Third Child of The Goat: Part 1: Banish The Irish

In a far, far away land, there's this eating out place which named itself  "West Ireland Cafe". It could as well be East Ireland, but that doesn't change things much. I saw it a couple of times while driving by; it's in the  rich and posh area of the city. 

To seem authentic, and genuine, like either of the first two goat children, they even put up a shamrock logo on top of the restaurant signboard. However, what follows below is not only mysterious, but also defies any logic that the most over the top Rajinikanth stories suggest. 

"A Thai and Continental food place". Wait, what? THAI? As in not the body part thigh, but rather the food genre that represents the country Thailand? Since when did Irish men (or women, to cover all scenarios; ah well, I am also adding mad men/women and children) start being good at cooking eastern Asian cuisine?

When you hear about Irish men, some of the few things that pop up in our minds is an Irish pub. In every notable tourist location, you will find an Irish pub or two. They serve beer, steaks, and a variety of other stuff, but nothing Thai. Or even if they do serve Thai food, they never promote or highlight this as their culinary specialty. 

However, this guy, one of the third children, have heard that Thai food is in vogue. So he decided to add it with his fake Irish themed food store to attract more customers. "Enhancing the appeal and broadening the scope of attracting more customers", he thought. 

While people are still searching for Irish themed authentic restaurants and filling their test buds in genuine Thai food places, this guy is wondering why his restaurant stays empty, stays fool.

I am also wondering.

Third Child of The Goat: Intro

Third child of the goat is an unfortunate soul. He or she has to wait for her mother to finish feeding his elder siblings; hoping that there would be enough milk left for him when they are done drinking.

But alas, what happens in reality is that by the time the third child is ready for feeding, the mother has already depleted her internal source of food for the children. The third child feels sad, but before reacting, he notices that his siblings are now well fed, and they are jumping in joy. 

The third child, without thinking much, starts jumping up and down; just like his siblings--the first and second child of the goat mother. 

After a while, the third child forgets that he has not yet received any food/drink, and there isn't really any reason behind his profound happiness.

But he keeps on rejoicing. Just because others are doing the same. After a while, he even forgets why he was there and what he was supposed to do. He only imitates the feelings of others, and joins the bandwagon.

All hail the third child of the goat. 

I wanted to add a nice, shiny picture of three jumping goats here, but couldn't find anything appropriate. If I ever find something like that, I will definitely add it here.

This'll have to do for now. 

First Two Hours of GTA V

Well, the first few hours of a game can be very, very crucial. Especially, for a game as anticipated as GTA V, these initial levels can set the tone for the rest of the game. In contrast with earlier titles in the series, or at least the last one, I almost immediately found myself inside the game with one of the three characters, yielding a gun. 

Things looked familiar, but not everything was exactly like there were in GTA IV. The crosshair was too small for me, and I haven't yet found a way to change it. But then again, I haven't been exposed to much gun play either. 

The scene unfolded inside a bank. My character was part of a heist job, and things seemed to go really smooth. I was slowly being introduced to gameplay basics and controls, and it felt like a good old tutorial level. But suddenly things got chaotic, and after some adrenaline high minutes, I found my character alone; all his buddies have died and apparently he was getting caught by the law enforcers. 

Suddenly, I was taken elsewhere, credits rolled in, and I was now controlling another character. The gorgeous graphics was showcased for a while, and Los Santos never looked better. Yet, flashes of GTA San Andreas came back to my mind. Saw some bicycles, homes designed like CJ would come out of them any moment. 

I wasn't allowed to do much with the first character, which I came to know (not from the game) as Trevor, but this new character was duly introduced. He is an African American person named Franklin, and he works in a automobile sales store. I was introduced to a number of supporting characters over the next one hour, and I was also introduced to Franklin's special skill. In true GTA style, I completed a few driving missions. 

I wouldn't get much in to the mission details, but from the 2 hours I've managed to play, I felt happy and contented. When I come back to play the new episode of a long running franchise, honestly speaking, I don't want a hell lot of innovation. I do want to have some new things, but the core gameplay should stay true to the series's theme. 

