My Musings ... Whatever !

Time to move ...

2005-08-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

It has been around 10 days since i posted my last post and it was primarily due to my migrating to Wordpress. I have successfully installed WP in my site and this will be my last post from blogger.

You can access my new blog @ http://www.mistymusings.com/

Looking forward to seeing you there !

P.S. It might take a day or two for the nameservers to reflect changes as i had redirected all the requests to my new blog to this blogger account. So even if you are getting this same page on clicking the above URL, plz try again after a day or so :)

Blog Updates

2005-08-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

After a brief speculation which lasted for around 4 days, I've finally purchased a domain name. At this point, I would like to thank Amit and Madman for helping me out with some 'domain name registrar' queries that I had put forth to them.

You can access my blog @ http://www.mistymusings.com/

For now, I've redirected all requests to my current blogger account. If you have subscribed to my site's feed using a feed aggregator, there would be no point in updating the changed domain name in that as the site, as such, doesn’t have any content. However, if you have bookmarked my site, please make a note of the new domain name :)

I plan to migrate to WordPress within a short while (short as in 2 weeks or more ;) once I purchase a suitable hosting plan.

Till then, I'll be blogging right here ...

Sage

2005-08-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

If you are like the typical blogger who checks an average of 15 feeds every day, then I would recommend Sage, a RSS and Atom feed aggregator. (RSS aggregators are applications which enable you to read RSS feeds and are configured to periodically check for new items in the feeds you are subscribed to.)

I initially tried bloglines and though it was good, I was looking out for a better one without having to log in every time I had to check if someone had blogged recently. That’s when I heard about Sage. It is one of the simplest newsreaders around and configuring it is a breeze once you install it from http://sage.mozdev.org

After installation, you have to click on 'discover feeds' once you have the sage sidebar in view. If the current site you are browsing has a feed, then it will be added to your list of feeds and from then on, you'll just have to click 'check feeds' to check if the page has been updated.

The only catch is that you will have to install FireFox to use Sage. If you are one who uses Internet Explorer, I suggest you give FireFox a try and who knows you might not go back to IE just like I did :)

Movies

2005-07-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

I was just wondering how many movies I'd have seen during the past one year coz I love watching movies. To begin with, I had to find the number of movies that were released during the past 1 year and then narrow the list down to the ones that I had watched.

Anyway, here's a rough list of the English movies that I've seen in the past one year or so. Its not an exhaustive list as I might have missed out a few.

As I wasn't sure about their release dates, I have arranged them in alphabetical order ;)

Movies I've seen :
50 First Dates
Anacondas: The Hunt For the Blood Orchid
Around The World In 80 Days
Bride & Prejudice
Collateral
Hitch
Kingdom Of Heaven
Kung Fu Hustle
Meet The Fockers
Million Dollar Baby
Mr And Mrs Smith
National Treasure
Ocean's Twelve
Secret Window
Shark Tale
Shrek 2
Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow
Spider-Man 2
Starsky & Hutch
The Aviator
The Haunted Mansion
The Incredibles
The Shawshank Redemption
The Village
XXX 2: The Next Level

Movies I want to see :
House of Flying Daggers
Lost In Translation
Mystic River
Forrest Gump
Dead Man Walking
The Recruit
The Green Mile

Hope I get to see all the movies I want to see (see list above) by this year end at least.

Don't click

2005-07-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

How would it be if you never had to click while navigating a website?

This research is certainly interesting but the only gripe is the 10 second delay if you ever try to click and am sure you'll try to click at least once ;)

Check this out http://dontclick.it/

Going home

2005-07-08T04:51:00.000-07:00

Am always in high spirits on Fridays, especially the ones when am going home. Though its only for a couple of days (I'll be back on Monday), I come back feeling rejuvenated and much more relaxed.

Be it the innumerable cups of tea at the local bakery or the homemade food (thanks to mom) or the way by which my friends and I paint the town red (or any other color of your choice) , it really feels great to go back home !

Home, here I come ...

Another set of pics from our Valparai trip

2005-07-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

You can find the rest of the photos here

UPDATE: This post has moved to my new blog http://www.mistymusings.com
Please continue reading this post here

Topslip & Parambikulam

2005-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Already one weekend has passed since my friends(Abraham,Karthik,Anand & Siva) and I had been to Parambikulam and I guess its high time I decided to blog about it :)
So here goes ...

