Graduation !

Today was Aishwarya's Graduation from the Cohort MBA programme @ UT Dallas. It's been a long and grueling journey for the 2 of us, especially her and it's wonderful to see her come out on top. Needless to say I'm immensely proud of her. Well done Lass !!

IPhone 3G Woes !

Yeah !! 8 GB for $ 199 but for existing customers who want to upgrade to the iphone and have yet to finish a year in their current contracts on other phones, you guys have to shell out another 200$ for an upgrade. 

Apple & AT & T thought they were really smart. By getting people to activate their phones at the store, they could prevent unlocked phones from being sold on the black market. Now that doesn't seemed to have happened. 

The best way would've been to sell unlocked phones at the same time as well. 

I would've bought one, my wife would've too. I would've got one for a family friend in India too. Have to wait till September, when the phone lands in India !!!

Mamma Mia !!

Mamma Mia introduces today's generation to Abba.  The movie is a crash course on Abba's gold album. I guess the way things are going, Abba will never go out of fashion. 

I remember during my studying days in the UK, Abba mania was kept alive by pop groups through covers of the original. The covers of course never came close to the originals. Even in the disco's you could see people dancing to 'Dancing Queen'. I know your wondering about the disco's that I went to....

On my second stint at sea, my chief officer was an Abba fan, so was the Captain and they made sure I knew more about Abba than the ship I was on.

Back to the movie, Meryl Streep is awesome. Pierce Brosnan looks in pain when singing. Julie Walters, extremely funny.  A must watch for Abba fans and those who dont love musicals.

AB & Appadi podu !

One of my favourite adverts in recent times, has made the song immortal !!! Check it out !  

Thriller 25

Michael Jackson Thriller, the album that single handedly changed my life and introduced me to a new kind of music. I remember my father having a recorded tape of the album and listening to it by default at home. This was maybe 1984 or 85. I was being groomed into a typical 'iyer' kid, learning carnatic music. Michael Jackson's impact on me was so much that a few months later, i had stopped carnatic lessons for life. MJ madness peaked with my room plastered with posters. With the Advent of MTV(the real one) in India, the videos just added to the euphoria. Getting up at 6 in the morning to watch Billie Jean or Thriller on TV was probably the height.

Thriller's impact 25 years later ?? Thriller still remains the greatest album ever made. It's produced many MJ wannabe's, Justin Timberlake and our very own Prabhu Deva to name 2. Artists have used pieces from the album on their tracks. Remember SWV - right here ( Original song - Human Nature) and recently Kanye West - Good Life (Original Song - Pretty Young Thing).

Moto Razr 2

Everything in the advert is sizzling hot - the Phone, the soundtrack, the theme and more importantly the babe.



The song is Le Disko by the Shiny Toy Guns which came out in 2005. Song Lyrics includes the words Razor & Rocker which fits in perfectly with the Moto Phone !!

Simpsonize ME !!

TO

South China Sea Weather

This video was taken onboard VLCC World Lion , when we were in the South China Sea in December 2006.

Sweet Dreams are made of this !!

The i phone

Nuff Said !!!

Home for the Next 5 Months !!

See Ya in the New Year Folks !!

United 93

I'm at a loss for words here !!! It's one thing to watch a horror movie but to watch something as spine chilling as this..... I hope this movie hits the theatres in India. Worth every Rupee. Again, I'm at a loss for words.

Mixed Singles at Wimbledon !

Was checking out the latest @ Wimbledon on their weg page when i spotted this goof up :



Which was later rectified to read :


One thing though, Henman never did n never will look this beautiful ;)

I'm Going To Tell You A Secret

Madonna's latest documentary is worth watching and owning. It gives you a peak into all aspects of Madonna's life. You get to see a very mature Madonna with her political & religious views. You get to see the way she values and interacts with each and every person involved with her on tour. More importantly you get to see Madonna's family, her 2 kids and husband, Guy Ritchie and how they influence her life. Madonna herself said 'it's a different me", when asked about the documentary and if you've watched any of her previous ones, you'll know for sure. Madonna proves beyond measure why she is indeed the 'Queen of Pop' and has lasted this long unlike a few other wannabe's. So do watch it & if you can't get hold of the DVD ask me :)

Also worth watching : Truth or Dare

Sport Unlimited !!

