What the...

Stuart Broad

2009-06-05T21:59:00.003-06:00

The dude must be cursed when it comes to T20! In the first T20 world cup, he was clobbered for 6 sixes in one over by Yuvraj singh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l4Hyv0Utrs - courtesy of Flintoff rubbing Yuvraj on the wrong side before that over - and now he misses 3 run outs and drops a catch, all in a crucial last over, against the Dutch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zODrolR8TVc. If he wasn't demoralized back then, it's really hard not to be now.

On a related note, everytime I start thinking T20 is not here to stay, something exciting happens and proves me wrong. If at all anything is going to be affected by the constant rise of T20, it's the ODIs, definitely not the Tests. I remember when I was India in 2007, after watching India win, there was no interest in the ODI series (against Australia, I think) after that. It seemed like it took forever for every single match to finish. Now there are rumors that there is a rift between thala Dhoni and Sehwag. Yeah right, like there isn't enough drama in T20!

On another related note, GO CHENNAI SUPER KINGS!!!!

Sarvam

2009-06-01T21:38:00.004-06:00

Apparently, I don't learn from my mistakes! As shocking as that may sound (or not), it's very true. I read the movie reviews online and fall for them time and again. Sarvam proves that past achievements don't count when it comes to making movies. You just have to be at your creative best to churn out good movies every time. I went to watch this movie in a theater instead of opting to download it online only because it was directed by someone who had given decent movies like Arindhum Ariyaamalum and Pattiyal.

I was just beginning to like the way the titles were being shown and that's where it ended. Right after the titles, we see a song with a Michael Jackson-ish video with the hero generally singing about enjoying life, in Ilaiyaraja's voice. When the song ends, there is no connection at all to the next scene. What, they don't even care to show it as a dream song these days?

This movie was advertised as a romatic thriller. There was a little bit of the romantic part, but the thriller part was completely missing. May be that was it! Just because there is a guy with a beard, repeating the same dialogues with a serious face, are we supposed to feel like we are watching a thriller? The only good thing that I could say about this movie is the songs. It's not even worth watching this movie online. What a waste of $11!

Best Side Dish EVER!

2009-05-31T20:05:00.006-06:00

For the poor vegetarian buggers out there, the name is chicken-65. Don't ask me the reason for the name. I have done enough research and no solid explanations yet. For me, it is the ultimate appetizer/snack for beer and if you are a non-drinking unlucky soul, it goes very well with curd rice. I made this last night and one of my neighbors told me this morning that whatever I was cooking last night smelled really good and she felt like knocking on my door in the middle of the night. I will take that as a compliment and she absolutely has no idea that I don't share! ;)

True Friends INDEED!

2009-03-31T20:46:00.003-06:00

As I continue my reminiscing ways, there is one incident that happened during my school days that I remembered and wanted to write about today. I believe it was during my 11th grade. There was this girl from my colony that I was crazy about since my 7th grade, but I have never talked to her even once. She didn't even know I existed until a couple of months before this incident.

One fine evening, I decided that I should talk to her and told two of my best friends Karthik and Balaji about it. Like all good friends, they were happy about it and motivated me more. The truth was, they were sick of my everyday ramblings that go something like "Machaan, nethu ava ennai paatha da!" (She looked at me yesterday) and they wanted it all to end. I wanted them to go along with me for moral support and of course to help me out if I get beaten up by the roadside do-gooders seeing a damsel in distress. Surprisingly, they agreed without a second thought.

The plan was to confront (that's right!) her when she gets out of her ______ training. It's a good 2 Kilometers from there to her house, so I was sure that I can make her talk to me before she gets close to her house. When she walked out of her class, I saw that there was a kid walking along with her. I recognized him as her neighbor and with the hopes that he wouldn't know me, I approached her leaving my friends behind after getting their blessings. As soon as she saw me walking towards her, I could clearly see she was getting all nervous. She started walking as fast as she can. When I caught up with her, I was panting! Without going into the details, except for the fact that all I managed to say was "Hi", I was VERY VERY disappointed at the end! After watching her walk away, realizing that I had managed to get her all mad at me, I wanted to talk to my friends real bad. I turned around looking to hear some consoling words and imagine my surprise when I couldn't see them anywhere in the line of sight in any direction. After about 5 minutes of standing there all alone, I saw them walking towards me from far away. Even my sad face couldn't stop them from laughing! What can I say, my friends are just pretty good runners!

By the way, that blank up there, it's Karate!!!

Duplicity

2009-03-23T21:26:00.002-06:00

The story was very confusing for the first 15 minutes or so or atleast I felt that way. Actually, I think it was the beer! I was at one of the very few theaters where they serve beer. Nothing could be better than this combination of the two things that I love the most – Movies and Beer. May be you greater mortals won’t have the same problem. If I remember right, this is one of the movies that belong to the fun category, without worrying about the logic, after a long time, since Ocean’s 11. Yes, Duplicity belongs to the category of Heist/Spy flicks, except that it’s not money or jewelry that they are trying to steal. But, there is a major difference here compared to the other movies of the same kind, which will leave you wanting more at the end. You should watch it to know it.

I liked Clive Owen’s acting when I first saw him in Derailed though the movie wasn’t as good. Here he seems to be repeatedly fooled by Julia Roberts, only to find out that it’s not him who is being fooled, but it’s us, the viewers. One second he is the victim and the next moment he takes control with ease. I am still wondering if he would have made a better and a much cooler James Bond than the very serious Daniel Craig. And then there is the inimitable Julia Roberts with her trademark laugh. Assuming this is not a remake of some older hollywood movie or a foriegn language movie or an adaptation of a comic book, it's an original Hollywood movie that I thoroughly enjoyed after a very long time.

LOL!

2009-03-08T20:11:00.004-06:00

Anu and I were on a call with my friend Shiva to wish him for his birthday. Suddenly, the topic diverts to women and driving.

Shiva: Women can't drive!

Anu: Don't put me in that list.

Me: Oh yeah, I remember now, Anu said men can't multitask.

Shiva: Eei, enna pechu pesare, do you know how hard it is to manage 3 girlfriends at the same time?

Good one dude!

Super-hyped Millionaire

2009-03-05T21:05:00.004-07:00

Seriously, 8 Oscars for this movie? Clearly shows how the Oscar selection committee gets it wrong time and again. I haven't seen any of the other movies that were nominated in the Best Motion Picture category, but I don't have to be psychic to know that there was surely a much better movie that deserved the award. The best part of the movie was the last 5 minutes, when they manage to make you sit up and think if he is going to answer that last question or not.

And to think that some celebrities in India made such a big deal out of this movie by making smart-ass comments describing how the movie shows India in a bad light, it's just hilarious. Mr.Bachchan, you have to know when to shut your mouth. If someone sees a duet that you have done with heroines running around a tree and says that Indians are silly and stupid, would you have stopped doing that? We don't do that in real life, do we? It's all about the money dude! You have made enough, now let others do the same.

Though I am glad A.R.Rahman won two Oscars - for something that he himself accepted was not his best work - I don't understand what qualifies a song to get nominated in the best song category. Does it have to be part of a famous movie? Hopefully from now, more of our music gets recognized globally! If there was one category that this movie deserved an award in, it's the editing. It takes a lot of effort to make sense with a non-linear screenplay. Kudos on that!

Norman Days

2009-03-03T18:50:00.004-07:00

Of all the places in the world, I decided to come to Oklahoma to do my Masters. Let’s just leave it at that as this post is not about that. For a change, I am going to pour out some of the nice (Cricket) memories. When I was desperately searching for something to do, other than the courses I was enrolled in, suddenly there was talk about a tennis ball cricket tournament! There were three apartment/residential complexes with major Desi presence. I lived in an off-campus place called Essex Square, nicknamed the unofficial Indian Consulate by the International Student Office. There was an on-campus place called Kraettli and finally another off-campus place called Bishops Landing, where the people who usually don’t get an apartment at either of the first two places go.

It was decided that there would be three teams, each representing the respective apartment complexes. Somehow I managed to get into the team that was full of Telugu guys with my nice guy attitude, or so I would like to think. I can vaguely remember that they were one guy short and hastily added me as the last member, since I lived next door to the captain.

On a fine Saturday morning, we all set off on a mission, wearing full hand shirts and jeans with bright white sneakers! As we arrived at the ground, I realized that the ground was indeed a huge parking lot! My knees started aching just thinking about playing on that hard surface, especially since I hadn’t done anything that could be termed as physical activity in the past 6 months or so. Soon we found out that the Bishops Landing team is not going to show up. So, it was decided to have a best of three tournament between Essex and Kraettli. I don't remember much about any of my contributions in the first game, but we lost it. The next game was in the afternoon on the same day. I remember contributing towards an important wicket by taking a blinder of a catch, which turned the match in our favor. We did win that match. As expected, we did lose the final match the next day. One thing I understood was that the people from the Kraettli team were always trying to bully us, whether it was a run out decision or a wide ball.

