Unstructured Eructations From A Glue Sniffing Indian

Headline of the day

2008-12-13T13:40:00.002+05:30

From today's edition of Madras's much loved much hated so-called Chinese emissary - The Hindu - "Turtles deported"

The preceeding article -
CHENNAI: Customs officials at the Chennai airport on Thursday night found 1,000 red-eared baby turtles in baggage that arrived on a Malaysian airlines flight. As there were no claimants for the baggage, the authorities deported it to Malaysia.

You can access the original article here. Somebody needs to learn grammar, sentence construction and how not to write what-the-fuck headlines and articles ASAP.

Heath Ledger vs 2Pac vs Notorious B.I.G - a parallel?

2008-08-07T22:44:00.000+05:30

The Dark Knight has been smashing box office records ever since it was released late last month. Cinema goers and critics worldwide are raving about Heath Ledger's performance as the sadistic Joker, although his on screen sadism has not been reflected on screen like in SAW, the character's dark side is very evident throughout the movie. Chilling, dark, think of any adjective to describe his performance, you will find yourself a few words short at the end of it all. The subject of this post however is not about HL's performance. It's about his movie minting millions after his death. Consider the case of gangsta rap icons Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Both of them sold tons of records when they were alive. Their murders however changed the equation. Their music is still popular and is making more money than when they were alive. Heath Ledger's case seems to be identical. Is it just me or do I see a parallel here? A conspiracy theory? 2Pac and Notorious were bumped off and their posthumous records have sold millions of copies. Was HL murdered? Or did he overdose on prescription pills?

To the nincompoops in the Indian media and my brethren

2008-01-12T22:35:00.001+05:30

Harbhajan Singh's ban is not a national calamity. Please don't send the army to Australia.
There is no need to go ballistic over what I can say is a very silly incident and colour it with racism
There is no need to burn effigies of the people involved and cry for their heads to be placed on a platter
There is no need for schmucks pretending to be politicians debating about this on national t.v while their respective states burn
There is no need to telecast the incident as breaking news for over 4 days. The story is stale. Get over it
There is no need to give too much importance to cricket. It is a silly game
There is no need for a debate on this issue on channels such as CNN-IBN, NDTV, TIME NOW and every other two bit channel masquerading as a news channel
There is a no need to forget the sexual harassment cases that happened earlier this year. Bombay and Cochin anyone?

Separated at birth?

2007-11-03T08:14:00.000+05:30

Jeff Goldblum and Amit Varma

Amit photo courtesy Ultrabrown

Jeff picture courtesy E xposay

Old news

2007-11-03T08:05:00.000+05:30

Amit Varma, one of my favourite bloggers snagged the Bastiat Prize for Journalism in New York last week.

Classic pizza moments in the movies

2007-11-03T07:57:00.000+05:30

How many of you folks like pizzas? I am sure most of you do. Imagine biting a slice of delicious pizza, all that topping on a thick/thin crust, yummy. That’s ignoring the number of calories and the percentage of trans fat of course, lol. Still, good pizza always melts in the mouth. In my opinion, Dominoes serves good pizza followed by Pizza Hut.

The folks over at the foodie site Chow have a post about classic pizza scenes from movies such as Dog Day Afternoon, Goodfellas, Wayne’s World and others.

Sample this

…2. Pizza as an Alibi. The Gold of Naples (Italy, 1954). Sophia Loren plays the frisky young wife of a pizza vendor who loses her wedding ring during a tryst, then lies to her husband, saying it slipped off while kneading the dough. A frantic search ensues, and with a little sleight of hand, the ring miraculously appears in the last pie.

3. Pizza as a Media Magnet. Dog Day Afternoon (USA, 1975). During a badly botched bank heist, Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) hole themselves up with hostages. The ordeal drags on, so Sonny negotiates with the FBI to have pizza delivered. As TV cameras roll, the delivery guy is paid with a wad of bills from the bank’s coffers. He waves his arms and jumps up in the air: “I’m a fucking star!”

4. Pizza as Something to Go with Polyester. Saturday Night Fever (USA, 1977). “Hiya Tony. Two or three?” “Two, two, gimme two, that’s good.” The opening scene of this ’70s disco drama features a classic pizza move: Tony (John Travolta) slaps two slices together double-decker style, taking big bites through both layers as he struts down the street…

Read the rest of the article here.

Picture courtesy

What Pratibha Patil was thinking…

2007-11-03T07:51:00.000+05:30

Hmm, that is a nice pair of shoes. I should get me a pair. I wonder where she got it from.

Hailstorm in Madras

2007-10-01T19:38:00.000+05:30

The city witnessed a never before seen hailstorm last week. In my 16 years as a native of this quirky city, that was the first time ever. My colleague managed to get a photo of the hail that looked like a button.

India says Chak De, Team India says show me the money

2007-09-30T00:47:00.000+05:30

I have been watching my father ever since the Twenty/20 cricket World Cup started till it ended with the Indians winning the final this week. Every time he and his friends would sit down in front of the telly, analyse the teams and the prospects of winning and losing for each team, how the players would fare, weather conditions, berate the umpire if they gave decisions that were though to be 'foolhardy.'

It was quite a sight. Every evening, since the tournament started till it got over, my dad would be seated on the floor with his face glued to our 21 inch tv screen. For him cricket was the new serial. No more BS from the house of Radaan (Radhika Sarathkumar's production house, if y'all follow Tamil serials) or unbearable melodrama from Devayani (Kolangal).

One of my father's friends is a roly poly Iyer mama, a travel agent who takes care of our ticket needs, out ticketmaster, be it my fathers trip to Kerala or my Patti's yearly sojourn to visit her son in Florida.

Everytime there was a match involving India, I would make comments such as
"All out for no loss", "The Indians are going to lose today. They will never get to the finals."

His face would turn beet red with anger and he would say "Poda badava. Nee enkitta adi vaanga porai."

Oh FSM , the sadistic pleaure I got in subjecting him to my remarks. Mu ha ha.
I hate cricket, I still do. I was a fanatic. I used to be a stat freak, following the exploits of our team and the records of some of our 'stars' till the match fixing scandal after World Cup '99 left a bitter taste in my mouth, something I can't seem to get out of my head. Some folks tell me to get over it, its been 8 years, move on. Not me un uh. Public memory may be short, but I can't forget what happened.

Even when India was playing Pakistan on Monday, I was watching Philip Seymour Hoffman beat the crap out of Tom Cruise in MI-3. So the team has won. A major victory in a long time. Something that was unexpected. With the "hope of a billion people riding on their shoulders", so said some people. What humbug. So Y.Singh hit Stuart Broad for 6 sixes. So we one the final by 13 runs.

So Malik made a remark that people in India think is in bad taste -
"I want to thank everyone back home in Pakistan and Muslims all over the world. Thank you very much and I'm sorry that we didn't win, but we did give our 100 per cent," Malik said at the presentation ceremony, after losing to India by five runs in the final of the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships in Johannesburg."

Great, Barring Malik's comment, the Indian public can now shower praises on the team, take them through the city on an open air bus , something that is done for football champions in Europe. We can now forget our pathetic display in the West Indies and England, and ignore other sports. Brethren, bactrack to a few months back, July - August to be precise. The Indian football team won the Asian Cup in Delhi, in front of a crowd that included balding has-been Virender Sehwag. Then we won the BSNL sponsored hockey tournament held in Madras city. The mass media went over board. Some of them were pompous enough to say that this could revive interest in our national sport- hockey and the worlds most famous game - football. All of that will be swept under the carpet by the 20/20 cup win.

So what happened when we won the football and hockey honours? Were the players paraded in a motorised cavalcade? Were they promised huge sums of money, like the $2 million that good old frog face has pledged from the BCCI? Did Shah Rukh Khan travel to Chennai to cheer India in the hockey cup final? (I think he should have considering he played a washed up coach who leads the ladies team to the hockey finals in Chak De, a movie people are raving about.)
There is a great disparity between cricket and other disciplines. Even if corporates pump 5% of what they spend on cricket advertising on sports as varied as hockey, football, bodybuilding, athletics, people would not have to resort to dubious practices to win or live in penury for want of financial aid.

One of these days things are going to go out of control. My mother told me contrasting stories of a football player and Sreeshanth, both of whom have been playing for a while. Sreeshanth, has a Rs 75 lakh house and 2 cars whereas the football player is struggling financially. So go figure.
That about sums up my rant. I could keep going on and on about this. Ho hum. Might as well wait for the webcast of the Mr Olympia bodybuilding championship that starts tomorrow.
PS: The title of my post is a modification of the name of a team that participated in the 2007 Landmark quiz competition. They won the prize for the best team name, as a matter of fact.

Related reading - Financial windfall for players .

Do we really love cricket

Update - The aftermath of all those bozos announcing mega cash deals for the World Cup wining duffers in blue - the Asian Cup winning hockey team is to go on a hunger strike to protest step motherly treatment . Isn't that a shame? The same politicians who have announced lakhs and lakhs in prize money have not even bothered to do something for Indian hockey's finest, even though the babus represent the state these players come from. This is douchebaggery at its best.

Jason Bourne - here I come

2007-09-22T16:01:00.000+05:30

Finally, I get to see the Bourne Ultimatum, the last of the Bourne series today at Sathyam cinema. What beats me is why the buggers took alomost 2 months to release the movie in Madras, when it has grossed over $250 million dollars at the box office since its release in August. I loved the first two movies, I am expecting the third one to be a cracker. Critic reviews have been postive, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Banning cellphones in Anna University jacks up pass percentage - so says Viswanath

2007-05-18T21:49:00.000+05:30

Somebody please tell this moron to shut up. LOL. This is waht he said at a conference in the city yesterday.

The pass percentage went up by a startling 25 per cent after Anna University banned cell phones on campus two years ago, its Vice Chancellor D. Viswanathan said on Thursday, arguing for a total ban on mobile phones on campuses.

Inaugurating the 39th World Telecommunication and Information Society Day organised by the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, Chennai Centre, he said employability of the graduates had also gone up by 30 per cent after the ban.

On the whole, the ban had evoked good response as well as results from students, he added.

Mr. Viswanathan said cell phones were a source of disturbance not only for students, but youth in general.

Youngsters driving or walking on busy roads talking on their phones ran the risk of getting involved in serious accidents, he pointed out.

Why target the youth population alone? I have seen respectable oldies talk while they drive. And this moron is rumoured to carry two cellphones inside the Anna University campus. One set of rules for him and another set for the rest. Humbug.

Via

The VT murders - revenge or insanity?