SCV allowing ESPN -Star Sports broadcast on the non STB platform has allowed me to watch the World Cup from my bedroom. With my desktop now doing the job of a TV and my AC running full blast keeping my room temperature at 16 deg C, my only regret until now was not being able to watch Ten sports as well.

Day 4 of the India vs West Indies game with India deep in trouble and trying to avoid a follow-on. I had to turn to Cricinfo's commentary of the game via my laptop whilst 'On Call' in Gtalk with a certain 'A'. Multi-tasking to the very limit i suppose. ;)

Cricinfo's commentary turned out to be much more entertaining than what the Ten Sports Crew have been dishing out. With Bhaji going into 'Avatar' mode the match suddenly became interesting :

101.2 Taylor to Harbhajan Singh, no run, short of length, on the off and middle, Habrbhajan thinks he is Ponting, goes for a pull shot, gets an inside edge onto his pads.
101.3 Taylor to Harbhajan Singh, FOUR, oh ho! this time he has transformed himself into Sehwag. He comes down the track, backs away to the leg side in the process and hits through the line, over mid-off!
101.4 Taylor to Harbhajan Singh, FOUR, Ah! this time he is Sachin! slower ball, turned in from outside the off stumo, Harbhajan goes back and punches it wide of mid-off! Super shot.
101.5 Taylor to Harbhajan Singh, FOUR, Third four in a row! He walked out, kept his head steady, swatted a fullish delivery on the off stump line, past mid-off again! Can't think of anyone else who could have played that kind of a stroke...
30 more runs to avoid follow-on
101.6 Taylor to Harbhajan Singh, FOUR, Holy god! Biffed across the line, past square-leg. It was fullish on the off and middle, Bhaji whacked it, across the line and the ball screamed past square-leg

Beck's Post Match Special !

David Beckham's Post Match interview yesterday after England beat T & T 2 - 0 :

"We never give up. That is the message we always give out,"
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy today, people expected it to be easy but we knew if we kept at our game plan we would break them down."

Was There a Game Plan Becks ??? I am still pondering over this ?

"The good thing about the game is that we finished strongly."

Steven Gerrard produced a classic to make it look that way. That was the strong statement, let me play in Lampard's place and make those 12 shots at goal count..

"The manager made good substitutions,"
"It was very positive and we pressed forward from that.

That is Sven's job dummy, Rooney coming on will be a positive for any side, he made you run a bit quicker in the 2nd half and woke you up as well.

"It would be fair to say you've not seen the best of us yet. We know we can get better and we just have to prove it."

Yesterday's performance was the worst, anything better from here will be considered as an 'improved performance'.

Dump Crouch, start with Rooney n Lenon. Put Gerrard in Lampard's place. Owen can swing about. Sven are you listening ??? That should be the GAME PLAN...

Sexy Pepsi Advert !!

I hereby vehemently oppose Pepsi's absurd Pepsi TV Commercial....

Lover Boy Zaheer Khan !

Microsoft's Next Big Thing !!

Windows Vista will soon be here and XP will be history sooner than expected. In the past few weeks, I've been keeping myself abreast with Vista's development. What I've seen so far seems brilliant. Microsoft have really gone out of their way to provide an exceptional OS. MS Office gets a makeover too and I'm already downloading the Beta. Just looking at the pics make me want to move to the next gen OS & Office Suite. Hope you do the same too.

Check out the Vista Gallery Here
&
Office Gallery Here

Amul's Take on the Stock Market !

Bill Gates Needs some Change !!

