Saturday Night Fever

I've found my current status as a quasi-invalid has escalated my former game of Red State - Blue State to a whole new level, a sort of exotic destinations vs. sedated suburban amusement. This past weekend was the first break of classes at INSEAD, and accordingly, most of my classmates facebook status updates involved statements about Hong Kong nightlife, trekking through Burma, or dining on Balinese beaches. Would my Saturday night rival these adventurous journeys?

Well...kinda.

My back is getting better but not to the point that I'm ready to go, as they say, "out out". Saturday night I decided to revisit a destination I hadn't been to in a long, long time. The Boston Science Museum. What exactly is the Saturday night science museum scene? Well, I'm here to tell you.

First up was the 7:30pm "Laser Queen" show. The Planetarium has a series of laser shows where they coordinate a fairly elaborate laser display to a specific type of music. The last time I had been to one of these was sometime in high school when a group of us went to the Pink Floyd Laser Show (I will allow you to interpret the inspiration for such decisions). As I stood solo in line for the show, I realized that if I had a mustache, I might be attaining true child molester status. There were three distinct groups in line with me:

1) The semi-"cool" music parents who were taking their pre-teen kids to the event to get them more into music. Having been involved with music growing up, I've often seen this parental type, wearing a vintage rock t-shirt (and by vintage I mean actually from 1983, not pre-faded and selling for $200) under a sensible Gap woolen pea coat, brimming with enthusiasm about when "music was good"....and to these parents, I salute you.

2) 30something French tourists. Maybe this was a random coincidence and not too common, but somehow it made total sense. There were two distinct groups, both identically fashionable and eager. I'm guessing a French version of the Lonely Planet strongly recommended this as a pre-going out activity.

3) Hipster / Stoners. I'm not sure whether I was observing more of a hipster contingent or pure high school stoner contingent, but there was a large group of skinny jean, mod haircut types. This group did not disappoint, as , one of their clan passed out and had to be carried out of the planetarium after the show. He then proceeded to puke everywhere once they got outside, totally unironically.

The show itself was amazing and reminded me how great of a band Queen is. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a large Saturday night gay contingent considering the band, but I guess you can't have everything.

Being the aggressive partyer that I am, I didn't stop with the Planetarium show. I stepped it up and got a ticket for the 9pm Omnimax showing of "Adrenaline: The Science of Risk". For anyone who hasn't been to the Boston Science Museum IMAX theater, I'd strongly recommend it. Instead of just a large IMAX screen, its a huge domed screen that dwarfs the traditional variety.

The movie was perfectly suited for the medium as it's all about adrenaline junkies, mostly focused around skydiving and BASE jumping. There is a number of intense scenes of jumping off planes and cliffs which in that environment which were not for the weaker of stomachs. I left with a few observations:

1) The introductory sequence is still similar to when I was a kid, with Leonard Nimoy still providing a bit of comic relief. However, I noticed that instead of the narrator just asking "Leonard Nimoy, what's he doing here?" had to clarify "Leonard Nimoy, the guy who played Spock in the original Star Trek series, what's he doing here?" I guess they're working under the assumption that the hipster who puked everywhere has no idea who Leonard Nimoy is.

2) There really wasn't any science involved other than providing about 2 minutes of explanation of how adrenaline works via neurotransmitters. Are all IMAX movies just an excuse for gratuitous nature and adventure footage, labeled as scientific in order to justify school field trips?

3) I feel an IMAX movie has to be the ultimate creative date. It's only an hour so not too long, it shows some demonstrated interest in science/knowledge, and it's certainly different. Please feel free to take this advice next time you've run out of ideas and feel free to implement it.

4) As cool as the whole BASE jumping thing appears to me, I still don't get that whole scene, at all.

How to Eat a Pop Tart

I've always been a fan of Metrosexual Manorexia, the act of always talking about how you should be cutting back on calories and complaining about 'feeling fat', while still working out regularly and consuming pretty much whatever you want. I believe this general obsession about what I'm eating is the result of a little bit o' chubbiness in my earlier years.

During middle school, the purgatory of schooling, I definitely carried a few more pounds than I should of. While not exactly the type of fat where you constantly breathe heavily, my pants were bought in the "Husky" section (for those who don't know, back in the day there was a size above XL called "Husky").

I imagine this was partially the result of the standard, awkward puberty years, but it was also helped out by an Indian culture that shows it's love through food. Not only is not finishing your plate the biggest insult you could give, but an Indian mother will often show her affection by allowing her child to eat whatever they desire.

Mine was no exception, and a favorite routine of the eleven year old Ranjan was having two Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts before school. Every day.

During this time I perfected a technique to achieve optimal enjoyment from each individual Pop Tart. It has laid dormant for years, but I will share it with you this morning:

1) Toast the Pop Tart

2) Eat the edges off, much as some people cut the crust of bread while making a sandwich.

3) Carefully peel the back, "bready" layer off, maintaing the structural integrity of the front side. This is the most difficult step and should be undertaken with caution.

4) What you are left with is a large piece of hardened frosting, covered with brown sugar and cinnamon, and ideally piping hot from Step #1. What better way to start your day?

