that there performance at work might actually be tracked. (Yes, I'm looking at you Chicago Teachers Union. Your compensation is completely ridiculous considering your districts performance and state financial situation. I'm all about 100k salaries for teachers, but you better be sending every one of those kids to an Ivy League school and ranking higher than India and China in STEM education for that compensation. Pay for performance people.)

Well the strike game here in India is on an entirely new level. Apparently you take this stuff seriously or risk physical harm. Here are some excerpts from a local paper covering the story...

oohhhhhhhhh scary...

So school kids get an extra day off. I used to get days off all the time when it was -37 degrees F (without windchill) or when megastorms would ruin my childhood memories of Halloween.

Ok, so if there's one thing I've learned while living here, autorickshaw drivers hardly ever say no to a fare and are fearless in their own right to even drive these streets. But if a bandh creates a fear of attack, now they have my attention.

Ummmm... this sounds like foreshadowing to me now.

Well that's nice that the State Police has "done their best." Famous last words. Anytime someone tells you they did their best it means they dropped the ball and you need to get on damage control immediately. This applies to life at home, the office, or any other facet for that matter.

So yeah, should be fun tomorrow and most likely not a big deal. I've been assured by the hotel that they are locking the gates and bringing in extra security. I'll snap some photos and share what this looks like.

Cheers.

1st Impressions of Portugal

Upon landing I immediately went to withdrew some Euros for the first couple days and was pleasantly surprised by exch an ge rate. 150 euros turns out to be about $188 and change USD which was less than I had anticipated. I grabbed a cab for 18 euro and through the course of a 25 minute commute, received a full debrief on how Portugal is really struggling economically. You wouldn't necessarily know it though just by walking through the streets and taking in some of the sites. But you do find some clues in the urban art...

The first night we stayed at the Tivoli Hotel on Avenida da Liberdade. It was a nice hotel, but the room was insanely small and the guest services staff wasn't the most customer friendly.You can't knock the location though as we spent a lot of time walking around the main drag of the city that first day.

Portugal as a city is beautiful. There is a ton of the expected European character, impressive architecture, wide selection of diners and cafes and great people watching. The sidewalks are all a polished stone type of walkway which proved to be troublesome for my athletic prowless. If ever visiting Portugal, I recommend shoes or sandals that do not have worn bottoms.

But enough about me talking about the city, take a peek for yourself in a couple of these videos... (there's no sound cause there's no need to eavesdrop).

Bull Fighting in Portugal...

is AWESOME!!

The history of it, the pure violence, the elegance, the music; I'm hooked. If we had this back in the states I'd be all over it. The "horsemen" are stars and I can only imagine the perks they get across towns they visit. Probably put rock stars and athletes to shame.

The match we attended had 6 matches and the intensities increased with each bull. We did see a guy get beat up pretty bad, but was assured by our cab driver that he didn't parish. Here is the video...

It gets good about 1:20 or so in. This should act as a reminder that this is a serious sport. I mean the guy was TOSSED.

And started bleeding from the back region somehow...



Again, I took lots of videos and I promise they all aren't as brutal as this one. They do give you a great seat in the arena though. Enjoy!



Air France is decent

The flight over to Portugal was a relatively decent experience with Air France. I had a very early morning flight out of Bangalore that connected in Paris and then brought me to my final destination in Lisbon. Somehow I was upgraded on every segment of the flight despite not holding any great status with Delta (which Air France is a partner of), but I'll certainly take it.

If there's one thing that gets me at airports, and I see it's all over the globe, it's the queue that forms when there is a bit of activity at the gate from attendants. This was the line before first class was even announced to board. The day society as a whole begins to understand how airlines check people in and not form a gauntlet of bodies blocking the entrance for sections being seated ahead of them will be joyously celebrated.

I was able to get this shot of serenity in flight too...

