Has been a leanish patch, especially for my blog.
1. was outta town for quite a bit
2. and i bought a bunch of new books
a) "A hundred years of solitude" - Sucked BIG TIME. nother one of those overhyped but totally f&$#ed up books. the book had about 100 guys called jose arcadio and 200 females called remedios (spanning generations).You lose track of whos who, people from atleast 5 generations lived together. There were so many cases of incest that i lost count. PATHETIC. It even won a Nobel for literature iam told.
b) "Interpretation of financial statements" by Benjamin graham. concise and very educative. shud start putting some stuff to actual use after this.
c) "motorcycle diaries" yet to read
d) "how we got here" by Andy Kessler- i had the ebook, i bought the paperback just for kicks. possibly the best book ever written. a more detailed review soon.
3. Also met a few of the gang in chennai, all rooming and porning together just like old times. was shown the "aashiq bannaya aapne" video for the first time. the rest is, as they say, history ;)
4. Also bought a new Disney comic featuring Mickey, goofy, the ducks and my all time favorites - the beagle bros :)). This special issue featured funny lines at the bottom of every page including stuff like:
Q) What is the difference between an elephant and a biscuit ?
A) You cant dip an elephant in a cup of tea
i guess my present "sense of humor" is existent mainly due to exposure to such gems during my,erm, "formative years"
Wednesday, 30 November 2005
Thursday, 24 November 2005
Long time no see
Ben quite a while since my last post
1. was stuck without Broadband for 10 days.
2. The rains here are shocking, possibly the worst ive seen in my lifetime
3. well, ben busy lately too
um, more later on
1. was stuck without Broadband for 10 days.
2. The rains here are shocking, possibly the worst ive seen in my lifetime
3. well, ben busy lately too
um, more later on
Saturday, 12 November 2005
What dreams may cometh !
What a day !
Spoke to a guy in Bangladesh about improving shipment transit time.
Spoke to nother guy in Syria about selling chemicals in Syria.
Spoke to yet another guy from Morocco on more or less the same subject. Nother one from Kolkatta as well.
Spoke to suraj about IT, MBAs, switching jobs, switching sectors, CAT, GMAT, Infosys, TCS, Services, C++, Mainframes, Girlfriends (his & cheta's, not mine)....
Hari called from Lexington, Kentucky and spoke for about 10 minutes (thats only about $1.5 on a Reliance India mobile from the US he says) about biotech, nanotech, Quantum dots, Evident tech, Moon suits, TA, RA, h1 visas, Taxes on stipends, Omelettes for breakfast and yes, girlfriends
Spoke to dad about contract manufacturing, US FDA, Diet Supplements, Restructuring and how to become a crore pathi in a year.
My hear is whirring and yet, i feel very fresh.
(Its 10:16 at night, the time on blogger is American :) )
Spoke to a guy in Bangladesh about improving shipment transit time.
Spoke to nother guy in Syria about selling chemicals in Syria.
Spoke to yet another guy from Morocco on more or less the same subject. Nother one from Kolkatta as well.
Spoke to suraj about IT, MBAs, switching jobs, switching sectors, CAT, GMAT, Infosys, TCS, Services, C++, Mainframes, Girlfriends (his & cheta's, not mine)....
Hari called from Lexington, Kentucky and spoke for about 10 minutes (thats only about $1.5 on a Reliance India mobile from the US he says) about biotech, nanotech, Quantum dots, Evident tech, Moon suits, TA, RA, h1 visas, Taxes on stipends, Omelettes for breakfast and yes, girlfriends
Spoke to dad about contract manufacturing, US FDA, Diet Supplements, Restructuring and how to become a crore pathi in a year.
My hear is whirring and yet, i feel very fresh.
(Its 10:16 at night, the time on blogger is American :) )
Thursday, 10 November 2005
Diogenes (The coolest dude in ancient greece)
Was reading the second part of the Alexander trilogy by manfredi (for the 4th time in as many months, purely due to lack of new books), there is a scene where alexander meets 'diogenes the cynic' somewhere along the road during one of his conquests.