2007-04-28T12:12:00.000+05:30

About 30 odd students and teachers were massacred at Virginia Tech university a couple of weeks back when a deranged student decided to take out his anger on the system. Using a hand gun and a semi automatic, he pumped bullets into 33 civilians before turning the gun on him self, as is the hall mark of campus killers. Remember the Columbine school incident in ‘99? Michael Moore directed a moving documentary based on this event examining US gun culture (this is a must see documentary. It won an Oscar for best dock feature in 2003 and Moore’s infamous speech attacking Bush for the Iraq war was drowned out by ceremonial music (on purpose).

Two Indians died in last week’s incident, one an immigrant Prof Loganathan and Minal, an architecture student from Bombay. Blogdom is flooded with condolence posts and there are also the trashy ones that spew racial hatred.

The media is having a field day restructuring events and arranging video cons between Indian students in VT and their parents in India(NDTV did that) besides covering the awful circus that is the Aiswarya-Abishek wedding (Wedding of the year, my foot).

The VT murders have been classified as the bloodiest campus massacre ever, not to forget manic serial killers on the romp dismembering bodies and doing the most vile acts ever imaginable.

So the question now is, what makes people snap? Is it bad upbringing? The idiot box? Or depressed people who have been at the receiving end of all that nonsense from society? Is that a chance to get back at something you feel will never change? By murdering people?

PS: If any of our fellow loggers has relatives or friends studying in VT, I am with you, in mind and spirit.

Godspeed.

All talk and no play

2007-04-15T16:11:00.000+05:30

The PMK seems to be on a roll now a days. All they do is talk and protest. I found this poster in Anna Nagar. This is about the party's opposition to big retailer's like Reliance Fresh doing business in Madras.

Over booking and passenger travel

2007-04-15T15:56:00.000+05:30

Why can't local airlines get their act togethers? This after the over-booking scam that was exposed by news channels across the country and popular blogger Kribs posting his experiences with Jet Airways titled "The Airlines Scam and How I Experienced it First Hand."

An epiphany

2007-04-15T15:52:00.000+05:30

I normally suck when I write fiction/non fiction (truth be told, I suck at writing long posts) and try to lace them with humor. This is an attempt since I plan to start working on longer posts. So plissé read on without yawning/fainting.

Grunt, grunt, here I am at the gym trying at 7.00 in the morning to curl two 5 kg dumbbells in the hope all that grunting and panting and lifting will help me put on some muscle on my biceps, not as bad as a rotten grape but slightly better, like a date maybe. Today’s workout went fine. Gritting my teeth and doing a lot of repetitions to get that pump only to be told by the trainer I was doing it all wrong. Splat - that was me hitting my forehead with my palm.
Working out and ogling at the women who were exercising nearby, mostly more of the former but sometimes the latter especially if there’s a really good looking one , I managed to complete my workout at last, phew.

After completing the chore of taking a bath, not a record breaking 5 seconds mind you but at a relaxed pace, I was getting ready, thinking about my project deliverable and the locker key with the humongous key chain, trying to drag my bottom out of the gym. I hit the road at last. It was an un-eventful ride through Madhya Kailash (I thought the Kailash mountain range was way up north) Kottupuram, Chamiers Road till I landed near the Gemini flyover enroute to the client’s office.

Once particular incident shook me out of my reverie. As I approached the bottom of the bridge following a car, I decided to take a left unmindful of the fact that an auto was coming on the left. These autowallah’s, you have to stay at least 10 feet behind them because you never know if they will take a left or a right. As I moved to the left, I almost missed bumping into the auto, and instead of the usual pachai Madras bashai, the dude said

Saar, leftla varadhuna pathu vaanga, meerrar edukku vechirkeenga?” translated it means - Boss, look to your left when you drive, use a left view mirror when you have one.

I normally like to make autos pay for what they do to the other motorists like cutting in front of them, confusing them and so on, but this one set me thinking. Me, the great, I-will-abide-by-the-rules-even-if-a-truck-runs-over-me Rules Ramanujam had an epiphany, and what a nice one that was…

What you looking at?

2007-03-28T20:47:00.000+05:30

Toilet humour

2007-03-28T20:45:00.000+05:30

Spotted...

2007-03-28T20:41:00.000+05:30

Come India Come...

2007-03-26T13:33:00.000+05:30

Yipee, India has been kicked out of the World Cup. Now we can all get back to our petty lives without getting obsessed with a bunch of over-paid, over-rated, over-hyped loonies playing a sport that is popular only in a few nations and along with an equally loony coach. Plus we can all do post-loss analysis, something that we lazy, India-is-cricket-cricket-is-India desis are so good at.

Roof top film festival March 2007

2007-03-20T19:28:00.001+05:30

Blog buddy Sagaro and his friends are conducting a unique festival - The Roof top film festival. Yep as the name indicates, this festival will be held at a fellow bloggers house terrace and is an all nighter starting at 7.00 pm Saturday and goes till 5 am the next day. The tag line for this unique event is

To involve the film buff in an intelligent conversation with a developing audience on the Net. To provide fringe film makers with succor and a platform to promote their art. To take movies to the rooftop, where the hierarchy is flat and the spirit high.

Yep, the spirit will definitely be high :-). There is a wiki for this event where you can go and register but hurry, the terrace will acoomodate about 25 people - it's a small place, so go register. This event will be held at the following location:

75, Second Street, Karpagam Avenue, R.A.Puram, Chennai - 600028

Some of the movies that could be shown at the event (I am not sure if the list is final):

Leon

Spring, Summer, Fall Winter And Spring (Korean)

Citizen Kane

Nostalgia

You could check out this link for a list of proposed movies.

So be there...

Now this is hair raising...

2007-03-20T18:39:00.000+05:30

What would you do if you had an 18 inch outlandish Mohican hair cut, was piss drunk and failed a sobriety test and your hair was too big for the police photographer to take your mug shot?

Technorati Tags: drunk driving, mug shot, police, Mohican hair cut, lady

Loser Inc

2007-03-13T17:50:00.000+05:30

I plan to start up a company called Loser Inc. I can make one of you the Chairman and CEO of the company as you would be the perfect candidate for such a venture. The company I plan to start up would mainly be into bio-gas products from the bowel, it would also include vandalism as an art, scratching in the wrong places in public and sleeping your weekend with no particular ambitions in life. Since everyone is too embroiled in the rat race and seem to be mssing the real cause of being in this world, Loser Inc. would be a shining example of mediocrity at its best. Let's not be like the rest, take the road which has not been taken. Think of this, if everyone is a winner in this world it is going to be so boring. Losers Inc. would emphasise on the fact, that “being a loser after all is not such a bad thing”, it is just another way of life.

Roger Federer gets his ass whupped finally...

2007-03-13T17:19:00.000+05:30

... after a very long time at the top. But Fed Ex will be back

300 the movie - first week in the box office

2007-03-12T18:04:00.000+05:30

300 tops over $70 million dollars during the weekend. That's huge considering the fact this is an R rated movie. The opening is almost similar to what another R rated blockbuster, The Matrix made in back in 1999. Can't wait to watch the movie.

Technorati Tags: frank miller, 300, graphic novel, zack snyder, gerard butler, box office

Letter to the owner of Hotel Henkala, Tambaram

2007-03-12T18:00:00.000+05:30

Dear who-ever-manages-Hotel-Henkala-Tambaram,

Me and 8 of my friends came to your hotel for a school reunion yesterday where I met one of my former class mates after a decade. We proceeded to your roof top restaurant and ordered drinks and food. We had to put up with a stupid music channel (sun music) but that was ok. We had fun, catching up on on old times, pulling each other's legs, making enquiries about the people we knew, how far they had come up in life and so on. Turns out most of them are doing quite well. We were at your restaurant for 3 hours. The only sore point that marred this otherwise jolly ocassion was the very delayed delivery of the bill. We finshed our dinner at 10.00 pm and you gbought us the bill at 10.50 pm)

You had us fretting and fuming. You made us wait for 50 minutes and as a result, one of my friends started to shout at your people. When we went to lodge a complaint my friend started arguing with the front desk manager, Jacob too. But Jacob blew his top and started a slang fest. All of this could have been avoided if your manager had kept his cool.
Now, the hopsitality industry is one of the most demanding professions in the world. You have to bend over to please people and deal with irate customers on top of that. Your manager apparently does not know how to deal with angry customers. This guy needs to attend anger management/customer service classes.

Maybe it's me or the people of this city have really short fuses.

300 the movie - drawing parallels with modern day events

2007-03-08T18:36:00.000+05:30

Critic reviews of 300 are out. This has to be the one of the most anticipated movies of 2007. Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C between an army of outnumbered Spartans and the Persians, critics seem to be raving about the movie. There's plenty of eye candy in the form of visuals and gorgeous women and most of the actors playing the Spartans look like models with chiselled abs and toned physiques. I saw Sin City based on Miller's graphic novel of the same name (Sin City 2 is due this year). Most of my buds did not like the movie, they thought it was cheesy, but I have always liked comic books or graphic novel adaptations, though some of them bombed at the box office - V for Vendetta for example. 300 stays faithful to the novel and has stunning visuals, most of it being CG generated and the trailer looks awesome. The film has a motley bunch of characters ala The Lord of The Rings series (I loved all 3 of them, am waiting to get the uncut versions to on DVD). Critics in the US have already begun to draw parallels to the current state of US foreign policy, the Spartans being the US and the marauding Persians being; you guessed it right, the evil Iranians led by Ahmedinajad. I can't wait for this movie to get released in Madras. Will the theatre wallahs release it here? Methinks it will be heavily censored if they do, the movie is rated R in the US for extreme violence, nudity and sex.

Gaurav Sabnis, card carrying lover of graphic novels , can you write a review of the movie after you have seen it?

The movie premiere for the US is tomorrow.

Related: Images from the movie.

Poster courtesy About.

Technorati Tags: frank miller, 300, graphic novel, zack snyder, gerard butler, box office

March 8 - happy women’s day?

2007-03-08T16:55:00.000+05:30

Another day, another date where people around the world will be singing paens in praise of women, have women centric events, telecast women centric mush on television, have inconsequential chat shows, talk about how far women have come in different fields and what they have accomplished, talk about implementing the 33 percent reservation policy for women in parliament and then go back to committing crimes such as domestic violence, sexual harrassment and other atrocious crimes till the next women’s day. How hypocritical and sadistic can people get?

Today on Wordpress

2007-03-05T19:17:00.000+05:30

Robert Scoble gets booted out from his pedestal for the first time in months.

Spotted on a sticker at the back of a car

2007-02-27T13:45:00.000+05:30

Spiritual fruits not religious nuts.

Message board mayhem

2007-02-22T13:50:00.000+05:30

Rediff today reported the news of a sixteen year old rape victim who has written to the President asking for his consent to end her life. Now if that isn't bizarre enough, check this out,

This guy (or whatever) must be drinking puke for breakfast and have batshit for a brain.

How to earn a six figure income through blogging...

2007-02-13T19:01:00.000+05:30

Like this.

