More posting on my other blog

Been busy posting techie stuff on my other blog - Theo-Tries-Scheme and on Twitter -  @shortsightedsid. Drop by some time and leave a comment or two!

The best drive to work

.... today. The reason? Was listening to Chitti Babu play the Veena on AIR 100.1. It was a moving experience. Its been nearly 2 months since I went to Violin class, and had stopped listening to Carnatic music. Just this week, I started listening again while dropping off Dew to work.

Kommalu Koyila or the Cuckoo song is just amazing!

Funny things on the road

Firstly, a TN registered Bus....

Nothing special about that, except that the license plate is in Kannada. I have never seen such a single Kannada letter East of Attibele (on Hosur Road towards Tamil Nadu), and yet we now have a Tamil Nadu registered bus with a license plate written in Kannada. Boggles the mind.

Now, something that's truly inventive, ingenious even. How about a propeller bike? (Sorry for the poor pic quality but it was from my car and my pathetic mobile).

Blue - a cold review

It was late 2007 or maybe 2008, when a meeting probably took place in Bandra, Bombay. The meeting was on the movie blue. The team had money to burn, 120 crores of it and decided to burn it. This was probably a group of people who were floating in moolah and decided to make a movie about floating... In water, that is..

The result? Well, Blue is like a series of ad shots coupled with National Geographic. There's no doubt in my mind that the director is primarily an ad movie maker, because every since scene seems to be right out of an ad film. We get all the actors essentially modeling in various poses with cliched shots. In between the cliches are really beautiful underwater cinematography. You get to see plenty of coral, lots of different tiny fish, as well as several members of the Selachimorpha family.

So, should you see the movie? Here are reasons to see it

1. You are a big fan of National Geographic, Discovery and Animal Planet. Instead of seeing it on the small screen, you want to see some good underwater documentary stuff in a movie theatre.
2. You like looking at Lara Dutta in various skimpy Bikinis. Plus, the cameraman ensures that you get all the various angles and views to observe this animal up close and personal. (Hey' who doesn't?)

Why shouldn't you see the movie?

1. You pay 200 bucks for a action thriller and instead get a long set of ads featuring swimwear and Natgeo. Apparently when scuba diving, men need a full wet suit, but women manage just fine with a tiny maroon colour 2 piece.
2. You see the initial title, and start salivating at the names of Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif. You know that its a movie in the water and expect plenty of struting by both esp. when KK is credited for a "Special Appearance". You get plenty of your money's worth with LD's double Ds but not even one shot of KK in a swimsuit. Considering that this movie is essentially about selling swimsuits to the Indian public, not seeing KK model in one, is a waste of time. I wonder if the Producers did not first approach Mallika Sherawat. Having large floatation devices would have been useful in this kind of movie.
3. Stupid storyline and plot holes (even for a Bollywood movie) such as having a bunch of sport bikes race each other while shooting guns in a dirt road. Yes that right, if you are the kind who believes that Ducatis and Hayabusa's are to be driven flat out on a bumpy dirt road where tractors used to roam free, then this movie is for you. For the rest of us, we know that there are plenty of dirt bikes for that. This movie uses a dirt bike to jump into the water from a boat and chooses to use sport bikes as dirt bikes. Plus, we get a nice ad shot of the Hayabusa (all with the right lighting, angles, and a well positioned helment) at the end of the said fight sequence.
4. Terrible fight sequences. Consider the following. If you are a good guy who has his back to a wall, the other side of which is a baddie, would you keep your back to wall and shoot 2 pistols not at the wall (made of wood) but at the windows that are away from the wall and perpendicular to the wall? No, you turn around and shoot at the wall, hoping to kill the baddie. Apparently, this doesn't occur to Sanjay Ak47 Dutt, who chooses to shoot to his left and right while keeping his back to the wall behind which the baddies are shooting back at him. 
5. Now, consider you are a real bad assed villian or even a dimwitted henchmen. Would you use your machine gun like a drill to put a single hole through a thin wooden wall, when you know that your enemy is on the other side? No, you don't you shoot through the wall not a single place but everywhere with you machine gun. In this movie, the baddie is so dimwitted that he uses his machine to shoot at exactly one spot and thus create a nice and small keyhole. After that he decides to peep through this machine gun created keyhole while ignoring all the windows nearby to look in. This is when Sanjay dutt uses his pistol to shoot back while the same keyhole and thus ensure that the baddie wins a darwin.

