Only in America

During our Christmas gift shopping spree, we went to this one store and got a couple of items, one for $10 and another for $25. We used a $10 off $25 coupon and with taxes, we got both the items for a total for $26.48.

Turns out, we ended up not gifting the $25 item to anyone. And since we ourselves didn't have any particular use of it, we decided to return it.

So, a few days ago I went back to the store to return it....and guess what, with taxes I got a refund of $26.49. That's 1c more than what we paid for! The $10 item we had got was completely free! The girl at the counter did realize something was wrong, but she couldn't do anything about it.

This can happen only in America!

New girl on the block

After watching the well deserved sweeping win of Slumdog Millionaire at the Golden Globe, I have been extremely impressed with - not Dev Patel, not Danny Boyle, not even A R Rahman - but with Freida Pinto, the girl who plays the character of adult Latika, the love interest in the movie.

While watching the movie, I was more engrossed in the amazing direction and awesome acting by the child artists - and so failed to notice her as anything more than a "regular" actor. But when I saw her on the stage with Shah Rukh Khan at the Golden Globe awards, I was struck by her confidence and her ability to hold herself alongside SRK.

Since then we have been scouring YouTube to catch what we can about her and the movie. And while at it, we came to know that these two young debutantes, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto - have appeared in a number of television interviews in the US. And as we watched her interviews in various award ceremonies and TV shows, my admiration for her grew. Just see how well she handles herself with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Compared to much experienced Aishwarya's appearances on network television in the US and the difference is obvious. Freida is poised and confident, knows how to talk well and her command of the English language shows.

At this point, I would have linked to the You Tube video of Freida's appearance on The Tonight Show. But unfortunately, the video's been removed from YouTube by NBC due to copyright reasons.

No wonder that one of the top agencies in Hollywood, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that represents the likes of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kate Winslet, to name a few, has signed her up. The girl's gonna go places! Watch this space.

Aamir likes ShamWOW!

I was reading the recent entries of Aamir Khan's blog....and one post Homeward Bound (Nov,06,2008) interested me. In that post he mentions about US tele-shop products and how they sell unusual stuff and how tempted he is to buy some of them.

One such product that he mentions is this piece of cloth with amazing absorbing power. I am pretty sure Aamir is talking about ShamWOW.

It has one of TV's most irritating salesperson ever featured in its advertisement. But every time the ad comes on TV, I end up watching the entire ad, no matter how many times I have already seen it or how annoying that guy is! I just dont know why! He is even worse than Billy Mays who normally markets a lot of similar products on TV, from Kaboom to Mighty Putty. Do check out the ShamWOW ad, if you haven't already seen it. Maybe you can explain to me why I get transfixed everytime I see it on TV?

Welcome 2009!

2008 has been a pretty good year for me. I got married to V, need I say more?

However, I do know overall 2008 has been a rocky year for many, and here's a wish (or rather a prayer) from my side that may 2009 be a better year for all, bringing happiness, cheer and prosperity in our lives and may it fulfill one's deepest desires.

Wish you all a Very Happy 2009!