Via Problogger.

83 WordPress themes you have missed.

2007-02-13T18:58:00.000+05:30

This is for Wordpress lovers. Smashing magazine has a full post dedicated to 83 beautiful WP themes. Checkout the post here.

Flying chicken and butchers

2007-02-13T18:53:00.000+05:30

What’s with butchers and feeding leftover pieces of meat to dogs and crows? The other day I was on travelling on the Pallikaranai-Velachery road and was passing a roadside butcher shop when I saw the dingbat throw something and that hit my bike with a loud thud. Good thing it missed my helmet visor else I would have been an addition to the ever climbing accident chart in good old Madras. The piece of chicken that was intended for the crows and dogs had landed on my bike. Yuck. I turned around and signalled to the guy, you know the type of hand signs used on the road when you want to berate someone but you just don’t have the time. He just gave an aplogetic shrug and went about chopping the next bird for the it’s-Sunday-me-must- have-chickun hungry junta. Grr. I went back to the shop, called the guy and he came out, nervous that I had come for a fight, when all that I asked for was water to clean up the mess he had made. But hey, surprise, instead of giving me water, he cleaned the front side of the bike for me. Free water service, albeit half baked. Heh.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the meat that fell on my bike was on the road the next minute. This set me thinking, doesn’t he ever care about the safety of other road users? All that meat that was lying on the road was sure to cause some heartburn to road users. I told my father about this and he said with all his worldy wisdom “son, the world would be a better pladce if people realised the folly of thier actions.” Right…

Ten Commandments for a stress-free life

2007-01-21T12:05:00.000+05:30

1. Leave your work at the work place. Stop thinking about work once you leave the office. Works great for me (pun intended). :-)
2. Exercise. Need I stress myself on that one? This is a great stress buster. It also allows you to spend time for yourself, something that is a luxury now a days.
3. Have nerves of steel when you drive in traffic. When someone cuts in front of you, berate him/her and forget the incident the next moment.
4. Forgetting your past helps a lost. Most of us choose to remember bad incidents and that load becomes heavy to handle. Forget and move on.
5. Do something you like. Could be blogging, stamp collection or anything that you have always wanted to do but couldn’t for want of time or other reasons(hmm, I hate that, because time and tide wait for no one, you have to make time for yourself).
6. Disconnect yourself from the outside world. No emails, cell phones or an overload of information on the internet.
7. Become one with nature. Learn to admire nature. It won’t be long before we start reading about nature and wildlife only in books.
8. Play with your pet. Our pets, for example a dog may be mute but their eyes and actions convey a lot and are fun to watch. Besides the things that animals can do never ceases to amaze people.
9. Take a long walk alone. Enjoy the sights and sounds around you.
10. Talk to people you can trust and unload you problems. Clear your head.

Fancy cars and hired help

2007-01-16T21:57:00.000+05:30

What is it with fancy cars and chauffers? Now, take a drive in street traffic and you are bound to notice all these fancy cars, some of which are valued over 50 lakh rupees, and some at 12 to 20 lakhs have something in common. The people who own such fancy cars don't drive their own machines. Not only do they a spend a fortune buying these magnificant beauties, they also blow quite a lot to hire a driver. Is it because the cars owners

1. Are lazy
2. Are scared to drive
3. Don't know how to drive but have lots of money to spend?
4. A combination of points 1, 2,3?

Most of the fancy cars are big cars and need experienced drivers to navigate these beasts in our city's messed up traffic. Fine by me. But I still fail to see the logic behind hiring a chauffer for a car that can be driven by you. Makes no sense does it?

Saddam and his hecklers

2007-01-04T20:59:00.000+05:30

Hey I am back after a short vacation. What a gory way to end 2006 and start the new year! First the horrific Noida serial murders that have shocked India and the execution of Saddam on the 30th of December in Iraq and. Whew.

Let me start off this year with this post. An Iraqi blogger called River Bend has posted an article on the words that were spoken by Saddam and his heclers meoments before Saddam was hanged. Read the post here.

ஐ.டி. திருக்குறள்கள்

2006-12-27T18:51:00.000+05:30

திருக்குறளின் 134-வது அதிகாரம் சமீபத்தில் கண்டறியப் பட்டுள்ளது. அந்த அதிகாரத்தில் கணிணி, இணையம், மென்பொருள் மேம்பாடு போன்றவைகளைப் பற்றி திருக்குறள் அற்புதமாக விளக்குகின்றது. இந்த அதிகாரம் பின்வருமாறு..

Bug கண்டுபிடித்தாரே ஒருத்தர் அவர்நாண
Debug செய்து விடல்.

Copy-Paste செய்து வாழ்வாரே வாழ்வார் மற்றவரெல்லாம்
Codingகெழுதியே சாவர்.

எம்மொழி மறந்தார்க்கும் Job உண்டாம் Jobஇல்லை
"C" மொழி மறந்தார்க்கு.

Logic Syntax இவ்விரண்டும் கண்ணென்பர்
Program செய் பவர்.

Netடில் தேடி Copy அடிப்பதன்
மூளையிலிருந்து Logic யோசி.

பிறன் Code நோக்கான் எவனோ
அவனே Tech Fundu.

எதுசெய்யார் ஆயினும் Compileசெய்க
செய்யாக்கால்பின்வரும்

Syntax Error.எது தள்ளினும் Projectல்
Requirementதள்ளாமை மிகச் சிறப்பு.

Chatடெனில் Yahoo-Chat செய்க இல்லையேல்
Chatடலின் Chatடாமை நன்று.

Bench Project Email இம்மூன்றும்
Programmer வாழ்வில் தலை.

Courtesy: Arathi

The Godfather of Soul is dead

2006-12-26T18:33:00.000+05:30

Long live James Brown.

Image source: Shanghai Daily

Ban and revoke part - the politics of bad decision making part deux

2006-12-23T20:59:00.000+05:30

Close on the heels of revoking the ban against soft drinks, the Karnataka State government has issued a fresh banon soft drinks, and this time, they have added aji-no-mototo the list.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T20:56:00.000+05:30

Yep, I am back after a short hiatus. I won't be posting that much in the coming days since my home computer's conked out. Expect erratic posts in between.

Meeey Chrtistmas y'all.

Ban and revoke - the politics of bad decision making

2006-12-16T19:57:00.000+05:30

What do politicians do when they can't find a solution to a problem? They ban. What happens when they have to face the music from a lot of places inclusing powerful corporate lobby groups? They revoke the same ban. The Karnataka government has just revoked the ban it had placed on the sale of soft drinks in and around educational institutions, hospitals and government offices.

The CSI Church and the AK-47

2006-12-13T21:27:00.000+05:30

The CSI Church is located amidst a surprisngly serene atmosphere in the heart of the city with a lot of trees, birdlife and wildlife, well not the exotic kind but I did see a mongoose once. This church shares a wall with the US consulate and it's very close to where I work. I decided to visit the church as I had heard that it is one of the oldest in Madras.

The church

This is one of the few churches in the city with it's own cemetery. The church copmplex has plenty of trees and you will get sed to a lot of birds chirping. The church looks like it's around fifty to sixty years old (or even older, I could be wrong here) with a tall spire, smaller than the Santhome Cathedral. You will be greeted at the entrance by engravings and sculptures of British government employees and missionaries who served in the city prior to independence. The interior has rows of benches where devotees can sit and pray, the church authorities have provided cushions too incase you want to kneel down and pray. There are a lot of sculptures inside the church, made of marble and most of them are so life like, it's amazing to think of the amount of effort that must have gone into making these works of art. Most of them were dedicated to the British authorities who served in Madras during the late 1800's and the early 1900's.

One of the scultpures documents the conversions that happened during the times the Brits were here. It shows a missionary, god like and huge - the sculptor wanted to show that the missionary was above all, converting what appeared to be a Brahmin, which was evident from the sacred thread and the tuft of hair called kudumi. I do miss the Latin inscriptions I found at the Santhome Basilica. Well both the churches have different styles, considering the Santhome church is for Roman Catholics.

The cemetary

The church is clean and has rows and rows of tombstones, the old ones have the names of Brits who died in the city, there are new ones too, of Indians who are buried here. Each tombstone has a different design. There are tombstones of people who died in the early 50's and they are very old ones too, some of them probably dating to the eary 1900(judging from the condition of some of the tombstones). A concrete path has been laid in the cemetery so that you can walk on the path without stepping on the ground and accidently on the graves. I saw a man who was shouting out prayers, the kind of method followed by Pentecostal Christains (from what I have seen in areas around Tambaram Sanatorium and Tambaram. Tambaram has a good number of Pentecose churches which organise prayer meetings presided over by evangelists. Remember Brother Paul Dinakaran?

Most of the evangelists are from the US.

Highlight of the visit

Walking over to a sentry gaurding the US embassy wall - armed gaurds patrol the wall from the church side, and have him give a demo of the assault rifle he was carrying, the most (in)famous weapon in the world, used by the armed forces and terrorists alike because of its adaptability in any weather.

I approached the policeman, he gave a weird look as I went to where he was standing and asked him to show me the rifle. I was not allowed to touch the gun, it was loaded, the safety lock was on. He told me how many rounds the magazine would hold, how to cock the gun, the sight and how to use the stock of the gun. It was a quick demo, all the while there were sequences of bullets flying and people getting shot being played out in my head!!!

Oldies and erotica

2006-12-09T13:07:00.000+05:30

I woke up early morning today to get ready for the gym. My house is a one floor place and there is an apartment complex behind my house. One the flat's interiors is visible from my bathroom. I went there to get ready and you know what I saw? A 45 - 50 year old man watching a movie at 5.20 in the morning. Nothing out of the ordinary (kinda) but he was watching Basic Instinct. I could make out from the (in)famous opening sequence(which I could see properly). It turned out that he was fast-forwarding the movie to watch Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone making out. There are two major sequences lke that in the movie. One in the middle after the club scene and one towards the end where the director closes the movie showing the ice pick.

Now that set me thinking. We have out morality douche bags crying hoarse about the ills of sex and lip lock scenes in the movies, there's also an idiot who filed an indecency case against two wannabe actors (Aiswarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan, blech) On the other hand they watch erotica in the confines of their homes. Now how hypocritical can people get?

Name and rename

2006-12-08T14:10:00.000+05:30

If naming places and building statues for "important people" and bearing the brunt of communal riots is not enough, one scum bag has suggested that the Tamil Nadu government name roads after musicians.

Ground a plane by farting

2006-12-07T12:35:00.000+05:30

A woman forced a plane to do an emergency landing by lighting matches to disguise the gas she passed. The fart was due to a medical condition. She was not allowed to board the plane after that.

Ah. I know farting a in a room filled with people can make them run helter skelter gasping for air but I never knew it could scare the bejesus out of airline passengers!

