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I left my cousin brother walking on the beach, and took this picture

Revamped

I thought this blog was being overloaded with my photos and to predict the future, I guess my photos will need their own space. Hence, I planned to accomodate my photos on the photoshop Blog, and would continue to post photos there.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the All new redesigned Avyukta 2
(Thanks Blogger Templates)

It was a very good exercise Monday morning to change template and struggle.
I begin my mondays by thinking positively. The Worst is yet to come !

Sun Rise

Im sorry for the torture im taking you through, but I couldnt really help bragging about my fast growing photography talents. Appoint someone good to kill me if you want.

Been to Marina, yesterday.. and you know what I did.. dont you ?

After that I tried hitting the sun, inspite of a warning from Sony and my friend Navanee. They both said that the CCD would Damaal if exposed to direct Sun. Infact Navanee's Canon's CCD was completely damaged on exposure to Sun. Luckily the kind Canon people cover the CCD under warranty, and gave him a free replacement. Not knowing if Sony has such a warranty, I tried this picture on Auto mode.



Very disappointed with the quality of the picture, I sat over and turned the knob into Manual Mode. Thats when the fire got ignited. I changed the exposure timings. 1/6th of a sec to 1/1000th of a second. And then it clicked. Or I clicked.



I was so very happy to see the way, this picture came out. After that, the beach, the Sun and my Sony H5 screamed like hell.

So dear GVB, Magic Lens, Kaleidoscope and all the photo gods, Wish me luck ! Im going to take it further.

Announcing a Photoblog ! The Photoshop Blog will serve my photos.

Sondha Padam

Cool video, that I took on my camera today morning at Marina Beach.

More on this - Here.

Camera Classes

Learning photography.

Sony DSC H5 allows a lot of manual intervention, in terms of focus and aperture. But I dont know why and when they should be used. So, am trying to learn them, with the help of my friend. Wikipedia has been very useful to understand terminologies. Feels good to learn Physics. Used to be the first chapters in Sixth Standard. Light !

None of them made sense then, and now they seem to. Most of them asked me the f Number, when I told them I got a new Camera. I was so ignorant, that I knew only the f Word, and not the f Number.

When you realize that you are not aware of something, do you get insecure in a place ? I dont know, you tell me.

I also have a mystic feeling of how people are so brilliant around me. They are new to something and quicker than sooner, they talk hi-end. For every concept or activity, there is a Novice level. Then you progress through various levels to reach Expert level. But, knowing just the techie words and their meanings make people talk like Experts when they are novice. May be they grasp quick. It becomes dangerously shameful to show yourself ignorant. You either talk your way out of the conversation, or do what I do the most. Blink.

Hmm.. forget that. Now,
What is SLR ? What is dSLR ? What is Aperture ? What is Optical Zoom ? What is Focus ?

Learn. Learn. Learn.

Was there at BR Mathsya restaurant for lunch. And Venky and Alamu were there.

Many of us felt it is a mistake. Few of us said this is right !

Whats the mistake ? or Is it right (or left) ?

Yaheeeeey !

Sony Cybershot DSC [Digital Still Camera] - H5 Black

7.2 Million Pixels
12 X Optical Zoom
2 X Digital Zoom
3" LCD / Electronic View Finder
36-432mm Carl - Zeiss Vario Tessar
Super Steadyshot

and more...

Classic Actor - Vadivelu

Had been to Imsai Arasan this saturday. The movie wasnt funny. My friends had already warned me about the sluggish course of the movie. I usually dont take the risk of watching a movie which is reviewed poorly, except for a Kamalhaasan Movie. But this time, the instincts said I've gotta watch this movie. I shouldnt have missed it.

You shoudnt miss it too. Watch it !

The story is plain and simple. The comedy is mediocre. Direction is sloppy. Very lengthy. Irritating songs. And many more.

