Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tribal Wars, Chatting and Blogging

Tribal Wars! What an excellent addition to my repertoire of useless but fun online activities. I am on Tribal Cloud 9 today, on finally winning my first village. Also i had a great day, saw The Dark Knight for the 2nd time [i can watch it again and again]
Well, coming back to Tribal Wars, well; I don't need a reason to be online, i just need a computer and a net connection. Off late, I've been supported by many other nocturnal friends and some friends from UK n the US, who help me stay awake till the sun comes up [literally].
As a backup I can read the hundreds of blogs that are on the Blog Rolls of my friends' blogs. If nothing works, I can write some more crap on my blog; then on the other hand is my favorite show of all time House MD! Thanks a lot Doctor Sushrut [he's the great man who introduced me to House MD and Scrubs], you're a lifesaver ;)
And when all else fails, I go back to reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Somehow i feel that my brain purposely slows down reading that book, because it is so good; it want's it to last as long as possible!
Special mention also of the losers blog; it's one blog i really look forward to read, so many authors on it with different styles, thus far Aaaaakash and Sameer are ahead in terms of content written!
My blog has had some major traffic flow off late, thank you faithful blog readers, do visit again and again and again....

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

PageRank of 1

No my Blog is not No 1. On the contrary its...
Well, Sameer's blog has a PR of 5, which is in itself an achievement [or he knows someone at Google ;)], The Loser's are yet to open their account; but I am glad that finally Google has woken up and taken notice of my blog. The PR of this blog is 1. Well begun is half done!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Trust Motion Speeches

I'm a non political guy, I do have a political viewpoint but that is my own. Here are two of the best speeches in Parliament made during the Trust Motion this month. I support none of these parties, frankly i dont support any party, but do watch these 2 videos, they're really two of the few Parliamentary moments worth watching.


Lalu at his best ever: Watch


Omar Abdullah's heartfelt speech: Watch

Placements: The Other Side Of The Story

Well, we all know that an awesome placement results in the hope of having a good financial life in the future. The family and friends are happy [even the jealous ones fake it] ;)
But what about the insignificant changes that a dream or core placement brings in? Here are a few:

1. We get back to wearing crappy jeans and comfortable shirts.
2. The formals are back to the corner of the cupboard.
3. We again forget the method of wearing a tie, or at least making the knot.
4. RS Aggarwal suddenly doesn't seem that important.
5. We don't rush everyday to the exam cell notice boards.
6. All other pressures don't seem to affect you just as much as they did in the past.
7. College once again becomes college and not the placement zone it became for a month.

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Elective Theorem

Well people, it has begun... the final year of engineering. What better way to begin it than by stating yet another useless theorem!

This one has a bit of background to it so read on.

Engineering is basically 4 years of 2 semesters each, comprising of 5 subjects in every semester. These "subjects" are nothing but objects that screw our happiness, quite literally, be it App Sci, or App Mech; I have never ever used any knowledge of these subjects being a Comp Engg; yet i had to learn what the detailed process was to extract some dumbass metal; or that some stupid plane with a bomb travels at X miles per hour and drops a bomb, where will it land? Well, Professor of App Mech [aka Dept where no one goes after they clear App Mech], why dont we let the bomb land, and then we'll know where it landed. I'm not Osama who should know the exact coordinates of where the fucking bomb will blast, why don't you call Professor of App Sci and check the chemical composition of the bomb, maybe it didn't land and burst mid-air coz of crappy packaging!

Moving on, basically we were just guinea pigs, every subject tried to mess with us... all we had to do was survive. But life is cruel, and what's worse, it has a sense of humor. Now in Final Year, it gives us the power of choosing which subject we want to get screwed by! It's called The Elective.

The Elective Theorem:

Always choose that subject as your elective such that it screws you the least or if getting screwed is your mission, then choose it in such a way that the screwing helps out in your B. Tech project. As it may decrease the feeling of getting screwed, though you still do get screwed. The screwing is inevitable!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DreamZS fulfilled

As usual I don't divulge personal details on my blog explicitly; but there's a big enough hint in the title.
It happened for me; just as it did week after week for my other friends. A dream job.
The process started way back on 1st of July with the Apti, whose result was declared only on the 18th.
The rounds were to take place later; meanwhile I sat out a lot of companies, which was a bit of a tough decision. But man, did it pay off!

