The makeover.

Airtel. You have been grifted. Sources say you paid close to 66Million USD for an image makeover. Tell me now, does the end result seem worth all that money?? Here is a small image below, to cement my point.

Airtel say they needed a new more youthful brand image. Granted the old logo was ageing, but with the new one, it has lost its identity. The similarity to Vodafone is just too obvious. Just today, I was driving by a road and as I stopped at a traffic light I casually scanned the shops by the roadside. There was just too much red. Infact, what stood out was the blue of Uninor and multicoloured hue of Tata Docomo. The red of vodafone and airtel just was too overwhelming. To add to that we also have virgin mobile and MTS. Clearly someone got the concept of painting the town red all wrong.

Forgetting the colour scheme we move onto the shape of the logo. Seriously is that the best they could come up with? I find their attempt to be somewhat half-hearted and is not exactly all that vibrant and youthful. Somehow, the effort that went into revamping the bharti logo a few years back seems to have evaporated when it came to doing the same for their actual public brand.

The one that that I do like about the new concept is the slew of adverts that they have come up with. The conception is really beautiful. A gripe is that they are creating all this hype about the 3G services, but not saying anything about when exactly they will be available. Business line sources say end of december, but an airtel employee who is trying to promote the 3G service at a stall in a local mall says, I don't know. Somehow I feel Airtel is giving away the 3G advantage to services like Tata Docomo because they are actually promoting a service that they don't have yet while a someone else does have it.

I am not a marketing or branding expert, but as the average gadget friendly user I have to say the new campaign does not really make the cut, though of course I will be sticking on to Airtel because I use it and prefer using it.

Random ramblings

Just wanted to post something. Type to myself maybe, while simultaneously filling up cyberspace with some more junk :P . Another week goes by heralding the arrival of another weekend. If you haven't heard the story, I got fined for travelling in a ladies ticket(My cousin's) by the Indian Railways. Paid 1 grand in fines and the actual ticket cost. Doing the math, I realised I don't earn that much in a day. Might as well have bunked Monday and stayed at home. Apparently the Railways earned around 30 Lakhs in fines during the Diwali season for ticketless travel and travelling in the name of someone else. That's a fat sum I say.

If you've been keeping abreast of the latest happenings in Coimbatore, you might have heard about the spate of kidnappings not only in Coimbatore but around the state. The guys who were apprehended in Chennai happened to be foreign educated working professionals. One guy had an MBA from UK. And yet he had to resort to kidnapping some guy's kid. Yeah he did show resourcefulness and his engineering pedigree when he devised alternate breathing methods for the kidnapped kid by removing speakers from the rear parcel shelf of the car and stuff like that. What a waste of talent. :| The guy who was apprehended in Coimbatore was shot dead in an "encounter" when he tried to flee apparently. We've watched too many cop movies to know how an encounter goes about, so I'm sure the general public didn't bat an eyelid on that news.

Finally, Mr.Raja. Seriously? 1.76 Lakh Crores? How??

I'm going to be watching the Social Network sometime soon, so maybe there might be a review of that coming up. I also have some short stories in the pipeline. Pipeline being the keyword there.:|

Pedal to the metal along the East Coast River/Road

The planning started several weeks back. The gym regime was enhanced one week ahead. Traversing forty kilometers without the help of an internal combustion engine just seem like a far fetched task. I decided to do it for the hell of it. I'd done it before(albeit eons back), surely I could get back to that? Friday night. I tried sleeping early. alas. 4 hours of sleep was all I got as I awakened to the bright tubelight of my room at 3.55 a.m. A short figure towered in the distance. Prateek of course. "5 minutes dude", I said and went back to sleep. Of course, the rest of the story would usually end up with me waking up later to find that I had overslept by a few hours as usual thus rendering all my plans defunct. Not this time though. I woke up two minutes later. Waited for my phone to start ringing for the 4 a.m. alarm and switched it off with great satisfaction. Phase one complete. I was awake.


As I was starting to get set, I thought I heard a loud noise from outside. A peek revealed that Zeus and Indra had decided to have a party. Problem was, it was an after party or more like an after party for the after party, considering it was 4 a.m. Prateek came out of the bathroom. "Is it raining he asked?"."Quite heavily infact", I replied as I pondered over how exactly we would reach the venue. Deval my flatmate, entered the room then. He had woken up too as he had a train to catch at 6.50 a.m. "Would you like a poodle, lab or perhaps a Siamese?", I asked him. He of course stared at me like I had gone nuts. I followed it up with,"it's raining cats and dogs you see". He left the room. His exit was accompanied by the message tone of my mobile phone. There are times when you realise that the fancy sounding IPL horn doesn't exactly work well as an sms tone. This was one of them. "Due to rain, the start would be delayed to 5.45 a.m." I read the message out loud. Prateek jumped into his bed. Another hour of sleep. :D


5 a.m. I had to drop Deval at the Saidapet station before leaving for Thiruvanmiyur. A quick shuttle was all that it was meant to be. Except the streets had something else in store for us. What was supposed to be a 3 minute ride, became an agonising 10 minute ride in 2nd gear at 10km/h thanks to the newly created lake Saidapet. Despite the slow speed, it also involved getting my shoes and socks wet. Cut to Thiruvanmiyur.


