First Football (American) Game

Even after watching quite few games with my cousin back in US, never got the hang of watching American Football. Still haven't, but last weekend, I saw the first full game of American Football, ie. the NFC Championship Game - New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers. I must say, it was indeed a very good game, and some small technalities were explained by my friend who is a big NY Giants fan. Apart from the fact that I felt the game itself is freaking slow, in sense that they keep taking breaks, time-outs, half-time, 4 quarters, it never seemed to end; but a very entertianing game indeed. The temperature that night was like -1 F (ie. -18 C), freezing cold and a very good game on top of it. I was enjoying the game and again for first time, looking forward to watching the Superbowl next week, between NY Giants vs NE Patriots. Here are the highlights of the game.

Wednesday Links

this one is pretty good.. some day Google will show us our lives online.. what happened to privacy or oh wait.. we don't need it .. do we .. Google wants to get rich on your lives :D .. simple


Bird Poops In Mouth


Just got these links from mailing lists of MB:
"What is legal in Amsterdam or decriminalised in London is illegal here (UAE), having it in your urine qualifies as smuggling" .. this is outrageous (if its all true as mentioned in story) .. read the story here
1) http://users.livejournal.com/_yungfuktoi_/306878.html
2) http://pixthulu.livejournal.com/23108.html

if thinking of visting Dubai, now, not after going to Amsterdam ;)

Dummies Guide to US Elections - Part 3

Following up on my previous post: Part 2 of US Election for Dummies

South Carolina - everybody knows it by now that Barack Obama won the democrat primary in that state by big margins. I was watching Colbert Report last night about his views on it. South Carolina - What Could Have Been. If he would have ran in South Carolina, am sure noone, noone could have won, Obama, Clinton, whoever.
Enjoy the video, until next presidential elections ;), if he runs.


Oh and also, as I said in my last post, and compared US elections to some sort of soap opera; am not alone in saying that, last week in The Tonight Show, (watch it here on Hulu, only US Viewers), leno said the same. Its ON.

Oprah -> Pope-rah

Absolutely genius.. colbert is genius. In recent Colbert Report, he compares Barack Obama to JF Kennedy. Its amazing how he makes up Pope-rah comparison, you gotta see the video NOW. I couldn't stop laughing and have seen it like 10 times straight on. And way he ends it, brilliant, he knows it too. "Copyright Stephen Colbert"

Apple is sortof Evil :)

On the video below, No. 4 caught my attention esp. after just posting about apple iTouch.

Here No. 4 - I won't let Apple release the new and improved iPod the day after you brought the previous model. (Brilliant Barak Obama)

iTouch - First Apple Love n Hate

DSC_0031, originally uploaded by Mohan S.

Yeah, finally after all these years, I bought an Apple Product and a real MP3 player (thou' it my for my brother, I just opened it a bit to see how it works :D). First Impression, its freaking sleek and brilliantly made (in China :D). I never had a real need to carry a MP3 player, not sure why, hence never got one.

After using it a bit, I still don't see a real use of just a MP3 player for myself. What I really love about this, which made it a fav. of mine, is the user interface and web browsing, it is The best interface on such a small device/screen size. I have a windows mobile PDA for last 2 years and heck I even hate (using hate becoz it cracked my lapton screen once :), its less than hate) using it as a phone, forget about using it for any other use (thou' i don't have a wifi card for it, which makes it a bit more useless). Also in Sony PSP which has a wifi & the screen is brilliant, but the interface is ok, surfing on its in-built browser is just a pain. But Apple got all those things just right in this device. Its great to check emails, browse small pieces of quick information, its quite good in browsing normal webpages too (lacks flash player thou').

Its all not so rosy thou', iTunes, without which this little device won't work, is a messy piece of software for windows atleast (it runs like 4 processes on PC all the time, why?). So my friend got it for me from US, also got the new upgrade for 20 bucks, all good. I sync'd it to my PC here, booom, it won't sync, so I had to reset it, boom again :), sync'd now, but lost all of the new apps and we tried all methods to get them back, but no, iTunes or apple or.. just won't let it happen. What the hell?? It's my PC, my device, my iTunes store, my cc, my purchase, but still i am not allowed to have what I purchased, f***?? Anyway, after trying few days, just gave up. Probably, I need to buy it again here.

