Alpha romeo

A trip to Las Vegas

2010-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

Since I set my foot on America, I knew where i had to go once i arrived apart from the usuals New York City, Los Angeles, and Grand Canyon, Las Vegas was top of the list. And when i got a chance to go, courtesy a generous friend, I was all saddled up to visit this modern day sin city gomorrah.
When the plane is about to reach Las vegas, You get to see aerial view of Grand canyon which is the most breathtaking view you ll ever see in your life.

Las Vegas soon arises in the midst of the sand dunes just like a oasis with its tall buldings, Soon you ll be spellbound by the tall casions and all the worlds best architecture buildings depicted here. Las vegas is a place to suspend your beliefs
and let this place show you it wonders. Apart from its huge casinos, You ll get to see the best nightclubs here and hobnobbing with the celebrities. But most importantly you need to be in formal shoes, Jeans or shirt, In this sense no casual wear is allowed in any of the top notch clubs.
The best nightclubs here are TAO in Venetian with its entry cover of 20 $ is one of the best in town which is always bustling with crowd, Here is the place I got to meet Paris Hilton who was apparently celebrating her birthday probably she has 12 birthdays in a year just like any other normal celebrity.
Party goes on till 4 AM and there are many after parties as well, So you ll have a good time here.
Apart from Tao, You have The Bank in the Bellagio which is for more older mature crowd and its entry is 30 $, It was pretty good but nothing to write home about.
Also the nightclubs at Wynn are awesome.
The other upscale one was Pure in Caesars Palace, This one of the best casions i liked with its palatial looking art deco and its many statutue, Pure is pricey at 50 $. But the best thing about all these clubs is you can go early and collect reduced admission flyers and tickets for the evening parties. Now the most annoying thing about Vegas is being overrated, that is it is the best place to be for partying or gambling, Of course if you are a hardcore gambler this is the place for you. If you are looking to party there are other places as well, Las Vegas is not the last place on earth. If you are in Las vegas then you can go to Hoover Dam which is hardly 15 miles from the strip. Apart from this you can go to Grand Canyon at three different locations : South rim which is nearly 255 miles, North rim which is 75 miles and where is skywalk located, which i had the privilege to go is awesome.
At the end it was a good trip got to see a lot of places in 4 days.
Go to Vegas atleast once :).

New Years Eve Dilemma in USA

2009-12-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

You ll be tempted to ask why you are in a fix in a US of A as what to do on this damn important today. Everyone has a place to go and do something on the ultimate day of the year before ushering in the New year 2010, All will regurgitate their elaborate plans and explain how meticolously it was planned. Well, Even I had a rocking plan ie to see the Balls drop in New york city at Times Square and then party off at some local club like Webster Hall,Guastavino's or Pacha etc. But to my dismay the weather gods seems not so kind as rain and snow are forecasted for 31 Decemeber as if this was least of my problems imagine the maddening and cutting across it to get to the elusive Times Square at that fixed time 11:59 when the waterford crystal makes it descent. Now other option I have is to go to Philadelphia downtown which is of course pretty good but pales in comparison to New York City.
Also during this time as you have experienced Nightclubs tickets get overpriced and funny thing is people are willing to shell out. Well who can blame them it comes once in a while with new hopes and aspirations sprining from the arrival of New year

Kaminey, District 9 etc

2009-08-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

This week showcased one of the most awaited movie of the year in bollywood called
'Kaminey', a gansta flick and Hollywood had to offer 'District 9', an oft repeated Alien saga.

Kaminey managed to get favorable reviews even from the harshest and hard nosed critics. Nothing can be further from the truth as this reviews indicate.
This movies fails on multiple counts and fails to keep audiences interest intact
I myself felt jittery and wanted to walk out even before the movie came to close.
Though movie has commendable performances by the lead actors and a pulsating music
to boot with, But the storyline left much to be desired. There is no suspense and sluggishness reigns supreme in the movie. OF all the reviews I have gathered, minimum 4 Stars out of 5 were awarded to the movie by each critc. 1 1/2 stars were given by 4 of us, 1/2 amounting to each to one of us, Who were a sorry lot after seeing the movie. One chap refrained from labelling this piece of junk with even half a star.

District 9 had the same old surmise, Aliens and Science Fiction, But although the genre is oft beaten to death but with the help of new ideas and story this movie captures your mind and you end up asking for more, There might be a District 10.
This movie a brainchild of Neil, a debutant director is a must see because of his
storyline and visual effects, where you dont end up screaming Stop this CGI, These are used to the optimal effect.

Slumdog Madness

2009-01-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

Slumdog millionaire has created ripples across the globe for portraying a rags to riches story set in India's slum in Mumbai which has the dubious distinction of the Asia's largest slum. This movie also has its share of detractors which say India is depicted in a poor light as India is a archetype for growth among the so called developing nations, its a IT capital of the world and so forth!
Lets get the facts right, the movie is based on the novel by indian diplomat Vikas
Swarup's Q & A,in which the write calls a spade by spade, it doesnt try to sugarcoat or conceal the abysmal living conditions in the slums of our financial capital. It is presented as it is, if we cant digest or have a firsthand experience of this plight it doesnt mean that it is non existing, infact it exist right infront of our eyes,Sadly, We just choose to turn away and when a movie dares to depict this, we decry it by saying it is a imperialistic and vicious view of our country. I do agree that the movie is not a masterpiece and suffers from some incoheret performances,albeit the movie is salvaged by the brilliant acting by the child artists. So why does movie is busy garnering awards one after another and knocking Brad pitt's The curious case of Benjanim button out, It is cause the movie has a better storyline, its dicknesian storytelling and is more closer to the reality than others. Usually the American critics over the past years have been awarding smaller movies more exposure than the big ones, What could explain the horrific overlooking of Batman Dark knight, the years biggest grosser. Movie like The Reader, which stars Kate winslet as a Nazi and has received tepid response at the Box office, gets a running at oscars cause it is based on holocaust silly, the Academy's favorite subject. Just make any movie on World War 2 suffering of the victims in short holocaust, you are bound to get a nomination irrespective of the movies performance.
So why doesnt the Germans cry foul each time they are shown as merciless and vicious in the movies,cause it exists and they cant change it unfortunately
So lets cease being a bigot and accept the reality as it is, and also definately try to change this picture. This is what we can do, instead of crying foul on how the movie depicts India, Are we so insecure about our country that showing a slum in india makes West a sadistic society? How many times West has shown dark underbelly of their country and we quickly laud it for its reality on display and what research the director or the screenwriter must have done, What a crap!
Lets get over it, the movie could have been based anywhere and not necessarily in india. The movie is nominated for a whopping 10 oscars which in
itself is a big feat considering the movie is gettig more mileage than it deserves but what the heck we should celebrate, if the movie manages to win atleast in its half of the nominations category after all the movie is set in India

See the movie to have your own review and let not others like birdbrain Aridham chaudhari say it otherwise.

IPL T20

2008-05-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

This is considered the Baap of Manoranjan, ie Father of entertainment and truly so,
Inaugural IPL, Indian Premier League, has captivated the minds of youngistan and others with its TRP ratings hitting way above the roof, these are happier times for BCCI, atlast something the governing body got it right.

The close finishes of every single match, with so many twists and turns have given a run for money to all the sundry melodramatic tele serials read Saas bahu which in order to pull up the plunging viewership, makes a jump in the series by 20 years, Time travel we thought was only realm of the science fiction series, No idea what next these tele series will do after the IPL matches onslaught, another jump is on the cards? Another streaking of hair? Time will tell..
Also best thing for the cric buff is the availablity of these matches online, Which can be seen at the site
http://www.iplcricket.co.in/live_ipl.html
http://iplt20.com/
http://www.cricketfreaks.com/ipl-live-cricket-match/
http://www.cricmad.com/score.php
You can catch the match at any time..

Currently Delhi Daredevils are looking in good nick, with both Sehwag and Gambhir, toying with the oppositions bowling, But it would be too early to pick a favorite right on, cause there is lot of cricket to be played and as they say it aint over till its over! A 40 day choc a bloc of matches played around different parts of the country offers a good chance for the fans to catch it live, you can fairly secure the tickets at the click of button on http://ticketpro.in/ipl/.
I was one of the fortunate one to see the inaugural IPL match in Bangalore in all its pomp and splendor, with various artists flown in to showcase their acrobatics, It was worth the trip.

