Greetings

Wish you all a great year ahead :-)

Arvind Kejriwal

Yoohoo we will hear Arvind Kejriwal, founder of Parivartan speak this saturday.
The forwarded mail had this good quote:
Let not your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right
- Salvor Hardin, Foundation.
Apart from the open air theatre, this is the other thing Ill miss when I leave this place. I have heard some really good/famous/brilliant personalities speak here. One does not get this exposure very often elsewhere.
But the day of leaving this place seems so far away. Everything is getting delayed :-( Im impatient with my life and want it to rush on. Its as if its stuck in a rut. And a big shove will only get it out of this rut and push it into another ditch.
Im so morale-less early in the morning :-(
I have something to look forward to on this saturday. :-) Plus Anastasia in OAT. If they had to screen old movies, why cant they screen the classics. Im dying to see Casablanca.

Rise of China

There was an editorial in Hindu about the huge number of gold medals in the Chinese contingent. Recently, my friends attended two conferences, in different disciplines. And they were also talking about the swarming of Zangs and Mings in these fields. And many of them had remarkable work to their credit. This is the trend there - the chinese students go abroad study in top-class universities and then they get back to their country and develop the infrastructure in their country. And China offers them very attractive packages also, so that they dont lose out personally either.

A review or a comment?

Review of Kabul Express

Are we "bedding with a monster"? I still have reservations about the nuclear deal and it beats me why India appears so desperate for this. Im not knowledgeable about these things but the opinions floating around in the media are also not very optimistic about this. Instead why not revive our institutions. It is a known thing that much money is squandered away in government institutions and how inefficient, lazy and evil authorities are busy filling up their coffers and in preventing real hard workers do their job for the fear of them outshining. So the much revered establishments have now been reduced to white elephants. Why not clean out such parasites first instead of inviting more in the country?
One of my friend was saying that India needs something hard to wake up and inspire the kind of passion it had when it fought for its Independence. And I think her wish will be granted pretty soon if we do carry on with our association with the "monster". Isnt history supposed to be a teacher!
Anyway now I want to see this movie more than ever. Waiting for the last week of December :-D

Currently, Im reading the Count of Monte Cristo by A. Dumas. I had read an abridged version in my childhood and Im reading the unabridged version only now. A very gripping narrative and too good. I had read his Three Musketeers but not his Man in the iron mask, but have seen the movie.
I had heard that A Dumas used to employ writers to churn out stories for him. I dont how much truth is attached with this. But his stories are awesome.

Take 2

2nd draft = Expand the 1st draft by 3 times.
(Take a deep breath. Its no easy job. )
Im starting to think that cooking 3 times a day is easier :-(
Anyway today's phdcomics says this
I got pissed off yesterday by a fellow who was doing the thinking for me, whether Ill earn in dollars, euros or pounds next and then took offence when I said tata to him pointblank. See my patience is hanging by a thread! My next occupation is not decided and people have been worrying about what Ill earn next!!! Are they this jobless!!Anyway everyone to their own pastime.

Chimp champ

:-D I like the smirk on its face.
Disclaimer: No particular affection for this species. We see them all the time in our hostels and vice versa. We literally cohabit. They enter our rooms at the first chance available, share our food, drink from the same water cans and drape themselves in our washed clothes hanging on the strings. So no love lost between us.

Shocking

Man held for selling wife's kidney to meet liquor expenses

..

A friend once said to me "Dont say yes when you want to say no". I have not learnt that yet and I often get disturbed because of this very same habit.

A very crude draft of my thesis is ready :-D Im bad at technical writing. My 10 page reports undergo 5 revisions in general. Im gearing up for 5*6 revisions now :-( :-D.

Rahman's Guru

Do check out the soundtracks of Rahman's Guru. As usual, Rahman has given us awesome tracks. My favourite track is Bin tere kya jeena. Mayya mayya also sounds great with an arabian lilt to it. Barso re does give a feel of rains. Im watching out for the release of this movie. Anything ManiRathnam is immensely watchable starting from his Mauna Raagam.
I saw Dhoom2 and did not like it. In every scene, the director focussed on the lead stars Ekta Kapoor style - you know the 3 shots per person from different angles- dhudum dhudum dhudum style :-D Dhoom1 had more thrill factor and chill factor (psst psst John Abraham being my latest liking).
Movies Im looking out for - Guru, Kabul express and Babul :-D
Looks like Ill have a working winter vacation but I hope to take little breaks for these 3 movies..

Supernova and time travel

(Ok I tried sleeping but I had terrible nightmares yesterday so just a lil scared of hitting the bed :-D So I thought Ill blab a little on my blabspot:-D )

A few days back we had a talk in our department by an astrophysicist on supernova remnants. This was a study of the dust cloud thats left behind by stars who could not stand their own weight and blew up, the explosions are called supernova/e . The SRs have been seen in our own galaxy too and are some 3000 light years away. An interesting question was raised. Since
these stars are some 3000 light years away (meaning the light from them has taken 3000 years to reach us), what is being studied now is in the past (in fact 3000 years back). How does one know what is the current status of those remnants? Seen this way, our future generations 3000 years from now will know what is happening now, not us :-D To this, the speaker had a smooth answer. SRs have been seen in other galaxies too and these are some 10000 light years away. Since, the constitution of those SRs is the same as those in our galaxy, we can compare the time status and predict what will happen to the observations 3000 years later. One advantage of predictive science. BTW pony tails seems to be the latest fad amongst physicists these days. Why would anyone ever want to grow hair at all?!!

Douglas Adams in Hitchhikers guide to galaxy has an interesting take on time travel. Ill copy paste that here

One of the major problems encountered in time travel is not that of accidentally becoming your own father or mother. There is no problem involved in becoming your own father or mother that a broadminded and well-adjusted family can't cope with. ... The major problem is quite simply one of grammar, and the main work to consult in this matter is Dr Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations. It will tell you for instance how to describe something that was about to happen to you in the past before you avoided it by time-jumping forward two days in order to avoid it. ... Most readers get as far as the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up: and in fact in later editions of the book all the pages beyond this point have been left blank to save on printing costs.

Hitchhikers is a must read :-D
(Pic from wiki)

Q?

Was life on earth an accident or are we someone's else timepass?

Its already December!! the last month of this year! Not days, but months are whizzing past us. Was time always this fast for our ancestors too or is time in a rush to meet its end?

Is it delirium or is it time for me to sleep? Or both? :-D
May we all have a rocking end to 2006. :-)