The Tag of Four…

Was tagged by Deepa. Here are the fours:

4 jobs I’ve had:

1. Auto mechanic, driver, plumber, electrician, carpenter, gardener, etc.
2. Industrial Engineer and Researcher
3. Software Consultant, web designer, developer and Web master
4. Writer, ghost writer, editor, copyeditor, typesetter, etc.

4 films I could watch again and again:

1. The Hunt for Red October
2. Down Periscope
3. Sholay
4. Panchavadipalam

4 places I’ve lived in:

1. Muttuchira (My home, a small, sleepy village in Kottayam District)
2. Trivandrum & Cochin
3. Pondicherry
4. Madras

4 TV series I like to watch:
I don’t watch TV these days. So this is an old list…

1. Dharma & Greg
2. Frasier
3. Tom and Jerry
4. Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister

4 places that I’ve been on vacation to:

I have never gone on vacation. Just now when I thought about it, I can’t remember going to any place for spending the holidays. Funny, I didn’t thought about it before…

4 websites I visit everyday:

1. Websites I maintain
2. My friends’ blogs
3. ACM & IEEE Digital Libraries
4. HBR On-line, Scientific American, Nature and Science

4+4+4 books I’d love to read again and again:
Actually these are the books that I read again and again.

1. All novels by P.G. Wodehouse
2. All Sherlock Holmes Stories (56) and Novels (4)
3. Catch 22 & Lord of the Rings
4. Jonathan Livingston Seagull (in fact all books by Richard Bach)
5. Asterix, Tintin, Calvin & Hobbes, Far Side, and almost all other comics
6. All novels by Jeffery Archer, Clive Cussler, Alistair MacLean, Robert Ludlum, Ken Follet, Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, Greg Iles, David Baldacci, Lee Child, Eoin Colfer, etc.
7. All novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, James Hadley Chase, etc.
8. Westerns by J.T.Edson, Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, etc,
9. Books by Sun Tzu, Khalil Gibran, Niccolò Machiavelli, Edward de Bono, Tony Buzan, etc.
10. All Classics and Epics
11. Books by Watts H. Humphrey, Gerald Weinberg, Steve McConnell, F.P. Brooks, Alan Davis, etc.
12. The Chicago Manual of Style and other Style, Grammar, Usage books and books on Typography

4 favorite dishes:
1. Chicken Biriyani
2. Plain rice with curd and prawn fry
3. Kappa (tapioca) and red hot fish curry
4. Parotta with Beef Fry and Salad

4 places where I’d like to be right now:

1. Home
2. Pondicherry
3. Zurich
4. California

4 people I’m gonna tag:

Anybody who is interested can take the tag…

39 Comments

  1. James Bright Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 2:15 pm

    Nice info about you Alexis. I also like all your fav. dishes.
    BTW, are you watching the world cup? Which team is your fav. to win the cup?

  2. chacko Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 2:25 pm

    2. Plain rice with curd and prawn fry
    3. Kappa (tapioca) and red hot fish curry
    4. Parotta with Beef Fry and Salad

    ahaaaaaaaaaaa ..same as my list… but will contain 3 more :D ……… i

    Kappa + beef
    Squid fry
    Angamaly Meen curry (meen palu pizinjathu) :)

  3. nina Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 6:44 pm

    your favorite dishes form my wish list now. wish i could go home n hog evthing ;(

  4. silverine Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 7:02 pm

    I am taking up the tag at Think Pad!!!

    You fav TV programes are mine too with a couple of others. And Kappa and Meen Curry too ! And we share quite a few books in common too!!! Down persicope was funny :)

    I think I will enjoy this tag!

  5. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 7:24 pm

    James: I think I listed the dishes that are most popular among all of us. I don’t watch World Cup. I just read the news. I like Brazil and Germany. But let the best team win. My all time favorite football player is Diego Armando Maradona.

    chacko: I also like your two dishes—Kappa+beef and Angamali Fish Curry. But except for books, I wanted to limit the list to four. But I am no great fan of squid. I have tried it many times, but somehow I don’t like it.

    nina: So come home and have a feast :-)

    silverine: Thank you for taking the tag. I look forward to reading it. I like Down Periscope as it is a nice story told in a nice way. I like the way in which they overcome formidable challenges and outwit the enemy with the limited resources they have supplemented only by sheer courage and creativity.

  6. venus Said,

    June 13, 2006 @ 7:50 pm

    I know, u can’t summerize your fav books with just 4, u definitely need 4+4+4!
    I think, in that sense, I also havn’t taken vacation, my vacation is going home and seeing family :)

    Chicago Manual of style, hmm I should check it out too..

  7. Sarah Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 1:19 am

    Alexis…Angamali fish curry?? Wht is tht?