Iphone unlock

2007-12-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

Iphone the must have gadget for the technogeeks,if you dont have one, then
probably you are missing out on something. The prohibitive factor for most techsavy is not the price per se, but the Locking of the iphone by exclusive partner of Apple ie AT & T.
But the hackers have found a way, wherever there is a lock there is a key and you can find millions of software for unlocking the Iphone and use it in your country with any service providers Like Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, Hutch, but not with CDMA or WLL like TATA and Reliance.

For unlocking here are the best sites which works and are absolutely free.

http://wisetechie.com/blog/2007/09/19/
proof-of-unlocked-iphone-running-on-airtel-and-steps-to-unlock-iphone/

http://www.iphonesimfree.com/cgi-bin/iphonesimfree/engine.pl?page=home

http://www.freeiphoneunlock.com/

http://digg.com/gadgets/First_free_open_GUI_iPhone_unlock_
software_tested_it_works

so happy unlocking the Iphone :)

Diwali In OFFICE

2007-11-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

Diwali, What a momentous occasion, the grandest festival of India brings immense joy, millions emotions stirring up in our mind, with just a mere thought of it.
The feelings of well being and benevolence for everyone are stirred up in the people without any provocation.

Deepavali, the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is 'a row of lamps.'

Diwali came well in earnest this year to our office, The SAP Management team
Dedicated three days exclusively for the Diwali celebrations, in the process
Hoping to inculcate the sense of team spirit among the employees in length
And breadth of the company with various groups coming together, interacting, competing
For the coveted trophies.

The AGS team began their groundwork for the celebration and
Competition right in time, The competition began with the
Antakshari, where we came Second and then we had the next day
One minute Games, Where AGS managed to pick up two prizes for eating maximum
Chilies and To Blow Most Balloon in One minute, yes it did leave half the team breathless
And participants scurrying for water, it was one commendable effort,.

Now then the next big event was Rangoli where the Girls shown their true colors
Ie in rangoli, The design was elegant and vibrant, which immediately won the
Hearts of the judges, needless to add AGS were crowned champions.

While doing this as a team, so many hidden talents came to fore, we made
Good interaction with other teams, collaborated, exchanged good and not so good ideas and learnt more about others. Surely Team spirit was trickling in, people came to know
Each other much better, Many young guns who are starting their career in a such
Big organization started to feel at home and infact mentoring their own
Mentors in more than one occasion.

Next in line was the decoration of our Bay Area where we spent most of
Our times in office, excluding cafeteria. Each team Chose their Themes and
Accordingly decked up their workplaces, Since we had huge group
We had more than one theme, First of all explaining the importance
Of Diwali, its associated festivals, how it is celebrated by the young
elderly and the sundry, all beautifully represented pictorially and depicted
With the help of statues wherever necessary, Along with this one
We wanted to drive home the point of Pollution free Diwali,
A pristine Diwali without the usual maddening and deafening sound of crackers.
This lay as another theme as we wanted to show Festival
Of lights in its true colors. Well so many themes in so little time, well
We have our men working around the clock for this very reason. This is
AGS for you, Morning guys gave their ideas , Afternoon and Night shift colleagues
Executed this to a perfection.

The final day of celebration almost everyone came in their ethnic
Dresses and described how Diwali is celebrated in their part of
The country, Also We were addressed by the MD where he assured the
Diwali events are only going to get better and better with each passing
Year. Now then Our Bay area stood out and won the first prize. And
The management could finally had a sigh of contention as truly its not the
Team, but the team spirit and cooperation which won all over.

Have a Safe and Sound Diwali :)

Diwali information and Quotations can be found here
www.diwalimela.com
http://www.diwalifestival.org/
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061017235555AAGkAPS

Virginia Tech Massacre

2007-04-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

At the outset to be very honest I am not at all surprised at yet another tragedy which culminated in the death of innocent 32 people whom the murderer probably never got to know. This might come across as a very insensitive thing to say but America
doesnt seem to learn its lessons from its mistakes, these are only bound to happen again and again. Contrary to the news which shows Cho, a troubled teenager and a loner, was drastically influenced by South Korean movie Old Boy should be taken with a shock! Consider this given the movie was violent but did they use automatic weapons to kill anyone? The weapon of choice was more medieval in the movie ie a Hammer! With a hammer you can only injure not mass murder and movie is a revenge saga, Cho didnt even knew people as he was firing randomly apart from his girlfriends.
The real and only culprit here is the easy accessebility of guns in USA which is clearly shown by Michael Moore in his award winning documentary Bowling for Columbine, which itself is based on Columbide school tragedy, The teenagers can buy guns of the shelves as if they are shopping for candies.

For the tragedies like this to cease American Gun culture or its appetite for it has to stop. Death toll is only increasing with every massacre, its not a game you know...

lets hope this madness stops....Rest in Peace!

Taj Mahal, Not there yet?

2007-01-31T05:44:00.000-08:00

Its been more than 15 years since I last saw ,albeit from miles away, Taj Mahal, the imminent Modern Wonder of the world, from my droopy eyes as the car jet past by it before I could coax my parents for a trip inside. Parents were in rather hurry in Agra, and yes we were not on a field trip to Agra.

Fast forwad 15 years and to the present day infact 2 days ago I had to visit my cousin sister marriage in Agra, my mouth watered as Life indeed gave me a second
oppurtunity to see Taj Mahal, and absolve myself from this frustration that staying so close to the Wonder and yet so far. I have heard enough *taunts*, people telling me Oh you havent seen Taj? It is so near, No? Oh you been there and you didnt see it dumbo and to top it all a Foreigner on the phone describes his visit to India fulfilling after seeing Taj Mahal and enquires it is just 4 hours or 175 KM approx from delhi, I felt like banging my head......These thoughts kept running in my head and made my travel to Agra kinda pleasant cause Its time to put these remarks to an absolute halt and inflict the same to other poor brethren of mine, who were Not there yet!

I had two days in my kitty to visit Taj and from the Hotel where I was staying it was just 30 minutes journey, Hmmm pretty easy I thought to myself.

Day 1 went past in travelling to Marriage Location and arranging (Did I help, I meant at hogging ;)) and welcoming guests and definately shaking a leg or two. At the end of the Day I was dog tired and only sleep was on my mind. Day 2 got up late as usual, though I am a early riser but you see I was tired and was feeling feverish last night so a sound sleep will help me look fresh...Now then Marriange is done, guests have left and Time is on our side, So what shall we do before anyone could wag their tongue, I shot up Lets go to Taj! , but to my utter dismay noone was interested... All were saying someother Time and lets get back home or we ll get stuck in the traffic..SO had to give in to the flow and board the car with a deep sigh Not again...

Well I am back at Gurgaon and still without seeing Taj, and taunts continue when I say this weekend I was in Agra and people open their mouth, woow you also Saw Taj...

To which I say Yes,obviously!Why Not are you crazy?

Is the World Still Beautiful?

2006-12-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Take That ,the boyish band and successful bands to emerge from UK, has come alive from the dead to revive their careers after lying on the deathbed. Though they didnt idle away their time by watching the grass grow, All Five of them tried hands at solo careers, and only Robbie Williams survived. Now, Take That minus the enfant terrible Robbie, are back after a long hiatus. They look old, washed up as if they were away from land for a considerable amount of time, Well aging effects everyone hard to believe even the celebrities for whom senescence is a disease and eeeeeeeks it cant happen to them after all they are demi gods, thanks to Botox.

Now when they decided to disband, definately the world was beautiful they had huge fan following, million dollar record deals and not to forget they were younger too. Now things have changed, they have become old and weary in search of phoenix like resurrection, Will the world be beautiful again for these 4 fellas? Maybe and maybe not, but judging by the reception their latest album has received things definately isnt looking anthing but beautiful ;). The album is NO 1 currently on UK charts and the first single is aptly named Patience, both for the fans and above all the remaining quartet of once famous Take that! Will Gary Barlow able to drum out the lyrics in flat 15 minutes for their famous song Back for good, again ? Probably yes, Who knows :)

Easy way out !

2006-12-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

It has come to my notice that my blog has been going down the drain in past months, regretably and shamelessly I gotta inform that the slide continues. It has been a busy few months and hardly found time to update my blog with my valuable thoughts ;) so easy way out was to write either about entertainment or movies.

