The Family Man
With the highly anticipated release of the last and final season of Sopranos, there have been a plethora of articles in every blog, newspaper and magazine. And being the fan that I am, I have read all of them. Though all of them contradict each other in terms of predictions for the next season, they all seem to agree on one thing - it is one of TV's greatest dramas of all time.
One article disclosed that HBO was originally not too keen on naming the series "The Sopranos." They thought people would mistake it for an opera show. They proposed to call it "The Family Man". Luckily a week later, "Family Guy" came out and they quickly reverted to the old moniker. Family Guy - is there anything this show can't do????
Anyhow, I remember my first time watching this show. After I got laid off from my first job, I decided to take six months off and did not look for work at all - I just chilled with my roommate and partied. I usually spent a month in LA and a month in SF - it was a phat life. In any case, my old roommate had the first season of Sopranos, so I borrowed it to watch at home in LA, which meant I had to watch in our family room.
As mentioned, my Dad is old school - he only allows one TV in the house and until a couple months ago refused to get cable (this may explain why I suck at sports trivia - I did not know what Sportscenter was until college). Anyhow, due to the occasional nudity, I had to shut the door to our family room when watching the show. Surprisingly, my mom respected my privacy when I told her that this show was not meant for her and kicked her out. I think that is why she sent my little sister to "check in" on me - being the good brother I am, I let her watch the show. The little one could only take a couple episodes.
In any case, I was hooked. It was at this time I was rolling with all these Muslim gangstas living the reformed life, so this show really appealed to me. Guys that once were rocking 22s on their suped up. Expeditions were now rocking Corollas. Parties with strippers were now replaced with bowling nights. So I could definitely relate to Tony, who know was living the family life in suburbia.
As soon as I was done, I gave the season to my boy in Arcadia and told him to watch it. He was hesitant, but just like me managed to finish the entire season in a couple days. This show is simply awesome. I won’t try to explain it because I cannot do it justice. I am just glad there are nine more episodes and I hope none of them are as bad as last season, where several episodes revolved around the fact that a captain was gay.
In any case, this past weekend in LA reminded me what Sopranos portrays: Family is everything.
Friday
I left at 12:30 to make my 3 o'clock flight, which is a great work day in of itself. Things were falling into place:
- I arrived to the Bart station 2 minutes before the train came
- I saw a cute white girl in the station and started spitting game till the airport
- Being Easter weekend, the security line was out of control at the southwest terminal, so I just went to the other terminal and went through security in 2 minutes
- Even on the airplane, a cute girl sat in the aisle seat of my row (middle seat was empty). I was reading a book about this guy who runs 100 miles at a time, "ultra marathons". I don't know if she thought I did this in my free time, but she was really interested/ impressed
We were talking and things were going well, till I saw this chintu who barely made our flight. As he came down the plane, I somehow knew he would sit in my row. I did everything to avoid eye contact and spread my shit in the middle seat. Sure enough he asked the girl, and she hesitantly told him that it was empty. Game over. To make matters worse, he put his bag over my suit bag in the overhead compartment, assuring me that my suit would be all fucked up in LA.
Left with no one to talk with, I passed out on the flight. Thankfully, because of the surgery I did not have to worry about snoring. There is nothing more embarrassing than having a complete stranger wake you or a flight attendant wake you because of snoring.
However, the worse had yet to come. As I left the terminal, I realized my wallet was still on the plane. I tried running back through where I exited, but they told me I needed to go to arrivals and talk to a SWA employee there. Fortunately or unfortunately, this was not the first time this happened to me, so I knew exactly what to do. Luckily the employee was able to grab my wallet. My brother in law, who was picking me up, was justifiably annoyed as he did lap after lap in the airport waiting for me and just shook his head when I told him why.
In any case, I was happy as I was in LA. Anyone from LA knows the feeling when they return home. You are just happy. Visions of the beach, convertibles, and hot clubs flood your head. As you walk out of the plane, everyone is 100x hotter, fitter and more stylish. 2Pac said it best “To Live and Die in LA”
Friday night was a big night in the Agrawal house. We had some guests coming into town and my sisters in-laws were rolling to dinner as well, so my mom prepared a feast. I of course made a mess when I rolled in and got scolded my mom. Feeling lazy, I waited till our guests arrived before I jumped in the shower. My dad at this point saw it was useless to yell at me and focused his attention to the guests. Whatever, I was at home- in their hearts they were happy. When I rolled out with jeans and a button down, my mom sent me back to change. Apparently I was not formal enough - I really can’t remember the last time I was told by mom to change.
The night was awesome. Lots of food, jokes and fun. One of the uncles went to USC for graduate school, so he and my little sister ganged up on my older sister and my brother in law (both UCLA grads) and myself. I’d like to say we held our own, but you know SC fans….logic does not really work.
