Life's way to busy these days..Not much time for LJ (or facebook or orkut
for that matter!!). I've even stopped reading my Bloglines feed for a good
while now. Autumn has turned to winter and it has been an awfully bad time
weather-wise here. Nearly every day we have rain (not to mention the wind
which is always howling!). Work is busy (which is not a bad thing these
days!), but looks to be winding down slowly for the Christmas break (looking
forward to that though we'll be just staying in!)

Ireland voted yesterday again on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty--they had rejected the treated treaty the last time around. Posters from both the pro and anti Lisbon treaty votes are all over the streets. No results are out yet but this time it would seem that the Yes vote might just make it! A No vote would probably mean even less EU support for a country reeling under the economic recession and less investment by multinationals.

Watched 2 good films over the past 2 weeks:
Kite Runner: I got around to seeing this film only now and I've not
read the book either. It's easily one of the best films that I've seen in
recent times. Learned about the Hazara community about whom I
hadn't heard before at all.

The Hurt Locker: This one is more like a documentary than a movie.
There's no stereotyped characters, no good vs evil fight. It just follows
the day-to-day routine of a US army bomb/landmine defusal expert based in
Iraq. I don't remember the name of the protagonist any more, but it
basically shows him in life and death situations several times during the
course of his daily job. When his stint in the particular unit is finished
he returns back to the US to his partner and baby, but he realises that his
stint in the army is not just a job, it's his very reason for living. The
final scene shows him landing back in Iraq.
There are no big names in this film--Ralph Fiennes makes a guest appearance.

I think Irfan Khan is one of the most underrated actors in Hindi cinema. His role as Ranvijay Singh in Haasil was almost as iconic as Amjad Khan's Gabbar Singh in Sholay but he hardly got the recognition he deserved!
Check out a few good ones from Haasil and Rog!

I signed up to LJ sometime in 2001--I wasn't aware of this at all until a friend mentioned it to me. I felt that the idea was quite silly. Eventually I started posting more and more entries. Over the last 2 years or so, my posts have decreased although I do frequently read my friends' posts. A few people on my friends lists have moved on and closed their LJ accounts.
Some of the other social/professional networking sites I signed up to:
Orkut -- found a lot of people from my school/college days on it. I found very few non-Indian acquaintances on this though.
linkedin.com -- professional networking. Found a lot of people from college and past companies on it...Have added quite a few people on my contacts list.
xing.com -- professional networking similar to linkedin.com. Signed up ages ago but I think I have only one contact there. Have not logged in in ages and dont even remember my password!
facebook --- signed up only a few months back. Have got fewer contacts on this than on my orkut account, but I think most of the desi guys are now moving to this.

Have no intention of getting a twitter account (not yet anyway)!

Asking Libya to pay compensation for the IRA victims is the most bull** news that I've heard in recent times. Going by the same logic I think US, UK, France, CHina and Russia should pay billions in compensation to Asian, African and South American countries for the arms they've sold to countries in these continents and the resulting loss of life and property as a result of all this!!

I read from ratheesh's journal that Mallu actor's Murali and Rajan P. Dev passed away. Although I haven't seen any of their movies in a good while I recall them as good actors. Reading LJ keeps me upto date :)

* * * * *

Watched the following movies
Road Trip: Beer Pong - Supposedly the sequel to Road Trip, but it was no match. Deservedly, it was released directly on DVD.
The Hangover - Good timepass movie about 4 friends who get stoned on a stag night out in Vegas.
Angels and Demons - The book was much better than the movie!
Bruno - Nowhere as good as Borat. I think Sacha Baron's tricks are getting a bit stale!

* * * * *
Picked up a few Tintin books from the library.
Finished the following Poirot books
Lord Edgeware dies
ABC Murders
Five little Pigs
Why didn't they ask Evans

Apparently Roma gypsies have Indian origins..Quite a few of Roma people here
look distinctly desi

Link via Desipundit (
http://uberdesi.com/blog/2009/07/15/the-fascinating-journey-of-the-roma/)

I come across new phrases/slang terms every day at work.
The term of the week is "on the QT". did a search for this and it means "on
the quiet".

Had a busy few weeks.
* Took the GMAT got a borderline score of 710 (Q49, V-38), still mulling
over whether to retake or not.

* Flew out to india for a 3-week holiday on 6th of June. Had a 14-hour
layover in Abu Dhabi. I used the opportunity to catch up with my classmate
from Engg who has been based there for the past 10 years. Met up with his
family and saw a bit of Abu Dhabi.

* Mumbai was hot and humid as usual. 3 days was spent attending a training. Met up with a couple of guys from college and from previous companies. nearly all of them are "family guys" at this stage. Met up with another ex-colleague on the flight back, so thistrip was a good one for catching up with old mates.

* For an IT superpower, the way some things are done in India still sucks!
You have to queue for 20 minutes to get a ticket for a local train! Where
are the vending machines?? Roads and other infrastructure are still woefully
inadequate, at least in Mumbai!

1 brown baguette + 1 meat filling + 1 veg filling = €4.30

Rip-off republic at its best!!

The next edition of IPL will be held in Pakistan. The cheerleaders will be
wearing burqas. Taliban will be providing the security and there will be a
bomb blast after every sixer and wicket!

I had the misfortune to watch the trailer of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes
which is supposedly being released later this summer. As a diehard Sherlock
Holmes fan I was simply shocked. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law seem like
caricatures of Holmes and Watson. Added to this is the fact that the story
is not from A.C.Doyle's canonical Holmes stories! One shouldn't judge a
movie from its trailer but I can't simply stop making a comment on this!

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It's still good to watch Prannoy Roy's election analysis. I think I'm watching his live poll analysis for the first time in about 10 years. With NDTV live coverage on the web it's now more accessible!

Today I had vada sambar for the first time outside India and it was yummm! I pigged out at the opportunity, gluttony is no sin! :))

Akkara Kazhchakal is a Mallu comedy series which I have been regularly watching for sometime. Apparently it's been aired on Kairali TV but the producers of the show have also been uploading the videos of all the episodes to youtube which makes it more accessible for people like me. In an age where Mallu comedy has been reduced to just mimicry, Akkara Kazhchakal is like a breath of fresh air. The serial is based on the day-to-day events in the life of an NRI Mallu family based in the US. The characters, though stereotypical of Mallu NRIs are quite appealing. George Thekkumootil(Yes they gave him a typical tongue-twister of a surname) is an Achayan with a typical Kottayam accent and works some clerical job , while also running his own insurance agency during out of office hours. George dreams of returning back to Kerala with his family one day. Rincy, his wife is a nurse and they have 2 kids--Matt a.k.a Matthaikunju and Chakkimol. It could be very well the Mallu family living next door. Some of the other interesting characters are Appachan(George's father) who is visits them in the US,Gregory--George's assistant in his insurance business(whom George calls Girigiri), Mahesh and Babykuttan(2 male nurses whom George befriends). With impeccable dialogue delivery and timing, this is a must view for any Mallu who appreciates comedy.
The interesting aspect about this serial is that the actors and the directors are all amateurs and work in dayjobs in other industries, so this serial has been shot mostly on weekends and that too on a shoestring budget using one of the directors' house as the primary set. There have been 50 episodes so far and all of them are available on youtube. There have been no new episodes for a while now so I think that they have taken a hiatus, I sincerely hope that they come back for another season.