The rounds were grueling, they were high pressure face offs. The elimination rounds were intense and needed a lot of on the spot thinking. No amount of preparation could have ensured anything. I for one am a supporter of such rounds, because they normalize the situation for us to show our skills and not just mugging up 'Test Your C Skills' [that book has frustrated me big time, so will continue to be pissed off with it till eternity.]

The wait for the results was long, about 20 hours; but when I got that phone call, believe me I was the happiest man in the world.
The rounds were tough, the pressure was intense but i think that's why they call it a dream job; you've got to really earn it. Each person who thus far got a dream or core job totally deserves it; because trust me it needs skill of another level to actually do it on that day! It makes the feeling even more special that after all the waiting, preparation, tests, interviews, skillful answers and soaking all the pressure without showing it ever; you got the just reward.

I must mention a few people who played a very important part in this dream coming true. Firstly and most importantly The Almighty, my family, friends, luck, my brain and last but not the least; the selection panel at the company, who gave me the job ;)

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Why So Serious? - The Dark Knight Review



I've been hearing the hype for the past 6 months, in the last 2 days I've read many reviews which have given the movie astronomical ratings of 4.5/5 while IMDB rates it as the No. 3 greatest movie of all time with a rating of 9.6/10
I saw it a few hours ago, and people... it's all true. The Dark Knight delivers on all accounts. The story is compelling, the plot is brilliant, the acting is exceptional. I've never seen people clap and cheer and jerk with fear until The Dark Knight. I've never heard as many "Oh Fuck! That was awesome" exclamations by people for any other movie prior to The Dark Knight.



Now, The Joker. It is his movie. Heath Ledger has made it his movie. Only in an exceptional movie do we see so many memorable dialogues mouthed by the villain. Consider this snippet of dialogue in a scene between The Mob and The Joker where he suggests that killing the Batman is their only option to survive -

The Joker: It's simple, kill the Batman.
The Mob [smiling, sarcastically]: If it's that simple, why haven't you done it already?
The Joker [perpetually smiling]: I have a rule, if you're good at something don't do it for free!

Or

The Joker: This town deserves a better class of criminal... and I'm gonna give it to them.

Or
The Joker: I use a knife because guns are too quick. Otherwise, you can't savor all the emotions. You know... when people are in their last moments.

Or
The Joker: [looks directly at Dinner Guest] You know, you remind of my father.
[takes a knife to dinner guest's neck]
The Joker: ... I hated my father!

Or
The Joker: This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

Or
The Joker [after being kicked by Rachel Dawes]: Oooh... a bit of fight... I like that!
Batman: Then you're gonna love me!

This movie belongs to The Joker, people will rarely ever see a villain who you wish doesn't die just because you enjoy his sinister mind. Heath Ledger puts in pure psychotic evil into the character. He's not a funny guy, but his lines and acting at times are hilarious and scary.

The action sequences are brilliant, the chase scene ends in by far the best action set piece in any super hero movie. Harvey Dent's role is played perfectly by Aaron Eckhart. "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. " These words end up becoming prophetic in the case of Harvey Dent. His transformation is shown superbly, the scene where The Joker manipulates Dent into becoming Two Face is awesome. Once again Heath Ledger takes a brilliant movie and makes it an all time great one with his inspired performance. Bruce Wayne a.k.a. The Batman is played by an amazing Christian Bale; each time he comes on screen it seems as if everything is under control. But it's not and there's only one reason for it - The Joker. The sneer with which he says 'Why... so... serious?' is chilling. His performance is seriously electric.

It's only a well scripted plot which can make so much room for a villain and yet have an equal stage for the hero to battle it out till the end. The real compliment to this film is that it has to be watched multiple times. So go ahead and watch it.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Avengi Ja Nahin

Rabbi's masterclass continues with this exceptionally soulful album, which infuses soulful music with power through great vocals and guitar arrangements.
Its great to hear an album that's totally worth buying. The lyrics are in Punjabi, barring 2 songs. One song is in English and the other in Hindi.

Here's some praise for this album -

"I do not know those words which are even close exhilarating as this album is. Rabbi has added a new dimension to the Punjabi music which is largely known for bhangra beats and crass lyrics. Even great singers like Sukhwinder and Daler Mehendi have not been able to inspire as differently. I liked all songs especially Bilquis, AJN, and Challa. Music and lyrics of ‘Bilquis’ are really noteworthy. I think there should be a video made out of it to remind people of martyrs like Manjunath and Navleen Kumar. Its not hard to imagine that this can stir up media and ordinary people to take the cause of these long forgotten cases. I can simply sum up by saying that Rabbi’s music is not only contemporary and awesome but has soul and purpose beyond making money."

