GTalk Me

Looks Jazzzzy !Doesnt it...

Thanks to Google Blog, to have placed URLs of Unofficial Google Sites that do developments that please the Google Users, as much as Google does.

Here's to Customize your GoogleTalk.

You have plenty of links for you, if you love that Text Smileys. If you are a ardent core programmer, you will find links to make your RPC Calls from Google Talk.. (!). Boy, that one was too very much.

Here's the best part.... Online IM Radio - MERCORA

This is an IM Based Radio, yet to test this feature with a GTalk IM Friend. But this lets me Webcast my own music, and also listen to other music, with Crystal Clear Sound Clarity.

If you happen to Download this one (download available here) try searching for as many Tamil as possible. I instantly hit upon Mazhai audio.

I tried (in vain) searching "Eno Kangal Un Mugame Ketkiradhe".... the instant Hit from "Kalvanin Kaadhali".... YSR is Still Banging on... Listen to it, and you will know.




Its already December !!

Narayanan - you and me

Home - Narayanan - morning - boring - pooja - coffee - Saddam hussain - saurav/greg - 3 new messages - oh !shit ! - 2 minute bath - quick bites - unironed van huesen - idiots at home - kick start - kick - kick - kick -- damn. hectic traffic - dirty sun - sultry - sick bike - all f****** up.

"good morning sir.. " - "good morning Mr. Narayanan, today you have...." - "sir, yesterdays..." - "Narayain... can you come to my room." "yes sir"

12 emails - 20 minutes - 5 response emails - coffee - coffee sucks - meeting in 2 minutes - print out fired - paper jammed - shucks.

hot meeting - embarrasing questions - "that guy is talking too much, as if" - end of meeting - more responsibilities - 30 mins past lunch time - skipped lunch.

more emails to send - more documents to prepare - life is boring - monotonous, dont you think.

4 continuous hours of "stare on your monitor" - stayed long enough - time to go home - kick start - kick - kick - kick -- damn. sick bike.

home - pooja - complaints - power cut - getting late for "art of living " - pooja wont come - irritated - hungry - unironed khaadi jippa - idiots at home

kick start - kick - kick - kick -- damn - the bike wont start - "sukumar.. im not coming today.."

hit the bed early - sleepless eyes - hungry stomach - restless mind - Narayanan - just another IT guy.

1 Message Received

Yesterday I got an SMS from my friend.

It read,

Andangakka Kondakkaari.. Send this Mantra to 10 people and you will get "Masala Vada from a Andangakka". Please dont neglect.

One more..

Thanjaavooru Mannu eduthu, Thamirabarani thanniya vittu
Serthu Serthu Senjadhu Unga Cellu...
Adhu cellu illa cellu illa, Sengallu !

Hmm... Thank God SMS was a free service.. There are hell lot of fwd:SMS that keep coming around..

One such thing is

Ganguly: En paer Saurav, muzhu paer Saurav Ganguly.

Saurav's Doctor: Ivarala 15 nimisathaku maela entha pitchlayum batting panna mudiyathu.
Yarro ivar thalaila vegama ball pottu thakiyirukaanga; ivar oru SHORT TERM BATTING LOSS patient.

Addadddaaddaaaa..... thaaanga mudilayappa...

How would you feel, after reading anyone of the above, when you are sitting inside a meeting room ? I felt funny, and tried all possible facial expressions to control my laughter.

ஜாதிகள் இன்னும் இருக்குதடி பாப்பா !

Stop. Think.

Are you one of the guys who would struggle to abolish the Caste System ? Read on.
Realize a few more Castes we have created.

"இந்த Cycle காரணுங்களே இப்டித்தான்"

"வெறும் Call Centre உத்யோகம் பார்க்கராரா ? "

"AUTO காரன் எல்லாம் கொள்ளைக்கார பசங்க !"

There are a lot more. LOT MORE. We are humans. I know a many of us want to abolish all the categoizations and evolve under a single Roof ! But trust me, we always tend to categorize. We always want to split. I see people praised and critisized based on their jobs. That is how the Caste system started.. And we are "Murpokku vaadhigal" and we still do it.

The Way i see it, the "Murpokkuvaadhigal" have only developed a few more castes instead of abolishing.

"The Villiwakkam Auto Stand Union" will become a "Jaathi Sangam". "The Ayanavaaram Mudi Thiruththuvor Sangam" will be one too.. "Chennai Kaigari Vyaabarigal" will become a Vote Bank.

Guys, there are more castes than you thought there was !! What can you do ??

Anbe Venkataachalam !!

Anbarasu : "look, i dont understand your jokes man !!!"

Nallasivam : "Becasue, its not a joke.... முன்ன பின்ன தெரியாத ஒரு பையனுக்காக கண்ணீர் விடர மனசு இருக்கே, என்னப் பொருத்த வரைக்கும் அதுதான் கடவுள்"

Anbarasu : "huh !! heh .... thank you... என்ன திடீர்னு இந்த பணிவு ??"

