tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168691662024-03-07T12:57:47.583+05:30Too Bored to Live; Too Lazy to Die- deadly combo !!Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-71867712270559627422011-09-09T11:32:00.000+05:302011-09-09T11:32:04.702+05:30E for Elephant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is a real conversation I had yesterday with a Qatar airways customer care agent in Sweden over the phone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : Could you tell me your booking reference number please ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : B.. B as in boy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : B as in boy..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : P.. P as in pen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : P as in papa ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : S...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : Sorry ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : Sorry, S as in Sweden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : Oh ! S as in Sweden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : E as in ... ( thinking for a common word starting with E )</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : E as in Eye !</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Realised that was a terrible example and started thinking again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agen (helpfully) : E as in India?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : (what ?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">(Now, for those not familiar with Swedish, Swedes pronounce I as E.. ie IBM is read EBM.. true, look it up)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : No, no, I know you read I as E, but thats not it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : E as in elephant ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : Exactly ( thank you elephants)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me : T.. T as in three</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(I know, my fault)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent : oh ok, three as in number 3 !</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Me : Facepalm !</span><br />
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</div>
Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com2Södertälje, Sweden59.1959473 17.627952358.9357448 16.9962383 59.4561498 18.2596663tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-22203106771093289612009-10-18T23:43:00.008+05:302009-10-20T00:06:09.817+05:30An 'Up'lifting movie<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TdW3iFxOwlbHGUP0cA4hswyqzFxc6FeyWI_tq8tlZdY9-ULqOSsqZ9gtbQ__ymMcdV8GWEcsQsP-JO0VnhZB7hCuW0GILRkMVJwU7tmuxqGIOwUQbb7MPk9eGWE85oNSIYI-/s1600-h/pixar_up.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394014844352346962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TdW3iFxOwlbHGUP0cA4hswyqzFxc6FeyWI_tq8tlZdY9-ULqOSsqZ9gtbQ__ymMcdV8GWEcsQsP-JO0VnhZB7hCuW0GILRkMVJwU7tmuxqGIOwUQbb7MPk9eGWE85oNSIYI-/s400/pixar_up.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 340px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 608px;" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">There is no way but Up ! from here. Pixar has once again proved that they are one of the best film makers of today. Not just the best 'animated' film makers. If you could get over the pre conceptions about 3D animation being for kids, you will be treated to one of the most touching films of this year - Up!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLBv6sd6pc457VyflJAPNDA7pbMqi6QTpXamHYRHDz8vgb0MYga-9O0eTkJWU3wkHG1JeOQOuRN-cDks24oYeeLu0LM7P1eYpYtILE3Fui0CcfwgD2nj_zoSjxmJlX4mDQQ6t/s1600-h/pixar-up-new-stills.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394012409511042322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLBv6sd6pc457VyflJAPNDA7pbMqi6QTpXamHYRHDz8vgb0MYga-9O0eTkJWU3wkHG1JeOQOuRN-cDks24oYeeLu0LM7P1eYpYtILE3Fui0CcfwgD2nj_zoSjxmJlX4mDQQ6t/s320/pixar-up-new-stills.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 179px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 321px;" /></a>Carl promised the love of his life, his would be wife that he will take her to Paradise falls - a place of natural beauty untouched by man and move their camp house there. As the business of living life takes its toll, the dream is always pushed for later - until its too late.<br />
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And that is just the first ten minutes - pure gold. From kids to old couple, the movie beautifully captures their love, their anguish (they cant have kids) and the simple joys life.<br />
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For me, the idea of tying balloons to the house and floating away to the place of your dreams, to leave the mundane life behind is far too exciting and almost too real a metafor.<br />
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All of us have a Paradise falls, somewhere we want to go someday. And there is always someone we want to share it with. And its always too late.<br />
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But in the end, love finds happiness and adventure in the most boring things in life. As Carl found out and hopefully, all of us will.<br />
</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-59744249926870421342009-10-15T01:18:00.003+05:302009-10-15T01:35:12.994+05:30Fight Global Warming..<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Leave your fridge open. </span><br />If all of us leave our fridge open for a day, will it cool the earth?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dye your hair white. </span><br />This one is simple and easily explained by physics. White reflects more sunlight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use more oil.</span><br />Burning petroleum products raises the temperature every year. If we can finish it off in 10 years instead of 50..Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-52564220378695322422008-11-29T20:39:00.002+05:302008-11-29T20:54:18.374+05:30How Many More ?Chennai is under water, my house is flooded. I cannot go home as my street had been turned into a mini Venice - reachable only by boat. Forced to stay away from home with my friends, I should be cursing and complaining. But I am not. Sometimes, life puts everything in perspective. The flood had affected my life in every possible way - schedules, comforts - but these are all but inconveniences to my life, and definitely not fatal.<br /><br />Can't say the same thing about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mumbai</span>. Nature is fair, whether in her kindness or in fury. Humans are an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">altogether</span> different lot.