In flight I couldn't complain. Had a spacious window seat where I could get some work done, a great selection of movies and a decent late night dinner and breakfast. Yes, that's Bachelor Pad.

The only hiccup on the trip was the tight connection time in Paris. I had under an hour to get from the exact opposite end of the Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. I've never been to France and this was my first connection through this airport so I was a bit nervous about not making my connection. After a small cardio workout running from one end to the other, I made my gate with 5 minutes to spare. Here some of the walk/jog and art info...

The flight from Paris to Lisbon was a short 2.5 hours and pretty empty so I was able to catch a quick power nap.  When I awoke, I was in Lisbon and ready to have some fun.

Cheers.



Wisc-OH?!

I spent much of Saturday late night dominating the first lady from roughly 8,500 miles away on this addictive new app called SongPop. If you haven't tried this out yet you are really missing out. It's iPhone/iPad/Android app fire as the kids say. I am a bit concerned that she isn't a Pearl Jam fan though...

While administering some pain until she discovered my achilles' heel (animated movie song list), I stumbled upon a glorious thing: Wisconsin Badger football vs. Oregon State broadcasting live on the ESPN India feed. Can't even begin to say how excited I was to find this.

But as I watched a cold reality was slowly coming over me, it's going to be a long year for my favorite college football team. Poor offensive line play, serviceable at best QB work and a new offensive coordinator are not things that will get you a conference championship or BCS bowl bid. This may too soon, but...

Maybe it's divine intervention that I'm going to miss all of the college regular season being here in India?

Cheers.

Comic Con 2012 - India Style

Comic Con is one of those events that I think everyone should experience just once, even if you are not a comic book fan boy or brony. Other events like this include Bonnaroo, Burning Man or the Texas State Fair. Well this weekend I was in luck as the Comic Con tour made a stop over in lovely Bangalore for two days. Needless to say, with non-work activities at the minimum here, I was all about checking this out.

Prior to getting to this thing, I was a bit scared that I might have set my expectations too high. Anyone familiar with the U.S. Comic-Con in San Diego knows it's full of elaborate costumes, movie star cameos and large film, tv and comic launches or first looks. Well, I did get my hopes up.

When I arrived there were certainly tons of people there which was encouraging, but the content and number of booths was a bit of a downer. While I fully expected a slew of Indian based comics and film, I anticipated there would still be a major footprint of the U.S. industry trying spread it's tentacles across the globe. There was really no presence from the big companies like Marvel or DC. The one international company that had a big presence was Microsoft with a huge Kinect booth that overall I thought was a pretty cool setup. No food or beverage sponsors and no big comic company corporate presence.

I did stumble upon a few cool local artists who had some nice pieces of work, but nothing so nice that I would be compelled to buy and then put in the effort to ship back to the U.S. without destroying it. I did make one purchase though...

Yep, a graphic novel of the Steve Jobs autobiography. Full nerd status here. I figure it will make a great piece of bathroom reading when I return to the U.S. for guests. And for only 170 rupees, you can't go wrong.

But I won't talk about this anymore, check out the video I made with all the highlights from the event below. Cheers!

- D



Portugal is awesome

I'm halfway through a whirlwind 3 weeks that has me going to Portugal back to India then off to Singapore. On top of that I drafted 2 fantasy football squads, one of which I am satisfied and the other leaves some intrigue as to how the season will fair. QBs are key to my fantasy strategy and I've got Brady and Brees between the two which will suffice.

Yes Tom, hopefully I'll be dancing my way to a league title led by you and your UGG boots. Random note, when you Google Tom Brady images you get way more photos of him "modeling" than him on the field of play. Not a good look. Anyways, I'm sure the interest is on how my fantasy drafts from the other side of the world went and more on what Portugal was like so I'll get to it.

Now I debated how I want to share the trip: do I go one massive post or do I tease you with smaller/focused segments like a good blogger. I'll be doing the latter. Over the next week I'll post 5 segments covering the travel experience, bull fighting, dining, cityscape/architecture, random remnants not covered. Here's just a little taste...

