Friday, March 31, 2006

it's funny how people react to random acts of violence....
saw one today... in the city... write in front of Aaron hotel (had put up a pic of that once).... some aborigine guy punched a tourist in the face and snatched his shoulder bag.... the guy just sat there... bleeding...

I didn't actually see the bashing... but i was there about 2 minutes later.. the guy was bleeding profusely and sitting on the pavement... and here's the funny bit... everybody sorta looked away... and tried not to notice anything... only one or two people approached them and tried to help... I was among them... I am probably one of the last people on earth to carry handkerchiefs.... but it came in handy this time.. helped stop the bleeding... (try doing THAT with a kleenex)... The guy was just sitting there... stunned... he didn't seem to feel much pain... but he was just... turned to stone.... and then I saw tears in his eyes... and all the while his wife sorta stood back... not touching him or nursing him... I did that... she stood back and kept saying "there was only $80 in it.. but my credit cards in it... have to cancel the cards... where do I call form...."
Then the cops showed up... and pushed me away... "step aside mate"... like I was the one who did it... I droppped my cheese sausage in the process.. pretty rude if you ask me... I should get them to reimburse me $2.40 for the sausage and the hanky...



Anyway... just intersting.. people.. and the things they do.....under crises....
Almost want to be involved in random act of violence myself... I think I would thrive in it... would be fun to see though...


> 4 comments
9:44 AM


Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Man.. I love scrubs..... (this is why)

And I hate...
Finding out I genuinely suck at something
psych students
arts students
anybody in business studies
radiologists
people who listen to some music coz everybody else is
racists bartenders
supermarket checkout chicks who want to make conversation
receptionists
car salesmen
insurance salesmen
indian telemarketers who "are you indian?"
people who answer crucial questions with "I don't know", when they really do but are just too damn lazy to tell you...
people who drive at 50 kmph in the right lane...

yeah... and tons more...but that's enough venom or one day...
Did I mention I hate business studies?


> 6 comments
8:49 AM


Tuesday, March 28, 2006


So... people have been calling me a fuddy duddy because of my taste in music... well... I can be hip... I can be mod... so for a change I did just the opposite..

This week's theme... songs from the current music charts...

Actually this has been a very tough theme... to find a dozen or so songs from charts about a month or so old... which I like...

The problem is that there is entirely too much hip hop and and R&B and rap.... I don't like it... I can't understand it... I just don't get it... I want to have nothing to do with it...

Eliminating that... meant eliminating about 50% of the charts...

Next... I am not in my right mind going to post anything by over-commercialised and over-sexed pop groups.. no black eyed peas... no pussycat dolls (what kind of a name is that anyway? It's basically just stringing together two words which are sexual innuendos... there is absolutely no sense to it... I remember there were weirdos on chat forums who would come up with screen names like that... just two random "cool" sounding words thrown together... immortal hues.. scorpion rags... dreaming satan...anyway)

So.. after a great deal of frustration I put something together...

Tracks to note is the new one from Live... love that band... very underestimated in my opinion but they have had some brilliant stuff.... this new track "the river" is from their new album which comes out later this year.... definitely elements of Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin etc. in there... great stuff
Then ofcourse INXS.. the reformed INXS... still got it... The new Whitlams song is quite nice... very catchy... and ofcourse... who doesn't love curious george...

Anyway.. enjoy.... So maybe I am a fuddy duddy.. what's it to you anyway?


> 5 comments
5:35 AM


Saturday, March 25, 2006

So I was in the city yesterday.... had bought a 2 hour parking ticket... and the job was suddenly done in 15 minutes.... had and hour and 45 minutes to kill...

So I thought it might be a good idea spending the time joining a new religion...

The closest one I could find was Scientology... a rather incongruos looking building which had this huge banner on it saying "Church of scientology" and these glorious rainbows and waterfalls and clouds in the background... neat...

So scientology has been in the news of late, which is what piqued my interest.. basically "south park" made an episode where they bagged scientologists (like they bag everything under the same... had to happen)... but the guy who played "Chef", a senior black actor and scientologist, got pretty offended and quit the show... and the network.. ofcourse south park is unapologetic, now other people are involved, threats are being made... good fun..

I had never taken scientolgoy very seriously... didn't know anythign abt it... had a crazy uncle who used to believe in dianetics (which has something to do with scientology), which I figured to be some kind of supernatural massage. But he swore by it, constantly used it on himself getting better and better each day... until had to get his hip replaced...

