Now I get to talk about the great great Hindi Film Industry based at Bombay, INDIA. They come out with 500 odd movies every year. It does not surprise me since most of them are straight "remakes" as they call it or copies of Hollywood flicks. So many or most of the Bollywood movies have a direct relation with Hollywood. Take for example, The Godfather made way back in the early 1970s, it has been perfectly blended into a Hindi movie with Desi spice added to it, yes, Hindi Film Industrie's very own GODFATHER, the Dharmatma. Beautifully corrected, augmented and re-created by Feroz Khan in the year 1975. This is just an example to start with. Not only the movies but straight tunes have been picked up from movie soundtracks and some of hit hindi songs have been created in what they call the GOLDEN ERA of HINDI FILMS. Dont believe me?
Try this :~ www.BollyCat.com

Orkut is an online friend's community created in the year 2004. It is the property of Google Inc. and is most widely used friend community online. Of course there have been several controversies about it as we know, but it still retains its popularity.
I have been a huge fan of Orkut since all my friends are on it and it has worked wonders for me. People about whom I thought that I would never see them again were found by me on Orkut and the memories flowed again......Ahh! Sweet stories to tell.

Finally I get my golden chance to inform my dear friends about this awesome game. ULTIMATE FRISBEE ( aka Ultimate ) is a game played mostly on the East Coast and ever since I moved to California, I did not experience even an iota of information about this game in my fellow Californians' brains. Ultimate is an exciting, non-contact team sport, played by thousands the world over. It mixes the best features of sports such as Soccer, Basketball, American Football and Netball into an elegantly simple yet fascinating and demanding game. It is highly interesting once you get into the game! Wanna try it? Why not join us for a game at some place in the South Bay Area? Leave me a comment and I will let the good information out.

They asked me about CRICKET and they GOT THE ANSWERS from me ;-)

Watch it to know it! =)

This is about my new found love. EUROPEAN DISCO MUSIC!

Disco emerged from Jazz music in the early 1970s and to be more precise, the year 1974. The early artists who had a Disco sound were Issac Hayes and James Brown. From there, DISCO went on to be one of the greatest genres to be known to the art of Music. In the year 1977 the sensational SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER movie captured all hearts and made the world boogie and grease up the dancefloors to the grooves of Disco Music. Not to forget, the 17 track soundtrack which was composed of great songs such as STAYIN ALIVE' , NIGHT FEVER and MORE THAN A WOMAN were the brainchild of the great BEE GEES. Other artists included the KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND, YVONNE ELLIMAN and KOOL & THE GANG. Disco evolved in the USA but the effects were seen all around the world. A new type of genre emerged in the EUROPE, France to be more specific, known as EURO-DISCO. Such type of music was experienced for the first time by mankind. There was really some music now to which one could dance to with freestyle steps. That is DISCO!

Now, DISCO & ME. It all started with the record SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER which my brother gave me to listen to. I fell in love with those lovely songs and then I never returned the record. Recently, I remembered that I had a LP record in my father's collection from an artist called CERRONE. I went on searching for his songs and what happened next is a beautiful history.  I fell in love with DISCO MUSIC and my search for more artists and songs grew extensive.  I then discovered ALEC COSTANDINOS, one of the greatest artists in the world of music. Imagine what happens when a person with music in the blood and genes, learns music at a professionals school and sets his career to create something that the world is most demanding for. That is exactly what happened in the case of Alec. He started his career in Paris with a group of singers called LOVE & KISSES, SPHINX, PARIS CONNECTION and SUMERIA. His songs spent weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the late 1970s. Alec stopped producing records after the year 1981 ever since Disco died but ,thank God we have his legacy to ponder.
Even today, I keep hunting for more rare disco grooves and enjoy playing them in the car, computer and my ipod. Lord Keep The Disco Alive! =)
Enjoy the track I posted below.

Some cool link to check out:~ www.SuperSeventies.com
                                           www.DiscoMuseum.com
                                           www.Warr.org
My Online Music Folder:~  http://www.esnips.com/web/virginharrysOtherStuff

