Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.
-Glenda Cloud
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thought of the day - 29th Apr 2008
"In terms of being late or not starting at all, then it's never too late."
- Alison Headley
Monday, April 28, 2008
Things you hear in airplanes
On a Continental Flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude And will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."
Heard on a Southwest Airline flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing and if You can light 'em, you can smoke 'em."
On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have."
"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane."
"Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."
As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Ronald Reagan, alone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"
After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."
From a Southwest Airlines employee: "Welcome aboard Southwest flight 245 to Tampa. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."
"In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite."
Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines."
"Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."
"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."
And from the pilot during his welcome message: "Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"
Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in Salt Lake City: The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, "That was Quite a bump, and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault, it was the asphalt."
Overheard on an American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the flight attendant said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"
Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."
Thought of the day - 28th Apr 2008
Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.
- Goethe
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thought of the day - 25th Apr 2008
Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what have you had?
- Henry James
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thought of the day - 24th Apr 2008
There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth -- not going all the way, and not starting.
- Buddha
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Thought of the day - 23rd Apr 2008
Maybe the most any of us can expect of ourselves isn't perfection but progress.
- Michelle Burford, O Magazine, 2003
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thought of the day - 22nd April 2008
I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: 'Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.' I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have - When he gives everything that is in him to do the job he has before him. That is all you can ask of him and that is what I have tried to do.
Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thought of the day - 21st Apr 2008
It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.
- Moliere
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Mughal-e-azam
This is one of my favorites scenes from one of my favorite movies. This movie was made way back when, in pre-Independence India, in black and white. Recently, it was colored and the music was improved to the current technological standards. No, the movie was not re-made, could not even if they tried, so much of the cast, including the heroine are dead, but they colored it, using technology and a truckload of dedication and patience. That's what we do in India these days! And people still ask me if it's true that it's possible to come across an elephant on an Indian road.
Well, that's true too!
Well, that's true too!
The Rolling Stones
It's a nice book by Robert my-favorite-sci-fi-author Heinlein. What he does best is create a fiction and have it connected, and I mean very well connected with reality. In this one he has explained the title and the philosophy on the last-but-one page in Hazel Stone's words -
"The race has been doing it for all time. The dull ones stay home - the bright ones stir around and try to see what trouble they can dig up."
I'd like to be in the second category. I'd very much like to be a rolling stone.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thought of the day - 17th Apr 2008
Thought of the day - 17th Apr 2008
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thought of the day - 16th Apr 2008
Thought of the day - 16th Apr 2008
“The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.”
- Lloyd Jones
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Dreaming - the sleeping kind
...or maybe not so sleeping kind. I have had this interest in lucid dreams since I read Patricia Garfield's book on the topic. I have had some semi-lucid to lucid dreams in the past, simply by accident and they are fantastic. So once again I have come back to this topic and these days trying to work up to them.
No success yet, but my efforts are not all-out so success will be slow, I understand.
No, I am not going to describe what lucid dreams are. Go Google! :-P
No success yet, but my efforts are not all-out so success will be slow, I understand.
No, I am not going to describe what lucid dreams are. Go Google! :-P
Thought of the day - 15th Apr 2008
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thought of the day - 14th April 2008
Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.
- Joseph P. Thompson
- Joseph P. Thompson
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The other girl - Laughter Challenge
Parizad Kolah, the original inspiration to watch The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, er...I mean the original anchor girl.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thought of the day - 10th April 2008
"Young is the one that plunges in the future and never looks back."
- Milan Kundera
- Milan Kundera
The Golden Age
I am getting pretty sick of people saying "Ah! Childhood was such a golden age!", or "When we were younger, life was so good!" No, it was not! Not by a damn sight! At that time you were sick of those things that bothered you at that time! But right now those things don't bother you so you look at the things that bother you at *this* time and think of the past as a good period.
Looking at me, you may find it hard to believe but I was myself a child once. I still remember a lot of my childhood, boyhood and teenage just like everybody, or maybe a little better because I remember both parts, the good and the bad. When I was a child, my constant troubles were a lack of control, the grownups had all the control, they had a say in everything and only they had any say. I could not control what I wanted to wear, where I wanted to go or how much to play or what to eat.
