Monday, November 15, 2004

Death to Zonga

hmm..do i DARE? do i have the guts? do i actually bombard the readers with yet another blog? [biting nails furiously for a second to decide. Realization that bitable nails do not exist pushes me over the edge] Go for it sister! screams my typing-addicted fingers.whoooosh [sound of blog tornado hitting you..coz you still readin this aint ya?]

well oook--since y'all insist so.hey, hey..stop the jostling.everyone gets to read. its a blog after all, not a limited edition newspaper.Its official, the whole world is in on this conspiracy.Manchurian candidate be damned, (actually spare the manchurian.and box it to go please?) this conspiracy tops it all. listen carefully as i outline this daring plot to corrupt the world and earn greedy millions off it.


2000 A.D-Greedy Dr.Zonga discovers a brilliant way to fleece millions from the unsuspecting world. He cackles evilly at his master plan, one that cannot go wrong, carefully plotted and schemed in a way only his devious mind would work. He proudly looks at his partners in crime, and booms in manner of mogambo "Begin" and the wheels of his world-destructive plan started to roll.
The effects of his deceitful plan werent apparent initially..a few oomph models planted on TV Ads..digitally enhanced (or is that dehanced) waistlines started appearing in magazines...desirable weights went from healthy to undernourished..definitions of beauty and pretty included waistlines that could be bangle-sizes instead.soon, vanity started taking over as the world's fav hobby. food portions reduced to bite-sized salads for lunches and dinners. everybody started panicking about weights and waists...Dr.Zonga laughed evilly in his cave and pushed into motion the second part of his plan--malls and department stores started swapping dress sizes--"L" sizes became "M" and the medium sizes were swapped with "S". Worse still, "S" size were replaced by children sizes of clothes. women started to panick when they realized they could no longer fit into their M size dresses..and the shock of having to switch to L sizes instead terrorized them. Diet plans invaded the market like bees when the beehive is broken. Atkins became a national icon. Dr.Zonga had even invaded the detergent market, contaminating the detergents and soaps so they shrunk clothes when washed. Horrified women discoverd clothes bought yesterday didnt fit them today and ran weeping to diet clinics, all run by Dr. Zonga. He minted millions by saving cloth and making smaller sized clothes and selling them in L and M sizes. he secretly made deals with magazines and televisons to promote digitally altered pictures of celebrities. he laughed victoriously as the confused world ran helter skelter in search of the unattainable figure..his partners in crime, garment manufacturers, diet-clinic owners and the media popped open a bottle of champagne and claimed victoriously, "my favorite vice---vanity" in manner of Al pacino in Devil's advocate.

Moral of the story

when in the morning you wake
look at the weighing machine and shake
when in the mirror you look
and wish your waistline someone else took.
remember my friend, Dr.Zonga laughs.

When you go a-shopping
and find clothes where buttons apopping
you sit in the trial room and cry
about how fat you are and sigh,
remember, Dr. Zonga laughs

When you gaze wistfully at dessert
but the thought of calories make you hurt
and you stick to your sandpaper salad
remember, Dr.Zongo then sings a ballad.

when celebrities filled with fame
make you tear up in shame
when you wonder for the 100th time
a waist of 24! you pine!
remember, Dr. Zonga smirks.

as a guilt-ridden tiramisu eater,
sapna


Thursday, November 11, 2004

crash boom bang

welcoming myself back into blogosphere [applause dies down in manner of rock artiste song on CD]. and whats been happening while me gone? Bush re-elected (anyone actually surprised there?) Arafat died (in what has been now claimed to be the longest death since the death of Janet jackson controversy) uma bharti recorded the costiest temper tantrum ever and movies flooding the woods (holly and bolly) after almost a decade around diwali time.

While i look at my topic collection to pick and harp on,herez a though to munch on. I call home for the diwali talk---an act of utter pointlessness as i repeat the same questions and answers to 5 members of the family individually (actually its 4.but add one owing to disturbed connection and confusion at home with extension phones). after the initial pleasantries of wishing a happy diwali in chaste tamil (a feeble attempt, but diwali is the time i do a check-in with my southie roots). a quick check and compare on gifts/clothes received and the inevitable "what are you doing". answers to this may vary according to family members. Brother would've just woken up, mom would busily hustle around doing the same things she does everyday, except she looks more important today. Dad does the customary "rocket" at 5 AM and then waits for it to be 7 AM so he can start shooting calls. The usual "you called! i was JUST going to" followed by another round of pleasantry exchange. And at precisely 8:30 AM everyone is bored already. the amul chocolate dilemma of "too old for fireworks, too young to go and sleep again" dwells. Mom insists on a puja where everyone quickly runs out of prayers to recite and the time-biding happens till the ding of 10 AM when the TV springs to life with diwali specials (SUN TV no less. the format apparently remains the same -new releases, interview with a jaded star, interview with a new actor/actress (who may or may not know tamil) and the debate that for the life of me, i could never understand).Lunch follows soon enough and then a guilty nap (how can you sleep on diwali, mom complains as she turns over for another snooze)...and so on and so forth. Do i miss it? damn sure i do. Much earlier in my life i insisted mom recite her childhood stories of diwali that included waking at 4 AM to oil baths and unlimited firecrackers (as moms are wont to claim, they were the richest family on their street so had such luxuries). Wistful as i am on such strong diwali traditions, I do miss the ones at home with Sun TV and boxes of dry fruits some fella at dad's office insisted on distributing (stale nuts sometimes, but the fancy boxes were VERY reusable). But in these years away from home, guess what? i made my own little tradition. So what if diwali was when i decided it would be? (pref the saturday so that i can clean the home in the morning and rest the next day from that cleaning). So what if foodstuff made was bought at a "bharat bazaar" in cans and instant food packets? so what if everyone gaped at each other when we are supposed to pray coz nobody knew a prayer? (my guy has the best one, "everyone be happy" in tamil). So what if lighting diyas depended on where smoke-detectors didnt hover? Its my tradition, and my way of doing the diwali.

whooops..did i just get emotional and senti there? hm..looks like i did.pshaw! atleast its my first blog after eons...have already started typing the next blog so hurrah!! diwali brought me back to blogworld. without a bang!

regretting senti-blog immediately after typing it,
sapna



Thursday, October 07, 2004

Am disappointed in you, Helen!

well, there was potential, there was the "could have been", there was drama and hype..but no fizz was there? nope..not talking of the latest hindi flick folks..is St.Helens up in Washington..all that fizz for nuthin..could've atleast done something couldnt she? anyways.read about it on National Geographic

speaking of dismal flops, aishwarya was needled for her choice of formal westerwear for the premiere of bride and prejudice...some fella called it a "nightdown with a poodle at her neck". pish posh! who cares? well i do when i got 20 minutes of lunch actually...in anycase, the movie is being hyped about insanely..which sickens me..i mean, look what hype did to the likes of mani ratnam, farhan akhtar...in anycase, dont they know better than to let the media badger on it incessantly?

ooh in other news, Johhny Depp is gonna act in a movie titled shantaram..whoa! before rediff rides the " india is a global name now" vehicle, lemme give ya the scoop..the movie is set in india but is about an australian..phew! howmuchever i like the fella, scary visions of stumbling over hindi and trying to pass off as an indian, i dont wanna see.


well well well..sometimes you sitting there, contemplating and all those things..thinking of possibilities..and answers to profound questions like who am i? does god exist? and what happens if you pour gasoline down the toilet? well the first my mom would be happy to answer with a few choicy adjectives, for the second my brother will point at his mirror and the third, yahoo news takes responsibility for.check here

Profoundly,
Sapna

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Well Well Well

Now know how to split water from the milk and whipped cream from the dessert - those who asked "whither art me" or questions to that effect, here i am! and for those who didnt, you should know you are water or whipped cream equivalents in the blogging world.

Well well well..am back from a giddyingly enjoyable vacation and an equally giddyingly busy week (in my world..wednesday marks the end of the week..thursday and friday are wannabe weekdays). and what do i see? presidential debates with tongue-tied parrots, vice presidential debates with insane exaggerations and SP2 on my desktop! The first amuses me, the second doesnt interest me and the third alarms me.Gingerly felt around my desktop and browsers and wonder of wonders, my PC aint dead yet!Hurrah..i survived another SP attack!

In the local world, everything has been going on just fine without moi. ants comfortably took over the kitchen, inspite of feverent prayers my living room did not self-clean while me gone and the library charged me 30 c for a delayed book...do i care? nyaah..am too busy copying photos onto the PC and attacking them with myriad photo-editing tools. which brings me to the point of the blog (yeah yeah..miraculously i do have it sometimes)

Does one even realize how mind-boggling the world of digital cameras and photos have gotten? if you thought the evolution stopped at digital cameras and printers that could print the photos for ya..you deserve to rub your nose in digital mud. Tinkering around my yahoo photos this week, i found stuff as listed below:

1 embarassing snap of me, embarassing myself further in the kitchen ( in manner of cooking, if that puts ideas at ease)

a guide to taking great digital photos
a guide to photo editing software
a list of ways i could print me photos...fiddled around with it and hey presto! got a mail with our mini cooper as a fridge magnet!

After working on changing colors, creating musical slideshows of photos and creating disconnected movies out of 20 second clips (yep..am prancing around a beach in manner of sridevi to the music of late 80's romantic ballad in the end product), i finally pronounce myself ready for a sophisticated photo editing tool.trust me, its mind-boggling what you can do with photo-editing software these days..from 12 month calendars to magazine covers to collage and absolutely amazing edits and enhacements, they rock the photo world!

Best part is, its right there on your PC..not in some dingy dark room...photography can be a "do"able hobby now! all you need is your digital camera and a 40$ software...yahoo photos and suchlike even print it for 30c apiece. my fav? head-swapping features! muaahaaa..

am back in the blogosphere guys..more on my trip and news coming soon!