All in all, Portugal is a beautiful city and I think I have a competitor to my current favorite vacation spot, Cabo San Lucas. The people were friendly even though I have no idea whatsoever they were saying (damn you, Portuguese!) and the cuisine from Portuguese style steak to seafood was excellent. It was also to our benefit that the Euro continues to get pounded so the sticker shock on meals, lodging, etc. wasn't too bad.

More to come soon...

Cheers.

- D

Off to Portugal!

Work calls are done for the night. Bags are efficiently packed. Transport to the airport is set. iPad is fully charged with some Curb Your Enthusiasm ready to go. Also have some Bachelor Pad on the queue. Don't judge, the show is TV gold. Egos, booze and hormones makes great television.

Seriously, watching chicks cry over their TV boyfriends who will cheat on them 3 months after being back into the real world never gets old. Don't kid yourself fellas, if you aren't watching this show, you are missing out.

13 hours of flight (Bangalore to Paris, Paris to Lisbon) awaits on Air France (with zero flight status) so wish me luck.  

Checking in

I know I've been MIA but that's what happens when you work for a global company where a lot of the activity generates out of the U.S.. You work your day job then begin a second shift in the evening of calls (probably because of my inability to manage work/life balance as of yet). I'm not whining and what this has done is given me more of an appreciation and sensitivity for my team members that do this every day for much longer than the 6 months I'm here.

This past week was particularly busy so that has definitely affected the frequency of blog postings. When I started this adventure, I thought I could get a post everyday, but that is tough to do especially when you want to provide some content worth reading to friends and family.

The big event for me this week was checking out Pizza Hut with one of my work colleagues. I have to admit, I was really looking forward to this lunch. When I was over here in January 2011 I had the fortune of dining at a Pizza Hut in Bangalore and it certainly did not disappoint. In fact, my memory was that it was better than the U.S.. After the visit this week, that opinion has not changed.

The first thing that makes Pizza Hut in India better than the U.S. is the price. For 179 rupees and tax I can get a personal pan pizza, 2 pieces of garlic cheese bread and a soda/water. Not bad really since that equates out to like $3.50ish USD. Not bad at all.

And getting back to the food, call me crazy, but the quality just seems way better here in India. The food actually comes out looking like it does in the menu or on advertisements (not like in the U.S. where consistency of product isn't exactly a strength of the Hut). There is the anticipated mix of local flavor but then you also have the usual suspects. I had the spicy chicken personal pan which is Indian spiced chicken, green peppers and onions. I'd order this back in the U.S. no doubt and this will be my go to while here in country.

The food quality and presentation is great, the price is undeniable and from the video you can see it's a pretty nice atmosphere. It's no wonder whenever I talk to my colleagues about Pizza Hut they say they love it. It's like back in the 90's when I was growing up when Pizza Hut was at it's best in the U.S.. HR is hard at it here too. I can only imagine the work the HR people responsible for field operations in India have to do.



Anyways, this week is going to be just as busy but I'll be heading off to Portugal for the weekend which I'm ecstatic about. I get to see the first lady, we are doing a ton of fun activities (go carts, bull fighting, biking tour) and I get to get a great steak. Excited doesn't even begin to describe it.  

And I better come back with a euro look like this guy. Those shoulder pad things are fire.

Cheers.

Poor Tebow...

Reviewing some preseason games today in preparation for a slew of upcoming fantasy drafts. This is going to be one of the hardest pills to swallow while here in India: no live NFL games.

Anyways, I was watching some highlights from the Giants vs. Jets and man was it ugly. As far as Tebow goes, the guy just can't get it together (which makes his streak of wins last season even more of an act of divine intervention). I mean, look at this (click here for the link to the play)...



Even Drudge Report can't lay off the headline...

I really don't know how I'm going to survive missing nearly 90% of an entire NFL season.