In the end this movie is about bad choices that guys behind the camera make. Do you make a slick action movie or a documentary on sharks, fish and coral around Bahamas? This crew decided to make both but ended up with neither.

Do you want to make a funny movie or just be unintentionally funny? This is easy, be unintentionally funny. Eva and I were laughing throughout the second half thanks to useless dialogue.

Do want a proper villian or get confused whether your protagonist is a hero or a villian. This was the worst part of the movie. Make a proper villian yaar, not a stupid hero who betrays others close to him only for him to chill 2 seconds later and transfer 20% of all the treasure you find into a bank a/c of the guys you betray in the first place.

Sheesh... If I had 120 crores to spend on a movie like Blue, I would definitely include KK in a Bikini and shoot more of LD in a Bikini as well. That's the only thing that works in the movie. Rest of it sucks. From the uninterested "acting" of a pauchy Sanjay Dutt to a pathetic plot (even by Bollywood's low standards for good stories). 

On the whole, the concept is good, but the execution and direction is rubbish. 

I want my money back (and time, cause I missed the first half of the Brazilian GP. :-( )

post race blues

Well, that must have been quite a good GP. I missed half the race because of two reasons - 

1. Stupid Times of India doesn't publish TV times
2. I went to see Blue thinking that the race would start 1 hour later (1030 IST) instead of the actual 930. 

Congrats to Button and Brawn! Its amazing how this team didn't exist even last year and yet they come back and win. This must be one of the most romantic moments in all sport (No... Mr Gill, F1 is a sport and not just entertainment)..

An Inglourious Reveiw

Just got back from watching Inglourious Basterds and no, I will not explain the typos.

This movie has to be one of Tarantino's weirdest movies. I know all his movies are weird but this is unlike any other Tarantino movie. Sure, there is copious amounts of violence, absurdist themes, irrelevance to time and space, but this movie takes the cake. Would I watch it again? Sure, I would. Was I entertained? Sure, I was. But did I understand the movie? Not really.

I went to the movie expecting Kill Bill but what I got was cartoonish Pulp Fiction and mean this as a complement. Deux Machina is the name of the game. This happen because they have to. People appear and disappear as required. This movie does not give answers, but instead does homage to the B-movies of the 70s and 80s. Its almost like an old South Indian movie (pick any - Tamil, Kannada, Telugu or Malayalam.. It doesn't matter). Y'know where the hero is atleast twice the age of the heroine, has a huge pauch, can't dance, but still has a James Bondish role. Funnily, Inglourious Basterds does that as well in a broader scene. Its pure entertainment and yet would please the critics.

I did like? Let me put it this way. I didn't realize how quickly the time passed. The movie is great but as with every Tarantino movie completely different from what you have ever seen.

I'm not sure if Brad Pitt's was acting the way he did, or was it just bad. I didn't like the way he played his role, but Christoph Waltz was pure gold. His portayal of the Nazi Col Hans Landa was magical. I read somewhere that Tarantino thought that the role of Hans Landa was unplayable, but Christoph's rendering of it was just amazing.

Go watch it if you can. Don't expect answers. Don't expect logic but you will be entertained. Govinda-David Dhawan movies have no logic but are highly entertaining. So is this, in a dark humour kind of way.

Kimi's back to the future

There are some thoughts that Kimi will be back at McLaren from next season and how it would pan out. On the whole I think the whole Kimi + Ferrari deal never really seemed right. It may have be a bit of luck that he won the 2007 championship, but it was a bit of bad luck that made him miss out on the 2003 and 2005 championships. 

On the whole, I think he's a better driver in a car which has "stopped development". The 2003 challenge was on the B spec 2002 McLaren with the 2003 car failing to pass FIA safety tests amongst other things. 

If he moves back to McLaren, I buying a Finnish Flag!

