The Odd Places To Blog From

What’s the strangest place from which you’ve posted to your blog? When was the last time you were out and about, and suddenly thought, “I need to write about this!”?

I, alas, haven’t really done much blogging from outside of my apartment or at an internet cafe/the office system. There aren’t that many places where you can get free Wifi in Cochin with the exception of a handful of restaurants or cafes (I’ve been to just 3 or 4 and one is closed now). Currently I do not use internet services on my mobile phone but I used to and then it was easy to get online and blog using my BlackBerry Bold. So I’ve blogged from the coffeeshop / cafes.

Ive blogged while riding in the bus, on the train (but never on a plane) and done it while sitting on a bench at the Marine drive walkway facing the sea. I’ve actually blogged while sitting in a big work review (the review took almost 4 hours of which I was needed to present for exactly 20 minutes at the very beginning) and yes I have blogged on my phone while sitting on the toilet – at work as well as at home :D The urgency of the situation begged it to be done! :P

The Purge

Heard about this movie on the Youtube review by one of the movie reviewers I follow and I decided to check it out. The concept seemed very interesting and intriguing and I just had to watch the movie for myself. The Purge is a 2013 thriller movie starring Ethan Hawke & Lena Hedley and set in the year 2022. The US has become a more prosperous nation, with crime and unemployment rates hitting an all-time low, after a new rule has been implemented – The yearly purge! Once a year, for 12 hours  all criminal activity (including murder, theft, and rape) becomes legal. The only rules are that government employees of a certain grade and above are exempt from being targeted and no weapons of mass destruction are allowed. The purge is meant to cleanse yourselves of negative energy and emotions and direct it to whoever you dislike.

Yes on paper it sounded good. James Sandin is returning home to his huge house on the evening of the purge. James is a successful home security salesman in San Francisco and has made a huge profit of selling the security system – with cameras & metallic “butts” blocking any possible entrance once activated – to his neighbours and has recently added an extra wing to his house. Like a neighbour, Mrs. Grace Ferrin, says to James’s wife Mary – the gossip is that the neighbours practically financed the new wing. After dinner, the Sandins prepare for the lockdown and at 7pm an Emergency Broadcast System message appears on television, telling the United States the rules of the Purge and that all police, fire, and hospital aid will be shut down for the 12-hour period. Sirens start blaring outside, commencing the start of the annual Purge, which is a period when all crime is legal and emergency services remain suspended. With the house fortified, the Randins go to do their separate things. Son Charlie uses a camera on a doll in his remote control and a pair of glasses connected to the camera to check the video reports of the purge in progress. 18 year old daughter Zoey finds her older boyfriend Henry, hiding in her room as he had snuck in before the lockdown. Henry plans to speak to James, who does not approve of their relationship, during the purge as he cannot be thrown out of the house while it is still in progress.

Charlie sees a bloodied man out in the streets pleading to be let in and the sympathetic boy deactives the security system and calls out to the stranger. James sees this and reactivates the systems again but the stranger is able to get in just as the systems closes again. At the foyer James holds the stranger at gunpoint when Henry comes downstairs and pulls out a gun and shoots at James (it seems his plan was to kill James thus removing the hurdle for his relationship with Zoey). The stranger runs away and hides inside the house, while Zoey pulls hey dead boyfriend’s body to her room. Leaving Charlie & Mary in his den, James goes to look for Zoey and the stranger. Suddenly a group of masked assailants, led by a Polite Leader (no name mentioned) arrive at the house looking for the stranger. They threaten to kill everyone inside unless the family surrenders the stranger, whose homelessness they claim makes him a good candidate for purging. James then admits to Mary that the security system works more or less like a deterrent and will not withstand a big attack on the house. Using the RC car Charlie guides the Stranger to a secret hiding place but Zoey also goes there and is caught by him. James arrives and subdues the stranger, planning to turn him over to his pursuers outside. However, the Sandins have a change of heart after realizing they are becoming essentially no different from the purgers outside. Finally the assailants attack and tear down the metal walls and enter the house, and the Sandins are forced to defend themselves.