The most unexpected moment during dinner was when my dad commented on the fact that I was having another diet coke. Then all the adults joined in and make comments on how bad this stuff was for your teeth and the body. All of a sudden my dad jumps in again and says “Coke is much worse than pot…” We were all a bit uncomfortable at first, and then we all busted up laughing…My dad became defensive when we asked him if he inhaled and became the running joke of the night. “Bush is worse than pot”, etc.
I stuffed my self silly that night- cofta, mattar paneer, daal, began bartha, aloo gobi and hot puris. on top of that we had dessert: outside of the standard barfis and ludos, we had cake, raas malai and some cheese dish my sister made. Needless to say, I slept like a champ that night.
Saturday
With all the good food we chowed down the night before, my dad and I decided we should roll to the gym and work off the five pounds we gained the night before. Ever since I hooked my mom up with membership, my parents take exercise seriously. It’s always interesting to roll with pops, as he always wears the most disturbing gear - tight sweats and a baggy shirt. In any case, we got through a good workout, and even did weights. I was surprised that he could actually put up a decent amount.
Though the weather was shitty, I ended up rolling out to Santa Monica to see a couple of buddies and stop by at the IBL - the Indian Basketball League. Usually they get 15 heads out. I was there when the league was founded and rolled every weekend when I was living in LA. It has been awhile since I saw some of these fools, so it was good to see these guys.
Of course, I was not dressed to play (pants and soccer shoes), but I decided to get in one game. While I held my own, it was a big mistake in retrospect. Given the fact that my shoes had no cushioning, my feet were in severe pain for the rest of the day.
After making a stop to see Yat's pimp spot, we rolled to 3rd street for some beers (a pitcher of blue moon) and food. This fucknut is living right next to the beach….. pimp as hell. On the way home, I was reminded why I hate LA- my 30 minute commute took me an hour.
The highlight of the night was rolling to my cousin's sweet 16th bday. She is the baby of the family, so all the cousins flew out from all parts of the US - it ended up being a big family reunion. We all gave speeches thoroughly embarrassing her in front of her friends and in general, had a great time. All of the family was on the dance floor, even pops - we formed a big circle with everyone alternating getting their groove on. I talked (NOT HOLLERED) to some of her friends and got the lowdown on my cousin’s love life, which will serve as good teasing material for the next year.
Family IS everything.
On a separate note, check out this SF Easter tradition:
One article disclosed that HBO was originally not too keen on naming the series "The Sopranos." They thought people would mistake it for an opera show. They proposed to call it "The Family Man". Luckily a week later, "Family Guy" came out and they quickly reverted to the old moniker. Family Guy - is there anything this show can't do????
Anyhow, I remember my first time watching this show. After I got laid off from my first job, I decided to take six months off and did not look for work at all - I just chilled with my roommate and partied. I usually spent a month in LA and a month in SF - it was a phat life. In any case, my old roommate had the first season of Sopranos, so I borrowed it to watch at home in LA, which meant I had to watch in our family room.
As mentioned, my Dad is old school - he only allows one TV in the house and until a couple months ago refused to get cable (this may explain why I suck at sports trivia - I did not know what Sportscenter was until college). Anyhow, due to the occasional nudity, I had to shut the door to our family room when watching the show. Surprisingly, my mom respected my privacy when I told her that this show was not meant for her and kicked her out. I think that is why she sent my little sister to "check in" on me - being the good brother I am, I let her watch the show. The little one could only take a couple episodes.
In any case, I was hooked. It was at this time I was rolling with all these Muslim gangstas living the reformed life, so this show really appealed to me. Guys that once were rocking 22s on their suped up. Expeditions were now rocking Corollas. Parties with strippers were now replaced with bowling nights. So I could definitely relate to Tony, who know was living the family life in suburbia.
As soon as I was done, I gave the season to my boy in Arcadia and told him to watch it. He was hesitant, but just like me managed to finish the entire season in a couple days. This show is simply awesome. I won’t try to explain it because I cannot do it justice. I am just glad there are nine more episodes and I hope none of them are as bad as last season, where several episodes revolved around the fact that a captain was gay.
In any case, this past weekend in LA reminded me what Sopranos portrays: Family is everything.
