Dollop - My own Central Perk.

There is this new cute little coffee shop that's opened up around the corner. Dollop being the name. The name reminded me of Cadbury's Dollops ice creams back in India (they are long since extinct, aren't they?).

Nice lighting, bright in certain areas, and not so bright in some others. So, more variety there, for folks who prefer different lighting conditions.

Went there last friday night, to check it out, with Aragon in tow, to catch up on some resume remodelling.

Ordered the smallest cup of coffee possible. (I had just broken my fast about half hour ago, so wasnt too keen on stuffing myself, even if it was coffee).

Was asked the customary question: "For here, or to go?"

And me in my new-coffeeshop-checking-out delight, thundered: "For here"

Couple of minutes later, my coffee was served in what looked like a wide-ass (not big ass mind you, but wide !) bowl. I eyed it suspiciously. The nice little bowl named "Dog" filled with water outside the shop, filled my coffee craving mind with doubt. Did she serve me coffee in a cat bowl?

Or is it an 'in' thing to lap up one's coffee?

But when I noticed, the small little handle, tucked somewhere on this wide contraption called a cup, reassured me that I wasnt given a feline treatment.

I'm one of those beverage drinkers, who likes their coffee/tea, piping hot. And thanks to the wide-ass-now-confirmed-cup, my coffee was lukewarm.

Anyway, long story short, the coffee was good, and I went and parked myself on a nice little table. And switched on Aragon. Me and my new buddy were gonna get some work done.

Cozy shop, I realized, was also a wireless hot spot. And it was free !! Yipee!

The nice thing about this coffee shop is the ambience. Some of the furniture in the place is actually odd, but fits in uniquely, and gives it a different feel. For instance, the place where they have condiments for the coffee, is actually on a rosewood finish, oldie style, dressing table. Complete with a small wide mirror. Matter of fact, it is old !!

Not to mention, the nice cozy couches, and books.

Books ! There are atleast about a 100 different books in this place, and the sheer variety of them and their age, makes it even more interesting, and well, cozy ! Today, I noticed 'War & Peace', 'Gulliver's Travels', 'My Ischmael', and a book on ESP (which I hope to read soon !).

Oh, did I mention the neat rows of National Geographic in the restroom?

Would anybody ever touch those books? I sure wouldnt, but what the heck, the restroom looks cool with 'em in. :)

And, since I was there last friday night, there was a live band, playing some good jazz. Way to go Chris (dude who owns the place).

And if you dont own a wireless notebook, dont fret, coz, Dollop has a shiny new iMac, for these very souls.

So if you are in Chicago, and have nothing better to do an afternoon or evening, check out Dollop.

On show at Clarendon and Gordon, Buena Park neighborhood.
Timings: 6 am to Midnight.

Verdict: Two Thumbs Up.

O Quick Gun Murugan, where art thou?

I still cant get over this character, Quick Gun Murugan. About five years ago (give or take a year), Channel V, aired this series of clips about an English speaking Tamilian in a cowboy outfit. This ladies and gentlemen, is Quick Gun Murugan. Ofcourse, this introduction is for people who missed the antics of QGM, either because they werent in India then, or just didnt watch Channel V much.

Ah, those fiery stares, and strong dialogue delivered in an angry Sivaji Ganesan style, of Quick Gun Murugan, is a sight to behold. Though these clips, seemed to make a mockery of us Tamilians, but what the heck, it was done so well, that I enjoyed it every bit. Much more than Uddham Singh.

The great thing about these clips was, QGM, was a cowboy just in outfit. The dialogues, and expressions, were classic '40+ year old Tamilian' dialogues. I mention the age factor here, because, I havent really come across any young Tamilian (including me, if you didnt already know), who uttered 'Mind It' at the end of an angry conversation. I could identify that 'Mind It' only with an angry 40+ year old teacher (or some pissed off grown up).

And then, there was the ever so famous, 'What to do, we are like this only' phrase at the end of the clip. (Or was it just We are like this only ?) . The 'only' part at the end of the sentence was classic south indian.

Sadly, my memory (which as usual, is quite bad) is quite fuzzy about some of QGM's famous dialogues. I remember a scene where QGM goes

" Paal kudikkira pasanga, beer kudikkakudadhu"

translated,

"Kids who drink milk, shouldnt drink beer"

And mind you, this dialogue was delivered with QGM's infamous sneer, at a young dude, who sipped a bottle of beer, and swooned. Sad part is, am not sure, if this was a spoof of QGM by Hayward's 5000 (a popular beer brand in India), or was it a Channel V clip of classic QGM.

But, I sure wish I could see all of QGM's videos again. Couldnt find a single video link online. Any QGM fans out there, who may have something for this poor soul who misses his buddy Murugan? :)

Lord Aragon speaketh !!

Well not Lord Aragon himself, but Aragon. That's the name of my new notebook (I hate to use the term laptop, laptops are atleast a generation old, more bulky machines, when compared to the sleek machines that notebooks are).

It's a Compaq Presario, with pretty much all the bells and whistles that come with today's notebooks. I sadly missed out on the greal Dell deals that were on a few weeks ago, where a machine of a similar configuration as mine (1.4Ghz Centrino, 512 MB RAM, 60 Gig Hard Drive, DVD -RW/CD - RW, and inbuilt wireless card) was atleast 300-400 green backs cheaper.

I was keen on buying a notebook that was under 5.5 lbs, and this beauty is 5.2, an inch thick, with a nice pretty wide screen !

Only sore point was, all the new notebooks that are sold at the big stores, are shipped with XP Home. Why would they ship such powerhouses with XP Home instead of XP Pro is beyond me. However, these same machines could be customized to come with XP Pro if one was buying it from the manufacturer's website. And that would mean atleast a 3 week waiting period, and I couldnt wait. Patience, isnt one of my virtues for sure.

So, within half an hour of bringing the baby home, I formatted the drive, and installed XP Pro on it.

I was duly warned by the Best Buy store clerk - " You may not be able to find all the software drivers online, if it comes to that, its best if we do it for you" . (Ofcourse, it'd cost me an additional 300 atleast if I did it with them !!!)

And I was thinking to myself - "Errr, I think I can handle that, I've formatted my desktop quite a few times, and this is a risk I'm willing to take, moreover, who are you trying to kid? Not be able to find drivers for the hardware online? Especially while using anXP Pro? And your talking to me, a self confessed geek?" (My hubris had to show up !)

Anyway, long story short, turns out, Compaq Presario shipped all the drivers and sofware that I'd need in a separate DVD, and no, this is not the Recovery CD. So, I didnt have to move my posterior much over the re-installation.

And as I'm blogging right now, am backing up my desktop, so that I can format it and re-install it again. A healthy practice to ensure peak performance, especially considering the tons of software that I've installed on it.

Funny thing was, as I was backing up the necessary data files, I couldnt help but feel bad, as if I was pulling the plug on a loved one. Fellow geeks may comprehend my feelings for my dear desktop. But, the way I looked at it, I'm giving her a new lease of life :)

I think I'm just too senti !! :|

About time I got a life !