Independence Day 2006

Chronology of events :

Friday, June 30

Spend 2 or 3 hours at work taking printouts of reservations, driving directions etc for the big weekend.

Fly out at 7pm from Minneapolis, headed to NYC.

Touch ground at 10:30 pm and reach Vyju’s house at 11:30 pm.

2 JD’s with coke before heading to bed ( at 4 am)

Nik, Appu and Anusha make it the same night too.

Saturday, July 1

Appu n me head to New Jersey to rent that cars for the weekend ( since NY city rates are ridiculously high)

We meet Satish ( Nik’s friend) and rent the cars around 9:30.

It is 11 o clock by the time the lazy asses Vineet, Vasavi, Vyju, Nik and Anusha join us at New Jersey.

We pick them up and head to Ocean City, NJ to spend some time at a water park.

The drive is too long cos of the frikking traffic … taking 5 hrs where it should have taken 3 and we spend about an hour an half playing different water games and coming down slides and generally getting wet n wild.

Get some stuff to eat and change of clothes and then head back to Vyju’s place.

Everyone takes a bath and gets changed and heads out to party, after a nice big peg of JD mixed by Girish who has joined us now.

Reach club TONIC at 1 am in the night and start drinking and partying. I remember about half an hour of the night cos after that I was in my zone and doing all wild and crazy things with everyone. I was letting myself go and having awesome fun. I had to look at the pics later to know what was happening even.

Around 2:30, after 6 of us have downed about 250 dollars worth of booze ( 2 ppl weren’t drinking) … I pass out …. Then I puke … then the bouncer throws me out ….. the cab driver pleads with everyone to not let me puke in the cab and I still do …. We come home by 3 …. Everyone lends a hand in cleaning me up and everyone’s asleep by 4.

Sunday, July 2

Everyone is up and taking their baths bright and early after 2 hrs of sleep again to head for the white water rafting place.

They finally manage to wake me up around 8 o clock and tell me the events of the previous night which I have no recollection of. I don’t remember dancing, taking my shirt off, grinding with the ladies, passing out, being brought home …. Nothing. Total amnesia.

We reach the white water place at 11:30 just as the buses are pulling out and none of us has time to change into our gear and so some of are wearing jeans, and everyone is in thick cotton t-shirts which are not the best thing for a journey on the river. Well at least we had life jackets and our oars to paddle with. ( Well at least Vyju had it before she lost it in the river and one of the other rafts had to pick it up .... she and her crazy arm power)

Anyways we picked a good day for rowing cos the tide was up cos of floods the previous week. He only problem was they stuck all 8 of us on one raft and we had no guide. Yea thats great when 90 % of the group has never rafted before. So our boats goes left, goes right and goes circling around on the river with us having no idea how to straighten it out. The we get hit by this big wave and our raft is filled with water.

So this guide from one of the other rafts starts yelling ... you guys we r gonna get you a guide but start bailing that water now now now. Now all this excitement with barely 2 hrs sleep is bloody invigorating. And I am still recovering from last nights activities. Anyways after we get our guide he teaches us when to paddle staright and when to back paddle and which side should do what when etc etc and we handle it much better.

Some interesting conversations happened on that raft about cross dressers, steak, potatoes and vegetarian restaurants ... yeah i told you we were all drunk.

Anyways after that we got washed up, ate some hot dogs ( complimentary of course) ... well the vegetarians had to do with chips .... and headed back home.

Then we went and rented 2 movies ( which we never got a chance to see) and then went out for dinner to Pizzeria Uno in Forest Hills ( another place in NYC). I got the NY Strip Steak .. which was very good and then we all headed back sooooo sleepy cos we got very little sleep for 2 days in a row and had too much activity.

Monday July 3

Appu, Girish n me get up early one more time to head to New jersey to return one of the rental cars and by the time we got back it was 11:30. Vineet and Vyju had to work, so the rest of us at that time ... Appu, Nik, Anusha, and me head to Saravanas ( The Saravana Bhavan from Madras) and met up with vasavi and we eat a great meal there. Idli's vada's and dosa's and oothapam's .... great stuff.

We then head to Dave and Busters and played a few games and Nik won a few coupons so he could buy Vyju her soft toys .. some ppl never grow up !!!!

Vyju and Vineet met up with us and then we headed to this Blues club BB KING, where 4 guys were playing as the Beatles ... all dressed as them, their Sargent Peppers costumes, their regular suited version and also their Indian mystic version. They sang a lot of Beatles songs and even though my knowledge of their music is shaky I had a good time cos it was very diff experience seeing a live band and eating good food and drinking some fine Merlot.