<br /><br />I refuse to offer my prayers for the victims - I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">don't</span> believe there is someone up there listening. I will remember.Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-78608013133873479782007-06-16T11:52:00.000+05:302007-06-16T13:49:15.618+05:30Sivaji - The Boss - Yeah Right !!<a href="http://www.sivajitheboss.com/">Sivaji - The Boss</a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I admit it - I dont get it. Whats so great about the actor or his movies. Don't get me wrong here, but I accept the fact that people have different tastes, but paying up 2000 bucks for the first day show ? I dont spend that much a year for movies ! Either I am completely dumb, or they are. ( some 100 million of them.)<br /><br />All along, I was resisting the temptation to write about this movie, but I was watching a malayalam channel today, and guess what they were showing.. an audience survey about the movie by asking the people who came out of the theatre during the interval!! I think the mob mentality is stronger than I thought. Is it just me or are these guys blowing this up just because everyone else is doing it?<br /><br />I have to admit the scale of the thing is huge. Huge, by Indian standards ie. It reportedly cost 60 crores to make. Thats just around 15m $. But it does beat its counterparts from Hollywood on one thing - the % of the cost that went to the lead actor - Rajni is richer by a whopping 30 crores for doing this movie. Now , can you accuse him of doing all those mad gimmicks on screen? Boy, if someone came over and gave me 30 crores, I would be doing a lot worse. Cutting a bullet in two? Piece of cake. Transforming a mud road into highway by walking on it? Ofcourse. Dancing around with Shreya wearing rainbow costumes and a blonde wig ? You must be kidding me.<br /><br />Just for the record , this is not a review of the movie. I havent watched it (and I wont if I can do anything about it) . But this mass hysteria gets on my nerves. Come on guys its just a movie!!<br /><br /><br />As if all this was not bad enough for me, I came across this: <a href="http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/jun/15rrsivaji.htm?zcc=rl">Sivaji Review in Rediff</a> . The review was a decent one, but take a look at the comments!! Uncomfortable it may seem, but we Indians are still an idiotic quarrelling bunch. It doesnt take us anything more than a stupid movie to start fighting with each other, and hurl abuses at one another. Most annoying part is, the battle line is an imaginary line drawn somewhere across the middle of India, dividing it into South and North India. According to them, whole of south inidia is populated by a bunch of dark people who worship Rajni as God and whole of north is Laloo/Amitabh kingdom. I got sick half way through..<br /><br />I guess by this time I must have made my position clear on where I stand with regard to this movie. I couldnt help but make an interesting comparison between this Sivaji and that recent Amitabh movie - Nishabd. NIshabd dealt with the romance between an old man and a very young girl, while Sivaji deals with the romace between an old man (who is trying to look young) and a young girl. Geddit?<br /><br /><a title="Nishabd" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7f0tm9Lf2NWqp3XKifKFlTY0m1QQXKi48sgwlCrG4E7fb4clnoOvoSEST6bguTMRwGmf4cn4ircEBM9bVKqzR5QabMDLrFbTrctkN9Wau5qqVA_uyvEpdSrNJ75TF7xBZ7rgi/s1600-h/nishabd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7f0tm9Lf2NWqp3XKifKFlTY0m1QQXKi48sgwlCrG4E7fb4clnoOvoSEST6bguTMRwGmf4cn4ircEBM9bVKqzR5QabMDLrFbTrctkN9Wau5qqVA_uyvEpdSrNJ75TF7xBZ7rgi/s200/nishabd.jpg" alt="Nishabd" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076563673198634882" border="0" /></a><a title="Sivaji" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUyOMfNt-AFPuknWzSH-fKt_TfhCBjdwxsOl1PEqynbzGGnkl9dSxnGyfB8dHUAO-6JIn2DZpmuOXVp5QUOAOKVTQoBVC7itjlwSDhRH4T4r7hEoP7wKdlV410zZtvBj826Vl/s1600-h/sivaji.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUyOMfNt-AFPuknWzSH-fKt_TfhCBjdwxsOl1PEqynbzGGnkl9dSxnGyfB8dHUAO-6JIn2DZpmuOXVp5QUOAOKVTQoBVC7itjlwSDhRH4T4r7hEoP7wKdlV410zZtvBj826Vl/s200/sivaji.jpg" alt="Sivaji" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076573010457536418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well atleast I have hope that some die hard Rajni fan will read this post and comment on it. If this wont get me a comment, then what will?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-72502513767922311952007-05-27T22:55:00.000+05:302007-06-04T11:01:54.753+05:30Now Thats What I Call a Productive Weekend !On more weekend is over. I had planned, as I do every friday, to do something useful and productive with my weekend. Studying was out of question; I had this vague and weak urging in my mind to clean up my room and cupboard but then thought better of it. But then you dont get that much time to waste anyway if you wake up at noon during weekends. Ok so back to my topic - I just managed to watch five movies during the weekend. I dont know ( and I dont think ) that its a record, but it was a first for me. If anyone cares, these are the ones which I sat through:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lord_of_the_rings_the_fellowship_of_the_ring/">Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring</a></li><li><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lord_of_the_rings_the_two_towers/">Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1015287-notorious/">Notorious</a></li><li><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ladykillers/">The Ladykillers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000013-12_angry_men/">12 Angry Men</a></li></ul><br /><br />It seems improbable but I actually liked all of them. <strong>12 Angry Men</strong> especially; it is an old movie, in monochrome, yet so beautifully taken. The whole movie happens inside a single room, but yet it a riveting story well told. Must watch for any movie buff. Notorious is from Hitchcock, I dont think I should add more. Infact I wish I could give a short synospsis about each movie, but true to the title of my blog, I wont. I would rather have the nice folks at RT do it.<br /><br />Thats it then, if anybody manged to watch 6 or more movies in a weekend, do let me know. And if anyone want to suggest any more gems like '12 Angry Men', please do.<br /><br />Till next weekend when I would be sailing to the World's End..Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-36049890554116576432007-05-01T19:35:00.000+05:302007-06-04T11:01:39.356+05:3023 and Counting!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihZ4mAMi5rtU9F9Yrpl326ibQKwtUZEPX3ICUe38OmGTTlzKM8E1q6HTaDwQ_fQPAeF2HF5Sg5TzRr-SF923fGPaSdfvnEK-UVVpMPYqgDexoqlnO6AncVyggZEo06JDwH9Q6/s1600-h/23.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihZ4mAMi5rtU9F9Yrpl326ibQKwtUZEPX3ICUe38OmGTTlzKM8E1q6HTaDwQ_fQPAeF2HF5Sg5TzRr-SF923fGPaSdfvnEK-UVVpMPYqgDexoqlnO6AncVyggZEo06JDwH9Q6/s200/23.