Anyway... now I wanted to know...

So the sign said "Free Stress Test".. and a cute girl was sitting there smiling at me... like a very wise man once told me "If a pretty girl is selling something for free... always buy it"... so I went for it..

She made me put my hands on this device, which looked like a bathroom scale for my hands, and then took some measurements on this thing with dials... apparently this is an "e-meter"... so they ask me questions.. and when the needle jumps.... that means I am stressed about that thing

So I found ou that I was deeply stressed about my dad...the fact that I am not speaking to him... my elder son and his studies... i suspect my spouse of being unfaithful... my colleague who is trying to steal my job... a person at work I have a crush on... and I have a secret that's holding me back

Hmm... interesting...

Then they ask me how I release stress... I say I punch things and drink... they don't believe it's productive.. so they want me to try out dianetics.... it's apparently going to change my life... it's about truth... that's their philosophy... truth... pretty nice philosophy eh?
They believe that everyone's right... if you believe in something it's the truth...
I'm loving this releigion already!
Apparently "they" are ruling the planet... other people don't realise that....

I was hooked... I would have siigned anything they gave me at that point...

but then they broke it...

"Do you want to come upstairs and see the DVD on dianetics? It will answer all your questions and change your life"
Uh-oh. Joining a new religion was one thing... but watching a boring DVD is something else...

"No... I don't think I want to."

"I really beleive you should. It would help you out a lot" *dazzling smile*

"Err... I have epileptic tendencies... flashing lights can set it off... does the DVD have flashing lights?"

"Err.. I'm not sure."

But now i actually WANTED to see the DVD... it could be thrilling stuff...

"Actually... can you burn me a copy... I will watch it at home... so if I get a fit my cheating wife can save my life"

"errrr...no"

DAMN!


> 8 comments
8:11 AM


Thursday, March 23, 2006

Is there anything more satisfying than finally finding that special DVD you have been searching for all this time...

Yesterday... I was roaming about an obscure supermarket in an obscure north of town suburb.. and there.. in the deep dark recesses of the K-Mart DVD section I found it... a special box set of Andrew Lloyd weber's musicals..

Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat
By Jeeves
Cats
and best of all... Jesus Christ Superstar.

All original stage productions... modified for film... not crappy Hollywood movies...

Then.... as I was walking away... I found it... the First entire season of Arrested Development... what luck! This was almost impossible to get.... because nobody really cares too much abt the show... no wonder it's on at 12:10 am on Tuesdays..
So... got them both... Cost me a small fortune.. but doesn't matter... will copy them and flog off the orginals on eBay....
Now if I can find that illusive Kurusowa box set... I will be complete...


> 7 comments
7:40 PM


Tuesday, March 21, 2006

I hate business studies... why am I studying this crap anyway... oh right.. because I HAVE to.. otherwise they'll flunk me..

Seriously I have no use for this... if I ever find the cure for AIDS and want to start a business selling it... I will hire some Arthur Andersen yuppie... the same way if an Arthur Andersen yuppie gets AIDS, he will hire me.... I simply so point to this study...

And the whole business managemnt thing seems like a different language all of a sudden... a different state of mind....like learning algebra all over again... I really am too old for paradigm shifts...

It's weird hwo science people think in a way that is completely to most other people, especially business. If we need to know something, we do a literature search, find it, reference it. If we have an idea we find out what other people have done along similar lines, then we come up with our own little experiment based on the collected wisdom, and reach conclusions. Simple, clean, pure. But in business studies... it's all messed upIf you want information, you can't look it up. Because nobody will tell you. But you then have to go find out completely bizarre bits of information like the population of the city aged 15-35, units of electricity consumed by the southern suburbs, the cost price of an apple and so on.. and then you piece them together slowly and painfully to reach your conclusion....
And there's no scope for experiments.
And what's the deal with using fancy words like "model" and "formulation" and "segregation" and "enumerate".. it's like they want to be scientists.... and what's with coming up with bizarre names and formulae for stuff which really is common knowledge... like the SWOT analysis... Duh!! What kind of a moron would go into a business without thinking about what his strengths
and weaknesses... That's the whole IDEA behind starting a business... you realise you have something to offer... so yo put it out there... why do you need bizarre terms like SWOT and PET and PPP to describe something an 8 yr old selling off his father's stationery could tell you...
It's just a way for these people to feel important I guess...