During the subsequent semesters I became a little known to the extent of captaining the Essex team. Though there were other teams in the mix with all the new arrivals fresh off the boat, it was always our arch rivals Kraettli, who were stomping us everytime we were in the finals. On one such instance, I was bowling the last over with Kraettli needing 12 runs in 3 balls to win, with the last pair in the middle. The last batsman actually limped to the striker's end. He was a small skinny guy. Obviously, I wasn't taking him seriously. I can bowl at a good pace and if I am not bowling wides, it would turn out to be a good ball. I decided that I should bowl slow balls in order to prevent wides. The batsman was standing there like a baseball batter, with the bat up in the air. I smirked as I was running in and bowled a slow but full length ball. The next second it disappeared over the long on boundary. It was a six. I was astonished at what just happened. There were still 2 balls left and I still had some confidence left that we could win this. Next ball I bowled a little faster and it ended up full again. One more baseball-like swing and one more six over long on. Everyone in my team just stood there for what seemed like an eternity while the batsman was carried away by his teammates! They couldn't believe that I single-handedly lost that game. Even today, my friends make sure that I don't forget that over.

The next semester we came back with a vengeance (it was about time) and the matches were played in a proper cricket ground that OU had provided for the Sooner Cricket Club. By now I had become a kattaan and it gave me great sense of satisfaction that people would justt stay at the boundary line when I bat. Since we used to play almost everyday with the same people from Kraettli, they knew we had better players than their own. They brought in new players who used to play for the Sooner club - the ones that played league games with the actual cricket ball. I had Ajai, the best batsman I could have, Shiva, who could bowl great leg spin, Roux, who can hit boundaries at will, and Ravi, the other kaattan of the team, just to mention a few of my good players! At the beginning of the game, it was unanimously decided that the captain would not bowl ;), so I donned the role of the wicketkeeper. Even before Kraettli could start scoring, they were all out for some 60 odd runs in 13 overs. One of the highlights of the game was a diving catch I took off of a leg glance. Shiva did well with his deceiving leg spinners. I was literally praying to Sachin that Shiva shouldn't start bowling wides as I very well knew we might as well walk away, if that happened. Ajai and Ravi picked up most of the wickets with their wibbly wobbly medium pacers.

I opened the batting with Ajai. We didn't show any urgency as we took our own time, scoring in singles. By the time we crossed 10 overs, Ajai was gone and Roux was in and he started hitting sixes. Soon, I joined in and finished off the match with a boundary. It was a great win, for which I had to wait for almost 3 years. We even took pictures after to savor the moment and to rub it in on Kraetli's players' sad faces. They had talked a lot before the game, like we should have LBWs, as they claimed that most of the Essex players use cross-bat shots. Well, we showed them what those shots could do!

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu

2009-03-02T21:22:00.003-07:00

After watching Subramaniapuram, I was craving more movies with a village backdrop. If it's combined with a sports theme, nothing could be sweeter than that! The main theme of the movie is Kabadi and there is a love story on the side to go with it.

It's about a local Kabadi team in a small village overcoming all odds and making it big against some professional teams in a major tournament (yes, it's not an unusal story these days). They are mocked for not winning any games and for wasting time in the name of Kabadi without doing anything useful. The team members range from a couple of bachelors to a newly married man and a tea-shop owner, whose mother in law keeps cursing him for nothing. Then, there is the hero, a very ordinary unknown face, who is just the substitue player of the team at the beginning.

There are no unnecessary characters in the movie in the name of comedy or villain-ism(?!)- everyone has a purpose, from the bus driver to the rival team members. Speaking of comedy, everyone does their own bit to tickle our funny bone, in a genuine way. Watch out for the parotta eating challenge - it's comedy at its subtle best! Of course, the Kabadi matches don't match the intensity of the Cricket matches of Lagaan or Chennai-600028 for that matter. The climax left me very unsatisfied! I guess the director wanted to shock the audience and he sure did it, but I felt it was totally unnecessary. Overall it was a fine movie with loads and loads of nativity and a sensible screenplay, which seems to be missing in most movies these days! Vijay and Ajith need to watch this movie atleast a 100 times to learn...NO, they should just stop acting, because they will never learn!

A Wednesday

2009-02-03T22:59:00.002-07:00

If there was ever a movie that defines the phrase 'Short and Sweet', this should be it. No beating around the bush in the name of character development, no crappy duets, no fight/song to introduce the hero, no punch dialogues, nothing that you see in most of the Tamil movies these days. Hits the spot right from the beginning and keeps up the intensity throughout the movie. Both the lead actors, Anupham Kher and Nasseerudhin Shah, fit their parts to a T. When I first heard that they were doing the lead roles, I was a little apprehensive about it, but then they proved beyond any doubt that they can bring in aggression from nowhere, no matter how old they are. As mush as I hate to admit it, Hindi movies are proving to be something far better than Tamil movies.
Now, here comes the best part! Apparently, Kanalhassan has bought the remake rights to this movie and plans to make this in Tamil with Mammooty/Mohanlal. If anone can do justice to this story, it's definitely Kamalhassan. I do not have an iota of doubt that this remake - if it ever happens - will be light years ahead of the original. But, you know what? I'd rather have Nasser doing the Police Commisssioner and Kamalhassan do the role of the terrorist, which would be a complete reversal of what they did in Kuruthipunal. Wouldn't that be something?

Fast but not Furious!

2009-01-31T21:51:00.002-07:00

If I have not mentioned before (oh, I sure know I have) that I drive a BMW 325i, here is a chance to bring it up again. Since I have never posted anything about my car in the 3 years that I have owned it, you have to bear with me now. When I was looking to buy a new car or a used car 3 years ago, this is the first car I looked at. With only 24k miles to show for 5 years, it looked brand new. I took it for a test drive and absolutely fell in love with it. No wonder I named it 'Lakshmi Reloaded', as a tribute to my first car Lakshmi. A week later, it was parked in MY garage! If you are wondering where I am going with this, hold on my dear readers (yes, both of you).

I was driving back home from the gym today at about 7pm and stopped at a red light. A Ford Mustang pulled over to my right. I looked at them and there were two guys with shaved heads in it. The guy in the driver's seat looked at me and said something. I had my windows rolled up, so I couldn't hear him and I didn't bother to roll them down either. Then, he started pointing with his hand towards the road ahead of us. He wanted to race! Though it was very tempting, with an empty road ahead of us , I managed to ignore him. As the lights turned to green, he sped ahead of me, like I accepted his challenge. As my ill-fated luck would have it, the next lights were red and he was waiting there for me. When I pulled over next to him, he was laughing so loud, I could hear him even with the windows rolled up. My ego was bruised, to say the least. Again, when I looked at him, he was pointing towards the road ahead of us. My heart was racing now. The not-so-good-side of me was taking control. From that point, there are two more lights and I decided to take my chances hoping the lights wouldn't be red and I could take the left at the second lights to get to my garage.

The moment the lights turned green, I gave it all the gas I could. The mustang was able to keep up with me but not after I shifted to second and accelerated. Soon, I could see them on the side view mirror. Without mentioning the speed here, let's just say that I was way ahead of them! And this time, all the lights were green and I took the turn as I watched them go past the lights on my rear view mirror. Oh, what a satisfaction! I am still trying to wipe the grip off of my face after 2 hours!

Moral of the story - Mottai adichavan ellaam Vin Diesel aayida mudiyadhu! (Everyone with a shaved head can't be Vin Diesel)

ESPN sucks! (so does Texas)

2008-12-03T21:19:00.004-07:00

Does anyone at ESPN really understand the meaning of a 3-way tie? The reason it’s named like that is because there are 3 teams involved. Apparently the dummies at ESPN don’t understand this or else why would they keep talking about the head-to-head matchup between OU and Texas and conveniently forget the fact that Texas Tech beat Texas. If neutral field is what counts, then every team should start playing their games at a neutral field, like in London or something, like how the NFL has a game or two there every year. For anyone who doesn’t know what this rant is all about, this is about college football. Long story short, Texas beat OU, Texas Tech beat Texas and OU beat Texas Tech.

Now, the question is who goes to play in the Conference Championship and then to the National Championship game. Last week, OU was ahead of both the teams in the overall rankings, which was used to break the tie. Now, everyone (mostly at EPN) is complaining that Texas should have been ahead of OU based on the fact that OU lost to Texas at a neutral field (Dallas – some neutral field, huh?) while Texas lost to Texas Tech at Lubbock (away game for Texas). Oh yeah, Texas Tech was blown away by OU at home. Confused yet? So, according to the ESPN analysts aka MORONS, since Tech lost by a whopping 44 points, they are out of contention in a 3-way tie which makes it a head-to-head comparison between Texas and OU and since Texas beat OU, they should be ranked ahead. Are you f*#&ing kidding me? Why call it a 3-way tie in the first place, if that’s what you are going to do?

