Saturday, May 27, 2006

Now that is entertaining research

You love a song..
You worship an artist..
Wonder if there are others
With similar style, music ?

Then go here to the Music Genome Project that will identify artists/ songs based on structural similarities

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Finally...

a Da Vinci truce?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Your kid will probably curse you

If named Harpo, Neveah, Yttrep or any reversed name. After exhausting the list of biblically flavored names - Moses / Apple, the trend is now to flip the names. I had classmates named Modesty/ Patience and I thought that was weird. Soon all post 2000 born kids when in a room will form clues to a CROSSWORD puzzle. Each name will be an anagram/ palindrome..

Ooo! Wait how about a pangram: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
What a wonderful and unique name that would be ! And you would have to explain 15 years later: "But quick brown fox no one in the whole wide world has that name. Really you cannot be upset with that."

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Just what I needed

Mobile Clipboard

Monday, May 15, 2006

Season Finale - Grey's Anatomy & Desp Housewives

Before yall go ewww that I watch DH I must confess that this is the first season that I have watched it so diligently. And I got hooked on to GA only the past 2 months! And is obvious that GA is the clear winner over DH. The only interesting aspect of DH is story about that the working woman with kids (whose husband is having an affair). Severed fingers and lock-ups in basement really does not gel well with the overall motif.

Now about GA. Sunday's episode was a shocker, so much that I cannot wait for tonight's 2 hour spl! Moi curses self for not being hooked onto the one good thing on idiot box much earlier. May be I should seriously consider renting the earlier seasons' dvds. Well, Izzy has pretty much killed Denny. I don't see Burke performing a miracle as he seems to be stone cold. Did I mention my favorite characters - Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang. Denny over dreamy Sheperd.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Super Sweet Sixteen on MTV

This program has drawn quite a lot of attention in the media. It is an unapolegetic portrayal of massive expenditures in the name of celebrating one's 16th birthday. I watched a couple of back to back episodes and here are some observations:
  • It seemed like it was mostly only the girls who wanted to enjoy this kind of an extravagance. (I watched 4 episodes and all featured girls, a fair sample I think)
  • The bigger the party the better. Many openly stated that they wanted to use this occassion to show off how rich they are.
  • Being Daddy's little girl opening the flood gates assured anything they wanted.
  • The mothers seemed more sensible than the fathers, although that did not really help. In fact, it added to the required dramatic element of some kind of a show down between the mom and daughter.
  • The "entrance" to the party is the most crucial aspect. Varied from adorning oneself with a snake to riding into the venue in a helicopter.
  • The surprise gift is almost always an expensive car.
  • The guests of the party seemed to be having more fun than the birthday girl.
When you think about it, this is precisely what every teen wants - attention, make your peers jealous and feel very special. All this differs only with respect to the monetary scale used.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Proposal Defense

Aced it!

Now I can get back to normal stress free life.

Thanks dear mogudu.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Online Mystery Game

Cracking the davinci set of puzzles from google whet my appetite for more. After some serious browsing I found 2 wonderful mystery games that can be played online. They star Nick Bounty- a detective right out a Chase novel- who does all that is expected of him. Falls for the good looking dame, talks in an offhand manner, stays nonchalant in the face of danger. I thoroughly enjoyed solving both cases:

A Case of the Crabs and
The Goat in the Gray Fedora

You can also dl the games and play them offline.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

David Blaine -- A Shrivelled Triumph

My first thoughts are to let my acerbic tongue run wild about Blaine's obssessive attention seeking disorder. However, my second set of thoughts tell me that his stunt proved that he was human after all. Had he broken the world record for holding his breath underwater then it would be attributed to his being a magician. But yesternight proved that he was just another guy who tried really hard to push the limits of human endurance. And he deserves kudos for risking the embarassment of failure.


Sunday, May 07, 2006

TN Election Time-- Vote For Lok Paritran

PLEASE DO VOTE.

You don't need a Voters ID to do so. If your name is in the electoral list just show your college/office ID, ration card, driving license etc and still vote.

Check out their melodius theme song here or Download

I think the raaga is Karnataka Devagandhari in Carnatic ( Bhimpalas in Hindustani music)

Country gone dogs

Excerpt from a NY Times interview with the founder of Dog Psycholgy center in LA :

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And you believe that we're projecting our own neuroses onto our dogs, even when we leave the house?

If what you do is say, "I'm sorry, baby, Mommy has to go, blah, blah, blah," the dog doesn't understand what you are saying. He only understands that you are in a soft state and he is dominating you.

So what departing words would you prefer we say to a dog?

"Bye, man."

Do you think it is O.K. for a dog to sleep in bed with his owner?

Yes, because a dog pack sleeps together. But the thing is, you have to invite the dog into your bed.

Should a dog be allowed on the living-room couch?

Make sure you invite them. The whole point is that you always remind them who owns the couch. The pack leader reminds them who runs the show.

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Henceforth, we shall witness scenes where :

Dog-Owner with tearful eyes and quivering voice, whispers boldly -- Bye man!

Dog is puzzled.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Free Comic Book Day

One does love these ideas, especially when one notices the free bit. Check if stores near your area are participating in this venture and grab a copy. Me thinks good old Archie comics are waiting for you.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Assert your Identity you malleable Indian

I am proud to be a Hindu. However, I am ashamed that I probably know more about other religions than I do about my own. Hinduism, unlike Christianity does not have an aggressive policy of propagating its teachings. Unfortunately, this supposed weakness has been exploited and as a result today we have the world's oldest religion with all its wisdom shelved into obscurity.

Starting with the history school text books that drum the baseless theory of Aryan superiority into our head to the scornful fascination for the fair skin, as a nation we have failed to recognise and acknowledge our rich traditions and customs. We wait for the white man to interpret our Upanishads/ Vedas and believe in the wonderful properties of turmeric only after published research from some Ivy League university. Why do we undermine what we have and yet accept the same from a different source ?

I am not a member of VHP nor am I against other religions. In fact, I am guilty of the some the situations described below. All I hope for is that the youth of India have the right attitude. Is it not true that -
  • You think it is barbaric when your father uses the neem twig to brush his teeth and yet is perfectly acceptable to buy a glittering tube of tooth paste marketed by some greedy corporate as "New Paste with NEEM!"
  • You prefer the western medicine to the o! so yucky kashayam (which would have cured your stomach ache)
  • You prefer fast food from McDonalds to Murugan Idly's healthy steamed fare.
  • You know all about Coldplay and stand in line for hours to get a ticket to Bryan Adam's concert (where you get roughed and pretend to enjoy it) but have no clue about Carnatic music and think it is cool not to know about M.S. Subbalakshmi.
  • You would rather pay 80 Rs for an unimaginative coffee rather than drink delicious coconut water for 10 Rs (which is what you need to keep cool in the extreme heat of our country!)
  • You expand your vocabulary to accommodate words like F*** and yet plead ignorance about your mother tongue.
  • You think it is more fashionable to wear a wedding band rather than the traditional thali. There have been reactions as extreme as "Who cares about the thali, is so disgusting". Will you ever hear a Westerner dismiss his/her traditions ?
If you cannot stop aping the West, atleast incorporate their values of discipline, punctuality and management. As Vivekananda said, "Awake, Arise"!