Types of fart

1. Silent but deadly fart
2. Loud fart

1. The silent bu deadly fart can make people faint. It happens when you eat starchy foods like potatoes, that too raw. Your stomach starts acting up and you launch soundless farts that stink like hell.

2. Loud fart- That's a signal fart. Does not smell but comes in a variey of sounds.

Technorati Tags:
Gas, plane. grounding, fart, lady

Spotted!!

2006-12-06T16:25:00.000+05:30

Indian actor Abhishek Bachan(wannabe star) wearing a dead animal on himself. Shame shame.

PETA will have a field day (they should) when they see this. The question is will they run a series of protests like how they did to pop singer Jennifer Lopez in the US and sensitise people about the horrors animals go through to satisfy the whims and fancies of an elite few?

Talking of Lopez, there is a site called JLoDown that talks about her fur fetish and what is being done to animals to make luxurious fur coats.

Technorati Tags: fur, PETA, celebrities, brainless, actor, fans

Help the girls of the infamous Ghaziabad ashram.

2006-12-05T18:07:00.000+05:30

Anuradha Bakshi of Project Why has a post on an ashram in Ghaziabad, an expose of which was done by NDTV. Since that expose, not much has been done to re-habilatate the mentaly challenged girls who have been subject to gruesome punishment and sexual harrasment by the ashram's so called baba.

Read her post.

More updates here.

Support Anu's cause. Let's help these girls get a future away from the house of horrors.

Anu has created a wiki where you can do your part to help these girls and put the fraud behind bars.

Peace.

Crotch-ney Spears

2006-12-05T09:59:00.000+05:30

So what's the in-thing on the internet right now? Crotch shots of Chutney (Britney) Spears taken in Paris Hilton's (another wannabe celeb) car. Doh!!

Some links that will interest you - here, here

And finally the site that contains a pic of the has-been singer in the buff down under.

Technorati Tags: Britney Spears, nudity, shameless, crotch, Paris Hilton, wannabes, posers

Goondagiri and the media

2006-12-04T17:48:00.000+05:30

NDTV has given coverage to this incident that happened in Madras yesterday. The person who has been affected happens to be the owner of a fairly popular brand. Now, if the same thing was to happen to a normal(read poor, school dropout) person trying to make ends meet by trying to run a small business and getting harrassed by the land mafia, would NDTV cover that?

Dhoom 2

2006-12-03T08:41:00.000+05:30

Dhoom Thooooo...

What do you do if you don't know how a long gone legend looks like?

2006-11-30T19:04:00.000+05:30

Put the photo of a living legend above the dead legends name in the obituary column.

A balding man's bland excuse

2006-11-30T18:16:00.000+05:30

Source: Rediff

India's balding out of form stand-in captain now wants to blame Dravid and Sachin for India's pathetic losing streak in SA.

"India's stand-in captain Virender Sehwag said Rahul Dravid's absence and the poor form of Sachin Tendulkar put enormous pressure on the rest of the young and inexperienced batsmen in the fourth cricket one-dayer in Port Elizabeth against South Africa on Wednesday."

What are the other players in the team then? Freshers? Some of them have played a significant amount of one day matches. Kaif, Raina, Dhoni - inexperienced?

Sehwag also felt India missed having experienced batsmen in the middle-order as South Africa had also started off badly but could recover because they had tried and tested players in their ranks.

"Dravid's absence hurt us in this game. He is the kind of batsman who tries to bat out overs in the middle-order. The other batsmen then can feed around him," he said at the post-match press conference.

"Tendulkar's failure also puts pressure. When a big player fails, the rest of the batters come under pressure."

Then what is your role in the team Sehwag? Waterboy?

"We are not opening well and are losing far too many wickets in the first 10-15 overs. Youngsters thus are confronted with a huge task.

"South Africa are also starting badly but they are able to recover because they have experienced cricketers like Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs in the middle. That is not the case with us."

A classic case of passing the buck, a trend that is so common in Indian politics.

But Sehwag begged fans back home to be patient and give them some more time to come to terms with the tough conditions in South Africa.

"I want the fans to keep trust in us. Things cannot change in a day and it will take time. We will improve," he said.

That will never happen. People are becoming deaf listening to this oft repeated excuse.

Petrol and communists

2006-11-30T18:06:00.000+05:30

Ok, so the central government is going to reduce fuel prices starting today, Rs 2 for petrol and Rs 1 for diesel. But that is a very marginal difference. A Rs 2 cut in petrol won't matter that much at all. The price is still in the high 40s.

But we still haven't started to realise that our over dependence of this precious commodity, over which countries have fought wars or are busy overthrowing governments and destroying countries so that supply lines are not cut is starting to run out. What about alternate fuels? Whatever happened to the Save Oil, Save India launched by state controlled petrol firms a few years ago? Won't we ever learn? There is no space on the road and traffic jams are becoming common nowadays. And we have the car manufacturers launching new car models every month.

And then we have our commie brethren who want the government to reduce prices even further.

"The Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomed the decision to cut prices of petrol and diesel but said the Government should slash them further.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here that "we expect that the burden would be reduced further on consumers in keeping with international fuel prices."

Source

Some people never learn.

Smile

2006-11-30T18:02:00.000+05:30

Ever noticed most of the people in this city don't smile that much? You can see them in their moody best on the way to work or stuck in traffic. That serious look on the face, crease lines crowding the forheads. This has spread to entertaiment too, and the print media. Look at Tamil movies, in the dance sequences, the extras never smile. Yesterday, there was a feature in the Hindu Metro Plus edition about learning to dance(I don't remember the name of the article or the dance form), the three younsters who were featured in the photo look constipated. Look at news shows or games shows on Tamil channels, no body smiles. Look at the face of local politicians in banners and cutouts, very serious with not an iota of happiness on their faces.

Look at Rahul Dravid, captain of a team who's sport does not deserve that much media or fan frenzy at all. He looks like he is going to shit a tonne of bricks.

Why don't people smile? Is it because of that fact that a person will label you a loony if you smile?

You don't have to flash your brilliant white or dirty dentures at people. Just smile. Just make the familiar curve with your lips. Research has shown that smiling relieves stress.

Did you know that smiling requires less effort than frowning? Did you also know that smiling can actually make you feel happier?

Research has shown that the muscles in our faces that allow us to smile actually stimulate our brain and when this part of the brain is stimulated, it makes us feel happy. So, even if you feel sad, irritated, angry or frustrated, just by smiling, it will make you feel better. Apart from the benefit to ourselves of smiling, smiling at others can make them feel happier too.

Source

There's even an article which says that women who smile during PMS can reduce stress.

Be sure to smile and compliment people as well. Studies show that even faking a smile reduces stress and puts you in a slightly better mood. Most people cannot tell if you are faking anyway.

Source

Smile away.

Theatres or censor boards?

2006-11-27T13:00:00.000+05:30

Saw Casino Royale at Santham theatre in the Satyam Complex in Madras last week but was not able to enjoy the movie to the maximum. Here's why:

1. There were too many cuts, very glaring cuts. I first thought that they were editing problems but it turns out that theses were censor cuts.

2. A droning a/c system inside the theatre put paid to my efforts of listening to the dialogues, because that's what this movie is all about, more dialogues and less action, atypical to the other Bond movies that have come out.

3. Buzzing cell phones and irritating patrons who think the theatre is the place to gossip and not to watch a movie, irrespective of the fact the people around them pay exorbitant amounts to get tickets. I can't help that, people have to change.

4. The move has already been certified A(I think) for scenes of violence and some mature situations. The cuts I was talking about in point 1 seem to have been done by the theatre owners themselves. I guess this is common. I have observed this in some theatres.
Then wtf is the job of the CBFC (Central Board for Film Certification - very lousy website!!) ?

5. I heard kids bawling inside the theatre. Small kids for an A rated movie? Why can't theatres enforce rules like barring people who are not mature for movies with mature themes? I had the same experience watching Terminator 3. Children for a movie that is clearly for restricted audiences. And you parents blame the theatre owners for showing mature movies and such like.

I would gladly love to kick the ass of the Satyam theatre owner. You ruined my movie experience on Friday night.

A person watching a movie will loose interest, rhythm and flow not to mention getting confused with the sequence of events if the cuts are very glaring.

Bah! It's madcap experiences like these that make me yearn for bootleg copies of newly released movies.

Technorati Tags: movies, bond flick, theatre, censorship, experience, very lousy

Alphabet Soup!

2006-11-25T06:48:00.000+05:30

A is for Agony. Watching Indians face the short-pitched delivery.
B is for BCCI. A clueless bunch running high on sponsorship and low on IQ
C is for Crazy. The kind that calls for Chappell’s head three months before the cup
D is for Decibel. Shouting parliamentarians know a thing or two about it.
E is for Envy. We get to be intimate with it when we watch the Aussies continue to maul.
F is for Front Foot. The art of moving your feet. Not sticking it in your rear.
G is for Gorilla. The 700 pound obsession of this gullible nation.
H is for His Highness. Scores of 6 and 43 in a Ranji trophy match sadly don’t help.
I is for idiocy. Vengsarkar asked to board a plane to convey “sentiments” c’mon!
J is for Jokers. We have plenty of them on the BCCI’s payroll.
K is for Khokho. A needless ill-timed diversion.
L is for Lara. A gentleman. A genius.
M is for Millions. The bored and irritated kind. Not the money floating in some accounts.
O is for Overseas. Usually when things start to unravel.
P is for the Panic. Both in the media and the public. Most scream. Some write.
Q is for Quilting. Shouldn’t we be investing more time in it?
R is for Rain. And it’s nagging dedication to the Indian team.
S is for Sachin. Glimpses of a bygone era.
T is for the Touarag. The new wonder that can haul a plane not just your mother-in-law.
U is Ubiquitous. The nauseating “Aaya India” advertisement. V is Victory. Wonder how it feels?
W is for the “World cup”. And the wait.
X is for eXcruciating. The mindless banter in the guise of post-match analysis.
Y is for Yellow. The color that makes you green.
Z is for Zilch, Zero. The number of fans that will follow this team after this tour.

Boo hoo India

2006-11-23T18:21:00.000+05:30

Just remember the song in the movie "Kaho Na Pyar Hai ".

Ek Paal Ka Jeena

Phir To Hain Jaana

Tohfa Kya Leke Jaayie

Dil Yeh Bataana

Khali Haath Aaye The Hum

Khali Haath Jayenge

Bus Pyar Ke Do Meethen Bol Jhilmilayenge

To Hans Kyon Ki Duniya Ko Hain Hasana

Ae Mere Dil Tu Gaye Ja

*Ae Aaye Aao Aaye Aa*

Easy to use condoms

2006-11-22T21:16:00.000+05:30

Ever wanted a condon when you were going to get laid? Have you been frustrated by condom packets and that sticky lubricant on your fingers? Gone mad searching for the part of the condom you have to wear and your mood goes for a toss by the time the thing sits on your mini me?

