Varun's Vagaries

The Age-Music Connekshion?

2009-10-28T17:27:00.002+05:30

When I thought of writing this, the title that came to my mind was 'My Musical journey'. It sounds so cheesy I discarded it the second I thought of it ;)

I believe,from personal experience,that you evolve with the music you listen to,and the music you listen to evolves with you.

Having spent a few of my starting years in a convent school,songs belonging to a faith other than my own was all that disturbed my eardrums. Even so,I was oft fascinated with the word placements,mostly because the songs in question never bothered a lot about acoustics.Thankfully,I was rescued from the place and plopped into a very 'liberal' :D school in Vikhe Patil Memorial school. (Here I say,thanks mom,thanks dad,and thanks Nikhil,mazya bhaava,naitar me modern madhe sadlo asato).

It was also around this time that my dad bought us our first Boney M tape,which was played endlessly.Prior to that, the only connection with western music was an old tape my dad possessed,with instru versions of old classics (not so old, Georgie Michael,Madonna's first songs,some springsteen)

The brief period that followed, of mindless boyband-giri of Boyzone,Backstreet boys,Five,etc,was thankfully,short lived. Again,here,was the age a factor in musical preference? I have no idea. To be fair,those times also were peppered with The Offspring,Jon Bon Jovi,etc so not a total waste.I remember when I first heard Jon sing It's my Life! I knew instantly,that this was the kind of music I wanted to hear.almost pop-Metal,with energy. (I also remember,with some glee,how our choir band 0_o was made to sing this song in the 'choir' voice 0_o 0_o in front of our principal,as an entry in a competition.What we actually did sucked.But this would have been a disaster.)

Anywho,Jon bon jovi's album then was the cusp of my musical 'journey'(?). Again,growing age possibly had a lot to do with it, but I was pulled into Hard,aggressive rock. Korn,Megadeth,metallica,Maiden,rammstein,audioslave,foo fighters,etc got me through to the end of Engineering. Saying that,softer varieties,too had their hold.Pink Floyd,the Carpenters,etc...

Over the last two years (So much has happened :) ) people say I've mellowed down a lot. As such it can be reflected my music too.I have gently shifted from the old days,towards instrumental,post rock and to a larger extent, progressive rock,and more recently,ghazals(I know,wtf?) .So in my playlist you will find apocalyptica,65daysofstatic,muse,coldplay,porcupine tree,Robert Costlow,Arctic monkeys,etc

So my question is this.When music is such an important part of someone's life,does it make him the man he is,or does it evolve with him?

Made absolutely no sense did it? :)

PS: Feels gr8 to be back blogging.Hope I'll be able to keep this up.

the last few months

2009-03-31T20:07:00.002+05:30

The last few months of my life have been..let's just say, up n down.Let me explain.
In my last post I had said that I was leaving for TCS training to Coimbatore.
It was an experience I will never forget in my life.Not particularly the training or the 'company' part,but the friends I made there,the time we had there..words cannot describe the great feeling of togetherness we had in our batch. If anyone of you c43 ppl are reading this : You rock! (Correction: We Rock!).

The whole experience,the appalling hotel we were kept in,the mind numbing,Hollywood style cab-ride to the centre,the ruckus we created in life skills classes, that Dehliwale ka Chaat,the Rs2 a plate idli-sambar and the mass crying festival on the day of EC results...(:D) Those were awesome times..
Then,we were randomly allocated to centres across India. I remember the (playful) fights I had with my batch-mates about them stealing my office in Pune...Ah well,I was allocated to Mumbai (Thane to be precise.)Now don't get me wrong I love the people there,but the city has always been shit to me.every single time I've been there..
Determined to change that,I reached there for another bout of training.Here too,I spent a month learning some stuff,but made lots of friends.This was nowhere near the Coimbatore batch though,not even close.Unfortunately this is where my problems resurfaced. I suffered for 2 months from serious medical issues and as such due to the circumstances,had to leave my job.