The Coke Advert with Gates on it is a great idea. It's gotten a lot of negative vibes though. I thought it was nice.

So, What's Your Adhuri Kahani ???

Bheegi Bheegi is originally a Bengali song, composed by a band called Mohinir with Gautam Banerjee in the lead. 'James', the guy who sings the Gangster Movie version sure has a great voice and Pritam (Music Director) has done justice to the song. Ever since i first heard it on channel V, i haven't stopped listening. Even the movie, Gangster turned out to be good. I for one don't like Imran Hashmi, reasons will surface later. The new girl, Kangna Ranaut has done justice to her role.

All in all, the movie turns out to be one of the better movies from Mahesh Bhatt and Bollywood. One other thing that stands out in the movie is Korea and the way cinematographer Bobby Singh has captured Seoul.

Lyrics :

bheegi bheegi si hai raaten
bheegi bheegi yaaden
bheegi bheegi baaten
bheegi bheegi aankhon mein kaisi nami hai
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha
sapnon ka saya palkon pe aya
pal mein hasaya pal mein rulaya
phir bhi yeh kaisi kami hai
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha
na jaane koi kaisi hai yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani
na jaane koi kaisi hai yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani

aadhi aadhi jaagi aadhi aadhi soyi
aankhen yeh teri toh lagta hai royi
lekar ke naam hamara
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha
rutha rutha rab chhuta chhuta sab
toota toota dil tere bina ab
kaise ho jeena ganwara
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha
na jaane koi kaisi hai yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani
na jaane koi kaisi hai yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani

bheegi bheegi si hai raaten
bheegi bheegi yaaden
bheegi bheegi baaten
bheegi bheegi aankhon mein kaisi nami hai
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha aa ha
aa ha ha ha
na jaane koi kaisi hai yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani
na jaane koi - 2 hamari adhuri kahani
na jaane koi yeh zindagaani zindgaani
hamaari adhuri kahaani
na na na....

Rest in Peace Baby !!

Steffi Graf

Back in my school days, Steffi Graf was the goddess I worshipped. Given a chance i would've done something as crazy as this or something more. Check it out !!

Will India Ever Stop Being A 3rd World Country !!!

The following is straight off The Financial Express. It's a shame that India can't change it's laws and save it's own people.

A former cruise liner with hundreds of tonnes of asbestos and other toxic material on board is heading for an Indian scrapyard, Greenpeace said on Tuesday, threatening a repeat of a controversy over a French warship.

In February, the French government decided to recall the Clemenceau, a mothballed aircraft carrier containing tonnes of asbestos, after the environmental group said that scrapping it in India would pose a risk to the health of workers.

A court order blocked the ship from entering Indian waters, while Greenpeace activists staged several protests.

The group said New Delhi had not learnt a "single lesson" from the Clemenceau saga. The 46,000-tonne Blue Lady, formerly the S.S. Norway, was on its way to the Alang yard in Gujarat from Malaysia, it said.

"The Indian government is washing its hands of the ship and following a business-as-usual policy in Alang," Greenpeace campaigner Ramapati Kumar said in a statement.

In a report in December, Greenpeace said that thousands of workers involved in the ship-breaking industry in countries such as India, China and Pakistan had probably died over the past two decades in accidents or exposure to toxic waste.

The 315-metre (1,035-foot) Blue Lady contains more than 900 tonnes of asbestos and heavy metals, the group said.

Environment ministry officials said they would not immediately comment.

The Blue Lady, which entered service in 1962, was owned by Malaysia's Star Cruises Ltd. A boiler room explosion in May 2003 killed seven crew.

Whenever My Girlfriend Calls, I'm Watching

Massa !!

Every Schumi victory produces a 'Kodak' Moment and the European GP was no exception. The photo above speaks for itself. I bet every Ferrari fan was also caught up in emotion.

Vaala Meenukkum !