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5059594762192238242" border="0" /></a>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-956951858150733062007-03-31T13:02:00.000+05:302007-06-04T11:01:02.527+05:30Corporate Stupidity<div style="text-align: justify;">We all come across stupidity in our daily life - stupid people, stupid rules, stupid govt, etc etc.<br />But Corporate stupidity beats everything hands down. I just had a first hand experience of it. For some reason* my mobile service provider decided to cut my outgoing calls. The next day they cut incoming too. Well pissing me off is not a stupid thing to do; that was not the intention of the post anyway.<br />Its the message I get when I attempt a call:<br /><br />". . . the outgoing call facility is currently not available on you number. For assistance please call Airtel customer care number 121 . ."<br /><br />Annoyed that I was, I couldnt help but smile. And yes, I got the same message when I dialled 121, as the sweet voice told me.<br /><br /><br />* No, I didnt default on my bill. They wanted my address proof, my photo and prepaid sim enrolment form to be submitted to the nearest Airtel showroom. Which I had done when I took the connection, which apparantly they lost, maybe because at that time TRAI was not that strict. Anyway I told them if you want it, come and get it. Seemed fair to me.</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-45103380337880482682007-03-12T23:55:00.000+05:302007-03-13T21:25:06.263+05:30Spartans !! Tonite We Dine.. in Hell !!!<div align="justify">I dont exactly remember the date, but it was atleast one month back. I was rummaging through rotten tomatoes ( actually browsing through <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/">www.rottentomatoes.com</a> , which by the way is one of the best movie sites you'll find ) that I came across a reference to a movie titled "300". I remember it was mentioned as 'highly anticipated'. Well, it was the first time I was hearing about the movie, and I was not about to take their word for it. Besides, "300" felt like an odd title for a movie. Now, if they couldnt find a decent name for it, how good the movie can be.<br /><br />Ofcourse I was, as most of the time, dead wrong. Right now, I cant think of a better title for this movie. Before I get on with it, take a look at this:<br /></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041118925014513170" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmIjDlztXSe2j42p4jSe0Dz4uRgEeaLrmhmFGobbAqyadwk77MnekAUcllJ1b0x1as-5w8nY__x1Ss7b05jKoALFLwDcl7EGNxDPQhXG-dXFbjIB_fiYQgVk39TfOFqpmK6pd/s400/photo_05_hires.jpg" border="0" /> Now all the people in the world can be divided into two: Those who liked the pic, and those who dont. A more familiar classification would be boys, and girls, in that order.<br /><br />Now that I have my tartget audience in sight, let me put it straight and simple:<br />This movie kicks the butt of any epic action movie ever made, except maybe Gladiator. But then I cant even start to compare those two. Gladiator was gritty, realistic, sentimental. But this one is an out and out entertainer. The plot is unrealistic, the battle scenes are choreographed in slow motion. If you dont know any better, this film is a frame by frame copy of Frank Miller's graphic novel by the same name. Frank -who ?? Maybe 300 is not for you.<br /><br />This movie is.. well, different. Here -check out some more (Thx, RT, for not suing me ): </p><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAMMx8daUCrBt78yKttkYUShMowiJAh0hPr4yYC4GMSS10OX1uRpSNnmbKG6Ej5qlrq1Q5c7fT4BkOY9IY5d2FbnfaJpOA17xk-VXXlXRwwKibyFj78SpS5y3YdSPOL6P9hm6/s1600-h/photo_56_hires.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041127248661132962" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAMMx8daUCrBt78yKttkYUShMowiJAh0hPr4yYC4GMSS10OX1uRpSNnmbKG6Ej5qlrq1Q5c7fT4BkOY9IY5d2FbnfaJpOA17xk-VXXlXRwwKibyFj78SpS5y3YdSPOL6P9hm6/s320/photo_56_hires.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlLhKpLe03FH1IvaIhWzRe-6zRHKdS0SjcAPC7oC4JeNurFHIf6inKmi2dSGRdVrdB0KJGeRzvpCyiPB3j2t9RNZa8ycOShX_59y269-2rnHKTr6-RfK-YUQ474i97j9SCeb9/s1600-h/photo_16_hires.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041127858546489010" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlLhKpLe03FH1IvaIhWzRe-6zRHKdS0SjcAPC7oC4JeNurFHIf6inKmi2dSGRdVrdB0KJGeRzvpCyiPB3j2t9RNZa8ycOShX_59y269-2rnHKTr6-RfK-YUQ474i97j9SCeb9/s200/photo_16_hires.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinCPVW5npp4zm16G_FaaVNMF2q7SumMUo74G3kljXv-0w5g4giDUPsZ57w_KcPZhd6IvSgzYG6VtWqPEvrHR-GQi97v4OqUoy7XLKhYNQOmXHyU43SNjBkvkCFAKiiAUFGdtY/s1600-h/photo_13_hires.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041128266568382146" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinCPVW5npp4zm16G_FaaVNMF2q7SumMUo74G3kljXv-0w5g4giDUPsZ57w_KcPZhd6IvSgzYG6VtWqPEvrHR-GQi97v4OqUoy7XLKhYNQOmXHyU43SNjBkvkCFAKiiAUFGdtY/s200/photo_13_hires.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></p><p align="justify"></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6LjERqK-8CdEAiZ6qswr-P_8yqAVUf8Un3G1NNvREHLrPzi5faaXxfnN5gkxKP7bYemDnkFpIY_ewgs_gotaN8UzybBkKT1hH0fVMNxGLLrmy9Mywn4M8XrUouklJI3INaqy/s1600-h/photo_50_hires.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041129267295762146" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6LjERqK-8CdEAiZ6qswr-P_8yqAVUf8Un3G1NNvREHLrPzi5faaXxfnN5gkxKP7bYemDnkFpIY_ewgs_gotaN8UzybBkKT1hH0fVMNxGLLrmy9Mywn4M8XrUouklJI3INaqy/s200/photo_50_hires.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify">The movie was hyped up like anything all these days, and at the time of writing this, its already released in US, and the 300 soldiers are ruthlessly annililating all other movies which were unfortunate enough to be runnung at the same time.<br /><br />In case you need it, this is a plot synopsis:<br />Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.<br /><br />Thats just the official version. Basically they just needed a reason to make 300 good looking men ( with super cool abs) fight wave after wave of enemies. Its almost like a video game.I know that I am sounding a little foolish as I havent watched the movie yet. But I do have the HD trailer with me. Both of them. There's something cool about ancient Spartan warriors fighting while heavy metal music plays in the background.<br /><br />Heres the link where you can download the trailers : </p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/trailers.php">http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/trailers.php</a><br />(get the last one - the original trailer, i feel its the best)<br /><br />Have fun watching it.. be sure to turn up your volume to the ".. are you nuts ??!!" level before you play it.<br /><br /><br />See ya in Hell !!!<br />I cant wait to watch it in theatre and then write a post about how good it is !!