Sri Raga Varna - Sami Nine

ರಾಗ | ಶ್ರೀ | ಆಧಿ ತಾಳ
ಆರೊಹನಾ: ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ಸ'
ಅವರೊಹನಾ: ಸ' ನಿ ಪ ದ ನಿ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಗಾ ರಿ ಸ

|| ಪಾ, ಪಮ ರಿಗರಿಸ ನೀ. ಪ.ನಿ.ಸ.ರಿನಿ.|
ಸಾ, ಮಿ- ನಿ--- ನ್ನೆ ಕೊ------ರಿ
ಸಾ,,, ನಿ.ಸ ರಿಗರಿಸ ರಿಮಪನಿ ||
ರಿ--- ಯ----- ನ್ನಾ-ನು

|| ಪಮಾ ನಿಪನಿ ಮಪ ರಿಗಾರಿ ನಿ.ಸರಿಗ |
ಚ-- ಲಾ-- ಮ- ಸೇ-- ಯ---
ರಿಸಾನಿ. ಪ.ನಿ.ಸರಿ ಗರೀಸ ರಿಮಪನಿ ||
ಮೇ-- ಗಾ---- ದೊ-- ರಾ---

|| ನೀ,,,, ಸ'ನಿಪಮಾ ರಿಗರಿ ಸರಿ |
ಭೂ--- ಮಿ- ನೀ ವೇ- ಲ-
ಸಾ,,,, ಮರಿಪಮ ನಿಪ ನಿನಿಮಪ ||
ಯು--- ಶ್ರೀ-ಗ- ರ್ಭ್ -ಪು-ರಿ-

|| ನಿಸ'ರಿ' ಗ'ಗ'ರಿ' ಸ'ರಿ' ನಿಸಾ'ನಿ ಪನಿಸ'ರಿ' |
ನೀ--- ವಾ---- ಸ-- ----- ಪ----
ಸ'ನೀ ಪದನಿ ಪಮ ರಿಗಾರಿ ನಿ.ಸರಿಮ ||
--ಶ್ರ್ ಪ--- -- ತೇ-- ಶ್ವ-ರ--


ಚಿಟ್ಟೆ ಸ್ವರ

|| ಪಾ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ರಿ ಸ ಸ ನಿ.ನಿ.ಪ.ನಿ.ನಿ. |
ಸಾ ಸ ನಿ.ನಿ.ಪ ನಿ.ಸ | ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||
|| ಪ ಮ ನಿ ಪ ಸ'ನಿ ರಿ'ಸ'ಗ'ರಿ'ಸ'ನಿ ಪ ನಿ ಸ'ರಿ |
ಗ'ರೀ'ಸ'ನಿ ಪಾ ಮ | ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

ಚರಣ

|| ಸಾ',,,, ಸ'ನಿಪಪಮ ರಿಗರಿಸರಿ |
ಕಾ---- ಮಾ-ಕೋ- ಟ----
ಸಾ,,,, ನಿ.ಸರಿಗರಿಸ ರಿಮಪನಿ ||
ಸು್ಂ-- ದಾ-ರ--- ನ್ನೇ-ನ್ನೇಲು

|| ಸಾ' , , , , ರೀ' ನೀ ಪಾ ಮಾ |
ರೀ ಗಾ ರೀ ಸಾ ಸಾ ರೀ ಮಾ, ಪಾ ನಿ ||

|| ನೀ , , , , ಸ'ನಿ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ನೀ. |
ನೀ. ಸ.ನಿ.ಪ.ಮ. ಪ.ನಿ.ಸ.ರಿ. ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

|| ಮಾ , , , , ಪ ನಿ ಮ ಪ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ |
ಸಾ , , , , ನಿ ಸ | ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||
|| ಪ ನಿ ಸ' ರಿ' ಗ' ರಿ' ರಿ' ಗ' ರಿ' ರಿ' ಸ' ನಿ ಪ ನಿ ಸಾ' |
ರೀ' ನೀ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ನಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

|| ನೀ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ನೀ. ಪ. ಮ. ಪ. ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ |
ನೀ. ಸ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ರಿ ಸ | ನೀ. ಸ ರಿ ಮ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ||
|| ನೀ. ಸ ರಿ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಸ ನೀ. ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ಪ ||
ನಿ ಸ' ರಿ' ನಿ ಸ' ನಿ ಪ | ನೀ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

|| ಸಾ' , , , , ಸ' ರಿ' ನಿ ಸ' ಪ ನಿ ಮ ಪ ರಿ ಗ |

ರಿ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸಾ ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

ಸ ನೀ ಪ ದ ನಿ ಪ ಮ ರಿ ಗಾ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಸಾ |

ಸ ನೀ. ಪ. ನಿ. ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ರಿ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

ಸ' ರಿ' ಗ' ನಿ ಸ' ರಿ' ಪ ನಿ ಸ' ಮ ಪ ನಿ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ಸ |

