well, it's still a show

in music, gigs can go from the greatest show on earth to playing for the sound guy + the janitor real fast.

as in, last week we were playing in a 12 band mini-festival.

now there are three bands, at least one of which is playing acoustically.

oh, i met the drummer nick hired for the show. he's old enough to be my dad. but he's good.

well anyway, the show is still set for 7:00, thurs @ cj's landing.

proof that i married the greatest wife on earth

this was on the wall when i came home from work yesterday.

(actual pic from our wall)

wintermute live in concert

i'm playing next thursday, 7:00 - 7:45 at CJ's landing in bucktown. would love to have some friends there.

yeah, i know it's a shitty time slot, but it's for a great cause, the atlanta chapter of ONE, an anti-poverty organization. CJ's is hosting a mini-festival with about 12 bands.


i'm playing with my cousin, nick edelstein, an atlanta-based singer-songwriter. we're going to play 4-5 songs from his new album (hear some tracks here), plus a cover and maybe even a wintermute original.

the cover will be minimal, so come by bucktown after work and hear some good music.

gentrifuckation

i was really disappointed to see the 'for rent' sign on wilson's auto repair when i pulled in last week for some brake work. for rent?!?! they're closing? turns out that gentrifuckation has pushed up rents in little 5 and wilson's can't afford to stay in their prime location next to the variety playhouse. i get why it happens and accept it as an economic reality. in fact, i'm people's exihibit numero uno when it comes to this whole process. but still, it sucks to lose suck a neighborhood landmark. click here to see pics.

i've been going to wilson's auto repair ever since i brought a car to atlanta. johnny wilson has operated out of little five points since 1983. the lot looks more like a junkyard than a repair shop, but that's one thing i love about the place. most of the cars there look like they were abandoned in 1985.

johnny and his guys repair anything at a great price, never try to upsell me on anything, always do the job right, and get it done fast. in other words, they do what i expect from the person that takes car of my car. he has earned my trust countless times.

johnny always calls if something is going to cost even $10 more than the estimate, and he treats all of his customers (at least, that i've seen) fairly, whether they bring in a mustang or chevy nova (and there's plenty of both on the lot). he seemed pretty resigned to accepting his business closing as a fact of life. he gave me his personal cell phone and said he would continue to do work on the side, out of his own garage, for some customers. little 5 will miss you, johnny.

johnny and my '94 acura

the threesome we've all been waiting for

mrs. wintermute thinks i'm a sicko because i'm hoping for harry and ron to tag team hermione. or maybe for hermione and ginny to tag team harry. show 'er what yer wands made of, as hagrid would say.

i know i'm not alone on this one. we're waiting, ms. rowling.

in the meantime, the new trailer for goblet of fire is out. click here.

skyline + patels = great time

a good weekend in the nati. here's mrs. wintermute with mom and dad wintermute.

click here to see all the pics.

a fun 48 hours in the nati. catching an earlier flight on friday out of atl paid off as we were home for dinner while our original flight was delayed for two hours. on the way home, our flight out of dayton left late, allowing us 14 minutes to catch our connection. 14 minutes to get out of the turbo prop jet on the runway, wait for our gate-checked luggage, and then get from the B terminal to the A terminal. it is ridiculous to even try. katie ran off the plane and sprinted ahead to convince the gate agent to hold our plane. meanwhile i stayed behind, waited for our two roller bags, then became That Guy Who Sprints Down the Escalator and Runs Like OJ Through the Terminal. just as the gate agent is shaking her head and telling katie, "i'm sorry, we can't wait any longer" i stagger to gate. apparently, the agent told katie that if i was not there by the time our boarding passes finished printing we would not get on the plane.

while planning our wedding over the past year, my parents had decided they want to throw a second reception in the hometown with their friends. at the time, i didn't really want to do it. however, in retrospect, it turned out to be one of the wisest investments in the entire wedding process. everytime my parents and i disagreed (which compared to most folks, was not that often), i offered the compromise, "well, you can do it your way at the cincinnati reception." and it settled just about every debate.

having just finished the celebration, i can't believe that i even considered not going along with my parents' plan. it made them so happy to celebrate with their friends and community. and their friends did an amazing job, putting in countless hours. my dad taught himself to use picassa to make a slide show, my mom designed and made the decorations, and they had a ton of help along the way. these family friends are unbelievably generous, and i made my entire toast to them.