Rejoice, for Pronto is here. Pronto, a South African company has released an easy to use condom.

The PRONTO condom can be applied in a few seconds. And it’s a lot more convenient to use, compared to an ordinary condom. You simply crack the pack open and unroll the condom directly onto the penis.

Courtesy - Pronto web site

Get a load of their hugely popular instructional video:

Honestly...

2006-11-22T18:32:00.000+05:30

Courtesy: Pure Smiles

Prospective names for new films by Tamil actors

2006-11-21T19:03:00.000+05:30

Rajini: Sivaji, MGR, Gemini Ganesan,Nagesh……..

Vijaykanth: Dharmapuri, Masala poori, Chola poori , Pani poori….

Arya: Vattaram, Muconam, Chathurangam….

Vijay: Sachin, Dravid, Kumble, Dhoni……

Surya: 6, 7,8 ,9 ….

Jeeva: E, Erumbu, Kosu, Kambilipoochi…..

SharathKumar: Thalaimagan, Chithappamagan, Athaimagan, Marumagan….

Ajith: Varalaru,, Areviyal, Kanakku, English…

Kamal: Vetaiyadu Vilayadu, Kabadi Vilayadu, Olin ju Vilayadu……

Courtesy - Pure smiles

The world's best terrorist

2006-11-21T18:58:00.000+05:30

TERRORISM QUIZ

1) Which is the only country in the world to have dropped bombs on over twenty different countries since 1945?

2) Which is the only country to have used nuclear weapons?

3) Which country was responsible for a car bomb which killed 80 civilians in Beirut in 1985, in a botched assassination attempt, thereby making it the most lethal terrorist bombing in modern Middle East history?

4) Which country's illegal bombing of Libya in 1986 was described by the UN Legal Committee as a "classic case" of terrorism?

5) Which country rejected the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua in 1986, and then vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international law?

6) Which country was accused by a UN-sponsored truth commission of providing "direct and indirect support" for "acts of genocide" against the Mayan Indians in Guatemala during the 1980s?

7) Which country unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in December 2001?

8) Which country renounced the efforts to negotiate a verification process for the Biological Weapons Convention and brought an international conference on the matter to a halt in July 2001?

9) Which country prevented the United Nations from curbing the gun trade at a small arms conference in July 2001?

10) Aside from Somalia , which is the only other country in the world to have refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

11) Which is the only Western country which allows the death penalty to be applied to children?

12) Which is the only G7 country to have refused to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, forbidding the use of landmines?

13) Which is the only G7 country to have voted against the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998?

14) Which was the only other country to join with Israel in opposing a 1987 General Assembly resolution condemning international terrorism?

15) Which country refuses to fully pay its debts to the United Nations yet reserves its right to veto United Nations resolutions?

The answer is - whoa, am no going to tell you. Use your grey cells. It's very obvious.

Courtesy - Puresmiles

Horse sense?

2006-11-21T18:49:00.000+05:30

Courtesy - Ranga

This story is with respect to the fact that the clown of Indian politics sold his horse to another clown for RS 110,000.

Lalu prasad yadav has a horse. He is called Pawan. Now Pawan Prasad Yadav is a smart beauty. He can only speak English and doesn’t indulge in horsey. But alas he is being sold. I can well imagine how that conversation went…

Lalu: Hey Pawan!

Pawan: hey dude. Nice haircut!

Lalu:Thank you. My wife styled it for me.

Pawan: Cool. You should try highlights some time… Will make you look young.

Lalu: But I came here to meet you on another topic…

Pawan: Yeah…

Lalu: Pawan, you are a fine horse…

Pawan: I know…

Lalu: But I can’t keep you anymore. Can’t afford it.

Pawan: What!

Lalu: Pawan, don’t take it personally. It came as a surprise to me. Just last night my accountant sat me and my wife and went through our investment portfolio and he suggested that we take certain steps. Certain austerity measures. And one of his suggestions was that I sell you.

Pawan: Bastard!

Lalu: I will make sure you are in able hands. A person who will ensure that you get the best oatmeal and the finest magazines. The new Yorker. Mid-day. Horse and country. You can’t do this to me! I stood by you. Throught thick and thin. Through the fodder scam. I gave you plenty of advice on that railway restructuring thingy.
It is all for the best pawan.

Pawan: No! listen to me. Pappu. These corporate goons are giving you the wrong advice. They will confuse you. You need me to explain the world. I have been educated for a reason. Besides, I have plans. I want to be this country’s first horse to become a prime minister. And I need you for that ride. And if you help me get there I promise I will give you any portfolio that you seek…

Lalu: But I want to be PM myself. A childhood dream of mine…

Pawan: No. PM is not for everyone. You need to constantly speak. Give interviews.
I can do that. No. I mean… speak intelligently. On matters of policy. The nations stand on many thorny topics. And not be too emotional. Especially on those touchy border issues.

Lalu: I can do that! I can do that!

Pawan: Ok. Let me make you an offer. You get me to delhi. And support me on my campaign. And In return I will ensure you get the defence portfolio.

Lalu: But is it an interesting job?

Pawan: Of course! You will have plenty of bright red buttons to press. And of course you will have a huge pad where you can lounge in the backyard with those illiterate donkeys.

Lalu: Sounds interesting…

Pawan: You bet! Imagine the kind of deals you can strike. Multi-billion stuff. You can make so much money that you would probably need to buy an island just to keep it. How’s that for financial advice!

Lalu: Great!

Pawan: Deal!

Infact daughter?

2006-11-20T12:52:00.000+05:30

Found this on Rediff.

Read the last sentence in the section marked red. What's an infact daughter? Some one failed to proof read the text before putting it on the web.

KFC and Me

2006-11-20T12:38:00.000+05:30

I had only one thing in my mind when I left work- buy KFC. Two pieces, a bucket...it didn't matter. KFC recently opened it's first outlet in Chennai at the Ascenda Techno Park, Taramani. Considerably late.

Pity, Bangalore has two outlets, as far as I knw, the last time I eat in a KFC outlet there was in 2003, I had a burger. I remember seeing a PETA ad featuring the ever busty Pam Anderson exhorting people not to eat KFC. And Bangalore is not a metro. What's this with a lot of the major brands choosing Bangalore over Madras? The same goes for music bands. Ok enough ranting, back to the point.

So I waded through rush hour traffic from Mount Road to Taramani and finally got to the Ascenda park. The taste of some food products is so amazing that they stay in your taste glands for a long long time. They are hard to forget. Just like the movies, you will have a favorite movie you keep seeing even if TV channels telecast re-runs.

KFC is one of them. I can't forget the crispy, crunchy fried chicken, that smell from over 17 years back. My folks used to buy KFC every Friday when my dad was working in Kuwait. They had these freebies with every meal, the taste was so good you could keep going back for more.

Keeping all of this in mind, I entered the Planet Yum food court in the Ascendas IT park, a veritable selection of foods from major food chains, from pizzas to chat from Movenpick ice creams to Qwiky's espressos. I decided to go for an order of large fries for my sistah. Me, being a newly converted gym rat with more preference on protein and less carbs opted for a bucket of chicken, 8 pieces@250with plans of peeling the skin before sinking my teeth into the soft juicy flesh.

The smell was the same, it was the original fried chicken. Satisfied and armed with my treasure, I set for home. My head was reeling under that familiar sweet aroma of KFC's special fried chicken. I got home, got into my pj's, sat on the dining table, opened the bucket, took out a leg piece, poured some sauce on the plate and peeled the skin off the piece. I sank my teeth into it only to discover that there was limited flesh on the bone. More skin and less of the juicy flesh I had expected. What a disaster. All 8 pieces of it. Disappointing. I was used to the sight of KFC advertising whole chicken pieces with plenty of flesh. This was a shame. (BTB I didn't gobble 8 pieces in one night. I kept 4 for next day, satiating my appetite for protein)

Same smell, smaller chicken. Honey, KFC has shrunk the chicken. Buk buk bakaw.

I recalled reading a post on Rashmi's blog where Rasmhi posted a guy's rant about the KFC he had in India and charging a bomb for inferior quality food:

"When you bite into the chicken leg you would expect a certain amount of meat to be seen, the white fleshy part but no, instead you hit the bone. THERE IS NO FLESH ON THIS ONE..."

I did remember seeing veggie meals. Veggie meals in a chicken outlet? Gimme a break. Is KFC going the McDonalds way with their veggie Mctikkas and veggie burgers? Blech.

Technorati Tags:
Kentucy Fried Chicken, KFC, Chennai, food

Four ways to spend money

2006-11-17T17:40:00.000+05:30

There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get.

Courtesy - Pure Smiles

Technorati Tags:
money, expenditure, expenses, freebies

Gawker

2006-11-17T17:38:00.000+05:30

Rahul kept staring at the lady in the airport lounge. He had come to see off his cousin who was on his way to Houston in the U.S of A. She was gorgeous, wore a tight red shirt and had a large bosom. His eyes never left her. He never thought of the fact that he was visually raping the lady and that she was feeling very edgy.

Blissfully unaware of that fact that she was staring back at him, he stood there transfixed, marvelling at this pretty creature. He was snapped out his revere by his cousin as he bid goodbye before disappearing in the secure area of the airport for security checks.

Time flew and it was not until he read of harassment against women on the street and in public places did he realise that what he did that day had made her uncomfortable. Instances of roadside romeos whistling and staring at women, fondling in public transport, all of this sickened him. Women are to be looked at and admired and just like museum pieces and not to be harmed, he decided.

Poets and Presidents

2006-11-16T14:33:00.000+05:30

Courtesy Ranga.

Our silver haired mop top president is a man of abundant energy. He is very patriotic and passionate. He writes a lot, talks a lot and travels a lot. He writes poetry too… I recently read one of his poems.

The grand Scene of birth of Independent India
In that mid-night, the flag of the ruler of two centuries lowered; The tri-color Indian flag flaps in the Red Fort in the midst of National Anthem.
The first vision of Independent India was dawned.

The rejoice everywhere, happiness all around,
There was a tender cry: where is the father of the nation?
The white clothed soul walking in the midst of sorrows and pain,
Injected by hatred and ego, the result of communal violence.

The father of the nation, Mahatma, walking bare footed
In the streets of Bengal for peace and harmony
With the strength of blessed soul of Mahatma
I pray the Almighty: When will be the dawn of second vision?

Create thoughts in the minds of my people,
And transform those thoughts into action.
Embed the thought of Nation being bigger than
The individual, in the minds of leaders and people.