No more a hot-shot baby,
Sapna

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Off to wallpaper country

or so it seems on websites that list lodging in vermont.my ears got sick of listening to folks (actually one particular fella whoz been on the east coast enough to qualify speaking of fall colors incessantly)..so my brain readily agreed to a trip to the likes of vermont, maine and boston.kinda a patelpoint thing ya know? wha?? you dont know the patelpoint phenomenon?jeez..and you call yourself a patriotic netizen.shame on ya!even though its an invalid website (my giggling goat comrade conned me on this one), the concept of patel point is based on the notion that most indians compulsorily visit the socalled "tourist spots" just coz its called one.you know, the botanical garden and the lake in ooty varieties (since have lived in ooty, can promise there are way more cooler places around there).anyway, so its a tick mark thingie..mystery spot, check. golden gate bridge, check..mystery house in san jose, check. well, wanna do a check on fall colors so am off on a trip that includes alamo car rental (no guarantees on CD players, arent they a government-required accessory these days?) cottages with cheesy wallpapers (is this the kinda place where cottage cheese was born?) and long drives that go through woods that hopefully look like the background in "the hero". not the indian movie god no!! (i should know, dragged 10 folks to watch this trash in ahem a theatre)

Wallpaper my soul
sapna



Wednesday, September 29, 2004

I have a dream- and i aint MLK

I bet everyone read articles that go "Amisha patel chipped a toenail" to "Kareena kapoor is not a morning person".how could you not? its right up there, unblinkingly starting at you, from the headlines of rediff.coms and timesofindia.coms. The main page of any news website, i say, is like your front-page of newspaper. And even if the sanctity of newspapers are long since gone (dunno how the hindu is doing now), respect the frontpage.please.

Admittedly, it is but practical to expect a certain dilution of the lines that seperate such distinctions online. And i am the one who raises a bored eyebrow at all the remix-haters as well as the ones who lament "where did good ole quality songs go?". (am trying to prove a point that i am a 'progression' tolerant person). Evolution, like it or not, includes change. Remixes are a change, a fad, the same way mohammed rafi was to some. I bet my lunch that great grandmothers scoffed rafi and mukesh songs. so live with it, remixes and rap or not.

But i do have a problem when i am expected to be tolerant of demented news just coz "tabloid press" is the new fad...news is news, information, uninterrupted and preferably unpolluted. music, howmuchever you love it is still entertainment. Why would i see newsertainment as a useful source for either?and dont even get me started on the "caught inbetweeners", movie and music reviewers.

Therefore guys (or dudes if you prefer. i consider them gender neutral terms btw), i have a dream.not necessarily along the lines of MLK though. an institute to IITisque proportions, only its IIHA (right. as in the donkey or the war cry sound). Indian Institute of Humanities and Arts. For journalism, news reporting, creative writing or critique writing.yeah yeah laugh if you will..but in my head, its a glorious institute..with established journalists for teachers..vir sanghvi and prannoy royish folks as head of departments and admirable graduates. I have it all planned out, its got the journalism department, the News department, graduation programs in advertising, creative writing. ooh ooh..everything thats media and is right...A standard my friends, set by the highest in these fields. Standards never hurt anyone, atleast it distinguishes good from the bad. high schoolers will vie to get in, engineering wouldnt always be the field for anyone above 88.7% aggregate. of course, since it will be so damn successful i shall expand into other humanity programs as well as hire the top creative minds in and out of the country to participate. i will also earn oodles of money and start my own media company, but it will end up as a biased organization that eventually reports whats hot in tabloid news coz i need the money.

but before that happens, i will sit, a cuppa tea in hand..comfy in my sofa, browsing through crisp news, brilliant reporting and pathbreaking investigations that dont end at discovering how many stitches salman khan needed after pounding ash's door.

eeeehhhaaa
sapna

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Of earth shattering quakes and brain shattering thoughts

tsk tsk..spoke too soon didnt i?words flew outta my keyboard and i regretted it instanter..actually a couple of minutes later..you see, a certain righteously outraged MBA i know insisted on pointing me to this site..apparently MBA's ( a term not meant in a derogatory sense mind you. lets just classify all folks who compulsorily use words > 12 characters as MBA's shall we? even if it might be sewing a button, so you know where they stand linguistically) have come into the class of doctors, lawyers, etc. Apart from the singular similar factor being their payscales, they now share a penchant of creating "unknown but handily invented words".well, this site hosts a tool that helps you with the paradigm shifts, literally..it translates the multi-syllable words for your character challenged friends and family..hmm, note the especially sympathetic tone on the page. Do i really wanna be sympathized for my need for simplified language? but to give these guys credit, they atleast tried to create an "MBA dictionary", so to speak.
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/section_node/0,1042,sid%3D34248,00.html
In other shattering news, earthquake in central california guys..checkhttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=4&u=/ap/20040928/ap_on_re_us/calif_quakedidnt feel a thing though. reading the news shook me more than the earthquake itself...visions of cracking roads and falling bridges haunted me.. i could almost hear creaking and low rumbling...shudder shudder!and then, there was lunch.
new generation TV guys..tv shows over phone lines..for the TiVO enthusiasts and the downloadable movie geeks, herez a new hype to keep you happy..http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65105,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_11
a question though..is there such a a thing as "too many choices"? transitioning from watching news for the hearing impaired just coz there was nothing else, to watching whatever you feel, whenever you feel like and wherever you feel like, have we lost anything? does evolution have to necessarily mean we become more demanding?is it just me, or does anyone else see that breaking your head over 2000 movie choices for 2 hours, and then doing in-office yoga for work-related stress somehow seems ironic? is it just possible, that too many choices is actually too much of an overload? think about it...your brain is making choices from your toothpaste in the morning to your complicated coffee order to the right choice of traffic route home..and then therez "stress" that everyone complains of..if you were to simplify your life, in terms of choices,could you actually be more productive?


seemingly unproductive,
sapna



Damn Paradigm Shift

Thats it..I am officially creating a list of words i do not wish to hear..or read..ever again..and wait for my browser to include such a capability soon (google browser maybe? its in the plans apparently). First on my list? the infamous "paradigm shift". As a wise pal once observed, albeit cynically, paradigm shift will soon describe my furniture moving efforts. I moved my sofa to the corner of the room and the paradigm shift was phenomenal! bah! am all for newfound lingo mind you..but overuse is painful, be it of new words or my old cushions (jeans are exempt)..my list of peeve words?
Paradigm shift
Global village (who did this one?seriously,who created this term?)
Cutting edge technology

there should be an expiry date to these terms..I am also seriously planning to look into MBA curriculum to see if there is a sneak entry of linguistics 101 where the test is to create a term or phrase that can be silently unleashed onto suspecting (unsuspecting am not) readers and listeners..oooh..how about "Should the cutting edge technology in today's global village expect a paradigm shift?" could everyone please just simplify sentences and let others live?

I have great potential to end up in a "caught in the headlights" mode..there have been many a tongue-biting, head slapping moments..but i've never been caught surprised as i did when visiting my fav restaurant a couple of days back..yeah yeah! i know the hardcore meatlovers hate this place, but good ole southies like moi had to do a high-five to anyone who utters "saravanabhavan", if they can pronounce it that is..
so here i am, seated amidst roaring waves of children-screams..contemplating if i would seem like a glutton or just a food connoisseur when the waiter hops along to take moi order..i begin with my appetizer choice, when i hear a murmer from the guy..i blink rapidly, but proceed to the entree..and then sure as hell, i hear him right..he is excitedly applauding my choice with the top three favorite southie words "excellent! marvelous!beautiful!" umm..hello? i know there would be training days for waiters in the name of patience et al, but positive feedback for customer choices was a tad too much you think? what am i supposed to say at the end of my order? thank you for your feedback?the man is positively jumping around applauding my choices for god's sake! some MBA out there methinks, devising a customer interaction module for these fellas that includes an element of "applaud your customer choices" ..think of the effects of such a trend my friend, what if the grocery fella applauded your choice of tomatoes? or worse still, criticized your choice of junk food in the name of feedback? you are being judged dude, along with moms dads and siblings, along with bosses and unknown friends, you are being judged by the attendants, waitresses, store clerks and icecream vendors.screeeech!!

judgementally,
sapna


Monday, September 27, 2004

Robotics - No Nerd Stuff

Thats it..post "Da Vinci Code" (which i hear is a one-time hit book by the author..other books by him aint that good..izzat true?) am hooked,eyeballs and fingertips (to turn pages) to Isaac Asimov. I remember reading his short stories in junior school, but sortof got weaned into Nancy Drew and magazines before i could hit books again...reading his collection of short stories (called Isaac Asimov Gold collection or smtg..ha!who said reading helps memory?)..a couple of interesting stuff from the man...he contributed the words Psychohistory and robotics to the english dictionary..cool huh? what does it take to contribute to the english dictionary i wonder...have a neat set of words that i use myself, at selective inopportune moments with the sole aim of embarassing myself.. would they qualify? anyyways..i digress again (now THAT is my middle-name..digress).some stuff about his approach to story-writing...analogies..Now, take the theory of psychohistory (his preferred definition of the term is "a phenomenon not dissimilar to mob psychology- wherein you cannot predict the individual choices but can predict the mass psychology) ..he pulled it out as an analogy from quantum theory of gases, where you cannot predict the movement of one gas molecule but can fairly accurately define the theory of the whole mass of molecules based on known parameters..
Not nerdy stuff mind you..its a method to writing stories..just as people research into historical events and place their characters in it (ala Robert Ludlum or Fredrick Forsyth) or the totally frilly imagination of Sidney Sheldons..am no B.A in storywriting but the analogical way of story writing seems quite fascinating..more on Asimov as i devour books!

