because India's short, pudgy and slightly dark-skinned answer to Dave Barry has finally resumed blogging. He's decided to shift to Wordpress too, now that he's going the whole nine yards - and he's forgetting things and getting scolded by women he does not know. Ah! just like the good old days.
Brangan reveals another side to his writing. And what can I say, but to agree wholeheartedly!
If you, like me, cant do without your daily dose of dilbert you must hate the new site redesign. Even the email they send to me is now overloaded with hajaar images, mashups, flash and what not.
Well the best thing about Scott Adams is that he's a geek somewhere far down. So for all of us, he created (or got created) Dilbert Fast. Welcome to hassle free Dilbert!
I am a huge fan of Shamanth's writing. Unfortunately he writes very infrequently. I like this post a lot. Do go through the archives. There is some really good stuff in there.
I've been slacking off on my blogging recently. I promise I shall return.
Anyway, you can enjoy this Robbo column till then.
In all the uproariously funny lines that he writes, he makes a point that I will never forget. Talking about Ronnie O'Sullivan he writes,
"If you judged a sporting entertainer by the number of times you gasped at what he did ..."
I'm going to be using that barometer.
I've never felt so absolutely amazing as I do now. Not only have United progressed to the CL final, but my very own dear Scholesey scored one of his trademark 25-yarders into the top right hand corner to secure the game for us. I cannot even begin to tell you what a huge fan I am of his, and he is by far my fav. united player of all time. Awesomeness is coming, and rapidly.
Anyway - this would be a good moment to introduce you to Saket and his online blogging self. Happy blogging mate!
PS: Please leave comments about how the cocked-up the Ten Sports commentary was. Expletives in Hindi welcome. I will not even deign to curse their total lack of appreciation of genius at the Scholes goal.
Read the George Thomas blog regularly.Or even better, subscribe to it.
For those who came in late (for whom this post is intended anyway) GT blogs mostly about Hindi Cinema. I'm always left amazed at how closely he manages to follow the bloody mess that is the Hindi film industry sitting that far away in Amrika. You could use a thousand cliches about "the internet brings us closer", but the fact of the matter is that we, as in the Indian Film Industry are not as well represented as we should be on the internet. Sure, we have cretin reporters from Rediff and the like, but we need more of this kind of stuff.
Anyway, to introduce you to George's writing, firstly don't shy away from it because its "hindi films". Even if you have no interest in them (something which I can understand) you still would be missing out on smashing alliteration like "LipLock Lallu" and the whole smorgasbord of exotic vocabulary that the man uses. And when I say exotic, I mean exotic - these are a few words from his latest post. cheiloproclitic1, exosculation2, crinigerous (in the quite wonderful alliteration crinigerous cretin) and dipping further into the 'invent'ory with kissee and smoocheroo.
All this in an article about Eemram #me, and his latest kissing exploits in the movie Jannat.
1 : cheiloproclitic as this source tells me means "Characterized by an erotic attraction to women's lips." Wow, I say to these people, now THAT's an useful word. Note how I had to refer to a specialised dictionary to find out what that meant. define:
2 I've asked the man himself what that means, since the great goblin was of no help. Hopefully will hear from him soon.
PS: I shall also use this opportunity to spread some linklove to the quite recent "The Movies and Moves of Vishal Bharadwaj". GT and JR are partners in crime.
I must confess that I have not used this blog to make it clear what a big fan of Amit's writing I am. What with lines like
"Rediff reports: “Britney’s pregnant teen sister gets engaged”. That’s too much information for one headline, no? By the time Rediff’s readers process it, the baby will out and cutting records."
you can't help but admire the guy.
But its a scary day when I reference something he quotes via xkcd.
Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Read that, and then READ THIS.
Hah, segfaults indeed!
I'm also tempted to ask that old Derek Question on this. Sigh! as resident (self-appointed) expert I have a lot of writing to do on this subject.
I usually find Shruti Rajagopalan monotonous and mundane. But this piece is surprisingly insightful and very well written indeed.
When Manager are judged by what Office program they use.
I'm on my way to becoming one? O! God of Open Source, I'll never desert OpenOffice.
SKimpy should really have been at one of those round tables while the auction for the IPL was going on. It was painful to see Dravid writing/calculating stuff ;D.
Anyway, his knowledge of the domestic cricket scene is unparalleled. I had a few views on the issue (of the IPL), but till now absorb these two posts about the Bangalore and the Delhi team.
I will be looking out for his analysis on the Mumbai team. Also, if you are a girl who wears Yellow kurtas and travel by BTS Volvo buses (esp. Route 500K) please contact him!
I'm hoping this good deed will stack up some unseen points somewhere which will come to my aid in the future. I'm not that generous normally :P
I've been wondering what attracts me so much to Gaiman. I've not read Sandman, Coraline or American Gods. All I've done is seen an interview, read a few poems and essays and follow his blog. I think I have an answer. All the god-level people I knew, all belonged to a similar kind. The scientific, cold, calculating, trade-off oriented. They are brilliant. They write lucidly, they understand and analyze immensely well. But there is always a reason behind what they do.
