Rising gas prices don't really bring smiles to anyone's faces. Here in the Younited states, cheap gas, for decades, has been a fundamental right of all Americans - rich and poor alike. Higher gas prices don't just mean that the wings of ordinary Americans are being clipped, but also means that their money stretches even lesser than it already does. Basically, there really isn't any good news on that front for us ordinary folks, not just in the US but all over the world. (In fact the rest of the world woke up to the bad news a long, long time ago.)
That being said most of us have been aware since childhood that the supply of fossil fuels was limited and would one day be exhausted unless we found other means to produce energy. What I don't get is that, despite this knowledge people continued/continue to buy gas-guzzling vehicles without any thought about the future, only to now complain about how the price at the pump is killing them. Cleaner, efficient vehicles have always been sold side-by-side with the gas guzzlers for about the same price. OK - they've been smaller and aren't best suited to "extreme", off-roading enthusiast types, or people anticipating a whole bunch of kids (that's another topic altogether). But they've been around.
Instead, people - especially those with no real functional need for them - continued to buy large SUVs, and now, for the most part, these SUV's hurtle around with single occupancies. Sure, driving pleasure is important. If they're happy with these vehicles - fantastic. But if these people (especially those in lower income groups) bought these vehicles thinking that pump prices would stay the same, or even drop - and now complain about how gas prices are hurting them ... well....
In some way, it makes me happy that the sales of gas guzzlers are down. Now, whenever a huge-ass SUV whizzes dangerously by me on the highway, I resist the urge to curse the driver (using my choicest Indian Maa... and Behen... gaalis) and instead laugh to myself (with an almost but not quite the Skeletor-like laugh, or the Thriller-like laugh... you know the kind I'm talking about!) thinking about how much it's going to cost the f*&^er at the pump the next time (read - an hour later) he/she's in for a refill. What can I say - I can be a vindictive mother.. sometimes.
Or maybe I'm just bitter. Oh yes - besides being occasionally vindictive, I can also be bitter about things once in a while. Usually, with my kind it's the memory of some rejection of some sort by a female somewhere that triggers the bitterness, which usually prejudices me against all things related to that person and the rejection (places, people, beds - just kidding about the beds, etc.). But, when it comes to large SUV's, I just don't know what it is about them that makes me not too happy. I mean there are several possible reasons but I'm still not sure which one of them is the prime cause.
I'm all for people getting those big machines though. It neatly categorizes humanity for me. People who drive/buy them, if not involved in landscaping, or transportation, or some commercial activity that actually requires those large vehicles, are either a.) stupid, or b.) not very visionary or imaginative, or c.) the sort that just don't give a f*&k about the rest of us, or d.) all of the above.
Not to be left behind too far behind (not) choking on my (car's) cleaner, low on carbon emissions exhaust, they too probably have categories for people like me. For them, people like me are either a.) whiny sissies, or b.) bitter f&*ks, or c.) people who care too much about everything to do anything meaningful about one particular thing, or d.) all of the above.
Hmmm...
I still don't know why I so dislike large SUV's.
Help me.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The scream rises to the top?
Watching yesterday's highlights of the Venus Williams versus Maria Sharapova Ladies Singles QF match at Wimbledon 2007, I realized more than ever that I just don't like watching Sharapova play tennis. I think she's a tough competitor and all with great mental strength, the ability to come back from behind and play well in the clutch, take her game to the next level when the chips are down, blah.. blah.. blah.. No really - I do think all those things about her.
But her guttural screaming for every play (regardless of the effort level) is just too "off-putting" for me. And if as a TV viewer it can be so distracting - I can't even imagine how her opponents feel. Even if I hit the Mute button to tune her and the accompanying commentary out, her playing style is also not very entertaining really. She doesn't really cover the court well and pretty much gets to the ball and hits it -hard. If she's in trouble, she digs deep into herself, focuses - and just hits harder. She's a champion for sure - and she wins games. But she's definitely not a looker when she's playing.
By contrast, Venus' playing style is so much more pleasing to watch. She's fast, agile and covers the court extremely well. Her movements are fluid and her long limbs allow her to reach for balls most players would let go. She also relies on the angles and slices as much as she does on raw power. Most importantly, Venus doesn't grunt anywhere close to the decibel levels of Sharapova. All that makes it fun to watch Venus play.
Both players do have one similarity however - they're both tough competitors and are potential greats in the making. In most cases, when great players play one another, I usually don't care too much who wins as long as the match was entertaining. In this case though, sadly, prejudiced ol' me preferred Venus over Maria. The result, needless to say, made me happy.
But her guttural screaming for every play (regardless of the effort level) is just too "off-putting" for me. And if as a TV viewer it can be so distracting - I can't even imagine how her opponents feel. Even if I hit the Mute button to tune her and the accompanying commentary out, her playing style is also not very entertaining really. She doesn't really cover the court well and pretty much gets to the ball and hits it -hard. If she's in trouble, she digs deep into herself, focuses - and just hits harder. She's a champion for sure - and she wins games. But she's definitely not a looker when she's playing.
By contrast, Venus' playing style is so much more pleasing to watch. She's fast, agile and covers the court extremely well. Her movements are fluid and her long limbs allow her to reach for balls most players would let go. She also relies on the angles and slices as much as she does on raw power. Most importantly, Venus doesn't grunt anywhere close to the decibel levels of Sharapova. All that makes it fun to watch Venus play.
Both players do have one similarity however - they're both tough competitors and are potential greats in the making. In most cases, when great players play one another, I usually don't care too much who wins as long as the match was entertaining. In this case though, sadly, prejudiced ol' me preferred Venus over Maria. The result, needless to say, made me happy.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Hiatus Explanation (for those who don't care)
My apologies to those regularly checking in to my blog on the very long gap in posting. Several events occurred in a very brief spell of time - such as (but not limited to) interviewing for jobs, lots of traveling, finally getting some job offers and then selecting one, then starting work, and also moving to a new apartment in a new zip code.
Relax. I still haven't left the area. Suffice to say that these last few months have been very eventful - all the ups and downs made things very interesting. I will make the effort to be on here more often than I have in these last couple of months.
Relax. I still haven't left the area. Suffice to say that these last few months have been very eventful - all the ups and downs made things very interesting. I will make the effort to be on here more often than I have in these last couple of months.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Highway Projects in India - Photos
Earlier, I posted a thread from SkyScraperCity that had some supernice pics on the Mumbai/Bombay skyline at night-time).
Here's a thread - once again from SkyScraperCity, that has some decent resolution pictures of ongoing highway and road projects in India. This thread/forum is a good example of the benefits of citizen journalism and reporting - that of providing far more information than the mainstream media. However, just to keep things in perspective, since the posters are largely India-biased - it seems that only the better looking pics have perhaps been put up. Nevertheless, it does make for informative and pleasant browsing. The discussions in the thread are also pretty balanced and informative - which reflects really well on the people participating in it. More importantly, the posters have done a remarkable job in gathering and posting the pictures.
It would do good for most people who aren't living in India currently, to contrast those pictures with the actual driving experience. Suffice to say there's a lot of work to be done. But then - a lot has been and is being done.
Drive safe. Stay protected.
(Image on top of post is a sample from the SkyscraperCity thread discussed above. The image was posted by user SunCity is a view of the Mumbai-Pune expressway.)
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Dream TARDIS
When I wake up in the middle of the morning, I think about how sleepy I still am. Then I decide if I just have to get up for anything in particular, or if I can afford to sleep off that sleepiness.
That's way too much thinking to do when you really just want to sleep though. Thinking kills sleep. Makes the mind wander to non-dreamsy places. No harems or space travels anymore for a few more hours.
I wish though that my dream TARDIS had a little less randomness. Perhaps it could be programmed better - maybe a few minutes before I actually formally declare to myself, "I'm now ready to go to bed". Now, here I must digress further to clarify that when I say "I'm ready to go to bed" - I'm not saying that "I get ready to go to bed". That clarification is important.
Back to dream programming. There's an important difference between watching programmes on TV and dreaming. At least from my perspective. The difference is that it's you that's making up the dreams (since there's no known scientific proof of it being broadcast from some outside-the-body source) , which means that perhaps you could control the programming somehow. Instead of looking at TV Guide to decide which shows you want to watch, and/or TiVoing your favourite shows when their timings clash with one another, you could perhaps program your dreams so you could tell your dream TARDIS where you want to go, what you want to do and how you want to be doing it all.
So, when I'm ready to go to bed, I could tell my mind:
"Allright, here's stuff that I am interested in:
(1) For the first hour of my dream, I want to relax a little bit. No nasty surprises that jolt me out of sleep. Take me somewhere where I'm playing some kinda outdoor sport. Show me doing well, playing hard. And I don't really care so much if I win or lose, as long as you show me using my real-life bad knee like there's nothing wrong with it. I'd be happy with that.
(2) Then for the next hour, take me back to my childhood. And make my nephew - who's now 6 years old - join in and play with me and my childhood friends. Show us participating in cool adventures, like the several times we'd go climbing that hill that when I was a kid. And of course, some cool adventures I never really had but would have loved to. (Don't ask me which ones those are. Just do it - damnit!) Make sure my nephew and me end up bonding together as best buddies. I'd really like that.
(3) Keep the Shotime and Skinemax dreams out for the third hour. I think tonight I'd like to spend some time with my parents. Show me as I am right now. With a lot more hair on my head. Ok then - that's not as I am right now - but don't you start getting too cute with me now! Anyways, back to hour 3: make sure to show my parents young. Show my Dad the handsome young man he was. Show my Mom as the young, striking beauty she once was; Her hair long, free and show her laughing away carefree - like a little child watching a cartoon show. Show me as being respectful to them and make sure they're having a good time with me, not dreading the next rebellious thing I might spring on them. My sister needs to be around too - bubbly and pretty young girl that she was. Show us two getting along really good without those fights we constantly had.
(4) For hour number 4, I think I might be in the mood for spending time with my lady love. No. No. Not just that kind of time. Take us back home when we were dating then. Make sure I have a lot more money to show her a good time around town - catching a movie, eating at a nice restaurant, walking around the historical sites, perusing the books and interesting items being sold by the street vendors. Better still, make all of that not require any money. Show people around us being kind to lovers - not the suspicious, kill-joy moral police types. Then show us travelling back home in the evening - in the upper level of a double decker bus - sitting side by side, holding and squeezing each other's hands as the young lovers were were then, looking out of the window from above at the sea of humanity below us - mesmerised by the interconnectedness of millions of lives.
Ok. That's all I could think of. For the remaining hours, I'll let you decide what you want to show me. Make it interesting though. And entertaining. And while you're at it, make it illogical if you want to - I'm not a great practitioner or exponent of logic anyways.
I think that should be it for tonight. Tomorrow, we could do an all-nighter on me and my friends. I'm looking forward to it already. In fact, one of my friend's birthdays is coming up - so mix that in as well. But all that's for tomorrow.
Oh - and TiVo the stuff I enjoyed tonight, so we could do a re-run some other night!"
Unfortunately that dream machine of mine is not programmable. Or controllable in any fashion - not in any way that I really understand. I don't have any way to control where it takes me - no way to comprehend that randomness. Nor do I really understand all the stuff that seems to manifest itself into those random trips.
But then there's a lot of stuff that I don't. Including why I want the dreams I want.
P.S. In case you're wondering what the hell a TARDIS is - please read or watch Dr. Who.
That's way too much thinking to do when you really just want to sleep though. Thinking kills sleep. Makes the mind wander to non-dreamsy places. No harems or space travels anymore for a few more hours.
I wish though that my dream TARDIS had a little less randomness. Perhaps it could be programmed better - maybe a few minutes before I actually formally declare to myself, "I'm now ready to go to bed". Now, here I must digress further to clarify that when I say "I'm ready to go to bed" - I'm not saying that "I get ready to go to bed". That clarification is important.
