Happy New Year!

This year was great though my current mood is crappy. My friends and I planned to go for a beach party and bought the tickets yesterday, but here I am cuddled under my blanket with high temperature and shitty headache!
If you're celebrating the new year in such a great style, then here's some fun activity:

Discover your thinking style and the kind of games that challenge you.

This is what I got...


















Hmm....what do I do next?!

Assorted articles and videos

1) Burger King's body spray

2) I love stand up comedy. So I scavenge the Internet for it. Here's couple of my recent find

A) Maz Jobrani


B) Mitch Hedberg


Enjoy!

How Tintin Saved My Life...

Hmmm...not really, just an exaggeration. Anyway...
I'm a huge (HUGE!) fan of Tintin. It is one of those comics which I feel is not just for children, it is for everyone. My imagination used to run wild. I was right there with Tintin throughout his adventures when he travelled from Tibet to China to the Middle East to the Americas and all the way to the Moon! It had real-life situations like the oil crisis, coup attempts and many other issues in the comics. I feel this was an inspiration for me to follow keenly the events around the world. I had even attempted to write a thriller similar to the Tintin stories. I must be 12 or 13 at that time and the story was pathetic (needless to say, I know). Each time I got hold of a new Tintin comic, I felt like a hero...smarter and cooler than the rest of my friends because I had just come to class after a mission. (We are more imaginative and creative as a kid. Man, I miss those days!)

I just found an article about Tintin: the historic background and why it became a really popular comic series in Europe unlike others during the same time. As per the article, the Americans almost ignorant about such a character. Strange! But then, anything European is generally looked down upon in America. It's just the bubble they live in!
The comic is series is coming to the Americans as a Spielberg movie very soon. Hope they keep the spirit and style of the comic intact. Oh by the way here's the article.

No Terrorism like This!

Fun movies of the year as per Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN includes: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Dostana, Ghajini, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and...Race!!!

How the hell was Race fun?! Did you mean fun for the makers seeing us writhe in our seats?! Check out his short note about the movie:

No pretensions, all-out entertainer with more twists and turns than a roller-coaster ride.

No pretensions?!! They were really taking themselves too seriously that we almost cried out of terror, "Oh my God what's happening?!" 

Thank God...he didn't include Yuvvraj!

Rediff comments continue to delight!

Here's a priceless comment by a concerned citizen to 'NASA's Chandrayaan payload hits a mine field'

Oh my GOd, This news is supposed to be confidential. but these nuts are goofing up to open public. Do you USA don't know there aren't any mine fields up there and do you honestly think, NASA is just doing everything it can to expand the boundaries of Astronomy? Do you honestly think they are spending billions of dollar on a mission like this to just study astronomy?
Everyone is in search of rare metals outs there. When we find something, we should not speak of it and the information should be kept confidential. News like this should not be publized.

What can I say about this dude(whoever it is!)?! Some people have knowledge more than all the other people in the world together...like the Man of the Month. Wikipedia author calls him "self-styled defence analyst", but I call him "self-declared defence analyst"! You might want to listen to this joker.

Thought for Food

Today was a lazy day...just roaming around the newly renovated mall in our area. And I found that one of my favourite breakfast centre 'Toast Box' has started a branch there. There you get tasty and juicy Kaya toast and Peanut butter toast. I didn't get a seat, so couldn't have anything from there today. Else, I would have taken some pictures of it and posted here. May be next time!

Genetic Engineering at Home!

"Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life forms through genetic engineering — a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling in university and corporate laboratories...."
Here's the news.

Link found at Instapundit.

Dog psychology

After Indian PM said categorically that there would be no war with Pakistan, Pakistan officials says for the second time since:

Qureshi said: "If you are asking me, I am not ruling out anything. But if war is imposed, we will respond to it like a brave and self-respecting nation."

Isn't this how the stray dogs act?! When we look at them, they'll stand still and silent. As soon as we turn to walk, they come after you barking! (Courtesy: Some wise Malayalam author for this observation about dogs.)

Update: The author is M.P. Narayana Pillai

Ghajini

I enjoyed the movie. That doesn't mean it was flawless. But when the makers promote it as a masala movie why do we have to care about the flawlessness?!

This is the first time I'm seeing Asin act and I must say I enjoyed her character and acting. Aamir Khan's acting wasn't surprising to me. It was good too. So was Jiah Khan, though the role was quite small.