Diogenes, lived inside a tub and was THE original cynic (we'll put him down next to Jughead Jones & Johnny bravo in the list of my heroes). He was called "the dog" by his fellow greeks, because he lived on scraps and looked shabby, mangy like, well, a dog :) He did not beleive in the worldly ways of life and behaved mostly like a nutcase.
( Some of the stuff he has said are probably wittier than the wittiest of one liners like the ones you get on sitcoms on tv)
Here are some gems:
Diogenes once visited plato's home. During the course of their scientific discussion of what a man was, plato gave the definition of a man as an animal, bipedal and featherless, Diogenes promptly plucked a chicken and declared, "Here is Plato's man."
When asked what wine he found most pleasant to drink, Diogenes replied, "That for which other people pay." (Heh heh, funny guy) And, when he saw the child of a courtesan, (he separately referred to her as a "deadly honeyed potion") throwing stones at a crowd, he cried out: "Take care you don't hit your father."
Other Lines:
"When I die , I want to be buried face-down. The world will soon be turned topsy-turvy and I don't want to present my backside to the gods"
Being asked why people give to beggars, but not to philosophers, he said, "Because they think they may one day be lame or blind, but never expect that they will turn to philosophy." (Heh heh, makes a lotsa sense)
He once asked alms of a surly man, who said, "OK - if you can persuade me." "If I could have persuaded you," said Diogenes, "I would have told you to hang yourself."
And here is the pick of the lot:
When someone asked him about the difference between a wiseman and a madman, he replied
" There is but a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool. If a man raises his first finger and speaks, people think him wise. If he lifts his middle finger, they think him mad"
--- Most of what this guy said is blunt and pretty offensive sounding. But the general logic in his line of thought is worth pondering over. He, in fact was the founding father of the Cynical school of thought. (Heh heh, we all owe him one)
p.s - Diogenes the dog & Alexander the great died on the same day one aged 90 and the other 33
Diogenes, lived inside a tub and was THE original cynic (we'll put him down next to Jughead Jones & Johnny bravo in the list of my heroes). He was called "the dog" by his fellow greeks, because he lived on scraps and looked shabby, mangy like, well, a dog :) He did not beleive in the worldly ways of life and behaved mostly like a nutcase.
( Some of the stuff he has said are probably wittier than the wittiest of one liners like the ones you get on sitcoms on tv)
Here are some gems:
Diogenes once visited plato's home. During the course of their scientific discussion of what a man was, plato gave the definition of a man as an animal, bipedal and featherless, Diogenes promptly plucked a chicken and declared, "Here is Plato's man."
When asked what wine he found most pleasant to drink, Diogenes replied, "That for which other people pay." (Heh heh, funny guy) And, when he saw the child of a courtesan, (he separately referred to her as a "deadly honeyed potion") throwing stones at a crowd, he cried out: "Take care you don't hit your father."
Other Lines:
"When I die , I want to be buried face-down. The world will soon be turned topsy-turvy and I don't want to present my backside to the gods"
Being asked why people give to beggars, but not to philosophers, he said, "Because they think they may one day be lame or blind, but never expect that they will turn to philosophy." (Heh heh, makes a lotsa sense)
He once asked alms of a surly man, who said, "OK - if you can persuade me." "If I could have persuaded you," said Diogenes, "I would have told you to hang yourself."
And here is the pick of the lot:
When someone asked him about the difference between a wiseman and a madman, he replied
" There is but a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool. If a man raises his first finger and speaks, people think him wise. If he lifts his middle finger, they think him mad"
--- Most of what this guy said is blunt and pretty offensive sounding. But the general logic in his line of thought is worth pondering over. He, in fact was the founding father of the Cynical school of thought. (Heh heh, we all owe him one)
p.s - Diogenes the dog & Alexander the great died on the same day one aged 90 and the other 33
Tuesday, 8 November 2005
My Sunday outing :)
Went to the temple with my parents ( after, um, 3 months ? ) on the Sunday.