Back to dream programming. There's an important difference between watching programmes on TV and dreaming. At least from my perspective. The difference is that it's you that's making up the dreams (since there's no known scientific proof of it being broadcast from some outside-the-body source) , which means that perhaps you could control the programming somehow. Instead of looking at TV Guide to decide which shows you want to watch, and/or TiVoing your favourite shows when their timings clash with one another, you could perhaps program your dreams so you could tell your dream TARDIS where you want to go, what you want to do and how you want to be doing it all.
So, when I'm ready to go to bed, I could tell my mind:
"Allright, here's stuff that I am interested in:
(1) For the first hour of my dream, I want to relax a little bit. No nasty surprises that jolt me out of sleep. Take me somewhere where I'm playing some kinda outdoor sport. Show me doing well, playing hard. And I don't really care so much if I win or lose, as long as you show me using my real-life bad knee like there's nothing wrong with it. I'd be happy with that.
(2) Then for the next hour, take me back to my childhood. And make my nephew - who's now 6 years old - join in and play with me and my childhood friends. Show us participating in cool adventures, like the several times we'd go climbing that hill that when I was a kid. And of course, some cool adventures I never really had but would have loved to. (Don't ask me which ones those are. Just do it - damnit!) Make sure my nephew and me end up bonding together as best buddies. I'd really like that.
(3) Keep the Shotime and Skinemax dreams out for the third hour. I think tonight I'd like to spend some time with my parents. Show me as I am right now. With a lot more hair on my head. Ok then - that's not as I am right now - but don't you start getting too cute with me now! Anyways, back to hour 3: make sure to show my parents young. Show my Dad the handsome young man he was. Show my Mom as the young, striking beauty she once was; Her hair long, free and show her laughing away carefree - like a little child watching a cartoon show. Show me as being respectful to them and make sure they're having a good time with me, not dreading the next rebellious thing I might spring on them. My sister needs to be around too - bubbly and pretty young girl that she was. Show us two getting along really good without those fights we constantly had.
(4) For hour number 4, I think I might be in the mood for spending time with my lady love. No. No. Not just that kind of time. Take us back home when we were dating then. Make sure I have a lot more money to show her a good time around town - catching a movie, eating at a nice restaurant, walking around the historical sites, perusing the books and interesting items being sold by the street vendors. Better still, make all of that not require any money. Show people around us being kind to lovers - not the suspicious, kill-joy moral police types. Then show us travelling back home in the evening - in the upper level of a double decker bus - sitting side by side, holding and squeezing each other's hands as the young lovers were were then, looking out of the window from above at the sea of humanity below us - mesmerised by the interconnectedness of millions of lives.
Ok. That's all I could think of. For the remaining hours, I'll let you decide what you want to show me. Make it interesting though. And entertaining. And while you're at it, make it illogical if you want to - I'm not a great practitioner or exponent of logic anyways.
I think that should be it for tonight. Tomorrow, we could do an all-nighter on me and my friends. I'm looking forward to it already. In fact, one of my friend's birthdays is coming up - so mix that in as well. But all that's for tomorrow.
Oh - and TiVo the stuff I enjoyed tonight, so we could do a re-run some other night!"
Unfortunately that dream machine of mine is not programmable. Or controllable in any fashion - not in any way that I really understand. I don't have any way to control where it takes me - no way to comprehend that randomness. Nor do I really understand all the stuff that seems to manifest itself into those random trips.
But then there's a lot of stuff that I don't. Including why I want the dreams I want.
P.S. In case you're wondering what the hell a TARDIS is - please read or watch Dr. Who.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Sample and Savour
(1) House, techno, electronica - and add to that heady mix the talented DJ and my buddy Rohit Sharma - and his blog (which I just belatedly discovered) called Profound Sounds (Yes - I think it's a cool name too!) You can also listen to some of his latest mixes here.
(2) ...And a dose of reality - Ketaki style - at Same Page, not a recent discovery by any means unlike Rohit's, but in fact a blog I visit often to derive cutting-edge insight from.
In case you aren't doing so already you should be get to any or all of the other people's sites I've linked to - so you can actually get to interesting things to read.
(2) ...And a dose of reality - Ketaki style - at Same Page, not a recent discovery by any means unlike Rohit's, but in fact a blog I visit often to derive cutting-edge insight from.
In case you aren't doing so already you should be get to any or all of the other people's sites I've linked to - so you can actually get to interesting things to read.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Babel
It's been a while since I watched a good movie. I did see 300 recently, a movie inspired by Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name and while I did think the action in the movie was shot in truly exhilarating fashion, the acting and the dialogues in contrast were unoriginal and one-dimensional bordering on being comical even and ultimately detracting from the experience. In short - pretty crappy. I do want to clarify that I haven't read Miller's novel. It does seem to me though that people who read the book were far more immersed in the movie and ultimately found it to be more enjoyable. Perhaps I should have done the same.
But this is a problem with movie adaptations of famous or great books. Moviegoers who've actually read the original book usually go on like, "Man! You haven't read the book? You should have - it would've made a lot more sense to you!" I know they say that - because I do that a lot myself!
And while deriding the book-challenged among us is all well and good, the truth is a good movie ultimately must stand on its own without having to be a companion piece to something else all the time. For example, I found the "Lord of the Rings" motion picture trilogy more enjoyable than the J.R.R. Tolkien book trilogy (Yes Raoul, Yes. I do know there's more to LOTR than "just those three" books) even though I read the books before the movies came out. Consider Frank Miller's other famous work - the Sin City series brought to life on the screen by Robert Rodriguez as another case in point. Sin City is one of the most amazing movies ever made. In both above cases, while reading the original books do perhaps enhance the experience of watching the movie, the movies themselves can easily stand alone by themselves. Ah! If only Rodriguez had directed 300.
Overall, not such a bad movie but doesn't quite live up to the hype. For a fan's review of 300, do check out Sibin's here.
This post though is basically about Babel, a movie I saw on DVD in the comfort of home a couple of days ago. Babel is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and among the more prominent stars of the movie are Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The movie also stars several lesser known actors and as is often the case - these lesser known actors are exceptional.
The story (not necessarily told in a linear format) begins in Morocco with two adolescents - both brothers - minding their goats armed with a hunting rifle given to them by their father solely for the purpose of shooting away jackals. To while away their time, the brothers start to carelessly shoot at far away boulders on surrounding hillocks. Soon, the target shooting moves to moving targets, in this case shooting at vehicles passing by on the winding road below in full view from their hilltop perch - an activity only kids could possibly think of. One bullet fired from some distance by the more talented marksman among the brothers finds its way into the flesh of an American tourist in a bus full of foreign (and all white) tourists visiting Morocco. This single event then triggers a whole series of events and circumstances, actions and consequences that changes the lives of several people across four countries.
Babel could be loosely compared to Crash in the manner in which it weaves different stories within its main storyline. But where it differs from Crash is in that these stories aren't weaved tightly to one another. Babel lets the story threads run their own courses. It's pace may seem laborious and the movie may ultimately disappoint those bottom-line hunting , road-rage-suffering, ADD afflicted among us looking for an explicit payoff or resolution of some sorts fed intravenously at the end of the movie into our lazy blood streams as we are accustomed to; for the few others the superb acting on display from several actors (especially the Moroccan cast of the movie), the intricate storyline and the wonderfully captivating background score will keep you riveted to your seat.
With that I must now correct my first statement. It had been a while since I saw a good movie. At least until I saw Babel that is.
(pic courtesy www.apple.com )
But this is a problem with movie adaptations of famous or great books. Moviegoers who've actually read the original book usually go on like, "Man! You haven't read the book? You should have - it would've made a lot more sense to you!" I know they say that - because I do that a lot myself!
And while deriding the book-challenged among us is all well and good, the truth is a good movie ultimately must stand on its own without having to be a companion piece to something else all the time. For example, I found the "Lord of the Rings" motion picture trilogy more enjoyable than the J.R.R. Tolkien book trilogy (Yes Raoul, Yes. I do know there's more to LOTR than "just those three" books) even though I read the books before the movies came out. Consider Frank Miller's other famous work - the Sin City series brought to life on the screen by Robert Rodriguez as another case in point. Sin City is one of the most amazing movies ever made. In both above cases, while reading the original books do perhaps enhance the experience of watching the movie, the movies themselves can easily stand alone by themselves. Ah! If only Rodriguez had directed 300.
Overall, not such a bad movie but doesn't quite live up to the hype. For a fan's review of 300, do check out Sibin's here.
This post though is basically about Babel, a movie I saw on DVD in the comfort of home a couple of days ago. Babel is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and among the more prominent stars of the movie are Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The movie also stars several lesser known actors and as is often the case - these lesser known actors are exceptional.The story (not necessarily told in a linear format) begins in Morocco with two adolescents - both brothers - minding their goats armed with a hunting rifle given to them by their father solely for the purpose of shooting away jackals. To while away their time, the brothers start to carelessly shoot at far away boulders on surrounding hillocks. Soon, the target shooting moves to moving targets, in this case shooting at vehicles passing by on the winding road below in full view from their hilltop perch - an activity only kids could possibly think of. One bullet fired from some distance by the more talented marksman among the brothers finds its way into the flesh of an American tourist in a bus full of foreign (and all white) tourists visiting Morocco. This single event then triggers a whole series of events and circumstances, actions and consequences that changes the lives of several people across four countries.
Babel could be loosely compared to Crash in the manner in which it weaves different stories within its main storyline. But where it differs from Crash is in that these stories aren't weaved tightly to one another. Babel lets the story threads run their own courses. It's pace may seem laborious and the movie may ultimately disappoint those bottom-line hunting , road-rage-suffering, ADD afflicted among us looking for an explicit payoff or resolution of some sorts fed intravenously at the end of the movie into our lazy blood streams as we are accustomed to; for the few others the superb acting on display from several actors (especially the Moroccan cast of the movie), the intricate storyline and the wonderfully captivating background score will keep you riveted to your seat.
With that I must now correct my first statement. It had been a while since I saw a good movie. At least until I saw Babel that is.
(pic courtesy www.apple.com )
Friday, February 23, 2007
Upgrades
No.. No.. no upgrades to my desktop, laptop (I don't have one), MP3 player or appendages (I won't comment on whether I need one or don't anyways!). Just some upgrades to the blog as seems to be permitted - even facilitated - by Blogger. I guess competition from Wordpress has made all of this possible, although I'd like to see a lot more enhancements before I am satisfied. Nothing like an unpaying customer or client like me asking for the world, and then some. For free! Heh! Heh!
Actually, I have been meaning to switch to Wordpress for a while now, but inertia and the just-in-time new Blogger features have prevented me from doing what I should have done already. Never mind. It's on my agenda anyways. For now, I am partially satiated with the ability to list (and cross-list) posts by labels - a feature common to other sites and providers. Hopefully it will be a lot more easier to navigate through the worthless posts on this blogsite anyways.
Then again, there are more labels on my blog than posts. That's to show you how multidisciplinary my writing can be. Or - to put it plainly - how all over the place the whole f**king blog is!
Actually, I have been meaning to switch to Wordpress for a while now, but inertia and the just-in-time new Blogger features have prevented me from doing what I should have done already. Never mind. It's on my agenda anyways. For now, I am partially satiated with the ability to list (and cross-list) posts by labels - a feature common to other sites and providers. Hopefully it will be a lot more easier to navigate through the worthless posts on this blogsite anyways.
Then again, there are more labels on my blog than posts. That's to show you how multidisciplinary my writing can be. Or - to put it plainly - how all over the place the whole f**king blog is!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Peter Straub
The last few posts ( 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) have been largely book related. That tells you the amount of free time I have these days. But talking about works of fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed, I do feel it would be criminal to not mention Peter Straub and his works. Yes - I know most of y'all (except for BrijWhiz) probably haven't heard of him.
Straub is usually classified as a horror writer - much like the more famous Stephen King, probably because he's collaborated with King. But it's tough to call Straub a horror writer. Usually his stories are built around a premise that you'd find in psychological thriller type novels. But his novels go much deeper than that. His characters hold up a mirror for you, compelling you to introspect, while his writing compels you to turn pages. And in that sense, he has very little in common with King, much less with most other authors I've read.
