Spider-Man 3 (No, its not a review!)

I am not going to watch Spider-Man 3. Oh, I might inadvertently catch it on TNT or something a few years down the road.


Infertility affects one in 25 American men.

The first one was refreshing (well, at least the first 20 minutes) and after barely sitting through the second one for about half-an-hour (which I caught on DVD at a friend's house), I put my hat on and went to see another friend. The trailer of SM3 reeks of melodrama and I could never particularly accept Tobey, that awesome man-boy, as a superhero anyway. Plus the overused background chorus in these big-budget movies is now starting to annoy me.


And what the hell is she wearing?

Speaking of budget, I heard that they have spent $250 Million to make SM3! I mean...what the holy f*ck! I could understand a budget like that for the Lord of the Rings franchise, which actually represents an epic event. But all that money for a dude with mental issues wearing a mask...!

I am going to lunch out now. I need to pause and take stock of a few things...

Pristine Prisons?

Finally legislators in California have agreed to a plan to "overhaul" that state's extremely troubled prison system.


Prison plan details are discussed Wednesday by, from left, Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, Senate leader Don Perata and Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines. Picture Copyright: Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer.

For years, no one could reach a solution on the problem of overcrowding in California's prisons. I have been following this particular issue with a great deal of interest for a long time now. A couple of Unions, naturally, are against the plan...as they have been for many years now.

My own take...I certainly hope the two unions don't have any success in overturning this plan. I cannot yet say if the unions are wrong or correct but at some point California will need to find out what will work (or atleast ease the problem). All parties concerned on this issue have been at a stalemate for way too long at the expense of tax payers. Now there is a plan agreed on by two of the three (Republicans, Democrats and Unions) major "players". The ideal solution is, of course, preventing crime from happening in the first place. But that is an ideal solution. This new plan may or may not work. But at this point, and given how long this issue has dogged the state, it will be worth finding out through action. If this is the best "they" can come up with for now, so be it. It now remains to be seen how successful phase 1 is. Hopefully a significant improvement to parole and sentencing rules (and possibly an increase in staffing) can be made after feedback from phase 1 or 2.

Showdown in little Barbados!

So...the Sri Lankans and the Aussies will be facing off (again) in the Cricket World Cup 2007 Final in Barbados. Watching these two teams perform so far has been an immensely pleasurable experience...and a stark reminder that it cannot get any worse for the Indian team which was sent home after the first round.

I still have to hear Indian selectors say, "Yes, we have a serious problem. We have players but no team." Until they do that, I am not going to have a positive outlook on the chances for the Indian "team" in the next World Cup (or for that matter, whatever the next major tournament will be).

Ahista Ahista (a brief film review)

Hey, I found a good Hindi (they say, "Bollywood") movie Friday night.


Cho Chweet! Soha Ali Khan is exquisitely pretty while Abhay Deol has good presence.

The movie has a cast that is actually young. That is, no old dudes pretending to be 20 year olds. Both Soha and Abhay carry their roles capably. Sure there were cliches but I didn't care as the screenplay kept moving at a good pace. This movie for some reason reminded me of the award-winning Tamil movie Iyarkai, which starred the very under-rated Shaam, who, in my opinion, is probably the most natural actor working in Tamil cinema today (case in point, Shaam's casual performance in YNRAI).

Anyway, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the weather outside is a sunny 60F. I am off for a stroll around the North End. It is supposed to reach 75F in a couple of hours by which time I should be at the track in UMASS enjoying a session of sprinting. Then the kitty transfer happens when Raina gets back from France later today (so sad). And back to my paper in the evening. Ciao, bastards!

Lara Walks

So Brian Lara will not be playing International Cricket anymore. He has retired :(


A young Brian Lara makes his Test debut in Lahore in 1990. Picture Source: BBC Cricket.


The front page of the Trinidad and Tobago Express announcing Brian Lara's retirement, April 20, 2007.

Lights Out

“Apple blossom, juicy pears and apples, mingled with fresh grass on the nose. Also a hint of mint. Smooth, delicate and sweet on the palate with a sweet rounded finish. Absolutely charming. Reminiscent of a walk in a Norman orchard bathed in morning dew.”

Can you guess what that was about?

Those were the words spoken by a Whiskey reviewer. Let me make something clear. I like Whiskey. I really do. But...Holy be damned! Some of these people are going to need help down the road.

Incidentally, the results are in on the world's best Whiskies.

I know. This is the second post today. I thought that I would go with the "flow" of the post from earlier today and throw in something that made for some "light-headed" reading. Its 8:40 PM EST and I think that I am ready for a bit more of "light-headed" reading myself :-)

Spaced Out

Well, my last two posts were kinda heavy. So I thought I would post something "light" this time. Check this out:

Earth's City Lights

This is a cool tool but it doesn't allow the User to get really close. For instance, I could make out the spot that (I think) is my hometown Madurai as the spot could easily have been a conglomeration of Madurai and neighboring towns like Dindigul and Sivaganga. New Delhi and Mumbai clearly stand out. Most of Africa, the Amazonian basin, Northern Canada, Central/Northern Australia (and the rest of Oceania), the islands in SE Asia and Northern Russia (all of Siberia, I presume) are very much in the dark and somehow I feel very comforted by that. Use left-click and right-click to zoom in and out.