Paresh’s Blog

so i was at the store today and i saw a fornt page story in the san francisco chronicle about this massive donation the record industry is making to the state. you can read the full article here but here’s gist of it: the state sued the record industry for illegally inflating the price of cd’s (essentially price fixing). since there is no real way to directly repay every single person harmed, part of the settlement includes the donation of almost 700,000 music cd’s to schools, libraries and colleges throughout the state.

however, as with all things, there has been some controversy over the actual cd’s that are being donated. some people are alleging the record industry of donating crap they can’t sell instead of cd’s of real artistic/cultural/etc. value. so i felt compelled to look up what my school district will be getting and here’s some of the best i found on the list (the numbers before the artist are the number of copies the district is getting):

3 MARTHA STEWART Martha Stewart Living: Spoo
3 THREE MO’ TENORS THREE MO’ TENORS
2 60’s Rock: Feelin’ Groovy Atlantic 50th Anniversary
2 98 DEGREES 98DEGREES & RISING
2 Aerosmith JUST PUSH PLAY
2 BEE GEES THIS IS WHERE I CAME
2 Big Pun/ Big Punisher YEEEH BABY/CLEAN
2 Celine Dion VOL.1/COLLECTOR
2 EVERCLEAR VOL. TWO:GOOD TIME FO
2 Jessica Simpson IRRESISTIBLE
2 KRAVITZ, LENNY LENNY
2 Mandy Moore Mandy Moore
2 Michael Bolton TIMELESS
2 MTV Soundtrack CARMEN - A HIP/HOPERA
2 MUMBA,SAMANTHA GOTTA TELL YOU
2 Nas NASTRADAMUS/CLEAN
2 Ricky Martin SOUND LOADED
2 WHITE, BARRY STAYING POWER
2 YANNI IN THE MIRROR
1 Aguilera, Christina My kind of Christmas
1 Babyface MTV UNPLUGGED
1 Belafonte, Harry Wish U A Merry X-Mas
1 BILL ENGVALL Here’s Your Christmas Albu
1 BROWN,FOXY CHINA DOLL (ED)
1 Cheech Marin ME LLAMO CHEECH, EL C
1 Destiny’s Child Destiny’s Child
1 Eagle-Eye Cherry DESIRELESS
1 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKL GREATEST HITS 1971
1 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKL GREATEST HITS 1991
1 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKL GREATEST HITS 1968
1 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKL GREATEST HITS 1977
1 KRAVITZ, LENNY MAMA SAID
1 Ray Ramano LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL
1 Shawn Colvin WHOLE NEW YOU
1 STONE TEMPLE PI Tiny Music…Songs From The
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS 60’s Rock: Feelin’ Groovy
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS New Millennium Funk Party
1 WALLFLOWERS,THE BREACH
1 Wu-Tang Clan THE W/ CLEAN
1 YANNI REFLECTIONS OF PASSI**

you know, my one big complaint in high school was that there was never a copy of barry white or big pun when i needed one. thank god that void will now be filled. if you’re interested (or just looking to kill some time like me), the lists of who is getting what is available here.

i’m not one on sentimentality, but my old roommate alvin is moving to seattle for work and i couldn’t resist posting this endearing picture:

good luck in seattle big al and make sure you keep your big bone out of trouble.

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Saumon en croûte d’épices, originally uploaded by lightsoutfilms.

alex posted this picture of Saumon en croûte d’épices on flickr (click the picture for the link to the recipe if you’re interested) and in a stunning moment of lateral-reminiscence (i don’t know if that a real thing, but whatever) it reminded me of a a great conversation i had with a guy at costco once.

so my last year at davis, my roommate josh and i went to the costco in sacramento to replenish our non-welfare bulk foods (the welfare food is not that long a story, i’m just not gonna tell it). so as costco often does, they had a little area setup for their bulk fishmongering. josh felt inspired to buy a salmon so as we’re standing in line it occurred to us that we didn’t have a cart so i volunteered to wait in line while josh went to get a cart.

now many of you may not be aware that i really like watching cooking shows. i know what you’re thinking: “sucka you crazy! you don’t eat meat and all they cook on those shows is meat!” well, the way i figure it, aside from just being interesting, you never know when you’re gonna be in line for salmon at costco and have to talk to a guy about salmon:

GUY IN LINE: waiting for salmon huh?
ME: yeah, you know, forst catch of the season and all -i totally made this up but it might have actually been true-
GUY: so, how do you like to cook it?
ME: oh, you know, i’m a purist. i throw the bad boy in a foil pouch with some salt, pepper, dill, and a couple slices of lemon. then i throw it on the grill for a few minutes.
GUY: oh yeah, that’s the best way to cook. all these people that pan sear and oven roast don’t know what they’re missing with the grill
ME: damn straight… -luckily josh returns in time for me to bailout and go sample hunting-

i dunno, i thought it was hilarious. i think i did pretty good for a vegetarian. good thing josh showed up when he did though because i was about to start bullshitting about using hickory chips in a smoker on the grill which even i know is wrong. that would’ve been just plain awkward.

oh the onion, how i love thee:

New Tech-Support Caste Arises In India
NEW DELHI—Thanks to widespread outsourcing of telephone-service jobs, a sixth caste has blossomed in India: the Khidakayas, a mid-level jati made up of technical-support workers. “I am happy to be a Khidakaya,” said technical-support agent Ranji Prasat, who speaks English with a flawless American accent and goes by the name “Ron” at work. “While we rank below members of the reigning order, those of us responsible for helping Americans track their online purchases and change their account PINs share many privileges not enjoyed by the merchant class below us.” Prasat said he expects to marry another tech-support worker.

so i just got this e-mail tonight:

Congratulations! You have been selected for an appointment in our upcoming Jeopardy! contestant search for the San Francisco area. We have reserved the following appointment for you:

When: Wednesday May 18th Time: 9:00am

Where: San Francisco, CA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! now i know better than to get my hopes up. i mean i’ll probably get art history or the new testament or something on the first exam, but its still pretty friggin cool just to get the appointment.