Indian Independence Day

Today was pretty cool in that it was the 2nd national holiday of independence that I was able to experience this year. July 4th back in the good ol' USA and August 15th for my host country, India. I think it's pretty cool.

The weather couldn't have been better with temps in the mid-70's with little to no humidity and endless sunshine. India really takes pride in this celebration being a relatively new free country (about 65 years since separating from the British) and it was fun to catch on the TV all the various festivities going on around the country, particularly in Delhi.

Now ironically enough, playing to my last post where I took jabs at foreigners being overly boisterous about ditching their roots for their new country location, here is a perfect example of what I was talking about below...

Now I'm not going to argue about the sense of pride the Indian population has for its country, it really is something. But something about this post just rubbed me horribly wrong (especially considering the US upbringing). To imply Americans do not respect the blood, sweat and tears that went into developing a democracy that is over 265 years young is ridiculous and insulting in my opinion. And the line about "our" heritage is classic. Umm sorry sweetie, zero percent of your bloodline fought for the Indian independence.

Are Americans a bit jaded these days? Yes absolutely, but when it comes down to it, I think most understand and have a level of respect for what was sacrificed (Except for those MoveOn.org whack jobs. Those people are just nuts and living in bizarro world. Kidding, but not really).

Now is this a bit of an overreaction on my part or does this rub you a bit wrong?

Cheers.

Julia Roberts is annoying

I can't believe I'm going to admit this but I think have a legit excuse. Last night I watched Eat Pray Love. Why? Well prior to coming over here I knew of the film and the basic plot but that was the extent. My mother was one of the many mothers that saw the movie, read the book and vowed to partake in her own journey also (you did mom). It's almost like a less provocative Sex and the City. You'd be shocked how many times that movie was interjected into the conversation when my move was mentioned. The conversations would typically go like this...

Person: "So what are you doing now?"

Me: "Working/surviving, getting ready to head to India."

Person: "OH MY GOD! Have you seen Eat Pray Love? That country looks amazing! I'd like to visit."

Now this conversation would skew depending on the demographic and sometimes Slumdog Millionaire would replace Eat Pray Love but you get the idea.

So back to my point, I watched the movie and the persona Julia Roberts depicts in that film has to be craziest person ever and exactly the reason why societal norms are so drastically shifting in the U.S.. Now I could do a deep dive psycho-analysis on why I'm saying that, but that's an entirely different topic (which Business Insider covered oh so well earlier this week). 

What I want to focus on is the attire. I try to pay particular attention to foreigners here in India because a.) I'm one of them and b.) we stick out like sore thumbs. Personally, I really enjoy it. It's an odd feeling to have everyone staring at you while walking through some of the streets or initially in the office, but I enjoy the thought of trying to figure out what they are thinking and how they are judging. Plus it's just fun being different. Throw me into slum or tough area of Bangalore at 1:00 am and my tune might change, but you get my point. I also try to prevent myself from getting into those seriously "compromising" situations.

So back to how foreigners dress. There's really two types of individuals that I've spotted here: the business as usual person and the "I'm going to be so culturally sensitive and really maximize my experience by wearing any and every piece of country specific garment and judge my fellow foreigners who don't" individual. Julia Roberts is the latter.

Now I've been here about a month to the day and while I haven't been able to get out to explore as much I had anticipated, I have been able to see this trend and trust I'm trying to capture it on film. The worst are the Americans because I swear there is some sort of guilt to being an American when here which I don't get. Again, I have no issues with a visitor wearing a sari and sporting a bindi, but you don't have to give me an evil eye as I eat my McDonald's Spicy Chicken sandwich (which is so much better here than in the US, it has actual heat to it) in my typical business casual. I'm here to work, not find myself or purpose in life Julia. They only way you will see me in the traditional dress is if my boss says I have to or for some sort of other ceremony. 