Nallasivam : "ஏன்னா நானும் கடவுள் !! "

Anbarasu : "haaah !! நினைச்சேன் !! ஏதாவது hook இருக்கனுமே ......"

................

Nallasivam : "A. ARS....... You are a good man."

Anbarasu : "...hmmm :) so, are you.."

Nallasivam : "I know ......" :)

Successful 50th time. Watched my alltime fave "Anbe Sivam" yet again.
Neeyum Naanum Sivamaaampa !!

Avyukta Chips

Just apply Two Filters on Photoshop CS2 and you will get this effect.
But when I showed my mom, she said "Ennada.. Kannellam asingamaa.."

____________________________

Today, at work, we are compensating for the day that was declared a Holiday due to Rains. Looks like today will again be a holiday, because of the rain. Ha ha he haae heeeeh haaa ..yahooo !

____________________________

If you hadnt heard "Pibare Raamarasam" from Morning Raaga, I recommend you listen to it very soon. Early morning. Rain outside. Cold Inside. A little noisy Silence.A Shrill voice. Heavens. You need to hear it.

____________________________

Dont blame it on the Politicians. I saw people who own 2 FLoor buildings, rushing to get the relief measures. They are rich guys, yet run to get the relief, despite the fact that they did not suffer.

On a different Tone, Adengappa Prabhu said people where rushing into CompUSA like hell to get the best deals on the Black Friday sale.

People are People everywhere.

Ketta Naal Mudhal

Kanda Naal Mudhal

What kind of movie is this ?? Looks to me as if 3 people ditching each other. The Movie hasnt overdone the hype. So, it is as silent as it can be before the release. Wish it makes noise after release.

Priya - who's been with Maniratnam directs this movie. Prakashraj is the producer (I really appreciate him for his experiments).

PC Sriram has our eyes. Yuvan Shankar Raja has our Ears. (He already has mine..)

Talk of songs in the movie. Boy, it was released looong back. Seems to be some problems releasing the movie (like Thavamai Thavam Irundhu..)..

6 Songs. Cant expect all of them to be good. No Music Listener will expect all the songs in a movie to be good. Do you know why ? Anyways, 3 songs are just too good in the movie. YSR Rocks.

Kanda Naal Mudhal, is sung by Subhiksha and Pooja. Its a carnatic based song. I wouldnt say it is a perfect one. But i keep hearing this repeatedly. "Ennamo Pannudhu !!" on hearing this song. The way the song starts might irritate a few people. Carnatic music lovers will hate for a simple reason that every Music director adds a fast beat to a carnatic song, and calles it a Novel song.. but the Raagam of the song is thrilling, and got high peaks.. Dont try to sing it in front of people. They might think you are hitting your last breath. Must Hear.

Merke Merke, is a sure hit. Already all the ears in my office have surrendered to this song.Shankar Mahadevan and Sadhana Sargam would have enjoyed singing this plain and simple rythm. This song wins for simplicity. Cool song.. Lyrics are worth a listen.. You are sure to humm the humm (this one features the trailer, i believe).

Panithuli Panithuli, (why do songs always start like this.. "rukumani rukumani","humma humma","oorvasi oorvasi", "oruvan oruvan","ey.. shabba ey.. shabba"... and the list is endless... why o why ?) is a beautiful song, and that I realized very late. KayKay, Shreya Ghoshal and Thanvi have voiced this song. YSR shows his intelligence in music (Thiramaiya kaamichuttar) through this song. In a song, if the instruments support the voices, instead of being independant and showing off, the song is already a good one. This is such a song, with underplayed instruments. "Pesumbodhe Pesumbothe Mounamaanom" appdinnu Uchchasthayiyil paadum bodhu, we melt.

Erimalai Naane, Shankar Mahadevan and Vasundhara Das. This is yet another song, that will remind you of some song or the other. It is in the hands of time, that this song will become a hit. Otherwise, it is just an effortless song..

Other 2 songs, Koo Koovena and Pushing it are just another songs in their genre. Pushing it is YSR's Englipees paattu where he sings in unknown english lines... im getting to hate this kind. Thevai illaye Mr. YSR.

On the whole 3.5/6 have passed. So, this is set with good music. If the movie is getting in the right time, and has a promising story... Prakashraj will win in his efforts. Im placing my bets on this movie. You ?

Anju vechcha Paththu.. Paththu vechcha Irubadhu... vaa naina vaa.

To Notepad Fans

I've seen most of the software developers use Notepad as their slaves. Yet, most of their activities revolve around it. Development in a wider sense means COPY-PASTE. So, Clipboard means a lot to software developers, and Notepad is their Multi-tier Clipboard.

If you fall under that category, or if you use Notepad extensively... here's makig your life simpler.

Welcome to KeyNote.



You press Esc, and the application will minimize to your system tray (not even Start Bar)
And the beauty is, you dont have to save.. It auto saves.

Also, you can store your contents like a Parent Child/ Sibling format..
This is what it looks like.

It is more like an Organized Scrap Book.
Give it a try, when you find time.

The Application Setup is available here.

Rain and Shine all the Way

Yesterday was good.

