We’re back – Part I

Ah. A post. Its been a while. Lots going on as always. I actually had it in mind to move to a new blog (a wordpress one maybe) with the idea of inviting J (as fiancé will be referred to in –ahem- ‘code’ here) to view and hopefully watch her develop a habit and all. Never did get around to do it for reasons i wont get into now.

On J - I honestly think that the poor thing needs about 10x more online time. Considering the fact that shes spending time cooling her heels at home for a few months, she spends ridiculously little time online.

Well WTF! We’re not even married, and i am cribbing like this nasty old coot! :p

That said, one reason this blog hasn't moved is that i now have reason to believe (on the basis of what i now know of her) that its contents are relatively innocuous in that sense and we’ll eventually be OK with all of its contents.

** In fact, I can see us both in like 40 years or so – arm-in-arm, fake teeth, white hair and all, with framed photos of 4 or 5 wonderful, beautiful, grown up children (we’d have made together by then) all around us and re-reading all the stupid shite i post. On kindle like devices or LCD eyeglasses or whatever is in vogue.

Life otherwise has been pretty much the same. I have been tweeting like mad,travelling on & off and procrastinating as usual at work.

Reading has been going along quite briskly as well – A string of Biographies – Ayn Rand’s, Sandy Weill’s i remember – rereads of atleast 2 volumes of khushwant singh’s memoirs, itsy - bitsy bits of pulp ( Immortals of Meluha, Eat-Pray-Love come to mind ) and a series of books starting with Liar’s poker, When genius failed, A book on Pixar and finally last week – the brilliant  ‘Barbarians at the Gate : The fall of RJR Nabisco’

The book, in about 500 odd pages of sheer brilliance, chronicles the background & rise of all key players involved in the Leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco which happened in the late 80s i think. How NABISCO came about, what merged with what to form NABISCO, RJR’s history, The Tobacco Industry’s background, The cookie industry’s background, Background on key investment bankers, M&A specialists of the era, background on Kravis, his partners and his *still iconic* firm, KKR. It then goes on to describe in fine detail how the deal panned out, who won how and so on..Anyone will find it interesting. And you’re guilty of nothing short of a crime if you’re a B-School type and havent actually read it yet. 

I had just read Sandy weill’s biography just before this, ‘Liars poker’ before it and ‘When genius failed’ (about the rise and fall of ‘Long term capital management’) before that and I still vividly remember various investment bankers from Warren Buffett’s biography. So the whole connect involving all these iconic investment bankers, financiers, law firms and corporations is lovely to sit, re-read and reflect upon as the various events in ‘Barbarians’ unfold – if you like this kind of thing that is. I’d strongly recommend that you give it a go. And the other texts mentioned of course.

I have it mind to actually take 10 mins or so after getting through every book i read from now (ANY book for that matter) and blog about it - so that it keeps the blog rolling and more importantly leaves a little part of the book in memory, sort of help me recollect / summarize / imbibe / reflect upon key aspects of the book in question as i go along from one book to another. Lets see.

Oh and i spent the last week in Paris. I had a wonderful time. Photos can be found here, mapped out meticulously. ( i don’t have time for captions though). A few random things from the trip:

• European women have magnificent legs. I have been studying them in detail. I think it is got to do with the helluva lot of walking they do vis-a-vis their Indian counterparts. The same is sort-of-true with a lot of Asian & Latin american urban women. Metros, living in big cities, walking to work etc. actually help them acquire stunning legs i think.
• Most French women, contrary to popular belief, are NOT skinny/size zero. They are succulent & curvy.  I observed the same thing amongst Italians in earlier trips. The regular public are, atleast, mostly in conformance to these norms. Related factoids: Spanish women are more earthy & rural in overall temperament vis-a-vis Italians & frenchfolk (who are vain & Sophisticated) . English chicks are fat. Far too many pastries & pudding i guess.
• Marion Cotillard is big in Paris as well. I in-fact brought back a french magazine featuring Marion on the cover with a profile titled (when roughly-translated) “the Irresistible rise of Marion Cotillard”
• I stayed in Montmartre, where Amelie Poulain used to live and work. It is as quaint they claimed.
• I bought back, for J, a 180 g box of assorted Valrhona and one 50 ml bottle of Chanel No.5 (Collectively valued at 80 euros, they together represent the most expensive gift(s) i’ve ever bought for anyone**)
• One of the world’s best selection of ‘collectible erotica’, toys, ‘original pornographic productions’ on DVD ,  dominatrix outfits/uniforms, a whole array of whiz-bang devices – large & small - and similar treasures can be found in Montmartre on the Boulevard de Clichy (between Place de clichy and Pigalle) right under the watchful, holy shadow of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris
• Moulin Rouge is as overrated as Marina Beach (Pardon my French but i cant think of a better example right now). Heck, it’s famed windmill even has a few malfunctioning neon lights. (see?). That said, the strip has numerous pubs, strip clubs and 20 euro/hour ‘table dance’ clubs (whatever they are)
• The Louvre had some kind of a promotional free-for-all campaign on the weekend i was there. It would have taken me 4 hours to just get into the Pyramid. I went around at 2 different times, 2 different days and chickened out both times. 

Sight-see worthy paris is actually VERY walkable. Suggested itinerary for a 3/4 day stay and more rubbish in Part II later (i have to buzz off to bed now)

** Stuff marked thusly (**) represent insurance against slip-ups made anywhere else in this long, rambly narrative.

(There is a lot of linking left to do on this post. Let me know if it reads badly without them and i’l do them up for you)