The Two in ONE!

Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Women, they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know

Okay sounds totally random doesn't it? Well a bunch of you might have recogonized these lyrics and instantly started humming the chorus of Dreams - Fleetwood Mac. Now I wouldn't blame you for not having heard of Fleetwood, hell I myself didn't know much about them until like a year and a half ago, still this is some good shit I tell you. They aren't the coolest rock band to come out of Britain, hell not by a long shot, but in Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham; they did have one of the most intriguing set of vocalists in town, probably the only women vocalists who even have a chance to compete with the likes of Perry, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon etc. Now if you discount the ladies from Fleetwood Mac, they sound mind numbingly average, I mean of their 20 something studio albums only a handful of songs are worthy of listening to, hence I have to tell you only to listen to their Greatest Hits. Even the greatest hits album isnt all smooth sailing, it starts off brilliantly with awesome songs like "Dreams", "Go Your Own Way", "Everywhere", "Little Lies", "Black Magic Woman", "Don't Stop" etc. But on the whole this isn't the greatest album at all.

Fleetwood are probably someone you can listen to once in a while, or when fate decides to play them on iPod Shuffle. Still that being said, I still love some of their songs and the vocals are awesome so yes I listen to Fleetwood Mac quite regularly! McVie is hands down the best of the three vocals, most of my favorite songs are with her singing, still its all futile comparing that to the GREEN CHICKEN WRAP!!

What???? Oh yeah, since I didnt have more than 10 sentences to write about Fleetwood Mac, I decided to jam in some good wraps and frankies in between. FAASO's. Okay this absolutely no one would have heard of unless you're living in Powai or the western suburbs. Good cheap food. Galleria is full of such wonderful places and I must say, this has been one of my favorite destinations for a quick bite. The most alluring factor about Faaso's - its dirt cheap, at 70 bucks a wrap you can eat away to glory. I can't really comment about any of their Veg Wraps because lets face it, I'm hardly a vegetarian now. Still their Non Veg wraps are to die for. Chicken Bhuna, Green Chicken, Chicken Tikka - well you get the point. They have Reshmi Kebabs and stuff too, at the max you will spend like 150 bucks a head for a filling meal at Faaso's. To make things interesting they have like these combo deals where you can choose upto 3-4 wraps and get like the 5th one free and a bunch of other combo deals. And yes they deliver too. My only complaint would be the fact that even though its 70 bucks a wrap, its hardly filling so you have to have atleast 2 wraps to even consider it as a meal but what the hell, its not too much to shell out now is it?! Anyways enjoy Faaso's and Fleetwood. Its not really the ideal combination, but we've had worse!! CHEERS!

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TEN reasons why Pearl Jam should feature on your iPod..

Possibly one of the greatest new age bands, Pearl Jam have conquered the Alternative Rock scene and have made it their own thanks to 3 scintillating albums during the 90's and in my book the 90's belonged to Pearl Jam. There's a fine line between Pearl Jam and Grunge and the man solely responsible for jump roping between this line is none other than Eddie Vedder. Reason No.1 to listen to Pearl Jam - Eddie Vedder, possibly one of the most amazing vocalists around and yes he's still GOT IT!!!

Now Eddie Vedder's life is Intriguing to say the least. Not all was well with him during his childhood, he was raised by his birth mother and a step father (of whose real identity Vedder only came to know about in his late teen's). His parents went through a divorce and Vedder stayed back with his then step father to complete high school, but he didn't know at that time that he was indeed his step father. His biological dad was someone who Vedder had met only a couple of times during his childhood and he had no memory of him, and his father eventually died of Multiple Sclerosis causing Vedder to spiral out of control. By then he was living all alone in his apartment with a job at a Gas Station to support him, and he eventually gave up his education to pursue a full time career in Music. Thank god for that. After a couple of small time bands Vedder was given his big break by Jack Irons (Drummer of RHCP) and the rest as they say is history. Vedder has a lot of pain and anguish from his personal life and childhood that he portrays into his music and most of his songs are narratives about his upbringing and some of the problems he faced. Most famous being Eddie Vedder's mini-opera entitled "Mamasan" which depicts a tale of a boy who finds out the truth about his paternity and later turns into a serial killer and is then apprehended and convicted for murder. This later then went on to become Pearl Jam's "Alive" "Once" and "Footsteps". Eddie Vedder is probably one of the hand picked vocalists who were even considered worthy of replacing the immortal Jim Morrison with The Doors, a move that failed to materialize, and that my friends is Reason No. 2 - If the vocalist is said to be as good as Jimbo, then you know his band is a kick ass band.