I started the Honda Avyukta (!) 8.30 Am. Cool Breeze.

Kilpauk Water tank road - Getting Dark.

Kellys - Drizzling... I get down, wear my rain gear.. (just a cap..)

Damaaaal - Something fell from above.. Rain it was.. it wasnt separated drops of rain.. it was like a huge mass of water pouring.. whoopa ! Semma mazhai.. for 10 minutes.. I stood under a tree with all the other fellow Bikers. (This is funny. Standing under a tree, when its raining doesnt keep you out of rain.. It still rains. You can only prevent yourself from those powerful, sharp edged rain drops that pierce your face, when you are trying to pace up.)

After 10 minutes - rain stopped. All the refugees started their bikes and fled, with a few "no. i wont start" bikes staying back below the tree.

Pantheon road - It is shining bright like April. As if nothing has happened.

Hmm.. Chennai Is gone Crazy.. Too very Crazy.

###############################################

Here's another Castpost. An Audio file from Anthimantharai.

I keep getting this music, but am Not sure if this is the same Bharathiraja - AR Rahman movie that won an award even before release.. (and hence didnt run at all). But all the music collection for this movie so far has been excellent. Listen to this one.

I've heard that Naveen is the person who plays Flute for ARRahman. If someone could give me his address, I will go meet him and fall on his feet.. for his Bombay Theme and many many other excellent Music on Rahman's songs and backgrounds.

Even in the Anthimantharai song posted above, the flute rules.

"Thulai Sellum Kaatru Mellisayaadhal Adhisayam"

Cast A Post

Guys, check this out.

You will certainly love it, if you dont want a paid AudioBlog.

Here's my AudioBlog.

Apart from holding a separate blog, you could also post on your Existing Blog, like this.



Castpost

The War of Game Shows

Looks like Sun TV is jumping back to game. Ramya Krishnan features in Sun TVs new game show "Thanga Vettai" (Gold Hunt).

Sun TV already sucked at replicating "Kaun Banega Crorepati". Sarathkumar's flop show "Koteeswaran" did not reach people as expected. But Jaya TV's "Jackpot" is rocking sundays, nowadays.

Vijay TV's "Vasool Rani" is what seems to have triggered up the fire. A very different show with reasonably good questions (some were difficult even) has fastly crawled in to the TV Menu of the audience. The anchor of the show is Balaji (who seems to be a popular Radio Jockey). This guy takes the show with cool pace, and i think he is fairly a good reason for the hit of the show.

Jaya TV has now got Meena to play "Houseful" game. This is a SMS driven game show, where anyone from their living rooms can participate.. This game is what is called "Tambola".. something we used to play in office, occasionally.

Now Sun TV cant be numb, watching all the games (or Game SHows) going around them. So here they are with 200 Gms of GOLD (i guess so, im not sure about the number). Ramya Krishnan will give 200 Gms of GOLD to the Winner of "Thanga Vettai".

Adhayum dhaan paarpome !

Hmm. Get reminded of Playwin's Slogan.
"Khelo India, Khelo !"

Detour - The Cool Hunter

This is some site I've been long waiting for... Wierd and "What the Heck" Gadgets all featured on this site.

The First Image is a Roll out WALL. You just take it with you (easily foldable) and you can make a wall around you, just about anywhere. :)

The second one is a Cable/Wire Winder You can wind up the loosely hanging wires around these creature toys..

The third one is a Cable Identifier.. You can wind up cables with this, and write over it to identify the cable's purpose.


There are much much more on the website.. different gadgets and products that are just not-ordinary.

Visit the website, here. The Cool Hunter.

PS -

• Whats with this ? Im getting more forwards on Krishnamurthi (seems to be a philosopher)..
• I've added back the Google Adsesnse, with just Images banners ads. Looks good... (you know what to do)

Of Slow Songs

One thing that Struck me when I watched "Sollitharavaa" in "Majaa". Immediate thought.

"Suttum Vizhi Sudare" should have been choreographed and cinematographed like this.

It simply didnt require Surya dancing to the beats, and it was close to comedy the way he was dancing. It was a good song spoiled.

Usually, the Oliyum Oliyum days, I used to wait and watch the songs on TV than just listening to it. Because the video part was pulling the audience.. "Uyire Uyire" from Bombay had no dance/special effects/not even foreign location. Yet made me watch it everytime, its on TV.

Its only after watching the movie on theatre, Im repeatedly listening to "Sollitharavaa.. Sollitharavaaaa" from Maja. Its got a Vintage effect. You can easily put MGR and KR. Vijaya in it... resembles a very old song. Still the melody wins beyond replication. Give it a listen.

This song is sung by Madhu Balakrishnan and Sadhana Sargam. Perfect corellation between the voices.

There's another Madhu Balakrishnan song playing on Avyukta. "Kanden Kanden" from Madurey. Its another impressive song, with good editing... Freeze frame worked out well with the Slow song too.. waw !