Help all the leaders of my country to give strength
And bless the nation with peace and prosperity.
Give strength to all my religious leaders to bring
'Unity of Minds' among all our billion people

Oh Almighty, bless all my people to work and transform
Our country from a developing into a developed nation.
Let this second vision be born out of sweat of my people,
And bless our youth to live in Developed India.

It starts out with an impassioned plea to the almighty. He paints the image of the birth of our nation. The dawn of our independence from two hundred years of Anglo-Saxon rule. But there were problems even at the onset. Communal violence was huge. Poor old Gandhi was marching in the streets of Bengal wading his way through a pool of blood when the tri-color fluttered for the first time in the capital.

The poet feels that we are now in the dawn of the second vision. Here he makes yet another plea to the almighty to help us achieve this second vision. A vision filled with sweat and toil, strength and unity, peace and prosperity. And of course our youth.

But I hate to say it. It reads badly. It is way too wordy. And looks like a text culled straight out of a "how not to write poetry" guide. So without much ado I have taken the liberty to edit it. For a start, trim down the words a bit without losing the vision. It will certainly help our SMS addled youth that is so dear to our president.

Mid-night
The tri-color flaps.
Independent India has dawned.

Happiness all around,
Suddenly a tender cry: Where is?
The father of the nation?

Mahatma, walking,
Bare footed in the streets of Bengal
For peace and harmony

With the strength of Mahatma
I pray to the Almighty:
Isn't now the dawn of second vision?

Create thoughts
And transform into action.
in the minds of leaders and people.

Give peace and prosperity.
strength to all religious leaders
'Unity of Minds' to our billions

bless our developing country, Oh Almighty,
In sweat of my people, let this second vision be born
and bless our youth

Convert files without downloading specific software

2006-11-16T11:44:00.000+05:30

Zamzar, a company based in the United States has launched an online file conversion tool called Zamsar. This nifty tool will help you convert files into different file formats online. There is a cap on the file conversion size of course. You can convert files of size of upto a 100 MB. Zamsar has a simple interface and helps you to convert files in four easy steps.

You don't have to download different file conversion tools everytime you want to convert a file.

Let's hope a downloadable version of this is available in the future.

Click here to read a list of file formats that are supported by Zamzar. I tried to convert a text file but got this message - File conversion not supported for .txt.

Read their blog here.

If you are wondering how the tool got it's name, go here.

Lifehacker has a post on the tool.

Drunk driving and the laxity of laws

2006-11-15T13:24:00.000+05:30

The media has been going all out on the very recent drunk driving mow and kill case that happened earlier this week. A car full of drunk revellers ran on some pavement dwellers, killing 7 and injuring atleast 14 people in Bombay. The driver of the car has been slapped with a barrage of IPC violations while his partners-in-crime have been let off the hook on a paltry bail of Rs 5000 each. Add a very innocous statement from the mayhem master and you feel like taking a knife and slitting the bugger's fat throat.

In actuality, both the sides have to be blamed:

1. The driver of the car for getting drunk up to his nose, yet having the gall to drive around looking for more booze.
2. Migrant labourers who choose to sleep on the pavements that are meant for pedestrian use.
3. Migrant Labourers sleeping on road medians, making themeselves juicy targets for speed junkies in large trucks and snazzy cars.

Hell, I missed getting mowed down by an Ambassador today morning at about 5.40 a.m on my way to the gym. The stretch I take to the gym is not monitored in the early hours making it a free for all. Had I applied the breaks, I would have landed in hospital. I just kept going, pleased that I was in one piece and remembering that quote from the 2002 James Bond flick Die Another Day : You live to die another day. Right on. Made a lot of since that point of time.

Coming back to the drunk driving case, Indian laws that are used to punish such douche bags are like toothless elders. All gaggle and no teeth to bite. It is illegal for pavements to be encroached upon by small business or humans. Animals using the pavement to poop and block access is a different issue altogether. When something bad happens, the pavement dwellers don't blame themselves for inviting danger to their doorstep. My sympathies to the vicims but I think it's time we examine the larger picture.

In the case of Mumbai,

1. There is a huge influx of migrants from all over the country coming in search of work with stars in their eyes.
2. The city's infrastructure is at a breaking point.
3. There are no guest houses for labourers to rest for the night. So where do they go? To the pavements braving nosey cops, animals and of course, death on wheels.

Common occurances

1. Penalties for drunk driving are like shit. The law differentiates betwwen the haves and have nots. The affluent are allowed to go scott free, while the victimised are treated like dirt or paid off to keep their mouths shut.
2. All the warnings you see on public transport like:

a. Don't drive and drive
b. Speed thrills but kills
c. Drunken Driving is an offence that is punishable by a jail term for 2 years, Rs xxxx in fines or cancellation of licenses.

are useless.

The third part is what has been exploited by people. There are big loopholes in the law that allows people to get away with lighter sentences, cancellation of licenses won't deter speed junkies because you can buy you new license from an RTO tout. What a shame.

The people are not educated enough to understand that if your blood alcohol limit exceeds a certain count, you start to feel drowsy and will not be in control of yourself. All this inspite of having high flying degrees, fat paychecks and a wardrobe full of designer clothes. When will people learn? US laws are much tougher than the one's in India. Enforcing the same kind of laws in India is a logistical nightmare because of the ever growing population.

Law enforcers themselves turn a blind eye to such incidents sometimes. There are reports of cops using their police cars to ferry their family men and how these losers use the police sirens(to be used only in the case of emergencies) to clear traffic. Korangu kaila poo malai kudutha ippadi than irrukkum. So who do we blame? Each other? Nope my dear brethren, we have to blame ourselves for the mess we are in. We know that drunk driving, rash driving is illegal and yet we do that. What is it that makes people do such things? Is the conquest of breaking laws hard wired into our collectibe psyche?

Bad roads, too many vehicles and very lax law enforment. Well, we elected these fat asses to power. Isn't it time we paid back something in return?

I wonder...

A barrage of angry retorts on the Rediff forum here.

On a related note, a clip on self rgulating taffic some where in India.

Information on the blood alcohol limit via the Delhi Traffic police site.

Chomp your way to the hospital

2006-11-14T19:51:00.000+05:30

A burger restaurant in Texas has announced the sale of their 8000 calorie artery clogging monstrosity. Called the Quadraple Bypass burger, this outlet in Tempe, Arizona has announced the launch of the king of all high calorie heart killers. The outlet staff have dressed up like nurses and wheelchairs are on stand by in case any one pops an artery. In this day and age of fitness fads and well being, who in the world gets ideas to make stuff like this or the Fried Coke food?

Picture source.

Check out the outlet's website here.

Another one on the lawsuit filed by the Arizona State Board of Nursing against the Heart Attack Grill.

Via This Planet is Crazy.

Things that drive me crazy when driving

2006-11-14T19:49:00.000+05:30

1. Potholes on the road
2. Motocyclists sneeking through available gaps, grazing your side mirror and moving on as if nothing has happened
3. Jaywalkers
4. Pedestrians walking on the road instead of on the sidewalk and not moving their asses when people honk
5. The smell of rotting garbage as the garbage truck passes by
6. Impatient people who can't wait for the red signal to turn green and keep honking at the guy/gyal in front to move even if he/she wants to wait for the siganl to turn green
7. People who drive across medians with impunity
8. Drunk driving and sending people six feet under
9. Fat cops who break traffic laws when driving their shiny Hyundai Accent police cars
10.Horn happy people who want to make you deaf so that you get off the road
11.Rude road users
12.Fish carts and bullock carts
13.Animals on a death wish
14.Illegal temples on the road side and the queues before these temples
15. Speed hungry youngsters
16. People who drive without side view mirrors on motorcycles and don't look left or right before overtaking
17. Autorickshaws
18. Bikes without headlights at night
19. Drivers not using proper indicators when taking a turn
20. People sitting in vehicles spitting on the roads thinking of the roads as spitoons

Police the pub, weed out the crud

2006-11-08T09:28:00.000+05:30

Madras police raided a few clubs on charges of keeping the premises open beyond stipulated hours on Sunday night. Once such raid on a popular night club on Mount Road resulted in the brain-less coppers taking some ladies hostage and interrogating them till 1.30 the next morning. Some of the questions included queries about who the ladies had come with, how much alcohol they had consumed, all of this followed by advice saying that the women will lose their morality and virginity if they venture out after 9 p.m and that the smoke (read cigarette smoke) in the clubs will is not good for them. Does cigarette smoke differentiate betiween men and women? Only a douche bag with bat shit for brains would make a comment like that. The police seemed to have missed out cautioning some drunk minors who were present in the club instead of harrasing mature women who were with in their rights and had valid id cards to prove things. The women were let free after their personal details were collected, further enabling the police to become law enforcing stalkers.

This could be because of that fact that the coppers were not paid their weekly mamool and decided to exact revege by pushing around hapless women instead of working things out (collect mamool of course) with the hotel staff.

All this by a police force made up of lard balls with Hyundai Accent patrol cars at their disposal, not to regulate traffic but to muscle their way through. Incidents like this will surely give the city's already pathetic night life another solid dent.

Technorati Tags:
pubs, moral policing, night clubs, police, Chennai, Mount Road

The Devil's Advocate

2006-10-31T18:36:00.000+05:30

This is a text version of the conversation that took place between Health Minister Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss, son of the useless 'pechu mattum than' PMK leader Dr.Ramadoss. Read through the pages to have a feel of the minister getting pushed to a corner by Karan Thapar. Pages 5 and 6 have absolute gems from Ramadoss. Methinks Ramadoss kept shooting his feet throughout the interveiw.

Dang, I missed that episode on CNN-IBN. Wonder if they have reruns.

Technorati Tags:
talk show, chat show, CNN-IBN, interview, politics, cinema, smoking

Blog wars

2006-10-31T18:22:00.000+05:30

This time it's personal. Sudish Kamath of The Hindu fame vs Nilu of Recursive Hypocrisy.

Technorati Tags:
blogs, personal, bitching

DP has installed the Apache web server

2006-10-28T15:04:00.000+05:30

This is what I saw when I tried to access DP at 3.05 pm.

Technorati Tags:
Desipundit, Apache, Webserver, installation, blog, social blog

DesiPundit is back

2006-10-23T18:14:00.000+05:30

Vulturo is going to head DP. Thanks Pat for not shutting DP down. And to top all of that, DP has 4 new contributors, all off them good bloggers in their own right. It feels mighty good to be reading DP posts again. Welcome back.

Technorati Tags:
blogs, desipundit, indian, patrix

Shell gasoline - water instead of petrol. How Shell put me out of my misery

2006-10-23T18:11:00.000+05:30

This is a long post. Read in your own sweet time.