James hunts down and fights with some of the gang members and kills 3 of them but is himself stabbed by the Polite Leader. Mary is captured by 2 of the remaining 3 assailants and is about to be killed when her neighbours – led by Grace and her husband come in to the aid of the Sandins and Mr. and Mrs. Halverson shoot & kill the assailants. Mary runs to find a dying James and is about to be killed by the Polite Leader but Zoey walks in and shoots him dead. As James dies, Mary and her children thank their neighbours – now joined by two more – but they then state that they plan to kill Mary & her kids, taking advantage of the Purge, for this patriotic duty happens to coincide with their hatred for the family’s wealth. The stranger then comes in and kills one of the neighbours and holds the other neighbours at gunpoint. Mary states that she won’t kill any of them as there has been enough killing for one night. They wait out the rest of the purge sitting at the dining table  and in one last desperate act, Grace tries to grab Mary’s gun, but Mary violently subdues her. At 7am the siren blare again, signalling the end of the purge and the neighbours leave followed by the stranger. Mary and her children watch as emergency services vehicles arrive outside and take away the dead bodies. there is audio from radio broadcasts stating that this Purge was the most successful due to the record high number of murders, with stock markets opening high, due to the release of aggression and sales of home defense systems and weapons.

The execution of the film lacks in excitement, real tension and the feeling of horror/dread. The acting is not up to par and why does Zoey keep disappearing all the time? The assailants are given a scary feel with the creepy masks but there’s too little attention on the to make it more effective, while their leader is only affective in you wanting to smack that stupid grin off his face. The film ends up feeling too short. For it’s low budget of $3 million it did make $83 mil. and is considered a success but it’s not really that  good. 6 outta 10!

Moves Like Shatner

I can’t believe no one has made a parody song about William Shatner to the the tune of Maroon 5’s “Moves like Jagger“. The song is just begging to be made. Well someone has got to do it, so here goes:

I’ll show you the stars
at the speed of light
You can sit in my chair
If you feel like
I beam away your pain and make it OK
I swear I’ll behave

If you need a good cop, just like TJ
Or a legal hot shot like Denny Crane
I’ll be the Big Giant Head
My son won’t believe the shit I said
A Karamazov Brother
Unlike any other,
Just don’t tell your mother

And it goes like this

[Chorus:]
Set my phaser on stun, And I’ll own you
Dress up like a Orion slave And I’ll bone you

All the moves like Shatner
I’ve got the moves like Shatner
I’ve got the mooooooo moves like Shatner

I’ll sell you a ticket on Priceline
I’ll over dramatize my next line

With them moves like Shatner
I’ve got the moves like Shatner
I’ve got the moooooo moves like Shatner

But gosh the price is right!

Reunion Of The Holy Trinity

After a long gap of 21 months Madhu, Anil & I were meeting up like we used to do for so long. This gap is ofcourse because Madhu had moved to Qatar as he had got a job there in January 2012 and this is the first time he has been able to come back on leave. He is on leave for a few weeks but he has family commitments and a couple of weddings to attend in & around Kerala and we fixed today for the day that the 3 of us would meet for a get-together. Madhu treated us for his job and new life in the Arab nation of Qatar; he has a good job and a nice life there along with his wife.

Here is the man of the hour. We met up at Bay Pride Mall at around 10:45 am and sat there for a couple of hours.

We had a little brunch while we sat at the Food Court of the mall. To drink we had Iced Tea while Anil had a cold coffee.

We ordered some sandwiches from one of the stalls. Not a good sandwich, it felt a bit stale.

We then made out way to the lounge bar Couchyn which is at the Grand hotel and look at Anil all cool & hip.

We started off with Long Island Ice Teas and split 2 bomber bottles between the three of us. Wes at there for about 90 minutes.

We then made our way to Volga Bar and restaurant in Kadavanthara. We ordered a lot of food among and had 3 rounds of drinks each (brandy for them, vodka for me).

Among the many dishes we shared were garlic prawns (which I never eat) and chilly pork (below).

By 6pm we made our way back to Bay Pride Mall and went to the walk way behind Marin Drive. First we had small ice cream cones (they had Spanish Delight while I had Black Currant). We then walked about for a bit, sat at different places to catch our breath.

It was a lovely evening as the sunset and I took a few snaps as the three of us talked and joked and laughed.

By 7pm we went to get cups of coffee and then 20 minutes later we called it a night and left for our respective homes. It was great to see Madhu again after such a long time. We might get to see him next only by April 2014.

Unstable Guy Kills Himself

We have a maid who comes to our apartment everyday for a couple of hours or so, with the exception of Sundays and some holidays. She sweeps & cleans the apartment and does some washing of clothes and helps in some kitchen work (cutting up stuff, cleaning stuff) during these 2.5 to 3 hours and she does this for about 2 or 3 houses/apartments in the area before she winds up for the day in the evening. This post is about her and her family.

