pics and movies of Ludacris at Tech

here are some pics from the Sting Break concert where Ludacris performed at Tech.







and i tried uploading some files that james took to my GT Prism account, not sure if it will work, but if it does not play upon clicking, then right click on it and save file or target as, be warned, files are 6 to 12 MB.

Act A Fool
Get Back
Stand Up
Stand Up 2

conflict of interest

just as crunch time starts, comes a delight. tech's hosting various film festivals around the campus. there's the latin american film festival conducted by the speak spanish organization, there's the turkish film festival by the turkish arts council of atlanta, and there's the french film festival by the literature, culture and communications department of georgia tech. number of the ones being shown have gotten excellent ratings on IMDb, and i generally trust the ratings, as very seldom has the ratings failed me. last night, i went to catch a costa rican film 'password' about a 12 year old girl who has family issues and goes on the net, thinking she's chatting with a 14 year old boy, but she's actually being the victim of child prostitution scam. sounds very familiar huh? i swear i saw an american movie with a similar plot. they showed 'maria full of grace' on saturday, but since i had seen that few weeks back, i didnt catch it this weekend.

while trying frantically to cram in as much information as i can for the material science test, i managed to squeeze in some time to catch some great films at night, namely 'equilibrium,' 'truman show,' 'gattaca' and 'the barbarian invasions.' very glad i watched each and every one of them.

so there's a big clash in what i want to do. i should, and am studying for these tests. but at the same time, i wanna catch as many of the films being screened in these film festivals. its making my head hurt, as these are the type of movies i really want to catch, and are rarely available for download.

i can already imagine what i will be doing once the semester ends and i start working, and beyond. since i will be in my own room from next fall, i will make sure i make a huge list of movies to download, and then once im done with work, i'll just start watching them. perfect way to kill time and still enjoy killing it. films from mexico, france and iran have been spectacular thus far. i'll very gladly like to catch more from those region.

i spent some time going through the classes i am going to sign up for the fall semester. time tickets are assigned tomorrow, and i want to make sure i know what classes are being taught by which professors at what time. sadly, two of the classes that i must/can only take next semester also happen to be the only classes offered in the fall, which limits my flexibility for timing for other classes. and one of them might be hard to get into, as my hours are not quite junior status yet (9 hours short) and that might prove costly for this management class i have to take (MGT3078 - Finance and Investment) that is required for industrial engineers, as well as a required prerequisite class for all other classes if i want to get a certificate in finance. the other class is my material science class (MSE3015 - Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties) which seems like the only MSE class i can take next semester. the rest are MATH2401 - Calculus III, CS1322 - Object Oriented Programming (Java) and ISYE2027 - Probability. I'm still thinking if I should go ahead and take the Environmental Sustainability class that is being taught by a Delta Sig alum, John, but that remains to be seen. I'll be taking 17 hours then, and I better not put myself at risk again, as i was very fortunate this semester to be taking a 19 hour that almost feels like a 15 hour semester.

i better get back to my material science. even if its not going to make much of a difference, i still need to clarify some complicated theories.

Ludacris at Sting Break

i must say i enjoyed the ludacris concert. and to think that was a project done by students, it was very very well done. ludacris was really hilarious, energetic, and shawna even came to do number of performances, and it was a great night for all of us. i was afraid he'll perform most songs from his latest album 'the red light district' as i've kind of gotten out of the rap thing, and i used to his first few songs a lot. but he actually performed a wide range of stuff and not just from his latest album. imagine my delight when he started performing 'area codes,' 'what's your fantasy' and 'act a fool.' but of course, his best performances were 'get back,' 'welcome to atlanta' and 'move bitch' as well his is excerpt from usher's 'yeah.' he was really explicit, but it made it so entertaining. when he asked for all the pot and weed smokers, i was really surprised to see so many lighters being lit up.

next week, moby! 5 of my friends are coming along, so that should be really fun.