I liked the fact that police is still vigilante. It's not really possible to hijack a car in broad day light and get away with the theft without alerting the authorities. Also, GTA is still not carmageddon. Killing off innocent bystanders and ramming on to other vehicles has dire consequences, and they can be adequate to cause the failure of your mission. 

After completing a mission, I was walking in the streets and suddenly I saw a tram. I just hopped inside without thinking much, and nothing really happened. I saw some guys chatting away, and after 30 seconds, a cut scene started playing. After a while, I was dropped in a station closed to my next mission (it was the only available mission at that moment). I was actually impressed. I don't know why. This doesn't seem to be a technological marvel, but I didn't have to select my destination, pay any money or do anything other than hopping in. It just felt good.

Hijacking cars is easy as always, and there are ample ammunation shops for grabbing those ever useful sources of firepower.

The game looks and plays a lot like GTA IV, but the graphics has been vastly improved and there are a number of subtle improvements.

But world interaction still stays limited; considering the vast opportunities that lie around.

More to come...

My Website Has Been Launched

Click Here

to access my website. It is still a work in progress, but you can see a thing or two. Creating a website has never been easier, it seems. Thanks to Quora for helping me find weebly. 

I remember the days of authoring dalnetbeatles.tk, using a combination of Microsoft Frontpage, Adobe Dreamweaver and a number of other resources. I hosted the site in Geocities and used the free domain .tk to give it a fancy look. I used animated GIFs, midi sounds and basic page layouts. 

I think I will also recreate the dalnetbeatles site. For those who are wondering, Dalnetbeatles was the one and only chat channel dedicated for discussing the life and music of the Beatles, not so much arguably the best rock band ever in DALNet, an IRC server. 

Does IRC sound alien to you? I can understand. 

New Story: Poked By the Ball

Poked By The Ball

Today, when I was taking a shower, a story idea suddenly hit me. I guess multiple factors are the motivation behind this story:

1. Watching the movies "Horrible Bosses" and "Bad Teacher"
2. Going through some hassles regarding a bad "office" (not mine, of course--the Italian Embassy in Dhaka, if you must know)
3. The idea of a horrible office where horrible people can fit in.
4. Reading a lot about Steve Jobs.

The main character in this short story is named Steve, but it has no resemblance with the real life Steve Jobs (RIP).

Oscar Wilde Quotes

He is indeed the master of irony and sarcasm!

• The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.
• Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.
• It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.
• Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
• Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
• A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.
• Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.
• Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.
• No good deed goes unpunished.
• A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction.
• Crying is for plain women. Pretty women go shopping.
• He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.
• A true friend stabs you in the front.
• The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.
• Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike.
• Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
• A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.
• Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
• “I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."
• You can never be overdressed or over educated. 
• “I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.” 
• “I am not young enough to know everything.” Edit:By J.M. Barrie
• Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.
• The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
• "I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability."
• The basis for optimism is sheer terror.
• To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
• "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
• One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
• One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.
• All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.
• "I can resist anything except temptation."
• It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.
• “I have nothing to declare except my genius.” 
• “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” 
• After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.
• Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.
• To define is to limit.
• Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
• The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
• How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.
• “I like men who have a future and women who have a past.” 
• Youth is wasted on the young.
• Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them
• sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence,

Original Source: http://qr.ae/pjbuy

Ducking The Ducks

Just like many other people walking on this Earth, I, too, have some eccentricities. I have a very specific list of food items that I hate eating. Hatred is actually a strong word, I jut can't stand those food, or I feel guilty and awkward whilst force-digesting them on certain unfortunate moments. 

Within this list, "Duck" has a high place. High in a sense that even if no other food is available, I still don't want to eat it--I'd rather starve than eat Duck. So whenever a host invites me for food and offers me cooked duck, roasted duck or any other form of duck ,I have to politely decline. 

