The Nth Dimension

Team India - Cricket World Cup

2011-04-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

So Team India swept to their Cricket World title after a span of 28 years, and in the process became the first country to win a title on its home soil (Sri Lanka was the first to win as a host country, but the final was played in Pakistan in 1996).

I was thinking about the gauntlet that India had to run through to win the cup...and their last four victories came in order against
The West Indies
Australia
Pakistan
Sri Lanka.

Now, the Cricket World Cup has been played since 1975, and the following countries have, in order, won their first title since then.
West Indies
India
Australia
Pakistan
Sri Lanka.

The amazing thing about Team India's run in the 2011 World Cup is that they beat the teams in the same order as their first World Cup title. Obviously it is a mere coincidence, but it is still uncanny that the sequence played out in this way.

Beyond all this though, congratulations are in order to the Men in Blue. They did themselves and the country proud.

This year, S and I have been privileged to have watched and followed two teams that made a successful run at the title. Both of them were talented enough that they were considered favorites for the title, both stumbled a bit and then when they hit on all cylinders, took on all comers and blitzed their way to the epitome of their respective sports.

One is Team India in Cricket. The other? The 2010-11 Green Bay Packers in the NFL.

The King's Speech

2011-03-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

My wife S is an avid Colin Firth fan and has tried to catch up on his movies as often as she can. I am an avid history buff, especially interested in the era spanning the end of the First World War up until the start of the Nixon era.

So when these two interests intersected in The King's Speech, we wanted to go and watch the movie. And boy, were we glad we watched it.

Firth aced the titular role, but Geoffrey Rush in a delightful turn as speech therapist Lionel Logue is the scene-stealer. After Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, we were glad we did not miss out on a movie that went on to capture Oscars glory. Beyond the usual uplifting elements of the story, it is the warmth of the characterization that seems to be the difference.

The King's Speech

2011-01-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Colin Firth, interviewed by David Mermelstein of the Wall Street Journal, about the role he played in The King's Speech:

"My profession can so often be completely frivolous, which is one of its virtues. But whenever I play someone who suffers, I feel that there's a danger that I'm an impostor. So it's a relief that people who stammer haven't felt misrepresented. The reason why people tell stories and read stories and see films is to feel less alone. And if there's a story that takes everyone through something like this, it's a way to say to others, 'Now you live through it and see how it feels.' And if my profession gets that wrong, we've lost that opportunity. So it's a great relief not to have dropped the ball.''

J loves all things Colin Firth, and I have promised to take her to see the movie, and the above quote makes me want to see it even more. Even if it figures to be drama at the highest level.

Overheard on the radio this morning...

2011-01-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

My commute to work is a manageable 15-minute drive whirling like a dervish through a maze of snow-bird traffic. I typically favor listening to NPR or my favorite smooth-jazz station, KYOT on the drive to-and-from work, and this morning I turned to KYOT after quite a while of staying away from that station.

True to their form, they played an impeccable selection of music that helped smooth the drive to work, and then it happened. They went into a break, and the host announced - "one hour of commercial free radio presented by Hyundai", and then went straight into a commercial break featuring ads for, amongst other things, bankruptcies, IRS liens, wage garnishments.

Now, it is highly likely that they were advertisements for non-profit (which I believe are exempt from the commercial-free hours that radio stations often run), but the impeccable timing of the entire thing had me in splits, and set me up really well for the work week. Especially the first week back from the holiday season.

India...Incredible India...

2010-09-10T22:57:00.001-07:00

Two minutes. 120 seconds. A million facets. A billion people. Countless vistas. Belonging to the one and only...Nature. All showcasing the good in the land that is home to a sixth of humanity.

In those 120 seconds, this video paints a fascinating montage of India. Set to a thumping rhythm that is at once pulsating and engaging, the rhythms of the melting pot that India is, are captured beautifully and artfully.

And thankfully, it showcases the best way to experience India. Not on a guided tour.