A constant light drizzle ensured that Prateek and I reached Tiruvanmiyur in quite a damp condition. It was still dark and we somehow made out the activity that was happening in the distance behind the bus depot. Quickly finding a parking spot we joined the crowd, only for Zeus, who simply refused to go home after the party, to start the music again. One of the organisers immediately told everyone to board the bus. I looked around for the bus and was surprised at what I found. CRX(The organisers) clearly had snicked Toby from the sets of Thomas the Tank Engine and put it on the road. We got on board and awaited for the rain show to end. After 15 minutes of fruitless waiting, it was decided that the first leg would be covered by bus, thus bringing us out of the city by which time it would have hopefully stopped raining as well. And so it did.

Getting out at the toll gate after having spent about 30 minutes in Toby the speedboat(Ex- tram) as we Cruised along the East Coast River(After effects of an overnight rain party), we revelled in the cool climate the morning start afforded us. Our equipment soon arrived and the 60 plus crowd geared up with helmets et all and mounted our stallions. Nope not 4 legged whiney yet majestically maned creatures but Eco-friendly two wheeled mechanical contraptions; Bicycles. We had missed the sun rise being within the confines of the bus but we soon set off along the coastal road taking in the fresh morning air as we pedalled our way towards Mahabalipuram. Yes that was the task of the day. Cycling to Mahabalipuram. Due to the rain, the actual target of 40km came down to 26km. Still formidable for a person whose physical structure has by the months, been replicating a slow motion version of the big bang theory. Me.

It was an eventless trip after that, doing speeds of around 15-18 kph, enjoying the picteresque views, chill breeze and the attention of pedestrian crowds as they observed several brightly clothed people pedalling their asses off. They of course assumed it was some race of some sort and duly went back to their work. Pretty soon, The distance was covered. Approximately a little less than an hour and a half. Pretty good I said to myself as I hardly felt the strain. Entering the picteresque campus of Radisson Templebay, our final destination, we soon parked and headed out in anticipation of the buffet breakfast that awaited to be devoured by us.


The breakfast spread was fantastic. Just what you can expect at a Radisson.We took a few moments off to rest as the breakfast had clearly tired us more than the journey itself (I live to eat folks. :P). The beach was the next destination and man, what a sight greeted us. The amazing weather coupled with the angry sea, beautiful beach and historic shore temple in the distance just proved to be a sexy alluring combination. An amazing end to a short but awesome trip. I was short of words. Pictures below. Be awed.

P.S. 1. Picture credits for bus,crowd and blue sky to the pretty photographer who was with the organisers.
            No idea who she is, so no specific name. :P
       2. Picture credits for the fantabulous Mahabalipuram pics go to Prateek Rungta. Pictures link directly to 
            his website.
       3. Panorama picture was taken by me. :P


P.P.S. CRX conducts a trip down to Mahabalipuram on a monthly basis. To participate join their community on Facebook and register when they announce the next event. "Reaxion cycling - Chennai" is the name.

The other guys

This is the perfect spoof movie of the generic cop buddy storyline that hollywood generates on an annual basis. To start with, the story isn't exactly new. We have two misfits for cops who obviously don't gel together.  Wahlberg as Det. Terry is the guy who got stuck at a desk because he used his gun in the line of duty to accidentally shoot some sports star while Will farrel as Allan Gamble is the married guy who takes up all the paper work to keep himself at his desk. unfortunately these two have been assigned as partners for the past 7 years and hence have not achieeved anything commendable in their line of duty. They are constantly berated by their seniors/colleagues at work and apparently have quite a dull police life, until THAT one moment. So story wise, nothing spectacular there.
But the whole point of this movie is the humour and that is where this hits the bullseye perfectly. You won't find a constant tirade of humour, but it is in bits and pieces; sufficient to keep you glued to the screen. Wahlberg and Ferrel are quite fun to watch as the partners who clearly have differing agendas in life. Dwayne Johnson and Samuel Jackson as the superstar cops do their part well until they jump a 20 floor block and die. Of course, that's part of the comedy storyline too. So the rest of the plot revolves about how our two stumbling cops (Wahlberg and Ferrel resolve their differences and rise to being the superstar cops that NYC needs). The scene where Ferrel introduces Eva Mendes as his plain wife is just fun(Yeah, you read that right. EVA MENDES- PLAIN WIFE :P. In the case that you by any chance just thought, " Ok, so what?", I've placed her picture on the left. Please take a look, get back and re-read the above paragraph. :P).Watching Wahlberg just continuously drooling at her while still trying to get over the fact that she married Farrel(In the movie that is) is even more awesome fun to watch.