Here’s my question: So, if OU loses this week at the Big 12 championship game, then which team should go to the National Championship game? Texas or Tech? Based on what all the experts (!?) are saying this week, shouldn’t it be Tech, since they beat Texas on a head-to-head matchup? Oh, now you want the overall rankings to send Texas to the final game? How pathetic is that? Atleast try to be consistent, you IDIOTS! If the focal point of your argument is the 'neutral field', then mine is '44 points'. That should be more than enough to nullify whatever advantage Texas had over OU. So, here’s the one thing I wish you’d all do: SHUT THE F@#K UP!!!

Vaaranam Aayiram

2008-11-24T20:03:00.004-07:00

What could have been a really nice, heartwarming movie about a father-son relationship has been spoilt because of the smart-ass attitude of the director. What he and most of the Tamil movie directors need to realize is that if you can’t pack a powerful punch of emotions in 2 hours, you can never do it in 3 or 4 hours. It’s like how the Indian team used to claim that having 7 batsmen was going to win them matches, when they made Dravid the scapegoat/wicketkeeper! If you can’t do it with 6 batsmen, then forget it. Bad analogies aside, this movie is the best example of how the second half should not drag. Gowtham did it with Vettaiyaadu Velaiyaadu too.
The first half took me back several years, in fact more than a decade, reminding me of my relationship with my dad. I still remember when my dad took me aside (and away from my mom) and told me “I know you are going around with that girl, but don’t overdo it”. There were a also a lot of funny moments between Surya and Sameera Reddy, the girl he is madly in love with. More than the movie, the people who were sitting behind me were making me laugh out loud. When Sameera Reddy finally accepts that she has fallen in love with Surya, with the Golden Gate bridge as the backdrop, Surya immediately picks up a bunch of very small flowers from the grass and gives it to her. The girl sitting behind me tells her husband, “Paaru, avan evalo romantic-a poo eduthu kudukkaraan, neeyum irukkiye, enakku molaga bajji eduthutu vandhu kuduthe!” Before I could stop laughing, the husband goes, “Beach le bajji dhaane di kedaikkum, adhukku naan enna panradhu?” I felt like I was sitting in Abhirami theater for sometime there! Coming back to the screen that was in front of me, Gowtham definitely knows how to handle the little things between the lead pair without making it look cheesy. I can give him that.
During the second half, I don’t know about the other people in the theater, but my eyes were watering up for sure. WAIT! Before you make any judgments on my sensitivity levels, let me make it perfectly clear that I had tears in my eyes because I was all sleepy and I kept yawning non-stop. If you want to show a man’s journey through his successes and failures in life, you don’t necessarily have to take up half of our lives. Even one of the best movies of the last century, Forrest Gump, which coincidentally (!) deals with a man’s life journey, was only 2 hours and 22 minutes long.
Overall, the movie was good when it took us through the 70’s and the 80’s, started to slow down during the 90’s and finally limped it’s way to the end credits after 2000. Oh yeah, there's also the pathetic attempt at justifying the title at the end, by making Simran explain the meaning of Vaaranam Aayiram!

Adios Sourav!

2008-11-13T20:36:00.003-07:00

No matter what you say about his technique against the short ball, he will always be one of my favorite cricketers. For some reason, I have always liked the cricketers most panned by the critics for technical and non-technical reasons. Examples from the past would include Ravi Shastri (yeah, laugh it up) and Azharuddin. I am going to try to write atleast a few words about Ganguly, without mentioning that clichéd saying about his off-side technique supposedly said by Rahul Dravid.
When you look at Ganguly he doesn’t look even a little bit aggressive. In fact he has this look on his face like a kid who just lost his parents in a carnival. He saves his aggression for when he bats. How many batsmen can step out to a fast bowler and dispatch the ball to the boundary like he does, without any apparent effort? Do I need to say about the way he handles the spinners? Don't even try telling me that he has his fifties and hundreds ONLY against the minnows. Well, what were the other big guns doing in the same match? Someone has to get a big score even against the weaker teams! I cannot think of a much better pair than Ganguly and Tendulkar to have opened the batting for any country and demolished the bowling attack like there was no tomorrow. The statistics prove that. It's was obvious that he slowed down a lot in the past 3 or 4 years, but he definitely had his fighting spirit intact. It showed in his comeback after being dropped from the team.
I had the chance of watching the last day of the test match between India and Australia. It was really heartening to see Dhoni handing over the captaincy to Ganguly after the 9th australian wicket fell. That man deserves it! Not everyone gets to leave on a high note, but Ganguly chose the right moment and the right series. Good-bye Ganguly, we sure will miss your well timed drives piercing a packed off-side. And for one last time, "On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly". Sorry guys, couldn't resist it!

OU #1

2008-09-25T22:29:00.002-06:00

Ok, USC just lost to an unranked team! Where is Jason White? May be he can apply for a 10th year of eligibility and take OU to the National Championship game!!!

Burn After Watching

2008-09-24T21:01:00.005-06:00

Subramaniapuram:
This must be the sleeper hit of this year. A simple story, lot of attention to details and a linear screenplay with lots of nativity are the highlights of this movie. The 4 (or 5) protagonists hide very well into their characters (and their beards) and amaze us with some casual acting. The story is not original by any means – unemployed youth being exploited by the local politician for his personal benefits – but the treatment given to it is original, with the early 80’s Madurai as the backdrop and a love story as the sidetrack, which would have looked completely stupid in any other movie. The director has made the job of making it look like the 80’s easier by confining the screenplay to a few streets, a couple of ambassador cars and a scooter. As I was trying to find the face behind the beards, two of them seemed very familiar. One was that comedian Ganja Karuppu who always has a beard. As I was pulling the rest of my hair out trying to figure out the other familiar face, it struck me halfway through the movie that he was that same guy from Chennai-600028, the one who moves from Royapuram and joins the rival team. I had no idea that he could pull a Chandrasekhar with so much ease. Yes, that’s who he reminded me of, the way he smiles whenever he sees his girlfriend, with his head shaking a little, he looked like a clone of the yesteryear hero Chandrasekhar. May be that’s what the director wanted from him. The music too was reminiscent of the 80's reminding me of some of Ilaiyaraja's best BGMs. If you get a chance to watch this movie, don't forget to burn yourself a copy.

Phoonk:
I don't know why I make the mistake of watching a Ram Gopal Varma movie again and again. I guess I don't learn my lessons that easily. Phoonk was advertised as the scariest horror movie ever and I even read somewhere that RGV announced he'd give Rs.5 Lakhs to anyone who dares to watch this movie alone. Of course, it came with strong recommendations from my friend Vaibhavi, who is my horror movie partner. Well, RGV has managed to make a stinker of a movie once again. The movie did not have a single genuinely scary moment. I have never felt so guilty about wasting almost 3 hours of my life. I don't know what else to say about this stupid movie other than RGV should do us all a huge favor and stop making movies anymore. If you happen to make the same mistake, do not forget to burn the dvd, literally!

Droh Kaal Vs Kuruthipunal

2008-09-19T21:35:00.003-06:00

Watched Droh Kaal, the original version of Kuruthipunal a couple of weeks ago. I had major expectations, what with it being the source of one of the best Tamil movies ever made and having all the three people of Hindi Cinema - Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri - who can really act. I have only one word for this movie. DISAPPOINTED! At the end of this movie, I was so glad that Kamalhassan made this movie in Tamil.
I can still remember, when Karthik and I walked out of the theater after watching Kuruthipunal, I was trying hard to comprehend all the immaculate details and the realistic portrayal of the way terrorists operate, we met this friend of Karthik's from BITS, who had the guts to tell us that the dialogues were more powerful in Droh Kaal. If I had seen this movie then, I would have laughed my ass off. OK, I don't know how to speak Hindi, but I can understand most of it. I swear people, I am not the "Ek Gaun mein, ek kissaaaaaaan, raghu thaatha" kind of person! Kuruthipunal's intensity was mainly achieved by dialogues written by thalaivar. For example, "Veeram na enna theriyuma, bayam illadha maadhiri nadikaradhu dhaan. Un bayathai un kannule naan paathuten, adhai medhuva nithaanama veliye kondu vandhu unakke arimuga padutharen". There was not even a single dialague in Droh Kaal that was even remotely close to that.
Forget the dialogues. Let's compare the terrorist leader in both the movies. Aasish Vidyarthi looked innocent at best, to the extent of "Vaaile veral vecha kooda kadikka theriyadhu". Nasser's Badri on the other hand was more than an equal to Kamal's Aadhi. Right from the beginning, we know that Nasser couldn't be killed that easily and it's confirmed by Kamal's battles, both verbal and physical, with him.
Overall, Droh Kaal was inferior to Kuruthipunal is many aspects, including production quality, which was truly below average. Of course, star power helped the Tamil version a lot. I have only one thing to say to the guy who commented on my post "Who killed my favorite actor?": Watch the Original first and then you'll know how good the remake is. This is truly a case of the remake being a far better movie than the original.

