The Real Lord of Wars

Do not expect it to be a regular action packed, "one man army " against the entire world kinda movie.. In fact, this is not a movie where you are going to come out feeling good at all.. In fact, it makes you think abt the realities or war and consequences of fire arms in the wrong hands ..or rather any hand .

Lord of War, tracks the life of the Ukraninan gun running entrepreneur(who later becomes a superpower in his own rights), Yuri Orlov, played by Nicolas Cage. The entire movie is set in the perspective of Yuri Orlov.. and the opening line " one in 12 people around the world has a gun.. the question is.. how do we arm the other 11?" gives the movie a dark and sadistic feel..

The movie is set at the end of the cold war and there is no more soviet union. Yuri the son of a refugee Ukranian couple living in the states, aspires to become rich and successful and after failed business ventures, decides to capitalize on the massive number of various fire arms left behind in Ukrain by warring nations.. (why did they leave behind the guns? coz it costs more to transport them back then to actually make new ones.) He literally buys the abandonned guns by the kilos at ridiculous prices and ships them off to another country where there is a conflict or a war going on.. and in the process gives us a crash course on econonmics, demand and supply. He keeps the customs at bay with bribes of cash and for those who cant be bribed he resorts to clever tactics (i dun wanna spoil the entire show by revealing it out)..

The funny thing is that Yuri had never handled a gun prior to entering the business..his first sale , a UZI was closed after a 15 min read thru the manual and he pulled it off like as if he had been in the business for years. He has only one protocol, never to get shot with your own merchandise.. which makes no sense to me.. anyway the movie progresses thru the decades and Yuri has established himself as a reliable supplier to the every major warlord, dictator and private armies.. while every one prays for wars and conflicts to end.. its quite funny to see him kneeling infront of the tube and desperately pray for new ones to begin.

Everything is smooth sailing till conscience catches up with him after his brother dies during one of his dealings went bad. He tries to go legitimate for the sake of his wife and son but the past catches up with him and eventually his family leaves him.. and having nothing to lose.. Yuri returns to what he does best.. supplying guns. He now has nothing to fear having the contacts of political big wigs and corrupt govt. officials. the movie ends there.. but its starts you thinking.. Yuri practically opens up your eyes to issues we never knew existed..

In an action movie, we think its cool when the hero shoots down an entire army, but in this movie i almost puked when the nigerian warlords went on a killing spree immediately after makin payment to Yuri. Most of the victims are malnutritioned kids and women. Just when i started to hate this character i realised his purpose is to shed the light on the real lords of war. While private gun runners continue to thrive on fire arms sales...the worlds three biggest gun runners are none other then the U.S , Russia and France... no point screwin the scavengers..

Case of the contraband burgers...

After keeping it a secret for so long.. finally i am compelled to tell my story.. (actually Brinjals brought out my hilariously embarassing episode in the carceral checkpoint room).. anyway picking up from where brinjals left off...

i volunteered to carry all the burgers so that the burden of the rest could be lightened. prior to this.. my colleague and i were having a conversation(just for the fun of it.. not actually planning anythin) abt the possibilities of smuggling contraband goods across the border.. we discussed some methods (again for the fun of it) of actually concealing the goods. at which point, my colleague mentioned that sometimes just openly smuggling the goods will work.. our disussions ended when counter attendent signalled me to come over. After they X-rayed my pouch and the bag of burgers.. a scrawny Police NSF came over to me and told me that i had to follow him to the office..I knew it.. i just knew it.. somehow i had this feeling that i was gonna pay a visit to the check room.. it was one of those gutt feelings.. and it came true.. so i obliged and followed the scrawny Police NSF to the room, along the way tryin to smile and jokingly signal as if i had been hand cuffed to my confused buddies and kepo( not that i blame them) onlookers...

[inside the check room]

there was a major, staff Sgt and the Scrawny Police NSF. the Staff Sgt came over to me. "hmm wat do u have inside there.." i simply replied.."----- burgers" .. after which he went on to give this sinister laughter.. somethin that went like ..." hm hm hm hm.. hm hm. ha ha ha. ha hahaha.. mu haha ha ha ha ha... MUHAHAHAHHAHHA!" try it.. will freak u out. then he told me that burgers were not allowed(which means my burgers have mutated into contraband goods) thru the check point and he asked me to write down my particulars and sign the book.. i have never had my particulars noted down because of mere burgers.. not onli have my burgers become contraband but i have become a smuggler.. cool.. i was told then and there that AVA had not permitted the entry of chickens.. me, being a law abiding citizen simply said.. "is it? i dint know.. can u close one eye this one time and i wont do it again", to which he responded with a re-run of his sinister laughter. the funny part was that while he was readin me the S.O.P for contraband goods (which is to dispose the product then and there..) he was neatly tying up the plastic bag and placed them on the desk.. My gutt feeling was like " yup! we all know where thats going..bon apetite fellas!"... In a desperate effort to salvage what eva i can.. i quickly asked him if could at least bring back the BEEF burgers.. i knew i was getting zilch when he went like " i am sorry sir.. we have already tied up the bag and a guy is coming to collect it". i walked out in agony.. i can imgaine him radio-ing the others " guys we got dinner!".. lookin on the bright side, at least we all had bloody good laugh on the way back.

food for thought: if the chicken is not allowed.. then kindly put up a sign.. we got posters banning almost anythin we can think of..