This maid has two daughter, a young girl of about 10, who I have seen, and another of about 18 who I have not seen. A couple of days ago she did not turn up at our apartment and she didn’t call my mom to inform her that she won’t be coming in (which she usually does when she is unable to turn up). When she came in the next day, my mom casually asked her what happened and why she didn’t turn up – on being asked this, the maid started crying on the spot. My mom was worried and asked her why she was crying.

Turns out that a 22 year old neighbour of the maid approached her and asked her for her daughter’s hand in marriage. Her husband wasn’t at home at the time so she said that 1) her daughter was too young at just age 18, 2) she is still studying and wants to study further and 3) she needed to check with her daughter and her husband, once he got home, and discuss with them as well. She never said anything else rude or attacking and left it at that since he was a neighbour and someone who she has seen quite a lot over the last few years. He seemed upset and said ok and he left. After he left she spoke to her daughter who said that she wasn’t interested in him anyway and they left it at that and they felt it would be best that the father handle it once he comes and speaks to the boy’s parents. Ok – she didn’t get the change to do so because – the guy went ahead and KILLED HIMSELF!! The fucker went and hung himself to death!

This happened late in the evening and at night and throughout the next day the cops were at their house and the neighbourhood and it was all pandemonium around their little area. This was why she couldn’t turn up that day and she was crying because she felt that she was responsible for that 22 year old guy killing himself! What a nightmare!

Carpenter Street

Carpenter Street is a episode of Star Trek Enterprise during the season long Xindi arc and is the 11th episode of the 3rd season. In it time traveler from Starfleet Daniels (who had snuck his way into Enterprise earlier posing as a crewmen) comes to Captain Archer once again informing him of an urgent situation. He says that his team has detected 3 Xindi Reptlians who themselves have time traveled all the way back to early 21st century earth; 2004 Detroit to be precise. He urges Archer to take one member of his crew and offers to send them both to the same time period. The matter is also perplexing as the Xindi do not possess time traveling technology and hence must be getting aid from a far more advanced species. Archer chooses T’Pol, despite her stance that the Vulcan Science Academy has come to the conclusion that time travel is not possible. Archer insists that she join him and she is convinced as when they both step through a door, they are instantly transported by Daniels to 2004 Detroit Michigan in the night time.

Using their devices Archer & T’Pol “borrow’ a truck that was parked on the side of the road and Archer slowly gets a grip on driving the vehicle across the city as T’Pol searches for traces of the Xindi lifeforms. They track the aliens to a secure building, an old lab, and find Loomis, a blood bank technician, driving his car and getting signaled in. Archer & T’Pol follow the man Loomis to his apartment and confronts him. A tied up Loomis, believes that the duo in front of him are cops and spills the beans. He says that he was contacted by a scientist over the phone and offered large sums of money to drug and bring people off the street to their lab. The scientists are looking for people who have various blood types and tell Loomis that they are conducting a very important experiment. Loomis, guessing that the scientists couldn’t get approval and hence decided to do this via a different route. Plus he gets good money and no questions asked. Loomis working in a blood bank finds specimens easily and usually picks up homeless people or prostitutes who he drugs in the car and then takes them to the old lab. He places the bodies in there and finds his cash ready for him. He has never seen the faces of the so-called scientists and hence has no idea that they are aliens.

Disgusted by the man’s greed and for selling out his fellow human beings Archer still needs Loomis’ help to get into the lab. Archer & T’Pol drive with Loomis in the man’s car, stopping by to eat some food on the way, and head to the lab. T’Pol stays outside while Loomis brings Archer, pretending to be drugged, into the front of the lab and places him onto a bed. He warns him that the scientists usually comes in within 2 minutes of him, Loomis, leaving to take the first sample of blood. Loomis then takes his money and heads out to his car where T’Pol is waiting. One of the Xindi approaches Archer and takes a blood sample from him and then goes to the back section of the lab. Archer waits until the reptilian leaves before contacting T’pol and explores the lab. from what he sees, suspects the Xindi are building some kind of bioweapon. He proceeds to destroy their temporal beacon (preventing them from bringing back what they have collected so far), and has the time to disable one Xindi before being forced to withdraw.

