To take the plunge or not

Balaji has an interesting post called The Other Side on his blog where he summarizes his thoughts on the suicide of Indian entertainers. I thought that I would respond to his post on my blog. Hey, it gives me something to write about on my blog...

Such performers face two issues:

1. A lot of them have never had good mentors. You don't have to look any further than Britney Spears or a Paris Hilton to understand what I mean. Plus, like TC writes in his wonderful Boys to Men, we do not have certain rites of passage in "civilized" societies anymore. While TC's article applies to males, females, bound by superior intuitiveness, possibly need different ways to deal with an upwelling of emotion.

2. Because they hailed from a movie background, these performers came or were under intense pressure to come into the industry at young ages well before they had had a chance to identify and cope with insecurities while they were not used to being in the limelight.

This is why working actors and those who have had a regular job before turning to show business tend to deal with public scrutiny and "scandals" much better than those who made it big at a very young age. The former would have had a chance to properly grow up emotionally.

On a side note, this post completes my first year of blogging.

A Cul-de-sac called Earth

In today's news...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7262951.stm

Old news...

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0408/excerpt4.html

Some of these animal rights groups are starting to sound like kids, who've been refused a toy at the local fair. If we didn't have so many people, we wouldn't need as much land. And if we didn't need as much land, there will be more land for wild animals to roam and, therefore, less chances of conflicts occurring between humans and wild animals. But it is a little too late to lament the high population of humans. We cannot cull humans. So it will have to be big animals instead. Why? Leaving them as they are would mean the extinction of smaller animals that compete for food and space with those bigger animals in the same habitat...the habitat that is being increasingly used by humans. And, yeah, I am quite sure hunting would be the primary means of culling. The culled animals will feed 100s of human mouths in Africa. I feel really bad for those forestry officials who care more about these animals than anyone else. They are always being bad-mouthed. I am quite sure that some have their jobs only for material reasons. But I am also equally sure that a lot of them do their jobs because they are passionate and trust no one else to take care of what is out there.


Taxi to the Dark Side (2007).

In a statement anticipating the announcement (of the cull), one of the animal rights groups has asked, "How much like us do elephants have to be before killing them becomes murder?"

My answer: "Easy. When human civil liberties and rights are applicable to elephants then, yeah, culling becomes murder. But I hardly think that I will see that happen in my lifetime--just watch Taxi to the Dark Side to see what I mean. We have enough issues amongst major groups of humans, as it is. Until then, know the difference between sentiment and reality!"

$17.99 Each?!

A Soho 7-ounce Port glass. Simple yet so totally elegant.

The only thing missing from my glassware collection is a set of port glasses. This particular brand is selling for $17.99 a piece at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It's daylight robbery! Well, maybe not. I can probably get some cheaper for a lot less at IKEA or Walmart. IKEA? Walmart? Come on. They are just not the same as Bed, Bath & Beyond. I got my Brandy snifters for $4.99 (all of 4 of 'em) at IKEA. Not too bad and they serve their purpose well. But they look nowhere like the rest of my glassware, which I got at BB&B. Hopefully, I can soon get a set of 4 of these Port glasses for a lot less. Hopefully...

The Bee and the Beah

This is wild Salmon. I've been eating Salmon since time immemorial. I think that my interest in Salmon originally stemmed from my fascination with Alaska--hopefully I can visit Alaska again soon.

My protein these days comes primarily from Salmon and (organic) eggs, followed by a distal bacon and beef. Chicken is usually only consumed when I visit my folks. When it comes to fish, my first choice is clearly Salmon. I like Tuna but restrict it these days in favor of Salmon. I like my Salmon either smoked or raw. Either way it is consumed along with a couple of eggs or in a salad tossed with a bit of jalapeño ranch dressing.

This article describes what I've instinctively known for years. Also farm-raised fish is inferior. Fish is expensive enough as it is. You might as well spend an extra dollar (or two) and get the wild stuff.


This is an organic beer and I have to say mighty tasty. No, I am not going organic with beer. I just happened to pick it up the other day when David was coming over to watch the UFC and, once home, realized it was an organic product. Delicious too!

Godavari (A brief movie review)

Godavari is the first Telugu movie that I have watched.