`Gana` Ulaganathan and his 'Vaala Meenukkum' song has sent Tamil Nadu into a frenzy. Every relative, friend or foe has only been talking about this song ever since I landed here.

You switch on the FM radio or television channels, everywhere the song is scorching the charts. And at election meetings to gather crowds the song is blared over loud speakers by all political parties!

For Me, more than the tune or Malavika's dance, it's the assistant, Muthuraja with his mike and his constant expression or lack of it that has caught my eye.

Gana Paatu , sure has come a long way in Tamil Cinema since Simran started it all with 'Allthotta Bhupathi'.

Schumiiiiii !!!

RA beat me to it but yeah, the big leap is back where it belongs, at the top of the podium. It's always a pleasure to see schumi conduct the national anthems. The last race showed that the ferrari car was faster down the straight than in the corners. I never did doubt Schumi's form or his commitment to the sport. Will he become the champion again this year ???We'll just have to wait n see.

Can't wait for this weekend. Nothing like winning at home !!! Off to Qwiky's then with friends for another schumi victory.

Premiership is painted Blue!!

Chelsea beat Man U 3 - 0 to clinch this years Premiership Title, their second in a row. I think they deserved it even though Man U made them wait this long. Going a goal down within 5 minutes was always going to be difficult to come back from and Man U suffered. Ronaldo didnt play that well and Van Nistelrooy should've come in well before half time.

Seems like we'll have to wait for another year to see if Alex Fergusson has it in him to push his team to where it truly belongs.

More exciting things to come pretty soon, Barca vs Arsenal, EUFA Cup Final & of course the WORLD CUP.

Smoking is Injurious to......errr..... Ships !!

T
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S
T
A
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P
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The Star Princess, one of the premier Cruise Ships plying around caught fire thanx to a measly Cigarette. 1 Person died of a Heart Attack, 9 suffered minor smoke inhalation injuries. Its a pity that a $430 Million ship should suffer such a fate.

Kanda Naal Mudhal

I was just beginning to write off Tamil movies as well. Earlier during the week, i managed to watch Aaru(6) starring Surya & Trisha. The movie was written with Vijay in mind. Don't get me wrong, I do like Vijay's movies too but the same old formula with a different dressing is starting to get on my nerves.

Today, since Ship Stability was driving me nuts, i decided to watch 'Kanda Naal Mudhal'. Except for the Actresses ( Laila, Lakshmi & Revathy), I didn't have a clue about the others. (Shows how out of touch with Tamil Movies I am).

The movie was absoultely well made with Laila stealing the show and the other 2, Prasanna & Karthik chipping in as well. The story is plain simple. Kudos to director, 'Priya V', who is a protege of none other than Mani Ratnam. Prakash Raj is the Producer.

This movie is worth watching folks. Looking forward to more such CLEAN movies & non violent movies in the future.

Then & Now !!

Six Years since my first landing in Glasgow and the changes seem pretty stunning. Not talking abt the scenery at the back, look at ME. ;)

The World's Fastest Indian

Initially was gonna watch '2 for the Money' as I'm a huge fan of Al Pacino but a few friends making it late to the Cinema Hall made sure that we had to change plans to the next movie, 'The World's Fastest Indian' starring Anthony Hopkins. With me fuming and a few others cursing, we ended up watching the movie and it didn't disappoint.

The story is about an old New Zealander who wants to travel to America to break the speed record with his old 'Indian' bike. I shall not divulge more except that I love the Aussie accent Mate !!!

Do Watch it, you'll enjoy it.

Jayalalitha for Nobel Peace Prize !!

CHENNAI: World Federation of Tamil Youth (WFTY) on Tuesday said it has nominated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the Nobel Peace Prize, 2006.

The federation has nominated Jayalalithaa's name from India, Sharjah and the US, for her "dedicated efforts in ushering Peace, Performance, Progressiveness, Productivity, Partnership and Prosperity for the people of the state during the last five years," its president Dr Vijay G Prabhakar said.