I have been in and out of my home from last few months, shuttling between Delhi and Bengalooru, before my previous visit it was still referred as Good old Bangalore, Now the ethnic consious people have decided that its time to bring back the Old Name to the place which has caught world attention, Land of Boiled beans is what is Bengalooru is!

This time I was put up in a Hotel far away from the City just to make sure that We dont waste time commuting, albeit I cribbed Why I am not put in the maddening City?, The reply from the Management was its time we started to cut costs . But In a way this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we not only had our office at a stones throw but also didnt have to lose time travelling. Many associates of ours had descended from all over the world to attend the SAP TECHED, an annual event showcasing the best in the innovation in coding. I made sure that I stayed miles away from this event.

The Blood Diamond

2006-10-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

This year one of the hottest anticipated movie is Blood Diamond starring Leonardo Dicaprio ,who can be also seen in the new Martin Scorcesse movie supposedly based on Hong Kong blockbuster Internal Affairs, playing a red blooded smuggler.

This year Leonardo can and should be able to land a nomination for his roles and eventually go all the way to snatch the coveted statutte if no other other breakthrough performance just break through into the horizon ;).

Leonardo has become the staple diet of Martin movies this is his third collaboration
after Aviator and Gangs Of New York, he is turning out to be the new De Niro for Martin. He has matured into a fine actor and usually staying for away from the blockbuster kinda movies, he is more keen on meatier roles and characters which he can with elan and panache.

Ed Zwick, whose earlier credits include the likable movies like Legends Of the Fall and The Last Samurai, although still not up there with other directors well all it takes one moview and this one looks undoubtedly has generated his share of controversy and curiosirty. As they say there is no such thing as Bad Publicity so this movie should get more exposure once it approches release date..

More information here on the official site.
Blood Diamond

Anousheh Ansari First woman space tourist!

2006-09-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Anousheh, the girl from Iran who never knew English language when her parents emigrated to USA, has done not only her country but the whole world proud for becoming the first space woman tourist. The details of how much this exhilarating experience costed her is still under wraps, but going by the price given by the first space tourist it should be easily in the range of 15 to 20 million dollars !...

Enormous price tag but for Anousheh, a genius born into a family of enterprenurs who has managed to stun the world with her maiden space flight, is more or less like a disposal penny (Though its a penny well spent!). She has definately inspired legions of female followers and broke all the cultural taboos. It is through her sheer hard work, focus and concentration, even I firmly believe everything is achievable no matter what may come only thing is required is your tenacity to hold on even when the odds are against you!

She heads a company by name , although along with her father and brother,
Prodea Systems, this is not all that the multi talented Ansari family does, they are the main sponsors of the X prize now known as the Ansari X prize, which rewards the innovation in space, new drugs etc a hefty sum of 10 million dollars, the price is unique as it awards not to the research but to the finished product.

Anousheh has also become the first space blogger, posting everyday and quite regularly with her going around in space station(What else she can do up there, she is not a astronaut you know) and it does make a interesting read with her vivid description of the day to day activities, also how they recycle the sweat of each astronaut suit and ultimately drink it eeeeeeeeks! Well this is life you pay a million dollars to drink the sweat of your colleague! Jokes apart, but there is another life up there, read the blog it is very captivating and thought provoking
Space Blog

Microsoft New Toy Zune

2006-09-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has always have a knack of diving into the business which is profitable and which has Steve Jobs attached to it, it only makes Microsoft sit up and take notice. IPOD in recent times have become a fashion accessory for the music addicts.
There is a clear divide with the people flashing IPOD and IPODS have-nots.

Realising that enough moolah can be made in this devide, Microsoft announced that its going to launch Zune, its portable music player positioned against IPOD in year end 2006. Zune, which is to be manufactured by the Japanese giant Toshibha has some very exciting features to boot with, albeit it still looks like IPOD, no surprises there for guessing. The difference it will have a bigger screen and users will be able to exchange music files between each other maybe just like bluetooth connectivity.

The Music files can be played out for three days or three times and after that it has to be downloaded from Zune Marketplace in definate competition to ITunes site.
Time will tell how this Music player fares...

Tom Cruise DUMPED?

2006-08-24T01:44:00.000-07:00

Paramount's head Redstone had enough of Tom Cruise The Star, antics and his never ending tantrums. Tom cruise in recent times after the high profile split from his
pretty wife Nicole Kidman, has been in too much public eye and has leapt from the couch on to our face. Yeah, granted the STAR is in love and is allowed to show his affection publicly but everything Tom has done or didn't do has only irked the media and alienated his much devoted and loyal fans. He even lambasted Brooke Shields!! He never stepped a right foot and all his movements are scrutinized.

But Paramount was nonetheless right in their decision because Tom as an actor doesn't charge anything upfront but takes a neat cut upto 20 percent from the Box office revenues of his movies resulting in a payday of hefty 40 million dollars approx. So a Movie Studio like Paramount had to take some desperate measures when the latest movie offering Tom Cruise ie Mission Impossible 3 didn't return as expected stellar numbers, although the movie raked in 395 Million dollars but half of it Paramount realized went to either making the movie or supporting Tom's extended family which includes some millions to Katie.

Here the culprit which backfired for Tom is his own superstardom, he has of late didn't deliver any flops, all his movies have been worldwide money spinners.
He is able to carry his movies on his own shoulders and his hefty payday has made him burden to the Studio for whom he has earned 2 billion dollars revenue! So it was time they severed the ties when his demands were becoming from reasonable to outrageous..

Will Tom cruise survive this, He should as he doesn't work only for Paramount he just used to produce movies and star in them. He made Last Samurai for Warner Bros and the movie was a hit. But his box office charm will have that sting it remains to be seen after all this said and done ...

Joke for the day ;)

2006-07-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

A crusty old man walks into a bank and says to the woman at the window, and says "I want to open a damn checking account." The astonished woman replies, "I beg your pardon, sir. I must have misunderstood you. What did you say?"

"Listen up, damn it. I said I want to open a damn checking account
now!"

Teller: "I'm very sorry sir, but that kind of language is not tolerated in this
bank."

The teller leaves the window and goes over to the bank manager to inform him of her situation. The manager agrees that the teller does not have to

listen to that foul language.

They both return to the window and the manager asks the old geezer, "Sir, what seems to be the problem here?"

"There is no damn problem," the man says. "I just won $200 million bucks in the damn lottery and I want to put my damn money in this damn bank."

"I see," says the manager, "and is this bitch giving you a hard time?"

Spiderman 3

2006-07-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Superheroes movies have become the staple diet of the audiences and also the big studios. Everyone wants to revive the long forgotten superhero,who is consigned to been schlock and underlying fact remains mint bucketloads of money.

The trendsetter was in this arena came from Sam raimi(Evil Dead series!) who directed both the Spiderman movies and he is busy reading his third mega installment. He was able to portray the right emotion coupled with some of the best special effects, his movies were not LOST in the web of the special effects, CGI did its job as a add on and I feel it should remain at that level.

The angst ridden superhero has been the prime focus of every director and how one superhero deals with his powers as "With greater power comes greater responsibilty" we have heard that a zillion times !

All said and done, I am looking forward to the next instalment of the Spiderman series, the third one. The rumors are that this is one of the most expensive movies made, at 300$ Million bucks, its way too lavish.

This time we have great characters, Venom the arch nemesis of our frienldy superhero Spiderman, finally gets his chance to lay hands on spidey.
Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) will be the human form which undergoes transformation with the symbiote.

I am not sure whether the movie will recount the whole story of how Eddie Brock gets angered by the spiderman actions and becomes his enemy, we have to wait and watch.
It will be exciting to watch Topher Grace shed his clean image and become a full fledged bad guy. Also seen in the movie would be wine sipping Thomas hayden Church, as Sandman and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen stacy, girlfriend of Spidy. So chanches are ripe that this movie may finish off James Franco as the best friend of spiderman.
James Franco also appears as Green goblin because the second movie shows him infront of the chamber housing the costume of Goblin and also the trailor has a little glimpse of it.

If you havent seen the trailor heres the link.

Spiderman 3

Retail Intoxication

2006-07-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

The past few months have literally been draining for the whole family, the reason being we finally took a head on plunge into the Retailing arena of garments. Every business move is nothing short of entering a Lions cage emptyhanded and wearing a brace of luck on your shoulders.

