TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 6

Title: The Helium Insufficiency

The Gist: Leonard and Sheldon need liquid helium to conduct the experiment on their paper before a Swedish team beats them to it. Rest of the gang find out something interesting about Amy.

Things we learnt about: 

Michael Rapaport guest-starring as the Dealer
(yes, he's Gary the Cop whom Phoebe Buffay once dated)

1. Non-de-script white panel van and sketchy character in the parking lot.
2. Difference between Stalemate and Impasse.
3. A little something called "Mexican Stand-off".
4. Winning a battle, but losing a war.
5. We shouldn't go "shopping" at night.
6. With the right amount of money, and knowing where they (the 'enemies') live, there's a plenty we could do about it. (Okay, we're almost ready to be a mafia :P ) 
7. Mr. Glasses and Mr. Know-It-All are not built for prison.
8. "A guy enjoys semantic digressions as much as the next guy, but (business) is business." (This Black Market guy is cool!)
9. Being 'open to change'. (The Helium dealer plain kills me :D )

Amy's Track:

Things are moving fast on the romantic front post ShAmy break-up. The upcoming episodes promise a lot on this front.

Notable: If Amy has moved on, Sheldon has too. 

" 

I lied about being a wedding planner who can't find love... but I AM single, if you know somebody...

"

- Sheldon's tête-à-tête with the Helium Dealer 

TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 5

Title: The Perspiration Implementation

The Gist: Bernadette wants Howard to exercise, and the guys decide to join Barry Kripke's fencing club. Stuart seeks the ladies' advice to increase female footfall in his comic book store and Amy's life post break-up is moving faster than she expected.

-ve points: None actually, can't complain.

+ve points: 

1. Howard uses a hilarious engineering hack to avoid exercise.
2. The guys finally find a sport that they can associate with. Fencing is elegant for Sheldon, indoor for Leonard, Game of Thrones for Raj and a little Princess Bride for Howard. 
3. Stuart is creepy as hell and lives it.
4. Kripke shows interest in Amy, leading to some interesting reactions from Sheldon and Amy. 

" 

...but he's dumb and his face looks dumb.

" 

Best scene: Just like naughty schoolchildren in absence of teacher, boys indulge in silly sword fight when Kripke isn't around. 

My Say: A fun episode overall, but the look on Amy's face, when Sheldon tells her that his friends suggested dating other girls will help him move on, hints at residual latent feelings. Let's see.

How as we grow up, we become both more mature and more child-like: Sheldon is keen to learn fencing from his once arch enemy Barry, and still would kill him in 3 years from now if Barry tried to make a move on Amy... 3 years if Barry's a teacher worth his salt :P

First Mover (Dis)Advantage

" 

DEFINITION of 'First Mover'
A form of competitive advantage that a company earns by being the first to enter a specific market or industry. Being the first allows a company to acquire superior brand recognition and customer loyalty. The company also has more time to perfect its product or service.

" 

Investopedia 

That's the MBA side of things. First Mover Advantage. I pioneer in First Mover Disadvantage. 

Usually in my college, group assignments submission take place in a queue fashion. A Google sheet is shared with the class, and each group has to enter their group and project details. To avoid being the very first group, everyone fills the sheet leaving first n rows empty, considering n students in each group. And I always fill the sheet at the 11th hour, in total haste. 

So, once I got trapped by this n row trickery, and ended up filling the first group slot. Mine was the first group (=only group) to be axed. We set the bar so low, that all the other groups seemed Einstein-like to the professor. 

Another time, only two slots, first group's and last group's, were empty. I decided to fill the last one. Some of my group members decided to get the thing over with, and enjoy for the rest of the semester, hence the first slot. Meanwhile, a guy from another group lured me to defect into his team, who were also thinking of going for the last slot. Trying to stay loyal to my gang, I declined his offer, and before we knew it, only the first slot was left. 

If you think I'm a nerd, you're right. If you think my misfortunes are only in studies, I wish!

With many genuine problems, most of them solved, some of them unreasonable concerns- the moving in became an issue. Inside-everyone wants to move to the new place. Outside- no one wants to be the first one to move- be called a bitch- a traitor- seen as scared of administration-the stooge who can be blamed and used as a reason for others to move.

Yes, I'm that first mover. Haha, I'm the villain!!

Disadvantaged? 

As I see it, I'm winning. Others 'caught' me moving in the new place, started packing their stuff and have plans to move tomorrow. They accede to my courage, use it as an example and make the move. The sooner one moves in, the faster she gets used to the new things and sooner does she get back to normalcy. Many friends come and see how I have arranged my new room, they borrow my layout, feel re-assured, bring more friends and they see it too. Some find my decorations not so cool, make a blueprint in their minds and smirk at my poor arrangement. All of those who see me see how happy I am. This is a clear advantage :)

Tea in Coffee Lovers' Central Perk Mugs,
 that's a lethal mix :D

Girlies, I can only tell you how I felt- while packing, moving, un-packing, arranging, re-arranging with my roomie; we had a ton of fun. You get to know each others' idiosyncrasies, learn a few living hacks, get ideas about a dozen things, love and hate the changes, get absolutely tired, then prepare tea and enjoy it with biscuits in your new room. The feeling- out of this world! Change is inevitable, and if we want it to be, enjoyable. 

