This Christmas...don't be a wanker

This post is PG13 - Strong language, violent outbursts, sexual references.

During lunch break today, I went into Boots in Trinity centre. As I was walking in the entrance I could not help but notice the long queue. I looked up and it

led to a counter with the sign "Please Pay Here". I walked in further cautiously and noticed the queue stretching to worrying proportions. By the time I reached

the end of the queue I had made up my mind "I will come back later." I only wanted some vitamin C with Zinc tablets. Not worth spending lunch break in Boots.

While I was walking back a store assistant came from the other side pushing a high cart full of merchandise. I moved aside to let her

pass and was able to witness the interaction between her and the guy on the other side who was standing in the queue. He was an

able-bodied, middle-aged man, holding only one or two small items in his hands. And the girl was a small, young girl maybe 19, if that. Based on the fragments of sentences and the facial expressions I could get this is how the exchange went.

Middle-aged bloke, angrily "Excucse me! Can they not open another counter or something?"
Girl, meekly "I don't know but I will ask, sir."
Middle-aged bloke, with a visual snarl "Would be worthwhile asking, wouldn't it? "

I looked back as I stepped in the aisle again and the look on his face was of pure hatred as if that store girl was responsible for all the problems in his life! I looked to the girl and she looked like somebody had just taken a shot at her! This man had just spoiled her day for her!

Knowing it was useless to say anything I kept my mouth shut and walked away but in my mind I was thinking "You miserable fucking sod! So you have to stand 10 minutes extra in a queu e during the busiest shopping season of the year at the busiest time of the day to buy a gift for someone, so what? What the fuck would you achieve by buying someone a £50 gift? What does it matter if it were a £500 pound gift? If you can't actually spread goodwill and cheer among your fellow humans does it matter if you buy all the gifts in the world for your family?

And that, in case you didn't know, is my problem with Christmas. It's too commercial, it's too themed, it's too narrow.

The message from uncle Sunny is - you may be a great gift-giver and a very generous friend, father or business associate but if you can't be nice to people you are still a wanker! 

Musical Memories

Today I was watching this Indian movie award show #Filmfare2015 recording on my train journey home. It's old, from early 2015 and I have seen it before but I like it because one of the comperors was my favourite comedian Kapil Sharma. And then this song came on in the nominees for the Best Music...and the memories came flooding back! No, not the memories of shooting that song...lol..I wish..but the memories of my last trip to India when I took so many road trips with #mykids and I DJ'ed in most of those journeys using my tablet.

I remembered falling in love with this song during that visit. Not when I Dj'ed but on my own I did loop-played it almost all the time. I think my kids might have become sick of it that time.

Hearing it again today brought back the memories of that legendary trip and of course, I miss my kids!

So, yeah, I played it on loop on the walk back from the station, instead of my usual audiobook. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmWL-JxUGZc

Of course, the song was the winner of the Best Music category. Hehe.

The movie is called "2 States" and the music is by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. I can't do justice to the song but loosely translate the chorus of the song means "My crazy heart keeps repeating your name. Can't forget even it tried."

The Flash And The Arrow

I must write this post before I watch too much of the Arrow. I have already watched 9 episodes of the first season and I've got to say what a refreshing change from The Flash. The weirdest thing is that it has essentially the same writing team as The Flash (I checked) but the characters and events in the Arrow are so much more sensible. I don't have contempt for Oliver Queen even when he makes a bad decision. His bad decisions come from being human not from being stupid. Like his decision to trust Helena, for example.

Even when I watched the Flash there was some cross over from The Arrow I could see then that I'd enjoy watching The Arrow even before I knew that he was a real character and there was a show called the Arrow. In the first episode when Flash goes to see Oliver to find his way, the Arrow made an impression on me. Then Felicity came to see Flash and oh yeah, that was love at first sight for me.

When I saw the episode name Flash vs. Arrow, I kind of cringed because I don't really like to have hero against hero. But that episode was amazing! And once again the Arrow earned my respect. Another episode where the Arrow came to help the Flash. Every time he appeared on the Flash he dominated the scene, both from an actor's performance viewpoint and the character's screen presence.

