The Grey

“Once more into the fray,
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.
Live and die on this day,
Live and die on this day.”

-Poem written by the protagonist’s father that becomes his inspiration to keep striving against all odds.

My 11th Grade English Literature course included a short story by Jack London titled “To Build A Fire” which I devoured pretty much the same day I got the textbook.  That night was the first time I dreamed of walking by myself in a dark, snowy landscape with little hope of survival, so authentic was the description and so powerful was the narrative.

Tonight, after watching The Grey, my dreams are unlikely to be much different. And oh, they might include a pack of hungry wolves chasing after me, for good measure!

Set in the cold and dreary reaches of Alaska, The Grey chronicles the efforts of seven plane-crash surviving oil-riggers who must now outlast the unforgiving weather as well as a pack of blood-thirsty wolves.

From the outset, director Joe Carnahan (who previously teamed up with Liam Neeson on The A Team) creates the sense of hopelessness that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Within the first few moments after the plane crashes, the seven survivors realize that right here in the middle of the bitterly cold Alaskan nowhere, there is little room for error and every cause for panic as survival against the elements becomes their highest priority. That is, until they realize that they may have just landed smack-dab in the middle of wolf-territory, the angry members of which are hell-bent on reclaiming their land even if it means literally ripping the guts out of the human trespassers.

And so begins three epic battles:

Man vs Man as the individual personalities of the survivors, particularly Neeson’s Ottway and Frank Grillo’s Diaz, clash in making decisions like what to do with the bodies of the other passengers and what should be the plan of action moving forward. However, once they realize they are not alone in the wilderness, Neeson whose job it had been to hunt their predators, naturally assumes the role of Leader and after a few hated exchanges proves he is quite capable of defending that mantle.

Man vs Nature which goes without saying, given their surroundings. From lighting fires using the jet-fuel from the downed plane to protecting themselves against sudden snowstorms, Man is shown to be the utter insignificance that he is against the behemoth that is Nature. This is also where the cinematography of Masanobu Takayanagireally shines through as he captures the wide-angle views of the unforgiving, bleak terrain while at the same time not missing the close-range shots of the survivors’ attempts to conquer this brutal environment. Light snow falling on large swaths of trees, the flickering flames reflected in the eyes of the men and the blood-thirsty, saliva-dripping jaws of their hunters have all been eminently captured on film which brings us to the third battle…

Man vs Animal – the most gruesome of the lot. Right after their first strike, the wolves make one thing very clear – they are not hunting for food. They are hunting to kill. And they will not stop until every last human who invaded their territory is gone.  Oftentimes stepping back to regroup and then striking with little warning, the wolves prove to be as resourceful as their more-evolved prey. They are cunning, co-ordinated and blood-curdlingly vicious in their single-minded pursuit of the men.

It’s a fairly common theme in movies to have things suddenly happen when you least expect it and The Grey has its share of shake-you-out-of-your-seat thrills. But what’s also present is a theme of nothing happening when you most expect it, a good example of which is the ending which will likely disappoint as many viewers as it will completely satisfy . Even what might seem inevitable is often deftly delayed and then never delivered serving as a harsh reminder to the viewers that in the real world, in a world of negative 40s and 50s temperatures, in a world of rabid wolves asserting their territorial right, in a world of raw battles between man and nature, there is no room for miracles.

There is only room for doing your best and hoping it is enough. There is only room for building a fire and hoping it keeps you warm (and safe). There is only room for moving in one direction and hoping that is the way rescue lies.

There is only room for the unknown in life: The Grey.

People use different words to describe the life and legacy of Steve Jobs:
Entrepreneurial.
Innovative.
Inventive.
Creative.
Genius.

But there’s a word Steve Jobs himself  used several times to describe himself and the company he co-founded:

Intuitive.

In May 1998, in response to a question about how consumer research affected the development of the iMac, Steve Jobs said:

“A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

- Steve Jobs, 11 May 1998

In that one, subtle line lies the entire essence of Apple’s philosophy as envisioned by Steve Jobs: Don’t ask them what they want. Tell them what they want. Tell them in a way that is genuine and convincing.

In 2001 not many people knew they wanted a revolutionary, new music-player. In 2007 not many people knew that they needed “an iPod, a phone and an Internet communicator” all in one device. They did not know and they were not asked if they wanted one.

They were told they wanted one.

At the end of what has often been described as one of the best keynotes, the Macworld 2007 Keynote (when the iPhone was first unveiled), Jobs concluded with what he described as one of his favorite quotes – one from Canadian Ice Hockey Superstar, Wayne Gretzky:

“I skate to where the puck is going to be,
not where it has been.”