I liked the flashback in the movie than the other part again, may be because I could easily predict what the ending would be. The action sequence had a glimpse of Tamil movie stunt in it (not surprising when the director is a tamilian).
Needless to mention, lovely songs! But I got the feeling that the songs kept coming every now and then. May be they could have reduced a song or two from the movie.

Bottomline: Bollywood movie with a hint of Kollywood. Watchable.

Merry Christmas to all !!

I'll be going for Ghajini tonight!

Happy Holidays! :-)

Media and National Integrity

I'm surprised how the media forces people to take sides. I'm talking with my experience over the recent Antulay episode. When the news first came out I just brushed it aside as the usual parliament ruckus over someone's statement. After seeing and hearing this subject over and over again for the next couple of days in the media websites I wrote a short comment on this blog.

But it didn't end there. Couple of Muslim so-called leaders started appearing on the media talking about Hindutva terrorism, fear psychosis in the minds of ordinary Muslims and other similar sentiments.

Here are my views and sentiments about this:

1) I continue to stand by my views mentioned in the previous post that the question raised by the minister was a legitimate one. A big section of our country had similar doubts, as an M.P., he raised the question in parliament.

2)Did his statement actually fan the fear psychosis and feeling of justice denied in the Muslim minds? It must have but not as big as it is now after the hype of the media. Yes, the irresponsible media is to be blamed. Not once throughout this coverage did I hear an opnion saying it might have been a proper question. Not once! I would say the media created the psychosis in this case. They twisted the minister's statement to sound like a divisive one. They made it appear as an attempt of vote-bank politics.

If at all the nation is divided now, I would say it was divided by the media, not by the minister's statement.

When the public blamed the media for live telecasting the commando operation and hyping the situation, they kept saying but "we helped avoid a possible communal riot"..."we united the nation to hold the government and politicians accountable". Very true and thanks for the service.

But in this incident, you did a great disservice to the nation.

Update: A discussion about media responsibility

Absurdity

I found the statement below in this news:

The Catholic Church opposes gay marriage. It teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

What?! What does the church suggest a gay person to do?

If homosexuality is not a sin, then can that person be a priest in the Catholic church?!

I seriously doubt whether these people know what they are talking about.

Religious tolerance

I found this great article by Philip Jenkins about religious tolerance and intolerance mainly focusing on Christianity in Europe and Asia as an example. The title of the article seemed to suggest the usual theory that Jesus travelled to India and met Buddha before he started his mission (here's one). But, the article has nothing to do with that.

In the article he discusses how the followers of Christianity who came to Asia, imbibed the principles of Buddhism and by the 12th century the churches in China and southern India integrated the cross symbol with lotus, which was the symbol of Buddhist enlightenment. Here's an example of such symbol (of Mar Thoma Syrian Church)

From Blogger Pictures

The article ends with a great anecdote which summarises the current religious debate:

Consider the story told by Timothy, a patriarch of the Nestorian church. Around 800, he engaged in a famous debate with the Muslim caliph in Baghdad, a discussion marked by reason and civility on both sides. Imagine, Timothy said, that we are all in a dark house, and someone throws a precious pearl in the midst of a pile of ordinary stones. Everyone scrabbles for the pearl, and some think they've found it, but nobody can be sure until day breaks.

In the same way, he said, the pearl of true faith and wisdom had fallen into the darkness of this transitory world; each faith believed that it alone had found the pearl. Yet all he could claim - and all the caliph could say in response - was that some faiths thought they had enough evidence to prove that they were indeed holding the real pearl, but the final truth would not be known in this world.

This' what people do in free society

1) Iraqi shoe thrower tortured in jail.

“He told me he was sleeping on the floor of the cell when a very large man came in and dumped cold water on him and began hitting him with a thick cable,” Uday al-Zaidi said in the TV interview.

He said his brother had told him that he was brutally beaten by several men and burned on his right ear by a cigarette. Uday al-Zaidi said that on Sunday his brother had bruises on his face, stitches on the bridge of his nose and swelling in his legs, arms and hands.

2) I'll do it again: Muntader Al-Zaidi

My friendly advise to Al-Zaidi...Keep the remaining teeth.

And there goes my promise not to write about this incident again...Damn! I just couldn't resist!

Contrast

From Blogger Pictures

This heart rending picture is a scene from Zimbabwe. People are picking up corns that spilled from a truck. You might want to read "In Zimbabwe, Survival Lies in Scanvenging".

Compare that article with this one: "Govt may run out of space to store grains".

News as an appetiser

FBI grills Kasab.

Man!...makes wanna eat some grilled Kababs!