<br />/insert devilish glee</p>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-57141192523699252642007-01-22T00:59:00.000+05:302007-01-22T01:02:52.030+05:30I am Alive !!Just to let my readers know that I am safe and alive... I will soon return to torment them with more of my ramblings pretty soon.<br /><br />Hope 2007 will turn out to be a great year for you !Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-16675163159544739722006-10-23T00:44:00.000+05:302006-10-23T03:28:56.523+05:30Gods Must be ( Really ) Crazy !!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1838/2059/1600/diwali.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1838/2059/320/diwali.0.jpg" alt="Diwali Diya" title="this is all there is to it" border="0" /></a>What do u get when you add Chennaiites total disregard for personal safety ( not related to their total disregard for personal hygiene, which is no less deadly ) and a cheap supply of gun powder and a day delared as a public holiday to set fire to the whole city ?? OK maybe not gun pwder.. but almost the same stuff, the kind u use in fireworks. Ok so what do u get ? Diwali.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To stretch a short story long, it all started with my decision to go with my friend to the cinema. When the idea was first proposed, I was not interested, but then after some persuasion I agreed as I had somewhat good expectations from Farhan Akhtar's "DON". It is another story that they were planning to go for "Jaane Mann" which would involve watching Salman Khan in tears ( but hey the film is supposed to be a comedy ) so thankfully I managed to get them to go for DON itself. But as they say success is not a destination, its the journey. How true ! The second I set foot outside our gate, I knew I had made a big mistake.<br />One step . *BOOOOM* We stopped. Another step. *BOOM* *insert big cracker sound* * child giggling* * rocket sound * * my heart beat* Now to be true it was not completely unexpected. We obviously knew people are gonna burst crackers for Diwali. What we didnt know, was that, here in Chennai people build houses with no back yard, no front yard , or any yard ( they step out of the house into the road) ; so for everything from dumping kitchen waste, to the dog's potty training ( which apparantly continues till it dies) they use the road. Same for crackers. It seems all the families were out on the road, celebrating. Very sweet. But to our horror, we realised that we had to somehow navigate the 1 km of road through this residential colony to reach the safety ( or so we thought) of the main road. We tried to pretend to be brave and started on our adventure.<br />On both sides of the road, like autumn leaves , were the paper covering of burst crackers. It seemed like a battle field after a battle. On the road wherever there was a gate or a building, there were a small group of people. Some of them will be carrying big polythene covers, carrying what for me looked like all the amunition they used for WW I. Then I would get to see their reserves. But we soon learned to neglect all this, as we soon found out, the person to watch out for, is the guy holding the spark. It can be anything, a small burning stick, candle.. he is the one who sets fire to the crackers. And it seems they pick the guy with the least eye sight. He will light a rocket even if they see two ( brave looking ) young men trying to cross their area of influence. The most confusing part is the road as a whole is littered with burnt carcker shells. Flowe pot shells, wheels , some sort of cylindrical thing which looks like a grenade laucher to me, which they use to fire the "big one" towards the sky. So we dont really know where is the real one that the sparker is gonna ignite. We dont know if any of the shells lying harmlessly on the road is actually an unexploded one, with a slow burining wick... We dont know from where the next rocket is gonna go up.. or come down. One rocket is ok, but if they are gonna keep their full supply right next to the burning stuff, thats enough reason to be worried. But relax, here comes the neighbour's two year old son who wants to light a cracker. All he has to do is light it and throw it. Simple.. dont worry where it lands. They should take him into US AF. By now, we were slowly getting used to it. Like the Iraqis got used to US bombings. Ok bad joke.<br />And somehow we managed to reach the main road to catch an auto to the theatre. We thought we would be safe inside the auto. Wrong. I dont think I would have been safe inside a battle tank. Some of the things that were exploding on the road, I am sure should be classified under anti tank weapons. Sitting beside the driver, I felt suddenly very vulnerable. It has to be experienced to belive, you are going on an auto, while all around you, all you see and hear is flashes of light and the loud explosions.. and the streaks made by the rockets. It doesnt do any good if most of the rockets you see are actually going horizontally rather than vertically.<br />We managed to reach the theater with no physical injuries. But I was left thinking. Is it all necessary ? Why take so much risk to 'celebrate' something ? I like fireworks too, but isnt it better if each town or city conducts a grand fireworks show for everybody to watch. That way the display would be much more delightful, and safer. But then why do we have them at all ? I prefer eating a family dinner than breaking my ear drums. If the city people like to hear the sound of crackers so much, then they might as well air it on the radio. That way atleast there wont be any smoke.<br /><br /><br />PS: I ordered pizza today. The delvery boy was taking out the bill and change when our neighbours, standing on the terrace of their apartment, decided to lauch their rocket. The pizza guy had his back to them, he was counting the change when, * whoosh * a streak of smoke and * * plop * into the water filled ditch that separates their apartment from our house. You should have seen that guy's expression !!! That rocket incidently flew exactly in the opposite direction that it was suposed to go.<br /><br />I am booking tickets to go home next year.<br /></div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1155568967459470242006-08-14T20:49:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.502+05:30I'm a dreamer<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/no%20religion.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/no%20religion.