 I'm guessing this comes across as insensitive but it's really not the intention. I personally don't care which way a person dresses but "embracing" the culture or experience doesn't mean you have to dress up. This clip from Mad Men pretty much sums it up. Hare Krishna my friends...

Cheers.

Do you India, do you

Is it strange that this feels normal now?

Wisco Win or Fail?

Wisconsin in partnership with Adidas just released their new alternative uniforms for the big Nebraska game on 9.29.12 and sue me for not being that impressed.

The slogan for the game, "The Quick and the Red" couldn't be anymore off base and just shows you what happens when marketing isn't done by people who know the product. As big of a Wisconsin homer as I am, I can admit they don't have the speed like the SEC or (*gasp*) the PAC-10 so this slogan really should be retracted.

While I don't mind the jerseys and the helmet is meh, the biggest flaw is in the glove design. I think it was Picasso (then Steve Jobs ironically) who said good artists borrow, great artists steal. Adidas should have stole some design from Nike on their gloves. Take a look and what do you think...

This is what they should have done...

Get it? It makes a big W and the catch is you don't see it come together unless you bring them together. Sometimes I just amaze myself and you're welcome Adidas. It's not too late to cancel that order from China.

Now if they could only get "N sucks P" to sell to the students. 

Here's what Yahoo had to say.

Pet peeves...

I like to think I'm a pretty mild mannered and patient guy, but if there is one thing that really irks me it's when timing is off. Particularly when there is no notice or call to give a heads up. Well today I found myself somewhat hot after work.

Usually my transportation to and from my residence to work is a decent operation. The mornings are always pretty smooth and sometimes the pickup and return home can be an adventure. The longest I've ever had to wait has been 30 minutes since moving here which I think is a fair buffer.

Well today took the cake and tried the patience... 90 minutes and 2 phone calls. The fact that it's probably not a good idea for me to drive myself to work coupled with the rickshaw drivers dissatisfaction to transport me from the office to home (even when I would be paying them 6x their going rate charged to native Indians for an even shorter distance), leaving me completely at the will of the residence taxi service drives me nuts.

Today this lost time starts being monitored, every single day, and the lost time will be calculated into lost productivity at the end of my trip. Consider this my channeling of the one of my favorite movie characters of all time, Ryan Bingham...

This is how I prefer to operate. I appreciate and respect the heck out this type of mindset. So when my driver asks what time I should be picked up and I say 5:30 pm, 7:00 pm isn't acceptable.

I put the Over/Under on lost time at 45 hours for the entire assingment.

Cheers.

Mail call

It's been a very busy week at work and it's going to spill over into the weekend but not long after getting home this evening I received a call from the front desk. My first care package in India by way of one special lady arrived today.



Getting packages shipped to you is always fun and I think it's one of underlying drivers as to why online shopping has exploded. I can't begin to express how much better it is when you are on the other side of the world, away from many of your daily conveniences.

So what did this 10 pound package contain? Just some of the most awesome stuff ever...

I don't think I could have coordinated a better care package. All the staples are here: snack foods, quick meals, medical supplies and swag.

Now if you haven't had Snack Factory Buffalo flavored pretzel chips with a side of ranch dip you just haven't lived. Pretty much the best NFL Sunday football watching snack ever. Packers finish 12-4 this year too, calling it.



Now this item was a game changer and not at all anticipated. I love me some Annie's Mac & Cheese. Annie's appeared to have the roughest trip over but I'll take it.

And then comes the Nature Valley swag. Being an elite marketer requires no shame and you have to always be on the clock. Plaster that logo on anything and everything, boyfriends not excluded apparently. That being said, if I take a photo in front of the Taj with this swag I better be featured on the Nature Valley Facebook page, plus given some compensation.

 I'm not too sure what the gum and blistex is about. Maybe she's trying to tell me something...

All in all though it was an awesome package and definitely made the day a little better. Now please excuse me while I get my Carlton on...

YOU ARE THE BEST BABE!!

