My first NBA Game

After some heroic battles with my reluctant self, I managed to pull through and finally attend a NBA game. There were a couple of failed attempts back when I was in Troy to go to some NETS games (back then Vince Carter was still on their roaster and they almost had championship a pedigree) but for some reason or another, I still ended up on the couch. So now, in Boston, I had to go and check it out. And what better way to start an NBA experience that watching the Celtics? Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo are (use to be?) one of the better teams in the East (League?) and hope to get a second championship in Beantown after the '08 success. However, this night was definetely one of the worse ones for the Celts, getting blown up by Memphis Grizzlies (111-91) in all compartments. Still, a very nice experience..

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

You all remember Gorillaz, that virtual project of Damon Albarn (Blur) that involved over time famous third parties such as Del tha Funkee Homosapien or Mos Def. The had a couple of great runs back in the early 2000s ("Gorillaz" and "Damon Days"). Now they (he) are (is) back with a new release called "Plastic Beach". Guest performances by Snoop Dogg, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Kano, Bashy, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Mark E. Smith, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, sinfonia ViVA and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music, all are indicative of the quality and diversity of the material, marked by the usual "Gorillaz"-style.

Endless Winter

After all the bad weather I encountered in DC, Atlanta and finally in Europe, two things are obvious: the love/joy of cold weather diminishes significantly with age, and secondly, I need to make more north-south trips rather than going back and forth on the east-west axis. Moreover, it is pretty clear also that climate change is quite real, weather shifts have become something common (I remember those early December days when there was a sudden 30 F drop in the temperature, similarly the snow flakes in October, and some of the weird temps we had last June)

Movie Nights

The Holiday season is usually a good opportunity to check out the new releases. Besides seeing the the "squeakquel" of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with the kids, Avatar was something that I wanted to experience, especially after all the commercials and noise about a cinematic revolution. So, here it is: nice movie, a mixture of a sci-fi, action with a love story lining. Reminded me of Apocalypto and the Last of the Mohicans (although not as bloody) with a Sci-Fi coating. Even though it wasn't really a revolution (except maybe the exquisite quality of the visual effects), it is a nice epic story (about 2 and a half hours) with all the drama and a (very necessary) happy ending.

White Christmass

A penny for your vote

Since now I am in Boston, it is a lot easier to exercise my right and duty to vote in the Romanian Presidential elections 2009. And more over this year things seem to be pretty tight. Although most Romanians do not believe in either of the two candidates left (Basescu and Geoana), still vote in the spirit of choosing the lesser of the two evils. I subscribe to this view; however, I am not even sure why evil is greater, since most of alliances in Romanian politics are purely driven by immediate interests, so something like a "right"-"left" coalition against the "center" shouldn't surprise anyone. At least, very close results (such as 50.33 and 49.66) makes you feel like it was all worthwhile. Hopefully, in a couple of hours they will also have the final results, including the Diaspora votes.

Revisiting Romania

The Fall/Winter season is obviously not the best one to visit Romania. Cold weather and muddy roads contribute tremendously towards a grim & gray vision of it. This time I only got as far as the capital city (Bucharest) and the trip was mainly dictated by a dental emergency, and I barely got to see some family in these short 5 days spent there.

Still, anything is better than nothing. When I think of all the people unable to travel and see their families, 9 hours seem like a little price to pay. Moreover, I am grateful for all these chances and you tend to appreciate them even more. It is always nice to get back to your roots, spend some time with your loved ones and set everything aside at least for a while. Plus, it is a good moment to pause and reflect on where you are now and where you want to get next.

However, not everything went so smoothly: when I left, I wanted to be brave and decided to take the public transport to the airport (Otopeni- OTP) and it was still a hasty decision despite the fact that I left home really early. I ended up getting into a microbus for commuters that left me close to the airport at the main road. Funny enough, that morning one could enjoy the biggest and densest fog that I have seen. Basically, you could not see beyond 2 meters. So after walking for about 10 minutes I still haven' reached anything and I started to panic. However, when I heard the announcements, I realized that I am at 5m from the door of the terminal. Amazing. It was just like in a movie sauna (cause in reality is not that steamy) but the visibility was awful.

Head of The Charles River Regatta

Unfortunately, I forgot all about it. Remembered only today around 3 PM and that only because I saw that this is going to be the last sunny day for a while. So I should get outdoors asap, especially when considering what tough times lie ahead in terms of personal workload. Got to the Charles river pretty late coming from Cambridgeport, which probably wasn't the best itinerary anyways. I managed to take several shots despite the cold, windy weather and the (already) poor light. No more clam chowder for the latecomers; apparently people came as early as noon. Tents were coming down, people was leaving in waves towards Harvard Sq. So, I followed.

The first flakes of Winter

No matter how much (most of us) want to hold on to summer, and this year, even fall would be good for mid-October, winter seems to be closer than ever this year. After the sudden disappearance of summer in mid-August, also fall seems to fall short this year. Today, I notice the first snow flakes making a first appearance within the light drops of rain. Woow, I should get my boots and cap.

Budget Truck - Awfull experience

Well, there are a lot of things to learn every day. And one of them today was to NEVER use Budget Truck again. I would personally advise staying away from them since my experience was truly despicable. Besides the fact that they probably always charge you more than what your reservation shows, they also gave me a bigger truck (at no additional cost:)) just the extra $20-$25 bucks for the gas, this 16 foot big baby was eating the gallon at 10 miles!!).Then, when to return the truck, the guy noticed some scratches on the top right corner of the truck and he pinned that on us. Back in Troy we did not get any inspection, nothing to sign off saying that the truck is in a good shape. Now, since nothing was recorded, everything else (scratches, marks etc.) can be put on us. Fortunately (a) I have a witness (my friend Carlos who drove me to Boston) and (2) pictures that I took on the highway just after entering MA state, showing that the truck was already scratched when we got it in Troy, NY. Those would be two things that I suggest everyone should do before renting from these low-lifes, to make sure they don't pin anything on you as well. Or better yet, just check the other's rates (UHaul, Penske, etc.) since they will guarantee the truck, not like Budget Truck.