Not Gaiman. He sees stars in the day, he believes in monsters, and other worlds and fairies and princesses. He adores little girls in frocks, he uses a fountain pen, he dreams. I know you'll tell me there is a word for this - "fantasy". True, but Gaiman is the only person I know, of my generation who seems accessible. There. Real. The internet has allowed him to talk to us, unlike with Tolkien or Asimov or Arthur C Clarke. From what I've read about Clarke, he seems immensely likeable too, but somehow distant - like speaking from the past. Gaiman is here, real. His colour photos still have him with those glowing eyes and flowing locks. There is something immensely endearing about him. Now I better go and find a copy of Coraline somewhere ;)
****
JR writes here about his Hitler-esque attitude towards wasted food. I too have very similar "values" embedded about not wasting a shred of food - but like all things in life, there is a balance to be maintained. We're not in a state of a Malthusian Catastrophe and maybe in today's (urban) world, obesity is a bigger issue than food wastage.
The hungry are often hungry not because there isn't enough food, but because enough food does not get to them. It is more a distribution and allocation issue than that of production. True, appropriating huge sums to yourself at a buffet dinner and then wasting it is mindless - esp if it becomes a regular habit. But realising you've made a mistake in talking more than what you really need, sometimes its best to "waste" than to over-consume. Remember, the so-called sin is going to take place anyway, the caterers are probably going to end up throwing some food all the same.
The point is, as I've realised, there is no need to be overly guilty about having not eaten some portion, if one realises that it can't be taken. Mental notes should be made about avoiding such instances in the future, but puh-leeze don't fall to the prey of food-conserving-zealots and finish whatever's on your plate at all costs. Its just not worth it.
****
My IIM interviews near closer, and I realise that I've done absolutely nothing, in terms of personal prep. I really need to get my file in order - and ensure that I'm not at the receiving end of "why do you you leave such important things for the last moment" rant. I'm consigned to saying this, but moms have an uncanny ability of being right.
Sigh! off I go.
Firstly, thanks Randall for allowing me and other freeloaders to hotlink to your strip! That is just awesome. Here are a few of my favourites so that you guys can fall in love with it instantanement. There are tons more that I love, but this is a decent list to start with.
Compiling
Exploits of a Mom
Real Programmers
Sandwich
Fixed Width
Pix Plz
Good friend Kaustubh claims to have started blogging at Melancholic Ecstasy. which IIRC is a song by Indian Ocean. Just to get you to know you, he's introduced me to some great stuff by Agni - and is the recipient of the "unused guitar award which was lying at home anyway" for continued dedication to the pursuit of mostly music but also to math and open source.
Just finished watching the Bee Movie. I accept that the main attraction was that we finally get to see more than a Saturday Night sketch, after Jerry Seinfeld hung up his boots. True, we don't do much seeing - but still he co-wrote it and voices Barry B. Benson, the main protagonist bee of the movie.
But the point of this post is to direct you to this article by noted entomologist, Natalie Angier "In Hollywood Hives, the Males Rule". It features some killer lines like
"bee flinging, like bee stinging, is a lethal affair."
"A successful male is a dead male."
and
"The drone is deemed a drain, and if he won’t die for love, he must die for its lack."
Do read.
That is the simile this reporter prefers for one Monsieur Barwick. You HAVE to read this rotflmao article about Capello's "unveiling".
Here are a few gems :
"He says that, when he meets up with the squad in a month's time, he will be able to speak English," relayed his assistant.
It seemed an extraordinary claim. Images came to mind of Capello wandering round his mansion in Lugano, a Linguaphone cassette-player dangling round his neck and a set of flash-cards in his back pocket.
--
And what about the arrival of his backroom team of four fellow Italians, who between them will be costing the FA an extra £1.4m a year?
Was this not the footballing equivalent of buying an extremely expensive gadget for Christmas, only to unwrap it and find that it won't work without four additional batteries (not supplied)?
---
And it ends, fortunately in hope
Capello might be overpaid. He might be as short of English as his new side are of world-class goalkeepers.
But if he controls his players like he controlled the wilful British media, he'll be in with a chance.
Read the whole article now!
I enjoy reading Straight Dope sometimes. Today's mailer brought back recollections of an old quizzing chestnut about a cigarette tax or something.(Churchill was involved in some way I think) Shame is, I can't remember it! If someone could please refresh my memory in the comments that would be great.
Anyway - what reminded me of that question was this : How Come We never see Class B cigarettes. Any article that has the words "Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms" deserves special attention!
Lots more good stuff here. Esp this ravenous discharge.
Dir Straits
I want my
I want my
I want my FTP
Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You get the files from the FTP
That ain't programming, that's the way you do it
Programs for nothing and the code is free
Now that ain't programming, that's the way you do it
Let me tell you those guys aren't pissed
Maybe break a nail on your little finger,
Maybe get some numbness in your wrist
We've got to install operating systems
Custom software delivery
We've got to move these manual pages
RTFM those RFCs
See the little user with his gifs and the jpegs
Yeah buddy he's got root
That little user got his own workstation
That little user got his own disk to boot
We've got to install operating systems
Custom software delivery
We've got to move these manual pages
RTFM those RFCs
I should've learned to run xarchie
I should've learned to play them games
Look at that mama, her gif is sticking in the monitor
Man we could have some fun
And he's up there, what's that? Orgasm noises?
Playing sound files like a grade-school geek
That ain't programming that's the way you do it
Get your programs for nothing get your code for free
We've got to install operating systems
Custom software delivery
We've got to move these manual pages
RTFM those RFCs
Now that ain't programming, that's the way you do it
You get your programs from the FTP
That ain't programming that's the way you do it
Programs for nothing and your code for free
Programs for nothing and code for free