ರಿ ಮ ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ಸ' ರಿ' ಗ' ರಿ' ರಿ' ಸ' ಸ' ನಿ |

ರಿ' ನೀ ಸ' ಪ ನಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ಮಾ ಪ ರಿ ಗ ರಿ ಸ |

ರಿ ನೀ. ಸ ಪ. ನಿ ಸ ರಿ ನಿ. ಸ ರಿ ಸ ರಿ ಮ ಪ ನಿ ||

Predictions for Monzo

Now that the dust has settled over Fisi's move, here are some outrageous predictions about the race weekend at Monza.

1. Fisi will be out qualified by both Force Indias.
2. A Toyota will qualify on Pole. The same Toyota will finish outside the points.
3. Kimi will be seen eating gelato during Qualifying. 
4. During the some tv conference, Alonso will be seen trying to make Fisi look like he has rabbit ears by doing a 'V' with his hand.
5. Barrichello will win the race.

Any takers?

Now its interesting

So.... There are cracks in the FOTA wall. Mad max and his whipping coterie must be laughing. No test for Schumacher! 

Ya! 

I for one applaud this. Schumacher was a great driver and in my view will win atleast 1 if not 2 races this year. However, Haug comment that by letting Schumacher test is the sporting thing to do, is pure rubbish. If anything, Schumacher went very near the edge of what is sporting and what is not. There were times that he did cross that line. Even his most ardent fans will no doubt agree that he revelled in mindgames. Sporting gesture towards him. No way. 

What's in the rules are the rules. They apply to everyone.

Todi si magic

I spent nearly the whole day playing thodi raga on my violin. My back pains and my left index finger has a permanent groove! Time well spent, because I was struggling with raga. After 6 hours of practice, I can finally say, that I getting some bhava (or emotion)

Nobody ever said that Carnatic music was easy, but getting this raga right is really tough. I changed my finger technique a couple times today. The scale being

• Shadja (S)
• Shuddha Rishabha (R1)
• Sadharana Gandhara (G2)
• Shuddha Madhyama (M1)
• Panchama (P)
• Shuddha Dhaivatha (D1)
• Kaishiki Nishadha (N2)

I would normally play R1 and D1 with my index finger, G2 and N2 on my middle finger and M1 and the upper Octave S again with my index finger by drawing my hand up. However, the G2 and N2 were just not sounding right.

I tried to play G2 and N2 with my index finger itself, esp. when they are part of an ascending or descending note procession. Only when I needed to stop the procession at G2 or N2, I tried to use the middle finger.

So, a sequence like S'N2D2 would be played with just the index finger, or even a M1G2M1 would be with the index finger only, relying on my hand and wrist slides. But a sequence like PD1N2 would use 2 fingers. That of course assuming that the song's lyric goes as such.

The impact? Not so good for my neighbours because this bit of experimentation happened during the afternoon siesta but it did sound far better. Played it to my teacher and she agreed that the technique was now correct and what I was playing earlier didn't sound right.

I'm still a beginner but its getting interesting by the day. I wonder what my scary friend would say about this? Scary??

No pain, No gain, eh?

Nostradamus springs to a massive comeback

(sic).. LOL...

Now that Schumacher is confirmed to race as Massa's replacement, here's a list of things to look forward to and a list of predictions (pinch of salt).

I look forward to -

1. Seeing Schumacher and Kimi face off. Kimi was at his best when fighting Schumacher. I hope this will motivate him.
2. Hearing Schumacher pit to car during the race. Ferrari never allowed this while he was actively racing. This time, it will great if we get to hear what he has to say.
3. Seeing Monza and SPA. Will not miss any of the remaining races, but these will be special.

There are plenty of comparisions cropping up between Lance Amstrong's comeback and Schumacher temp'ing for Massa. Here's my thoughts.

1. Amstrong spent a year in preparation for this year's tour. Schumacher has 3 weeks.
2. Amstrong was mentally prepared when he made the decision and he made it for himself. Schumacher's decision seems to be on the spur of the moment.