I picked up The Throat written by Straub for a train journey from New Delhi to good ol' Mumbai in '98. I thought I'd picked up a cheap, slasher novel. Instead, behind that cheap sounding title was a self-indulgent, but utlimately superb psychological thriller. The Throat, the third and final book of what's known as the "blue rose" trilogy, deals with the return of a serial killer to a small American town, who scrawls "blue rose" besides his victims. And here everyone had thought that the killer had been caught after the first spate of murders died out (no pun intended). By the time the book was over, I was looking for others from Peter Straub.
I did pick up the remaining books from the "blue rose" trilogy including Koko and Mystery, thereby ending up reading the whole "blue rose" trilogy backwards. No harm done though. I found the experience extremely rich. The Throat and Koko, especially are two of my favourite psychological thrillers. And I highly recommend both these avant garde psychological thrillers by Peter Straub to start with. The links should lead you to Amazon pages for the books along with summaries/ editorial reviews.
Special props to Brijwhiz for helping me keep my interest in Straub before.
Straub is usually classified as a horror writer - much like the more famous Stephen King, probably because he's collaborated with King. But it's tough to call Straub a horror writer. Usually his stories are built around a premise that you'd find in psychological thriller type novels. But his novels go much deeper than that. His characters hold up a mirror for you, compelling you to introspect, while his writing compels you to turn pages. And in that sense, he has very little in common with King, much less with most other authors I've read.
I picked up The Throat written by Straub for a train journey from New Delhi to good ol' Mumbai in '98. I thought I'd picked up a cheap, slasher novel. Instead, behind that cheap sounding title was a self-indulgent, but utlimately superb psychological thriller. The Throat, the third and final book of what's known as the "blue rose" trilogy, deals with the return of a serial killer to a small American town, who scrawls "blue rose" besides his victims. And here everyone had thought that the killer had been caught after the first spate of murders died out (no pun intended). By the time the book was over, I was looking for others from Peter Straub.
I did pick up the remaining books from the "blue rose" trilogy including Koko and Mystery, thereby ending up reading the whole "blue rose" trilogy backwards. No harm done though. I found the experience extremely rich. The Throat and Koko, especially are two of my favourite psychological thrillers. And I highly recommend both these avant garde psychological thrillers by Peter Straub to start with. The links should lead you to Amazon pages for the books along with summaries/ editorial reviews.
Special props to Brijwhiz for helping me keep my interest in Straub before.
Friday, February 02, 2007
A Good Story Comes To An End
Not all is bad in the world of paperback fiction though. However the death of Sidney Sheldon whom I curiously mentioned a few days ago, will leave a void in many ways. A work of fiction generally involves telling a story. The story need not be true in any way. And while there are several people who can perhaps describe scenes or events really well, the fact is - a work of fiction cannot wholly succeed without a good underlying story that connects all the peices (well described or not) really well. Sidney Sheldon, in that regard, was a master at telling a good story.
When I first picked up his books in my adolescent years, it was mainly to get to the lurid sex scenes several of his books seemed to be filled with. I know I wasn't alone in doing that. But like others, I also realized little by little that the stories he told were very captivating. It was the essence (believe it or not!) of the characters that came through those aforementioned scenes that made me track back to pages before these scenes and continue reading far after they were over. His classics like If Tomorrow Comes, The Other Side of Midnight, and The Doomsday Conspiracy are superb examples of stories with great appeal and solid content.
Youngsters these days may have internet pron to educate themselves. But I seriously doubt if it's ever going to lead them to great stories like those Sheldon once wrote. Whatever. It'll be their loss. Sidney's probably living it up wherever he is right now.
When I first picked up his books in my adolescent years, it was mainly to get to the lurid sex scenes several of his books seemed to be filled with. I know I wasn't alone in doing that. But like others, I also realized little by little that the stories he told were very captivating. It was the essence (believe it or not!) of the characters that came through those aforementioned scenes that made me track back to pages before these scenes and continue reading far after they were over. His classics like If Tomorrow Comes, The Other Side of Midnight, and The Doomsday Conspiracy are superb examples of stories with great appeal and solid content.
Youngsters these days may have internet pron to educate themselves. But I seriously doubt if it's ever going to lead them to great stories like those Sheldon once wrote. Whatever. It'll be their loss. Sidney's probably living it up wherever he is right now.
Bad Science and Imaginary Weapons
One of the books I read recently was Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld" by Sharon Weinberger. The book is a study on how the military establishment in the US, in its quest for new, deadlier weapons to stay ahead of all competition, funds fringe research ridiculed and dismissed by mainstream science. Pseudo-science backed with little and in several cases dubious rigor can capture the imagination of top military funding agencies. The prime example used in the book is the quest for devising a super weapon using a halfnium isomer that could theoretically be put inside a container the size of a hand grenade but could have more power than a conventional nuke. Moreover, it could theoretically penetrate concrete and steel making it impossible to guard against.
Musings:
The trouble with such a quest is that mainstream phyicists of repute who have researched this idea have already found it to be highly infeasible (i.e. un-doable) for several reasons - the least of which being that for such an endeavor to actually succeed would require seriously violating known laws of physics. But that somehow did not or does not deter fringe scientists from taking up this cause repeatedly, and, even more scarily, for the military establishment of the most powerful nation on the planet to continue to fund such dubious science by millions of dollars.
And just why do these scientists eagerly propose such research time and time again? Maybe, because in absence of any proper scientific funding (probably denied to them because of the dubious nature of their proposals in the first place) their only option is the generous military. Or maybe because they somehow believe strongly in the feasibility of these fringe topics, no matter how contrary known evidence is.
As a scientist myself(Hee! Hee! Still get a kick out of saying that!), all this is a good reality check that there are a lot of scientists out there who either lack scientific rigor or who somehow believe that they're better and know more than the system that produced them. Who needs equations and proofs to back one's gut feelings, right?!
But more importantly a scientist who actually craves for recognition which he or she knows that mainstream science is never going to grant them, but they're going to make a run for it one way or the other is a very dangerous one. Such people are eventually going to not only self-destruct at some point, but will also end up taking a lot of people (innocent or otherwise) with them.
Book Review:
The book itself did tend to get a little tedious (like this post), not because of all the scientific details inside but because the writer explains events, people and her interviews with them in far too much detail. A lot of the material could have been condensed and published in a major newspaper as an exposure piece.
Also, while the title says Imaginary Weapons, i.e. implying the plural, the author only really talks about the halfnium weapon in some detail. While, in the beginning of the book, the writer does allude to military funding for an acoustic weapon, i.e. one that uses sound waves to neutralize the enemy, or funding for harnessing gravity waves in some destructive fashion, she makes very little or no further mention about these other topics later on in the book. That's kind of a let-down really, because I did want to hear about other dubious projects funded by the military. However, her sarcastic, almost satirical writing style makes it easier to plod through the more weightier (read boring) topics. On the whole, informative but a slightly dissatisfying experience.
Tailpiece:
With that troubling thought of bad science and scientists in my mind, it's time to hit the textbooks again then for me - just to make sure I have all the facts right. Heh! Heh! More book reviews, observations coming up later. Textbooks won't be included, fortunately.
Musings:
The trouble with such a quest is that mainstream phyicists of repute who have researched this idea have already found it to be highly infeasible (i.e. un-doable) for several reasons - the least of which being that for such an endeavor to actually succeed would require seriously violating known laws of physics. But that somehow did not or does not deter fringe scientists from taking up this cause repeatedly, and, even more scarily, for the military establishment of the most powerful nation on the planet to continue to fund such dubious science by millions of dollars.
And just why do these scientists eagerly propose such research time and time again? Maybe, because in absence of any proper scientific funding (probably denied to them because of the dubious nature of their proposals in the first place) their only option is the generous military. Or maybe because they somehow believe strongly in the feasibility of these fringe topics, no matter how contrary known evidence is.
As a scientist myself(Hee! Hee! Still get a kick out of saying that!), all this is a good reality check that there are a lot of scientists out there who either lack scientific rigor or who somehow believe that they're better and know more than the system that produced them. Who needs equations and proofs to back one's gut feelings, right?!
But more importantly a scientist who actually craves for recognition which he or she knows that mainstream science is never going to grant them, but they're going to make a run for it one way or the other is a very dangerous one. Such people are eventually going to not only self-destruct at some point, but will also end up taking a lot of people (innocent or otherwise) with them.
Book Review:
The book itself did tend to get a little tedious (like this post), not because of all the scientific details inside but because the writer explains events, people and her interviews with them in far too much detail. A lot of the material could have been condensed and published in a major newspaper as an exposure piece.
Also, while the title says Imaginary Weapons, i.e. implying the plural, the author only really talks about the halfnium weapon in some detail. While, in the beginning of the book, the writer does allude to military funding for an acoustic weapon, i.e. one that uses sound waves to neutralize the enemy, or funding for harnessing gravity waves in some destructive fashion, she makes very little or no further mention about these other topics later on in the book. That's kind of a let-down really, because I did want to hear about other dubious projects funded by the military. However, her sarcastic, almost satirical writing style makes it easier to plod through the more weightier (read boring) topics. On the whole, informative but a slightly dissatisfying experience.
Tailpiece:
With that troubling thought of bad science and scientists in my mind, it's time to hit the textbooks again then for me - just to make sure I have all the facts right. Heh! Heh! More book reviews, observations coming up later. Textbooks won't be included, fortunately.
Bad Writing
I picked up some more books recently (continuing on with my book reading spree). My last foray into reading paperback fiction (of the Dan Brown sort described here) made me realize two things:
1. It had been a while since I had read a novel of the airport quickie variety and somehow this time around, I found this kind more difficult to digest. Reading Dan Brown and Digital Fortress was really the last straw for me. I know it sounds pompous but I think I have sort of graduated from books of this sort. Why do I feel this way? I dunno! Probably because I don't want to read badly written books anymore! The last good work of fiction that I had read - sometime last year - was The Five people You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom which was immensely readable when compared to the Brown kind of tripe.
2. I don't really understand how mediocre writers get recognition or acclaim while the real good ones don't ever get anywhere. It brings up the question: Just who are those reviewers quoted on the back of these bad books who extoll non-existent virtues of these books, and just how much do they know about writing?
I do know that reading a book (or reading anything), watching movies, listening to music, or appreciating a work of art for that matter - has all to do with how much appeal it holds for you. And what appeals to who has not necessarily been captured in a bottle and/or is sold off the shelves of drug stores. However, some bad writers seem to have gotten a whiff of that essence somehow.
Of course Reason no. 2 is an oversimplification of complex social, cultural and psychological issues that determine what works and what doesn't. And no one really knows everything about it all. That doesn't mean I can't be a snob and diss stuff I don't like.
1. It had been a while since I had read a novel of the airport quickie variety and somehow this time around, I found this kind more difficult to digest. Reading Dan Brown and Digital Fortress was really the last straw for me. I know it sounds pompous but I think I have sort of graduated from books of this sort. Why do I feel this way? I dunno! Probably because I don't want to read badly written books anymore! The last good work of fiction that I had read - sometime last year - was The Five people You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom which was immensely readable when compared to the Brown kind of tripe.
2. I don't really understand how mediocre writers get recognition or acclaim while the real good ones don't ever get anywhere. It brings up the question: Just who are those reviewers quoted on the back of these bad books who extoll non-existent virtues of these books, and just how much do they know about writing?
I do know that reading a book (or reading anything), watching movies, listening to music, or appreciating a work of art for that matter - has all to do with how much appeal it holds for you. And what appeals to who has not necessarily been captured in a bottle and/or is sold off the shelves of drug stores. However, some bad writers seem to have gotten a whiff of that essence somehow.