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/no%20religion.jpg"></a><br /><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Imagine there's no Heaven<br />It's easy if you try<br />No hell below us<br />Above us only sky<br />Imagine all the people<br />Living for today </div><div align="center"><br />Imagine there's no countries<br />It isn't hard to do<br />Nothing to kill or die for<br />And no religion too<br />Imagine all the people<br />Living life in peace </div><div align="center"><br />You may say that I'm a dreamer<br />But I'm not the only one<br />I hope someday you'll join us<br />And the world will be as one </div><div align="center"><br />Imagine no possessions<br />I wonder if you can<br />No need for greed or hunger<br />A brotherhood of man<br />Imagine all the people<br />Sharing all the world </div><div align="center"><br />You may say that I'm a dreamer<br />But I'm not the only one<br />I hope someday you'll join us<br />And the world will live as one </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>- John Lennon</em></span></div><div align="left"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:100%;">This post goes out to all the victims of terrorism, particularly those perpertated in the name of religion. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:100%;">In memory of all those who lost their lives to the fanatics.. In memory of every son murdered; every daughter killed; for each father, mother, husband and wife taken away.... </span></div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1154549800771345242006-08-03T00:59:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.431+05:30A Study In Orkut - I<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/orkut.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="orkut - my home page" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/400/orkut.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">This post was inevitable.<br />I, like 24,603,356 others connected to me through my 109 friends have fallen. It is fun, it is extremely addictive and sometimes frustrating. Its a whole new world, to make new friends, to find long lost ones. I am still trying to understand what makes it so popular, especially in India Why do people behave in a certain way in orkut? What drives them to try all the available proxies, and then some, to connect to the site from office. Is it just to satisfy an urge to socialise? To get more friends than your room mate? To tell the whole world that you are an "elegant and whole-hearted person" [sic] ?<br />This sounds like fun... </div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1153337080904129622006-07-20T00:37:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.370+05:30Block This !<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/gagged.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/gagged.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Did you hear that? I just broke the law! I am not supposed to blog. I am not even allowed to read my blog. Very funny. That is what Indian goverment says. And that is what my ISP says. Reason? National security. After the Mumbai bomb blasts, the Indian govt has decided to crack down on sites featuring anti natinal writeups or other inflammatory stuff. Apparently some bone heads had posted such stuff on some blog sites. The goverment wanted these pages to be blocked. So what did the ISPs do? They just blocked off the entire domain. So that means if my blog 'http:\\2bored2live.blogspot.com\' contained anti national stuff (just for the sake of an example) they will block 'http:\\blogspot.com\' Applying the above formula; if I was a terrorist, and they wanted to finish me off, they might as well nuke Chennai.<br /><br />The truth is still out there. Apparantly the govt. ( Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT-IN )forwarded a list of websites to be blocked to all the major ISPs in India. Ofcourse it is a confidential list, in case you were curious. Everybody says that only certain domains were blocked, but from first hand experience I can write here that my ISP ( thats TATA INDICOM for all the world to read ) blocked all of blogspot.com, including my pitiful boredom blog. Either they dont have the technology or the common sense to block specific sub domains, I dont know.<br /><br />So how do u complain? To the CERT's director ofcourse. And what does the gentle man say? <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Somebody must have blocked some sites. What is your problem? "</span><br />[ Quoted from www.rediff.com . You can read the full story <a href="http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/17blog.htm" target="_blank">here</a> ]<br /><br />I dont have much time. They might come any time for me. As I said, I am a criminal now. They are coming to take away my voice. I did something wrong. I spoke out.</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1152038077345749602006-07-04T23:00:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.307+05:30Superman Returns<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/sm4.1.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/sm4.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">I am not going to give a (yet another) review for the film. In my humble opinion, I dont think any two people in the universe can have the same experience watching the same movie. As some one has so beautifully put it - Two persons can look at the same thing and see two completely different things. ( I think I am in danger of sounding like myself in the DaVinci Code post) Even then, reviews are good in a way as they give us an option to know how other people felt about a movie. As long as they dont preach us what to watch or not, I guess they are ok. So back to business. And lets get straight to the point. For those of you who are in a hurry - yes, the film is good. And, if you love Superman, you will be delighted with the movie. Well thats done. Now for a little more detail.</div><div align="justify"><br />The Good :</div><div align="justify">The movie is about the most loved super heroes of all time. In a greyed out world, Superman stands in sparkling white; and he doesnt lie ( source : Louis ) Ofcourse nobody will ever perfect the role like Christopher Reeve did. That said, Brandon Routh is eminently likeable, if only for the reason that he looks and acts like Reeve. And since the last movie came out, the technology has improved so much that, Brandon 'flies' much better, faster and believably than Reeves. The movie has been crafted with care by Bryan Singer, and it shows. The space shuttle rescue scene in the beginning of the movie is among the best action sequences I have seen. All action sequences in the movie are good, but the surprise package is the emotional side of the superhero. You may be the strongest man on earth, but that still doesnt mean you get your girl ( aha ! ) One of my personal favourites is the scene where Clark uses his x ray vision to watch Louis as she gets on the elevator and follow her with his eye all the way up. Then the roof top meeting between Louis and Superman is very tender and very well executed and I think Brandon did very well in that scene. Louis tells him -</div><div align="justify">" .. the world doesnt need a saviour. And neither do I"</div><div align="justify">"Louis, will you come with me ?... " </div><div align="justify">Silence. </div><div align="justify">"...Please"</div><div align="justify">He then proceeds to take Louis with him high up in the sky. He tells her that he can hear people crying out for help all the time. And then drops her off at home, after a romantic fly past.