The rest of the movie focuses on their escapades, Ferrel's red Prius(Yes, the cop drives a Prius. :D), more action, comedy and how they go on to become good friends. I'd put this on my list next to films like Starsky and Hutch. I don't want to describe the story in further detail and spoil the fun. It isdefinitely a good time pass movie for that boring weekend or if you've had a bad day at work, just go hit the night show and have 2 hours of good laughs. You most definitely won't regret it.

The Town

Saw this film a whole week ago. As usual, the lazy me, took my own sweet time. :P This Ben Affleck direction is a pretty slick movie and definitely a must watch among the recent releases. It hasn't burst out on the scene and I haven't exactly heard rave reviews about it out here in India, but it makes up for all that with its neat screenplay and storyline. Apparently it opened at 23 million Dollars at the US box office, so there, the figures testify its a good movie.

Opening with a robbery in progress, the movie depicts a team of ace bank robbers who show great prowess and skill in planning and executing robberies at banks in Boston. Of course they hail from Charlestown, a neighbourhoood known for the large number of criminals and bank robbers it churns out(Maybe they have a PhD course there??). The team takes a manager hostage during a robbery and later release her once they are clear, but they soon discover that she happens to live just a few blocks away from them. Ben Affleck, then takes on the charge of checking  up on her to see if she might be any trouble to them and instead a romantic alliance forms between him and the manager(Rebeca Hall). What next? That's the rest of the plot. :P As police close in on suspects and further robberies take place, this romantic liason adds to the story(I forgot: We also have the "best bud and his sister(Blake Lively - Gossip girl fans remember Serena?? :D) who happens to be Ben's ex" roles to add to the story) and merges to bring about a sobre ending. Its one of those movies that will leave you thinking,"hmm, interesting" but not necessarily have you engrossed totally to the core. You most probably won't want to run out in irritation either. In short, just go in and have a nice time!

Endhiran

It took me a whole week to find time to actually blog about it. First thing, Given the recent increase in a spate of Rajini jokes, here is another one that can be added. :P Apparently, no robot except a Rajini robot can impregnate Aishwarya Rai. Secondly, Endhiran become a US box office hit on the opening weekend, because, Rajini told Obama he would 'visit' the US, unless. Thirdly, Endhiran would most probably have been dismissed as another 'indian masala hollywood wannabe' movie, if not for Rajini and the big budget that it attracted.

I had received a lot of reviews that said, and I quote, "The 2nd half is a Shankar Movie". I would like to ask at this point,"What makes you say the first half is a Rajini movie??" If you walk in expecting a Rajini movie, trust me, this is completely not it. The first half was obviously the better half, but that was because it had the right mix of an interesting story, some humour, and a obscene amount of songs shot in some planet not known to humans, or any other life form for that matter. The second half just has an insane amount of graphics, stunts and the works, to keep the viewer entertained, but sufficiently dazed as well, because trust me, at one point, when the viewer realises things aren't making any sense(We are talking about indian viewers who watch stupid romance flicks and the likes that have absolutely no logic at all here mind you), you just end up getting a really dragging and soggy storyline.

I am pretty sure, Shanker would not have dared take this movie in this form with any other actor. Because if he had, chances are he would be sweeping the streets for a living the next day. I mean the work that has gone into the film is amazing. No doubt. the graphics, the stunts and scenic locations and camera work is just top of the class. Definitely among the best that Indian cinema has ever produced. But when you see behind that Glossy surface that screams Rajini, you realise, it's all show and no go. The music is not much to write about either. As stand alone audio, they just don't whet my palette, while in the theatre, they gel well with the cinematography thus proving to be an entertaining combo. But then again, definitely not the best work of ARR.

I enjoyed watching the movie and I am sure you would too. But then, that's just once, for the hype and the Rajini factor. That's it. You most probably will not remember too much of it at a later time period. And personally, I felt the evil robot was a better personification of Rajini than all the other characters of Rajini in the film. His actions, the style of language was all to the dot, the best display of Rajini in all his former glory, than the other roles in the film. Maybe 10 years back, this movie might have been revolutionary, but for now its just a definite one time watch, for all the effort that has gone into making this epic film.

Bus journeys!

Intercity Bus journeys can evoke quite a myriad of reactions from many. From squeals of joy (Mostly from 10 year old’s or 25 year olds who still think they are 10 year old’s) to sighs at the thought of spending innumerable hours in more or less the same position. Ever since I relocated to Chennai, I’ve made numerous bus trips (thanks to the fact that train tickets get reserved almost 3 months in advance) and unfortunately these trips have not always been in the most comfortable fashion possible thanks to several factors which include a lazy travel agent, a lazy me and really busy peak seasons. 

During yet another journey where I had to overcome the odds in reaching my destination of Coimbatore I pondered over the various trips I had made with the numerous little obstacles and small yet humorous incidents. Here is a short recap.