So, I am really happy that this show exists, that it has 4 seasons on tape and that it's amazing.

The whole approach here is different. I can't help but compare it with the Flash for obvious reasons. Here Oliver Queen gets as much screen time, more in fact, than the Arrow. Here, his name is still "the Hood" even after 9 episodes. Here his team is building slowly, growing organically as such a team would in real life. He still has only Diggles to help him. I am eagerly waiting for Felicity to join him. Soo, I hope.

Well, I will cut it short and just say, I am really, really enjoying the Arrow and I recommend it highly to the viewers of this genre.

The Flash Season 1 Finale - The Bullshit Continues

SPOILER ALERT: Dude, I am gonna discuss the whole plot of the season 1 finale of The Flash, so major, major spoilers. 

As I mentioned in my last post on The Flash, I find Barry Allen stupid. But not all of his stupidity comes from his character, quite a lot of it comes from the writers of the show. This episode is an excellent case in point. So I will discuss the episode with special focus on Barry.

In this season finale Barry goes back to 15 years ago to save his mother from being murdered. Back to the Future 2 style. Before the move is made it is discussed and discovered that if he goes back and saves his mother's life, the timeline will change drastically, his father would not go to jail, he would not live with Joe, he would not meet Iris, etc. etc.

Some of the characters say he should do it, some say he should not, and there are a number of sappy scenes for all them, so many that it gets annoying. Only saving grace there is that the actors are all good and don't hem it up despite the opportunity to do so.

We get to know from the beginning that this is a very risky experiment and if Barry can't go as fast as needed he will die instantly. Then as preparations progress we find out that not only will he die but the whole world as we know it may be destroyed. Despite all of this Barry decides to do it. I mentioned in the last post on The Flash that he can't make a difficult decision. This is a case in point.  Although he makes a brave decision to risk his life but he risks the whole world for a personal gain.
Other than destroying the whole world, there is a risk that the alternate timeline could lead a to a terrible world for mankind but he doesn't care about that.

But, on the other hand, there are no paradoxes in time travel therefore if his blood was on the scene that means he did go back that means he will go back. The decision has already been made. Fine.

Then we come to the point which irritates the hell out of me! Just because it's a sci-fi show doesn't mean it has to be scientifically correct in every technical detail, especially on the future technology. So, the writer/director will take creative licence and that's fine. But on conceptual level it should not try to fool the audience with mumbo-jumbo. Time travel is a concept with which even the non-geek audience is familiar and at least the geeks know what a causal loop is.

Now, listen to this. Just before Barry is getting ready to go back in Time, Cisco tells him that there will be THREE of Barry Allen's there that night. One, the young child, the other as The Flash who gets the young Barry out and fights Dr. Wells, and the third, this one who's listening to Cisco just before going back. I will number them so we can discuss them without running into our own backs. Barry1 - the small child, Barry2 - The Flash fighting the man in yellow, Barry3 - who is just about to go back and save his mother. All clear? Now raise your hand if you can answer the next question.

Barry1 - The child lives there in his current time line, wakes up by the noise and comes down.
Barry2 - Went back in time to save his mother.
Barry3 - Where did Barry3 come from? 

Why are there 2 grown up Barry's or Flash's there on the scene? One is going back from the current year, but where's the other one coming from? My understanding was that the Flash going back now is The Flash fighting the man in yellow. How do they ADD a Flash? There's no mention of another time journey by a Flash and no explanation why there's a third Barry there on the scene.

I hope someone has the answer to it because it irritated the hell out of me when I was watching this episode!

For a bonus question try this. In the episode "Out of Time" when Barry goes back in time by a day, there is NO OTHER BARRY. He is the only Barry in that world and he has to live his day exactly that same again. So what happened to the Barry who is actually living his life on that timeline? They mention particularly that the Flash "Did not turn back the time" but "Traveled back in time" which means that that timeline should have a Barry/Flash already there that the Barry/Flash from future can see. That's how it works in all the sci-fi in the universe and that's how it make sense. But no, not for The Flash.