After that we headed to “Superman Returns” and honestly as a fan of the original 1978 version ... I thought it was very good. If you know the history of Superman u will definitely enjoy it. At least the casting of Superman and lex was spot on.

Headed home to sleep again.

Tuesday Jul 4 – Independence Day

Appu headed out early to go meet some other friends and hand over the other car, so Vineet could go return it.

Anusha left a little earlier cos she had to leave back to Virginia.

Vyju, me n Nik went to this Irish pub called The Kettle and watched the Germany – Italy game, which was simply awesome, drank some Heineken, ate some chicken wings and chicken nachos.

We then headed back to Nyc and watched this movie called “The Devil Wears Prada” ..... which was a chick flick but it was certainly a very good one. Meryl streep was outstanding and Anne Hathaway was also very good.

Then headed to our fav good old Bubba Gump and ate a nice dinner with lots of shrimp and a huge chocolate cake which Vyju had to pack for home cos it was just too big. ( and which she is gorging on as I write this)

Thats abt it. Headed back home. Slept at 1. Woke up at 4. Caught a plane at 6. Back to work at 9. Damn life now.

That was Independence day vacation !!!!

The namesake / Jhumpa Lahiri.

I finished The Namesake a couple of nights ago and apart from the fact that the suthor is a very pretty woman, the book is quite a good read too. Jhumpa won the Pulitzer price for her earlier book Interpreter of Maladies and you can see why.
She has a talent to speak in such a way about each of the characters in her novel, that you immediately feel like you are them or you sympathize with them.
I felt like Ashoke, Ashima, Gogol, Sonia, Moushumi, etc had become a prat of my life for a few days.

There were lots of incidents and references we can all relate to ( especially if yu have studied and lived in the US) and I think it was tale of human nature more than anything. Each character has their own peculiar charcteristics and it really was a very good read.

I hope to keep this reading habit going, though my next one is a mammoth 700 page beast called The Agony and The Ecstacy - A novel of Michelangelo.

Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Life of Pi : a novel / Yann Martel.

Finished the book "Life of Pi" last week.
It was very different from what I thought it would be like. From my friend's introduction to the book I knew it was a lost at sea kinda adventure but the treatment was refreshingly different.

To keep a whole novel centered on one person ( okay .. 2) with no other characters other than a few pages here n there is quite a feat and then to do it in such a way that you are thoroughly engrossed is pretty remarkable.

Pi is a unique character and the novel is a great testament to the character that Pi is. Its quite stunning what a person will do to survive if there are no other options. Like Pi says "you can get used to anything"

I really loved this book and highly recommend it. The last few pages are indeed thought provoking.

Cheers.

Letter from Husband to Wife - Brilliant

This being the Soccer World Cup fever time .... this letter makes perfect sense.
If its cricket world cup time and you're in India .. everything is still applicable.

____________________________________________________________

Dear Wife,



1. From 9 June to 9 July 2006, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.


2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).


3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don't mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me.


4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone.


5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV in the afternoon, unless they replay a good game that I missed.


6. Please, please, please!! If you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say "get over it, its only a game", or "don't worry, they'll win next time". If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called "words of encouragement" will only lead to a divorce.


7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying "one" game; hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to "spend time together".


8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don't care if I have seen them or I haven't seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.


9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:

a) I will not go,

b) I will not go, and

c) I will not go.


10. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.


11. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying "but you have already seen this...why don't you change the channel to something we can all watch?" because, the reply will be, "Refer to Rule #2 of this list".


12. And finally, please save your expressions such as "Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years". I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Italian League, Spanish League, Premier League, FA Cup, etc.


Thank you for your cooperation.

Your Loving Husband,

TAMIL - DA MACHI CODE

I was gonna write about something else but this came through the email chain and just had to put it up. Brilliant stuff.

Robert Lingam I.P.S (Vijayakanth) visits Madurai to deliver a lecture
in college about public safety. The head pujari of Meenakshi temple is murdered. He was stabbed to death, but before dying he lies down in the robotic break dance position next to a shiva lingam, the message clearly being "call robert lingam". He had also smashed the breasts of a goddess statue and hung a bell with a chain from her hip. Also clutched in his hand is the Congress party manifesto with the 49% reservation for OBCs underlined with his blood.

Pujari's grand daughter Mahalakshmi (Sneha) had just returned from USA with a degree in cryptology, symbology, singing and group-dance. She cuts short her weekend trip to Chennai and returns to Madurai upon the murder.