But I'm hardly fretting over it.The upside is,I'm back in my hometown which I so passionately love,the downside is my wallet's empty...I dunno what the future holds,but my only goals now are to get well as soon as possible,and then concentrate hard for a post-graduation.

Hmm,I've never been known to type this much about myself...I usually post about others..anywho..I thought the update was called for.

Pooricher by the inch

2009-03-21T10:15:00.000+05:30

Haven't posted in quite a while,no I haven't.It's a long story for another day..another post.
The lowdown is,I've been ill,for a couple of months now.And the nature of my illness has caused me to lose quite a lot of weight.11 kilos in 2 months,to be precise.

Now leaving aside the math,I decided to put a positive spin on it.For months on end my parents were rambling about my rapidly protruding belly (they put it down to gaming and lack of any physical activity..jumping like a maniac when my team MUFC score doesn't cut it..apparently).So just to bring the issue back up,I pulled out all my old clothes (not old really,my waist had merely expanded,rendering them useless) and mind,it's a lotta clothes,and guess what? they all fit.woohoo!! I have a completely new wardrobe now.The rack is overflowing with clothes! I'm glad I didn't give them away :D

I'm off

2008-11-19T15:52:00.000+05:30

Perhaps you have noticed as much,I haven't been posting as regularly as I used to.No,I'm not finished blogging,quite the opposite.However,I'm now being forced to take a brief break,since I am leaving for Coimbatore tomorrow for job training.It promises to be a hectic month,but I'll try and keep everyone posted about how I'm doing.TCS' training is said to be the most fun-filled educational experience I hear,so hopefully fun times are ahead.
I'll resume regular posting when I'm back.

C ya guys!

CAT,the bell around my neck

2008-11-16T06:41:00.000+05:30

OK folks, most of you will know that the CAT (Common Admission Test) which is held for admissions to the IIM's (and a few other colleges) is one of the toughest if not the toughest exam in the world.

What I'm about to do today,surpasses all that I've done before.I am about to appear for the exam,without any,check ANY preparation.I can visualize it right now,and it feels like a crash test dummy with a coconut helmet.

I decided to go easy with my prep since I'm joining TCS on the 24th (And it is to that I credit my recent uber-busy-ness reently).The decision to chicken out of the preparation was taken long before my joining date arrived.I'm not proud of it though,but I know I will prepare for the CAT well enough ,and bell the goddamn feline once and for all,with a couple of years worth of job experience to my credit.

But today's exam? It's gonna be a hellish 180 minutes.

Just another day

2008-11-02T14:26:00.005+05:30

Another day,another bomb attack.It's like our country is going through this continuous waking nightmare,which plays itself out night after night after night.30th October will be remembered (by the families of the victims) and forgotten (by the rest of us) as the day when 11 blasts ripped though the state of Assam,in unison I have nothing to say about the bomb blasts.After all,what is left that hasn't been said yet? I want to talk about you and I.

For decades now,these incidents are taking place,literally by the week.Serial blasts in Mumbai,Terrorist attacks on temples,blasts in Mosques,crowded markets,Bus stations,busy trains,you name it.Hundreds of people lose their lives in such acts.

We,however,pat our backs because,we moved on.We showed our resilience,the city started moving within a matter of hours,normalcy was resumed in a day.Those cowards can't break our spirits!We moved on. I personally think this is nothing to be proud of.I am ASHAMED that the city life takes such hits so lightly.I'm ASHAMED the news channels will all move to cricket news withing minutes of that first BREAKING NEWS,I am ASHAMED to look at the TV,see the casualties and just move on,saying I can't do anything about it,and I am also ashamed that I have become so desensitized to human suffering.

The people who lose their lives become mere photographs,to be hung on walls and remembered on anniversaries,their families,bite back tears and try to start living afresh.

You and I,we just move on...until the day arrives when it's our turn.