Predictions

1. Schumacher will outqualify Kimi in Valencia
2. Renault will lose their appeal to race in Valencia. The reason given by FIA - we have a 7 year WDC. Who cares if a 2 time spanish champ cannot race?
3. He will win atleast 1 race this year.....
4. So will Kimi..
5. If he wins more that 2 races, he will sign up full time for 2010.
6. Renault and Toyota will follow BMW out next season, and so we will have Ferrari, McLaren racing three cars....The 3 drivers for 2010 ferrari will be Schumacher, Alonso and Kimi.
7. Schumacher will lapped.... at Spa.... in pouring rain..... by Adrian Sutil
8. DC will replace Nelson Piquet at Renault.
9. Ferrari will finish 3rd or higher in the constructors this year.
10. 2 guys of Indian Origin will come to blows over Schumacher's gamesmanship at the Singapore GP..

An argument

Recollecting that discussion I had with my 22 month old darling.

Dew - Give me Minnie (soft fluffy doll and Dew's favorite toy)

Me - No, Minnie is mine. 

Dew rushes over, snatches Minnie away and gives it a huge hug.

Me - Ok, then Dew is mine.

Dew - No, Dew is Mom's. 

Me - Noooooo, Dew is Dad's. (In a whinging tone)

Dew - Noooooo, Dew is Mom's. .... Mom's baby is Dew.

Me - Then what is Dad's?

Dew - Toys are Dad's. (In an authoritative, school principal type tone)

Me - Which ones?

Dew - Only the Lego blocks. (In a strict, and almost dismissive tone)

Now, re-read the whole post in Kannada and you will have the exact conversation that I had with the precious one. 

LOL. That made my day. 

What a relief

The family is back after their trip to London. Man! The young one has learnt a lot of new words in 10 days. In the afternoon she and I went down to get some stuff from the car. She quickly climbed into the passenger side and said - "Lets go for a round".

So, I took her to the supermarket nearby and told her we will get some sugar as we were out. We picked it up and went back towards home. As I turned into the driveway, she said, "Lets go for a little longer round". I told her that the drive was over and its now time to head home. 

Once we got home, she ran to Eva and proudly said, "We have got some Sugar". 

She's growing up really fast.

Is it worth it?

Tweeting? Absolutely... Having spent the last few months mainly on twitter and spending very little time on my blog, here's what I have realized.

Twitter is good for

1. Searching for info. Ask a question and it might get answered by a person in the know quite quickly. Not the same as IRC but still worthwhile. 
2. Keeping upto date. This is the most useful thing. People post tons of links everyday and usually to a blog post. Today's news and "in" thing that is just made for twitter.
3. Tracking subjects of your interest. You can search for #hashtags and with some client even follow them. That way, you get the latest info on new blog posts, interesting tidbits etc.. I typically follow techie stuff like #ruby, #perl, #emacs, #eclipse and most importantly #f1.
4. Following what celebs do. Not all are interesting and even the interesting ones don't always share interesting things but there are always snippets of interest. For the Indian male, there is Gul Panang and Priyanka Chopra on twitter.

Twitter sucks at

1. Creating real content. Very useful at sharing a blog post url but pretty limited at creating real big info.
2. Talking about yourself. Its just boring to find out that someone just woke up.
3. Archiving info. You can find that blog post from 2 years ago (and possibly even cringe), but nothing beyond a few thousand tweets on twitter.

On the whole, get on twitter if you haven't. Yes, there is a point to it and No, its not going to replace blogs and real content.

A quick poll

Family members who have seen London

1. Wife - Yes
2. Daughter - Yes (at age 20 months)
3. Brother and his family - Yes (In fact, even lived there for a while)
4. Dad/Mom - Yes
5. Paternal Grandparents -Yes
6. Maternal Grandparents - Yes

Family members who have NOT seen London

1. Me - No

How weird is that? I must be the black sheep of the family. Shortsighted indeed.

A new challenge

I went for a physical checkup yesterday. Its part of my new Gym program. The physio made me stand on a machine and hold on to two rods. Within a minute, the machine spat out some ugly statistics.

1. My BMI is Normal, Ya!
2. My fat mass is high, Oh Oh :-(
3. My muscle mass is low.. Damn.
4. Water retention is poor.
5. BMR is below normal.

So, the machine says that I'm basically a skinny guy, with not muscles, but due to my sedentary lifecycle, I have poor metabolism which is making me gain fat on my tummy. Oh, and I don't drink enough water.

I came back home and told this to Eva. "Big Deal", she said. "I don't need a machine to tell me that about you. Your arms and legs thin, your waist is twice what it should be and I keep telling you to drink more water".