Our family business is exporting surplus garments so there was always a possibility that we get into retail business but that never materialized until two months ago, as one of dad's friend suggested him into taking a dive by setting up a shop of branded clothes.
Easier said than done, well at that moment of time everything looked so easy and clear, but when you have to implement it takes some guts of steel and definitely lots of dough to do it. We opened our showroom finally in Gurgaon and if the initial response has been anything but encouraging.

Well we kept our showroom name as Brande : Fashion Intoxication as we are going to house all the major brands. To get ideas about how the clothes should be displayed I visited many retail showrooms and always made a dash to Girls section ! I always felt that the girls section is more artistically displayed and also girls take more time to decide which dress to buy and also seemed to be particular about the pricing.

The few things I saw happening in our showroom was people tend to ask for discounts even though the clothes are competitively priced!..In that scenario we always had to give some discount to the customer so that they keep thronging our place ;).
After all Customer is KING.

Brad and Angelina baby Shiloh pic

2006-06-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Finally Brad and Angelina baby Shiloh pics are here,
She has Angelina 's pout and Brads Nose. Its for you to decide :)

Hats off to the Bragelina duo for striking a astronomical deal for the
baby Shiloh pictures to be unleased exclusively by the Hello Magazine
to the world. Hello executives are leaving no stone unturned to prevent this pictures to be reproduced by anyone else, I got it legally though.

The reason I am happy with this celebrity duo that they are using this money not to buy Shiloh toys but to help other real needy people through charity. This is a welcome change from other celebrties who use the moolah made from their weddings etc to buy some chateau or some bling bling, but Brad and Angelina thougt otherwise, rightly so.

Bragelina with their wise decision can set a precedence of sorts for other celebrities to follow suit.

Book Or Movie

2006-05-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

On Friday evening I got off from work at 1800 hours, didnt have anything in particular to relax or to unwind after the choc a bloc training, so a close friend suggested lets go for a Movie - Note:If the Movie would have been good then I suggested for it - We concurred on "Da Vinci Code" like the Priory of the Scion in the book!

The movie was scheduled to be screened at 2200 hours considering that we arrive late
the Theatre couldnt help but made sure that the movie starts and ends later than usual .We grabbed a bite, had a shake and saw TV for a while and then made a dash for the movie, as suspected we reached late even though we were staying a books throw from the theatre!

Many people had flocked ,more than in China according to a reliable report, for seeing the movie, No place to stand basically somehow we sailed through them and finally settled into our seats and then some rotund figure chap ask if we could swap his seats as he wanted to be seated with his friends, I dont why we ,especially me, have a look which makes other people come to us and ask for a Favor, which usually I dont approve..So still we thought we must help people in distress and sat in their seats, Alas we found that our view was obstructed so we came back and told that guy to piss off..I did try to help atleast..

We FIRMLY held on to our seats even that it meant skipping the Loo break, the movie began, it was great in Visuals but still it didnt have the rush of blood as the book offered, the pageturner book was looking like a dull as a Dodo...Probably reading a book and then seeing the movie wasnt such a good idea because you ll know whats going to happen next. Earlier I never understood why people prefer book to movie I was always at a loss to understand but now I know..

Tom Hanks looked as if he had been woken from his deep slumber to act in the movie..only guy worthy is Paul Bettany as Silas, he is chilling as a Albino killing machine, Audrey she is OK not her best as in Amelie..Movie is painstakingly Loooong..
My friend dozed in the middle I didnt feel like waking him up because he had suffered enough..

You can skip the movie....

What to write or what not to write........

2006-05-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Probably this is the longest time I have taken for posting a blog entry, You should be aware by now that good writing or a best Blog (aha there I go again lol) takes time and a lot of effort,sweat, good thoughts and it is not a Childs play ! Last 4 to 5 months have been real hectic for me somehow I couldnt find time for myself and definately for conversion of my ephemeral train of thoughts to journal...Its not that I couldnt find time to post anything but the real issue was had nothing to post really ..then I was wondering how the writers manage to write 500 to 1000 pages on same thing !! No wonder they take 2 to 3 years for their effort and in some cases even longer ...What a man can do if his creative juices just ceases to flow..I am reminded about the same situation in a movie called "Shakespeare in Love" where Shakespeare has run out of ideas and he resorts to Voodoo etc to get his juices flowing....

Well I didnt resort to anything drastic like that...Still thinking on new topics to write about ..Well you bloggers can help me !

Revenge of the Treat hunters

2006-03-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

Going back to college for the sort of "Treat-Hunters" reunion, brought back old sweet memories of the college life, well not exactly old I have been away from college only for 3 years, while in college a day away from it seemed as if the day is robbed of its FUN and devoid of any frantic activities.....

First things first, Treat-Hunters was a motley group of mates formed in order to leverage every and any oppurtunity to party and gorge on the free food, drinks etc thrown away in a bash by one hapless, unreluctant person who happens to be either celebrating his first break up, the dent on his old beat up car, a lay up in the basketball game, or his unofficial zillionth birthday, imposed on him by his friends. The reason to celebrate can be as minuscule as possible or big --even better and definately silly. The matter of the fact was we never looked for any rationale to hunt our ever suspecting prey.

Treat-hunters could fall to any low to wrest their initiative, rapidly our story of loot and stashed up food spread wide into the college and every student wanted to be part of this....Since they couldnt be in the Original Fab All, they were ordered to carry on this moral movement in their respective classes without any further delay...

We thought we ll be earning our daily bread through this but alas they say "Good times(Treats!) never last", all good things must finally be laid to rest. Time rolled by we soon realised getting a free treat was last of our priorities in the final semester...

But the Treat-Hunters shared their last laugh when they treated each other Well you guessed it right we duped someone else on our reunion...

Bangalored !!!

2006-03-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

Travelling is always welcome and that too if it is paid and well accounted its even better, and a company travel for training well it cant get any better.
I was suppose to travel to Bangalore the place where I stayed for more than a decade for some training which I hardly recall now. Its been a while infact two long years to be exact since I laid a foot in Bangalore now so called Silicon Valley, so I was looking forward for this trip infact friends had been coaxing me to make this trip at the earliest.
Finally it happened, I not only surprised my colleagues with mouthing of the local lingo but also took them to the correct address of the Hotel where we were put up, but after that every time I tried to play a guide it turned out to be a futile exercise not that I had forgotten the routes around my beloved city but due to heavy inflow of the traffic many roads were consigned to be one way!..
The traffic in bangalore was anything but worse I have seen hopefully civil authorities will do something about it.
Not only Bangalore has become a IT hub, it is also a place for gardens and above all its a watering hole. The pubs are happening and weekends are meant to be for anything but pubbing...
So partying indeed what I did in Bangalore and enjoyed my time there and met with my all buddies...It was one helluva trip....Look forward for another company Visit...

Oscars Winners List!

2006-03-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

The magnum opus award ceremony is over and has ended with a 'Crash'.

Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana

Visual Effects: King Kong

Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Short Film (Live Action): Six Shooter

Short Film (Animated): The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation Costume

Design: Memoirs of a Geisha

Make-Up: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

Documentary Short Subject: A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins

Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha

Original Score: Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain

Sound Mixing: King Kong

Original Song: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Hustle & Flow

Sound Editing: King Kong

Foreign Language Film: Tsotsi, South Africa

Film Editing: Crash

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Cinematography: Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain

Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash

Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Best Picture: Crash

L.O.V.E

2006-02-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Valentine's day is round the corner ..oh this month makes you all mushy mushy..so I thought let's play a video by Ashlee Simpson which is currently my favorite. Ashlee Simpson has definately had her share of flak and yours truly was also one of them to relegate her music sensibilities to trash, but in the music industry as they popularly put it you are as good as your last song and your previuos sins are sidelined. So lets be kind to Ashlee and check her out in new video ...

Ashlee Simpson - Love

Microsoft is (A)Live

2006-01-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

After playing second fiddle to Google in internet era Microsoft realised its time to pull up the socks and take the competition head on. So taking the charge for the internet assault Microsoft has taken the services of Ray ozzie, force behind the lotus notes, so was born the idea of Microsoft Live services.

Though most of the services are still in beta stage and hence unavailable there is definately lots of excitement built around them. One of the most exciting is the launch of Microsoft Office live where if you have the domain man you can the email accounts with that particular domain name also it provides the option for small business to have their own domain and mail ids free of cost. Giving away free stuff was never Microsoft cup of tea but neverthless they have realised the importance of internet. But to shake up Google will not be easy.

Finally 2005 Leaps away ....

