Beggars can be choosers too

His palm was twisted at the wrist and his leg was twisted too. With this hand he motioned to slow oncoming vehicles so as to be able to cross the road. Presently he came upto the car to beg for alms. He was pleading "Saapattu kudu amma"(please give me food). Mother picked out a packet of fresh jack fruit and gave it to him. He said "idhu venna" and tried to give it back but Mother had already rolled the window up. The beggar then put the packet into the plants that lined the middle of the road and continued to other cars behind us.

Whats next for Apple ?

Not that the iPhone and the iPod touch are on their way what could be the next "big" Apple device ? If one were to hazard a guess it would be a e-reader similar to Amazon's Kindle but with multi-touch. Imagine a brilliant LCD screen with the e-book layed out exactly like a open book and one being able to turn the pages with the flick of a finger, the multitouch simulating actual page fold and turning. This would also host connectivity with Google for its huge e-book database.

Godavari( Telugu, 2006 )

Greatness is a decent quality to aspire to but the aspiration alone by itself isn't a guarantor for success. And that is where this movie fails. It has a decent soundtrack, some very beautifully done scores but overall it fails to live up to the aspired greatness. The problem, as seems to be common among the newer directors, stems from the fact they are trying to prove points throughout the movie. In this case the director attempts to "expose" some of the trials involved in joining political parties but reduces it to a minor thing in the film without weaving it into the storyline. One could go on with stuff like this. So instead of a binding whole one finds patches of brilliance held together by thin strings. The title, if one hasn't guessed it by now, derives from the river of the same name that flows through Telugu country. The river, the hills alongs its side, the colors of the sunset against the hills and everything that sacred with the river was attempted to be grasped but that wouldn't lend itself to be captured. Something that could have easily achieved greatness is now reduced to a somewhat bearable watch.

Bommarillu(Telugu, 2006)

With apologies to my good friends B and L, who cannot even begin to comprehend simple pleasures in life like watching a decent Telugu movie, this movie is a gem. No vulgarity, no unnecessary scenes, no irrational nonsense that normally goes with this language movies. Absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. It has been sculpted with such meticulous care and passion that I haven't seen in a Telugu movie in a long time. It blends opposites beautifully and captures the undercurrent of that particular society with a coherent storyline, dazzling photography and a memorable score. One ought to be, but really should not be, surprised to know that the movie was directed by a first time director. The only problem with this kind of thing is that the chap would find it hard pressed to match the brilliance of his first masterpiece to subsequent attempts as normally happens. If one notices, the first movies of now well known directors, were decent but not brilliant. It is only in stages that they perfected their mastery over the silver screen.
My good friend B might as well watch the movie and claim that that this blogger is rotting and there is nothing of interest, which is a perfectly sane opinion. It is akin to showing My Fair Lady to a chap who doesn't understand English or isn't familiar with general English culture. No matter how good the subtitles the gist of the movie is lost. The same case here although one is not claiming that this movie of the same caliber as the other one. There needs to be some way to relate to the movie's environment for it to be of any value. Either one needs to have a basic grasp of the language to at least begin comprehending the story or at least have a general idea about the prevailing "youth culture" over there neither of which B possesses so we can safely ignore his opinions.

B throws in the towel

B is dead, Long live B. My good reader will undoubtedly remember a certain character B from an earlier post. The latest news off the wires is that the man has thrown in the towel, bloggically speaking. Sense seems to have descended unto him and rooted firmly into his rotten bean. He has seen the error of his ways and has firmly decided not to rot about anything in his blog let alone anything about this blogger.

The case against B

"The absence of romance from my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time"
- The Peloponnesian War [Book I, 22] by Thucydides 431 B.C

I want to tell my good reader, if any, about a certain character henceforth we call as 'B'. B whatever his faults, of which there are many, is a decent man save for some uncouth characteristics. Recently this B launched a tirade of gigantic proportions against this writer by using as foul as language can be. However he is forgiven for one's heart is golden and doesn't harbor malice towards one's fellow men. The World, however, must know the case against 'B'. First a portrait of 'B'.

The well-read reader will undoubtedly mutter what-rot but thats a picture of an old monk who has long gone his way. As to that the well-read reader speaks in perfect truth. This is not 'B' but it is so like 'B' that the likeness is astonishing to a degree not heard of in the history of likenesses. But the similarities stop at that. While the man in the picture looks to be yearning for spiritual truth, "B", with the same face, should be read as yearning for gayls. The man in the picture was thin from a tough diet, "B" has layers being added steadily around his waist what with hogging sambar rice, curd rice and other concoctions. While the monk was steadfast and even though married the true nature of his relationship with his wife was believed to be beyond the grasp of ordinary minds, B shows no such responsibility as we shall see later.
B in his younger years was a bit of a thickhead. During the formative under-grad years he and this other thicko, we shall label him 'R', used to discuss stuff in the wings of the dormitory. This rotter R used to swing his arms in a batting action and explain j-omega stuff to B and B with some other unique shake of his arm used to argue/debate this j-omega stuff. It can be seen that these two rotters stooped to a lowly level and denied the other denizens some peace and quite by always being part of the landscape.
Forward a couple of years and we find B in the Land of the Plenty. Now we find him in the company of a thicko 'L'(nickname) and they used to discuss the merits of subcontinent food and taste. A foul array of rotters the discerning reader will see. But this is not the case against B. B when not rotting about food was actually one of those wierd individuals who actually pursued a doctorate degree and this is when his most foul momemts appear. B is sitting in his room attempting to wrestle some equalization stuff in signal processing. Memistopheles appears from the ground and Conscience descends form the ceiling.

Memistopheles : I say that white chick that was sitting next to you was pretty good.
B: Yeah she was wasn't she
Conscience: She was decent nothing major. The other subcontinent girls in the class was better
Memistopheles: You need to offer to do her homework maybe then she might decide to go outwith you for tea with you.
B: Yeah that would be good wouldn't it
Memistopheles: Of course and then one thing can lead to another and then maybe you can even take here out for dinner.
Conscience: I say we need to be getting on with equalization.
Memistopheles: Ah what equalization thats pretty simple stuff. We can call that chap X and just cop if from him. Wont take even 10 minutes.
B: (Smiles with dirty thoughts running in his head)
Conscience:(defeatedly) I say we ought not to do this now. Maybe later after we finish....

The state of B needn't be mentioned for by this time he is rummaging through all sorts of "colored" images in his head.

The next day he accosts the above mentioned chick in class and offers his "support" and she promptly tells the professor about it. What the professor did about it is difficult to fathom without knowing the facts but it does suffice to say the chap(B) suffered from a severe head injury(internal) from which it is said that one cannot possibly recover. Hence his gibberish and rot in his writings.

Coolant leak at rad

Nissens radiator. Replaced December 2003. Leaking already. Possibly because of using volvo-green which is supposed to eat away solder in radiator ???

Sankeertanas

Some Annamacharya Sankeertanas. Considering that the TTD is one of the richest temples in the world one would expect atleast CD quality audio but sounds like it was ripped off of a cassette. Pretty pathetic