"We would also be celebrating April 14, the Tamil New Year as 'Selvi J Jayalalithaa day' in 15 countries, highlighting the progress of Tamil Nadu under her leadership," he said.

The federation's India chapter president Dr R Mylvaganan presented a DVD titled "J Governance" produced by the organisation.

Love in the Snow !!

Love u Honey !!

Na tum jaano na hum !!

Came across this on another Blog, thought it was really funny :



Kyon chalti hai pawan,

Because of evaporation.

Kyon jhoome hai gagan,

Because of earth's revolution.

Kyon machalta hai mann,

Because of excessive respiration.

Na tum jaano na hum

But I just gave all the reasons!


Kyon aati hai bahaar,

Because of a change in season,

Kyon lut ta hai karaar,

Because of mental tension.

Kyon hota hai pyaar,

Because of pole attraction.

Na tum jaano na hum

Like I said, these are all science phenomenan!



Kyon gum hai har disha,

Because you have a poor sense of direction.

Kyon hota hai nasha,

Because of drug addiction.

Kyon aata hai mazaa,

Bcoz science gives us all the information.

Na tum jaano na hum !

It's that time of the Year Again !!

Come On Schumi !!!!!

I Give Up On Indian Cricket !!

More shuts the door on Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly will not be recalled into the Indian team as long as the present selection committee is in office, Kiran More, the chairman of the five-man committee, told Cricinfo in an interview last evening.

Following Ganguly's exclusion from the first Test, More had made a statement that "there is no looking back on this issue now", which had been varyingly interpreted by the media. More clarified to Cricinfo that the reference then, and now, was to the tenure of the current selection committee, rather than just the present series against England.

"We took a decision that we have to look ahead," he said. "We decided that so much has been said on this issue, that we wanted to send a message across that, `this is what we are looking at, and as far as this committee is concerned, this is what we have decided, that we will not look back at all." More further spelt out that the committee was "definitely looking beyond" Ganguly even if he were to perform well in domestic cricket.

About the public and media pressure generated by the decision, More said: "Pressure is always there in any job and it is a good thing. You have to make some strong decisions. That's why you're selecting the Indian team."

The team for the second Test against England at Mohali is to be announced this evening. Ganguly, meanwhile, is slated to play for East Zone tomorrow at Jaipur in the Deodhar Trophy, the domestic zonal one-day tournament.

More's comments were part of a wide-ranging interview, taken before Sharad Pawar held meetings with the Indian players and coach late on Saturday night. The full interview will be published soon on Cricinfo.

My Take : If India is looking ahead and playing only youngsters then drop Tendulkar, Kumble, Laxman, Dravid tooo. All of them are old. Tendulkar is performing terribly in tests. There are better players to replace him. India can depend on Irfan Pathan to make a double hundred to the save each and every match.

Kiran More has had very little international experience compared to Ganguly, of course cricket was different back then but still how he became chairman of selectors, god only knows.

Ganguly, always supported his youngsters too. Dhoni, Yuvraj, Harbajan Singh all owe Ganguly a lot.

Ganguly may not be at his best, Tendulkar has not been the same in the last 2 years too. Ganguly still averages 40+ in both forms of the game which is good enough for me to include him in both forms of the game.

This whole episode of Greg Chappel vs Ganguly with the selectors joining the bandwagon shows how pathetic the BBCI is being run today and who is calling the shots.

Match fixing almost forced me to give up on cricket then but this whole Ganguly episode has forced me to throw in the towel. I was actually waiting for India to lose today which is totally unlike me.

Gong Li

This woman is extremely beautiful and talented. Hails from China. Watch her in The Emporer and the Assassin, Memoirs of a Geisha and the upcoming Miami Vice & Young Hannibal.

I'm a huge fan.

Recent Cinema Hall Visits

Viewed, not necessarily in the same order as shown

The Daily Weather Battle !!

Warm & Sunny Glasgow !!