General:I have no idea why mailing lists are more popular than newsgroups. I think it is easy to setup a mailing list...dont need a news server...I am subscribed to some techie newsgroups and i get like 500 emails everyday which I dont read mostly and have to remove them...still need to be subscribed though...
finally moved to msn 6.0...only that supports video conferencing...and animated gifs. The number of Bollywood stars associated with the mafia is ever increasing and the government is finally coming down hard on them...

Movies:Just realized that Madhavan has so many hits/good movies ( Alai, Dum Dum Dum, Minnale, Run, Anbe Sivam, Kannathil Muth... )....and he is working with Mani again...this fatso is one lucky SO...Saw ARRs cell phone company ad...Ad quality in the US is so much better...some of the US Ad directors have been given movie direction chances mainly because they are so good at saying a story in a few secs...have some ad ideas ???...Raaga is my favorite site for songs...but i dont understand their rating system...most songs have a 5-star !!!....

Golf:Arjun Atwal and Jyothi Randhawa are playing in the WGC championship this week in Atlanta with the world's best...will be watching them closely...u too can at Golf channel

Humor:

FEMALE PRAYER
Before I lay me down to sleep, I pray for a man,
who's not a creep.
One who's handsome, smart and strong.
One who loves to listen long,
One who thinks before he speaks,
When he says he'll call, he won't wait weeks.
I pray that he is gainfully employed,
When I spend his cash, won't be annoyed.
Pulls out my chair and opens my door,
Massages my back and begs to do more.
Oh! Send me a man who'll make love to my mind.
Knows what to answer to "How big is my behind?"
I pray that this man will love me to no end.
And never attempt to hit on my friend.
And as I kneel and pray by my bed.
I look at the creep you sent me instead. Amen.


MALE PRAYER:

I pray for a deaf-mute nymphomaniac with huge b**bs who owns a liquor store.
Amen.

General:Took a day off on Friday. Had a relaxing weekend. Although helped a friend move. Only 3 of us, moved from a 2nd floor apartment ( no elevator ) to a first floor condo. Bend-nimuthal...seem to have lost 2 pounds...:-)....Read about Prasanna...Feel bad when our national heroes are ignored...Went to a veena recital this weekend...I havent been to a carnatic music function in many many years...for a change it was great...

Movies:Had some fond memories of "Appoorva Sahodaragal" and MMKR...I remember myself and a friend used to talk using dialogues only from these 2 movies for some time..we used to giggle like school children...our family used to go nuts...fun times. I am getting the DVD of "12B". Great movie. So what if nobody in Tamilnadu got it. Supposed to be a copy of some English movie. And Shyam/Vivek/Slimran rock...US based producer for tamil movies...curious how many there are ?...knew Amritraj bros produced Jeans...Is this a tax write-off ?


Golf Tip:If you are playing golf for fun, buy a average golf set ( 100-200$ ) is enough. Anything more than that is a ripoff. Maybe for the pros. Unless u have the money...

Humor: Heard about Anguish English...i have no idea what these mean...here is an example...

Pitter Paper peeked or parker peckled paupers
Or packer peckled paupers pitter paper peeked
Aft Pitter Paper peeked or packer peckled paupers
Ware aster packer peckled paupers debt pitter paper peeked?

General:e-paper...remember this in "Minority Report"...it is already here...Exciting...this reminds me of an incident 10 years back...just when I had finished my undergrad and was preparing to to come to the States...a missionary and his assistant come to my house...i invite them in ( against the wishes of my Iyengar mom )...and he starts talking about how the world is getting worse day by day ( that is how they do it - install fear in the mind )...I started argueing with him how from my point of view the world is getting to be better day by day...the assistant couldnt control it and started smiling after some time...the missionary was very upset and so was my mom..the reason I brought this up is from a selfish/self-centered point of view, all this e-paper stuff makes me feel the world to be getting real cool...hmmm...even otherwise arent we better off than we were a century back ?


Movies:Saw Ajith's hits DVD. This is how I keep with the bad Tamil movies. Couple of decent songs in "Red"...and the heroine...some Gill...wow...some more news about Mani's next movie and the surprise villain...Karthick Raja's new movie "Ragasiyamai" has two decent songs..."Kangalum Kangalum" and "Oduthey Oduthey" ( sonds like a Rangeela song ).....I consider many Tamil songs like jingles and nursery rhymes here...then I hear this Ajith song with lyrics about jingles and rhymes...Eeya Eeya O...