2006-01-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

Oh what a year 2005 has been infact had been of natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes also not to sideline the Man which wreaked havoc in the form of terrorist attacks and bombing of Iraq continued and also how can I forget -please pardon my short memory-it saw the high profile breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston ...but as they say life finds a way and one can never diminish the human hope ,which is highly irrepressible and also its optimistic outlook .

As the new year ushers in, we await with abated breath as what might this year unfold. We are pretty aware if joy comes along how far can suffering be. The fear of the unknown shouldn't stop us from reveling in the moment and letting our hair down once a while. We try to pack all our year long arrears of thanfulness, benevolence and forgiving nature into the already inundated festivals what we need here is a proper distribution of the feel good nature all year around. Be good, well I try to be ...

So very HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you ....

Here I am

2005-11-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Finally I get to upload my picture, Yes I know I am mirror shattering material aint I ? Sorry I couldnt get a other closeups as they are doing the rounds of Ad agencies in Paris and Milan.

Thanks for your patience and you all are duly rewarded. ;)

The reason I didnt post my picture earlier is to let people run their imagination wild and use their geometry to construct my face -- as if there are trying to (high hopes I tell ya)--or add a body to a voice which is not there i.e the suspense is over and all now know who is this freak! Anyways I am beilever in anonymity but cyberspace allows us to be nameless and apolitical without getting into fist fight.

I fervently hope bloggers will not stop coming to this post after seeing my pic.

P.S 789,634,363 People think "Sidcruise" is a star in making and are enviable of his manliness, left in disgust.

Che Guevara

2005-10-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Growing up -- well I am still growing up I am already 6 feet tall, I was easily fascinated by the rebellious attitude and giving a "DAMN" about the so called worldly issues. Anything going on world was never my problem. So it was anything but natural that I started looking up to the people like "James Dean" onscreen and a real life rebel "Che". Che was perceived by me a iconoclast, a maverick and truly -yes believe me- a Style guru.

I espoused his mission of life, his ideals and never really deciphered what good did Che try to bring. Che was limited to me as a beret wearing Che, either emblazoned as a tattoo on skin or on a T shirt or life size poster signifying my disgust with the world.

It never really dawned on me what a profound being Ernesto "Che" Guevara was, an Argentine by birth, a doctor to boot who tried to overthrow the leaders who had their self interest to satisfy than other peoples interest and tried to free the oppressed.

Che not only joined forces with Fidel Castro to help him in his coup in Cuba also tried to fight for people's rights in Bolivia where he was eventually captured and was immoratalised in his death and also his last words which he spoke summed his mission for life which is not going to end with his life.

"Shoot! Coward, You are only going to kill a Man!"

P.S. Benicio Del Toro will star as Che in new movie by Steven Sodernbergh, should be out by 2007.

Natal Day: The day I descended on this Mother Earth

2005-09-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

After lying low and bedridden for a week with temperature, had all the time in the world to ponder over the year goneby and I realized again I had done nothing special to feel exceptional but such is this important day that makes you feel and act "SPECIAL", albeit if you are not!

I invited my buddies for the celebration and the weather looks hopelessly beautiful ,I am afraid they ll all make it...DAMN..The day I was born nothing epochal happened just another baby birth like Jesus and the only differnce I can think of is I was born in a hospital...

During my laziness or illness, there were hundred of thoughts which were erupting in my mind :

One of them was the turmoil which I had gone through in completing the Graduation was not worth at all after I see Maria Sharapova, a barely 18 year old, raking in millions or Britney spears a millionaire many times over for just belting out "oops I did it again !!!" ....And what about the college dropouts Bill Gates and Larry Ellison no certified degree and they are the richest in the world!!

So does it make sense to spend Four important years in graduating out of Engineering College? All those sleepless nights I spent burning the midnight oil and more Nights stressing about the result now I come to think of it I would be better off playing a game like Tennis or just singing the blues!!

So does Good education really helps ...I am unable to fathom ...

Whats in a Name?

2005-08-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

I was in a impression all my life that I was the finicky one looking for every inch of detail, keeping my room always sparkling clean, well something of a control freak....

But as I thought I am never alone in this world ,the countless musicians and moviestars who keep tinkering their names to get them much needed attention which does fades away eventually, are far more fussy then I can ever imagine, and resons blared are nothing but laughable....One such specimen is P.daddy oops diddy (P.S. Last heard his name was Diddy, names are subjected to change on timely basis), and the reason for his umpteen baptification was just plain simple i.e after dropping the prefix 'P' will bring him closer to his ardent fans I believe him. But what about the confusion his family and all his legions of girlfriends have to go through ...and also the kids imagine they be informed about his latest name by other kids in school...I think for the next week all diddy will do is to get used to his name and also make sure others get his name right !

One more culprit is Prince also known as The Artist and the Symbol only he can explain what it means..

Underdogs has it real easy!!

2005-08-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

I feel that the underdogs always has it easy they have no burden of expectations to carry, they can feel at ease when they are asked to take the plunge compare this with the Champions, tons of expectations and above anything else the personal pride is always at stake!

I always consider myself the champ as I am good at each sport I ever played and life only gets tougher when you are looked upon by the whole team to perform and save them the blushes...

I am no stranger to this scenario and was asked whether I am good at bowling by my peers and definitely I said Well I am !! ... We were having a company party and they had organized a bowling competition....

A new place and so many people to impress, no tall order for me ....but strangely I was jittery and nervous before the big day arrived (I did try not pick up anything heavy just in case !!!)..infact I always felt like this just before the moment of truth what if I am unable to perform what people will think !!....

Carrying all my fears with me I made a dash to the party location, to make life easier they were hardly any gurls and also in office they always tell us if you spot anything of feminine characteristic in and around you in the office premises get your eyes checked !!!!......

The game started and I was set to roll last in my team .....I carefully picked the ball up ..made it shine as if I was the pro! ....darted slowly with the bowl towards the alley ...and with one thunderous blow delivered the ball from my hand and to my dismay I had given a little more spin, so there I stood holding my breath as the fear gripped me ......but fortunately the spin wasn't too much for the ball to escape the alley it was just enough to stay on course and attack the middle pin and it did with all its might bringing all the other pins tumbling down with it ...

It was a STRIKE !!!!!! I couldn't be happier ...The result of the match is another story ....but I didn't let anyone down especially me ...

After the game we partied hard and danced like no one was seeing us ...and I really wish none was watching us ...some guys were ungainly in their steps !!!!

Kurt's Cobain "Last Days"

2005-07-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

What is with the number'27', it devoured the arguably the best musicians of our times Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and finally Kurt Cobain. Posthumously these musicians have reached cult status and have ardent fans asking for more about them. Every bit of information about them is always welcome.

Kurt Cobain, the purveyor of the Grunge Rock, frontman and Vocalist of the band Nirvana along with Dave Grohl made music like never before. Their band got recognition and reached astronomical heights , it seemed they had everything going in for them, so what just triggered Kurt to take his own life and splatter his brain all over the window? This is what Gus van tries to unravel in his Movie which is loosely based on the last days of Kurt.

Kurt as a person seemed withdrawn, reticent quite inscrutable and not to mention appealing to talk to infact every person who has less words to say looks rather more interesting and intelligent. His untimely death posed more questions than answers, and answers are not easy to come by. Is the out of bounds Success made Kurt look more a troubled and lonesome man? As the movie describes him rightly "A fugitive from his own life", never ceases to amaze his fans and also Gus Van, who with his mastery visionary and coupled with his usual signature style seen earlier in his works Gerry, Good will Hunting and Elephant has come up with slow and gripping movie. HE doesn't have special regard for sensationalism and keeps it austere,each frame gives out a message. Each Character is carefully carved out. He lets them grow on you and asking for more. Michael Pitt as the troubled and lonesome musician pitches in a haunting and moving portrayal.

Fat on the land

2005-07-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

"Get into shape"

"Round is a shape" !!

Maybe trite, but true, Yes and yes Fat is here to stay ...No matter how hard we try sooner or later our gluttony or you may call it sloth pays the ultimate price of extra flab...No this is not to imply that people who eat excessively put on weight many a times it depends on how our body metabolic rates are, some people are blessed with very high and some less..Not to deny that less of activity also leads to the girth...

While you may well not notice it but the third person always does no matter what, quotes like "Oh gosh! You have grown FAT" are always heard and dreaded when you meet a friend after a long time...