- Wayne Gretzky

As the news on TV showed images and scenes from the life and times of Steve Jobs, my son interrupts me. He wants my iPhone so he can play a game on it. As he nears me he is distracted by the pictures of the iPhone flashing on the TV followed by photos of Jobs.

“Who is that, daddy?”

“That is Steve Jobs. He made the iPhone.” (Simplifying, of course, but not that much.)

“Oh.”

And he was off with the phone.

Turning it on. Swiping. Gesturing. Flinging birds on pigs.

Intuitively.

I let him play for a few more minutes than usual.

For always skating to where the puck is going to be,

Thank You, Steve Jobs.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single home in possession of a good snowfall, must be in want of peanut butter and toilet paper.”
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (Not)

It’s December. This is New England. And there is a snowstorm expected. This can mean only one thing: The local department and convenience stores will run out of peanut butter and toilet paper.

Why is that, you ask? Well, the answer to that takes us back several thousands of years to a time when humans lived (and made markings) in caves. Recently discovered cave-drawings show us that this tendency to stock up on these two specific items is not surprising, after all, but might indeed be genetically imbibed in each of us.

Behold:

The purport of this decidedly anachronistic fresco is clear: “When you are hunting, if it ever snows, then you go right out and get some peanut butter and toilet paper”. All that was needed was for someone to actually invent the damn things so others could buy them, but now we are just talking technicalities here.

And so it has been for centuries. Irrespective of what activity humans are involved in at any given time, if they should ever hear that there is an impending snowstorm, they just drop everything they are doing and rush out to the nearest store to grab as many jars of PB and as many rolls of TP as they can lay their hands on.

All this makes me wonder, exactly what the heck are people doing in their homes when it’s snowing outside? I don’t know about you, but all I do is lay back in the couch with a cup of tea and write about others rushing around helter-skelter as if this was their last opportunity to get anything at all and as if civilization as we know it is going to come to a screeching halt as soon as the first snow flakes hit the ground.

I have heard of people laying out detailed emergency procedures, locking themselves in the basement with crank-operated radios and not venturing out for two days until the “event” passes. They will periodically call their friends to enquire about how bad it is “out there” and of course the usual response will be something along the lines of “Huh? What do you mean?” because said friend had simply cleared out his driveway and headed out to work as usual.

But the paranoid are not easily convinced and so hunker down they will. Then once they do come out they discover that … nothing at all happened. The world went on as usual and the only real “event” is that they have missed of a couple of days of work cooped up in the basement for no reason at all.

And what do you think they do during all the time they spend in the basement? Why, eat all the peanut butter and …. use up all the toilet paper, of course!

Now we may or may not have a swine-flu epidemic on our hands. But one thing’s for sure: we have a “swine-flu-panic” epidemic raging all over the place. Not to be outdone, my company has swallowed the cleanliness kool-aid by the gallon and the results are staggering.

First of all every sink now has a Purel hand-sanitizing solution beside it, which is weird if you come to think about it because the door leading out the restroom has had a Purel wall-dispenser next to it for years. So what was already a complicated process of washing your hands, wiping your hands, opening the door and quickly sanitizing your hands before jumping out to avoid the closing door … just got even more ridiculous.

You see, the new office has touchless sinks, touchless soap-dispensers and to top it off … touchless paper-towel dispensers as well. This means only thing: parents who want to teach their kids the Elmo song usually visit our company restrooms first: You put your left hand in, You put your left hand out, You put your left hand in and You shake it all about (but no – you won’t get any soap even after all the hand-wringing in front of the minuscule sensor). Of course, once you finally decide to give up and start to wash your hands without soap, the dispenser will be happy to squirt some soap all over your shirt-sleeve. At this points, most parents are advised to close their kids’ ears while certain choice words are yelled out in frustration. Then the drying process begins and it’s no different: same Elmo song and even more vigorous movements but no paper. The good news is that all the hand-wringing has dried your hands already and you don’t really need the paper anyway. Infact, I think the company already knows this and has stopped refilling the paper-roll for weeks now.

In swine flu panic mode, however, the process involves using the Purel by the sink as well and we are still trying to figure out if that is before the hand washing, or if it’s after the hand-washing but before the hand-drying, or if it’s after the hand-drying but before using the other Purel by the door. One employee, unable to take this decision-making promptly threw the sink-side Purel into the trash. Problem solved.