Nuggets

2008-09-06T15:08:00.004-06:00

Love the new job despite all the negative things I heard about the place before I took the job. Guess it all comes down to the team that you are in and how cool your manager is.
College football is back and so are the sooners. Welcome back Bob Stoops!
Still don't care about the NFL.
Been playing tennis for the past 3 months and loving it.
Started playing cricket after 5 years and loving it more.
Want to do skydiving before the beginning of winter.
Planning to take snowboarding classes this winter. Hope I don't break anything.
Can't believe it's already a year since I went to India.
Still can't decide between Xbox 360 and PS3.
Want to change the title of my last post to "10 down 1 to go". Courtesy: Shiva

9 Down 2 To Go

2008-08-18T21:31:00.004-06:00

I can’t believe I am at this stage of my life now. I wouldn’t be surprised one day if the strangers passing by me on the street start asking, “Why aren’t you married yet?” and tell me “YOU NEED TO BE MARRIED!” with a thick Indian Accent. Why this crazy obsession on marriage! As I start hearing some of the horror stories, the only feeling that’s gripping me these days is, marriage is probably not the right way to go. Almost all my friends call me to complain (that’s putting it in mild terms) about married life. I hear people say things like, “I wish I was still single” or “I would have done that in a heartbeat if I was still single”. Don’t give me clichéd statements like, “You won’t realize it until after 5 or 10 years down the lane”. So what if I am single when I am 40? I promise I won’t blame any of you for it!
Recently, I feel people just get married to fight off boredom in life or fear of being alone. Once you are close to the big 3-0, everyone starts feeling like they can’t be alone anymore and it just follows a preconceived pattern from there. Once you get married, you get bored of each other in a couple of years and decide to have kids. Some people don’t even wait; the guys just let their swimmers loose like Michael Phelps and wait for the inevitable to happen, like it’s some world record to be broken. After the first kid and all the sleepless nights that come along with it, they wait precisely for 3 or 4 years, or for the next Olympics to start so they can begin breeding again. It’s hard enough with one kid and imagine life with two kids. Where is the time for you and your so-called companion? I was also one of them, but right now I don’t feel like I need someone to share my life with. I am not in a position to follow this pattern. As if there aren’t enough people telling me to get married, my dad’s side relatives have joined in to have some fun. They keep sending me emails like, “Believe in Jesus and he will find the right girl for you!” When exactly did Mr.Christ start running a matrimonial service? There are more chances of a Hispanic guy named Jesus finding me a girl.
Despite all the things that I mentioned here, I am not against getting married at all but I can’t get married just for the sake of it and hope for it to work. I am starting to feel like marriage is totally overrated. Age doesn’t matter, at least in this country. After all, isn’t this the land of opportunities ;-)? After all this, I might do a 180 degree turn tomorrow and decide to get an arranged marriage or fall head over heals for someone. Again, it will solely be MY decision. When that happens, I am sure every single one of you will be there to say, “I told you so!”. Watch me give a damn then!

P.S: In case you are wondering, what the hell the title is about, the numbers refer to my close friends.

WHO killed my favorite actor?

2008-07-03T18:08:00.005-06:00

Kamalhassan - The name that used to make many of us look up and wonder what he is up to now, has apparently gone missing since the release of Kuruthipunal, way back in 1996. Thinking back, I find it hard to point out when I became his fan or even why. As I was watching Dasavatharam, I was searching for my favorite actor, but I couldn't find him. I do not mean that in a complimentary way. Sure, the movie was entertaining and not as bad as some people seem to think it is but I really couldn't see the Kamalhassan who donned 4 different roles just with the help of a beard, whacky sideburns, an accent and some amazing variations in body language, in MMKR. These days he has to resort to prosthetic makeup, amateur graphics and Jackie chan to even promote his movies. What he doesn't realize is, we as fans and non-fans, only expect the simpest of movies from him, like Thevar Magan. For me, that is the best Kamalhassan movie ever, with an original storyline and a neat screenplay without any flaws. Nayagan will always be a close second, because it wasn't really a complete Kamalhassan movie.
I still remember the days when I went to watch Die Hard with a Vengenace twice, just to see the trailer of Kuruthipunal. The trailer itself was so thrilling, and made you sit up and take notice. One of my friends from Peter's Colony, who is a big Rajini fan said, "Ot**, K.S.Ravikumar soo*** madhiri padam eduthurukaan da (referring to Muthu), Kuruthipunal chance-a ille da". It gave me so much confidence that Tamil Cinema is in good hands and it's going to go places. Of course, I could get tickets for kuruthipunal at the counter easily during the second week and tickets for Muthu were hard to get even outside the counter. Somewhere after that, the perfectionaist in Kamalhassan died. Hey Ram and Virumandi are indeed good movies, but they really weren't simple by any means. They were contaminated with his own idealogies and principles. That's when I realized Kamal can never make a movie as a neutral person. Have you noticed, in every movie of his, there has to be a peeing scene or a supposedly comedy scene where he/someone else gets hit in the crotch? If that's going to be your trademark, then it ain't going to help you get any critical acclaim.
I watched Salangai Oli pretty late, like probably 10 years ago. I couldn't belive the fact that he did not get the National Award for that. The scene where he does Bharathanaatiyam, Kathak and Kathakali for the same two lines of the song is enough to say what kind of an actor he is. Who hasn't cried watching Moondram Pirai? Sridevi dominates throughout the movie and then in the last 5 minutes, Kamal shows everyone why he got his first National Award. If anyone here brings up Indian as one of his best movies, I will definitely put my foot up your ass for saying that. I watched that movie in Satyam theater with my "baalya snehidhargal", Karthik, SP and Balaji. When the lights came on for the intermission, I was wondering what the hell kind of a movie is this and I heard Balaji say to Karthik, "He will definitely get a National Award for this movie". I didn't say a word and Kamal did win a National Award. I remember Kamal once saying in an interview, "If mediocrity is our standard, then we will never make high quality movies". Well, Mr.Kamalhassan, mediocrity is present everywhere in your movies these days, please don't make it a standard. I want a movie like Kuruthipunal and Thevar Magan. All I am saying is, keep it simple, instead of talking about Chaos Theory and Butterfly effect! I am already hearing that there's going to be a whole bunch of graphics for his next movie Marmayogi and it only makes me nervous.

Cheerleaders and 20/20

2008-04-25T22:13:00.003-06:00

My buddy Shiva and I had a very insightful conversation about why cheerleaders look so out of place in cricket, despite the best efforts of Mr.Mallya and the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to make it look as sexy as possible. Here's what I think. American football is the manliest sport you can ever see in this world, with super-sized muscles and testosterone oozing out of every 10 yards on the field. When you watch something so manly, you tend to look for something that complements it, like for example, cheerleaders. They perfectly complete the circle by providing the necessary refreshments in between the grunts, helmet clashes and the pats on the back. Now, if you take Cricket or Soccer, it's not as testosterone-based as football, barring the headbutt by that French soccer player in the worldcup final. The manliest diplay I have ever seen in cricket is Venkatesh Prasad showing the dressing room to Aamir Sohail in the quarter finals of World Cup 1996. So, when you put a bunch of cheerleaders in the gentlemen's game of cricket, no matter where they are from, it only makes it look like a cheap stunt to get some attention.

Ninaithale Inikkum.

2008-04-19T21:17:00.006-06:00

Bell bottom, thongu meesai and step cutting. That's Kamalhassan in Ninaithale inikkum. If you thought that was funny, then add Rajinikanth, sporting a french beard, as the guitarist with a compulsive stealing habit and you have the deadliest comedy combo. Can you even imagine Rajini calling Kamal "rascal" and "thalaivare" among the numerous "va da"s and "po da"s today? The movie can be easily classified as belonging to the MUSICAL genre, but it's a mix of comedy, drama, and of course musical. To even think of a musical band like this based in Madras/Chennai sends chills down the spine. Rajini clearly plays second fiddle to Kamal throughout the movie, but you can clearly see Rajini stealing the show in many scenes with his comic timing and the ability to take over Kamal in the form of a solo song. Kamal should have seen it coming. No wonder Rajini is always the unanimous No.1 and Kamal will always be the deserving challenger to the No.1 spot. Jayaprada was so cute with a boy-cut hairstyle, reminding me of my ex. The "Engeyum Eppothum" song is much better than the remix, without the jarring beats and the unwanted lines replacing that best part of the song. I think this is the best tamil movie to watch when you are drunk (or not). FUN is the only word to define this movie. I hope they don't remake this evergreen movie and spoil it.