Was less-crowded than ive ever seen it.
(Remember we are talking about the Meenakshi temple, the 23rd (?) Wonder of the world (heh heh) when it is crowded, we're talking like a 100,000 people all at once. )
Can't help feel that the Rajahs of Yesteryears were pretty jobless blokes - the 1000 pillar hall, about a 100 shrines and what else, about, i dunno 200 acres of prime realty wasted. Not to mention an indoor Pond with a "Golden lotus".
I guess iam getting carried away here, all this must av been for some reason or the other. Defense (like the wall garrisions) ? Commerce (streets around the temple have loads of shops selling al kindsa stuff). The temple mustav attracted a huge number of people even then.
The temple's Elephants - I saw atleast two of them (i gave the small one, a coin for his blessings). All seemed ok until i found that the big elephant had a wound on his hindleg as wide as, well, a bus tyre. I have a good mind to report the temple authorities to the SPCA and put those mahouts behind bars. The b&#@&#s !!
The evening's highlight came at the "Mukuruni Vinayagar" shrine. The pundit there wud av been about 80 years old (almost totally toothless) and was mumbling some mantras. One of his equally aged chums (almost equally toothless, he sounded like Popeye the sailor's dad) was walking past carrying some smoking pot, mumbling something to himself.
Our pundit called out "Enna Oi, Score ennaachu ?" (hey, whats the score?)
His friend (pappy :) ) stopped turned around and said, "erunoothi enbathi nalu , dravid noothi moonu not out oi, neeru paakaliya ?" (284, dravid 103 not out, did you not see?) and went his away, resuming his chanting.
Our pundit: Resumes chanting with renewed vigour
{ i may have gotten the score wrong here, i dont remember }
Iam reminded of the cliched expression "In India, cricket is a religion". How true :) That made my evening.
The icing on the cake came when i came home to watch Man U win 1-0 against Chelsea. Darren flectcher accidentally headed one in :). Man U need to play better than this !! The match was very exciting though.
It is 12:48 AM, and iam afraid i have to find a way to kill this insomnia or iam going to find myself sleeping on files tomorrow :)
Was less-crowded than ive ever seen it.
(Remember we are talking about the Meenakshi temple, the 23rd (?) Wonder of the world (heh heh) when it is crowded, we're talking like a 100,000 people all at once. )
Can't help feel that the Rajahs of Yesteryears were pretty jobless blokes - the 1000 pillar hall, about a 100 shrines and what else, about, i dunno 200 acres of prime realty wasted. Not to mention an indoor Pond with a "Golden lotus".
I guess iam getting carried away here, all this must av been for some reason or the other. Defense (like the wall garrisions) ? Commerce (streets around the temple have loads of shops selling al kindsa stuff). The temple mustav attracted a huge number of people even then.
The temple's Elephants - I saw atleast two of them (i gave the small one, a coin for his blessings). All seemed ok until i found that the big elephant had a wound on his hindleg as wide as, well, a bus tyre. I have a good mind to report the temple authorities to the SPCA and put those mahouts behind bars. The b&#@&#s !!
The evening's highlight came at the "Mukuruni Vinayagar" shrine. The pundit there wud av been about 80 years old (almost totally toothless) and was mumbling some mantras. One of his equally aged chums (almost equally toothless, he sounded like Popeye the sailor's dad) was walking past carrying some smoking pot, mumbling something to himself.
Our pundit called out "Enna Oi, Score ennaachu ?" (hey, whats the score?)
His friend (pappy :) ) stopped turned around and said, "erunoothi enbathi nalu , dravid noothi moonu not out oi, neeru paakaliya ?" (284, dravid 103 not out, did you not see?) and went his away, resuming his chanting.