I ask you this.Instead of just shrugging your shoulders,why wouldn't you stand up,take notice of these things and help,in any way or form you can.How about thinking 10 times before you lend your phone to a friend for a day? Or spending a measly 1000 Rupees on getting your Wi-fi secured by an expert,or carrying out a simple background check when you rent out your apartment,sell a motorbike or a car? You don't have to be home minister of India to do your bidding in stopping these crimes.Like it or not,you and I are party to what goes on,and it's only fair that we do all we can to stop this.

Jaywalkers Ahoy!

2008-10-26T14:49:00.001+05:30

Welcome to Pune,jaywalking capital of the world.

I left my native nashik for this beautiful city of Pune,some 13 years ago.I fell for the city within days of moving here,but one thing always struck me,pedestrians are a scary beast in this city.Scary.

Where I came from,there was at least a semblance of planning that had gone into building the roads.Here,everyone walks everywhere.There is no use of a zebra crossing,because in some places there isn't any painted on the road,and in some,the vehicles often cross these when halting.But the biggest worry is the people themselves.An average puneite loses a month's supply of adrenaline everyday,crossing Roads(Study conducted by me,on myself.).He has no fear of the oncoming traffic banging him out of the way.

Every stratum of the human age-graph has a different way of dealing with the traffic in Pune,while crossing the road.Zebra Crossing,or not.

Kids: Fetching the cricket ball from the other side of the road is more important than waiting for that huge truck to go by.Just run through,the truck will stop on it's own accord (with a mildly palpitating driver).No harm done

Men : Take a quick look,and blaze through across.In case of a close shave,just shrug,give the driver a sly wink and move on.If the matter comes to blows,use your colorful vocabulary and pray that the vehicles behind will honk your adversary into moving on.

Ladies : Really,there is no need to stop talking on the mobile phone.The young dude hurtling towards you on his bike has nothing over gossiping about your balding neighbor's wig.If anything untoward happens,just show the dude your sandals,mouth a couple of mild obscenities and continue the phone conversation.

Senior Citizens: These people are the most interesting types of jaywalkers,with a unique style.You can go anywhere in Pune,It won't be long before you meet the jolly ol' grandpa crossing the road on peak traffic hour.I know it must be difficult but it's quite a skill to dive headlong into the traffic with arms raised,neo style.

If I have to be fair to the pedestrians,traffic snarls in pune have been a regular occurence,with old vehicles,new drivers and generally unmotorable roads. That argument is now old.Over the last couple of years the civic administration of Pune has done a pretty good job in tackling these problems.Now the problem is that people have grown so accustomed to just blindly cross the roads anywhere,they don't want to use proper avenues like the crossroads or subways even where available,Making Pune,the Jaywalking Capital of the world.

Welcome!

A New feature

2008-10-21T21:29:00.000+05:30

You've probably gathered as much by now,I'm addicted to music (beyond rehab).I figured that I could utilize the huge collection of music to recommend a song to my readers occasionally.So I've added a widget after the 3 posts of this homepage,called 'Recommended Listen for the day'. It will have a song,with a lyrics snippet that I liked from it.Go pump up some volume,loozers :P (kidding)
Enjoy the music,appreciate it,and you will see how light you feel.
cheers
varun

Just like Ol' Times

2008-10-20T07:08:00.007+05:30

Had such a good time last night! Caught up with old friends after so long...it was a throwback to the old days, we met to relive it,probably for one last time.Looks like everyone's slowly but surely drifting apart in there separate directions...

Our gang came together during the first year of our engineering course.The common ground being football.We would bunk lectures,nay,entire college days,and be on the field,playing football.We had the time of our lives our the first year.But by the end of that year,we were separated as our classes became more hectic,and lecture timings clashed.We hardly met each other over the last 3 years,with people spread apart in Mechanical,IT&Computers,Electronics,etc but contacts were still there.Random calls to surprise people,and telling them off for not calling,meeting people after college for a quick tea and 'vada pav'...Oh we kept it going alright.