Reminds me of this flashy guy in a Mercedes convertible in a suit who was once driving the New Zealand countryside, when he came up on this sheep farmer grazing his herd. So he stops and tells the farmer "If I tell you exactly ow many sheep you have, will you give me one for free take home with me?"
The farmer reluctantly agrees.
So the flashy kid, pulls out a laptop and he hooks it up to the internet with a portable satellite dish. He types away furiously, flying through search engines, and reams of numbers and NASA's satellite imagery. He then picks up his cell phone, makes a dozen calls and furiously takes notes. Then he opens up his calculator and punches numbers. Finally he prints out a 15 page report with an executive summary from the bubble jet printer in his boot and gives a 10 minute presentation on a portable projector. In conclusion he declares that the farmer has exactly 872 sheep.

The farmer unwillingly agrees that the man is right.

But when the man is abt to drive off with his prize, the farmer stops him asking for a chance to win back his sheep if he correctly guesses the man's profession. The man agrees.

"I bet you are an Arthur Andersen business consultant" the farmer says.

The man is shocked. He wants to know how the farmer could have made a perfect guess like that.

So the farmer says, "simple. Firstly, you came here uninvited. Secondly, you wasted time and money to tell me something I already knew. Thirdly, that's my dog you hae in the back of your car, not a sheep."


> 6 comments
8:24 AM


Monday, March 20, 2006

Of all the strangest people out there that I was talking about... I think I have found the one that is singularly, irrefutably THE strangest.

I would have never guessed who that was... I always thought it was Arnab Chakrabarti from Presidency college who chose to take advantage of friend when she was going through the toughest phase of her life..... then I thought it was actually my friend who seemed to let herself get taken advantage of quite easily....

but nope.. they can move over... there is a new kid on the block....

And if that person os not THE singularly, irrefutably strangest person I ever knew.... then I am...


> 3 comments
9:13 AM


Sunday, March 19, 2006

right... back to blogging after a great deal of self inflicted bodily damage...

Blog roll's been due for an update...

1) Chamki - This is a bit of a discovery of mine... actually other way round... she found me.. not sure how though... can't make the six degrees of separation work... anyway... a really delightful blog.. a very creative person... but different from most other creative people in the sense she really IS creative and original... not pseudo... puts up quick snatches of unrhyming poetry, brilliant little random sketches... photographs etc. A little ditzy, a little brooding... definitely check it out...

2) Tiny Black Cat - Don't know that much abt her really.... probably has been around for a while.. seems to know a lot of ppl... claims to be a non-conformist... but I think she just conforms to non-conformism...

3) Warped Spiral - another bit of a mystery bag... but a good friend of a good friend.. and has also linked me... so she gets a link back...

4) M (treadly softly upon) - now here is a SERIOUSLY intelligent person... I'm not kidding... works along similar lines as I do... quite similar lines... so am definitely very interested in what she has to say... unfortunately she rarely discusses her perosonal life or work on her blog... which is a smart thing to do (didn't I tell you she was smart...) so don't really know much abt her... anyway.... I have a feeling we will run into each other one day... in the near future (It's almost certainity considering the size of the world we inhabit... lung research)... and we won't even know it was us... isn't that neat?


BTW: In future if anybody links my site, do leave a message on my blog.... coz you will get a link back...


> 7 comments
8:11 AM


Thursday, March 16, 2006

Whoops! How did that get in there...


> 2 comments
7:57 AM


Tuesday, March 14, 2006

There are some seriously weird people out there... almost all of them have blogs...

Strangely, I seem to know most of them.... Some I knew from before... other new weirdos get in touch with me and want to make friendship... Other poeple, who I have known for a while, have conversed and broken bread with, will suddenly turn out to be complete weirdos themselves...

Has the world gone crazy or has someone switched my cool water knockoff for Axe/Lynx: weirdo flavour?


Watched "american psycho" today on a friend's recommendation... great movie... I like movies with weirdos... doing a study of sorts... watching as many weirdo movies as possible... American Psycho... Natural Born Killers.... Copy Cat... Saw... Peeping Tom... Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)... Taxi Driver... Henry...Monster...so on..


> 5 comments
11:05 PM


Monday, March 13, 2006

Suzy: So do they use CO2 in their cell cultures?
Me: CO2???
Suzy: Carbon Dioxide.
Me: DUUUUH!


I really should stop duhhh-ing people who could destroy me.


> 0 comments
8:37 AM


Sunday, March 12, 2006

Just realised...

I submitted a report on friday with the title

Construction of a promoterless gusA gene suitable for transcriptional analysis.