Its a party! College style!

2010-05-04T22:42:00.002-07:00

Octopuses and Coconuts.

2010-04-16T14:38:00.002-07:00

Now, for the life of me, I would never dreamed of linking a coconut shell and an Octopus in the same sentence. Maybe I am a poor creative writer or sci-fi writer.

But as is always the case with Nature, here is a bizarre story of Veined Octopuses, which not only use the coconut shells to hide in (see picture above), but actually "walk" around with them. National Geographic has this all covered in an interesting article complete with video. Here.

Vancouver 2010

2010-03-01T20:35:00.002-07:00

So Vancouver signed off on the 2010 Winter Olympic spectacle in style.

Watching coverage of the games on ESPN during the early part of the games, the way the presenters emphasized on Canada not having won gold at their two previous attempts at hosting the Games was irritating at best, and gloatingly condescending at worst. I am glad that the Canadians answered in the most fitting way possible - by winning a record number of golds for any country at the Winter Games. And oh the icing on the cake. No. make that the cherry on the icing on the cake. They beat US for the Hockey gold.

Now, if the US had won, we would have heard ad nauseum from various bloviators on how it was akin to the Miracle on Ice yada yada yada. But now it is like, who cares about the Olympics. Oh well.

Now onto London 2012. Can't wait to see the Londoners try to follow Beijing's act.

Saturn's Double Light Show

2010-02-21T23:18:00.003-07:00

HubbleSite has this wonderful photograph as well this excellent video that showed Saturn with its rings nearly edge-on, resulting in the ability to view a symmetrical light show on both poles. According to the site, the geometry of the solar system allows a simultaneous view of both poles only twice during one revolution of Saturn around the Sun.

Watch the video to appreciate the symmetrical light show. And enjoy.

"Fear the blobfish"

2010-02-20T01:06:00.003-07:00

So I came across this hilarious piece of writing in the LA Times. Click the link and read. No, I mean it. Read it fully. Done? Good.

You know it is about the blobfish and you have to admit, it is somewhat unnerving to look at. It is like revolting scene in a movie that you cannot take your eyes off of. It is like the fender bender on the freeway that everyone has to have a look at, craning their necks in weird angles and causing traffic to slow down to a crawl.

So, what is my point with this post? Just this. We seem to have forgotten what it is to have a good laugh at something. We take everything we read, and wring it through our own spectral biases and then react either in sheer delight or scathing scorn. Somehow everything has gone in the direction of "you are with us or against us" that seems to be pervading everything and everyone these days.

I really am hoping that the pendulum would veer toward the center at some point, and soon.

Jai Ho!

2009-02-26T14:38:00.003-07:00

Ella pugazhum iraivanukkae. God is great.

These simple words summed up the Academy Award acceptance speech by the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, after picking up the award for Best Original Score for his racy, elegant and beautiful score for Slumdog Millionaire.

And this after paying tribute to his mother (to quote...I have nothing else, but I have my mother with me...end quote).

And I sat there thinking, if this guy were to win for one of his two songs nominated for Best Original Song, he is not going to be able to top that speech I'd just heard.

Boy, was I wrong!

This overanalyzed and yet often misunderstood genius doing his work from the oddly named Pachathan Record Inn in Chennai, turned up trumps again.

He summarized and succintly said what needs to be the mantra for everyone every day of their life..."the essence...is about optimism and the power of hope in our lives." And the exquisitely worded nod to love...as a choice as opposed to hate..."all my life, I had a choice of hate and love, and I chose love, and I am here. God bless!"

And finally...

D'oh!

2008-02-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

Boston's New England Patriots lost. Tom Brady lost. Bill Belichik lost. Good for the rest of us.

Tom Brady's chip on shoulder at being picked very late in the NFL draft (he was the sixth round pick in god-knows-what year) was a good story for a while, but now it just rankles me whenever I hear that this apparent diss - is he such a wuss that he can only motivate himself for his profession by looking back on a diss that is so old that only his insecure a** can even remember it?

