sappa matters -#10

SM1: "Seedless watermelons are a sign of a developed country" - a passing comment

India better have some seedless dharbees!

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SM2: The one form of cricket I love(d) to hate, and India seems to be excelling at it. Why?

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SM3: Brainstorm. What else can they think?

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SM4: Not that I am sleepless or anything. But from time to time, I have an extended, artistic, private session of mind car driving from point A to point B in a favorite city! Few places on earth have such smooth roads with no traffic such as the roads in the mind. Whether I fall asleep before I reach my destination or not is another story.

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SM5: Losing touch at a few things I liked and finding touch again with some things I used to like. Life is such.

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SM6: Hindsight is such a 36-24-36 b*tch.

sappa matters -#9

SM1: Lindsay Lohan turns 21. Thank god! She can start drinking from now.

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SM2: Proud to be American; Proud to be Ugandan; Proud to be Indian.

Do all these feelings stem from the fact that they are somehow, deep-down embarassed to be one? Something like "I give up, I am one of them" or "I am proud to be big and fat" (and I cannot or don't want to do anything about it)

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SM3: Saw Live free or Die Hard (4). Bruce Willis is 52. And yet!

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SM4: I know police rush to the scene when there is an accident or someone gets caught breaking the law. Especially when multiple police cars arrive on the scene, after the initital conversation and immediate things are taken care of, can't they move the police cars to the side or to the center lane? A three lane road is essentially converted to one lane.

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sappa matters -#8

SM1: Facts don't cease to exist just by ignoring them.

I was/am a firm believer of this statement.

(Un)related link is here.

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SM2: Ever since I got a "prediction" of how I would look when I am 50 years old, I get this urge to jump forward, somehow, and take peek into my life 2 years down. It need not be completely accurate. Atleast something which has x% chance of happening.
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SM3: Sometimes, it is worth to play dumb. a) It might get you out of trouble. b) You might win someone's sympathy. c) It adds an unpredicatble element in your life and throws stereotyping out the window

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SM4: Snow again. But was able to deal with it better this time.

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SM5: This is amazing! Truly wonderful stuff.

If we assume that the entire universe is a finite space (which may or may not be true), then we (earth) probably are almost non-existent. Which brings up another thought: Are the problems faced on earth even worth mentioning when we look at the global picture?

sappa matters -#7

SM1: The irony is unbearable. The very rain which was despised so much in Seattle area is now welcomed during winter months. Considering the alternative makes one's teeth chatter "Damn, I miss FL!"

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SM2: Continuation of FL puraanam: I still use my FL area code for my cell phone, much to the chagrin of my local friends and colleagues who have to dial long distance to reach me. When we were getting an additional line for her, we were asked whether she needs a 425 or 206 area code. Ha! If that happens, then it would mean long distance between our phones (although it's mobile-mobile plan). Just to make T-Mobile's life "easier" (and thereby missing FL lesser!), we ended up creating a number with the same FL area code. Now who else has done that! Who else on earth?

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SM3: Why is it still called "dialing" a number? And why am I trying to imitate Seinfeld in whining about nothing?

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SM4: My very close friend is also leaving FL to pursue his career elsewhere. My last bit advice for him - put up a tent on the beach and spend the last 2-3 days there. Best of luck, BBT!

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SM5: Visit to the zoo this time around was different in every aspect! Animals have taken a beating due to the cold, except the native ones. Took some pictures whenever our fingers were not frost-bitten. But it was an enjoyable trip.

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SM6: Which home project could be complete without a fair dose of smashed fingers and fruity language? But the futon still holds our collective weights and there is a happy engineer in the cold North-West.

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(not) sappa matters - #7

NSM1: This India trip is going to be different in every which way. It has been a wonderful 4-5 months till now and as Ian Chappel says: The pacing has been to perfection. That said, I am looking forward to meeting the person who bowled me out with a searing in-swinging yorker!

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NSM2: Perhaps I am just getting the taste of what Seattle really is, but this rain has been too much. It has been raining all this month, a good half of the previous, and at this stage, would be raining by the time WE come back next month. Oh, and there is this small matter of Nov 1933 being the wettest month (15 inches or so) which would be drenched in no time now.