</div><div align="justify">There is more, but I wont spoil the fun.</div><div align="justify"><br />The Bad :</div><div align="justify">I was wishing that Superman will have a grand entry on screen, considering what he is capable of. But it was the feeblest of entries, crashing back to earth like he did when he was a baby. May be they did it on purpose. After that we are treated to some Kent farm shots and Clark remembering his childhood at the farm. And the space shuttle scene. So far so good. But then begins a long wait, as the director sets up all the pieces required to carry us towards the climax. The result is a rather long period in the film where nothing really seems to happen. Except Kevin Spacey as Luthor plotting to make 'the only thing that they are not making any more', and Clark bumbling about Louis. And the kid. Oh I forgot the kid. There was simply no need for that kid. I dont know what they are gonna do with the kid in the sequel ( ofcourse there is gonna be a sequel) And the most cruel thing to do, they substituted Louis/Clark/Superman love triangle with Louis/Richard/Superman. Richard who? And where is Clark? Not in the picture. Sad.</div><div align="justify"><br />The Ugly :</div><div align="justify">I wish I didnt have to write this, but it is hard not to notice that the director has made a deliberate attempt to draw a parallel between Superman and Christ. There are references to Father and Son, and the Father sending his only son to earth. When Superman falls, his arms are outstretched, like on the cross. Even the Kryptonite stab is all too obvious. That is so sick. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Final Word? I am glad he is back.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">And one more thing, all the opinions expressed are my own. I may have some other motives for writing this review. In fact I do. :-) And just in case you want to read some good reviews, I suggest <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman_returns/">Rotten Tomatoes</a> (it is better than it sounds, trust me)</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1149966113914597582006-06-10T22:56:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.245+05:30Time of Our Lives<div align="center"><br />Hey They feels like we've having<br />The time of our lives<br />Let's light the fire, find the pain<br />Let's come together as one inside<br />'Cause it feels like we've having<br />The time of our lives<br />We'll find the glory<br />All that we are, for all that we are<br />For the time of our lives<br /></div><br /><div align="justify"><br />From "The Time of Our Lives" by Il Divo, the official song of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.<br /><br />Ever since India lost that Cricket World Cup final match against Australia in 2003, I had been on the lookout for a new sport to follow. A new team to cheer for; because, frankly I felt my cricket team was not worth my support. Losing a game is ok, but going down without fighting doesnt go down well with me. It wasn't long before I decided on football. Really, after watching Brazil play, you simply fall in love with the game. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/TOOL-Balls.jpg" border="0" /><br />So here I am - a convert from Cricket to Soccer ( they are religions in their own right ). And the team I am rooting for ? Brazil ( No prizes for guessing that one :-) ) And Holland, and Czechs, and Argentina ...... Frankly, it doesn't matter to me who wins the cup. All I care is I get to see some great football. Thats one of the few good things if your country is not in the competition. You are relatively more unbiased, so you appreciate good play from both the sides. And regardless of who wins a game, you can always say 'the best side won' or something to that effect. And the best thing is, no matter how well the Australians play, they can never beat us!! </div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1149204511285361512006-06-02T03:17:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.124+05:30Reserved Justice - II<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">It was a hectic week, and on top of that my internet connection was down, so I couldnt blog as much as I hoped I would. So much was happening and I was unable to share it with my millions of eager readers! (Ok.. I exaggerated a little)<br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br />I was planning to cover the reservation imbroglio and the protests against the recent govt order extending 27% reservation to OBCs in great detail. But due to my unplanned blog absence I am left with a lot of catching up to do. Besides, the pitch of the protests seem to be dying down.<br /><br />Already millions of square feet of print have been used for analyzing the issue; megabytes of info are already available on the net; and the forwards and chain mails gathering votes to be passed on to the President ( God help him, if they really do !) have all but stopped cluttering my inbox.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/antireservn.6.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="Defiant medico girl" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/antireservn.6.jpg" border="0" /></a> There is something different about the nature of protests this time. For once no political party called for them. For once no religious group ordered them. For once the organised protests were…well, unorganised. For millions of students across the country, it was a spontaneous eruption of rage, which found expression in the innumerable rallies and marches and strikes taken out by them. What is ironical is that the very segment of society for whom the reservation applies, is the most vocal opponents of it. Engineering students, medical students, IT professionals ( ie , some of the brightest minds in India ) think that the govts move is ill advised and disastrous for the future of the nation.