Innocence re-discovered..

After 3 exhausting days, the WeCAN conference has finally come to an end. I must admit, not all the lectures/ presentations that i attended made complete sense to me. Some topics were too technical for me to comprehend but some were just right. Learnt quite alot of new concepts and managed to get a comprehensive view into the world of Autism (mainly Asperger's Syndrome).

Started to see their situation in whole new light.. just like how we first understood the difficulties of the visually impaired when we blindfolded ourselves ( be it for 3 blind mice or to
experiment). The general misconception is that they(people with aspergers syndrome) are suffering from some incurable disease but the fact is that they are not that different from us. It's just that situations and emotions that we tend to handle quite easily doesn't seem that easily manageable to them. Sometimes even we (so called normal people) can't handle certain emotion and we blow up a mound into a mountain.

For these people, the world is categorized into 2 (to the best of my knowledge, dun sue me, i am not qaulified enough) aspects.. the logical and the literal. If something doesn't make sense to them.. they won't do it. The latter is the more interesting one. It's a simple case of looking at the world in a literal format.. metaphors do not exist on this plane. For example.. today when i purchased a book written by Eric ( he has aspergers syndrome), rather than saying "would you want an autograph?" he said, "do you want my handwriting on this book?" .. though it seemed funny initially, it made complete sense to me later.. No part of my signature is automated to call it an autograph and neither does it have a graph in it.. Here we are thinking we are smart... just call a spade a spade la.. why term it as the device that excavates dirt ? make it short and sweet..
Its such nature of the syndrome, which has led me to believe that they are not capable of being liars.. example again.. prior to buying that book (for which i and yasmin shared cost), he told us that (like a statement of fact in monotone) he still had alot more books to sell in order to break even.. and that he would really like some support.. there was so much innocence in his voice that we decided to buy that book.. he jus melted our hearts not with sympathy but with sincerity. that is when i realised that in certain perspective, it's us who lack in development and not them..

The truth (my perspective of course) is that we are the ones who have complicated our lives to beyond an irrepairable state. Its just so typical of us, what we do not comprehend , we fear. what we fear, we either destroy or keep out of sight hoping it would disappear.. but honestly they are not different from us at all... hmm starting to feel that some of my close buddies could be autistic.

PS: it would be nice to support his quest of breakin even.. the book costs 25 bucks.. jus consider. the author is Eric Y Chen. He is 22 . Its a collection of peoms and his perspectives..

picnic anyone

just a short one.. tot of utilisin all available means
anyone interested in a picnic in december first / second week? its gotta be a weekend so scrap ideas to hold it on the weekdays statin its the school holiday. there are people who are working ( tho i am on school holidays too... spare a tot who are workin...)

Not sure how many ppl are gonna read this blog of mine but its not much of a prob.. will be callin u all up personally as well.. jus do me a favour.. pls tell me a confirmed answer rather than can i tell u when the time comes nearer and then totally forget abt it.. thank you..

PS: i know the pic does not link with a picnic settin.. unfortunately no time to search up a proper one.

Got Piss?

Taking the urine sample had always been quite difficult for me.. be it during the pre-employment check up, or during a normal routine health check up or the mother of all pain in the ass.. the drug test in NS..

[an insight of my thoughts]
I always had a problem in producing urine on demand. It comes when it wants to no one tells me what to do. i may have a full stock but when someone else wants what i am holding in my bladder.. i get too reluctant to share it with them.. its my urine, its mine.. MINE! and somehow i don't feel like peeing anymore. The urge miraculously vanishes. Apparently this is what the professionals(i wonder how many bladder auditions they had conducted) call "shy bladder" ..

To be very honest ... the pre-employment check and the routine health check is not so bad.. they at least respect your privacy and direct you to a closed cubicle toilet when requesting your pee.. there you can at least coax ur rebellious bladder to let loose abit and be more generous with its possession.

The "shittiest" one is the random drug test in NS.. i believe all the guys who had endured NS would understand what i am talking about. The following is the true life incident of myself... who else.

It was cold and beautiful morning.. birds chirping at the window of my bunk... the sun rays.. flooding the ...enough crap.. let me cut to the chase.