Anyways..the reason i was hungrily devouring books was a certain entity's undying interesting in Golf PGA tour..Couldnt bring myself to watch Golf too, so made myself comfy with a book with regular peeks into the telly when ads came on (its crazy i tell ya..i can watch ads for hours and skip hte actual show..i actually spend atleast a couple of hours a week watching ads incessantly while swiftly switching channels when the show comes on..adaholic anyone?) In anycase...i simply HAD to sit up boltright when the guy who came second or smtg (who cares?) excitedly tells the interviewer " yeah..i was on FIRE during the last few holes"..now! i know this common american phrase as used popularly..Unless its me cooking, when it has to be taken literally...it usually is something that a Mike Tyson says when he punches out someone..or when a race-car driver is zipping into the finish line..now thats being on fire...ever heard of a chess player suggesting he/she was on fire in the last game? Forgive me Vijay Singh wannabes, but when a golfer says he was on fire, i gotta smirk..not unlike how i would if my mom said she was on fire when she cross-stitched (which she doesnt btw..she figured she has a daughter, and outsourcing,like charity might as well start from home).

now for the weird news...a guy who was run over by a train, loses his legs, but still is fined for causing the train delay..wha?? nope, not kidding..think about it..the guy was beaten up in a bar, left on the tracks to die..gets run over..loses both legs..and hey presto! get a fine for train delay in his mailbox..heartless i tell ya..check it out here


Legs fine and unfined yet,
Sapna

Thursday, September 23, 2004

What's Up On Ketchup?

Crazy stuff actually - everyone knows the deal on Heinz ketchup. For the "caught unawares", the democratic nominee for prez's wife is the widow of the ketchup baron.phew..kinda like identifying that familiar face at weddings...anyyways..suddenly all the bbq parties and mcdonalds find themselves branded democratic (which they might as well be) if they use heinz ketchup..the true-blue republicans are either swearing off heinz ketchup(perfect opp for amchi maggi ketchup ya think?) or declaring themselves mustard-folk..well well well, its not by who you are, but what you eat that defines your party-loyalty..bring on the fries!!

In anycase, whats the big deal anyway...between bush and kerry, its all in the family according to an article here. The two are ninth cousins, twice removed if its to be believed. I dont need a degree in relational mathematics (ya think it exists?) to figure thats the same odds as me being related to Britney spears (ouch! or is that oops?) ..but seriously? am related to Jayalalitha and Hema Malini..so when i get obese or sleepy-voiced...blame it on me genes!

Btw...for all the folks who want indian TV as a change from reality shows here, freeze that though. preferably bury it. Ya know the Gudiya story right? (you don't? sheesh..wot WOULD you do without me i ask)..anyway, gudiya is the woman who remarried coz she thot her 10-day married hubby was lost in pakistan..and since was declared a deserter n all, was presumed dead..but then the fella returns..and village-folk are in a "moral" (note the quotes melord) dilemma...then a TV Show takes over..puts them all on the stage, new hubby (whose kid shez preggy with btw) old hubby, parents, gudiya, neighbors and milkman...and make instant-decisions based on kazis and suchlike, live on the telly i tell ya..and then send her home to old hubby..bah!! wonder if they plan to dub jerry springer or have a desi version of his show now?


anyways..onto the Fibber Fibonacci for the day..yesterday's winner is dharma (he listens to NPR instead of work)..and the rite answer was the story on german phone guys who are planning on cellphones that warn the user of body odor (as one of my loyal reader on sulekha.com asks, what if the fella wears a stinking perfume?ah well, never mind)...today's theme? What's in a name?

1) A man from Branson renamed himself to "They" with no lastname to prove that there is now a face to the word when people say "they say" or "they do this".
2) A prisoner of Ahmedabad prison renamed himself to "Mahatma Gandhi" to prove that he has reformed, after robbing and murdering 22 men in 3 years. Piece de resistance? he was pardoned the death penalty and given life imprisonment.
3) A couple in New York renamed themselves as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Doughlas so they could get into fancy restaurants and clubs easily while making reservations.

Happy to be,
Sapna







Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Trials and tribulations of my dollar bill

Hey..remember those 5 rupee notes in India that looked anything BUT 5 rupee notes? greased and stained and torn and cellotaped? dont see much of that on dollar bills here sadly (wasnt convincing the shop fella to take your note the worst?) but did find the link wheresgeorge.com stamped on it. was trudging down the office to get a bag of chips (yeah yeah..i will get FAT and obese..but atleast i died tasting food) anyways..its a website that traces your dollar bill.put in the data to where i found mine, with serial numbers et al..and discovered it was earlier unearthed by a clerk at a striptease bar. Much help THAT info was to me..cant really fathom whats the use to this..some possibilities?

a) The website itself - if they stamp even 30% of dollar bills in the country, they get that much of traffic guys.it already requires a login if you want email updates that trace your note.situation: at work. i get an email that tells me my dollar bill turned up at the BART station in SF..i beam proudly at my darling bill, how brave! insert sheesher here (sheesher. Noun. The act of slapping the right palm to the forehead and saying "sheesh").

b)ya think it helps in criminology? hands up sir.you are arrested for blah blah blah..where and all have you been today? Ha! gotcha! you didnt mention that you visited the dingaldo pub - how did i know? tch tch..you underestimate the power of tracing a dollar bill..hmm..plausible scenario.

CBS is on fire! while other channels flounder around with lousy emmy viewership, these guys are taking the tabloid route to news..first off, the bush papers that have been deemed fake..before folks started yawning at the news and looking to other rumors, they get slapped with a huge fine for the janet jackson fiasco.. way to go CBS!! the tabloid strategies got to you too finally!

speaking of censorships (where we talking about it?.of course silly, janet jackson brought about censorship in superbowls right? keep up will ya?) Google is squirming under its self-appointed holy grail laws...the google news apparently excludes controversial news from china, thus acting like a censorboard all by itself. now now, google is great and all that..but considering the trash it does throw up sometimes as search results, isnt it a tad much that they actually go about banning sites thus influencing reader perception of whats top news? hmm..


Search Suspicious,
Sapna



Fibber Fibonacci Series

Hm..now gotta have a name to the contest on my blogs -ya know, the one where you pick out what you think is the true story, rendering the other two to be untrue, therefore made-up?

Finally found a name for the game, Fibber Fibonacci. For the forgetful, Fibonacci is when you can add up the previous two numbers for the next, thus making 0,1,1,2,3,5,8.... a Fibonacci series. It fits in my scheme of blogs only coz if you factor the last two fibs, you can predict a pattern of my next fibby story. Yeah right!

anyways, herez the Fibber Fibonacci for the day.. Three stories, pick the perceived truthful story - the theme?Insane 'alert' inventions!

1) Cellphone companies in Germany have developed the first mobile phone that will alert the user incase of offensive smells, such as bad breath, sweat stink and other gross stuff.

2) A Scandanavian home-hardware store has developed a voice-activated doorbell system that automatically responds with an "unavailable" message if it recognizes a visitor to be from your "do not allow" list.

3) Television manufacturers in Japan have included a chip for TV's intended for public use to switch the channel incase of undesirable adult content in the programs, gauged by the audiostreams of the show.

Hmm..If ya ask me, all three are untrue..the First had to be developed in France, not Germany. The second is rather pointless coz it could still let in salesmen, etc and the third, why would anything but news play on public TV's anyway??

post in your choices guys...the counter is reset for all..and the contest is on for two weeks before the winner is declared..and this time, without a controversy ;-)

Fibbin away,
Sapna


Tuesday, September 21, 2004

TV Shows- Why Do YOU Complain?

Discovery at 11:00 PM yesterday..Anyone who watches TV today fall into three definite categories
1) The closet fans - these are the ones that constantly criticize the likes of reality shows and 'sex and the city' shows. Yet they diligently watch it and know the 'recall' or 'switch' buttons on the remote like the cricket fan who can 'refresh' the scorecard in his/her sleep. (despite a desperate effort at including the female of the species, I know no female actually sits gaping at a PC Screen with the sole objective of hitting F5 every 45 seconds)
2) The 'denial'lers - the ones who simply do not believe that good TV is over. They are the die-hard M*A*S*H lovers, Friends, seinfeld and fraiser lovers. And face it, in manner of grave 60's hollywood movies, "its all over" now. But they will be damned if they believe it, they will know the timing of the 6th season 7th episode reruns better than the schedule of their BART trains. Time-warped they may be, but TV Dead they are not.Theirs is the TV screen you see shimmer dimly through windows at 11:30 pm like characters out of Isaac Asimov novels.
3) The ones who love the soaps, and arent afraid to flaunt it. They will watch Gilroy sisters, and two shrub mountains (or is that one tree hill?) and bigville and the likes, and positively jump with joy/fury/sympathy depending on the scene. They are the true sunshine watchers who believe Good TV exists, and trust me, in their minds, it does!
annyways, if the biggest complaint against TV today is the influence of power-mongers (FOX News and the likes), alarming makeovers with no rhyme or reason and blatant ignorance of practicality and common-sense. There is one channel uses common-sense, practicality and the brains to its hilt. I speak of no less than HGTV. Guys, turn back to this screen and READ ( btw..i know a friend's friend's friend, a guy, who DOES watch HGTV so there!)
Home and Garden TV, for one has some sense in what they do - there is no reasonless and aimless makeovers. They all have a purpose, an aim and very very detailed strategies. there is planning, there is a budget and there are constraints as well as advantages. It should appeal to the mathematically inclined, for the simple fact that there is a problem-strategy-solution method of working. It should appeal to the creative-minded for its color-decorate and beautifying efforts. It should also appeal to the managementically inclined, coz lo and behold you have a management problem, constraints and issues, and finally a workable solution (for further MBAish effect, there is a huge paradigm shift too :-))
Even if its surprising that during the dawn of media,creative,pretty and useless defined decorating shows. Practical, useful and uninfluenced defined the news...and today its vice-versa.But atleast you can claim to have watched a botox-free,rigging-free and fake-emotion free show on TV.