And then, they change the rules completely in the finale and add an extra Flash. What annoys me even more is that they keep mentioning Back to the Future, so they do know these things, or should! In BTTF 2 you can see the Marty from BTTF1 and the Marty from BTTF2 avoids being seen by the other Marty. Makes perfect sense. When Marty and Doc go to the future, they can see and hear the future Marty. Perfectly clear. Here however, the rules of Time Travel in the Flash are neglected and played with.

I have 3 theories to explain this kind of writing, feel free to choose one or add a new one if you like.

1. The writers are not real geeks and do not really know about these things even after watching sci-fi like BTTF before.
2. The writers are idiots who can not comprehend anything as complex as time travel.
3. The writers think we are idiots who do not understand something as complex as time travel.

In the end, he doesn't save his mother. He waits off-screen and lets the man in yellow kill her. Okay, that made me admire him as that is THE MOST difficult thing in the world to do and he does it to save the timeline. But then I remember that he risked the whole world and the future of Mankind to say goodbye to his mother and it makes me mad again!

When he goes back, he crashes Dr. Wells' time capsule and doesn't let him go back. What a stupid moron! Instead of letting him go back he stops the one person he cannot beat and traps him in this time. What an amazingly stupid thing to do! And there's no point to it except his personal feelings! There's no real reason for stopping him from going back!

A fight ensues, as expected. At the climactic point, Eddie, Iris' boyfriend, shoots himself as he knows he is the ancestor of Dr. Wells/Ebart and this way he kills himself to kill Ebart. Once again a moronic decision by someone who is supposed to be an intelligent person. Does he not recognize that it would not "Kill" Ebart, it would "ERASE" him completely from the timeline, which means all of his influence on the events of the past will be erased - no particle accelerator, no accident, no Flash, and that's just the obvious things. A change of that magnitude would endanger the whole world! And it does!

So, you can see why I am not pleased with this slipshod way of writing science fiction.

Don't worry, it looks like this will be my last post on The Flash. I finished watching season 1 and have no desire to carry on in season 2. However, what I do like in The Flash, is the cool fast motion effect and how the show reminds me of Sheldon in Big Bang Theory doing Flash. :)

P.S. I am going to watch The Arrow next. That's been my gain from watching this stupid show - I found out about the Arrow and the adorable Emily Bett Rickards! :)

The Flash - Stupidest Man Alive?

Spoiler alert: This post contains major spoilers for The Flash season 1.

Okay, so I am watching the first season of The Flash the first time and I have some stuff to moan about.

The show is well directed and it's easy to watch. While it's not as amazing as Firefly (nothing ever is or ever will be) where you actually care about the characters but at least you can watch the characters with interest. So, let's talk about some of them.

The Flash. I know he's doing a great thing by being The Flash and fighting crime and what not but seriously if you look at him he's stupid, naive and he's a pussy. It looks like he has trouble figuring out the simplest of things and that he has never taken a tough decision in his life. Dude, your mom died when you were young, murdered, didn't you learn anything in the 15 years?

Whenever he's faced with a villain, he rushes in. Even when he knows the villain has powers that can kill him. Yes, they want us to think he's brave, but that's the kind of bravery that's called stupidity. He makes no plan, he just bumbles in like an idiot. This is demonstrated very well in the episode "Flash vs. The Arrow."

Second, his body moves very fast, but his brains seems to work like a malnourished moron. In any situation, he'd do the thing that an idiot should do. Take the episode where he travels back in time by a day. Harrison Wells tells him specifically not to do anything different as that would have serious repercussions and he just goes and does something so big that it can't but have the granddaddy of repercussions. I mean, doesn't he read science-fiction, he's a geek, right? And it's shown in previous episodes that they have all watched Back to the Future. WTF, dude?

The supreme irony is that even after changing his behaviour so drastically from the first instance of the timeline he expects everything else to happen as it did the previous day. What a jackass!

Take the episode "All Star Team Up". He's up against the main villainess, she unleashes her robot bees at him. What does he do? Instead of using his super-speed to cuff her, take control of the computers, and win the day, he starts running around like a schoolboy to escape the bees. And then when he comes to a glass window, instead of using his super-speed to break the glass and get away, he's like "Oh, Cisco! I am trapped! There are bees all around me!" Gimme a break! Didn't he learn just in the last episode "Tricksters" how to go through solid material? And now he can't go through a huge glass window that a 5-year old would break by hurling a chair at it? Jeez!