<br /><br />Now is it just me, or does anybody else think that the movie “<a href="http://rangdebasanti.net/" target="_blank">Rang de Basanti</a>” had anything to do with the new found activism among the youth? Remember the line: “ No country is perfect…we have to work to make it perfect”. Well I may never know the answer to that one, but the truth remains that the youth have flexed their muscles in the political arena. It remains to be seen whether the powers that be get the message. Already the young people are getting the message.. that they have strength.. they too have a voice… that they can and should make a difference… as RDB proclaims – A Generation Awakens ?? </div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1148426741330429832006-05-24T04:04:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:17.065+05:30Reserved Justice - I<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"> To reserve or not? A burning issue in India at the moment. Everybody has taken a stand on the matter, depending on their perspective of the issue at stake. The politicians, ofcourse take stands based upon what's good for them, their party, their family, their pets and their country - in that order, I must add. As for the common man, he too has his reasons for justifying reservation or opposing it. First of all I must admit that my friend circle is kind of limited to my college mates and colleagues - well educated and well informed ( supposedly), but maybe more importantly, doing good financially. That means that all of them have a secured future for them as well as their families. Unfortunately this segment makes up less than 25% of our 1 billion plus population. ( and that is an optimistic estimate ) Its one thing to blog about the ill effects of the reservation system on the technical competency of our country; quite a different thing when you don't know where your next meal is going to come from, if at all.</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1147217353529373812006-05-10T03:51:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:16.948+05:30The DaVinci Code : the Book, the Film, or Both ?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/1600/dvc1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6465/1612/320/dvc1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"> If you are not the Pope, GWB, or just plain illiterate (not necessarily in any particular order) then I can safely assume that you have already read the book, the DaVinci Code. That being said, I accept there are a lot of otherwise normal people, who have not yet heard of the book, or even worse, heard of it, but couldnt read it.</div><div align="justify"> No matter which ever category you fall into ( and that includes the two individuals I mentioned earlier), right now you would be thinking whether to book tickets for the movie," The DaVinci Code ." The marketing has been slick, and with Tom Hanks playing Langdon, it doesnt matter whether you have read the book or not, you just want to watch the movie.</div><div align="justify"> Wait a minute, did I say it doesn't matter? Hmm.. I think it does. To a great deal. Ofcourse you are going to enjoy the movie nonetheless. But to really appreciate my point of view, let me ask you one thing - how do you read a book? Especially if it is a work of fiction, and the author is particualarly endowed with a gift of describing in detail each and every scene, vividly. As is the case with Dan Brown, and an even more deserving example, Dr Arthur Conan Doyle. I can devote a whole blog to Doyle's writings, but maybe later. The fact is that gifted writers can, and do conjure up magic with their words. They can literally paint the scene inside ur head; they can make you see the glint in the hero's eye as he sets forth on his quest; they can make you feel the pain of a girl as she weeps for her lost ones; they can even make you feel the smell of the soft grass on the mountain slopes as the children are playing.</div><div align="justify"> Every one of us who have read Sherlock Holmes, or even the DaVinci Code, or say Harry Potter and made up our own visions of the characters, the places, the sounds , the smells, the numerous little nuances that make up the plot. And most important of all, each of our versions will be different. A book forces ( that is too harsh a word ), or rather allows us to use our imagination to visualise the events referenced in the book, and sometimes even those aren't.</div><div align="justify"> I have read all of Sherlock Holmes, I am still to see a film on him. I have seen the Harry Potter film, am yet to read the books. And I know the difference. Holmes is still pure in my mind; his long nose and smoking pipe exactly the way i want it to be, not like the way some director wanted me to believe. Harry Potter?? No matter whatever I do now, the mere mention of the name brings forth the last seen movie poster featuring the three kids, who were selected to play the protagonists of the films. All the plots, events, charcters, sights, even emotions are etched out in great detail for all of us to gobble up. Instant gratification.</div><div align="justify"> Reading a book after watching its movie adaptation is more like trying to rotate your right arm clockwise while you were rotating your right leg anticlockwise. No matter how hard you try, your leg will follow your hand. Dont believe me? Try it out. With each turn of the page you wont be asking yourself what happens next for sure; more dishearteningly, you wont be making any effort from your side to visualise the scene yourself. The scene from the movie will in all probability come barging in, lights, props and all. And the scene will be played out again in your head as the director had wanted, not the author. I am almost certain that after you have read a particular para in the book, you 'll exclaim " Aah! Intermission!!"</div><div align="justify"> Admit it. Books are meant to be read. Not to be watched. If a million people read a book, there should be a million versions of it in their minds. We all know how Jack slowly descended into the ocean in that touching scene in Titanic. We all do. How Rose told the last words, how she took off his hand and released him... infact only too well. magine if all of us had only read a book "Titanic", and never seen the movie? I rest my case.</div><br /><br /><div align="justify">PS: It is not my intention to dissuade anybody from watching the movie "The DaVinci Code", nor is the Vatican paying me for trying to sound like that. It is solely my personal opinion in this matter. I would prefer that you watch the film adaptation only after reading the book in question. That way you can enjoy the experience of reading it atleast for once. Do let me know what you think.</div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1145129023352042052006-04-16T00:34:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:16.891+05:30After Windows XP - Windows 98 ?<div align="justify"><br />No I didnt get it wrong. Its supposed to be Vista, right? Well it depends on whom you are asking. Seems weird, but I actually did it. I uninstalled XP and installed 98 on my home PC. Reason? insufficient RAM. Not for me, but for XP.