So What?!

Sonia says "India is capable of giving a fitting reply" to Pakistan if it doesn't act.

Oh!..is it?! So why haven't we heard any reply for the past so many decades?!

The government just realised terror attacks were actually questions and not exclamations!

From "BOOM!!" to...."BOOM?"

Picture of the day

From Blogger Pictures

found picture link at Marginal Revolution

What's the problem?!

Minister Antulay's statements:

"There is more than what meets the eyes. Karkare was investigating some cases in which there are non-Muslims also"...

"This is beyond my comprehension why Karkare didn't go to Taj, Oberoi or Nariman House where the terrorists were holed up. Why he chose to go to a different place? It may be a separate inquiry how Karkare's end came.."

"Superficially speaking, the terrorists had no reason to kill Karkare. Whether he was a victim of terrorism or terrorism plus something. I do not know"

This is a perfectly legitimate question and as a MP he should ask the question. Killing of the top three officers in an encounter is never heard of...where in the world does such a thing happen?! The minister is asking for an investigation and why is there such a hullabulla about that?! 

Antikythera Mechanism- 2000 years old computer.

I first heard about this machine in a recent Nature podcast. The interesting things about the discovery of this mechanism was that not even a single gear wheel or pointer were found from the ancient times before or after this! and for me personally, the story of its discovery would definitely qualify for a hollywood flick. Here's an excerpt from an article about the computer I found today 

The device was discovered more than a century ago by sponge divers from the Aegean island of Symi. In 1900, after a gale blew them off course, they took shelter by a barren islet called Antikythera. When the storm abated, they went diving. Instead of sponges, the divers found a large heap of bronze and marble statues. They had happened upon an ancient shipwreck.

The Greek government immediately hired the men to salvage the wreck. It was dangerous work: during the 10-month expedition one of the men died and two were paralysed as a result of the bends. But they brought back incredible treasures: bronze and marble statues, jewellery, glassware and furniture, including an ornate bronze throne.

In all the excitement, nobody noticed a corroded lump of rock dumped in a crate in the courtyard of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. That changed a few months later when it cracked open, revealing traces of gearwheels, precisely marked circular scales and inscriptions in ancient Greek.

Here's the video showing the reconstruction of the mechanism and its working

Antikythera mechanism, believed to be invented by Archimedes, jut shows great the capacity of human mind to imagine and create is!

Of A New Kind

Tired after a whole day of work,

Thought we, work for an hour we'll shirk.

Gathered around the table,

Spoke of news we saw on cable.

With the power of caffeine in hand,

overwhelming optimism about the land,

uttered my friend, "The world is beautiful".

"The world is strange", said I.

"You just echo his views" said another to me.

Astonished at his total lack of wit,

In silence, coffee I sipped a bit.

Previous poem(s): 1

Rotten politics

Now Shashi Tharoor wants to be in politics. It is a great thing that highly qualified and intellectuals like him want to join politics. But the problem lies in our system. I heard people have already started mud slinging at him. It reminds me of the situation when A.P.J. expressed his desire to continue for an another term as president. 

Sad.

The last of the shoe posts...I swear!

A hell lot of Bush shoe jokes are taking rounds on the internet. Here is a hillarious bunch of them and here's a sample

"Have you watched this tape? Some people are criticizing the Secret Service, because the shoe thrower caught them off guard. The man was able to throw a second shoe. A spokesman for the Secret Service said, "Sorry, but we were laughing our asses off."- Conan O'Brien

Read the whole thing. I guarantee you they are absolutely delightful!

A new saying in Malayalam...

I've always believed our vocabulary and language should improve and adapt with the times. But this is no justification for over- and unnecessary use of the SMS lingo in our daily conversations and emails.
There is an old saying in Malayalam "Chakka veenu muyalu chathu". We all know the meaning but don't you guys think it's kind of out-dated? I can't even remember when was the last time I saw a Chakka (Jackfruit) fall or the last time I even saw a muyalu (Rabbit)!

Here's an alternative I propose... "Iraqi shoe erinju kondila".

(Sorry non-malayalees, you may not understand what I'm talking about)

The Onion continues to entertain

Barack Obama defeats Barack Hussein Obama!

"It was a hard-fought campaign, and [Barack Hussein Obama] definitely gave it his all, but in the end he just didn't have enough credibility with the American people," said political analyst and NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. "Still, he's probably the best candidate the Republican party has put out in decades."....

