After watching the superb opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics 2008 I ask myself this question if India can pull off something like this and host their Olympics. China is celebrating an event that is historical. What a show of lights, dances, special effects, acrobatics and fireworks. The entire nation is taking part in some little way or the other. Wish I could be there. Sadly most of the teams were outside the statium. Maybe they had Televisions to watch.
In 2000, Antonio Samaranch in his closing speech said that the Sydney Olympics was the best ever. The Chinese I am sure are going to take it further and even surpass what was done in Sydney and in Athens. Of course the Sydney show was 8 years ago and the one at Athens 4 years ago.
It was a shame to see the Indian team walk with all kinds of footwear and no uniformity. Some of the ladies were in track suits. Has the Indian woman forgotten how to wear the Sari. If we cannot even be united in wearing clothes and parading in a stadium how are we going to be united and conduct an Olympics. It is going to be a very distant dream. Better not to conduct one than make a fool of ourselves hosting one.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Thursday, August 07, 2008
"Wherever you go, our Network will always follow you."
Here's a picture that I received in an e-mail that I received showing the government's clever use of an ad used by a phone services provider in the country. The advertisement calls to attention the hazards of using your mobile phone while driving. I am not sure if this was done by some prankster for the Govt. too.
The ad is titled "Our Network will always follow you", the caption also taken from the phone company's ad campaign.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
The fat cartoonist creates his English blog
My good friend, Sajjive has just started his own English blog. Sajjive already has a Malayalam blog and I was only expecting him to start one in English. The prayer has been answered. Way to go Fatso! All the best.
http://fatcartoonist.blogspot.com/
http://fatcartoonist.blogspot.com/
Sunday, August 03, 2008
My chipmunk adopted by another chipmunk family
Jaya tells me that she saw a squirrel jump out from the hole in the Electricity meter box. Actually this chipmunk nest she discovered, was the fourth in our home. This one was inside the electric meter box. Looks like it is clearly the breeding season. I checked it out the day I came to know of it and I was surprised to find the tail of the mommy chipmunk protruding out of the nest. I silently closed the door of the box. The box has two compartments and one window of the second compartment is never opened. I really feared for my wiring and the safety of the chipmunk (and its babies if there were any).
The next day I decided to check the nest. Meanwhile the chipmunk at my sister's place had been transferred to my home. I even tried to acclimatise it to the other abandoned nest I found earlier. So in the morning I made sure mommy chipmunk has left the nest. I opened the second door of the electricity meter box and I was not surprised to find the nest inside. I tried disturbing the nest a bit and the noise from inside confirmed there were babies inside. I took out the nest and tried searching for the babies and as survival would have it the two of them were trying to hide inside the darker areas now that I was trying to open it and let more light inside. What a survival technique I thought to myself, even with their eyes not fully open. The two babies seemed much younger to the chipmunk I already had as their bodies were still pink though the three familiar line marks were already visible on their bodies. I was careful not to touch them lest they mommy should abandon them too.
It was now I had a flash of an idea. Why not insert our chipmunk baby into this nest. So I took the little one along with a little portion of his nest and attached the next to the new one. He seemed to immediately like the new nest and started exploring and then moving deeper into it like his new siblings. Soon only his tail was visible. I took a pic of the little one and his new found siblings before I left the nest back inside the box where I took it from.
Now all I had to do was wait. There were only three possibilities. The new one would be 1. accepted, 2. rejected and the worst 3. killed? I was sure no.3 would not take place.
I had to leave my home for a short while and by the time I rushed back I saw mommy chipmunk already peeping from the hole in the box. I instantly knew she was back for her little ones. Now that the nest had been disheveled I knew she would take her kids away to another place. I closed the door of my home and kept looking at the box from the peep-hole of the door. After a long wait (patience is the key) the mother was back. The lens in the peep-hole was not big enough to reveal what was in its mouth but the mother was already carrying away a little one. But which one, I couldn't make that out. I waited again. This time I decided to open my door a bit and see a bigger picture. It came again and this time I could see it carry another little one in its mouth. As it ran around my house I followed it and with all the speed it could muster carried its little one into a bush outside the rear compound wall of my home. It was aware of me following it. I went inside and waited again. After a short while it came again. This time however it left alone. Then after a long time it didn't show up. I knew then that it would never come back.