Cheers :)

Happyness is standing up for what you believe in,
and sharing it with your friends :)

TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 4

Episode: 4

Title: The 2003 Approximation

Thor and Dr. Jones, Thor and Dr. Jones
One plays with lightening, and other plays with stones

The Gist: Sheldon decides to revert back to living like in the year 2003, before he met Leonard as a reaction to Leonard and Penny living together and no Amy in Sheldon's life. Howard and Raj work on their band "Fingerprints on the Moon'.

-ve points: Sheldon is shown to react negatively as usual upon the subject of Leonard ceasing to be his room-mate. This has been happening every time Leonard and Penny try to live together. Agreed, Sheldon is a child inside a grown man, but after so many instances, shouldn't he start accepting the fact? Or at-least coping (positively) with it?

+ve points: The band "Fingerprints on the Moon" is hilarious! Their song "Thor and Dr. Jones" is too funny. 
And the bro-hug. (F.R.I.E.N.D.S. had J-Man and Channy hugging, TBBT has Wolowitz and Koothrapalli)

My Say: 

1. TBBT tried to show that Bernie still is hoping Stuart would get off her back. Let's see what happens there.
2. Raj wanted to end things with Emily but just didn't. In-fact it looks like they are going strong. Howard's right,"Your (Raj's) brain belongs to whoever sleeps with you. "
3. Great is the fact that Amy is not getting back together with Sheldon. At-least not in near future.
4. How can Sheldon move on from his broken relationship with Amy (he did get a ring for her), but cannot get over Leonard as a room-mate. Fascinating!

Movie Review: The Martian

I'm a Space Pirate!

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Matt Damon (I love him in everything)
               Jessica Chastain        
               (Interstellar's McConaughey's daughter)
               Kristen Wiig (my SNL star)
               Kate Mara (House of Cards' Zoe Barns)
               Sean Bean (The Ned Stark)
               Sebastian Stan (whom I confused with Robb Stark)
               and many more...

Genre: Science Fiction

Recommended For: Matt Damon lovers like me

The Gist: Due to a severe storm on Mars, NASA's astronauts are forced to leave the Red Planet, leaving behind a crew member Mark Watney (played by Damon) they believe is dead. How Mark spends his time there and what NASA and other Earthlings do about it is what the movie is about.

-ve points: Towards the end, a launch vehicle has to be designed such that it is 5000 tonnes lighter (or some other figure like this). This requires losing some parts of the vehicle like the seats, a few machine attachments, the windows (yeah!) and the top of the ship (get this!). What they do use as a substitute is something I can't digest! (not sure if scientifically the new material makes sense, but it defies my common sense)

+ve points: The movie did not leave me at any point being hopeless or sad like Gravity or Interstellar (both awesome movies) The Martian takes the adversities with a pinch of salt and uses his brain to come up with solutions that are so simple they are elegant!

All the greatest brains of earth, literally all of them, are trying to solve my problem and the greatest solution that they have come up with is- drill a hole.

My Verdict: Watch it.

My decision: To read the book "The Martian" from which the film has been adapted. My friends say the movie is good, but the book is way better.

TV Review: TBBT Season 9 Episode 3

Episode: 3
Title: The Bachelor Party Corrosion

The Gist: Men 'kidnap' Leonard to his bachelor's trip and the women decide to avoid strippers' club and inform their families of their relationship statuses.

Cool stuff: 

• Men drive off to Mexico for the bachelor's trip in Sheldon's "personal favorite physicist" Richard Feynman's van.
• The science that the guys put in on the flat tyre is as always innovative. The best one- 

"We will, we will, Percussive Shock you".

• Sheldon's eidetic memory and it's curse; him singing like crazy!

Highlights:

• Penny's hair looks absolute delight.
• Amy

1. broke up with Sheldon
2. pierced her ears, and
3. made the girls eat penis cookies

• Leonard v/s Penny: worst weekend- Leonard wins

I'm a Slave

I'm a slave. Technology is my master. But my master has left me alone, in shackles. I'm tethered to the remains of my phone and laptop, and can't help but cling to memories.

My phone, just an year old toddler, had never troubled me. It was a good baby. I was a careless guardian. While rushing up the 96 stairs to my classroom, I fell. A regular affair for me. But this time, I didn't get bruised at all. My phone's screen got the scars. All the doctors- small, unorganized retailers to big service centers- all suggested a surgery. Replace the entire LCD, they said.

I contained my grief, and continued using the phone, now for bare minimum phone calls. FYI, everything was working, the touch, the apps, the widgets, all ok. But looking at the broken screen shattered my heart into as many pieces.

Anyway, yesterday, after 2-3 hours of working on my laptop, and a 20 minute sleep, my laptop contracted a skin disease too. Its screen got a patch. Still an infant, I couldn't believe my laptop's bad luck. I lulled it to sleep and once again, tried to console myself. It's ok, tech babies are prone to mild hiccups, their life expectancy is short anyway. I believed time would nurse them back to health.

Meanwhile, all my friends tried to cheer me up. My roomie prepared coffee, my neighbors ordered pizza and engaged in gossip and I tried reading Wodehouse.

Today, the laptop repair guy said replace the LCD.

So I had two tech kids, both de-faced. I could sense myself welling up. Of-course proper medication- repair and warranty maintenance-would bring them back to life. Obviously, my life without them was simpler but still rocking. And there are so many more books on my shelf.... but with all my work data stored in these two babies' brains, I am a mere slave.

And this post was brought to you by my dear roommate's laptop, a generous loan.