Many directors struggle to make a Slow song. A very few succeed. Remember K. Balachander showed two people conversing over the phone for 5 minutes.. and made it a Hit song and its always interesting to watch the song. (Sangeetha Swarangal from Azhagan)...

PS - Why does Vikram apply "Kan Mai" to his eyes in that song... looks odd. Probably to make Asin look even more beeetiful.

Meet the Chennai Bloggers

I'm planning to attend it. If you are in Chennai on the mentioned date and time.. Ill be glad to meet you.

Visit www.Kiruba.com for more details on the Chennai Blogger Meet.

New photo on Photoshop blog.

Payanigalin Kanivaana Gavanathirku !

Thanks to GowriShankar for showing the Showcases of IRFCA .

Do you recognize this picture ? It is the Legendary MG Train from Beach to Tambaram.

The picture was taken when the Train headed off to the Shed, after its Last Ever journey on the Beach - Tambaram line. Picture Credits - Jason Antony (Webmaster of IRFCA).

I remember a lot of Ardent Fans (Adharsha in Tamil) of the MG Train were on the last journey. Train to those people was a part of their life. Actually a very important part of their life.

The IRFCA Showcase features a lot of photographs, thats not just picturing the Train as such, but with Tons of beauty added to trains.

Look at this picture. It says the theme.

The train is heading to Heavens. It wont run anymore. With the Inner Lights off and just the Headlights on, the photographer has lied on his back, and taken the Photo.

You might want to take a look at the Photo Gallery of IRFCA.

Off Beat : Thanks to Chakra's email.. He sent me a few Sivaji's Punch Dialogues.. Here's my Favourite.
Singathe konja mudiyathu...Sivajiya minja mudiyathu..

Yesterdays Dilbert Rocks

Click picture for a bigger one. It simply rocks.

SATYA - THE OTHER SIDE OF TRUTH

(Thanks to PK for lending me the CD)

Boy, this is a wonderful movie. Makes us think there is a Manirathnam in Mumbai too. Ram Gopal Varma has directed the movie in Style. It will not be a too exciting movie for Tamil audience, as they have sen more blood and violence. Still, the portrays of life of two guys, Satya and Bikku who become friends, is something that will rest in minds for a long time (if you watched the movie).

Satya, (JD Chakravarthy - last seen on Kannathil Muththamittal) comes to Mumbai looking for a living. Circumstances make him join hands with the Underground Mobs, where he becomes a Pal to Bikku another Dada. Then there is Vidya (Urmila Madonkar) for Satya to get in love with. After that the movie runs till Bikku and Satya Die.

To me, after seeing movies of all Tamil heroes as Dadas, this movie is no good. Yet, there is something every director can learn from this movie. Screenplay.

You would expect a action movie like this to be very fast. Amazingly, this movie is paced at a steady speed. No hick-ups. Hindhi guys always tolerate this 3 hour movies. The Director takes his own time, (and our time too) to slowly recite the story with a lots of reality.

For instance, The commissioner who is pesturing the underworld walk out of his room. Then we hear a low-thud. People walk out and see their Commisioner is dead. No Music. No camera effects. Nothing. Your blood will run cold. The movie is got brilliance everywhere.

Specially the Music and Background Music. Sandeep Chowta and Vishal Bharadwaj are the music guys, and they have done a contemporary work. Infact i wanted to write this post for just mentioning the music.

Some unconventional music in this movie. The Background music is the power of the movie. Badhaloon Se is a song that break the convention and melt on ears. Im repeatedly hearing this. Im struggling to find out the voice behind it.

With Ram Gopal Varma, it looks to me from here as if, there is a lot of room (and money) for experimentation. As Lazygeek mentioned earlier on his post, we certainly need Ram Gopal Varma in Tamil, for these kind of experimentations.

I think we have enough directors. We only need producers.

Quick Trivia : Theres a report on Google Analytics, and its called "Visitor Loyalty".

Kumaramangala Birla

• Kumaramangalam wins Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year award
• Kumaramangalam Birla eighth youngest billionaire

This is Kumaramangalam Birla, Son of Aditya Birla and Chairman of Aditya Birla Group.

He is in newspapers and webpages for the past few days for those achievements mentioned on the top. I tried replacing Kumaramangalam with Keerthivasan. Looked Good.. :)

Thats right. Anybody would want to be in the limelight this person is currently in. And he seem to deserve this because he brought back Aditya Birla group back to business, when the group was Warned of falling apart. From then on, Kumaramangalam, who took over from his father has taken the Group in the path of growth and prosperity.

Asia Times has an article about him. (and many other sites are featuring him).

At a young age, the boy billionaire has hit upon a winning formula: he lets the achievements of his companies, and not his immense wealth, do the talking for him.

Read this article. To me, it was a difference than reading the same old Wipro and Infosys story.

Quick question for you.. how do you pronounce "Entrepreneur".. few of my CA friends pronounced it in a way that sounds like "On-thra-pruno(r)"... Once i start pronouncing it properly, i will try and become one.. :)

The Essence of Friendship

The following is not a real life Incident. IT IS A STORY (ATTEMPT). It is a story of Ego and Friendship..