Having spent a good amount of money on the Gym and having got this advice (from a machine) and gleeful sarcasm from the significant other, I have decided to take it seriously this time.

My goals.
1. Reduce my weight by 10 kgs
2. Increase my muscle mass by 1-2 kgs
3. Knock the know-it-all grin from the buttercup's face.

The gym (J P Nagar Branch) is pretty good and adds to the motivation. The staff are really friendly, and very helpful.

Myopic view of funny,, fitness

The votes are out

Don't want to vote for Congress, because of the Reservation issue. Arjun Singh really made sure that they are not in my radar. I'm not against affirmative action, but am against the incompetent implementation of it. The really disadvantaged and exploited classes will not get any benefit from Reserveration. It is the "creamy layer" that exploits Reservation. It was Arjun Singh in a TV interview who said that he believes Reservation is forever and does not believe that the "creamy layer" should be excluded. Perhaps a 1000 years from now, we will still have different castes in India hankering after a "Backward caste" tag.

Don't want to vote for BJP, because of increasing communalism from them. Their brand of Hindutva does not match my Hindu values of tolerance, acceptance of different points of view and a multi-facetted spiritual reality. Jainism influenced Hinduism by bringing in the concept of Puja, Veg Food (before that we were all about Animal sacrifice, and Yajnas). Buddhism influenced Hindu towards philosophy and higher thought (before that we were about rituals). Christian influences brought in charitable work (before that we were all about enriching ourselves.  This is not what the BJP stand for and it does not match my values.

Don't want to vote for JD-S, because of Deve Gowda and how he paralyzed development in Karanataka. Plus, their party projects a pro-rural bent but actually does nothing of note for the rural poor. Didn't do anything for the rural rich either and spent all his time in useless rhetoric.

Don't want to look at SP, because they want to outlaw English, Computers and the Internet (Its true and part of their Manifesto). Apparently by banning these urban evils, the rural poor get a chance to compete. I wonder what the SP Movie Stars will look like without the magic of computerized editing, soft lens, and other technological advances that so hinder our rural masses.

Don't care about the Commies, because they are living in the past. Their blind hatred of the West may have been fashionable a couple of decades back, but that's just archaic today. Its their lack of pragmatism that caused Jyoti Basu to miss out on the Prime Ministership a decade back.

Don't want the DMK because of all the pro-LTTE stand that they have. Prabhakaran is a damn terrorist. I still remember the fear that was in Mysore about the LTTE wanting to blow up KRS. Today MK has the gall to talk about friendship with LTTE. 

Don't like the AIADMK because of their heroine-worship. I still remember the TV images of Pannerselvam, the CM of TN, prostrating himself as if JJ was a goddess. I don't believe in worshipping human beings.

Don't understand the BSP because of their penchant for building statues, parks and other eye candy glorifying the Dalit cause. If they really care for the Dalit cause, they should spend the money in uplifting the disadvantaged and oppressed rather than building gaudy crap.

So, who do I vote for? No one?

Myopic view of bangalore, elections, 2009

Fake IPL Player!

This is a great blog. Nice tidbits about KKR. All bets are off on who the mystery blogger is. Seems to be a Cal boy. No real names in the blog but its pretty obvious who he means.

I really liked the description about a certain commentator - Kishen Kanhaiyya. Looks like Ravi Shastri to me. Plus there are others. A former Captain Lord Almightly - no doubt about that one. A opening batsman - Calypso King - again no issues there and finally an Indian Fast Bowler - "Little John".

Equally interesting is his description of the coach and his entourage.

Blogging at it best! Recommended Reading, I just hope it continues.

Myopic view of funny, cricket

Bento C&H

Bento is really cool. Check out this C&H version.

Australian F1 GP 2009 Winners and Losers

Winners

1. Brawn GP. This is perhaps one of the greatest if not the greatest fairy tale story in the history of all sport, let alone F1. To come in to race with just 7 days of running, huge uncertainty for months. The cynics may say that this is after all just Honda in sheep's clothing, but let's not forget that this team got its engine deal with Mercedes less that 1 1/2 months. Its amazing how they put that engine into a car designed for something else.
2. Button. Its stating the obvious, but he's won his 2nd GP.
3. Red Bull. Even though they threw away points, they seem to be the fastest non-diffuser team. It also looks like KERS is a handicap in Qualifying. Since RB has no KERS they are better at Qualifying, but they also have the speed during the race.
4. Lewis Hamilton. To start dead last and yet finish 3rd is pretty special. That too with a car that most people have written off!
5. Beumi. 2 points on debut. Good one.