Archer pursues to prevent the two remaining Xindi from releasing the toxin in the present period. Loomis tries to warn his former associates, but to no avail as their confusion allows Archer to reach and disable one of them. For his troubles Loomis gets stunned by T’Pol and falls unconscious while Archer pursues the 3rd Xindi from spreading the bioweapon into the water supply, thus saving humans from being infected. Archer and T’Pol bring the 3 dead Xindi and their equipment back to the 22nd century using temporal tags given to them by Daniels. They bodies are stored by Phlox in his lab. The last scene of the episodes shows the cops raiding the lab and finding the bodies of the missing people in it. Loomis groggily wakes up in his car and is then arrested by police officers from the Detroit Police Department – they had reached there based on an anonymous tip they received (from Archer before he left). Loomis talking about aliens and weapons sound like rantings to the cops as they take him away.

White House Down

Just like some other plots that have two big movies released in the same year (Armageddon & Deep Impact, Volcano & Dante’s Peak) 2013 will be seen as the year that Hollywood wanted to destroy the White House by Terrorist attacks. We had Olympus Has Fallen earlier this year and then White House Down. Directed by Roland Emmerich the movie stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, James Woods, Jimmi Simpson & Nicolas Wright. Rachelle Lefevre & tv’s Anthony Lemke have small roles as well.

The story actually reminded me more of 1995’s Jean-Claude Van Damn movie Sudden Death along with Olympus Has Fallen. It has got all the same elements except that it’s the President and not the Vice-President and it’s in the White House and not the Pittsburgh Penguins stadium! Otherwise, very similar. And I think Van Damn did it better. I kid – this movie has it’s plus points but let’s go through some of the things I want to point out:

  • Tatum plays John Cale a  U.S. Capitol Police officer assigned to Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson. Ex-soldier who did tour of duties in Afghanistan! Divorced father. Intelligent young daughter who is upset that her father does not have much time for and hence he gets her a White House pass and entry into the tour of the place. He applies for and is denied an oppurtunity to work for the President’s Secret Service by Carol Finnerty, a former college acquaintance of his. These two things just happen to occur on the same day as the attack on the white House.
  • Cale lies to his politics loving daughter Emily and they join the tour where they run into the president Barack…sorry James Sawyer who has proposed a controversial peace treaty between allied countries to remove military forces from the Middle East. Emily asks a question to Sawyer and tapes his answer for her vlog on Youtube!
  • A mercenary disguised as a janitor detonates a bomb at the center of the U.S. Capitol building, destroying the building’s dome. The Speaker Raphelson is taken to an underground command center with Finnerty, while the Vice-President is taken to Air force One. The White House is on lockdown but the mercenaries are already in, disguised as video technicians start killing off most of the Secret Service and take the tour group hostage. Retiring Head of the Presidential Detail Martin Walker who leads Sawyer to the Emergence Operations Center and then kills the President’s men. Turns out it is Walker who let the mercenaries in, leading the attack on the White House for revenge over his son who was killed in a botched black ops mission.
  • Cale who managed to get away kills a mercenary and steals his gun & radio. His daughter Emily just happened to be in the loo (also a plot line in Sudden Impact) and hides from the terrorists long enough to capture them on video and upload two clips to her Youtube account – which then goes viral – before she is caught and brought to join the other hostages. Cale saves Sawyer and the two make their way through the White House and try to get out.
  • There are numerous gun shot battles, some fight scene, some funny stuff, lots of cliches and explosions, people getting hurt and bleeding and talking and running. The bad guys keep getting killed off one by one.
  •  Skip Tyler, a talented hacked & IT expert, is also inside the White House and cracks the codes for several security systems and also gets the codes for Walker to use as leverage.  Walker demands $400 million from the Federal Reserve as ransom for the hostages. Meanwhile, Tyler finishes the upload to NORAD and launches a missile at Air Force One, killing everyone on board, including Hammond. Raphelson is then sworn in as President and orders an air strike on the White House. Finnerty informs Cale of Raphelson’s decision.
  • Walker plans to launch a nuclear assault on Iran, which will surely start another world war. He injures Sawyer after capturing him and use his palm to access the system and is about to launch the strike before Cale comes in to finish the job. However it takes a brave move from Emily – who  a presidential flag and waves it on the front lawn and gets the fighters to call off the attack. Sawyer reveals himself to be alive as the bullet that hit him hit a pocket watch his wife had given him. Happily on  their way out, Finnerty calls them to reveal that the mercenaries were not called in by Walker and that there is another mastermind behind the attack. Cale realizes who it is and asks Sawyer for his help in exposing the traitor – it is the Speaker!
  • So final showdown is Cale & Sawyer combining to bring out Raphelson as the true mastermind behind the attack on the White House and he is arrested and taken away. Cale is appointed to the Secret Service by Sawyer and he & Emily joins the President in his  helicopter As a result of the events, Russia, Iran, China, and other Middle Eastern and Asian countries agree with the peace treaty. (How corny!)