9 beep
8 beep
8 beep
4 beep
4 beep
1 beep
5 beep
6 beep
5 beep
3 beep

"the hutch number you have called is busy. Please try again later.."

9 beep
8 beep
8 beep
4 beep
4 beep
1 beep
5 beep
6 beep
5 beep
3 beep

"the hutch number you have called is bu" beep.

"pch,.. saniyan saniyan.."

9 beep
8 beep beep beep beep

"ayyo kadavule..."

keeps staring at the display..

SMS should be a good option. when typing...

"Shrikanth Calling...".... tring tring

"dei shrikanth.. arivu kettavane. enga da irukke.."

" tro dla ir en.. e na vish "

"hello !! hello! !"

running out.

"call ended.." beep.

9 beep
8 beep
8 beep
4 beep
4 beep
1 beep
5 beep
6 beep
5 beep
3 beep

"hello.. cholluda keerthi."

"enge da irukke"

"Mountroadla irukken.. enna vishayam.."

"ramoda appa..."

"kojam kaththi pae dhile vizhale"

turning impatiently.. was already outside

"hello ! hello.. ippo kekkaradhaa ?"

"mm.. chollu.. "

"raamoda appa udambu sari illayaam.. SMF la ICUla admit "

"ayyayyo.. endha hospital.. ennacchu ?"

"SMFla ICUla irukkaar.."

"adaaada... n poi paarthiyaa ?"

"..........."

"keerthi.. hello.. !!"

"mm .. sollu.. nee udane kilambi vaa.. ille .. illanna onnu pannu.. nee nera hospital poyidu"

"neeyum vandhudu.. raghuvaiyum azhaichindu vaa.. "

"raghuva poga sollitten. .avan anga dhaan irukkan.. guruvum poyindirukkan. nee seekiram poyidu"

"nee varalaya..?"

"....enna poriyaa ?"

"innum sandai theeralaya ungalukkulle.. ?"

"adha paththi yellam appuram paesalaam.. mudhalla aagavendiya kaariyaththa gavani.."

"podang.. neeyum... seri machchan .. naan ange pona udane phone pannaren..:"

"m,mm"

Beep.

Tring tring... "Raghu calling...."

"sollu raghu.. enna aachchu ?"

"ennada pannre phonai vachu kittu .. engagedaa irukku ?"

"shriya kooptu varacholli irukken.. vandhunde irukkaaaan.. ange enna aachu??"

"sari illada.. critical.. pch.. appava paarthu azhudhunde irukkaan.. enakku enna panradhunnu theriyala.. "

"..........."

"seri.. kelu 3 units A1+ venum.."

"ok da.. udane arrange pannaren.."

"seri vechudu.. naan thirumbi pannren.. guru vandhuttaan.,"

"ok.,. blood arrange pannittu koopidaren.."

"sari vechudaren.."

"iru iru.. "

"enna"

"avana azha vendaamnu sollu..... thairiyama irukka sollu"

"neeye paesen.."

"vendam.." beep.

Google Analytics - Start Tracking

Kallaas !! Heres a new Hit Counter with a lots of reports and views. This time it is from the God. Google Analytics (surprisingly not on Beta) looks promising with cool views and reports. I havent had much traffic in this minute, where i signed up and took a report instantly. Let me see that, at End of day.

But there is a problem. Google restricts it to users who have lesser than 5 million pageviews a month. Now thats bad for bloggers like you and me (Duh !! how many zeroes will a million have ?)

Go ahead subscribe for it, and install it on your page. Be careful on install. You dont put this on your side-bar. You need to add it before the < / head> tag. This is because the script acts integrated with Ad-sense/Ad-words. Those are not of much interest to me. Im simply satisfied with the statistic.

The Q is Dead and Karuthu is born.

Two sites caught my attention today morning. One is www.Karuthu.com

Launched by Writer Sujatha, this site is owned by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (thats what I read in the news). This site is no better than a forum, where people are free to opine their thoughts. Well, it would have been a better Idea to have started a Blog. Nyways, Congratulations on the launch, and Good Luck on the forum. Let us see how far it can make an impact. (If someone from there is reading this, a suggestion to you. The Site throws many uncaught errors.. please handle them).

The Other Site. www.theCinema.in

Many of you would be already into this. But for those who arent yet aware of this service, this is the Sathyam Theatre way of telling "The Q is Dead". Similar to the "old and beautiful" ClickTickets.com, this site shows the show timings and availablilty of "Elite"(?), "Premium" and "Economy" classes. You could book upto 10 tickets. You can also see the seat numbers. You will need a Credit Card to purchase. But there is no Delivery funda. You need to go to Sathyam and collect it, but you can do that at any time of the day. But i think this is a good service. (Rs. 5 Service charge per ticket). Its worth if you like movies and hate Queues.

Vintage Torrents

My BSNL Broadband is free from 2 AM to 8 AM. So, when there are nothing else to dowload, I plug-in the SHAREAZA and start downloading a few older movies.

Bhama Vijayam and Server Sundaram is now on the Download.