Enough about the super moron. Let's talk about Iris. Absolute bitch!

Right from episode one I can see that she's a selfish bitch. Selfish, self-centered, near-sighted, stupid bitch! Way too many examples to give so I will try to restrain myself.

Barry has feelings for her. They both grew up together and still she doesn't see it. That takes some serious neglect of the other person because girls are a wizard at noticing these things. Look at how she treats Barry, how she treats Flash, how she treats her boyfriend, you will see what a selfish bitch she really is. Still, I don't blame Barry for loving her, because love is blind, and we just proved that Barry Allen is stupid.

In the episode "Out of Time" she confesses she has feelings for Barry and kisses him WHILE she is in a live-in relationship with her boyfriend AND AT THE VERY SAME MOMENT her father is tied up at the mercy of a super bad villain type person. Awesome girl!

Her blog - what a stupid idea! Endanger yourself and your family even after multiple warnings from multiple people. Even after finding out that the newspaper gave her a job only to exploit her as a "Flash person" and knowing she has told Flash to never contact her, she doesn't leave the job on moral grounds. Selfish, manipulative.

I think by episode 18 everyone should be able to see her true colours when she's like a dog with a bone about how her boyfriend should tell her everything. Even giving him an ultimatum. WHILE at the same time, she never tells her boyfriend about Barry's feelings for her and actively tries to hush it up a couple of times. Double-standard, cantakerous bitch! (I realize I am using the B-word too many times. Can you suggest some juicy synonyms?)

The character I like in this is The Arrow. The actor (I can't be bothered to look up his name now) has brought him to life as a mature, experienced vigilante, who has done it all and seen it all. I was dreading the episode "Flash vs. Arrow" from the title but I loved it when I watched it because I got to see The Arrow in action. And it was worthwhile. He also understands human nature and plans for it.

And my favourite person on the show is "Felicity". I say person because I love both - the character and the actress! Having worked with actors now I am aware of how much a good actor can change themselves to adapt to a role. Therefore I don't know how much she's really like "Felicity" but I love how she portrays her. Felicity is a breath of fresh air in all the drama. She's gorgeous, she's funny, she's witty and she has mad hacking skills. She's just adorable!

(And now you know why I chose that picture with this post!)

When she first appeared on the show I didn't even know who she was but I loved her at first sight. And the more I got to know her the more I loved her. Emily Bett Rickards. Yes, her name I googled even before the episode was over! She plays Felicity so well, I can't tell where her own personality finishes and where Felicity starts. It maybe the producers picked someone who was like the character or it maybe she's completely opposite of Felicity but she does a hell of a job as Felicity. When I finish Season 1, I would probably re-watch only those episodes where The Arrow and/or Felicity are in the picture.

So, a rant and a rave in the same post. Breathe!

My Sorrow My Music

I have realized that even though I listen to at least 10 different genres of music in at least 8 different languages, when your mood is pensive and you don't know why (or even if you do know why) there's nothing like Urdu ghazals to suit that mood. Urdu poetry feels like the a warm hug from a dear friend. It holds you, supports you and makes you feel better without saying a lot of words.

Try this ghazal if you want to see what I mean.

https://play.google.com/music/m/Tufujfpshaf3uq6px4gimjkenky?t=Kisko_Aati_Hai_Masihai_-_Jagjit_Singh

Dude, Where's My Personality?

"You didn't have a personality you had some TV shows you liked!"

This line is said by Leonard to Sheldon in "Big Bang Theory". They are having a discussion about girlfriends and how they change a person. Sheldon suddenly realizes the effect Amy has had on him and says that he has unwittingly allowed her to change his personality. And Leonard responds with the line quoted above. It's quite funny but also not entirely true.