It's Soooo Cute

As one may have noticed from my posting all summer, I was a huge fan of Asia. I am also a massive carnivore and believe that vegetarianism is often an irrational decision made by those with the luxury to do so.

However, sometimes even my limits may be tested. This summer I saw dog on the menu only once, at a Korean restaurant in Beijing. I tried scorpion and snake but just couldn't get myself to do it. I think the idea of discriminating what meat you eat based on the cuteness of the animal is ridiculous, and often just the decision is often just the result of cultural differences. I still feel at some point I may try it out, but a web discovery may have forever repulsed me from such a path.

I told you I'd be searching the far corners of the web, and this discovery came as the result of the following conversation. My friend who runs the pizzeria in Kansas was telling me how people often come into his store and just ask for "meat" on their pizza. He'll ask what kind of meat, to which they will simply reply "No idea, just meat." I joked that he should keep a supply of dog in the back for these very situations, maybe call it the "AJ's Special". Naturally, the followup question was "I wonder how much dog meat costs and if it's available in the U.S.?"

It is available...and the top google result could very well have not only turned me off from trying dog meat forever, it's so intense that for a split second, I may understand where vegetarian's are coming from.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

www.puppybeef.com

I won't include the pictures here, but I would recommend (or maybe warn you) to check out the "Recipes" page.

Also of note, is their sister site: www.kittybeef.com

Where, if you're buying a whole spit roast cat, you can differentiate between fish-fed cat or chicken-fed cat. Apparently, much like the grass-fed beef craze hitting high end restaurants, the true kitty connoisseur is extremely selective about what their cat eats before consuming it.

Crazy, crazy Asians.

God Bless America

As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of television, I plan on spending my time under house arrest catching up on some quality shows that I never had the chance to watch from the beginning (Dexter and Mad Men come to mind). In the meanwhile, I'm trying to avoid the trap of just watching random, retarded television. I found myself watching about 15 minutes of some horrible new VH1 show called "Real Chance at Love", featuring the "Stallionaire Brothers", Real and Chance. Yup, moments like that definitely kickstarted the East Coast, arugula-eating, latte-drinking, elitist liberal in me and had me worrying about the state of American cultural exports.

But then...god bless the NFL. Not only did it allow me to watch about six straight hours of television (plus Red Sox playoff baseball which I care to not speak about) and not feel guilty, but it reminded me of one of America's greatest products: television advertising.

While it sometimes became a little annoying watching old men talk about their erectile dysfunction, it only occurred to me after about my fourth hour into the marathon that I was seriously craving three products that I had seen repeated ads for (and Taco Bell's blackjack taco is absolutely not one of them):

1) Sometimes technology and utility converge in such a manner that makes one truly wonder about whether mankind's potential is limitless in its nature. Such an instance was shown to me this Sunday. The Bud Light Speaker Box. A 24 pack that has a speaker built-in to its side that you can plug your iPod/shitty, generic MP3 player directly into. Instant party. 24 beers and music. What more do you need? I mean, this could be the most genius product combination of our lifetimes. It will revolutionize packaging and could create an entire new culture of instant, random parties. I wonder what my parents would think if they come home to find me about 16 deep, blasting the new Mika album out of a cardboard box.

2) You may see a pattern, but another Bud Light product...their new Golden Wheat beer. I'm definitely not a huge beer guy, but have always a soft side for a tall, Hefeweizen. I have to try this product before I can believe it (it's a light beer as well, making it even more suspect) but I won't deny the strong urge the entire day to head out and grab a six-pack of this.

3) KFC's Grilled Chicken. I have no idea how this will actually be, and it doesnt really make sense now that I'm at home and have unlimited access to a grill, seasonings/spices, and Costco bags of frozen chicken breasts. However, I always was a little annoyed that getting a basic grilled chicken breast seemed an impossibility in any fast food place other than Boston Market and am glad they took up this strategy. Has anyone tried this?

J'ai un Hernie Discale

It's been a while since my last post and the past six weeks have seen some highs and lows. The first month and a half at INSEAD exceeded all expectations and my experience with the program will be documented going forward. Unfortunately, I'm sitting in Lexington, Massachusetts currently watching the Red Sox try to stay alive against the Angels on a crisp, New England autumn day.

Three herniated discs (with one being prolapsed) and severe sciatica put me on the MBA Disabled List. I started having problems early in the summer, which progressively got worse and worse. I'm not sure if this was some extension of the corporate atrophy that I mentioned way back when, but after strong recommendations for surgery by Singapore doctors and pain that is almost fascinating in how strong it was, I made the trip home to the U.S. to try to figure everything out. INSEAD has been great during the entire process as they will be letting me restart this January, assuming a normal recovery, with no problems or additional costs.

I imagine I'll let you all into the world of orthopedics, chiropractors, herniation, and the American health care system as time goes by. In the meanwhile, I'll be documenting how I work to entertain myself while in suburbia over the next few months. It's been a long time since I've spent an extended time in Lexington, and as I'm unable to drive a car at the moment, my PS3 and DVR will be used like never before. I am looking to exhaust every corner of the internet as well, add a few blogs to my Google Reader, work on my Chinese, and maybe get into some really esoteric interests. I invite you to join me as I devolve into maybe madness, perhaps greatness, and hopefully along the way, the owner of a straighter spine.