Penelope Garcia is by far, my favourite character on 'Criminal Minds'! In fact, it was she who inspired me to learn computer coding!

Michael Hutchence would have turned 55 in January, this year, had he not committed suicide on this day (22nd of November), in 1997. INXS is one of my favourite bands from the 80's. It just struck me that, the 90's marked the death of many great musicians like Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain and Michael Hutchence (to name a few!) I'm currently listening to the following songs, one by one:

A couple of interesting books on coding!

Let's see if dear old Miley Cyrus is able to twerk to this!! *Evil Laugh 60's Frat Garage Punk at its very wild fuckin' best!!

Been experiencing some incredibly eccentric weather, for the past one week. On the one hand, I am greeted by beautiful sunshine and on the other hand, just when I am beginning to enjoy it, out goes the sun and in comes the rain, before I can even say 'Led Zeppelin'! It is absolutely maddening! I am so fed up, that the only thing I'm inclined to do at this point, is to sit down quietly in a corner with a good book and enjoy a few shots of one of my favourite brands of Scotch whisky. A few shots of some good whisky, coupled with an interesting book, sure helps keep the blues away! Edited to add: Out of sheer irritation, I even wrote a pissed off ode to the sun and it goes something like this: My Pissed Off Ode To The Sun Your Hurt and Abuse, Spreading All Your Lies, Come Now Sweet Baby, Are You Up There, In The Sky? Sit Down! Sit Down! Now, Don't You Run Away! Sweet Little Baby, I Want You Again!

Cheers, mate! Very cool looking collection you've got there (especially the Judy Garland and Otis Williams CDs!) Happy Monday, to you!

I'm not going to let any fuckin' extremist bastard get to me! Ever since the extremely unfortunate events in Paris unfolded, I have interestingly, found comfort and strength in this humble little 60's Garage Punk anthem, by a relatively unknown band called 'The Chosen Few'. Needless to say, most of the lyrics in this song, are music to my ears!

Cold, Damp, Dark and Gloomy! The fuckin' sun seems to have taken a vacation!!

Currently watching Day 4 of the 2nd test between Australia and New Zealand.