The story continues, I like that iTouch has minimal settings for all functions, which is def. a plus, and it just works in most cases too. But suppose, something doesn't works as its suppose too, then you are screwed, so YouTube app. just won't work for me. Wifi works, safari works, I can browse everything, iTunes wifi store works too. But YouTube, it keeps saying "not available" and thats it. What now, there are no settings, nothing, just "not available". What to do? I did check the Apple forums and have tried most stuff, there is not much, no luck. "Not Available" and then!!

So, even thou' the device itself is just great, love the UI and so easy to use and is prefect in most sense's. But the overall cloud surrounding it is a big mess. That's what I think!

Stock Markets

I don't have in-deep knowledge of stock markets as an economist but I still know more than enough. In past one month, Google (whose stock never seemed to go down) has fallen by around 20%. Are the markets really in trouble?? Few weeks back, citibank reported one of their biggest loss in history and are raising money to save their soul.

Last month Curve for Google's Stock Value (From 700 to 580 USD)

Letter Writing on TED

A very Inspiring talk by Lakshmi Pratury on Letter Writing and how this wonderful art is loosing with the new technological advancements like email, IM's etc. etc.. do you remember when the last time you wrote a personal letter or card to someone of some real value (excluding some crap you might have writen which means nothing and the farewell cards we sign every now and then :D), thou' it might be like when I was in high school.


On similar lines, Isabel Allende talks about writing, passion etc.

Dummies Guide to US Elections - Part 2

Following up on Dummies Guide to US Elections - Part 1

Tomorrow is one of the big shows for US elections, esp. for the Democrats. (Just to remind - there are only two parties - Democrats and The Republicans). South Carolina Democrats Vote tomorrow for their primaries in the state of South Carolina. The interesting angle here is, Bill Clinton, during his election days was called The Black President and he is quite popular among the community. Thou' its not his time now, its Mrs. Clinton who is in charge now, n offcourse has the backing of her popular husband and also the female voter's support supposedly. And on the other side, we have the actual / real first time (to be) black / african american president.

I don't have any information whatsoever about South Carolina itself (not important, irrelevant just like in any TV Drama, do we care where Heroes or Friends etc. happened, its just everywhere), and here also its all over news n internet, so we will believe in whatever the writers (thou' the real ones from Hollywood are on strike) wrote for us for the next episode and hence South Carolina has large number of votes from African American community and African-Americans strongly support Obama in South Carolina and then there are women voters which would again supposedly favour Clinton (i'm just assuming that seeing the last vote off), which would be critical for both candidates. Thuo' both sides are trying avoid that angle, but we all know its there and they are also trying to play it nice. Via Fox News (offcourse they put the most interesting angle out there, read it on their website only).

For the twist, or climax and the third angle, lets say John Edwards is also rising in popularity or people just can't make up their minds between Obama and Clinton and would vote for Edwards.

Isn't it fun, so get ready for an interesting episode of the US election primaries, watch it with your entire family. Its the weekend special for wholesome family entertainment.

Mighty Boosh - Noel Fielding

if you haven't seen Noel Fielding, he is a British Actor, Comedian, Animal Talker, Fashion Statesman, Musician, Standup Comedian, etc etc.. in short - brilliant performer. I saw him first time on The Mighty Boosh, British Comedy Show (you can see some episodes here), which is again one of The best comedy shows I have seen, its like one of those things, which is bit strange to grasp first time but if you just hold on to it, you will never regret it. It's pure enjoyment, very very original, staright from the mind of Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett and truely hilarious.

I know, I am talking too much in favour, but am telling.. the show ie. The Mighty Boosh and Noel Fielding (n also other actors in the show) are brilliant. Its very different sort of comedy, very un-american; and hence much better :D .. it has all sort of strange settings and storylines, sometimes unreal, magical, space age, animal kingdom etc etc., which might put off some people, but i love it :) . In their own words - its actually very hard to explain what the show is about and what sort of comedy it is.