and i found out last night oasis added atlanta to their american tour. its set in september, and the tickets go on sale today, and i know i gotta get it today. i read in their website that their paris show sold out in an hour, so im not gonna make the mistake i made for lenny kravitz thing again, im actually going ahead and buying the damn tickets the moment it goes on sale.

yessir

so its official and sealed: i will be working as a supply chain co-op student at RubberNetwork.com, LCC starting 17th of may.

i guess the opportunities and my qualifications for this particular companies were too much to not grab on to. i might have had a good shot with masterfoods or heatcraft, but my familiarity with japan and singapore, and my ability to speak japanese can be best utilized at this place. plus, i will be working in close proximity with the CEO, COO, CFO, and all the important people, which might prove to be beneficial in terms of additional exposure. i can commute from campus, keep my housing job, so there isnt really much more i can ask for.

if you want to know what the company is about, here are two articles i stumbled upon while researching to prepare for the interview.

RubberNetwork Delivers e-Sourcing
RubberNetwork Reports $105 Million in Savings for 2004

crunch time

its about 4 and a half weeks left til the end of the semester. til before spring break, everything was going on fine, but this is when the real battle starts, where homeworks and test preparations start piling up on eachother and make my scheduling and my time very difficult.

if not for the events that took place over the weekend, it wouldnt have been so bad, but theres nothing i can do about it, just a misfortune. hopefully i do well enough on the upcoming econs test and do equally well on the one 2 weeks later so i can spare myself the trouble of sitting for the finals, which would pave the way for other subjects that need more attention.

here we go...

Ludacris at Tech

did i mention that Ludacris will be performing at Tech on thursday? i've registered and will be collecting my ticket tomorrow.

though my right ear cant hear, im really excited, even though ive come to detest hiphop and rap to an extent since i came here, seeing the man perform in person is an exception to the rule.

a tribute to my great-grandfather

just when waiting any longer at the hospital seemed intolerable, i got a phone call from my mother with a worse news. my maternal great-grandfather has passed away at the age of 104.

it came as a sudden news for me, because i thought he was very healthy for someone his age and he could do most things by himself. apparantly he was in the hospital and his condition was bad.

though its doubtful if he ever remembered me at all, as my last visit, i was left with the impression that he did not recognize who i was (but he recognized my mother immediately) he left a really deep impression and was a source of many inspiration, just because i was related to him by blood. he was a very well known scholar in Bangladesh and probably beyond, a person who can speak 8 languages, and someone who went beyond what was requested of him.

104 years of blessed life. 1901 to 2005.

====

i went back to the hospital, and as i had expected, i was told to go somewhere else to get a hospital card for payment purposes. it took them some time to figure out that i was a non-resident and that i was not eligible for any subsidies. and then i went back, wait for a little while longer, had a brief conversation with the attendent who was telling me about her experiences with post-graduate studies and general questions about graduate management programs at georgia tech and such. soon, i was taken in and the doctor started cleaning the clots in my ear, and she got another doctor to see my ear with microscopes, as they could not see the actual problem with my ear. after careful observation and some clearance of dust particles, they concluded that a part of the ear was scratched and damaged, which caused the bleeding. nothing with bacteria infection whatever. they think it could have happened when i was cleaning my ear with cotton buds earlier in the week and the accumulated dust could have been pushed in, and while being cleaned, it could have scratched the membrane. it all seemed odd to me, as i never stick cotton buds deep into my ear, as it makes me cough pretty bad. i was pissed enough from the fact that i was initially misdiagnosed, prescribed an antibiotic that cost $32 bucks and rendered useless, and after 11 hours of waiting, i finally had a concrete answer.

through the waiting and travelling, i have observed the general public, and i can now say i have truly seen atlanta. homeless people, unemployed people, poor people, crazy people, and people who are trying so hard just to make a decent living. now i know i am living in this city.