Reason No. 3 - why yes Pearl Jam have not one, not two but THREE guitarists in a 5 man band, now you gotta love that shit. Johnny Guitar is the Reason No. 4 why you just have to listen to Pearl Jam. Absolutely loved this song, adrenaline pumping song this is, easily one of PJ's best songs. I think its safe to say that no band has even come close to achieving the success of Pearl Jam, purely because of their music - their songs have so much pain, every time you listen to their music, you can actually feel the pain in Vedder's voice and that for me has to be Reason No. 5. Songs like "I Am Mine", "Black", "Jeremy" are just some of the examples of this fact. Reason No. 6 - The whole world loves Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder. These guys have been rocking it since 1990, and they have performed with the likes of The Who, RHCP, Neil Young, Nusret Fateh Ali Khan, The Chicago Bulls, The Chicago Bears, The Chicago Cubs etc etc. This guy is a legend. An absolute ROCKSTAR in every sense of the word. Reason No.7 will have to be the fact that Pearl Jam are probably one of the few bands that I listen that tours extensively, albeit only in America and Canada, but it gives me great joy to see a band spend close to 2 years just touring and performing gigs. Maybe a fab concert in Bombay in a few years time (ahh I can only wish). Reason No. 8 would be for the fact that even after having established themselves in the Rock world, Vedder and Pearl Jam are always trying new stuff, they debuted as an out and out Alternative Rock band, then they moved towards Grunge and in their Backspacer album they experimented with New Wave and my god it was a good album, easily one of their most under-rated albums. Songs like "Unthought Known", "Just Breathe" and "The End" are some of my favorite PJ songs of all time. Okay I've almost run out of time, patience and reasons here so why don't I just make Reason No. 9 as because "I Told You So" and lets face it, have I ever been wrong about any of the artists that I have recommended to you in the past. And finally Reason No. 10 - TEN!! What a bloody album. Greatest album of all time, its a shame it was their first album, because it reached such heights that one would straight away say that none of their forthcoming albums would ever reach the heights of TEN.

Here's their entire discography (in my preference of course)

• 1991 - Ten
• 2009 - Backspacer
• 1993 - Vs
• 1994 - Vitalogy
• 2002 - Riot Act
• 1996 - No Code
• 1998 - Yield 
• 2000 - Binaural
• 2006 - Pearl Jam

Ten, Backspacer, Vs and Vitalogy are soo good that you won't even get bored of it if you listen to it everyday. "Jeremy", "Alive", "Once", "Even Flow", "Black", "Daughter", "Betterman", "Nothing Man", "Johnny Guitar", "Unthought Known", "The Fixer", "I Am Mine", "Leash", "Blood", Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In a Small Town"........Okay I should really stop now!! Go ahead enjoy Pearl Jam, easily one of the Top 5 bands of all time!! Good Night!!! 

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God's Food is GOOD Food

For this week's update I am going back to America, to Flushing New York to be precise. Now don't be flabbergasted by the fact that this update is indeed about a TEMPLE, the Mahaganapathi Temple in Flushing New York. Now if my parents were reading this blog secretly they would swell with pride right about now, but just to ensure that they don't come and hug me tomorrow, let me tell you this post has nothing to do with the great Lord Ganesha or any of his other fellow spiritual men, this post is about the awesome canteen situated in the basement of the temple.  Now that sounds more like me doesn't it?