And whats even better, they do live performanes also of the show, I need to get those tickets (playing in Dublin in September). I am super excited, nothing wrong :) .. its good comedy. You gotta see it to love it.







More Links:
0) (Full DVD Live in Brixton - its very funny)
1) (live Melbourne 2001)
2) (live Melbourne 2003)
3) (The Mighty Boosh: Act Natural)
4) (The Mighty Boosh: Jazz Trance)

The more I hear/read about it

Tokyo Nightscape, originally uploaded by /\ltus.

Tokyo, yeah capital city of Japan, the more I want to go there (NY Times). I have seen quite of the western world and Japan is sorta one of those countries, ultra modern (thou not in same way, i suppose, its different), historial, its has a sense of craziness, wildness, street fashion, people, food, just everything.

Hopefully 2008 would be the year to visit it.

Wanderer

wanderer, originally uploaded by Caroline Bonarde Ucci.

I went out riding
Down that ol eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name
..
..
Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
-- U2 (or Johnny Cash)

Lack of concentration

no better way to put it and have no convincing reason for having it, but its there. Since last week, I am having a strong lack for concentration for most things & esp. for work. I think of all the stuff I need to do all the time, but its not working and not going the way I want it too. Damn!!

Window to Dublin

Window to Dublin, originally uploaded by Mohan S.

London from Behind the Glass

DSC_0114, originally uploaded by Mohan S.

Dummies Guide to US Elections - 1

Now you might ask why US elections and what do I have do with them whatsoever. I am not exactly sure of it either but would try to explain some parts in this post.

First - offcourse it has be to a dummies guide, a view from outside US.

More importanty, the main reason for following it or reading about it or watching it on TV is like watching or following a nicely scripted TV Drama Series like Heroes etc.. (thou' Heroes is better)

In my apt. we get Sky News (one of the few free channels we get), its a UK based news service (News Channel of the year "forever") owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which also owns the creepy Fox News Channel in US. And hence they follow the US elections as if its going on next door every 15 mintues and also shows fox news specials of it. And its almost like watching a drama series, as I said earlier.

Previous US elections, in 2004, I was living in NJ, US and it's a bit weird, I (or we) never cared to realize whats going on in elections (everyone said they are voting for democrats but what happened in between, I don't know), hated the news coverage in US of anything, it feels all so artifical. Thou' there were other reaons too, who cares!!

But now, they are almost everywhere, all over Google News, Sky News Channel, blogs, NY Times, etc. etc., and they are still almost a year away. So in some way its hard to get away from them even if you have no real interest whatsoever. Very much like watching some TV show, which you watch but its just a show, so who cares.

Following all sorts of coverage in last few weeks, facebook et al. debate, youtube CNN debates, freaky oprah with obama, clinton with barbara s, etc. etc. and finally last week, Iowa Caucus (Winners - Barack Obama & Mike Huckabee) and following it all the hype about Hillary Clinton being thrown out of the race (hopefully u saw news of that, it was hilarious), polls showing all againsit her (f*ck news polls) and all sort of crap, again well scripted. Then she cries (or almost) on TV, and boooom, New Hampshire primary (Winners - Hillary Clinton & John McCain), found her own voice.

Isn't it a great start for any drama series, pilot episode.

If I get something wrong, unclear, totally out of context, please feel free to leave a comment, keep in mind thou' its only a dummeies guide.

--
Update (Daily Show is back on air) (episode 9 Jan 08)
* Ice Queen "HIllary" is melting
* they have tech gimmicks also
* and all those movie reviews while reviewing politics .. unbeatable

Updated Again - Jan. 15 (oh apple keynote .. get ready to spend some more money :D)

Rethink "Twitter"

So, the other day I posted about twitter, here, and never thought in a week I would be posting about it again. Today, through Metroblogging Dublin and Sean Bonner, I met with some very cool people from Dublin, who are huge twitter followers also, and we all end of going out for drinks and had few discussions about how twitter has or is changing ways of social communication. It was quite interesting to hear their point of about it. Thou' one thing I didn't notice earlier was, with twitter you can actually send updates thru' SMS's; which also bring out the fact which Sean mentioned that they "twitter" are paying for all of it "SMS" thru' their own pocket.