Open Letter to Arsalan Iftikhar

Dear Iftikhar,

This is in response to your article in CNN. I understood mainly three things from the article:

1) Like the title suggests, throwing shoes does not help Iraq

2) Al Zaidi should not have thrown the shoes because he is a journalist

3) This incident perpetuates the stereotype of Arabs are uncivilised. 

First, throwing shoes at Mr Bush may not help Iraq but Al Zaidi and other people holding similar sentiments to express their deep displeasure of the US occupancy of their country and this incident would have been a jolt to Bush. I must say it also helped us, who are outside Iraq, to understand their feelings. 

Second, being a journalist doesn't disqualify him from having any kind of feeling of nationalism. He is an Iraqi first then a journalist. When a person who attacked his country is standing in front of him and acting funny and friendly as if nothing had happend by trying to speak in Arabic, anyone with a even a little love for his country would be enraged. If every person was supposed to express view or act based on his profession only, then we would have no Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. 

Third, I would like to ask you who is uncivilised?- a person who fired a "shoe missile" at another person who invaded and continues to occupy his country and calls himself "a saviour" OR someone who fires scud missiles at another country for no real  reason, by misleading his own people through lies and deceit and thereby killing millions and yet continue to be unapologetic?

I would like to remind you that Iraqis are humans and no prophets or saints and it is ridiculous and ironic that you make such comments by sitting in your cozy office in Washington. Kindly write a balanced view- instead of writing only about the shoe-throwing process, please write also why the shoes were thrown in the first place.

Thank you.

Vineet.

"Medal of freedom"

A Saudi man offers Rs 50 crore for  the "medal of freedom", that would be that black thing (in the air) you see in the picture. 

By terming it as a medal of freedom was this guy actually agreeing with Bush statement that "Thats what people do in free society..."?! 

The beauty of internet

I've always believed, in this world if you can imagine something it is already there or will be there. Same goes applies to the internet(coming from the same world). 

Check this out: Sock and Awe

Within days of the incident the service is up for the public. Such fun!

Very Chinese!

I couldn't resist myself from posting this over here:

The 2008 China International Petroleum Equipment and Technology Exhibition concluded last Friday in the eastern city of Dongying. 3000 guests from over 40 countries attended and everything appeared to run smoothly. Yet the majority of the foreign delegates were hired just to make the event look "international". Among the 200 fake delegates was Jez Webb, The Peking Order’s energy correspondent.

Most guests had responded to an ad on theBeijinger.com with the curious title: “Free trip to Shandong, 200 foreign visitors invited (Be paid)”. We would, depending on our age, receive between 600 and 700 RMB (£60-70) for two days “work” – two 6 hour bus journeys to and from the city, full board in a luxury hotel and a couple of hours walking round an exhibition, pretending that we were involved in the petroleum industry.

This sounds like a typical Indian movie masala where a guy will hire drama actors to pose as his parents and.........we all know where the story heads. This might be a major blow to the Chinese.

Found the link at Marginal Revolution

Poor creatures!...

We found them.

You can see few of those ill-fated creatures over here

Update(23.12.08)

Sanskrit and Laloo

Eager to know what kind of research a Sanskrit university does, I clicked the link "Sanskrit University to focus on research" on The Hindu and I found this...

THIS world is not enough!

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Breaking news....

Anti-kidnap expert kidnapped...Anti-kidnap expert kidnapped...Anti-kidnap expert...

Ahh...we(humans) are a beautiful lot! 

found the link on iyerdeepak.wordpress.com

Ban to settle ban on tur'ban'

Ban Ki Moon is gets a new task- to take care of the ban on turban in France. 

It appears ridiculous to me that a government in order to check radicalism resorted to banning all religious symbols. This is as bad as radicalism! Is the French governement totally out of ideas?!

Lets look at it this way...who would want to wear that head gear after seeing someone wear it?! Similarly with the head scarves!

Lost in Translation

The renowned Max Planck Institute's editorial board makes the gaffe of the year. The board felt "we gotta tap into this craving for anything Chinese" and they did it...made the institute's journal all the more exotic!

Little did they know that the "classical poem" they had picked to published on the front cover was an ad of strip bar in Macau

 with of course all the sleazy details!

The best part is they had consulted a German sinologist! :-/ ...and it seems the chinese text, as per the authorities "had deeper levels of meaning, which are not immediately accessible to a non-native speaker"

It's already December and I thought no one could beat Palin to the title of "Gaffe of the Year". But then this is life...with "deeper levels of meaning" which unfortunately are hard to understand!