Fat people are prone to more diseases as many researches show, but recently many reports indicated to the contrary that even Obese have a fighting chance and better survival rate than their thinner counterparts...

So I would say All's not Lost!.....You gain some and lose nothing (weight i.e).....

Greed is good?

2005-07-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Michael Douglas proudly declared "Greed is good" in Wall Street, the movie clearly displaying how the Power Corrupts and won an Oscar for his performance. But the America's Big Companies Honchos probably missed the bigger picture and took the literal meaning. The companies which they built painstakingly were bankrupted due to their prodigal and wasteful ways, Ebbers, a milkman to boot with, made Worldcom one of the biggest Telecom companies. He was the one who refused to have free coffee machines in Offices to cut costs while his personal wealth swelled. He was able to enjoy every possible luxury so as the Tyco cheif with disrespect for other wealth, like the employees who toiled hard got nothing in return for their blood and sweat.

This amassing of wealth lead to their downfall and also the company when personal interests reign over Company interests what one can expect. So slapping a 25 year prison term does showcase harsh message and lesson that America needs to teach its future spendthrifts.

So in the longer run Greed is good? ask Ebbers who will be spending 20 years in a cell after 20 years of luxury life which cant be fathomed by the ordinary man. Also, Greed is after all one of the seven sins.

V for Vendatta

2005-07-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Picture this, what if the world war was won by Hitler and imagine the world today. I know it would be horrific to recount the story and imagine it now. But thats where the role of novels and movies become so important they take us to different realms which are hard to fathom by the ordinary minds, they keep challenging our thinking and limitations of our imagination. One such attempt is done to make a graphic novel ,about Hitler winning the World war and taking seige, to the motion picture v for vendetta, the director served as a assitant director for Matrix and seemed to have acumen of Warchowski bros. So we can expect some great cinematic adventure. The cast announced contains Hugo weaving playing the lead as the revolutionary, adorning a mask, who leads the war against the Nazi world and takes Natalie portman as her accomplice

Movie comes out on Nov 5th,2005, 0n the so called bonfire day.

Acquitted of all charges M.J.

2005-06-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah thats what the headlines screamed all over the tabloids along with the Television channels, all love a good controversy dont we? We see every celebrity or whos who, and if he has no blackspots or blemishes on his resume we wonder whats wrong with him/her ?? We love to see the downfall :) ......

Back to MJ, if someone would ask me whether he was guilty I wont be able to pass any verdict as MJ never invited me to his neverland and for that matter I never shared a bed with him, anyways Jurors verdict mattered the most and gave a much needed respite to him. This is the gem from late night, MJ was found not guilty, but his plastic surgeons were found guilty on all counts. Last heard even Saddam wants to try his case at Santa Maria!!!.

Many pundits have already predicted that MJ wont be able to reach his King of Pop status ever again, will he continue singing also remains a doubt. But i feel he should come with his guns blazing and do what he does best i mean to cut albums and thrill us all.

Its over to you MJ.

Do we all have a Darkside to our Demeanor?

2005-06-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

The last and final saga of the intergalactic war movie STAR WARS finally came to end with Anakin Skywalker metamorphising into evil Darthvader. It does throw some interesting questions whether do we all have a darkside to our goody goody personality, and i think we all do. But we are able to masquerade it so well we dont realise that it very much exists in us. We sometimes feel to break free from the mundane life of ours, we dont want to accept the same old treatmeant or the shit that is put to us .....

Also people have split personality to vent out their frustration and anger which there unable to do so in their real personality so they find a letout which will allow them to do what they can possibly never think of ....

This kind of behavior is supported by the recent study which tells that it is healthy to have one....

Wardrobe Malfunction.

2005-06-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

The new job does usher in some drastic and unwarranted changes, for me the most defining and screaming one was the employee's dresscode all were dressed in supercrisp formals! well it is a shock for me as in earlier company note a reputed one I was able to dress up in casuals all the time but the only demand was that work needs to be done which i used to do actually. They always said i was better off doing less work I dont why.
Now the new firm expects to be in formals all the time even on FRIDAY!! this is too much to ask from a person whose just out from college atmospheris company ...

The first thing I asked even before my pay was about the wardrobe and to add insult to the injury I was told to attire myself in formals and not to do anything which destroys the sanctity of the workplace, I ll try i said.

Coldplay New Album

2005-06-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

X $ Y the new and third album from so called bedwetters middleclass boys is finally here on net(long live Piracy :)) and is created a havoc of sorts before its official launch and already has a charttopper number in Speed of Sound. I heard even the launch has been prepond !!

Well the new album happens to loiter around the same technique as their prevoius efforts...they didnt try to experiment too much as had sky high expectations from their ardent fans.

I think this is right and feel why change the winning formula. I think even this album should do well and Chris Martin haunting vocals was never better.

Here are the lyrics

SPEED OF SOUND
How long before I get in?
Before it starts, before I begin?
How long before you decide?
Before I know what it feels like?
Where do, where do I go?
If you never tried, then you'll never know.
How long do I have to climb,
Up on this side of this mountain of mine?

Look up, I look up at night,
Planets are moving at the speed of light.
Climb up, up in the trees,
every chance that you get,
is a chance you seize.
How long am I gonna’ stand,
with my head stuck under the sand?
I’ll start before I can stop,
before I see things the right way up.

And all that noise, all that sound,
all these pieces that I have found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds come flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand…

Ideas that you'll never find,
all the inventors could never design.
The buildings that you put up,
Japan and China all lit up.
The sign that I couldn't read,
or a light that I couldn't see,
something’s you have to believe,
but others are puzzles, puzzling me.

And all that noise, all that sound,
all those pieces that I have found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds come flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
Oh when you see it then you'll understand…

All those signs, I knew what they meant.
Something’s you can invent.
Some get made, and some get sent,
Ooh…
Birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
oh, when you see it then you'll understand…

New Job : New Beginning

2005-05-31T22:45:00.000-07:00

Finally it is happenin I called it quits from my first Job, though the last job was good and I gathered a lot, I picked up How to play Ping Pong, Swimming apart from Java, oracle among others....though I feel a bit sad and also hopeful as what the new job has in store for me But as my friends speaks through their experience that "There is no such thing as DREAM JOB"....

The way I look at it one should find a job he loves, then he wont be working for the rest of his life ....Work is worship they say....

Time 100 Movies !

2005-05-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

Time magazine has painstakingly compiled all time 100 movies Movies List that too unranked, makes sense, though it was culled after much brainstorming and constructive discussion but i still find some movies missing which should have definately made the grade ....albeit Time reporters have done a commendable job ...the movies which were ignored are

LA Confidential
Forrest Gump
Philadelphia
Silence of the Lambs
Matrix 1

and many more ...........

Lovelife DOA

2005-05-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Lovelife the very name these days stifles me and sends chills to my bone, i try to duck these queries every time....

Each time I hook up with buddies they ask me "Are you seeing someone or hows Lovelife" , to which my neverending muteness says it all.... i scurry for cover to avoid further embarassment jusk like Bill clinton must have faced when he was asked about Monica !

i did try to change my status to from single and ready to mingle to committed but alas no success at all...I looked for love everywhere but hell no luck yet ...This doesnt mean I am not romantic

Virtual gurlfriends are good but what the heck she turns to be from another continent and of male gender(well it happens all the time) or an alien(Plausible!!).....

I think this is probably my job has done this to me, I am so engrossed in my work I hardly look for girls nowdays .......workplace are never known to provide LOVE or that matter girls :)..

Well the quest is on.....

Gaming Consoles !!!

2005-05-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Xbox 360 and PSP will battle it out this year for toplslot, initial market reactions have been favorable for both the companies ...these new consoles have taken gaming zone to next level and are powered by Cell developed by IBM...these are comparable to Supercomputers!!

PSP graphics are truly cinematic and its a good product.

Well the deciding factor in winning this cat and mouse race will be the Pricing...
the more reasonable the better and these are the gifts look forward in bequeathing to their closed ones !!!

Decision

2005-05-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Oh Life can be so confusing at times what to do and what not to do !! Are we taking the right decision or is it another misstep.....

All say everything happening is preordained, if so then without we doing anything ie just plain inaction, nature will still hurtel down its course?!!

well if this implies that everthing will happen accordingly then lets wait and practice indolence !!