Chennai city has two Shell petrol filling stations as far as I know, one on the way to Porur and the other near Jerusalem Engineering College. I tried Shell petrol for the first time last Monday. I had filled in Rs 200 worth of fuel and my bike mileage improved a bit. For all we know, Shell is a higly respected energy brand the world over and this is their foray into Chennai. My bike, a 2006 model Honda Activa ran on 3.86 liters of Shell fuel for 4 1/2 days which is good because the same amount from other brands would have lasted arund 3 1/2 days. I decided to refuel my bike, so I went to the Shell station and dumped 3 liters into the tank. This place has the typical Shell feel to it, with the bunk glowing in trademark orange and red and their customer service is not bad either. The billing is automated and they maintain records of every transaction on a pc. This bunk where I went, the one near Jerusalem Engg is located in the Pallikaranai marsh area, that gets flooded during the monsoon. Now for some reason the local franchisees for Shell decided to build one in a low lying area. This petrol bunk I am talking about did not open until two weeks ago. Now off with the yadda yadda and back to the issue.

After filling up I left and my bike stopped near Pallikaranai. Unsual, because my bike is in good condition. I decided to search for a mechanic at 8.30 pm, where people were in the middle of buying crackers for Diwali but found none so I called up my mechanic, a gem of a person and asked him to help me out.

"Yegeavudu mechanic shap irunda bika kami. Matter seriagalena sollu. (Show the bike to a mechanic in that area. Call me if things don't work out.", said Seenu, the mechanic. Pushing my bike along and cursing my luck, I found a mechanic at last.

He took a look, asked the customary questions, "Petrol potingla saar? Dry agarthukkuminadi potingala? (Did you put petrol in the bike saar? Did you refuel just before the tank went dry?)

After clarifying his doubts he told me he needed time to look at the bike since he was not used to servicing such a model. Bummer. I called Seenu who was going elsewhere for Diwali shopping, Argh.

"Mechanic shappula vettudu. Kalaila vandu edduthuko.(Leave the bike at a shop and pick it up the next day) he said.

"Chancee illinga.", No way was my response.

I called up my folks to inform them of this and decided to call Seenus bro, an auto driver so that he could tow me all the way home. My dad decided to check and called me 5 mins back saying Seenu is on the way. He decied to forgo his shopping and was on his way to help me!! Saved! Seenu came 10 mins later and started his magic on the bike. At the same time, another guy came to the shop and was getting his bike tank emptied. He had refuelled at the same Shell station for 400 bucks. There was no petrol in the tank, only water mixed with kerosene!! Apparently, water had seeped thru the holding tanks at the bunk and the Shell guys were not aware of it. This guv was pissed and called me but I was too engrossed in getting my bike fixed and go home. I asked him to go ahead.

5 minutes later, it was the same result on my bike as the other guy's. The mix. We collected some of that mixture in a bottle for evidence and rushed to the bunk where we saw a row of cars and bikes. The moment the Shell guys saw us with the evidence, they called us inside their office, explained the reasons behind the mix, told us that folks who had come top the bunk from 8.00 pm were having the same problems as ours. They reimbursed the entire amount I had spent on gas and also an extra liter free for my troubles. I had come on my mechanic's bike. Good thing I had the bille. These guys were also arranging call taxis to take the other affected customers home and offered to service the vehicles free of charge. Neat. They even offered food on the house. Nice, but one thing bothered me. One of the employees, spoke to my mechanic in a hostile tone but was calm with me and another person - we spoke in English while my mechanic spoke in the local lingo. Language bias?

That said, the guys at Shell did a good job that night:

1. They owned up to their mistake
2. Did not cause a ruckus
3. Did proper damage control
4. Provided free service to the affected customers
5. Either reimbursed the money they owed you or refuelled the tanks based on the amount that had been spent

Their justification for having a petrol bunk in a low lying area did not cut mucho ice tho'.

Will I go for Shell again? Yeah I would. Their fuel is good, customer service is ok, that can be improved and if they can prevent incidents like this from happening again, they can create a loyal customer base.

Technorati Tags:
customer service, gasoline, petrol, refuel, Shell, water

Desipundit link blacked out

2006-10-18T22:26:00.001+05:30

I went to the DP main page and found this. The DP link below the sun logo has been blacked out. Weird.

Technorati Tags:
Desipundit, logo, blacked out

Interview with the Little Superstar

2006-10-18T22:10:00.000+05:30

Anand Krishnamoorthi has fixed up a meeting with the man behind the now famous Little Superstar video clip. Can't wait to see how that interview goes.

Technorati Tags:
Interview, Little, Superstar, Thavalakai, Adisaya, Piravi

My experiences with Desipundit

2006-10-18T19:28:00.000+05:30

My tryst with Desi Pundit began in the latter half of 2005 at the height of the IIPM vs the rest of the desi blogworld battle. How did I come to know about the site, you may ask? Well, I had this rant against The Hindu for showing too much importance to cricket and pushing the rest of the sports news to an obscure corner of their sports page. That got published in DP. That was a big deal for me. I had started out with 1 measly post in March 2005, took a long hiatus (I was lazy to blog) and was back in August 2005 writing about the Katrina disaster. After my post was linked by DP in Feb 2006, my readership count increased albeit not that much but people came to know about the existence of my blog. When I saw a trackback to my post, I decided to check out DP. My knowledge about DP was limited but I had heard of it's popularity and I decided to check out the site and found a collection of some rather interesting posts collected by a motley group of contributors from different blogs around the Indian blogosphere. Its been 13 months since that rant post and I have had posts of mine linked to and have also been acknowledged for tip offs too.

I tuned in to the DP site on the 16th, like I do everyday and saw this farewell post by Pat. That was unexpected and I decided to visit the blogs of the contributors for more 411 and found posts by Neha, Vulturo, Pat and Ash among others. No mention of this by Amit though. I guess he wanted to keep this off his pro blog. Well Pat has his own reasons to shut down DP and I go by that. But why delete the blog that has made a lot of desis aware of some interesting posts and blogs above all? The one stop shop for the rest of the desi blogosphere - why shut it down? The comments section of that farewell post on Dp has been flooded with comments with a majority of people asking Pat to hand over the reins to an enthusiastic bunch of bloggers who will carry on the good work that has been done so far. I concur with that. will there be quality if that is done? We the readers are there to gauge the quality of the links that come by. DP has been a pioneering blog. Let it remain the way it is supposed to be.

I have kept myself up to date with the happenings in the desi world through DP. DP introduced me to Sepia Mutiny, Gaurav Sabnis, Rashmi Bansal, Amit Varma, the IIPM vs Gaurav Sabnis controversy among others and a great many other blogs. For me, my day in the online world starts with a customary visit to DP and the blogs that have been linked to it. I kid thee not.

So, after all that yawn inducing blah blah, the bottom line of this post is, let DP remain online, don't shut it down, hand over controls to a different set of people and let it remain the way it is supposed to be.

Don't put an end to a legacy.

Technorati Tags: Desipundit, desi blogs, desi, popular, farewell

Desipundit to be shut down...

2006-10-16T12:56:00.000+05:30

I am shocked by this.

Technorati Tags: Desipundit to be shut down

Laptops for students and teachers to stay connected to cyberspace

2006-10-13T19:33:00.000+05:30

Veerappa Moily has suggested that students pursuing higher education and teachers be given laptops in their pursuit of excellence in studies. Mr Moily, why do you plan on squandering the tax payers money on something illogical like this?

"The committee feels that there is a need for a mindset change and it has to be accepted that the laptop should been seen as the entry device to get connected to the knowledge world in cyberspace." My foot. Surely there must be better way to help students by doing a complete overhaul of the education system and improving the student and teacher ratio among others.

Technorati Tags : Laptops, for, students, and, teachers, to, stay, connected, to, cyberspace

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Morning traffic at Kathipara Junction

2006-10-05T22:13:00.000+05:30

Driving through morning traffic at Kathipara,

Is like going through a maze at Tora Bora,

Slash your wrists,

Or whistle for kicks,

You just can't beat traffic at Kathipara

For the un-initiated, Kathipara Junction is an important point in Chennai that connects suburbs like Tambaram, St Thomas Mount to the rest of the city. Using that point during the day and in the evening is a nightmare.

Technorati Tags : Morning, traffic, at, Kathipara, Junction

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Mr Deeds part 1

2006-10-04T22:40:00.000+05:30

Rohan was busy at his workstation and typing away when he thought about what he had accomplished over the years in his company, an Indian software major. A plush job, a really fat pay check and all the amenities he had ever dreamed of. But something was amiss. Rohan had wanted to do something he had never done before. Something that would make a difference to a person's life even if it was for one day. That day, he recieved an email. The email spoke about his company's endeavour into making hundreds of poor children and orphans smile for Diwali, make a difference in their lives.

"Diya, an NGO has prepared a wishlist of the gifts the kids want. The names of the children and their preferences are written on a card. Take a card and make a child happy this Diwali."

That was the gist of the email. Rohan pondered over it. "I have spent money on a premium gym membership, on dvds and various other things. Why not make a child's wish come true?"

The day came and went. It was time to leave for home. Rohan went to the ground floor and took a look at the cards and what each child wanted. "All these children are from orphanages and off the street.", he wondered aloud. He picked a card with the name Lakshmi, from one of the many orphanages that dotted the city he called home, Chennai.

'A pink salwar, toffees and cream biscuits and small balls' is what the card said. Popping the card into his gym bag he carried to work after his morning workout, Rohan went to the parking lot and was soon inching his way home in the evening traffic on Mount Road.

Technorati Tags : Mr, Deeds

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An Ode to October

2006-10-03T21:49:00.000+05:30

Another day, another month to whizz by.

Technorati Tags : October

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Little Superstar goes bonkers

2006-09-30T14:36:00.000+05:30

There used to be a midget actor who acted in Tamil movies in the late 80's and the early 90's. He has since faded into obscurity. He is back with a bang my friends, courtesy a YouTube clip that is making waves on the web. This clip has been viewed a milion times and still going strong. The sequence appears in the Rajnikant starrer Adisaya Piravi (1990?). Catch the video below.

For a synopsis of the clip and the 411 on the movie and the characters check the clip below.

I wonder what the actor is doing now.

Via Suman and Kingsley.

Technorati Tags: Little - Superstar - frog - Tamil Cinema - Rajnikant-
Little Superstar

Love Me, Kill me, Kiss Me, Trash Me

2006-09-27T21:16:00.000+05:30

What do you do to a person you suspect of committing a crime as heinous as murder? Inform the police or take the law into your hands? Especially if the suspect is a woman? You tie her to a tree or a lamp post and flog her!!

How's that you ask? Well, this article appeared on the third page of The Hindu print edition dated 26-9-06.

Excerpts from the article

"CHENNAI: A woman from Keezhkottaiyur village was on Monday tied to a lamp-post and beaten up by a group of villagers for the unexplained death of her 10-year-old daughter.
The incident took place in broad daylight on the busy Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road. "
What were the people doing at the time? Jacking off to the sight of people trashing a hapless lady?