Except I didn't write "promotorless"... I worte topless....

You reckon I could pass that off as a typo?


> 0 comments
8:38 AM


Saturday, March 11, 2006

Have been reading some of the Blanknoise project blog posts.... Mostly by people I know by association.... I'm sure you've read some too... considering that every woman has posted something and 80% of bloggers I know (you know) and women... they are a little hard to miss...
And frankly... wow... the stuff's really moving, really strong, and makes a real impact... even more so because they are real... And people out there are such great writers... and there is something about personal tragedy and shocking experiences that makes them better writers still... But seriously... excellent read..

It was all quite surprising to me I guess because I have never really seen public sexual harrassment, molestation or even eve-teasing close up front. I always sort of believed that such things happened in B grade Hindi movies... the type the sweepers used to watch on DD on a Saturday evening...

Probably because a)I am not a woman and b) I lead a pretty sheltered life as a kid... I don't think I rode on a bus, metro or autorickshaw till I was about 19... I didn't really have much interaction with girls either in the sense that I had no sisters or cousin sisters. When I did interact with other girls my age socially, well, this is not something they like talking about now is it? Which is why for me the problem didn't exist... which is why when I did see it happening first hand... I didn't know how to react... and probably reacted in a completely inappropriate manner..

1) This was probably in the last year of school... just outside Woodlands hospital... I had been there to see my grandfather and was walking to the main road to catch a cab... when I saw this guy trying to grab this girl... the girl kept pushing him away and he kept trying to hug her. She slept him but that seemed to have no effect at all. So the girl was feebly yelling for help... there were other people around. Maybe half a dozen or so... and they were all staring... but nobody did anything... somebody yelled "stop him. stop him." And I was closest... so I hust tapped the guy on the shoulder and said something like "come on. What are you doing. Stop it."
Immediately the guy spins around and slams his fist into my jaw. It felt like a bomb had gone off inside my mouth. My ears were buzzing. And everything swam around for a few seconds. But worst of all my ego was bruised. Or something like that. Which would explain what happened next. With all my strength I kicked the guy in the groin. And it wasn't pretty. Considering that I was about 50% taller than him and 150% heavier than him. The guy sort of collapsed. Went to a kneeling position. At which point I grabbed his head and slammed it against my raised knee. Twice. I hit it so hard that I had to walk with a limp for the rest of the week. And that was it. The guy went down for good. He lay there in the foetal posistion. And I think I kicked him a couple of times. Until someone grabbed me from behind and I snapped out. The guy wasn't moving much. A steady stream of blood flowed out of his mouth and nose. I thought I had died. But then he started choking on his own blood and spit.
And that's when the peope woke up. I looked around and suddenly there was a crowd strange faces. A dozen. Two dozens. Someone rushed to the guy, trying to help him up. Somebody held my arm in a clamp of grip. And everybody was shouting "what's going on? He killed him. He killed him. Somebody get a doctor. Let's rush him to the hospital. Call the police. Get the fellow who did this." The last comment hit me. Something told me this could end badly. I quickly shook off the guy holding me and scampered away in the confusion. By some strange luck, there was cab filling up on Diesel at the pump on the main road... next to garden cafe. So I managed to get away.
The funny thing is, how peopel react to these situations. A little girl was getting molested and everybody just stood around watching. Most people were probably even enjoying it. It was a show. But when somebody kicks the life out of the pervert, suddenly people wake up. Half the city descends on him. Trying to rescue him.

2) The second one happened on a crowded metro. It was just after I had joined college, and had started using public transport. I still didn't know that they really were a front for some people to get cheap sexual gratification. Two of us guys and another girl had boarded the train. It was packed so the girl was standing a couple of feet from us. When the train braked at Chandni Chowk I saw it. Two other guys. Standing in front of me, who had been making eyes at our female friend suddenly fell over her and grabbed her breasts. Our friend looked upset and gave them a stare. But what struck me was that she was utterly helpless. All she could do was give them a dirty look. And the boys looked like they had won some prize. Smiling and chatting away among themselves. Celebrating some great victory. When the train started, they tried falling over her again, but she quickly manouevered out of the way. At which point, my friend and I decided to do something about it. So I leaned over the guys and whispered into their ears, "If you two try that stunt again, my friend and I will ride on this train until you get off. Then we will get off at the same station. And we will break your arms and throw you over the tracks." To drive the message home, my friend gave one of them a sharp jab in the ribs making him yelp. And he said "Getting poked is not so much fun is it?"
Once again, the fact that we collectively outweighed them by 80kilos also helped I think. It worked. The guys started movign further and further away from us as the train satrted to move. Suddenly we couln't see them anymore. All three of us got off at Kalighat. And surprise, surprise we see the two guys also get off, from the next comaprtment. They take one look at us and turn around and run as fast their legs can carry them. One of the guys slippers break, and takes off the other throws it away but never stops running.


