I guess I've become too much of a regular at the coffeeshop in the library that am being given free coffee once in a while these days. Free Brazilian coffee..talk abt luxury!

Continuing on my quest for 'classy' music,
Currently listening - 'Elangaathu Visudhe' -Pithamagan(nothing to rant and rave abt..come to expect it of the Maestro).

Somehow, I lost interest in following tennis sometime back. But today afternoon, i decided to catch up on some action when i learnt venus was playing. Venus, to me, was always like an underachiever for her talent. And she was playing sharapova!
The first set was just too good. Shots which would've been winners against other players were being returned!
I then realised maybe why i lost interest in tennis. After sampras and rafter retired, maybe i had no1 to root for.
I think among the current lot, I remember having seen safin's game before. He is one guy who can beat federer.

BTW, Listening to Mun Paniya (Nanda) at 9:20 pm is sheer bliss.

I watched the movie 'kaadhal' some time back. Stunning. I guess this was the same director who made 'Samurai' which was a lot of hogwash though it had great music and visuals.
Sane movies like Kaadhal are needed to retain my interest in tamil movies.

I watched Anniyan some time back. I cant even believe I was comparing shankar with maniratnam before i saw this movie. I liked Sachien(note the correct spelling!) better.
Basically, I was in awe of shankar coz of Indian mainly, which was in good measure due to kamal also.

From the trend he's shown, Shankar seems to want to convey some social msg. Pointing out problems in society like corruption, red-tape and apathy is by now known to ppl and not a big deal. However, plausible solutions to these problems in the form of a movie would be interesting. I cant watch re-hashed Matrix stunts when I'd initially set out to watch thinking some decent social msg was going to be shown. For the first time, grandeur in a movie seems cheap.

The funny thing is I cant even understand what media reviews are talking abt when they say shankar's now salvaged lost ground after the boyz fiasco. I believe Boyz was a very well made film and also was really entertaining. If Thulluvadho Ilamai can become a hit and accepted, i dont know y boyz cant.

Currently listening : Kannamoochee (A.R.R ..whoa!!)

An F-1 race never ceases to amaze me; Its top-tier management however, do.

Cant there be any better creativity in thought than to say the michelin teams need to slow down on corner 13 if they were concerned abt safety? I mean, this is the sport whose perennial quest is to become popular in USA, but only achieved notriety with such brain-racking decisions.

Agreed, I too think it was Michelin's fault not to be prepared but you dont have an F-1 race every weekend. What happened at Interlagos in 2003 is well-known. Why now some kind of 'I am a stickler for perfection' kinda image?

I am so very angry now when I think Ferrari (and with the car they've got) are level with McLaren. And to think McLaren should've been leading the constructors by atleast a clear 25 points. I seriously think De La Rosa must be tried out sometime. I am pretty convinced he is a sure podium finisher with that McLaren.

Am getting pretty prophetic these days..Had just said 4 posts back that Narain would have a top 10 finish this season soon..

And he gets a top 4 finish, if it can be called that.
The scariest thing when the race was over was that Michael was on 34 points, 3 off Kimi.
Vow! This is going to be one of the best seasons in a long time. Schumacher is one of the fiercest competitors in all sport.

I have always liked comparing Europe and the US.

The US right now seems stronger, economically and politically. But Europe always has its charm - a super blend of old world and modernism, left-right diversity(economically), fashion, vibrant life-style and most of all style.

There are a couple of crude analogies that come to mind - Soccer and NFL. Formula 1 and Nascar.
Football and Nascar are fun to watch but somehow come a cropper against Soccer and F-1 for sheer style and substance. I cant even begin comparing Indy to Monte Carlo or Spa.
Style has been one of Europe's best exports to the world.

Its just around 75 F here and I already cant take this heat.
I cant even imagine how I was so normal at 105 F just 2 years back!

I was cursing winter all along (it was snowing the week before Spring break!) and now summer.
Guess April is my month. Actually, September wasnt bad either.

Somehow, happenings in the E.U have been interesting me lately.

I read 2 books in the last month - Deception Point and 'House for Mr.Biswas' - 2 books that couldn't be any further content-wise.
After 'Da Vinci code', Deception Point, although a fast read, was a let down.
On the other hand, I took around 20 days to finish House for Mr.Biswas. It was my bed-time story. Initially, it seemed drab and I lost interest when there were no plots, as is the norm in other books i read. But somehow, the flow was there..When I finished, I felt it was one of the better ones I have read in a while, along with Tharoor's Riot. I have discovered V.S.Naipaul!

Being an avid Lakers fan, I wanted them to get a big name and I think Phil fits the bill. That Lakers had a below par season would be an understatement. I dont know if Phil can correct that too soon with the current crop.
But I feel if Phil can make a Pippen Version 2.0 with Lamar Odom, Phil-Kobe-Lamar combo could be pretty lethal and entertaining. Not exactly showtime, but good nonetheless.

I think 75% of important news worldwide is generated by the Northern Hemisphere.

Kimi keeps winning..Vow! I became a big fan of Hakkinen and thats how I started liking Mclaren..Now, i root for Kimi. He's really good. Iceman..Meanwhile, our own 'babu' seems a little bored by his stint in f1 or something..karthikeyaa, I am still hopeful you'll hv a top 10 finish this season soon. Guess he's like JPM(!)..All or nothing..Coming 12th,13th or last is for lesser people like his teammate.
Thats why I like McLaren too..'No fancy math..We are going to try only to win'..Whew!Thats my team. Ferrari or Renault would've tried to get into strategic math and infact, if a ferrari or renault driver had been in kimi's position at the Euro GP, they would've taken a stop in the end and tried for second..
I love McLaren !