Of course Reason no. 2 is an oversimplification of complex social, cultural and psychological issues that determine what works and what doesn't. And no one really knows everything about it all. That doesn't mean I can't be a snob and diss stuff I don't like.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Crichton and Programming
My good friend Brij discussed earlier a fantastic piece of fiction - Dune by Frank Herbert here. My cousin Sanjay first lent me the book - although I had heard much about it before. Idle reading these days (being unemployed and all) involved finishing Prey by Michael Crichton. The connection between Prey and Dune being that they're both categorized usually as science fiction (i.e. sci-fi). And you're right - that connection I made was the result of some serious analytical skills. I do understand though that sci-fi is generally classified into hard and soft. With that in mind, Dune's probably on the soft side, while Prey's probably on the hard side.
I know I wasn't all that excited about wanting to read Prey. Crichton's last book that I read i.e. Timeline was a good thriller incorporating quantum science in interesting ways, but pretty much typical run-of-the-mill in terms of writing quality. I decided to give Prey a read anyways however, since I am prone to rushes of magnanimity and Crichton's been begging me for a while. I won't go into the book summary and all that - you'll find a much more detailed account here. But the story deals with the confluence of nanotechnology, genetics and computer science, and the implications of it all to the future of mankind. Food for thought indeed!
While some of the notions and ideas in the book are far fetched given that Crichton's works are usually based on current ongoing or proposed scientific research, there were a few that I did find relevant. Especially those about computer programming. In the book, programmers of the Silicon Valley regularly indulge in designing and developing virtual, autonomous agents to work in distributed computing scenarios. Also, most programmers know how to power these agents with evolutionary or genetic algorithms that allow them to combine with other agents and come up with efficient solutions for a broad range of complex problems. Just like people getting together with other people to solve problems. (Or stone other people - probably the same as solving problems actually!)
It is my understanding, based on what is normally taught in programming that such programming is still far from the norm in the Silicon Valley or any valley. Most programmers are still rooted to using algorithms for which upper bounds and lower bounds, both in terms of memory use and time are known or can be evaluated. Such algorithms are essential for commercial software development right from analyzing the cost-benefit of program code at the lowest level, up to the setting of milestones, deadlines, etc. up at the higher, project management levels.
But, while such programming is still pretty essential, the truth is - the theory and practical applications of genetic algorithms may soon become important for all programmers to study. Besides off-the-shelf resusable code or code libraries are used extensively for known problems. Why keep re-inventing the wheel? More importantly, complex problems are solved better using a combination of traditional as well as heuristic techniques just as humans tend to problem solve.
Off-late, several computer science as well as bio-informatics graduate programs across the world do offer courses on genetic algorithms and such. And while programmers armed with this knowledge may not quite be the norm in Silicon Valley, not quite as Crichton potrays, they will probably become necessary in the not-to-distant future.
A mildly compelling page turner at best, Prey however is nowhere close to Crichton's best. I do think that this phase of reading paperback quickies may not last too long.
I know I wasn't all that excited about wanting to read Prey. Crichton's last book that I read i.e. Timeline was a good thriller incorporating quantum science in interesting ways, but pretty much typical run-of-the-mill in terms of writing quality. I decided to give Prey a read anyways however, since I am prone to rushes of magnanimity and Crichton's been begging me for a while. I won't go into the book summary and all that - you'll find a much more detailed account here. But the story deals with the confluence of nanotechnology, genetics and computer science, and the implications of it all to the future of mankind. Food for thought indeed!
While some of the notions and ideas in the book are far fetched given that Crichton's works are usually based on current ongoing or proposed scientific research, there were a few that I did find relevant. Especially those about computer programming. In the book, programmers of the Silicon Valley regularly indulge in designing and developing virtual, autonomous agents to work in distributed computing scenarios. Also, most programmers know how to power these agents with evolutionary or genetic algorithms that allow them to combine with other agents and come up with efficient solutions for a broad range of complex problems. Just like people getting together with other people to solve problems. (Or stone other people - probably the same as solving problems actually!)
It is my understanding, based on what is normally taught in programming that such programming is still far from the norm in the Silicon Valley or any valley. Most programmers are still rooted to using algorithms for which upper bounds and lower bounds, both in terms of memory use and time are known or can be evaluated. Such algorithms are essential for commercial software development right from analyzing the cost-benefit of program code at the lowest level, up to the setting of milestones, deadlines, etc. up at the higher, project management levels.
But, while such programming is still pretty essential, the truth is - the theory and practical applications of genetic algorithms may soon become important for all programmers to study. Besides off-the-shelf resusable code or code libraries are used extensively for known problems. Why keep re-inventing the wheel? More importantly, complex problems are solved better using a combination of traditional as well as heuristic techniques just as humans tend to problem solve.
Off-late, several computer science as well as bio-informatics graduate programs across the world do offer courses on genetic algorithms and such. And while programmers armed with this knowledge may not quite be the norm in Silicon Valley, not quite as Crichton potrays, they will probably become necessary in the not-to-distant future.
A mildly compelling page turner at best, Prey however is nowhere close to Crichton's best. I do think that this phase of reading paperback quickies may not last too long.
Brown's Fortress and the Brown Code to writing
On to Dan Brown then, the famous author of the Da Vinci Code. I did read the Code earlier. And I also happened to read one of his earlier works (if you could call it that) called Digital Fortress much more recently (I still wonder why!). The story is basically run-of-the-mill Brown I guess: cryptologists searching for secret codes in the backdrop of a standard text-book race-against-time thriller format of paperback fiction. One really sad part about the book is just the sheer number of inaccuracies and misrepresentations of computational theories. The story itself is badly written with the cheapest, totally unoriginal and completely predictable gimmicks you've seen before and you just can't believe people still use them. All the while I also felt the ghost of another book I'd read many years ago while reading parts of the more interesting story arc of Fortress. The entire part about a man tracking down all those people between who an all important ring changed hands (No. No. Not Frodo's ring.) reminded me vaguely of The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon.
Dan Brown should probably be excused for writing a sorry book such as The Digital Fortress, since it was early into his fiction writing days; much before he became famous for the Da Vinci Code. We all know however that the Code itself was haunted by complaints of plagiarism. Suffice to say that the only thing Dan Brown can do is incorporate symbols and codes and ciphers into his stories. I don't even know if he does a good job at that either. And that's his calling card. Just like Grisham generally incorporates courtroom dramas and the finer points of the law into his stories. But unlike Grisham, a lawyer himself and Crichton, a scientist himself, there's little that Brown brings to his books (so far from the two that I have read) that makes someone meaningfully smarter about the complex world around us.
And as a final note on Brown and ...Code, here's Dave Barry's absolutely hilarious analysis of the Da Vinci Code techique. The original article was published in the Miami Herald, but it requires registration. Barry's piece is in the first post of the forum I linked to above. I read it a couple of years back. And it's still funny as hell. Enjoy!
Dan Brown should probably be excused for writing a sorry book such as The Digital Fortress, since it was early into his fiction writing days; much before he became famous for the Da Vinci Code. We all know however that the Code itself was haunted by complaints of plagiarism. Suffice to say that the only thing Dan Brown can do is incorporate symbols and codes and ciphers into his stories. I don't even know if he does a good job at that either. And that's his calling card. Just like Grisham generally incorporates courtroom dramas and the finer points of the law into his stories. But unlike Grisham, a lawyer himself and Crichton, a scientist himself, there's little that Brown brings to his books (so far from the two that I have read) that makes someone meaningfully smarter about the complex world around us.
And as a final note on Brown and ...Code, here's Dave Barry's absolutely hilarious analysis of the Da Vinci Code techique. The original article was published in the Miami Herald, but it requires registration. Barry's piece is in the first post of the forum I linked to above. I read it a couple of years back. And it's still funny as hell. Enjoy!
Monday, January 15, 2007
Air India sucks
I realize this is going to be my first post of the new year. And it saddens me that it starts on such a sour note for one of my friends Subhayu, who had to suffer through a terrible travel ordeal on account of the folks at Air India. I am reproducing his email here - bear with us because it's slightly lengthy.
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Air India - National Airline or a National shame !!!
This is a absolutely true & horryfying experience that I just went through with our national airline - Air India. It was so traumatic for me that I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams. I have heard of stray incidents of various types happening with different people, just couldn't believe when ALL of those happened with me in 2 days. Here's my experience.
Day 1:
I walk into the Mumbai airport at 12.15 pm for a 14.55 pm flight to london. (AI 131). After about 40 minutes, AI counter representatives just start walking around and chatting amongst themselves. Maybe 15-20 minutes after that, someone raises some noise about their behavior and then they come out open stating that the flight was full and that the flight was overbooked. Now overbooking as AI puts it is a very common action that most airlines resort to, even in peak seasons such as the one I was travelling in. To my outmost surprise, they had overbooked a flight of 210 passengers (they fly a Boeing 767 for this flight) by 40 odd passengers. Absolutely ridiculous !!!. Thats when this whole saga of trauma began. We fought with the AI officials to come up with a reason and tell us what they were gonna do for us. But they refused to budge and did not give any reasonable explanation. After about 30 minutes of screaming and fighting the duty manager arrived at the scene and the very second statement he made was that we are going to put you guys in a 5 star hotel. The next possible flight that they could put us on was AI 101 which would leave at 7.10 AM the next morning. They couldn't arrange for any other flight citing that they were all full, but they did not confirm with anyone before making that bold statement, just because they wanted to save the buck for AI. My case was a bit complicated cause I had to make it to the US the next day on a American Airlines (AA) flight. So they promised me to rebook me on a different flight and also provide me a hotel accomodation in London since I wouldn't make it for my original flight.
After that around 14.00 pm, there was a change of shifts, which meant a new duty manager was to arrive and be briefed about the situation. Some passengers like me, decided to take the lead and explained him the situation. He promised us that he would take care of us and would assign a hotel and boarding passes ASAP. Before that he had to head to a small meeting for 15 mins. That 15 mins, took him 2 hours and then he comes and states that out of great difficulty he could get us to the next flight at 7.10 AM, which we should have always been given priority to board since we were bumped off our original flight. But he refused to check in our luggage and give boarding passes, asking us to come to the airport some 6 hrs in advance. We refused and decided not to budge, and maybe after an hour he agreed to check us in. Still no hotel and it was 5.00 pm. One of the fellow passengers lost his head since he was travelling with his 80 year old mom who was struggling to sit through this trauma. Another family with an infant just wanted to know if they r going to get a hotel and still no action on AI's behalf. Finally around 6.30 pm, they come out and say that they cannot find hotels for us and offer to put us up in the airport area, where they have some facilities. Some of us went and checked the facilities. There were some beds with some dirty linen, no bathrooms, no TV's, no kind of entertainment and full of mosquitoes which would definitely give you malaria before leaving india. One guy mentioned that he wouldn't even let his dog stay there in that room. Such were the facilities offered to passengers who paid full fare, after being promised 5 star accomodation. Little did we know that this was a beginning of what we had to go through. After that we all went to the duty managers office and sat there and he refused to give us priority. After forcing him to give us his attention and forcing him to inform his seniors of our position, he negotiated with us.
After about 2 hours of this, AI made another offer to us. Find a hotel on your own and get us the bill tommorow and we'll reimburse you. The ceiling limit was set to Rs. 5000 / passenger or Rs. 7000/family, which is really a small amount given the costs of hotels in mumbai. Anyways, we tried hard to negotiate with them to give us a reasonable limit since we would never get a decent hotel around the airport for that kind of money. Sensing that we weren't making much progress with this issue with AI after an hour of debating and they still looking or acting to look for hotels for us, some of us decided to take the offer and share rooms. To our surprise, AI said they would not give us cash and we would have to produce a bill after paying it on our own. Some of the passengers had no indian currencies, some students have very limited credit card limits which blocked them from taking this limit. So we again tried to negotiate, but with no success with the thick skinned inconsiderate AI people. Also at this stage, AI managers told us that turn up at the aiport only around 6.30AM next morning since AI 101 is delayed to 8.00 pm. That would give us an additional 1 hour of sleep. By then the next shift came into work who again argued with us that every airline rebooks and they are justified with their hostile behavior and actually gave us a hard time to even dispurse the mininal taxi costs to us. Finally, around 10.30 pm in the night after spending more than 10 hrs at the airport, some of us decided to take a cab and give it a shot to look for a hotel on our own. Found one at around 12 in the nite and spend the next couple of hrs trying to get some sleep.
