Uphill ride


Did my first uphill ride today. It was hard, and time consuming but the low gear ratios on the trek 4300D really helped a lot. the first leg of the journey was a 15 km ride to the base of the hill. from there it was about a 2 km ride UP… now that was killing. However, i told myself that i will not walk- that meant that i had to ride up. I stopped 3 times, but that was worth it. Managing to cycle up.. got me highly kicked. Even though i was the last one up (considering i was the last to start) cycling up was totally worth it! 🙂

roadside blogging

one of the biggest disadvantages of having a really fast car is the urge and tendency of pushing the car, now throw in a set of race specificaiton tyres and an empty road well… Damn!!!

So i decided to “see what MY CAR can do” and pushed it. It was an exhilaraing experience, loved every minute of it… But sadly, all good things ,must end and so did my joyride. All things were going jus great when i suddlenly see the temp needle hitting the roof. I stop & check & realise albiet Naturally- that ive blown the cooling system. Bummer.

So i stop, make a few calls and ask for the mech to come by, waiting out here on the side of the road, i decided to blog. Very bizzare but never in my life did i imagine this would happen. Technology would reach such a stage taht i can actually do this.

But the nicest thing to ever happen- a youg lad stops by and says – ive noticed that youve brpken down for more than half hour, would you like some help!!! God bless him. I was speechless. Thank you- for stopping and for being concerned!

Still here, been almost 2 hours, guess ill be out of here in a bit.

Damn i love this country!!!

Delhi 6

my wife and i finally went for a move after a very long time. we got tickets for delhi 6 – a  new realease by the same director who made Rang De Basanti – Rakyesh Omprakash – it was a TRAGIC disappointment. One would assume that with a cast of rishi kapoor, om puri and wahida rahaman, the film will be as gripping as ever, the only gripping that was happening was me clawing into my seat out of sheer desperation. 

the film has a very relevant theme- of communal hatred being stirred by people with ulterior motives, caste and arranged marriages. the same thing that all people think of when they come to india. 
but thats it, it stops there,. there was a story that was smaller than a grain of rice, and the acting by certain characters was non existent. The most amount of dialogue came from the “news reporters” in the movie than from the lead characters. 
how did this get funding? 🙁 

apologies?

i was thinking and penning down something similar  – but this blogger took the words right out! 🙂

http://imdur1980.blogspot.com
to think about it, there are a few people that i would like to rewind the clock and not say what i had said, and apologize to them, but i don’t see that happening. 🙁

Slum Dog Millionaire – a repeat?

i know this might seem a little excessive, but what if? I equate this to the East India Company again. they came, they saw, they liked, they used, they got glory and now claim to be theirs.
Danny boyle (As much as I appreciate the other flicks sir!) has said it himself – “In Reality – IT is a british film”.
Though the cast, crew, music, script and original story are indian – he is claiming it to be brit! damn!

Source: Times of India: http://is.gd/kCWE

Danny Boyle, 52, was born into a middle-class Irish family. He grew up in Northern England, and perhaps it is because he contemplated priesthood as a vocation in his youth that he now has this inexorably calm demeanour that refuses to be ruffled by accusations of poverty porn. Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan has even called him a saint. The self-deprecatory Brit in Boyle laughs off the praise. “My mother would have loved it if I had been a saint, but I’m far from it. I’m a very real guy,’’ he says.

A very real guy who has made a very real film, the brightest feather in a cap which boasts other acclaimed productions such as 28 Days Later and Trainspotting. “We worked with a budget of 13 million dollars. That is the amount I could raise without having a major Hollywood star in it, but we made it look like a hundred million dollars because we spent all of it on screen.’’

Talking to Times of India from Los Angeles an hour after he picked up his Oscar, a slightly out of breath, Boyle said, “I’m truly happy that every Indian I meet is beaming, and it is the ultimate compliment for me that people in India see Slumdog Millionaire as an Indian film. However, in reality it is a British film. It is a very gritty in the beginning and very realistic because our film culture is based on that kind of realism which in Hollywood and Bollywood isn’t quite there.’’

How soon does Boyle intend to return to Mumbai? “As I have said earlier, I intend to do a thriller in Mumbai. We are talking to a couple of people. It will be a while before the script is ready. I would be very privileged to work in India.’’

Although Boyle’s exposure to Bollywood is admittedly limited, he has seen some of its cinema. “Honestly I hadn’t seen too much of it before I came to Mumbai to shoot Slumdog,’’ he says. “I’ve seen films by Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair and Anurag Kashyap and Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya and Company. I liked what I saw because they are very much like my taste. These were different films, but I love the regular Bollywood stuff as well.

Finally, who is the real Danny Boyle? Sinner or saint? “I am not a saint, sadly,’’ he says. “I just give my job and the people I work with a lot of respect. And I’m always willing to learn. As a film-maker it is not about having a reputation and just going and doing it. With each film, you have got to learn. I like learning. I like starting from scratch. You learn that from your actors and from people who help you like Loveleen Tandan, Raj Acharya, Resul Pookutty and, of course, the charismatic Rahman.’’

lovely charts!

finally! i found a site where i can make my process flows et al, without having to lug two laptops (one mac and one pc) just to do my process flows.
and its pretty powerful as well.

check out …
www.lovelycharts.com

the need to state!

sometimes, i still wonder- the actual reason to explisitly state the obvious!

“Contents of the cup may be hot” this has already been printed onto a plastic cup that i bought from abroad.

well, as they say – only there can this happen!

I was browsing a rather large online retailer – which led me to a product:
Something (changed name) 10-Foot Premium Shuffleboard Table with Solid Maple Playfield.. so now we know that this is 10ft long made of wood.
but what really took the cake was:

“Ships Separately in Original Packaging: If sending as a gift, note that contents cannot be concealed.“
wow! i was wondering how i would conceal a table of 10 ft length!

Competition

The Automated Teller Machine market is highly competitive. With the large players being Tritron, NCR, Diebold, Wincor etc. so when a website wants to ensure high advertisement charges, what do they do?
advertise all at the same time! 🙂

I couldnt capture the screen shot, but the article was sponsored by Tritron, one ad from NCR talking about their 120 year heritage and the other from Diebold talking about their 150 year heritage.

So, the question is – would i choose the 120 years or 150 years?? hhmm? i dont know, given the fact that 120 years ago also there were no ATMs.

the Diebold Ad