at the same time, i did walk away feeling a little bit disconnected from my parents. about a year ago i half-jokingly told wintermute senior that i was pretty sure that i was turning into him. he disagreed and said that i was a really different person from him (which i still disagree with). saturday night seemed to highlight the point. i had a blast and loved being with family, and most of all, seeing how happy the whole event made my parents. however, it's not how i would have celebrated. in fact, i spent the last two hours of the evening sitting outside with katie and sunir while the grown-ups danced to desi hip hop. partly, this was b/c i rarely get to see my brother, partly b/c that just isn't my thing. also, my mom's friends made a gorgeous display with ghanesh. i felt uncomfortable taking pictures of in front of it (as some well-meaning folks wanted to do) because i really just don't believe in it. in fact, i think it's kind of blasphemous when indians, or anyone really, genuflect and suddenly become religious just for one day or moment. i've been to indian weddings where the bride and/or groom didn't even understand their ceremony, yet there they were, taking vows to honor krishna, etc. or friends who took vows to raise their kids in the catholic church b/c it was required by the ceremony even they knew they had NO intention of ever doing so (props to my cousin henrik, who flat out told the priest at his wedding last march that he didn't intend to raise his kids in the catholic church. when the priest asked why not, he replied, "b/c if i have a daugher i don't want her to be a second class citizen in her own church."). i mean, does the pomp and circumstance mean that much to a person that they will say anything to get it? it demeans the faith of those who actually believe.

ok, enough ranting.

the great part of a weekend home is getting to relax patel-style.

dad + soham (his oldest brother), doing what they do best

parimal (the 2nd oldest brother), on the couch, as i have known him for most of my life

mrs. wintermute is still getting used to it. she was a great sport about the entire weekend, even donning desi-wear.

mom helping mrs. wintermute get ready

her parents seemed to handle my family really well. the main thing that takes getting used to is that we spend every minute of every day together and eat every meal together (this is not apparently how all families operate).

and what do we do with all of this time? sit on couch and make fun of each other, mainly. and eat.

one particularly noxious habit of the patels (and many indians, i suspect) is that the men sit on their asses while the women do all of the work. it drives me nucking futs. i'm not sure what's worse: that the men always do it or that the women seem ok with it!

at the end of the day, it counts as family time, that's all that matters.

going out on top

six feet under, arguably the best hour on TV (whoops, it's not TV, it's HBO) just wrapped up its run. For six years, it has demonstrated that well-written shows that reflect how real people talk and act in everyday life is fascinating. last night also proved how much better it is to go out on top and not drag out a series well past its expiration date.

earlier in this season i felt that the show had in fact already jumped the shark, as the first few episodes verged on melodrama. thankfully, the writers veered back on track.

the ending footage really amazed me. not cheesey, but leaves you smiling through tears (ok, that's a cheesey summary itself).

now katie and i can stop spending each sunday night in clinical depression.

it's skyline time

my hands are shaking. my mouth is dry and i'm restless.

i need a fix.

it's skyline time.

headed to the 'nati today. yup, the home of pete rose, fat people, the klan (still marches downtown once a year) and cross burnings (i don't know why but they do it at t'giving each year).

growing up, i learned these invaluable lessons from kids at school:

• brown is my skin color and also the color of shit
• when white girls marry indian guys their kids get down's syndrome
• not knowing the show times as ticket taker is yet another reason why immigrants should not be allowed in this country
• budding klansmen carry knives, so don't smart off to them at a party, even if you used to play baseball together
• indians smell funny, ride flying carpets, and have hairy legs and small dicks (thankfully i only fit 2 out of 4)
  

man, i miss the old hood.

skyline chili is the greatest food on earth. i could eat it every day. in fact, i did for one summer. when i was 15 i got my first job as a kitchen boy there. chopping onions, making chili, cleaning dishes, and cleaning the grease trap. every shift earned one free meal. so at least once a day for 3 months i ate skyline.

i also learned a critical piece of work wisdom: 'time to lean is time to clean.'

or, 'if you're not busy, look busy.'

my parents are throwing a second sort of reception for us with all of their friends who couldn't make it to the real wedding b/c they didn't want to travel or we didn't have room on the guest list. my parents define 'friend' very loosely. usually, it means any desi in southwestern ohio. i joked with dad, "i won't know the names of half the people there."

wintermute senior replies,"neither will i."

it is going to be 100% desi all the way. desi music, desi dance (garba), desi food, desi people. the only white folks will be mrs. wintermute and her parents. boy, they are in for a shock (well, mrs. w has been around my family a ton, so she's used to it).

will have lots of pics to share.

yeah, i gotta post stuff from the honeymoon, but i want to do it right! travelogue posts are in development.

now playing

just picked up our wedding video this morning. it rocks. haven't watched the complete footage yet, but watched the highlights clip on my laptop as soon as i got to work.

have to figure out how to stream it from my wedding website.