> 6 comments
7:28 PM


Friday, March 10, 2006

You have to check this out.. it's too funny

"Borat" is another one of Sacha Cohen's alter ego's. His most famous one being Ali G. Now Borat takes country singing lessons and goes to a typical redneck bar somewhere in USA and starts singing this song. "Throw the Jew down the well." And amazing... everybody joins in! Singing and clapping and swaying to the chorus... throw the jew down the well... Ah Americans. They can't even tell when they are getting their goose boiled.

It reminded me of our heydays. When we used to haunt comedy clubs and made plans to one day come up with an act of our own. Only problem was, none of us were much good at stand up. So we decided to stuff like that. Observational Humour. Reality Humour.

There were five of us. Another Indian lawyer to be. A third generation Egyptian. A 2nd generation Filipino. And a token white guy. As a result, most of our gags were going to centre around multiculturalism and racial stereotyping and so on.

Unfortunately. We didn't do to many. I actually went along to two of them.

1) In the first one, we basically hung around the city and asked people to sign a petition. A petition to build a mosque as part of the riverside development project. It was so hillarious. The Egyptian guy did most of the work. He conjured up a bizarre Arabic accent. We hung around like his lackeys. The white guy wore a suite and signed ppl up. And we only approached white people. It was hillarious. The comments we heard

"It is very broadminded. Maybe a little too broadminded."


"I am not a racist. But I just don't like that kind of people."


"They can build as many mosques as they like. Just not here."


Old lady - "We are not an islamic country"

Us - "But we are a secular country madam."
Old lady - "so no religion should get preference"
Us - "well there is 1 muslim for every 10 christians. But there are 0 mosques to every 176 churches"
Old Lady - "well. That's just too bad!"

"I don't think we should encourage them."

2) The second gag was not as complex. The filipino guy took pictures of his girlfriend. Made a poster of it and we went around asking people to vote for her to become the next Miss Western Australia. We then claimed she had been rejected from the contest adn wanted people to fight for her to be back in. Got a bunch of funny comments as well.
Middle aged woman - "well. She doesn't look very Western Australian does she?"
Filipino guy (in thick fake asian accent) - "she got PR. In March. She western australian. She love beer and beef"
Woman - "see. That's what I mean. She's not really from here is she?"
Us: So madam you are?

Woman - Ofcourse I am.
Us: Ah. Funny. You don't look like an aborigine.

The guys did a few more. Like the Egyptian guy tried to join the Australia First Party (which is realya well disguised white supremacist group). The letters they sent back and forth are positively hillarious.

The Egyptian Guy and my Indian friend showed up in a catholic church in Islamic gear and wanted to join the Carol Choir. Wish I saw that one. Was apparently their best gag ever. At some stage the Egyptian Guy tried to sing Holy Night like a Qawalli... which finally got the kicked out.

Ahh.. those were the days. Don't know where those guys are now. My Indian pal moved to melbourne. As a result I lost touch with the entire group. Would be fun if I could track one of them down and get copies of the few tapes we made.


> 5 comments
8:27 AM


Wednesday, March 08, 2006

My first tag and it had to be this dorky... and I tagged by two ppl in 24 hrs....

so here goes... my perfect woman... pardon the fantastic cliches... this is not like me... some of this might be made up... others not... you judge for yourself...

1. Looks - not important at all.... if you ever saw me you'd know why... but obviously I don't think I could go out with someone grotesque... and I like people who take care of themselves... not extreme and plastic surgery... but not give up and walk around with a pencil in your hair either... Must not have regular odour issues... that's about all I ask...

2. Ambitious, Driven and Goal oriented - don't like girls who sort of just wander through life... making easy choices... shrug.. I don't know I don't care type... I like strong women... lots of drive and aims and career minded.

3. Must know how to cook... now I am not being a male chauvinist here.. coz I cook.. and I think everybody should know how to cook... I don't like the posh chicks who have never cracked an egg in their life... must have a taste for good food and wine and so on...