But yesterday was different.Now almost everyone's working full time,some of us (like me) about to join in and some of us,to fly away abroad for further studies.We decided to meet for dinner.It was just like the old days.We laughed like crazy,we cracked such lame jokes even the other people started looking,we wiped the floor with each others' backsides,throwing random insults (don't worry,we don't pick on people,everyone gets whammed) and made a loud ruckus.We knew we were far worse than the family behind us,with there 4 noisy,perpetually howling kids,but what had to be done,had to be done.

When I finally reached home,I was half asleep,but still,as I switched off the lights,I felt satisfied,I caught up with my old friends again.I know probably we won't have another outing like this in a long long time,but at least all of us moved on from our yesterday with a smile on our faces...at least we won't keep looking back for something as we move forward tomorrow...

Guitar Update

2008-10-16T21:58:00.002+05:30

Turns out it was indeed a great decision to go for professional help for learning the guitar.Although my trainer tells me that I had already done the basic learning part by myself,the last 15 days has really improved my skills,bigtime.All credit to her.She uses some new methods and lessons that have helped my finger agility and general lack of musical understanding.I am psyched to be now playing the following tracks (some partially,some fully) with considerable accuracy.

1. Metallica - Nothing else matters (part)
2. Eagles - Hotel California
3. Francis Dunnery - Good Life
4. Greenday - Good Riddance(Time of your life)
5. Old Hindi (I dunno the movie) - Ajeeb Dastan Hai yeh
6. Don - Main Hoon Don
7. Kal Ho Naa ho
8. Blue - One Love
9. Rock On - Tum Ho toh,Phir Dekhiye,Title
10. Kamaal Khan - O O Jaane Jaana
11. Fountains of Wayne - Hey Julie!
and some more
Today,I played Hotel California (which is one of my all time favourites), without my teacher's help.I'm still smiling as wide as I can.Feels really nice inside.

Traffic Signal

2008-10-14T08:00:00.006+05:30

This happened while I was on my way to run an errand yesterday.Waiting for a traffic signal,I was approached by a girl,no more than 19-20 herself.She was carrying a little baby with with her,wailing at the top of it's voice.She said to me, "Sir,look at the poor kid,hasn't eaten for two days.Give me some alms so that the youngster can eat".

I could sense what was going on there,but something in that kid's wails made me pull out of my wallet a Rs.5 coin,which I handed to her.Strangely,the kid seemed to know what happened,and stopped it's howling.But the girl insisted,"Sir,there's nothing I can buy with this money,please give me some more".
I said,"But look,I stopped your baby's crying,isn't that enough for you?"

What she said next,surprised me even more.She said,"If that's what you want,sir,he'll cry again,when I go to the next car." I was shocked,and disgusted.Refused to give in to any more of her drama,and asked her to beat it.As I prepared to zoom away (my signal had turned green) I heard the same wail again,this time from the opposite side of the intersection.
Narrowing my eyes,I sped away,trying not to think about it.

So this is what they call 'steeling up your heart'.Doesn't feel nice.

I've BeEn BlockeD

2008-10-09T06:58:00.003+05:30

Everyone suffers from it.Batsmen from a mental block,designers from a creative block,comedians with a material block...I'm added to the list now.Severe case of bloggers' block.I got Nothing,absolutely nothing.
Be back when the gray matter wakes up.
Perhaps a little persuasion might work

Twitter

2008-10-06T10:31:00.007+05:30

Twitter is a cute little service.You follow people and people follow you.You occasionally post what you are doing currently,and your followers will know that you are upto no good :P Conversely when the people you follow post their updates,you get to know what they are doing.This service is very popular,and I use it for keeping my friends up to date about my life and my latest blog posts.
So here's an invitation to all readers,join twitter and start tweeting :) If you want to follow me and be followed, visit me and add me in to your follow list.I will reciprocate.

