What I AM reading

At the moment, I am reading this famous book by Robert Monroe called "Journeys Out of the Body". How is it?

1. Fascinating.!
2. Terrifying!


Yes, I know the two emotions don't really go hand in hand but that is because of the topic that he has written on. Being brought up in the open-minded Hindu culture (open minded not as in more tolerant than other religions but in the fact that Hindu mythology accepts the free movement of spirit independent of the body, before and after death, unlike some other religions that proclaim a kind of "safe storage" period after death), I am more readily willing (redundant on purpose) to accept Monroe's experiences at face value.

The topic itself is fascinating and terrifying, and Monroe's candid, matter-of-fact kind of reporting keeps both the emotions intact without losing anything in translation.

I am still reading it, as I am fascinated by the unexplored powers of the mind and some day I might gather enough courage to try it myself. Then I will write about my own experiences.

Thought of the day - 6th Sept 2007

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

    - Winston Churchill

Thought of the day - 5th Sept 2007

There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change.

    - Euripides

Thought of the day - 4th Sept 2007

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

- Albert Einstein

Funny lessons

Some funny lessons to start the Monday off properly -

Thought of the day - 3rd Sept 2007

Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances

and they become more extraordinary because of it.

- Robertson Davies.

Advertising point of view

I watch a lot of ads and as everything else I think about them also, so you may see some more posts about ads in here.

When I watch some ads I wonder if the ad agencies think of the general public as a bunch of dumb idiots. And then I wonder if they are right. Case in point, 2 cases actually, 2 car ads.

Kia cee'd: This young man rings the doorbell, a girl comes out, they are awkward about hugging or kissing, can't decide, so I'd guess they have been dating for some time but not yet in the girlfriend-boyfriend stage. They get in the car, she says, "Nice car". He drives to some place, stops the car and proposes to the girl, right there, without a ring, just some stuff about "buy a house, get a dog..", and she says yes. They don't know each other well enough to hug without awkwardness and it's the first time she's sitting in his car (if had just bought it, the conversation would go differently), but he proposes and she accepts. Then they get out of the car and you see that he has parked away from the building, in pouring rain, in the middle of a grassy lawn, where there are no other cars around. With all that space he parked in a place where the car will get wet and they will have a puddle in their shoes just walking through all that grass to the building. Voice over talks about quality commitment and 7 years warranty.

My question: Do only dumb people buy Kia cee'd or it makes them so dumb just by driving it and traveling in it?

Toyota Yaris: They have a series of ads all on the same theme, one person doesn't treat the car with respect and the owner of the car gets even with them. Ad 1 - A girl is flying her boyfriend's remote control plane and then purposefully smashes it to the ground pretending to lose control. Following the gleam of devious victory in her eyes the flashback shows a scene when this guy was helping her carry stuff from the car and since both his hands were full he kicked the car door shut with his foot. The girl saw it and resolved to take revenge. Ad 2 - Two buddies crossing a muddy patch on rope and this one guy cuts the rope when the other is just above the mud, causing him to splash in the mud. Flashback shows that guy 2 had put his foot on guy 1's car's dashboard as guy 1 was driving. Voice over says, "Toyota Yaris, treat it with respect!"

My take: The people who disrespected the car did it in carelessness and negligence (or necessity, how do you close a car door when your hands are full of grocery?), but the owners of the car acted with devious craftiness, premeditation and deliberate revengeful intentions. Again, it maybe that only mean people would buy this car or they get this mean streak after they buy the car.

Every car has a character and it attracts people of that character to buy and/or it influences the character of the owner by association. I know this from my own experience with motorcycles and observing different cars and their owners in India (where the car models are not so numerous as to lose track), you can confirm this simply by asking any man who has owned multiple models of cars over time.

So, my question is - are we as dumb as the advertisers seem to think we are?

What I am NOT reading!

I watch this comedy show quite regularly - Two and a Half Men. Two brothers who live in the same house, one of them has a son (the half man is the son). I one of the episodes, this young boy has a book report to do on a classic novel - "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. This is the first time I had heard of this book. In Indian schools we don't do book reports, reading books is for losers. (Or at least you'd think so judging by the percentage that reads anything other than textbooks.)

Anyhow, the father is explaining to the son how this classic tells a tale of some children stranded on a desert island where they start their own society and one of them becomes the leader. Having recently finished Heinlein's "Tunnel in the sky" on exactly the same theme, and having really loved it, I decided to read this one.

What a load of crap! I mean it's a classic, sure! But what a horribly boring way to tell a story. Since my main motivation to buy this book was Heinlein's "Tunnel in the sky" I could not help but compare this with that and it loses very badly. While Heinlein's story grabs you by the collar and drags you deep into the plot, this one drags on like the funeral service of a remote relative where nothing seems to happen and time just stands still. No sense of identification, no leadership qualities in the leader, logical flaws in the psychology, too much detail where not required, too few details of the things that would interest the readers...

Well, finally I decided to follow this great quote -

"Never read a book through merely because you have begun it. ~ John Witherspoon (1723 - 1794)"

So, I closed the book and left it shut. I think if somebody decided to pay the postage I might just send it to them - UK only. But after the fantastic build up that I just gave it will anybody risk it? LOL.

Anyway, people write for different reasons and people read for different reasons - I have read a lot of different types of books and my only demand from a book is that it has to be interesting. I am willing to read anything as long as it's interesting and enriching. Funnily enough, the enriching part takes care of itself. Even if you read nothing but thriller novels, you still learn a lot, more than you expected and more than you can ever measure. Books are great!