The Music is very good. I actually started listening to "aasai kanave" frequently after watching the movie. Mind you, the songs are very difficult to be composed like that, and Srikanth Deva has won in his effort. Special Appreciations to him.

And the Hero of the movie - Vadivelu. You guys know that I like Vadivelu next to Kamalhaasan. He is such a potential actor and is capable of acting any role given. Imsai Arasan may be easily overlooked as a movie where Vadivelu performs rib-tickling comedy. Actually, the movie is not a laugh-a-riot movie as most of the online reviews promises, and Vadivelu has not done much comedy. But the acting skill of Vadivelu is overflowing with a professional aroma. Throughout the movie, you will find Vadivelu on the screen, with very difficult dialogues spoken on a high pitch, with varied expressions.

Asathal ! It is impossible for many actors to perform like this.

Mr. Simbhudevan, for your directorial venture, this movie is a peak performance. But remember, you got a great banner to work under. I really admire the satires in the movie. "Akka Mala" and "Gapsi" campaigns.. "Caste War Play Ground".. and many more Nayyandis were very very novel. We need satires like this, and not irritating ones like what Sathyaraj does.

Question : Will the Government dare to give a best Actor award to Vadivelu ? This performance is equivalent to Pithamagan Vikram's. People who fail to see the similarity are blinded by emotions.

Hats off Vadivelu ! You've done a great job, than what you possibly could.

Give him a Benz !

Have you ever Gifted someone something ? Who ? What ? Recollect the events ? Now, these questions are not what interest me. The question i'd like you to answer is How did you choose him that gift ?

To me it has always been a painful task to Gift. You should basically have a heart to Give. I am not sure how much good my heart is. Most of the times, I gift someone out of compulsion. Ideally, when you get an invitation, whether or not you visit the occasion you participate in the Gift Contribution (I dont like this word). It would look close to a punishment.

Also many feel that giving the money collected as it is as a gift would be an Insult. So, people are forced to buy an article for the money collected. This is where the intensity of insanity increases.

There are two types of Gifts - Useful things and Useless Things.

Ethical people tend to buy useful things. Say, a mixer-grinder for a wedding.. a branded formal shirt for a birthday and so on. However, they wouldnt dare to give a Needy Gift. Have you seen the Wallclock Gifts for Grahapravesam. The house wouldnt have that much walls to accomodate one per clock.

There is something these kind of people can do. If they really want their gift to be useful, they could be straigt forward and ask the friend / relative what they want or what might be of great use to them. But there is no charm in it, except that the money is spent properly.

Talking of Useless things, people buy a show case article worth a lot of money. I feel irritated buying them. They are of no use. Yet, they are long remembered. Trust me. Useful things are all perishable. But these Show-piece items keep telling your name. Like a small Venkatachalapathy from Divinity - Gold plated and all that would cost Rs. 900 and more. It would be smaller than the size of a pocket calendar. The Ceramic dolls are now the hot selling gifts. They easily get a "Cho Chweet" comment. Safe choice.

I've seen some people print in their invitations "No Gifts Please". But thats a delicate stand, and it stands very close to an insult. How would you go to a function or celebration with empty hands ?

I think the best solution to this problem is Not to think about it too much. There's always a Landmark Gift voucher.

Telescope Game

May be you've tried this before. If not, you've got to.

Play this first.

Then play this.

Then if you are done with both.. You have to play this.

Let me know how far you can go !!

Sony Cybershot Digital Still Camera - H5/Black

I've almost got this camera. Do you have any comments/ suggestions ?

This one is a 7.2 MP - 12 X Optical - Super Steady Shot - 3" LCD all packed in one camera. Loaded with a 1 GB Duo Pro media, this can take Video for about 1 hour (we could use Optical Zoom when video-recording). More on this when the cam comes on hand.

Untitled Emotions

When Doordarshan has technical problems.. they do a Maru-OLibarappu. We call it REPOST in blogs. Here's a story i attempted, sometime back. Will be back with a post tomorrow. Hopefully, the Blog Block is out, by then.