But nothing could have ever prepared us for the signs, and oh yes, you better believe there are signs … All over the place. “Cover your mouth when you sneeze”, “Wash your hands after you eat”, “Sneeze into your arm-pits” (yeah I don’t get that last one either)…

One particular sign about hand-washing is so useful it would be remiss if I didn’t share it with the entire world (click to enlarge):

For me, especially, this is invaluable information, because this is how I used to wash my hands earlier (it helps to follow along with the steps above to realize how wrong I had been all these years):

1. I always consider the sink to be very sanitary. I have been known to take a couple of licks of the shiny spout now and then.
2. I usually run my hand all over the sink admiring the wonderful workmanship – sometimes I use both hands and give it a good rub-down just because I feel like it.
3. The third point above confuses me because I have always wet my hands and wrists before I turn the water on – probably because of my bad aim but that’s another story (and I can’t use a paper towel anyway because the company hasn’t filled the dispenser in weeks – have you been paying any attention at all?!)
4. Don’t even get me started on the soap.
5. With the new touchless systems, the only vigorous movements I am used to are frantic efforts to get any soap and water at all.
6. Stream? I thought we use the sink – we have a stream now? Is it touchless too??? And my elbows will feel so left out of the washing process if I don’t squat and point my fingers upwards while I wash my hands as I am used to doing (try it – it is almost like doing yoga while you wash your hands).
7. When I am done I usually look for a used, wet paper towel because I am green like that. Looks like the author of this guide wants me to ruin the environment by using a clean, dry paper towel. What a tree-hating whale-killer!

Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for the wonderful ways in which I am educated – even if it to relearn something I was taught when I was 3.

In “Slumdog Millionaire”, Jamal breaks out from Dharavi, travels on train-tops to the tune of M.I.A.’s “Paper Plane”, scams tourists at the Taj Mahal, enters “Kaun Banega Crorepati” and at the end of this dream run reunites with his childhood heart-throb, Latika.

That’s great, except real life is nowhere close to that narration. Sudip Mazumdar, a Newsweek reporter from New Delhi recounts his own experiences living in and out of the slums of Kolkata:

People keep praising the film’s “realistic” depiction of slum life in India. But it’s no such thing. Slum life is a cage. It robs you of confidence in the face of the rich and the advantaged. It steals your pride, deadens your ambition, limits your imagination and psychologically cripples you whenever you step outside the comfort zone of your own neighborhood. Most people in the slums never achieve a fairy-tale ending. [Newsweek]

As he recalls his own life experiences in this reality-check piece, you can see that he is obviously not comparing real life with what is obviously a feel-good fairy tale made into a movie. No; instead what he wants to tell us is that not only do most people never make it out of the slums (he has seen almost no difference in the last 50 years at Tangra, Kolkata’s Dharavi), they are probably not encouraged to either:

[...] slums exist, in large part, because they’re allowed to exist. Slumdogs aren’t the only ones whose minds need to be opened up. [Newsweek]

Yes, I know it’s all about priorities, but hey, how about a bailout for atleast those slumdogs who actually want to make an honest effort at adding to GDP?

Newsweek: Man Bites ‘Slumdog’

Happy Birthday To Me!

Pretty soon the only posts on this blog will be these anniversary reminders … !

Dreamhost has launched a new product called DreamHostApps that will host your web applications like a blog or wiki freely for life if you sign up during their beta period. There are currently about 8500 more people they will let in as of this writing.

You can bring your own domain or even sign up for a dreamhost subdomain for free. While your bandwidth and storage are limited, it is a great deal for beginners who are just experimenting with these applications.

The following applications are currently supported:

1. Blog: WordPress (is there any other?!)
2. Content management: Drupal
3. Photos: ZenPhoto
4. Bulletin Board / Forum: phpBB
5. Wiki: MediaWiki

DreamHost Apps also supports Google Apps so you can have email, calendar etc. for your domain.

Give it a shot and let me know how you like it! But hurry: only 8500 more allowed as of now and the invites are going fast!

I don’t know about you but I have actually stopped caring about who wins their match-ups anymore.
Given the level of tennis they both play, the destination doesn’t matter anymore for me: in their case it truly is the journey.

Nadal and Federer: 2009 Australian Open

What a match!

(Image: Getty Images)

When the Oracle Of Omaha speaks, the world takes notice and his OpEd piece in the New York Times is possibly a voice of sanity in this time of greed and fear.

Warren Buffett is diving headlong into U.S. equities with a strong warning to cash-hoarders:

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts. [New York Times]

“Buy American”, he says. “I am”.

Well that’s good to hear, but the question is “Do I (and you) dare?”