    I like all of the books you mentioned except Ken Follet..

    Kappa( the yellow variety.. i think Ammachi used to call it ethakka kappa) boiled and ulli chammanthi.. ah life would have been perfect.. alas!!

  8. >|' ; '| Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 8:01 am

    The Jack of all trades :-)

  9. LALITHA Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 8:54 am

    Learnt a lot about you Alex. chicken Biryani one of my favorites too.

  10. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 10:13 am

    venus: I have never gone on a holiday with family or friends. Both in college and after that when I was working, whenever I got a couple of days, I always used to come home. All the places I had gone are either for work, study or for treatment.

    I started using CMS to argue my case with our technical editors when I was working. I always ended up doing the technical documentation in all projects that I worked. So I had to sit with the copyeditors as they mutilated my documents and every time I used to fight with them and I used to quote from CMS extensively as it is the final authority on style and usage. When I first started using it (in 1990), it was in the 13th edition. The current edition (2003) is the 15th edition.

    Sarah: Angamali fish curry as Chacochen has mentioned is meen palu pizinjathu—fish cooked with masalas and spices and lots of coconut milk. Usually a side dish for rice.

    >|’ ; ‘|: Liked your new avatar. But master of some ;-)

    LALITHA: Have you tried Wahid Chicken Biryani. It is delicious. It is made using boneless chicken pieces. And the secret of the taste is the spices mix (consisting of 55 spices). It is a variant of the famous Lucknow Murgi Biryani, but invented by Wahid Qurashi.

  11. Dhanush Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 12:31 pm

    Man … Thats almost all the books in the world :) ho…
    I would take this sometime.. when I dont have any ‘frustrations’.. me bit busy these days for a change ;)

  12. Sreejith Kumar Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 7:10 pm

    Panchavadipalam! One of the very best political satires in Malayalam along with Sandesam, isn’t it? Ready for a plate of Kappa (we mid-Travancoreans call it Cheeni also :-) ) and red hot fish curry…………..

  13. Jo Said,

    June 14, 2006 @ 11:27 pm

    Kappa (tapioca) and red hot fish curry

    Yummy!!!

    And its was nice reading about the jobs you have had.

  14. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 15, 2006 @ 11:29 am

    Dhanush: Love for books combined with a lot of free time is a recipe for a lot of book. 40% of the books in my collection are Software and IE related, 30% are novels and the remaining are books on almost all subjects. I have a small library of about 10,000 books collected over the last 25 years. Looking foreword to read your tag.

    Sreejith: The bridge that collapses at the end of the move is near Kottayam town. I have visited the place. That was about 15 years back. Other than the remains of the bridge there was only a small tea shop there. There was a place near TVM Paico that served Kappa and fish curry. Don’t know whether it is still there.

    Jo: Thanks Jo.

  15. Sreejith Kumar Said,

    June 15, 2006 @ 1:06 pm

    Re: Alexis Leon

    I haven’t gone to that place as yet. But there are some other eating houses here where we do get Kappa and Meen Curry!

  16. silverine Said,

    June 15, 2006 @ 7:22 pm

    I have done the Tag :)

    Anju

  17. quills Said,

    June 15, 2006 @ 11:16 pm

    It was fun reading your tag. :)

    I just had kappa and red meen char today. Was awesome. :)
    And one more thing in common we have, we like the same football team. :) No I am not talking about Brazil.

  18. thanu Said,

    June 16, 2006 @ 4:53 am

    California ….. it not that exciting here…

    I think kappa is every mallus favorite. Never met any mallu who didn’t like kappa

  19. Dhanush Said,

    June 16, 2006 @ 11:51 am

    I should have took some job at Cochin, so that I can visit your library and save my money ;)
    BtW .. the post is completed … :)

  20. Suji Said,

    June 16, 2006 @ 6:03 pm

    Chicken biryani is my favourite too. Yummmm. And ofcourse kappa and meen curry. Most of the books you mentioned are in my favourites list. 10,000 books……..WOW. That sounds like heaven.

  21. Dewaker Basnet Said,

    June 16, 2006 @ 11:10 pm

    ‘Kappa (tapioca) and red hot fish curry’..lethal combo eh…and the books u read are boggling..the titles themselves are a little too heavy for me ;)

  22. Dewaker Basnet Said,

    June 16, 2006 @ 11:16 pm

    hey mate,
    seems u did tag me for the 5 wishlist (sent by silverine)..but cannot figure out what and how to get it and give my views…help alexis…:)

  23. Revathi Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 3:25 am

    Hi Alex
    First time in your blog. came thro sarah’s blog. I am at a loss of words after reading about ur accident.
    wishing you a very happy happy birthday and wishing all your aspirations come true –
    God is with you and always will be -
    cheers
    revathi

  24. anu Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 7:18 am

    rice, curd, prawn fry… hmmm.. perfect.. nothing more.. nothing less..
    :) )

  25. Aashik Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 9:43 am

    Happy Birthday !!!