Sometime in February: I left the part of getting train tickets to one fellow who claimed to have an excellent travel agent who would get us the tickets that we wanted through tatkal. Yes one fellow called Vivek Santhosh. :P I’m typing this in earnest belief that he never bother’s to read my blog. :D. Anyway, we left it to his superhero travel agent who somehow could not make of his superhuman resources and instead got us bus tickets. I was cool with that, except that I didn’t know that it was for a godforsaken Kerala owned and maintained travels. Something named after the almighty. The journey was spent figuring out the office of the above travels and then waiting endlessly till 11pm for a 10.30 bus and finally being led on a trek into the wilderness (read unpaved bus parking) and voila, a non air conditioned mallu bus. Wonder how I knew it was a mallu bus? The number plate of course. Plus the incessant smell of coconut oil that tortured us throughout the journey. Add to that, a really horny couple seated in front of us making out throughout the night and you can guess how the rest of the journey turned out to be. Did I mention the journey took 12 hours? Yes add that too. One unforgettable trip.

Sometime in March: Another time I was transported by an ever enthusiastic Formula one drop out who most probably gave up the high octane life for the thrills that Diesel and Indian highways only can offer. He of course dutifully parked the bus into a water tanker hardly within 30 minutes of departure thus brining my journey to a premature end. After a 45 minute argument, settlements, threats and an alternate bus, we set off again to complete the journey in record time. 7 hours for a normally 9 hour journey. Seriously, why is Karun Chandok in F1?

Sometime 2 days ago: I leave from home to Ashok pillar. Yes this part is about getting to koyambedu itself. :D At Ashok pillar I see a traffic jam stretching endlessly on (Oh yeah Beijing, a 100 miles? We’ll beat you soon at that game too! :P) I look around for a bus and I see a Volvo in the distance. I thank my stars and run for it only to stop 10 feet away from it. The bus was like a human sandwich. Well salted btw. There was no way even the doors could open! Hence I head on further to find another Volvo similarly packed. Now I start to curse my stars and just walk along. I find another 2 Volvos and regular buses as well, all packed to the brim. So in short I continued my US Marines physical aptitude test and walked 2 kilometers, found an empty share auto which subsequently got filled up completely such that I was immobilized for the rest of the journey. To end it all, I had another 1 kilometer walk through concrete terrain followed by rugged jungle paths. Oh yes I live in the heart of civilization!

Naan Mahaan Alla

Naan mahan alla, is an attempt to make a movie that stands out differently from the rest, but I think that aim may not have been achieved all that well. The serious tone of the storyline is hardly revealed until the interval except for glimpses of it here and there from the opening sequence. I’m guessing the director tried to go for a compromise between family entertainment and a thriller, but like I said it may not have perfectly reached the target. Yet, I think this film might be the best compromise, thus emphasizing the fact that the two genres can never really go hand in hand.

Karthi reprises the role of a happy go lucky youngster with no airs about himself. All is hunky dory and he even meets a girl and falls in love with her successfully. At this moment, Please take a few seconds off as I reminisce on the beauty of the pretty lady in question. :D Kajal Agarwal. Pretty as ever :D.  Of course the course of events in the first half are quite like any other romance film with the usual elements of fun and frolic among friends and family. The first half of the film will have you in smiles and occasionally laughing at the medium humour being dished out which makes it a thoroughly enjoyable family experience.  Of course this is interspersed with scenes of a bunch of criminals indulging in unlawful activities and though there is no direct cross of path, we see a shade of the hero’s character when he reacts to the scenes by the road side.

The second half is completely faced paced and has sufficient suspense. Of course you know the end, the good guy wins and bad ones meet epic fail :P. The suspense is all about how it exactly happens, and that way this movie ends on a slightly interesting note. The shade of grey we see in Karthi at the end I guess sums up the title. The fun elements are completely missing in the second half with the friends and Kajal and pretty much all the family having no role to play. As you dissect the movie, one tends to feel that the first half and second half have absolutely no co-relation to each other, but somehow the director makes them stick. That vouches for good screenplay I guess. Overall; a movie definitely worth watching once. Btw, I like the way the grey characters are portrayed specially towards the climax without overtly making the hero seem like a superhero. Tata to the “transformer electrocuting, dead-sea killing, destroying a car with the flick of finger” antics of our yesteryear heroes. Tamil cinema is coming of age. I can see the signs.

mon ami dans les crimes de joie

My friend in crimes of glee,

Today is the day of great change in the life of thee,

Atlast you have been set free,

From the clutches of the evil me. :P

Mon amie dans les crimes de joie,

After 8 long years and fifty three thousand km of spree,

It is time to bid good bye to thee.

Until another time, another life we shall see,

Stay safe and enjoy the tarmac in spirits free .

In memory of my Beloved 2003 Geny Grey Metallic Honda Dio. Circa 2003 - 2010. She'z not dead by the way. I've just sold her for a Unicorn. :D

Kites or rather the lack of it.

There is only one reason a guy would or should consider watching the movie kites for. That reason is: Barbara Mori. If you are a girl, the only reason you would want to watch the movie is: Umm, err, I have nothing here actually. Lets face it, you can't really consider Hrithik as THE REASON. Period.


But then if you weigh the reasons that you shouldn't watch the movie for against those that you should for, Rest assured the scale tilts so fast that the "for" reasons will shoot out of it.