Turkey-Mushroom Meatball

2008-04-18T21:21:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a while since I cooked anything substantial. I have been too lazy to cook for myself since my mom visited me and then I was forced into an entended vacation in India for 2 months. Do I really have to explain what those things do to a single guy in the cooking department? Today I decided to make something good/deep fried/fatty to go with my 6-pack. Here we go:

Ingredients:
Ground turkey - 1 lb
Onion - 1
Mushrooms - 15 small ones (stem removed)
Gram Flour(Kadalai maavu) - 3 tsp
Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 4 small ones
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves
Cilantro
Salt - appropriate amount

Chop the onions, green chilli, curry leaves and the cilantro really fine. Mix the ground turkey with the gram flour, the chopped ingredients, ginger paste, chilli powder and salt. Now we have a meat paste. Make balls (NO, not those balls!) with the mushrooms by rolling them in the paste until the mushrooms are completely covered. Here comes the best part: Deep fry these balls in medium heat until they become brown (a little on the darker side) in color all around. You can enjoy them with Maggi hot and sweet sauce or if you are the intense kind, with the chinese chilli sauce. OH BOY, it almost tastes illegal!

Never thought I'd live to see this day.

2008-04-18T15:19:00.003-06:00

Z Khan b Ganguly 3 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 37.

13.1 Ganguly to Khan, OUT, cleaned up, Zaheer missing the line completely for off stump to be pegged back and Ganguly runs off in celebration and Ponting runs towards him and the two embrace ... now thats a sight, eh?

Now, imagine Steve Waugh instead of Ponting. That would have been a sight! The inaugral game of the much hyped and the highly anticipated IPL turned into a joke for the Banglaore Royal Challengers against the Kolkatta Knight Riders. They were royally screwed even before they started chasing, just by one man, Brandon McCullum. I can totally imagine Rahul Dravid walking up to him at the end of his innings and ask, "Thambi, nee saayangalam enna tiffin saapitte?". Cricinfo reports that the Chinnaswamy stadium was at it's full capacity. One should appreciate Vijay Mallya's business tactics in bringing the Washington Redskins cheerleaders for his team, but the same cannot be said about the captain's tactics. Who in their right minds would make Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer open the batting in a 20/20 game, especially when they are chasing 222. Heck, I wouldn't want them to open even in ODIs. But then, who else could have opened? No one in the Bangalore team can exactly terrorize the oppostion bowlers. And, is that the same Sunil Joshi who used to play for the Indian team? Shouldn't he retired by now? I wouldn't be surprised if I see Sujith Somasundar in the next game. It's hard to describe McCallum's innings. Is it a display of pure power hitting or a mere collection of a bowler's nightmares in the form of a batsman. Whatever it was, I am sure Shahrukh Khan is a happy man. Now, I can't wait to see Mr.Dhoni, Mr.Muralidharan and a certain Mr.Hayden in action.

HOW?

2008-04-11T22:51:00.002-06:00

Dei Karthik, how did you manage to get to 100 posts? I completed 4 new posts (including this one) and yet I have only 32. NAASAMA POGA!!!

Lost lunch

2008-04-11T21:43:00.005-06:00

When I joined Avichi Higher Secondary School in Virugambakkam for my 6th Standard, I had no idea that my dad put me there just because he couldn't afford to pay the fees for a private school. I don't mean any offense to my dad, in fact if I had known, I would have dropped out of school and gone to work to save my dad from any embarrassing moments. Dramatic statements aside, this post is really about the hardships, if I may say so, that I went through from the late 80's to the early 90's. Those days, spending 30 minutes in a bus just to go to school was considered as an act of bravery. To add to it, I had to carry a lunch basket (plastic koodai) with a tiffin carrier and a water bottle that keeps the water cold for a long time. My mom would never compromise when it comes to food. Despite my begging her several times that I would just take a single tier tiifin box, she'd force me to take the 2-tier carrier, which had 'kozhambu' on the top level and white rice and some poriyal or kootu or varuval (fish or chicken) in the bottom level. My classmates would start drooling over my lunch bag the moment I enter the classroom as they soon learnt that there is always something fresh and hot in the small tower I carried, as opposed to the dry idlis and the lemon rice that they had in their bags. If not anything, my mom's cooking helped me make some new friends. By the time I managed to convince my mom that I am old enough to stop carrying separate lunch bags, I was in my 10th standard. Oh, to justify the topic, I would forget my lunch bag in the bus and get down. There were times when I didn't even realize that I lost it until the lunch bell rings. Good ole times!

Love

2008-04-11T21:08:00.003-06:00

What happens to you when you fall in love? Is it just the hormones at work, is it really much more than that? Is there really anything more than physical attraction to love? Just because two people can live together, tolerating the nagging, the smells and the hairy bodies (both men and women), does it mean they are meant to be together? IMHO, it's all about the physical attraction that makes us sacrifice and compromise on everything else, whether it's a girl or a boy, a man or a woman, a dude or a chick. Dare to disagree?

YOU started it!

2008-04-11T15:15:00.006-06:00

It may be hot, humid and conservative (atleast it used to be). It may boast of the stinky koovam as the next best thing to the Marina Beach, but hey, that's where home is and we don't START beating up people the moment someone says Water and Karnataka in the same sentence. I am glad I am from Chennai.

What's in a name!

2008-03-31T20:35:00.001-06:00

I am so thankful to my dad for marrying a Hindu woman, despite coming from a devout christian family. I have heard the weirdest of names on my dad's side. When I say weird, I am talking about the combination of the first, middle and last names. Yes, they have all three names. Usually Tamilians don't realize they really have a last name until they come to the U.S. We always have our father's name as initial(s). I am sure if my dad had married a Chrisitian Nadar woman, I would have had a name like, Paul Pandiyan Ponnudurai or Praveen Joy Jacob. I don't have anything against those names, but my roomies in Norman would have had a field day with a name like that. I have cousins with names, Emerson Brittus Tamilarasu and Sobers Solomon Devasagayam. The culprit in the case of the latter, atleast for the first name Sobers, is my dad. He was a big fan of Gary Sobers - an all-time great of West Indies cricket - and he made sure that his nephew had his name. If you are wondering why there is a Hindu name sandwiched (or on the side) between two English names, it's all due to the fact that they are all converted chrsitians, probably converted 4 or 5 generations ago. They let go of the Hindu part but they still cling on to the Nadar part, which can be blamed for all the crazy permutations and combinations of names. Let me finish it off with a little secret: I was also smothered with a long name when I was baptized in a church in a remote village called Kalunguvilai in Thirunelveli, hoping that I would turn into a choir boy one day. Any guesses?

2008-03-10T23:02:00.002-06:00

En thalai kodhum un viral ponadhenge
En imai varudum un swasam sendradhenge
En vizhi thedum un uruvam enge
En udal thedum uyirum ENGE?

Take that, Aussies!

2008-03-04T20:05:00.004-07:00

First things first. Aren't you really glad they put an end to the tri-series? I mean, it's really tiring to even watch that many matches before the final. Now, coming to the main event, KUDOS to the boys. For once we can call them boys, including Sachin (his voice, DUH!) without the exclamation mark. I really didn't think Dhoni could pull this off with a bunch of youngsters. Being a fan of Ganguly, I was a little upset that he was chucked out of the team to pave way for some relatively unknown players. I was secretly hoping that India would lose so we can see the GOD of offside back in action. Well, I guess all good things need to come to an end. I am sure Ganguly was sitting with a towel on his head as India entered the finals.
There was clearly a difference, compared to the Indian teams of the past. The fielding was better, the running between the wickets was better, and when was the last time we saw an Indian team with bowling as it's main strength. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens when Zaheer Khan comes back to the bowling lineup. Overall, they proved that they belong at this level and that it was no fluke. Dhoni was Mr.Cool as the captain. He did the right things at the right time. He also led from the front and showed them all how to bat when things are not going your way. That's not the typical Dhoni I have seen before this series. Of course, thank goodness Sachin was back in form when the team needed it the most. Can you imagine, he'd have close to 60 centuries just in ODI's if he had converted all his 90s into 100s? WOW, I mean, WOW! Those so-called critics, including Sanjay Manjrekar should just shut up and look for a different profession, if being a critic is indeed a profession.
And what's with Hayden calling Harbhajan an obnoxious weed on the radio? He also said, "I don't see them winning any matches!" HELLO!!! You should know when to shut up. Also, someone needs to tell Symonds that he is not special like he thinks he is. Have you ever seen him walk back quietly after getting out? He has to stare at the bowler or say something to him and then cries to the match referee that he is hurt by the bowler's comments. Here's something Symonds needs to memorize: What goes around comes around (and bites you back in your ass)!You know what? None of it matters now, because they are the ones with a huge L on their foreheads.
Finally, GOODBYE Gilly, we will definitely miss you! You even managed to make us laugh in your last match.

Anbu Malargalae...

2008-02-22T16:43:00.014-07:00

If this picture had a mouth (and may be a couple of eyes), it would cry out loud a la Nayakan Kamal, for being abused so much by me and my friends. This picture has resided in everyone of our hard disks, emails and now features in our Orkut photo albums. I decided to take this oppurtunity to be the first one to put this in a blog post, before someone else from the group gets this idea and takes away the honors.