Monday, September 20, 2004

Of Eating Words, And Corny humor

Oh well, another weekend, another round of discovering restaurant and surprising cooking skills..
Discovered - spice hut. came highly recommended from a pal(cant remember who, or for that matter how high) but gave it a go last night (following a long drive sponsored by Sunder who insisted on proving that you could get to any city without touching the freeway. we did fremont-san jose) the place is some kinda fusion cuisine methinks..had everything from french fries to dosa dishes..my verdict? go to McDonalds for the fries and SV.bhavan for the dosas..let them lie where they belong.
Anyways,in news around the world..a chinese couple was fined about $95,000 for breaking the law.Makes headlines on apna news coz their crime was having more than one child...apparently punishment can involve power-cuts to the home of yours and your relatives.anychances for a rule in India that pesky relatives shouldnt ask about 'plans for children' even before you get outta the wedding dress? better still, they should be fined huge sums for intolerable peskiness, as well as lose the right to speak to newlyweds for an indefinite period of time.

britney spears married guys..once again..no reason i should be really interested, except that she redefines femme power..she proposed, bought her own engagement and wedding ring, paid for the wedding and inherits two step-daughters as a part of the package...ha!why dont i hear feminists haul her up as the icon of feminism measks..there should be rejoicing already for redefining the rules of engagement, wedding yadda yadda but noo, dont hear a peeep from them do we now.
So CBS finally ate its own words on the Bush military record debate..frankly, who listens anymore..war records, shwar records..i would be glad when november comes and goes -only so i can be saved from weird pop-up ads asking me to support parties and suchlike..
ookie guys..new format to quiz this week..a direct and faithful ripoff from "wait!wait! dont tell me!" from NPR..herez three stories..pull out what you think is the true story..the other two obviously being made-up stories by my fertile yet immature imagination..well, here goes...three stories, pick what you think is a true story..the theme? corny marriage proposals...
1) A restaurant owner in Lousiana proposed to his long-time girlfriend, by sending her favorite "Corn On The Cob" for every weekend they've been together, ending with a corn-cake that had the proposal written on it, in corn-cream.
2) A farmer in Ohio proposed to his girlfriend by carving the proposal in his corn-field and taking her on a flight just above it to propose.
3)A stand-up comedian proposed to his comedienne girlfriend by sending her a corny joke, the kind she loves best, till she accepted his proposal.
and since this is more an opinion based respose, just click on the "comment" link below my blog, and reply as anonymous, if you choose..
Bhutta queensapna


Thursday, September 16, 2004

A Beer, A Massage And A Molar - I wanna be healthy

Individually of course....should learn something in blog titles shudnt i?

Coming to the point..MSNBC reports dentists now are collaborating with spas to give ya a manicure while getting that tooth cleaned, or a foot massage when getting that molar filled..wild concept, no doubt..and undoubtedly makes folks curious enough to see what the denspas offer(or spaden if you please..its me whoz making up these linguistic blends) ..but get this, you are combining something you love with something you hate (Aw comeon..who you kidding? Even if the dentist was your bridesmaid, you arent exactly running to her electric chair are you?)...in anycase..this kinda package deal just signals one thing to me..dont mess a good thing, and dont try to better a bad thing...you dont want your manicure to be remembered to be the time you had a swollen cheek..or a foot massage to be remembered coz that was the time you couldnt feel your tongue for a whole week..pshaw!you DONT wanna think of these great memories and wince.. Its like remembering your wedding to be the day your hairdo fell off (which sniff....can be quite traumatic especially if its lying in grandma's purse the rest of the wedding..ask me!)


Finally..a study i can frame in my living room..beer is good for your health folks.not wine, not milkshake..its beer. For all my beer-hating pals, and the ones who turn their tiny noses up at manna from brewery, my case rests here.

Well Well Well..your past finally DOES catch up doesnt it? remember your fondest memories of college being that you ran away from the restaurant without tipping? and felt devilishly delighted about saving money? yeah yeah..ha ha ha.well well stop the laughter. There can be cases when you will be marched right into jail for being stingy babcock(WHO? i dunno..just rolled off my tongue). anyways, guy finally got off police custody, was arrested for not tippin right..how absolutely topping!


And finally, my sweet revenge at all things cellular. Once upon a time, long long ago..i took the express bus 180 to get to San Jose every single day..and suffered through mobile-possessed passengers discussing any or all of the most painful topics that could occupy the planet..handicapped myself with a very expensive mobile plan, i silently muttered voodoo curses that folks traveling all over the world undergo the same..and now they can! airbuses report cellphones work with no problems during the flight. Sunder, let the music begin :-) and yes, my voodoo curses usually work. The line may begin now, and only cash please.

Important news on Pavitr Prabhakar..wha? you dont know who that is? shame on ya..especially if i can see that bell in your head ring at the name Peter Parker..well,(am being quite contemptuous here) Pavitr Prabhakar is desi-spiderman guys..hez in a dhoti and jootis..though the upper part of the costume is the same--love the storyline for indian audience as well as the visuals and innovative ideas...my favorite?Mary Jain is Meera Jain ..and he fights rakshashas instead of Doc Ock and suchlikes..we've come a long way since "hotel ke andar bandar" and "Sher dil" guys..applaud and wipe away that proud tear..oh also check it out at http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/sep/16spec.htm


now for the quiz! this one ought to be easy..(its ok..let me be in my smug cheating knowledge)
What do you call a stock market trend that is neither bullish nor bearish? a) Flat market b) Stable market c) Chicken market


Bhayankar Chipkali,
Sapna

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Hammering The Spammering

I go by phonetic matching,the process by which spamming becomes spammering only coz it rhymes with hammering. Cant help it, am a victim of rhyming tendencies. I would much rather match spamming with hamming to keep with the theme. English is notorious for its complicatedness anyway, it wouldn't hurt to throw in a couple of more sugar cubes into the coffee.

anyways..For the first time, am looking at my junk mailbox. Hotmail religiously designates most of my mail into junk, so it isn't tough finding these. Find 14 mails, ranging from my PG&E bill (can I claim bad hotmail techniques for a late payment?) to the following:

1) A link to an astrologer that suspiciously seems to be something mom might've sent to me. She recently discovered astrology online, receiving pages and pages of predictions that make her feel totally obliged to pass onto me, as they are primarily about how badly I shall do in life.

2)A mail from some social-networking site that wants to know how my paycheck compares to others. MIGHT've been interesting if I WAS earning.

3)Links to find true love, child-care centers and retirement plans.

Hell, the spammers have my whole life penned out.All put together, I can find a great paying job, true love, childbirth techniques, childcare centers as well as good retirement plans for old-age. My question is this, do you think folks really click on these? Admittedly, it costs way less to promote anything in the name of a product or service via email than any other form of publicity. Its cheaper than the kid who gives you handouts of shady products for sure. And my guess is even if 2 out of 10000 DO click/purchase these products, they have made a profit. Don't know one person who does though! But what IS interesting, is the kind of services that have come up COZ of spam industry. There are anti-spam services that scan your mail to ensure it isn't spam, there are mailboxes that add on this service at a small extra-cost..The works!! Hurrah for entrepreneurship!


In Research news, bigger nostrils have more smelling power. Well, i am not going to berate this one..they treat smelling disorders better apparently with such studies. Though the smelling disorder thingie tickles me pink...know folks who permanently claim they cant smell anything, (especially when am cooking something, HMPH)..Though it was easy to blame my burnt cooking on these folks, as they refuse to smell burnt food, I just think of treating folks to smelling disorders.eewwwww!

Here is a quiz question..what has more patches than my old faithful pair of jeans? Microsoft OS thats what is..they released another patch for a major JPEG security flaw..seems extremely scary coz anyone opening a JPEG file is vulnerable to hacking..aw MAN!

Btw...watched my fav.movie on the telly last evening..Spy Game...Arent ashamed to say thats the first robert redford movie i've seen..but man hez good! as is floppy-haired brad pitt for a change, but then he really doesnt need to act much coz hez a dead-faced military guy anyways in the movie..but the best part of the movie? the background score..it ROCKS!! was already crazy for the Bourne Supremacy soundtrack and this seems to fall in the same line. Old Faithful amazon has it with a 4.5 rating..will keep you posted on how the CD turned out!

Has anyone noticed the timesofindia.com website lately? Dont know if its been like so for long, coz i started checking it only recently. But gotta say, it feels and reads like a sleazy tabloid. I know the newspaper wasnt in great shape a couple of years back in india, what with full-page ads for femina miss india ON THE FIRST page..and coverage of timesofindia exclusive events as news items..but the website sucks! apart from awful pop-ups that can make you miserable, even the front-page has sleazy, pointless news to drive home the tabloid effect. sheesh.have a look and lemme know what you think!

now for the quiz question..the wheel on the indian flag represents

1) Laws of dharma
2) India's wheels of progress
3)the states in india
4) The coming together of various religions within the country.

A Blog-Patriot,
Sapna





Monday, September 13, 2004

Fingerprinting Keyboards, Optical Mice and Independent Ears

Research study time again guys -Apparently, a study has discovered that one ear is not like the other.ahaaan. We all know left brain aint doin the same things the Right brain doth, and now its known ears dont want stereotypes - they are out there trying to create their own identity in a human body..in anycase, this study's results seem logical. I mean, obviously both ears dont do the same thing! Three simple ways to deduce this and thus save money on expensive research:

1) Guy listening to his wife while watching a game on the TV - Left ear for wife is trained to transmit only dangerous clues and purge the rest, while the right ear trasmits commentary on a millisecond to millisecond basis.
2) Woman on a shopping mission with a whining guy -selective hearing for the guy while other ear is on phone transmitting and receiving info on deals a pal has gotten.
And since i try quite sincerely to stay away from stereotyping guys and women, the third and fourth scenario can be permutuations and combinations of the above two.thank you.