Edit:
Tweeting is now made easier by a small firefox plugin called Twitterfox.You can post and receive tweet updates Directly in your browser.Get it Here

Let's all keep in touch!
cheers
Varun

Real Estate luna(r)cy

2008-10-02T09:41:00.007+05:30

This is a result of another of my surfathons,where I go ballistic and start visiting random sites by the dozen,for no reason.
I found one,then I found another,and then I wondered,WHY?
Take a look yourself here,here and ohmydeargodthisismad here

I thought the craze had died down,but it still rages on.People are buying land on the Moon.The MOON! Some people have way too much money on their hands,either that or the shrinks just went on a strike.

I mean don't people already have enough trouble clearing their mortgages? Why then go on to buy land in a place where no one's gonna say anything if you TOOK it for free? Who do you buy this from? Who owns the moon anyways? Let's do something the Janitor (Scrubs?) did to good effect..A simple act of placing a flag.But wait,how do you reach there to do so? You Probably aren't going to visit the moon in this lifetime,idiots! Not you,Hotel Heiress,you can buy what you want.

And buying land on the moon as a gift? Please! ladies these days don't fall for promises about the moon and stars.Go buy her a nice perfume or something...

I think I'm gonna freak out

*runs to the fridge for a cold one*

Google Updates PageRank

2008-09-30T07:08:00.003+05:30

Seems Google just updated it's pagerank.I like it.3 months into blogging,Varun's vagaries is now a PR3 site!

Check your PageRank here

What is PageRank?
PageRank is a numeric value that represents how important a page is on the web. Google figures that when one page links to another page, it is effectively casting a vote for the other page. The more votes that are cast for a page, the more important the page must be. Also, the importance of the page that is casting the vote determines how important the vote itself is. Google calculates a page's importance from the votes cast for it. How important each vote is is taken into account when a page's PageRank is calculated.
PageRank is Google's way of deciding a page's importance. It matters because it is one of the factors that determines a page's ranking in the search results. It isn't the only factor that Google uses to rank pages, but it is an important one.
Source

Finally,I've cracked.

2008-09-27T15:50:00.002+05:30

OK here's the deal...A month ago I had posted about how I started learning to play the guitar by myself,without any help,mostly over the Internet.Well my patience has steadily worn thin.It is not enough for me to learn the lame hindi movie songs that everyone loves (and I despise)..Sure sure I've learnt some by myself,to keep people around me happy (mostly also because they have to recognize at least something of what I'm playing),but since I've proceeded towards strumming and rapid chord progressions,things haven't gone smoothly.I've waited long enough,and I still fumble with some easy songs,despite adequate practice.Hence I've decided to take the step that I didn't take so defiantly earlier.I'm seeking professional help.I'm meeting a tutor today and hopefully I'll start learning from Monday.
So looking forward to a)A pro guitarist at work b)Learning from her.

Let's see how this pans out

Parting ways...

2008-09-25T16:01:00.002+05:30

Lately I've started to get the feeling that Varun's Vagaries has veered off it's original course,which was to be a funny personal diary of sorts,and increasingly I have posted things about the one thing I love the most,technology.I don't want to write too much and dissolve away the quality (if any) of my writing.So with a not so heavy heart,I have decided that when I'm here,the nerd in me will be banished to a corner of my mind.I have given that guy a new playground,My Tech Blog!

It's called the Tech Prescription,and you get unlimited refills,no charge levied.Lots of exciting Computers and Internet related stuff will find it's way there.Feel free to drop by any time with your troubles of the E kind and I'll readily offer a solution if it isn't way over my head.I have also shifted the related posts from Vagaries to Tech Prescriptions.

See you there!

