hEnry Thomas

courtesy: YouTube

Da Da Win ci Code

off... dance-down... drive... aggro... gentle... hoist...

silk... slash... steel... smooth... smile...

monarch.... madness... majestic... elegant... eloquent...


glory... guts... gumption... gore... gifted...


God

Wall-E xquisite!

A truly fitting tribute to the man who I haven't necessarily held in high regard for reasons.
A bulwark, anyway.

Can Billo Barber make the right cut?

What Rajni Kan't,


Shahrukh, Can?

Generally Speaking!

courtesy: Shoshana Brackett

I finally reached home coming out in absolute awe of this apparently affable general. It was only a godly intervention and call that made me walk to it.

It only struck me later that holy shit, this was a four-star U.S army general I was dealing with. He needn’t have been a Secretary of State or a National Security Advisor to be that punctual.
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What a personality, I thought to myself. I was indeed expressive of my appreciation for him. It came out naturally I realized. Such was his impact in those 45 minutes of crisp, smooth, clear, peppy, humorous talk. I feel when people reach summits others could only dream of, they tend towards simplicity in all aspects of life. Simplicity becomes their tool so much so that mere mortals are baffled. Is it so easy being this simple? Was being simple this simple?


While the address abounded in some regulars like “Terrorists can never change the nature of who we are”, it was also peppered with the following which really made it worthwhile.

“I think one of the things the next president has to do is restoring a sense of confidence ... and restore the confidence that the rest of the world should have in us because we’re basically the same America we’ve always been but we’ve lost some standing in the world in recent years.”

“And we have to regain that I think by listening to others and hearing what others have to say to us in the world. ... The first priority is reach out to the world and listen ... and be very, very realistic about what we’re able to achieve and understand we can’t achieve without friends.”

“We have been a land of immigrants. Let us welcome more people into it. Yes, after some jolts we have received, we are a little circumspect and will do everything that will not jeopardize the security of our nation. But that should never stop talented and deserving individuals from coming here. They pay full fare (grins), they learn, they teach, they contribute to our growth. Then they go back, contribute to their economies. I think that is good because that is the only way to drive, keep them away from terrorism.”

Powell addressed as a keynote speaker in the 2008 HD Leadership Summit organized by the business school.
“The essence of all leadership is follower-ship. ... The job of a leader is to inspire ... so they are self-motivated.”
“Talk to enemies. It’s easy to talk to friends.”


Was Colin hinting at the circle of life when he recounted on how he was the most powerful and influential diplomat in this world, next in power only to the U.S president one day, and the following day he was a normal man walking down the road?

Then he went to narrate a heartwarming tale that was met with respectful, sober applause.

“I still walk up to the hot dog store in Park Avenue, New York, which I frequented even I was the Secretary of State. Only this time I wasn’t one. I enter the shop, order mine, and when it is time to pay up, the man across the counter refuses.”

and continued Colin Powell in a much mellowed tone as if almost orchestrated to elicit that sympathy,

“Aren’t you General Powell?”

“Yes!”

“I cannot charge you Sir. Only I know how this nation welcomed me when I was nothing and only I know where I came from. This nation has paid me enough Sir. I cannot charge you.”

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Will he be the same person who I had only seen on television and was definitely awe inducing? Will he make it on time? I have heard of their discipline, punctuality and all that jazz. Will the most powerful diplomat in the world do it? Will he set an example? Or is it that even they are like us, human?!

No sooner than I entered the coliseum flashing my pass, than he started his address.

8.00 PM sharp

oh! it's elementary, my dear

Just when the cynic in me thought all adverts were aimed at eyeballs with no iota of sensitivity, or honesty, here is a piece that should silence me for some time. It only makes me reiterate that eye-popping visuals go to the background when you are bowled by the concept in the message in question and the honesty to go with it. This applies to any medium.

Being away from T.V for a while now, I reckon this is easily one of THE best ads I have seen in a long long time, quite ironically on the tellytube.



video courtesy: Dow Chemicals, YouTube

nano ya na nano

What a contrast! While one has been seeing constant rebirths or retouches with the current ugly duckling out in its 4th generation, but current nevertheless, the other hasn't quite started revving yet.

Give me my fat, petite 3G any day(don't I love mine!) to the slim, anorexic back-to-square (pun intended) pretentious bitch. Wonder when I could say the same about the other. Will I get to do that in near future? What a pity!

The two true faces of technology.