More than anyone, i like the movie for BALAIYA. There is a time when every Kid hates Black and White movies. My childhood days where slaughtered by DD. I hated the announcer who will name some very old and boring MGR movie for the Next sunday, in "Munnottam". I have seen Balayya then, as a Villain. "Pssss... Nialakala Gandam" he would say in some MGR movie. I liked the style, and asked my dad about him. That was like pulling a trigger. My dad, a great fan of Balayya, started poring out the pleasure of watching him act. I didnt understand that, that time.

Now, as I grow up, I have some kind of affection towards the Vintage movies. And especially wonder that an Actor like Balayya existed in our industry. There is on Muthuraman movie (i dont remember the title) where Balaiya and a few others are threatened by some anon, that they were going to be killed. Balaiyya's fear is a high comedy and something I enjoy watching everytime. Very sad that the search for Balayya in Google returns useless results. Someone can put up something on him.

Nowadays, if there is some B/W movie on Sun TV... Im putting Avyukta on Stand-by. No doubt, "Thalayil Greedam vechcha Padam" is sure to be watched anytime. Apart from that, the Nakesh movies like "Neer Kumizhi", "Edhir Neechchal", "Server Sundaram", "Bhama Vijayam", "Kadhalikka Naeramillai" are my all time favourites. (Yaaravadhu Disc vechurundha Sollungalen !) I have watched Raja Raja Chozhan, umpty number of times, and Yet 'am not bored of it. Tension free, you know. I wont watch Thillana Mohanaambal like that. Just watch the funny scenes.. especially the Balaiya ones (the train sequence still runs on my eyes). Nunippul Meydhal.

I think Delhi Ganesh is a similar Character Artist who excels like that. Dont you think ?

Kushbu - under arrest

5.30 AM news says Kushbu will be arrested any moment now. (probably arrested, when you are reading this)

She has been issued a non-bailable warrant.

Now dont agitate for this. Understand Kushbu's current arrest warrant is for "Not appearing in the court" and not for whatever she spoke.

Would Kushbu have, when at the top of her career, imagined that something or any thing of this flavour could ever happen in her life.

She couldnt have even guessed this, when she spoke to the media about the "pre-marital sex".

She would not be treated like a normal criminal. She would easily come out in bail, after the non-bail period is over.

YET, something tells me all that whats happening to Kushbu is cheap stunts. There is empty arguements about her talk. People talk just for the sake of opposing her, or to create a scene.

Makes me think, in Shobha Warrior style, Please apply for US Visa if you want to talk freely. India is closed for any opinions.

Shri KR Narayanan [1920 - 2005]

Amid chanting of prayers of all religions and a 21-gun salute, the mortal remains of Narayanan were consigned to flames before a host of dignitaries. Narayanan died here on Wednesday at the age of 85 after a brief spell of illness. The last rites were performed by Dr S Ramachandran, his nephew, at a spot between 'Shanti Van', the memorial of Jawaharlal Nehru, and 'Vijay Ghat', that of Lal Bahadur Shastri. Prior to the rituals, representatives of all religions offered prayers for the peace of the departed soul.

- Times of India

The Innocent smile. Dachu caught on mobile camera. My friend KB at the background. Me and Dachu's dad are hardcore Kamal fans. But this kid is always stuck up with "Devda ! Deehda" (Devuda in Chandramukhi).

You should be blessed to be in the presence of an Active kid.

The Hangman - Not a Game this time.

Do not read this if you are very kind-hearted and flimsy to emotions.

Well, Ive warned you enough. Go further at your own risk. I am going to Cut and paste an article that I read on a web-site that spoiled my day. It gave me the effect of watching a Virumandi Movie.

The News is this. An Australian Guy has been given death sentence in Singapore. Singapore will not give exceptions just because of Australia. So, the Australian Magazine has come out with the interview of the Executioner who will Execute the Australian.

In a very bizzare interview, Darshan Singh the Singaporean Executioner says that he charges $400 for each kill. To him its a plain and simple Profession(!).

He has retired from his Job. Yet he is called by the Singaporean Govt. to execute people. His career Chart shows 850 people executed by him.

To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Chivas Regal.

He Says "Death has always come instantaneously and painlessly. In that split second, at precisely 6am, it's all over."

When his colleague asked him why he had stayed so long in such a gruesome job, he replied: "It's all I know. It has become my bread and butter."

The last lines he says to the convict, before pulling the lever is
""I am going to send you to a better place than this. God bless you."

Think about this guys. I reminded of Virumandi here. The movie opens up with the lines
"Death Penalty is a form of Judicially Sanctioned Murder"

It has been on high debates. A hot issue, no matter who takes it. Killing life of a murderer is not yet justified. I remember watching Live on BBC, a convict executed by Lethal Injection (few years before). Cruel.

Here's a excerpt from this Link.

Under Indian law, the death penalty can be imposed for murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane person, waging war against the state, abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces.

