Archive for July, 2008
‘Tie’ Another Day!
I presume most of you have viewed the latest Vodafone ad for Call Conferencing. This ad reminded me of my college days. We were nearing our Graduation and as the ‘Interviews’ loomed large up ahead, we realized that we didn’t know how to tie a Tie 
Only one dude amongst us – Mr. S – knew it and what more, he had an entire repertoire of Knots! Well, not exactly many but he knew more than one. So he was in great demand one day as few of us came equipped with brand new ties and implored him to teach us the knottings. Now one thing you must know about Mr. S is that….he’s left-handed! So while for some it was confusing, for some it made it easier. Why? Well, for those who viewed his tying the tie from in-front-of-him, it seemed as if a mirror-image and that made it easy. And for those who viewed it side-by-side, it was a helluva job to replicate the knots. Didn’t get me? Try it out yourselves 
We didn’t have the same level of fun as in the Ad but it was a unique experience for each of us. And after each one of us managed to finally get it, or thought we did, it was evaluation time for Mr. S and he was frankly flabbergasted at what he saw! None of us had got it right!!! It finally took umpteen sessions and quite a few interviews until we all got it right!
Here’s the Vodafone Ad for those of you who haven’t seen it. Unlike other Vodafone ads, this one has dialogues innit but it is funny nonetheless!!!
P.S: I have saved a tie with the perfect knot intact. I just wear it and tighten it. Saves the whole tying up business 
8 comments July 28, 2008
Sultry Saturdays are Suited for Sherlock Holmes
Its a sultry Saturday – with a power-cut disrupting the early morning hours and the non-favourable reviews putting a full stop to any movie-watching plans. With all well-laid plans for Sunday ground to dust with the news that I gotta work on that day, Saturday was the only holiday this week! And what better way to spend the day than cosy-up in front of the notebook and watch the latest purchase – The BBC Sherlock Holmes Collection.
Sherlock Holmes, the name needs no introduction (I hope!). He’s arguably the greatest fictional detective, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and appearing in four novels and fifty six short stories. I’ve voraciously read all but two of them (A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of Fear; though I’ve read the first half of the latter). And when the short stories aired on the telly, I’ve watched them all. So when I spotted the VCDs collection of the dramatized version of three of the four novels, I didn’t think twice to purchase it. The collection contains three of the novels – The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four and two short stories – The Blue Carbuncle & The Boscombe Valley Mystery. They star Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Stock as Dr. Watson (Andre Morell plays Dr. Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles). I’ll start off with the ones that I haven’t read….
3 comments July 26, 2008
Pootharekulu a.k.a. Paper Sweet
I was gorging on some Pootharekulu (read on to know what they are) brought by Bro’ from his overnight trip to Vijayawada and was immediately reminded of the ones that my Grandma used to make. They are, quite simply, the best Pootharekulu in the World! The ones I was having were close, but not quite. It was then that I wondered how they came into being i.e. whatz their origin, the myths behind it or the reason for its popularity. A quick but deep search on the web yielded no great shakes but one thing is for sure – they are one of the most popular selling items on shopping websites esp. those specializing in Andhra-to-America deliveries!
Add comment July 23, 2008
German Grand Prix – Sunday Race – Hamilton the winner, Piquet the Hero
The German Grand Prix at Hockenheim saw McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton score his second successive victory – this time in a dry race but with a feisty drive nonetheless. A brief safety car period in the middle stints caused a few hiccups for him, when his over 15 seconds lead to Ferrari’s Felipe Massa all but evaporated and McLaren’s decision of not to call him in for refuelling when the pitlane opened saw him relinquish the lead when he eventually stopped a few laps later. But he more than made up for it with few smart overtaking manoeuvres over Massa first and Piquet later. Of course, he moved over his teammate Heikki Kovalainen but whether that was an overtaking move or a team order can’t be said for sure! The hero of the day however was Renault’s Nelson Piquet, who scored his first-ever podium finish in 2nd place. Starting from 17th on the grid, a one-stop strategy saw him leapfrog the others after the safety car period and he was leading the race after Hamilton had pitted. Hamilton eventually overtook him but second place was still a sweet gain. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was third in an average drive where he just didn’t have the pace to stop Hamilton’s overtaking moves nor challenge for second place.