Day 2:
Next morning when we got to the airport at 6.20 AM, we noticed the same story being repeated with the AI 101 passengers who were dumped thanks to us. Similar shouts and screaming and determined AI officials fending off all allegations of mismanaging reservations. Infact funnily, the AI desk officials kept blaming AI reservation ppl for messing things up and telling us that they couldn't do much about it since thats how its been since the past couple of years. One of the AI officials mentioned that the whole overbooking saga was going on for the past 7-8 days, but surprisingly they still did not have hotels booked and they just kept using their strategy to hold passengers in the airport until they got frustated and left on their own. Suddenly we get rushed stating that we were delaying the flight. To our surprise the flight is stated to be on time. So we go thru immigration and then identify our luggages and finally make it to the flight. It leaves as stated - i.e. at 8.15 AM.
During the flight, I fell sick with the previous days food. The moment we landed, I was throwing up and had a very hard time keeping myself hydrated. Go to the luggage claim area in london and after about 1 hour, AI official comes and says that they did not board some 20 passengers baggage. Guess what .... all the 20 ppl were from AI 131 flight. It was so ironic, that they did not board things like the old lady's wheel chair. Can u imagine that ? After all this .... they do that. Also, with AI, something else we learnt is there is no compensation for your baggage if they do not arrive with you. I tried to negotiate, but one of the AI london officials mentioned that they would not entertain any requests unless the luggage was lost for more than 48 hrs. Nice !!!Thot I was done and so I went to the AI customer service and asked for the 1 nite hotel stay that I was promised in bbay. AI flatly refused stating that their responsibility ends in London. They do not care anything beyond that. Infact this one lady in the AI customer service was so rude and so insulting that I was amused if this is what "Customer service" meant for AI. No other airline counter had such rude officials. I decided to wait and speak to the duty manager, who also refused but after he heard my traumatic story asked me to stay there for a bit. This is like 3 hours since I landed in London still trying to get something I was promised. Finally, he took pity on me and decided to give me a room for a nite and he was perhaps the only AI official who had backed his words with some real action. I went to the hotel & crashed thinking I was done with AI for good ....I was dreaming .... yes, I was. Next morning, I reach Gatwick and presented my booking details to AA to take my flight to the US. They see my booking and ask me for a paper ticket. AI did not give me any paper ticket. They just gave me a piece of paper and thats it. The reservation was a no go and they asked me to buy a new 1 way ticket to Raleigh. At that stage, I couldn't think of anything to do. But i remembered that my original booking was a refundable, changeable ticket. So AA looked up my old reservation and the lady at the counter did some magic and I made it to the my flight to Raleigh. AA tried to trace my luggage, still no information and I am still waiting for it after 40 hrs of my flight.
Apathy:
In this whole experience, the thing I was surprised by was the sense of accountablity (or lack thereof) of the AI employees. Its a true government organization where there is no accountablity and everyone is trying to pass the buck onto someone else and run away from the responsiblities. I pity the old parents, families with infants and foreigners who get screwed and swindled with this kind of treatment. The saddest part of my experience is the AI officials behaviours and no sense of urgency to deal with our issues. It just seems to be a every day issue at AI and I personally noticed so many people losing their heads at the AI counters. After this experience, I have decided that I am going to pay additional money and travel any other airline but AI. They simply do not understand a passenger's or a paying customer's plight after making them go thru such hell. Not to mention how bad the AI website is to dig out any details. A nation like India which is the world leader in IT, our national airline's website sucks and doesn't get me any reasonable information.I just felt that after this experience I need to let every Indian whom I know in the US know about this. AI will not get off the hook this easy. They need to learn a lesson and I am gonna put every effort in trying to do so. I have refrained intentionally from naming individual AI officials since I dont think that would help cause I believe its an organizational issue and the attitude needs to change from the top to bottom, just changing some officials will not make this airline any better.So adios AI .... national airline .... my ass.
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Tailpiece: My wife and I had a harrowing experience ourselves in India trying to fly Air Deccan. It's a long story by itself, but one that reeks of the same complete lack of accountability that Subhayu wrote about - this on the part of the employees of and the Air Deccan management itself. Anyways, its sad that so many of our country's people are continued to be treated like crap.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air India - National Airline or a National shame !!!
This is a absolutely true & horryfying experience that I just went through with our national airline - Air India. It was so traumatic for me that I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams. I have heard of stray incidents of various types happening with different people, just couldn't believe when ALL of those happened with me in 2 days. Here's my experience.
Day 1:
I walk into the Mumbai airport at 12.15 pm for a 14.55 pm flight to london. (AI 131). After about 40 minutes, AI counter representatives just start walking around and chatting amongst themselves. Maybe 15-20 minutes after that, someone raises some noise about their behavior and then they come out open stating that the flight was full and that the flight was overbooked. Now overbooking as AI puts it is a very common action that most airlines resort to, even in peak seasons such as the one I was travelling in. To my outmost surprise, they had overbooked a flight of 210 passengers (they fly a Boeing 767 for this flight) by 40 odd passengers. Absolutely ridiculous !!!. Thats when this whole saga of trauma began. We fought with the AI officials to come up with a reason and tell us what they were gonna do for us. But they refused to budge and did not give any reasonable explanation. After about 30 minutes of screaming and fighting the duty manager arrived at the scene and the very second statement he made was that we are going to put you guys in a 5 star hotel. The next possible flight that they could put us on was AI 101 which would leave at 7.10 AM the next morning. They couldn't arrange for any other flight citing that they were all full, but they did not confirm with anyone before making that bold statement, just because they wanted to save the buck for AI. My case was a bit complicated cause I had to make it to the US the next day on a American Airlines (AA) flight. So they promised me to rebook me on a different flight and also provide me a hotel accomodation in London since I wouldn't make it for my original flight.
After that around 14.00 pm, there was a change of shifts, which meant a new duty manager was to arrive and be briefed about the situation. Some passengers like me, decided to take the lead and explained him the situation. He promised us that he would take care of us and would assign a hotel and boarding passes ASAP. Before that he had to head to a small meeting for 15 mins. That 15 mins, took him 2 hours and then he comes and states that out of great difficulty he could get us to the next flight at 7.10 AM, which we should have always been given priority to board since we were bumped off our original flight. But he refused to check in our luggage and give boarding passes, asking us to come to the airport some 6 hrs in advance. We refused and decided not to budge, and maybe after an hour he agreed to check us in. Still no hotel and it was 5.00 pm. One of the fellow passengers lost his head since he was travelling with his 80 year old mom who was struggling to sit through this trauma. Another family with an infant just wanted to know if they r going to get a hotel and still no action on AI's behalf. Finally around 6.30 pm, they come out and say that they cannot find hotels for us and offer to put us up in the airport area, where they have some facilities. Some of us went and checked the facilities. There were some beds with some dirty linen, no bathrooms, no TV's, no kind of entertainment and full of mosquitoes which would definitely give you malaria before leaving india. One guy mentioned that he wouldn't even let his dog stay there in that room. Such were the facilities offered to passengers who paid full fare, after being promised 5 star accomodation. Little did we know that this was a beginning of what we had to go through. After that we all went to the duty managers office and sat there and he refused to give us priority. After forcing him to give us his attention and forcing him to inform his seniors of our position, he negotiated with us.
After about 2 hours of this, AI made another offer to us. Find a hotel on your own and get us the bill tommorow and we'll reimburse you. The ceiling limit was set to Rs. 5000 / passenger or Rs. 7000/family, which is really a small amount given the costs of hotels in mumbai. Anyways, we tried hard to negotiate with them to give us a reasonable limit since we would never get a decent hotel around the airport for that kind of money. Sensing that we weren't making much progress with this issue with AI after an hour of debating and they still looking or acting to look for hotels for us, some of us decided to take the offer and share rooms. To our surprise, AI said they would not give us cash and we would have to produce a bill after paying it on our own. Some of the passengers had no indian currencies, some students have very limited credit card limits which blocked them from taking this limit. So we again tried to negotiate, but with no success with the thick skinned inconsiderate AI people. Also at this stage, AI managers told us that turn up at the aiport only around 6.30AM next morning since AI 101 is delayed to 8.00 pm. That would give us an additional 1 hour of sleep. By then the next shift came into work who again argued with us that every airline rebooks and they are justified with their hostile behavior and actually gave us a hard time to even dispurse the mininal taxi costs to us. Finally, around 10.30 pm in the night after spending more than 10 hrs at the airport, some of us decided to take a cab and give it a shot to look for a hotel on our own. Found one at around 12 in the nite and spend the next couple of hrs trying to get some sleep.
Day 2:
Next morning when we got to the airport at 6.20 AM, we noticed the same story being repeated with the AI 101 passengers who were dumped thanks to us. Similar shouts and screaming and determined AI officials fending off all allegations of mismanaging reservations. Infact funnily, the AI desk officials kept blaming AI reservation ppl for messing things up and telling us that they couldn't do much about it since thats how its been since the past couple of years. One of the AI officials mentioned that the whole overbooking saga was going on for the past 7-8 days, but surprisingly they still did not have hotels booked and they just kept using their strategy to hold passengers in the airport until they got frustated and left on their own. Suddenly we get rushed stating that we were delaying the flight. To our surprise the flight is stated to be on time. So we go thru immigration and then identify our luggages and finally make it to the flight. It leaves as stated - i.e. at 8.15 AM.
During the flight, I fell sick with the previous days food. The moment we landed, I was throwing up and had a very hard time keeping myself hydrated. Go to the luggage claim area in london and after about 1 hour, AI official comes and says that they did not board some 20 passengers baggage. Guess what .... all the 20 ppl were from AI 131 flight. It was so ironic, that they did not board things like the old lady's wheel chair. Can u imagine that ? After all this .... they do that. Also, with AI, something else we learnt is there is no compensation for your baggage if they do not arrive with you. I tried to negotiate, but one of the AI london officials mentioned that they would not entertain any requests unless the luggage was lost for more than 48 hrs. Nice !!!Thot I was done and so I went to the AI customer service and asked for the 1 nite hotel stay that I was promised in bbay. AI flatly refused stating that their responsibility ends in London. They do not care anything beyond that. Infact this one lady in the AI customer service was so rude and so insulting that I was amused if this is what "Customer service" meant for AI. No other airline counter had such rude officials. I decided to wait and speak to the duty manager, who also refused but after he heard my traumatic story asked me to stay there for a bit. This is like 3 hours since I landed in London still trying to get something I was promised. Finally, he took pity on me and decided to give me a room for a nite and he was perhaps the only AI official who had backed his words with some real action. I went to the hotel & crashed thinking I was done with AI for good ....I was dreaming .... yes, I was. Next morning, I reach Gatwick and presented my booking details to AA to take my flight to the US. They see my booking and ask me for a paper ticket. AI did not give me any paper ticket. They just gave me a piece of paper and thats it. The reservation was a no go and they asked me to buy a new 1 way ticket to Raleigh. At that stage, I couldn't think of anything to do. But i remembered that my original booking was a refundable, changeable ticket. So AA looked up my old reservation and the lady at the counter did some magic and I made it to the my flight to Raleigh. AA tried to trace my luggage, still no information and I am still waiting for it after 40 hrs of my flight.