USA plays the mini World Cup - ummm in Cricket. Indiatimes finds it strangely funny, and i do too..for the only reason that most of the cricket-starved indians in the U.S didnt seem to know of this...and also by the scorecard dunno why, but would've expected to see more indian immigrants or pakistani immigrants in there!

Wired magazine has a product review for Microsoft Optical Desktop, a biometric mouse and keyboard set that uses fingerprinting techniques (aw man..even in using a PC??) for recognition once all the usernames/passwords are in..its gonna be out in october for 105$..should be atleast a start for these kinda devices, but will stick to my "k missing scroll lock stuck" keyboard and outdated two button mouse till the prices go down.

oooh finally visited a restaurant i cant stop raving about..Cascal, near Castro street. Spanish cuisine and the most AMAZING decor i'd ever seen in a resto..awesome food, amazing Margaritas (try the cascal special) and live music on fridays that ROCKS! reservation compulsory and outdoor dining is allowed..and prices that keeps my wallet fatty and my heart light!woohoo!

Oprah gave away cars to all of her studio audience.am trying my best to look bored and uninterested about it, but MAN whatta way to create hungama...websites went ballistic as usual, and the "i've never won anything" types like me grouch and sulk at unfairness in the world while consoling ourselves with pointless proverbs made up by sureshot losers.

Quiz of the day guys..Surprise and correct entry by Vibes makes her the winner for yesterday..woohoo!! btw..my secret sources tell me that Arvinder uses Google for a bit too many things, including THE ANSWERS...hmph..in the spirit of sportsmanship, he is disqualified (but in the spirit of the spirits he gifts me, i secretly include him again)

When translated in Korean what does Daewoo mean? a) Great Universe b) People's Product c) Great Strides..

Ambidextrous and Ambiauditorically,
sapna





Yaaawn..Blink Blink

Monday morning with 3 hours of sleep is like going white-water rafting in a suit--idiotically unprepared(even my secret formula of blinking rapidly at the screen doesnt help)..was up on a giggling-goats mission with a fellow-goat..watched a good desi movie (its not a myth..they are real and they do exist) and partook in a prattling competition.anyways..enough on me and monday mornings..wots the crazy-lowdown for the day?

amchi laloo prasad yadav discovered no great way to climb into newscharts..seriously, the guy is like some fading fim-star..always looking for ways to get into news..last week he claimed he was internet savvy (apparently hez uploaded info on nefarious activities by oppostion on eeentaaaeenaaat) now he claims harvard wants his resume..as in CV..now stop the sniggering.the man is famous, he even has a movie being released on him n all that..aaanyways..apparently the harvard is doing a study on the man in the sociology department? check it here....also, readers are welcome to respond to the name of this study on the guy..imaginative and 'out-there' titles to the study get a free poster of laloo...now get down to work with your keys and monitor..

speaking of keys and monitor (coz pen and paper is passe') whoz written recently? as in..pen on paper? cudnt drag my hunk of a PC to the TV screen on saturday and tried to write on paper..maaan its tough.my fingers ached, my nails complained and my palm sullenly swore revenge..fact is, keys and buttons are as much of exercise they willing to do...why dont dieters ask folks to get their fingers exercise?start small being the mantra..you can get folks to flex fingers, stretch palms, and write one page a day ..hell we could even have workouts..fingerexercise 101. workout anytime, anywhere..all you need is a pen n paper....umm, stop!

Dunno if i already blogged this, but Joey is a huge hit.a pal's pal claims that all the best jokes are the promos and ads already..but hey, loyalty drives me to joey - even if he looks old, fat n jaded and extremely uncomfy being dumb all over again..

Its official guys..Fall is here, though a change in date shouldnt automatically change my willingness to enjoy the weather, the shops hoarding on fall fashions say so..and i listen intently ..aanyyways..for the so-inclined, check out online fashion hubs..especially amazon.com ..they have the most unbelieavable deals ever!


speaking of great deals- bangladeshi beggars are sparking jealousy waves all over beggar circuit..a bank has started on a project to give them cellphones instead of cash..so they could roam around n ask, and this is for real, "do you wanna make a call? and oh..got a buck" ..they sorta like mobile payphones...hmm..thats a thot..how about doing the same to internet? mobile internet cafes..anyways..check the story on yahoo


ookie time for the question of the day!! last quiz q had a surprise participant (he resisted and desisted but couldnt stay away too long) Shalabh! bravo! your quiz counter account has been initiated!anyways, an unusual question to wake you up today..

Early in his career, Kishore Kumar, modeled for an ad - the only one he ever modeled for. Name the ad .. a) Brylcreem b) Palmolive c) Colgate d) indian railways
(pssst.. the ad even had Farokh Engineer as the first Indian cricketer to model for it)


yahhoooooo
sapna




Friday, September 10, 2004

Of Mithun memories and pixie dogs

Ok guys..is the last day of a truly exhausting week (lower that eyebrow please. Just coz i blog everyday doesnt mean i have nothing to do..if you MUST know, i blog in the evenings and post-date blog it)..and in the spirit of looking forward to a wonderfully relaxing weekend, i dedicate this blog to absolute nonsensical news (the previous blogs werent, if you were thinking on those lines. They were just testing your tolerance + I.Q level, and lets just say-you have a looong way to go)..anyways, ring up the headlines on nutcase times...

Latest addition to the Guinness book guys, a dog with the longest ears-over a foot long..hm..did anyone win it for the human race? Methinks me has a chance..yeah, mom..i saw through your trick of convincing me that long ears means i am lucky, or that i hear better than most. They are just pixie-long, or rabbit-long, depending on if you believe in fairy tales or not...but then, maybe folks who pierce themselves all over, would actually be jealous of me..say, there might be this person somewhere in the world going "Damn!sapna has loong ears..she could easily dangle 12 earrings .if only i did too!"

Oops.sorry for this useful bit of info to intrude into nonsense time, but you guys GOTTA check out the new blackberry..its, to say the least..the coolest thing since man invented autolit handbags ( i call it the ultmate search - the light goes on for just enough time to pull out that chapstick from my handbag).oops.i digress again..so, the blackberry..for a short gist of wot its got, its got email for upto 10 mail accounts, IM tools (yahoo, msn..the works), the usual phone bit, a bit of a get-used-to-it-and-will-be-ok keypad, and browsers..for a price of...hold your breath..$200...and its sleeker too..get hip guys, before my mom gets it (really, she is out there..she wants a cameraphone now to take photos of furniture she wants dad to approve..and here i am, wallowing with my nokia bricklike phone!)

back to nonsense news..(and oh, you can breathe again).lets say this weekend, the summer finally gets to you..and you decide to watch a hindi movie..one of the five word movies at that..try the latest salman khan flick..its got a dead wife..whose heart is put into a heart-patient..who.umm..starts loving everyone that wife dearest did..coz umm..the heart is the same right?yikes..stop that..i say STOP smacking your head..its not your fault- it really isnt..you've survived mithun movies where he shoots his own head to get rid of the tumor..or the movie where he shoots the bullet into a knife to slice it for two bad guys..you can survive this too..check out a bad review of a bad movie at rediff.com

this btw..is a labor day miracle (christmas miracles happen no more)..a guy gets run over by a train, coz hez lying drunk on the tracks..and errr...LIVES..and hten gets run over another train..and yikes..lives again! you can consider it a miracle or wotever..but think about this, what if he was trying to commit suicide? [insert cynical laugh here]

alive and well,
sapna


P.S-oh well.ho hum. (secretly pleased)..due to popular demand..will do one last quiz for the week..but i expect every one of ya to respond to this..coz if you dont, you are dropped off my list for lack of G.K (stop rejoicing already! i am still gonna spam ya).
so here goesThe brilliant Coca-Cola signs that dot skylines the world over are known as..? a) Billboards b) Spectaculars c) Festoons

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Pop-ups ads and popped out dads

Ha!! i bet sneaky advertisers are laughing up in sneaky heaven somewhere - while we remain in user hell..well, ok..will stop the rant and start the bant(er)...no i shant.eeeks..stop it..right.know the feeling when you bravely fend off those awful pop-ups for perfectly good sites? You think you got a one-up over those silly ads coz you close them without really clicking on them? well, you arent really helping the cause my friend..coz you effectively NOTICED the ad..so goes this article in the wired magazine Wired News: Ads That Annoy Also Succeed

Also the screaming news on icecream..for the ones who couldnt care less about what goes in their icecream, herez the lowdown - its mostly air..oh and FATTY fat...ScienCentral: High-Tech Ice Cream talks about what exactly is in an icecream..and why would you wanna know? well, it comes handy when your left brain (the smarter side) is trying to con your right brain (the duh side) on why icecream isnt all fat i guess...

well.. i did talk about this earlier on a controversial blog (which is long since removed..but hey diddy doo..here goes again) but love it too much to let go..atkins diet works guys..thats the bad news..for all those like me who scoff and snigger at diet fads, we can proceed to put our collective feet in the mouth and wash it down after chomping on it..but the punchline? it works only coz its soo boring that dieters have no interest in anything anymore, including food...[insert evil laugh here] also proceed to gargle out the water and remove all feet from mouth..

