Monday, July 30, 2007

A couple of things that made me think

The irony of Real Good chicken having an expiry date on it.....
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On one of those inane remote flipping trips, i somehow got stuck on the initial minutes of Salmaan Khan's Judwaa... Dalip tahil and Reema lagoo have just had twins and are being congratulated by kader khan, a family friend.
Kader Khan: Badhai Ho
Reema Lagoo & Dalip Tahil: Aap ko bhi..
And i had a startling revelation - that david dhawan was a filmmaker far ahead of his times. They tomtom movies about human relationships these days, but this was way back and i was amazed by his subtle way of handling a complex extra marital affair with three mature characters who acknowledge it..

until next time, did that provoke you, the thoughts , that is?

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Evil designs

Lingerie strewn around, and women. That might sound great, but he wouldn’t agree. His furtive glances to see her weren’t looked upon kindly by the women who seemed to be everywhere. They were looking at him in distaste. He wondered which moron had designed the lingerie section near the fitting rooms. The sale didn’t help.

Until next time, a Westside story

Monday, July 23, 2007

To boldly go

where no other tv crew has gone before.... what had perhaps started out as a spoofy ad on how television channels report even the most inane news as breaking news, ballooned into a series of ads on a whole range of products, and before we know it, its a trend, that every fmcg worth its salt wants to ape.
Salt, lets start with that... the ad goes this way, a guy is brushing his teeth, when all of a sudden, a tv crew barges in and gives hima lecture on having Active Salt in your toothpaste and obviously xyz is the only brand that has it... there are similar ones for stains on clothes (multiple brands - powder and soap), stains on vessels,and so on....
D says she would love to meet that 'Vanish' lady and get her to remove the turmeric stain on a handkerchief. apparently the damn thing didnt work on it when D tried:)
I have a bigger fear, what if soaps get into the act, followed by Kamasutra?

until next time, ad shads

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Hogwash - The Finale

The day before the world goes potty for the final time. And tradition demands that this version releases a day before. So here it is, and for those who are still not quite clear on what we are talking about, here's the story so far.. and now

Parry Hotter and the Deathly Hallows

Legends never die, and Parry Hotter is no exception. As he struggles to relate to a world that has become a constantly blurring phenomenon between virtuality and reality, the world suddenly witnesses the sudden disappearance of celebrities. Parry is forced to get back to his old profession as he tries to seek out his young missing relative, who is a socialite and happens to have the same initials as him. Because of her constant use of controversies to generate hype around herself, the media and the law are not too keen on tracking her. But is that all there is to it?
Parry begins his investigation on Whotube, where she had posted a cryptic video about her seemingly planned disappearance. As Parry trudges the murky territories in cyberspace, he realises that both of them might be mere pawns in a diabolical game played by whotube, a video sharing site, now owned by the famous search engine Hoogle. It was no secret that Hoogle had paid too much for their new acquisition and Parry realises that Hoogle is desparate to get people addicted to their site.
As more celebrities and socialites continue to disappear,after messages posted on Whotube, the traffic in the search engine and its new acquisition soars. Parry begins to realise that this may not be a coincidence and there might be a sponsored link behind the seemingly random occurences.The tension mounts as new videos begin to surface on Whotube, showing the execution of celebrities amidst bizzarre religious ceremonies. Parry is now convinced that the search engine is not as hallowed as perceived, and the white homepage hides deadly secrets.
In a fitting finale to the series, author Howling pits the old school detective against the new age search engine. Can Parry Hotter feel lucky or will he become just another part of search history?

Monday, July 16, 2007

So, whats the brouhaha all about?