A romantic musical, this movie revolves around Sriram (Sumanth) and Seeta (Kamalini Mukherjee) and a few other characters. But the way the screenplay goes, I don't think that we are supposed to give a sh*t about anyone other than Sriram and Seeta (except maybe for a dog).

Sriram, an idealist, intends to involve himself in politics in an effort to serve the public. He is also interested in marrying his cousin Raji (Neetu Chandra). Raji, on the other hand, wants to settle down with a practical guy who has a regular job. She rejects Sriram and gets engaged to some other dude. With Raji's marriage finalized, her wedding party undertakes a multi-day journey to the place of the wedding on a riverboat. Sriram, who would rather be elsewhere, reluctantly tags along as well.

Seeta wants to live her life as a financially independent woman and is not exactly excited about getting into an arranged marriage. She finally gives into pressure from her family and agrees to an arranged marriage. But with only a few days left, her marriage is called off. Wanting some alone time, she boards the same riverboat as Raji's wedding party. She and Sriram eventually meet and, after a few initial misunderstandings, they hit it off well together. Does this make Raji a teeny-weeny bit jealous? Of course it does. This is an Indian movie and it doesn't take rocket science to understand Indian movies even if one doesn't speak the local dialect.


A dish called Raji.

96% of the movie happens on a riverboat on the Godavari river. What this means is that the director doesn't have to come up with annoying coincidences to make Sriram and Seeta run into each other in a crowded city. By keeping their presence restricted to a boat, they are guaranteed to meet and spend time together. The other thing that requires mention is the character of Seeta. Seeta is certainly not a completely unique character but Kamalini Mukherjee manages to inject a breath of fresh air (and spunk) into Seeta.


The funniest dialogue in the movie are uttered by an animated stray dog!

The rest of the characters are as cliched as they come. Take, for instance, Raji's fiance. That character is so stereotyped, it is immediately obvious that the fiance character exists solely to make Raji insecure. Why? So that Raji could start wondering if her decision to reject Sriram was a bad one and so introduce conflict in the blossoming Sriram-Seeta relationship. Get it? Had Raji's fiance been a very likeable character, the director would have had a challenge in his hands attempting to get Raji to look at Sriram in a new light. Instead the director makes Raji's fiance a caricature and thus takes the easy way out. The character of Sriram is ok. Other than his ideals, which are never stressed upon once the riverboat journey begins, there really is not much worth mentioning about the male protagonist's character.

The movie ends on a predictable note. Since I was concentrating my attention on attempting to understand the dialogue, I didn't really pay much attention to the other stuff such as background music and cinematography. Timepass!

Heart 'n throat

"You..want..a..piece..of..ME?!"

I remember when I was down in the Cape a few years ago during a late Spring weekend. After bicycling late into the evening--around 9:30ish--I was returning to a friend's cabin in Eastham, when on a whim--I am known to get a lot of whims--I made a brief detour to Great Pond. The moon was out and there were no clouds. The night was a curious white. A cool breeze trickled out of the surrounding pitch pine forest and moved perceptively over me. And other than the soft sound of an occasional pine cone dropping to the ground, it was quiet. I left my bicycle near the docks and walked toward the forest (there is a dim trail in Wiley Park that seems to be popular with dog walkers). As I approached the forest edge, the pines started looming before me, hardly moving and almost fantastical in their pale, gnarly appearance under the moonlight. In a matter of minutes, guided by an almost full moon, I arrived at Herring Brook road--see map below. I stood there for a while recalling with satisfaction that most of the roads in the Cape did not have streetlights. Then I turned around and started back on the trail. It was quiet. Very quiet except for the soft whisper of the wind through the leaves and the murmur of a nearby stream that I could not see. Then right above my head, a shrill:

"Sssriee"

I jumped!

And, boy, I must have jumped like 3 feet into the air. Had an NBA selector been around, he would have wanted to discuss options with me. As you might have guessed by now, it was a common barn owl :) He was probably tree-hopping. I stood there with my heart pounding loudly while the bird quickly receded into the darkness somewhere in front of me.

"fff fff fff"

I finished walking back to my bicycle and mournfully pedalled back to the cabin, a long mile away.

Click map for a bigger map.