i have to plug our videographer from evolution video. jonathan and colleen nye, the couple that run it (and shot and edited our footage) are the epitome of professionalism. They were so easy to work with every step of the way, thus getting my highest ranking (here, see the 'almost there' posting).

the music selection worked out well, too.

thankfully, only one brief shot of me dancing.

now all of you will be subjected to viewings when you visit skywalker ranch.

it is your destiny.

mr. shirley manson

shirley manson commands the stage. she owns the crowd. she owns my heart, as a matter of fact. the only problem is that i think mrs. wintermute might love her as much as i do.

i've been waiting ten years to see garbage ever since i listened to their first album in dave morgenstern's basement junior year of high school. the wait was well worth it. garbage rocked the house. we had a great view, as the rain scared away a lot of the crowd at 99x's free outdoor concert downtown. however, true fans were rewarded as the thunderstorms cleared up and we enjoyed a pristine, slightly cool evening. shoobie had complained about how much the weezer concert at the underground sucked. however, we had an awesome time. close to the stage, no lines for beer, food or bathrooms, and minimal crowd stupidity (though shirley did interrupt the show to chastize two fucktards for fighting. god, she is awesome.)

the five local opening acts were just ok, with the exception of avenge vegas, who rocked out hard. their singer had this bjork-meets-seether vibe going on that i really dug.

anyway, back to the main event. shirley comes out sporting what hunter coined communist hottie chic. i started cheering right away, i think a little louder than mrs. wintermute would have liked. however, within a song or two she was a full convert in the manson fan club.

now lest you think i'm just about shirley's sex appeal...garbage is an amazing studio AND live band, which is rare. they somehow manage to translate a lot of the intricately layered and processed sounds into a great live act using two guitars, drums, bass, and a little bit of keyboards mixed in. turns out that a lot of the stuff i figured were loops and effects on the albums are actually just really creative guitars. butch vig (producer of nirvana and smashing pumpkins), known for being a bit of the svengali of garbage, is a hell of a drummer. he manages to never let his considerable technique get in the way of laying down a simple, catchy 4/4 drum beat.

i don't have the exact set list, but it's pretty close to this one from their may 17 show in chicago:
Queer, Bad Boyfriend, Supervixen, Stupid Girl, Sex Is Not The Enemy, Hammering In My Head, When I Grow Up, Vow, Bleed Like Me, I Think I'm Paranoid, Push It, Only Happy When It Rains, Why Do You Love Me, Metal Heart, Cherry Lips, Right Between The Eyes

brilliant choice to open with queer--their first single for the old school. great mix across the albums and minimal detritus from their flop of an album beautiful garbage. only songs that i really missed were 'special,' 'number one crush' and 'not my idea.' i'm really surprised that they didn't play special (by far the best song on version 2.0) but it doesn't seem to be on any of their set lists this tour.

the pictures i have didn't turn out very well, but thanks to the genius of flickr i found a great set on evan williams' page: click here for his pics.

yes, i love technology

just took the sweet napolean quiz found here.

results:



You are Kip Dynamite and you love technology.


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

housewarming

threw down a little housewarming @ the shagpad (aka skywalker ranch) friday. since atlanta weather seems to have settled on thunderstorm every single day (makes life easier for the weather guy though. "tomorrow, we have uhh, scattered thunderstorms. that goes for the rest of july, august, and err, september.") we had to turn the grill-out in to a broil-in and george foreman grill-in. but man, the foreman kicks ass.

thanks to mrs. wintermute's taste, we have a real apt. with real furniture and we had a phat new ipod mix to mark the occasion.


click here to see all of the pics

em & dr. lees are happy that i upgraded from my futon

mrs. wintermute + chickies

long lost chi phi's

thanks to all who stopped by.

webdings

sorry for the font problems this past week. why webdings is even an option (although it was a font often used for bullet points at my last job) is beyond me. hopefully postings are now fixed and readable.

for those who are got used to reading in webdings:
sorry for the font problems this past week. why webdings is even an option (although it was a font often used for bullet points at my last job) is beyond me. hopefully postings are now fixed and readable.

even better the third time

last night went to one of the gems of atlanta, the fox theater, to see episode three. i enjoyed it even more on third viewing. partially b/c it's a great movie, partially b/c of the great atmosphere.

the fox is an amazing place--built like they don't make them anymore. two levels, real red carpet, lots of legroom, real balconies, and a ginormous screen.

as i approached the theater, dads were exlaining to their kids the connection between ROS and ANH. beautiful.

walking into the lobby i saw stars wars costumes everywhere. this is how it was meant to watched! unfortunately i came straight from work and forgot to bring my camera or my han solo replica jacket. shitballz. so no pics from last night. i searched flickr to no avail.