She meets Commissioner Lingam at the murder site and together embarkto solve the murder and in the process "witness the biggest cover up in Hindu history". "My 'Thaatha' used to insist that me and my brother play hide and seek inside the temple", said Mahalakshmi.

"Why the congress manifesto? Why the underlining on the reservation part? Was your thaatha going to lose his job as head-priest to an OBC candidate?",puzzled look on Lingam's face with knit eyebrows."Thaatha always said reservation was plain bull shit"

"What?"

"Bull shit - very rarely he used english but whenever this topic used tocome up, he wud use that term"Lingam's eyes lit up. "That's the clue...yes, bull shit, oh Rama how did i miss that", excited he clutches Mahalakshmi's wrist as they bolt out of the murder scene.
"Where is the biggest Nandi bull statue in this temple complex?"

"by the east gate"

"Let's go".................

Lingam put his hand into the orifice which was the asshole of the
Nandi bull statue. His fingers felt the cold touch of an ancient palm leaf. Pulling it out Lingam attempted to read under the flickering light of the solitary lamp post nearby.neatly written in outdated tamil script were the lines,

"Kai Anchu, Vaai Nooru Periya bookukule oru chinna book"
"Ah", Lingam sighed.
"What does it mean?"
"I have heard both these lines before...but in a very different context"
Lingam looked skywards for some divine intervention to help him solve this new clue. Towering into the skyline in front of him as dawn was breaking,was the tall gopuram of the temple. Quickly turning around, a smile danced on Lingam's lips as his sight fell on all the five towers. "The five towers, phallic symbols...the five Pandava brothers, We need to get to a library,I need to see the original copy of the Kama sutra", "this early in the morning?" asked Mahalakshmi as they hurried towards Lingam's jeep.

As they jeep hurtled towards the town library, Lingam explained, "
Few temples in India are famous for their erotic art and architecture.
The kings built those to encourage population growth. For centuries, there has been rumours of a secret society that guarded a secret behind such art and symbols, a secret so powerful that if revealed would shake the very foundations of conservative culture."

COMING SOON TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU....
WITNESS THE GREATEST COVER UP IN HINDU HISTORY
A SECRET SO DEVASTATING THAT IF REVEALED COULD LEAD TO EVEN MORE
CATACLISMIC POPULATION EXPLOSION.....
WAS THE MOST NOTORIOUS PIECE OF INDIAN LITERATURE ORIGINALLY PART OF
THE GREATEST EPIC POEM EVER WRITTEN?
WERE THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE KAMASUTRA THE SAME GODS AND GODDESSES GLORIFIED IN ANCIENT TEXTS?
CONTINUING WITH THE MODERN INDIAN TRADITION OF BLATANTLY APING THE
WEST....
A.M.RATNAM PRESENTS
CAPTAIN in
THE DA MACHI CODE
'SO CORNY A DARK MAN'
PONGAL 2007

Unlock the code ........in the head

After keeping this page open for an hour and trying to figure out what to write about, inspiration strikes in the form of a dear friend's classic quote "Drunk ppl always mean what they say".

So True.

They say that when u'r drunk, u always speak the truth. Its when you let go of your inhibitions and speak whats on your mind. You might finally confess that you love a particular person ( never mind u might be confessin to a clay pot in the corner of your room), u might say who u hate the most in the world .... even to his face ... hopefully he's drunk too and thinks its the most hilarious thing he has ever heard !!!

But memory reminds me that there was this one ocassion when I was so piss drunk and at the top of my powers .... it was a house warming kinda thing when some friends of mine moved into a new place. and on this auspicious day I blew the lid off a hidden little scandal going on in our quaint little town. Never mind that the whole thing involved one of the girls who were playing host.

So I start by saying that P( for sake of privacy) loves A(ditto). And that P has confessed many times to me that he loves A. and that A is cute and smart and sexy. And blah blah blah. And I go on and on and on like the Blue Collar Comedy Tour ..... being stupid, crass and utterfly fun for everyone. And obviosuly except for P and A, everyone else is having a grand ol fun time.

And the grand finale .... puked on their carpet. U have to remember this was the first day they moved in ... and they had to live with that stain for the duration of their stay there .. 2 yrs I guess ... before the owner figured he likes wooden floors better and stripped all the crapet off. Hehehehe .. yeah I have to take part of the credit for that.