</div><div align="justify">Windows XP came out with 64 MB as minimum requirement for RAM, and to be fair to M$, it was ok. Only nobody thought of service packs. Numerous patches and two service packs later, XP will run smoothly* on my system only if it has 256MB. Service pack 2 is a real monster. True, the monster keeps many intruders at bay, but having a pet monster to keep off your enemies has its own logistical problems. The first one - where to keep it? Occupies too much space. Two - how to feed it? Monsters are always hungry. I think i am stretching my metaphor a little too long. Ok, the thing is SP2 takes a lot of memory and a lot of new services are added (for our protection ) that drags the system. The result? The fancy new machine that I bought a few months back suddenly seems too old to play even Pacman. </div><div align="justify">With 256 MB, i was doing fine. But the real test came with my old PC.( Ya, thats right i have two PCs. Dont be jealous) I progressively installed in the following order: XP with SP2, XP with SP1, Plain simple XP, Windows 98. And I got better performance with each. Btw, may old machine suffering throughout all this had 128 MB RAM.</div><div align="justify">So whats my point? Am I (yet) another of those MS bashers? No. I ll tell you why. After I installed plain old XP, I connected to the net. Within 5 minutes my Avast started screaming.. all sorts of messages.. blocked this, blocked that... infact it was so bad.. i couldnt use my computer at all, all I could do was sit back and watch as dark forces from the ends of the net tried to take over my system. Only Avast** was holding them back.</div><div align="justify">Then I installed 98. Surprise! No more attacks. It seems those who write viruses have all but forgotten 98. But somehow, I didnt feel easy. Its hard to confess, but I seemed to have grown a fondness for XP. Ofcourse it looks better, but much more than that also. Come on guys even you MS bashers out there have to admit, it is much much more reliable than 98. Maybe not as much as Linux, but I will compare that only when I can get as many games to play on Linux as on XP. So back to my point. My point it 98 is crap as compared to XP. Wonder how I used to work with it before I got XP. So there I was, going back to XP, but ofcourse with SP1. It blocks most of the attacks, is not as much resource hungry as SP2, so its a good tradeoff. I am stil with it. So as you see guys, Bill gates is not that bad after all.. he learns from his mistakes atleast :-). Ofcourse we all would like it a lot if he doesnt make them in the first place, but until Google decides to do something about it, we will have to live with that.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*smoothly as in after you click on something, you dont get enough time to go and check whats on Tv and come back.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">**avast, the best antivirus you can get for free, including cracked versions of Norton. You can get it here : <a href="http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html">http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html</a></div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1143831308873906642006-04-01T00:06:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:16.829+05:30Everything is Desirable<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">if you dont have it already, ie. Have you ever noticed that almost everything that you wanted really badly, things for which you had to do a lot of pleading and screaming as a child and a lot of saving and pinching as a grown up, seems less so after you got it. Especially after the first euphoria is over. It seems no matter whatever the hype, it only lasts till u actually get it, or get there, or do it, whatever is the case. </span><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Same with my blog writing. I had so much enthusiasm going into this, writing my first blog in my first night itself. I was very proud of myself. I went to sleep that night with a lot of hope. I even dreamed of changing the world with my blog. I dont exactly remember how my subconcious mind came up with an idea that would be good enough to atleast fool my sleeping rational mind. But there it was.</span><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">My initial burst of enthusiasm was only matched by my lethargy afterwards to continue the work. Somehow after the first blog, I didnt have the same motivation I had before writing one. All I could do was to drag myself into writing one of my bitter experiences I had recently, and there was nothing to be proud of. It seemed the world had to wait a little longer to be trasformed by my writings.</span><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">I have started again. Atleast to show to myself, that I can do something even if I dont feel like doing it, and nobody is paying me for it.</span><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">I guess thats enough boredom for one day.</span></div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16869166.post-1127153621767008712005-09-19T22:39:00.000+05:302006-10-15T18:33:16.773+05:30Sixth Time (un)Lucky?<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">It has been months since my college life got over. I still havent got hold of my Transfer Certificate. I am not sure why we have so many kind of documents : a Transfer Certificate, a Migration Certificate, a Degree Certificate, a Marklist, a Course and Conduct Cerificate... enough to bind them and bring out a book.<br />But thats not my point. I went to college 5 times previously to have my TC. And five times i returned empty handed. The fifth attempt is worth recalling:<br />After four failed attempts, i was determined to return home with my TC that day. I arrived rather early, none of the people at the office had arrived (ofcourse technically speaking they were supposed to be there by that time). I waited till their usual arrival time, smug in the belief that the Principal was in his office. Just between us - i had made up my mind to ask the man himself for my TC in the very likely event that i fail to procure it using conventional methods. <p></p>Well eventually everyone arrived, except (no prizes for guessing this..) the ma'am responsible for giving away the TCs. Upon enquiring, i was told that she will arrive shortly afterwards (in the afternoon). I thought 'what the hell' and waited till 2 pm. Surprisingly, she did arrive.. and i accompanied her from the college entrance to the office. All this time something was shouting in my head (no it wasnt my sixth sense.. you will soon find out) that i am wasting my time.. go home!<br /><p></p>I reached the office and was shown my TC, complete in all respects, except for a sign and a seal from my Principal. He had left at noon. (It was not my sixth sense.. it was my eyes.. his car was not in the parking area )<br /><p></p>And thats how my fifth attempt ended. What about my sixth? I dont want to talk about it. </div>Sandeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16943978818378505560noreply@blogger.com0