Golf Tip:For those who think what is the big deal about this game, please try it once and let me know how u feel the next day...

Humor: A sensible diet plan

As we all know, it takes 1 calorie to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree centigrade. Translated into meaningful terms, this means that if you eat a very cold dessert (generally consisting of water in large part), the natural processes which raise the consumed dessert to body temperature during the digestive cycle literally sucks the calories out of the only available source, your body fat. For example, a dessert served and eaten at near 0 degrees C (32.2 degrees F) will, in a short time, be raised to the normal body temperature of 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F). For each gram of dessert eaten, that process takes approximately 37 calories as stated above. The average dessert portion is 6 oz, or 168 grams. Therefore, by operation of thermodynamic law, 6,216 calories (1 cal./gm/deg. x 37 deg. x 168 g) are extracted from body fat as the dessert's temperature is normalized. Allowing for the 1,200 latent calories in the dessert, the net calorie loss is approximately 5,000 calories. Obviously, the more cold dessert you eat, the better off you are and the faster you will lose weight, if that is your goal. This process works equally well when drinking very cold beer in frosted glasses. Each ounce of beer contains 16 latent calories, but extracts 1,036 calories (6,216 cal. per 6 oz. portion) in the temperature normalizing process. Thus, the net calorie loss per ounce of beer is 1,020 calories. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to calculate that 12,240 calories (12 oz. x 1,020 cal./oz.) are extracted from the body in the process of drinking a can of beer. Frozen desserts, e.g., ice cream, are even more beneficial, since it takes 83 cal./gm to melt them (i.e., raise them to 0 deg. C) and an additional 37 cal./gm to further raise them to body temperature. The results here are really remarkable, and it beats running hands down. Unfortunately, for those who eat pizza as an excuse to drink beer, pizza (loaded with latent calories and served above body temperature) induces an opposite effect. But, thankfully, as the astute reader should have already reasoned, the obvious solution is to drink a lot of beer with pizza and follow up immediately with large bowls of ice cream. We could all be thin if we were to adhere religiously to a beer and ice cream diet.

General:I have not seen it rain this hard in Boston like yesterday...reminded me of monsoon season in Madras...I miss that...used to play in the collected water on the streets...school was closed for a week...and Madras used to look so pretty when you look up ( look down and all u will see is water, cheru...segadhi )...20-30 years from now, we ourselves and definitely the next generation are going to wonder how electronically backward we were...we have 20 different cards...10 different keys...I am polambifying ( complaining in Tamil ) because I lost my office key last night...we need DNA scanning...spoilt I am...


Movies:Supposedly the screenplay of M.Night Shyamalan's next movie The Woods has leaked and it sucks bigtime...but the rumor also says that there were lots of spelling mistakes...so this could be a fake. Watched the Hit songs of Madhavan and Ajith DVD last night. Madhavan is soooooooooooooooooooo FAT. BTW, some of the guys who danced beside him have decent looks ( better than Vijaykanth...another topic..another day ) and have a very good build...


Golf Tip:Pick the ball with your hand and throw it towards the flag. You might get better results. Try doing this in tournaments...

Humor:Try this one some day if you dare.
The interviewer examined the job application then turned to the prospective employee.

"I see you have put ASAP down for the date you are available to start, meaning as soon as possible, of course. However, I see you've put AMAP down for required salary. I don't believe I've ever seen that before, what does it mean?"

The applicant replied, "As Much as Possible!"

Bet he put down 911 on the part of who to call in case of emergency.

General:Not much to write...work has taken over all my time...and not to forget two evening courses...good thing I am taking up a decent hobby...check out Kathai Sollungal. Stock market seems to be doing good...but my stocks are going nowhere...when will I retire ? :-(


Movies:Cine South starts these interesting discussions. Like the current one is about whether "Dhanush is the next big thing to happen in Tamil movies ?"...but there is nobody to moderate this...so the posts invariably end up being a 4-letter word contest between some frustrated folks...


Golf Tip:Sing/Hum a song when you play golf. You play much better...ofcourse beer helps too...

General: Not much happenned this weekend. Rest of India beat Mumbai in cricket. That is always exciting to me - any ROI fan will know why...watched the Emmy's last night. Nice babes...played golf after 3 weeks or so...started out badly but ended decently...6 pars...weather was awesome...