Oh well...I can only ramble on at this time...I am just glad that we got spared yet another Boston parade and chest-beating. Now if only the Celtics would get their behinds whooped the same way...

We got spared by the condescending Bostonians but the reward is a victory for an equally obnoxious and condescending New York crowd that did not really believe the Super Bowl winner QB and coach...

I guess this is why they say sometimes you just cannot win them all...

Return to Innocence

2007-08-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

Wonderful wonderful video. Easily amongst the best that I have ever seen. And a wonderful song to boot. The lyrics...

That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence
Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion
Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion
Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence
That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence
Don't care what people say
Follow just your own way Follow just your own way
Don't give up, don't give up
To return, to return to innocence.
If you want then laugh
If you must then cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny.

I mean, I know it is just a song, but the lyrics are so wonderful. So thoughtful, and ultimately, so true.

You work for money...or money works for you?

2007-08-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

Overheard on one of the episodes of The Cosby Show that runs regularly as part of the Nick @ Nite family shows.

To paraphrase Claire Huxtable..."your father and I are not rich. We work very hard for our money. You are rich only if your money works for you."

Now, that is an interesting statement. Makes complete sense I would say. And that got me thinking...using this as a qualifier, how many of the really rich people can actually be counted as rich...oh well...I am off...to work hard for my money...

Choreograph

2007-07-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting and possibly inadvertant choreography. See this video at around the 45th tick on the countdown to see what I mean..."dancing to a different tune...from a report filed from inside secretive North Korea."

Tree of Gold

2007-07-25T21:40:00.001-07:00

Sting sang "Fields of Gold" and of walking in 'em.

Shanxix (of relation to moi) simply executed it in his own version of digital poetry (er photos). Gold dust covering the trees on a fine winter morning as captured from inside a train running at 80 kmph.

The Sun or The Mist

2007-07-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

My brother the nature fan(atic !!!) snapped this wonderland scene enroute to Tirunelveli on one wonderful winter morning. Talk of being there at the right time at the right place with the right equipment.

. 2 ?

2007-07-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Point. 2. Ponder.

This funny observation by the early 20th century New York Times columnist Don Marquis...

"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you."

Now, why am I unable to stop laughing at its relevance to our beloved President Bush. Or for that matter for any damn politician alive today.

The Philadelphia Story

2007-07-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Superb star cast - Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart & Cary Grant.

Fantastic story about human prejudices and frailties and ultimately about that ultimate human tendency - the ability to forgive and accept.

But these two are never enough to make a good movie. What you need is fantastic writing - the script for this movie is sizzling. The dialog is sensational. And that superb cast mentioned above - well, it seems the lived and breathed the roles when the movie was made. Such sincere and earnest are their portrayals.

The superb dialog - "I am standing here solidly on my own two hands and going crazy!". "What's this room? I've forgotten my compass. I'd say south-by-southwest parlor-by-living room"
"You'll never be a first class human being or a first class woman until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty."

Ah! Such exquisite timing in comedy and such flowery prose in drama.

What else to say except, go, watch it. On cable on Turner Classic Movies. Or from Netflix or Blockbuster. Or if you are lucky, your local library.

Random Randomness

2007-07-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

Things that I can never stop pondering about - well, there are always too many things. But the one thing that always fascinates me is the true measure of randomness. In short, how random is random?

For all practical purposes, we use calculated randomness - a random generator that has an initial seed. And that is the bias that prevents it from being truly random. It is like approaching infinity. Once you feel you are there, there is always something more. And more. And more. So, how do we actually achieve randomness?

Well, I suppose one way is to not strive for randomness at all. (Gulp! That is not a solution is it?). Well, maybe if we shrunk our perspective to something smaller, then events happening in that purview just might appear to be random. Note the keyword. Appear. Maybe that is all there is to it. True randomness doesn't really matter as much as the appearance of it. So typically human isn't it - the reality does not matter as much as the appearance of reality.