anyway, the fox had apparently hired a crew to wear replica costumes--we're talking the $500 deluxe vader costume--a couple vaders and a bunch of storm troopers patrolled the lobby and took pics with fans.

we caught the the last few songs of the organ sing-along and then the dj from 99x brought up the kids (and some adults) for the amateur costume contest. unsuprisingly, audience applause was loudest for the cute 5 year-old wearing a cape kit from party city. there were some more impressive outfits. props for the padme who showed some skin (end of ep. 2 outfit) and kissed the dj. there was a sixteen year-old future comic book store guy in a very authentic obi-wan outfit who was visibly miffed that he didn't garner more applause. he even did a lightsaber pirouette when he walked on stage. i think i heard him muttering something about it being the worst costume contest ever.

the movie was, of course, awesome.

what i do at work

i have a pretty vague job description, so explaining what i do to other people in the company, much less my friends, family, etc has left some people scratching their heads. officially, i'm a business development associate. my boss, the head of the business development, reports to the CEO. our charge is to make all of the differents parts of the business work together and to add new parts.

err, does that make sense? i thought listing what i did in my first week might give some flavor to what i actually do.

• monday: ok, it's my first day. besides learning how to attach my laptop to the docking station and how to turn on my electronic leash (aka blackberry), i spend a lot of the day meeting the other executives and people in my group (there are five of us). the company is preparing for an IPO (initial public offering), a major, major landmark in every start-up's life. it seems a lot of my job may revolve around getting ready for the IPO.
  
• tuesday: i start scoping out a project to put in place key operational measures. these will let anyone in the company look at any part of the business and see how certain activities translate into sales and profits. thankfully, i actually did this for a client at my old job, so i have a decent idea of how this could go. seems interesting. when we go public, having these measures will be key to making accurate profit forecasts to wall street, something that young companies usually struggle with.
• wednesday: sit on a conference call with a consulting firm we've hired to help evaluate a company we're thinking of buying. i'm looking forward to tearing up the consultants, but their deck actually looks good and the work is low on bullshit (well, for a consultant). i realize that consultants really do sound like tools and they can't seem to the help it.
• thursday: i spend all day at our software subsidiary. we own three companies right now (and will probably buy some other ones in the near future). i meet a slew of folks, ranging from software product developers to account managers. they're not quite sure what to make of me, but everyone is really nice. i try really hard to take it easy and turn the east coast business mentality down a few notches and just listen without running my yapper. unfortunately, someone had sent them my resume ahead of time, so each of them knows that i'm a tool from the big h.
  
• friday: i spend more time meeting with folks at the software unit, then start scoping out another potential project that would look into what our strategy should be to poach market share from our competitors (we are #3 in market share). i start pullling data to put together a first pass at calculating some sales measures.

so there you have it: a mix of acquisition deals, some strategy, and internal operations.

clarence harrison: an amazing and tragic story

my good friend from undergrad and soccer team mate jason costa spearheaded an amazing effort to free a man wrongly imprisoned for 17 years. Jason is a rising 3L at emory law and spent last summer working for the georgia innocence project, which works to uncover dna evidence that shed light on wrong convictions.

the story of clarence harrison, who went to prison for a rape he never convicted, and jason, who dedicated himself to something that everyone else had given up on, is amazing.

click here to ready the story.

new job

back to working world. i forgot that the world even exists at 6:00 AM. having a job seriously impedes on my blogging. of course, the chief would argue that is a good thing. he even wrote a short story about it. i'll figure out a way to put a downloadable version of it up.

my new company is pretty cool. small place and everyone is pretty chill. no slogans or mantras, no stupid lectures on the illustrious history or how amazing the founders are. and everyone seems to have a life away from work. so basically, the oppositive of my old job. i like the work. even better, i love not being a consultant anymore.

had planned on being discreet with the h-bomb. those plans are shot since people keep introducing as having just graduated from there. so two days gone and i'm already the office dork.

working in alpharetta is strange. first, driving 45 minutes each way sucks (and that's WITHOUT traffic). leave at the crack of down to get on the road before mr. esuvee. i am in the land of strip malls. as my boss pointed out, at least at all of the lunch places are new to me. also, i think the lunch places confuse 'white collar' with 'white.' umm, what did you do with all of the indian, chinese, and black people? i used to work downtown, eat at peachtree center or fairlie poplar when it was nice outside. typical atlant scene there. here, it is honky central. if i didn't know better i'd think they revived jim crow. yesterday at jason's deli, the only two non-white people were me and the guy behind the counter. ok, i exagerrate a bit. i counted 200 lunch patrons (50 tables X 4 patrons/table) and 5 african-americans, 2 asians, and one indian (err, me).

i actually have work to do now.