In recent years, special courts have also extended the penalty to cases of terrorism under anti-terror legislation. And some people are pushing for it to be used against rapists.There are currently 1,700 people on death row, according to a study by People's Union for Democratic Rights.The Union Home Ministry has no official figures for the number of executions in post-independent India. But estimates put the figure at over 1,500.

Punishment by death is never a solution to a crime. Practically guys, the Idea is to bring fear on minds. But no one's scared. Why then should Capital Punishment be retained ?

What is Your Voice On it ?

PS - Read the Full Articles here and Here. Please Do read. News Through BoingBoing

What ? But I warned you already !!

Sounding too much

Many people who saw Avyukta, liked it. (Avyukta - My Home PC). It was each for different reason.

The Black Look..
The most - Comfortable custom-made table...
The Keyboard (TVS Gold - Black)..

and most of all the Sound of Avyukta.

I've installed a Creative Sound Blaster Live! sound card on. It is powered with Creative 5.1 Surround Speakers. Now, thats a decent configuration to expect quality music from my PC.

Its not "too-much of sound". Its just quality sound. No "Iraichals"..
It enables you to hear the guy in the corner of the Music Troop using Cymbals. It brings out the PAN effect (left separate.. right separate.. rear separate) that coms along the music. On board sound cards have minimum capability, and the Speakers with it are just speaking instruments. No intelligence there. But a 5.1 Woofer will separate the digital tracks and split the output to different speakers depending on the music.

Here's me suggesting you a "worthy-spend". Creative Sound Blaster Live! (Adhavida bettera Audigy irukku.. but this will suffice) and Creative 5.1 Surround Speakers will together cost you appx Rs. 6500+.

WARNING: If you are in Chennai, there are a lot of Duplicate Creative products. Beware.

If you think, the ordinary Tape-recorder or Music System will be enough,...well, that will be good too. But I like it better on the computer.

Swades - Yeah Yeah.. Im very late to it

First things first.. Click on the picture.. You will see me in the picture, with a Handy Cam (:)

Swades - Ada namma oor Cheran padam madhiri irukke !! I had a chance finally, to watch this movie. Besides good direction, camera works and soft screenplay.. there was the Inevitable AR Rahman stealing the show.

Even the silence in the background was meaningful. And the non-silent parts sounded like "Pokkishams". The music that sings while the Title is played is something that still silks in my ears.

A word in my beautiful tamil - "Reengaaram" :)

I for this long was of the opinion "Hey Ram" had the best Re-Recording and Background score, of all the movies I have seen. Swades just broke it. Now dont jump to conclusions, that Im directly critisizing Ilayaraja. I respect IRs talents, but that doesnt mean someone cannot outdo him.

I've downladed the Background Soundtrack. Thanks to the ARRFans Yahoo group. Playing the Entire 38 MP3s bring in front the emotion of the Scene, without watching it. You will remember every frame of the movie, with just the music going into your ears. (If only, you had liked the movie.). I will try and put up the Swades Theme on my ODEO music channel.

A real satisfying experience. God Bless Rahman.

TRANSFORMATION

People. Kindly read the following patiently and read it slow for a better understanding. Its a small Ammani effect. :)


today is my birthday.. i cant wait to wear that blue dress.

today is my birthday.. i cant to give my friends the foreign chocolates my uncle has brought

today is my birthday.. i cant wait to have my hands on that Street-cat cycle.. wow.

today is my birthday.. why should i go to school on birthdays..atleast she will excuse for that incomplete assignment.

today is my birthday.. nobody cares.. got to wake up early and study.

today is my birthday.. i have to impress that 1st year junior with my dress.. should throw a party at the college canteen, when she is there.

"hello there.. Happy birthday !! i think im the first one to call you ?". "yeah.. thank you *SHE* so much. you are the first :)".. .. today is my birthday.. damn.. its only 1 O Clock.. she called me at this time ? how sweet of her. she really loves me.

today is my birthday.. last year that *#@** called and spoiled my day. hmm. today im getting a hero honda as a gift. I wish my dad gave it :).. i still remember dad giving me the keys of the brand new Street cat cycle, when i was 11.

today is my birthday.. nobody in the training department knows of my birthday. i wish they did. how good they celebrated HIS birthday, in that team. hmmm

yesterday was my birthday.. didnt even realize. the client was on my ass. mom alone had remembered. she couriered me a new t-shirt. i didnt like the design, however.

today is my birthday.. im giving my guys a party. HE has prmised those Beer tins.. its going to be a heck of a day.

today is my birthday.. im taking my fiance out. wonder how she will wish me next year.. :)

today is my birthday.. SHE hasnt yet realized.. i told her when she gave me my coffee..she smiled and wished me, and went back to the kitchen. Mom gave me a new t-shirt. Gosh.. i wish nobody in the office remembers.. i cant pay another treat..

today is my birthday.. went and kissed my son's foot. He smiled.. What other gift do you want on this day ? I felt like I was blessed by my son.

today is my birthday.. wow.. im realizing this after so many years. my son gave me a Pen.. he has saved some of his pocket money. so sweet.

today is my birthday.. my wife insists we should go to a temple..

