Slimes

For long have I put off writing this. It pains me a lot to write it, for, once, I regarded The Times of India as an excellent newspaper. I used to read the Economic Times every day, browse through Indiatimes if I had time to spare and in general marvel at the widespread Times Group. As years passed, however, the quality of reporting within these publications has drastically decreased. I know I am not the first one to lament about it, many others, notably Jivha used to crusade against the Times regularly. Now I hardly even go to the Economic Times page. Why so?

Torture of the ..

I saw The Passion of the Christ yesterday night. I wish I shouldnt have. That film has remained in my mind till 12 hours later .. not (entirely) because of the depicted violence or anything, but because I fail to understand the logic behind making it. So much so, that I am not filing this under 'entertainment' at all .. but under 'ponder'.

Showing the last 12 hours of Christ's life .. brutal in-your-face torture and violence is all that it has to offer. This, is not a film about the teachings of the christ, as they constitute hardly about 1% of the total content. What passion was Mel Gibson talking about? The film starts with the capture of the christ and ends with his crucification. It is not a film about the christ at all. It does not tell us what he wanted to convey, it does not show his teachings; all it does is show us how he died. Horribly.

I dont know why so many people have raved about the film: [Yet it is also a preeminently important cinematic expression of the faith — probably one of the most important religious films of all time.]. Please. If it is seen as anti-semitic by people .. rightly so, I would say .. as thats what it shows.

Fortunately, the film does show him speaking .. though uttering (only) well-known quotes like 'Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do' and 'Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword' .. but again thats about it. I would have prefered more along the teachings line and less along the torture line. That; would have shown us the passion.

the same non-performers?

The Maharashtra Election was something I was taking some intrest in, though I am not sure whether it was worth the time. Really. It's not like the overall result bothers me .. (strangely, it does not .. whichever party came to power the state of the state would have been the same). However theres this dull feeling of restlessness within me which I sense increasing as I think about politics whether in Pune, Maharashtra, India or the US.

Heres a parting shot. [Arun Gawli got elected]. [.. The tally did not include his (Gawli's) vote because he refused to step out after seeing an 'encounter specialist', Senior Inspector Vijay Salaskar, posted outside his home in Dagdi Chawl, south Mumbai].

Here are the constituency wise results. [Its fun to read aliases that they have listed .. e.g. Arun Gulab Gawli Alias Daddy]

All that hard work ...

Fuck SysAdmin.
All comps got spankin new OS users and user restrictions. Sysadmin purged all systems of unwanted programs and data such as hidden messengers (instant messengers are prohibited at work) and games. We have entirely new user profiles with respective essential programs installed. I don't give two hoots about my Gaim being deleted .. BUT GIVE ME MY FIREFOX BOOKMARKS BACK!!! I had like 10,000 bookmarks filed away, okay more like 200 .. but I'm not gonna go any lower.
Please .. no comments about where to find firefox bookmarks .. as the whole damn windows user profile is gone. And none whatsoever about backing them up .. I have a back up .. 2 months old :-( .. and just thought yesterday .. I swear yesterday about making a fresh backup of all new stuff. I feel deflated. All that hardwork ...

One more for the TATAs

The Tatas are having a good time. Tata Motors registered on the NYSE a few weeks back, there are talks of investments in Bangladesh and China .. things are looking up. And now, I read this.

Hot Dell Deal

I apologize for the delay .. should have put it up yesterday itself. For those of you looking to buy a laptop Deals2Buy has a totally rocking deal on Dell Inspiron Systems. The coupon is for $750 off on all Inspiron systems above $1500 .. yes you read it right [Seven hundred and fifty dollars off]. The deal is on for today only. So if you want a good system cheap and can't wait till thanksgiving you can get it now. [No .. I am not getting paid for this].