If you think about it, the TV shows and movies we like are an integral part of our personality. We like a show because it resonates with something in us. Either we like its humour or we are entertained by its action or we like how the drama on the screen provokes the thoughts in us. Some of the most animated conversations I have had with friends, and sometimes with complete strangers went something like this:

"Did you watch xxx? It was hilarious!"
"Oh yes, I loved so and so in the such and such character. He was amazing!"
"And did you know he did a movie recently where he played the xxx?"
"Really? I must watch that!"

And the thing just takes off from there.

In "How I Met Your Mother" when Ted is dating Robin he makes her watch Star Wars and he really wants her to like it. To the extent that she pretends to like it. Similarly in "Big Bang Theory" the guys get really flustered if the girls mix up "Star Wars" and "Star Trek".

Penny: No, no, that's Star Trek. They get really bothered if you mix them up.
Amy: Why? What's the difference?
Penny: There IS NO DIFFERENCE!

I watch these and I am like "Come on guys, they are just movies. Lighten up."

But then suddenly this morning I realised would I really have a future with someone who didn't like "Firefly"? Can you imagine the arguments? Would I knowingly date someone who is not into science fiction?

Imagine the first date.

Me: Have you seen Firefly?
Her: No. What is it?
Me: Oh, it's an amazing science fiction show made by Joss...
Her: Science fiction? No, no, I don't waste time on that stuff.
Me: Check please!

I do sincerely think that science fiction, the good kind at least, opens up our minds and broadens our horizons.

And do our heroes, (the super and the normal kind) not inspire us? We learn a lot from the characters that we admire, how to do the right thing, not be a douche, with great power comes great responsibility, these many other things we have learnt from our favourite shows and movies.

So, that's my epiphany from this morning. Thoughts?

Keep Your Damn Approval to Yourself

That's sounds quite nice and straightforward, doesn't it? This quote in the image? And it makes sense we should be comfortable with who we are and what we do rather than base our sense of self-worth on the opinion of others. Am I right?

Wrong! All those sensible sounding words sum up to one thing - Bullshit! Utter and pure bullshit!

We, all of us who are considered social animals, are programmed to seek the approval of others whether we do it consciously or subconsciously. Yes, even those people who make it a point to tell the world they don't want anyone's approval do actually seek approval. Sometimes more than the others.

There is noone that I know of, not one person, who violates this rule. It applies to poor and rich, downtrodden and powerful alike. We live in a society, we live by its rules, or we face the consequences, so we are constantly seeking its approval, we just don't think about it.

Otherwise, it would be common knowledge (without the expose) that the Pope was guilty of child molestation. The Pope is a powerful man, and by no means poor, why would he hide his activities? Simply because he knows what he is doing is not approved by society and law.

At an other extreme, take Mother Theresa. I am sure she didn't help the people in need because she wanted to get any applause, but I'd be 1 to 100 that it did make her feel good when the society took notice of her good deeds and appreciated her for the wonderful person she was!

This programming starts early in our childhood, remember the "good boy" "bad boy" concept? What is that? Simply seeking your parents' approval. Then it goes on to school, with the grades actually quantifying how much approval you have got.

Some people who don't go to school or drop out, they get the approval in other ways. By making money! Bill Gates maybe be a high school drop out but he is a very rich and successful (read: has money) therefore he meets the society's approval

It is everywhere. When you are keeping your car under speed limit, you are doing things the approved way. I know some people would point out that they do go over the speed limit. Sure. But do you do it in front of a police car or speed camera? You are not defying shit, you are just sure you won't be caught.

Approval comes in various flavours and styles. When people laugh at your jokes, when someone clicks Like on your Facebook post, when your boss says "Good work!", when your girlfriend says "Oh, you are so romantic!" they are all forms of approval and you eat all of them up!

But why do we say we don't need the approval?

Because it makes us feel better. Even though we all conform, we all also want to be known as the Rebels. It makes us feel good! And we always back it up with little acts of rebellion that don't cause much harm. Unfortunately I can't expound on this theme without giving away my little professional secrets.

But seeking approval is not a bad thing. Much as we would all like to be bad boys and bold girls, civilisation as we know it could not handle it.

Imagine if nobody followed the law, nobody cared about the social conventions and noone gave a damn about appearing nice, ...well, we would be worse than animals. And we would perish.