Question : and no you cannot deny this – Was Jamie Foxx supposed to be Barack Obama in this movie? And how lousy of a president would Foxx be? It is a joke that his acting could not overcome. Another question – aren’t movies like this giving ideas to the real life terrorists (if the stuff is accurate)? Cliched, pretentious and so full of cheese in some places. Ugh! What the heck, it is a bit of fun for over 2 hours. 7 outta 10!

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 0

Well that was a pretty hard fought & exciting match that Arsenal just won away at Crystal Palace. Hosts Palace, who are without a manager, didn’t exactly lie down and play dead and it was a tough win to pull off. This is the kind of game that Arsenal would have lost in the last 5 years in the league but the Gunners seem to be playing with a lot more confidence now. And they achieved it with playing 25 minutes plus stoppage time of 4 minutes with a man down!Arsenal also lost Matheiu Flamini to what looked like a groin injury in the 6th minute and he was replace by promising youngster Serge Gnabry.

Arsenal’s other holding midfielder Mikel Arteta scored a penalty after Adlene Guedioura’s foul on Serge Gnabry before being dismissed on 65 minutes for a professional foul on Marouane Chamakh. It was a silly sending off as former Arsenal striker Chamakh was no where near the Arsenal goal and still had lots of running to do. Arteta should have just stayed with him and hindered his goal scoring chances. Instead he impeded the Moroccan’s run and down the player came tumbling and out came the red card from the referee’s pocket. Straight red and Arteta should have his head examined. What can you hope to accomplish by getting sent off and getting your side reduced to 10 men?

Palace who were already attacking and attempting shots on goal looked even more likely to score the equilizer and I stated on both Facebook and Twitter that “I’ll be glad if Arsenal are able to get away with a draw in this game.” A goal just seemed likely and it took too superb saves from our goalie Szczesny. And yes the goal did come – but it was for the Gunners! Olivier Giroud secured Arsenal’s win when he headed in late in the game on an assist by Aaron Ramsey and that was a hard fought and well deserved win for the league leaders who now sit on 22 points at the top of the league and 5 ahead of 2nd place Liverpool and 6 ahead of Chelsea FC.

Cosmetic Surgery?

If someone offered you one free cosmetic alteration, which would it be and why?

Gee, only one! Well I’ll have to think this one out through. Does laser eye surgery count as a cosmetic alternation? I’ve worn corrective eye glasses for a very long time, 27 years in fact, that it might be odd to not wear one but it will also be good to get rid of these glasses. I hate contact lenses and no way is something touching my eyes! Uh uh, no way Jose! No contacts. So it would be good to have my eye sight fixed.

If that and weight reduction surgery is do not count then the only other thing I would want to do is to get me a nose job! Yes, you read it right. I hate my nose. Other than to correct a deviated septum I’d also want to change the shape of my nose. I hate the way my nose looks, especially the tip of it and I would love to have it fixed so that it looks more handsome. Nose job – yeah that would be good too!

Or maybe a hair transplant? Balding is an issue for me, hereditary issue as my family genes are against me. Too much male pattern baldness in my family and I’m falling victim to it. Balding is so ridiculous especially when you have so much unwanted hair on your arms, legs, chest & private parts! Unwanted, unwanted, unwanted! Ridiculous. Isn’t this enough for stupid creationists to understand that their folly-filled theory of intelligent design is complete bogus? More like the work of an mentally retarded creator!

The Croods

The Croods is a 2013 animated movie from  produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Featuring the voices of Nicholas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman, it is a fun filled adventure & comedy movie based on a prehistoric family and some animals who are on the move, a trek through a dangerous jungle to find a new home. It’s also about family, a father’s love for his family and bonding. The film is set in a fictional prehistoric Pliocene era known as The Croodaceous (hence the Croods).