Apathy:
In this whole experience, the thing I was surprised by was the sense of accountablity (or lack thereof) of the AI employees. Its a true government organization where there is no accountablity and everyone is trying to pass the buck onto someone else and run away from the responsiblities. I pity the old parents, families with infants and foreigners who get screwed and swindled with this kind of treatment. The saddest part of my experience is the AI officials behaviours and no sense of urgency to deal with our issues. It just seems to be a every day issue at AI and I personally noticed so many people losing their heads at the AI counters. After this experience, I have decided that I am going to pay additional money and travel any other airline but AI. They simply do not understand a passenger's or a paying customer's plight after making them go thru such hell. Not to mention how bad the AI website is to dig out any details. A nation like India which is the world leader in IT, our national airline's website sucks and doesn't get me any reasonable information.I just felt that after this experience I need to let every Indian whom I know in the US know about this. AI will not get off the hook this easy. They need to learn a lesson and I am gonna put every effort in trying to do so. I have refrained intentionally from naming individual AI officials since I dont think that would help cause I believe its an organizational issue and the attitude needs to change from the top to bottom, just changing some officials will not make this airline any better.So adios AI .... national airline .... my ass.
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Tailpiece: My wife and I had a harrowing experience ourselves in India trying to fly Air Deccan. It's a long story by itself, but one that reeks of the same complete lack of accountability that Subhayu wrote about - this on the part of the employees of and the Air Deccan management itself. Anyways, its sad that so many of our country's people are continued to be treated like crap.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Now what?
3 drinks
empty stomach - well ok - some fries in between
a wicked buzz
a lot of cussing and swearing
lots of laughing with good ol' friends in on a celebration
help me walk me up the stairs later in the evening
up to my apartment-for-a-couple-'more-weeks-now
it's the middle of the night - nay early in the morning
And I suddenly find myself awake, wide awake
Buzz gone away
And hungry as hell
empty stomach - well ok - some fries in between
a wicked buzz
a lot of cussing and swearing
lots of laughing with good ol' friends in on a celebration
help me walk me up the stairs later in the evening
up to my apartment-for-a-couple-'more-weeks-now
it's the middle of the night - nay early in the morning
And I suddenly find myself awake, wide awake
Buzz gone away
And hungry as hell
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Monsters and action heroes
Conflict is our permanent curse. And as long as there's some form of conflict heroes and villains seem to keep cropping up. Trouble is, several of these "heroes" take to playing the part of do-gooders in order to mask their true intentions like seeking personal gratification of some sort, or to hide their insecurities regarding their own shortcomings, or guilt at having been villains in some way at some other time and now want to atone for it somehow.
Villains, for their part so it seems, are always f**king with humanity, and heroes are always seemingly trying to stop them and consequently save humanity. It's just not in the nature of do-gooding heroes to be content living the calm life like the rest of us common folk suckered into watching one crappy TV show after another. Nope. Heroes are always itching for a fight.
The sad part about the whole thing though is that sometimes the itch to indulge in some blood-letting gets to them so bad - that they actually create monsters out of thin air. Just so that they can have some kind of conflict. Just so that they could justify their own presence in some way most of all to themselves and thereby feel relevant.
That though is little consolation for people who have lost their lives and/or their minds in this battle between heroes and villains. Even if you are now wise to all the antics of the conflict seekers, the sad reality is that you cannot distance yourself from one side or the other. To all of us who lie in between, these self-appointed heroes and their chosen villains (in many cases self-appointed heroes themselves) are both edges of the same knife; the same knife thats sticking out of our collective backs.
Villains, for their part so it seems, are always f**king with humanity, and heroes are always seemingly trying to stop them and consequently save humanity. It's just not in the nature of do-gooding heroes to be content living the calm life like the rest of us common folk suckered into watching one crappy TV show after another. Nope. Heroes are always itching for a fight.
The sad part about the whole thing though is that sometimes the itch to indulge in some blood-letting gets to them so bad - that they actually create monsters out of thin air. Just so that they can have some kind of conflict. Just so that they could justify their own presence in some way most of all to themselves and thereby feel relevant.
That though is little consolation for people who have lost their lives and/or their minds in this battle between heroes and villains. Even if you are now wise to all the antics of the conflict seekers, the sad reality is that you cannot distance yourself from one side or the other. To all of us who lie in between, these self-appointed heroes and their chosen villains (in many cases self-appointed heroes themselves) are both edges of the same knife; the same knife thats sticking out of our collective backs.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Fishing for Validation with Depravity as Bait
Not all depravity is humourless. In fact, I'd even say that most depravity is humourous. What's really funny, in a sad way, is a joke that's not very funny. Whats sad for me (and sadly or happily funny for you) is that I'm mouthing those unfunny jokes.
Cracking jokes is some kind of a validation trip. That validation is gained through the laughter we induce. The more maniacal the laughter, the more validated we feel. There's nothing more satisfying than a wise crack that gets a lot of laughs. Wit is a sign of intelligence, especially the ones we make on the fly. Or so we keep telling ourselves. So to prove our own intelligence to people around us, most of all to ourselves perhaps, we keep trying to get a witty comment in. When they laugh, it's like, "Wow! That went down well! I must be freakin' funny or something!"
Trouble is, wit is highly subjective. What's funny to me ain't necessarily funny to you. Some get it. Some don't. And there are some who pretend like they don't want to get it. But I have to say that getting it is a good thing. It's stress relieving. It's invigorating. It's tiring - but in a good way. Ok! I digressed from talking about getting jokes to getting some other "it".
See? That was another cheap attempt at humour. It's really sad how badly I want you to laugh at something that cheap. As the title says, I'm fishing for validation using depravity as bait. See how well I linked all that? Chalk coming up with stupid titles as another talent I have.
Cracking jokes is some kind of a validation trip. That validation is gained through the laughter we induce. The more maniacal the laughter, the more validated we feel. There's nothing more satisfying than a wise crack that gets a lot of laughs. Wit is a sign of intelligence, especially the ones we make on the fly. Or so we keep telling ourselves. So to prove our own intelligence to people around us, most of all to ourselves perhaps, we keep trying to get a witty comment in. When they laugh, it's like, "Wow! That went down well! I must be freakin' funny or something!"
Trouble is, wit is highly subjective. What's funny to me ain't necessarily funny to you. Some get it. Some don't. And there are some who pretend like they don't want to get it. But I have to say that getting it is a good thing. It's stress relieving. It's invigorating. It's tiring - but in a good way. Ok! I digressed from talking about getting jokes to getting some other "it".
See? That was another cheap attempt at humour. It's really sad how badly I want you to laugh at something that cheap. As the title says, I'm fishing for validation using depravity as bait. See how well I linked all that? Chalk coming up with stupid titles as another talent I have.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Night Skyline - Mumbai
A new look for this page - transitory it will be like most things. My absence is due to work. Loads of it. There is some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. But it's still a little ways to go. Will get there eventually.
I found this link with various images of different Mumbai skylines a few days ago. The link belongs to a forum for skyscraper aficianados called Skyscrapercity, and the topic is a view of the various Mumbai skylines at night-time. Some of the pictures are breathtaking, especially the ones posted by the user who goes by the name "Magestom". I have attached two of the several images from that site here.
With that, it's back to work for me though. Meanwhile, enjoy these pictures of my hometown.
(both pics courtesy: http://www.skyscrapercity.com)
Friday, August 25, 2006
BrijWhiz grows older!
Many happy returns of the day (August 25th) to BrijWhiz, my personal pioneer and more importantly, one of the very best of buddies a guy ( and/or a woman) can have.
Brij, may your hopes and aspirations for the next year of your life be fulfilled. May your wealth and stock options continue to grow. And may you finally be able to stay away from the hookers and the booze. Oh right! Sorry! You're way past that phase of your life, and your wife wouldn't want to hear of your past exploits. Or rather, I mean the lack thereof (for Megz's sake!).
Continuing on then; may your wife have something sexy and naughty planned for you - and may you help her out a little more by taking a shower finally. (I did that on my birthday and it was received with the most heartfelt expressions of gratitude. One needs to do good deeds as mentioned above annually. Too often though, and you risk diluting the enormity of that particular expression of love.) Shaving your facial hair may be a little too much of a shock for the poor thing though. So go easy on her. One thing at a time.
Ok. Ok. All that roasting aside, a toast to all the good times and bad we've all shared over the last several years, and to all the good people we've met, and the bad ones we dissed, and the pretty ones we ogled. And to your continued presence online and offline (whatever offline and online means). Don't need a share of the stock options though to say life is immeasurably richer with you around (but would definitely help)!
P.S. Just found out that BrijWhiz shares his birthday with ... Sean Connery - whoosh 76 yearsh old today! Now I know why you've had the luck with the ladies, and a penchant for Scotch! Cheers buddy!
Brij, may your hopes and aspirations for the next year of your life be fulfilled. May your wealth and stock options continue to grow. And may you finally be able to stay away from the hookers and the booze. Oh right! Sorry! You're way past that phase of your life, and your wife wouldn't want to hear of your past exploits. Or rather, I mean the lack thereof (for Megz's sake!).
Continuing on then; may your wife have something sexy and naughty planned for you - and may you help her out a little more by taking a shower finally. (I did that on my birthday and it was received with the most heartfelt expressions of gratitude. One needs to do good deeds as mentioned above annually. Too often though, and you risk diluting the enormity of that particular expression of love.) Shaving your facial hair may be a little too much of a shock for the poor thing though. So go easy on her. One thing at a time.
Ok. Ok. All that roasting aside, a toast to all the good times and bad we've all shared over the last several years, and to all the good people we've met, and the bad ones we dissed, and the pretty ones we ogled. And to your continued presence online and offline (whatever offline and online means). Don't need a share of the stock options though to say life is immeasurably richer with you around (but would definitely help)!
P.S. Just found out that BrijWhiz shares his birthday with ... Sean Connery - whoosh 76 yearsh old today! Now I know why you've had the luck with the ladies, and a penchant for Scotch! Cheers buddy!
Friday, August 18, 2006
Hope
Ssshh! Don't speak that word. Don't say it out loud. Don't say it like its OK to use it. It's not. There are kids around. You don't want them to ask you what it means, do you?
"Sure, if you want to listen to all the bad news things will always look a tad grim, won't they?! But if you look at all the good things happening - you'll know that its not all bad. In fact, things are getting better. We've turned a corner for sure."
The governments are all trying to put a wicked spin on the facts. Signs, they say, that everything is going well - even getting better. That you've never been safer. But then they also tell you to board up, stock up, tape up and hunker down - safety helmets on - just in case. Just in case what? Just in case, for instance, the unknown Islamo-fascist drives a tank thru the walls of your erstwhile cozy homes, or better still, blows you up to bits.
"... Just in case something bad happens - which, might I add, is not going to happen in the first place."
I suppose then, people like this chick who writes on Baghdad Burning is, at the very least, a pessimist! At worst, she's probably fabricating all this sitting in some desert oasis eating the choicest dates of the land. She must really hate democracy and freedom!
"Absolutely! She needs to cheer up a little. Go party somewhere. Get a life."
Listen to the great white "protector" ramble on about how "democracy" is making all the difference. Like how the world is such a dangerous place today, but still, you've never been safer than you are today. So hunker down in those bunkers, and let your protectors do what we they do best(?). To put on their robes, their cross, their kippahs, their threads and tikas, and take on the bearded zealots. Slaughter them and their brethren, as they slaughter yours, and bomb more trains and run planes into more buildings of your people (and some of theirs).
"Hey! They started the fire - didn't they?! Meanwhile, we'll be taking away some of your freedoms while we're taking care of this problem. Relax though! Its only to protect your freedoms in the first place. See? It's all very, very simple!"
"And if you're too concerned with how your life's not quite turning out right - about how your little corner of the globe is getting a little too hot - move to some palce else. Like California, man! California rocks. There are all those movie stars over there, theme parks, fancy cars that run on premium unleaded, lovely natural vistas, people living carefree lives sipping Mochas, californicating all the time! That's what you should be doing!"
So run away tonight! Forget your worries. Your problems. Your struggles. Your disagreements. Your sense of attachments, of belonging. Your boredom. It's all going to get better. Just ... try not to h--e. Why ruin a perfectly good gig?