[ After the routine roll call and equipment check duties]

myself: maan, wait up.. going bunk rite.. finally can sleep for a while la..
maan: shut up and walk faster la.. u jus wasted 15 seconds of my sleep.
"encik": Oi!!
maan/myself: yesh ENCIK!!!!
encik: where are you running away to? to go sleep rite!
maan: no encik.. going to the OPS ROOM to retrieve the PDV(the primary response vehicle or my unit) key.. Plt 6 LTA requested me to help him encik! it seems that the auditors are coming today so all units to display their best behaviour. Can i proceed Encik!?
[in a daze,looking at maan with my mouth open]
Encik: Din!.. You escaping where ?
Myself: I...er..I oso gonna help Maan encik...
Encik: for wat F***, the key that heavy ah? no need , YOU! go for drug test.. give me ur 11 B and follow me.

[at the testing centre, standing at a corner gettin a carceral feeling as provosts surround me. ]

Provost: Din, ur turn, take the cup and pee into it.. the toilet is there ( ya rite all i see is a urinal and nothin else.. no partition no nothing and it doesnt help that there is another gayish provost who is overlookin u from the back while u pee into the cup and furthermore he looks like he is enjoyin his job.. bad.. very bad.)

- after standing there for abt 5 to 10 mins.. manage to pee something to a substantial level..

provost: Din, ur pee pls( with a colgate smile and passion in his voice)...
provost: not bad...

- DUDE !!! DUN DO THAT.. its freaking sick.. i know our govt has been campaignin for courtesy and service orientation but this is ridiculous.. YOU do not ask for my PEE with so much happiness in ur smile and comment on how good it looks. show some disgust on handling the cup full of my urine la... dumb jack ass.. feel like puking.

myself: can i go now..
provost: ya sure...

[ i dash out of that sick place]

with experinces like this why wudnt i have difficulty in peein on demand... hey guys.. anything similar to share? ;)

A typical blog on an uneventful today...

Just had a reminder of how fast time flies(not good), today. planned to go for my medical checkup( which was a total failure as the clinic was closed) around 11 and accompany my sis jus before that.. i asked her why she needed my company, and she simply replied that i had to help her enroll Juhi (my niece) in a the Ugama Class (religious class) at masjid abdul gafoor.

I asked my sis why she was rushing to enroll a 5 year old at the masjid.. why not a few years later, to which she gave me a very peculiar and somewhat disappointed look. Well.. you may ask what's so peculiar about that.. nothing much actually, just that i have been thinking my niece was 5 years old for the past 5 years.

So here we were, outside the tekka food centre, risking being turned into road kill, so that we can proceed to dunlop street.. for some odd reason, i just cant bring myself to utilise the traffic lights there.. prestige problem la.. if i abide by the light which makes no sense to the countless bangladeshis and indian nationales ( this is not intended as a rude remark) , where got face la.. must also show that i too can put myself in danger along with the motorists and that i too can swear at motorists who have the right of way and get sworn at by motorist who almost turned me into pulp. The funny thing is that there is always some prestige problem(henceforth referred to as P.Problem) involved when crossing that particular road. You want to use the traffic lights also P. Problem, you take too long to cross that stretch of road also P.Problem..You decide to utilise the traffic light after wasting 15 mins cursing everyone... also P.Problem.. Lets say u are crossing the road and the TP catches you.. very big P.Problem.. after all this hassle, we managed to arrive at the masjid and when we inquired on the procedures of enrollment they simply photocopied my nieces bus pass and my sisters ic and they said they will get back to us. i was like er........ err....... errrrr..... ok...

In a daze, we set to out to sakunthalas for lunch, mainly thosai and tea... something was really wrong.. did not feel satisfied at all.. productivity was zero... After lunch, Sis suggested walkin around tekka mall to distract ourselves from the unproductive events so far..Still in a daze, was looking at some running shoes.. when i crashed into a group of kids.. sensing that i could have seriously bruised them i turned around,panicking and apologizing frantically at the same time.. guess wat, i apologized to a bunch of white kids... literally. Add insult to injury..in a some ways.. guess this has really been a blue saturday...well nothing that a good run cant cure..

E.M.H vs A.R.R

For the uninitiated, E.M.H aka Nagore Haniffa.. is the pioneer of tamil islamic songs(at least thats what i believe la).. those from the 80s to now all know at least one of his songs ( remember "iraivanidam kaiyaenthungal" ?).. my mom listens to him almost religiously but personally i cant tolerate him.. His groggy and husky voice coupled with ripped off tamil song tunes and sometimes the arrogance in his voice.. if only this guys listens to himself...i bet he will agree... another irritating factor is the music, everything is designed to be loud and jarring.. maybe thats why everyone listens to it.. they have no choice i guess..the music paves the way to your ear drums and his voice makes the grand entry. I go running for mufflers when his songs are on..

