Meeting a great Philadelphia Eagles QB!

Over 48 hours ago, RG1 met Donovan McNabb. The words, which were exchanged between the two great ones, were priceless. Gotta be covert on this topic. For shizzle! It was great for RSG to meet the ex-Philadelphia Eagle, Minnesota Viking, and Washington Redskin. Donovan deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and he should retire as a Philadelphia Eagles player in 2013. McNabb made it to the Super Bowl in 2005, and his Eagles lost to Tom Brady's Patriots. McNabb was a pure gentleman during the encounter with RG1 in "The Living Room" in Chandler, AZ. RG1 learned a lot about how celebrities can be so normal, from this experience. It had been more than 3.5 months since Rahul had met a celebrity. 2013 is coming to be a good year for meeting the stealthy wealthy! Peace!

2013's movie reviews from first six months

Well, everyone knows that G. Ripley is RSG. G. Ripley is a moniker that was devised from the movie, "The Talented Mr. Ripley." The G. is for Ganpule, and RSG is a huge movie buff. Half of 2013 is over, and the box office has had some great flicks. Here are some of the raving Hollywood critic's (aka yours truly) favorites: 1. The Great Gatsby 2. Now You See Me 3. World War Z 4. Man of Steel 5. Star Trek Into Darkness "The Great Gatsby" is at the top in my mind, because of the superb acting and movie sets. The cinematography was cool too. "Now You See Me" has a great story replete with mystery, magic, and heists. "World War Z" has a good story that is on a global level, but it did not make the list (according to Entertainment Weekly magazine). This list was the "15 most impressive box office performances of 2013, so far." "Star Trek Into Darkness" is good, and it was better than the last Star trek movie (from 2009). All in all, this year has not been a downer for the box office.

Miami Heat repeat as NBA champions in "The Finals"

Last night, the Miami Heat won the NBA title in an epic game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. LeBron James won his second NBA Finals MVP award, as the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in Miami. It appeared that the Spurs were going to win the series with a series lead of 3-2, and a six point lead for them with 30 seconds lefts in game 6. But, the Miami Heat sent the sixth game into overtime by hitting a couple of late three pointers. In the overtime session, the Miami Heat came out victorious in their narrow three point win. After the sixth game, the Spurs appeared to be the more tired team. In game 7, the Heat were up by two points, 90-88, in the closing minute. Then, the Spurs could not convert on their final few possessions. The Spurs committed some costly turnovers, which led to Miami winning the game by seven points (95-88). Miami won the series, 4-3. Finally, it’s hard to believe that the NBA season is over.

Eight is not enough for Rafael Nadal

Well, life in Paris for tennis fans is over for 2013. The French Open ended today with Rafael Nadal winning his eighth title at Roland Garros. For the women, Serena Williams overpowered Maria Sharapova in the final yesterday. Serena Williams won her second title at Roland Garros. Sharapova won her semifinal in three sets over Victoria Azarenka, which made Maria less rested for the final. This problem hurt Sharapova in the final. For Nadal, he beat David Ferrer in a quick three sets. It was David's first final in Paris, while Rafa was playing in his eighth one in Paris. Next up for the tennis world is Wimbledon, the third major grand slam of the year. Hope this year's tournament is as good as last year's for Roger Federer & Maria Sharapova. Both of my favorite players (from men's & women's side) need to win this tournament. C'est vrai as the french would say!

Experiencing new adventures in New Orleans

Less than 36 hours, RSG left New Orleans. It was an incredible experience in "the Big Easy." During my three days/three nights journey, Rahulio went to the following places: 1. Tulane univ. in New Orleans 2. Pat O'brien's bar in french quarter 3. Blue Nile Bar in frenchman street Also, RG was at "club ampersand" in new orleans. By this nightclub, there was a film set for "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" movie. This movie comes out in 2014, and it is the sequel to "Rise of The Planet of The Apes." The French Quarter was a nice part of the city, and Bourbon Street is a snippet of the entertainment only. It was great to walk to restaurants/bars from the central business district. RSG recommends "the Roosevelt" hotel for getting an ostentatious drink at "Sazerac" bar. The vieux carre is "the french quarter" in french literally. If you have not checked out New Orleans, is it worth seeing.

Summer Movie Season 2013 preview from "raving Hollywood critic"

It's May 2013, and the summer movie season has started. Two days ago, RSG (aka "raving Hollywood critic") saw "Iron Man 3". It was a great movie replete with special effects. The movie had a great cast due to Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, and Ben Kingsley. It was hard to decipher the villain in the movie, since there was more than one enemy for "Iron Man" to defeat. Onto another movie, RSG can't wait to see "The Great Gatsby" on May 10. The movie is in 3d, but RSG wants to see it in regular format. The book, "The Great Gatsby", was a mysterious (& thrilling) novel penned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book came out in 1925, and the central character is Jay Gatsby. Furthermore, Jay Gatsby's real name is James Gatz. In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio will play the title character. Also, this movie has Amitabh Bachchan starring as "Meyer Wolfsheim". Other well known actors/actresses are Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton. Finally, the soundtrack to the movie was exec. produced by Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter). The soundtrack has some jazzy tracks, and it brings today's hip-hop, rock, & other genres together. RSG will have to make the transaction, by purchasing the cd. In closing, hope "The Great Gatsby" is not a flop. If you like Amitabh Bachchan like Rahulio does, the picture above is the Bollywood star.

1st Time @ Urban Wine Walk

This past saturday, RSG was at the Urban Wine Walk in downtown Phoenix. It was a fun event. Rahulio had good vino at "The Arrogant Butcher", "Steve's Greenhouse Grill", "Icon Lounge" (in Renaissance Hotel), and "Province" (in the Westin hotel). My favorite place for wine was "Province", as white wine from Tomero was the wine du jour. After three hours of walking to five different restaurants, it was time to call it "a day." Overall, it was a grand time. It was cool to see tons of people roaming around downtown Phoenix, with a map & and a passion to drink wine. Hope you like the picture of the margarita glass made out of anchors, and other abstract elements.