One final word I suppose - lack of bias or randomness maybe is crucial for a lot of our current applications and things, but in the grand cosmic scale of things, maybe everything is truly random and yet really programmed. Yes. Programmed, and random. Together. And yet disparate. Now I am totally confused. Heck. Who cares. Its 07/07/07 07:07:07 PM. Now, I have exactly one year, one month, one day, one hour, one minute and one second to come up with another such random tripe disguised as a blog-post. Boy, the summer heat is really causing my brains to go awry :)

Thank You For Smoking

2007-07-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Spin. Spin-doctoring. How you want to call it, whatever you want to make of it, the one thing that is constant in this day of instant media and instant news, is spin. Not the facts, not the news, but the interpretation of what that means to you and me, the ordinary joe. And not the interpretation that we choose for ourselves, but rather the interpretation of the news given to us, rather thrust down our throats by the so-called media and Government.

Granted, it has been proven beyond doubt that smoking is harmful to health (and no, don't even bother trying to convince me otherwise). Granted, the harmful effects of smoking need to be taught to people so that they can make informed choices. But is that the reality? Nope. Instead, we have pseudo advertising in movies and such that portray smoking as a cool activity that screen heroes do. Ergo, it must be a cool thing for teens and kids to do.

What we have is a total abdication of personal responsibility by parents and actually everyone around. Until we as individuals can stake and claim the responsibility for our own lives, no matter what happens around us, we are going to be stuck in this vicious cycle. Till we wake up, well....Thank you for smoking!!!

Summer of movies

2007-06-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wifey and I both love to watch good movies. We both get bugged with typical run-of-the-mill movies (read: most desi movies). So while Netflix and public libraries contribute to satisfying the thirst to watch good movies, there is still the occasional indulgence towards typical summer blockbusters. So far, we're two into the summer movie season. Pirates of the Carribean - At World's End, and Ocean's 13.

Loved Pirates. Loved being able to loudly guffaw in the theaters. (Side note: Only Ocean's 11, Ice Age, and Pirates of the Carribean - Curse of the Black Pearl have provided for totally, utterly, and completely satisfying movie-going experiences. These three movies were a perfect synergy of disparate sources of joy - all coming together at the right place at the right time.). Granted that both movies sorta-kinda-desparately tried to live up to the glib-tongued smart-a** feel of their original versions, they were still good in their own merit. Weirdly enough, we've missed the third installment of two other successful movie franchises of the recent decade - Spiderman, and Shrek. And even more weird, we don't even care we have missed it. I guess you can only flog a dead horse ever so much.

Oh well...I am working up the reasons to convince her to go with me to see Ratatouille from Disney-Pixar, and maybe she won't need nudging to see HP-OotP.

Netflix is providing the nature-fix through the Planet Earth series from BBC/Discovery. Thankfully, they are shipping the Sir David Attenborough narrated version. No offense to Sigourney Weaver (she did a very excellent job in another amazing documentary - Why Dogs Smile and Chimpanzees Cry), but in Planet Earth, her narrative is, to say the least, awful. Well, maybe the reality is that I am biased towards Sir David Attenborough's clear, concise and involved narrative. Maybe it is watching series after series of Sir Attenborough's works including Life of Birds, Life of Mammals, Blue Planet - Seas of Life etc. Maybe it is also the knowledge that he is actually a field guy (an expert even) in wild-life reporting. Whatever it maybe, watching Planet Earth seems that much more complete with his narrative.

You can experience the difference for yourself here in the US - watch Planet Earth Wednesday nights on Animal Planet, and then get your hands on the Attenborough-narrated DVDs selling through retailers or available to rent at your neighborhood or internet video store.

Next up on the 2-do-list - classics and yesteryear black & white features...afterall, "our" movie is one such b&w classic - the evergreen (or should it be ever-black-and-white???) "The Shop Around The Corner".