The article futher says that

"Police at Thazhambur, however, denied that the woman had been tied to a lamp-post and beaten up. They said a case had been registered over the death and the body sent for post-mortem. Further investigations are on."

Trust the cops deny the flogging ever happened. May be the long arm of the law is busy scratching its balls to care about a woman being humiliated in public. Or maybe the coppers thought that was the time to have some salpetta.

Reminds me of those katta panchayat scenes in Tamil village oriented movies. Dai nattamai, theerpa mathi sollu.

Technorati Tags : Love, Me, Kill, me, Kiss, Me, Trash, Me

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Do we need websites to tell us how to manage marriage and in-laws?

2006-09-22T22:31:00.000+05:30

This article appeared on rediff.com and talks about marriage from a husband's perpective. Hyuck hyuck.

Technorati Tags : Do, we, need, websites, to, tell, us, how, to, manage, marriage, and, in-laws?

Blogger's block?

2006-09-21T21:41:00.000+05:30

What would I do if I hit a blogger's block? Maybe try this book

Technorati Tags : Blogger's, block?

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What If...

2006-09-19T19:59:00.000+05:30

Conman fools senior citizen into parting with gold. Tricksters divert attention of car driver and make away with 4 lakh rupees. - Look familiar? These are headlines that appear newspapers regularly letting the world knw that some cheat had his lucky day. Imaging how the headlines would be if played in mankind's Cooum - politics.

1. Natwar Singh diverts Manmohan Singh's attention and goes to Iraq to bribe Saddam Hussien- Natwar Singh, disgraced Foriegn Minister made a trip to Iraq at the expense of taxpayer's money. Natwar Singh told Manmohan Singh that he was going to attend a summit in Saudi Arabia and secretly landed in Iraq right under the nose of evesdropping American troops.
2. Ottavio Quatrocchi followed Sonia Gandhi's car yesterday and told her driver that the car had an oil leak. The gullible driver stepped out of the car to check the leak and returned to find Sonia missing.
3. George Bush made an announcement in Washingtonm today about US troop status in Iraq and Afghanistan. While he was doing that, Osama Bin Laden sneaked past Bush's impregnable security wall,entered the While House and ran away with Bush's dodo of a wife - Laura Bush. Bush was so riled after the incident that he has threatened to bomb the whole of Africa.
4. AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha attended a meeting in some god forsaken place in Tamil Nadu to distribute free color t.v's to the equally stupid local populace. The tv's meant for distribution were jacked by highway theives when the consignment was being delivered. Jaya is now accusing the DMK of the theft and her members disrupted parliament for the 4th today.

...

Technorati Tags : Politics, humor, bad, posts

Drive In Theatres - will they be relics of the past?

2006-09-13T23:18:00.001+05:30

Mohan has a post about the Prarthana Drive In theatre on the ECR, Chennai. I have never been to an OAT before but by going by what Mohan has written, methinks it's not an oportunity to miss, to watch a movies under the stars, in the comfort of your car, cuddled with your wife/girlfriend or having some fun with your friends.

BlogCamp 2006 - feedback time.

2006-09-12T22:18:00.000+05:30

It's time for us bloggers who were at BlogCamp to give feeback about the event. Th first word that comes to my mind when I think about BC is "awesome.". This event was 5 times the size of Barcamp, a lot of things learnt from Barcamp were implemented, the internet connection was kick-ass, the venue was excellent ( I was not happy with Anna University's audi anyway), the food was so-so, I got to meet interesting people- Amit, the blogging couple- btb in case you guys don't know, Sharmista was very keen on doing primate research but gave it up for want of a grant, and of course those geeks from 'Butt'Hack :). I saw Rajesh Shetty but wondered why he did not give a presentation. I enjoyed Sunny Gavaskar's seminar. There were some irritants like the delay in Rob Scoble's Skypecast, some of the topics lacked depth or failed to captivate the audience. Overall BC was a good learning exp. Let's hope events like this take place around the country.

Sagaro has a post about Blogcamp. Check it out.

Technorati Tags: Blogcamp, BarCamp

Curtains come down on Blogcamp 2006

2006-09-10T21:51:00.000+05:30

Continuing on updates on BlogCamp day 2 where I spoke about the all-blogger session with Peter and Dina as moderators, this discussion saw a lot of participation where a lot of the folks had interesting view points. So what did people talk about? The discussion started with why do you blog -> do you feel starnge when you don't update your blog every day? If you ask me the answer would be naah..., followed by are comments important -> how would you feel if no one read your blog ->blogging and responsibility.

Man, the place was vining hard during the quiz contest. I paired up with P.Bothra and we came in fourth. Bummer, only 10 points separating us from the 3rd place holder, bummer. The prize money for the quiz was good, totalling Rs 20G. Moin won an Ipod for winning the bst slogan category sponsored by Ford. Starfish won the prize for best photo-blogger. Bothack won the prize for thebest live blogger. way to go guys.

As we all said our good byes and took group pics for the last time, I came out with a heavy heart. this event was a knocker, I had a good time meeting new people and getting to know all those bloggers whose blogs I have been reading for a long time.

Overall BlogCamp rocked. I can't wait for the next edition to come. In the meanwhile, let's hope we see more of BarCamp like events in Chennai and other cities.

Goodnight my dear bloggers. It was a pleasure getting to know y'all.

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

BlogCamp 2006 - Day 2

2006-09-10T15:42:00.000+05:30

Yesterday ended on a really positive note and today started on the same note. The nail has become a popular topic of discussion of BlogCamp 2006. Thanks to Nihkunj for that :).

There were sessions by Sharad Haskar on digital photography, Sujatha on podcasting as a corporate medium (which was interesting, and the star of the day former cricketer and legend Sunil Gavaskar and Rob Scoble whose session started becuase of audio and connectivity problems on Skype. His session was moderated by Kiruba and was entertaining. People clamoured for his autograph towards the end, he was mobbed by reporters and bloggers alike. I got an opportunity to ask him a question, mu hah ha (I was ribbing people when they rushed to get Sunil's autograph:))

I got an opportunity to moderate 7 presentations. Dina was of great help and she gave me some tips which I found to be very useful.

There's an interesting discussion going on with Peter Griffin and Dina Mehta as moderators. Stay tuned for more updates.

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

BlogCamp 2006 - day 1 highlights

2006-09-09T17:51:00.000+05:30

BlogCamp started on a very positive note with interesting presentatins, all related to text blogging, podcasting, mobile blogging, video blogging, search engine optimization and the lot. The sessiosn were split and were conducted at the auditorium and the conference hall. Ganesh of Bothack was the star of the morning with his aggressive promotion of Wordpress. Him and his Bothack gang came to the camp wearing tees which said "We blog at Bothack.in."

Kaushik Ram of Bothack was ribbed by Kiruba during a demo for a podcasting session where Bothack was mangled and refferred to as buttocks :). Syed was at his belligerent best asking questions during the proceedings. Jammy, a "budding stand-up comedian" was silent most out the time. It looks like he is trying to get the prize for the best blogger of the event. All the best Jammy. There are a lot of things about the event I would like to blog about, but damn, I don't seem to remember them all.

Anyway, I am signing off for the day. Catch you all on the second day of BlogCamp 2006 where Sunil Gavaskar will be the start attraction, not to mention intersting sesions with Robert Scoble, Sujatha and other folks.

See y'all tomorrow. Ciao.

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

BlogCamp 2006 Day 1 - contd...

2006-09-09T17:24:00.000+05:30

Amit's session was lively and entertaining. There were two more sessions from other participants on increaing revenue using effective search engine optimization techniques. A very lively first day is about to come to an end. It's to to beach house after that. Let me see if I an blog from the beach resort :).

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

BlogCamp 2006 - Day 1

2006-09-09T16:08:00.000+05:30

I did'nt get to see some of the presentations that heppened in the first half hour as I was at the entrance tothe Tidel Park building giving firections to BlogCamp attendeed. Bummer. But that's ok. The crowd is good. We have some experienced and famous bloggers like Dina Mehta, Neha Vishwanathan, Amit Aggarwal et al.

All the invitees have been given some really useful merchandise, my pick being the laptop bag from Yahoo besides a BlogCamp t-shirt. People have come from all over the country, from cities like Delhi, Agra, Bombay, Bangalore and Kerala(?), that's excellent for the first edition of an evnt of ths magnitude.

I managed to catch some of the action that took place at the conference hall, mainly the seminar of Ganesh titled "Wordpress hacks." Prasanna and Aswin Anand gave presentations on blogger beta and tempate hacks and also hosting Wordpress on servers.

Now going away from all the techno funda to the food part, yuck. That was pathetic food served for lunch. Anyway I am looking forward to an excellent evening at the beach house party.

Kiruba and Ram Vishwanathan gave an excellent seminar on podcasting with help from Kaushik Ram. I missed the session invloving Neha, Dina and Peter Griffin on collaborative blogging cuz I was in the conference hall. Gosh, I wish I was in two places at the same time.

I met a man named Scott who was part of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Auto Challenge that took place last month. He is scheduled to write an article on the race on Wired magazine.

Amit is sceduled to give a seminar on pro-blogging today evening and I am looking forward to that.

Log in to blogcamp.in for more updates. Check Flickr for photos on the event. Come back to this blog for more updates.

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

BlogCamp 2006

2006-09-09T16:03:00.000+05:30

Photo source - click here.

BlogCamp opened its doors to the blog loving public today. An event that has been publicised by word of mouth and of course, thru blogs, the event kicked off with a small presentation by Kiruba. Events have been scheduled in the auditorium and the conference hall.

I have been waiting for this event for a month and I am here. Yipee!!

Technorati Tags : BlogCamp

You will be missed Crikey

2006-09-05T12:38:00.000+05:30

Ladies and gentlemen, the Crocodile Hunter has left the building. Long live Steve Irwin. I have seen some of his programmes on the Discovery Channel and I found them to be refreshingly different. Steve, with his over the top antics when dealing with vicious predators of the wild and his child like enthusiasm for educating people about wild-life will remain fresh in memory. My reaction on seeing the news of his demise in the Hindu today was that of shock. He is a characer who will be missed sorely. Beau Peep has a list of his favorite Steve Irwin moments.

Godspeed Steve.

How to blow up a plane

2006-08-31T16:55:00.000+05:30

I found this post at Instructables, a site which lists actions in the form of steps, for example, how to light a ciggie. This one took the cake though, "how to blow up a plane." The article has invited a lot of flak from people who say it has been written in poor taste considering the events that have transpired over the past few weeks. The article hasn't been taken off yet. Take a look before it is yanked off the site in the name of protecting national security here.

Link via Amit Aggarwal (Digital Inspiration)