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NSM3: My ironing capabilities are pathetic. Consider this: I started to iron a shirt which was as crumpled as a love-letter with typos at 10 PM yesterday and somehow ended up crumpling it even more at about 10:30. Give me jeans any time; I can iron it in a jiffy!

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NSM4: This is definitely not funny Kramer. What is it with these people who say what they like and then apologize that they are not-racist. I liked him so much in Seinfeld and would wait to watch re-runs everyday. Now, I am not too sure.

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NSM5: Hail storm in Seattle! Perfect!

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NSM6: Perhaps, this one is not as significant as the above ones. ;-) But I had to throw it in.

This could be the last post (as a single guy) of a single guy in the US who lived with almost no cares, no fear and enjoyed bachelor life as much, did several crazy things which he might have to think twice now, sometimes, not even attempt to think about, who is now ready in all ways for getting his rough edges trimmed and (gulp!) mellow down a bit! But he is ready, no doubt.

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Long and short of it

• Writing a post - after a long time. You guys must be tired of my excuses now, so I am not even attempting to give one.
• Sprained my neck - after a long time. Perhaps an indication of what's in store for the future - blinders! But seriously, I almost forgot how painful it could be.
• Saw stars last night - after a long time. While I was waiting for prasadam on a cold deepavali night at the temple, I happened to look up (due to the neck strain, that was the only direction I could) at the relatively less-light-polluted sky, and saw hundreds of stars. Pretty interesting that we miss out the nicer and smaller things in life nowadays!
• Watched a really good movie - after a long time. The Prestige. Very well directed and played out. I was truly captivated by Nikola Tesla, who played an integral part of the script. This guy was brilliant! Why don't we see block-buster scientists like him now?
• Had a decent lunch at a desi restaurant - after a long time. Of course, "decent" is a relative term, but still, this exceeded my expectations.
• Might have single-handedly crashed yahoo's voice server - well almost, considering the tricks and tactics I applied and made full use of their "Call India for free during Deepavali".
• Deepavali or Diwali. Narakasura vadham or Ram(a)'s home-coming after killing Ravan(a). Nalla pattimandra thalaipugaL.

Peace out!

sappa matters -#6

SM1: Apart from making it easy to prepare questions for an exam, what is the logic behind asking students to memorize stuff?

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SM2: "You would be asked to do just 3 things. Do that - nothing more, nothing less" - advice from a newly married man, in a slightly inebriated state.

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SM3:

He definitely did not expect the situation to come to this. The little s*** slid over his body - teasing him. His patience was being tested. He doesn't like to be teased a lot. Touchy guy!

Normal days (or nights!) would take him 15-20 minutes to complete the "deed", but not this time! This little s*** was more than a match for him and was getting him all worked up!

As time went by, it was getting too hard and wet for him to handle. It was getting late. He needs to get ready to work. But the s*** was taking its own sweet time. This was just too much. He had to show who the man was.

Completely enraged, he yells - "Come here, you little piece of s***!" He forgot how strong he was. SNAP! - it was all over before he realized it. Now he felt sorry!

Desi Males - apart from Irish spring, Dial and the rare Indian soap, what other choices do we have?

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SM4: Was watching some random comedy scene from a tamil movie on the 'net. The setting was a street in a village. There was some kind of a wall (whitewashed), maybe somebody's house

The following was on the wall: "<- - - DMK full - - >".

Guy has reserved space future posters and DMK related graffiti in somebody's wall. And no other political party can take that space. Poster etiquette, you see. Democrazy works splendidly.

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sappa matters -#5

SM1: If you wear prescription glasses, how does it affect your vision when you dream? Has anyone (in the dream) ever said "Nice frames"?

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SM2:

Ambiguity - I found this written on a white board near the office break area:

"Please don't steal my fruit cake. Thank you"

below which was added:

"It has been in my family for a long time"

What is "It" here?

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SM3: Popeye is very angry.

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SM4: If somebody is leaning over your computer and typing his/her password in to a program (for whatever reason), how many keystrokes must you wait before turning to face the screen?