Oh btw..am sick n tired of the political bashing exercise thats the new election-diet in washington..apparently bush didnt meet the requirements so was suspended from flying for national guards...yaaaawwwnn..raise an eyebrow to the height of dishevelled hair and contine with the same bored expression that you have for this blog.thanks.good exercise routine guys.

continuing my tirade against pointless research that costs moolah..add this one..and no, DONT tell me research is conducted and written about coz folks like me actually read it (ulp..too late already?) ..anyways..herez one that unashamedly claims, with no regret for wasting money on such stuff that dads pretend to sleep when babies cry..therefore moms get angrier..no seriously..thats the gist of this research..hmm..think hard ladies and gentlemen...you would be sitting with your spouse at doc's office during a pregancy visit..and he prescribes parental etiquette classes for ya..which btw he HIGHLY recommends..where they teach dads NOT to pretend to sleep when kids bawl..and some scientist figured you need to be a DAD for this? just being a guy isnt enough?didnt need to research to know that it is enough to be just a guy now..did i? Bah!

anyways..quiz answer for yesterday was Coco-cola guys..all the folks who answered parle, go home and eat your Parle-G's please. today's q..
French foods giant Danone has a stake in which bottled water brand? a) Kinley b) Aquafina c) Evian

nonsense-news quenched,
sapna

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Sleepless in Fahrenheit 99

First off - get a response for my blog yesterday that Vijay Singh aint an NRI -hm..always thot NRI was non resident indian..not non-resident indian in the U.S. -errata if NRI is only for non-resident americans :-) coz the guy is from Fiji..

anyways..am up waiting for a particular american airlines flight to land. up watching, of all things in the world, a mush movie (the bleching may commence)..normally dont - am stubbornly attached to three loyalty-driven favorites.Meg Ryan being the common thread -and rightly so, yada yada yada..anyywayss…am making a list of top movies to watch in each genre .so i can collect the DVD's as i pass along my life (btw..did you know bill gates scoffs at DVD's -smtg he thinks will be archaic in a few years..sheesh.i will be holding onto vintage stuff 10 years from now?)..here's my top list for mush movies - highly recommended to all who wait for flights to land - whether in it or outside it..
When harry met sally You've got mail Sleepless in Seattle pretty woman runaway bride Forget paris love actually love story it happened one night
Also, since i know there are guys who like atleast some of it just as much, can remain content in the fact that i do not subscribe to the 'chick flick' channel :-) nothing against it, just that its a weird phrase for a weird genre..its a crazy combination of teen-movies plus the cliched romantic movies that adults watch..i mean, why wouldnt you call 'the terminal' a chick flick? coz tom hanks doesnt act in one? or coz the director is a serious fella? what exactly, defines, i ask, a chick flick? the fact that guys go 'boo'? or that it doesnt require thinking? coz if its the latter, then shouldnt 'dude wherez my car' be a chick flick? or even the recentest james bond movie?if not, what are those movies then called? and again, what exactly defines a chick flick?(pssst- this is where you whisper 'stop!' before you lose your reader to boredom)
In other news..apparently researchers figured that short kids dont usually have a problem with self-esteem..took them 15 years since they declared that short kids DO have problems in life to figure that out.what IS the deal with researchers anyway?if i take 100 kids from,lets say, my school where tall is cool and then go ahead and take 100 kids from a mumbai school where kids are so many and so crunched up that one cant distinguish the height, what gives?

Ooh..herez an interesting one..Michael Moore wants his movie to be nominated for best movie award- good idea methinks..his wave of publicity needed that perk..shucks, folks had almost forgotten him what with olympics and florida hurricanes..not particularly fond of his choice of controversy raking, but i do think its right that he enter into the 'best picture' category -even if it seems to be a plot to get more popular. Fahrenheit 9/11, in its message atleast aint a documentary- its an interpretation of events..and interpretations should NOT be in the category of 'best documentary'.just as 'Da Vinci code' wouldnt be if made into a movie. in anycase, this act of his provides fuel to be in the limelite again when his movie is or isnt the winner.
Hm, just noticed..some folks take veeru from sholay just a mite too seriously- one suicide every 40 seconds,didjaknow? its kinda depressing y'kno..a person commits suicide to escape the world and suchlike - what if they discovered that a) the other world aint any more fun or b) they find themselves back in the world, heck! xcept they are ghosts now..grass aint always greener on the other side guys!
Fahrenheit 99 degrees today,
sapna

P.S-Yesterday's quiz answer was dubai btw..today's q.. which company bought the drink Gold spot?pepsi, parle or coco-cola?

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Tahoe Shahoe

methinks Hindi is one of the few languages that insists on limerickism in normal speech. Delhi hindi more so. Idhar Udhar and aaju baaju notwithstanding, you can pretty much apply the sing-song mode to any word that threatens to be a monosyllabic answer or hasnt satisfied your self-made goal of 20 words per sentence. Shoe voo? khaana vaana?ulta pulta and the list goes on..and if you are bang in the middle of the likes of Carol Bagh or Palika bazaar, you probably wouldnt be surprised to listen to tahoe shahoe, football shootball and suchlikes. Lets therefore declare today to be a limerickize your speech day.speaking of insane days, here is the official list for September sheptember.
2 VJ Day
3 Uncle Sam's Birthday His image was first used in 1813
4 Newspaper Carrier Day
5 Be Late for Something Day
5 Cheese Pizza Day
6 Labor Day
7 Neither Rain nor Snow Day
8 International Literacy Day Pardon Day
9 Teddy Bear Day
10 Swap Ideas Day
11 Make Your Bed Day
12 Grandparent's Day
12 Chocolate Milk Shake Day
13 Defy Superstition Day
14 National Cream-Filled Donut Day
15 Make Hat Day Felt Hat Day - On this day, men traditionally put away their felt hats.
16 Mexican Independence Day
17 Citizenship Day
17 Constitution Day
18 International Peace Day
19 International Talk Like A Pirate Day
20 National Punch Day
21 Miniature Golf Day
22 Dear Diary Day
23 Checkers Day
24 Good Neighbor Day
25 National Comic Book Day
26 National Pancake Day
27 Crush a Can Day
28 Ask a stupid question Day
29 Confucius Day - Try your luck. Get a Fortune Cookie
Went to Tahoe like i said (did i?) with a sugar-high bunch of wannabe volleyballers (excepting two masterplayers).did a LOT of fun activities that included volleyball on Sat afternoon, Volleyball on Sunday evening and Volleyball on Monday morning.Played Trivial pursuit, at which i stink,not because of lack of knowledge mind you, its just that i am big on divulging competitive intelligence (a new word i picked up on the trip)..anyways,a couple of trivia i picked up,
which bodily function can reach the speed of 200 mph?
Before you gross yourself out, is sneezing! ha!betcha didnt know THAT one.

So Clinton went ahead and had a heart surgery over the weekend, hez 58 btw. its weird what CAN bring heart problems about..you would think for Clinton its stress and suchlike, but had an uncle who was a yoga instructor once who had a heart attack..hmm..disillusionment comes in strange forms...

Was stuck in an unfathomable traffic jam today morning, in time actually to tune into NPR's report on how bay area folks spend almost 70 hours a year in traffic. ay area also 2nd most congested area in the country..and they dont even have buffaloes and baarat shaarats on the road yet.
Vijay singh is the champion golf player btw..hez an NRI and rediff is going ballistic as usual - will someone please tell them to STOP? why cant they just report him as the next big golfer than slap him with a desi label and add him to the hall of "desi leaders in their field".

Today's quiz btw..a simple one for the post-vacation blues..
where is the world's tallest hotel situated?
New York, Dubai or Seoul?

Misty Mae Wannabe (for entirely sportsy reasons)
sapna

Thursday, September 02, 2004

economic girlie and I

Hm..just when you thought that postman had become postal worker and policeman had become policeofficer, 'economic girlie' hits you..and the response arnie got for the phrase should be a good enough reason to be anti-republican (what? i dont have a reason already?)..am officially a part of a feminist linguistic brigade (trumpets please)...no more girlie for wimpish references..boy will do just as adequately..hrmph.

speaking of trumpets, roll them again for the winner of yesterday's quiz..appu! she wins hands, feet and face down.why, in just a minute.lets give appu a moment or two to stand up in her workarea and do the war dance.hurrah! while her boss makes a silent mental note to get all employees to learn relaxation and stress-removal techniques from appu. Bravo! Appu scores a point with da boss..and sniff, all thanks to me!
and as to WHY she won hands down, simple.Everyone else was wrong.I prescribe an India trip for everyone who responded. Have you even SEEN how much ICICI is all over the country? most came up with BOB, tsk tsk.how antiquated. ICICI is the second largest bank in India guys.

Oh and everyone whoz homehunting..tune into NPR once in awhile...they doing a series of places to settle in, that are way cheaper than most in the bay area. covered Nicaragua today, in South America. Apparently for 250K n odd, you get, simply put, an island with a 2000 sq feet mansion.complete with the works, maids and gardeners inclusive. and you REALLY thot for a second about that two bedroom condo in south hayward in desperation?

btw..Al-Jazeera is gonna broadcast in India..must be a part of the trade-off for the truck drivers being released?
Hurricane hitting Florida again..guess the only ones profiting out of hurricanes are home-depots of the world..there is just a millisecond of a minute when i think that there is profit in disaster..but that immediately disappears, when my diet goes for a disaster everytime i profit in taste with hersheys. Bah, pseudocommunist too now.

On a slightly positive note, russian terrorists released 26 kids and women from the school they've occupied.btw.WHY dont they have a number to the total number of folks help captive?? its ranges from 120-700..the first day of school was apparently when lots of parents accompany kids, so its tougher to put a number to it.

Kobe Bryant case dismissed btw. and he apologized to the babe n all well for the lakers star..waittaminute? why did he apologize? should there be an investigation into THAT now?why would one say sorry if not, unless if guilty......stop!