i took my first cup of coffee this morning in the longest time i can remember, as i was prepared to spend a lot of time studying economics for the test tomorrow. as of right now, i have finally managed to finish reading the text, and i will proceed to the numerous practice questions that i usually do the day before the test. progress isnt as bad as i thought. if anything is required, i can always go back for more coffee, with two cups of french vanilla and three packets of sugar.

on the other hand, there is one good news to outweigh all the bad thing that took place over the weekend. i have been offered the rubbernetworks.com position that i had the on-site interview on friday. i'll hold on for the rest of the week to see if there will be any other companies contacting me, which might be useless, since they'll most probably want me to go down to their site and by the time they make an official offer, it will be like a week or two from now and i will need to reply to this offer by the end of the week, so its very likely that i will end up accepting this offer.

this is probably the best, as i can live on campus, keep the housing staff job, and commuting isnt a big problem, it takes about 20-30 minutes and it pays well enough to save good money. its all fitting into place. i really think this job is for me, since i would be familiar with three of the four office that it has around the world. my familiarity of singapore, being able to converse in japanese and my location in the atlanta headquarters will come in very handy. i think working in a startup company would be more beneficial in terms of work experience in the long run too.

alright, gotta get my dinner and back to studying economics.

a horrid experience

if there is anything to say from my weekend experiences this week, then it would definately be that the health sysem in america is atrocious.

i woke up saturday morning with my right ear unable to pick up any sound. if there was any, then it was nullified by a great amount. then, i noticed that it was giving sharp pain. i thought that there was some dust stuck in my ear, so i tried to clean it off by sticking cotton buds lightly, but that did not solve any problems. after a while, the pain still would not go away, so i kinda grew a little worried, and as i used a tissue to wipe my ears, i noticed that there was blood coming out.

to my luck, the campus health services was closed, which meant that i had to go to a city clinic or a hospital, which i really did not want to, because i didnt have insurance in america, but realizing how dire the situation was, i could not wait. what is worse, the healthcare system here is horrid, i knew that from trying to get a simple health check up back last year before my semester at tech started. you need to schedule appointments to see doctors before anything. there isnt really a system like in singapore where you can just walk in and get checked out. and this was the weekend, so i was doubtful if there was any clinics nearby that operated on a saturday. after calling some places to check if they were open, i found one hospital downtown, and i got a friend to drive me there, james tagging along.

i went into the emergency room, filled out a form, and i was made to wait for an hour before my name was called, after which my temperature and blood pressure was taken. then, i was taken to a room in the emergency room. i had to wait for another hour before a doctor came in. she checked both ears for like a minute, told me its probably an infection (like i didnt know), and left, without telling me anything. i had to wait another 30 minutes before she came back and told me the same thing, and then she went off, trying to get medicines and getting another doctor to come. that took another hour, and the new doctor took another minute to examine and told me the exact same thing. he left yet again, and i was made to wait for another hour without having any clue as to what was going on or what i was doing there. i spent a considerable amount of time looking at how people were brought in, left on a bed by the wall, and just being left there, waiting for someone else to attend to them. after what seemed like ages, i got hold of someone walking past and asked what i was waiting for, to which he checked and replied, for processing paperwork. i was going crazy just waiting, as i was never made to wait for such a period at a hospital before. i mean, this is the emergency room for crying out loud, i am supposed to be examined, diagnosed, prescribed and asked to leave. that did not happen and it seemed like it would never happen.

some time passed before some other person came and told me that i had to come back on monday to see a ear specialist, with the appointment set at noon. i really did not want to go, i would have to miss my material science class and computer science class and im already falling behind on those two classes, its only going to get worse from now. i wanted to tear my head apart just being made to wait. after a while, the same person came back, told me to sign a paper, and told me to get my medicine at the pharmacy. and guess what, i had to wait for another hour before i got my things. and i was made to pay 62 bucks for 4 medicines.