It was now time for the acid test. I decided to check the nest. I was only praying that my chipmunk was rescued and my prayer was answered. All three babies had been carried away to a safe place. Thank God Squirrels cannot count or is it that mothers always care for abandoned little ones.
The next day I decided to check the nest. Meanwhile the chipmunk at my sister's place had been transferred to my home. I even tried to acclimatise it to the other abandoned nest I found earlier. So in the morning I made sure mommy chipmunk has left the nest. I opened the second door of the electricity meter box and I was not surprised to find the nest inside. I tried disturbing the nest a bit and the noise from inside confirmed there were babies inside. I took out the nest and tried searching for the babies and as survival would have it the two of them were trying to hide inside the darker areas now that I was trying to open it and let more light inside. What a survival technique I thought to myself, even with their eyes not fully open. The two babies seemed much younger to the chipmunk I already had as their bodies were still pink though the three familiar line marks were already visible on their bodies. I was careful not to touch them lest they mommy should abandon them too.
It was now I had a flash of an idea. Why not insert our chipmunk baby into this nest. So I took the little one along with a little portion of his nest and attached the next to the new one. He seemed to immediately like the new nest and started exploring and then moving deeper into it like his new siblings. Soon only his tail was visible. I took a pic of the little one and his new found siblings before I left the nest back inside the box where I took it from.
Now all I had to do was wait. There were only three possibilities. The new one would be 1. accepted, 2. rejected and the worst 3. killed? I was sure no.3 would not take place.
I had to leave my home for a short while and by the time I rushed back I saw mommy chipmunk already peeping from the hole in the box. I instantly knew she was back for her little ones. Now that the nest had been disheveled I knew she would take her kids away to another place. I closed the door of my home and kept looking at the box from the peep-hole of the door. After a long wait (patience is the key) the mother was back. The lens in the peep-hole was not big enough to reveal what was in its mouth but the mother was already carrying away a little one. But which one, I couldn't make that out. I waited again. This time I decided to open my door a bit and see a bigger picture. It came again and this time I could see it carry another little one in its mouth. As it ran around my house I followed it and with all the speed it could muster carried its little one into a bush outside the rear compound wall of my home. It was aware of me following it. I went inside and waited again. After a short while it came again. This time however it left alone. Then after a long time it didn't show up. I knew then that it would never come back.
It was now time for the acid test. I decided to check the nest. I was only praying that my chipmunk was rescued and my prayer was answered. All three babies had been carried away to a safe place. Thank God Squirrels cannot count or is it that mothers always care for abandoned little ones.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Was I wrong about Roopa's voice and will we ever hear more from her?
It was Roopa's birthday on the 31'st of July. She had told me that the birthday mentioned in the show was wrong. Unfortunately I gave up calling her as her phone was switched off and her second number kept ringing without any response. I didn't care to send an SMS either. Am I being rude? I don't think so. Roopa has been very difficult to contact ever since she won SSG.
Not as a fallout of this but I have been constantly thinking of her voice ever since her song "Ente Sarike" from the Mohanlal starrer "Maadambi" was released and I am beginning to wonder if she would make it big in the movie-singing business. Already she had been telling me that she preferred classical singing to singing in the movies. One thing is clear. Her recording hasn't brought out the best in her. Roopa is awesome in her live performances. I tried listening instead of seeing her videos and some songs do have a nasal quality to them but the song for the movie could have been much better. Roopa did admit that she didn't feel fine in the recording studio as much as she felt on stage. Even Unni Menon had remarked that the song hadn't brought the real Roopa in the recording. If voice is a problem then I doubt if Roopa will ever make it big like I had predicted earlier. Shwetha's song from Madambi sounds way too pleasant.
I still pray good things for her because she is such a great singer. Let us wait and see.
Not as a fallout of this but I have been constantly thinking of her voice ever since her song "Ente Sarike" from the Mohanlal starrer "Maadambi" was released and I am beginning to wonder if she would make it big in the movie-singing business. Already she had been telling me that she preferred classical singing to singing in the movies. One thing is clear. Her recording hasn't brought out the best in her. Roopa is awesome in her live performances. I tried listening instead of seeing her videos and some songs do have a nasal quality to them but the song for the movie could have been much better. Roopa did admit that she didn't feel fine in the recording studio as much as she felt on stage. Even Unni Menon had remarked that the song hadn't brought the real Roopa in the recording. If voice is a problem then I doubt if Roopa will ever make it big like I had predicted earlier. Shwetha's song from Madambi sounds way too pleasant.