Btw..have been reading in bits and pieces of dowry harassment..no, no..not wife's torturous existence, but the groom's..huh? apparently the new twist to dowry laws in india, especially andhra pradesh..is for babes to marry guys, mostly settled in the U.S and then accuse him of dowry harassment, get a divorce with a large compensation..will get more on pointless news like this later..now, onto the quiz...

this one is for the MBAs and the wannabe MBA's :-)
Which business guru postulated the I theory? for added info, Theory 'I' is an attempt to understand and define the Indian worker just like the Japanese had tried to do with their Theory 'Z'. The principles of 'Theory I Management' are that most Indians value emotions and long-term relationships and growth opportunities and commitment. It also states that Indians' cultural roots of tolerance often make them complacent and lack of patriotism at a macro level leaves us aimless.

choices are
C K Prahalad
Arindham Chaudari
Sumantra Ghoshal

blogging guru,
I



Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Zeitgeist - new word added to my dictionary and mesee LIKES the word..kinda zennish feel to it..maybe if given a chance (all wannabe parents run) will name a kid Zeitgeist, Zei for short..at the risk of sounding whacko, have you ever felt words imply something even if you dont know the meaning of the word? Kinda a linguistic deja vu, complete with a sense of bewilderment at what it means...my RD (Reader's digest) guide to life claims that its all in your mind...for example, between the words "naked" and "nude" (i swear was reading RD :-) ) you'd tend to think that naked caught you by surprise, whereas nude seems to be done on purpose..get the drift? Anyways..just remember that between apples and peaches and cocoa (names parents gave kids they LOVE!!) zeitgeist isnt too bad :-)

anyways..midweek and quite a bit of interesting stuff i've been meaning to blog about..

Blinkx - a new desktop search tool. dunno if i've already blogged about this, but is real cool. so its basically a desktop tool that ya download and it runs in the background..kinda a small icon on the top right corner..and let's say you are typing a mail in outlook about..oh lets see, the new iPod?(i am NOT over it.i refuse to get over it)...the tool, if you loook it up, searches for info on that topic from news, internet, shopping as well as your computer for files that relates to it..is that cool or what? so you know wots the latest on the topic your mail is about, wot products relate to it, and wot your own computer has on it..methinks thats smtg every search engine should come out with (umm.they ARE)..sooon!

Btw..i am already over with my RSS feeder thingie (the one that collects news from all my fav websites to deliver to my desktop?)..history seems to totally repeat itself here in the social context...its like my mom could NEVER like reading news off websites (when she was here) and totally missed the touch n feel of newspapers.and now methinks in all my cyber glory, that i simply cannot just get all my news in one window, i need the click and navigation of an actual website..i swear to ya, the guy who invented the printing press is laughing up there (i KNOW who it is..some german fella..my age must be getting to me)..

ok..now for the piece de resistance of my blog..
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040901/od_nm/saudi_stampede_dc

Three were killed in umm..a trample for ....ummm..vouchers from...umm IKEA!! now that validates my reason not to visit Ikea on a regular basis..i refrain from IKEA to SAVE lives :-)

ooh ooh..btw..aamir khan remarried..check out www.timesofindia.com
to the assistant director of lagaan..is that hot news or WOT?


Apparently the RNC is going great..heard swarmy arnie's speech on radio today in bits n pieces..and am beginning to believe more and more that India is setting examples in every way, every day...apart from the fact that U.S officials had to ask india on how they handled power cuts when NY had it a couple of years back...arnie might wanna take a leaf from rajnikanth's notebook on how to get crowds on their feet and going berserk over him..trust me..its already happening :-p

A true Rajnikanth fan,
sapna

P.S - the winner of YESTERDAY's quiz is Dhanshree...woohoo! today's question..which is india's second largest bank?
State bank of india
Bank of Baroda
ICICI.
see if you can post your answers below this post...or mail it to me :-d


Tuesday, August 31, 2004


By the sea.under a palm tree.Summer 2004 :-) Posted by Hello

Monday, August 30, 2004

There is no such thing as a free lunch

Thank ye all for the huge number of entries to my quiz...the winner is Arvinder!!applauseee!! for those with no clue on wot me speaks of, hmph to ya ..read my blogs better will you?
Today's quiz question to ya..
Since when is Xerox sponsoring Olympic Games?
1998 Winter olympics, 1982 Olympics or 1964?

post your responses on perpetualmisfit.blogspot.com

Speaking of posting stuff, I've been taken. I unashamedly admit I have. The greed of an iPod made me do it. and bad journalism. Wired news(http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html) picked up the story on www.freeIpods.com sometime last week, proclaiming it legitimate. So i fall, not hook-line and sinker as am anti-fish, but definitely fell to the click-lure.
The hitch (which wired news failed to report. Snort!) is that you gotta get 5 pals to sign up for deals that include columbiahouse kinda scammy disasters. Bah! also intensly dislike co-worker who preens his free iPod. Sniff, but still..am getting 5 free DVDs (umm..and gotta buy 4 more in the next year to exit from their painful deal) so all's well. But do plan to fight it, methinks impulse is a valid defense in the court of law. and while i am rewriting laws, add hormones to the list as well.

I truly think Seinfeld is a visionary of sorts. He inspires inventions, episode by episode. Who remembers the one with George's oversized wallet that makes him sit lopsided? the one that is bursting with stuff that even a tiny bit of paper has no place in it? for a more local comparison, look at Sunder's wallet(he has started writing ON the wallet for lack of space)..well, Wired news (yeah yeah i still read them) reports on the coolest thing for guys ever, wallets replaced by cellphones that pay for lunch et al..check out
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64778,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

I guesss babes cant really trade in handbags for cellphones..and for those guys smirking at the insanity of a babe's purse, Joey and Seinfeld scorn ya from telly-heaven.

Speaking of babes ( my feminist sisters, note below) the directionally challenged, take heart. Atleast you arent a robber in Boston. The fella hops over to a copy shop and attempted to rob it.. the clerk goes 'umm..this aint a bank dude" to which the robber promptly jots down directions to GET to a bank..and then proceeds to the rob the bank..and on and on..
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040831/ap_on_fe_st/bank_bungle&e=2

N.B: Have been told have a strongly feminist streak in my blogs, hence the call to babes on a piece about directionally challenged folks..but then, the robber WAS a guy..hmmm..well that would make guys more ......:-)

These days gmail ads keep me in splits..i mean, REALLY...get Mr.Sarangan's schedule with a note on how hectic it is (interpreted as "stop cribbing about my travel already") and gmail promptly puts up ads for yoga classes on the side...my dinner invites automatically generate ads for umm..recipes (is that ad-sense or perceptiveness?) and plans to visit a national park nearby prompts ads for news on bear-maulings in national parks..hmm..did i really wanna see THAT one now?
and no, this isnt a plug for gmail.

Unplugged,
Sapna

Rocking New Challenges

Rocking New Challenges or Republican National Convention - what's the difference? Am taking a fairly cheap delight at the ingeniouness of the protestors at the RNC, right from mis-directing republicans to the outskirts of New Jersey to giving the prez the pink slip (as in a piece of attire in the color pink, not its metaphorical step-sister that nobody likes)

btw..'metaphors' are passe people, WISIWIM (what i say is what i mean) is the new lingo. In any case, the true WISIWIM of the protestors at http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=protestors+at+RNC

On the other side of the world, Indian politics are discovering brand power finally - faithful democrats can buy bottles of ketchup to support their cause, but good ole indian way goes that wee bit of a step further - a restaurant for the new brand-power Laloo thats the hit of the luck-city (as in Lucknow, not Las Vegas..duh!)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7242_955790,00180007.htm

Rakshabandhan is getting done this week, my loot is safely deposited in my kitchen (yeah, someone was kind enough to gift me a 12-pack for the festivities..hurrah for perceptive brothers) - but i digress, anyone checked out desi sites for gifts lately? man, they rock..send a rakhi with rice and a mithai for $3 delivered almost pronto at bro's doorstep - a suggestion though, how about a service that includes the rakhi police that watches out for bro's who sneakily take off rakhis before heading out? i mean, whats the point? Rakhi was the innovative invention of disgruntled sisters people.(Do not protest.Is the truth). Sisters got sic of being whacked on the heads and having to dress up for festivals when brothers frolicked around. What better way for a woman's scorn than a devious festival? A forehead smeared with color, enough rice on the head to attract the roaches and a painfully embarassing rakhi to skulk around in..Revenge!!
Of course, these arent my thoughts..I truly believe in Rakhi and the powers of good wishes et al (angelic smile).

Olympics are over -enjoyed them enormously. Didnt catch the closing ceremony, but was quite content with the way Greece handled things - The Barcelona ripple effect sure better be replicated in Athens! Our Indians came back with myriad excuses for bad performances including air-pollution (wha??) wind condition, shoe problems (yeah, Bata ought to be sued methinks, they cost us the Olympics).http://us.rediff.com/sports/2004/aug/30oly-ind.htm
Dhanraj Pillay retires (he was already planning to) and India slumps back to bad cricket and awful linguistic blends such as hesh-lee (don't even tax yourself on that.Its Monday guys).

For anyone up for a movie this week, therez The Hero, if you liked Crouching tiger kinda movies..Visual Delight or celluloid Valium,pick your opinion.

Starting this week - a daily trivia question for readers. Winner gets a mention and one blog-entry..woohoo..but hey, its a weekday and four days to insanity (oh and a long weekend), so here goes.

In India, Premier automobiles assembled the De Soto and Plymouth cars in association with which company in 1946 -
Ford, Cadillac or Chrysler?