The first one from left is Shiva aka shivudu. Whenever I show this photo to any of my gal pals, they would just drool all over him. Yeah yeah, my stomach is burning and there's smoke coming from my ears. Happy? He is a video game freak and I try to compete with him online, say once in 2 years. We had our share of good times (NO, not in Bheema/Brokeback Mountain style) when we were roomies. When it comes to long drives, he is the best wingman anyone could ask for. We once drove from Norman, Oklahoma to NYC to attend an interview at Bloomberg and then to Chicago for an interview at SBC, all in a matter of 4 days. By the way, it was only me attending the interviews and he was just here for moral support :-)

The second one is the person who disturbingly calls himself parupps. Enough of me!

Next is Ramanan aka ramsoi, who always gives me the feeling that we have been roomies forever, of course in a good way. He is the one who taught me that icecream shouldn't be eaten in small bowls but in buckets (I am sure you can see the effects of that on me in the pic). He calls himself a happy-go-lucky kind of person and I can't agree with it more.

And then there is Ajai aka jo, who is a gadget freak. He has to have the best of everything that is related to technology. I think he has locked his life into one of the gadgets he owns like how the villains in vittalaacharya movies have their lives in some parrot that lives seven seas and seven mountains away. I didn't know I was his best friend until his parents told me when they visited me in Chennai. I was like, 'OK, that is news for me!!!!!'

That 'out-of-focus' aasami is Bharani. He is the odd man for various reasons. He is my close friend since the Sathyabama days. I found it hard to come to terms with the fact that I am actually friends with such a brainy dude, when he causally showed me the paint-like tool he had created in DOS. Mind you, this was way back in 1996. In my opinion, he hasn't done enough justice to the talent he possesses, YET.

There are two other people who are not in the frame, but present at that time. They definitely deserve more than just a honorary mention. Meenakshi, who took this evergreen photo, prefers to stay behind the scenes all the time. He is too good a photographer and an avid fan of Ilaiyaraja's music. The last person who missed out on being a part of history is Chand. Like Bharani, he has been my close friend since my college days. We always end up fighting over silly matters, but we have managed to stay as friends through thick and thin. He introduced me to the exciting world of Raja Masala 5 years ago and I am still addicted to it. We can relate to each other on numerous things like Masalaboard ;) and "Ennadhu, Mahathma Gandhi Sethutara?".

This picture was taken in March 2002 during the spring break and it was one of the memorable times ever, thanks to Brian Lara Cricket-2001.

Thanks Meenakshi, for this wonderful moment, which MIGHT never happen again!

AAAHA... kavidhai kavidhai...padi!

2008-02-14T14:53:00.003-07:00

Kadhal tholvi enakku mattumalla
en veetu kannadikum dhaan
dhinam en bimbam adhil azhugiradhe!

P.S: Sorry Karthik, I couldn't resist posting it.

2008-01-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

nee ennai vittu pirindhavudan
pirandhadhu sogham mattumalla
indha kavidhaiyum dhaan!

2007-08-22T06:09:00.000-06:00

Thyagam seyyum oli vizhakaga nee
nadamaadum kallaraiyaga naan
meendum ennai pudhaitha edathileye pudhaithu vittai!

Rajini - THE REAL BOSS

2007-06-21T09:10:00.000-06:00

I wouldn't be doing justice to this blog if I didn't write about Sivaji. I have loved many Rajinikanth movies in the past like Baasha and Padaiyappa just for his style, despite being an ardent fan of Kamalhassan. If not for anything else, I knew I could watch Sivaji for Rajini's style. I haven't seen this much hype for any other movie as long as I can remember. As I settled down in a seat in the fourth row, this guy who had driven down from Wyoming to watch this movie, thrust a handful of shredded paper into my hand to throw on the screen when Rajini appears. I thought, YEAH RIGHT, like I am going to do this! But when Rajinikanth turned his face towards the screen, I just did it (Mannichidu thalaiva!). What can I say, I was in the moment!!!
The movie was all Rajini, right from the title card to the ending credits. He looked atleast 10 years younger and refreshingly handsome with his new look. The first half was funny with Rajini's antics to get the girl, combined with Vivek's one-liners and his usual ways of mimicking other actors. Both of them even manage to do a Vadivelu, all in good spirits, I hope. My favorite was of course when Rajini says after taking a dip in a tub full of Multani Matti, "Ippo paaru, poi kazhuvittu chumma Kamalahaasan maadhiri varen". The way Vivek makes fun of all the younger heroes trying to emulate Rajini is a bullseye shot not only for the Simbus and Dhanushs, but also for the Vijays and the Ajiths. Rajinikanth's style is just unbeatable in this movie too. Yesteryear tamil actor Suman has been pulled back from the telugu land to play the villain. He has done a neat job in the age of loud villains with long hair. Shreya as the heroine has played her part to perfection both as the homely girl and the glamor girl.
The second half got serious as expected with Rajini getting rich with just one rupee and using all the money to do good deeds. Well, atleast he didn't do it in a single song like his other movies. Rajini as the Mottai Boss was too stylish (obviously). The songs were actually pretty impressive on the screen. The art direction was amazing. Imagine this: A whole bunch of fat men with Rajini's face drawn on their pot bellies! Creativity at its ridiculous best!!! Overall it was pure fun, if you leave the logic in the parking lot. Once again Rajinikanth has managed to show that he is the real boss when it comes to Tamil Cinema, no matter how many younger actors lurk around calling themseleves the next Superstar. And please Mr.Director, stop extrapolating things at the end of the movie and showing that India had become a super power in 2020 without any corruption whatsoever. It's not only impractical but also impossible, atleast the corruption part, whether you do it sincerely, to make yourself feel good or to impress the audience.

Credit Cards, Points, Cash back and whatever

2007-05-31T15:36:00.000-06:00

Points points points... wherever you turn, it's points! Is it just me or does everyone feel overwhelmed by this sudden surge in attracting credit card consumers with points or cash back rewards? As a seasoned veteran in the art of maxing out credit cards, I have to say that I am really disappointed about losing a whole lot of points, just because it's a relatively new concept. If someone gave me a point for each dollar I spent on my credit cards when I was a student, I would exactly have - well not exactly - but roughly 20000 points. Where are the credit card gods when you need justice? Where are the pre-approved mails when you badly need a credit card with 0% APR for balance transfers? OK, that is a little off-topic! If it's not the points, then it's the cash back rewards. Correct me if I am wrong, wasn't there a period when credit cards were considered a luxury or a status symbol, way back in the 17th century or something? Now, the credit card companies are giving us cash back? Talk about marketing strategies! I used to think that the credit card companies get their money only from the interest amounts and used to wonder how they would make any money with people who pay their balances in full each month (NOW, which one of you called me a dummy, huh?). And yes, now I know the merchant also gets charged for each transaction. Looks like I have to change the topic to "Credit Card for Dummies" if I keep writing in the same vein. Did you really know that American Express card does not guarantee payment to the merchant if the consumer defaults on payment? THAT IS CRUEL! Ok, I will stop. I swear this post is about the points and cash back rewards.

So, now I am getting all kinds pre-approved credit card offers, like 2 everyday. Anyone who knows me well knows why I even have to mention that here. There was a time when credit card companies used to run with their heads falling off of their bodies (tried to translate "Thalai therikka odinaanaga!") whenever I used to apply for a credit card. When I see all these offers now, I say to myself, "Oh, now you want me to be your customer?" and then I think, "I have never been pre-approved for anything in my life!" a la Joey from friends, while my eyes get all glazed. One more time, coming back to the actual topic of points and cash back, Now one of my credit cards gets me 5% cash back on certain purchases. If you think I am not going to make full use of it owing to my previous experiences, then I am sorry Amigo, you are so wrongo! It's time for PAYBACK. No, not that stupid Mel Gibson movie! I really don't know if I did any justice at all to the topic, but who cares, it's my blog and I am doing some general whining here. PHEW, I justified the label for this post too! THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!

WC 2007

2007-04-30T07:21:00.000-06:00

I have been wanting to write about the very first edition of the Carribean World Cup, but there was always something or the other stopping me. First I wanted to write about that left arm spinner from Bermuda, Dwayne Leverock, but c2c knowingly or unknowingly stole the post right out of my laptop, hours before I started to write. I am not going to read his blog until I finish this one, so I don't lose the little enthusiasm I have left to write this one. Then, there was that little incident of Bangladesh upsetting India, well I woudn't call that an upset after seeing Bangladesh playing far better than India and Pakistan. There has been a constant nagging from my regular readers (2 to be precise) to put something on the blog and here we go.

When India was knocked out of the first round, I was desperately searching for another team to root for, to keep my cricket interets alive. Then came 'BANGladesh with a BANG' (get it? I can write lyrics for hip-hop), beating South Africa in the Super Eights aka SODHA eights, sparking some interest in an otherwise boring world cup. There is always a pleasure in rooting for the underdog, especially when your favorite team is not playing. You always want to see the minnows bashing the giants. When I say giants, Australia is not included as they belong to a completely different category, which experts are still trying to find a name for. I just hope Bangladesh keeps that fire in them burning all the time and not lose it like India. Then came Srilanka, winning all their important matches, without much fuss. When a team has a bowler, who can take 4 wicktes in 4 balls, you can always expect that team to make it atleast to the semi-finals. So, I started rooting for Srilanka as there was a realistic chance of them beating Australia.