  26. chekku Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 11:07 am

    oh i thought i was the only one who never had been on a vacation…nice to someone else as well!!

  27. nina Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 12:12 pm

    happy b’day to u
    happy b’day to u
    may god bless u
    v r so glad thta u r here
    happy b’day to u

  28. nina Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 1:26 pm

    i know its very well in advance. u gotta beat up sarah for that

  29. Reji Said,

    June 19, 2006 @ 6:24 pm

    Alexis,

    It’s nice to be here…

    ” Ee blogilethapedan njan alpam vaikiyo enna samsayam maathram baaki. Oru pakshe thankalude ‘jeevitha dautyam’ mattullavarku munpe nadannu ‘vilakku’ telichu vazhi kanikkuka aayirikkam ”

    …Keep going. And i wish you all the very best in life.

    * HAPPY BIRTHDAY *

  30. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 20, 2006 @ 9:56 am

    quills: Thank you quills. Brazil is great.

    thanu: Just wanted to visit a few friends there. Yes,Kappa is an all time favorite.

    Dhanush: You will have sit at my home and read the books :-) I don’t lend books.

    Suji: It is heaven. That is the main reason why I have not gone mad, unable to go out…

    Dewaker: When one has no social commitments and cannot go anywhere, there is plenty of time to read and write. The fact that I love books is a blessing. Otherwise, it would have been more difficult to pass the time.

    Revathi: Welcome to my blog and thank you for your wishes.

    anu: It is very delicious—perfect :-)

    Aashik: Thank you Aashik.

    chekku: I never gave it a thought before taking the tag.

    nina: Thank you nina for your wishes. No, it is not Sarah’s fault. My fault, I goofed up the date of my own birthday.

    Reji: Welcome. Nice to have you here. Thank you very much for the wishes.

  31. Deepa Said,

    June 20, 2006 @ 12:40 pm

    finally , u did it !

  32. Deepa Said,

    June 20, 2006 @ 12:40 pm

    nice profile pic .. i like the artistic lines a lot
    :)

  33. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 20, 2006 @ 6:46 pm

    Deepa: Yes, I did it. I wanted to post a comment at your blog once I finished, but the topic there seemed too serious and I felt it inappropriate to post about the completion of the tag.

    Yes, I always love the pictures and photographs of bamboo shoots and leaves. I took the picture from MS-Word clipart and removed the background.

  34. Ganja Turtle Said,

    June 21, 2006 @ 12:17 am

    Hi Alexis…
    Thanks for dropping by again….I remembered your wishes just before I went in for the exam…the centre was in the beautiful Rajagiri Valley campus….why Zurich? And how did you miss out Max Brand in the list of westerns?

  35. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 21, 2006 @ 9:38 am

    Hi GT,
    I knew you would score high. Congratulations once again. Rajagiri valley, I hear that it is a beautiful place. My nephew is studying in the school there (UKG).

    Zurich, I was supposed to go there on an assignment. But a few weeks before that, I met with the accident. Since I was working in a project where most of the people have gone there, I have heard a great deal about it and was just waiting get there before fate intervened.

    Max Brand, I missed him somehow. But I am a fan. Now with his books are available at Project Gutenberg, I get to read them again for free ;-)

  36. Rose Said,

    June 21, 2006 @ 2:30 pm

    Those were quite a bunch of 4s..

    Seems like u v done almost al the jobs n the world!!!

    :) ))

    ..Me

  37. aqua Said,

    June 21, 2006 @ 3:45 pm

    Alexis: I am a diehard fan of Kappa and Meen curry.. Kazhichu thudangiyal no control at all!! That ‘mulagu ittu vecha nadan meen curry’.. Yummy .. I feel I am little late in visiting your blog. I have added the link in my favourites and I think it’s worth visiting your site twice a day.

    Keep it up and God Bless.

  38. Anup Nandialath Said,

    June 23, 2006 @ 12:16 pm

    chettaii…very interesting…kerala fish curry, karimeen pollichathu, nei choru, biriyani..eeshwara jaan ivide ini onnum parayunillaa….list of reading material was awesome…archer, tintin, asterix, grisham…man its been a long time since i last read fiction seriously…must get back to it…

  39. Alexis Leon Said,

    June 23, 2006 @ 8:37 pm

    Rose: Thank you Rose.

    Aqua: Thanks Aqua. Yes Kappa and meen curry or kappa with beef (cooking kappa with beef–like a kappa biriyani) is something that one can go on eating.

    Anup: Get that PhD fast and then you can take a break, come home and have all those dishes :-)

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