Veerappan shot dead

[Finally] Notorious scandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher Veerappan was shot dead on Monday night. Veerappan reigned in the forests bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and started off as an ivory smuggler, killing over 6000 elephants. He took up scandalwood smuggling in the late eighties. An entire industry developed around the attempt to capture the fugutive smuggler. The Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments formed special joint task forces to hunt him down but Veerappan eluded them all and put to shame all efforts of the state to capture him. The total price on his head was Rs 3 crore [USD 600K]. Over the years the bandit had over a 100 murders attributed to him. Cruel and deceitful, I will remember him for murdering officials after offering to surrender, raiding police stations and shooting policemen while they were sleeping and evading capture for more than two decades.

0 to 128mph in 3.5s

Dudes. Gals. Stand in awe. Six Flags has announced the launch of their latest.. tallest, fastest rollercoaster on Earth. I had glanced at the headline on yahoo .. but after reading this post [watch the video] I felt the adrenaline, felt my heart beats increase. Brought back memories of the last six-flags visit and also of Islands of Adventures. Dudes .. what say .. we goes again?

Adding some spice..?

Why do some people think that making food, of which chilli powder constitutes approximately 10% makes it taste better?

Superman fought till the end

Christopher Reeve, the actor of Superman fame died yesterday after fighting a decade-long battle for his health. He was paralyzed from the neck down after a horse-riding accident and had vowed to walk one day. True to the spirit, Superman was a real-life inspiration to many and continued to teach other paralytics to live more independently. He campaigned for funds and supported effective treatment and research for paralysis and stem cell research through his foundation. I believe he lived up to his image of the caped crusader, which he sought to shed on screen.

Wait ToGo

Theres a ToGos near our office where I sometimes have lunch. Pretty good sandwiches, plus the added incentive of a nice scoop of ice-cream or maybe a malt. This particular franchise is owned by a desi, and interestingly all but one (as per I have seen) of the employees are desi. Anyways .. that is the only goddamn place where it takes more time to get the sandwich than to eat it. I watch painfully (and I might add hungrily) as the desi aunty goes on with her work slowly .. ambling along, gathering all the ingredients, yelling chatting with the other aunty all the while.

Well .. today I ordered a veggie (thought - would be faster somehow .. was terribly hungry) (normally 2 mins to prepare, 7 to eat) and waited and waited .. and waited. After 7 mins of hungry waiting .. with the smell of bacon and chipotle chicken wafting from my neighbouring table, I walked up to the counter. Questioning glance. I responded with my own gestures ..'wheres my sandwich' they (the gestures) said. 'Sir kheera (cucumber) nahi hai'. WTF???? Idiots. Then tell me that 7 freaking hungry minutes before!!! 'thats okay .. mein waise hi khaa lunga' on second thoughts 'to fir thoda avacado jaada de to' .. 'chalta hai sir .. desi store hai'. [Back to more yelling chatting with other desi aunty]. I felt like jumping over the counter and strangling her. I think my frustration was all too apparent. Usually I would have dished out crap .. but today somehow I was subdued. Aunty looked too stupid pitiable to hurt by my scathing remarks.

Worst thing is .. I know I will continue going there for lunch. They have a damn good veggie.

The Nobel, Ignoble and the corrupt

A few miscellaneous entries in this post..

grr

Grrr. My car's central-locking system is down. So is the cigarette-lighter adapter thingy which I use to charge miscellaneous stuff. Its going to cost me big bucks if I am not able to fix it myself. Double grrr.
[EDIT]: replaced fuse. central locking now works.

There was a time

I feel less of a man today. There was a time when my blood boiled when I read about atrocities like this. Now, sadly .. I have been reduced to a person who no longer feels as angry and ashamed as before. This is a case of the utmost contempt .. which showcases the abuse of power by some in the police force. About how the police can turn some innocent's life into a living hell and how we as a nation are helpless to do anything about it. About how such incidences have so impregnated our lives, that we no longer feel surprised and indignated by them. Now, when I read the news .. all I can think of is 'bullshit .. let me see the policemen get punished, fined, jailed first'. So many times has the system been abused, so many times have the guilty gone unpunished that now it seems 'just another incident'.
Read the news, see if your blood boils. It does, I hope.