Poor girls. But I missed the point compeltely ..... the whole story about P and A was made up. It was just that ... a story .... a figment of my imagination. This means that I was piss drunk just enough for me to unlock the part of the brain where imagination comes active and truth and confessions go dead. If this is an art, I have to master it to make it perfect. Like they say .. Practice ....... so here's to more nights like that before that special someone comes along and I am shackled by the wonderful bonds of a relationship or better/worse still ... matrimony. God help this poor lil crazy drunk guy.

Well memories .... what else does one have as age catches up ??

Cheers
Mo.

One down, one more to go

Finally managed to catch the Da Vinci code last night and it must be said I have never entered a movie hall more confused than for this one. On the one hand I loved the book, where mom disagrees, and on the other hand I had one set of friends telling me they loved the movie and another set saying they hated it.
Wiping the slate clean is not something I am really good at. With all that background I must say I really enjoyed the movie. Nothing surprised me and in hindsight that might be one of the reasons a few ppl didn't like me cos you whats going to happen if you have read the book. But I thought it was wonderfully photographed and Ron Howard being a pretty conventional director, doesn't surprise you too much.
I think if you are the kind of person who can actually concentrate for 2 hours or so to try and figure out whats happening ( if you haven't read the book), you'll definitely enjoy the movie.
There might be others looking to go to a movie to eat some popcorn and chat with their friends about the ranuchy or funny scenes ... well nothing for you guys unfortunately.
Audrey Tautou has been a favorite since Amelie and she is immensely good as Sophie. She brings the necessary innocence, incredulance and feistiness required.
Tom Hanks to be quite frank, was a let down. Thinking from the director's point of view ... I am guessing he told Tom we don't have any real dramatic scenes for you here and so lets just underplay the character throughout .... and if that was the aim it was done superbly. My only issue with this being that in Dan Brown's books Langdon has already been established as the thinking man's Indiana Jones, so you do expect a little more energy in the character.
There are very few scenes where he is genuinely surprised and this may be because they are trying to show that in his head most of the puzzle has already fit together, but I am not so sure abt that. After all Teabing only introduces Langdon to the concept that the Holy Grail is not the chalice but the sacred womb of Mary Magdalene, and Langdon should be shocked but he is just surprised. Just a few touches missing here and there.
Silas i thought would be more of a hulking individual but the guy has definitely acted well.

The movie does lack in solving the puzzles mentally for us and that is for sheer lack of time. If he had a 5 hr canvas to do this movie it could have been the book verbatim but thats the problem the screenplay writer always faces. Poor chap had to live up to writing the screenplay for the second most published book in history. He had no chance.

Overall the movie was 3 stars outs of 5 , and in my opinion the book is 5 out of 5. My mom thought the book wasn't very well written but I couldn't put it down after I started it, so i thought it was a mighty fine read.

There was a disclaimer in the end saying that all characters are fictitious etc .... and the Censor board in India even put that notice at the beginning of the movie if I am right. In spit of that I hear TN and AP have banned it. Absolutely ridiculous. More absurd than the Rs. 2 per kg rice. Do these ppl even know what freedom of expression means ? As in the case of Aamir Khan .. apprently you shouldn't show or say anything that goes against popular opinion. This must be what Galileo felt like when the church was persecuting him. After all the earth was round.

Well my interest in the whole topic has been revived again and I have already made notes of 4 books to read up to research the history of the church and how the whole Jesus mysery panned out. lets see what wall that drives me to climb.

Till later.
Adios amigos.
M ( that looks like the female symbol between two legs, doesnt it ?? .. weird position though)

Things to do

Hopefully I will be able to catch the Da Vinci code this weekend, as also X-Men 3 which seems to have got off to a bloody huge mega blockbuster start.
Hugh Jackman was definitely born to play Wolverine and add the stellar cast this time and its worth the admission price just to see Kelsey "Frasier" Cramer in a blue suit.

I think Val Kilmer would have made a better Dr. Langdon but I'll wait to comment on that after the movie.

Had an interesting conversation with a friend today about which one of us was the bigger loser and it ended as inconclusive as whether Ganguly deserved to be thrown out or Chappell !!!!!

Building a few online profiles here and there ( none on any wedding sites though) .... just good old fun friendship and timepass right now.

Looking forward to July 4 weekend. Hoping to have a ball in the East Coast again. Camping and White wate rafting among the planned attractions. Lets see.

Been sick as a dog for 3 days now and I hate that. I prefer being a dawg.

Well nothing much to comment on right now. Work is becoming more boring by the minute. I need some inspiration or some brandy in lukewarm water. The latter seems to be easier to obtain. And after being advised of the health benefits by a friend recently ..... can't do without it for long now.