This is incredibly interesting!! When is Thanksgiving 2015? What is it and why do Americans celebrate Turkey Day?Roast dinner, American football and giant balloons - what is Thanksgiving Day really all about?Image 1 of 2Turkeys have little to be thankful for on Thanksgiving meanwhile New Yorkers could be blown away with this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Photo: Reuters/Getty When is Thanksgiving Day?On the fourth Thursday in November. This year the day falls on November 26th. Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the 'holiday season' in the United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941. FDR changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November. While Britons think of it as a warm-up for the Yuletide period, many Americans think it of it as just as important as Christmas. A delicious roast turkey In fact, more people in the US celebrate Thanksgiving than do Christmas. Thanksgiving Day is secular holiday in a country that officially separates church and state so this probably makes sense. What is the history of Thanksgiving?Thanksgiving Day can be traced back to the 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the religious refugees from England known popularly as the Pilgrims invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season. The previous year's harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620 half of the pilgrims had starved to death. The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899) Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash (the Three Sisters); catch fish, and collect seafood. There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving, but it's clear that Turkey was not on the menu. The three-day feast included goose, lobster, cod and deer. So why do Americans eat Turkey on Thanksgiving Day? Pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote a letter about that now-famous meal in 1621 which mentioned a turkey hunt before the dinner. Another theory says the choice of turkey was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I who was eating dinner when she heard that Spanish ships had sunk on their way to attack England. Queenie was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be served. Some claim early US settlers roasted turkeys as they were inspired by her actions. Others say that as wild turkeys are native to North America, they were a natural choice for early settlers. Who set the date of Thanksgiving Day?'The National Thanksgiving Proclamation' was the first formal proclamation of Thanksgiving in America. The first President of the United States George Washington made this proclamation on October 3, 1789. Then in 1846, author Sarah Josepha Hale waged a one-woman campaign for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a truly national holiday. Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Josepha Hale conspired to fix Thankgiving Day across the US In the US the day had previously been celebrated only in New England and was largely unknown in the American South. All the other states scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays at different times, some as early as October and others as late as January. Hale's advocacy for the national holiday lasted 17 years and four presidencies before the letter she wrote to Lincoln was successful. In 1863 at the height of the Civil War he supported legislation which established a national holiday of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. Lincoln perhaps wanted the date to tie in with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620. Although we now use the Gregorian calendar. In 1621 the date would have been November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar. So Hale finally got her wish. She is perhaps now better known, though, for writing the nursery rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. FranksgivingIn 1939, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to try and energise the shopping period before Christmas during the Great Depression. Several states followed FDR’s lead but 16 states refused move the holiday shift, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, the a resolution was passeed returning the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November. Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart later described the Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941 as "Franksgiving". There are still two ThanksgivingsCanadians mark Turkey Day, too, in fact it was the first country to do so. Canada celebrates a separate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. It was first celebrated by the arctic explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578 - more than 40 years before the Pilgrim fathers arrived in the New World. Football!Like soccer on Boxing Day in the UK, football (the American version) plays a major role in Thanksgiving. The University of Detroit Stadium hosted the first Thanksgiving Day football game in 1934, pitting the Detroit Lions against the Chicago Bears. Go Lions: A pair of pilgrims cheer on Detroit The game was the brainchild of G.A. Richards, the first owner of the Detroit Lions. He was keen to promote the new franchise in a baseball-mad city, so he approached NBC to get them to broadcast the game across their national radio network. They agreed and the game became the first ever network broadcast event. The game was such a hit it became a tradition in the US and football is now an integral part of the day. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day paradeAnother Thanksgiving tradition is the Macy's parade in New York City - an annual pageant of floats, cheerleaders, marching bands and gigantic balloons. A giant Spiderman balloon in the 2014 Macys parade Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz The parade dates back to the 1920s when many of the immigrant workers at Macy's department store were keen to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe. It originally started from 145th Street in Harlem and ended at Herald Square, making a 6-mile (9.7 km) route. The newest route was introduced with the 2012 parade. This change eliminated Times Square and rerouted the parade down Sixth Avenue, a move that was protested by the Times Square BID, Broadway theatre owners and other groups. The 2015 Thanksgiving Day Parade route New York City officials preview the parade route and try to move as many potential obstacles out of the way, including traffic signals. Let's talk turkeyWhen European settlers encountered turkeys for the first time in the early 1500s, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guinea fowl. Since this group of birds were thought to come from Turkey, the North American bird was dubbed 'turkey fowl'. This later became shortened to 'turkey' and entered the vernacular. The English navigator William Strickland, who introduced the turkey into England in 1550, was granted a coat of arms (left) which included a "turkey-cock in his pride proper". The official record of his crest in the archives of the College of Arms is said to be the oldest surviving European drawing of a turkey. (In Portuguese the translation of turkey is 'peru'. The exotic birds taken back to 16th century Portugal had come from there, you see.) The Presidential reprieveEating turkey is actually more associated with Thanksgiving than it is Christmas in the States with over 50 million turkeys served up every year in the US. Every year, though, the President ‘pardons’ at least one turkey. 'Go in peace, not in pieces': President Obama - watched by his daughers Sasha and Malia - pardons a lucky turkey Photo: Getty Images The public presentation of two prize turkeys to the commander-in-chief in the lead-up to Thanksgiving had been a time-honoured photo op since the 1940s. But on Nov 17, 1989 - 200 years after George Washington's proclamation (see above) - President George H.W. Bush introduced a new tradition of his own and pardoned a 50-pound turkey in the White House Rose Garden. “Let me assure you," Bush said to the 30 schoolchildren present. "This fine turkey will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now.” The presidential turkey pardon has remained an annual Thanksgiving ritual ever since. Trains, planes and automobiles: some statsThe 12-day Thanksgiving period between from Nov 20 to Dec 1 will likely see over 25 million travelling to destinations worldwide according to trade organisation Airlines for America (A4A). The projected number of 25.3 million is three per cent higher than the estimated 24.5 million passengers who made the journey in 2014. That equates to approximately 65,000 people per day on top of average passengers for a total of 2.7 million people per day. The title of this section of course refers to the best film ever on the subject. Steve Martin and John Candy in their pomp Can I celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK?According the 2011 census there were 177,185 Americans living in England and Wales so it’s becoming increasingly fashionable for restaurants and pop-ups to host Thanksgiving meals. Also a lot Yanks will be coming to the UK on vacation so they will need to be fed. Here is our round-up of the best places to go to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast in the UK. Does Britain have an equivalent?Yes, it's called Harvest Day, although it's a lot less of a big deal. While we usually take a few non-perishables down to our local church and enter our autumn vegetables in competitions, Thanksgiving in North America is a much more plentiful and extravagent affair. A prize-winning pumpkin at The London Harvest Festival at Lindley Hall, Westminster. The little pumpkin on the right is Henry Watkins (Getty) Does the UK care about Thanksgiving?Yes, sort of in a commercial sense, although we maybe don't realise it.Black Friday first arrived in the UK five years ago when Amazon thought it would try its luck bringing the American shopping sensation to a new market. In 2013, Asda, which is owned by American retail giant Walmart, participated in UK's version of Black Friday, and last year most major UK retailers including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Argos and even British Airways jumped on board. And with that, any remaining English decorum flew out the window. Shoppers trampled over each other in their rush to enter stores and police were called to break up fights as consumers grappled over discounted televisions and behaved "like animals". Black Friday kicks off in12:09:53:42Days Hrs Mins Secs This year, police chiefs have urged stores to cancel Black Friday altogether after Asda decided to become the first retailer in the UK to abandon event. Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11983413/When-is-Thanksgiving-2015-What-is-it-and-why-do-Americans-celebrate-Turkey-Day.html