Well ever since I was a kid, my parents have tricked/bribed/conned/"spun an intricate web of DECEIT" to get Gautam and Ganesha under the same roof, not that I have anything against the man, but its just Parenting 101 - The more you force you're kid to do something, the more further away he's gonna run from it. Anyways, my father still graciously lets me live under his roof so the odd temple visits every once in a while are the least I can do. And as I've grown older, their bribing has become less effective, its now more of a "magnanimous gesture" from my behalf to them. So in my supposed summer blowout in Vegas, LA and New York my parents somehow convinced me to go to this temple. I must say, temples in America are nothing like the ones we have in India. Very very clean. Spacious. Lesser people. MUCH lesser people. Hell I'd even go out on a limb and say that there's a sense of serenity and calm in these temples, unlike the ones in India were you have sweaty shirtless men giving you dirty looks because your poonal is not maintained properly and the fact that you are chewing gum and listening to music when he's saying some mumbo jumbo prayers for you. Still enough about the temple, lets go down to the basement shall we. 

You know of all the million places to eat in New York, this basement won't even feature in the top 1000, but nevertheless you can only eat out at all these 1000 places if you have an endless amount of earnings or a super rich dad who loves you too much. Since most of us have neither, if you are studying in New York and you can't cook a tasty meal to save your ass then this basement should be your lunch time destination. Some of the NRI's have set up this pretty sweet canteen, where proper "Ghar Ka Khana" is prepared at alarmingly reasonable prices, but before you start drooling over naan and paneer, when I said Ghar Ka Khana, I meant MY Ghar ka khana. Delicious South Indian food, Sambhar, Rasam, Dosas, Idli's, Tamrind Rice, Curd Rice, Sambhar Rice etc etc. Its almost like a proper side business for the owners of this place because this world we live in is filled with pigs like me who would visit a temple just to eat good cheap food. The whole scene is run by 4-5 people (they do appreciate volunteers); and all you have to do is stand in line, place your order and wait for them to announce your number. They have ample seating area, free water and amenities, paper plates and plastic spoons and forks to ensure no clatter and noise, all in all a very good place to visit if you're a struggling student who would go to any extent to save a few dollars. They do have jain food available (onion and garlic free preparation) it is after all a temple you know. 

They have a wonderful variety of dosas to try out, Paper Roast, Ghee Roast, Mysore Sada, Rava Sada, Onion Rava, Uthappas and so many more variants of Idlis and Vadas in Sambhar, Rasam and Curd. But what I really liked about this place was the rice preparations like Tamrind Rice, Lemon Rice, Bisibelle Bath and our very own Thair Sadam. Served in these cute containers, they are very easy to eat, very easy to take home and store because most of these preparations stay fresh for a couple of days. An absolute bargain I tell you, you can have a super filling lunch for almost as little as 5 dollars. The only catch is that they do not deliver to any college campuses nearby, but I think its a fair price to pay, I mean if you want some good food in New York, the least you can do is say HI to Lord Mahaganapathi. 

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Cat Stevens!!!

Still sticking to artists that have come out of Britain, this week I shall give you Cat Stevens. Possibly the pioneer of Folk Rock, Cat Stevens was brought up in London, his name isn't actually Cat, that's his stage name. However he is now called Yusuf Islam, after his change of name and his adoption of Islam in 1980. Yusuf Islam is now a super holy man, philanthropist and as some religious whacko would say, he's one of "God's own children". I could care less about his change in faith and his change to Yusuf Islam, I do however love Cat Stevens. Good singer, very folksy songs he had during his peak years, has probably come out with atleast 10 odd albums, I'm not too sure, but I've only heard his Greatest Hits album and I must say, I've become a fan of Folk Rock.