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SM5: On a related note - I am getting annoyed when people say "I am not a computer person". Seriously, what does that mean?

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sappa matters -#4

SM1: Realized that Feta cheese (like blue cheese) has an acquired taste!

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SM2: Sunglasses can make anybody look cool. Beware!

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SM3: Edited chat transcript:

Me: This monday is a holiday. Labor day. :D

Friend: Yes, I know. XXYY (IT company in India) follows the American holiday calendar. So they have monday off too.

Me: Interesting!
Me: So what about Deepavali and Pongal?

Friend: Of course, that-and-all is always there!

Me: !!!!

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SM4: I am amazed at Mani Rathnam's spirit in National Integration, unity in diversity, secularism et al when he made Kitty (a hindu) act as a muslim and Nasser act as a saiva-pillai in "Bombay". Illaina, character will become biased sir.

Wow! Talk about being subtle. * Saracasm spoiler *

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SM5: As long as we are still talking about movies, let's get this thing over with too.

When the tamil film industry was in tatters, even actors like Kamal Hassan had to resort to comedy. If that was the case with stalwarts like Kamal, there is nothing wrong if mere mortals like tt_giant has to resort to photo blogs and sappa matters for a while!

sappa matters -#3

SM1: Atlantic Hurricane predictions lowered - This is such a slap on my face. It is as if the east coast was waiting to get rid of me, and once I did get out, the hurricane family decides - aah well, he ain't there no more!

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SM2: Performed Aavani-avittam with one yagnopaveetham possibly for the last time! ;)

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SM3: Please, somebody, anybody, side up with me when I say New York City is over-rated!!

sappa matters -#2

SM1: Generation gap - If it takes you more than 2 minutes to send a 2 line SMS, then you belong to an older generation.


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SM2: Somebody, please tell me: What is the best way to let a driver of another car know that he/she has left the indicator lights on?

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SM3: Conversation at my work place:

Me: So are you going to watch Pirates - part 2?
Other guy: Yea! Johnny Depp is amazing! He looks totally drunk the whole movie!
Me: Yea, that was good acting, considering the fact that he is supposedly a tee-totaler.
Other guy: What's a tee-totaler?
Me: * adapppaavingala! *

sappa matters - #1

SM1: Selvaraghavan and Yuvan Shankar Raja must be competing against each other at one-up-manship. A court-room scene in the screwed-up-applet movie is lifted straight from Godfather II. YSR saamaanyanaa enna? He goes one step ahead and flicks the background score from the same movie - settling all doubts of the perplexed viewer. YSR leads by one point.
Update: In retrospect, I liked the movie.

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SM2: Although it had nothing to do with my line of work, I attended a seminar today just because it had "statistics" in the title. Adhaan "statistics", "IT", "computer" ellam orey jaadhi dhaaney! But it was pretty interesting. The presenter was describing how "efficient" the Effbeeai is in its investigations when it comes to scientific opinions, particularly ballistic reports. All those shots taken from the bullet's perspective in CSI - don't fall for it!

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SM3: Overheard at a cafeteria -

Person1 - Don't let nobody take my place!
Person2 - I won't.

What was asked and what was answered?!
Man, this is a complex world we are living in!

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SM4: I am not sure if we need to take proverbs seriously. For example, would you be biased about something based on your first impression?

Useless fact # 6

Useless fact #6:

If a photo related post appears in the middle of the week for no reason, it must mean that the blogger is shoopa busy!

I have been terribly busy for the last few days... ok, ok, last 10 days, so enjoy my absence until I am back!


Optic fibres during day time
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Sim-et-ri
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Waiting for the spell to be broken
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2D of a tree-D
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Enough already!
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I am escape!

Lukewarmth

Just because a sequel bombs in a box office doesn't mean that it wouldn't be done again.

Whoa!

That just became my Useless fact #5.

Practicing what I preach - Monkey Business - reloaded


PS: This post very much has to do with the previous post.
PPS: Extremely busy past week and this week, so could not visit a lot of my favorite blog stops.
Shameless PS: Previous Useless facts are 1&2, 3, 4.