Indian spirituality

2005-05-05T16:19:00.001-07:00

Beatles have come and seeked Nirvana here, George Harrison asked specifically his ashes to be immersed in Ganges, Ford junior is a believer in Krishna......

These are the few snippets of the who's who turning east no disrespect for others :)

Every year millions of place escape this worldy or materialistic world (Maya) to connect to the higher self.....the people feels so ahead in life that they realise they need to slow down and hence the quest for tranquility and meaningful existence takes the centrestage ....

One of the prime and pristine place these truth seekers end up on the most journey of life is India....they are totally fascinated about Indian gods and their reincarnation ....

Life becomes divine and fulfilling after this experience by observing and practising some of the teachings in ones life ....

Mahavira propagator of jainsim said "we must have RIGHT FAITH , we must believe in truth.
we must have the RIGHT KNOWLEDGE, we must study to understand what life is all about.
we must follow RIGHT CONDUCT, the conduct which our faith and knowledge show us to be correct. " and above all greed of anything is destroyer of ones peace of mind....

Calvin and Hobbes : A sensation

2005-05-04T14:18:00.001-07:00

Bill Waterson legendary character a tiny kid with a big head and even bigger appetite for getting into trouble entertained milions of its readers and is worshipped as a deity!! This character was able to ring a bell with many a readers who when growing up found taking old beaten road as boring as watching golf on a sunday morning, Calvin is a rebel with a cause he is able to bring out the situations which truly reflects the world today

Bill waterson made Calvin die a natural death to the shocks of his ardent followers, he did not allow the character to grow up in age !! Though mind you this kid had more more acumen than any other adult....

Calvin s accomplice in crime bring a much needed restraint to Calvins overbearing character, he is a perfect foil for Calvins yammering and does his cynical job rather wonderfully....

I still read these strips and wonder on the creative juice which must have flowed in Waterson to create a true icon, Not sure whether such a genunine character will be ever be attempted, if attempted whether it will reach such a dizzying heights remains to be seen.

New Anti Virus

2005-04-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have been using AVG for the home PC and till now it works wonders ...its simple and effective, if that is not enough its free....

So give it a shot :) heres the link AVG

But on the downside they can improve the GUI, make it more sleeker and appealing.

yagoohoogle!!

2005-04-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hey this is the newest search engine...maximise the search :)

Visit yagoohoogle!

Terrorism : A Software Industry

2005-04-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is what I feel about terrorism its a industry in intself, you may corner me and ask WHY? well it is will be my firm reply ...look at today's world terrorists exists everywhere infact it is there in each and every country ...so do s\w industry does...

It has its potential professionals waiting to pounce for any onsite oppurtunity just like terrorists who wants new projects in perilous environment to cause maximum destruction .....

Project Managers expects hell lot of their perpetators well terrorist has to live up to dizzying expextations ..

Aprils Fools Day

2005-04-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

"This day reminds us what we are on other 364 days " Mark Twain

Shyamalan Vs Hitchcock

2005-03-31T21:18:00.000-08:00

Manoj night Shyamalan night has been goin the way of legendary Hitchcock Hitchcock Many might scoff at this comparison but comparison has been inevitable, both the directors have a propensity for suspense, shoe string budget ..but only the stark difference between two has been that Manoj writes his own movies...

though Mnaoj has not been able to live up to his expectations of his breakthrough and money spinning Sixth sense...

Its a another story will Manoj will be able to live up to the legendary artist of mystery ..well it will remain a mystery for some time....

Software Industry

2005-03-10T09:56:00.002-08:00

Here is my experience says in this ever burgeoning Software Industry....(Who cares for my opininon anyways)

Work in a small startup company !
Be a Big fish in a small pond then a small fish in Ocean !
Why small company ? Cos it gives more oppurtunity to grow technically wise, one becomes more responsible
One works harder (So that he can shift later) unlike a guy who is in big company and becomes lazy !!
Pay package matters than the office building

Clints's Baby delivers a knockout punch at the Oscars

2005-02-28T06:10:00.002-08:00

Well Oscar does spring surprises ..the anticipated convenient outcome of OSCARS was Best film for Million Dollar Baby and Best director for Martin ....

But in the end there was only one Baby which kicked ass and got away with prestigious awards for actress, director, film and also supporting actor for Morgan Freeman......

Finally Genious of Eastwood was acknowledged, hes having a golden run last year with the compelling and brilliant Mystic River and this year with Million Dollar Baby, while Martin was ignored again by the academy ........

Albeit it was dissapointing to see Martin again getting snubbed by the Oscars....well time will tell if Academy will get a oppurtunity again to honour Martin....he can take heart from this that Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar for his timeless movies !!!

Microsofts dilemma !!

2005-02-23T02:13:00.000-08:00

Microsoft after acquiring firms which specilalizes in anti virus software has found itself in a quanadry and it has ended the use of symnatec anti virus software for its much attacked windows OS.....

the dilemma because much of its software are prone to detrimental virus attacks and the company still could not plug the loopholes....
In order to bolster its attack at the malignant virus it bought out anti virus software firms but here is the problem lies will it sell the anti virus software for its own virus prone products and also monopolise for which its been notoriously famous for....

people are already switching over to Mozilla for a better browsing experience which made Bill gates to announce the arrival of so called robust IE 7 much before the awaited release of Longhorn.....I am not sure how many people have stuck to Mozilla eversince as i have switched back to IE 6 :) ....

lets see how microsoft handles its anti virus software products....time will tell if enterpreneur Bill Gates can pull it off??

Michael Angelo's David

2005-02-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

This one truly a masterpiece created by a legendary artist Michael himself...infact he went on to create further phenonmenonal works of art like Sistine chapel......

But David has its own place in art history ....a shepherd who fell the mighty Goliath (a giant Philistine warrior) with his slingshot.....and also he is credited with uniting Israel ....

hopefully one day I ll get to see this timeless piece of art ....

Auschwitz Vs Darfur

2005-02-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

Auschwitz survivors celebrated their escape from the place of no return recently, their teary eyes spoke a thousand words about the heinous crime ever committed to Humans during that dark period which people doesnt want to be reminded of. In hindsight many argue that world did nothing to avert this inhumane crisis , nobody stood up .....as a consequence millions were brutally murdered......past always teaches a lesson or two to help us in present but unfortunately nothing has been gained from the past if we divert our mind to Darfur, Sudan where people have been killed in millions .....infact Africa have been plagued by multiple calamities namely ethnic cleansing, famine, Aids, Racism and others....

Immediate help is required to get these places out of these situations before its too late so many people have died whose lives could have been saved if UN kept more vigil on these issues..its better to be safe then sorry ....I wish many countries pay attention to Africa and help to get Africa back on its feet.....

Marriage!

2005-02-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

Marriage a death trap to me what it feels like at this moment of my life if one asks me ...with due respect to my friend .........

My classmate got married and couldnt attend his wedding which I intended to and in the process friends got cross at me for not being able to join them in this gradiose event .....

Anyways i wish my friend a very happy wedded life .....

Basketball : A disease for me

2005-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

On a non descript day i was infected with a disease which had symptoms of jumping up and try to shoot ....i couldnt get myself cured as i kept going to the court without knowing anything about this game and striving to play it ....well to make things worse I was 6 2 tall and hideous with the game and was never was able to use my height to desired effect....as time passed I tried my best to pick the game...

Fast forward to some years later

slowly i realised i was doing better in the game (i am still bad ) ....but this game is a disease i love it ....it never has a dull moment , its always keeps you agile.....though i am not playing the game as much as i would have liked.....

do i see NBA beckoning :))

Airbus 380 : bigger the better ??

2005-01-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

On jan 19 an epochal moment took place a superjumbo plane with 555 seating capacity was unveiled to the world , the product of Airbus a EADS unit which is a confluence of 4 countries coming togather to challenge Americas very own Boeing . Lengths have been written about the subsidies being given to Airbus to carry out its R & D ......now shift focus to superjumbo plane many analysts say as world gets populated the need of bigger plane will automatically arise , this decade there has been manifold increase in the air traffic .....but seating togather 850 ppl is not a joke !! the airports world around should be well equipped to get the security checks on time , then the baggage issue also lingers imagine to wait for your bag with 850 passengers can be aggravating ....
there is a talk to get the food trolleys scrapped as to allow passenger to risk his life at the food counters !!! in a way it can give ppl a truly out of world experience and also make their flight more luxurious ...i am not sure whether this is done being done at this particular plane

Airbus expects to sell most of his A 380 to asian countries and they are optimistic about breaking even at the earliest ....