Our original plan was to visit Kotagiri (near Ooty) but due to unforeseen circumstances (it was more like Karthik dropped out at the last minute as he had to attend office) we had to drop it. We then decided to visit Topslip as none of us had been there before though we had heard much about that place. Moreover, it was only around 80 kms from Coimbatore(Cbe). At last, we left Cbe sometime around 12.00 noon and the journey was uneventful till we reached Pollachi (40 kms from Cbe). We picked up another friend of ours from Pollachi (Siva) and proceeded towards Topslip with gusto (as always) ;)

UPDATE: This post has moved to my new blog http://www.mistymusings.com
Please continue reading this post here

And some more pics from our trip...

2005-06-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for bigger sized images, you can find them here

Mr. Right

2005-06-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Came across this post when i was searching for something else and it turned out to be a really good read. Check it out.

Google to compete with PayPal?

2005-06-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Google CEO confirms Payment Service

However, he shrugs off speculation that it would be competing with eBay's PayPal.
This should be interesting.

Some pictures from our recent trip ...

2005-06-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Have a look :)

Rocking trip!

2005-06-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

What a rocking weekend this turned out to be !

I had been to a place called "Parambikulam"(which is actually a dam) with my friends on sat and the way to the dam is through a wildlife sanctuary called "Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary". Enroute, we visited "Topslip" (I know it's a queer name for a place) and that was good too as we chanced upon some lion tailed macaque's, wild pigs, peacock's, a peahen and a bison !

UPDATE: This post has moved to my new blog http://www.mistymusings.com
Please continue reading this post here

Sudoko anyone?

2005-06-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

It might have been 3 days or so ever since I heard about this game called "Sudoko" and I was wondering what it was then. Now, almost every newspaper in India, including The Hindu, seems to feature this puzzle daily!

UPDATE: This post has moved to my new blog http://www.mistymusings.com
Please continue reading this post here

MIT Weblog Survey

2005-06-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is conducting an important
academic study regarding weblogs. We are investigating the role of
weblogs in the lives of their authors. Does your weblog make you more
connected to the rest of society? Does it increase your chances of
getting a job or finding information that you are looking for? To answer
these questions, which are very important to our research, we ask for
your help.

Your weblog has been randomly selected as part of a small group among
millions to represent the entire community of weblog authors. We
obtained this email address from what we assume is your weblog:
http://shriram.blogspot.com/

If this is NOT your weblog, we would appreciate it if you could tell us
by clicking on this link:

This is not a commercial marketing survey, but scholarly research to be
used in academic publications such as journals, conferences and books.
By participating in this study you will be assisting scientific research
and contributing to a better understanding of how weblogs are
influencing people's lives. We would like you to please fill out our
short survey (about 15 minutes or less, on average).
To take the survey, either follow this link:

or use the following information to log in:
http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu

Your help is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns,
feel free to contact me, or consult the link at the end of this email.
Yours Sincerely,
Cameron Marlow
MIT Media Laboratory

I found this mail first thing yesterday morning in my inbox. It is kind of flattering to know that your blog has been randomly selected for the survey from among 5000 odd blogs.

Anyway, I've taken part in the survey and am eagerly waiting for the results which will be out sometime in August.

Time to stop and smell the flowers ...

2005-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

This poem has a profound meaning and I hope I learn to pause a bit atleast from now on ...

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you listen to the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told a child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say hi
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

A thought provoking caption

2005-06-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

A thought provoking picture
Originally uploaded by hashcode.

This is one forward that makes a lot of sense !

I guess this is the first time, am adding a forwarded picture to my blog :)

Back on track after a hiatus ...

2005-06-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Cough cough !

Well, it really feels good to be back on track after being bogged down by a lethal combination of cold, cough, sore throat (and what not !) for a week or so.

I came back to Bangalore only yest after 4 days of complete rest(?) back home.
Am still feeling a wee bit tired but I guess it wouldn't affect me that much now.

It really feels good to be back on track :)

What's new?

2005-05-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

I've added some new cool (???) features to my blog recently.

To start with, you have this blogmap which shows you a map of the place where am supposedly blogging from ;) Not much use though, but gives a nice feeling on the whole.

I've also added a "I frequent" list - a list of blogs that I check out everyday or so. I shall keep adding more sites to this list as and when I come across new blogs. You are as always free to leave this site anytime and check out the other blogs :)

If you have any suggestions for any new features , do drop a mail anytime.

Nickelback rock !