Need to start setting up that mini bar a s a p.

well more later.

Cheers.
M.

Mission Impossible 3

I'm writing something here after like a year, so I'm probably gonna be real rusty.

Just got back from the first day show of MI:3. I am a Tom Cruise fan because more often than not his movies are entertaining.
Of late he has gotten a lot of bad press. He has made some crazy statements and his love affair with Katie Holmes does look a lil made up. But I don't think that is any case to hold against his movies.

The one thing about the MI:3 movies is that its a pure adrenaline rush and made now to showcase Tom as the master of all. So if you don't like that idea don't go watch it.

I don't understand people who go to the movie and say it didn't make logical sense and that it was rather fanciful .... what did you expect ... another Shawshank or Schindler's list ?? For pure popcorn entertainment and some awesome, if unbelievable stunts, it was definitely worth the money.

Tom Crusie delivers ..... and u have to look at it as a Rajni movie or Amitabh in the 80's movie. Pure entertainment was indeed delivered.

More later !!!!

The 5 Stages of Drinking

The 5 Stages Of Drinking

Level 1: It's 11:00 on a weeknight; you've had a few beers. You get up to leave because you have to work the next day and one of your friends buys you another round. One of your unemployed friends. Here at level one, you think to yourself, "Oh come on, this is silly. As long as I get seven hours of sleep, I'm cool."

Level 2: It's midnight. You've had a few more beers. You've just spent 20 minutes arguing against artificial turf. You get up to leave again, but at level two, a little devil appears on your shoulder. And now you're thinking, "Hey! I'm out with my friends! What am I working for anyway? These are the good times! Besides, as long as I get five hours of sleep, I'm cool."

Level 3: 1 a.m. You've abandoned beer for whisky. You've just spent 20 minutes arguing for artificial turf. And now you're thinking, "Our waitress is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" At level three, you love the world. On the way to the bathroom, you buy a drink for the stranger at the end of the bar just because you like his face. You get drinking fantasies. (Like, "Hey fellas, if we bought our own bar, we could live together forever. We could do it. Tommy, you could cook.") But at level three, that devil is a little bit bigger... and he's buying. And you're thinking, "Oh, come on, come on now. As long as I get three hours of sleep.... and a complete change of blood I'm cool."

Level 4: 2 .a.m. And the devil is bartending. For last call, you ordered a bottle of Jack and Coke. You are artificial turf! This time on your way to the bathroom, you punch the stranger at the end of the bar, just because you don't like his face! And now your thinking, "Our busboy is the best-looking man I've ever seen." You and your friends decide to leave, right after you get thrown out, and one of you knows an after-hours bar. And here, at level four, you actually think to yourself, "Well... as long as I'm only going to get a few hours of sleep anyway, I may as well stay up all night!!! Yeah! That'd be good for me. I don't mind going to that board meeting looking like Keith Richards. Yeah, I'll turn that around, make it work for me. And besides, as long as I get 31 hours of sleep tomorrow, I'm cool.

Level 5: 5 a.m. After unsuccessfully trying to get your money back at the tattoo parlor ("But I don't even know anybody named Ruby!"), you and your friends wind up across the state line in a bar with guys who have been in prison as recently as that morning. It's the kind of place where even the devil is going, "Uh, I got to turn in. I got to be in hell at nine. I've got that brunch with Hitler, I can't miss that." At this point, you're all drinking some kind of blue liquor, like something from a Klingon wedding. A waitress with fresh stitches comes over, and you think to yourself, "Someday I'm going to marry that girl!!" One of your friends stands up and screams, "We're drivin' to Vegas!" -- and passes out. You crawl outside for air and then you hit the worst part of level five, the sun. You weren't expecting that, were you? You never do. You walk out of a bar in daylight, and you see people on their way to work or jogging. And they look at you and they know. And they say, "Who's Ruby?" Let's be honest, if you're 19 and you stay up all night, it's like a victory -- like you've beat the night -- but if you're over 30, then that sun is like God's flashlight. We all say the same prayer then, "I swear, I will never do this again as long as I live!" And some of us have that little addition, "and this time, I mean it!"

From A Horse' Arse to the Space Shuttle

OK I didn't write this ... but it was a fascinating read. Hope you feel so too.