Now coming to my Favourite... A.R.R... now this guy is a genious.. he has the soothing voice, the mastery in melody and this god given talent to make hair stand on end with his music (not coz its jarring ah ok).. his personal albums all are hits, like vande maathiram , but too bad he hasnt forayed into the islamic song market.. the only song closest to the genre, is the song "zikr" from the movie Bose the forgotten Hero ... just waiting for the day he is gonna make a religious album and oust all the competition.

food for thought: wats gonna happen when EMH collaborates with ARR and a single called " ganniya kalaimaanae feat ARR" is released... hope it neva happens.. if it did .. dun tell me.

PS: anyone knows the singer Kailash Kher?

Mis-Comm...Mass Comm...

There is always something to look forward to when going to Ustaz house for the annual breaking fast session. Normally one would leave his house with a lot of fun filled memories and nostalgia. This year (more like yesterday) was no exception... just that for once a bane of my community was viewed in a lighter or more like hilarious light.. wat is it you may ask... let me get to it...

after the normal breaking fast, its customary to pray the magrib (evening prayer) before settling down for the feast.. now this is where it all starts.. after spreading the newspaper on the floor, i gladly planted my arse down at the very end of the row meaning i get to see everyone clearly. Seated to my left were Brinjaals and Ali... and to my right is the star of the show who is going to be only known as " Ya, Ya , Thats What I Meant" a.k.a YYTWIM...

[YYTWIM is attempting to create conversation]
YYTWIM: So wat are you doing now?
Myself: currently teaching annae.. till i get to further my studies..
YYTWIM: Which skool are you teaching?
Myself: am teaching at a Special School..
YYTWIM: (scratchin his chin) wat subjects do you teach?
myself: no academic subjects more like different set of goals la annae.. they are catered to the special kids..
YYTWIM: ya ya thats wat i meant...
myself: er... ya ... ok annae, take more curry la annae(attemptinto change subject)

YYTWIM: so brinjaals, wat are u doin? studyin or working..
brinjaals: er. studyin.. NTU..
YYTWIM: wat course are you doin?
brinjaals: Mass Comm..
YYTWIM: (looking at the ceiling) Mass Comm ah.
brinjaals: yesh. so wat are you doin?
YYTWIM: oh i am in the aviation industry, currently working in SIA.
brinjaals/myself: so wats the necessary qualifications to enter that field.
YYTWIM: Oh i did electronics engineering and ciruitory( somethin) studies.
brinjaals: so u got a degree already la ..
YYTWIM: er.. (muffles somethin like "1 into 2 into 3 into 4into.....") i did mine all privately la..
brinjaals: er.... ok.
YYTWIM: anyway i planning to further my education in the U.S la.. u see ah there got a huge market, the aviation industry is huge.. very huge.. so planning to pursue my further education there.. Even ur Mass Comm also part of the Aviation industry wat..
brinjaals,meyself,ali: (suddenly looking at each other and ali starts giggling a little)
brinjaals: U are in the aviations rite? coz Mass Comm is not a part of it..
YYTWIM: is it.. wat is it then?
brinjaals: its more towards the media side..
YYTWIM: YA YA THATS WAT I MEANT!! so long you do well in ur physics rite.. u can definitely get into my field.. dun worry its ok la..
[Ali at this point starts vibrating with giggles and i follow suit]
brinjaals: (after giving me a weird look) THERE IS NO PHYSICS IN MASS COMM.
YYTWIM: ya ya thats wat i meant..
[Ali totally loses it, takes out his phone stares at it and laughs out loud, as if he read somethin hilarious, then he was kind enuff to pass the phone to me so that i can laugh off ]
YYTWIM: ok guys i gotta go, have to go prayers, gotta go, see ya..
all: ok take care...

laughter bursts out the moment he takes his leave.
now the moral of the story, just accept your bloody mistake and move on la.. i mean, what does he lose by sayin " oh sorry, tot Mass Comm was ...." u know the indian concept of " keelae vilunthaalum, meesaiyilae mannu ottalae!" under normal circumstances i wud have been pissed with such attitude.. but on that day decided to spare him since he gave all of us a good ab workout.

(some parts of the conversation was omitted or modified without changing its context)

Request for bicycles and tricyles

hello people.. its been a hectic week, which explains my absence from the blogging community ( not that anyone cares , just making myself feel important).. anyway getting to point:

I am requesting or more like looking for old or used bicycles and tricycles (which are still in working condition please) for kids in the special school where i am working at. if you would like to donate any bikes that you or your siblings no longer use, kindly contact me and i will collect it from you.. Kindly pass this message along to your friends as well , it will be very much appreciated..