Epe is an adventurous girl living with her cavemen family but dad Grug doesn’t allow much freedom for her to explore. Their family – rounded wife Ugga, baby daughter Sandy, dumb son Thunk and Ugga’s mother Gran – is one of the few to survive, mainly due to the strict rules of her overprotective father. They spend most of their time huddled in a cave when not hunting for food, which is scarce. To enforce the over-cautiouness Grug tells tales with a character who mirrors Eep’s curious nature and who dies after exploring something new. However one night Epe ignores her father’s advice and leaves the cave when she sees a light moving outside. That s when she meets Guy, a clever and inventive caveboy who tells her that the world is about to end and asks her to come with him. Oh and Guy has a pet sloth named Belt. She doesn’t but before he goes he gives her a noise-making shell to call him if she needs help. Guy is caught by Grug who also ground Epe and brings her back to the family. An earthquake occurs and destroys the cave and the family goes over the wreckage to see a lush new world, much different from their barren desert like land and they make their way through it to find a new cave.

When they are attacked by a swarm of “Piranhakeets” Eep sounds a horn similar to that which Guy gave her. Guy hears this and rushes to her. Thinking quickly, he creates a torch of fire, which scares the birds away. The other Croods are captivated by the fire, having never seen it before. They steal Guy’s torch and accidentally set the land around them in flames. After feeling impressed by Guy’s intelligence and ‘ideas’, Grug bottles him in a hollow log to carry him in, then suggests that they take solitude in the cave of a nearby mountain mentioned by Guy. Guy is forcibly persuaded to lead the way and learns of the Croods’ way of living, which he thinks of as unusual. Grug feels challenged when Guy ides to lure some animals is successful and the family is able to eat a hearty meal and later when Guy’s story about a paradise he calls “tomorrow” seems to enthrall the rest of them. The next day Guy uses his intelligence to make up “shoes” so that they can walk over a path coated in spiked rocks. This gains him some respect from the others except for Grug, who feels jealous of Guy’s cleverness. Inspired by Guy, Ugga & Gran use flowers as camouflage to get them & Sandy through carnivorous plants. Thunk makes a pet as he befriends a crocodile-like dog he calls Douglas, and Eep and Guy grow closer while Grug is stranded in a ravine forcing Ugga to go back for him. Trying to show up Guy, Grug comes up with ridiculous ideas which all fail. They soon reach the mountain where Grug is unable to convince the family that settling in a nearby cave is a better option. Angry, he attacks Guy. The two become stuck in tar and Guy reveals his family died drowning in it and their last words inspired his traditions of “Tomorrow.” Grug has a change of heart towards Guy and he and Guy trick Chunky into freeing them by pretending to be a female “Macawnivore” in trouble.

Later an earthquake opens a deep ravine in their path just as they are about to reach what seems to be their destination. As smoke fills the horizon, Grug comes to the conclusion that he can use his strength to get the others across. Grug throws each of them across the gap and reconciles with Eep while creating the first hug with her. Grug then throws her across the ravine and is left behind. As the edges crumbles down Grug takes shelter in a cave but is cornered by the Macawnivore who attacks him until Grug’s torch is accidentally blown out, panicking them both. As they get the fire going again, Chunky the Macawnivore  lies near Grug for comfort, who then has his first good idea. Using a large skeleton rib and a bigger torch, Grug manages to lure the Piranhakeets into transporting himself, Chunky, Douglas, and several other animals across the ravine, barely escaping the oncoming “end” destruction. They then reach their destination, a paradise like land with a huge beach and plenty of greenery and blue waters. The now extended family of cavemen and animal friends settles down for more adventurous lives and happiness.

Fun and exciting throughout perfect for a guy suffering a bad cold this afternoon and watching it from his bed. 8.5 outta 10! It’s for the whole family to enjoy. A sequel has already been announced and even a tv show as a spinoff.

When Do You Unplug?

Sometimes, we all need a break from these little glowing boxes. How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

It’s hard to unplug. At home I get antsy if I am away from my computer for a few hours at a stretch. Like if I am watching tv, movies or some sports events. I must always be connected to my system – atleast Facebook & Twitter. It causes me anxiety attacks to be away from my system. Again when there is a power outage (happens often in my part of the world) – I use a laptop but my modem won’t work without power!