2005-05-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

I got to hear Nickelback's "Figured You Out" a couple of days back for the first time. I had seen the video once when I had gone home sometime back and I thought it was quite good then. Now I feel the song is really cool and so have decided to listen to some of their other songs.

The song "Someday" from the new album "The Long Road" has got to be their most amazing track by far. You can also try listening to "How You Remind Me and "Too bad" from the other album "Silver Side Up".

I wasn't much of a Nickelback fan until now though I liked "Hero", the one which became quite famous coz it was one of the soundtracks for the "Spiderman" movie. Now I guess, am slowly on the way to become an ardent fan...

Trip Update #1

2005-05-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

I just happened to go thro my Abe's blog. It has a mention about our recent trip. Do check it out. The "Things Learnt" section is hilarious;)

The Valparai jaunt

2005-05-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since I promised to blog about my trip to Athirapally but I was a bit busy(cliche #1) and so couldn't find time. Anyway, here goes.

My pals (Abraham, Anand, Karthik & Sivakumar) and I had decided to go to Ooty (cliche #2) on Saturday, the 23rd of Apr but on Friday, Abe came up with a splendid idea (????) of going to Chalakudi falls via Valparai.He reiterated that he wanted to do a circular jaunt and being the affable guys that we are, we readily accepted*.

Since Sivakumar (am not used to this, will call him Polls from now on) is from Pollachi, we decided to pick him up from his house as we had to go to Valparai thro Pollachi. Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and we left Coimbatore at 6.05,reached Pollachi around 7. Polls was kind enough to invite us to his house for tea and we had a good time there though Polls was quite keen on us leaving his house rightaway (I really thought we interacted well with his parents )

From there, we moved on to Atakatti around 8.20 which is on the way to Valparai. We had tea again in Atakatti and the tea shop owner did a favor by agreeing to take a snap of all of us together. It was time to part and we reached Valpari around 10 after a really good drive through tea and coffee estates.

Breakfast was in Valparai at a very good hotel (thats what we were told though I thought it was far from it.) After a not so quick breakfast, we left for Sholayar dam around 10.30 and reached there around 11.45. Took some pictures at the dam site and decided to move on. Till this point, the roads were navigable and our driver made it look real easy.

I feel the best part of the journey was the route from Sholayar dam to Athirapally falls and we thought we would be able to cover the 80 odd kms route in 2 hours or so. Little did we know that it was through a dense jungle with such pathetic roads (that would have seen better times) and that it would take 3.5 hrs to reach our destination but the route was by far one of the best ones I've ever been to. I guess the only person who became a bit tired at the end was our "able driver" in spite of us giving him an extra large helping of whatever we had carried with us to eat. Jokes apart, I felt he did a wonderful job of handling the car all by himself while the rest of us were pulling each other's legs as usual, completely oblivious of the hardship Abe was facing.

Completely jaded, we reached Athirapally falls around 3.20 only to find that it was beginning to rain. Luckily the "Rain God" was merciful and it stopped raining in an hour or so. The falls was really a sight to behold (cliche #3) and after having left cbe at 6.00 in the morning ,we were more than jubilant to have a look at the awesome waterfall some 9 odd hours later.

Finally, it was time to leave and we left the falls around 5.20. I really dunno why Abe was a bit apprehensive about going back thro the same route though I thought it was really scenic ;) We ceded to his request this time too* and decided to take the Thrissur, Palakkad, Cbe route and reached Cbe around 9.20 pm.

At the end of the day all of us were dog-tired but knew that we had taken one of the craziest routes to Athirapally and that was far more satisfying than anything else !

You can find all the pics at Abe's page here

* - It was more like we didn't have a say as there was no other "able driver" to drive that far. Two of the guys didn't even have a 2 wheeler learner's license and the other was a bit rusty (ahem!) though he had a valid 4 wheeler license.

The road less travelled

2005-04-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

The road less travelled
Originally uploaded by hashcode.

I had been to Valparai with my friends last week and it was one helluva trip ! I shall blog more about it in my next post.

Keep on moving ...

2005-03-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

Get on up when you're down
Baby, take a good look around
I know it's not much, but it's okay
Keep on moving anyway

Feels like I should be screaming
Trying to get it through to my friends
Sometimes it feels that life has no meaning
But I know things will be alright in the end

I like the above quoted paragraphs from the song "Keep on moving" a lot . I guess it makes a lotta sense when you are kinda down and trying to gather yourself !

I really hope things become alright real soon ...