In boyhood, this problem intensified, I got some control and that made me even more acutely aware of the control I didn't have over so many things. Worries about school work, home work, exams, grades and so many other things came into my life. Sure I had friends and a number of other things to enjoy but I am telling you why it was not a golden age.
In teenage, the problem of control over one's life gets worse as you start fighting for control. To add to this are the worries about your future, college or job. Plus by this time the whole thing about love, sex and romance start coming into play to complicate everything. Just like any other age there are fun things to enjoy in teenage as well, but it's not the best or the only good period of our life.
Now comes the present time. I have a lot of worries, majorly the job and finance. I am responsible for paying my own debts and finding my own work. And that's not all I am responsible for, I have to get out of bed every day, wait, that I had to do to go to school too...hmmm...well, I have to work. But studying in school was not always a picnic, it took work. But now I am more aware of the global problems like pollution, global warming, terrorism in the world, falling governments and all of that. But to be honest, it was all there before too, I just didn't know about it. And does a risk become less risky if you don't know about it?
Now, since I am the one responsible for finding work for myself, I am the one who can choose where or what I want to do. I can read what I like I can go to the movies 7 nights a week if I want, I can stay up as late as I want, I can decide what to do with my life. I can waste a whole night playing video games if I so desire. (Statutory note: Does not apply to married men!)
So, the equation as I see is this. Responsibilities and rights both increased with time and now I am left more responsibilities and more power over my life. So basically what you are mourning for when you get nostalgic about childhood is that age when you had less knowledge, less power and less responsibility for your life. Well, for all I care you may enjoy that nostalgia as long as you want. For me, I had a great childhood, a really enjoyable boyhood, a fantastic teenage and an amazing youth, but I am not going to mourn any of that, I am too busy enjoying my present.
Looking at me, you may find it hard to believe but I was myself a child once. I still remember a lot of my childhood, boyhood and teenage just like everybody, or maybe a little better because I remember both parts, the good and the bad. When I was a child, my constant troubles were a lack of control, the grownups had all the control, they had a say in everything and only they had any say. I could not control what I wanted to wear, where I wanted to go or how much to play or what to eat.
In boyhood, this problem intensified, I got some control and that made me even more acutely aware of the control I didn't have over so many things. Worries about school work, home work, exams, grades and so many other things came into my life. Sure I had friends and a number of other things to enjoy but I am telling you why it was not a golden age.
In teenage, the problem of control over one's life gets worse as you start fighting for control. To add to this are the worries about your future, college or job. Plus by this time the whole thing about love, sex and romance start coming into play to complicate everything. Just like any other age there are fun things to enjoy in teenage as well, but it's not the best or the only good period of our life.
Now comes the present time. I have a lot of worries, majorly the job and finance. I am responsible for paying my own debts and finding my own work. And that's not all I am responsible for, I have to get out of bed every day, wait, that I had to do to go to school too...hmmm...well, I have to work. But studying in school was not always a picnic, it took work. But now I am more aware of the global problems like pollution, global warming, terrorism in the world, falling governments and all of that. But to be honest, it was all there before too, I just didn't know about it. And does a risk become less risky if you don't know about it?
Now, since I am the one responsible for finding work for myself, I am the one who can choose where or what I want to do. I can read what I like I can go to the movies 7 nights a week if I want, I can stay up as late as I want, I can decide what to do with my life. I can waste a whole night playing video games if I so desire. (Statutory note: Does not apply to married men!)
So, the equation as I see is this. Responsibilities and rights both increased with time and now I am left more responsibilities and more power over my life. So basically what you are mourning for when you get nostalgic about childhood is that age when you had less knowledge, less power and less responsibility for your life. Well, for all I care you may enjoy that nostalgia as long as you want. For me, I had a great childhood, a really enjoyable boyhood, a fantastic teenage and an amazing youth, but I am not going to mourn any of that, I am too busy enjoying my present.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
You know how sometimes governments try to propagate their own agenda with er...propaganda (pun intended)? There was such an effort a few years back by the Indian Government, and the agenda was to promote national unity and broadcast a message of goodwill and cheer among the diverse masses of India. Yes, it was a good agenda.