The Secret of Surya's Success..

Jus a short one, the thought suddenly struck.. ever wondered how come Surya's recent movies all become hits if not super duper hits? the formula is simple
apart from all the normal mix of budget and masala, the real formula is;

success of Surya movies = (kill either the hero or the heroine)

really... racap for a moment..

1. Nantha ( He dies)
2. Pithamagan ( He dies)
3. Gajini (SHE dies)
4. Kaaka Kaaka (SHE dies)
5. Peralagan ( one of SHE dies)

the movie Maayavi , no one died , and look wat happend, no box office smash... all agree with my formula?

Euthanasia..

Had an interesting conversation with ali and yusuf yesterday night. Well this is the scenario.
Lets say that you were being chased by this homicidal madman armed with kitchen knives, along with his pack of famished wolves. You ran and ran till you ended up at the edge of a steep cliff.. he has you surrounded.. and you have no steam in you to put up a last fight. death is certain. an excruciatingly painful and gruesome one. What are you going to do?
Now given the stipulation that you cant defend yourself in any manner.. will you submit to your fate and let yourself be mauled and sliced to death or will you choose to jump over the cliff? Its a very high cliff with jagged boulders at the bottom ( which means its certain death also la ..aiyo)..
now to rephrase the question, will you get urself murdered or will you commit suicide? its a zero-sum situation. Bear in mind that the killer didnt want you to jump, he just wanted you for dinner.. so the suicide option is purely by you. think abt it for a while..

anyway the reason, i asked is coz ,(gonna sound like some pro-euthanasia dude but i am not!) we have all been groomed to think that suicide is not the way in any case.. furthermore my religion condemns it. its a huge sin. but sometimes we have to look beyond the word itself. i mean suicide(or its other related forms such a mercy killing) is not an easy decision ( unless u are zonked out or drunk dead). a very practical example, not well to do families burdened with loan sharks, unemployment and a few kids(not exaggeratin) with very special needs such as Down Syndrome or Autism or any handicap.. which requires extra cash and attention from the already zapped to the bone parents.. how? there have been parents who either killed themselves or killed the child to save themselves some agony.. we from the outside point of view, easily comment " what kinda parent would do such a monstrous act". To be honest i used to be one of them, till i felt how difficult and emotionally straining it can get to care for a child with special needs unless u got the facilities.. dun worry, i am still strongly against suicides but when it comes some "special" case studies, i really dunno wat to say. Or to feel. Its like u know its wrong but somehow u can understand but still gotta condemn it. hope u catch my drift.. I jus pray that GOD grants all these ppl stuck in these special circumstances a way to cope with their burden... cos the "special child" is in no way the parents fault, and an offspring is still an offspring.. no 2 ways abt that, he still deserves the love any normal child gets.

Now comin onto the topic mercy killing you gotta meet this guy affectionately known as Doc.Death by his patients or more like late patients. He is Philip Nitschke.. wanna know more abt him .. jus go to http://www.smh.com.au/specials/euthanasia/index.html, really dunno how to react to this guy.. He even came up with his own invention for suicide called COGen (Carbon Monoxide Generator)

Realised that i am jumblin up my thoughts again.. so gonna stop now.. any comments?

some bugs..

i know there some bugs with the blog.. i know that the template looks screwed up in mozilla firefox and now suddenly there are 2 shout boxes in some ppls browsers.. these probs can be rectified easily.. but now too sleepy .. maybe later.. anyway i dun see why ppl shud complain, there are some ridiculous looking blogs out there.. with their pink and gold color combos.. sheesh

Fasting Month Finally..

Listening to Audioslave ('be yourself") and Saliva ("rest in pieces") at this time of the night sets me up in a nostalgic mood .. thinkin years back..

Anyway, fasting commences on tuesday.. hmm honestly there are some pros and cons.. cons being that i am gonna lose some weight..( which is an issue to me considerin the amt of effort i invested in bulking up my weight) but the pros out weighs everything else.. its the time to attend the terawih prayers.. catch up with the old neighbourhood boys.. conduct group breaking fast events at various restaurants.. its gonna be so ppl oriented.. bonds take centre stage and materialistic pursuits take backstage for a month.. there is not gonna be any room for profanities and acts that fall out of decorum.. heck, its gonna be the perfect society for one month.. somethin abt the festive season jus makes me hyper..