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break onsome of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.So who built those old rutted roads?Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.And the ruts in the roads?Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived fromthe original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two warhorses. Now the twist to the story... When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two bigbooster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol attheir factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track,as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major SpaceShuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. ... and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

Cynical point of view

Decided to put some thoughts down after viewing the Hindi movie 'Page 3'. I thought it was a very realistic and blunt portrayal of the fast, attractive and immoral celeb life. It set me thinking a lil bit, which is what I do anyways all the time.

The film is from the point of view of a journalist who covers the Page 3 section of the tabloids in Bombay. Page 3 is that part of the newspaper where all the rich and famous ppl are reported about .... its the gossip page and its where u want to be if u wanna be talked about.

The movie traverses her life, and those of her friends and roommates and some of the people she covers. I don't want to go into too many details, you should really see for yourself.

Anyways the basic idea I wanted to put through is this ..... if the system requires that you be unsentimental, immoral, and totally oblivious to some disgusting activities .... to be succesful .. would you do it ? or would you choose some other line of work cos u think thats more honest and straight ?

Its a very personal choice and though this may be a good point for a discussion .... I think I would have been defeated by the system and totally got into the kind of lifestyle that everyone else was leading.

I can see this in my personal life .... I hang out with a lot of guys who like to drink and go downtown for clubbing and I enjoy it too ... but thats the extent of our activites .... on the other hand if I was friends with a lot of friends like the undergrad students here ( who sleep around a lot and stuff) .. I think I would be doing that too.

Anyways i'm very muddled now. Maybe I'll write more on this later.
Cheers
Moj

VEER - ZAARA

This is my take on Yash Chopra's latest love saga Veer Zaara.

I have already watched this movie 3 times and its on its way to becoming a favorite. A lot of people don't like sappy romance movies cos they think its just not possible for people to be so dedicated in love and that may be true with the way the world is going but there will always be the exceptions.
I am a die hard romantic at heart and would love to spend all my time keeping some woman happy, though I haven't had that privilege yet. I completely agree with those of you who might feel that just after a day spent together, Veer and Zaara cannot feel so strongly about each other that they would cross so many obstacles to be with each other. But thats also like saying that a couple who have been in love for 10 years, cannot cheat on each other. Everything's possible. So I will say the plot is believable.

The most interesting part of this movie was the fact that there was no Pak bashing at all. In fact all the pakistani characters were very believable and genuine. Manoj Bajpai was the only negative character and even he is redeemed when they say he went abroad to live, meaning at least he's not the kind of character who tortures and abuses Zaara cos she broke their engagement.

Shah Rukh can sleepwalk through a romantic role and pulls it off with the finesse of the showman that he truly is. The old man get up was a bit much, but he did manage to induce some genuineness into the character with some very good dialogue delivery.

Priety has always been a favorite of mine, ever since here Liril days and she pulls off a slightly complicated role brilliantly. The scene when she tells her mom that there's a man across the border who will die for her, and also when she tells Shabbo that Veer is ingrained in her soul were brilliant.

Rani underplayed her role quite magnificently. A very deglamourized role with some powerful dialogues and she is turning out to be one pocket sized dynamo on screen. Watch the teaser trailer of BLACK ( Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next with the Big B and Rani ... looks like she's gonna pull off another brilliant role).

Some of the interesting scenes:
1. Shah Rukh and Kiron Kher .. shen she comes to beg for Zaara's life ... superb interplay between the characters.
2. Rani and Anupam Kher ... his dialogue after he loses the case ... plain old truth is so effective.
3. Shah Rukh and Manoj Bajpai ... when he tells him to take care of Zaara .... it takes a lot of guts to do that and the scene was very strong.

All the actors pulled off their roles with aplomb and Yash Chopra proves again that sex and sleaze is not needed to make a hit movie. Jus a good story and belief in what u'r presenting. Also each of the songs was directly a part of the narrative and the lyrics are quite stunning.

My loudest cheers are for Aditya Chopra ... for his sterling screenplay and some of the most impressive and heart tugging dialogues I have seen in a long time. Hats off.

This is just the way I feel about the movie. Please write and let me know if u agree or disagree. Criticism is always welcome, isnt it??