Some funny stuff...

Things I Hate About Everyone
1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2. People who are willing to get off their @ss to search the entire room for the tv remote because they refuse to walk to the tv and change the channel manually.
3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is a cake if you can't eat it?
4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? I wanna Kick their @ss!
5. When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the stupid floor.
6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?
7. When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it.
8. When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?
9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumb@ss?


Movies:Funny Boyz review in Tamil. Heard that most of the so-called sex scenes have been edited out and there are ads about how the family will ensoy the movie now...Saw Dumb and Dumber for the nth time...there is a Indian connection in this movie-the title track is by Apache Indian...Read a very funny review about Boom, how dumb can Bollywood get...BGM in "5 Star" was really good...

Golf Tip:If you are > 25 years old, your chances of becoming a pro is zero. So play golf only for fun. I am saying this because I saw a horrible player getting so frustrated this weekend. All this after paying 25$. Havent heard so many expletives since seeing Chris Rock on TV a few months back...

Saw "5 Star" last night. Now I was told this is an ordinary movie from some very reliable sources. Then I was tempted to see this after reading the review in The Hindu and some article from a college junior of the director in Lazy Geek. Hmmm....this is the movie which irritated me the most of many Tamil movies I have seen ( including the bad ones )...definitely a decent screenplay, art direction, music etc...but Cmon, who did the casting ? Did the director even think in the first 30-45 minutes of the movie ? And oh, my God, for God's sake, somebody act !!! Luckily the crucial parts of the movie turned out sensible...I cant believe that an assistant director of Mani Rathnam has not had the control over the acting. Pathetic...

This clearly tells me the difference between a good director and a so-so one. The so-so's come up with a decent screenplay but fall short in everything else. Now a good director ( Mani, Kamal, Shankar ) can take a very thin story/screenplay ( Anjali, Roja, Agni Natchathiram, Kannathil Muthamittal, even Boys ) and make a decent, watchable movie. The main reason is they know what the cast should do, and get it out of them. And the master of getting the best out of your cast is K.Balachander. Now, he is not mainstream now, but the current directors have to take a lesson or two from him...

Speaking of great directors, there is a Rajini movie called "Johnny". This was directed by my favorite Tamil director Mahendran. Supposedly Mahendran never came prepared for a scene any day. He just had the story in his mind. Anyways, in this movie, there is a scene, where Sri Devi basically proposes to Rajinikanth and he hesitates to marry her because of his past. This is the best scene I have ever seen in a Tamil movie and of Rajini. And Mahendran considers this his best scene he ever shot. I couldnt believe it was Rajinikanth. The reason I bring this scene up shows the class of the director. He comes unprepared and still knows exactly what he needs from the cast. See this movie just for this scene...( especially when Rajini says "Neenge eppovume ipidithana" after accepting Sridevi's proposal )...and ofcourse Raja at his best...

General:Indian women's cricket is struggling to survive...1500 rupees per game !!! Cmon...they have to merge with the men's cricket board. We can blame it all on capitalism and economics, but the BCCI needs to show some compassion here...throw some crumbs into the women's side...it wont hurt you...atleast the super star's take notice of this...and you never know how new money can change the game...what if they win the World Cup...unlike some super star Losers...

Had to order a veena from Saptaswara Musicals, Mylapore. To be shipped to Boston, MA. I cant believe that they dont take credit cards. Have to send a Banker's cheque from here...Cmon...Military hotels are accepting visa/mastercard...

Movies:I was wondering how many love the fact that the Tamil music industry has got rid of S.Janaki ( i know she sings the odd one ). I for one am thrilled...she was a decent singer...but cmon, she sang every song in the 70s and 80s...almost...all this with her KEEEEEECCHHHH voice...yuk...Long live ARR...
Looks like Bend it like Becham star Parminder Nagra will be in the next season of ER. And there was another Indian doc in ER last season in the episodes shot in Africa...very cute...


Golf Tip: One more for cricketers: Drive it straight above the bowler's head for a six...that is a good golf shot...no pulls or square cuts...

This posting is a scribble I started at Lazy Geek. SInce I couldnt scribble more than an upper limit, I am continuing here:

Develop a story by getting input from readers. This has been done before online ( atleast I have heard about this ) - site visitors are presented with different options for a storyline and the most popular one is chosen to eb made into a screenplay. All for fun...