"I’m particularly impressed that Rabbi has taken on some political causes, including a very angry Hindi-language song about communalism, called “Bilquis”

Also named in the song are Satyendra Dubey, a highway inspector who was killed after he tried to fight corruption, and Shanmughan Manjunath, killed in much the same way.

With songs like this, I see Rabbi as doing for Indian music what singers like Bruce Springsteen and Woody Guthrie have done in the U.S. — documenting injustice, and telling the story of a society as they see it. It’s vital, and necessary."


Album Description : Album: Avengi Ja Nahin
Singer: Rabbi Shergill
Label: Yash Raj Music
Lyrics: Rabbi Shergill
Music: Rabbi Shergill
Track Listing:

01 Chhalla
02 Karachi Valie
03 Maen Bolia
04 Avengi Ja Nahin
05 Ballo
06 Tu Avin Bandra
07 Pagri Sambhal Jatta
08 Bilqis (Jinhe Naaz Hai)
09 Return To Unity


Here's a bit of a mini review from my side.

Special mention for the following songs -
Challa,Karachi Valie, Ballo [brilliant], Bilquis, Return To Unity.


Return To Unity is an English song, it's amazing. All the songs of the album are quality products. Avengi Ja Nahin as an album has a chance to get a Grammy nomination at least if it's given the correct promotion.

Bilquis has mind blowing lyrics, it's in Hindi. The musical arrangement consists of a chord arrangement from our National Anthem. It's amazing. Take a bow Rabbi Shergill.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Dark Knight Delivers


It's true, critics and the general movie going audiences have deemed it to be AWESOME. Heath Ledger, has exceeded all expectations, Christian Bale has gotten better, Aaron Eckhart is brilliant, Christopher Nolan has created a masterpiece!

Read This and this and do watch it asap!

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa, TRDDC, Wanted, Rabbi Shergill... Rock On!

It's been a break since I last blogged, i've read another 100 pages of Atlas Shrugged [got to finish another 300]. One thing about really fat books like Shantaram and Atlas Shrugged; since it takes one a long time to read in the middle of a busy schedule, one falls into a sense of security; one that says, no matter what there's at least that book to be read. No matter if you've seen and finished another season of House MD, or seen Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa twice, or that there's still some time to go before Sachin wields his Bat on the Ground, or that there's still time for Heath Ledger's final performance, or that companies keep coming and one keeps finding a new excuse for skipping it coz actually you're just not interested in what it does, or that the world is moving faster everyday, some people are surging ahead while others are falling behind; you still have that book to finish. It's going to be there, that next page isn't going to change until you pick up the book and start reading.
Reading, and listening to Rabbi Shergill's brand new album [Avegi Ja Nahin] which you've illegally downloaded from Bollyextreme. You promise that someday you'll buy out Rabbi Shergill's entire discography, even though his lyrics are in so pure a form of Punjabi that you can hardly decipher a sentence, but the music so soulful that it doesn't matter.
A break in reading leads to a premiere of Wanted on the PC. The movie is good but you wish the bootleggers and movie pirates did a better job so that you'd get some quality returns for your investment of 7 download hours.
Then you enter the real world and head for TRDDC and are glad that you got a Project of your choice. Life becomes even better when one discovers a shortcut road which makes the distance to TRDDC less than half of what it is if one follows that normal route.
Then you get back and realize, oh fuck "Rock On"'s music must have released, and then after you hear it you wonder how the movie would be coz the music is seriously awesome.
Then you get back to reading more of Atlas Shrugged with Rabbi's music in the background, how many more of such classic books are thus far unread by me? Who is John Galt?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Article

Statutory Warning: Chaste women, extra sensitive girls and overtly sensitive males... do NOT visit the link that is shown on this post. If you do, it will be at your own peril, I take no responsibility for anything the other guy has written. Frankly, I take no responsibility for ANYTHING on this blog ;) If it offends you, don't sue me!


This is a really weird and random article, but totally worth reading

Go ahead and read it!

House MD : Pure Genius!


I intended to write a full scale review for those who love the show. But why write it if someone else already has. Read this






The show is brilliant and I recommend it to every single person who can spare 40 mins on pure intelligent entertainment!



For those who need a chic in the shows they watch, well it has that too ;)