The first thing you should know his Cat Stevens' music is that it is purely FOLK, so except a lot of mellow beats, slow songs, ballads if I may say so. No loud bass guitar and drum solos here, its just pure vocal bliss from this brit. When I think Cat Stevens' straight away my mind goes to "Lady D'Arbanville", not one of his greatest songs, not my a long shot, but something about this song just makes it my favorite song. "Sad Lisa", "Peace Train", "Father & Son", "Mathew & Son", "Here Comes My Baby", "The First Cut Is The Deepest" are some of his cult hits. And how can I forget his masterpiece, "Moonshadow". Brilliant song this, like I said its that type of album you will listen to at 4 am in the morning, when theres a sense of serenity in your mind, if you are disturbed or restless unable to sleep, Cat Stevens would calm you down to no end. I wouldn't be that adventurous enough to recommend the entire discography because quite clearly there's only a finite amount Folk music that one can listen to. That being said, I think Cat Stevens is well worth the download, the Best of Cat Stevens that is. He did take a nice long break after his whole name/religion change and now he's back performing religious stuff as Yusuf Islam. Not my type!!! I've been told he nearly drowned to death off the coast of California, when he exclaimed to god "Oh God! If you save me I will work for you.” Well someone saved him and now he works for God. Fair play to the guy. Anyways enjoy Cat Stevens atleast, Yusuf Islam can chill with his wife and kids in Dubai!!!

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Juicy Stuff!

Okay this is a very spur-of-the-moment review. I was not going to write about Juicy Stuff, simply because I was under the false delusion that it was simply too chindi to write about, I mean there must be like a thousand such places in Bombay that serve good butter chicken for good cheap prices, but whats so different about this place you ask?

Well the name. JUICY STUFF! Seriously whacky is just an understatement. And if that wasn't enough to make you a regular at Juicy Stuff, enter PAWAN - everybody's favorite waiter. His sidelocks (well you can't really call them sidelocks, they are more like sidelocks long enough to look like pigtails) are simply superb. Damm nice guy, helps you out with the menu and stuff, tells you what to order and I'm sure he makes a hefty sum just by the way of tips. Now more importantly the food at Juicy Stuff is awesome. Value for money basically. Its not some fancy restaurant where you can dine with your suit and tie, its your everyday sasta khana joint. Ive been told by my friends that 2 years back, the food was even more cheaper and fewer people had heard of the place, but still today one can get a nice filling meal for just about 200-250 bucks per head. Now thats some deal. Great food too. I just love the starters at Juicy Stuff, very tasty and the chicken is just brilliant, maybe the fact that a plate of Chilli Chicken costs only 110 bucks makes it taste better. Either way all the starters are worth having, though I have a few qualms with the quantity, hungry growing boys like myself can easily finish one starter on their own. This is why you should go to Juicy stuff with atleast 2 people, that way more starters, more chicken and more people to split the bill with. The Chicken Sczhewan Fingers are simply to DIE for and even the Lollypops are worth having, but 6 pieces only, so yeah don't expect a lot. Most of the starters are around 100 bucks each, so the sensible thing to do is come down and have like 4-5 starters in all.

Tried the main course in Juicy Stuff a couple of times, decent enough, the butter chicken is nice, although Ive had better. But for 140 bucks, I think this is probably the best butter Chicken in Powai. I would stay away from the Chinese food, its a little too Indianized for my liking, still no complaints, Juicy Stuff is the ideal food joint to eat on a regular basis without feeling the pinch on your pocket. Pawan's hospitality is just an added bonus. Like my friend said, "Call Pawan and ask him for 1 Better Chicken, 2 Better Naan, 1 Cock, 1 Maazda with lots of ASS". I shit you not, Pawan will laugh at you but still get your order in less than 15 mins. Oh yes thats the best part, since its such a small eatery, only like 4 tables can be seated on top, therefore the service becomes very fast. Mind you its not the most spacious restaurant to eat, so if you're unlucky enough to sit next to a bunch of spoilt brats talking about their BMW's and BlackBerry's then well you're evening will be ruined. But atleast you have awesome Chilly Chicken and Butter Chicken to help ease the misery. I strongly recommend this place guys, they deliver too in and around Powai, but then you wont get to meet Pawan. Either way, JUICY STUFF ZINDABAAD!!!

PS: I was too embarrassed to actually go place the order my friend told me to, but I'm sure he has actually done it.

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