Our pundit: Resumes chanting with renewed vigour
{ i may have gotten the score wrong here, i dont remember }
Iam reminded of the cliched expression "In India, cricket is a religion". How true :) That made my evening.
The icing on the cake came when i came home to watch Man U win 1-0 against Chelsea. Darren flectcher accidentally headed one in :). Man U need to play better than this !! The match was very exciting though.
It is 12:48 AM, and iam afraid i have to find a way to kill this insomnia or iam going to find myself sleeping on files tomorrow :)
Tuesday, 1 November 2005
Umm, Misc (for the lack of a better word :) )
Okay
Was on a vacation for 3 days. Top 10 things that stand out:
1. A beat-up vintage lorry carrying sand which had "Bill Gates" painted on top of it in big blue letters :)
2. Nother equally weathered lorry which had " ABHILASH " written in Red. Heh heh.
3. Hill Resorts are best visited during vacations. The concept of living in one forever is totally impractical. The weather (rains every morning and afternoon and the evening) is just too restrictive.
4. Do not pay for Luxury Suites (with bath tubs and free trips to a jacuzzi) because you'll never use them anyways (the bath tub had a notice which said " Please conserve water, each bath in the tub will need a minimum of 110 Liters" and the Jacuzzi remains perennially overbooked). Stick to the bed, breakfast (and hot water) double rooms.
5. Do not cycle (bicycle that is) for too long when you are riding on one after a long time (like a few months). Your Butt will hurt. Big time !! :)
6. Songs of the year - "Laal dupatta" - Mujse Shaadi Karogi, "Oru Maalai" - Ghajini and "Daughters" - John Mayer
7. Cricketer of the Year - "Mahendra Dhoni" (I happned to see his innings of 183* against SL )
8. I saw atleast 10 people (Aged about 16 to upto about 40) who were as good looking or probably better looking than Aishwarya Rai (or even Jessica Biel :)) ). I guess they are not beauty queens because they choose not to be beauty queens.
9. Do not pass judgements like in statement <8> when sleepy or even the evidence presented is totally biased against someone (Watched Bride&Prejce, Kyun Ho gaya Naa on TV back to back)
10. Do not go on vacations where you end up having to spend one day resting after vacation to build up enough energy to get back to work.
:)
Was on a vacation for 3 days. Top 10 things that stand out:
1. A beat-up vintage lorry carrying sand which had "Bill Gates" painted on top of it in big blue letters :)
2. Nother equally weathered lorry which had " ABHILASH " written in Red. Heh heh.
3. Hill Resorts are best visited during vacations. The concept of living in one forever is totally impractical. The weather (rains every morning and afternoon and the evening) is just too restrictive.
4. Do not pay for Luxury Suites (with bath tubs and free trips to a jacuzzi) because you'll never use them anyways (the bath tub had a notice which said " Please conserve water, each bath in the tub will need a minimum of 110 Liters" and the Jacuzzi remains perennially overbooked). Stick to the bed, breakfast (and hot water) double rooms.
5. Do not cycle (bicycle that is) for too long when you are riding on one after a long time (like a few months). Your Butt will hurt. Big time !! :)
6. Songs of the year - "Laal dupatta" - Mujse Shaadi Karogi, "Oru Maalai" - Ghajini and "Daughters" - John Mayer
7. Cricketer of the Year - "Mahendra Dhoni" (I happned to see his innings of 183* against SL )
8. I saw atleast 10 people (Aged about 16 to upto about 40) who were as good looking or probably better looking than Aishwarya Rai (or even Jessica Biel :)) ). I guess they are not beauty queens because they choose not to be beauty queens.
9. Do not pass judgements like in statement <8> when sleepy or even the evidence presented is totally biased against someone (Watched Bride&Prejce, Kyun Ho gaya Naa on TV back to back)
10. Do not go on vacations where you end up having to spend one day resting after vacation to build up enough energy to get back to work.
:)
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