For obvious reasons. This song's lyrics IMHO, speaks volumes on all the fucked up brain-washing taking place in this world! Just take a look at the lyrics and you'll see what I mean. Spine chilling stuff!!!!!

Absolutely, Charles! It is always fun exploring obscure CD compilations, that showcase the best of the best in music, from a by-gone era!

Put down the Duff beer, Homer!

^^^Thank you, CP! Yeah, it was a wonderful day of bonding with family, friends and neighbours! My mom and I had a rather early start, what with her special Gulab Jamun and Thayir Vadai to prepare, apart from the Chana Masala meal that we had planned for our Diwali lunch! The evening was spent on the terrace of my apartment building with friends and neighbours, marveling at the mini-fireworks display (it did become excessively noisy at one point, due to the use of certain firecrackers! Damn kids!) and of course, drinking whisky / beer and feasting on various snacks from the sweet and savoury platters! My mom does exercise a bit of caution, while using spices in the food, as the poor dear suffers from a horrific case of mouth ulcers as a result of eating excessively spicy food. My spice tolerance on the other hand, is practically off the charts! I can even gorge on Tabasco sauce, without breaking into a sweat! Diwali is indeed known as 'the festival of light' (a festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, etc.). Holi on the other hand, is a festival in which, people 'throw colours' on each other (in the form of Henna)

Well, it was Diwali yesterday and my folks and I, invited a few friends and neighbours over to feast upon a variety of sweets and savouries, that were predominantly Southern Indian. The Savoury Diwali Platter consisted of Seedai, Ribbon Pakoda, Thenkuzhal Murukku, Thatai and Spicy Southern Indian Mixture: The Sweet Diwali Platter consisted of Bombay Halwa, Chocolate Burfi, Apple Rasgulla, Doodh Peda, Mysore Pak and Badusha: Also, a lovely gentleman going by the name Jack, stopped by to contribute to the festivities!

Hay Fever!!!

Oh, hell yes!! Damn that guy for wearing a skin-coloured trench coat!! With that outfit, our eyes played this mean trick on us, making us believe that this guy was actually a gangster cum male stripper in disguise!

Ooh, you lucky duck!! Ha! I forgot to mention that 'Hogan's Alley' was one of the games that I loved to play with as a kid, apart from 'Duck Hunt', 'Wild Gunman' and 'Bomberman'! But yeah, I do remember mentioning it, awhile back on the .info site. Congrats on managing to get a copy, Morgan!

You said it, mate!