i spent 6 hours at the hospital, only to be examined for not more than 10 minutes, the rest spent on waiting for absolutely nothing. it was ridiculous. this, happening at an emergency room in a hospital in a metropolitan city. unbelievable. and they were 70% sure it is a bacteria that grew on the ear that caused the bleeding. they could not see beyong the bleeding and they didnt even clean or do anything else other than look at my ear.

i did not trust what they told me at the hospital, but what could i do? i missed my first housing staff meeting and precious time to study for my economics test. i decided to go to the school's health services because i was convinced that i would get better care.

turned out that i was dead wrong. it was exactly the same, if not worse. i woke up at 12, or so i thought, because the wintersaving time had ended, the clock's been pushed an hour earlier, which meant that i woke up at 1. (and this means that now im exactly 12 hours behind singapore time) i took a shower, shaved and left for the health services. it opened at 2pm, to which i reached around 2:30pm, and signed in. i was made to wait for 2 and a half hours before they even called my name. it was the exact same thing as yesterday. the doc took 30 minutes to arrive, looked at both ears, and told me the same thing, that they cant see past the bleeding and that i should go back to the hospital to be examined. i really didnt want to, but now i dont have a choice. basically i wasted my whole weekend waiting. waiting for nothing.

had i been in singapore, i would have been attended to in less than 30 minutes and be discharged within an hour. if anything at all, i would have been treated. they would have cleaned my ear and if necessary, sucked whatever fluid that was in my ears. here, you gotta make an appointment to do that, however urgent. they said its just the membrane breaking but what if its not? what if i were to lose my hearing? they would not know it and it wouldnt make any difference. its horrid.

this country has the best care available, but very little or very difficult access to them. no wonder medicare is such a huge topic of argument in this country.

i have never before felt like leaving atlanta, if at all, so strongly until yesterday. i feel scared to get sick or injured, because i know i wont be looked at as soon as possible. i have never felt like being back in singapore more strongly than now. i know i am exagerrating if i am to base my judgement purely on one experience in a particular hospital, but i have such a strong feeling that it is the same everywhere else.

my dad had that chest issue last summer. he was attended to immediately and put in the intensive care unit. had he been here, would he have been made to wait for 6 hours, or worse? people can die in such a long time. i saw a guy with his face cut, probably from a fight, wheeled in and being left there to be made to wait for someone to attend to him. in an emergency room no less.

there is so much anger and displeasure in myself that i could burst out crying anytime. and i am surprised at how tolerent i am of all thats happening here. i am not breaking down, i am not running around screaming and i am not panicking. i am too nice, i dont make someone stop and start yelling at their face. and i dont know why.

all seems to be going wrong. i have lost the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing but wait. and waiting for what? precious time for studying and catching up on work completely lost. at such a crucial time. and for what? to be examined for less than what could be a total of 15 minutes combined and being told what they think it most probably is? is that the best that i can get from here?

as of this moment, i am afraid to live in this country any longer.

sin city

SIN CITY WAS AWESOME!

that's all i will say for now. im too tired now, ill probably blog tomorrow.

end of 1st interview rounds

i realized i havent blogged since i left naperville.

the flight into atlanta was scary. we were flying through a thunderstorm, and there were 3 huge shakeups that got me really scared. but i touched down safe in atlanta, feeling glad to face the warm misty air. it felt so different from the cold wind of naperville, and i knew my 'spring' break had ended, but the spring had begun.

had 3 interviews. think one particular one went really well, since the company has 4 offices around the world, headquarters in atlanta, one in amsterdam, one in tokyo, and surprise surprise, last one in singapore. and since i knew japanese, the interviewer was telling me that they might need me in meetings as in interpreter and translator too. i was fit for the job, i knew it. i am familar with the singapore and japan region and i am really impressed by the company's e-supply chain system. i am meeting them again tomorrow for an on-site interview, and hopefully i will impress them the same way as yesterday, which would be nice.

well, thats it for now. sadly caught a cold from my last few days in naperville, and have yet to recover from it.