4. Must not smoke... can't stand smokers... can never be with one... someone who has weed occasionally is probably ok... but not a crackhead ofcourse... but definitely no smoking... not even a little

5. Must be a good balance between adventurous and stable... I like trying new things (in lots of ways).... it would be really lousy if she always became a stick in the mud everytime I wanted to go bungee jumping... but at the same time I don't like the type who always live in the moment... don't know where they are now or where thay are going to be in 5 minutes time...annoys me

6. Must not be high maintenance... the whole "you don't spend enough time with me" crap... must understand the realities of life.... Hate the impractical princess types... must be able to rough iut once in a while... must be able to face life...

7. Must like dogs... music... movies... travelling...wine... atleast two of those..

8. Must not be pretentious. I hate pretentious people in every faculty. Must not be those princess types. The whole "that-don't-impress-me-much" type... I like people who can see the easy beauty in things... appreciate and love the little details of life...Have the courage to turn her back to the whole "keeping up with the Jones's" philosophy and say... "No. That's not me. THIS is me. THIS is what I like." To have the courage to just say "wow" and "I'm happy" instead of feeling obliged to come up with a wise crack everytime to disguise that...

ok... I tag Sphinx, Absolutist, Shobhik, UI..

Ok i DOn't know 8 ppl...


> 7 comments
12:14 AM


Tuesday, March 07, 2006

It appears that all the younger people I know are a bit weird...

There is ofcourse Rahul... a high school graduate to be... Now he introduces himself as Raoul... Like the footballer... Spanish Porn Star.. that Raoul... which is ok... modifying your name slightly so that it rolls of the tongue a little better is perfectly acceptable...Ask Shawn or Bill... But this guy takes it to the next level... he actually SIGNS Raoul... in his school report cards his name shows up his Raoul... that's official... that's as good as an official name change... Raoul! I don't get it... Trading one exotic minority ethnicity name for another even more exotic and minority name just defies my bounds of logic...
I think I will change my name to Bah Ling...


Then there is this other kid who calls me up thoroughly excited that they are going to show him on TV. On the 6:00 pm news... so I tune in and watch carefully... and sure enough... there he is... The featured person in a report about Obesity among Primary School Students.... 3 minutes after that he rings me up again... bursting with excitement.....I seriously didn't know what to say.... "Well done. We're so proud of you. Keep it up!" ?!?!?!?!?!?!??


> 4 comments
6:41 AM


Monday, March 06, 2006

So the oscars... what was that all about?

Uma Thurman was looking good. God bless her. Atleast she had a decent dress this time. Jennifer Garner almost fell... damn...almost. Jessica Alba can't read.

But what was with the awards...

It's hard out here for a pimp???? That's a song? That wins a prize? Maybe the token black sympathy award.

And Reese won... good old fashioned american girl with the slapped in forehead and the cheerleader smile... her parents who were "always proud of her" and her grandmother who did something or the other... playing a "true woman"... a celebrity country singer married in love with a drunk and dopie legend... sure... not the middle aged transexual mom... I dunno why... but I just hate Reese... I actually liked her in the movie... but can't stand her as a person... feel like smacking her triangular face...

nice..

and best picture goes to this movie which is supposed to be racism... but isn't about anything really... just a mish mash of rather tame short stories with some REALLY forced connections... it's like a movie that tried to be Magnolia or Pulp Fiction... but didn't make it... sorta skirts around the issues of race.... no drama... no climax... nothing confrontational at all...very hollywood fashion to be honest... a movie that I have already forgotten to be honest.... and suspect will forget even more by this time next year...and has possibly one of the most unoriginal movie titles of all time.

And memoirs of a geisha picks up all the art and costume awards... there is nothing remotely authentic abt that movie... the actors aren't japanese.. te location isn't japanese... the settings are wrong... the timelines are wrong... the art direction jumps around from the 1600's to the 1920's in a matter of minutes... it's like "Indiana Jones: The temple of doom" set in Japan...

Atleast there was Jon Stephens adding a dash of political incorrectness to the evening... loved that "if we bring down this Oscar statue do you reckon we could have a democracy in the academy?"

Is it just me... or is there right wing conservative christian propaganda everywhere these days...
probably just me...


> 9 comments
7:55 AM


Sunday, March 05, 2006

Heard this song a long time ago... as a kid... on Dad's LP....didn't really make much sense at the time... but there was something... haunting abt it... a deep an ancient sadness

Recently purchased a Billy Holiday CD... from the only place you find Billy Holiday CD's these days... the under $5 bin at KMart... Strangely it had the same song on it... remembered it instantly... That seem feeling of sadness... and pain...