Heck! Bashing ToI is on every blogger's to-do list or what!

That was the common theme among many blogs that I read today.

As for me, I dont believe in showing my intellectual prowess butchering mediocrity. (romba jaasthi dhaan..ok)

Spelling bee..
I know your next reaction...indians.

Tunku Varadarajan does a super analysis of why Indian-Americans win this
http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110006801

Nice write-up. Once upon a time, I was interested in learning new words and all. Then came Barrons word lists.


P.S: I gave a good account of my verbal self though, in the GRE!

Pistons winning gm 7 was a very heady feeling..Watching the game, I became more and more a fan of 'Detroit' basketball. 'Sheed was shooting 3 ptr's with defenders hands on his face..Hoo boy!

Anyway, they dutifully lost gm 1 to the spurs. Was on expected lines..I dont know why Spurs dont excite me at all. Maybe because they are so methodical. Detroit somehow put themselves in a hole and wriggle out of it almost all the time..That certainly is entertaining. Lets see who wins..Mind says Spurs. But only the mind.

Narain seems to be throwing some attitude now(the race incident with JV) . And I am loving it. I hope he somehow makes some points. Go narain!

Sports is such a huge reliever.

This is my first summer at school and I can tell you its not pretty.

BTW, i've been here for only 2 summers.

On a sidenote, Tayshaun Prince could be the most critical aspect to the Pistons winning the East. Talk abt defending 'The Flash'

Some great news if ur a kamal/mani fan. Long overdue, time!

Somehow, I liked 'Iruvar' the most among mani's movies..Prakashraj and mohanlal really outdid one another. A.R.R's tunes were top-notch, one of his best.

The last 3 days have been a maze,
Reading 'Core dump' over a 1000 times has left me in a daze.
Masters Thesis is not for the faint-hearted,
I say so to myself whenever I am greeted by 'Program Terminated'.
From segmentation faults to core dumps to motivation,
I sincerely hope these dont play too many pranks with my plans of graduation.

Heck, Its going to be quite a summer!

Resistance to 'Change' is the reason for being stuck in mediocrity.

Knowledge of the above and still being resistant adds just another adjective - agony.

As I enter the last of my boyhood years (huh !), I am feeling that my thought process is being refined in a way that should have happened 10 years ago!


Signed.

I was a Rajni fan for most of my school days and also in college.

And then Anbe Sivam happened. I watched it again 2-3 hours after I first watched it. Most of my thinking for the next 2-3 days was about the movie. It was supposed to be directed by Sundar.C but who was behind most of the scenes was no secret. My 'thalaivaaa' changed to Kamal. And its been him ever since.

I was desperately hoping that the movie would be a hit because there are directors who could make nearly as good movies as this but dont want to do so for commercial reasons. It would've been ushering in a new era in Tamil Cinema if this had happened. But..

Still, I am amazed by Kamal and his restless energy. I think I loved every1 of his movies in the last few years except for PKS. Panchathantram left me in splits like none other including MMKR.

Rajni is some 1 who gives you plenty of 'feel good' doses when you watch him on screen - he endears himself so much that you dont even care about the logic in the movie. But it doesnt affect me once the movie is done.

Kamal's movies can actually keep you thinking days after you've watched the movie, and when you finally connect to his ideas, it's an experience in itself.

Hope I get to meet my Thalaivar sometime !

Saw ChandraMukhi. Not a bad time-pass.
But for a guy who makes 1 movie in 2-3 yrs, it could've been much better.
Though should admit that Rajni looks 'not bad at all'. I was totally reminded of his '16 vayathinile' when I see him as the villain Raja. Boy, was he a super villain or what! I would rate it somewhere between Arunachalam and Padayappa. P'appa rocked and moreso, coz of A.R.R. They should've roped in A.R.R for this too.

Somehow, quietly confident Mumbai express would only be better than CM. (Kamal fan(atic) you see)

I dont know why most of the city youth look down upon vijay as if it conveys their sense of sophistication. Granted, he did some cheap movies earlier on, but that was an entry level thing.
Even now, there might not be much logic in his movies but in whose movies other than Kamal's do you have a truckload of logic? If you dont expect logic in a superstar movie, then ...
Though I dont like Vijay as much as Madhavan, I am sure he's not bad at all.
There are some roles only he can play. He would fail if he does something like surya in KaakaKaaka. He's best at doing roles like in Gilli. I thought Gilli was so much fun, which might not have been with Surya/Maddy instead of Vijay.
Someone who loves rajini but hates vijay would be interesting to meet.

vArtA

Pakistan would've lost both series' by now if it had played against the T.N ranji team instead of this Indian team.

Or do I smell something here??

Gasp!
Read this
$181000.
Gasp!

Thats what maybe even the cream at Harvard and NorthWestern would get !

After such a media-blitz in recent times about the salaries for mba grads, me thinks parents back home are going to ask their college kids to study for CAT and other mgmt exams and get an MBA from some good school rather than study for GRE/MS hereafter.The children know that unforutnately, it is not as easy to clear cat/other exams as it is to get an arbit score in GRE, get into an arbit university in some arbit part of USA. I dont know if the parents would realize that ! Some of my college friends have been writing CAT for years now.
It would not be bad to have fewer desis to see here so that the notion that am in USA might atleast stick then ;)

chill.