I want to conclude with a quote from my favorite author - Robert A. Heinlein

"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards."
~ Robert Heinlein

Thought of the day - 31st Aug 2007

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to."

- George Allen

Thought of the day - 30th Aug 2007

Consider the postage stamp:
its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

- Josh Billings

Thought of the day - 28th Aug 2007

The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.

- James Yorke

Running in someone else's shoes

...he is running, unshaven, constantly on the road, looking behind, trying to shake the dual gun of terror, escaping the widespread net of FBI, trying to stay one jump ahead of the long arm of the law. But that's not all he has to think about, any moment a bullet from an unknown, unseen assassin's gun might fry his brains. Oh yes, the Mafia does not forgive!

...his eyes are darting left and right, looking for killers in shadows, his ears, straining, seeking any sounds that might mean danger, the cocking of a gun, the screech of tires, anything...

...he sees a phonebooth and jumps inside with the speed of a rabbit on the run from the carnivorous predators, and closes the door. Frantically he finds the right change, dials a number and ...

...starts explaining to his wife (or girlfriend) why he's not as bad a man as she thinks, he's framed, a victim of circumstances and his enemies!

At this point, I always think - What an IDIOT! The world is behind him trying to cut his life short and he is risking his life to make a phone call and for what? To try to convince a girl who doesn't even believe him? Pah! (This "Pah!" thing is growing on me, I must stop this).

Anyway, I have seen a lot of action movies and I have thought this thought many, many times. Until...

No, I never got chased by the FBI or threatened by the Mafia (so far the only threatening phone calls have been from my credit card company), but I have been in situations where a lot is at stake, money, career, reputation, professional prestige and amidst all that I was more worried about a certain girl and how things stand with her at this moment.

Our thoughts and emotions are not always evaluated and sorted as per order of importance to the world or our materialistic lives. They usually follow a pattern of importance to us, to our heart. When I used to write a diary on a daily basis (now it's more of a sporadic pattern), I usually ended it with UMTs - Upper Most Thoughts - jotting down whatever was on mind, right at the front.

Try it sometimes, just sit down and scribble your thoughts on a piece of paper, only one or two words to a thought. If you can, follow it up again, some time. Is there something or someone that keeps cropping up in those notes? You might be surprised! :-)

It's a sunny day here in rainville England so I am going biking. To the library. Cheers.

Thought of the day - 27th Aug 2007

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

- (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Gotta love Helium

Wow! You gotta love Helium, in only 2 months with 3 well-written articles I have earned 31 CENTS! Isn't that incredible? 31 whole cents! In just 2 months.

On the other hand, in Second Life, with every sale of one of my fashion articles (I am trying hard not to say "My dresses", I am a man, dammit! :D ), I make about 3USD. One sale 3 US$, another sale another 3US$.

Hmmm, I am having a real hard time trying to figure out where I should focus my efforts!


[If you are interested in making money in SL, here is my article on it. ]

Thought of the day - 24th August 2007

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.

- Douglas MacArthur (American General who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, 1880-1964)

Thought of the day - 23rd Aug 2007

 "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,
do more and become more, you are a leader."

- John Quincy Adams (American 6th US President (1825-29),
eldest son of John Adams, 2nd US president. 1767-1848)

 

Happy Birthday!

Today I'll talk about my personal life (yeah, like I talk about anything else on this blog). People who have been checking my blog lately would know that today is my birthday. So, as expected I am receiving the usual emails, phone calls, instant messages, text messages etc. etc.

At this time, I divide the people I know into 3 categories. First one, the people who I expect will remember and wish me, and they do. Second, people who wish me but I was not expecting them to. Also in this category should be people whose method of wishing exceeds my expectations like i was expecting an email but they tracked me down and wished me on phone in whatever corner of the world I was. Usually my parents are in this category. Since they have no business with the english calender, they cannot always remember the date and thus my date of birth holds no significance for them. Therefore I do not expect them to wish me or remember. This year they did, last weekend when I was talking to my mom on the phone she did remember, out of the blue and thus my parents did wish me.

Well, on to the third category - the people I think will remember but do not. Bad though it may sound, it is not really that bad. You always know how someone feels about you, every time you interact with them. The whole relationship does not boil down to the two words - "Happy Birthday", they are just bonus.

In this day and age when a man's circle is so big he can hardly remember the names much less remember dates for each one of his friends, associates and acquaintances, it's all done through reminder systems of some kind, paper or electronic, other than a few birthday you can never forget even if you tried (more on this later). But the very real and pressing stressful demands of real life can push it to the back of your mind. I have missed some myself, and I have had that happen to me.

I am very bad in that I don't remind anyone of my birthday, even if I am talking to them on that same day, I don't mention it.

Despite my cool, clearheaded and calm philosphy and understanding, sometimes I do feel a little disappointed. Not angry, just a little disappointed! Not about everybody, just a few people, very very few, in this category. I think once I have lost that little, tiny bit of disappointment, I will have attained enlightenment!

Thought of the day - 22nd August 2007

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers.
And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."

- Bill Cosby quotes (American Actor, Comedian and Producer. b.1937, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

   

Thought of the day - 21st Aug 2007

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles.

- Charlie Chaplin

Thought of the day - 20th August 2007

Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Laugh uncontrollably. .. Never regret anything that makes you smile.