Good to be back

2007-06-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Life is changed. I am changed. The day has changed. And so has the year. I have a right-shoulder to lean on ( and a left-shoulder too: albeit belonging to the same person :P). But she and I won't let one thing change...our love for writing.

It is good to be back.

Eating Out vs Eating In

2006-11-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

Eating out is the new eating in, or so claims this feature on MSN Money, and lists two peoples opinions to substantiate the purported fact that eating out actually comes out pretty even on dollar terms to eating in (also known as cooking at home).

That is as fallacious as can get in terms of substantiating an argument - take two premises, make comparisons on essentially uneven terms, without establishing common ground, come to conclusions on those uneven terms, and then proclaim one argument as the winner over the other...and the media companies wonder why people are skeptical of their reporting?

Take the first example of a person who would get off with spending $17 plus tips on dining out on hand-stuffed ravioli slathered with puttanesca sauce as opposed to about $30 for cooking at home (you know, driving to the farmers market, buying organic veggies, spending an hour cooking etc). Another dude goes as far as counting his hourly rate to the cooking time and opines that taking out his family to eat would essentially come out to the same...

Crunching numbers, this is supposed to prove that eating out is cheaper. Count me as one of the skeptics to this theory, and also to the veracity of this feature. For one, both the examples are set on uneven terms. Hey, the second dude factors his wages for cooking at home, but not for his waiting at a restaurant for his food to arrive etc...and the first dude prefers organic veggies for home cooking, but would rather eat cholesterol-laden ravioli made from non-organic stuff at a restaurant...comparison indeed.

Heck, the simplest logic demands that eating out be more expensive than dining at home. Just the simple fact that eating out is a convenience, and any convenience costs money. That's why a cup of coffee that otherwise costs about $0.10 sells for at least $0.99 at your local gas-station. Do the math...and enjoy dining out, because that is indeed an occasion to indulge the senses...

"Looking For Comedy In the Muslim World"

2006-10-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Diversity. In language. Mannerism. In speech. In contexts. Its everywhere. So it should be no surprise that people have a hard time understanding each others' idiosyncracies. Be it at the individual or family or ethno-religious or national context. A lot of times, we seem to be at logger heads. Being the curious people that we are, we want to try and understand the other.

And when we fall flat and fail to understand, it is because of one and only one reason - the effort was not honestly unbiased.

Looking For Comedy..the film, is the story of one such attempt by the American Administration to understand what causes the Muslims to laugh. Tragically, they use the means of a Hollywood comic, Albert Brooks to achieve their results, and well, the result is a comedy of errors, culture shock, and misunderstandings bordering on the comic. What is perceived as a job well done by the Brooks' character is actually a botched job that may have resulted in precipitating the already tenous relationship between India and Pakistan. (Talk about difference in perceptions).

What this movie so adeptly underscores is that, despite best efforts to actually try and genuinely understand something, when we go into an initiative inadequately prepared, the result is inevitable catastrophe. Especially when the funny guy sent in by the government has had no prior exposure to the cultural subcontexts of the places that he is supposedly scouting.

Two poignant scenes that underscore the theme of the movie happen within minutes of each other...first, the State Department cohort sent with the comic asks the comic's secretary to tell him to "break a leg". Her response..."Oh please. Thats rude." The second is when, the comic has tried in vain to get the audience to respond to some of his stand-up jokes, he asks in jest as to how many in the audience knows and understands English. And much to his chagrin, the entire audience lifts their hands up.

Two vastly different experiences - one at an individual level and another at a group level that has the same symptoms of the vastly under-rated problem - the problem of understanding and appreciating multi-culturalism. When an effort is made to understand a different culture through the same lens as we view ours, the result is a grotesque misrepresentation of the glorious concept of cultural diversity.

Looking for Comedy is a fantastic indie that atleast has the guts to hint at our seeming inability to understand diversity on its own merits.