Thank god this year the hari raya comes first.. then deepavali.. finally can eat to the hearts content.. there is a certain inexpressible joy in inviting the buddies and relatives over to break fast and eat together.. its something that somehow gives you that security that you are not all alone in this world..and that there will be ppl to catch you when and if u fall..I know i sound like a kid but trust me this entire year has been a big burden so far.. i can use some relief in the form of festivities.. maybe this time round i really have learnt that its bonds that matter the most and nothing else matters(what a coincidence listenin to it now..goose bumps...) really, all the insane (i said insane...) sacrifices for our materialistic pursuits for what? in the end its not the money we earned that buries us but our fathers , brothers, frens(not to leave out our mothers and sisters)... its the ppl arond us... they shed the tears.. not the currency or condo or car or credit cards..

they say tat if u truly love someone , everyday can be valentines day.. why not everyday be a festive day and all the ppl lovin and accomodating each others cultures and differences..

hmm this is startin me off on a thought train.. i shall not continue.. i have this habit of overthinkin certain issues..

Abstract Art..

ever wondered what could be so valuable about those splatters of paint on a canvas sheet that does not look like anything that you could possibly imagine?or why people pay millions to collect these senseless(in my opinion of course..) drawings (which they call abstract art) by guys with probably inflated egos, who existed during the renassaince..enough of me continually going on about the "abstract nature" of people who buy these abstract art which are not gonna make any sense but to the painters themselves.. but i have nothing against abstract art.. just the phonies who act and talk like they were renassaince culture vultures.. especially when they happen to be our regular next door asians.. i can bet they themselves do not comprehend half of the text(which they would have memorised from some website) they regurgitated to me..
anyway coming back to the point.. havent been updating the blog recently.. honestly, nothing much happened.. but i was having fun with creating all the "abstract" pictures for this site.. finally got some time to play around with Photoshop. its actually a versatile picture editting tool.Its quite amazing what you can do with jus lines and circles( which is wat i named the latest jalsa poster, hope some idiot comes forward to pay me a few hundred bucks for this..) Quite surprisingly, the shout box in my blog has suddenly come to life. it draws more feedback then the comment box, but i guess this is due to shout box giving a wider scope to comment on
..if only Leonardo had adobe.. damn....
good nite ..

Service Oriented

Well , nothing much to be said.. Read a forum on the government emphasizing on being service oriented. So, being a good citizen, i obliged and contributed to their proposal..
In case you are wondering what i am talking about.. take a look to your right buddy.. now you got the option of choosing the theme. You get to choose what you want to see when you are reading my blogs . ha, try beating that for service.. in a blog at least.. the con is that you only get 2 pictures for options as of now.. the third one does not count.. Unless you like blurred and blown up images..still in the works of fine tuning, getting the script to work was abit cumbersome.. ok people good nite..(sometimes i wonder , whom am i saying good nite to...)

Ghost Rider...

Had a good workout today along with great company.. its fun to indulge in healthy living as a group.. and i was kind of surprised to see the gym relatively empty(which is good as i dunt wanna lose face by carrying feather weights compared to the tonns the regulars carry).. considering it was peak hours and the weekend.
but i felt like i screwed myself when i headed out to eat at Macs.. didnt eat much tho, jus 2 burgers and a drink.. thats all..anyway while all of us were eating away.. the topic on supernaturals suddenly popped up.. and i being a good NS Man related all the "things" that i saw during my 2.5 year stint in Jln Bahar Camp.. so just like that one topic lead to another.. and by the time i reached home, i was on the topic of comic book heroes.
hmm.. so when you put the 2 topics together.. you get supernatural comic heroes. and who do you all get reminded of when i say supernatural comic book heroes?? keep thinkin.. for me it reminds me of who else.. the Ghost Rider..
He is one kick ass superhero with an equally kick ass motorbike who unfortunately does not seem to be getting much publicity.. guess he went underground.. anyway Nicholas Cage is playin the character.. but somehow or rather the movie really never kicked off..i assume that it got shelved due to a whole lot of other marvel and DC adaptions coming to the big screen. anyway i know i have been jumping topics.. but cant help it.. jus curious any othe Ghost Rider Fans out there??

The 3D Tour

The Magnum Opu... enough of this crap.. ok AR Rahman is coming to town.. God knows why he named his tourage " the 3rd dimensional tour".. do not get the wrong idea.. i am an ardent fan of ARR .. i might not have all his tracks and albums to prove my fanaticism but i really believe he is the best thing to happen to the Indian Movie/Music scene... Sure there are others such as Yuvan (YSR) and Ilayaraja (Honey music breeze) and various others with various synonyms..but none can actually compare with ARR.. he is simply one cut above the rest.. His music have this magical way of touching the soul.. one might not like his tunes instantly but slowly it creeps into your head and roots itself.. for some unknown reason , you simply cant get it out of your head.. i am sure all of you would have experienced it at some point of time.. for me, this time was the song ," marangothiyae" from A.A (formerly known as B.F).. even in my busiest moments , that song keeps looping over inside my head like some background score ..but the loop doesnt go beyond the words "marangothiyae...marangothiyae.." i wonder why..

coming back to the point..have you all checked the pricing for his show? if not pay a visit to SISTIC.. my goodness, the closest seats cost you 500 bucks and the cheapest seats are 50 bucks ( which doesnt make a difference as you are gonna invest another 45o bucks on telescope set, considering the distance between you and the stage)..hmmm.. i am a fan of his music, no doubt about it.. but would i pay this much ( even if i have the cash) to go and listen to music which i am eventually going to hear in MP3s (from the Net) or on SUN TV during the next Deepavali or Pongal..