Best Free Software Pack

2008-09-23T20:55:00.005+05:30

Google Pack now has competition.From me! Here's a list of essential
software you absolutely must have on your computer.You will find some great
alternatives to the bulky,burgeoning software that you may be having currently.
Say goodbye to excruciatingly slow loading,random freeze ups and repeated updates.
What's more,all of the software listed here are free.You can get them up and running,
in a matter of a few seconds! Wherever possible,I have provided a direct link to the latest version,
so Enjoy!
1.
Firefox 3.0 :
Firefox is fast becoming the most used Web Browser in the world,having given Internet Explorer a serious inferiority complex in terms of features,and having effectively ended the competition of smaller players like Opera,FF3.0 is now the world standard for web browsing.Optimized browsing features such as tabbed browsing,customizations like themes,add-ons,better processing for CSS2 and a much lower page-load time has given Firefox the edge over it's competition.Get your copy today :)
[Info] [Download]

2.
Foxit PDF Reader :
This is a personal opinion,but I absolutely HATE Adobe reader.A simple document reader needing a minute to load,constant updates and throwing tantrums,freezing up the screen at random...You'd much rather hire someone to read out the parchments wouldn't you? Why not switch to Foxit? This is a minute software,only a couple of MegaBytes,loads up in less than 2 seconds and does everything that Adobe Reader can.Especially useful for people like me who spend a lot of time scouring through E-books.
[Info] [Download]

3.
Avira Antivir :
Avira Antivir is the best in class Free Antivirus solution.Despite being a free version,this one boasts o 90% + detection rate. Add to that the fact that you get customizable scans,rootkit removal and malware scanning too,makes for one excellent security suite.This one i recommend,Having used it personally.
[Info] [Download]

4.
VLC Player :
VLC player is a free media player,playing almost all formats of audio,video and picture slideshows without having the need to download a single codec! You'll get the really rare,once in 3 months crash,but this one plays anything and everything under the sun.
[Info+Download]

5.
Skype :
Skype is a software for making free PC to PC calls and PC to phone calls at competitive rates.I have only used the former functionality so I won't comment on PC to phone calls.Since people already have Gtalk or Yahoo IM,they often wonder why you would need skype for PC to PC? I got 2 words,voice clarity.Skype calls are crystal clear,with minimum delay.I dunno how they do it,but it works!
[Info] [Download]

6.
OpenOffice.org Suite :
OOO is a open source office suite in direct competition with Microsoft Office.I recommend it because it's free,and it's fast.The functionality is pretty much the same in both suites.
[Info] [Download]

7.
Comodo Firewall :
Comodo Free firewall! What a software! I was stuck with ZoneAlarm for a while,but then I found this little baby.Extremely customizable security system with watertight rules.A real Must Have.There is one drawback though,the initial setup of rules can be tricky.But worry not.Their forum and Support is Excellent.
[Info] [Download]

8.
TrendMicro HijackThis :
This one's for reporting vulnerabilities and malware.I suggest you handle it with care though.If you suspect a problem,perform a scan and upload the report at any of the windows support forums (you will find dozens on Google.)The people there usually help.Or you can ask me :)
[Download]

9.
Belarc Advisor :
BA is for paranoid geeks like me or for small to medium businesses.The software will scan your computer for vulnerabilities and missing Hotfixes and point you to the downloads.Please remember,this is not a an antivirus scanner,but merely an advisor as to what you are missing.
[Info] [Download]

10.
Notepad++ :
Notepad++ is not only for software programmers.It can replace the original notepad utility on the XP machine.It is useful in many ways,even for the normal user.Take a look at their website for all the features and tricks.
[Info][Download]

11.
Irfanview :
A graphic viewer supporting dozens of formats,some are even obsolete.You can also convert as well as batch convert images between formats.Also incorporates a primitive paintbrush feature,and supports many basic photo editing options for beginners like cropping,etc.
[Info][Download]

12.
CCleaner :
Tere are many 'washers' available in the market to clean up the e-junk in your computer.Most of them are bulky and generally useless.Ccleaner is a small software which does the job.Clearing all the tracks and history from your computer,it also has a built in advanced uninstaller and a tool to remove obsolete entries from the registry.
[Info] [Download]