Cheers!

Brother/Sister Love and Blacking Out

Don’t worry, this blog isn’t NC-17. Don’t let the title fool you.

So today is Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi Purnima, the Indian holiday which celebrates the relationship between brothers, cousins and sisters. Now I have never heard of a holiday which celebrates the special bond that a brother and sister (and I guess cousins had to get thrown in) but a lot of my colleagues had plans for big meals and were quite excited to be spending time with their siblings this evening.

Apparently this celebration involves the sister giving the brother a rahki (sacred thread), which is worn around the wrist and symbolizes the sister’s love and prayers for her brother’s well-being and for him committing to protect her forever.

Then there is a feast where brother and sister feed each other sweets. The women don’t get bracelets though and that concludes my culture piece for the week.

In other news, nearly 370 million (700 million, can't seem to get a set answer)  in India were without power in what is one of the world’s largest blackouts ever. Fortunately we were sparred here in Bangalore and I can only imagine how much fun that had to have been.

So Mom and Dad, I’m good!  

Lastly, work has been busy so I’ll catch up with some extra material this weekend.

Cheers!

The daily grind

So there have been a couple requests from some individuals to get a better look at what my daily commute looks like. Most of the time it's a pretty smooth operation since the residence I'm in has an in-house driver service that is fairly reasonably price.

From my place to work it takes about 20 minutes by car if I get going by 8:00 am. Once 8:15 am hits though, a simple 3 km commute can turn into 30 to 40 minutes. This has easily been the most difficult adjustment for me here; the inability to independently get myself from A to B on my schedule and my terms. That sounds horribly selfish, but a major pet peeve of mine is wasting time and not have some sort schedule.

Monday and Tuesday are going to present some transportation challenges that I'm particularly not looking forward to as work is going to have me bouncing from location to location. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that experience, fingers crossed something doesn't come up and put me in a tough spot.

So without further delay, here is my daily commute courtesy of my recently acquired video editing skills...

Groupon is evil

Word of advice if your future holds living in a country where food is the polar opposite of your typical consumption habits in the U.S.: turn off Groupon. Now I'm not hating on Indian food, but curry everyday and the "veg" focus for the majority of dishes isn't exactly the meat and potatoes I grew up with.

Cattle is scared in India so coming across a burger is a tough task (but not impossible thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe). Additionally, you are playing Russian roulette with your digestive track with each meal. If you aren't sure what Delhi belly is, I've done the search for you if still curious.

But back to the title of the post, Groupon is evil. Everyday I get emails reminding me of the fine dining establishments of the Twin Cities just taunting me about what I'm missing...

I think I could actually get chicken and waffles if I pushed it at my residence restaurant, but would surely get a strange look or two.

New York Pizza. India has pizza but the cheese is from goats I believe and just isn't the same.

Tiger Sushi is probably my favorite sushi spots back in the Twin Cities.

Then the ultimate tease, meat. It would only be worse if this was a Fogo de Chao offer.

So once again, I hate you Groupon.

Back in the USA.

I don't have much to report from the India front today as work has kept me pretty busy and I'm sneaking in a post between evening calls. I just want to hit a couple things quick...

WHAT THE F*** BREWERS?!

Now I'm not crazy and think the Brewers are a World Series contender, but I thought they had a team able to make a run at a wild card. Unfortunately, blowing 17 saves this season to date isn't a way to make the playoffs and dropping multiple run leads, in the 9th, on consecutive days is just brutal.

And just when you think things can't get any worse...

(Click here for the hilarious video)

This sort of awareness is uncanny folks. Holy hell Gomez, but you are a former Twin so it shouldn't come as a shock. What a joke.

But it could always be worse. We could be part of the cult of Happy Valley...

I'm sorry Will but I had to. It's just too good of material and the Penn State community just keeps serving up fastballs right down the middle. "It was our 9/11"... come on now, not a good look brah.