On Saturday I woke up at 7AM (I can hear the collective gasp from the two people who are reading this) to watch the finals, only to be disappointed by the rain. Finally, when the match started, it was trimmed to 38 overs a side. That was the first blow. Whenever the overs are reduced, the team playing first only tries to score as much runs as possible. It wouldn't have made any difference in the way Adam Gilchrist played anyway. Heck, it wouldn't have made any difference to the Aussies even if it was a 10 overs a side match. That's the way they have been playing throughout the world cup. They can't even be termed as bullies, which would also be an understatement. They treat South Africa the same way they treat Bangladesh or Ireland. They don't just win, they totally demolish the opposite team, demoralizing them and making them think twice about playing cricket ever again. Once Gilchrist got going, I always knew, Srilanka was not going to win, barring a miracle innings from Jayasurya, reminiscent to the way he used to play in the nineties. And then, there was that stupid rain again along with light issues, leaving the players to grope each other in darkness. Finally, the best team won! Austalians are playing the game with so much power and dedication that it makes it boring to watch. I vote for Australia to play directly in the semi-final game of the next world cup, no matter how they perform during the time in between.

If ICC is looking for a way to reduce the number of matches in the next world cup, here is an idea: USE THE FREAKING RANKINGS to give first round byes to the first four teams or do something like that and please don't make the second round a round robin league. It took forever to get over. Is it really that complicated to find a way with only 12 teams?

Loosu Pennae...

2007-01-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

How many of you have NOT heard this song from the movie Vallavan? Well, shame on you! It's been playing non-stop on the FM channels in chennai and the Harmon-Kardon stereo system that came with my BMW (yes, I am always this modest!) for the past 6 months. Actually, I used to wake up everyday to this song when I was in India, thanks to my brother.
I am not a music person at all. I only need songs when I drive. The first time I heard this song, I was like, what the hell kind of a song is this? I totally hated it. But then, like a lot of other songs, it just grew on me. Now, I am listening to it all the time.
Usually, when I like a song, it should definiltely have good Tamil lyrics, otherwise it's very tough for me to even think about liking it. Though there is a rap segment at the beginning and the end, the main part is just tamil words. The way the rap and the tamil part of the song have been combined without defeating the purpose is just amazing. I am not a music genius, but it takes a lot of effort to keep it simple. This song is too simple and very addictive. I decided to look up for more information on the song on the internet and found out that Silamabarasan (a) Simbu had written the lyrics, though I already knew it was his voice. I wasn't very surprised knowing very well he comes from a gene pool that belongs to a person who used to torture us all with his multiple talents, including sticking posters for his own movies.
More than anything, what makes it a catchy number is the lethargic voice of simbu, which sounds like the music director woke him up in the middle of the night and forced him to sing. Well, whatever works! Of course the credit goes to Yuvan Shankar Raja for giving me something to write about. Thanks dude and keep up the good work!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

The new year didn't start off very well for me. I was sick, sick and more sick as my cold/headache got worse and ended up going to the doctor's office (only for the second time in 7 years).
Atleast an OU win in the fiesta bowl against the Boise State Broncos would have eased my pain, but no, the sooners had to make every mistake possible in the game in the first half, only to come back and tie the game in the second half and again lose it in overtime. Boise State deserved to win is all I can say though you wonder if there was ever a team that had executed so many trick plays in one game. Well, OU should have seen this coming from a team that plays on a BLUE turf at home.
From one Broncos to another, the Denver version lost their must-win game of the season miserably to the 49-ers and thus bringing an end to my decision to start watching NFL games with more interest. Talking about names like 49-ers and 76-ers, if I ever manage a start a professional team, I am sure I will name it THE 69-ers. Well, it's a long shot anyway.
At work, it's business as usual, getting killed with productions issues and new development projects.
Since there were too many negative things on this post, let me end it with two positives of 2007, not necessarily involving me directly. The first one is that my brother got placed as he was doing his MBA, with a nice heavy pay package. The best part is that I can make him pay for all my expenses when I go to India (shameless, I know). Congrats dude!
Talking about making someone else pay for my expenses, the first person that comes to my mind is one of my two best friends from my high school days, Karthik. He is getting married in a couple of weeks to the most enthusiastic and bubbly person I have ever known in my life, Rachna. It was never a surprise for me though. I told Karthik the first time I saw them both way back in the spring break of 2001 that he should seriouly think about spending the rest of their lives together. The sad part is that I won't be able to make it to the wedding, for which I have been called a 'Ditch Pot' numerous times and I am sure it will never stop for the rest of my life. A small price to pay for missing my best friend's wedding! Congratulations Karthik and Rachna!

RIP

2006-12-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you read this news about a software engineer, Sanal Nathan, from India who was shot dead by a mugger about a week ago. I read it and felt sad, especially since the guy was only 26 years old. It was lingering in my mind that he probably might have just started earning enough to live a worry-free (atleast money wise) life. Also, can you imagine the trauma that his fiancee would have undergone seeing her future life partner getting shot at?

So, two days ago, I was sitting at home doing some office work when I got this call from my ex-boss. She used to be my manager at the client company that;s been my office for the past two years. We shared a good rapport at work and we were good friends outside of work too. She didn't sound very good when she called me and I could easily make out that she was in a very sad state of mind. When I asked what was wrong with her and why she sounded so dull, she told me that one of her employees, who was from India, had been killed last week by someone who tried to mug him. That's when it struck me that she moved toArlington, Texas and I remembered that news article I read last week. I was like, OH MY GOD, was that guy one of your employees? His fiancee had called her from the hospital since they didn't have any close friends or relatives in Texas. She was surprised that I knew about this incident. I told her about reading it last week to which she said that she didn't know that they had published it anywhere. I also remembered that she had called me sometime last month to tell me that she had hired a new programmer and he was very good at what he does. He wasn't getting paid much by his previous employer, so she made sure that he gets paid a lot more than that since she thought he deserved it.

Right now, she is the one helping with all the legal procedures that need to be taken care of to transport the body to India. She has been emailing one of the U.S Navy personnel who is in Kerala, about the situation here and he updates the guy's parents. Apparently, it's not an easy process and there are one too many hassles in getting it done. One good thing is, the company is taking care of all the expenses. His mother hadn't eaten for a week and keeps saying, "Please send my son back to me". After hearing all this, I felt like I lost someone close to me. It also made me rethink my decision about staying in this country so far away from HOME.

Wishful Thinking

2006-11-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

I am a sad man this week since the college football season is getting over, atleast for OU, this weekend. As someone who doesn't find the NFL games very interesting- I have tried to like professional football more than you can imagine, college football is as good as it gets for me.

I will be rooting for the Texas A&M Aggies this weekend. Before you start booking your flight tickets to Denver to kill me, let me make myself clear. If you are a true fan of the Indian cricket team, you would have understood what I meant by now. You remember how the Indian team would lose the easier games at the beginning stages of the world cup, then somehow manage to beat the tougher opponents and wait for that one team to lose their last match, so that we can get into the next round? That's exactly the same position the sooners are in at the moment, except that they lost only one game (atleast legitimately) to a tougher opponent aka Texas Longhorns, though everyone feels that Oklahoma is now playing far better than Texas. The loss to Oregon, thanks to the Pac-10 referees, should not be considered a loss at all. Think I am being too loyal to OU? Take any news article on the OU-Oregon game and you should get a fair idea of how we were robbed of a win.

Coming back to the topic, Texas is playing at home against Texas A&M this weekend, and I, like any other sooner faithful would, wish Texas A&M wins and helps us get to the conference championship game against Nebraska. Oh, by the way, did I mention we beat Texas A&M 3 weeks ago in Aggie Land?

GO AGGIES!!!

Update:
Well well well, look who's back in Kansas City for the Big 12 Championship game, thanks to the Aggies! Ok Mr.Mack brown, you might have beaten us, but we still own the Big 12 South. BOO HOO!!

Casino Royale

2006-11-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

The new Mission Impossible movie is a pretty serious one. OH WAIT, did I say Mission Impossible? My bad! I couldn't resisit comparing two of the biggest movies this year. Both deal with how our heroes will even give up what they do best for the women they love the most. I can hear my friends say, look who's talking. I don't blame you my dear enemies, I mean, friends. While Ethan Hunt quits for sure before he comes back for one last mission and quits again, James Bond sends Miss M a resignation email (who knew even 007's need to send one!) before he returns in style.
Without giving out much of the story-yes there is one, all I can say is the new bond is much tougher that his predecessor. Atleast physically he is, though we are forced to doubt his mental toughness when he falls in love with the cute Eva Green. That's right, HE FALLS HOPELESSLY IN LOVE. And Eva green is cute but not really hot as one would expect a typical bond girl to be. So much for the hype surrounding her. But then, we realize why things are the way they are and the movie ends making you want more of it.
Hats off to Daniel Craig, as he carries the movie effortlessly all by himself, with pure sophistication even when he utters lines like this:

Eva: Even if you are gone and only your smile and your little finger are left, I'd still love you.
Daniel : That's because you know what I can do with my little finger

What's more? This bond even accepts his mistakes, but that's mostly due to the fact that he is a rookie in the story. Make no mistake in judging him, he is here to stay for years to come.