-------------------------

Mary Elizabeth is crying. She had just come back from the hospital. Her husband is there, in room No. 304. Multiple fracture, day before yesterday. After two days of staying in the hospital, and after Doctors examined the X-Rays after the surgery, she left few of his friends in the hospital, and had come home for packing a few of her dress and make some calls. He will be admitted for 3 more days.

Mary's been married to him for just 8 months. Antony Prakash works for a MNC at a very good position. He must have made very good relationship with his friends. Otherwise 20 people wont turn up on the Accident night, and offer money and blood.

Mary packed a bag. One lungi and a t-shirt, which he might need on the discharge day. Some sarees for her. Some books. She took her cellular phone. It was about to loose charge, and display showed 34 missed calls. She had forgotten to take her cell, when she was rushing to the hospital on hearing the news. Actually, she had forgotten everything.

She was locking the doors. She wont come back for another 3 days. She checked up everything... She felt tired. She's been very much upset, emotionally. She wanted to break free. Thats why she cried. Now, she sat on the sofa, and tried to relieve her mind a bit.

She was staring at the phone. Should she, or should she not. She started dialling a number, which she has not dialled for the past nine months.

"Hello..."

"Hello.. Amma ! naan lalitha paesaren".

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

"Hello.. ! hello ! amma !! hello !"

The other end was already cut. She knew this would be the behaviour. Though she was prepared for it, she couldnt control herself. She fell back to crying. She ate a few minutes in that. She then started dialling again. It was a different number this time.

"Hallo !"

"Hello, mama ?"

"Lalli ? epppdimma irukke... Yesunadhar eppadi irukkar..."

Mary felt a little relaxed, now. It was her uncle, the only supporting man on her side of the family.

"mama.. avarukku accident aayiduthhu !"... all the flash cards came on a whiz and showed up in front of her.. her voice broke to crying.

After a few more conversations, she hung up the phone. It is always good to have a listener. Somone who would give you their ears to flush your problems into. Her mind was relaxed.

She went to her room, and took the photo of Ekambareshwarar from under the clothes. Ekambareshwarar was her Ex-family's God. Any problems in the family used to be directly escalated to him, and One Archanai and a Sidharu Thengai will kill the problem forever.

She could only pray now, from inside her bedroom.

--------------------------------

Mary's uncle was then in her parents home. He told them about the accident to Antony Prakash. They were confused, as to how to react. Silence was a better alternative and they chose it. They both have cursed Antony Prakash, for eloping with their daughter. Was this because of their curse.

Mama tried convincing them to go to the hospital, and give him or atleast their daughter a visit.

"Raatchasi.. Ava mugathile naan muzhikkave maatten.. Ava seththalum sari.."

That ignited more words. An avalanche of them, pushed the mama out of the house.

-----------------------------------

Mama was in Room No. 304. After a few words with him, they both came out of the room. Mary whispered...

"Ava varalaya ? "

"varamaattaa... ummela innum kovamathan irukka.. "

--------------------------------------

Mary's mom was in the temple, in Ekambareshwarar Sannidhi.

"Yaar perukku mami, archanai ?" the kurukkal asked.

"Prakash.... Anusha nakshathram".

Ekambareswarar smiled.

---------------------------------------

Dont blog no more !

Indian ISPs block Blogspot sites. Why ? May be blogs spread terror.

Whatever reason.. Wordpress sites are still accessible. Induvidual domains still exist. We can still blog from there. But why would the Govt. think Blogs are harmful. In India, Blogs arent that powerful, as yet.

So, what ? Is this the end of everything ?


BTW, Im here.

Pudhu Pazhakkam

ஒன்னரை மாதமாய் ஒரு புது பழக்கம். சர்க்குலேஷன் லைப்ரரி.

நேற்று.

"என்ன புக் தேடறீங்க ?"

"சாண்டில்யன் - யவன ராணி !"