A half dinner at 7 on a saturday night is bound to leave one in a confused state of mind. Fortunately, a few centuries back, man discovered a way to handle most of the confusions in life - caffeine. Unfortunately though, many know this secret and so we have a chain of cafes mushrooming all over the place, which leads to more confusion - where do we go now?
But since we were near the locality where Bangalore's next blogger's meet is scheduled, i thought i would drop in there. I mean, what if by a quirk of fate, i miss it and the rendezvous with Brew haha in my destiny got postponed indefinitely? Anyways, the place is pleasant enough and those games are a nice touch, though i managed not to get adventurous and stuck to an old favourite, Uno, which D immediately liked.
In between the coffee and the sandwiches and figuring out what was on the cards, i saw a duo at the corner working on a laptop. I have a theory on people working on laptops in cafes, and another one about people doing it on Saturday nights, but we'll talk about that another time. So, D and i were discussing what they could possibly be doing, and i suggested that it could be a start up and maybe we can read about them a few years later in Forbes or something (oh, okay, Business World) where they discuss how they initially used to work out of Brewhaha (and then maybe i can write a coffee table book on how i noticed them and finally make some money).. flimsy premise, but i have read worse..hehe
Meanwhile there was another younger couple on the next table who were also busy working, not on a laptop, but PDA. They were well on their way to a start up, the kind whose gestation time is about nine months. :)

until next time, whats brewing?
PS: Ramana, Deez, Arunima, Layon and so on, any of you planning to attend the meet?

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Still Trippin'

They almost threw me out when i asked them if i can get travel reimbursement for ego trips.

until next time, we need humour resources :D

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Making my trip

The flight was delayed by over 2 hours, which meant that i was taking potshots at anything resembling a Go Air employee and in some cases, other passengers whose flights were on time :)

He: Have you scanned it?
Me: Yup, did that at home. Don't think i have forgotten anything.
He: I meant the machine, sir
Me: Then why don't you ask the machine?
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He: (while trying to elbow his way past me during the security check): (pointing to the machine): My phone's in there, let me through.
Me: (after letting him past): Where do you think mine is?
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He: (while telling me to use the entry at the back of the plane) You can go behind.
Me: Behind who?
He: I meant backside
Me: Behind whose backside?
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And as they kept running laps on the runway without taking off, i loudly sang "Udhale Udhale..."
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D refused to allow me to have more fun. I especially missed asking the air hostess, whose name was Smitha, whether her first name was Silk.
In fact D was so rude, she pointed to me, when they came around with the trash cart.

until next time, way to Go?

Thursday, July 05, 2007

..Earth...home....

And I have finished the last book of the Foundation series.. dragged it on for as long as possible, but had to end it.. dragged it because it wasn't an experience that can be replicated anytime soon, because its truly one of a kind, and i haven't come across anything in the genre that comes close to it...

Anyways, the book also gave me a glimpse of the fact that inspite of the passage of time, there might be some things that would never change.. the main protagonist has to make a choice that will decide the future of humanity, and he feels that somehow the answer to his dilemma lies on the planet of the humanity's origin - Earth. By then, Earth isa forgotten entity, and no one knows where it is... and so the search begins....

i guess, its the same with us too, as we grow older, and as we face the ups and downs of life, we all long for the place where we hope to get the answers, the place where everything'll be set alright, the place we like to call home..speaking of which, as Daughtry sings

Well I'm going home, Back to the place where I belong....

Until next, they call it God's Own Country :)

Monday, July 02, 2007

Space, the final frontier

All the Star Trek fans would know that bit, the one that starts this way and ends with '..to boldly go where no man has gone before'... Well, Sunita Williams did, and now she's back... like i read somewhere, she must be stinking, but thats beside the point... i think it must've been one awesome experience, though i wish we would learn to celebrate with dignity, and not create a popcorn tamasha of everything...
I am reading Asimov's Foundation and Earth, and that'll finish the series for me.. rather, re-finish it, and i don't think this will be the last time... i still remember the first time i saw it, that was way back - when i was in school,i didn't understand most of it, and left it... i made contact for the second time when i was in my first year of grad -and it took many library visits and many long months for me to finish off all 7 books of the series, and that was an awesome experience. Years later, i have managed to buy all the 7 books, and that took around 2 years, mostly thanks to the one i am reading...
I read an article last week in TOI, about a new design of spaceships that they were going to start using in 2010 and which might be the first step towards interstellar travel.. For once, i wish i were born in the future, just to experience space travel, to watch the stars and to feel first hand the awe-inspiring vastness of the galaxy... what an awesome experience that would be... But thats something that can't happen and so, centuries later, when men, and women, would be freely roaming around the galaxy, we would be, perhaps, a remote statistic that existed in the initial days of humanity...

until next time, live long and prosper :)