I used to h--e. I used to try and pass it around. Not much's coming back these days. Now, my stash is empty.
Maybe your stash is empty coz you've smoked it all away - you stupid f**k!
"Sure, if you want to listen to all the bad news things will always look a tad grim, won't they?! But if you look at all the good things happening - you'll know that its not all bad. In fact, things are getting better. We've turned a corner for sure."
The governments are all trying to put a wicked spin on the facts. Signs, they say, that everything is going well - even getting better. That you've never been safer. But then they also tell you to board up, stock up, tape up and hunker down - safety helmets on - just in case. Just in case what? Just in case, for instance, the unknown Islamo-fascist drives a tank thru the walls of your erstwhile cozy homes, or better still, blows you up to bits.
"... Just in case something bad happens - which, might I add, is not going to happen in the first place."
I suppose then, people like this chick who writes on Baghdad Burning is, at the very least, a pessimist! At worst, she's probably fabricating all this sitting in some desert oasis eating the choicest dates of the land. She must really hate democracy and freedom!
"Absolutely! She needs to cheer up a little. Go party somewhere. Get a life."
Listen to the great white "protector" ramble on about how "democracy" is making all the difference. Like how the world is such a dangerous place today, but still, you've never been safer than you are today. So hunker down in those bunkers, and let your protectors do what we they do best(?). To put on their robes, their cross, their kippahs, their threads and tikas, and take on the bearded zealots. Slaughter them and their brethren, as they slaughter yours, and bomb more trains and run planes into more buildings of your people (and some of theirs).
"Hey! They started the fire - didn't they?! Meanwhile, we'll be taking away some of your freedoms while we're taking care of this problem. Relax though! Its only to protect your freedoms in the first place. See? It's all very, very simple!"
"And if you're too concerned with how your life's not quite turning out right - about how your little corner of the globe is getting a little too hot - move to some palce else. Like California, man! California rocks. There are all those movie stars over there, theme parks, fancy cars that run on premium unleaded, lovely natural vistas, people living carefree lives sipping Mochas, californicating all the time! That's what you should be doing!"
So run away tonight! Forget your worries. Your problems. Your struggles. Your disagreements. Your sense of attachments, of belonging. Your boredom. It's all going to get better. Just ... try not to h--e. Why ruin a perfectly good gig?
I used to h--e. I used to try and pass it around. Not much's coming back these days. Now, my stash is empty.
Maybe your stash is empty coz you've smoked it all away - you stupid f**k!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
"Losing my Religion"
I know, I know all I have been doing here for the past couple of weeks is putting up pictures or embedding YouTube videos. I agree the whole video linking and sharing is wonderful if its used properly - and NOT excessively. It's like thinking that babies love to be tickled all the f**king time. They don't!! At least not you babies out there.
Ah do apologize for mah excess.
Be that as it may, I'm back here with another video: once again ("Lord have mercy!") from CBS's RockStar Supernova. But this time, it's from a performer you haven't seen before on this space - Ryan Star. And I was eating my dinner on my couch watching the show when this performance came up and I stopped chewing for a ... lengthy period of time. I have since viewed this performance, and heard it on mp3 format several times. I think some of you (who haven't yet seen it) will do that too - before you exorcise it out of your system.
Here's Ryan Star then - on this very short video clip from this past Tuesday's episode of Rockstar Supernova with a wonderfully fresh rendition of R.E.M.'s classic "Losing my religion".
To get more of the Supernova stuff ( videos, mp3's , bio's, etc.) visit Supernova Fans . I wish I could say that this will be my last video post on the topic of Rockstar Supernova... but I can't. So you'll have to bear with me for a little while more on this and hope that I get tired of watching the show and quit yapping about it, and move on to something else.
Problem: There's nothing worthwhile to move on to!
Ah do apologize for mah excess.
Be that as it may, I'm back here with another video: once again ("Lord have mercy!") from CBS's RockStar Supernova. But this time, it's from a performer you haven't seen before on this space - Ryan Star. And I was eating my dinner on my couch watching the show when this performance came up and I stopped chewing for a ... lengthy period of time. I have since viewed this performance, and heard it on mp3 format several times. I think some of you (who haven't yet seen it) will do that too - before you exorcise it out of your system.
Here's Ryan Star then - on this very short video clip from this past Tuesday's episode of Rockstar Supernova with a wonderfully fresh rendition of R.E.M.'s classic "Losing my religion".
To get more of the Supernova stuff ( videos, mp3's , bio's, etc.) visit Supernova Fans . I wish I could say that this will be my last video post on the topic of Rockstar Supernova... but I can't. So you'll have to bear with me for a little while more on this and hope that I get tired of watching the show and quit yapping about it, and move on to something else.
Problem: There's nothing worthwhile to move on to!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Devi
Continuing on with women-centric posts, here's Devi, a virtual child superhero goddess born out of the partnership between Shekhar Kapur and Deepak Chopra and Virgin Comics (and therefore by default - Richard Branson - since he's owns Virgin).
"She's Devi. A fierce feminine warrior, stronger than the Gods themselves, she is reincarnated into the body of a human woman each time a great threat faces the Pantheon. She is the champion of the heavens and the protector of man."
Now that's impressive introduction. The artwork's very impressive too, at least that's my impression from the sample pages provided. It's about time we had some good Manga with India-centric themes!
Another interesting title in the works by Virgin Comics is Ramayan Reborn. The art work is once again interesting - in a very, very good way. I'll be looking out for copies at local bookstores soon.
However, my only grudge is the language used in the comics. At least within the sample pages, the dialogues somehow seemed a trifle out-of-sync with the artwork. Even the snippet from Devi's introduction that I reproduced here uses terminology of the like "human woman". Hmmm. And here I thought all women were human!
Seriously though, there might be other explanations for gaffes like that. Perhaps, the text on the web-site was hurriedly written by overworked and underpaid writers. Or it could mean the mythologies behind the characters themselves permit the differentiation between a human woman and, for instance, a devil woman or Asura woman, or ... well... we'll have to wait and see. That minor niggle aside, I sense good things for this comic. Even if the language seems stunted somehow, hey, atleast we'll have cool wallpapers of Indian superheroes and such.Now if only I can get my hands on a copy of one of those comic books, I could sit and read by my window, sipping my hot coffee in my cool NCState mug, watching the snow fall as nuclear winter descends.
(pics courtesy Virgin Comics.)
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Storm Large - Bad Ass Beauty!
I guess its the easier alternative out - put up a post with minimal effort by embedding a YouTube video link. But really, what I am more concerned about is whether the material I "work so hard at" putting up in some way contributes to making your day interesting, if even in the smallest manner possible.
Ok. Thats mostly bull. I am lazy. No getting around it. I have a whole lot of work that I am very stressed about, and that allows me the liberty of continuing to being an ass about all the things I should be doing, people whose calls I should be returning, people who I should be calling, just a whole lot of stuff that's been on the backburner for a while now.
"No. Not now. A terrible purpose awaits me impatiently. All else pales before it. I just cannot be bothered with the trivialities of our social existences while my destiny calls. Not now. No."
But back to the subject of the post.
This is of course my third post connected with "Rockstar: Supernova" on CBS. I apologize to those out there who really don't give a damn about all this Rockstar business. But, if you've read my earlier two posts (1. and 2.), I linked videos of 4 contestants that kinda impressed me on post 1 after week 1 of their performances. Since then, Josh Logan has sorta alienated himself and seems more of a misfit in a setup that isn't be willing to be dragged into so much soul. Heavy metal is definitely a stretch for him. In short, he's a musician - but he doesn't belong here.
I still back Lukas Rossi and Dilana to be the front runners for this gig tho. Even if they don't make it as "Rockstar" i.e. a chance to front the band "Supernova" - and sometimes I think they probably deserve a better deal than this one entails for them as winners - I'd follow their individual music careers with a whole lotta interest. Possibly even more than I'd care about Supernova really!
While it's difficult to find other performances for Dilana on, say YouTube, the search term "Lukas Rossi" does return other performances of Lukas not connected to the show. And yes, he's good. Very good. And I'll try and put up links if possible for Lukas a little later, for those lazy or uninclined to do any searching.
But before we glimpse more into Lukas, there is one other person who deserves attention. I have to reiterate - that Storm Large is one helluva package. Searching for her on YouTube, returned this live performance of hers (location: I-Dunno), with her erstwhile band "Storm, Inc."
This beauty is one Bad Ass, isn't she! And not that I thought any comparisons to Jimmy Morrison were valid here, but her diatribe did sorta rake up the memory of the "Lizard King". But even outside of that comparison, there's a lot more to her than she's revealed on Rockstar. If all her live shows are like this little piece, i.e. she can let herself go each time she performs, then add her to the list of people whose musical career I'd follow. With a personality as intriguing as hers, that's not going to be much of a bother. Not at all.
Ok. Thats mostly bull. I am lazy. No getting around it. I have a whole lot of work that I am very stressed about, and that allows me the liberty of continuing to being an ass about all the things I should be doing, people whose calls I should be returning, people who I should be calling, just a whole lot of stuff that's been on the backburner for a while now.
"No. Not now. A terrible purpose awaits me impatiently. All else pales before it. I just cannot be bothered with the trivialities of our social existences while my destiny calls. Not now. No."
But back to the subject of the post.
This is of course my third post connected with "Rockstar: Supernova" on CBS. I apologize to those out there who really don't give a damn about all this Rockstar business. But, if you've read my earlier two posts (1. and 2.), I linked videos of 4 contestants that kinda impressed me on post 1 after week 1 of their performances. Since then, Josh Logan has sorta alienated himself and seems more of a misfit in a setup that isn't be willing to be dragged into so much soul. Heavy metal is definitely a stretch for him. In short, he's a musician - but he doesn't belong here.
I still back Lukas Rossi and Dilana to be the front runners for this gig tho. Even if they don't make it as "Rockstar" i.e. a chance to front the band "Supernova" - and sometimes I think they probably deserve a better deal than this one entails for them as winners - I'd follow their individual music careers with a whole lotta interest. Possibly even more than I'd care about Supernova really!
While it's difficult to find other performances for Dilana on, say YouTube, the search term "Lukas Rossi" does return other performances of Lukas not connected to the show. And yes, he's good. Very good. And I'll try and put up links if possible for Lukas a little later, for those lazy or uninclined to do any searching.
But before we glimpse more into Lukas, there is one other person who deserves attention. I have to reiterate - that Storm Large is one helluva package. Searching for her on YouTube, returned this live performance of hers (location: I-Dunno), with her erstwhile band "Storm, Inc."
This beauty is one Bad Ass, isn't she! And not that I thought any comparisons to Jimmy Morrison were valid here, but her diatribe did sorta rake up the memory of the "Lizard King". But even outside of that comparison, there's a lot more to her than she's revealed on Rockstar. If all her live shows are like this little piece, i.e. she can let herself go each time she performs, then add her to the list of people whose musical career I'd follow. With a personality as intriguing as hers, that's not going to be much of a bother. Not at all.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Two of the ladies on "Rockstar: Supernova"
I mentioned to some of y'all the show Rockstar: Supernova on CBS in an earlier post. Here're couple more snippets of two of the ladies on the ongoing show; these are from Tuesday's airing (July25th, 2006).
First one's Dilana performing the classic 80's hit "Time after time" by Cyndi Lauper. Bear in mind that she's auditioning for a heavy metal band. Of course, if you saw the earlier snippet of her in the earlier post, you'd know she fits right in to heavy metal. But this reworking of a classic pop hit shows lots of talent, and guts to pull it off so well.
I almost like this version as much as the original. Well performed.
The second one's Storm Large performing "Anything, Anything" by Dramarama. I'd have to say she's one great package. Enjoy her performance, including that dive into the crowd of some real lucky men (and women).
First one's Dilana performing the classic 80's hit "Time after time" by Cyndi Lauper. Bear in mind that she's auditioning for a heavy metal band. Of course, if you saw the earlier snippet of her in the earlier post, you'd know she fits right in to heavy metal. But this reworking of a classic pop hit shows lots of talent, and guts to pull it off so well.