Lets say that i am going in a group of 3 and i purchase the best seats.. i would have blown 1.5K out of my pockets.. 1.5K , an average man's monthly salary.. i know its a different experience but is it worth it.. We think so much when we come across a donation box to donate a few bucks.. but when it comes to ARR.. hmm.. any ideas why the partiality in the thoughts.. comments are welcome.. but its really gettin annoyin to see spam in my commentaries..

The Overdue Pics (just a sample)

I know .. i know.. my update column has been sayin that the birthday pictures are gonna be hosted on my blog.. but they never seem to arrive.. well here they are finally.. pls do take into consideration that the album lena presented me, had no proper shot of anyone.. all were candid.. if anyone is not happy with the pictures being posted up.. let me know.. i shall see what i can do dependin on my mood..


this is the closest to a proper shot i have and guess what our jalees did... he chose to show his telepathic brinjal smile...


ha.. Sha showing off her prized posession.. her tongue..


Doesn't Safi bring us back on a nostalgic trip?? remember... " Aunty i want Nasi Lemak and fried chicken and ..." back in primary school...


I warned Shan that teh ahliya is too strong for her.. didnt even get to finish her first cup and already she strated losing it.


This is one of my favourites.. Jalees declaring his gay feelings for chandra... and chandra actually is shying away... and our nasi lemak aunty is doing what she does best.. give the colgate advertisement smile.


The impossible had happened.. yasmin finally managed to laugh.. hey congrats.. keep it up..

New Look

Trying out some new look for raascal since i got some time to kill.. got sick of the old one.. page looks quite decent except that the banner turned out slightly larger than expected... blogspots actually cool.. it allows you to modify the site to your own taste.. You are not bound by any design or technical template.. hmm thinking of what to add next.. the idea of a stat counter flies out the window.. figured that most of the hits on the page would be by none other than myself, checkin to see if what i typed turned out right.. hmm still thinkin.. suggestions are welcomed.. type them at the shout box..

The MAGNUM AAPU-S

Ever wondered what the word magnum opus really mean? You would have come across it a few times .. Its also constantly splashed across the cine websites.. remember stuff like, "kaaka kaaka, the magnum opus of Surya" , " Anniyan , the latest magnum opus by Vikram.." or the ever popular.. "Marudhanayagam, the magnum opus of Kamal Hasan..."

I was having a chat with jalees when the magnum opus topic suddenly popped up and he too shares the same sentiments with me... why are all the writers/editors using the term like there is no tomorrow? Or are they trying to impress themselves by using such terms. ha ha. i mean, to the best of my knowledge, magnum opus means the best ever work of an artist or a writer. So are these cine site editors trying to say that Kaaka Kaaka is going to be Surya's best work ever or that Vikram will never have anymore hits after Anniyan? Thank God that our main man kamal has not released his "magnum opus" Marudhanayagam.. I believe he reinvents his style along with time and always raises the bar on the standard of acting, therefore its difficult to state his best ever.. Even at half a century..(tryin to be chim like the Magnum Opus Editors(whoeva they may be)) , Kamal still has got something to offer. Unlike his counterpart, whose "baba" was touted as the magnum opus (can u believe it?) .. i personally thought it was his "Magnum Aapu"till chandramukhi saved his grace.

Anyway, just for the benefit of any cine writer or editor chancing upon my blog...

mag·num opus
Pronunciation: 'mag-n&m-'O-p&s
Function: nounEtymology: Latin: a great work; especially : the greatest achievement of an artist or writer

just my bit for society..

the misunderstood invisible child..

i have been approched by many friends of mine.. and they all ask the same question. what is autism? some formulate their own ideas and co relate autism with low IQ or mental retardation. but sadly their understanding is no where close.. to put it honestly, not even the teachers aiding the autistic children have a full understanding of autism or its culture. stated below is a brief description of what autism is.. hopefully this helps in better understanding the child whom we have branded as mad/retarted/low iq..

What is Autism?
Autism is a biological disorder of the brain that impairs communication and social skills. It encompasses a broad spectrum of disorders that may range from mild to severe. Autistics have been described as being in their “own world”. Many high functioning autistics describe two worlds; “their world” and the “outside world”. Many autistics describe their experience as "thinking in pictures", to quote Dr. Temple Grandin. There are serious sensory challenges that accompany autism, and some say are the source of autism, that must be understood to fully comprehend the disorder .