Now, I don't give a damn if you like my blog post or not since I only write for myself but...;-)

Wrong or More Wrong?

You decide!

Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Movie Review - Awesomeness Exemplified

In all honesty, it would be unfair to call this a review. It should be called a rave. And here I feel the need to put the disclaimer, I have not been paid any money by Joss Whedon or Marvel for this review, I have not been sent or offered any inducements and all the four times that I have watched this movie I have done so with my own money.

Having said that, I did absolutely love the movie! Not surprising considering I have been a hard core fan of Joss Whedon ever since I watched "Serenity" follow by "Firefly". You can read how that happened in this post: http://sunilgoswami.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/firefly-i-joined-cult.html

I was in India when Avengers 2 was released. I watched the trailer and was immediately convinced that it was not a movie to miss. I should clarify here that my main purpose in watching movies is entertainment. Any messages or learning has to be incidental. And Avengers promised to be super entertaining.

(trailer)

With great expectations I booked the second most expensive movie tickets in Delhi with my kids. (And to this day I regret not booking the most expensive ones. If any movie was ever worth it, it's this one.) Usually, I am not a big believer in 3D. It was good for the first few movies that came out as a novelty feature but after that I feel that it's become more of a gimmick, a buzzword to lure the audience and (in some cases) hide the poor storyline.

However, I am not one of those who sleep with their back to the future. I do know that it can be a powerful aid to storytelling if used right. That's the trick, if it's used right by the director, it's an amazing aid to storytelling, if it's used just to add a buzzword to the movie, it's arduous and boring. If I am peering through glasses for hours just to watch a movie you need to make it worth my while.

I would like to give two examples here. Final Destination 5 (2011), 3D is used as a gimmick, throwing things at the audience and such similar stunts. I walked out of that movie a little before halfway through. Three Musketeers (2011) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1509767/) the director has used the 3D technology that lends itself to the storytelling. I was spellbound till the very end. Watch them both if you haven't and see if I am wrong.

So, giving Marvel and Joss Whedon the benefit of the doubt I booked the 3D show, on the day that it was released. And I was right. The 3D aspect of the movie has been planned as carefully as the rest of the movie. The screen is used as a stage for the action and it feels all real that way but there's no gimmicky action and no stupid things being thrown at the audience.

Now about the movie itself. If you loved "Avengers" you are going to absolutely love "Avengers: Age of Ultron". In my personal opinion it's even better than the first. And here's why I think so.

There are more awesome characters in it, but all the characters have been giving enough screen time to do justice with them. Because the movie is part of the Marvel series you know the characters well by now and you know what they are all about. And they are all true to themselves in this movie which makes the audience identify well with them. Also we already know the actors playing those characters and it makes it easier for us to like them.

The story is complete in itself but also fits well as part of the large story arc that has been going on including Avengers 1, the 3 Iron Man movies, the 2 Captain American movies, Marvel's Hulk movie, the 2 Thor movies (did I forget any?) and the comic books.

You don't need to know anything just to enjoy this movie, but the more you know Marvel's characters and the back stories the more you enjoy the film.

The dialogue is so amazingly witty and lively that you would remember it and it would haunt you. I have watched this movie 4 times by now and every time I have been impressed by the dialogue. This is especially true as I get more of the dialogue with each subsequent viewing. For example some of the lines that get lost because they are delivered under the breath or are absorbed in fade out's you get them in the second, third, fourth time of watching. And they are witty and amusing!

In the dialogue and in the rest of film, references to the characters and stories are carefully preserved and utilized.

As a director myself, (granted that I director miniscule things compared to Hollywood), I do pay attention to and notice the things a director has to plan with his DoP and 1st AD. And I loved to see that each and every shot in the movie was planned and directed to add value to the storyline. I can't talk about those shots without spoilers so I would leave it at at that.

There is real depth in the movie. I am talking about the depth in terms of human drama, well-defined  characters and richness of the landscape, locales, building and gadgets..and pretty much everything that's part of the movie. I recently bought the Avengers 2 artbook and it's mind-blowing to see how detailed is the planning for each part of the film.