Next, if you are in Bangalore, you most probably will spend at the minimum, Rs200 for watching this movie, like I did at Innovative Multiplex. Yes Bangaloreans', that's where I went. Smirk all you want. Donating that Rs200 to a homeless fellow is an option that I urge you to consider immediately.

Having cleared all that, lets get to the movie. It's a combination of several movies. It starts off with a scene inspired from Bourne Identity. The it goes on to steal scenes from a million other Hollywood movies, all put together in a thankfully, 2 hour package. Hrithik is a dancer teacher in Vegas who spends all his money at his full time job as a player in the casino. He makes the money with a part time job as a dance teacher and occasionally marrying immigrants to help them gain a Green Card. And to prove the point that he is a dance teacher, he does a lot of dancing. Which kind of got boring to us audience. So as he goes along, one of his students tell him she loves him, to which he duly rejects. Shortly thereafter he finds out that she is the daughter of a casino owner. So he goes back to befriending her and somehow, somewhere in between, he starts going out with her. Then, he meets her brother and his fiance. Of course I forgot to mention, he meets that fiance ahead while diving. Yeah, sorta like seeing the beautiful mermaid in the sea. Only thing is this mermaid wears a Bikini, has feet and speaks only Spanish.

Anyway, he takes her out and the "bro" finds out and slaps her. Our charming Hrithik rises to the situation and whips out a gun at him and tries to save her. after a few shuffles, Hrithik and his mermaid hit the road in his Bentley continental GTC which coincidentally was given to him by his future father in law as a welcoming gift to the family. The rest of the story revolves round their run down south into Mexico and the close encounters they have with the cops and the "Bro". Lots of flames, accidents and flying cars ensue. In fact that was the only part of the movie where I didn't exactly feel sleepy. Ultimately Hrithik gets injured and is duly deposited into a carriage carrying hay by the Spanish "mermaid" while she makes a run for it. But unfortunately for her, the "bro" and his pack of USA Goondas are hot on her heels in their FBI spec black SUV's while she trundles along in a 1960's pick up. They chase her until she reaches a cliff where she sees no choice but to type out a good bye SMS to Hrithik and then drive off the cliff into the Sea. When Hrithik hears of this, he kills them villians all and in the process is shot by Kangana Ranaut(Did I mention she plays the role of the "sister of the villain", who obviously got dumped for the mermaid). Yet he survives that gun shot and manages to find his way to that very cliff at which he jumps into the water. And Kaka Kaka ishtyle(A tamil flick; for the dumbfounded) he sees her image in the water as he loses his life. End of story. Now tell me is that even worth the effort of reading. In fact I now wonder if it was worth the effort of typing out! :O

P.S. The above is not an exact rendition of the story, but explains the basic premise. IF you wish to hear an exact story I suggest you kill yourself at the theatre, I mean go watch the movie at the theatre.

Oh yes, apparently Rakesh Roshan intends to release the film in English. God save the Americans.

Badmaa$h Company

IF you walk into the theatre thinking "Ocean's 11/12/13", you'll walk out disappointed. Walk in expecting a Bollywood style fun con movie, and you'll get all your money's worth.

The USP of this film is quite simple. A cool and charming Shahid Kapoor. a Hot Anushka Sharma. I repeat, Hot Anushka Sharma and for those who didn't get it right the first two times, a HOT Anushka Sharma. Damn I can't get over the cute female. :P Ah yes, back to USP's of potatomash company. I mean badmaa$h Company; A good ensemble cast, reasonable storyline which is quite predictable yet thankfully does not make you feel like an idiot for shelling out Rs.120(Plus Rs10 convenience fee), nice comedy, slick scenes through most of the movie and decent acting too.

Starting off in the 1990's in India, the movie tells us the story of how 3 guys fresh out of college end up into the con business as they see it to be the quick route to success. Of course this is portrayed by way of the condition of the household of the middle class Karan Kapoor(Shahid) whose family struggles when his father falls sick and his mother has to pawn of her jewellery to tend to her ailing husband.(Doesn't all this sound a little too familiar? Hmm, am pretty sure i've seen it in some 1980's Rajinikanth movie. I wonder...)

Of course this being the 1990's our educated protagonist does not tend to the evil ways of the villainous smuggler or pick pocket. Instead he makes a smart move with a bright idea. Ropes in his two good friends and his girlfriend as well. All goes well for this quartet as they play around the rules having fun, making us laugh and making money in India and later on in the US.
Ok I shouldn't be divulging too much of the story beyond this. I believe this is quite a sufficient peek into the film. From here, it takes many twists and turns, with lots of Bollywood melodrama (It can't be too far behind can it? :P) mixed inside to break apart the gang. The movie then on is about how luck changes and how one overcomes it(As usual over the period of a song :P) and the gang gets together for one final goodwill job and all is hunky dory at this bollywood family. Like I said, it's not as slick as the Hollywood films that I so wanted to compare it to, but it has its own ground to stand on. Definitely worth a watch, for all the fun and entertainment it can offer over a span of 2.5 hours.