13.
Pidgin :
Pidgin is a multiplatform multiservice IM client.Basically it allows you to chat at once using a variety of servies including AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr.
[Info][Download]

14.
utorrent :
If you use BitTorrent for sharing files,you probably know about this one.If you don't,Learn more about BitTorrent here. Utorrent is a lightweight torrent client and allows fast addition,deletion of trackers,allows you to create your own torrent files and last but not the least,has a built in scheduler which helps you regulate your bandwidth usage. If you live in a country where ISP's throttle bandwidth,
you can turn on Encryption and to prevent wastage by fakes,apply ipfilter.dat and sleep peacefully :)
[Info][Download]

I hope you find these useful.

Depressing Songs

2008-09-22T07:21:00.005+05:30

I like mellow,sad songs. Sometimes these are the types you feel close to,sometimes they identify with what you are going through,and sometimes,you just want to sit down,do nothing,and continue to feel the way you do.So here are my favourite mellow/sad/slow songs,in no particular order.
Note hereby that a slow-ish anthem also sounds mellow to a metal fan :)

1. November Rain - Guns n Roses (watch)

2. The fray - How to save a Life

3. Josh Radin - Closer (watch)

4. Radiohead - How to disappear completely

5. Metallica - Fade to black

6. Apocalyptica - Stroke (some may not agree with me on this one but I stick by it)

7. Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna

8. In Flames - Come Clarity (again,not exactly mellow,but works.)

9. Josh Radin - Winter

10. Coldplay - Fix You

Do you agree with my top songs? What are yours? Do Let me know

Funny love poem

2008-09-19T12:00:00.006+05:30

This one's for the ladies.
I'd like an honest opinion,especially from my female readers.(~~Dudes are welcome as well,It's always nice to take fellow dumbasses along :P Feel free to admit your lack of poetic sense,for my moral support :) )~~
I'm always saying stupid things, things I wouldn't say in hindsight.I also completely miss poetry.It goes way over my head.So Recently I saw the movie 'Harold and Kumar,Escape from Guantanamo Bay'.Typical Hollywood comedy,like it a bit,but I digress...
There's this short poem in one of the scenes(originally by Dave Feinberg),I just want to know if you consider it stupid,dumb,deep or just nice.I found it extremely thoughtful.What does that make me? Do opine.Here's the complete poem

Square Root of Three

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun,
as 1.7321
Such is my reality,
a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

well? whaddaya think?
(ladies: would you find this sweet if a guy said it to you?)
(dudes:would you mumble something like this on a date? )

Crazy Ant Attack!

2008-09-17T19:01:00.006+05:30

I had a hearty laugh when Sindhu wrote about her ant troubles,as,undoubtedly others must have too.Little did I know then that someday I would be running around the house with ants in my pants! The little buggers sure enjoyed annoying the crap out of me.

The last 3-4 days had been pretty hectic,did some documentation,got my Graduation results (got 70% which is pretty good,considering my university's trends) so I was in a jolly good mood,but my room wasn't.It was a right mess,clothes strewn everywhere,papers,books,cds...I had to sleep amongst these things for a few days,since I was too tired,or lazy to clean it all up.One of those nights,I faintly remember squishing one or two ants which were biting my neck,while being half-asleep.

Now that I finally had mustered the motivation to clean it all up (yeah,I need motivation to clean up my room,sometimes days and days of it.Have YOU cleaned your room this weekend? I didn't think so :P ) Anywho,so I have been known to leave gum,candies and other sweetmeats in my trouser pockets,so I was a little wary anyways.The clothes went well.I found one or two ants near the trousers and I thought, "Ah,that explains my strange,and disturbing ant-bite fantasy"(hmm?)

"There,Looks clean enough to me",I said to myself."Now all that's left to do is change the sheets". Easy peasy? Hell to the noesy!The second I yanked out the sheets from my mattress,out came the ants from under it,literally in their thousands! I was speechless.It took a second of realization before i could whisper,"Holy $%^$^ing %$#W@,it's them ants!"