I make films myself (short, low-budget, not like Marvel) and I can hazard a guess as to how much effort and work goes into something this huge. I was wrong! The planning and pre-production work is beyond my imagination! Actually, it's more than was needed, to be honest. I mean I was curious about things like what kind of features does Hawkeye have in his bow? What powers and features does the current Iron Man suit have?

Looking at the artbook I can see they plan things in much more detail than even my curiosity. And that makes the movies so much more interesting than just something that was based on a Hollywood formula.

I didn't do this review for over a month because I didn't see any value in a review that only raves about a movie. I mean, it's Avengers you should know it'd be an awesome movie and go watch it. You don't need me to say it! Ultimately I decided to write it simply becaues *I* wanted to talk about the movie. In order to make it a balanced review, I should point out some of the weak points of the movie as well.

Sorry, don't have any. I went into it as a fan of Joss Whedon and came out as a super-fan of Joss Whedon.

Since watching Avengers 2 the first time, I have re-watched Captain America 1, Thor 1, Avengers 1 twice and of course Avengers 2  three more times and I can say with confidence that they are all immensely re-watchable.

Conclusion: If you haven't watched "Avengers:Age of Ultron" yet, you should and watch it in 3D if you can.
I myself plan to buy the blu-ray when it comes out. Actually, I have already pre-ordered the Blu ray 3D version and I don't even have a 3D TV. Don't worry, I am not crazy, the pack also contains a normal Blu-ray of the movie.

Big Bang Theory - S04E06 - Logic Hole

Nerd alert - this is like splitting hairs but it's a logic question and I am going to ask it.

It's an old episode so I won't say spoiler alert.

In this episode Leonard sleeps with Raj's sister Priya and tries to keep it a secret. The truth comes out when the four friends are having lunch at the university the next day and Raj asks, "So what did you think of the new episode of Caprica last night?" To which Leonard admits that he didn't see it.

The implication here is that Leonard didn't see the episode because he was engaged in coitus with Priya at the time...BUT....in the previous scene when Priya comes to Leonard she says that Raj had finally gone to bed before her sneaking out.

So...when did Raj see the episode? If he saw it BEFORE going to bed then Leonard could have seen it as well at the time because Priya wasn't with him (Leonard) yet. If Raj got up AFTER Priya had gone to meet Leonard then he would have noticed that his sister was missing.

Thoughts?

Samsung Galaxy S6 - Samsung Taking a Piss

I hope Samsung have some shepherds on  their staff or at least they plan to hire some soon because they have got my goat and I suspect they will get a lot of people's goats with this S6 announcement.

The reason I hate, nay despise Apple, is not personal. They make high-priced, crippled, unusable shiny tech products and try to use marketing to sell them to mostly gullible, non-tech-savvy users. And that gets my goat. Samsung has done the same with S6. Non-replaceable battery, glass back, no-SD card…I wouldn’t buy this phone if they paid me to use it! No Sale!

It's nice to see when a company listens to its consumers. On the other hand, it's frustrating to see when a company completely disregards what their users like and try to copy their competitors. The plastic body Galaxy phones were light and popular. So, why go for the aluminium body because some reviewers ask you? The glass back?  WTF, Samsung?

I love the edge on a phone, I currently own the Note Edge and love it to bits. The edge screen is good-looking and very useful. It's so handy that I can't go back to non-edged phone now. But two edges? No, not good. Especially, as according to CNET reviewer the edges are not used in the same way.

People make light of the lack of expandable storage and say stupid things like use the cloud or 32GB is more than enough. No, it's not. And cloud is not the same thing as a micro-sd card in the phone. I currently have a 32GB phone with a 128GB microSD card and for the first time in my life, I am happy with my phone storage capacity.

Same goes for the replaceable battery. I could carry a charger or a powerpack or even a solar charger. None of it compares the convenience of just popping out the battery and putting in a charged one.

Honestly, I was not even thinking to buy the S6 as I am going to wait for the Note 5 Edge but this just pisses me off. If they do this kind of BS with the Note 5 series I will just stick to my Note Edge or shop around for a different phone from another company.