I can go out for hours and not have an issue with not being connected. Currently I don’t use an internet plan on my cell phone (since May) and hence have to wait until I get home to Tweet, post on Facebook, share a photo or even do a blog post if I so choose to. I take photos but have to wait until I get back home and switch on my laptop to share it. Funny thing is, since May, I usually get more ideas to Tweet or post on Facebook or for a blog post than when I had internet on my mobile phone! Typical me!

So now that I have told you that –  however we do need some time away from the little glowing boxes and unplug for a while. It has been a while since I unplugged for more than a few hours. The couple of days I was at the hospital due to my dad being admitted back in the end of June I was barely online just a couple of hours checking mail ad informing others when I’d come home to change. Other than that for the past year or so I haven’t been offline for more than a few hours a day during the days that I go out or when I sleep. But it is important to unplug for a day or two once in a while. Some people do it for a week or two – how the hell do they survive, I have no clue! But yeah, once in a while – unplug! And chill.

Ottawa Senators Update, 24th Oct 2013

After the emotional down of seeing longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson refusing to sign a new contract with Ottawa and leave for Detroit and sign with the Red Wings in who he thought had more chances of winning the Stanley Cup, this result could not have been any more justice to the Sens fans. Jason Spezza was tasked with taking over for Alfredsson as captain, and newly signed Bobby Ryan with filling the void as a scoring winger. In the Senators’ first game against Alfredsson and the Detroit Red Wings, Spezza and Ryan fittingly spearheaded an impressive offensive display in a 6-1 blowout at Joe Louis Arena. The only thing that could make the win sweater is if the game had been in Ottawa.

Those performances made it easier to forget about Alfredsson. While the players & coach Paul McLean might play down the significance of facing the former face of the franchise, the results are certainly welcome. Ottawa hasn’t had a great start to the season but seem ready to make a push to make the playoffs this season as well. After 9 games played the Senators have 10 points and sit in the 8th spot of the Eastern Conference. But they have 4 wins and 5 loses, 2 of which were in OT. I seem them slowly getting more wins and racking up the points and could easily finish 5th or 6th.

Last 9 games (latest game first)

6-1 vs Detroit Red Wings (away)

1-3 vs Edmonton Oilers (home)

5-2 vs New Jersey Devils (home)

4-3 vs Phoenix Coyotes (away)

1-4 vs Anaheim Ducks (away)

2-3 vs San Jose Sharks (away)

3-4 vs Los Angeles Kings (away)

4-5 vs Toronto Maple Leafs (away)

1-0 vs Buffalo Sabres (away)

Super Attractive Or Super Intelligent?

Would you rather be super attractive or super intelligent? Defend your position.

Given a choice I’d rather be super intelligent, because I am already super attractive :D No, I kid. Oh no wait, I’m serious. I’m such a sexy beast!

Ok, more seriously, I’d rather be super intelligent than super attractive. Here’s my reasoning for it :

  • if I were super intelligent, I’d find ways to make a lot of money or have the biggest companies in the world wanting to hire me and pay me a lot of money to do so.
  • With that money I would invest heavily in the stock market and make lots of money again. Once I have enough money I will quit the job and concentrate on making myself as rich as I possibly can without having to work for anyone or any company.
  • With the money, I can buy a huge house for me and houses for my family. I can buy everything I want, 2 of everything I want. Don’t worry, I’ll also donate handsomely to charity.
  • And with all that money comes power.
  • And with all that money + power you will get almost everything you wanted, no matter how ugly or how attractive you are!

Simple? Give me the brains please!

ROSHAN’S ELEVEN : Items I Buy @ The Grocery Store

I wish I could take you with me to my local grocery store – the grocery stores I go to here are small shops that you can’t enter into but stand in front of the counter and call out the items or hand over a list and the store keeper gets them for you from his tiny shop. Some items might be within your reach as they are on the counter or hanging from the bar above (like stuff you get in packets – chips or mixture or nuts) and some veggies which he places on racks in the front of the store. When I go to buy stuff from there for our home I usually buy these things every 2nd or 3rd visit:

  • bananas
  • biscuits
  • rusk – for dipping into coffee and eating
  • pen torch or AA sized batteries
  • shampoo (I usually only get small sachets of Head n Shoulder that is for one shower)
  • bread
  • dosa mavu (dosa spread)
  • chappathis (ready made chappthis that a local company makes and sells in packets)
  • Maggi instant noodles
  • cutlets
  • lemonade (freshly made)

There you have it, the 11 most purchased items from me at my corner grocery store!