As part of this they got some musicians together and created a video clip. The clip was both simple and profound (most times you will see this connection. There was a two line well, song or couplet or whatever you may call it, that was sung throughout this presentation, but in different languages, using the same tune but varying the instrument based on the culture/language being represented on the screen. I am not going to describe the whole thing since that's why I am uploading the original video but I'll translate it for those of my readers who don't understand any of the languages in the clip. I myself understand only a couple of them.
They are singing, literally translated:
My note (musical note, not banknote hehe), when merged with your note (again musical note) becomes our note.
The rivers of notes, from every direction, flow down and merge into the ocean,
they turn into clouds and fall gently down as rain.
That's it. But the musical composition is quite haunting (not in a scary way) and recently when I downloaded this clip, purely on a whim, I found that I still remembered some non-Hindi parts of it, the parts that had been etched in my memory without an effort because I had seen it so many times between TV programs as a filler.
But on the whole, I liked how it presents a nice message with nice music. Simple yet profound.
Watch it if you have the patience for most people, even most Indians won't understand most of it, but it's still watchable. Do tell me if I am wrong.
Oh one more thing, prominent personalities of India appear throughout the presentation, mostly, I suspect with the langauge of the region they belong to.
As part of this they got some musicians together and created a video clip. The clip was both simple and profound (most times you will see this connection. There was a two line well, song or couplet or whatever you may call it, that was sung throughout this presentation, but in different languages, using the same tune but varying the instrument based on the culture/language being represented on the screen. I am not going to describe the whole thing since that's why I am uploading the original video but I'll translate it for those of my readers who don't understand any of the languages in the clip. I myself understand only a couple of them.
They are singing, literally translated:
My note (musical note, not banknote hehe), when merged with your note (again musical note) becomes our note.
The rivers of notes, from every direction, flow down and merge into the ocean,
they turn into clouds and fall gently down as rain.
That's it. But the musical composition is quite haunting (not in a scary way) and recently when I downloaded this clip, purely on a whim, I found that I still remembered some non-Hindi parts of it, the parts that had been etched in my memory without an effort because I had seen it so many times between TV programs as a filler.
But on the whole, I liked how it presents a nice message with nice music. Simple yet profound.
Watch it if you have the patience for most people, even most Indians won't understand most of it, but it's still watchable. Do tell me if I am wrong.
Oh one more thing, prominent personalities of India appear throughout the presentation, mostly, I suspect with the langauge of the region they belong to.
Thought of the day - 9th April 2008
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."
-Jim Rohn
-Jim Rohn
--
"He who deliberates fully before taking a step will spend his entire
life on one leg."
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Laughter challenge beauty
The two anchorgirls in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge also provide a good incentive to watch the show. this one is called Shonali Nagrani.
Thought of the day - 8th April 2008
You always pass failure on the way to success.
- Mickey Rooney (1920 - )
- Mickey Rooney (1920 - )
--
"He who deliberates fully before taking a step will spend his entire
life on one leg."
Monday, April 07, 2008
Thought of the day - 7th April 2008
“More powerful than the will to win is the courage to begin.” - Unknown
Friday, April 04, 2008
Thought of the day - 4th April 2008
Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life.
-Herbert Otto
-Herbert Otto
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Thought of the day - 2nd April 2008
Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
More Google on April 1st, 2008
With Google Australia gDay you can search for web pages 24 hours before they are created.
http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/press.html
Organizing the world's laughter with Google Dajare in Japan.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=990
Sending emails back in time with gmail Custom Time
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html
Thought of the day - 1st April 2008
Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.
I am going to Mars
Well, didn't you know Google is planning the first permanent human colony on Mars? Here's the low-down on it, check it out and join it.
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html
I tried but this is the assessment I got.
Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life. If you're determined to give Virgle a try, though, you can submit your video here.
Oh, these guys are just too much! I could not help laughing aloud when I read their questionnaire and the hilarious multiple choice answers
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html
I tried but this is the assessment I got.
Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life. If you're determined to give Virgle a try, though, you can submit your video here.
Oh, these guys are just too much! I could not help laughing aloud when I read their questionnaire and the hilarious multiple choice answers
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