One more thing, Why is it that, all the tickets to this movie are sold out at Satyam and at PVR, but half the theatre is empty at INOX? Leaves me stumped....

Green Zone

Imagine the following scenario:You are at the theatre as the movie progresses and you munch on pop corn while watching it when suddenly the whole theatre becomes silent and you realise that your pop corn munching noise is quite audible? Well I had it recently and wow I must say, it is quite loud. The above has nothing to do with the movie so i'll get on with that. :D

Green zone is this war based movie where Matt Damon plays a Chief warrant officer in search of the famed "WMD's" :P in various intelligence specified locations around Baghdad. Of course nothing turns up at every site that his seniors claim is "Good to go". The movie talks about how certain senior people fabricated evidence of WMD and got the USA to wage war on Iraq. I wonder which part of "No WMD" that the US officials didn't understand, but then, when good ol' Georgie has decided he wants to make Baghdad the trial scene for EA Games Command and conquer, Any information that claims other wise isn't going to stop him I guess.

Anyway, the movie proceeds as Chief Miller(Matt Damon) pursues general Al-Rawi who is the key to this whole episode. As the movie progresses, we see internal conflicts between the Army and CIA, torn Iraqi nationals and basically you get the picture right? The movie ends with the General being killed, and Chief miller writing a report that details everything that he knows and puts it out to the press. In a few words, a nice movie that gives a sad picture which unfortunately is reality. Definitely a must watch!

Can animals be gay?

I know this sounds crazy and stupid, but guess what? I read about this in IHT and it was an article about a biologist and her findings! I mean, seriously, gay animals? Gay people itself a concept that is still hard to digest for many and now you are saying your pet dog could be gay?? :O

Read the article here.

It may sound crazy and wierd, because they refer to the birds as homosexuals and there was one part where the scientist claims to have seen a pair of female birds involved in a threesome! :O . Food for thought :P Interestingly the article notes that scientists have been noticing this behaviour for long but have usually attributed it to some reason or the other. Maybe they were worried about being ridiculed and now that gay people are allowed, gay animals is something they can claim is legal too!

Read the article if your really bored, it can make for a crazy read! :D

Losing my virginity!

No speculation people. :P This is a opinion post about Richard Branson's autobiography. That's all. And also to mark my return to blogging after a 3 month hiatus I guess. :D

Now about the book, Its quite commercial, inspiring and makes one wonder. The book tells a lot about the problems faced by him through his life and how such a huge conglomerate was built. But it is said in such an easy manner that it makes one feel he got it quite easy! It's an interesting read, specially if you are an aspiring entrepreneur. Some of the events that happened and the way he has penned it is quite humorous and nice. It's actually been sometime since i read this one and have kinda forgotten about the contents, but hey, then whats the point of you reading it then. I tell you its a good book so go read it! :P

Doomsday clock advances!

CHICAGO/CHENNAI. The Bulletin of Atomic scientists today released a press statement, announcing that the doomsday clock has been shifted to 30 seconds to midnight. This announcement, today has sent shock waves throughout the world as the clock reached the closest time to midnight since its inception in 1953, which according to the board means catastrophic destruction on earth which can include complete annihilation of the human species. The clock though initially created just to represent the threat of global nuclear war, now signifies any change in climate or activities that may threaten or create harm to humans.

The press release also stated that the reason for this sudden decision to advance the clock by 4.5 minutes to 30 seconds, from its current position of 5 minutes was due to recent activities in the Southern part of India, namely the state of Tamil Nadu. The recent spate of movie releases by a certain south Indian actor by the name of Joseph Vijay has been deemed by the bulletin to be "hazardous and of harm to anyone who watches the movie", unnamed sources said. The bulletin also warned that one more movie from the said person could raise tensions across the world with many governments already involved in a covert operation to protect their citizens from watching the movie. Our Intel revealed that these operations include discreet activities such as booking all tickets at every show, making theatres apparate thus leaving citizens lost and even paying Vijay to perform in advertisements, supporting the Chennai SuperKings at every practise session, changing room team meet and providing a dance intro to MS Dhoni at every batting session. The International Monetary Fund is in the process of allocating a global budget for this purpose. Sources from within the Indian government have been quoted as saying that the Indian parliament is not amused by this man's antics and is contemplating on a ban if he attempts another movie despite all the precautions. The utilisation of the controversial POTA act is also being mulled, though political observers feel that the government might be better off by just putting in place a 50km radius ban on him and any video or still camera.