This happens quite a lot when I visit my in laws. They have a thing for ducks (like many other normal people--Disclaimer: I am the eccentric one; it is solely my problem that I fail to devour ducks with the same level of passion and pleasure others, including my beloved wife can.)

Let me elaborate a bit on the disclaimer part. I am by no means a vegetarian; I love eating chicken and beef, and I also believe that having a preference for ducks (as a food item) is perfectly normal, and I reiterate; it's all in my mind. 

I tried thinking a lot. What are the repelling factors that prevent me from enjoying a good "duck meal"? Both my parents and sister, and almost everyone else in the family I know eats duck. I wouldn't say everyone "loves" duck, but no one else has an issue with them birds. So, it's not a family thing. 

I enjoy meat. I love beef and I prefer exotic chicken dishes. I am even up for mutton and lamb, and I am sure I will try venison or rabbits if I come across them someday. So, it's not a vegetarian thing either.

I am not allergic to Ducks. I have eaten (or had been forced to) ducks many times, but I never enjoyed eating the meat and a constant feeling of guilt engulfed me. Guilt.....

Yes, after analyzing all facts and thinking hard, I could only come up with one explanation. I feel guilty while eating ducks and it brings a bad taste in my mouth. I just can't continue eating the once alive now turned in to food cute little birds.

Just look at this image. An image of a white bird which signifies serenity, peace, innocence and calmness. You may term me a hypocrite or you can just say I am "full of shit", but the fact remains--I feel guilty. 

I feel like a killer,a  criminal who is in some way linked with the murder of an innocent living being. If I was less voracious, this bird might have not ended up in the dining table. He might have still flown across the blue skies with his white wings spread across. I can see the image clearly in my mind. Ducks, making their not so cute quack quack noise and flying above my head like free angels.

Well, comparing ducks with angels is a bit outrageous, but there is no point in denying the fact that while alive, they are cute, lively and full of life. No one has the right to kill a duck who was a wife to a male duck or a mother to a group of young ducklings or yet to be hatched eggs. Also, killing a male duck might make the young ducklings orphan.

In an era of violence and indifference, writing pages after pages on the lives of ducks seem like a uncalled for luxury. And yet, I am writing away, trying to explain my dilemma. I don't shed a single tear when thousands of people are dying under the rubble of a crashed building, but I can't eat ducks because they are cute while living.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I can't stop the killing of innocent human beings, but I can at least play my small part in giving the same fate to innocent ducks, right?

Review of Wangchuk Hotel, Bhutan

Review posted in my travel blog

Review Posted in Tripadvisor

Review of hotel Wangchuk where we stayed during our Bhutan trip. A full fledged travel blog is in progress.

Hopefully I will be able to finish writing it within this month.

Whatever Happened to my Blog Friends?

Most people who I knew blogged has changed.

Most of them stopped blogging and moved on with life.

Some of them are still blogging. A very, very few of them. I actually hope some of them would quit writing.


Some people who didn't give a dime about blogs (when this thing first started) are now avid bloggers. But they blog in Bengali.

People who are writing  blogs now are not like the ones who used to write.

The term "blogger" has too much negative association nowadays.



I don't want to be termed as a blogger anymore.

A simple writer will do....

Recommendations for Beatle Fans

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to The Beatles (band): What other bands would you suggest listening to those who like the Beatles? on Quora

Some Disappointing Differences Between Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (the film) and Deathly Hallows (the book)

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to Harry Potter (movie series): What were some disappointing differences between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (the film) and Deathly Hallows (the book)? on Quora

What is your favorite "going the extra mile" customer services story?

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to What is your favorite "going the extra mile" customer services story? on Quora

What do Bangladeshi school textbooks say about their formation and independence from Pakistan?

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to Bangladesh: What do Bangladeshi school textbooks say about their formation and independence from Pakistan? on Quora

What is the best question no-one has ever asked me before?

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to Survey Questions: What is the best question no-one has ever asked you before? on Quora

What is So Great About The Beatles?

Read Quote of Ishtiaque Khan's answer to The Beatles (band): What is so great about The Beatles? on Quora