Quick Question

2006-10-27T08:04:00.000-06:00

When does Shaun Pollock's bowling figures of 6 overs 0 maidens 21 runs and 1 wicket look very ordinary?

when the bowler at the other end has 5 overs, 8 runs 2 maidens and 5 wickets. Way to go Ntini!!

Hey Texas, UP YOURS!

2006-10-06T08:05:00.000-06:00

Run A.D Run!!!

Indian born, Sooner bred.
Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual teams is purely intentional

I'm back baby!

2006-07-31T17:14:00.000-06:00

So, here I am, after a month long vacation, struggling to get back to work. Forget getting back to work, I couldn't even remember some work related passwords. That should give you an idea of the good time I had back home. Right from the moment I landed at the Anna International Terminal to the moment I hugged my mom a month later at the same place, it was pure fun.

My day in India would typically start with a fresh hot cup of filter coffee. Whenever we used to have discussions aka PONGAL about Indian food, my friend ShivA would always say how his eyes would open wide as soon as he takes the first sip. You can't be more right, my friend. I was almost in tears when I took the first sip after 6 years. Then I would go upstairs with the coffee and check all my emails, do some vetti browsing and by the time I am done with all that nonsense, it would be time to have, you guessed it right, nashta/tiffin. So, I'd go downstairs after taking a shower, all prepared for the morning feast, which would be one of the following: Idly, Dosa, Puri, Pongal, Aapam, Idiyaapam, Adai with the most fitting side dishes. The list goes on, but this is all I can remember right now. Well, if you know me very well, you also know that I don't like Idly's. STOP. Before the South Indians start throwing stones at me for that statement, I should say that is the ONLY dish I don't like, so just throw me a freakin bone and continue reading. Whenever IDLY is being served for breakfast, I would keep my face like I just got lost in a carnival (Tamilians pls translate), and look at my Mom. She'd be like, "Oh poor child (!?), I will make you Dosa". My brother would give me a dirty look like, "Idhellaam oru pozhappu!", and I'd be eating my dosas happily with a wicked smile on my face. Oh, did I mention I have been doing this since I remember?

Anyways, coming back to the post-nashta period, I just sit there on the couch without being able to move, watching Sun Music, which by the way, SUCKS except for the few good songs they show. If I start talking about the hosts on that channel, it will become an unbearably huge post, so let me just get back to where I was. An hour would pass and my mom would slowly bring me a cup of filter coffee/buttermilk, depending on the day's supply/demand. As I never say NO to food, especially at home, I would just gulp it down and almost go to sleep on the couch. At this moment, I used to start thinking who I should meet that day and what mode of transportation I should use. By the time I come to a decision, lunch would be served hot and spicy, mostly on a banana leaf. Before I go into the details, I should probably mention how appalled I was looking at the sheer amount of food (read rice), people eat, or atleast people in my family eat. First they have a plate full of rice to eat with the main curry or by mixing it with the side dishes, then they have another serving of rice to have with rasam and finally they finish it off with, again rice with curd or buttermilk while I'd be gasping for breath to finish my first serving of rice. Btw, whenever someone invited me for lunch, relatives or family friends, there would invariably be all kinds of non-vegetarian dishes, FOR ONE MEAL. I'd be forced to eat everything, just to acknowledge their affection.

will be continued...

Nostalgia!

2006-05-20T11:58:00.000-06:00

As I am watching this ODI between India and West Indies on a bright saturday morning, yes, I said morning, I miss those good ol' days when my father and I used to sit in front of the TV all day to watch one day games like these. We used to have a constant supply of peanuts or some kind of fried snack, like green chilli bhajji, in a plate in front of us and an occasional serving of filter coffee, thanks to my mom. By the end of the game, we'd be a couple of pounds heavier! I miss those peanuts, bhajjis, filter coffees, and of course my mom and DAD, who is not with us anymore. Those days will never come back. There is one more thing that keeps bothering me. My dad used to get free tickets for cricket matches in chennai as he was a reporter. My cousins used to bug my dad for those tickets and my dad would just give it to them just to get rid of them. I never thought of getting those tickets from him and take my friends to the game with me. Not really sure why, but it sure would have been fun. DAMN!!

Well, I just realized the next world cup is hosted by the West Indies, which means more games in U.S daytime and weekends. YIPPPEEEEEEEE!!! One more thing, while I was writing this post, my ex-roomie called and said that he is bringing some ADAI that his mom made. Looks like I am gonna have company to watch the game and eat some HOT Indian food. My Saturday just became complete.

The countdown begins.

2006-05-12T23:25:00.000-06:00

June 23rd, 2006 will be a special day for me. That's when I embark on a journey that I never thought would mean so much to me. When I tell someone that it's been six years since I saw my family in India, their jaw just drops to the floor. I don't think I will ever realize that six years is a very long time until I actually see my family. The last time I saw my brother's picture, it took me a while to recognize him. It can't get worse than that.

There will be emotional blackmails to get me to say 'Yes' to the BRIDE SEARCH BRIGADE, there will be questions about my lost hair and what I did/do to save the rest of it and there will be concerns about my lost weight without any awareness to how I feel that I am in the best shape of my life so far. But, what's a trip to India without all these blackmails, questions and concerns??

Grumpy!

2006-05-10T07:25:00.000-06:00

It's 7:20 AM Rocky Mountain Time. I am still not ready to start my day, as in start resolving the trouble tickets in my queue and there are only 28 waiting for my attention. Did I mention I came in to work at 6:00 AM? Well, I have never been a morning person and I don't think it's gonna change in the near future. I can be as nocturnal as a cockroach, but never in my life have I been an active daytime person. My roomies used to call me "Endhiricha Hitler", translated as "Hitler when I wake up", which I think was an understatement. When I see people with happy faces and a starbucks cup in their hands, I just feel like strangling them until they go back to sleep. Why in the world would you be happy so early in the morning?

There were instances when I was still in school doing my Masters (trust me, it was a very looooong time), someone would require my driver services to be dropped at the airport on a weekend day, say around 5:00AM. Being the nice person that I am (anyone wants to argue, call me), I would wake up right on time, drive the car with that same sleepy mindset, drop the person off, come back at around 6 or 6:30 and promptly go back to sleep without my roomies even knowing that I went out. I love my morning sleep so much. That's probably why I have been assinged office hours as below:

6:00AM - 3:00PM

Just miss!!

2006-05-08T11:50:00.000-06:00

Finally, after a loooooong wait, Vettayaadu Velayaadu (Hunt and Play) aka Vettagaaduuuuu Velayaduuuu in telugu is releasing on Jun 2nd. I am sure the U.S screening will take place the weekend after that. This news is like pouring ice-cold draught beer into my tummy. For en iniya Tamil Makkal, indha news-a solli yen vayithula beer-a vaarthuttanga. There is only one little sadness though, wish they had set the U.S release date during the memorial day weekend since three of my friends, Shivudu, Jo and the cartoon would be visiting the Rocky Mountain land during that time. It's been a very long time since I watched a big-time movie like this in a theater surrounded by whistles and what not. Still, it doesn't take anything away from a Kamalhassan movie, especially for a die-hard fan like me, unless it's an encore of Aalavandhaan. OH YEAH and there's the real Jo, who could very well turn out to be the baddie in the movie as the film crew has kept it a secret for a very long time. I bet it's gonna be FUN in bold caps. Let's WAIT AND WATCH!!

MI-3

2006-05-06T01:26:00.000-06:00

Not exactly the first show, but it sure was the first day. It was 100% pure adrenalin with the usual high jumps, long jumps and pole vaults over sky scrapers. No surprises there, but the movie was surprisingly serious, unlike it's predecessors. The reason could be the presence of heavyweights like Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and our beloved Morpheus, Laurence Fishburne. I can confidently vouch that this is the best of all the three MI movies. And of course, there is the scintillating MI theme, which is more famous than the movie itself. And it would be a sin if I didn't mention Tom Cruise's acting, which is defintely worth mentioning in this short review. He did a very good job, acting withing his limitations and yet turning in a powerful performance. Overall it was a satisfactory experience for someone like me who was wondering what happened to the genre called Action Thriller.

Not a BLOG VIRGIN anymore!

2006-05-04T21:55:00.000-06:00

vizhiyoramaai oru neerthuli
vazhiyudhae en kaadhali
adhan aazhangal nee unarndhaal podhum podhum

azhiyaamalae oru nyabagam
alaipaayudhae enna kaaranam
arugaamaiyil un vaasam veesinaal swasam sooderidum