God Vs God

Well finally something interesting to write about. I recently heard this scenario from a friend. What if there was no Devil. There was just God but he had a split personality .. kinda like a Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. In case we assume this possibilty to be within the realm of reason, then doesn't it explain a lot of things?
( for those of you who don't know this particular story, check out http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/SteJekl.html )
Firstly, one of the questions sceptics and athiests always ask is "if there is a God, why does he let suffering, evil, pain and other things exist when he has the power to stop it all ? " Now if all this was happening when he's on his Mr.Hyde side of the mind , then he would be powerless to stop it. Maybe eons ago , Dr.Jekyll was more powerful than Mr. Hyde in the mind of the Lord, but through ages, things might have changed. Now as Mr.Hyde becomes more powerful, there is more pain, suffering, skewed morals etc.
Secondly, accoring to the Bible, man is built in God's own image. And we for sure know that each one us of acts in a way sometimes that we are ashamed of later. We think .. I'm a better person than this .. why did I just say this or do this ?? Or some really bad people have done certain good things too. Well if there's a Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde within each of us, and we are in God's image, then maybe God is that way too.

I don't want to sound blasphemous or criticize people's beliefs. I believe in God, but questions pop into my head too. For a nice explanation of how the universe was created, a theory which tries to fuse the scientific one with the religious belief, read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

Well if anything controversial pops into my head .. I will pop up here soon.
Adios
The Moj.

Update

Got this link from one of my friends .. its a parody about the Bush Vs Kerry race for the post of the President, which by they way is very fast becoming a big joke all over the US.
http://goodbysilverstein.com/client_site_beta/thisland.html  .... Thought it was pretty funny.

So I've been up to nothing much. Just the usual routine life , plus a lot of cursing cos this is the worst summer we have had since I got here ( which was eons ago, by the way ) . It keeps raining all the time and we have hardly had any sun. Sucks big time.

Kudos to Lance Armstrong. Proved once again that determination, single - mindedness and endless hours of practice can make anything possible. For a guy who was given less than 50 % chance of survival in life, to fight back and win the most gruelling event in Sport - 6 times in a frikkin row - is pretty mind blowing.  Over the course of 20 days they cover about 2000 miles which is the equivalent of 600 days of running for me on the treadmill. Bet u aren't even doing that.

The Indian cricket team is playing like it used to about 3 yrs back -- sloppy, lazy, careless and like a bunch of amateurs. Hope they wake up and smell their pants on fire before they get their ass whopped by Sri Lanka again.

Schumi Schumi Schumi ... when u gonna lose one next. Somebody has to try and give this guy a run for his money soon.

Is there anything else ... hmmm .. nothing comes to mind right now except for a small trip I am very much looking forward to ... in abt 3 weeks time.

Adios.
The Moj.

I, MOJO

So here I am again. Its been a very long time and before I listen to more abuse from Aps, lemme write something to keep it going. Saw the movie I, Robot a few days ago and was very impressed with it. Am not a fan of Sci-Fi movies at all. So didn't have too many expectations walking into the theatre. Primary reason for going was to see Will Smith cos I'm a biggg fan of his kind of entertainment movies. ( Got to see too much of him though .. he's exhibited his body proudly in this movie) And the movie was totally worth it. The mix of futuristic thinking, combined with Will Smith's deadpan humor and some excellent graphics to pull of the Robot is gonna set the cash registers ringing. By the way , not many are even gonna give any credit to the guy who played the Robot .. Alan Tudyk ... but I thought he was excellent. He's as important as Will Smith and they carry it off brilliantly.

Well now that this is out of the way, lets get down to more serious stuff. I really don't understan how I can listen to love ballads interspersed with Gangsta Rap and enjoy both thouroughly. So any explanation toward that is welcome. I promise I will be back with more soon.

Red White and Whooo

Am Back Bloggin now...
Was away for a while ... took a whirlwind tour of Washignton DC , New York City and Syracuse .. to celebrate the American Independence Day. We reached DC quite late .. too late in fact to catch the museums ... which is the best thing about DC. But did manage to get to all the memorials and monuments. Walked like 10 miles I guess ... was one tired dog by night time and found what a tired dog could really use .. The Hard Rock Cafe. HARDROCKCAFE .
I had been planning a visit to this place for a while now .. and it was definitely worth the wait. What an awesome place. Great drinks, Excellent food, Cool waiters, Brilliant music and superb ambience. Yeah I was excited ..as u can see. Picked up a souvenier too ... Beer mug .. one from every city is the objective. So that topped off the day really well. That was July 3.
July 4 .. Independence day ... decided to go to NYC to catch the Macy's Fireworks display ... voted MSN as the best fireworks display in the country. Got stuck in the wrong end of the right street but still managed to catch it .. though it wasn't up close and personal .. but a 30 min fireworks display is pretty amazing when u actually see it. The went to this restuarant called Bubba Gump .. the whole place is themed after the movie Forrest Gump. BUBBAGUMP . Brilliant store and good food .. prices go through the roof though. But it was great experience ... they are right on Times Square and the squar as usual did not disappoint. Also got a pic taken with The Rock's likeness outside Madame Tussaud's .. that was a highlight for me .... waiting to develop it and get it scanned.
July 5 was much more laidback. After all the walking and running of 3 and 4 , the body was starting to give up. Went to the Carousel Center which is supposed to be one of the biggest malls this side of the country and did some shopping. So after all that we gt home .. I had a big hole in my pocket ... but still mustered the courage to go see Fahrenheit 9/11. Best documentary I ever saw and it got me thinking .... the politicians in India aren't too bad after all .. the corruption here is even more. And why is it that all Presidential candidates here are such dick's. We all know George W hasn't exactly distinguished himself ... u think Kerry is better .. go check KERRYLIED and u'll know what I'm talking about. This country might actually go to the dogs one day. Guess India might in fact become a superpower like some great minds predicted centuries ago.