Unsuspecting fans who fervently awaited his new release "vettaikaran" which was screened at theatres on Dec 18th, exited the theatres in tears as they mulled on the sanity of their once beloved star. " He is just getting worse by the day! He jumped onto the roofs of trains in previous films and now he dares break pillars with his bare hands! Does he think he is the Captain or what??", wailed a film buff as she left the theatre, completely distraught at the insult to her superstar, "The Captain", Vijayakanth. Film critics consider this day a sad day in Indian Cinema if not as worse as previous attempts by him. Noted film Director James Cameroon though was heard to have commented that Joseph Vijay might have been a cheaper alternative to all the expensive computer graphic imagery that he spent on in his film "Avatar" which simultaneously released worldwide. When contacted for further comments, government officials had only this to say, "All we can do is wait and see, He has not performed any illegal activity as such and hence no legal action will be taken at this point. With the recent spate of such films not only from Kollywood, but the rest of India too, the judiciary is mulling introducing new laws that may make bad film making an illegal activity. At that point, society shall no longer be at his mercy, He shall be at ours." They said, with an evil glint in their eyes.

Random ramblings of the week

Ok, its been a reeeeeeaaaaaaly long time since I blogged and wanted to put in something so as to give life to it. :D Interesting events have been happening off late in the news. people fast in Andhra and our benevolent govt decides they deserve a new state. What is with that? Can I fast and insist that I have the democratic republic of Ramnagar for myself to rule?? While I'm at it I would like to anneexe some coastal regions of Goa and Kerala as well. Wait why annexe just parts of it. Coimbatore, Ooty, Cochin, Goa. It all belongs to me. I also want Tirupur. Where would we be without some form of international trade? I could barter with Obama. Give us cheap oil that you stole from the Iraqis and Cheap electronics at Amazon.com and newegg.com prices if you want cheap Gap T-shirts that you can sell to the consumer at ten times the price. :P :D I shall create a "democratic" country ruled by me :P and, umm, and all right, I haven't got a plan in place, but tell me, does TRS either? I doubt it? All he wants is a state that he thinks he can claim and with Hyderabad as its capital. Some how everyone thinks its going to be the doom of Hyderabad and not the rise of Telengana. Andhra will be fine. It has Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupathi(Richest god in the world) to itself, and of course the Reddy bothers and their vast mines, So Andhra will do fine and rise back. But Telengana? we'll have to wait and see. here are some interesting facebook status messages I picked out over the week, all related to the Telengana issue:

- I'm going on a hunger fast demanding the partitioning of my choco chip cookie. - Courtesy Nikila, I personally liked this one. Infact I wanted to post a reply stating that I was going to go on a hunger fast demanding the partitioning of her choco chip cookie and insist that the half that had the choco chips in it belonged to me :P, but I never got round to posting my demands....

- People in India fast and they get a new state... EE grads in USC fast and don't sleep and all they get is bad grades. - Courtesy my overworked USC grad student Srinath :D

I have an unrelated word of warning to the Indian government: Please don't ferry any VIP's in Indian Air Force Vehicles. They are sitting targets for Snipers! If you are wondering why, look at this link:

http://www.loupiote.com/photos/3740818562.shtml

Why do you have to paint a car blue, and then draw a nice bulls eye on it? The vehicle I saw on the roads here had bigger bull's eyes that then one in the image! I know its based on the Indian flag, but still, what were they thinking?? Alright, we know unrelenting terrorists are going to come up and blow stuff up anyway, but why make it easy for them? They jolly well better take the effort to aim and fire!

The South Indian Road Trip Project. - An update!

5 days in all. Actually 4.5 days. Covered, 1073km. Coimbatore - Ooty - Mysore - Bangalore - Coimbatore. Me the driver and few other co-passengers. Learnt quite a few things.

1. My car is actually very good! Not once did I face a single minor problem!

2. The road from Ooty to Gudalur is a great piece of driving stretch. Not the flat out kind, but the well laid mountain road kind.

3. The road from the Karnataka Border to Mysore is crap. Its even quite bewildering because it has several speed bumps continuously. there were 7 at one stretch which had the Fiat Linea in front of us prancing like a wild horse!

4. The 4 lane highway from Mysore to Bangalore is great. Ignoring the speed bumps in the first 10-20km stretch. Its got several Cafe Coffee Day's, a Barista and even a 24x7 Mcdonalds! :D Makes for a great weekend driving trip!

5. Bangalore is truly becoming an international city. the infrastructural development that has happened and is happening is amazing. The roads leading to the airport are well paved and well light at night. No Autorickshaws! :D (rubbing hands in gleee) or motorcycle traffic. Hence all traffic is doing 60kmph plus. Thus giving faint reminders of driving to the airport in Singapore. Reach the airport and you see an amazing glass facade, Metallic Green Renault Logans as taxis or Big red Volvos as city shuttles. Sexy man! is all I can think!