today is my birthday.. i wore that t-shirt mom had given me.. she wont gift me anymore.

today is my birthday.. my son, his friends and girlfriends gave me a surprise party. i was not that happy.. seemed funny. sounded artificial.. but that golden frame spectacles looked good on my face.

today is my birthday.. today i wont forget in my lifetime.. all my relatives gathered.. my sastiyapthapoorthy. my son did it grand.. he had come from US for this.. not many sons do it these days. he hasnt worn that Shirt i bought him, to wear on the occasion. i felt bad.

is it today or tomorrow.. cant really remember.. anyways,, i will visit the routine temple

today is my birthday.. its my daughter-in-law's birthday too.. i gifted her a book.. she said "thanks". nothing else.

today is my birthday.. cant get up from the bed.. i wish atleast today the pain is not there.. like how i got excuses on my earlier birthdays.

today could have been my birthday.

New Photo on Photoshop Blog

Endru Mudiyum indha Mega Serial Mogham !

I understand there are a lot of mixed opinions about Mega-Serials. To me, it really doesnt matter. But it really is one concerning issue. It eats up maximum of a woman's day. A perspective will look like, home-citizens will have their share of entertainment. Nothing wrong. But too much of crying and "Dhraabai" dialogues and many others scandle the quality of the people themselves.

But my way of handling things - "keep it untouched". It will evolve by itself. I think it is meaningless to worry about something, when you cant do anything about it. Just wait for it to change. It has to , and it will.

Please excuse my Blah Blah !! I've had a bad day yesterday. Let me zoom to the point. "Malargal" - yet another Mega Serial on Sun TV.

One lucky day, when i was early back home.. i heard the Title Song of the "Malargal". It was a good rythm. Songs for Mega Serials have reached new heights. I guess "Chiththi" broke the Ice - The huge Elephant entering the Srirangam Rajagopuram, when Nithyashree is on "Uchchasthayi" - Wow.

The Malargal Title Song is good in the Folk Aspect, and a beautiful voice. My mom and dad certified that the serial is also equally good, and relly different. Of course, it had the usual "Kanneers and Kambalais", whats a Mega-serial without that.

So, I ran a search for the title song, and found this. "Malargal on Yahoo Groups". This group amazingly has transcripts of everyday's episode. (ada ada ada !!). Unusual for me to find Fan clubs of a Tamil Mega Serial on the net. Phew !!

Looks like this serial is here to Rock.

BTW, if you havent listened to the Title Song yet, try doing it. Worth a hear.

Im now Licenced to Kill :)

Brammandam !!

Grand and Shankar are totally synonymous words. May be because "Grand" always doesnt impress.

But I bet, everyone of us like this photograph. The Idea and Execution was perfect.

"Adi manasa Aruvaa Munayil Narukkuraye !!"

The Next Signal

Six months of LLR driving comes to an End tomorrow. Well, er.. if you are a Traffic Constable.. please refreain from reading further. We can talk after I got the papers. :)

I've planned to take license tomorrow. Im not sure if I can exhibit my 8 talent.. but I can show how to go from 0 to 70 in seconds, how to overtake a guy without disturbing him, how to have a conversation on the signal.. and so and so..(how to react when the Car in your front hasnt realized the signal change).

Most of everything, I like the Conversation part. I developed this strange habit of conversing to strangers, when Im at the signal. Thanks to the digital timers, you would very well know when your turn to Screw up the accelerator. SO, you can just turn to your left or right.. find a suitable guy (I havent spoken to girls) and try and begin a conversation.

Petty conversations, which dont even last long to end up telling names. Im enjoying this habit. It keeps me thinking about what the guy has said, till I reach the next signal. Will you believe, I got caught like this, speaking to a Traffic Constable. He was telling me his worries, when I was in almost deep-shit. The conversation started casually, as I was standing much closer to him. You should appreicate my boldness there. But had me asked for a License, whew !! Cant even imagine.

So, to put an end to it all... RTO office .. here I come. Wish me luck guys.. hmm

BTW, two-wheeler riders, why dont you start talking to someone in the next signal !!

Friends are Forever

One Doctor, few software engineers and an MBA student.. Yet we all felt we were still at school yesterday. Most of us studied in St. John's from LKG to +2, together. Imagine the fun. We were are bursting out with laughter with all the "Malarum Ninaivugal". We missed out a few guys because they are out-of-country. It went on and on.. we got free consultations from the doctor guy, and Ottu-Ottu-Ottufied the MBA guy.

mmmmyeah !! I hope and wish we meet like this all the times. Atleast next diwali.

Hope you guys had fun too....

I have one observation to share. Lots of crackers fired yesterday. But in my locality I found most of the Sky-fliers.. the fireworks that shower glitters from the sky. Truly a beautiful sight.. I dont know the name of the cracker.. but it is awesome. People , as far as I saw, celebrated Diwali in style.

Majaa and Sivakasi gets a "Sure Hit" review from a few friends of mine.
Deepavalikku pudhu padam edhachum paartheengala ?