anyways that was my weeked and now am back to the drudgery of the work day. God help me with that.

Adios ppl.

The Moj.

Life - Does it get to you ?

A very wise friend of mine inspired me to put some thoughts on to paper ( figuratively speaking ). If you fear what life has to offer, then you live in the sort of state of mind which prevents you from enjoying what is right before you .. thinking instead of what might / might not happen say 6 months down the line. So thats when I thought its better to let life hit you in the balls someday rather than fearing that life might hit you in the balls someday. That might not have made sense to a lot of people but thats the way it is. When you don't expect it and you get hit ( in the balls .. by life ) then u r in pain for a while .. maybe a few days but you will survive and move on and all the while you would have been having fun till the 'incident'. But if you keep expecting to get hit ( in the balls - by life ) then you today is as miserable as the day when u actually get hit and then the tommorow's are no better. So go on enjoy life and let it hit you when it wants to. Don't expect the unexpected ..... jus let it happen.

On the subject of Balls .. saw this awesome movie DODGEBALL which was so full of physical humor and some lewd jokes I guess but it was so much fun. Ben Stiller does surprise me with his ability to morph into characters which are actally so unlike him. Anyways their slogan is GRAB LIFE BY THE BALL. Now that is interesting ... I guess its reverse psychology ... instead of life hitting you in the balls .. Grab its balls.

Anyways hope all your balls are safe and you are moving ahead safely on the ball-bearings of life.

Balls to everyone.

Moj.

The Sport of StickBall

Today was a fun day for me. Anything's fun for me as long as I don't have to study. Played my first game of stickball. For the stickball - virgins, stickball is an offshoot of baseball. Its played in a much smaller are than an actual babseball pitch, the bat is a lot thinner ( kind of like the dry brooms in India ) , and its played with tennis balls. So the rules are similar to baseball ... tag outs, home runs, running bases etc. My team lost 27 - 24 but I managed to hit 4 Homers and never struck out the whole game. And I was told that was kind of a big deal for a decent player, let alone a debutante. So at least now I have an alternate career option .. albiet an amateurish one.

Followed that up with Spiderman 2. For those of you who liked Spiderman 1 .. u'll love Version 2. Its a better story and the effects are just as good .. and a few scenes are heart stoppers. There are a couple of corny scenes in there but overall .. its a billion dollar making money machine. The producers are gonna laugh all the way to the Swiss Bank. For those of you who don't care too hoots about it .. don't go see it and spoil it for the rest of the people at the theatre ( like some girls at the movies over here did today).

Heading to sleep now. After a 15 hr day .. now I get 3 hrs of sleep before I head off to work again. Man life is tough .. but sometimes fun.

Cheers.
The Moj.

Wanna Make a Quick Buck

Apparently 'Sex' is no longer taboo in India too. The one topic that for decades has been held within wraps has also now come out into the open. Read an article on Outlook a few months back about how gilrs from high profile houses were making anything from Rs. 20,000 to a lakh for a night of hot steamy sex with some guy ( obviously there are a lot of them around ) who had a lot of money to blow.

Now this article on Indiatimes ( check the link ) has once again made me think. No offence to anybody, but isn't our culture one where the kings used to have loads of wives and concubines and where promiscuous sex was all over the place. Well I guess what goes around comes around. Maybe the days of casual sex are back in this country ... its soon becoming an accepted custom .. maybe in a few years no one will bat an eyelid about the whole thing. We have to go back to our roots someday I guess.

Anyways lots of money around .. to be spent and to be earned.

Time to Enjoy.

Ciao.