ஒரு மாதிரி சிரித்தார். அது அவரது இயல்பான சிரிப்பு அல்ல என்று தோன்றியது.

"இப்பொல்லம் யாரு சார் அந்த மாதிரி படிக்கறாங்க ? இதோ ... புரியுதோ புரியலையோ.. இந்த புக்கை எல்லாரும் வாங்கிட்டு போறாங்க..."

அவர் கை காட்டிய இடத்தில் "த டா வின்சி கோட்" இருந்த்தது.

நான் நிறைய புஸ்தகம் படிப்பவனில்லை. இருந்த்தாலும், இதற்குள்ளும் இளையராஜா-ஏ.ஆர்.ரகுமான் சண்டை இருப்பதாகத் தோன்றியது. அவரிடம் ஒரு அசட்டுத்தனமான சிரிப்பை உதிர்த்துவிட்டு அடுத்த ரேக்குக்கு சென்று தேடலைத் தொடர்ந்த்தேன். மறுபடியும் புலம்புவார் என நினைத்தேன்.

"இப்பொல்லாம் சார் ....!" என்று நான் நினைத்தது போலவே ஆரம்பித்து என் பார்வைக்காக Pause விட்டார்.

பார்த்தேன்.

"ஆரம்பிச்ச புதுசுல நிறைய்ய மெம்பர்ஸ்.. ஆன இந்த காலத்தில் யாரும் படிக்கறதே இல்ல. பொழுது போக வசதி இல்லதவங்க மட்டும்தான் லைப்ரரி வராங்க.. வசதி இருக்கரவங்க டிவிடில பொழுதை ஓட்டறாங்க. சில பேர், பெருமைக்காக Landmark போய் புஸ்தகம் வாங்கி ஷோ-கேஸ்ல வெச்சுக்கறாங்க.. ! ஹ்ம்ம்.. என்னமோ.. எல்லாம் மாறிப்போச்சு !"

ஆஹா ! தவறான வேளையில் இவரிடம் மாட்டிக்கொண்டோமே என்று வடிவேலு கணக்காய் மனம் சொன்னது. அவசரமவரசமாய்.. ரிச்சார்ட் பாச் "Running from Safety"யும் பாலகுமாரனின் "அப்பம் வடை தயிர்சாதம்"மும் அகப்பட்டன.

பாலகுமாரனைப் பார்த்து "ரொம்ப ந்ல்ல புக் !" என்றார்.

அடுத்து அவர் ஏதாவது சொல்வதற்கு முன் வெளியேறினேன். வீட்டில் அமர்ந்து யோசித்தேன்.

பல பேர், புஸ்த்தகம் படிப்பதை ஒரு மகோன்னதமான காரியமாக கருதுகிறார்கள். படிப்பவற்கள், படிக்காதவற்கள் அந்த இன்பத்தை இழப்பதாக எண்ணுகிறார்கள். படிப்பவற்களுக்குள்ளே, தி.ஜானகிராமன் ஜாதியினர் ராஜேஷ்குமார் ஜாதியை வெறுக்கின்றனர். "என்னடா ராணிமுத்து மாதிரி படிச்சுண்டிருக்கே ? ரா. கி. ரங்கராஜன் படிச்சிருக்கியோ ? அருமையா இருக்கும்". நான் என்ன ஜாதி என்று யோசித்தேன். போன வாரம் சுஜாதா. அதற்கு முன் ஜான் க்ரிஷாம். அதற்கு முன் அகிலன்.

"போறான் பாருங்க ! படிக்கறானா இல்லையான்னு தெரியலை... ஆனா வாரா வாரம் ரெண்டு புக் எடுத்திட்டு போறான். கொண்டு போய் வெச்சுக்கிட்டு, யார் கிட்டவாவது படம் காமிச்சிட்டு இருப்பான்.. இந்த காலத்து பசங்க எங்கே சார் படிக்கறாங்க !!" என்று என்னைப்பற்றி யாரிடமாவது சொல்லிக்கொண்டுதான் இருப்பார். அவர்.