The song is called Strange Fruit.... but there was something more to it... which I couldn't possibly understand it as a below 7-10 yr old... got the lyrics down... read it and re-read it... heard it and re-heard it...

well here it is... strange fruit.. I was thinking maybe I'd put up th eBIlly Holiday version on Radio Blog... infact I thought I'd do a Jazz Vocal themed radio blog... but that'd probably be really unpopular... what kind of weirdo listens to Jazz anyway? Bunch of fat ladies singing slow..

Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.


> 7 comments
7:42 AM


Saturday, March 04, 2006

Ok... so I don't understand this... apparently it happens to a lot of people... but this was the first time it happened to me.
Some random person from Yahoo starts buzzing me and asking strange questions.. I thought these were spam bots... but apparently not... so I replied... like you probably know by now... if someone annoys me... I annoy them back... I don't hang up... I make them hang up...
So we had a little fun!... Here's the convo...

vaasu_22: HAI
vaasu_22: ASL PLZ
vaasu_22: where r u
erebus: why?
vaasu_22: r u there
erebus: yeah
vaasu_22: asl plz
erebus: u first
vaasu_22: 24/m/
vaasu_22: urs
vaasu_22: b fast
erebus: sorry...
erebus: m too
erebus: not gonna work
vaasu_22: so waht
erebus: not gay...
erebus: 23/m/aus
vaasu_22: let us try ra
erebus: ok
erebus: u wanna make friendship?
vaasu_22: ya
vaasu_22: what do u do
vaasu_22: ur body stats plz
erebus: body stats???
erebus: dunno... never measured my body
erebus: i thought chicks did that
vaasu_22: just ht/wt
erebus: ok...
erebus: 175 cm
erebus: 90kg...
erebus: muscular build
erebus: balding
erebus: beard
vaasu_22: woh
erebus: any more details??
vaasu_22: Misc... details
erebus: like what?
erebus: I can do 35 min on the X trainer
erebus: at 70 rpm
vaasu_22: dont u know
erebus: no... dont normally do this....
vaasu_22: cha
vaasu_22: shall I believe
erebus: what details u after? sphincter diameter?
vaasu_22: ya
vaasu_22: ur likings
erebus: oooh... likings...
erebus: let's see...
erebus: fitness.. cooking
erebus: theater...
erebus: movies... jazz
vaasu_22: tell ra
vaasu_22: what???
erebus: porn
erebus: u like porn?
erebus: u there?
vaasu_22: ha tell ra
vaasu_22: what do u do???
erebus: i am a medical research scientist
erebus: u?
erebus: lemme guess... model?
vaasu_22: why da
erebus: just... u seem to have a lot of time
vaasu_22: u mean???
erebus: never mind... I dunno know what I mean most of the time
erebus: so what DO yo do?
vaasu_22: guess
erebus: hmmm.... a zonal officer for a box distribution comany
vaasu_22: what a poor guess da
erebus: close?
vaasu_22: what close??
vaasu_22: too far
erebus: ok... art student then
erebus: will there be a prize if I guess correctly
erebus: will you like give me your first born child or something?
vaasu_22: ya
vaasu_22: def'ly
erebus: btw: My name is Rumpelstilskin
vaasu_22: what????????????
erebus: never mind... fallout of a classical education
erebus: 24... u in IT by chance
erebus: everybody that age seems to be in IT these days
vaasu_22: sure??????
erebus: are u in IT
erebus: try answering this question without another question
erebus: see how that works out
vaasu_22: right ra...
erebus: oooh
erebus: so u work in one of those big multinational IT firms
erebus: doing the work they wouldnt get an AMerican to do coz he has too much self respect
erebus: which one? TCS? Satyam? IBM?
vaasu_22: Mphasis
erebus: ah... nice
erebus: u posted in India?
vaasu_22: ya
vaasu_22: where rt u
erebus: australia
vaasu_22: k
vaasu_22: whatelse
BUZZ!!!
vaasu_22: i want ur pic da
erebus: whatelse???
erebus: pic???
erebus: don't have one handy
vaasu_22: if u r interested only
vaasu_22: plz da
erebus: problem is... i dont have a digital camera
vaasu_22: one pic is enough
erebus: too broke
erebus: lesse
vaasu_22: what to do
erebus: I cant send for some reason
vaasu_22: why dear
vaasu_22: plz
erebus: wont attach
vaasu_22: plz dear
erebus: trying sweetheart... wont work
erebus: you're the IT technician... u fix it
vaasu_22: what is the problem
erebus: i can't press "send file"
erebus: comes greyed out


There are some pretty seriously twisted people in the IT business in India... probably even using the company's broadband connection... on company time... searching for more weirdos like him and trying to convert straight men to homosexuality with his suave charm and eloquent language...