Immediately I beckoned my sister over,and hauled the poor stricken mattress up vertically,then I proceeded to sweep the ants off the damn mattress and my sister swept them away with a wet piece of cloth.Apparently the underside of my mattress,made warm and cozy by my ample rear end,was the right temperature to store winter supplies.

Somehow I felt bad about uprooting an entire storage facility,but hey! I didn't say the place was up for rent did I? See ya later,suckers!

WTF ZOMG LOL? Ya Rly

2008-09-10T17:33:00.013+05:30

I read in the newspaper today that recent study has found the sms lingo,or the chat lingo,to be actually beneficial for us.Finally,some sense has been bashed into the purists' heads.

Isn't it obvious the shorter version of the language is going to take over,some time or the other?It's like Cricket.You had the boring six day matches,cut to 5 days,down to a single day and now we have games completing in 3 hours! Humanity has always striven for optimization.When there were too many hand signs to decipher,ancient humans created signal patterns,which evolved into the alphabet,which has now formed chains we call language.Now such optimization of the language is nothing but the next step in it's evolution.
Youth is always more appreciative of change,while age resists change.It's obvious that the younger generation has optimized 'really' into 'rly' seeing that it doesn't have a meaning anyway,but would sound like 'really'.The Earlier generation resists this change since
1.They have to learn something new that they may not necessarily like
2.Half the time they won't know head or tail what what their daughter just SMS'ed them.

I also don't understand what this hoopla about literary scholars and greats not liking the new trends in language.If they don't want to use it,the hell with them! It will only do good everywhere. It's not easy to logically explain to a kid with an independent,unshackled mind why why is not y? Just because some old geyser said so?

What do you think?

Reincarnation anyone?

2008-09-08T06:35:00.002+05:30

I'm really sorry,I can't remember where I found this site.Apologies to the contributor
This is one of those online tests that claim to 'analyze' something for you.How cranky,geeky,lovable,looney,.............you are.
Here's a new one.Tells you what you will reincarnate into.It's pretty random actually,questions your shrink might ask you.Or even your weekly newspaper self-help section :P (Link)
Ignoring the pretty lame questions,I did it for the results,and found out that I'm coming back as a Zebra.It says only 23% people will have a better reincarnation than me,the zebra,mezebra,I'm confused..I would like to humbly submit,kind maker of test,that a better reincarnation is a scant consolation for a striped butt :P

Oh noes

Entrecard:do you drop?

2008-09-07T08:03:00.005+05:30

A continuation to my blog traffic sites posts,with a twist.

-----------------------Rant-------------------
People nowadays forget that networking sites are about finding new things,as much as getting traffic for your pages.For god's sake atleast take a look at the page when you are surfing through an affiliate site! People leave comments like "Hi! visit my blog!" and it pisses me off no end.Sure,advertise your blog in my shoutbox,but atleast have the decency to leave a comment if you liked my articles! I know I'm no saint,I did indulge in such stuff when i began,but a week into it I realized,some of these sites are really interesting!
-------------------------/rant----------------
Entrecard
I stumbled on to this site while blog-surfing.It's an ingenious idea.The site allows you to create a business card of your site.You must place a card dropbox on your site in return.Fellow site members can drop cards in your dropbox when they visit your site,and you can drop yours on to others.You get one entrecard credit (EC) when you drop your card on another blog and also one when someone drops their card in your box.Profit both ways :D .You can use your amassed EC's to purchase temporary/permanent ads for your page on other sites,and conversely earn more credits by allowing others' ads on your site.There are also bonuses such as coupons,etc.
Do join this site.I found it very useful,and a good traffic source.

the EC Firefox addon :
Now you can surf other EC-enabled blogs via this nice little addon.It optimizes the use of the extremely slow search function of the main site,gets you results faster,and you can visit more pages!

Do leave a comment to tell me if this site was useful
cheers
Varun