Lonesome Day ...

2005-03-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

Bruce Springsteen was bang on target when he sang

"Joke's on me, It's gonna be okay
If I can just get through this lonesome day ... "

What more need i say???

And the (rigged) Oscar goes to ...

2005-02-28T06:45:00.000-08:00

I've always had this feeling that the Oscars were kinda biased and it remains as such this year also going by the movies that have won the oscars today !

Lets start with the Oscar for the movie of the year. I agree The Aviator wasn't an extraordinary flick but iam not sure if The Million Dollar Baby was phenomenal either to warrant an Oscar !

I haven't seen Ray but going by the reviews, i thought he would get the Best Actor award anyway. So i am not going to argue against it.

Coming to the Oscar for the best director, I thought Martin Scorsese did a great job in The Aviator even though the movie was a bit long. But it was Clint Eastwood who had the last laugh for his The Million Dollar Baby.

Martin's jinx at the Oscars continues as he failed to collect a statuette today. Here's a director who's given movies like "The Taxi Driver","Gangs of New York" and "Casino" and he's yet to win an Oscar.

Am really at a loss of words now ...

Movie reviews et al using Google

2005-02-27T00:26:00.000-08:00

Google has come up with a new movie: operator that helps you find movie reviews, local showtimes or anything that remotely has got to do something with a movie. i tried to do a search for some reviews of the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" and got some really neat results.

The best part of the whole thing is that you can find a movie even if you have forgotten its name by giving a search based on a phrase that made the movie a big hit.

I was reminded of this phrase "houston we have a problem" (i know it sounds banal) and gave it a shot !

Do try this nifty operator ...

Black

2005-02-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Just came out of the theatre having watched Black.

I hadn't even imagined how life would be if one were deprived of eyesight, hearing and speech until i saw this movie. I feel we sometimes take certain things for granted though they were never meant to be taken that way ...

This movie is really gripping and is definitely worth a watch !

Starsky & Hutch

2005-02-06T00:20:00.000-08:00

I had been to this movie "Starsky & Hutch" with my friend yesterday. I went there without any expectations and though I've never seen a single "Starsky and Hutch" episode on TV, I found the movie to be surprisingly funny.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star as cops in this movie and the movie is mostly between the rapport between the two of them. I don't want to give away the entire story as I feel you should go and watch it too ....

Overall, a "feel good" movie ...

P.S. Owen is really hilarious in a scene when he mimics a dragon ;)

Happy New Year 2005 ...

2005-01-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

You are on the way to so many wonderful things in the year to come.Welcome to the New Year! I hope it will be the happiest you've ever known, and that it will be a year filled with dreams come true.

This is such a perfect time to think of wishes you want to turn into realities and goals you want to reach. It takes a lot to set your sights on a distant horizon and to keep on reaching for those goals. It takes a lot... of courage and hard work, believing and achieving, patience and perseverance, inner strength and gentle hope. It takes a lot of giving it your best and doing the fantastic things you do.

But most of all...

It takes someone as wonderful as you.
- Collin McCarty

Wishing you all a very happy and a prosperous new year ...

Schumi on another level

2004-12-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

I read this article on rediff just now and i found it to be really interesting !
Hope Schumi clinches his eighth F1 title in 2005 ...

Google Suggest ...

2004-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

I happened to try out Google Suggest today and it absolutely rocks. As you type into the search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time. Have a look at the example below ...

Try it out right away and let me know your comments on this unique feature ...

The Tension And The Spark

2004-10-03T01:51:00.000-07:00

I was listening to "The Tension And The Spark", the latest album by Darren Hayes when i thought of posting a review about it.

If you are a fan of Savage Garden, i suggest you buy a copy rightaway !

The lyrics and the music are really good and it gets better when you start listening to the album more and more :)

The tracks "Light", "Darkness", "Unlovable", "Void", "I Like The Way" are really awesome and i wonder if Darren Hayes has made the right move by recording the video for the track "Pop!ular" which is not as good when compared to the above mentioned tracks ...

lazy saturday !

2004-07-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

Hi ! In case you are wondering what this blog is all about, Iam afraid you are gonna be disappointed. Its a real lazy saturday and Iam stuck with nothing to do here in Bangalore, India. Hope my friends turn up real soon or I'll go mad :(
Here's something to cheer you if you are a schumi fan.
Schumi is on pole for tomorrow's race in Hockenheim !

Way to go Schumi !!!