Let me reword that

nanotechnology

class apart

It is a pleasure to be going to the same school as she does, and this course in particular. Lakshmi and I attended a class together this afternoon after a gap of about four years. So much water has flown under the bridge since those days of late 2004! But our outlook towards Science hasn't changed a bit. In fact goals and aspirations wise there hasn't been a wane. May be more clarity has set in. Just that folks back home are a lot calmer, happy, and moving ahead with their lives. I am really glad about that. It is a nice feeling to be in control of what one really wants.

chiru korika

I wish the celestial bodies stayed where they belong, for they cease to be when they take a descent.

Nevertheless, here is a brilliant piece that is a tight slap to people like me!

no Phony thought this

TRAI allows Internet telephony, STD rates may drop.

Wish the same could be said about the venereal counterpart too!

Par Where'z, Democracy?!

"He will be remembered as the man during whose period a watershed development took place in Pakistan, which is that the middle classes, the educated classes and the people of Pakistan began to understand in a very tangible way the significance of rule of law, of a constitutional democracy." -Political analyst Nazeem Zehra


True.

High Five

it hasn't been necessarily all the while. Each one of us has seen the ebbs to go with the highs and hopefully learnt from every experience. While I had met and known some of them prior, the journey that started with them exactly half a decade ago has been defining, and enriching in its own way. It has been a pleasure knowing each one of them. What personalities!

Cheers to Avinash Waghray, Anita Agarwal, Vijai Srinivasan, Chandan Bhuyan, Lakshmi Narayanan, Priya Sundar, Matthew John, Sabariya Selvam, Pratima Patil, Surendra Mohan, Sashikanth Gollapudi, Vandana Iyer, and Subhadra Rajaratnam!

May each one of us get to do what we set out to do and everything we aspired for. Thank you all for making August 11, 2003 a date to remember.

US Open

still! and it has been advantage me in the one year that's gone by. The match point is a long way to go, and whether I play it Singles or Mixed Doubles I want this match to be a long one.

Cheers to me.

Spiel Berg

Sorry Steven! you didn't make it. Just what the hell were you thinking when you made War of the Worlds (2005). Was it a proposal film making for you? Why were you so dishonest to Rick Karter, Joanna Johnston, John Williams, Michael Kahn, and Janusz Kaminski? Did Cruise walk straight from the sets of Minority Report(2002)? Why did he seem so listless? A mere adherance to H.G.Wells' classic concept with Lucas' ILM at your disposal would fetch you moolah, and you thought so? Seriously!? What was David Koepp's screenplay all about? Horrendous. You must have outdone yourself in the quantum of cinematic liberties you have taken. Somehow looking at the bigger picture, things didnot fall in place. Extravagant and seemingly laborious production design, individually good visual set pieces do not a good film make. Pity, it is you!

For a man whose power supposedly enables him achieve just about any god damn thing in the showland, War of the Worlds is a big let down. All your talk about the philosophy of the movie proves to be a big spiel and that's a huge berg of that.

I didn't know things could get so literal, name wise.

Sunny Days

seem to be over for this Deol. I reckon this happens to people at least from performing arts who are not versatile, who peak too early, who don't try expanding the circumference of their comfort circles. This is so true when looked at his contemporaries like Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, and Sanjay Dutt, in the increasing order of their charisma, and who all started in the early 80s.

Pity, this man has had such a magnetic pull at the box office. Such a majestic roar (pun intended) has turned into a ghoulish silence. What an irony!

Czech Mate

I hope my man from Brno, Czechoslovakia finds his partner soon. Let him complete the circle of life.

Let good things happen to good people. He deserves good. Real good.

Rogered again...

and third time in a row.


"28-0 record at the French Open and a perfect 41-0 record in best-of-five clay-court matches" (Courtesy: ESPN)

Tch!

What a Spain in the arse?!

AB kuch baat hai?!

IIFA 2008 Thailand

Best actor: Shahrukh Khan for Chak De! India

Best actress: Kareena Kapoor for Jab We Met

While this pattern has been a sure leif motif of all the popular movie awards this season, what really irks me and adds credence to the words of people like Shatrughan Sinha is stuff like this of the Bachchans.

Best Male Acting Award: Abhishek Bachchan for Guru
Best Female Acting Award: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Guru

I mean what the fuck!



P.S. Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of IIFA

Loo and behold

What does one do when the seat is laid claim to, at the break of dawn?


Don't blame me for an incoherent thought; not that it never existed before, but this time I do warn. No wisdom of hindsight that!

rgv ki BL aag

Finally he is here, shooting straight from the lip. I haven't read much of Big B's page but I expect real fireworks from Varma. His page should be a breeze, a verbal equivalent to the way his Arri BL4s cut loose on Satya (1998). The man as always is simple, knows his stuff, and speaks his mind; the best thing being that nothing comes measured and weighed.