6. The drive back to Coimbatore from Bangalore was even more fun! 300km of nearly arrow straight or nice curved, 4 lane highways! Kept an avg speed of 100kph! Infact they seem to be testing out interactive, real time digital displays over the highways as well! I've seen those being used to give traffic updates to drivers abroad! It will be amazing if such a system became active here too! Currently they just display warning messages about how you should drive safely! :P

I took 6 hours to reach Coimbatore from bangalore, inspite of the fast highway. Reason behind this being, getting out of Bangalore took me quite some time and the last 60 kilometres before you reach the 6 lane road at Nilambur near Coimbatore is still a 2 lane road. I guess the Bangalore traffic issue might be solved with the current flyovers under construction, but I don't see any respite from the 2 lane highway because there doesnt seem to be any construction activity happening as yet! TN govt! please, construct the road soon! :(

Walking in the rain

10 P.M.- Friday - N.H. 47

A lone light shone in the distance. As Raghu walked on in the light drizzle, the distant light grew in intensity. It was an open shop; a rarity at this time on this stretch of road. Raghu consciously avoided the light, staying in the shadows on the other side of the tarmac and carried on forward.

5 A.M. - Saturday - J.A Terminus

He entered the bus terminus as discreetly as possible, attracting minimal attention to himself. The strict fitness regime and endurance training had clearly proven useful in the 40 mile walk. He boarded the bus and seated himself in the corner at the end. It had always been his preferred seat on his regular commute and today was no different. The bus started filling in with harried farmers, workers, travellers and the like. The diesel rattled to live accompanied by the shrill whistle of the conductor. As the bus trundled off, Raghu handed out a crisp Twenty Rupee note towards the conductor. The conductor looked up quizically. "Munnar". 5 hours of twisty mountain roads had begun.

10 A.M. - Munnar

An incessant drizzle characterised the welcome drill of Munnar as Raghu alighted. He walked out of the Terminus into the mist. Around the corner stood her Scirocco - GA 04 S 6577. An Unmistakable fiery red. Raghu hopped into the passenger seat and locked the door. "So much for subtlety". "We do what we can", She said, looking at him and smiling. She pressed the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. Silence was exchanged for sometime, as she drove on and Raghu stared into the mist which enveloped all, around them. It had been quite a month.


To be Continued....

***************************************************************
Had I ever gotten anywhere near writing, this would most probably have been my entry to the Bloggerati competition, but as you can see, it's no where near that. Just a teaser of sorts, hardly covers 3 paragraphs. Hopefully I'll have it ready soon...
Let me know if it by any chance sounds like an enticing teaser or a collection of random words.. :P

2 Sambars found dead!

Coimbatore: Two sambars were found dead in a restaurant kitchen near sapadupuram yesterday. The Assistant Inspector of food, health and safety said that the department had been informed that the body of a sambar was lying in the kitchen. However when kitchen officials went to investigate they found 2 sambars dead. One was male and the other female, both aged between 3 days to 4 days old. Investigations are going on with the help of a culinary chef.

From our special corespondent:

An unnamed source within the FHS department has been quoted as saying that an arrest has been made in connection with the deaths. The Suspect is a male Rasam, stale and around 5 days old. A few more arrests may be made in the next few days with the list of probables including the who's-who's of the culinary industry. A FHS source has said the list includes names such as Vatha Kulambu and Kootu Poryal. Other unnamed sources state that a special meals family feud and the recently exposed, highly publicised love affair triangle may have something to do with the deaths. Investigations are still going on, till expiry.

The wet ride!

I insist on using the above title even at the risk of it sounding like the perfect title for a porn flick! :P The monsoon has arrived and finally the nation is relieved as the skies shed tears all day long. The monsoon is a great time to be driving, but as I realised today, not a great time to be riding, especially when you don’t have a spare change of clothes. All it took was 15 minutes of a mild downpour for me to collect approximately 3-4 litres of water samples and a few hundred grams of mineral samples. My collection medium was, obviously my clothes! Of course the quantity collected increased due to the valour I showed in braving the rain and forging forward. At the end of a 2 hour battle where I covered a distance of 45km(usually done in 45 min) I stopped at a restaurant to order something to defrost myself. I sounded vaguely like this: One Shezzzizwann chickcken noodles and boozzt..(Background score of self drilling teeth). The waiter strangely stared at me. Obviously they didn’t get many backpack touting, windbreaker wearing, strange noise emitting bikers who clearly looked out of place in a “Benz” hotel!(Local Dhaba owners sure show great resourcefulness in naming their shops!) Anyways after a few frantic antics the order got through and I made my way to defrosting back to human temperature. This was one of those days when food felt like a gift from god himself!

Anyways I reached my destination after having refreshed and recharged myself and quickly opened my bag, to find to my dismay that the water had seeped in thus dampening my spare clothes as well. Looks like it’s a cold night ahead in a town where the Airtel network refuses to pick up EDGE and hence I type this on a GPRS connection. Download rates according to Mr. Netwarrior(Airtel’s Internet Force commander I suppose – Online crimefighter who duels everyday against unseen enemy forces such as spam, viruses and George W Bush) are a mind blowing 0.5kbps/s as of now! (Typed at 11.25P.M. , July 2^nd 2009. Will get uploaded, when my server deems is an auspicious time.)

Thinking about it, there won’t be anything exciting about a monsoon bike ride if there was no rain to drench a person to the core such that his soul would pop our shivering and ask for a hot cuppa! So, take out those wheels and hit the road. Give yourself amazing therapy sessions in mud, minerals, water, CO and NOx!