> 13 comments
8:38 AM


Wednesday, March 01, 2006

What a day!

Woke up at 6 AM.... haven't woken up at 6 AM in forever....then DROVE out to the city... that must be some kind of suicide mission.... 3/4 of the city's excuse for a population drives to the city at exactly the same time.

Anyway... got there... and my supervisor was waiting for me....

First order of business in the day... strip. No cubicles, no screens, not even a towel. This must be how they do it in prison. Strip, down to your very undies, surrounded by a bunch of other men and put on gruesome blue cover-alls. Wish they'd told me this before. Would have worn my least tattered pair. In between, spray some strange disinfectant powder all over yourself. For some reason, undoing buttons and laces on the coveralls becomes a hell of a lot more challenging when you are standing in your underwear, and covered in white powder. Anyway. That was... interesting.

So then we go into Operation Theatre. And there is this guy lying on the table, with another smug chap jamming a pipe down his throat. Whistling. Never stops whistling. Then I watch as someone takes a mini toilet brush (very mini) and scrapes tissue from the inside of his lungs. I dissolve it in saline. Then we go out and have, what was possibly, the worst cup of coffee I have ever tasted. When we come back, there is a new guy with a pipe down his throat. More scrapings. Then they shove a mini pair of forceps and pull out nice lumps of lung tissue. I dissolve it.

Then we go out and perform the whole strip tease ritual reverse and with a few bonus kinks. This time we strip to the undies, my supervisor and I, and walk through this place where we are hit by a pwerful stream of air, and some volatile liquid. There's something very peculiar abt that. Two of us, my boss and I, standing next to each other almost nude, getting hosed, talking about research. I don't think I spoke much though. Not until I had fumbled with my jeans some more and finally put them on.

Anyway. Then head off to Princess Margaret Hospital, with the fresh samples. Except. I can't find my car. I could have sworn I came up one level from the ground and parked it in the complex. Except when I take the life to level 1 it's not there. Walk the entire massive expanse twice, in my ugly tight boots which I had worn to impress people on my first day (fat load of good that did... walked around in weird green paper slippers). Then try level 2 and walk around there as well. Finally a tree looks familiar, so I go near there and press my remote lock button. That sets off the alarm (thought that function was invented just to annoy me... apparently not). And I realise that it's somewhere below me. So I run down the stairs. Apparently, the first level is called "McIver Street Rail Station Level"... that's where I parked. The level above is level 1. If anyone can explain the logice behind this, there is a cash prize.

The samples were fast degrading. So I drive over. Not a single parking spot in the entire region of PMH. Drive around the same streets half a dozen times. Driving up and down, one way streets, taking a 2km detour to get to a spot 150 m behind me. Finally park on the 12th level of another complex (carefully note the level number)... strange... why wasn't this one full? Guess. Lift doesn't work.

Fianlly get the samples in. The cell viablity has fallen rapidly. They ask me why I had arrived there at 11:15 even though the last sample was taken at 10:00 AM. Mumbled something. They are probably going to ask my boss. Must have a reason ready.

Finally finished there. Had another 30 min on the parking meter. So had lunch at this gourmet Irish cafe. Where the cashier had a strange way of remembering orders... no numbers or notes. She just remembered faces. And instructed the waitresses (see pic). Uncanny. "Chicken wrap... Big Guy in Hat outside. Latte and Tuna Salad. Bald guy in suit and middle aged ladywith the nice bag.... corner sofa." Had a weird roll with mango chicken and kiwi fruit in it. And an Irish cream coffee of which I spilt a substantial amount on my trousers.

Went to uni from there for evening management class. Bought a boutique bottle of Ginger Beer from a speciality store on the way. Little personal treat. Enjoy it in class and rub it in everybody else's face. The professor asked me to put it away, probably thinking it was booze. The guy is a tough marker so didn't argue. It got all hot and flat and tasted horrible 2 hours later.

What a day. Will try to get it over as soon as I can. See you tomorrow... if there is one.


> 11 comments
8:07 AM

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