I still pray good things for her because she is such a great singer. Let us wait and see.
ISS, what a mess
I have almost stopped watching Idea Star Singer 2008. ISS is loaded with crap this season.
The list of lousy things you are getting this year -
1. The show has become some kind of a soap opera or the typical Malayalam serial that millions in Kerala or all over the world watch. It has crying and lots of it and most of it for no reason. Judges cry, the audience cries, Ranjini cries and the participants also cry. One of the poorest duet performances was for the song "Enthinu Veroru Suryodhayam". The original is one my favorite songs and it was butchered on ISS. On the show one of the participants who is visually impaired (female) was on a wheelchair and the male doing favors for her as though she were his lover as implied by and play-acted upon by the song. The audience and judges were wooed by the shit the two were doing on stage that left everyone crying. I ran away from the T.V.
2. Organizers of the show can convert the show into a match making business. Participants in duet songs are made to show chemistry, emote and what not. So hapless participants have to look into each others eyes frequently, one of the most embarrassing thing someone can do, play-act or pretend perfect love and such. Judges frequently and unabashedly comment on how a participant looks. So where's the music?
3. Judges seem to be awarding marks either too lavishly or too poorly.
4. The clapping is edited and inserted and perfectly phony. Every clapping scene from 2007 is the same in volume, duration and probably no. of claps too.
5. Guests like Suraaj (I have great respect for his mimicry) and Kalabhavan Mani (i have respect for his humility) are not actually entertaining on such shows. Suraaj was taking the participants for a ride and Mani was taking the judges for a ride. Sharath was sportive to react jokingly when Mani indirectly called him a "Chekuthaan".
6. Finally Ranjini adds unnecessary laughing to her list of painful activities on stage. More guessing and mathematical games abound.
Not that there is no talent but they are all overshadowed by the hype and melodrama that is going on.
Somadas is emerging a likely hero in the footsteps of Sunny in the last year competitions but he is better than the sympathetic vote winner of ISS 2007. Vivekanandan and Prashob could be hot favorites. Parvathi among the girls has originality but something magical and original needs to be in ISS 2008 for me to become a loyal viewer. It was nice to see 2007 winners and participants but ISS need to rescue itself before the viewing audience starts dumping the show.
The list of lousy things you are getting this year -
1. The show has become some kind of a soap opera or the typical Malayalam serial that millions in Kerala or all over the world watch. It has crying and lots of it and most of it for no reason. Judges cry, the audience cries, Ranjini cries and the participants also cry. One of the poorest duet performances was for the song "Enthinu Veroru Suryodhayam". The original is one my favorite songs and it was butchered on ISS. On the show one of the participants who is visually impaired (female) was on a wheelchair and the male doing favors for her as though she were his lover as implied by and play-acted upon by the song. The audience and judges were wooed by the shit the two were doing on stage that left everyone crying. I ran away from the T.V.
2. Organizers of the show can convert the show into a match making business. Participants in duet songs are made to show chemistry, emote and what not. So hapless participants have to look into each others eyes frequently, one of the most embarrassing thing someone can do, play-act or pretend perfect love and such. Judges frequently and unabashedly comment on how a participant looks. So where's the music?
3. Judges seem to be awarding marks either too lavishly or too poorly.
4. The clapping is edited and inserted and perfectly phony. Every clapping scene from 2007 is the same in volume, duration and probably no. of claps too.
5. Guests like Suraaj (I have great respect for his mimicry) and Kalabhavan Mani (i have respect for his humility) are not actually entertaining on such shows. Suraaj was taking the participants for a ride and Mani was taking the judges for a ride. Sharath was sportive to react jokingly when Mani indirectly called him a "Chekuthaan".
6. Finally Ranjini adds unnecessary laughing to her list of painful activities on stage. More guessing and mathematical games abound.
Not that there is no talent but they are all overshadowed by the hype and melodrama that is going on.
Somadas is emerging a likely hero in the footsteps of Sunny in the last year competitions but he is better than the sympathetic vote winner of ISS 2007. Vivekanandan and Prashob could be hot favorites. Parvathi among the girls has originality but something magical and original needs to be in ISS 2008 for me to become a loyal viewer. It was nice to see 2007 winners and participants but ISS need to rescue itself before the viewing audience starts dumping the show.
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