I almost like this version as much as the original. Well performed.
The second one's Storm Large performing "Anything, Anything" by Dramarama. I'd have to say she's one great package. Enjoy her performance, including that dive into the crowd of some real lucky men (and women).
Monday, July 17, 2006
Hah! v/s Duh! (Hi-tek v/s Lo-Tek)
Venky initiated this discussion on "Would our kids label us as technology illiterate?" Sorta like how we label our parents and their "unsavviness" with regards to modern technology and its use.
Venky's point of view (in his own words) is: "I strongly believe that we (our generation) would bridge the gap between generations as far as using technology is concerned. I’m sure we will NEVER be as up-to-date as our teenage kids (whenever that happens) but we will at least be in the same ballpark – and that is to say that we will be a few steps ahead of our parents’ generation.".
You can read more about his views and his justifications/ reasoning on that earlier link. And as per Brij's request to help further the discussion, I am "copy-pasting" the comment I made earlier to that discussion as a regular post here:
---------
(July 17, 2006):
Nice discussion there Venky. And although you made some good arguments there, I'd have to say as far as tech-savviness is concerned - the NextGen will be superior.
However, I guess it's important that you separete medium from content in your argument. My firm feeling is (just as Pranav and Soumya) that the average person only picks up so much tech kno-how (essentially knowledge) as much as is of use to that person. Anything more is purely incidental.
In other words, soon you may be using the latest phones and gadgets (as you are so inclined ;) ) but there will be menu items, tabs and mechanisms for which you will have no use for - but the next gen might. For instance rating bars, hangouts, bands, even popular classmates, etc. instantly, or as some of my PhD friends suggested, obtaining a GPS location of the nearest cool joint where the highest number of hip and popular are currently hanging out. Or consider next generation VR games for which there will be better tactile tools for social interaction in virtual communities. How much of use would we have for it once we sink further into our settled mode of social interaction? But would that prevent the next gen from adapting to it? I don't think so. We'd never know how to use next gen virtual interaction equipment by and large, simply because we'd have no use for it.
Not compelling examples those, but just to demonstrate that there'll be tons of stuff around for which we when we grow older - will have no use for. But these things will be developed keeping the NextGen in mind.
Again, as I said medium and content need separation in any discussion on future tech. The reason is that as long as the media which is available to us is supplying us with all the content that we need, there will be very little impetus to move on to something else. Unless and until, we are convinced that the an alternative exists thats atleast as good if not better than our current options, and/or else is being used widely by others.
Those who stay ahead of the curve will have a better chance of adapting to the new tech world. And being tech-savvy could be a powerful tool for the coming future. But, those persons would be more of the few exceptions than the significant majority obeying the rule.
To sum up the sentiment, here's a quote from more than 100 years ago:
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
---------
Venky's point of view (in his own words) is: "I strongly believe that we (our generation) would bridge the gap between generations as far as using technology is concerned. I’m sure we will NEVER be as up-to-date as our teenage kids (whenever that happens) but we will at least be in the same ballpark – and that is to say that we will be a few steps ahead of our parents’ generation.".
You can read more about his views and his justifications/ reasoning on that earlier link. And as per Brij's request to help further the discussion, I am "copy-pasting" the comment I made earlier to that discussion as a regular post here:
---------
(July 17, 2006):
Nice discussion there Venky. And although you made some good arguments there, I'd have to say as far as tech-savviness is concerned - the NextGen will be superior.
However, I guess it's important that you separete medium from content in your argument. My firm feeling is (just as Pranav and Soumya) that the average person only picks up so much tech kno-how (essentially knowledge) as much as is of use to that person. Anything more is purely incidental.
In other words, soon you may be using the latest phones and gadgets (as you are so inclined ;) ) but there will be menu items, tabs and mechanisms for which you will have no use for - but the next gen might. For instance rating bars, hangouts, bands, even popular classmates, etc. instantly, or as some of my PhD friends suggested, obtaining a GPS location of the nearest cool joint where the highest number of hip and popular are currently hanging out. Or consider next generation VR games for which there will be better tactile tools for social interaction in virtual communities. How much of use would we have for it once we sink further into our settled mode of social interaction? But would that prevent the next gen from adapting to it? I don't think so. We'd never know how to use next gen virtual interaction equipment by and large, simply because we'd have no use for it.
Not compelling examples those, but just to demonstrate that there'll be tons of stuff around for which we when we grow older - will have no use for. But these things will be developed keeping the NextGen in mind.
Again, as I said medium and content need separation in any discussion on future tech. The reason is that as long as the media which is available to us is supplying us with all the content that we need, there will be very little impetus to move on to something else. Unless and until, we are convinced that the an alternative exists thats atleast as good if not better than our current options, and/or else is being used widely by others.
Those who stay ahead of the curve will have a better chance of adapting to the new tech world. And being tech-savvy could be a powerful tool for the coming future. But, those persons would be more of the few exceptions than the significant majority obeying the rule.
To sum up the sentiment, here's a quote from more than 100 years ago:
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
---------
Stuff
For Mumbai lovers only, Mid-Day's anniversary issue is a must browse (if not read). There are great accompanying pictures, vignettes into the everyday life of a Mumbaikar. ( Clicking on the article will open the article in a readable form on a separate window. )
I have also been watching a webcast of the daily India news on CNN-IBN. Click on the link on the top right of the web-page that allows you to view the webcast. This, for those who want to keep track of the current status of the blasts probe.
I have also been watching a webcast of the daily India news on CNN-IBN. Click on the link on the top right of the web-page that allows you to view the webcast. This, for those who want to keep track of the current status of the blasts probe.
Friday, July 07, 2006
"Inanities, Bagatelles"
...is the title of Raoul's blog.
From dictionary.com:
"Bagatelle:
1. An unimportant or insignificant thing; a trifle.
2. A short, light piece of verse or music.
3. A game played on an oblong table with a cue and balls."
Now that the meaning of "bagatelles" is out of the way, I have to say that it pains me that there are so many good writers out there and yet there's so little material that they churn out. Not that you have to be a writer to write (or blog). If you've made some meaningful contribution on any scale you can think of (while being mostly honest to yourself), you could pat yourself on the back for that. And you'll probably get better at it the more you do it - which is true for a lot of things in life. ;)
However, there are some folks out there who have the ability that most of us don't - to contribute a real lot even when they're not really saying too much. And one hopes that they say a lot more than they let on.
Which brings us back to Raoul.
From dictionary.com:
"Bagatelle:
1. An unimportant or insignificant thing; a trifle.
2. A short, light piece of verse or music.
3. A game played on an oblong table with a cue and balls."
Now that the meaning of "bagatelles" is out of the way, I have to say that it pains me that there are so many good writers out there and yet there's so little material that they churn out. Not that you have to be a writer to write (or blog). If you've made some meaningful contribution on any scale you can think of (while being mostly honest to yourself), you could pat yourself on the back for that. And you'll probably get better at it the more you do it - which is true for a lot of things in life. ;)
However, there are some folks out there who have the ability that most of us don't - to contribute a real lot even when they're not really saying too much. And one hopes that they say a lot more than they let on.
Which brings us back to Raoul.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Rockstar: Supernova
CBS's second season of their Rockstar show. Sorta like American Idol - except that all the finalists here are rockers or rocker wannabes with a chance for the winner (after all contenders have been systematically eliminated) to be the lead singer of (or to front as they'd say it) a rock band.
Last season, it was the Australian band INXS. This season, it's a newly formed band called "Supernova" with Tommy Lee (ex-Motley Crue and Pam Anderson's ex-husband), Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (ex-GNR ). All three of 'em plus Dave Navarro (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) will judge the 15 finalists.
I happened to catch some episodes of Rockstar last season. Before the first show Of last season kicked off, I was very skeptical about the whole deal and didn't really expect anything unique out of it - given the surfeit of singing talent shows like American Idol. However, what won me over at the end of that first show was the talent on display - among the constestants were some really good rockers.
This season's first show aired Wednesday evening - and once again the season start was far from disappointing. In fact, I was more impressed with the finalists this year around than last year. Considering that they're auditioning for a screaming, heavy metal band that's yet to record a single song - it seems like a great chance for one of them to finally bag that one great deal. And what's really cool about the whole thing is the fact that Metal is actually primetime TV (8.00 p.m.)!!
I'll try to post some of the vids from youtube of the finalists I think seem to be early candidates to win this thing. Although you never really know what this new band is looking for and whether they'll actually record something one day.
Rockstar Supernova: Josh Logan
Here's Josh Logan - the rocker with a bit of soul.
Dilana on Rockstar: Supernova
Scary, yet mesmerizing Dilana. While that was a great performance, her act could quickly get stale if that's all she can do.
Storm Large on Rockstar Supernova
Rock could be pretty if we had more singers like her (and few like Steven Tyler!).
Lukas Rossi on Rockstar Supernova
And finally, the frontrunner I believe after week 1 - Lukas Rossi from Canada. This guy is so crazily talented (I watched some more of his clips on youtube, search words: "Lukas Rossi"), he deserves a full band and a great record deal.
Last season, it was the Australian band INXS. This season, it's a newly formed band called "Supernova" with Tommy Lee (ex-Motley Crue and Pam Anderson's ex-husband), Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (ex-GNR ). All three of 'em plus Dave Navarro (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) will judge the 15 finalists.
I happened to catch some episodes of Rockstar last season. Before the first show Of last season kicked off, I was very skeptical about the whole deal and didn't really expect anything unique out of it - given the surfeit of singing talent shows like American Idol. However, what won me over at the end of that first show was the talent on display - among the constestants were some really good rockers.
This season's first show aired Wednesday evening - and once again the season start was far from disappointing. In fact, I was more impressed with the finalists this year around than last year. Considering that they're auditioning for a screaming, heavy metal band that's yet to record a single song - it seems like a great chance for one of them to finally bag that one great deal. And what's really cool about the whole thing is the fact that Metal is actually primetime TV (8.00 p.m.)!!
I'll try to post some of the vids from youtube of the finalists I think seem to be early candidates to win this thing. Although you never really know what this new band is looking for and whether they'll actually record something one day.
Rockstar Supernova: Josh Logan
Here's Josh Logan - the rocker with a bit of soul.
Dilana on Rockstar: Supernova
Scary, yet mesmerizing Dilana. While that was a great performance, her act could quickly get stale if that's all she can do.
Storm Large on Rockstar Supernova
Rock could be pretty if we had more singers like her (and few like Steven Tyler!).
Lukas Rossi on Rockstar Supernova
And finally, the frontrunner I believe after week 1 - Lukas Rossi from Canada. This guy is so crazily talented (I watched some more of his clips on youtube, search words: "Lukas Rossi"), he deserves a full band and a great record deal.
Friday, June 30, 2006
More on Shamu!
Earlier, in this post about Shamu, I mentioned how it irritates me that the Sea World people are scamming us all by calling all their whales Shamu - as if we dumb people wouldn't realize that they're all not the same freakin' animal.
Alternately though, there are other perspectives on Shamu. For instance, here's an article titled "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage" by Amy Sutherland about how our beloved Sea World scamster helped her manage her partner better. This is a good read for the ladies (insight into ways in which you could tame that gorilla who lives and sleeps with you), and also for the men (insight into how "that gentle thang" will find some way to get you to always jump thru' hoops while you're thinking you're really showing her who's boss!).
It's funny and yet - quite scary.
Alternately though, there are other perspectives on Shamu. For instance, here's an article titled "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage" by Amy Sutherland about how our beloved Sea World scamster helped her manage her partner better. This is a good read for the ladies (insight into ways in which you could tame that gorilla who lives and sleeps with you), and also for the men (insight into how "that gentle thang" will find some way to get you to always jump thru' hoops while you're thinking you're really showing her who's boss!).
It's funny and yet - quite scary.
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