Music is my greatest passion. I can say it is my religion. It all started when I was just born. As an infant I used to listen to ghazals and go to sleep. When I was 2 years old, I listened to music on my Dad's Gramophone Record player. In the age of Cassettes and CDs too I had a strong love for the Long Playing records. My father's collection, an ecstacy.......consisted of everything right from The Beatles to CERRONE and of course Indian Film Music and Classical Music. Those were the early times and in such ways, I went on going deeper into listening until the summer of 1994. when I was sent to a piano class for better utilization of my vacation which I was otherwise wasting in unfruitful activities. There......it all began. My new found love - The Piano! I was at a supersonic pace and my fingers commanded those keys in black & white making the piano sing. From that moment, there was no looking back. I took up to the guitar at the dawn of my teenage. Without any formal coaching, I mastered it. It was then the Fall of the year 2003, I decided to form a band. My search for the band mates began and ultimately resulted in the birth of my band "NECROPOLIS" - a Classic Rock Connoisseur. The 3 guitarists I found were amazingly brilliant and I was definitely not as good as they were and hence I decided to take up the DRUMS. Yes!  A brand new beginning. A new kit was bought and I began practicing from scratch without knowing ABCs of Drumming. But I had this strong interest, deep passion and burning desire to perform and let the world experience blissful music. I began working hard non-stop for the next 4 months and then....January 17th 2004, the band's first concert at one of the Big events in the city. Nervous mind, trembling hands and itching desires........the SHOW WAS A HUGE SUCCESS! No looking back from that moment on. August 2004, we were on MTV CAMPUS IDOLS ( competition) and emerged as the winners in the third place. Hearts filled with pride and satisfaction.....It felt so good!
That is the story with me and music.
I listen to entirely different melodies from what the common crowds listen to. I absolutely loathe Rap music and Remixes. They have no ART.
I listen to everything from Classical to Rock and from Raaga to Reggae. But it is all standard music.
I would be writing more about my musical journeys. Stay tuned!

It's a nice Friday afternoon in California and I am lolling on the couch at ease. Absolutely jobless for the day, I kept getting hungrier by the hour. I then decided to do something creative to treat myself. Guess what comes to my mind? The creation of Desi Ghee! A great Indian delicacy which I miss too much. Result? A strong desire to create Desi Ghee in USA! In the past, I have tried to separate cream from whole milk ( the grocery stores sell normally) and then tried to make desi ghee out of it. The complete thing flopped. The milk that grocery stores normally sell is highly processed and has various ingredients added to it that eliminates a typical smell that milk naturally has ( Indians know what I mean ). I set my thinking on. First thought, going to a farm and getting milk straight from the farmers. Bad idea! No farms in a 100 mile radius. What next? Oh yessss!!!!! WHOLE FOODS MARKET !! There I was, searching for something called ORGANIC CREAM. No luck! Finally, I remembered that GHEE is ultimately CLARIFIED BUTTER. Voila! I found something. So now here is how you can produce excellent DESI GHEE at home.

What you need?

1. ORGANIC UNSALTED BUTTER ( Whole Foods brand - 365 ) Sweet Cream - 1      POUND

2. A  thick base pan

3. A spatula to stir

4. A set of hands

Method~

Melt the butter in the pan on medium heat,
As soon as the butter melts, shift to low flame and let the melted butter cook.
You should see a white foam at the top. Keep stirring occasionally till the foam separates from the ghee. The foam curdles and settles at the bottom. Cook the ghee on low flame till the curd at the bottom turns tan. That's it!
You have excellent DESI GHEE right at home. It has got that smell too! =)

I am a hardcore VIRGO born on the 1st Of September in the year 1986. I hail from Nagpur, a city placed exactly at the Heart of INDIA. It gets around 122 F hot in the summers and the city rocks for its ORANGES and is known around the world for that.
I completed my schooling till the 10th grade at Bharatiya Vidya Mandir (BVM), Nagpur and then finished a Diploma in Computer Technology. Then in the year 2005, I got admitted to Penn State University, PA 16801 and after completing one semester there, I moved to San Jose State University at San Jose, CA . Guess why I left Penn State? =) Too much of coldddddd ( brrrrr!!!! ), lack of good transportation and a university town! Jeez! Was I lonesome! My overall experience at Penn State was magical. Lovely people and Beautiful campus. The beauty of snow is inexplicable. November 2005, I saw the snow for the first time and it was all so magical! The only DESI guy on the 600 acre campus! Oh how they loved me. The complete "ME" was a kind of amusement for all Americans. Known all over the campus as "HARSHI" that is where they named me. They had tough times pronouncing my name HARSHAWARDHAN. So... HERSHEY HARSHI HARSHEE.....Sweet like chocolate!
That is the brief history behind this name =)
So now, I am pursuing my Bachelor's in Computer Science at San Jose State University right at the heart of Silicon Valley. I would graduate in the year 2009. Still half way to go! So that is ( ahem! ) "something" about me =)

Did you ever find yourself haggling with your house-mates on how much you owed them for groceries? Or, who paid for the rent and who paid for the utility bills and what's the balance? And then, if you actually remember all the bills (with their receipts), how do you find the best way to settle the debts - who should write a check to whom and for how much?

All of this is such a big hassle. You can use Buxfer.com to track this all and just forget about your shared expenses. I really like Buxfer - of course, one reason is because my sister's husband is one of the founders of Buxfer :)