Friday
I left at 12:30 to make my 3 o'clock flight, which is a great work day in of itself. Things were falling into place:
- I arrived to the Bart station 2 minutes before the train came
- I saw a cute white girl in the station and started spitting game till the airport
- Being Easter weekend, the security line was out of control at the southwest terminal, so I just went to the other terminal and went through security in 2 minutes
- Even on the airplane, a cute girl sat in the aisle seat of my row (middle seat was empty). I was reading a book about this guy who runs 100 miles at a time, "ultra marathons". I don't know if she thought I did this in my free time, but she was really interested/ impressed
We were talking and things were going well, till I saw this chintu who barely made our flight. As he came down the plane, I somehow knew he would sit in my row. I did everything to avoid eye contact and spread my shit in the middle seat. Sure enough he asked the girl, and she hesitantly told him that it was empty. Game over. To make matters worse, he put his bag over my suit bag in the overhead compartment, assuring me that my suit would be all fucked up in LA.
Left with no one to talk with, I passed out on the flight. Thankfully, because of the surgery I did not have to worry about snoring. There is nothing more embarrassing than having a complete stranger wake you or a flight attendant wake you because of snoring.
However, the worse had yet to come. As I left the terminal, I realized my wallet was still on the plane. I tried running back through where I exited, but they told me I needed to go to arrivals and talk to a SWA employee there. Fortunately or unfortunately, this was not the first time this happened to me, so I knew exactly what to do. Luckily the employee was able to grab my wallet. My brother in law, who was picking me up, was justifiably annoyed as he did lap after lap in the airport waiting for me and just shook his head when I told him why.
In any case, I was happy as I was in LA. Anyone from LA knows the feeling when they return home. You are just happy. Visions of the beach, convertibles, and hot clubs flood your head. As you walk out of the plane, everyone is 100x hotter, fitter and more stylish. 2Pac said it best “To Live and Die in LA”
Friday night was a big night in the Agrawal house. We had some guests coming into town and my sisters in-laws were rolling to dinner as well, so my mom prepared a feast. I of course made a mess when I rolled in and got scolded my mom. Feeling lazy, I waited till our guests arrived before I jumped in the shower. My dad at this point saw it was useless to yell at me and focused his attention to the guests. Whatever, I was at home- in their hearts they were happy. When I rolled out with jeans and a button down, my mom sent me back to change. Apparently I was not formal enough - I really can’t remember the last time I was told by mom to change.
The night was awesome. Lots of food, jokes and fun. One of the uncles went to USC for graduate school, so he and my little sister ganged up on my older sister and my brother in law (both UCLA grads) and myself. I’d like to say we held our own, but you know SC fans….logic does not really work.
The most unexpected moment during dinner was when my dad commented on the fact that I was having another diet coke. Then all the adults joined in and make comments on how bad this stuff was for your teeth and the body. All of a sudden my dad jumps in again and says “Coke is much worse than pot…” We were all a bit uncomfortable at first, and then we all busted up laughing…My dad became defensive when we asked him if he inhaled and became the running joke of the night. “Bush is worse than pot”, etc.
I stuffed my self silly that night- cofta, mattar paneer, daal, began bartha, aloo gobi and hot puris. on top of that we had dessert: outside of the standard barfis and ludos, we had cake, raas malai and some cheese dish my sister made. Needless to say, I slept like a champ that night.
Saturday
With all the good food we chowed down the night before, my dad and I decided we should roll to the gym and work off the five pounds we gained the night before. Ever since I hooked my mom up with membership, my parents take exercise seriously. It’s always interesting to roll with pops, as he always wears the most disturbing gear - tight sweats and a baggy shirt. In any case, we got through a good workout, and even did weights. I was surprised that he could actually put up a decent amount.
Though the weather was shitty, I ended up rolling out to Santa Monica to see a couple of buddies and stop by at the IBL - the Indian Basketball League. Usually they get 15 heads out. I was there when the league was founded and rolled every weekend when I was living in LA. It has been awhile since I saw some of these fools, so it was good to see these guys.
Of course, I was not dressed to play (pants and soccer shoes), but I decided to get in one game. While I held my own, it was a big mistake in retrospect. Given the fact that my shoes had no cushioning, my feet were in severe pain for the rest of the day.
After making a stop to see Yat's pimp spot, we rolled to 3rd street for some beers (a pitcher of blue moon) and food. This fucknut is living right next to the beach….. pimp as hell. On the way home, I was reminded why I hate LA- my 30 minute commute took me an hour.
The highlight of the night was rolling to my cousin's sweet 16th bday. She is the baby of the family, so all the cousins flew out from all parts of the US - it ended up being a big family reunion. We all gave speeches thoroughly embarrassing her in front of her friends and in general, had a great time. All of the family was on the dance floor, even pops - we formed a big circle with everyone alternating getting their groove on. I talked (NOT HOLLERED) to some of her friends and got the lowdown on my cousin’s love life, which will serve as good teasing material for the next year.
Family IS everything.
On a separate note, check out this SF Easter tradition:
posted by G at
2:21 PM
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