Story and screenplay are 2 different beasts. Most Indian love stories are: Boy loves Girl. Family(ies) oppose. Lovers elope. Either die or convince family and live happily for life. Ofcourse the 80s stuff of one lover having cancer. What I am suggesting is better ideas than the typical "Romeo/Juliet" stuff. But stories that will convince the Indian audience. And no "Indian/Mudhalvan" stuff. Super-hero bashing all of India's bad guys. Most successful Indian films are because of a combination of MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC, screenplay and star power. Where are the story ideas ???

I am talking stories more in lines of "Kshanak Kshanam" ( telugu - Ram Gopal Verma ) or a "Pushpak" ( tamil - kamal ).

Any takers ?

General:I think the market is flooded with MBA degree holders. There are supposedly half-a-million mba's without a job. Here is a funny FedEx ad.Did you know that the AT & T chairman is complaining about how poor AT & T cell phone service is !!!

This is an email:
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy,it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae.The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe
I SAY: Blul Siht...

Movies: I was wondering if there is a good reason why Indian movies without songs are not commercially successful. There have been exceptions ( Kurudi Poonal, Pushpak ) but generally even if the screenplay is good ( Sethu ), the producers seem to insist on putting in some songs ( which are junk ). I think it does 2 things:
1. Extend the length of the movie...audience could feel like they are getting their money's worth in time !!!
2. Good movie --> More audio cassette sales.
I started reading the script of As Good As it Gets. Now I understand why Jack Nicholson is considered a great actor. The screenplay was ok...funny at times...but it is like any serial on TV ( ER, Ed, Judging Amy etc ). Sometimes writing a script with a particular actor in mind does help. The tougher part will be to convince him/her to do the part...

Golf Tip: Very important. Dont go to the golf course if you cannot hit more than 100 yards in the driving range consistently. You will slow down play and nobody will have fun...

General: Here is some hot news for techies. The latest in monitors is one without a monitor...display on thin air...sounds like magic. It is. Hopefully will take off. The IIT backlash has begun officially...check out Dilbert...I have been waiting for this for some time...once the 60 minutes stuff came on, I knew this was coming. Although I am one of them.
Movies: Finally got to read the script of Sixth Sense. Have read only a few pages...but it is awesome. Trisha/Vikram pair for next Shankar movie. Boyz is a huge hit in Telugu. And seems to be doing ok in Tamil inspite of all the BS. I think this year has been the most successful for Tamil movies in ages. So many hits and from new directors/actors/screenplay...hopefully this trend stays...

There was a suggestion from a visitor to give golf tips...ROFL....anyways, since I have read lots of books and watched too much golf on TV and oh...golf lessons...so I am starting one...

Golf Tip: For cricket lovers: If you have played or even watched cricket a lot, you will know the term "Bat and Pad Close together". Think that and hit the goddam golf ball...

I and my friend were discussing about mid-life crisis. We dont know what the actual definition is, but basically everything in life is boring except for the fun things ( lazy, maybe ). Even the Brittany-Madonna Frenchie was like, so ??

Looking forward to some good Indian movies. Mani's "Ayudha Poojai" and Kamal's "Sandiyar" might be the next big ones in Tamil. Aamir is also making some freedom struggle movie. Have to find out ARR's next album. ARR was 17 or 18 when he composed "Roja". WOW. Shankar and Vikram are doing a movie. That should be nice. Lazy Geek has a nice review of Boyz.

I am playing 2 rounds of golf in Rhode Island next month. New course. It is going to be cold. This is with some folks from a golf message board. I havent touched a club in the past 2 weeks. Forget breaking 100, hopefully I wont kill some geese/squirrel or hurt somebody...

Back from Niagara. Long drive - 8 hours. We had a great room - great view of the Falls ( take back my pessimistic view ). And ofcourse the Canada side really rocks. Heard a lot of dare-devil stories and fools trying to jump of the falls etc in a tour bus. Every morning I woke up hoping that the water would stop. BTW, dont think that this flow cannot be stopped. Supposedly the American falls was shutdown in 1969 because of some rock displacement etc. Anyways they fixed it. So humans do control the flow. Speaking of control, I heard a rumor from a guy on the golf course, about how the next big project of the US military is to control the weather...I will keep that discussion for another day...