WorldSpace ad video featuring A.R.Rahman

It used to be Jana Gana Mana beeping always, whenever a Car goes reverse. But now, its been almost replaced by the Airtel tune. Either it is the super-power of Airtel Marketing or it is the magic in the music of the Genius - The Airtel tune is a hilarious hit.

Now, Rahman has become a brand-ambassador for Worldspace. He features its Ad and even more, he has composed a Signature Ad music.

I like what Rahman says in this Ad. Music. There's so much to listen.

Vadivelu kooda solli irukkaar.
"Isai enbadhu - Kaththara Rayilla irukkum.. kuththara kolai kaaran kitteyum irukkum" :)

Veyyil - Mandayai Pilakkuma ?

Veyyil - is Shankar's next production, and thats almost nearing completion. Vasantha Balan is the director. Except for Pasupathy, the pictures look very similar to Balaji Sakthivel's Kadhal. However, I hope the movie is good and successful. If this movie is successful too, we would get a very enthusiastic producer. GV Prakash is the music director. This guy in his childhood sang "Chikku bukku Chikku bukku rayile!" and yesterday sang "Kadhal Yaanai - Remo !" in Anniyan. AR Rahman's vaarisu. Paarkalam.. I mean Kekkalaam.

I've not liked much of Shankar's direction. Romba kozhandhaithanama irukkum. But his productions have some flair.. and maturity. I did not like the movie - Kadhal. And still dont.. But i always wished it to be a hit. We need producers like this guy and Prakash Raj. Prakash Raj did a very good job with Azhagiya Theeye and Kanda Naal Mudhal. Shankar's Imsai Arasan is a very novel effort, and has to be appreciated for trusting Simbhudevan for it.

Shankar has also promised another movie to Balaji Sakthivel, who is currently assisting his boss in making THE BOSS. Adhu enna gadhi aagappogudho !

I have one question hovering.. People who liked Kadhal so much, please answer this question. What was there in that movie ?

Zara Rain me, Zara Train me
Yeh hai Mumbai, mere jaan !

Do you belong to Chennai.. Whats your reaction for this ?

The Death of the Innocence

Does it make any sense to write a post on the internet Condemning the Mumbai Serial Blasts, ? Makes sense or not.. it is important to let out the anger.

Remorseless attitude.. Killing innocent lives for someone's purpose. Seven blasts cannot be overlooked as coincidence. This is a terrorist attack. How brutal is their plan ! Bombs detonated at the peak hour traffic. They want to kill more people. And they have.

There are extremists and there are terrorists. Extremists are the ones that fight for a purpose, and do anything to substantiate their stand. Terrorists are rogues. They dont have a purpose. They are cowards. They kill and fight to show their existance. They dont need anything to be done. They like fear implanted.

It is impossible to have a tight security control on the local trains, but the Railways will be forced to check the bags. Innocent public will have to face this and more. They will now have fear. Fear is a deadly disease. Not that it kills, but it takes off the peace of mind. No Train travellor will have a peace of mind till he gets out of the Killer-machine, which was just a train until yesterday.

What have they achieved by doing this ?

You ASSHOLE, whoever you are, who did this... You will not win.

Metblog Chennai

Chennai Metroblog is screaming at Full Throttle. Im sure you already noticed. If not.. just close this page and go there.

The Blog (as young as five months) has 300 posts already. Great posts at right times from the team. I'm supposed to be on the team, but am not effectively contributing there. (Makes me think, im contributing nowhere... Im in this period of life, where most of the values in life are NULL).

Various flavours of Information and varieties of topics worth discussing..
Looks like Chennai's got one more reason to be proud of.. Bloggers. :)

Two upcoming movies of Jo.

I should get into acting or direction soon, before Surya marries Jo. Somehow.

Any financiers ?