Spiritual Awakening

2005-01-11T03:06:00.000-08:00

Everyone goes thru a time when he starts thinking abt his life ,death or purpose on earth ..why is here ..the questions like these keep haunting me day after day ..it can happen to anyone for some such enlightment comes early for others later in their life ....this excruciating time results due to ones long time suffering or ones personal loss when the individual finds himself closer to GOD...i went thru this too ...And what i have learnt from these times is that good and bad times are part and parcel of ones life noone can escape it (even Jesus had to face testing times during his stay ) so one has to ride the tide....

a diamod is just another stone which did better in pressure !!

Keep the faith !!!

Mutants (X men 3 ??)

2005-01-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

I love X- men series about the mutants....probably in future we might get to see these mutants due to drasctic climatic changes resulting in species to adapt if they dont well extinction will take place.. ..as Charles Darwin correctly pointed it is not the fittest or strongest that will survive it will be those ready to change ...rightly said sir...what happened to dinosour truly justifies the above statement .....

Wolverine happens to be my fav mutant he is a cut above than rest of the mutants .....his power to heal its own wounds gives him that much needed edge over others .....

I dont know whether movie series of X men will be revived as currently the director bryan singer associated with it has moved on to direct the Superman !!...still i ll be waiting for X men if there was one as so many mutants to be shown on screen .....also to add both X men movies were a good draw as BO so makes sense to make many more !!

Outsourcing!!

2005-01-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

Much has been said about this hot topic during elections what i felt was it was used as a rhetoric by the politicians to gain much needed momentum in their election campaigns and now all the hot air has fizzled out ....

No dont get me wrong i do sympathesize and empathesize with the people who lost jobs lost it could have been me too :( ..but we got to see the the bigger picture for outsourcing as it helps the companies to cut costs and protect them from being going financially bust ..its a do or die situation for them....usually the jobs outsourced are of lower end and the company which saves money can invest in R & D and create higher end jobs for its people so in the longer run it seems the ppl are profited as they get to work on cutting edge technologies and with a better package too ....

so alls not lost !!!

p.s last heard there was a talk of US elections to be outsourced as the process was replete with mistakes...:))

Death : A Beginning or End !!

2005-01-04T01:19:00.000-08:00

I know it sounds it too creepy to talk about ones death but why not there is so much blood and gore around it can be any one us who can be dead at any time ...death doesnt come with a warning ....savant says our birth and death dates are decided well before we arrive on this planet ....Also LORD has managed to do a striking balance between death and life so well and kept the life cycle functioning seamlessly like lexus engine (i am bad at metaphors pardon!).....

well the agenda for this blog is after death what happnes?? There has been none who rose from dead and aftermath told us (do we really get to see GOD ) ...It is according to me the biggest mystery of life oh ok after women :))....

what I really want to know is are we able to think like we do now or we just cease to exist mentallt after we die (No wonder some ppl wants to be immortal).....What it feels to be dead no no i dont want to be dead but cant help thinking about and no ..i dont have any suicidal tendencies too I just wanted to know whether we end up goin to another dimension which is highly possible in another form ......

Well it remains to be seen if I have net connection available in afterlife if i do then i ll def keep you posted online community rest assured !!!!!!!

waiting for SIN CITY !

2005-01-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

Now then saw the intial glimpses of SIN CITY , wow flick looks slick ,...summer of 2005 does pack a punch .....I think it will be a movie to watch out for !!

The movie is based on comic strip of the same name ......

Movies of 2004 !!

2005-01-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

This year oops last year Hollywood had everything to offer for all the people with movies interests from animation , superheroes , historical, drama , documentary ..hollywood didnt leave any genre untouched to woo its audiences ..it ran the whole gamut of movies .

I did catch some of the flicks like spiderman 2 (awesome), day after tomorrow (a dull one but did have a good box office draw !!) , troy (good), Harry potter (enjoyable)......

But my favorite time of the year usually comes when the year is ending and all big studios are pushing their so called oscar worthy movies for oscar reconisition .........

This year Aviator looks promising and Martin scorcesse needs to get his long due oscar statutte also leonardo may be able to score a surprise victory over Jamie foxx brilliant potrayal of Ray charles and others ...but one may never know as Academy is known for springing up surprises.....

Sideways has won critical claim and can be the darkhorse at the oscars but major setback this movie faces is absent of any famous actors in lead starcast........

In animation , Shrek 2 should win hands down but Incredibles might possibly can act a thorn in Dreamworks celebration......

Da vinci code apocryphal??

2004-12-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Well I read the book in flat 4 days time oh ok I ll be truthful I took 9 days and was left amazed as the author honourable Dan brown debunks so many myths surrounding Christianity and also others about (listing prominent ones ) opus Dei, museum lourve , Da vinci , Holy grail, Mary Magadalene and many others. The book is like a fast paced hollywood thriller no wonder Ron howard has already grabbed the book and right to direct the movie version of it with Tom hanks starring in it ......But what is most astonishing is authenticity is being attached to the each story the author describes..The historians have already cried foul after reading book and declared the book a pure piece of fiction .....but I dare to disagree as what we know about history is through written manuscripts which could have so easily altered by the kings when they commissioned writers to write about their kingdom and in that scenario the writers must have made friends with fiction to extol the particular King and disregard or belittle another one ....it is definately possible so as to speak there are many facts which might be hidden from us ,,,,or which are known might not be true at all.....

so we never know...as each archaelogy or manuscript discovery leads us to better understand or is swaying us from the actual facts about our past ....

time will tell or maybe not !

Why did name my blog as ALPHA ROMEO??

2004-12-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am a ardent fan of Fiat subsidiary of the same name which makes stylish cars remaining true to to its parent and others offshoots as Maserati and Ferrari ...this is a french in grown company .....France Car companies these days are coming out with great cars inorder to compete with the ever evolutionary tech giants Germans , Cheap invasion of Asian car makers and last but not the least irresisitible American Makers so far one must say France has done well and not allowed such relentless competition to make a dent it their pie.

One more reason that as to why I stuck with this name as this is kinda romantic isnt it !!!

Next tech gadget

2004-12-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

I kept on wondering after mobile, i pod then whats next ..what next electronic gadget will drive ones imagination in new year !!!

from my side I would like to see a gadget which combines mobile home services with i pod also included should be facility which allows one to automatically chec out plane timings , movie timing, pay his bills (esp ones phone bill) and def shud have a chat and mail enabled ,,,,,by the way i know these privileges are already available in todays gadgets but not all togather in one piece if the big telecom makers are able to do this then one can imagine then the revolution .......

At the same time the mobile should be tiny:)

Snatch........

2004-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best gangster movies I have seen after Locks,stocks and two smoking barrels and Godfather series Note : Godfather 3 was a low key affair for me :(

Snatch is brilliant with its characters their names ,their roles and modus operandi and definatley its storyline ...the movies never lets your attention to waver at any moment and demands your attention from the beginning .Guy ritchie remains true to his form(swept away !!) showing gangsters with sense of humor dont we love gangsters making silly mistakes ....

Nimrod---about me ,myself and I

2004-09-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

well I am unusual 24 year old who still doesnt know what to do done with ones life ..still languishing in darkness of obscurity..its not that I crave for some kind of fame or absolute riches falling on my idle laps its just that everyone hopes a litte bit of recognisition coming its way slowly and surely.

Inadvertently I didnt want to scare away the eventual readers at the outset with my morose beginning but this is what my heart had to offer.

Anyways I still find the purpose of us on this Mother Earth ! without sounding corny we all have heard that GOD has a plan for each one of us ...........well i am waiting for one :)

Bday!!!!

2004-09-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

My bday is on 19 sept ..just another day in others people life but not mine .....every bday i feel what i have done special from last year to feel important but a clean slate stares right back at me ....so I end up having mixed bag of feelings on my bday bcos i grow one year older (note : i dont want to grow old lol) and so i am confusedto learn that everybody celebrtaes their bday with pompous parties etc etc.... infact only thing testimonial is that they are growin older ...

once i made a faux pas i said shakespeare was the writer who was born on his bday (who isnt !!) and died on the same day !! people around me burst into laughter :) ..for once i was funny without any intent ...

this year i turn 24 ... and no i am not waiting for my next bday which ll make me only older :(