But Niagara is sooooooooooooo expensive. And food sucks for vegetarians. One SOB restaurant receptionist asked us "How do you guys survive" when we said we dont eat meat. And they were charging 20 bucks for a pasta ( plain spagetti with tomato sauce on it ). I envy meat eaters...

There were a couple of Indian restaurants, but we noticed them after we had our last dinner there. Dont miss the "Minolta tower" view. There is a nice restaurant there with a great view of the falls. It is better to use credit cards there. You give US $ and get back Canadian as change. Please dont try to pass them off inside the US...i have been the victim of getting Canadian quarters in the US....they dont work in the damn laundromats...

They are building a huge Harrah's casino in Niagara falls city. Costs around 850 mill. BTW, tour guide claimed 20 million tourists to the Falls yearly. The boat ride is like 12$. The boat ride alone generates 240 mill...cool change...we need to dig a 400 ft deep/200 ft width pit in the Ganges...will revive the UP economy...


Noticed a weighing machine inside a restroom in one of the service area. Right next to the urinal !!!. Check ur Body-Mass Index before and after...???


I got my friend addicted to Boyz music. :-)


Niagara has some cool golf courses. Didnt get to play. And weather was great. We drive back to Boston and it is pouring and humid...we are cursed...


Fall Colors are beginning to show up...

It took me 90 minutes to get to work today. For 18 miles. Unbelievable. You think America is fun, dont have to bribe anybody and it is cleaner...otherwise it is the same...and worst of all, we dont have Saravana Bhavan...Luckily, I had "Boyz" cd to listen to. The more I listen, the more I love it. And it sounds even better when you play it real loud in your car and scream...( had to match up with the rap/hip-hop soccer moms in the SUVs ).


I havent practised ( golf, ofcourse ) in the past week. School started ( 2 boring courses ) and the "Boyz" mood has made me very lazy. I did jog twice this week. I like calling this movie "Boyz" instead of "Boys" - sounds cooler. TODO: edit blogs :-)


Watched "Will & Grace" last night. Amazed at the writing skills of these guys/gals....Every English word seems funny....ofcourse the cast...no words....is it the writing that makes the cast look good or otherwise...it works both ways...wish some of these writers learn Tamil/Hindi/Telugu...watching Indian sitcom will be more fun....


Off to Niagara this weekend. Driving to Canada. Have got an expensive hotel room that has a Falls view. No expectations though. Wouldnt be surprised if I have to do a 200 degree neck twist to get a peek at the falls from my room. Hopefully they have a good chiropractor around. Better will be a Bond(Bomb) masseuse... Bpositive this time...

I watched the Tamil movie "Boys" last weekend. A nice movie. I have the habit of watching 3-4 Indian movies a year ( that is the max number of good movies made in India :-) ), but I watch each one of them many times. ( some i have watched 20-30 times ). Ofcourse, now I want to watch "Boys" again. Not that it is a great movie or anything, but it is a fun movie from Tamil movie standards. It is a rags-to-riches story of 5 college dropouts. I have looked on the web to see where the closing screening of this movie will be, but havent found any city close to Boston. So have to wait for the DVD, looks like. I liked this movie not because of nostalgia or anything, just a well made fun movie.

Golf season seems to be winding down. Not a bad season. Have relaxed more. Slowly it has sink in that I am going nowhere with this sport. So play to enjoy and forget about it. I am not going to feel bad for having been addicted to this game past 3-4 years. Maybe Saturn's way of slowing me down and teaching me a lesson on being patient and relaxed in life.

It has been more than a year since I gambled. I play only the Roulette. Free Drinks for 3-4 hours, all that to lose 100 bucks...not a bad deal. Being timid, I always took the easy odds. Place 8 and get back 10 or 11. Boy, can it get boring to my family, but it is fun for me. And ofcourse all the things you do for luck !!! My friend looks at Vishnu's picture before every bet...:-)....the ways we disturb the Creator inspite of giving us everything we need...


Anyways, if you are serious about gambling, there are many tricks. But you are going to lose mostly. The next time I am going to try this one: So say your limit is 100 bucks. Put 2 bucks on the 1:2 odds ( black or white ). You lose, put 4 bucks. Keep doubling till you either lose it all in ( 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 32 ) 6 rounds OR when you win place the same bet and continue. Supposedly the sheiks from the Gulf did this with a few million dollars and some casinos went bankrupt in the 50s and 60s.