Losers

1. Ferrari. I'm sure they are thinking about last year where they didn't score points till the 3rd race and yet won the constructors and also came within a point of winning the driver's championship. However, I don't think that is probable this year. There's no scope for testing. Plus Brawn looks like they have a second a lap over them at this point. Plus having Massa make very negative statements doesn't bring in confidence.
2. Webber. He definitely got it wrong this GP. I don't know if it is bad luck or just plain bad driving, but every race I remember seems to have him in either a crash or the wrong side of a pitstop or the rains or something. Plus Vettel really rubbed it in.

Myopic view of f1, formula1, australian, 2009, gp, winners, losers

BMTC Volvo buses

Its really good!

I took the bus today to work. It takes about an hour and 15 mins. I caught the bus at 7.50. It reached the office around 9.00.

Airconditioned, smooth riding and very comfortable. I was able to read my newspaper on the way. Usually reading anything while on a vehicle in India gives you a headache or worse, this bus turned out to be surprising good!

Bus schedules and other information is available at http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/volvo.htm

How to burn yourself out

Step 1. Agree to a WW (actually only between US and Ind) teleconf at 6.00PM. The call is pretty important as its a status call where you are one of the presenters

Step 2. Inform Spouse

Step 3. Spouse calls at 5.45 as there is a deadline and she needs to fix something ASAP.

Step 4. Spouse calls in temporary babysitter (a.k.a Granddad) to take over from the real babysitter. GP picks up Granddaughter at 6.15 (win-win for Granddad and Granddaughter).

Step 5. Pick up the little one (already fast asleep) from GP's house at 9.15. From now on, your KRA is to keep her asleep.

Step 6. Check if Spouse is at home. No.. She's still fire-fighting

Step 7. Juggle bundle-of-joy (starting to stir), car keys (which you drop to the garage floor), and house keys

Step 8. Enter house. Find Master bedroom door shut. (As per pre-arranged protocol).

Step 9. Still juggling the Apple-of-my-eye (nearly awake), car keys and house keys, search for master bedroom keys in the study. Don't find it, and so give up.

Step 10. Put the cuppy-cake in her room with the plan to move the crib after dinner. Pray to non-existent superior being that the sugar-plum remains in dreamland. She does!! (Superior Being does exist!)

Step 11. Search for keys and find it! Ya!

Step 12. Change and head to kitchen.

Step 13. Bad luck strikes. No rice. Clean rice, and put the rice cooker to work.

Step 14. Read a blog post about the virtues of having software engineers leave on time - http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2009/03/developers-should-not-be-allowed-to.html. 

To add salt to the burn, skip breakfast, have lunch at 1.20 (instead of the usual 12.20), avoid eating anything since that time.

If that doesn't kill you. Rinse, and Repeat.

Avoiding Traffic

What's the best time to avoid Bangalore traffic in morning? That's what I spent my time thinking today while driving to work. I left home at 7.30 and reached at 8.10. If I were to leave anything after 8.00 it would take me an hour at the least. The peak rush hour is 8.30 to 10.30. So by leaving early, I saved 20 minutes at the least and close to an hour as compared to rush hour.

Leaving for office early, Pros:
1. 20 minutes saved.
2. Not many people in the office, so I get some work done.
3. Fewer autos.

Leaving for office early, Cons:
1. Instead of office traffic, you hit school traffic.
2. Not many people in the office, true..... except my boss and his boss. So.... I'm cornered in the morning.
3. More School buses.

Leaving for office late, Pros:
1. Consistent time. 1 hour. You expect some jams, whereas in the morning, the jams are unexpected and hence more irritating.
2. Most people are already in and busy. The boss is past his "productive" time and so, I can actually get some work done.
3. Fewer cars.

Leaving for office late, Cons:
1. Instead of getting on to the road, you hit a traffic jam right outside the apartment gate.
2. You end up working late because you don't have an excuse for leaving early. You can't leave between 5.30 and 8.00, because of rush hour. So, you end up leaving only by 8.30 or maybe even 9.30
3. Bad parking spot.

Myopic view of bangalore,, traffic,, funny

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