• Some of the markers are as follows:
• Absence or delay of speech and language:
• Repetition of words (echolalia) in place of a normal verbal communication.
• Hand leading to communicate in place of verbal requests.
• Absence of verbal communication.
• Difficulty relating to other children and adults:
• Absence of eye contact. (When directly in front of the child, they may look in every direction, except at the individual in from of them)
• Apparent aloofness
• Lack of interest in other children and what the other children are doing.
• Lack of response to verbal requests.
• No response when name is called.
• Avoidance of physical contact (even with parents and siblings).
• Indifference to others in distress or pain.

Odd behaviors:

• Self-stimulation, spinning, rocking, hand flapping, etc
• Inappropriate laughter or tantrums for no apparent reason
• Inappropriate attachment to objects
• Obsessive compulsive behaviors i.e. lining up objects
• Repetitive odd play for extended periods of time. Example: stacking blocks for a half hour at a time
• Insistence on routine and sameness
• Difficulty dealing with interruption of routine schedule and change
• Possible self injurious behavior or aggressive behavior toward others

Sensory Challenges:

• Hyper (over) or Hypo (under) sensitivity of the five senses (See the discussion below)
• Abnormal responses to the senses
• A lack of response to pain or an overreaction to something seemingly minor such as a door closing

Sensory dysfunction :

In order to fully understand autism, a thorough knowledge of the sensory challenges that autistics face is necessary. For a typical individual, we take the normal function of our five senses for granted:
1. Vision 2. Hearing 3. Touch 4. Taste 5. Smell

Some Examples of the impact a dysfunctional sensory system may have.
A Walk Through the Neighborhood
A typical individual has no problem walking down the street with a friend, having a conversation, hearing the sounds of the neighborhood in the background, smelling the blooming spring flowers, and maybe chewing gum, all at the same time.
For an autistic individual, who has a dysfunctional sensory system, this typical experience may be completely overwhelming. The individual may be completely oblivious to the sounds of the neighborhood such as an ambulance screaming by, or may be totally overpowered by the smell of blooming flowers. The sun shining through the trees may be such an intense experience, it may inhibit the individual from being able to concentrate on walking down the sidewalk.
Thus this inability to mesh the senses appropriately may profoundly impact someone's ability to "act" and communicate in a "normal" fashion.

all the description gives us an impression that it cant happen to our children. to statistically put it.. 15 years back, 1 in 20000 child had autism, 10 years back 1 in 5000 had it.. now 1 in 166 have it.. as the spectrum of autism broadens the odds narrows.. pls dun take life for granted..

Disclaimer:
All contents except the first and last paragraphs are from the website http://www.autisminfo.com

disclaimers and updates..

never ever under estimate the importance of a disclaimer.. sure it might be irritating to always state a disclaimer before you begin any sentence , but if it can save your ass at critical times, why not? i mean a disclaimer allows you to speak out almost(even this turns out to be a disclaimer) anythin varying from points of views to statements against another individual/organisation... and you still get to go back home in one piece after that or you still get to see some cash in your bank account.

anyway, coming to point. just added a few things to raascal, the "disclaimer" and the "any updates" , people familiar with me should know why i added that in.. customizing the html codes was like being back in poly, generating a website for a school project.. but it was fun. planning to integrate live broadcasts.. so if you all have anything to say .. let me know.

Bose..

people.. those who have not heard ARR's recent release.. bose: the forgotten hero, please do.under anycost. was just listening to some of its songs.. ARR has this gift to infuse emotions to his melodies.. almost the entire collection is drenched in patriotism.. especially the track "aazadi" .. the repeated shots of goose bumps while listenin to it sends the body into a feverish state.. guess ARR is coming back to form.. hadnt felt like this after mudhalvan and rhythm..by the way the story of the movie seems to have hit some controversy, which is why the release of this movie is hindered.. read more abt it on http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/may/13bose1.htm

joining the band wagon...

finally the inselberg (me of course..) has succumbed to fate..
the consequence..... raascal.blogspot.com

told myself never to start a blog and be another sheep... a sheep that follows the in thing along with the countless other bloggers.. the pain of betraying my own code is tremendous.. the shame .. the agony.. indescribable!

but jalees has managed to shrive me from my guilt by highlighting(knowingly or unknowingly) some of bloggings advantages..

none the less.. have to come up with some commandments for myself...
1) i am not gonna enter my daily events..
2) i shall not write anythin for the sake of writing a blog..
ok for now i shall stop with this 2.. shall ammend the list as and when needed..
what have i gotten myself into..