I still have my doubts about it but I def. like the idea of meeting interesting people thru' it, I'll give it another go over the weekend ....

Weekly Flickr Fav. - India Gate: War Memorial

India Gate, originally uploaded by trance_nut.

Beautiful night shot of the India Gate in New Delhi. Built in the memory of soldiers who fought various wars for their motherland. Growing up in Delhi, we used to visit it everyone now n then, going late nights there to eat ice cream, flying kites during festive season, etc..

Reviews: Does it matter, I got time

So following up on my hibernation time, got to see few movies, and got few random words, in order I saw them

• The Brave One: Liked it, it has a lot of bang bang, the ending could have been better but overall a nicely crafted movie with good story line. I would say good value for money even thou i watched it off the internet but thats how i watch them anyway.
• Once: I had forgotten about this one, saw the trailer few months back and last week Grace reminded of it. Its a very nice movie, easy going, charming and very well acted; It is set in Dublin and it has this feel to it in someways of being there, all the time i could feel that its story is so perfect for Dublin. Sometimes you watch movies set in some city like NY, London, Chicago etc. but it never feels like its happening there. Its a romantic drama with indie musical and melody. There is this scene in the start where she has a hover following her thru' the city, so cool :), its a simple story which is very well done and it also has a modern feel to it being set in recent times of Dublin. Def. worth watching and visiting me in Dublin then :D
• No Country for Old Men: Reviewers are calling it a masterpiece. I am not sure if its a materpiece or not, I would say its brilliant movie with powerful editing, set scenes of wide open spaces, fast paced, no story telling just good movie, its a very American movie i would say. And Javier Bardem as the perfect villian with his f***ing cool air sucking and releasing sort of gun. Thou' at later point, i thought it was bit long and was loosing some interest thou it can probably due the fact that i was watching it in on small screen.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Back to some music.. i like the combination of animation and real actors. It def. has not much of a story line, but if you are getting bored of terrible weather, like I did, its an ok movie to watch, and liked the voices of the chipmunks with their musical talent and dancing. Surely kids will like it.. moving on..
• Bee Movie: Hmm, i didn't like it that much.. i hated the voice of main Bee :) .. its done by Jerry Seinfeld.. sometimes typical voices can create disturbance :D .. not sure how to put it.. but its kept reminding me of something else. The story is ok too, but i didn't find it funny and its lacking a charm which an animation movie should have like Ratatouille.
• I Am Legend: Worst movie of the year with a dog in it (with no fault of dog). What the hell .. not scary enough, not furturistic enough, not convinving enough, not surving tale sort of movie enough, actually it had nothing. Plain boring.. Will Smith gotta do something else.
• Eastern Promises: Good Movie. Russian mob drama set in London. I enjoyed it a lot and actually I liked it better than The American Gangster.

Cheers

Get back to work

Its been lazy last few days since back from new year's celebrations in London. Thought of going to work, but empty office is not the best motivator to go there. Hence i have been hibernating, the weather is horrible, windy, rainy, cold, n all reasons to not leave the house. Thou' it can be tough, i need to buy something like xbox or DS lite keep myself busy during hibernation holidays like theze :D

I was reading about this next web 2.0 apps stuff OpenSocial, etc. .. & one thing I keep hearing is "twitter" one of the next killer apps.. but i don't see the reason for that. Why should i keep updating what am I doing every few hours or minutes like going to work, going to gym, writting a paper, cooking, eating, etc etc., i don't see a very convincing reason as of yet. I am sure, it might be of some use if atleast some of my friends use it but until now it hasn't catched on. And I can atleast do a part of it thru' facebook or bebo or orkut and I knw my network will see that, so why another one like twitter. We'll see how it grows in '08.

Happy 2008

DSC_2007, originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/tahir/.

Hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year.

We were in London for new year's eve; thou missed the fireworks at london eye.. it was great fun being in london for it.

Wish you all a prosperous year '08.

New Year Eve, London, originally uploaded by Anshuman Singh.