Using my gray cells on a Blue monday,
Leftist Sapna



Friday, August 20, 2004

Of talk-show Jurors and discounted caskets

I sincerely try to stay away from Entertainment news (snigger snigger), unless of course its Aby Baby who I shall diligently cover to assure Sunder I strongly support him. But this one warranted some thinking. Lets say you murdered someone and were arrested (BOINK!! Batman-on-TV style wakeup), there are two people you don’t want on the Jury. Your mother. And yeah, her analog, Oprah Winfrey. Well, the latter just happened to be selected on a jury for a murder trial, a trial that she hopes ends ASAP coz she has commitments (production, talk show, counting billions of dollars, you know, the usual). Nothing worth writing home about (or to bored pals either) but this spawns two important questions 1) Why she was selected in the first place. Not to say most jurors aren’t dying to get out of jury duty themselves, but a person who is quite vocal about wanting to get out of it sooner than soon, and probably is plotting a show centered around the victim/murderer isnt one you want on the jury. A publicity stunt you think? Or am I being ultra cynical here? 2) Also notice that you don’t hear much of celebrities on jury duty (and you WOULD hear about it, considering you hear about their broken nails even). Therez a reason methinks. Celebrities bring with them the pressures, media and hype that judges probably really don’t want in a case (as would the accused, imagine jostling for coverage with a J-LO) anyway, check it out at.http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=5989566 Now starts the arm-exercise routine. All Costco members raise your hands. There, I count three already, or is that 13? (Wink wink, I know who all, pile on big time to get stuff from there). Am hardly a die-hard fan of Costco (go on. call me shameless) but its useful with a CAPITAL U.But their latest mass offering is kind of, umm...dead :-) Costco is offering cheap (and probably dozens for a deal) of.... CASKETS...EEEKS!! Check it out at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5730441/ Free that hand for the next question. How many are Indian Software professionals in the U.S? (No need to raise both hands, I get it). Visa issues, accent issues, cuisine issues and attitude issues. Manners issues, dressing issues, legal issues and boss issues. Nope, not starting Indian professionals in the U.S forum (nor am I creating their anthem). But if you are nodding sagely remembering curious and weird situations Indian engineers have been in, check out http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/818169.cms have been intently following AT&T ads on the Telly during Olympics. Apparently AT&T has banished their landline ads forever. And are allover the place talking about their VOIP.The USP that I love? Do not disturb function...comes so handy when you get that 5:30 AM call from mom telling you the tomatoes are growing splendidly. And doesn’t even feel bad about waking up folks at godforsaken timings (umm.or is that just my mom?). Anyways, the function helps you set a message that CAN go "mom! DONT call me at this time. I am sleeping" with an option of letting the call go through if super-urgent.snoreeeee.also cheaper phone bills folks! Rejoice with VOIP!http://www.technewsworld.com/story/35863.html Also, if you are one of the folks who are super excited at American Indians doing great, Mohini Bharadwaj was on the balanced beam for the U.S team at gymnastics and ended with a 9.4 and a 9.1 on the floor (as in floor routine, she didn’t fall onto the floor!). U.S ended with silver in women gymnastics. But hey, desi name, rediff is sure to pick it as a huge India-boosting exercise.jeez! India won silver btw. Wohoo!! Check rediff Olympics coverage atwww.rediff.com/olympics.

Science Girl to the rescue

Trumpets!!! What did I tell ya? (War dance commences). Oprah and her jury folks quickly deliver a guilty verdict, and there is show on next week with her and the jurors.sheesh.check outhttp://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10501776%5E2902,00.html and no, am NOT a closet Oprah fan. Just get delirious when I predict something and it comes true (well that’s true of Cricket matches too, but the Cricket Police around me have issued a shut-up policy on that). Oh.And war dance stops. All Windows XP users wriggle toes please. Windows haters look away. SP2 has been all over the news about some serious bugs and suchlike. Self is a newly converted XP user (and loving it. the moviemaker is addictive!!) and not really sure what all the hungama is about -haven’t got my SP2 update info yet, they are apparently sending it outdo all in the next two months. But this link should give an idea on what’s up with SP2. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1637696,00.asp Fell asleep watching the Olympics yesterday nite, but do know that the U.S is leading in terms of medals etc.check out the latest athttp://g.msn.com/0US!s5.31472_315529/18.a7736/17??cm=leftnav1 But do know that 5 weightlifters tested positive for drugs. Is it that the laws are more stringent or are athletes doping themselves out? I do know everything is stricter in Olympics these days - nobody gets a10 and no-blogging policies are abundant. A crazy thing I noticed though. Was working at home yesterday (yeah right is an illegal response -issued by language police) and hear the weather report. Woman proceeds to inform of weather on Wednesday afternoon about weather of wed afternoon in Greece. Funny, coz its Wed night in Greece already! Ah, but you don’t see...we hear of the past weather in Greece coz we get replays. So the idea is smtg like this.here is the weather in Greece wed afternoon, though its wed nitein Greece now, you see this coz you will see the wed afternoon replayson wed nite your time...she ACTUALLY said that!! (Proceed to shut down PC and get out of work claiming you are sick) Speaking of weird news, sisters kill each other's husbands yesterday in Mumbai. If you are really bored, click on http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=819912 though my source finds it appalling, I cannot but remember my schoolplayground.and they say folks mature as they grow old.sheesh! And if you are really onto weird news, check the listinghttp://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=583 Warning: Providing a news link does not imply that I am addicted to pointless news. I would prefer the term "well-informed" and "impartial information seeker" as terms that refer to me. Or better still, call me Science-girl (Friends fans would know this is Ross’s superhuman cartoon creation - Science boy has a " Super human thirst for knowledge" [proceed to hit head with palm and go sheesh!]) Btw.cricket-crazy fans might consider watching the last few scenes of"Mujse shaadi karogi?”Is loaded with siddhuisms.coz well, hezplaying himself in the last part (another sheesher required here). Waiting for weekend in manner of watching the countdown to new years,

Drunken Bears And Sexist Mail Accounts

how many stamp-collecters do ya know(YOU were one? no kidding? you sure are STILL a nerd?) however obsolete its gotten with the advent of email,this is the last seal on stamp collecting obsessions.. click on the link below if you want stamps with YOUR photos on them..that right boss..skydiving, baby burping, hangover photos. Beer-drinking, wine sloshed and cocktail tipsy photos. Wedding pictures, new home pictures, new doormat photos (no connection between the wedding and doormat guys)..costs 80c for a 37 c stamp (only in America :-)) and minimum is 20 stamps..here's a bored-already farewell to the hobby of stamp-collecting...salut'!
http://photo.stamps.com/
Neat story..of losses to the Giant Microsoft coz of a shade of green...How Microsoft had to ship back products from India coz of a curious shade of Green on Kashmir of the India map..and other stories..
http://news.com.com/How+eight+pixels+cost+Microsoft+millions/2100-1014_3-5316664.html?tag=nefd.pop
(Note: Microsoft Engineers are taking up Geography classes now.go ahead with the sheesher after reading the above article)
Beer drinker unite (and sing the beer song!! you don't know it? tsk tsk..must be a w(h)iner then). We have conquered and sloshed the animal kingdom as of now. check the link below to learn about a comrade bear (they one of us now) who couldnt bear a beer!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5756809/?GT1=4529
For all those who fantasize about a life where you didnt need to calculate the mileage, change, insurance, salaries or anything at all. As also for those who blinked wildly at the thought of calculating how many onion naans and how many butter naans at a dinner table. Please stand up and move to world at the Amazon rivers. Here lives a community who laugh at being asked wots 1 + 1. Coz they dont have numbers in the community. Zilch.Nada.Zero (ooops..will they understand that?).check it out at.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040820/NUMBERS20/TPScience/life without numbers
Cricket and Tennis come together for the first time. Not a great news item for die-hard fans of the former. Cricketer Sachin has a Tennis Elbow. Never thought would see two sports like that in one headline, but here goes.. The curses may begin now.http://news.com.com/Google+makes+its+market+debut/2009-1030_3-5313371.html?tag=nefd.ledetennis elbow sachin
Hotmail lovers look away. Here's five top reasons someone (wink wink) doesnt like hotmail.
1) Sexism..Hotmail is the only mail account that informs you that "theuser xyz@yahoo.com is over HIS storage limit.hmph
2) opens links within hotmail browser - its like an overzealous mom.youare incapable of opening that link yourself, so i will put it in ahotmail browser and thus ensure that It exasperates you to death withthe "your message has been idle for too long" message.Bah!
3) UI stinks. You could be typing furiously to see that it been in the"To" address bar. and god forbid you want to include HTML format toyour mail- by the time you type and click on send, you might as wellhave done a postal delivery.
4) however I hate mails from my pesky cousin and lecturing mom, I DO notconsider them junk (pssst -mom is cced on this mail ;-) )..Like isaid, hotmail is like my mom who decides anything she didnt cook isntworth eating. Hotmail decides anything from a non-hotmail Id isusually junk.
5) They are soooo passe, always doing stuff when everyone else has thought and implemented great ideas.like mailbox space.sheesh!

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Tomorrow is..(blink blink)

August 1 — Sport's Day
August 2 — National Friendship Day
August 3 — National Watermelon Day
August 4 — National Sisters Day
August 5 — Picnic Day
August 6 — National Fresh Breath Day
August 7 — Raspberries and Cream Day
August 8 — National Admit You're Happy Day
August 10 — Garage Sale Day
August 11 — National Kool-Aid Days
August 13 — National Left-handers Day
August 14 — National Financial Awareness Day
August 15 — National Relaxation Day
August 16 — Joke Day
August 17 — Pencil Day
August 18 — Bad Poetry Day
August 19 — National Aviation Day
August 20 — National Radio Day
August 20 — The Moon's Birthday
August 21 — Crazy Day
August 22 — Be An Angel Day
August 24 — Strange Music Day
August 25 — Kiss-And-Make-Up Day
August 26 — National Make Your Own Lucky Day Day
August 28 — National Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day
August 29 — More Herbs and Less Salt Day
August 30 — National Toasted Marshmallow Day
August 31 — National Box Car Day