You can read the specs for the S6 here - http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge/

Why everyone loves a Salsera

Ever since I started to learn salsa I have been meeting so many new people. By the very nature of salsa you get to meet and greet more girls than guys. In the class you dance with them and after the class you want to practice with them. When I was good enough to go to the socials I met even more. So, in the course of less than a year I have had the good fortune to meet many remarkable women.

There are some things common to all salsera's no matter what the age, background, colour etc. I wanted to write a post on the salsera's but I didn't know how to go about it. I was worried that it might come across as cheesy or sleazy or even sycophantic but then while browsing about salsa I came across this fantastic article on that very topic. Although the article is about "Why you should date a salsera" I think it's an excellent character sketch of a salsera and I am really glad that I found it. Now, I don't have to write it and the author has done a much better job than I could hope to do. In addition to being a better writer, she's a salsera herself and as such has insights that I would not be privy to.

As you can guess by now I really love this article and would like all salsa people to read it. So, with that much ado, here's the link:
https://cairogypsy.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/date-a-girl-who-dances-salsa

Salsa is a woman!

My reasons why I think salsa is female:

1. Has various moods and speeds. 
2. Is sexy and spicy with a lot of glamour. 
3. You need to find the right music for her. 
4. Takes work to first get familiar with her. 
5. Is complex but fun if you love her enough to put in the time and effort. 
6. Needs constant attention from you. 
7. You love to dress up for her. 
8. She keeps you on your toes. 
9. Is more intoxicating than any wine imaginable. 
10. Makes your heart beat fast. 

And... 

She does leave you all hot and sweaty ;) 

Salsa Addict in Action

Jinke hothon pe hansi paanv mein chhale honge,
Haan wahi log tere chahne waale honge.

Translated from the original Urdu it means,
"Those who would have laughter on their lips and blisters on their feet,
Yes, those people would be  the ones in love with you."

Obviously a sher as deep as this can have multiple meanings where "you" could refer to a multitude of entities or concepts. But today, I would like to have it refer to Salsa.

5 days and evenings. I knew this was going to be a long streak of dancing and it was. I knew it would be legendary weekend+ if I survived it. And it was and I did! Barely.

Here's how it played out. Friday night, Tapton Hall social with SalsaBeat. Amazing night, lots of dances. That was a masquerade ball so some added fun there. Plus they have a regular Kizomba room at the same time so you can imagine that that makes me happy as a dog  with two tails.

That finished at 2 AM.

After a night (early morning) of a little sleep and a day of "cleaning my room" I was back in Sheffield on Saturday night for another social - this time by Parranda. Not as crowded as Friday (some people just can't handle two nights in a row - lightweights! :P ) but still a lot of fun.

So, that finished at 0100 or so. After half an hour of saying farewell to everybody, then I tried to find the Kizomba after-party that was happening in another part of the town. That was supposed to last until 4 am. Well, didn't exactly find the club but found the area and didn't like the looks of it. No good place to leave my car.

Missed that one then. Another night of short sleep (I find it hard to fall sleep quickly when my mind is all keyed up.)

Back on Sunday to Sheffield for a  3 hour Bachata workshop. That was quite an awesome workshop and overran by half an hour.

A quick supper and then off to my regular Sunday evening Salsa classes with Richard, followed by social dancing.

By now my left ankle started to hurt where the edge of the shoe touches the foot. But kept on dancing. Exit from there was almost at midnight.

Overslept on Monday morning and had to miss breakfast to make it to work on time. But still went to the Monday evening classes and social at Clowne. That was another great party. Even though the ankle was still hurting, I kept dancing and enjoyed it so much that I did not want to leave even at 23:30.

Overslept yet again on Tuesday morning. Yet again, missed breakfast to make it to office on time. But still went to the Kizomba classes and social in the evening. That was also fun regardless of the ankle that kept hurting. But I knew I could rest the next two evenings.

The moral of the story is, well, there is no moral, I am just proud that I made it through this long schedule and so happy with all my dancing opportunities that I had to share this since I could not create Facebook posts for all the fantastic events.

Now looking forward to the next weekend after 2 nights of rest!