Chettinadu isn't just about the food

Chettinad cuisine is famous throughout India. I personally have dabbled with making Chettinad chicken curry many a time. Of course, I am still not confident enough to make my masterpiece available to others. Anyway, when I visited India recently, I made special note of something else: architecture. To that end, I had posted some photos in an earlier post. But here are some photos I came across on TrekEarth over the weekend. These are photographs of several houses/mansions sporting Chettinad style architecture.


A classic exterior.


A paved open space in front of the house. Would this be where Deepavali fire crackers are lit, where Pallanguli is played under a setting sun and where kids hop, skip and jump (probably not good for the lower back, huh)?


Interior with an open courtyard. The afore-mentioned activities could happen here too.


Similar interior but with a closed ceiling. Well, maybe not the fire crackers then, huh?


A walkway for late night ponderings. A lightness or heaviness of heart would have been evident in anyone who habitually walked here eons ago.


Hide and seek on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Anyone?


The closest I have come to seeing something like this would be in the home of my friend, Vijayabaskar, in Madurai (my hometown). It was a long house and the doors were situated along a single line. You can view the wall at the back of his house from the door at the front entrance. But his house did not have any open courtyards that is evident in this picture.

These mansions are from Karaikudi and Madurai (according to TrekEarth).

Glänzend!!

Of course, the following clip takes the cake...

Gymservations

Last night I made a few (mostly positive) observations at the gym. Here they are in no particular order:

1. All three (3) squats racks were being used for...(drumroll)...squatting! Two guys were doing back squats while I did front squats (225 for reps, I should say). And one of the guys actually squatted ass to the grass!


But my fellow squatters were all male. So unfair!

2. I spotted an Indian guy. Would you believe that?! An Indian guy at the gym!! He looked dweeby, which really is a perfect reason to get into a gym. But...I am overjoyed just to have seen a (dweeby) looking Indian guy in the gym! Yay! The fact that he did a 180 and started walking the other way as soon as he saw me didn't matter (FOB Indians are like that). I was just too elated to care!!


I heard Kal Penn was pretty good in The Namesake.

3. I was wearing a green football (that's soccer to you, gringos) t-shirt with the word "Ronaldinho" emblazoned on it. I wonder how many Patriots fans thought I was trying to send them a message ("Try switching to soccer, you monkey!") in the eve of the Patriots' upset at the superbowl :)



4. A blonde cutie was actually doing the Ab Pulldown. And with her low cut top, an area of 10 square feet around her became a dangerous place to be in for a while there. Incidentally, the Ab Pulldown is my only dynamic movement (notice I didn't say "exercise") for directly training the abdominal wall. This movement also immediately relieves lower back ache that can occur as a result of doing Squats and all bending movements (Deadlifts, Goodmornings, etc.). Since the abs are also trained isometrically during Squats and all heavy bending work, I don't bother with crunches, side bends, planks and assorted sh*t that everybody else seems paranoid about.


I think the chap in the video is Dave Tate, a world-class Powerlifter :)

The United States of Europe (A brief book review)

This book is a few years old. I picked it up in a Boston Logan airport bookstore last month and finished reading it by the time I landed in Paris. At first I had pegged it as a book on business. But the author does not write about negotiation secrets or anything. What he does do is present an outstanding narrative on describing the powerhouse that is the European Union. First he sets about laying out how Americans have not been taking the EU seriously. He uses the example of a typical American couple that goes on a road trip and buys/uses what it thinks are "very American" products. And I felt a little embarrassed because he could have just as well been describing me. My concentration in college, as part of my Political Science major, was in International Relations and so I felt a bit miffed at myself for learning about the significance of the EU through this book. But I guess that is more or less how Jack Welch, whose head-on conflict with Mario Monti (the EU Competition Commissioner) has been described with glee through a whole chapter by the author, must have felt on a particular day back in 2001.

The author also describes his family's personal experience with the EU's universal healthcare system, which I found very enlightening (and now I know why that lamb dinner I had in Reykjavik last year cost me a pretty penny). Other topics such as how the lack of a stronger military presence (when compared to the military of the US) in the EU isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Europeans and the benefits of having implemented a much simpler cellular phone format over there are also discussed about in concise detail.

The best thing about this book is the organization and its prose. I actually read some of its chapters in no order and did not feel confused at all. The author's writing is clear and very easy to understand. I could have been chatting with him in a quiet bar in downtown Boston.