"Ask why, asshole."

Saw a very cool documentary today called Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. It was about the rise and fall of Enron and showcased one of the most... (don't know if I should use the phrase heinous crimes, or brilliant shams here) of all time. It was a story about an American dream and how it turned out to be a hollow, rotten nightmare.

I found it hard to believe that America's seventh largest corporation could go bankrupt in 24 days, causing tens of thousands of people to lose their jobs and robbing them of billions in 401Ks. Only today did I realise how long the company had been putting a sham front up. They were falsifying their books years before anything even came to light. And when the executives realised that the ship was sinking, they offloaded millions of dollars worth of company stock, while freezing their employee's accounts so that they could not do the same. A company which had seen it's share price touch a high of over $100, saw it drop to 40 cents and a man who once had $350,000 in his 401K, ended up with $1250.

This documentary not only exposed the fraud that Enron had been perpetuating for ages, but it linked Enron into a much larger conspiracy... one that involved our beloved Dubya (with a few scenes thrown in for comic relief) and the one and only Gubernator of California, Arnie. To appeal to the desi in us, they've also shown India when they spoke about the Dabhol power plant fiasco (don't know how many of you remember it, but I do because the Enron representative whose picture used to appear on the front page of the newspaper was a pretty blonde who insisted on wearing miniskirts while speaking to our ministers).

You will come out shaking your head when you realise the extents to which Enron went to screw over the state of California, stuff Bush's pockets, catalyse the ouster of incumbent governor Gray Davis and pave the way for Arnold to waltz into office... and how they had the entire country fooled until the corporation collapsed like a pack of cards.

The documentary is well made and they've gotten comments from a great selection of personalities. They've been factual and they've still managed to weave a very interesting and human story with keen insights from people close to the entire affair (and did I mention Dubya's in it too??!! He's awesome as usual!!) It will get you asking why (Ask why was the corporate slogan for Enron)... and how as well.

Some of the scenes that are stuck in my head:

• An energy trader calls up a power plant in California, asking them to shut it down temporarily to raise the price of energy futures.
• George W. Bush's brilliant piece of insight that we can help the people of California by being better citizens (????).
• A bulldozer moves a tonne of shredded paper which are account books that Enron shredded when they realised that the s**t had hit the fan.
• Arnie yells to the crowd "Now it's time to terminate him!", referring to Gray Davis.
• A reporter asks Gray Davis if he felt the entire California energy fiasco was caused by Enron in a conspiracy to get him recalled... and he doesn't say anything for a few moments... then laughs and goes "Hello???!!".
• And this one's my favourite - a reporter puts the CEO of the company, Jeff Skillings on the spot asking why the company never releases it's accounts every year... and Jeff thinks for a while and answers in a very thoughtful manner... by calling him an asshole. This prompts the traders to put up signs saying "Ask why, asshole."

One of the better documentaries that I've seen. Highly recommended.

There are some things money can't buy

Taking the PATH train to Jersey City to play with my adorable cousins and eat awesome Gujju food... $3

Sipping on ice tea in Union Square with one of my oldest friends, reminiscing good times... $1.96

Taking the subway uptown to grab some of the most fun volleyball games of the year... $2

Going to one of my favourite restaurants to have dinner and a very large margarita... $21

Watching a mindless, stupid and extremely gross horror flick with buddies... $11

Getting that feeling when you've done everything you possibly could in a day... Priceless

There are some things money can't buy. Everything else is not that important.

New York

In New York freedom looks like too many choices
In New York I found a friend to drown out the other voices
Voices on the cell phone
Voices from home
Voices of the hard sell
Voices down the stairwell
In New York, just got a place in New York

Everything is larger than life, stranger than fiction and louder than a rock concert in New York. You could spend your entire life here and still not run out of different things to do. Time seems to slip by so much quicker in this city. I can't believe I've been working from over two and a half months. Feels as though it was yesterday when I landed here from the far west.

I was travelling in the subway today when New York started playing on my iPod. Being part of a freshly leeched collection, I hadn't heard the song before (I just love it when I'm surprised with good new music). Looking around at the motley collection of fellow travellers, I started smiling as I heard the lyrics.

The Irish have been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall, concrete, asphalt, they even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew
Living happily not like me and you
That's where I lost you...New York

Sometimes I feel this city is going to get the better of me. I feel as though life will pass me by and I won't even realise it. I'll spend weekend after weekend playing tour guide to every friend and relative who's stopping by this town. I'll see the sights so often, that I'll grow weary of them. As some of my friends would put it... I'd be institutionalised. New York would be my home, my playground, my escape and my prison.

In New York I lost it all to you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid life crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
But you know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat

I had a pretty long day at work today. The sun had already slipped below the horizon and I was just about to leave. The last thing I did on a whim, was walk into an empty office and stare outside the window. It has to be one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen. It felt almost unreal to be so far above the ground, staring at a sky which was ablaze in shades of reds, oranges and pinks, looking into the heart of downtown... at the spires reaching for the clouds, at the citadels guarding their riches and secrets... at the river flowing under and the bridges stretched across it... at the planes above me and the ships below me... and wondering if all of this was real.

Time does go by very quickly in New York. But maybe that's the price we pay for the life we live. As Tyrell said to Batty in Blade Runner, "A candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned very brightly..." New York... you will never cease to amaze me.

In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice a-whispering
Come away child

New York, New York

- New York by U2

Inertia

in·er·tia (ĭ-nûr'shuh) n.

1. Physics. The tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force.
2. Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change: the inertia of an entrenched bureaucracy.
3. Reserving space on blogger, and not putting a single post online for months.

Inertia is something I have fallen victim to on more than one occasion. I've not spent enough time with my guitar, there are too many interesting books lying untouched on my shelf, I still can't cook to save my life and I've always wanted to maintain a blog. I've been following my friend's weblogs over the past couple of months and it's been great to see all the activity there. Now would be a good time to get inspired.

I must comment that I've been wondering for a few days about the contents of this entry. It is my first post after all. Makes me feel a little nervous... and naked too. It is after all, a doorway to my brain open to psychoanalysis from all the weirdos that roam the world wide web.

I've read first posts that talk about rebirth... about leaving the past behind... about this being a new beginning... and all the other cliches associated with a new blog. I find them a little amusing. It's probably cathartic to pen those thoughts down, but I think it's also a little delusional if people think they can escape who they really are, overnight.

Which brings me to the single obvious conclusion. That I am and I will be an incorrigible lazy fart.

Hmm.

That's not very encouraging.

Slightly depressing, even.

...

But, at least this is some beginning.

The fact that you're reading this implies that the damage is already done, and I no longer have to spend time on my first post. And now that the ball is rolling, maybe I can get inertia to work for me for a change.