Fourth place went to BMW’s Nick Heidfeld for whom it was a good result after starting 12th. Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth and compatriot Kimi Raikkonen could only manage 6th place in what was a rather forgetful weekend for him. Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel were the last point-takers. There were only three non-finishers – Honda’s Rubens Barichello was involved in a skirmish with the Red Bull of David Coulthard and lost his nosecone in the process; Mark Webber suffered a failed engine and Toyota’s Timo Glock had an accident as the accelerated out of a corner and the rear suspension gave way, thus prompting a Safety Car period which nearly cost Hamilton the victory.
The Championship lead is now outrightly held by Hamilton with 58 points with Massa on 54. Kimi could muster only 3 points and he’s on 51 whereas Kubica adds just 2 points to his tally of 46. The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks time and if Kimi doesn’t want Massa and of course Hamilton to runaway with the lead, nothing less than a victory would do. Maybe with an added DNF for Hamilton & Massa
1 comment July 20, 2008
German Grand Prix – Saturday Qualifying – Hamilton Grabs Pole
The German Grand Prix (now that the European GP’s moved to Valencia) has alternated to Hockenheim this year and McLaren and Lewis Hamilton have thrown down the gauntlet for the second half of the F1 season by grabbing pole position at the Grosser Preis Von Deutschland. The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen is in 3rd place with Felipe Massa’s on P2 in the best of the Ferraris. Kimi Raikkonen had a miserable qualifying and P6 is the best he could manage. Jarno Trulli of Toyota and Fernando Alonso of Renault line up ahead of him in P4 & P5. BMW’s Robert Kubica, Bed Bull teammates Mark Webber and David Coulthard – with Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel in between them – complete the top 10.
Owing to the dastardly plan of my CableOp of race-day-telecast-only, I missed the Qualifying session but did catch the highlights on the Web . Massa looked to have P1 wrapped up after he bettered Kovalainen’s spirited but flawed run with a lap of 1:15.8 secs but Hamilton swooped down at the last possible instant to clinch P1 with a 1:15.6 secs lap. See how he grid lines up here.
With only nine more races to go and with two unknown tracks of Valencia and Singapore in the fray, the Championship race is a three-way-tie between Hamilton, Massa and Kimi with Kubica just 2 points back. This race’s winner can take the outright lead and then build upon it race-by-race. And oc course, a DNF will do more harm than good for the title contenders. So all four must tread cautiously now. Its anybody’s game to win now!
Image Courtesy: ITV F1
1 comment July 19, 2008
Movie Review – The Dark Knight
Why So Serious? asks the principal villain The Joker in the latest Batman movie to hit the screens this weekend – The Dark Knight. One would think that with the facial make-up of a clown & a nickname as the joker, the character would be funny, witty & sarcastic. Dead Wrong. TDK’s The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, is one of the darkest villains one can remember in an English flick and certainly THE best villain in a comic-book movie. If Salim-Javed were the scriptwriters for this one, I’m sure they’d have included a line like Sholay – sojaa warna Joker aajayega (sleep well or The Joker will get ya!).
I’m not gonna bore you with the plot details (if you still wanna know, see here). In a nutshell, its the same ol’ Good Vs. Bad battle but this time, the bad is certainly more determined and badder than ever. The movie has a constant dark undertone to it (something the Spiderman movies went through in the 3rd part) and then there’s the whole gamut of endurance and making the best choice – the right one and the night’s darkest just before dawn!!! IMO it betters Batman Begins as the best Batman movie – counting even the older ones.
23 comments July 19, 2008
